What a fantastic week! It is raining but there is sunshine in my soul today! :)
--This week we had a little bit of a scare! One of our investigators with a baptismal date, Jerry, called us randomly and was just like "hey. Are you guys going to be around to meet today?" And, of course, we were like "of course!", and he said "good, because I want to give you your book back. (The Book of Mormon)." We were caught so off-guard, because he is the classic golden investigator...always shows up to appointments on time, always keeps his commitments, everything! So, long story short, we couldn't get our schedules to agree for a few days, and that is just what it took for him to realize that he really did need this in his life. He was just angry because he had a fight with his friend over a cigarette (yikes), and they are no longer friends now (that is so unfortunate!). We ended up meeting with him, listened to his concerns, and taught him about the Word of Wisdom in Doctrine and Covenants, 89. He was deeply touched by the promises contained: "And all saints who remember to keep and do thesesayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; 19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; 20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. 21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen." It was an amazing experience, and even before we invited him to live the Word of Wisdom, he was like "wow. I guess starting today I'm not smoking or drinking anymore!" It was amazing. We expect great things from this prepared man.
--On Sunday I was given the privilege of giving a talk. It was about "The importance of obtaining your own testimony: Living off of your own light." It was a joy to prepare, and to give. I talked about D&C 76:75-79, that the difference between the terrestrial kingdom and the celestial is obtaining your own personal testimony, I talked about Alma 5:45-46 and chapter 32, about how to obtain a testimony, and finally I talked about the responsibility that comes with the knowledge we are given, I ended with one of my favorite scriptures, found in D&C 107:99-100 "Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence. 100 He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand. Even so. Amen."
I was pretty bold with the members, my companion was surprised, but many came up to me afterwards saying things like "Thank you for your talk, elder, it was inspiring." or "Brescia needs more missionaries like you, Elder." I was touched, because I know that the Spirit brought the message unto their hearts, and reminded them of their commitment to share with others what has so freely been given to us. We hope to see that the members get re-motivated to share the gospel with their friends!
--The Garatti family, two less active members with EIGHT young kids (in Italy that is unheard of...it is so hard to raise children that most have 1 or maybe 2). ALL came to church! AND they said the beginning and opening prayers! What a blessing!
--Josè came to church for the second time (all three hours!). He loved it! We are so excited for him.
--Miracle (this one is a long one!..I'll quote most of it from my journal... it took so long to hand-write.) : My scambio with the Anziani in Piacenza today was amazing. We had to rush basically all day from appointment to appointment, and right after lunch we had to sprint 25 minutes to the train station (right after eating a pound of pasta (literally...), each. ...we almost blew chunks all over the park grass several times. We barely caught the train. We both knew that we had to get off at Codogno, just a few stops away, but for some reason when we got there, we both looked straight at the sign, and forgot to get off! (little did we know, this was all part of the plan.) Right after the train started going again, we both realized, at the same time "oh no! We missed it!" So we are freaking out because we were already really late, and we have no idea when the next trains come. But we hurried and got off at the very next station. Luckily, there was a train going right back to codogno 5 minutes later (and the one after that was in an hour!), and so we ended up arriving only a few minutes later than expected at Cremona. From there we had to take another bus to get to the small town where our investigator lived. At the station in Cremona, we met an awesome old couple! I helped the woman lift her luggage off of the train, and they thanked me and said that they have a grandson out on a mission right now in Chicago. We were confused, thinking that they had made a mistake, because the odds of that in Italy are extremely small (there are probably like 50 missionaries from Italy right now in the field in the world). They showed us a bunch of pictures of him and sure enough, he was holding a Book of Mormon! We got to talking, and it turns out that they aren't members, but were SUPER nice. We asked them when the next bus was to get to Vescovato, (the city we needed to go to), and they looked at each other and smiled, "we'll give you a ride...you're young enough to be our grandsons!" We were already late so that in itself was a miracle! So we get into their luxury lexus (I felt so rich), and they drive us 20 minutes out of their way to drop us off right in the center of the town, where we needed to be! We called our investigator, Sharon...no answer. We call again...no answer. We call a third time...her phone dies. so we are thinking to ourself "You're kidding me. We come all the way out here (1 and 1/2 hour trip), and now we can't find them! Oh, man. Well, maybe we just came out here to meet that nice old couple and talk about their grandson...? That in itself was a great experience." We looked around for a few minutes, trying to find this lady and her family (who we had never seen before), and finally gave up and went to check the bus times to return home. Just as we are looking at the bus times, we hear from across the