NOVEMBER 27, 2013

Buon quasi natale! :)

I am SO excited already for Christmas time!  It makes me miss home a ton, but it really is just a wonderful time to be a missionary too!  People's hearts really are turned to the Savior this time of year, and everyone is just always happy! (despite the freezing weather, haha)

     The work is going swimmingly ( well, not literally, *ba dum ching*....ok bad joke haha. uh oh, the Italian humoural- indifference is rubbing off on me! haha just kidding) :)  But we are really having a great time working hard out here.  My companion and I will still be companions this next transfer also (mamma mia), and will be staying here in Lecco!  Finally I get to stay somewhere where we find investigators haha.  The Lord has strengthened me so much these past few weeks, as i try my very hardest to fulfill this sacred calling and bring precious people unto Christ.

   The snow hasn't come yet!  I  am starting to think that it's just a rumor around here to scare everyone...haha just kidding!

      Lets, see...oh yeah! For English class this last week we played Family Fued!  That was SO hilarious!  There are some people in the class that know a lot, and so they answered almost everything, but there were a few that were just great sports about the whole thing, and when we asked them a question they would say whatever word in English that came to mind.  "Name a food that rolls when it falls on the floor"  "...a camera!" hahaha, it was a great time :)

     Our investigators (well, the Lord's investigators) are really doing well!  this week has been a little crazy with preparing for transfers and meetings and everything, but we are seeing a lot of success.  I truly am humbled to be out here in the mission field, and truly have seen that when I just give all I have to the Lord, the Spirit has put words into my mouth.

    I am kind of "hitting the second wall" in terms of learning the language.  It is kinda hard being with a native-Italian speaker sometimes, because he is trying to learn English, so he almost never speaks to me in Italian.  The only time he does is in lessons, and he can just teach the whole lesson without stopping and I won't get a chance to say anything until my testimony at the end. But I am studying hard and know that the Lord will help me grow and learn as I put my trust in Him.

  Miracle:  We had a wonderful miracle this past week.  We have been teaching this family for a few weeks, and have taught them a lot about the importance of the family.  There were 11 people the last time we met with them; all members of their extended family.  But a few days ago when we met with them we were offered a ride home from one of the aunts and nephew, and on the way home we discussed the lesson, and gave them a book of mormon to read.  We also exchanged numbers and are setting up a new appointment to meet with them again, because they live here in Lecco.  They are such nice people, and very religious, and they really seem ready for our message.  We hope that the Spirit will touch their hearts as we plan to invite them to be baptized this next upcoming appointment.  Missionary work is just so great!

    All else is going well.  I have been praying a lot asking Heavenly Father to strengthen me and help me fulfill the potential that I know He sees in me, and the Lord is really helping me a lot to learn and develop valuable attributes, like patience, which is a trait that I was and still am lacking a little bit.  I am so thankful for the trials He puts in my path that help me to grow.

       I was reading the other day in Doctrine and Covenants chapter 78, the last few verses, and learned a lot about the love that the Lord has for us.  I remember a part of it saying "...and ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along..."  What a comfort that was for me, and is for all of us.  I know that the Lord really will lead us along, even through moments of trial, and that we will always look back to see that we have grown from the obstacles in our way. It reminded me of a part of the talk that Trevor Westra's older brother gave a few years ago for his homecoming talk (with my memory I can't believe I still remember it!) about the Redwood trees.  He said something about the fact that when he looked at the largest and strongest trees, he could always see burn marks, from when there would be a fire coming through and it woud scorch, but not burn, the trees.  He related that to us.  That as we are developing our testimonies into the "REdwoods" that they need to be for us to return and live with our Father in Heave, there will be trials.  But they will always make us stronger.  How blessed  I am, and thankful to be serving as a missionary, even when it's a little hard :)

   Well, I love you all very much, and you're in my prayers always!  Thanks so much for all you do!

