Our Efforts Are Never Wasted

Do I want to go to the singles ward?  Uh....no. VV4 for life.

Well things are definitely winding down here. I've been blessed to see a bit of everyone over the last week and work really hard at the same time. The work is making progress little by little so it's been particularly comforting for me. I always worry whether or not I'm making an impact in the places I serve. I feel as if I've made an impact here in this branch. The highlight of this past week was setting a baptismal date with Ivano!

We've really been prepping him these last few weeks and it's paid off. We went into the lesson having planned to talk about baptism. We talked about it and talked about his own progress. We explained to him that his next step could only be baptism. I asked him at the end, ''Ivano if Jesus Christ was here and asked you to follow him by being baptized, what would you say yes?''.  Haha to our dismay he said no. We asked him why and he said he didn't feel ready. We challenged him anyway and promised that he could be ready by the November 4th. He declined but we insisted and continued being persistent. At a certain point he said by November 4th I can't but maybe by December 4th. Eveson and I sort of looked at each other and turning back to Ivano we said ok!!

As I ran down his stairs (this was Saturday) with joy I slipped and sprained my ankle. Yeah, I basically couldn't walk the rest of the day. On Monday it got super purple and blue and was pretty big, but since then it's gone down. Haha. Hopefully it's just a sprain or twisted ankle and nothing more. Right now I've been walking on it and it's ok so don't worry.

We haven't really heard from Brunella much but I'm confident that with time things will work out. She knows these things are true but she needs to go forward with her faith. The guy from England, Christian, has fallen off a bit. It strange because he was so elect. Personally, I think his girlfriend or wife kind of scared him off or something. If he's truly elect though he will respond and come find us.

This last transfer has really been a good one! Although the work didn't go amazing it has really progressed. We've worked our butts off with the members and pretty soon there will be a lot of awesome referrals for the missionaries. Already there are so many people that the members are working with but they aren't at that ''give them to the missionary stage.'' This next transfer things are going to explode.

I've had some cool moments this last week in which multiple missionaries have thanked me for being a GEM (Grow Every Missionary program in the mission). Apparently, president while talking to the assistants used me as an example of being a GEM my entire mission. The assistant is the same missionary who took my place in Verona after I left and wanted to tell me. He also thanked me for 'Gemming' the city because he had such a wonderful transfer there.

Now I don't say this to vaunt or be prideful, obviously you know that, but it was a great 'feel good' moment. It helps me realize that all our efforts are never wasted. I can say that my mission would have been a serious letdown if I just given a mediocre  effort. I'm grateful the Lord has seen it fit to bless me for those efforts. I think that even without all the success in terms of baptisms I would say I was successful. I would be successful in the way that I've grown and changed. I'm so much more prepared for life and what it has in store (at least I hope so)...vediamo (we'll see).



Torino Efforts
 

Feeling Good About Pisa

 

Sanremo Blessings

I totally planned on making a small email today...darn....lucky you.

Well I got some good goodies for you all....cookies.  Nah, I have some other gifts as well...most of which I will buy in Milano tomorrow...

Catch you later

In Tune And A Good "Christian"

Hey everyone!

Well I am managing to keep my head in the game. It's getting difficult the more others, members, talk or mention that I am leaving. My departure always seems to get brought up especially when we are planning or what not. Haha it's slowing down the clock big time. I guess I am exaggerating just a little though. 

Overlooking Sanremo

I'm definitely not as sad as I thought I would be to leave. I think the more I see the mission winding down I'm seeing that I've served the Lord and now I have a new way of serving. I'm excited to see how much more the work here in Sanremo will go though. On Sunday we were a bit down in our numbers over the week. We had gone to Milano which really took a chunk of our finding time away.

We lost a bunch of time when we went to another city and the brethren from Africa gave us a bidone. Well Sunday night rolled around and we were doing Casa in Casa (tracting). We got a call from this investigator Giovanna saying she was at the church waiting for us. We hadn't invited her the day before to come to church for the morning services. Well when we got there she realized nobody was there, of course nobody was because as it was 8:30pm. We explained that church is in the morning and we asked if she would like to go and have a lesson inside. She didn't really want to so we taught her outside where we were sitting.

The lesson went well but it's not the main part of the story. Right after we finished we had taken about 30 steps and we stopped this couple. We met Christian from England and his girlfriend Juliet from Nigeria. We got talking and right from the start it was clear that Christian was very in tune and was a good ''christian''. We started talking about the Restoration, the Book of Mormon and he was amazed. He said, ''really so there is a prophet today and this Book is new scripture?''. We talked for all of about 20 minutes and set up an appointment for the next night!

Well Monday night came around and we waited for awhile for them to show up in church. I then called them and apparently they'd just forgotten about the appointment. Well they came right after and we had a great lesson! Christian is so elect and just gets it! His girlfriend or wife, I'm not really sure yet, isn't quite as elect but is very kind. They both said yes to the soft baptismal invite! It was really a great blessing to our prayers. 

Sisters McNamara & Jones, Robinsons, and Elder Eveson

We've been talking a lot about our transfer vision and what we had visualized. Obviously with no baptisms we felt that we could still find and set 2 baptismal dates before the end of the transfer. We are praying that all will go well with these two new investigators. The miracle for me was the fact that they live here in Sanremo. When we first met them I thought for sure that they were tourists.

I had a great experience this week with prayer and receiving answers. I was really stressed out about district meeting and our English class. It was the end of the week and i really wasn't sure what i would do for either activities. I finally just figured I needed to first pray and then do my part in studying. Well, I prayed a ton and I used all my spare time to grind something out. In the end I was well prepared for English class even though I'm a terrible teacher of English. For district meeting while I was thinking I came across a talk that was perfect for our district. Leading up to both things I was just filled with lots of peace and I know that Heavenly Father was giving me a hand. It just adds for my love of the Gospel and teaching of the Savior when we witness the blessings after the trial of our faith.


Well, you guys don't get to excited but be ready to get your party on. I just hope Sawyer doesn't pee on me when I tackle him to the ground. He'll remember me quickly... just watch.

Love you all and have a great day!

I Love Missionary Work!

Ciao tutti. Non vedo l'ora di vederve! (Hi everyone.  I can't wait to see you all!)

You are just going to have to grind out these last few weeks. Time is slowing down but it's been giving me a lot of mental preparation. I keep thinking about what I will do, what I want to do and what the Lord wants me to do. Boy am I glad that I learned how to plan out my day as a missionary. I feel like it's going to give me so much time everyday to accomplish all the things I need to do.

Things here in Sanremo are going pretty good. We've been able to see Brunella a few times since last week. We will probably end up changing her baptismal date to October but she's still loving the Gospel. She's waiting right now for her work to decide whether she needs to return to work or if she can get medical leave. She's been talking with lots of people to figure the whole thing out. It's made it really difficult though because it's possible that they confine her to her home. We're praying that she'll get medical leave, with her leg being injured, and be able to leave home when she wants. She is hanging in like a trooper though and is learning how to rely on Heavenly Father.

New Investigator Luz (from Argentina)

Ivano is progressing. I think our threats, threats is a little strong, of dropping him are pushing him a bit. He's been accepting our invites and his mom even came to church on Sunday. It was funny because when we asked him if she'd like to come he said probably not. Moments after Ilde, Ivano's mom, came into the room and I asked her. She told us, ''Sure, I would love to come.'' They came together with the Genovese family and I think she enjoyed it.

