DECEMBER 24, 2014

Buon Natale a tutti!  Feliz Navidad a todos! Merry Christmas to all!

Just a quick email home this week. Since it's Christmas Eve, our P-day time is severely limited with all the member visits and other activities we have to do today.  But I am having a wonderful Christmas week!  We have been seeing some amazing miracles, and have been really feeling the true Christmas Spirit. May we all strive to have more love in our hearts for those around us, and share willingly and freely the testimony that is in us, always remembering the Lord's promise in the Doctrine and Covenants "I will go before your face, I will be on your right hand and on your left, and mine angels round about you to bear you up." This Christmas season I bear you all my testimony that that is a true promise.  I have experienced it in my life, I know that it is true, and it is a promise for each one of our Father in Heaven's precious children. May we never be ashamed of the testimony that is in us, and may we go forward with trust and faith, even in the difficult days, that there are better ones ahead. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! :)
I love you all, and am excited to skype home tomorrow!
--Anziano Wilson

DECEMBER 17, 2014

What a wonderful week! Merry almost Christmas!!  We have been seeing so many miracles!!  It just seems like we are always in just the right place, at just the right time!
--Oh man, I am so exhausted. But this week has been great!  We have been doing this 12 days of Christmas thing (I think I wrote about that last week...?  The days go so fast I have to idea, it all meshes together...but it's where we leave a little present and a note on sister Capodicasa's doorstep each day for the 12 days before Christmas. Just for fun, and to show her a little love this Christmas (she has a really hard family situation), and it has been getting INTENSE!  In Italy it is not like in America where you can just walk up to someone's doorstep and leave the present, ring the doorbell, and run.  In order to leave something on someone's front doorstep without them knowing in Italy, you have to ring a random person's bell, make up some excuse (Noone will help you do anything nice...we tried explaining what we wanted to do to the first few people...and they were just like "no, no, non mi interessa!(I'm not interested)"...), and then walk into the Palazzo though another door, find the door of the person, ring that bell and then sprint out through like 3 doors to get out to the street!  And let's keep in mind here that Italians don't have doorknobs.  Instead, they have a stationary knob in the middle of the door, and there is a little tiny button hidden somewhere in the vicinity of the door, which opens it.  Needless to say, it is quite the adventure!  So two days ago, as we were going to ring one of the neighbor's bell, we hear it unlock by itself.  At first I am thinking "Oh, sweet!  We get in easy this time!"  And then the door opens, AND IT'S HER!! (Sorella Capodicasa, the person we are doing it to.) I hurry and shove the present (A little nativity scene) in my pocket, and button up my coat (this is where having a HUGE coat comes in handy...Thanks mom :) ),  and my companion blurts out "Oh hey! We came to visit you tonight for Family Home Evening!" (Genius!) To which she replies "oh, you two are so inspired!!! Great idea! (HA!)  I'll be back in 20 minutes, and then we will start!!"  But we were pretty sure she had already been suspecting that it was us who had been leaving these presents on the doorstep, and our "Deer in the Headlights" faces when she walked out of the front door, I'm sure, made her even more suspicious of us!  So, long story short, we call the other missionaries and organize a plan.  A genius plan, if you will.  While we were inside doing the Family Home Evening, she was asking us all these questions about what we have been up to the last few days, and told us about how she had been getting these presents on her doorstep for the past few days, etc, etc....and we just kind of play it off like "Oh, man! Great idea! What are the presents... I wish we had thought of that!" To which she was just kind of like "hmmmm...*suspicious face*.".  But about 20 minutes into the conversation,  the other missionaries did the whole doorbell ditch thing, and left the present right there on the doormat!  She runs to the door, sees the present, and is just like, "No!  I was sure it was you two!!!  Now I have no idea!!"  ...and then she told us all her secret plans to catch whoever it was!! haha!! We are so good.  She has really been appreciating the presents though. What a wonderful time of the year! :)
