Well it's good to hear that everything is going well. This week has been interesting. First it started out sucky because haha I tried fixing our shower. The tube from the bath tub faucet to the shower head is broken and I failed miserably trying to fix it. That afternoon we bought a new one for dirt cheap, but of course the hose we bought was too short. Haha, so yeah, it didn't go too well. Now our shower is worse than before but it's all good; it's not too bad. Then on Sunday I figured out that my wallet was gone. I was sitting in church and I felt my pocket to look at my ministerial card and it wasn't there. I figured I had left it on my dresser, but after church I looked and it wasn't there. I tried to think back to when I used my wallet last and I hadn't used it in like 3 days haha. I'm pretty positive that it was stolen though. Anziano Dean thinks that I lost it but I disagree. So yeah, I will be sure to let you know when the new debit card gets here.
Our week got a lot better though, and the wallet thing didn't bring me down really. I was more mad at myself for letting someone steal something from me. Hopefully he will see my ministerial card and realize I'm a missionary and return the wallet....yeah it wont happen. On Monday we had a really good district meeting that our zone leaders came to. They taught us a little bit different way of doing casa (tracting) and teaching. It is something we kind of already do but not as much as we should. Basically once they open the door we teach a quick principle and then ask them a question pertaining to the principle. We follow that up with a testimony then the other missionary does the same thing. After we do that we ask to come in and talk more. It isn't like way different then the way we usually do it, but it allows us to really connect with the person because we are able to bear testimony to them and help them feel the spirit. It can be hard though because there are so many people here that shut the door right after they see us.
Any way, we had a lot of success with this new approach. We got in because of it twice yesterday and taught a couple lessons. We also met this super nice lady from Albania that is Muslim. She has three kids and her husband left her 5 years ago. We were able to tell her that our message brings happiness and comfort. We could not go inside because there wasn't a man in the house but we will go back this weekend with a member. It was pretty sad while she was telling us about herself but we felt the spirit and were able to give her some faith with the short message we provided at the door.
We also met this African named Sunday the other day and last night we went to his house for an appointment. We got there and nobody answered so we kinda stood in the hallway on the floor below thinking about where we should go next. We also made a few phone calls to set up appointments for the following day. So after like five to ten minutes, Sunday come running out and yells, "Elders!". He started apologizing and saying sorry I didn't come to the door. Apparently he was cooking and couldn't hear us but saw that we had called him on his phone. haha he let us in and we taught him. He is from Nigeria and doesn't speak very well. Even though Nigerians speak English, it's English that we cant understand very well(pidgeon english). It was funny though because every time we would say something about Jesus Christ he would get all excited and say "YES YES...I like that". He said he would come to church this week so hopefully he comes.
Our other investigator Gabriel, from Ecuador is also super solid. He is the nicest kid and is very interested. He totally understands that if he reads the Book of Mormon and prays with faith that he will get an answer. It sort of sucks because he is living with his girlfriend.
Another funny thing that happened this week is when I called one of our new converts Robin. Robin is like 20 years old and is Nigerian. I called him to see if I had left my wallet at his house and that I had lost it or someone stole it. When I told him that he yelled into the phone "OH NO...OH NO" haha it was so funny. I called him the next day, and he said it was not there. I told him it is OK and then it got brought up that my credit cards were in the wallet and he yelled again..."AHHHHHH"...haha it was hilarious the way he did it though.
So yeah we had a really fun week and I learned a lot. I have started speaking the language more often and it's still just coming along slowly but surely. Hopefully I can just keep progressing. It will be interesting when I can finally fully understand haha. So I read a really sweet talk this week in the Liahona General Conference addition from last conference. It is by Elder Patric Kearon of the Seventy and its titled "Come Unto Me With Full Purpose of Heart and I Shall Heal You". It was really cool. He tells a story about a 92 year old man that served in WWll when he was younger. He was driving through a minefield in an army jeep and the jeep ran over a land mine. The driver was killed but he lived. It goes on to say that, we must always follow the exact path of the jeep ahead. That if we deviate to the right or to the left, whether from laziness or rebelliousness it can be fatal. Returning to the track from which the land mines have been removed brings enormous relief.