street, "Hey! Anziani! Elders! I am Sharon!" We turn around, and there is this lady from Nigeria waving her arms looking straight at us. We walk over and she explained that her phone had just died, that she was just wondering if we were actualy going to come, but finally decided to go pick up her daughter from school. She walked right past us and instantly recognized who we were! So we go back with her and her daughter, meet with her and her husband and daughter, and have a great experience.It was incredible! (by the way, they had a nice house! Just picture white leather couches, a chandelier, and a big screen TV). Sharon is one of the most prepared people that I have ever met. Right off the bat, we were talking about how Joseph Smith went around searching for the true church, when she interjected, "It is yours! I already know. The Church of the Latter-Day Saints is the true church!" We asked her how she knew, and she explained to us that she had prayed, and received a dream. A dream that was very sacred to her, and so she did not share it...but that told her very clearly that what she had heard from the previous missionaries was true. Needless to say, we looked at each other surprised, but excitedly! We talked about the Plan of Salvation, it was wonderful! While we discussed the fact that the Fall of Adam and Eve was part of God's plan for us, Sharon got so excited! She was like "You know, I have asked that question many times to my pastors and priests in my church, "If God knows all things, why did he allow Adam and Eve to be deceived?" And they always just gave me a little answer that did not respond to my question, just to keep my quiet. They did not know! But you are telling me that it was all part of His plan...and that without doing so, we would not be here!?" We replied that that was exactly the case. "Oh, halleluiah!", she said, "I must teach this to my friends!" It was amazing! There were so many other points (the Spirit World, Resurrection, and Celestial Families), that touched her heart deeply. At the end of the lesson we invited her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the restored Priesthood Authority of God, and she accepted to be baptized on May 2nd! Her prayer at the end, asking for strength and support from the Lord, blessings for her family, and for us, was touching. What a great blessing! The Lord made it all possible. How grateful I am for all that He does in my life, and for the blessing that it is to be a missionary!"
-Well, that's about it for this week! Everything here in Brescia is going amazingly! We are seeing so many miracles. Thank you all so much for your support and prayers! I always remember you in mine!
Love you all,
Anziano Wilson
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
MARCH 18, 2015
Buongiorno a tutti! I hope your week has been fantastic! Mine sure was! The Lord has been blessing us so much in this little town.
We had the opportunity to teach another zone training this past Thursday (man, that seems like a lifetime ago). There are 26 missionaries in our zone, and so it was a great experience to have a discussion with them and teach them about the importance of the work we are here to do, and why we are here doing it. We also talked about setting baptismal dates with investigators on the very first meeting. The members here think we are crazy for doing it, but it works! (more on that later).
--Just a side note. I am SO full right now. So, there is this pizza place basically across the street from our house...it is so delicious. Really good. And they give you HUGE pizzas for the regular price of 5 euro. It is like double the size. Anziano Pinnock and I had the "brilliant" idea of getting one each (because usually you can eat a whole pizza by yourself here in Italy...the crust is really thin and amazing..). Long story short, we got about halfway-through each and I was like "man. There is a lot of pizza left still." And Anziano Pinnock said "oh, good! I thought it was just me being a wimp!" So we still have half a pizza (the equivalent of an entire pizza) waiting for us at home :) But if I start falling asleep while writing this...bear with me.
--We have been having some really full days recently. I have gotten a lot better at planning things in advance, (I know, that's a shocker for those who know me), and it has been great! We taught 23 lessons last week, and found 5 new investigators! (the average for the zone is about 8, and 0.7, respectively). So it was a great week! Thank you for your prayers, they are a big help!
--During one of the lessons with a man from Nigeria named Experience ( yes that is his name...it is actually a pretty common...yes, I was surprised as well.) , we read together 2 Nephi 31:10-13.
"And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. 12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. 13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel."
He sat there in silence for about a minute, and finally said, "wow. That hit me. This book hit my heart. I must be baptized." We were thinking "WHAT?! that never happens!" But it did! He is an awesome guy! We are helping him to prepare to be baptized the 23rd of May. Keep him in your prayers!
--We found a candy store outlet!! The outlets are the stores that other stores send their excess orders to for really cheap because they can't sell it all, and then they sell it instead, for really cheap! Usually it is just for clothes, but we found the jackpot! Needless to say, I was snacking on a nice Lindt chocolate bar about an hour ago. ;)
--I am so excited for General Conference. I have continued to listen to talks each morning while I make breakfast; it is so inspiring! I listened to one from Elder Eyring this week called "Man Down" (or something like that). I would recommend it! I am just so amazed at how inspired the leaders of the church are: they seem to know everything that is going on in the world, all the time.
