SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

Caro famiglia,
This week we have been working really hard, and just having
a great time! The people here in Morbegno are so great; they
have so much potential. The hardest thing is to just get them
to realize that we are just regular people--not robots-- with
true and strong testimonies of how our Savior can bless our
lives with the peace and happiness that all of us desire every
day of our lives.
I feel like this past little time I have had to spend with the
Italians in their own country has helped me to develop a real
love for their lifestyle and thoughts and dreams, and I just
know that the best way that I can help them to accomplish
their dreams and realize their true potential and happiness is
by sharing the greatest gift I have ever received--a testimony
of our Savior and His love for us.
--I FINALLY met an Italian who likes to play basketball more
than soccer!! Miracle!! ...But his ankle is sprained right now,
so I will have to wait a few more weeks to play! Get excited!
--We had some super good pizza today--bacon and eggs
and onions. Italians and their pizza.
--So here in Morbegno we received permission to purchase
abbonamentos for the trains...so for the whole month we get
to ride for "free", ( at the beginning of the month we pay
£103) without having to buy tickets every time. That shows
how much we travel!...yikes.
--This past week I was reading out of a book one of the
missionaries in Lecco has, called The Power of Everyday
Missionaries. What an amazing book! It talks about the
importance, power, and easiness of doing missionary work in
our everyday lives. It shows that it doesn't have to be
something planned out for weeks, or all fancy. One of the
things that I remember it saying struck me. He said
something about how our success in missionary work comes
from the inviting, not the results of who we invite. And that
really got me thinking: Too many times we think that success
in missionary work comes from the results--from people
coming to church, or being baptized, or accepting to read the
Book of Mormon, or whatever it may be--when in reality the
true purpose of missionary work is to "Invite others to come
unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atonement,
repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
enduring to the end..." To invite. That is our purpose. The
success comes from the invitation, not from the result. And
that really meant a lot to me. Sometimes it is hard to bear
testimony to someone from your heart and then invite them
to learn more, only to have them throw it back in your face.
But this helped me realize, that my purpose as a full-time
missionary, and every members' purpose as a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints--the Lord's
kingdom established on the earth--is to invite. Invite
everyone. And when we invite, the Lord smiles upon us,
because he loves us and loves the people we are inviting. He
is glad we gave them at least an opportunity. That was a bit
of a game-changer for me.
--A gave a talk this week in church on prophets. What a great
topic! I found so many great insights. One that I particularly
appreciated, was the last point: Prophets are called to bear
witness of, and call others to come unto, Christ. I quoted
from the last chapter of Moroni in the Book of Mormon, this
"a dying man's testimony of the only true way" as Elder
Holland once put it, is what it says: "Yea, come unto Christ,
and be perfected in Him, and deny yourselves of all
ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all
ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and
strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace
ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are
perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."
What a powerful witness of Christ, and the perfect example
of an invitation to come unto Him, and be perfected in Him. I
love that. Be perfected in Him. It is true, and it is the only
way!
Miracle: This week we had another wonderful miracle in
church! Sorella Nympha, one of the members in our group,
brought her friend, Vilma, again in church! This is the third
week in a row! And because our group leader is still in Spain,
we were teaching the gospel principles lesson again, on the
Restoration, and it went really well! Halfway through the
lesson, Vilma just out-of-the-blue asked some really good
questions about prophets and the origin of our church, and
brought up all of these concerns that her husband had told
her before, such as "Oh yeah, go and join the Mormon church,
that way I can have a few more wives!". So the lesson turned
from gospel principles, to all 4 of the members helping us to
answer her concerns. We gave her a Book of Mormon to
read, and she was very interested in it! During my talk, on
prophets and revelation, all the members were helping her to
find the scriptures used, so that she could read them right
then. She seemed to really just be in awe of the clarity and
power that is contained therein, especially in the final chapter
of Moroni, when he invites all to come unto Christ. It was a
wonderful experience to see her faith and understanding
grow so much in such a short period of time. We are
planning on working closely with Sorella Nympha to organize
a way to meet with Vilma during the week.
Things in Morbegno are looking pretty good. There are so
many people here with so much potential, but just not a
whole lot of will to change their lifestyle. We are working on
that, and with the help of the Lord I know we will see
miracles! I love you all and thank you for all you do and are.
I remember you in my prayers! Love,
-Anziano Wilson