MAY 21, 2014

Buon giorno!! :)
   Greetings from Italy! :)  I just love Rimini!  The people and members are so great!
   We had an amazing last week, and found 8 new investigators and set 3 people with baptismal dates!  The work in Rimini is really starting to pick up, and I know the Lord is helping us to find those who have been prepared to hear his message of happiness and love!
   It is getting SO HOT outside!!! Oh my goodness, I am baking!  And it hasn't even gotten to be the hottest, or even close according to my companion. ...I have heard stories from other missionaries... from putting their sheets in the freezer before bed, to jumping in the cold shower with their clothes still on as soon as they got home just to get out of the heat...and everything in between!  So...I'm excited!
   My new companion, Anziano Mata'u, is awesome!  He is super funny!  I have a feeling we are going to get along great!  It has just been so stressful this past week, since he doesn't know anything about Rimini...so I have been having to set up and figure out all the stuff for all our investigators and members, and show him where everything in the city is and how we do things here...I'm exhausted!  But happy! :)
    Miracle:  This week was an amazing miracle in itself!  I have learned so much about myself in the past few days, and more importantly about what I can and really want to become.  I have been reading the "The 4th missionary" talk by Lawrence Corbridge, that he gave to his missionaries in 2002 while he was their mission president.. and it has just totally changed my entire viewpoint of being a missionary. I had always knew that I was out here because I chose to be, not because I am being...I don't know...forced to, or something...but reading that talk, and then re-reading both my Patriarchal Blessing and the blessing I received when I was set apart as a missionary...something just clicked.  I am already out here, doing all the things I should, but I need to take it to the next level...or rather, the Lord needs me to take it to the next level...give truly my whole heart and soul and WILL over to the Lord.  I just need to say, as it talks about in the talk "Lord, I give up.  I surrender.  I want to stop fighting your will with my will.  All I want is 'Thy will be done' That is all that I want."   The Lord has such a different plan for us, and we truly can only realize that potential when we give our entire will to the Lord. I hope and pray that the Lord will help me to do it.  That He will mold and shape me into the missionary and man that He knows I can become.  Even though it will be hard, and I'm still going to make mistakes and mess up a lot, I know it will be worth it! And that epiphany...has just changed everything for me this week...and I hope forever! What a blessing it is to have access to counsel from so many wonderful General Authorities! 
  But the miracle in regards to missionary work was a man named Stanley!  Stanley is Chinese, a student here at the university.  We first met him on Saturday, when we were doing casa...door to door...--he let us in!  (never happens!), was very kind, and we shared the message of the Restoration with him.  He doesn't have a christian background at all, understandably, because the culture in China is very different, but he has expressed to us multiple times his desire to develop faith and come close to God.  "When I think about God...I feel different!"
   The very next day after we met him, he came to church!!  And he had a wonderful experience, and even sent us a text in the afternoon thanking us for inviting him!  It was such a wonderful experience!
   And then, on the following Tuesday, yesterday, we met with him in the church, discussed the Plan of Salvation, and his true worth and purpose as a child of God, and he was thrilled.  We extended an invitation to be baptized on the 4th of July...and he accepted!  He is such a miracle...truly prepared by the Lord. As he offered the prayer (his first prayer....ever!) at the end of the lesson, he concluded and then just stopped and said.  "...Whoa."  The spirit was so strong, and we testified to him that God had truly heard his prayer, and loves him immeasurably.  What a special experience.
     I hope and pray that we can teach in such a way, with the Spirit, that we can help lead him to that wonderful day when he can enter the waters of baptism and begin on the path that leads to eternal life in God's presence.  What a humbling privilege it is to be a missionary; a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ!
   I love you all very much, and thank you all for your support and prayers in behalf of me and our investigators.  The work is about to explode in Rimini...I can just feel it!  Have a wonderful week!
-Anziano Wilson