Buongiorno!!! Man, the weather here has been absolutely insane! It was 17 degrees (Celsius) the other day! It feels like summer in January! Plus, I heard that it snowed in Napoli this past week (first time since 1986). Global warming...
So this week has been amazing! We have been working hard and seeing many miracles!! We have been stuggling recently trying to find reliable new investigators to teach with the amazing members of the ward here in Alessandria, but this week they have been coming out of the woodwork!
--We went just yesterday to Novi Ligura, a city about 40 kilometers outside of Alessandria, to visit a new convert named Luis that recently transferred from Milano. He lives with his less-active mom, his non-member father, and one of his father's non-member friends. On top of that, it takes 30 minutes on the train just to get to Alessandria, and then a 10 minute walk to get to church. So it isn't exactly the easiest thing for him to make it to church each week. Luis is a champion though; has such a strong testimony, and has been coming anyway! So we went to visit him to see how he was doing, and we ended up having an AMAZING lesson with everyone in the home! They are from Peru, and the father is from Equador (south americans are amazing), and so we knew it would be great from the very beginning! We shared a thought about our Savior's Atonement, along with one of my very favorite scriptures, Joshua 1:9. It was really powerful. The mom admitted that she has been wanting to come back to church for years, but has been afraid of falling away again, and the father totally opened up about how he feels that this is the day when Heavenly Father is finally giving him a chance to come back and feel the peace that he is searching in his life. They all were touched by the Spirit, and all of them accepted the invitation to come together with Luis to church this Sunday!! What a miracle it was! ....and then, after the lesson, they fed us so much food. They wouldn't let us leave until we were about to burst...another reason why I love South Americans! :)
--This past week, our bishop gave us a challenge to teach 10 member-present lessons and 20 lessons total. This is the first time I have ever had a bishop be so interested in missionary work, and definitely the first time one has given all the missionaries in his city a challenge! We were so excited, but our lack of investigators left us wondering how in the world we would even get 2 or 3 member present lessons. But, with some careful planning and some...a LOT...of hard work, we managed to teach 17 lessons and 6 member presents! That is double what we taught last week! It was a great blessing!
--Another highlight from Bishop Saeli: So, in Italy they use the English word "super" pretty often, to mean the same thing it means in English (there are a few words like that, that they stole from English). So this week at church vescovo Saeli comes up to us and is like "super-missionaries! Come state!" And we were just like "Super-bishop!!" to which he replied (in English, which he does not speak [It is always hilarious when Italians that don't speak English try to do so]) "yes. yes. *holds his hands up while he thinks of more English words* ...I am." haha! I love Sicilians.
--We had another amazing miracle this week! We found Giuliano!!!!!!!!!! We have been trying to get a hold of him for like 2 months, to no avail. So we decided on a whim to go stop by his house, (15 minutes outside of the city) to see if he was home. Long story short, we get there, ring the bell, some random guy lets us into the palazzo...but I have no clue which door is his. So we knock on all the doors asking for Giuliano. Nothing. So we end up leaving a little note in the mailbox,and walking out. We exit, turn the corner, and there he is right in front of us, walking home!! He invited us in to his home and we had an AMAZING lesson with him about the blessings of prayer and scripture study. It turns out that he has been in the hospital in Sondrio (a loooong ways away from here), for the past 22 days, bedridden from Bronchitis. He has just barely recovered, been released from the hospital, taken the 5 or 6 hour train ride back, and was walking home straight from the train station, when we met him on the street! Can you say miracle? MIRACLE!!! It was so wonderful. And, at the end of the lesson, he asked us for a Book of Mormon to give to his daughter!
--I just finished some mighty fine Foccacia con pomodori for lunch. Italian food is so delicious. (Hope you aren't jealous ;) haha)
--Scambio: I had the privilege of doing a scambio with Anziano Gridley, one of the brand new missionaries here in Alessandria. He has great faith, and we saw some serious miracles, including 9 lessons and 2 new investigators! I love the miracles that come when you work with a new missionary, or as I call it, "greenie magic"! It was great experience for us both.
--Miracle: This week was chalk-full of miracles; it is hard to choose just one. But the one I would like to share is Daniele (again!). He came to church this Sunday and received the Aaronic Priesthood. The blessing that the Bishop gave was incredible. He blessed him with many things, and then told him that the Lord expects great things from him, and wants him to prepare to serve a full-time mission for the Lord!!! We could hardly believe our ears! Daniele was so happy after the blessing; he has changed so much since his baptism and confirmation. He is now set apart as a ward missionary, came to correlation with us this last week, and has already shared the gospel with three of his friends! It is truly a miracle to see someone so prepared and strong in the gospel. In the words of Bishop Saeli (talking about Daniele) "Mamma mia, quanti grandi cosi ho da aspettare da te." What a blessing!
--Everything else here is going really well! We have been finding some really promising new investigators, and have faith and high hopes for this next month; hopefully it is full of baptisms! I love you all and thank you for your prayers and support, as always! I remember you all and pray for you many times a day! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
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