We are determined to find more people this week. The assistants challenged us to get 7 investigators this week so we have to. So far we are at zero. We spent all Monday teaching our brothers from Africa and having district meeting. Yesterday we woke up at 5:45 and had to catch the train at 6:50 to Milano for a small conference. We got there are 10:50 and we finished around 4:30. We ended up catching our train around 7 and got home at 11:30. haha long day. So we have a lot of ground to make up but I have a lot of hope and faith for this week. There are 4 or 5 people already that we just need to get hold of and set up appointments with.


Sanremo Morning

At the end of the conference me and one of the other ''dying'' missionaries bore our testimonies. Usually the missionaries going home bear their testimonies in their last conference. It was super weird but I felt the spirit so much in the moments leading up to my turn. Again I felt it as I bore testimony and listened to the others after. I've been nervous about post-mission life but I think a lot of the nervousness has left.

It's been really difficult lately with the brothers from Africa. They are all being kicked out of their camps on Dec. 31. Because of this they've all been really worried and I would be, too. We try to encourage them as much as we can but I can't promise them a home, documents or a job. Maybe I can, I would like to, can I? I feel the best thing to do is to promise them that if they will be obedient and do what is asked of them by God then everything will be OK. I feel for them so much and I've really grown close to them over the last few months. It will be nearly impossible to remain in contact with them after the mission. They have phones but none have email and none of them have fixed housing. It's the same story with those in Pavia.

I came away with some really great stuff from the conference yesterday. I realized that I need to better put my soul into this work and not just my strength. I really want to focus on putting my whole soul into the work along with all my strength. Hopefully it'll pay off over the last two weeks. I've really come though to grow such a desire to serve in the church and live up to my priesthood calling. I think that has been one of the biggest things that will push me after I get back. There are a lot of things I've learned, but I won't bore y'all.

Whew, meno male (thank goodness) the Utes won! I would have pulled my hair out if the Utes had been on the other side of that game.

Well thanks for the great emails, pictures and updates.

I heard great news yesterday that Martino, the 19 years who got baptized in Verona, baptized a lady from the other Verona ward. He's already baptized someone! I guess he played a big role in helping her decide to get baptized, too. He also spoke in the Verona Stake conference, well he bore his testimony! The missionaries said that his testimony just silenced everyone and hit them hard spiritually. I love missionary work. I'm so glad that I didn't give up in Verona even though we had like zero success in the time I was there.

Well I love you all.....16 days? Eh, who's counting? Not me.

By the way I think Jack is probably taller than me. Mom what's the deal? Why didn't he get any Taylor genes?

She Said Yes (to Baptism)!

What a great week! We came back strong from last week and really planned well all week long. We taught lots of members, people outside in the streets and showed our diligence to the Lord. We were able to find one investigator who seems to have lots of potential. Since the lesson though she's been busy and we are still trying to set something else up. She's a single mom, with a bf, but just isn't very happy in her life right now. It was great though to bring her a ball of joy during that lesson and see her own spirit cheer up. I've seen this so many times in the mission, people are filled with the spirit but they let laziness or doubts keep them from pursuing that light.

We had some really great news though towards the end of the week. As we talked with the Cangiallosi family they told us that Brunella would be coming to church. Well Sunday came and she came! She had a great time and so many of the sisters talked and conversed with her. Well we taught her after church and kind of figured out where she's at. She'd been blocked up at her house for a few weeks and we hadn't spoken in weeks. She said she read often from the Book of Mormon and feels great as she reads it. We helped her understand that it was the Spirit and we then read 2 Nephi 31 together and invited her to be baptized on the 29 of this month. She said yes! It was really really awesome. I felt such a strong spirit as she told us why she would do it. Now we just need to start teaching her so we can prepare her. We hope that 3 weeks is enough, but we have to see her a lot. We are seeing her tomorrow but since Sunday we weren't able to meet. Pray so that her work lets her transfer to Sanremo because it will be a big help for her.

I also needed to mention that can't really write about investigators problems anymore. I guess the Area Presidency really came down hard on our mission because missionaries mention to many things both about investigators and companions. So if I accidentally say anything just be sure not to write about it on my BLOG.  Thanks!

This last week we worked a lot with members. We read in PMG and did lots of role plays with them. They all seem to be able to open their mouths and talk about the church but most members, I speak of everywhere I've been, don't give invites to act. We did role plays practicing teaching quick restored principles, testifying and then giving an invite. It went really well and we actually helped them realize with which friends they could do it with. We haven't gotten a lot of referrals yet but we have many members now planting some seeds. It's also a great confidence booster for them and helps them grow trust in us. Boy, I wish I had done this earlier in the mission because I could have seen a lot more success.

There is one particular thing I need you all to pray about. I have been so tired lately. During the day I am fine but the last month I've been struggling to get up. I get up on time but it's just about the hardest thing in the world right now. Every time I start to say a personal prayer I fall asleep. I've been falling asleep a lot in my nightly prayers and I'm losing out on a lot of blessings because of it. Pray that I can stay awake until my prayers are finished. It sounds stupid and I've been trying hard.

Felice and his family haven't been to church for the last two weeks. They did come last week to the baptism which was after church. They are doing pretty well though, and, yes, Felice received the priesthood about 3 weeks ago. They were shocked when they figured out I was finishing the mission in a matter of weeks. I know I had told them multiple times though haha. The African brethren are doing ok. We only had one come to church last week. It takes a lot of effort on our part to keep them coming and keep them active. I can't imagine what it would be like if we lost our telephone and couldn't call them.

How many time do I get asked by other missionaries and my companion, ''so what transfer are you in?''. Haha, too many times. I was thinking the other day about what I would do the first couple days after getting back. I quickly put together a list of all the movies I would be watching on Saturday. As I looked over the great list I remembered General Conference. Haha well at least it's more edifying and more spiritual. I'm excited for it and ready to get some good revelation. I was bummed to think I would have to wait to see most of the people in church.

List of things to do...

I haven't though about the school thing yet or about work. I'm just trying my best to stay concentrated on the work. I have a feeling the last 3 weeks are going to go by slow.....I'm also thinking about buying a bunch of Italian cookies because:  1)i love them 2) it's something cheap I can bring and share with everyone.

I'm looking to get a painting either next week or the week after. I still need to choose one.

Is their anything else you (mom and dad), the girls or Andy want? I can't promise I can get it, but I could try.

Love you all and I'm getting so excited to see you all...Abbracio e Bacio..

Shining Sickle

Twum's confirmation went really well on Sunday. I was able to officiate the ordinance and I think he understood most of what I said. Things are really winding down for all of them as their camps close at the end of the year. At that point in time they will be on their own and most without documents or places to stay.  

Buate (new member who baptized Twum), Tucker,  &Twum

It's been really awesome to see the growth in three of these brethren, Osas, Nicholas and Buate. They've been so dedicated in coming to church, meeting with us during the week, and going to the B of M and Italian courses in church. I feel as if Heavenly Father will bless them tremendously, all of them, as they continue pushing forward. Osas, who doesn't read English very well, has been reading from the B of M daily. Each time we see him his reading gets better and he's able to better pronounce words.

We've also seen some growth in Noah who until now has been really lazy. He never reads and doesn't come often to church or the courses. It's been tough to see Frederick and Albert really distance themselves though as things get harder and they lose hope in getting documents.

We had a bit of a down week last week. We basically only have Ivano to teach right now and today will be a make or break lesson. We are really going to be bold about chastity because it's really the only path left to take. Up until now he has pushed it aside and wanted to talk about other things. Hopefully, he will be more open and humble so he can accept it and start working towards baptism. 