Love,

      Anziano Wilson

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Buon giorno tutti!
       This week has been pretty amazing! (like always)  We have seen so many miracles I can't even believe it!  We have been doing really well, and we have some really wonderful investigators, 3 of which are already preparing for baptism! (and we think 3 more are ready for a baptismal date!) :)  It is so wonderful to see the Lord's hand in our work, and the spirit touching hearts of those who we wouldn't expect at all...It is such a blessing to be a missionary!!  §  (whoa! check out that symbol!  that was on accident but I'm definitely leaving it because it's cool haha)
    So the weather luckily....has been the exact same! Haha I am so thankful for whoever invented the umbrella...what a saint and a scholar!  It rains so much here, but sadly no snow yet!  I am hoping that it snows before next week's transfers so I can see my companion's reaction to it (he hasn't seen snow in at least 15 years other than up in the mountains).
    In other news, you will be delighted to hear that christmas music has already started among the missionaries! haha. I love Christmas time! (even though it's still november).  But I will be able to skype home on Christmas for an hour and a half I believe, so I'm looking forward to seeing your bright, smiling faces! :)
    I listened to a wonderful talk by President Uchtdorf the other day; when he talked about slowing down and enjoying life.  It was so wonderful; a great reminder to me that even though we are hustling and bustling to appointments, and doing this and that, that it is important to "enjoy the journey", as they say.  President Uchtdorf quoted from Psalms 118:24, which says "This is the day which the Lord hath made; rejoice and be glad in it."  I love that!  We should always remember that our life truly is a  blessing, and despite how busy we all are, there is always a time when we can take just a moment and remember all that we have, and how blessed we truly are.  As we have taught a lot of investigators here from very humble backgrounds, I have really been reminded how blessed I truly am, and we all are.  The peace and comfort that the principles of the gospel bring truly is priceless.
    Haha also a funny story!  So last night we were walking around, and on our way to an appointment we stopped a man, who spoke English!  Haha I love it when the speak English! But we started talking, and it turns out that the reason he stopped to talk with us was because he had talked to missionaires a long time ago who had given him a Book of Mormon, and told him that through reading the book he could have all the things he ever wanted.  He then asked us why he hasn't recieved a red Ferrari yet, because he read part of the Book and assumed that he would then have it. Haha!  We had a good laugh, and then a really wonderful lesson about the book, and our Hevenly Father's plan for us, soon followed.  It was great! :)
    Miracle:  We had a really wonderful miracle this week while implementing the teachings of an area 70, Elder Texiera, who came and talked about how to become "fruitful missionaries" last week.  He said that if we are looking for new investigators, the Lord has really already given them to us!  We should ask the investigators that we are presently teaching if they have someone in their life that we can pray for or help or share this message with.  So we did that this past week.  One of our wonderful investigators, Fanny, had a wonderful lesson with us as we helped her to overcome a trial in the family, and later gave us 2 referrals of people to teach.  We contacted and taught both of those referrals, set a new appointment, and they became investigators!  And the one of them, Anna, then asked us if we could contact her son, who is about our age. We did so, and invited him to English class, which he accepted, and he then passed his phone to a friend that was there with him, whom we spoke with and also invited, and he accepted as well!  The "finding tree", as Elder Texiera called it, really works!  What a testimony that was and is to me that the Lord truly does prepare friends and families together to hear our message, and if we will really be attentive to the needs of our investigators, and teach because we love them, they will notice, and desire this happiness and help for their closest friends.
   Well, I hope all is going well at home, I love you all very much, and you are always in my prayers.  
Love, 
     Anziano Wilson

