Buon Giorno everyone and a Happy New Year! :)
Things here in Rimini are going GREAT! I just love being a missionary! The branch here is so motivated about missionary work, and it is just the greatest atmosphere! We just need to do our best to do our part and find people that the members can help us teach! But the Lord is working miracles in Italy, it is amazing to be a part of.
The weather is B-E-A-utiful today, and has been the past couple days! (And it's a good thing, I am running out of sewing string from the 20 million buttons that have popped off of my winter coat!...bike riding is rough on long coats...but I'm getting to be a sewing pro! haha)
Our investigators are doing great! We are working hard with Morris to prepare him for his baptism on the 28th of March. He is a great man with great faith, and despite many trials he has been relying on the Lord to pull him through....and we actually just recently found out that his parents live in Pesaro, just about 40 minutes away by train from Rimini...and they are meeting with the missionaries there, and have baptismal dates for the 29th! The Lord prepares families and friends together to receive the gospel! :) Christian went to the hospital about a week ago with some kind of lung problem (he told us in Italian, but we couldn't figure out the name in English)...and it turns out it is also contagious...so we haven't been able to meet with him for a while...but we plan on going there in a few days...he said he is almost completely healed! Which is a blessing. He is such a great guy. We are working with Peter still to prepare him to be baptized...but he needs to be a little bit more committed to showing up to our scheduled lessons...or at least calling us to let us know he won't be there...heh. But that's the life of a missionary here in Italy! We call them "Bidone's"...which means like trash can....and we get quite a few of them.
Everything else I can think of is going really well! We have been seeing so many miracles and tender mercies from the Lord. I don't want to jinx it, but I think I am getting used to waking up so early....finally! Because now at least the sun is awake before us... :) The Lord has helped me so much in that regard...whenever I am just totally exhausted, somehow He always gives me strength to make it to the end of the day. It is so marvelous!
Miracle: We had a wonderful miracle this past Monday! Try as we did, we simply couldn't fix any appoinments that day, and so we ended up with 8 hours of finding work. As we planned Sunday night, we decided to try a new finding strategy,-Pray With As Many People As Possible, or as we jokingly call it, PWAMPAP! We decided to offer service to people in the form of prayers, by walking up to them and simply saying "Buon giorno! Noi Siamo servi di Gesù Cristo, e vorremmo offrire una preghiera per voi e la vostra famiglia!"(we couldn't help but think that at least it appeals to the Catholic nature of the general population- priests offering prayers for others...except in this case a different kind of prayer!...and we didn't ask for money after saying it [although we were actually offered it by this sweet old lady: "Thank you for the prayer; Go buy yourselves a coffee!]...we politely declined. :) If they said yes, we would ask their names and ask about their families, and what we could pray for. We figured that after we had done something nice for them, they would be more likely to listen to what we had to say...and it worked! We were blessed by the Lord with the opportunity of praying with 35 people! 16 of those instances resulted in us being able to share the message of the Restoration, or the Plan of Salvation, or one of the other glorious elements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and 5 of those people agreed to meet with us again to discuss our message! It was a wonderful miracle, and above all we felt good because all people, whether they agreed to listen to our message or not, were left with a positive experience. What a blessing it is to be a missionary!
I am so thankful to be on a mission! It is so hard and so exhausting...but so worth it! Thank you all for your loving support and prayers for me and our investigators. I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
MARCH 12, 2014
Buon giorno tutti!
Wow! What a great week! It has been crazy so far, but so wonderful! The mission is so busy...I am dead tired...and it's P-day...not looking good for the rest of the week! No, I know that the Lord will help and bless me with health and strength to do his work.
The weather has been SO good! It's at the point where it is warm enough to go out with just shirts, but cool enough that we aren't dying of heat stroke as soon as we hop on the bikes. I love it!
Our investigators are doing really well! Unfortunately, Davide has been having a few problems, and so we had to postpone the baptism indefinitely by request of the parents, but he is a great kid, and I'm sure things will get better! Morris and Peter are doing really well. It is so special to see and hear the testimonies of the people that the Lord has already prepared for the gospel. They seem to know eveything even before we teach them! It is such a blessing to be able to bear testimony about the love that our Heavenly Father has for each one of us. It is just such a great thing to know! :) We are working hard to find more people to teach....and it's been tough! But I know that the Lord has people out there prepared for us...we just need to find them!
We had a great activity with the branch last night...even though we were so busy that us and the 2 sorelle missionaries ended up planning it in like 10 minutes...But luckily I have a bit of experience at "winging it"...thank you highschool! haha :) It ended up going really well though! We had a demonstration of how to teach about the Restoration in five minutes, using the awesome pamphlets with pictures that the church makes for the missionaries, we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in answering any question, and about the real reason we even share the Gospel anyway. Because we love our brothers and sisters and want them to have all the happiness and peace and joy that we have found, especially in this world that is becoming increasingly difficult and sad. We ended by singing the Milan Italy mission hymn (which is the coolest hymn EVER!), and we were all inspired to do more effective missionary work!
I am SO excited for General Conference. It is like a missionarie's only excuse to watch T.V! Haha, just kidding! I am so excited to hear what God's messengers have to say to us in these times that are so crazy and difficult. I have downloaded around 200 general conference talks, and put them on my USB, and so I listen to one almost every day while I'm cooking breakfast and getting ready for the day. Those are inspired words. What a blessing it is to have a prophet of God, and Apostles in our day!
Let's see...we also used a lot of our P-Day time to start to make a "General Authority War" card game. It is basically the greatest thing I have ever seen. I'll show it to you guys when I come home!