Anziano Free, Ivano, Franco Genovesi

On Sunday we fasted so that we and our district could find more investigators. Monday was such a great day! We had district meeting in the morning in which I explained the importance of setting baptismal dates. The sisters have a decent number of investigators who have been taught for awhile but haven't accepted baptism. I was pretty persistent and invited all of us to be bold in our invites. I'm confident that by the end of the week we will have more dates. Anyway, our afternoon was all finding work and was amazing because everyone stopped and listened to us! We ended up teaching 3 lessons and finding a new investigator. We've really been pushing the B of M more in our work lately. It seemed as if my sickle was just shining in my hands on Monday. It was great at the end of the night to come home having had lots of success.

We are hoping that over this next week or two we will find the person who will be baptized. We have visualized having one baptism this transfer and I'm confident that it will happen. I really want to find a solid priesthood holder for this branch. I think I need to do a better job of counseling with the Lord and putting more on the alter of sacrifice. I just know it can happen. Who knows we might end up finding the person on my last day. I'm super grateful for the fact that I've been able to concentrate so well lately on the work. Every time my mind start wandering about what I will do right after the mission the Lord brings me back to the work. I don't want to make that sound self-righteous or anything but it just happens. I feel guilty when I'm not concentrating on it.

Thanks for the great emails!...times a winding so I better start finding.

Sanremo Is Just Perfect

Well, the baptism went really well but it did take quite a few tries. We had church in the morning and you could see that Twum was excited for his baptism which was to be later that day at 5 PM. We were a bit worried we hadn't prepared him and Buate (new convert from Ghana) with how to actually do the baptism. About an hour prior to the baptism we instructed them for about 5-10 minutes and they had it down.

Well when it came time for the baptism Twum was the most inflexible person I've ever seen. I thought that Africans could bend their knees and jump out of the gym but Twum isn't one of these. It took about 5 plus tries to get it accomplished. This included two failed attempts on his knees (still couldn't get him all the way under). We also had one failed attempt when he was sitting on his bum in the water with the water coming up to his lower lip (don't ask me how we couldn't get him under on that one). Buate really needed to be forcing him under the water better but oh well. Ha ha, baptism complete, with a few laughs. I laughed a bit more as I went to see if they were done changing and heard that they were arguing. Don't worry, it was a friendly argument but they immediately asked me ''who's fault was it?''.

It was pretty hectic trying to prepare everything for the baptism. Seeing how Twum speaks English the talks were in English. One of the other new converts from Ghana gave the first talk which I translated then subito dopo (after which) I gave the other talk. I also played both hymns and set up the program haha. Meno male (thankfully) the baptism went through because I was definitely stressed all Sunday.

Well we've dropped Romolo. He's been giving us too many cancellations without a notification. He didn't sound too sad about it though when I told him. I think he was probably too scared to tell us he didn't want to see us anymore and was waiting for us to stop coming.

We are still working with Ivano. Really there isn't a whole lot to say about his progress. He's comes to church every week, to the baptisms, he reads and prays. We are trying to build his faith to accept baptism and be ready  when his leg heals. We are thinking that if he's not willing to be baptized or follow chastity by the time his leg heals, we will drop him, too.

The work is sort of back to ground zero again just like that. Twum is basically a new convert, Felice is baptized and confirmed and we don't have anyone to teach. I'm still really hopeful that we will start up again with Brunella once she gets her car fixed and moves here. Other than that though we haven't had much success in finding people.

The city is great! Sanremo is just perfect. We are just passing some of the hottest weeks of the year, but it's starting to cool down. The tourists should be leaving and the people from Sanremo should start returning from vacation. It's a difficult city to get really good pictures taken, but I will start getting on it. I haven't taken hardly any so far and it's got all the other cities beat in pure beauty. The ocean breeze is the best and the perfect medicine on hot and humid days.

It was good to get a good update from Anz. Eveson about Pavia. I guess most of the Africans who were baptized have moved away. There is still one left but I don't think he goes to church often. Hopefully the others have found the church where they are now. Eveson told me that Domingo hadn't been coming to church but that he had a strong testimony and knowledge of the Gospel. He moved just recently to Chicago. I guess he had work and was just tired on Sundays or something. Gianluca hadn't been coming to church a lot either.

We've been doing so much finding lately so we are praying that the Lord will hook us up. I've seen it time and time again so I know the Lord will provide if we just stick in the sickle with all our might. I have no doubt that we will have a successful transfer. Our vision is to have one baptism and two baptismal dates before the transfer ends. It's going to be tough but fun.

Looks like the girls are all grown up. It seems as if Ashley has passed Hillary up in height. Sorry Hill. She better not pass me or I will throw a fit.

Race To The Finish

HEY guys!

Sounds like your week has been full of lots of fun; mine too! Man, from seeing those pictures it's pretty clear everyone has grown up a lot. I saw about half of Jack in one of them and thought it was me for a second. Do i dare even try to wrestle Ben when i get back? I did beat him before I left but I think I'll just stay clear. We will see.

Well transfer information is in. Anz. Free is going to take my arrival path and go to Verona as a Zone Leader with.....Anziano Hardy. Yeah don't worry I'm not at all jealous. He just gets to be with one of my favorite companions in a great city. Oh well.

I did get some updates about people in Verona. Martino, the kid who was baptized shortly after I left, received the priesthood recently and wants to be a missionary super bad. Salvatore Benemerito won't get married to Valentina (investigator) until she gets baptized. I was excited to hear that he's been continueing to go to church since I left along with Sorella Benemerito. His dad Angelo has gone twice since I left! He is actually really smart and spiritual but with health and other things he never came to church while I was there.

I'm going to be companions with Anz. Eveson(spelling?). I don't really know him super well but I've exchanged a few words during previous transfer days in Milano. I'm super glad that I always made the effort to make rounds and meet new missionaries. He's going into his 6th transfer and is really obedient from what I've been told. I'm really happy about that because I think it'll help me even more to finish strong and not fall on my face at the finish line. I don't know much about him other than that he's done good work in past cities. I guess I'll know more tomorrow.

Well you asked about Twum. Twum didn't come to church the Sunday before his baptism and so we didn't announce it. We wanted him to be there and really set for his baptism. He is getting baptized though this Sunday. One of the other brothers, Buate, will be baptizing him and I think I will do the confirmation. Twum is doing great though and is excited for sunday!

Ivano is Ivano and we are moving like molasses, but it's ok. The key is that we are moving forward even if it's slow. Valentina we haven't seen in weeks. Since we first saw her she's been working and hasn't really answered our calls. She said a few weeks ago though that she was reading the BoM every night.

On Saturday morning we though that we had lost Romolo. We got to his house and he told us he was moving back to Peru. His wife's documents weren't going through and so he wants to move back. He was not doing well and was very sad/depressed. Luckily we had planned to watch Finding Faith in Christ! dunnuh nuh nuh nneh neh!(sound). At first when we asked to watch it he told us no but we convinced him.

As we watched in Spanish(I understood lots..cool huh?) there was a great spirit felt. I felt it stronger then more than any other time I've watched it in the mission. As we finished you could see that the spirit had slapped Romolo in the face. He even told us that he wanted to start committing himself more to church and reading the Book of Mormon. Sunday he came to church and liked it a lot.

We haven't seen Brunella in over a week. She's been stuck at her house near Imperia because her car is broken. She is thinking about moving though to Sanremo and transferring her work records to the Sanremo hopsital. If it all goes down it would be AWESOME. She would be around people who love her and closer to the church. We are still working on trying to get someone to go and see her.