Elder Kearon goes onto to say "No one can find peace in a minefield." I really like that because it is so true. We can't surround ourselves with evil things and expect to be OK. We can't justify that just watching a little bit of a bad movie is OK or that it wont do any harm. He quoted President Faust(I had actually used this quote in our last weeks district meeting because it was super awesome. "When obedience becomes our goal, it's no longer an irritation; instead of becoming a stumbling block, it becomes a building block." We must also rely on the Great Physician like Elder Kearon said in this talk. We can rely on him to heal us, but we must always strive to hold to the iron rod.
Obedience has really become one of my main focuses this past transfer. I have strived to work my hardest, to study earnestly, pray diligently and just try to do everything as if the Savior was by my side. I have really seen the blessing from doing it this transfer. Although we haven't had any baptisms thus far and our numbers aren't anything to get excited about, I have grown a lot. It will be fun to see how much more I can grow throughout the mission. Maybe I will be blessed enough to grow in height as well!...doubt it...chances are it will be in the waist band if anything.
So yeah, do you have any transfer predictions?...transfer end next week and we aren't sure whats gonna happen haha. A lot of the missionaries think Anziano Dean is going to be a trainer which means I would most likely go somewhere else. This transfer really cruised by. The mission definitely has been going by fast. Well, I hope all is going well.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
"I Want To Do That"
Hello Hello.........
Alright, well despite all the disappointments and struggles of last week, this week has turned out to be pretty fun(for me, anyway). Yeah, I was a bit down last week, but it still wasn't too bad. I forgot to mention that two Thursdays ago we had Zone Conference. Elder Kopischke of the 70 and Area President came and spoke. We had to go to Milano for it and it lasted all day. It was super fun. He talked a lot about our approach as missionaries when we are doing strada (street contacting). Basically we just need to smile(which I am good at most of the time), testifying of the Restoration and always asking people for referrals. Obviously he went into a lot more depth about these points, but it was really fun. It was actually a big conference. I think 5 of the 8 zones were there. So, there were a lot of missionaries there. I even got pulled up in front because every time he would look at me I kept smiling and I couldn't help it. Basically he was like, do your best to not smile and I failed....haha oh well.
There were some funny moments last week too. While we were doing casa (tracting) we came across this lady and her son. We were giving a brief explanation at the door of our message and when we finished she said, "non interesa".....as she is closing the door her little boy that is like 5 yrs old says, "mama, per favore!" (Mama, please!). It was pretty cute/funny. It is always kinda funny when we ask our African investigators to come to church and they say "By the grace of God I will come to your church this week". Yeah, basically they aren't coming to church. haha. It is always funny to hear it though; I just wished they would actually come.
We also had interviews for our zone last Thursday and they were really fun. I was able to clear the water under the bridge with president. Apparently he got kinda mad at me for a comment I made in our last zone conference. I questioned they way we were using our time in the mission, and he didn't like the comment I guess. Interviews were fun though. While everyone else had their interview, the assistants and zone leaders had a lesson. Basically we just need to do a better at missionary work. We need to teach more lessons, especially lessons with members and lessons with only members. It was really fun though.
I got my package as well last Thursday! Thanks for all the goodies...they were delicious. Yeah, I think I ate them all by Sunday haha. I figured I'm gonna eat them sooner or later. Why not sooner rather then later(there is a Brink quote for ya haha).
I also got the letter from grandma and grandpa. Thank them for me, letters are the best(and the presents within them).
Well this week was fun, different, sort of productive. My comp was sick...ALL week!...we were able to teach some lessons though at the church because the church is right behind our apartment. It takes like less than a minute to walk there. So yeah my spirits were up though. I had a lot of time to read, read, read and practice the language(or at least study the language). I had started Jesus the Christ last transfer but I didn't get very far. I read like half the book this week and it's so awesome. I have learned so many interesting things about the life of Christ and of the people who were close to him. Even the little notes at the end of each chapter are very interesting. For instance, I didn't really know that the Savior hadn't started his ministry until he was like 30 yrs old. James Talmage is a genius, but it probably helps that he was intelligent and an apostle.
