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
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