Sujey is actually a less-active member. She is now really good friends though with Yajaira, Steve's (Cangiolosi) wife. She comes with us to all the lessons with Sujey. This last lesson though Sujey's mom, Jenny, listened to us. She, too, is a member but when she came here to Italy she stopped attending. Apparently she wants to start coming! I've been learning a bit of Spanish lately because Sujey doesn't speak Italian. It's actually came pretty easy even though I still can't really say anything.

My testimony though of Heavenly Father's love for his children grows ever stronger each day. He's taken our work from nothing to something in days. He is just always watching out for us and for this branch here. The cycle of success and no success though continues to strengthen my diligence/faith. There have been so many times when the work goes well then just disappears. He makes us wait and work our butts off then blesses us right when we need it. Verona was a bit tougher than most, but He would always bless us right as we truly needed it.

I feel that the last two cities I've been in have grown me more than the rest of the mission combined. I do believe though that the previous transfers and cities prepared me and put me into position to be changed and blessed like I've been in the last 6 months. I try not to worry so much now about all my defects because there are still so many. It can be stressful but I'm getting better at just doing my best each day. It'll be a fun race to the finish line to see how much more I can change and help those around me.

Lost Sheep

Ferragosto!....You know what that means!...Everyone comes to Sanremo. The last few days the streets have had a lot more people in them. There have been tons of Germans, French and others all over the place. We're hoping the crowding of the streets will be a positive instead of a negative. We will treat it as a positive though.

The confirmation on Sunday went great! Felice is felice (happy) and no pun intended. He is doing really great and his wife is just contentissima (so content). We've actually really been working with her and her own missionary work. She has a few friends she wants to introduce the Gospel to hopefully something will pan out.

Anziano Free, Edith, Michel, Felice, Anziano Neff

Anziani Neff and Free with Felice

We were able to see Brunella after church on Sunday and had a wonderful lesson with her. She of course came to church and had a much better experience than last week. Last week the kids behind her made lots of noise and really distracted her I guess. She's become best friends over a matter of weeks with the Cangiolisi family and they ''hang-out'' often.   She is currently not working because of medical problems which makes it a bit difficult to see her often. She also lives very far away and by herself so it's difficult to go and see her. I think the Cangiolosi's are convincing her to move to Sanremo so that'd be wonderful for her and us. She, during the lesson, was just so willing to listen and partially knows already that what we say is true. We invited her to pray nonetheless so she could receive that special answer for herself.

Everything with Ivano is going forward. Still it goes slowly AVANTI (ahead). One of his legs is healed and he's really started recognizing the help of our Heavenly Father in his process. We invited him to baptism for a date next month but he doesn't feel like his leg will heal in time. We personally think he's not ready to obey Chastity yet. He did say though that he thinks by Christmas time he would be ready.! It's a bit off but I think it's good that he is thinking himself about when he could be ready. He said it in a way that sounded like he actually wants it. We are happy with his progress.

This Sunday we got this really great less-active person to church. A few weeks ago we met Sujey who is from Santo Domingo. She is about 25 years old and has two kids, Adon and Aura. Her mother and younger brother are also both members! Anyways, we've seen them twice and are all super great (we haven't taught the mom yet). They didn't know the church was here but they were already less-active upon arrival in Sanremo. Both times we taught them we were able to get a member there and seeing how they don't speak Italian or understand it, it was difficult. Anz. Free used to speak pretty good Spanish but with learning Italian everything sort of got lost. He still speaks decently but I sort of just throw out Italian, praying they understand.

Well we walked with them to church on Sunday, Sujey and her two children. It was super awesome to have Yajaira, Steve's wife there, because she's from Santo Domingo. They hit it off and had a great time in church. The two kids Adon 5 years, and Aura about 3 years also seemed to just love Primary. Yaraira in fact spent much of yesterday evening with their family and got really close with them. I guess she said that Sujey wants to help her family all get close again to the church. It's great how the Lord is always preparing his children both members and non-members. He uses all of us as instruments to better help his other ''lost sheep''.

There has been a bit of a comeback with Romolo this week. We had basically dropped him on account of his multiple cancellations and bidones (no shows). We finally set an appointment up though and were able to have a good spiritual lesson. Over the last week he's been struggling with depression. There have been lots of problems with his wife's documents. She is currently in Peru still and hasn't been able to get here. It's been really rough on Romolo and he's just preoccupied a lot with this situation. It was great to bear testimony about how Prayer and reading of the B of M can really help him in this time. It was great to see a lot of the burdens be lifted off his back after he said the closing prayer. There was a good peaceful spirit and he recognized it too. We plan on seeing him again tomorrow night.

Everything is going great here and I hope it's all going great there!....Any chance on having Dianna's baby named after her favorite nephew?.....at least get my name as the middle name...just saying.

Sorry to hear that Hill and her team lost. They'll tear it up though during the regular season. When Ben gets an interception we have to get the announcer at his games to call him Benny the Jet. If not I'll be there with a big Benny the Jet sign.

Anyways thanks so much for the letters. It was great hearing from you.

Talk to ya next week.

Love,

Tuck.

The Baptism! It Went GREAT!

What Up?....hey family

Well I've just been super lucky this summer. I get to serve in a beautiful city with some great members, and it's not that hot! There have been some hot days but nothing like last year in Modena. I remember just walking outside in the mornings around 10ish and thinking ''oh boy''. Everything has been really nice though lately. Hopefully I didn't just jinx us because there is still almost all of August.

I think that I will go and try to buy a watercolor painting. They have some really good ones of Sanremo that are decently priced (i hope). I honestly don't know if they are well priced but they are about 20x11 for 20 to 30 Euro. I will keep searching to see what else I like though. It's tough on PDay though because we rarely have time to look and I can't be wasting time other days by window shopping. haha Dad you think I can just take 15 minutes out of my day to go to Venice?....''Come on''.(Job voice).

The baptism! It went GREAT. Felice is the the worst at making jokes at the wrong times haha. For example, Sunday we are in church preparing for the baptism. It is around 4:30 pm and Felice and his family were supposed to be there around 4. We weren't worrying to much but we called them to see where they were. Felice answers and says''Hey so I've decided to not be baptized''. Of course I knew he wasn't being serious but when you hear something like that it makes you contemplate things for just a second. I immediately responded though with a joking remark. haha.  He just thought he was so funny.

Edith, his wife, had the video camera out and was filming all the way up until the program started. We took a bunch of pictures and it was great. Anziano Free baptized him, we watched a small little video about baptism before they changed and came back in. He wasn't going to bear his testimony but Steve sort of tricked him into it. It was short but super great. He bore testimony about as he entered the water the spirit told him, ''Felice you're starting a really marvelous thing''. It was super awesome to see how happy he and his wife were. He will be confirmed next Sunday.

As far as the work goes, Ivano had a good experience at the baptism. He said he felt really peaceful during the whole program. He told us the other day that his leg has healed! That is fantastic because it was one of the things preventing him from being baptized. Now the only thing left is the chastity hurdle. His girlfriend isn't even around but he doesn't really want to give it up for when she gets back. He really just doesn't understand or see the importance of it yet. Hopefully during the next few weeks he can get a testimony of it as his girlfriend is away.

Romolo has been non-existent the last week or two. We set up appointments and he just doesn't show up or isn't home when we pass by.