The work of the Lord is so wonderful. It really is just such a blessing to be here. The life of a missionary is so....great! I don't have to worry about any of my problems; just how to solve other peoples'! It's so great! :)
Miracle: We had a very tender and wonderful miracle this week. While out doing casa Sunday evening, we met a man on the street named Alberto. He was headed to mass, but invited us to come back the next night to speak with him. So we returned the next day and rung his citofono, but there was no response. We remembered learning that the Lord always sends His missionaries to places for a reason, and so we started ringing the houses of all of the others that lived in the apartment complex. After just 2 or 3 rings, we were invited in! We were met by a wonderfully kind man named Giuseppe, and he led us to his apartment, explaining to us that things have been very hard for him and his family in the past few years. He explained that they have 2 young boys, ages 6 and 7, who are severely autistic-to the point where they don't talk or anything. As we walked into the room and sat at the table they were running all around, and jumping off tables chairs, and everything else you could imagine. But you couldn't help but notice a feeling of love and peace that was in the home, despite all the noise. It was amazing. We sat down, learned that he and his wife, Maria, had met with the missionaries over 20 years ago, and that he had kept in touch with one of the missionaries for many years, but now he is married and with 5 children, and they have slowly lost contact. He had also met with President Caramia, our district President, and told us to say hello to him for them! We plan on following up with that! They are VERY catholic (Surprise...haha), but have a Book of Mormon (have never read it...), and are interested in talking more about the church! We were able to bear our testimonies to them about the glorious Plan of Salvation, Resurrection, and the eternal nature of the family. It touched my heart to see the patience and love they had for their two sons. They invited us back on Saturday night for dinner, and we are very excited to see them and their precious sons! It is such a blessing to be a missionary!
Everything else is going so well, I hope and pray that all is well with you all at home! I love you all and am very thankful for your love, support, and prayers! Have a great week everyone! Love,
Anziano Wilson
Wow! What a great week! It has been crazy so far, but so wonderful! The mission is so busy...I am dead tired...and it's P-day...not looking good for the rest of the week! No, I know that the Lord will help and bless me with health and strength to do his work.
The weather has been SO good! It's at the point where it is warm enough to go out with just shirts, but cool enough that we aren't dying of heat stroke as soon as we hop on the bikes. I love it!
Our investigators are doing really well! Unfortunately, Davide has been having a few problems, and so we had to postpone the baptism indefinitely by request of the parents, but he is a great kid, and I'm sure things will get better! Morris and Peter are doing really well. It is so special to see and hear the testimonies of the people that the Lord has already prepared for the gospel. They seem to know eveything even before we teach them! It is such a blessing to be able to bear testimony about the love that our Heavenly Father has for each one of us. It is just such a great thing to know! :) We are working hard to find more people to teach....and it's been tough! But I know that the Lord has people out there prepared for us...we just need to find them!
We had a great activity with the branch last night...even though we were so busy that us and the 2 sorelle missionaries ended up planning it in like 10 minutes...But luckily I have a bit of experience at "winging it"...thank you highschool! haha :) It ended up going really well though! We had a demonstration of how to teach about the Restoration in five minutes, using the awesome pamphlets with pictures that the church makes for the missionaries, we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in answering any question, and about the real reason we even share the Gospel anyway. Because we love our brothers and sisters and want them to have all the happiness and peace and joy that we have found, especially in this world that is becoming increasingly difficult and sad. We ended by singing the Milan Italy mission hymn (which is the coolest hymn EVER!), and we were all inspired to do more effective missionary work!
I am SO excited for General Conference. It is like a missionarie's only excuse to watch T.V! Haha, just kidding! I am so excited to hear what God's messengers have to say to us in these times that are so crazy and difficult. I have downloaded around 200 general conference talks, and put them on my USB, and so I listen to one almost every day while I'm cooking breakfast and getting ready for the day. Those are inspired words. What a blessing it is to have a prophet of God, and Apostles in our day!
Let's see...we also used a lot of our P-Day time to start to make a "General Authority War" card game. It is basically the greatest thing I have ever seen. I'll show it to you guys when I come home!
The work of the Lord is so wonderful. It really is just such a blessing to be here. The life of a missionary is so....great! I don't have to worry about any of my problems; just how to solve other peoples'! It's so great! :)
Miracle: We had a very tender and wonderful miracle this week. While out doing casa Sunday evening, we met a man on the street named Alberto. He was headed to mass, but invited us to come back the next night to speak with him. So we returned the next day and rung his citofono, but there was no response. We remembered learning that the Lord always sends His missionaries to places for a reason, and so we started ringing the houses of all of the others that lived in the apartment complex. After just 2 or 3 rings, we were invited in! We were met by a wonderfully kind man named Giuseppe, and he led us to his apartment, explaining to us that things have been very hard for him and his family in the past few years. He explained that they have 2 young boys, ages 6 and 7, who are severely autistic-to the point where they don't talk or anything. As we walked into the room and sat at the table they were running all around, and jumping off tables chairs, and everything else you could imagine. But you couldn't help but notice a feeling of love and peace that was in the home, despite all the noise. It was amazing. We sat down, learned that he and his wife, Maria, had met with the missionaries over 20 years ago, and that he had kept in touch with one of the missionaries for many years, but now he is married and with 5 children, and they have slowly lost contact. He had also met with President Caramia, our district President, and told us to say hello to him for them! We plan on following up with that! They are VERY catholic (Surprise...haha), but have a Book of Mormon (have never read it...), and are interested in talking more about the church! We were able to bear our testimonies to them about the glorious Plan of Salvation, Resurrection, and the eternal nature of the family. It touched my heart to see the patience and love they had for their two sons. They invited us back on Saturday night for dinner, and we are very excited to see them and their precious sons! It is such a blessing to be a missionary!
Everything else is going so well, I hope and pray that all is well with you all at home! I love you all and am very thankful for your love, support, and prayers! Have a great week everyone! Love,
Anziano Wilson
Friday, March 7, 2014
MARCH 5, 2014
Buon Giorno!!