--I had the chance this week to do a scambio with one of the new missionaries in our zone yesterday. His name is Anziano Lingardo. He is awesome. The only member of his family, and a convert of only one year and a half. His conversion story is inspiring. His best friend is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and has always been a good example to him. He ate often at their house for dinner. One night, they had the missionaries over, and it all started from there. He gained a personal testimony, and then told his parents that he wanted to serve a mission. They weren't supportive, but didn't prevent him from going. He is a good kid.
--While on scambio, Anziano Lingardo told me that he was a "pun-master". I took it as a challenge...For the next 15 minutes we spoke only in puns. It was a grape time. *ba dum ching*. Towards the end I just started putting emphasis on random words in a sentence and pretending it was a pun. "It's a good thing we are walking on the street!" "...That's not even a pun!" "What, don't you get it? Street?? Walking??" *he smacks his forehead*. Good times :)
--Josè came to church on Sunday!! It was amazing! He had a great experience. It was his first time attending any church for over 10 years! He turned to me during one of the breaks between classes and said "Everyone is so nice here...It really is just like a big family!" What a blessing!
--Miracle: This week was full of miracles! We have been seeing many blessings from the Lord as a result of working diligently and trying our best to talk to everyone. This week we have been blessed to set 3 baptismal dates with investigators, each on the first lesson that we taught with them! We expect great things from Benito, Jerry, and Umberto! Keep them in your prayers, especially Jerry! But besides that, I had a miracle while talking to a man on the metro the other day. I approached him to start a conversation, and he began to ask me, in very broken Italian, if I was from Italy. I immediately replied "do you speak English?" to which he replied, "yeah! I'm from Wisconson!" It's not every day that you get to speak to an American! We had a wonderful conversation on the metro, and he got off at the same stop as us. He, rob, is here in Italy for a business trip, but returns next week. He said both of his next-door neighbors are Mormons, and both served missions out of the country. He had always wondered when he would see some missionaries out and about, but didn't expect to see them in Italy! We had a great conversation, and I invited him to watch the church's new "Because He Lives" video on the 28th of March, and then talk to his neighbors about what he thought about it. He agreed. It was a great experience!
Everything here in Brescia is well. We are working on keeping our investigators progressing, and motivating the ward to be more missionary-work motivated. A few members have expressed to us that they need motivation. I can attest to that. But we are pumped up and ready to go, and so we will transmit that to them! We hope to inspire them, and I have a wonderful opportunity to give a talk this Sunday. It will be about "living off of your own light and testimony". Get ready Brescia...here it comes! ;) We expect great things from this ward. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
We had the opportunity to teach another zone training this past Thursday (man, that seems like a lifetime ago). There are 26 missionaries in our zone, and so it was a great experience to have a discussion with them and teach them about the importance of the work we are here to do, and why we are here doing it. We also talked about setting baptismal dates with investigators on the very first meeting. The members here think we are crazy for doing it, but it works! (more on that later).
--Just a side note. I am SO full right now. So, there is this pizza place basically across the street from our house...it is so delicious. Really good. And they give you HUGE pizzas for the regular price of 5 euro. It is like double the size. Anziano Pinnock and I had the "brilliant" idea of getting one each (because usually you can eat a whole pizza by yourself here in Italy...the crust is really thin and amazing..). Long story short, we got about halfway-through each and I was like "man. There is a lot of pizza left still." And Anziano Pinnock said "oh, good! I thought it was just me being a wimp!" So we still have half a pizza (the equivalent of an entire pizza) waiting for us at home :) But if I start falling asleep while writing this...bear with me.
--We have been having some really full days recently. I have gotten a lot better at planning things in advance, (I know, that's a shocker for those who know me), and it has been great! We taught 23 lessons last week, and found 5 new investigators! (the average for the zone is about 8, and 0.7, respectively). So it was a great week! Thank you for your prayers, they are a big help!
--During one of the lessons with a man from Nigeria named Experience ( yes that is his name...it is actually a pretty common...yes, I was surprised as well.) , we read together 2 Nephi 31:10-13.
"And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. 12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. 13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel."
He sat there in silence for about a minute, and finally said, "wow. That hit me. This book hit my heart. I must be baptized." We were thinking "WHAT?! that never happens!" But it did! He is an awesome guy! We are helping him to prepare to be baptized the 23rd of May. Keep him in your prayers!