--Yesterday was a day full of miracles.  We were led to so many people who needed our help; including a homeless man who had holes in his shoes. (So, A member had given us these lightly used shoes on Sunday, saying, "Oh, just find someone who needs them!" ..we were a little confused, wondering how in the world we would find someone...but the Lord led us right to him!).  Also, while we were searching for someone to give the shoes to, we passed by the Dioquino family (members from the Philippeans) at the exact time when they were finishing this huge background thing for the Christmas program on Friday.  They had just finished, and said a prayer because they had no idea how to get it all the the church (it was raining and they have bicycles).  And it turns out, out of the 1 in 100 times we are out and about in the car (usually in Alessandria we just ride bikes), we had the car!  So we just put the stuff in the back and drove it to the church just in time! The mother was like "You see, kids?  The Lord sent us two angels to help us!"  It was a wonderful experience.
--We had to wait in line for an hour to use the email at this internet point today.  Gotta love it! :P
--The other day we went to go visit sister Gallio, a new convert in this ward.  She has two little kids, and is divorced.  But the special thing about her is that one of her kids, Eduardo, is about 14 years old and handicapped mentally.  He is a special boy. He is only handicapped slightly: he is able to get around by himself and do most things by himself, but he just needs some extra attention and care. Both Edo and Gretta (the daughter who is 11) are waiting for the permission from their father to be baptized (in Italy you need the permission of both parents if you are under 18).  Edo asked us this week to give him a Priesthood blessing to help him with school, and it was a wonderful experience.  You could just feel, so strongly, the spirit that was there, and the special spirit that is in him.  It was amazing because usually he is just up and down all over the place (most of the time he runs on all fours pretending to be some kind of animal), but during the blessing he was completely calm, and just listened intently.  He knew exactly what was happening. After it was over he looked over at us, gave us each a big hug, and then went back to his normal self, jumping around like a frog. What a privilege it is to hold the Priesthood of God, and to be able to serve and help others.
--It is starting to get SO cold!  (Well, Idaho winters are definitely way worse...I have just been softened up here in Italy...)  Plus it is just foggy all the time here.  If the ward weren't the best ward in all of Italy, Alessandria would be a tough place to serve!
--Speaking of the ward being the best in all of Italy...Our bishop is such a CHAMPION!  He is so engaged in missionary work it is insane.  If everyone in Italy were like him...two years from today everyone would be a member!  He is from Sicily, and just shares the gospel with everyone!! What an inspiration!
--Miracle:  This week we had a wonderful miracle: THE BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION OF DANIELE!!!! What a miracle his whole progress in the gospel has been!  From a sign-seeking atheist, to a committed truth-seeker, to now a strong believer, it has just been a miracle to see his heart change and open so fully to the commandments. He has been an example to us missionaries and to his girlfriend as well. She, since participating in the lessons with us, has gained a greater desire to follow the commandments and become active in the gospel, herself!  At the baptismal service the Spirit was so strong, and Daniele bore a powerful testimony afterward.  We also had the chance to show a few mormon messages and bear testimony about the spirit of Christmas, and how we need to all share the Gift our Heavenly Father gave to us over 2000 years ago! There were some non-members in attendance, and it was a great experience for all. Daniele is such an amazing guy, and will be a powerful leader here in Italy.
--I was blessed with the opportunity of confirming Daniele and being the vessel through which he received the Holy Ghost.  The Spirit was so strong in that sacrament meeting. And daniele's entire demeanor just changed. He is so much more calm and peaceful; it just radiates! Those are memories I will never forget.
   Everything in Alessandria is going really well!  We are now on the lookout for more progressing investigators, but we have faith that as we continue to search we will be led to them, or them to us.  We have been having so many opportunities to give little, "random" acts of service to many people.  It has made this Christmas season so much more meaningful! Thanks for all your support and prayers, I love you all and remember you each day in my prayers. 
 Love,
         Anziano Wilson

