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
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