--We found a candy store outlet!! The outlets are the stores that other stores send their excess orders to for really cheap because they can't sell it all, and then they sell it instead, for really cheap! Usually it is just for clothes, but we found the jackpot! Needless to say, I was snacking on a nice Lindt chocolate bar about an hour ago. ;)
--I am so excited for General Conference. I have continued to listen to talks each morning while I make breakfast; it is so inspiring! I listened to one from Elder Eyring this week called "Man Down" (or something like that). I would recommend it! I am just so amazed at how inspired the leaders of the church are: they seem to know everything that is going on in the world, all the time.
--I had the chance this week to do a scambio with one of the new missionaries in our zone yesterday. His name is Anziano Lingardo. He is awesome. The only member of his family, and a convert of only one year and a half. His conversion story is inspiring. His best friend is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and has always been a good example to him. He ate often at their house for dinner. One night, they had the missionaries over, and it all started from there. He gained a personal testimony, and then told his parents that he wanted to serve a mission. They weren't supportive, but didn't prevent him from going. He is a good kid.
--While on scambio, Anziano Lingardo told me that he was a "pun-master". I took it as a challenge...For the next 15 minutes we spoke only in puns. It was a grape time. *ba dum ching*. Towards the end I just started putting emphasis on random words in a sentence and pretending it was a pun. "It's a good thing we are walking on the street!" "...That's not even a pun!" "What, don't you get it? Street?? Walking??" *he smacks his forehead*. Good times :)
--Josè came to church on Sunday!! It was amazing! He had a great experience. It was his first time attending any church for over 10 years! He turned to me during one of the breaks between classes and said "Everyone is so nice here...It really is just like a big family!" What a blessing!
--Miracle: This week was full of miracles! We have been seeing many blessings from the Lord as a result of working diligently and trying our best to talk to everyone. This week we have been blessed to set 3 baptismal dates with investigators, each on the first lesson that we taught with them! We expect great things from Benito, Jerry, and Umberto! Keep them in your prayers, especially Jerry! But besides that, I had a miracle while talking to a man on the metro the other day. I approached him to start a conversation, and he began to ask me, in very broken Italian, if I was from Italy. I immediately replied "do you speak English?" to which he replied, "yeah! I'm from Wisconson!" It's not every day that you get to speak to an American! We had a wonderful conversation on the metro, and he got off at the same stop as us. He, rob, is here in Italy for a business trip, but returns next week. He said both of his next-door neighbors are Mormons, and both served missions out of the country. He had always wondered when he would see some missionaries out and about, but didn't expect to see them in Italy! We had a great conversation, and I invited him to watch the church's new "Because He Lives" video on the 28th of March, and then talk to his neighbors about what he thought about it. He agreed. It was a great experience!
Everything here in Brescia is well. We are working on keeping our investigators progressing, and motivating the ward to be more missionary-work motivated. A few members have expressed to us that they need motivation. I can attest to that. But we are pumped up and ready to go, and so we will transmit that to them! We hope to inspire them, and I have a wonderful opportunity to give a talk this Sunday. It will be about "living off of your own light and testimony". Get ready Brescia...here it comes! ;) We expect great things from this ward. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Thursday, March 12, 2015
MARCH 11, 2015
Wow! This week has flown! But here we are again at the computer.
--So, we whitewashed Brescia, meaning that we took the place of an entire companionship. So getting to know the area and everything from scratch has been pretty fun. Challenging, but fun. The Lord has been blessing us abundantly; I am so thankful for His guidance and help as He has opened up doors for us that have not previously been available to the other missionaries.
--So, as we are beginning to discover, the missionaries that were here before us weren't the most dedicated missionaries, unfortunately. That is really unfortunate. There were a lot of things out of order in the apartment, in the teaching they were doing, and in the relations with the members. (My heart goes out to them, because when you are out here only to work when you feel like it and do what you want, you really get nothing out of it. You just lose two years, because you will never truly be changed into what the Lord knows you can be. Missions are to change you. They are to strengthen you. They are to mold you into who our Heavenly Father whats you to be. I am infintely grateful, fully recognizing my weaknesses and imperfections, for the great knowledge that the Lord has blessed me with, and for the man he is helping me become.) So I wanted to make sure and make a good impression with the members in the first sacrament meeting we went to. The bishop asked us to bear our testimonies (you could tell he wasn't expecting much), and introduce ourselves in sacrament meeting. I went up and read Alma 26:12, bore testimony that the Lord will make us into who we need to become, that I have seen that on my mission, and I concluded with "Brothers and sisters, I have been on my mission for 20 months, and I just want you all to know....my companion and I are here to work. We are here to be obedient. This is the Lord's work. He will help all bring our brothers and sisters home..." My companion bore a wonderful testimony as well. This has turned out to be a great blessing to us.