So for the last month or so we have been struggling to find new people. I think over the last month or so we have found 3 investigators. Two of these have dropped off though since then. We've been working harder and praying to find people but we've been unsuccessful. We fasted on Sunday about getting new people but even as we worked Monday we just had zero success. Over the last few days though we've had some really good things happen that didn't necessarily come from our efforts.

There is this member referral, Brunella, that recently met a family in the branch (the Cangilosi's). Brunella doesn't have a family, work and lives alone. They met her at a pool a few weeks back and are just good friends now. She's been to their house a few times and they brought her to church on Sunday. She's been facing depression lately and it's been tough on her. Anyway she liked church enough to stay for the baptism 5 hours later. We got a call a few minutes ago from Yariara, Steve Cangilosi wife, and I guess Brunella wants to know more and meet with us. Tomorrow we are going to see her in church with Yajaira! She's super prepared so pray that the lesson goes well.

If I remember correctly I mentioned Valentina week or two ago . Well we haven't seen her since the first lesson because she's been busy. We kind of thought that she lost interest or something. Well the other day I texted her and asked if she still had interest in meeting with us. She said she does but she had found work and it is keeping her busy. I told her that she should call us when she's free and invited her to start reading the BoM we had given to her. I was shocked with the response when she said ''I read every night before going to bed'' Cool eh?

Twum is coming along great! He will be baptized on the 18th. He's just super humble and willing to accept the gospel. We are super excited for him. Things in the work are going well for us lately. We have a few new faces and are so hopefully next week I can talk about the successes we hope to have had.

Dad you should ask Andy what the ClearLink job would entail. What would I do and how much would I work? The four week intense college courses interest me but it could be great little window between arrival and spring semester to bolster my savings. Che cosa ne pensi? Dimmi tu.

Well it sounds as if all is going well. Thanks for sending me the tidbit about Hill's game. Make sure you tell me about how Ben is doing in football? I will want to attend their games when I get back for sure.

Felice Is Getting Baptized Sunday!

Hello Hello!

Yeah well everything pretty much blew over with F (the member I discussed last week). Friday morning we actually remembered we had a lunch appointment with them that day. I was a bit nervous and wasn't even sure they remembered about the appointment. Well they did so of course we went. I was able to play it really cool and just was my self. Having a deep knowledge of the doctrine about Christ, F talks a lot about his ''discoveries''.
Usually I sort of just zone out and don't really listen but I've been trying to show a renewed focus. I think it will help him think and see that I do care what he has to say. It worked really good too during lunch. At first you could see that he didn't really want to talk but I asked questions and he quickly just started pouring out info. It was a big burden off my shoulders to see that it had sort of blown over.

So Felice is getting baptized Sunday! Yahoo! We are really excited and I think the ward is excited as well. They really need another solid Priesthood holder. He a bit nervous but excited as well. We brought Fratello Salemi, the second counselor, to the lesson. He was baptized about 27 years ago. Get this, he took all the lessons 7 times through before getting baptized. Anyways the lesson went really well. Edith and Felice had so many good things to say about us as well as Fratello Salemi. I guess he helped her out financially before she was married to Felice. She kept going on about the financial aid haha and I think it made Fratello Salemi uncomfortable. 

Edith, Felice, Michel & Anziano Neff



Felice, Michel, Anziani Free & Neff

Everyone else, Ivano, Romolo and Twum all made really good progress this week. Ivano made it to two hours of church so we were really excited about that. He made some good answers as well during Gospel Principles. Hopefully we can just keep edging him forward and helping him progress. I think it will be soon that he decides to follow all the commandments and get baptized.

Romolo is coming along a bit slower than we originally thought. He's struggling to understand us and understand the Book of Mormon. He speaks and understands fine but things just don't click in his head for some odd reason. The questions he has about the things he reads are good but just odd. When we ask him questions about what we've taught he gives us the same answers. He doesn't really answer the questions we ask but instead says every time ''I like the story of Nephi and I want to learn more'' or ''Yeah, I just want to keep learning about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon''. It's a great thing to hear right? Well we hear this when we ask him, ''Romolo, do you believe the Book of Mormon is true?''. haha it's difficult. He speaks good Italian too so we know it's not the language barrier. My companion seems to think that he's afraid to say no to our questions because we might not come back. Tonight we are hoping to overcome this and really dig into him with some good questions and following of the spirit.

Twum is working towards his date on the 18th. He's still just a man of few words. Luckily we have the other brothers from Ghana to help translate. We just hope they are translating correctly. Twum seems like he understands English better everyday though.

A few of the new converts from Ghana, Noah and Frederick, are getting really whiffy. They didn't come to church last week and the week before they left early. When we asked them why one said he was sick. He's only sick on Sundays though and is better the next day. The other said he was tired. When we told him that even if he's tired he needs to come. He responded by saying it's more important to God that we are healthy and have energy. haha. He is one of the brothers that speaks the worst. We explained that we keep the Sabbath Day Holy by going to church. He then said, ''well it's the same if I stay here and talk about the Word with two or three other people''. AGH...THE SACRAMENT Frederick! We go to church to take the sacrament haha. He still didn't really fully understand.

Well tomorrow we get to ride 7 hours in train to Padova! Then on Friday we have to do some permesso stuff for my companion and we return immediately after. Last week when we came back from Padova it was just death. Those 7 hours were miserable. I should have done better at sharing the gospel. Talking on trains and buses is definitely outside of my comfort zone but I'm going to try and get a little better this time. 

Elders Free & Neff waiting at the Genova Train Station

Anziano Neff & Nicholas (new convert from Ghana)

I feel that lately my spiritual level has been rising. I think a lot has to do with my prayers and focus in studying the scriptures. There are just things that always seem to need to improve. My weakness is that I recognize them all at once, which is good and bad. Good because I know what I need to do but bad because I try to do all at once and get frustrated.

Lately our district has been struggling to find new investigators. We've been working hard in finding them but we aren't seeing success. We realized with the help of our Capi, that we need to be finding people even when we are doing scheduled finding work. I sort of realized that we need to be more focused on the people as we find.

Well regarding the baby names....I was totally joking about the names I through out a few weeks ago. I'm definitely a big fan of the girl names. If they don't use either I might use the other but I still got some other ones up my sleeve. I've heard a lot of Italian girl names that I've loved but I never write them down! Idiot. I wish I could give them some options but it seems I never have a free moment to think about that sort of stuff. The closer I get to the finish line the more I feel like there is less time each day to do things.

I'm still doing the journal thing but I've missed a few days. Don't worry though I will be better. I haven't missed too many, just a few.

So in terms of getting a painting. Do you think a water color painting would be dumb? I saw some and they weren't too expensive. If i do, would I bring it home with me or send it via packaging?
Anyways...how is everything? Anything interesting happening? Heard of any of my friends getting married? (I guess you don't really know all of them). I think just about all of them are back from missions except a few. Any update on Connor and what he's doing, that nerd still never writes. What has Trentsky been up to lately? How's TJ?

Well thanks for your emails. Things are really winding down but don't worry I'm busier than ever. I'm just trying to utilize the time that I have left to do as much as I can for the Lord and this Branch here.

Love you guys a bunch.

Kind, Open and Elect

I remember you commenting last week about the new stake, and it's a big thing.  The work is growing in Italy.....ansi...The work is growing in Northern Italy! It's been great to see how much the mission is growing.
Felice had his baptismal interview yesterday and is set to be baptized the 5th of August! We moved it back a week so he could come to sacrament meeting one additional time. He accepted tithing on Saturday after a wonderful lesson with us together with our Ward Mission Leader Steve and his wife Yajiara. They are super awesome and bore great testimony about the importance of paying tithing. Of course Felice's a bit worried about it, but knows it's a commandment.