The work here in Rimini is going so wonderfully,(even though both of our bikes broke today and it has been thunderstorming for about a week...haha) The life of a missionary is just the best though! :) Despite all the things that go wrong, it is just such a happy life! We just laugh about everything and know that we are in the right place. It reminds me of a quote that I heard in the MTC "The mission is just 2 years of awkward situations....but so rewarding!" haha...so true. That's exactly what we were thinking as we were riding our broken bikes to the repair shop today through the central mall place...my companions bike was squeaking like a banshee, my week was rumbling in and out of place and we both had helmets on in suits going about 1 mile per hour. We turned some heads...but I'm sure it is just because we are such handsome young men....right? :) haha
We have been meeting with Morris and Christian and Davide still, and are preparing for Davide's baptism a week after next Friday! Davide's mother bore her testimony last Sunday in sacrament meeting (Which, by the way, was such a great meeting! All the teenage kids in the branch bore their testimonies about how they are like the only people in their friend groups who are mormon, or even believe in God, and about how they have been sharing the gospel with their friends!) about how she has been having some really hard times in the home (the father isn't a member) recently, but about how we brought the spirit into her home the past few times, and she has felt the Lord's arms around her helping her through her trials. We brought a puzzle for Davide, and hid the 9 pieces around the kitchen for him to find. But we gave the last piece to his mom to hold, and told him that if he needed help finding them, to first ask her, and then us. He went around the room looking for the pieces, and finally gave up. He then turned to his mom for help and advice (something that we have been working with him to do!) and he completed the puzzle. We then read with him from Alma 56:48, that says, talking about the Stripling Warriors "...for they did not doubt that their mothers knew it." It was a wonderful experience. How blessed I am to have a righteous mother to raise me who "knew it", who I could always ask for advice and help. I love you mom :)
Another highlight of the week! I was blessed with the opportunity to call up the Anziani in Lecco to ask about where my bag with all my scriptures is and how I can get it (Don't worry, it is still in Lecco...hasn't moved a bit...ha ), but I was able to talk to Anziano Lopez and ask him about how the work was going with all of our old investigators!...It turns out that 4 of them have been baptized in the past 6 weeks I have been gone!! Two young boys about 20 or so named Marvin and Osvaldo, who we met and started teaching about 2 months ago and a mother and a son from the Huamacto family who had been investigators for about a year- Nelly and Giorgio! I can't believe it! They were such great people, it warms my heart to hear about their baptisms and their continued progression in the gospel! The gospel truly changes lives...I have seen that so much here in Italy.
Let's see...more good news is that we get to go back to Bergamo and back (A 12 hour train ride) for a 10 hour culture class/video that sometimes the missionaries have to take (It's about like how to register kids for school, and how to do doctor visits, and all that...stuff that missionaries don't need necessarily, haha)...But it's required! So that will be a good time! It is insane how much traveling missionaries do here in Italy. But it's a good time!
It is such a blessing to be a missionary. Time is flying by so quickly..It is a reminder to me that I need to take advantage of every moment.
Miracle: This week we finally were able to contact a Kenyan man named Peter-a referral from the Anziani in Pesaro-after two weeks of trying to call and almost giving up. He answered and said that he could meet us the next day in centro, and so we went. It was down-pouring rain, and as we waited there we were pretty sure he wouldnit show up. Just as we were about to leave, he tapped the back of my shoulder and introduced himself. We were ecstatic to meet him, and we went right into the Restoration. We learned of his great faith, and invited him to be baptized on April 4th at the end of the lesson. He readily accepted, saying "If God needs me to do it I know I must." The spirit had touched his heart. What a blessing it is to be a missionary!
Well, I love you all tons, and thank you for your prayers and support! Remember those in Ukraine in your prayers, I was told by a member here that they are in a really difficult situation with wars and things. Thanks for all you do, I remember you in my prayers!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
The work here in Rimini is going so wonderfully,(even though both of our bikes broke today and it has been thunderstorming for about a week...haha) The life of a missionary is just the best though! :) Despite all the things that go wrong, it is just such a happy life! We just laugh about everything and know that we are in the right place. It reminds me of a quote that I heard in the MTC "The mission is just 2 years of awkward situations....but so rewarding!" haha...so true. That's exactly what we were thinking as we were riding our broken bikes to the repair shop today through the central mall place...my companions bike was squeaking like a banshee, my week was rumbling in and out of place and we both had helmets on in suits going about 1 mile per hour. We turned some heads...but I'm sure it is just because we are such handsome young men....right? :) haha
We have been meeting with Morris and Christian and Davide still, and are preparing for Davide's baptism a week after next Friday! Davide's mother bore her testimony last Sunday in sacrament meeting (Which, by the way, was such a great meeting! All the teenage kids in the branch bore their testimonies about how they are like the only people in their friend groups who are mormon, or even believe in God, and about how they have been sharing the gospel with their friends!) about how she has been having some really hard times in the home (the father isn't a member) recently, but about how we brought the spirit into her home the past few times, and she has felt the Lord's arms around her helping her through her trials. We brought a puzzle for Davide, and hid the 9 pieces around the kitchen for him to find. But we gave the last piece to his mom to hold, and told him that if he needed help finding them, to first ask her, and then us. He went around the room looking for the pieces, and finally gave up. He then turned to his mom for help and advice (something that we have been working with him to do!) and he completed the puzzle. We then read with him from Alma 56:48, that says, talking about the Stripling Warriors "...for they did not doubt that their mothers knew it." It was a wonderful experience. How blessed I am to have a righteous mother to raise me who "knew it", who I could always ask for advice and help. I love you mom :)
Another highlight of the week! I was blessed with the opportunity to call up the Anziani in Lecco to ask about where my bag with all my scriptures is and how I can get it (Don't worry, it is still in Lecco...hasn't moved a bit...ha ), but I was able to talk to Anziano Lopez and ask him about how the work was going with all of our old investigators!...It turns out that 4 of them have been baptized in the past 6 weeks I have been gone!! Two young boys about 20 or so named Marvin and Osvaldo, who we met and started teaching about 2 months ago and a mother and a son from the Huamacto family who had been investigators for about a year- Nelly and Giorgio! I can't believe it! They were such great people, it warms my heart to hear about their baptisms and their continued progression in the gospel! The gospel truly changes lives...I have seen that so much here in Italy.
Let's see...more good news is that we get to go back to Bergamo and back (A 12 hour train ride) for a 10 hour culture class/video that sometimes the missionaries have to take (It's about like how to register kids for school, and how to do doctor visits, and all that...stuff that missionaries don't need necessarily, haha)...But it's required! So that will be a good time! It is insane how much traveling missionaries do here in Italy. But it's a good time!
It is such a blessing to be a missionary. Time is flying by so quickly..It is a reminder to me that I need to take advantage of every moment.
Miracle: This week we finally were able to contact a Kenyan man named Peter-a referral from the Anziani in Pesaro-after two weeks of trying to call and almost giving up. He answered and said that he could meet us the next day in centro, and so we went. It was down-pouring rain, and as we waited there we were pretty sure he wouldnit show up. Just as we were about to leave, he tapped the back of my shoulder and introduced himself. We were ecstatic to meet him, and we went right into the Restoration. We learned of his great faith, and invited him to be baptized on April 4th at the end of the lesson. He readily accepted, saying "If God needs me to do it I know I must." The spirit had touched his heart. What a blessing it is to be a missionary!