--For example, two of our members approached us right after the meeting and said "So you guys are the Zone Leaders? I appreciated your testimonies." We replied that we were happy to be here, and they immediately followed up with "oh good! I have been waiting for some good, obedient missionaries. Would you come over and teach my husband the gospel?" What a blessing! The other lady in the ward said, referring to her husband that has been coming to church on and off for about a year, "you two look like the kind of missionaries that can finally baptize my husband!" What a great blessing! I know that Lord will help us do it.
--We have been seeing some serious success talking to people on the buses and metros here in Brescia. It is amazing how many people are willing to talk about the gospel!
---One of my favorite encounters on the metro this week happened yesterday. We were riding the train from the station to our house, which gives us about 1 minute (two stops)...so we call it "professional mode.", because there is no time to dance around the subject; you get one chance to touch them with the Spirit and then either they are interested in meeting with us or not. As I stepped on the train I caught a glimpse of a man in the corner of my eye....south american! (that is like money in the bank). So I hurried over to him and started up a conversation about Jesus Christ. He told me that he was getting off at the next stop (so I'm thinking in my head, "oh man, game time!"), I immediately bore my testimony to him of the first thing that came to mind--God's love for each of us is unfailing. He asked which church I belonged to. I replied (in spanish ;) )La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ùltimos dìas. He was like "los mormones!? Take my number!" And so I pull out my phone and we exchanged numbers.We are meeting with him later on this week! All this happened in the course of 20 seconds! What a wonderful experience!
--I met a man named Stanley on the bus this week. As we were riding to our next appointment, about 10 minutes away, I began a conversation with him about Heavenly Father. He is from Nigeria, and has great faith. We talked for the whole bus ride, and even said a prayer together right there sitting on the bus. He was touched, and gave us his phone number. We are meeting with him on Sunday! What a miracle!
---So many more amazing things have happened this week; the Lord has been placing people in our path left and right!
Miracle: This past week in Brescia has been amazing! The Lord has been blessing us so much. The miracle of this week is that we have found over 25 potential investigators since we have arrived here, and 7 of those have turned into investigators so far! The Lord has been placing so many people in our path, it is a great blessing. More than anything, I am thankful that the Lord has been blessing me with the ability to see people for who they can become, rather than who they are at present. For example, just yesterday we were at the train station waiting for an investigator to show up for our lesson, and we saw a young man with shaggy clothes, and over 10 piercings on his face, and a large bull-type nose ring. My first thought to myself was "wow, that is gross"....but then, feeling bad for judging him, I changed the thought to "wow, that boy must be seeking attention. He must be having a hard life. Let's see if we can help him." And so I went up and began to talk to him. I found out that he is a Christian, from Peru, and that he has been here for around 8 years. We talked about how the Savior of the world loves each one of us, and how He will never leave us alone. He asked us what church we belonged to, and after we replied he said...."los mormones!?" He then told us that back in Peru, when he was a young boy, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but that he had lost track of the church when he moved here. He said that he has seen many of us around, but was waiting for us to speak to him. He said that he felt loved when we spoke. We exchanged phone numbers and are meeting him again on Saturday. We are planning on inviting him to come back to church! It is amazing to me....you just would never guess that something like that could happen.
--Everything else here is going really well. Anziano Pinnock is a great man, (He is so hilarious! Finally someone that is just as sarcastic as me! We are having a blast cracking silly jokes all the time). We are doing some wonderful work, and have seen so many miracles. We are planning on really focusing on working with and strengthening the members here. Whitewashing has been a bit of a challenge, especially since we didn't have much to work with, but we are working hard and talking with everyone. More than half of the 7 new investigators we have found have been found on public transportation here. I know the Lord will bless us in this new area.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I am so thankful for you, and remember you all each day. Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
--So, we whitewashed Brescia, meaning that we took the place of an entire companionship. So getting to know the area and everything from scratch has been pretty fun. Challenging, but fun. The Lord has been blessing us abundantly; I am so thankful for His guidance and help as He has opened up doors for us that have not previously been available to the other missionaries.
