Buongiorno!!! :)
Well, first of all it was WONDERFUL to be able to skype home and talk to my famiglia....I love you guys!
Besides that, everything is going really well! It was super cool to be able to go to Firenze for that conference, and to see and learn about the real importance of stakes, and to see how excited the members are to be in a stake! I guess growing up in Idaho you don't really get to appreciate a lot the difference between small branches and big wards....but it really is such a cool experience to be here in Italy, and see how much stakes are cherished. Rimini/Firenze is excited to be the 10th stake in Italy! (I think...)
We ate an awesome Mother's Day dinner at the Canuti's house...they made us pizza! I love Italians!
We have been working really hard to set baptismal dates with all of our investigators (we were looking at our white board the other day, and realized that compared to a lot of other cities, we really do have a lot of current investigators!...like 20 or so), It's just being able to meet them that's the problem here. But we had a wonderful experience with a Nigerian man named Osku yesterday! We met him for the second time, had a powerful Restoration lesson with him. At the beginning of the lesson, right after the prayer, we said "Osku, at the end of the lesson, we are going to ask you to pray and search for an answer, and after you receive that answer, you will want to follow that answer, and follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone who holds the Restored authority of God. So pay close attention to how you feel during the lesson, and we promise that you will be able to answer confidently to that question when it comes." It was a little weird, because we haven't had a lot of practice doing that....but it really works! He payed close attention to everything we said, asking questions to make sure it was clear, and then when we asked him...he said yes! So we are hoping to have another baptism in the beginning of June!
Morris is doing well; we haven't had a chance to meet with him in a while because he has a lot going on right now....but we hope for the best!
Christian is kind of the same story...but he is really making some awesome progress. He just needs to FEEL that he can do it! Thank you all so much for your prayers for him and our other investigators.
I just love being a missionary so much!! It is so exhausting, and so busy...but just so rewarding. The time is flying, it is crazy. I feel like I just got here.
In other news...transfers are this week! I'm becoming the new mission president. Just kidding! But I am staying in Rimini!!!! :) I am so excited! I love Rimini! My companion is leaving though, so there will be a lack of Canadian in the apartment now. He said he's going to leave a big Canadian flag (they pronounce it flayg) in the apartment though. My new companion is Anziano Mataauuooo(?) I have no idea how to spell it. He is from Samoa...or so I hear. So that will be good. He probably doesn't eat a lot...said noone ever about a Samoan. haha.
Miracle: This week we had an awesome miralce while doing finding work. We were walking around the park when we saw two men walking down the street, with a big container of wine in their hands. i thought to myself "oh man, here we go, some more drunk guys." But then I caught myself and remembered that we must look at people not as they are, but as they can become--how they are in Heavenly Father's eyes. We started a conversation with them by asking if they think that God loves them...and before we knew it we were sitting down at a picnic table discussing all of their questions and concerns. One of the men, Matteo, has lived in Italy for many years, after moving here from Canada, where he lived for 7 years. He said that he has always been concerned about all the struggles and trials there are all around him, but that he really wanted to give God another try. We taught him and his friend, Andrea, about the Restoration, and left them with a Book of Mormon and an invite to read and pray about it. Just yesterday we met Matteo again while walking around, and he excitedly told us that he has been reading the Book, and that he really likes it a lot! We set up an appointment with him to talk about it more on Friday, so we are really excited! It just goes to show, you never can whether or not someone will be interesting in our wonderful message, by just looking at them. The Lord truly looks at the heart, and I hope to someday be able to instinctively do the same.
I am really excited though for the new transfer. I have really been trying to become not just a better missionay, but a better person, thoughout all this time. I know that the Lord has taught me a lot, and still has a lot to teach me. I'm ready for it! I love you all and thank you for your prayers and support! You're the best! *points to each reader individually* :)
Love,
Anziano Wilson
No comments:
Post a Comment