BUONISSIMO GIORNISSIMO!
Happy 27th of August everyone! (No, it's not a Holiday in Italy either, I just thought a congratulations was in order :) )
So this week has been really wonderful. Like every week as a missionary! We have been working hard to get people in Church, and saw some great success this week!
-We had an awesome experience in english class just Yesterday! So there are 2 Young girls from Santo Domingo that come each week, and we usually try to slip in gospel words and phrases to try to start a conversation, and Yesterday my companion (who is just so blunt and hilarious...Albanians...) just pulls out a Book of Mormon and slams it on the table in front of us. They asked us what in the world that was, and we had a wonderful conversation for about 10 minutes! We left them with the Book of Mormon to read, and they were excited about reading another testament of Jesus Christ!
--So I bought an "American" pizza the other day. Cheese, hot dogs, and french fries. Those are the toppings on an "American" pizza. I told one of the members the other day that we don't eat that kind of pizza in America and he just looked so...betrayed. Just total shock. It was so funny!
--This week we had a wonderful experience, in church! Not counting us 2 missionaries, there were 11 people in church...6 members, and 5 investigators! 2 were brought by a less-active woman in our ward, Sorella Nympha. She is great! The best part of it was that since the two main priesthood holders in the ward, Fratello Mazzina and Georgio, were out of the country with their wives, I was teaching the Gospel Principles lesson, and Anziano Mati gave a talk. I taught about baptism and invited all who were present to pray and ask Heavenly Father if the things that were taught are true, and then Anziano Mati gave a talk on missionary work and the joy and peace that comes from living and sharing the gospel. It was really powerful! It was such a blessing!
--I had the chance this last week to put my lawn mowing skills back to the test...So, backround story. We were invited by the boss of the returned missionary in our ward to come over and "help him with some gardening at his restaurant". so we think, yeah okay, he probably wants to plant some flowers or something near his restaurant, this will be great! We arrive, and he has 2 push lawn mowers out and a wheelbarrow, a pickaxe, and a shovel, and we are just like "what in the world...oh no." Long story short like 3 hours later we were finished mowing this huge, untamed field that hasn't been cut since the flood of Noah, and digging up and moving boulders from the field to the side of the building. It was a good time! But hey, his wife was really intrested in who were were, and had some really good questions! Missionaries love questions! When we gave her a Book of Mormon she sat in the corner and read it while they fed us lunch...for free! So it wasn't a bad deal!
Scambio: I had a wonderful scambio; returning to lecco in the same companionship I was in before was such a blessing!
Miracle: Our miracle for this week happened while I was on a companionship exchange in Lecco. I called the Anziani there ahead of time to see if the could schedule some lessons with the new convert/less active young boys, Marvin and Osvaldo, that I had taught while I was here and were baptized after I left. They were able to schedule an appointment with Marvin, after not being able to meet with him for over 2 months. We met in the Church, and had a wonderful lesson. Right off the bat, he opened up about how things started getting really difficult for him after his baptism, with a lot of committments on his time (he works 2 jobs), and some troubles in the family. And on top of that, he works in Bergamo on the weekends and so isn't able to come to Church here in Lecco. We talked with him and bore testimony about how living the gospel has changed our lives, and shared personal experiences of the blessings and peace and happiness that it has brought into our lives. The spirit was so strong; even tangible. He committed to read the scriptures each day, even if only for 1 or 2 minutes, and expressed to us that he has been thinking about going to Church in Bergamo on Sundays where he works, but he just didn't know how to find it. We solved that problem, and he committed to go to Church there this Sunday! He is a great kid, with a sincere desire to follow Christ. It was a blessing to meet with him again!
Ever since I gave a talk in Church a few weeks ago about the importance of prayer, I have really been trying to improve the quality of my prayers. It is such a blessing and privilege to be able to pray. I have been having some wonderful experiences, and truly know that our Heavenly Father knows us so personally, listens to us, and is willing to help us with anything. Anything that is important to us is important to him (Alma 34:17-27). As they say, "A man never stands taller than when he is on his knees."
I love you all and thank you for all you do and are! I remember you always in my prayers!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
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