I am still not speaking as much Italian as I should be. We are going to work on speaking with each other more outside of the apartment. I feel that I have gotten a little better though at speaking, although it is definitely not flowing. haha Ashley, I'm not gonna embarrass myself by writing something to you in Italian haha sorry.
I think a real faith builder moment for me this past week was with our African investigator Helen. She is so awesome. I can't remember if I mentioned her last week. She is 60 yrs old and she came to church with a friend a few weeks ago. We happened to have a baptism that day with Kinglsey. She stayed and watched and afterward she came up to us and said "I want to do that". Since then we have taught her like 4 or 5 times and she has a baptismal date set for the end of this month. It is funny because she is always saying thank you. Haha she says thank you after everything we say. She is super nice and is just always excited for what we have to teach. It really brings into perspective how much our Heavenly Father blesses us. That she just happened to come to church two weeks ago and that we had a baptism that day. If we hadn't had a baptism, she might not have had the experience that she did. But because all that happened, she is now preparing to be baptized. She brings her grandchildren(Moses and Princess) to church. That is how my faith in the our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has grown. They truly can do all things, it just not always that we recognize the role that they play. One of our goals each day is to find a miracle. We think about our day and try to locate/recognize a miracle that we saw each day because we are blessed with them everyday (even when we are trapped inside because our companion is sick).
The assistants read something by Elder Eyring during our interviews that was pretty awesome. I hadn't heard it before, but later that day I noticed that the same quote/talk was taped to my closet door.
"I am a a part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with the low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talk, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience. I am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My Banner will be clear". -- Elder Eyring.
I just thought it was super super awesome. It really made me think about how hard I have been working thus far in the mission. It has inspired me to work harder, to give my best so that, like the quote says, "when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me." The work really is doing awesome. We had an opportunity to take some of our investigators last Saturday to our ward for a baptism(a couple in the other ward in Torino). It was really awesome and I think they enjoyed it a lot. They also got to hear the testimonies of those baptized and it was very spiritual. I didn't understand all of it, but I could feel the spirit and I know our investigators did, too. Hopefully they can just act on their faith.
One of our biggest problems has been that everyone we teach is poor. None of them have jobs and it's hard for them to come to church, have time to read, or have time for lessons. It is definitely a hard thing to do because they have to care for themselves and their families. They just don't realize that the Lord will bless them by showing their faith. Many of the people we teach also say they have faith, they just don't know they actually have to act on it. Hopefully we can try and help them realize these things because if they can understand it, then nothing will stop them from receiving the fullness of the gospel.
Haha so i am 20!.....wahoo...feels kinda weird. We made the cake you sent and it was really good. I'm gonna try sending off some pictures on a CD very soon. Keep praying for us; I'm doing the same for all you back home. Love you all and thanks for you support!
Ciao Tuck
Alright, well despite all the disappointments and struggles of last week, this week has turned out to be pretty fun(for me, anyway). Yeah, I was a bit down last week, but it still wasn't too bad. I forgot to mention that two Thursdays ago we had Zone Conference. Elder Kopischke of the 70 and Area President came and spoke. We had to go to Milano for it and it lasted all day. It was super fun. He talked a lot about our approach as missionaries when we are doing strada (street contacting). Basically we just need to smile(which I am good at most of the time), testifying of the Restoration and always asking people for referrals. Obviously he went into a lot more depth about these points, but it was really fun. It was actually a big conference. I think 5 of the 8 zones were there. So, there were a lot of missionaries there. I even got pulled up in front because every time he would look at me I kept smiling and I couldn't help it. Basically he was like, do your best to not smile and I failed....haha oh well.
There were some funny moments last week too. While we were doing casa (tracting) we came across this lady and her son. We were giving a brief explanation at the door of our message and when we finished she said, "non interesa".....as she is closing the door her little boy that is like 5 yrs old says, "mama, per favore!" (Mama, please!). It was pretty cute/funny. It is always kinda funny when we ask our African investigators to come to church and they say "By the grace of God I will come to your church this week". Yeah, basically they aren't coming to church. haha. It is always funny to hear it though; I just wished they would actually come.