Well, I love you all tons, and thank you for your prayers and support! Remember those in Ukraine in your prayers, I was told by a member here that they are in a really difficult situation with wars and things. Thanks for all you do, I remember you in my prayers!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Saturday, March 1, 2014
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Buonissimo giornissimo!
Sorry for the late email everyone, we had to...err...we were blessed, to go back to San Remo this week (again) to finally pick up my Permesso di Sojourno! (I know you all have been sitting glued to the computer screen waiting for the past few days, I apologize, haha) But it turns out they only gave me a one year Permesso...(even though the church always pays for 2 years, Italy likes to do that I guess.) So I will be able to do all the paperwork all over again in a few months for another one! Hurrah Italia! haha :)
But this week really has been great anyways. We have been getting just in such a groove here these past few weeks; the work is going wonderfully! We have a little boy who is 9 named Davide, who has just decided to be baptised on the 14th of March! That was such a wonderful moment, and he also told us that he is going to invite all of his friends from school to the baptism! ...Which means they'll bring their parents! :) Apparently a missionary in our district had a baptism like that in his last city, and after the baptism all the other little kids were like "Well hey, I want to be baptized too!", and long story short they were blessed with like 4 or 5 familes to teach! So we are hoping and praying for the best!
We are also teaching a man named Morris. He is from Nigeria, but speaks Italian! (which is pretty rare; usually it's English). We had a wonderful few lessons with his this past week, and after much prayer and thought he has decided to be baptized on the 21st! He also needs your prayers for support!
Finally, we are teaching a saint of a man named Christian. He is Italian; we found him outside his house on the street, and since he has invited us into his home multiple times. He is always so kind to us, even though he is young and looks like a pretty "rugged" kind of guy. It is always kind of funny when we teach him though, because his mom is always sitting on the couch, and is SUPER Catholic, and so she tries to squeak in some nay-sayer comments about here and there. But we actually just recently found out the Christian hasn't been able to read his Book of Mormon as much, because his mom has been reading it! She always listens to our lessons, and I think secretly she knows it's true too :) So we gave Christian another Book of Mormon to be his.
We are teaching some other great people too, but those are the most progressing at the moment! The mission has been seeing so many miracles; the Lord is truly hastening His work! Even in the heart of Catholicism. It is such a blessing and a wonder to be part of the Lord's army in such a special time.
One of the members here in Rimini recently showed us a picture of the temple in construction in Rome, (It still has a ways to go until finished), becase he was down there for a business meeting. He said that it is just right in the center of one of the busiest parts of town. So everyone will see it. :)
Miracle: We had a wonderful miracle this week! So we had to travel to San Remo this week again to pick up my Permesso di Sojourno, and so after 2 full days and 18 hours of train riding, we were pretty exhausted. But after train cancellations and delays and bus-substitutions, and about everything else you could imagine, we finally arrived at the Rimini train station! Right at the bottom of the stairs leading to the station we saw a large Nigerian man with two large bags (almost as big as he was!), trying to haul them up the stairs. We ran over and gave him a hand with the bags up the stairs and across the road to the bus stop, and started a conversation with him. We learned that his name was Luke. We also learned that, in fact, he was a referral from the missionaries in Pesaro we had received a few weeks ago, whom we had already tried to call several times with no success! He explained to us that he had just been traveling, had seen our calls, but did not answer them because there would be extra roaming fees. We ended up teaching him a small lesson right there at the bus stop, and then setting up an appointment to call him next week! The Lord works in such mysterious, but wonderful ways!
Well both the weather and the work are just so beautiful here, I am having the time of my life. I am so exhausted, but so thankful. We are so blessed to be alive!
I love you all and pray for you; thank you so much for remembering me in your prayers! Remember to keep the people of Italy in them also. It is a rough place for a lot of people around here.
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Sorry for the late email everyone, we had to...err...we were blessed, to go back to San Remo this week (again) to finally pick up my Permesso di Sojourno! (I know you all have been sitting glued to the computer screen waiting for the past few days, I apologize, haha) But it turns out they only gave me a one year Permesso...(even though the church always pays for 2 years, Italy likes to do that I guess.) So I will be able to do all the paperwork all over again in a few months for another one! Hurrah Italia! haha :)
But this week really has been great anyways. We have been getting just in such a groove here these past few weeks; the work is going wonderfully! We have a little boy who is 9 named Davide, who has just decided to be baptised on the 14th of March! That was such a wonderful moment, and he also told us that he is going to invite all of his friends from school to the baptism! ...Which means they'll bring their parents! :) Apparently a missionary in our district had a baptism like that in his last city, and after the baptism all the other little kids were like "Well hey, I want to be baptized too!", and long story short they were blessed with like 4 or 5 familes to teach! So we are hoping and praying for the best!
We are also teaching a man named Morris. He is from Nigeria, but speaks Italian! (which is pretty rare; usually it's English). We had a wonderful few lessons with his this past week, and after much prayer and thought he has decided to be baptized on the 21st! He also needs your prayers for support!
Finally, we are teaching a saint of a man named Christian. He is Italian; we found him outside his house on the street, and since he has invited us into his home multiple times. He is always so kind to us, even though he is young and looks like a pretty "rugged" kind of guy. It is always kind of funny when we teach him though, because his mom is always sitting on the couch, and is SUPER Catholic, and so she tries to squeak in some nay-sayer comments about here and there. But we actually just recently found out the Christian hasn't been able to read his Book of Mormon as much, because his mom has been reading it! She always listens to our lessons, and I think secretly she knows it's true too :) So we gave Christian another Book of Mormon to be his.
We are teaching some other great people too, but those are the most progressing at the moment! The mission has been seeing so many miracles; the Lord is truly hastening His work! Even in the heart of Catholicism. It is such a blessing and a wonder to be part of the Lord's army in such a special time.