DECEMBER 10, 2014

Buon to the Giorno everyone!
  Well, it is getting kind of ridiculous how fast time goes now.  It literally feels like yesterday I was just here writing home for last week!  But we have had a wonderful week, full of miracles!
--Right off the bat, let me share one of the greatest miracles! We went CHRISTMAS CAROLING!!!! And it was a HUGE success. We handed out around 300 pass along cards to people in a little under an hour!!  To give you an idea of how awesome that is, we usually go through maybe 75 every 6 weeks, depending on how willing people are to listen to us.  So, yeah, it was amazing!  We also (prepare for a genius idea) wrapped up a bunch of pamphlets and multiple copies of the Book of Mormon (did you like that? I didn't say Books of Mormon or Book of Mormons...because in that never-ending argument of what is more correct to say...I am like Switzerand...always neutrall! ;) ), and handed them out to people as Christmas gifts!  Brilliant, right?  We had us four elders and the two sister missionaries singing together, and one person would go around and talk to people while the others would sing.  It was so much fun, and the people loved it!  3 or 4 people stopped and started filming us. (Italians, bless their hearts, just aren't the best singers, and so it is pretty rare to see 6 people all singing on-key and actually sounding good, ha.)  They loved it! Christmas time is just the greatest!  We are definitely doing that again.
-- I had the opportunity to do a scambio with the district leader in Genova, Anziano Lindley, this past week.  He is a great missionary, and we were able to find two new investigators in the morning by teaching the Restoration and then immediately setting up a return appointment with them.  It was a great experience for him to see that it is possible to do that,and we hope that it will help him motivate the missionaries in the Genova district!
--You have no idea how difficult it was to find an open internet place today. We rode all around the city, searching for something that was open between 12:00 and 3:00 (which is like NOONE).  The Italian culture is great, but sometimes it's just like ".....GO TO WORK!!!..." 
-- Cars are so expensive in Italy. I would never be able to have one. Gas is like $7 a gallon here, so I'll just leave it at that.
--Transfer news!!!!  Nothing exciting, we are still going to be here in Alessandria, me and Anziano Taylor.  But 3 of the other 4 missionaries are getting transferred...and one is going to RIMINI!!! I am going to send him a letter to give to the ward down there from me. They are so great.
--So we were talking the other day about Christmas, and were just like "Man, noone has even invited us over yet!  I hope we get invited!"  And then the next Sunday we got mobbed by like 20 members right after sacrament meeting like "YOU TWO MUST COME TO MY HOME!!" "NO WE WANT THEM OVER!!"  Etc, etc. By the end of it we organized breakfast, lunch and dinner appointments for both Christmas and Christmas Eve.  Merry Christmas!
--Oh!  I saw an AMERICAN TRUCK the other day.  How does that thing get around?  It literally must ONLY drive on the main roads. It took up like 3 parking spots.  I got pictures of it beside an Italian car, so you can see the difference, don't worry!
--We got new "Mission bedding" for each missionary.  It is like a comforter (which is so warm!) with a cover and a  newpillow with a decorative pillowcase (which is purely for decoration...and also really uncomfortable even if you wanted to use it). I'll just say, if missionary apartments were featured in Better Homes and Gardens or Check Out My Crib...I'm pretty sure we'd make the cut.
--Miracle:  This week's miracle was definitely Daniele. This past Sunday in the GANS (Giovane Adulti Non Sposati...or  YSA) family home evening, we (all the missionaries in Alessandria) started a Hogwarts/Harry Potter event with the youth, which consists of the GANS being put into different teams, or houses, and them having to get the most points for their house by the end of next January.  The way they get points is by doing missionary work!  There are things like: Bear Testimony to someone-1 point,  Invite someone to come with you to church-2 points, and, share a mormon message on Social Media-1 point for each! They were SO excited about this, especially Daniele, our 19 year old invetigator who will be baptized  THIS FRIDAY!!! We are so excited for him.  He went around to all the GANS saying things like "I'm going to be baptized this Friday, that's 5 points!  And then I'm going to invite my friends, for 2 more points each!!..." He was one of the most excited.  And then, while we were setting up the tables and everyone was waiting, Daniele realized that he hadn't read our reading assignment for him (Moroni 7).  He immediately went out in the hall, sat down, and started reading...We recently heard from the Mecca family that last Monday he went over to their house for Family Home Evening (his girlfriend is the daughter) and he did the entire lesson on Moroni 7.  If that's not someone prepared to be a future leader in the church, I don't know what is!  What a blessing!
   We have been seeing some amazing miracles here, and we are excited for the new transfer, and the opportunity and blessing we will continue to have to try to motivate and inspire the missionaries in our zone. I thank you all for your support and your prayers, I remember you all!  Have a wonderful week! :)
 Love,
          Anziano Wilson