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Buon compleano (sp?) familglia!
  Haha just kidding, but happy birthday I guess anyways!  So things here in
Italy are going really, really well!  We have had some wonderful
experiences and I am really learning a lot--both in terms of the language
and also a lot about the wonderful principles of the gospel also.  I
recently downloaded a lot of conference talks to my USB card, and have
enjoyed listening to a talk while I eat breakfast in the morning, and one
in the time we have to wind down at night.  I have marveled at the
eloquence of those men of God, and have wondered how I could have possibly
overlooked some of the marvelous blessings promised to the faithful, and
some of the tender testimonies of the Savior that are bourne.  My heart has
been touched many times as I have listened to those inspiried words. They
truly are of great worth, and I would encourage you all to read some!
     As far as the work goes, we have been really working hard, and the
Lord has blessed us with many new investigators and lessons to teach, so we
are keeping pretty busy!  Which is a good thing!  Among those, we are
teaching a wonderful man, George.  He actually plays professional soccer
here in Italy, which is pretty cool.  It's funny, he will always say stuff
like "well my manager said this," or "my agent said that", and I just think
to myself "wait a minute...he actually does have an agent!"  Haha because I
remember that I used to joke all the time to friends about calling up my
agent for stuff...but he actually can!  So yeah, basically I am almost
famous I guess...I'll sign something and send it home for you guys to sell
on E-bay.  Hahaha just kidding!  But anyways, George has such a wonderful
heart, and great faith.  He came to Italy from Africa, at which time he
didn't believe a lot in God and religion. But as we have been talking with
him, we can tell that his faith has grown so much, and we are preparing him
to be baptized in December if everything works out!  It is such a blessing
to be doing the Lord's work, and to see the light begin to be visable in
his eyes, as he is inspired by the Holy Spirit.  This truly is the Lord's
work.
        Also the brakes went out on my bike last week, and so that was
pretty intense weaving through traffic and whatnot with practically no
brakes, haha.  But don't worry mom, we took it to a bike shop and they are
repaired now :)   It is pretty marvelous to me though...in retrospect,
every time we had to ride our bikes somewhere in high traffic, or had to
stop relatively suddenly, there was always a path for me to go so that I
could continue going off ot the side, or between stopped cars, or something
like that and still be safe even though my brakes were struggling...but now
that the brakes are fixed, the traffic and obstacles have been different! I
have to be on high alert because we have to slam on the brakes every once
in a while (Italian drivers...ohhh man, haha)!  I guess the Lord's angels
decided that they can stop protecting me as much now that I have the
capacity to stop myself :) But as silly as that sounds, there really is no
doubt in my mind that I am being protected out here in the field.  I have
felt at times, the influence of some unseen forces, stopping me, or helping
me in ways that I am able to always be safe.  There were lots of "close
calls", I guess you could say.  But anywaysss, the point is that I know
that I am safe!  And don't worry, we're not as reckless on bikes as I have
made it sound, haha!
       We had such a tender sacrament meeting last Sunday; it was the
primary program given by the young kids here in the Lecco ward.  Tears came
to my eyes as the sung "Sono un figlio di Dio" and many other wonderful
primary songs. In between songs they had the little children bear their
testimonies, and it was jsut so beautiful.  One little girl, around 5 or 6
years old, walked up to the microphone, pulled it right next to her mouth
and yelled "GESù CRISTO è IL NOSTRO SALVATORE" (which means Jesus Christ is
our Savior) just so loud and proud.  It about broke everybody's eardrums
but she skipped back to her seat and then started jumping up and down just
so excited.  It was so beautiful.  Little children are so close to our
Heavenly Father; they have come from the spirit world just moments ago
where they lived with Him, and accepted his glorious plan for them.  It
touched my heart to see how excited they were/are to declare their
testimony of truth.  At the conclusion of the program, the 1st counselor in
the bishopric said that they are truly little angels.  How true that is.
It reminded me of a scripture in Matthew chapter 19, when Jesus says "But
Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto
me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
     Well, everything is going wonderfully out here in Lecco.  The cold has
officially arrived!  But this coat I have is SO nice and "swarm" (as B
would say), so I am just loving life!  My companion is just so hilarious.
He has lived in Rome, where it is so hot, for 12 years, and so he is always
like "oh my GOSH it's SO cold!  I need to buy a beenie, and big gloves, and
a new sweater!"  And he goes out with his shirt, sweater, jacket, and coat
on, haha.  At times it's a little toasty for me in my coat so I unbutton
it, and he just looks at me like I'm out of my mind.  It's fun stuff!
    So here is our miracle this week!: We had a wonderful miracle this week
with one of our investigators.  We found her pretty "randomly" a few weeks
ago in the middle of the market, talked to her for only about 2 minutes,
exchanged numbers, and later set up an appointment.  But we just recently
taught her the Plan of Salvation (wow, took me a second to think of what it
is called in English, uh oh, haha), and she just loved it so much.  She
expressed to us her desire to be baptized, and we invited her to come to
church in order to help her prepare for this big step in her life.  She
usually works every Sunday in Milan, but she expressed to us that she needs
to come to church, and is planning on working everything out so that she
can attend!  It truly was such a miracle!
        I am so very blessed, and so thankful to be in the Lord's army at
such a wonderful point in time; a time when the Lord is truly hastening his
work.  I know that these things are true; I wouldn't be out here if I
didn't. I have seen the great peace and hope that this gospel brings to the
lives of the sons and daughters of God that we have taught, and have seen
great differences in the lives of people here. What a blessing this gospel
is!
      I thank you are so much for your prayers in my behalf and the support
that you are for me every day.  I am so very blessed to have had a
wonderful family and friends around me to help me to prepare for this
wonderful time of service. I love you all!
     Love,
            Anziano Wilson