Twum had fallen off a bit after giving us multiple bidones over a two week period. He's been good lately though and we've been going forward. We've reset his date for the 18th of August. We really want to help him understand things and be better committed to meeting with us and coming to church. If he's wiffy now he'll probably be wiffy after.

Ivano is just sort of teetering right now. He's making slow progress but at the same time not really. He comes to sacrament meeting almost every week but goes home afterward. His excuse for leaving is that his legs hurt and he has the bus to catch. We invited him this past week to attend all of church and he committed to coming for the first two hours. We accepted his bargain and were excited because we want him to become friends with the members. By coming just to the first hour he can't really talk with people because it's sacrament meeting. Well Sunday rolls around and right after sacrament meeting ends he says ''oggi perdo la promessa''. He tells us I have to break the promise. I ask him why and he says that he has to catch the bus. My patience has been thin lately. Heavenly Father is simple, we are blessed when we obey and when we don't we aren't blessed.

I told him really really bluntly that Heavenly Father can't bless him if he doesn't obey and show his Faith. I probably could have been a bit more kind or loving about it but Ivano has just not been making the progress he needs to. I think if anything though he saw that I was greatly disappointed because I was. The guy is great but he needs to really show his faith in Heavenly Father.

So actually my entire Sunday was just crazy. Romolo said he would come to church yet he wasn't home when we passed by to pick him up for church. His mom said he went on a bike ride with his squad. Our new converts said they had work to do at their house so half of them left after sacrament meeting.

I got a member to basically hate me after making a comment during Gospel Principles. The member is F. I will give a quick explanation. F is really really into deep doctrine. He's super smart and is always trying to tell us stuff. Well, since I've been here he comes to Gospel Principles which is for new member and investigators. For the last three or four weeks he has been getting lesson off-track and isn't super helpful. For example, last week we were talking about Faith. When we compared it to a plant he starts talking about how all plants and animals have their own spirits. He went really in depth about it; I won't explain the rest. Well when we finally got over that and continued with the lesson he started talking about it again. He brought it back to his subject and not the class subject.

Well this Sunday as we talked about repentance F starts talking about the Atonement. Of course they go together, I know that. Well he starts going into depth about there being many other worlds and what not. We finally get past that and continue on with the lesson and he continues commenting on the Atonement and other in depth principles of the Atonement. Let me remind you again this is with investigators and new converts. I had about enough of it so I quickly said, ''Torniamo al discorso''. I said we need to return to the lesson. It probably wasn't in the most polite tone but it wasn't a rude tone either.

During lunch time about two hours later while we were at home I get a call from F. He just starts talking my ear off. He was thinking that I was trying to correct him on the doctrine he'd been sharing with the class. I quickly said that that wasn't what I was trying to do. I explained that the class is a basic learning class and we need to leave out profound/in depth information. He just exploded about how the Atonement is the most important thing ever, which it is, and how it must always be taught. He went onto say, the spirit in Gospel Principles used to be great but since ''certain'' people have arrived it hasn't been the same.

Anyways he got super mad and I was a bit annoyed but not mad. It was evident he'd been just brewing over my ''torniamo al discorso'' comment. I was just amazed to see a first counsel/member of many years call me and explode on me like that. I quickly sent an apology text because my mind was racing and i wouldn't have been able to express myself in Italian. An hour or so later I called him and apologized again but it was evident he was upset. Oh well..

I feel a lot better having said sorry and repenting but I think he hates me now.  Our ward mission leader told me that is just how F sort of is though. He said I shouldn't worry too much.

We all make mistakes.

On another note we found this really awesome investigator. Her name is Valentine and she's 24 years old. We found her the other night on the bike path right at the end of the day. We had been doing strada for awhile and we felt that we should stop and pray. We asked to know where to go and after the pray we both decided on the bike path. Within a few minutes we saw her and started talking with her. We quickly set an appointment up for the next day. When we saw her on Sunday she was so kind, open and ELECT. She wants help in her life and is just super willing to try. She has problems with her shoulder and heart. She speaks a little funny and has been really made fun of a lot in her life for her disabilities. She's just a sweetheart is the best way to put it. I immediately could tell that the whole branch will just love her to death. We are going to see her in a few days to meet again.

Well just pray that our investigators can make progress.

Love you guys a lot...sorry I vented so much about the little feud between me and the member. I felt super, super bad after, and for that reason I quickly apologized.

Love Pushes Me

Yeah...it's cooling down! We have just been loving the fact that the last couple days have been nice and cool. Hopefully it will keep on coming. Can you believe that Summer is almost halfway over?

The work has been going pretty great this week. I love being able to do numbers because it shows exactly where we need to improve. We are really needing more investigators and the Lord has blessed us a ton. We've been re-introduced to Teach to Find which consists of small powerful statements of truth, a question then a testimony. It works sort of like this:

Missionary 1) Principle(one sentence)
Question based on principle
Testimony

Missionary 2)Testimony on last principle
New Principle
Question
Testimony

Missionary 1) Testify
Relate to Restoration
Invite

We struggled with it a bit seeing as how we were just used to talking a lot without getting the perso(s) involved. It really helps us get them involved and bring a stronger spirit. We are finally getting good at it. Basically in nightly planning we envision who we want to find and then plan princples according to the persons needs. In the mornings during personal studies we write up short phrases to use and question to ask. This past week we have really found quite a few interested people using this method.

Felice has been doing pretty good. We found out on Saturday when we went to teach him that it was his birthday. They had a cake all ready haha so after the lesson we ate cake and sang happy birthday to him. We have gotten really close with him and his family over the last few weeks. He threw away his coffee on Sunday and hasn't had any since. He didn't come to church on Sunday though. I guess his wife had some ''emergency'' with her sister so for that they couldn't come. We might have to change his date because he hasn't made it to sacrament meeting for like 3 weeks. The two weeks before his daugther vomited in the car both times and they got there late. Besides that he will get baptized this transfer.

Ivan is sort of waiting for his girl friend to leave back to Ukraine. He is totally putting off praying about chastity. He keeps just saying that when she leaves he will have some time to reflect. At least he's being honest but we want to get started sooner rather than later. He misses church every other week because he's sick. Miraculously he seems better around noon time though. haha. We really need to solidify his desire to follow Christ and help him realize he needs to act. It's great though that he's been able to notice changes in his life from this message.

I talked a little bit about Romolo last week. He's from Peru and was taught a bunch of times about two years ago. He remembers Joseph Smith quite a bit and the Book of Mormon. We've been seeing him about every other day and he just loves the lessons. He wants to learn more about Joseph and the Book of Mormon. He was also very interested to learn that there are living prophets and apostles. His wife is still in Peru but will be coming here soon. She is a Jehovahs Witness though so we better get him an answer quick before she hits him over the head with her Bible....ansì...New World Translations.

Yes I'm still writing down the lessons I've learned in the mission.

They talked yesterday in Zone Conference a little bit about loving people. I was able to really realize how much my love has grown for people. Obviously I get impatient sometimes and don't always show it like I should, but it's grown a lot. I think one of the things that pushes me to just keep working is this love. I think those who don't have love do it out of duty. At the beginning of the mission I think I did it more out of duty but it's slowly transformed me. I just feel happy as I talk to more people and get to know more people.

I'm excited how to see how this love will show itself after that mission. Don't get trunky. Have some fun this week and we will hear from each other next week.

Chugging Along

Ciao tutti...