One of the members here in Rimini recently showed us a picture of the temple in construction in Rome, (It still has a ways to go until finished), becase he was down there for a business meeting. He said that it is just right in the center of one of the busiest parts of town. So everyone will see it. :)
Miracle: We had a wonderful miracle this week! So we had to travel to San Remo this week again to pick up my Permesso di Sojourno, and so after 2 full days and 18 hours of train riding, we were pretty exhausted. But after train cancellations and delays and bus-substitutions, and about everything else you could imagine, we finally arrived at the Rimini train station! Right at the bottom of the stairs leading to the station we saw a large Nigerian man with two large bags (almost as big as he was!), trying to haul them up the stairs. We ran over and gave him a hand with the bags up the stairs and across the road to the bus stop, and started a conversation with him. We learned that his name was Luke. We also learned that, in fact, he was a referral from the missionaries in Pesaro we had received a few weeks ago, whom we had already tried to call several times with no success! He explained to us that he had just been traveling, had seen our calls, but did not answer them because there would be extra roaming fees. We ended up teaching him a small lesson right there at the bus stop, and then setting up an appointment to call him next week! The Lord works in such mysterious, but wonderful ways!
Well both the weather and the work are just so beautiful here, I am having the time of my life. I am so exhausted, but so thankful. We are so blessed to be alive!
I love you all and pray for you; thank you so much for remembering me in your prayers! Remember to keep the people of Italy in them also. It is a rough place for a lot of people around here.
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Friday, February 21, 2014
FEBRUARY 19, 2014
Buon Giorno tutti!
Wow! What a week! It has been great here in Rimini! The weather has been amazing! Except for the thunderstorm that is going on right now...I am soaked, haha. But it has been so amazing! Our investigators are doing so well! But I have a lot of miracles to share so I better get started!
Miracle: We have been experiencing so many wonderful miracles this past week it is hard to single out just one to share. But the most wonderful that comes to mind is what happened just this past Monday. I decided to name that name Miracle Monday! The miracles of that day started off with a toally unexpected "accident". We were riding our bikes through centro, weaving in and out of all the walking and biking people and dogs as usual, when we came to a blind corner, which we passed without problems every day. For some reason though, this time was different. Just as I was riding up to the corner, the front wheel of a woman's bike shot out from the corner. I slammed on the brakes but not in time, and we crashed practically full-speed into each other. Amazingly, however, neither of us were hurt at all, or even moved. Our bikes' forces had seemed to counter-act each other, and so we both had even remained upright on our seats during and after the crash. The only result was that her front wheel, which I had hit with the front of my wheel, was slightly...and by slightly I mean VERY bent. Like a 60 degree angle. After making sure that each other was okay, we learned that she was on her way to work and would be busy that night, working until midnight. So we proposed to her that we would exchange bikes and that night she would just use my bike, and the next day we would bring her bike back to her house. She agreed. And so we carried the bike home. The next day we surprised her by fixing the tire (even recieved a very kind discount from the bike shop owner), and brought it to her address she had given us. After just a minute or so of talking, she asked us what it was we actually do, and said that she had always wondered what the boys on bikes with helmets (NOONE around here wears helmets on bikes, but it is a rule and so we do :) ) were doing always around Rimini. We told her and bore our testimonies to her about what we did, and taught her about the Restoration. We then invited her to pray with us. We prayed for her children by name, and after the prayer she was in tears and said to us "What a great way to pray. I hope we meet again someday. You boys do good things." As much as we tried, she said she was just too busy to meet with us right now, but gave us her number to call her in a few weeks. We plan on following up with that! There were many more miracles that day to follow!
After that wonderful experience, we were out finding investigators to teach in the park, when we decided to speak with a man named Francesco sitting alone on a bench, smoking a cigar. (To be completely honest, he looked a little scary.) haha. But we talked with him for quite some time about religion and life, and learned that he had quite the background! He had recently turned to God after a life of drugs and alcohol and crime in Rome where he is from. He told us that God had saved his life, that he was just finishing up a rehabilitation program, and that he knew that he had major changes to make in his life. We bore our testimonies to him about the Savior's love, and how the Atonement literally changes lives. I could feel so powerfully the Lord's love for him as we spoke. We said a prayer with him at the end of our discussion, praying for him and those he loves by name. As we ended to prayer his whole demeanor changed. He thanked us so much for the prayer, and expressed to us that that is the first time he has ever been prayed for in his life. We gave him a card with a website to go on and he said he will search for the church closest to where he lives and go as soon as he is home! Rome has a wonderfully referral coming.
Later that night, after a few lessons, we were walking around centro (the center mall area of town) for the little time we had left before it was time to head home. We met a large man named Sarvio, sitting on a bench. He was from Kalambria (Southern Italy), here visiting his wife, who is in the cancer center for an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer. She has only a short time to live. He expressed to us his sorrow for her, that she had always been a woman of great kindness and compassion and was dying at the young age of 70. He then expressed how he himself had been in a diving accident years ago, which resulted in him being in a coma for 2 weeks. How he was scarred with a form of Parkinson's from it. How his brother died in a motorcycle crash at the age of 28, and how he feels useless in helping her. He even said sometimes he wished that he had never woken up from the coma. We bore testimony to him of our Heavenly Father's love for him, that he has eternal worth, and shared the glorious message of the Plan of Salvation with him. We expressed that he will see his wife again. That this life is only a small step in our Eternal Father's great a glorious Plan for us. That he was saved for a reason, and the Lord has great things in store for him. He burst into tears, and expressed to us all that was going on in his life. We ended up speaking with him for over an hour and a half, talking, but mostly just listening. At the end he insisted on taking us to a nearby pastry shop, buying us a pastry, ( Southern Italians are so nice!) and then he gratefully went on his way. We left him a pamphlet explaining the Plan of Happiness, and he said he will be calling us again soon when he is in need of someone to talk to. What a privilege and blessing it is to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, to do good in other's lives. To help and listen and comfort as the Savior did when he was on the earth.