--So, as we are beginning to discover, the missionaries that were here before us weren't the most dedicated missionaries, unfortunately. That is really unfortunate. There were a lot of things out of order in the apartment, in the teaching they were doing, and in the relations with the members. (My heart goes out to them, because when you are out here only to work when you feel like it and do what you want, you really get nothing out of it. You just lose two years, because you will never truly be changed into what the Lord knows you can be. Missions are to change you. They are to strengthen you. They are to mold you into who our Heavenly Father whats you to be. I am infintely grateful, fully recognizing my weaknesses and imperfections, for the great knowledge that the Lord has blessed me with, and for the man he is helping me become.) So I wanted to make sure and make a good impression with the members in the first sacrament meeting we went to. The bishop asked us to bear our testimonies (you could tell he wasn't expecting much), and introduce ourselves in sacrament meeting. I went up and read Alma 26:12, bore testimony that the Lord will make us into who we need to become, that I have seen that on my mission, and I concluded with "Brothers and sisters, I have been on my mission for 20 months, and I just want you all to know....my companion and I are here to work. We are here to be obedient. This is the Lord's work. He will help all bring our brothers and sisters home..." My companion bore a wonderful testimony as well. This has turned out to be a great blessing to us.
--For example, two of our members approached us right after the meeting and said "So you guys are the Zone Leaders? I appreciated your testimonies." We replied that we were happy to be here, and they immediately followed up with "oh good! I have been waiting for some good, obedient missionaries. Would you come over and teach my husband the gospel?" What a blessing! The other lady in the ward said, referring to her husband that has been coming to church on and off for about a year, "you two look like the kind of missionaries that can finally baptize my husband!" What a great blessing! I know that Lord will help us do it.
--We have been seeing some serious success talking to people on the buses and metros here in Brescia. It is amazing how many people are willing to talk about the gospel!
---One of my favorite encounters on the metro this week happened yesterday. We were riding the train from the station to our house, which gives us about 1 minute (two stops)...so we call it "professional mode.", because there is no time to dance around the subject; you get one chance to touch them with the Spirit and then either they are interested in meeting with us or not. As I stepped on the train I caught a glimpse of a man in the corner of my eye....south american! (that is like money in the bank). So I hurried over to him and started up a conversation about Jesus Christ. He told me that he was getting off at the next stop (so I'm thinking in my head, "oh man, game time!"), I immediately bore my testimony to him of the first thing that came to mind--God's love for each of us is unfailing. He asked which church I belonged to. I replied (in spanish ;) )La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ùltimos dìas. He was like "los mormones!? Take my number!" And so I pull out my phone and we exchanged numbers.We are meeting with him later on this week! All this happened in the course of 20 seconds! What a wonderful experience!
--I met a man named Stanley on the bus this week. As we were riding to our next appointment, about 10 minutes away, I began a conversation with him about Heavenly Father. He is from Nigeria, and has great faith. We talked for the whole bus ride, and even said a prayer together right there sitting on the bus. He was touched, and gave us his phone number. We are meeting with him on Sunday! What a miracle!
---So many more amazing things have happened this week; the Lord has been placing people in our path left and right!
Miracle: This past week in Brescia has been amazing! The Lord has been blessing us so much. The miracle of this week is that we have found over 25 potential investigators since we have arrived here, and 7 of those have turned into investigators so far! The Lord has been placing so many people in our path, it is a great blessing. More than anything, I am thankful that the Lord has been blessing me with the ability to see people for who they can become, rather than who they are at present. For example, just yesterday we were at the train station waiting for an investigator to show up for our lesson, and we saw a young man with shaggy clothes, and over 10 piercings on his face, and a large bull-type nose ring. My first thought to myself was "wow, that is gross"....but then, feeling bad for judging him, I changed the thought to "wow, that boy must be seeking attention. He must be having a hard life. Let's see if we can help him." And so I went up and began to talk to him. I found out that he is a Christian, from Peru, and that he has been here for around 8 years. We talked about how the Savior of the world loves each one of us, and how He will never leave us alone. He asked us what church we belonged to, and after we replied he said...."los mormones!?" He then told us that back in Peru, when he was a young boy, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but that he had lost track of the church when he moved here. He said that he has seen many of us around, but was waiting for us to speak to him. He said that he felt loved when we spoke. We exchanged phone numbers and are meeting him again on Saturday. We are planning on inviting him to come back to church! It is amazing to me....you just would never guess that something like that could happen.