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Cari famiglia e amichi,
         I'm so sorry that last week I wasn't able to reply to anyone's
emails, my companion and I had a little bit of a fail in terms of planning
haha, and so we ended up with 1 hour of p day left and only one computer
here at the church...hurray for teenage boys planning :P (well actually my
companion is 26...but still, haha).  But so sorry about that, we found a
place that has computers that we can use for just 1 euro an hour, so that's
pretty sweet :)
    To answer everyone's questions, yes I do still have the same companion,
at least for these next 3 weeks.  He or I will probably get transferred
after this though. We are working hard to grow closer together and teach
with more unity.  I have seen these past few weeks especially the true
power that comes from a second testimony of the truth.
  This week in Lecco has been so great!  It is such a blessing to wake up
and think to yourself "What a blessing, I'm a missionary!"  ...well, maybe
that's the second thing that we think. After "Wow! There is NO way it is
6:30...3 am maybe!" haha.  But it is really just miracle after miracle and
great experience after great experience here in Italy.  We have seen lives
touched, hearts changed, and have shed tears with our investigators while
declaring our testimonies of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
    We have found a few new investigators while out doing strada, and it
has been wonderful to see how the spirit lights up in their eyes, and they
have a desire to hear more about the gospel.
    Let's see...what else. (I really need to start writing things down!
haha)  Well, its getitng a little chilly around here (well, the Italian
think so.  It's about September weather in Pocatello, haha.) Still no snow!
  Also, we are still meeting with the Michael family. What faithful and
wonderful people they are.  They shared with us a little bit about how they
came to Italy...on a boat with around 100 people.  If I remember correctly,
the boat sunk...or had a leak...or something awful happened when they were
close to the shore.  All I remember him telling us was that only about 23
of those on the boat survived, including him and his wife.  It just
completely blows my mind the things that  these two have been through...I
can't even imagine. We are actually going over there again tonight to meet
with them.  It was a very special experience last time as we read together
from the words of Mosiah chapter 24, about how the Lord will strengthen us,
take his burdens upon us, and make us stronger than we ever thought we
could be.  It was interesting that we were lead to talk about the fact that
the Lord never takes our burden away completely...but rather he strengthens
us to the point where we can bear the burdens that come upon us. The gospel
brings so much peace in this troubled world.  Continue to keep them in your
prayers, as will I :)
      So we had a wonderful miracle with one of our investigators the other
day.  We were in the lesson (which was in English...I love it when they are
in English! Mostly because my companion doesn't speak a ton of English, so
I get to take the lead! :) haha  Actually...we have been teaching a lot of
lessons in Spanish lately...which is odd haha.  Because my companion speaks
Spanish, so that's...interesting, especially when he looks at me in the
middle and expects me to say something relevant...haha.), But anyhoo, when
this lady asked us about the Book of Mormon.  She expressed her doubts
about it, and wondered how a book of scripture could just "come forth out
of nowhere".  We were a little surprised at her questions, because we
thought that the other missionaries had already taught her about Joseph
Smith and the Restoration.  So we began talking about it again, about how
Joseph Smith prayed to know the truth, was answered, inspired, and led by
God to bring forth from the earth sacred plates, written by ancient
prophets, and translated them by the gift and power of God...you all know
the story.   Well sure enough, she began to remember what the other
missionaries had taught her.  She asked many questions, which, through the
wonderful power of the Spirit, we were able to answer, and by the end of
the lesson she was grinning from ear to ear and just so excited about this
Book that could help her in her life.  What a blessing it is to see the
power of the Lord work through us, imperfect, relatively immature and
unlearned, young boys, to touch the hearts of people for good, and help
them to realize that this life is hard but we never have to face it alone.
       During our last lesson with the Michael's I was reminded of a story
that I'm sure we have all heard, that I heard in seminary a few years ago.
 It was about a young man, who, if i remember correctly, was having a hard
time in life.  He prayed fervently before going to bed, and had a dream
that night.  He dreamt that he was on a beach, and he saw two sets of
footprints, side-by-side in the sand.  He recognized that one set was from
him, and the other was from the Savior, who always walks beside us in this
life, ready to help us when we stand in need.  But he noticed
something...that in the hardest moments in his life, there was only one set
of footprints.  He asked sincerely, "Lord, in my hardest moments in life,
why did you leave me alone?"  The Savior replied "I never left you alone,
my dear brother, I was carrying you."
  I know that our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, are real.
 They live, and have perfect, glorified, and immortal bodies.  They watch
over us, and lift us up when we are not strong.  And I have felt their
strength carrying me when I feel like I can't do it any more.  What a
blessing it is to serve the Lord!
   I'm glad to hear that everything is going well at home!  I love you all!
    Anziano Wilson