AUGUST 6, 2014

Buona tutto!!
So first item of business, I am being transferred!! To
Morbegno! I am super sad to leave Rimini and all of the
AMAZING members here that have been so kind and
wonderful to me...but I am excited to go to Morbegno
because.....it's only 20 minutes from Lecco!!!! And there is
actually not even a church there (they hold church each week
in a rented out room in a hotel, for the 7 people that are
there), and so once a month I get to go to church in Lecco!!!
And see all the members and new converts that I taught that
have been baptized since December!!! I am so excited!! My
companion was like "wow. That never happens.
Missionaries never go back close to where the served." So I
consider myself lucky! I don't know much about the place,
other than that it was being just barely opened in December
while I was in Lecco...and so they literally didn't have any
contacts or members or anything there...noone even knew
what the church was. So I am excited to see how it has
grown, and to do my part to be an instrument in the Lord's
hand to grow the tiny branch! I am excited to give a talk
every week in church, too! :P
Rimini has been so wonderful. I made sure and took
pictures with the members, and to write encouragement
letters to all of the investigators we are teaching. Silvio is
going to be baptized the 22nd...he is so solid. I am excited
for him. And Cristian accepted a new baptismal date for the
29th!! He is back on track thanks to an awesome lesson with
Fratello Canuti on Tuesday!
- We found an awesome nigerian rock star this week, named
Devon. He is so legit. He loves learning about religion, and
as soon as he found out we are "mormons" he had so many
questions for us. He has concerts all the time though, so it is
tough to meet him. But I expect great things from him! We
gave him a Book of Mormon and encouraged him to read and
pray about it and he was like "you know what...i will do that!
Because I am curious! I will do that!" It was awesome.
- We found and called this random guy in the phone named
Nitian, the other day, and he didn't answer. That's all. Just
kidding! He called us back at like 11:30 at night, woke us
both up. and so I pick up the phone, talk with him, and set up
a lesson to meet the next day at 4:00. I put the phone down,
and just am like "Welll....you know you're good when...! Night
anziano." But so, we meet him the next day and he was SO
solid! He is like 23 years old, it turns out he knows half the
members in the ward, has been to church twice, and works
with one of the coolest members every day! He already has a
Book of Mormon, and at the end of the lesson was like "well, I
had never touched it until now, but I promise that I will read it
now!" We are expecting great things from him!
Well, that was kind of short, but I have a long miracle story
for you all, so here we go!
Miracle: This week we had many miracles! But the one I
would like to share this week is a different kind of miracle. A
few days ago we were teaching, for the last time, a Romanian
man named Florin, and I had a special experience. We spoke
for at least 45 minutes about his life, the tragedies and huge
changes he has made in his life to find God and turn his life
around. (He has been to prison multiple times for robbery
and drugs and basically anything you could imagine).Florin
is like a brother to me by now, we first met him like 6 months
ago, and he has been a great guy, with great faith.

he was kicked out of the home he has been living in for one
year and a half, for basically no reason at all except for that
the owner didn't want him living there anymore. Florin is a
great man, and he has been such an example to me, in word
and in deed. As he shared with us that as he was being
kicked out he told the Carabinieri "God bless you. God bless
you." they began to make fun of him. But he shared with us
that he has chosen to turn his life around, and is never going
back. That God has saved his life. That touched me. But he
told us how angry he was. How God had left him alone, and
he doesn't know why. How he has been praying for help, for
God to place someone in his way, to show him the light. He
is VERY, and I mean VERY 7th day adventist...and he won't
even pray about anything that isn't explicitly written in the
Bible. For that reason, we haven't been meeting with him for
about 3 months, but we always see him around, and talk for a
minute or so. And here's where we get to the real "miracle"
part. Seeing that it was the last time I will probably see him
ever again in this life, I wanted so dearly to share with him
what means most to me...the gospel. I testified to him with
all my heart that the Book of Mormon will bring him peace
and hope, as it has to me all of my life. That this gospel is an
answer to his many prayers. That God had placed us in his
path, because He loves him, and wants what's best for him.
That we, as representatives of our Savior Jesus Christ, could
help him. And then I challenged him to pray, and ask God.
Just ask. If the things we are saying are true....and he said
no. He isn't even willing to give it a chance. He said that God
would show him when the time was right, and that he was
too much of a sinner to receive an answer anyway. And then
he rode away on his bike. We stood there for about 30
seconds, while he rode away, wondering what had just
happened. And then I sat down on the bench right there in
the park and tears just came flowing out of my eyes. I sat
there and just cried, for 15 minutes. Cried and prayed that
Florin would find the truth, somehow, someway. It hurt. It
hurt me deep in my soul. He was searching for what was
right in front of him...and he just chose to walk away. And
there was nothing I could do about it. I don't know why it
meant so much to me, we get our testimonies rejected 100
times a day, but for some reason it did. And then I realized
something (and here was the real miracle for me). I realized
that our Savior felt that way-that deep pain and sorrow-for
each one of us. Every single one of us. He loves us so much,
that it pains him to the very soul when he sees us stray from
the path. When he sees us suffer. I can't even imagine what
He went through, how it must have felt. But I feel like now I
understand so much more, a tiny tiny piece, a token, of how
he felt. For me. For Florin. For every person that ever lived. I
can't even imagine it. But I am so thankful for his love. As I
sat there in silence, the words of a favorite hymn came to
mind. "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble
to know that for me he was crucified, that for me, a sinner, he
suffered, he bled and died. Oh, it is wonderful that he should
care for me enough to die for me! Oh, it is wonderful,
wonderful to me!"
Everything in Rimini has been wonderful. We have been
seeing some wonderful miracles, and have found some very
promising potentials (also referrals from members!) They are
great people. I am excited to go and serve in Morbegno, I
know that that is where the Lord needs me. I love you all very
much, and am thankful for the love and support and prayers
that you give me. I hope you all have a wonderful week, I am
praying for you too!
Love,
Anziano Wilson