Small Miracles and Spiritual Experiences

Ciao Tutti!

We had an interesting week this week filled with small miracles and spiritual experiences from Zone Conference. There isn't really one thing from this week that just sticks out at me so I don't know where to start. Our apartment as of now is still in the process of coming together. We do for some reason have hot water, relatively hot water, but that is about it. We have just figured out that the hallways in our palazzo do have electricity so we have started running an extension cord from our washing machine to right outside our apartment door. I found out also this morning after testing our washing machine for the first time that the hose for the water to exit the washing machine wasn't attached properly. This led to water all over our bathroom floor and my clothes not being washed very well for some reason. Oh well. Last Thursday though we had to wash our clothes at a dry cleaner/place where you can manually wash your clothes in a washing machine. We spent far too long trying to find the place but we were out of clothes completely.

After backtracking and riding the bus we finally found a place. When we entered it was empty, but about 30 seconds after we entered, a young mom and her daugther came in. While we started doing our laundry we got talking and we got talking about families. After a couple minutes the owner of the store came over and started explaining how she knows us. She talked about what we do as missionaries and how she used to go to English class that the missionaries held. After another couple minutes the owner lady walked away but the mother, Simona, became more interested. The conversation very quickly led to the Restoration. We then had one of the most powerful recitations of the First Vision, at least that I've had. Throughout the entire time I was reciting it, the mother, Simona, and I were locked in. It was awesome to see her eyes just light up as I recounted the vision.

We went on to explain the Book of Mormon and how having this and the restored gospel can bless our lives. It was awesome! She agreed to read it and said it like she meant it. It really helped me to realize how the Lord places people in our paths, we just need to open our mouths and speak. There is power in the First Vision as well as in our personal testimonies. My faith in my own testimony grew from this experience and it taught me how this can happen with every experience we have when we bear testimony.

Simona and her daugther left the day after on vacation so we can't see them until the 20th but it will be interesting to see how it will go with them. Switching over to Benedetta, Paola and Francesca.....as of know we don't know a whole lot. We still don't have their phone number because we have met with them through the Virzo Family. The Virzos told us this week that they encouraged them to call us. Benedetta and Paolo didn't come to church this week because the Virzos couldn't and they usually come together. Hopefully this week we will be able to see them more often.

Zone Conference was super awesome yesterday! We learned a butt-load about the gospel. We really learned a lot though about how we can improve.

1)Putting more focus/attention in flooding the earth with Book of Mormons. I personally learned that I need to do better in discussing the importance of this book and then being able to place them.

2)Painting a better picture for our investigators about church. I need to explain and promise better the blessing of coming to church (you will feel love, peace, have guidance and 15 other promised blessing in PMG).

These are just a few of the things I learned about what I can do to become a better missionary. It was truly an awesome conference and we (both me and my collega) came away completely edified and ready to change. We had an interesting last half of the day in which we placed talked with a bunch of really awesome people and had a sweet lesson with the groundskeeper of our palazzo. He is from Lithuania and only speaks a little Italian but it was so awesome. We gave him a Book of Mormon in his language and taught him how to pray. He explained to us a really awesome story about how he came to really believe in God. In short, he was working on a ship and it capsized and he had to swim for like 8 hours before being rescued. He prayed at the end of the lesson, and it was just super spiritual even though we didn't understand each other 100 percent.

I hope you like the long letter. I am sending a package today right after I'm done writing to you all. You all sound like you're doing awesome.

I have yet to get your package so hopefully it comes soon or sometime.

So Andy really did have a "crappy" honeymoon....haha.....that's too bad.

Well I love you all....

Ciao.