So you may be thinking "wow. What a wonderful day!" or "wow...that's a lot of miracles!"... But Wait! There's more! After our conversation with him, we decided to talk to one more person before heading home. We saw a man on a nearby bench, and went over to talk with him. His name is Sharrif, and came to Italy years ago from Romania. We spoke with him for a long time about him beliefs in the gospel, and learned that he has been reading the bible for over 8 years every day. He assured us that he already knew everything, quoting us scripture after scripture. We told him that we were sure we had a message that he had never heard before. Intrigued, he listened as we explained the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ though the prophet Joseph Smith, and as we reccounted the miracle of the First Vision to him. We explained to him the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and how he could pray for himself to know the truth of all things. We invited him to pray, right there on the bench, to ask his Father in Heaven if this was the path that he should take. He prayed in Romanian, and though we couldn't understand a single word, the Spirit flooded our hearts. As we remained silent to ponder after the prayer, he turned to us, and accepted the baptismal invite we had extended him before the prayer...for March 14th! We have since met with him once, and he is such a wonderful guy with great faith. The Lord has great plans for him.
It is such a blessing to be a missionary! I can't even believe the kind of miracles we see. It is so amazing to be here in Italy, spreading the peace and hope that comes from the gospel!
The Lord has a plan for everything. Even when things seem to be going wrong, it could simply be a miracle in disguise. What a great life it is being a missionary!
Everything here is going so well, thank you all so much for your prayers in my behalf, and for the good that you all do every day! I love you all!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Wow! What a week! It has been great here in Rimini! The weather has been amazing! Except for the thunderstorm that is going on right now...I am soaked, haha. But it has been so amazing! Our investigators are doing so well! But I have a lot of miracles to share so I better get started!
Miracle: We have been experiencing so many wonderful miracles this past week it is hard to single out just one to share. But the most wonderful that comes to mind is what happened just this past Monday. I decided to name that name Miracle Monday! The miracles of that day started off with a toally unexpected "accident". We were riding our bikes through centro, weaving in and out of all the walking and biking people and dogs as usual, when we came to a blind corner, which we passed without problems every day. For some reason though, this time was different. Just as I was riding up to the corner, the front wheel of a woman's bike shot out from the corner. I slammed on the brakes but not in time, and we crashed practically full-speed into each other. Amazingly, however, neither of us were hurt at all, or even moved. Our bikes' forces had seemed to counter-act each other, and so we both had even remained upright on our seats during and after the crash. The only result was that her front wheel, which I had hit with the front of my wheel, was slightly...and by slightly I mean VERY bent. Like a 60 degree angle. After making sure that each other was okay, we learned that she was on her way to work and would be busy that night, working until midnight. So we proposed to her that we would exchange bikes and that night she would just use my bike, and the next day we would bring her bike back to her house. She agreed. And so we carried the bike home. The next day we surprised her by fixing the tire (even recieved a very kind discount from the bike shop owner), and brought it to her address she had given us. After just a minute or so of talking, she asked us what it was we actually do, and said that she had always wondered what the boys on bikes with helmets (NOONE around here wears helmets on bikes, but it is a rule and so we do :) ) were doing always around Rimini. We told her and bore our testimonies to her about what we did, and taught her about the Restoration. We then invited her to pray with us. We prayed for her children by name, and after the prayer she was in tears and said to us "What a great way to pray. I hope we meet again someday. You boys do good things." As much as we tried, she said she was just too busy to meet with us right now, but gave us her number to call her in a few weeks. We plan on following up with that! There were many more miracles that day to follow!
After that wonderful experience, we were out finding investigators to teach in the park, when we decided to speak with a man named Francesco sitting alone on a bench, smoking a cigar. (To be completely honest, he looked a little scary.) haha. But we talked with him for quite some time about religion and life, and learned that he had quite the background! He had recently turned to God after a life of drugs and alcohol and crime in Rome where he is from. He told us that God had saved his life, that he was just finishing up a rehabilitation program, and that he knew that he had major changes to make in his life. We bore our testimonies to him about the Savior's love, and how the Atonement literally changes lives. I could feel so powerfully the Lord's love for him as we spoke. We said a prayer with him at the end of our discussion, praying for him and those he loves by name. As we ended to prayer his whole demeanor changed. He thanked us so much for the prayer, and expressed to us that that is the first time he has ever been prayed for in his life. We gave him a card with a website to go on and he said he will search for the church closest to where he lives and go as soon as he is home! Rome has a wonderfully referral coming.
Later that night, after a few lessons, we were walking around centro (the center mall area of town) for the little time we had left before it was time to head home. We met a large man named Sarvio, sitting on a bench. He was from Kalambria (Southern Italy), here visiting his wife, who is in the cancer center for an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer. She has only a short time to live. He expressed to us his sorrow for her, that she had always been a woman of great kindness and compassion and was dying at the young age of 70. He then expressed how he himself had been in a diving accident years ago, which resulted in him being in a coma for 2 weeks. How he was scarred with a form of Parkinson's from it. How his brother died in a motorcycle crash at the age of 28, and how he feels useless in helping her. He even said sometimes he wished that he had never woken up from the coma. We bore testimony to him of our Heavenly Father's love for him, that he has eternal worth, and shared the glorious message of the Plan of Salvation with him. We expressed that he will see his wife again. That this life is only a small step in our Eternal Father's great a glorious Plan for us. That he was saved for a reason, and the Lord has great things in store for him. He burst into tears, and expressed to us all that was going on in his life. We ended up speaking with him for over an hour and a half, talking, but mostly just listening. At the end he insisted on taking us to a nearby pastry shop, buying us a pastry, ( Southern Italians are so nice!) and then he gratefully went on his way. We left him a pamphlet explaining the Plan of Happiness, and he said he will be calling us again soon when he is in need of someone to talk to. What a privilege and blessing it is to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, to do good in other's lives. To help and listen and comfort as the Savior did when he was on the earth.
So you may be thinking "wow. What a wonderful day!" or "wow...that's a lot of miracles!"... But Wait! There's more! After our conversation with him, we decided to talk to one more person before heading home. We saw a man on a nearby bench, and went over to talk with him. His name is Sharrif, and came to Italy years ago from Romania. We spoke with him for a long time about him beliefs in the gospel, and learned that he has been reading the bible for over 8 years every day. He assured us that he already knew everything, quoting us scripture after scripture. We told him that we were sure we had a message that he had never heard before. Intrigued, he listened as we explained the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ though the prophet Joseph Smith, and as we reccounted the miracle of the First Vision to him. We explained to him the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and how he could pray for himself to know the truth of all things. We invited him to pray, right there on the bench, to ask his Father in Heaven if this was the path that he should take. He prayed in Romanian, and though we couldn't understand a single word, the Spirit flooded our hearts. As we remained silent to ponder after the prayer, he turned to us, and accepted the baptismal invite we had extended him before the prayer...for March 14th! We have since met with him once, and he is such a wonderful guy with great faith. The Lord has great plans for him.