This week has been going piano piano. Things have been going so so here in San Remo Town. We are dealing with the loss of a few investigators (Maud and Claudio). We tried to teach so simply the Restoration yet they just didn't really understand it. We are down to about 3 investigators right now but luckily they're all great.

Felice is about 35ish I would say maybe even a bit younger. His wife, Edith, is from Ecuador and is awesome! She has been coming to church in San Remo for awhile but not always been fully active. I think it's been tough living 45 minutes away and having a non-member husband. She loves the Church so much though and they've been a lot more active since he's been coming(obviously). Their daughter, Michel, is years old and is the cutest little girl. She's super shy and doesn't talk much when we come and teach Felice. They tell us that every time we leave though she starts to cry.

We just taught him last night about the Word of Wisdom. He only drinks coffee but he said he can't stop and that he gets bad headaches when he tries. We explained that as one of the reasons we don't drink it and that Heavenly Father will help him. I think mentioning the fact that to be baptized he has to stop also helped. We gave him a blessing of comfort and so now we just got to pray and encourage him to keep going. His date is for the 29th of this month. As of now he doesn't have anyone he's super close to in the ward. We have to start getting him that church buddy though even though he's wife is great. It'll really help him get in well and become a great/much needed priesthood holder.

Our branch is in much need of priesthood holders who can be leaders. In elders quorum there are about 10 people but only about one of them really know what's going on. Most of the ''strong'' leaders are fulfilling their callings so there isn't a lot of people. The brothers from Ghana and Nigeria aren't all there because we have to translate and most of the time they still don't understand us. They actually all don't really follow along much in church when we translate and are really struggling to read the BoM. We visit them weekly and invite them always to read and sometimes we read with them but I just know they don't. I have taught enough Africans to know when they are reading. Even after teaching simply the Restoration I fear with some that they don't realize it's the only true church. I can tell them directly to their face but sometimes it just doesn't enter their brains. Yesterday though we had some good spiritual lessons with them and although they didn't understand everything they understood the spirit.

We had to move Twum's date back because he missed a few appointments. We also really want him to be ready. He's got a great spirit though and is just full of joy.

Ivano is chugging along.  We are really trying to get him closer to Christ. The law of chastity has sort of put the train of the track. We are hoping by building his desire to follow Christ so he can just chug through the obstacles. He told us his girlfriend is going back to Ukraine in a month for about a month and it'll give him some time to ''reflect''. He's been great though and is coming to church. We really need to get him some more friends. He's a bit strange so members don't really flock to him at church to say hello. He also only stays for sacrament meeting because his legs hurt him and he has to get back to his mom. She isn't doing well either apparently (maybe she should come to church too).

I've been really thinking lately about how I can better change before I get home. I really need to get better at receiving/seeking revelation. I've felt like it's been a weak point for me throughout the mission and so I want to get better. I seem to just completely forget to even try seeking for it. I'll say prayers, thanks Heavenly Father for everything and ask him to bless those we work with but I don't ever really ask questions. There have been some great talks though in General Conference since I've been in the mission so maybe I'll give them a glance.

I read this sweet talk by Brad Wilcox the other day and there was a really great quote. It talk all about the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. One of the things I liked was that it says that grace is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light throughout the tunnel that guides us through it. It gave me some greater perspective on the Savior's grace. He goes on to say something he said to a friend. You've been saved by grace but have you been changed by grace?...interesting huh?

Haha oh yeah so we are staying the same, actually our whole district is staying the same. Anziano Hardy is continuing to follow me around the mission. He is going to Verona. So he was with me in Modena then took my place in Pisa and now is in Verona. I heard a week ago that the Benemerito's are doing great! Salvator (the son) has been coming every single week. I think that is like 10 weeks in a row or something. He and his girlfriend got taught Chastity a few week ago so they are overcoming that right now. He is totally cool with it but the girlfriend Valentina wasn't as excited. Anz. Parker told me the dad still hasn't been to church but that MariaRosaria finally came to church a few weeks ago.

I also learned a few weeks ago that Domingo (from Pavia) moved to Chicago. I guess he got transferred there for work. I hope he's doing ok and is continuing to go to church. I will have to visit Chicago sometime (Cardinals verses Cubs?...just a though)...think about it.

That is just about it though. We are excited because we have been getting lots of new contacts and referrals lately so we just got to find them and get them going. Here is a quick story. The other day we planned to do Casa in Casa by our church. We planned to find a Hispanic person. Now the area is really small and there aren't many apartment buildings but we chose to do it anyway. In the last building and the second to last door we met this Hispanic guy. We talked with him for a few minutes while his little grandson ran around the hallway. He wasn't really interested but we left a Jesus Christ ''Faith in Christ brings Hope'' pass-along card with him. Well like two days ago we get this call and it's this guy, Ramolo. He is Hispanic and said that found this card with Jesus Christ and hope on it. He said he wants to meet with us tomorrow! Kind of cool huh....no...REALLY COOL. WE aren't sure if it's the guy we talked to at the door or like his son or something. We will find out though.

Well I love you guys a bunch!

Dad...are you trying to wean me off sports?...Let's not get lazy now.

Love you guys...Ciao

San Remo Photos

Anziano Neff in the Citta' Vecchia (Old City)

Tucker with member Lamfranco

Tucker & Anziano Free with the Cangiolosi Family

With the Genovese (younger) Family

Sofia Ferranda, Azzurra, & Sister Robinson

Tucker & Anziano Dean (his second companion)

Tucker & Anziano Young.  Tuck says, "I try to talk with him in my
Austrailian accent...I basically just use the words tucka and reckon".

Tucker & Anziano Winegar ("the funniest kid in the mission")

Great To See The Work Rebuild Again So Fast

Well Happy 4th of July. I'm thinking about eating a plate of spaghetti to celebrate it. Yippee! Who likes BBQ's anyway....Oh yeah I do. Anyway, have fun celebrating.

My address:    Via Della Republica 58/21

                        18038 San Remo  (IM)   Italy

Good joke that you played on Devin (we told her that Andy and Clara were choosing to use her baby girl name of choice -- Violet). I can totally see her reaction.

Speaking of Devin. Kelly is definitely winning the favorite cousin award. She has written me quite a few times. You might want to mention that to Devin. I have many friends who are serving missions in Italy and that speak Italian and can make Italian food (well sort of). I'm just saying.

Well this week has been going particularly well. It started off going fantastic. It's died down a bit but we are going strong. Last Saturday we met with Debora and Danielle and they agreed to be baptized the 4th of August! Debora was so ready and accepting of it. Danielle was hesitant but he said yes. Monday night we taught them the importance of praying often and reading the scriptures. Debora has been reading and marking the scriptures like a champ. Danielle needs a little pushing but will do it.
Anyways all was going perfect and then right at the end of the lesson they blind sided us. Right before going they said, ''Our meetings have to come to and end''. My heart probably hasn't taken such a hit like the one I got last night. We asked why and she continued to tell us that since Saturday night she realized the changes she'd have to start making and it scared her. She said this is something she can't do right now in her life. We bore testimony of the truth of what we'd said and laid out the facts about the blessings they could receive. They said for now they just can't do it. It was super tough. We left them Alma 32 to read and said we would try passing by in a week or so.

I think the toughest thing to swallow was how ready they are. I was a bit angry with Satan that night. I was sad for the fact that they allowed fear and laziness to stop them from going forward. Agency....we'll keep praying.