We also had interviews for our zone last Thursday and they were really fun. I was able to clear the water under the bridge with president. Apparently he got kinda mad at me for a comment I made in our last zone conference. I questioned they way we were using our time in the mission, and he didn't like the comment I guess. Interviews were fun though. While everyone else had their interview, the assistants and zone leaders had a lesson. Basically we just need to do a better at missionary work. We need to teach more lessons, especially lessons with members and lessons with only members. It was really fun though.
I got my package as well last Thursday! Thanks for all the goodies...they were delicious. Yeah, I think I ate them all by Sunday haha. I figured I'm gonna eat them sooner or later. Why not sooner rather then later(there is a Brink quote for ya haha).
I also got the letter from grandma and grandpa. Thank them for me, letters are the best(and the presents within them).
Well this week was fun, different, sort of productive. My comp was sick...ALL week!...we were able to teach some lessons though at the church because the church is right behind our apartment. It takes like less than a minute to walk there. So yeah my spirits were up though. I had a lot of time to read, read, read and practice the language(or at least study the language). I had started Jesus the Christ last transfer but I didn't get very far. I read like half the book this week and it's so awesome. I have learned so many interesting things about the life of Christ and of the people who were close to him. Even the little notes at the end of each chapter are very interesting. For instance, I didn't really know that the Savior hadn't started his ministry until he was like 30 yrs old. James Talmage is a genius, but it probably helps that he was intelligent and an apostle.
I am still not speaking as much Italian as I should be. We are going to work on speaking with each other more outside of the apartment. I feel that I have gotten a little better though at speaking, although it is definitely not flowing. haha Ashley, I'm not gonna embarrass myself by writing something to you in Italian haha sorry.
I think a real faith builder moment for me this past week was with our African investigator Helen. She is so awesome. I can't remember if I mentioned her last week. She is 60 yrs old and she came to church with a friend a few weeks ago. We happened to have a baptism that day with Kinglsey. She stayed and watched and afterward she came up to us and said "I want to do that". Since then we have taught her like 4 or 5 times and she has a baptismal date set for the end of this month. It is funny because she is always saying thank you. Haha she says thank you after everything we say. She is super nice and is just always excited for what we have to teach. It really brings into perspective how much our Heavenly Father blesses us. That she just happened to come to church two weeks ago and that we had a baptism that day. If we hadn't had a baptism, she might not have had the experience that she did. But because all that happened, she is now preparing to be baptized. She brings her grandchildren(Moses and Princess) to church. That is how my faith in the our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has grown. They truly can do all things, it just not always that we recognize the role that they play. One of our goals each day is to find a miracle. We think about our day and try to locate/recognize a miracle that we saw each day because we are blessed with them everyday (even when we are trapped inside because our companion is sick).
The assistants read something by Elder Eyring during our interviews that was pretty awesome. I hadn't heard it before, but later that day I noticed that the same quote/talk was taped to my closet door.
"I am a a part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with the low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talk, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience. I am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My Banner will be clear". -- Elder Eyring.
I just thought it was super super awesome. It really made me think about how hard I have been working thus far in the mission. It has inspired me to work harder, to give my best so that, like the quote says, "when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me." The work really is doing awesome. We had an opportunity to take some of our investigators last Saturday to our ward for a baptism(a couple in the other ward in Torino). It was really awesome and I think they enjoyed it a lot. They also got to hear the testimonies of those baptized and it was very spiritual. I didn't understand all of it, but I could feel the spirit and I know our investigators did, too. Hopefully they can just act on their faith.
One of our biggest problems has been that everyone we teach is poor. None of them have jobs and it's hard for them to come to church, have time to read, or have time for lessons. It is definitely a hard thing to do because they have to care for themselves and their families. They just don't realize that the Lord will bless them by showing their faith. Many of the people we teach also say they have faith, they just don't know they actually have to act on it. Hopefully we can try and help them realize these things because if they can understand it, then nothing will stop them from receiving the fullness of the gospel.
Haha so i am 20!.....wahoo...feels kinda weird. We made the cake you sent and it was really good. I'm gonna try sending off some pictures on a CD very soon. Keep praying for us; I'm doing the same for all you back home. Love you all and thanks for you support!
Ciao Tuck
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