It is such a blessing to be a missionary! I can't even believe the kind of miracles we see. It is so amazing to be here in Italy, spreading the peace and hope that comes from the gospel!
The Lord has a plan for everything. Even when things seem to be going wrong, it could simply be a miracle in disguise. What a great life it is being a missionary!
Everything here is going so well, thank you all so much for your prayers in my behalf, and for the good that you all do every day! I love you all!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Saturday, February 15, 2014
FEBRUARY 12, 2014
Rimini!!! :) What a great little (big) city! I am loving it here; we are working hard and seeing so many miracles. The work of the Lord is so wonderful, I am so thankful to be a part of it.
The weather here is AMAZING, oh my goodness it has been a wonderful break from the 2 weeks of straight rain in Udine! But, I still miss that place. It is weird how you grow so close to people in such a short time when you are teaching them the gospel. Sometimes I will find myself thinking about how to help these people all the time, and then stopping and being like "whoa, I actually really care about these people...about strangers." But then I realize that they aren't strangers, they are my brothers and sisters. I am so thankful for the opportunity to help my family grow :)
So my companion, Anziano Strang, is from Canada....yikes. haha just kidding! He is actually in my same MTC group, so we have a lot of inside jokes already. He is hilarious though! We are basically always sarcastic to each other when we talk, cracking jokes about everything. It is a good time. The other day we went on for about 10 minutes one night about..what was it....I can't rememeber! Something about like singing the national anthem at an event and just holding every note out for 7 days, and then totally singing the wrong word at the end. It was so funny.
I am really thankful that I have been blessed with so many different interests and talents; it helps me to be able to get along with a lot of different types of people. For example my companion doesn't like sports at all (what!?), but we still both have a big interest in music. So we find things to talk about anyway. The mission is so great that way-you learn how to get along with different types of people.
Transfers are next week, so I will probably be going to a new city again, (haha just kidding), but that would be intense.
We also had to ride another 12 hours worth of trains yesterday to go pick up my companion's Permesso di Sojourno from Bergamo, so we are still a little bit in travel shock. But we have seen that the Lord puts people in our paths when we least expect it; even on the trains. I am so thankful to be a missionary!
Miracle: We had a few wonderful miracles this week in Rimini! It has been a really wonderful city, I am excited to serve here. The miracle I woud like to share this week happened last Sunday. We had just finished church and had a few appointments planned, but when we tried to call them, both fell through or rescheduled. We went to our one appointment that was confirmed, only to hear that he was no longer interested and just showed up to tell us. So we were feeling a little down on our luck. But we kept a good attitude, and my companion reminded me about the miracle fence. So we kept working hard. We met 3 wonderful potentials on the street, 2 of which we set up a new appointment with already, and were even let in during casa! (That's the first time ever for me.) We were let in by a wonderful Albanian family- a mother, son, daughter, and the "nanny" person that helps the mother take care of the home. They were very nice, gave us a drink and we explained part of the Restoration to them. They accepted the lesson gratefully, but didn't commit to another appointment, rather telling us to just stop by sometime. So next Sunday we plan on stopping by and bringing a Book of Mormon for them. This miracle was such a spiritual-booster, and the beginning to our successful 4 lesson night! The Lord's hand is truly in this work. He just likes to stretch us and grow us a little before the miracles. For we receive no witness until after the trail of our faith.
Everything is going great! I hope everything is well at home, you are all in my prayers always! I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and support.
Love,
Anziano Wilson
The weather here is AMAZING, oh my goodness it has been a wonderful break from the 2 weeks of straight rain in Udine! But, I still miss that place. It is weird how you grow so close to people in such a short time when you are teaching them the gospel. Sometimes I will find myself thinking about how to help these people all the time, and then stopping and being like "whoa, I actually really care about these people...about strangers." But then I realize that they aren't strangers, they are my brothers and sisters. I am so thankful for the opportunity to help my family grow :)
So my companion, Anziano Strang, is from Canada....yikes. haha just kidding! He is actually in my same MTC group, so we have a lot of inside jokes already. He is hilarious though! We are basically always sarcastic to each other when we talk, cracking jokes about everything. It is a good time. The other day we went on for about 10 minutes one night about..what was it....I can't rememeber! Something about like singing the national anthem at an event and just holding every note out for 7 days, and then totally singing the wrong word at the end. It was so funny.
I am really thankful that I have been blessed with so many different interests and talents; it helps me to be able to get along with a lot of different types of people. For example my companion doesn't like sports at all (what!?), but we still both have a big interest in music. So we find things to talk about anyway. The mission is so great that way-you learn how to get along with different types of people.
Transfers are next week, so I will probably be going to a new city again, (haha just kidding), but that would be intense.
We also had to ride another 12 hours worth of trains yesterday to go pick up my companion's Permesso di Sojourno from Bergamo, so we are still a little bit in travel shock. But we have seen that the Lord puts people in our paths when we least expect it; even on the trains. I am so thankful to be a missionary!
Miracle: We had a few wonderful miracles this week in Rimini! It has been a really wonderful city, I am excited to serve here. The miracle I woud like to share this week happened last Sunday. We had just finished church and had a few appointments planned, but when we tried to call them, both fell through or rescheduled. We went to our one appointment that was confirmed, only to hear that he was no longer interested and just showed up to tell us. So we were feeling a little down on our luck. But we kept a good attitude, and my companion reminded me about the miracle fence. So we kept working hard. We met 3 wonderful potentials on the street, 2 of which we set up a new appointment with already, and were even let in during casa! (That's the first time ever for me.) We were let in by a wonderful Albanian family- a mother, son, daughter, and the "nanny" person that helps the mother take care of the home. They were very nice, gave us a drink and we explained part of the Restoration to them. They accepted the lesson gratefully, but didn't commit to another appointment, rather telling us to just stop by sometime. So next Sunday we plan on stopping by and bringing a Book of Mormon for them. This miracle was such a spiritual-booster, and the beginning to our successful 4 lesson night! The Lord's hand is truly in this work. He just likes to stretch us and grow us a little before the miracles. For we receive no witness until after the trail of our faith.