The GREAT news is that Felice is doing great. He came to church on Sunday and told us that he had a really cool experience. In the gospel Principles class he was called on to say the closing prayer. He said that he just felt really good as he prayed. He's going to be baptized on the 28th or 29th. He might have to work on Saturday so we might move his baptism to Sunday. It's been great though really getting to know his family. I think his baptism will really help get his family back into full activity.

Twum is coming along as well just slowly. The translating is slow and we just pray that he understands. The other African brothers are doing great but we just don't think they're reading the Book of Mormon. It's tough because they struggle to read anyway so we've been trying to read with them. It's slow but I think it'll pay dividends in the end.

We recently met this lady from Haiti. We met with her once last week and met her Italian husband. He is quite a bit older (almost 70) but they seem happy together. They came to church on Sunday and liked it a lot! She understands really well even though her Italian isn't the best. He really likes what we've taught so far but isn't really connecting the dots as much as she is. We are hoping to clear the Restoration up tonight when we go. We just need to be more simple.

Our work has really been picking up and we have lots of people to teach. We are just looking to keep finding more people and add or build upon that which we have now. It's been great to see the work rebuild again so fast. I just need to be better at keeping the members in the district in my prayers more and think more about them. I really think one of my biggest improvements I could make is thinking about them more. I also need to be more positive.

I've been doing your assignment every day dad and it's been fun. I have realized already that the mission has grown me a lot. The mission is truly the best thing for our life. I'm hoping I don't run out of things to write about.

 HAvE a FuN DaY!

 Tuck

Slowly But Steadily

Well that is just fantastic news that Clara and Andy are having a kid. I'm even more pumped that I will actually be there. My fear was that they'd have one before I got back. I'm sure you all had some great fun for me at the Bees game. Things here have been funny at least in our apartment. Since Italy has been playing the noise level from all the screaming fans is just ridiculous. Streets are deserted on game days and members are devastated when they play on Sunday haha.

Thanks for all the pictures it's great to see everyone. They're all getting so big. Hopefully I can still beat up on some of them when I get back. This last week has been going fairly well. We are struggling just a bit to get lessons because of cancellations and what no,t but were working through them. We had a bit of a setback with Ivano last Saturday. We had taught him Word of Wisdom on Wednesday and he was good with everything but cafe (coffee). Even with cafe (coffee) he didn't drink it often but he was a bit confused about it. Saturday when we saw him again he had drank once I think but he recommitted himself to abstaining. After the "follow up" we taught him the Law of Chastity which was the setback. His wife basically just left him and peaced out. Right now though he has a girlfriend whom he "loves". He basically told us that..."well we're are basically married. The only thing stopping us is that I'm not divorced yet". We explained that even if they love each other that it's a commandment from God. He didn't really seem to get the entire importance. He still came to church on Sunday but he told his member friend that he thought we were mad at him.  Disappointed yes, but not mad. So we will be working with that. By the way his leg is infected because it got cut by a palm tree?...don't know how that happened.

Twum is coming along slowly but steadily. We are still doing the translating and all that. He's great though. It's really hard to get to know him though because with translating we can't over explain things or it just goes out the other ear. The other African brothers are doing great and really helping us out with him. Deborah and Danielle the Italian couple I talked about are doing ok. We haven't seen them for a little bit because they had to reschedule with us. We taught the Plan of Salvation in our last visit and it went great! They understood it really well and felt super good about that fact that they could have an eternal family. They really understand, too, how this message can bless their family in the next life but also now. We are going to invite them to baptism tonight so that'll be fun. They haven't been to church yet and don't read a lot but we are gonna get them on board soon.

Felice, the non member husband of Edith accepted a baptismal date last night! They have a super cute little 3 year old girl. He's super cool and nice, likes to complain about stuff, but is coming along just great! I actually wasn't there because I was on scambio with Anz. Frustaci. We had a fun time yesterday finding people all day. It was cool getting to learn and teach together. We got to talk a little about the MTC, Modena and other stuff. I definitely think he's one of my favorite missionaries in my group. He's been bugging me all week about planning some California trip after the mission. Anyways it was a really fun scambio. I learned that I need to stop worrying so much about things. I've turned into quite the worrier these last 6 months. I think it's because I realize I have so much I need to accomplish and I'm running out of time.

I will definitely take your assignment on Dad. You need to promise that you will follow up on it so I don't forget. I'm really excited to do it because I feel like I never have time to reflect any more. I will make time though.

Anyways I love you guys a lot. Sorry if the email isn't super full of my usual...excitement...I just ate a bunch of plum cakes and I feel sick.

Love you all

The Book of Mormon And Prayer Change Our Hearts And Our Desires

FA CALDO! It's been a super hot as well as humid this week. We are getting through it alright haha but man it's brutal. The other night we came home to find our apartment full of these small fruit flies. I'm pretty positive that it was the garbage we'd forgotten to take out earlier that day. We then had to sleep with the windows shut and therefore our apartment was super hot during the night. Oh well..We are putting up some netting in our apartment today so we can leave the balcony windows open without there being any flies or mosquitos.

Everything is going alright here in San Remo town. The work has definitely been getting better! We set a baptismal date with one of the friends of the brothers from Ghana and Nigeria. His name is Twum and he is about 20 years old. He doesn't speak English very well so we have the other brothers translate for him. Right now his date is set for the end of next month seeing how we haven't taught him much and we have to take it slow. We got to help him make sure he's understanding us correctly. He's been coming pretty regularly though to church for about two months.

Ivano is still coming along rather slow but we discovered that he can't be baptized until his leg heals. He has some leg problems and I think they've even been cutting off pieces of skin from his right leg. We've been feeling lately though that the doctrine of christ hasn't sunk into his heart. I think it makes sense intelligently but spiritually not so much. The other day though when making a phone call with him we had a bit of a break through. He's been alright about praying and reading the BoM but we haven't been sure about the "real intent". As I called and talked with him I really tried digging in and asking him about both things (reading and praying). He started telling us that he'd started praying, like we had invited him to do, about being ready for baptism. He said that he had started asking Heavenly Father to help his leg heal so he could be baptized. For me I was really shocked because we didn't think his desire to be baptized was to that extent. We had actually kind of thought that he was rather pleased to have an excuse to wait to be baptized. I was so excited when he told me and congratulated him for his efforts and the faith he was exercising. It was a really cool testimony for me that the BoM and prayer (and meeting with the missionaries) can really change our hearts and desires.

They don't celebrate Father's Day in Italy....quindì...it's not my fault I forgot (Where were you on that one mom?).  Hopefully Hillary, Ashley and Andy put my name on the gift that I hope they bought for you......haha. Well Dad. Happy Father's Day. You know I love you and that I love you every day. You're one of my best friends in the world even though I do poke fun of you sometimes. I would definitely had sucked at most of the sports I played if you hadn't taken time to always help me. I'm grateful for who you are, your example for me and I love you 'Un Sacco'. Seeing how I'm a cheap skate..I will buy something here in San Remo for you and just bring it home with me...Va bene?....give me some ideas though.

Well it sounds like you are all having a blast! Dance recitals...mom is working, Hillary is working, Dad is working ...what are Andy and Clara up to these days? I feel like everyone is going to have changed a ton when I get back. I know I will be fatter but that's ok I plan on working out with Dad when I get back.

Well I know you praying already for us but keep it up! Your prayers are being heard and we are seeing blessings. The mission is going crazy right now and I know it's because there are tons of awesome missionaries here who also have lots of people praying for them.

CAfe Rio salad recipe?....other easy recipes I could do? We don't want to make each pasta anymore....haha we will let members do that.