Buon giorno famiglia e amichi!!
This week was really
great! I am so excited about this work...even though it really is WORK!
Haha, I've never fallen asleep so fast in my life as I have been every
night this past week! It's like 5 seconds after my head hits the pillow!
Haha, but it's great, I love doing this work, and I wouldn't trade it for
anything.
So, about this
week!
Let's see, we are still doing a
lot of strada and working with members to find referrals, so we can find people
to teach, but we have really been having a lot of success; there are truly
people here ready to hear the gospel! We have been working a lot lately
with less active members, and in trying to re-motivate them and rekindle the
faith and the joy that they had the day of their baptism. But there are just
some strange things around here, like everywhere I suppose. We had one investigator
who was convinced that the Prince and Obama are working together in some kind
of end of the world conspiracy, and that we were going to have a 3 day famine
to signify the beginning of the end and moment...so that was...interesting.
It was all we could do to tie it back into the gospel haha, but it ended
up being a really great lesson!
I am starting to
really be able to understand Italian! Finally! Haha, because when I
got here it was pretty intense...definitely not the language I learned at the
MTC! haha. But I can understand about 70% of what is going on now, so
enough to be able to kind of know what is happening. I still can't speak
amazingly well...outside of lessons that is. It truly is amazing...the Lord has
a work for us to do as missionaries, and He truly helps us to do it if we
humble ourselves and realize that we really just can't do it alone. During the
lessons I find that I have words that I didn't know I knew! ''The worth of
souls is great in the sight of God''! But anyways, the language will come,
little by little. I am really improving, and I am so thankful for your guys'
prayers in my behalf. Luckily I will be able to watch conference in
English this week...which by the way I am SO excited about! I am so
excited to hear what the Lord has to tell us, through the living prophet and
apostles!
So another...fun?...thing
that happened this week, was that all the trainers had an interview with the
Mission President last week, and so both my trainer and Anziano Kendrick's
trainer had to go to Milan, which is like a 4 hour train ride away, for this
interview. So Anziano Walden had this ''great idea'' that the two
trainers would just go, and we would do a ''scambia'', or companion switch.
Great idea! haha... So we were two ''greenies'', who could hardly speak,
out doing strada trying to talk with people while we had NO idea what they were
saying...Italians speak so fast! and on top of that my trainer gave me OUR cell
phone, which rings off the hook all day. Every time I got a call my
stomach would drop and I'd be just be like ''great...! Pronto!
^they talk^ Oh, il mio collega e in Milano oggi, possiamo chiamare lei di
nuovo domani'' which is ''oh, my companion is in Milan today, we can call you
again tomorrow...'' haha :) Needless to say...it was a great time!
Anziano Kendrick was in my district at the MTC, so actually we had a
really good time even though it was TOUGH! We just laughed about it all,
and made the best out of it! And actually, we ended up finding this guy
who was going on a ''spiritual journey'' for 8 years, and was really
interested, and we taught him like a 25 minute lesson and prayed with him right
there on the sidewalk! It was great! :)
Oh! Also, our branch activity last Friday was
a HUGE success! We had a branch talent night and asked the branch members
to invite their nonmember friends so they could come have a fun time and get
acquainted with the church in a non-threatening way. It turned out to be
a great time! We had tons of people sign up to share a talent, from
karaoke to gymnastics, there were tons of great activities. We even arranged
for a ''professional'' zumba instructor to come give a free zumba class with
the people! That was hilarious! I had a Russian investigator
sitting next to me and as they were dancing he turns to me and is like
''yeah...I wouldn't be caught dead doing that in Russia. I am a man. That
is for girls'' haha it was so funny. He is hilarious; classic
Russian. Oh, and for about half the night he thought that that was our
church! I guess I didn't explain very well that this was just an
activity! haha so i explained it to him, and then invited him to church on
Sunday, and during the dancing he was like ''So this isn't like your church?''
and I was like ''no no no, our church is a LOT different that this!'' And he
was like ''okay. I'll be there on Sunday.'' hahaha! Oh man, it was
a great time. The crowning event of the night had to be when the branch
president karaoked (is that a verb?...it is now! haha) ''Hye Joon'' I think?
From the beetles. And the entire crowd sang the ''na na na...'' part, just so
loud and proud...It was the greatest thing ever. It is just the best hearing
Italians sing English, because they don't know what the words mean, so their emphasis
and stuff is just a little...off. But I love it! The other Anziani and I
were just laughing our heads off thinking ''There is no way this would be
happening in America'' haha! There was also a ton of great food that the
members made! It was a great time, and we had a lot of potential
investigators there! But the real miracle was that 5 of those potential
investigators showed up to church the following Sunday! We were so
excited, and are working our best to set up appointments and follow up with members
to see if we can teach them! I can truly see why the prophet asked us to
plan/have a branch activity this transfer.
Everything else is going great! Mission life is hard,
there's no doubt about that, but I truly have felt the Lord's strength and hand
in my life, especially these past few weeks. This is His work, and we
simply couldn't do it without His divine help. I am so thankful to be a
missionary, even when it's hard! I love you all so much, and hope
everything is going well at home! Don't worry America, I'll be home in no
time! ;)
Love,
Anziano Wilson
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