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Buongiorno! And almost Buon Natale!!
   Well, another week is in the books!  I can't believe how fast time is going by!  It is just such a blessing to be a missionary, I am so glad to be where I am.
   I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!  WE DID TOO!!!  We had one of the members here cook us an AMERICAN Thanksgiving meal.  It was so good!  Way better than the McDonald's we had last year, haha.  But, by the way, McDonalds is considered a "high-class" place in Italy.  It is pretty hilarious!  They are like "ooo, American food. Fancy." ha!
   Let's see, nothing really too exciting has happened this week...or maybe I just can't remember...
  --Well, we had a wonderful Christmas Zone Conference...yesterday! Which is why it is Thursday and I am writing you all today.  We had to change our P-day.  But we did a big training on the new church message "He is the Gift".  It went really well!  It is such a wonderful time of the year to "Share the Gift", and bring others to realize the real reason for the season.  ( Oh by the way...side story about the zone conference-- So me and Anziano Taylor were assigned to do the training since it was here in Alessandria, and so we were helping President Dibb set up the projector before hand. We were struggling to get it to turn on and so I walked over to it and was like "Oh! Well I know what's wrong..you have to do it like this...*hand motion*  ACTIVATE! *push button* ....and it totally worked!  Haha! I was just going for the joke, but hey, whatever works.  President was like "well done Elder Wilson, well done."  I was like "well, it is my home turf here, so I can make things happen sometimes"... So there's a little insight into the behind-the-scenes daily life of Anziano Wilson) :)
   --My companion and I are going to start going around christmas caroling and handing out Pamphlets and Books of Mormon wrapped up in wrapping paper as gifts to everyone.  My companion is a big-time broadway/opera singer...so he is pretty good.  ...watch out Italy, here we come! 
  --We put up Christmas decorations!!  I put up all the snowflakes that you all made for me last christmas.  It looks so festive! We are excited for that, so thank you all! :)
--More on this later, but we had an majorly successful lesson with the Young Single Adults this past Sunday!  We talked about how great of missionaries they are because they have the most powerful tool for sharing the gospel ever invented...the internet!
--We made some pretty good pizza the other day. Except we made double what any person in their right mind would eat...and ate it all.  But it was good!
--Daniele, our investigator that is closest to baptism, is such a champion!  We found out this week that in addition to being a star kickboxer, singer, and painter...that he is also a part-time runway model!  What!?  He was like "yeah, I went into three competitions a while ago...but I only won two of them..."  No big deal. Add that to the repitour (not going to even try to spell that correctly), of the most amazing investigator ever!  December 12th is the day of his baptism!  :)
--I had the opportunity to do a scambio with Anziano Lefler, one of the assistants to the President this past week.  He is a great missionary, and it was a great chance for me to learn from him.  He helped me correct a few mistakes in my language that had been common mistakes I was making often!  At least now they are corrected!  We had some great experiences contacting people on the street; including talking to this awesome woman who always carries around a bible and reads it as she walks from place to place!  She was like "Noone serious about the word of God would walk around without a bible!..." We pulled out the bibles from our bags and she loved it!  Also, we taught a family that speaks only Spanish.  I don't know what that may sound like to you...but when I say "taught", I use that in a really general sense; we don't actually speak Spanish at all, so that was pretty interesting!  But fun!
Miracle:  This week's miracle is tied in with the mission's vision to help our members start using social media to share the gospel!  
    This past Sunday we had the opportunity to teach the lesson for the GANS' family home evening.  We decided to make it a game, and did JEOPARDY!  We had different categories such as " Facebook" "Twitter", or "A Day in the Life of a Missionary", that basically just emphasized the difference between how many people we as missionaries can talk to per day, and how many more people they can contact, with just the click of a button.  We watched a Mormon Message about our Savior with them at the end, and then invited them (using the last JEOPARDY question remaining) to each put a mormon message on Facebook!  They were really touched, and inspired after seeing just how many people (thousands) they can touch every single day.  It was a great success!
  Everything is going really well! We are working hard to share the Gift with everyone. It is a great time of the year! 
  I love you all a ton!  Thank you for your support and prayers.  What a great time of the year! Have a wonderful week full of gumdrops and candy canes and (oh my goodness...candy canes.  I miss candy canes.)  But have a wonderful week!
Love,
         Anziano Wilson

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!! Well, not quite...but Thanksgiving doesn't exist here, so that and Christmas have been what everyone is looking forward to for the past month...Italians!  I hope everyone in the good ol' U S of A is preparing their stomachs, though! :D

   Well this week has been Wonderful!  With a capital W! (that was actually just a typo but I figured I would be all clever and roll with it.)  We have been seeing some amazing miracles since I have been back here in Alessandria.  It is good to be back, by the way! (Except for that my companion snores like a chainsaw (he knows...I told him)...but I bought earplugs, so we are good to go now!)