--Everything else here is going really well. Anziano Pinnock is a great man, (He is so hilarious! Finally someone that is just as sarcastic as me! We are having a blast cracking silly jokes all the time). We are doing some wonderful work, and have seen so many miracles. We are planning on really focusing on working with and strengthening the members here. Whitewashing has been a bit of a challenge, especially since we didn't have much to work with, but we are working hard and talking with everyone. More than half of the 7 new investigators we have found have been found on public transportation here. I know the Lord will bless us in this new area.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I am so thankful for you, and remember you all each day. Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Monday, March 9, 2015
MARCH 4, 2015
Well, this week has just been wonderful! I love being a missionary so much; by now it is all I remember how to do! ;P But today we are going to play basketball with the young single adults in the ward! I am SO excited I can't even say! I have been looking for a basketball court for so long...so get ready Brandon; I'm practicing up so come July I can take you! ;)
--Well, the first big news is....TRANSFERS! I am getting transferred! :( I kind of have had a feeling that this would be my last transfer here in Alessandria (It is strange how you just know sometimes), so I wasn't surprised. But I am really sad, because Guilliermo is going to be baptized on Friday! The day after I leave! :( So I won't be there to see it. It's like my first transfer from San Remo to Lecco all over again! But, that's okay. I am just so happy that he is going to be baptized, and that he is preparing with his wife to go to the temple and be sealed as an eternal family! I am going to be transferred tomorrow to Brescia. I am excited to serve there. President Dibb is opening up a new companionship of Zone Leaders there in the Brescia ward, and so I will be serving there instead. I have heard some great things about Brescia, but nothing is going to beat Alessandria. It is such a special place. REALLY ugly city, (dog droppings everywhere...not going to miss that!), but the people are amazing. So is the life of a missionary! I know that the Lord needs me elsewhere, and as Joseph Smith once said "When the Lord commands, do it." Wise advice from a good man.
--We had some MANburgers today for lunch! My stomach is not used to eating large quantities of hamburger...but it was worth it! 'Merica.
--This week has been a blast, but kind of sad. It's been since saturday since I have known that I will be leaving, so luckily I got to say goodbye to everyone in church. The members here are so special. It was fast and testimony meeting, and it was a really amazing meeting (more on that later). I got up to bear my testimony and said that I would be leaving and everyone was like "awwww!". I felt special :)
Miracle: This week we had a wonderful miracle. We decided, on a whim, to go to Asti the other day to go visit a less-active member, Roberto, who had invited us to stop by when we had time. We arrived at his house, and after he showed us his two "dogs" (bears!), we went inside to talk. Right off the bat, he said something like "Well, I'm sure I know why you're here. I've been a member for over 40 years, and you have come to tell me "Brother, why don't you come to church?"...and then, (before we had a chance to even respond) he started recounting why and how he came in contact with the church. To make a long story short, missionaries years ago came to his door, knocked, were turned away 3 or 4 times, and then were finally let in. He was touched deeply by the Spirit, read the Book of Mormon in two days, and he and his wife were baptized a month later. He began telling us about some of the most sacred experiences he has had, and the many tender testimonies he has been given. About 40 minutes later, before we had hardly even said a word, his wife jumped in and bore a powerful testimony of how the ward in Alessandria needs him (he has a deep doctrinal knowledge; he even used to be the branch president in the Asti branch years ago), and it touched him. We bore testimony of the same thing. The spirit was so strong; it was so intense. We invited him to come to church the next day, and to bear his testimony at the pulpit.....and he did! After over a year of not coming at all, or talking to any of the members, he came! He came and bore a powerful testimony of the goodness of the Lord in his life, and his desire to come back. What a miracle!
--We have been having some amazing experiences with the youth of the ward. Each week we go to Family Home Evening with them, and try to, as the bishop asked us to, spend time with them and show them how great it is to be a missionary. And just this past week, three young men who previously had no desire to serve a mission told the bishop that they want to begin to prepare to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and serve a mission! I have great confidence in them, and in the youth of the church in Italy. They are so strong; so prepared. It is a privilege to be around them!
--Thought of the week: This week, I have been taking a few minutes to read and ponder the book of Proverbs. I love it! It is like a giant quote book with short and powerful phrases! Here are some of the highlights; they have deep meaning if we will take the time to ponder about them (I don't remember all the references and forgot to write them, but here is what I can remember off of my memory:
"The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion"
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise: For with no guide or overseer, she goeth about doing her duty..."
