Buona sera a todos!
Whew! What a wonderful week! I recognize that a million things have happened since last week, but it still seems like just yesterday I was writing about last week!
--I'm going to start a new "Thought of the week" section (we'll see if I remember to put it each week!):
--Thought of the week: I was reading this week during my Personal Study time in the book of Mosiah, chapter 1, and a new thought came to mind about the first 8 verses. They read: 1 And now there was no more contention in all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who belonged to king Benjamin,so that king Benjamin had continual peace all the remainder of his days.
2 And it came to pass that he had three sons; and he called their names Mosiah, and Helorum, and Helaman. And he caused that they should be taught in all the language of his fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken bythe mouths of their fathers, which were delivered them by the hand of the Lord.
3 And he also taught them concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, saying: My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance, even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God.
4 For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling thecommandments of God, even down to this present time.
5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might readand understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.
6 O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true. And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of ou rfathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they aretrue; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes.
7 And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto ourfathers.
8 And many more things did king Benjamin teach his sons, whichare not written in this book.
(I added Italics to underline some of my favorite parts)
These verses taught me a few really wonderful things:
1) Continual peace in the land always resulted from a righteous king; a king who remembered God and his commandments.
2) King Benjamin, though a king with many responsibilities, made sure to fulfill first his most important responsibility/calling: that of teaching his children, "that they might become men of understanding...".
3) Specifically, King Benjamin taught his sons and his people the importance of the scriptures.
I have seen in my mission the true importance of the Lord's words to us through the scriptures. They are a fountain of revelation to any who seeks answers. They were painstakingly written and passed down from generation to generation, protected by the grace and power of God, so that in these, our days, we might "profit by them"; learn from them, and apply them. That we might find hope and happiness and healing. May we all (myself included) remember the true importance of those things we can read and "know of their surety, because we have them before our eyes." What a blessing it is to have the scriptures!
--We had a wonderful experience going over to a less-active family's home this week for Sunday dinner. The Malaspina family is just so nice! The wife is from the Domenican Republic, and the husband is Italian. They both are really active in the gospel, just can't make it to church because they work all day every day, basically. We shared with them the "Christlike Attributes" Mormon Message, and they loved it! It is so awesome how it can say so much and bring so much of a Spirit, with very few words. The Spirit was really strong, and we downloaded it onto their computer along with "Because of Him", so they can continue to watch them during the week!
--Scambio: I had a wonderful scambio this week with Anziano Carter, down in Varazze. What a beautiful place! Their apartment is basically beach-side. It feels like they are living in a hotel! It was a nice break from the foggy Alessandria-ness. :) Anziano Carter is a fantastic missionary, I was impressed! He works hard and we had some real success hitting the streets to help find them some investigators (they have recently lost every single one of them...happens.) to teach, including a wonderful man, Ben, from Kenya!
--During our scambio, we taught a man from Sicily! I love Sicilians! They are so warm and friendly, and hilarious, too! So we were talking a little bit about the Plan of Salvation, when he randomly asked us where in Italy we lived. I said that I lived in Alessandria, to which he said (in English) "...Alessandria...kind of a...sad...place." I started laughing. Not all of us can live in the South where it is beautiful all the time! Bless his heart.
--I was sick with a pretty bad fever starting Thursday evening until Friday. Thankfully it only lasted about 24 hours, but that one was pretty rough. I couldn't hardly move I was so sore all over. But the worst part was the delusional night sleep Thursday night. I had a continuous nightmare on and off the entire night that I was stuck inside a Ferrari that wasn't mine and every time I moved I broke something new . And then it magically rebuilt for me to break it again...fever dreams are intense. Glad that is over! :)
--Speaking of dreams, I will share the funniest one I have had in a loooong time! So it was while I was down sleeping in the luxury Varazze apartment! I dreamed I was in a track race (4x400), and that it was only me and one other teammate that showed up, and so we had to switch off twice each. We ended up just dominating everyone, but I hadn't realized up to this point who my teammate was. The very last leg I was up last, and look back to see my teammate ...Gordon B. Hinckley! Haha! He was doing this old man shuffle, going so fast! We had an awesome high-five moment when we won. So yeah, I've basically met a prophet.
--Miracle: We had some amazing experiences this week, but the miracle I would like to share was on Sunday! There is a recent convert from Milan, Luis, who is a young man of 18 years, that recently moved from Milan to Novi Ligure, in our ward boundaries. He is still relatively active in the church, but has been having a little bit of a tough transition change--having to find new friends, feel included, etc-- and on top of that his mother is less active and his father is not a member. Our bishop, being the incredible man that he is, immediately committed himself to finding this boy and bringing him to church, and we have been doing the same. We met with Luis this last week and this past Thursday Vescovo Saeli and his counselor went to visit the family, had a great discussion, and committed them all to come to church....and they came! It was an amazing experience. Because of the lack of trains on Sunday, they had to take one that arrived in Alessandria an hour and a half early at 7:29. But that gave us a chance to meet with them at the church and have a lesson with them before church even started (jackpot!). We watched the Restoration film, and then talked about how our church was restored. Guiliermo, the father, was really touched, and asked us where he could find a Book of Mormon. I ran and grabbed him one in Spanish, and while we were setting up the chairs in the chapel, he was reading intently. They all had a wonderful experience in church, and are interested in meeting with us more. They even called the bishop this last week to ask if they could come with the ward to the temple trip in September! What a miracle! We are going to do all we can to make sure they stay!
--Everything else is going really well. Anziano Lewis and I had a great week last week, despite me coming down with a fever (thankfully the Lord took it away after just under a day). We are seeing some real success. The couple we met last week hasn't been able to meet with us yet, but we are trying to set something up for tomorrow. We expect great things from them! Thank you all for your support and prayers, I pray for you all many times a day! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
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