--Fabio and Kembley, the young couple from San Remo that are getting baptized in two weeks, came to stake conference last Sunday.  (Which, by the way, was great!  The church rented out a theater [like a cinema], because they don't have a stake center or anything here.  It was pretty strange, but awesome, watching mormon messages in a movie theater.)  But we had they privilege of interviewing the couple  before their baptism.  They are so prepared it is incredible.  I interviewed Kembley, and I think she has the strongest testimony of any investigator I have ever taught.  We were both in tears, and it was just a wonderful, wonderful experience.  She was all like "I am so nervous!  I have been reading the Book of Mormon non-stop for the past week, studying all the answers!! I just don't want to blow it!" It was so funny. Bless her heart, she is so wonderful.  They are going to be a great strength to the little branch in San Remo. And the best part is!!!!:...her mother AND two sisters in Santo Domingo are coming to church this Sunday, and want to start taking the lessons from the missionaries!!  The gospel is for families, and so that just touches my heart.  Her younger sister was recently baptized a few months ago, and just is so solid and the nicest person you will ever meet! She has been a great strength to Kembley.  Fabio is just as wonderful!! Goodness, it is just so wonderful to see such a great couple, whose lives have literally been changed forever.  All because they met the missionaries on a bus, and asked them who they were! :)

--Stake conference was AMAZING! The Stake President told all about his mission and all the things that he learned and how it has changed his life. And about how nothing happens by chance. He gave a thousand examples of things in his life that happened "by chance", and how he sees now that everything was planned out perfectly in the end.  It was powerful!

--We went to a birthday party for the son of this couple from Napoli that we are meeting with.  They are angels! They are so nice.  It was hilarious because we showed up towards the end of the party, and so we offered to help take stuff down and help clean up, and Salvatore (the husband) was just so funny. He got all "offended" and was like "OH! No!  You guys didn't come here to clean! You came to EAT! *hands us each like 5 plates of food* All Italians from the south are just so warm and friendly!  Seriously, I have never met an italian from the south that hasn't offered to help us or buy us something, or who isn't just always willing to talk!  Those south italian missionaries...lucky!

--EVERYONE reading this right now needs to go to lds.org and watch "Because of Him".  RIGHT NOW!   (Yes Brandon...GO GO GO GO GO GO....if you can)

**Intermission while you all go watch it (Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back!)**

That is BY FAR my new favorite video that the church has produced.  And we have had so many miracles when showing that to investigators or less-active members this week.  We watched it 3 times yesterday, once with a member, once with two less-active memebers (which with them...it totally changed their entire mindset!  They were at the beginning all like "yeah, well Jesus doesn't care about me" and then after the video in tears like "I know he loves each of us, I always knew! We're coming to church on Sunday!"), and then finally at a family home evening with the Napolitan couple I was just talking about.  The Spirit was so strong, we are all in tears!  It has amazed and inspired me the way that technology can be used for so much good.  I can't wait to go back and share mormon messages all the time with everyone! :)

--We had Elder Fingerle, from the quorum of the 70, come speak to us this week, and it was even more wonderful for me because at Mission Leadership Council, he came again! So we each got to meet and talk with him personally, since there were only like 20 missionaries there!  He brought a powerful message about....DOMINOES!!! It was so profound.  How we need to know our dominoes, place them correctly, and everything that had to do with how as leaders we can more effectively help others to feel important and loved, and communicate effectively the goals of the mission. He is such an inspired man!  And he's German! :D

--Miracle: We have been seeing wonderful miracles here in Alessandria this past week!  One of my favorites happened a few days ago while we were out contacting people on the street.  We had been walking around Piazza della Libertà for a few minutes, when we saw this young mother and child sitting on a bench! We started a conversation by asking how important the family was for her and why, to which she replied "Well, I don't know...why is the family important for YOU?"  I was so excited! Thinking "Yes!! Instant opportunity to bear testimony!" So we gladly bore testimony about how we are all an eternal family, and that families are truly forever.  Her heart was touched, and her entire demeanor changed.  She began talking to us warmly about  her life story, (how the family is the most important thing to her, that she gained a huge respect for the family through the trials she has faced with her husband while they were down in Napoli, etc.) and about how religion has helped her family.  Her young daughter, just 5 years old, was such a sweetheart, and was bearing testimony too, practically, of how God helps everyone and loves us! We had a wonderful discussion about the Restoration, exchanged contact information, and are planning on meeting with her and her family later on in  the week!  What a blessing!

--Quote of the week:  "Prayer is the key that unlocks every door of difficulty.  But a key is not to be used just once in a day; it is to be used everytime you come to a locked door."  -George B. Tullige (don't know who he is...but great quote!)

   Everything else is going really well. This week is what our mission president calls, "Consecration week", which I like to call "Take-it-to-the-next-level Week", which is where we just give extra effort to be true disciples, and give 100%! But it is coming along really well, and I really do feel a difference in my ability to be intune with the Spirit. It is a great time of the year to be a missionary! Thanks for all that all of you do, you are the best! You! and you! and you! Thank you for your prayers and support; I need them! I remember you all in mine!  Eat some extra turkey and pumpkin pie for me! 

 Love,

 Anziano Wilson