AUGUST 13, 2014

Buona rainy rainy giorno everyone!! So, summer is over,
haha. We have been in the middle of a rainstorm for over a
week...all the Italians are so angry about it. But hey, at least i
don't have holes in the bottoms of my shoes...oh wait.. (Don't
worry mom, I have another pair, I'm switching them. :) )
So this week has been pretty great! Super different, but still
great! So the missionary work here in Morbegno is a lot
different. Since it was just recently opened a few months
ago, noone has any idea who we are as missionaries, except
for the 2 or 3 bar owners that were placed in the path of the
first missionaries here. That is such a miracle to me. We
have so many connections here.

place in town here, so I am using one of the computers at the
hotel where we hold church...like their only computer, where
they keep all the files and everything!

missionaries....it is a family that owns the hotel, and they all
speak English, and just love talking to us Americans! All of
them have been investigators at one point or another, but just
aren't super interested...for the moment :) People here are so
nice! It is a small little town, but everyone is super close.
One of the bars that we know is right next to the station, and
I have no idea how the missionaries got so close with the
owners, but the just love the missionaries too! We can eat
whatever we want there for free, and they have posters of our
pass-along cards and english class fliers on their bullitin
(sp?) board, and everyone that goes to the bar often knows
who we are and everything. So most of our finding work is
trying to do service for anyone and everyone,(which we do a
lot of!...we recently went to someone's house and screwed a
fan into the ceiling...the huge fans that aren't supposed to be
even 2 feet off the ground, let alone suspended from the
ceiling!) Needless to say, that was a project...it's a good thing
there are 3 of us! And teaching english class. We have two
classes a week, one in Morbegno and one in Sondrio. The
first few weeks here, there were something like 70 people
that would show up to English class each week!
So that's another thing! I am in a threesome of
missionaries! My companions are Elder Mati, who is from
Albania (enough said there) and speaks Italian perfectly (he
corrects the native speakers), and Elder Smith, who is going
home in a week because he is finished with his mission! So
that's why we are in 3...just for 2 weeks until he leaves. But it
is great! I love it! Anziano Mati is hilarious...the typical crazy
Albanian (he calls himself that all the time) and so is Anziano
Smith, so we are always just cracking jokes to each other...it
is so fun! In fact, yesterday for English class in Sondrio, we
told jokes for like 30 minutes...the Italians LOVE the little kid
jokes. Some of the favorites were "what is a cow's favorite
place to go on a Friday night...to the MOOOOOvies!!"
*hahahaha* and their favorite of all "why was 6 afraid of 7?
Because 7 ate 9!" *laugh laugh laugh* It was hilarious! The
jokes were all new to them, and they were just dying
laughing.
So back to this bar next to the station. That is the place
where we go to find new investigators! It is a family that
owns the bar, and everytime someone new comes in it is
hilarious, because Italians are so blunt. They will just be like
"Mario! Come talk to the Mormons, you have a drinking
problem!" ...And then they do! it is hilarious!
Miracle: We had an awesome miracle this week! My first day
here, we were doing some door to door finding, (which is
awesome by the way in small towns, because they actually
open up the door and at least see your faces, rather than just
speaking over the microphone thing "noone is home!"), and
we were invited in!!! (trust me, that's a miracle in of itself!)
The man, Luigi, was super nice and after we shared the
message of the Restoration he was left in wonder, and told
us he had never heard anything like this before. It was really
special! He is going on vacation with his wife and children
for a few weeks (like all the Italians do in August...since
everyone is off of work for 3 weeks), but he invited us to
come back, told us that his wife was very religious, and that
he would love for us to share the message again with her and
his family! What a special blessing! Anziano Mati told me it
was the first time he has ever gotten into a house in the 5
months he has been here in Morbegno.
Well, that's about it for this week; I am getting used to how
missionary work is done in a town with 0 members, and a
couple in some cities a half hour away. It is a great
experience, and I am excited because we have a lot of
promising investigators and potentials. A lady from
Hondurus, Georgina, is planning on being baptized on the
31st, so pray for that!
Thank you all so much for your love and support, I am
thankful for all you do and are! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson