This week has been really great; we have really been working hard and seeing so many miracles. My new companion, Anziano Kessler, is a champion! One of the first things I told him was that Morbegno needs two things, work and faith. And that we were going to hit the streets and work hard with faith that the Lord will go before us and prepare the hearts of his precious children here. He agreed to not fight me on it, so that is always a plus! I need someone who is willing to work hard with me! He is a good guy. From California, and he was a gymnastics trainer! So I will probably get him to show me how to do a backflip....or maybe I better not. (Dad, remember that day when I was in the park for like an hour trying to do a backflip off of a tree? haha. Not the best spent hour of my life you could say.)
(Here's a little side note: so in a district meeting a few months ago, Anziano Burton, who was Anziano Kessler's trainer, made a comment. We had just read in Preach My Gospel, where it says something to the effect of, "use every honorable means to find new investigators", and his comment was just classic: "I think that something important here, that it kind of implies, is that there are also many dishonorable ways to try to find new investigators. For example. Anziano Kessler and I once tried a technique called "flip and sing". Where if the people would listen to us I would sing for them [he is an amazing singer], and Anziano Kessler would do a backflip. It DIDNT work!.." It was so funny! So don't do that!)
But we are seeing some Amazing miracles here in this special town. It is a little strange to be writing in English right now, because to help Anziano Kessler (and also me!) to improve a lot in Italian, we are going the entire week only speaking Italian...all the time! So that has been fun! It is definitely a lot easier now than it was when Anziano Strang and I did it in my 4th transfer last February!
--Last week we had a whopping 7 people in Church! I was called on on the spot to give a talk...so that was fun! It actually didn't go too bad :) But it was one of the most spiritually uplifting Church blocks I have ever attended. Something wonderful about the fact that we are small, is that everyone feels like they are really important--and they are!--and so everyone is really missionary minded and ready to help in any way they can!
--We met an amazing 80 year-old on the street this week. We had just finished a lesson with Ramon (he is not doing so well), and we got up and on the bench next to us was sitting this man. We went up to give him a little hand out with a smiley face and a quote from the prophet on it (We call them Smiles of the Day :) ), and he was just like "Oh I can't read anymore! But come here and let's talk about why it's so important to be happy!" And we talked for about a half hour! He agrees with so much of the doctrine taught in the first lesson, The Restoration. We talked about the Savior's earthly ministry, the Great Apostasy, and Joseph Smith. He agreed with everything we said, giving indepth reasoning from his life experiences and religious background as to why. He even basically outlined the Plan of Salvation right there for us! It amazed me how he knew so much without ever reading the Book of Mormon, and so I asked. And he just said that he felt it. That when something is really true, you just feel it! That was so powerful for me.
--Giuliano, the man that I talked about last week in the miracle, called us this week to thank us so much for being there to comfort him. He is now in Allessandria working and living with his nephew, on his way to starting a new life for himself! It was such a blessing to hear how thankful he was; I was thankful as well that the Lord allowed us to be in the right place at the right time. Being a missionary is so special!
--I bought another "american" pizza today! I feel like I'm home!....in Italy.
--We had a hilarious English class this week; the place we do it at is a campus thing for Young kids, run by the government, and so they did some advertising for us. We had around 10 new people show up! It was great! One of the highlights is when we were going around the room saying one word each trying to make a sentence. "The bat flew in the kitchen and tried to kill my mother and I helped my mother because I am good boy and want her alive." Italians. It was better than "I like very a mushroom", though!
Miracle: This weeks miracle was kind of a more personal miracle, for me. I gave my first district training to my district this week, and it was just such a wonderful experience for me. I talked about how faith is the opposite of fear, and why it is so important that we have faith as missionaries. I asked about example of faith in the scriptures and in our lives, and heard some powerful testimonies. One of the quotes I used was from Elder Holland, who said something like "you cannot kindle the fire of testimony in the heart of someone else if you do not already have a burning flame of testimony already ignited in your own heart." That really touched me when it came to my mind as I was preparing. It is so true. I am thankful for the testimony that the Lord has blessed me with, and for the privilege I have to share it with the people of Italy.
It was a special experience to be able to bear my testimony and help to grow the faith of the wonderful missionaries in our district. I have been touched as the Lord has helped me so much to become who he needs me to be, even just in the sense of leading a few other missionaries. My compassion and love for the other missionaires and their investigators has grown so much, and I just feel a burning desire to help them succeed. I still am super nervous, because I always looked up to the district leader, even if just subconciously, for an example, but I pray that the Lord will bless me with the talents and abilities I need to magnify this calling.
I love you all a lot, and thank you for your
prayers and the great people you are and the great things you are doing! I
remember you Always in my prayers! Have a wonderful week!
-Anziano Wilson
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