Everything is going great! I hope everything is well at home, you are all in my prayers always! I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and support.
Love,
Anziano Wilson
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
FEBRUARY 5, 2014
Buon giorno tutti! Sorry, I might have to keep this a little short, we are catching a train in a half hour to go to a little town you guys may have heard of--Venice--for P day today. But yeah, just going to spend a day in Venice, no biggie. :) I'm SO excited! Italy is just so great! And don't worry Big L, I'll take pictures!
But the big news for this week is....drum rolll......I'm being transferred!..again!...On this Thursday. haha. It's called a "space transfer", because technically transfers aren't for another 3 weeks, but a few missionaries get moved around sometimes midway through the 6 weeks. So the mission president called me last night and told me that I have been called to go serve in Riminey for at least the rest of this transfer, but most likely more. So this will be my 4th city in 4 transfers....wow. A lot of people in my MTC group are still in their first city. I think that the Lord is trying to help me to love packing....because I HATE it! But I do love changing it up and meeting new members and investigators in a new city, so I am excited to go wherever the Lord needs me.
I don't know too much about Riminey, other than that the President told me it is a big party/tourist town and that I was to stay away from the beach. But he won't have to worry about that, I have already had practice staying away from the beach in San Remo. I told one of my roommates today "Yeah, I guess I just am supposed to learn to appreciate beautiful cities more...I just keep getting called to them!" He was just like "...I hate you..." haha. But I really have been in some beautiful cities. Udine is kind of plain, (And oh my goodness does it rain! It has literally been non-stop raining for a week. I just bought a new umbrella yesterday because it has been so windy and nasty! But now I am being transferred out of the rain....whoopie! ha) but the members and people here are so great. That's what the mission is all about anyway. Any place can be beautiful, and is beautiful, when you are spreading a message of happiness and joy.
But besides that, we have been having a really wonderful time here in Udine. I am really sad to leave the wonderful branch here and the investigators I have grown to love. Plus my companion has been the best companion ever! I am sad to leave him. We have been working so hard to be strictly obedient and diligent and we have just seen so many miracles, including the fact that one day I just woke up and could speak and understand 90% of Italian! Maybe it has just come so gradually that I haven't noticed, but the other day I was talking to someone the other day on the street, and realized that my companion was across the street talking to somone else, and I was actually holding the conversation! The gift of tongues is real. The Lord's hand has been in our work so much these past few weeks. But I know that the Lord has people for me to help in Riminey too, and so I will go and do. :)
We came up with a realy great strategy for doing street contacting, that I really enjoyed a lot! We made a "portable white board" by laminating a piece of computer paper, and then drew a big smiley face on it with a marker, and would go around to people and smile real big and ask "What makes you happy?". It was really great, because people just can't resist smiling when they see a big smiley face and a couple of goobers smiling real big. haha :)
My miracle this week is a little different than the typical one. I have noticed something in particular these past few days: I am so exhausted! But so happy. It is the weirdest thing. I get home every night aching and just ready to collapse on my bed, and yet I can't help but smile and think about really how many blessings I have been given. The Lord strengthens His missionaries so much. As soon as I'm out the door talking to people, or sprinting to the next bus stop to get to an appointment, I feel just fine. It's such an amazing thing.
Well, I hope everything is well with all of you. You are all in my prayers every night, and I am so thankful for your thoughts and prayers, and for your letters! I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
But the big news for this week is....drum rolll......I'm being transferred!..again!...On this Thursday. haha. It's called a "space transfer", because technically transfers aren't for another 3 weeks, but a few missionaries get moved around sometimes midway through the 6 weeks. So the mission president called me last night and told me that I have been called to go serve in Riminey for at least the rest of this transfer, but most likely more. So this will be my 4th city in 4 transfers....wow. A lot of people in my MTC group are still in their first city. I think that the Lord is trying to help me to love packing....because I HATE it! But I do love changing it up and meeting new members and investigators in a new city, so I am excited to go wherever the Lord needs me.
I don't know too much about Riminey, other than that the President told me it is a big party/tourist town and that I was to stay away from the beach. But he won't have to worry about that, I have already had practice staying away from the beach in San Remo. I told one of my roommates today "Yeah, I guess I just am supposed to learn to appreciate beautiful cities more...I just keep getting called to them!" He was just like "...I hate you..." haha. But I really have been in some beautiful cities. Udine is kind of plain, (And oh my goodness does it rain! It has literally been non-stop raining for a week. I just bought a new umbrella yesterday because it has been so windy and nasty! But now I am being transferred out of the rain....whoopie! ha) but the members and people here are so great. That's what the mission is all about anyway. Any place can be beautiful, and is beautiful, when you are spreading a message of happiness and joy.
But besides that, we have been having a really wonderful time here in Udine. I am really sad to leave the wonderful branch here and the investigators I have grown to love. Plus my companion has been the best companion ever! I am sad to leave him. We have been working so hard to be strictly obedient and diligent and we have just seen so many miracles, including the fact that one day I just woke up and could speak and understand 90% of Italian! Maybe it has just come so gradually that I haven't noticed, but the other day I was talking to someone the other day on the street, and realized that my companion was across the street talking to somone else, and I was actually holding the conversation! The gift of tongues is real. The Lord's hand has been in our work so much these past few weeks. But I know that the Lord has people for me to help in Riminey too, and so I will go and do. :)
We came up with a realy great strategy for doing street contacting, that I really enjoyed a lot! We made a "portable white board" by laminating a piece of computer paper, and then drew a big smiley face on it with a marker, and would go around to people and smile real big and ask "What makes you happy?". It was really great, because people just can't resist smiling when they see a big smiley face and a couple of goobers smiling real big. haha :)
My miracle this week is a little different than the typical one. I have noticed something in particular these past few days: I am so exhausted! But so happy. It is the weirdest thing. I get home every night aching and just ready to collapse on my bed, and yet I can't help but smile and think about really how many blessings I have been given. The Lord strengthens His missionaries so much. As soon as I'm out the door talking to people, or sprinting to the next bus stop to get to an appointment, I feel just fine. It's such an amazing thing.
Well, I hope everything is well with all of you. You are all in my prayers every night, and I am so thankful for your thoughts and prayers, and for your letters! I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Anziano Wilson
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