"Ponder the path of thy feet, let all your ways be firmly established."
"The righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth again"
"And with all thy getting, get understanding; for wisdom is more precious than rubies"
I'll write more down next week; there are some seriously good ones!
Quote of the week: "There can be no good wind for the sailor who knows not to which port he is bound."
-A wise man whom I forgot the name of
Well, that's about all that I have for you all this week. Thank you so much for your love and support and for your prayers. They are needed, and they are surely felt. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
--Well, the first big news is....TRANSFERS! I am getting transferred! :( I kind of have had a feeling that this would be my last transfer here in Alessandria (It is strange how you just know sometimes), so I wasn't surprised. But I am really sad, because Guilliermo is going to be baptized on Friday! The day after I leave! :( So I won't be there to see it. It's like my first transfer from San Remo to Lecco all over again! But, that's okay. I am just so happy that he is going to be baptized, and that he is preparing with his wife to go to the temple and be sealed as an eternal family! I am going to be transferred tomorrow to Brescia. I am excited to serve there. President Dibb is opening up a new companionship of Zone Leaders there in the Brescia ward, and so I will be serving there instead. I have heard some great things about Brescia, but nothing is going to beat Alessandria. It is such a special place. REALLY ugly city, (dog droppings everywhere...not going to miss that!), but the people are amazing. So is the life of a missionary! I know that the Lord needs me elsewhere, and as Joseph Smith once said "When the Lord commands, do it." Wise advice from a good man.
--We had some MANburgers today for lunch! My stomach is not used to eating large quantities of hamburger...but it was worth it! 'Merica.
--This week has been a blast, but kind of sad. It's been since saturday since I have known that I will be leaving, so luckily I got to say goodbye to everyone in church. The members here are so special. It was fast and testimony meeting, and it was a really amazing meeting (more on that later). I got up to bear my testimony and said that I would be leaving and everyone was like "awwww!". I felt special :)
Miracle: This week we had a wonderful miracle. We decided, on a whim, to go to Asti the other day to go visit a less-active member, Roberto, who had invited us to stop by when we had time. We arrived at his house, and after he showed us his two "dogs" (bears!), we went inside to talk. Right off the bat, he said something like "Well, I'm sure I know why you're here. I've been a member for over 40 years, and you have come to tell me "Brother, why don't you come to church?"...and then, (before we had a chance to even respond) he started recounting why and how he came in contact with the church. To make a long story short, missionaries years ago came to his door, knocked, were turned away 3 or 4 times, and then were finally let in. He was touched deeply by the Spirit, read the Book of Mormon in two days, and he and his wife were baptized a month later. He began telling us about some of the most sacred experiences he has had, and the many tender testimonies he has been given. About 40 minutes later, before we had hardly even said a word, his wife jumped in and bore a powerful testimony of how the ward in Alessandria needs him (he has a deep doctrinal knowledge; he even used to be the branch president in the Asti branch years ago), and it touched him. We bore testimony of the same thing. The spirit was so strong; it was so intense. We invited him to come to church the next day, and to bear his testimony at the pulpit.....and he did! After over a year of not coming at all, or talking to any of the members, he came! He came and bore a powerful testimony of the goodness of the Lord in his life, and his desire to come back. What a miracle!
--We have been having some amazing experiences with the youth of the ward. Each week we go to Family Home Evening with them, and try to, as the bishop asked us to, spend time with them and show them how great it is to be a missionary. And just this past week, three young men who previously had no desire to serve a mission told the bishop that they want to begin to prepare to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and serve a mission! I have great confidence in them, and in the youth of the church in Italy. They are so strong; so prepared. It is a privilege to be around them!
--Thought of the week: This week, I have been taking a few minutes to read and ponder the book of Proverbs. I love it! It is like a giant quote book with short and powerful phrases! Here are some of the highlights; they have deep meaning if we will take the time to ponder about them (I don't remember all the references and forgot to write them, but here is what I can remember off of my memory:
"The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion"
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise: For with no guide or overseer, she goeth about doing her duty..."
"Ponder the path of thy feet, let all your ways be firmly established."
"The righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth again"
"And with all thy getting, get understanding; for wisdom is more precious than rubies"
I'll write more down next week; there are some seriously good ones!
Quote of the week: "There can be no good wind for the sailor who knows not to which port he is bound."
-A wise man whom I forgot the name of
Well, that's about all that I have for you all this week. Thank you so much for your love and support and for your prayers. They are needed, and they are surely felt. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
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