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
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