Is It Bad to Just Expect Success All the Time?

Sono stanco (I'm tired)!!!! But it's SPRING! It sure has been nice here in Italy this past week. The air is warm and there is a bit of a breeze. Si sta molto bene! If I fail on making a good email this week it's because I'm about to fall asleep. We had a super fun preparation day, but man it drained us.










Anziani Neff, Smith, and Webb (doing his Wace face) at Lago di Garda

This morning a member from the other ward here in Verona came and picked all of us(me, Smith, Webb and Money) to go to Lago di Garda. It's is actually a pretty short drive in car so it left us a lot of time to take pictures and walk around a small portion of the lake. I think I will be able to send you a few today (if I can work this computer haha man I suck with technology).

Well we have basically finished all of our traveling, in terms of scambios, for the transfer. On Monday we traveled up to Trento for district meeting and then afterward to Bolzano. I teamed up with Scheurn again which was pretty fun. We definitely had fun walking around the small city and inviting everyone in our paths. Unfortunately nobody really wanted to hear what we had to say. Around 8pm we went to a member's house for family home evening and brought a small pensiero (thought). It was really fun especially because another lady in the ward had brought her 9 year old kid, too. I won't go into details but there were two 9 year old kids who haven't been baptized yet even though their parents are now members. At the end of the lesson/night they asked us if we wanted to start teaching them the missionary lessons! That will be a cool boost for the missionaries in Bolzano.

So last week we did not reach our goal of 20 lessons. We finished the week at an abysmal 11 lessons. Actually it wasn't too bad considering the fact we were gone half the week. We were so close though and had soooo many cancellations on Saturday and Sunday that didn't help. I think we need to just have a little more faith and just keep showing the Lord we want it.

Yesterday we were excited to start working in our city. We had 3 lessons planned and unfortunately all of them fell through. After the third one fell through I was pretty annoyed. I just kept thinking, "how can we teach 20 lessons if everyone we teach cancels on us?." I was also a bit frustrated because we've been working pretty hard and just not having much success. It seems that everyone we do find can only see us once a week or just doesn't understand certain things.

We'll after the third cancellation I said a prayer in my heart and walked straight towards a palazzo. It was 8pm and usually we never...never do casa this late. I was desiring a lesson so bad though that I didn't care and I felt like we should do the palazzo. We'll we got in and I was calmed down and ready to teach anyone who would give us a second of their time. We'll we talked with an evangelist lady who could only say that the BoM is false and that all she needed was the Bible. I bore strong testimony but she wanted none of it. We'll we finished the palazzo and had found nobody. I was puzzled because I had felt that the Lord wanted us to do it and find someone.

I was moping a bit but we kept going and within a minute we saw this 18 year old kid riding by on his bike. As he was along side of us we said hi and he kind of gave us that who are you(in an interested way) look. We stopped him and boy are we glad we did. He is from Brazil and is just a super cool kid. His name is Michael and is actually relatively religious which for a kid his age in Italy is not common. After talking with him about the BoM and believing in Jesus Christ he looked at the BoM and asked for it. We told him we could bring it to him in his language and he agreed. He was super humble and just ready to be found. I was just so grateful for the Lord in telling me to do that palazzo because it helped put us in Michael's path.

I'm really trying to work this week on having more faith and trying to be more patient. Is it bad to just expect success all the time? haha I know it's a lot to ask but sometimes when I'm working I get frustrated because I want success. I think I just need to keep focusing on loving people and then success will come. My companion has been such an awesome example for me of patience. Hopefully we will be able to pick up our work this week and really show our love for the Veronese/other non-Italians which are many here.

I've been reading the past few days sort of just skimming through 2 Nephi. There is a verse in 2 Nephi 4 that I just loved. It talks about how Nephi cried unto the Lord and was given knowledge by day and by night, or something like that. It really hit me though about how I need to pray more and ask the Lord for his help or for knowledge. The Lord will give to us when we ask. Obviously it needs to be in his will and in his own time but he will give. I also loved the chapter 27 and 28 in talking about the Book of Mormon and why we need it. I feel so blessed for having it and for the clarity it brings about the doctrine of Christ. It's ridiculous how important it is and how necessary it is.

Well I said at the beginning it would be a bad email and yeah it's a bit boring. I dunno if it sounded like a complaint, a "what Anz. Neff needs to do better" email or what haha. I just write what comes to mind. I hope you all enjoy it!

I love you all and wish you all another great week!

Don't worry...be happy!

The Lord Puts People in Our Paths When We Are Doing What's Right and Being Diligent

Man, everyone is growing up!Seeing those pictures made me realize that I've been away longer than I thought. When you're in the mission things sure do go by fast. I have noticed that I'm getting older having just looked at the pictures of me the night before departing for the MTC. Seeing pictures of the changes in everyone else was way different though. Sammy is growing up as well as little Ty. Just about everyone in the pictures I saw looks a lot older.

I've definitely been packing on some extra weight the last two transfers or so. I have been super tired and it's been tough to go running. I think I might be having some stomach problems as well because I don't think I'm digesting like I should be. My stomach fills "gassy" after eating small amounts of food, too. I don't know if it's because I should change what it is that I'm eating or what. I think I need to just work out and eat more fruits and vegetables. Once I get over this little sickness(got a bit of a cold), I'm gonna start running again.

So yeah this week has been another busy, busy week. We got through the busy first half of last week and were able to manage about 10 lessons in 3 days. Our vision for our zone is to teach 20 lessons every week while making "promises" to the Lord every day to help us reach those 20 lessons. We really felt it would help excite the missionaries again and have an attainable goal to work towards. We are trying to make huge strides though in reaching the goal ourselves and to set the example. As busy as we are if we can reach it then nobody else can have the excuse for not reaching it. It's a goal that has really helped me and many others increase our diligence as missionaries so we are excited to see it kindle the fire in our work.

Last Saturday we had just finished lunch and went outside to find some people. We both felt like we should stop this woman in her early 60's that seemed to be South American. She was carrying a bag while listening to her music. Usually we don't stop people on phones or listening to music but we stopped her anyway. We quickly find out that she is from Peru and that her sisters are members and live in Milano and Bergamo! We went on to teach and bear testimony of the Restoration.

She explained that she'd been married to someone who really wasn't for the church, but that they are now not together. She also told us that she was here visiting a cousin and would be leaving Sunday night. We invited her to church and she said she would come!

Well Sunday morning we waited for her at our well known spot close to the church. After calling her and waiting for 10 minutes we went to church. We were disappointed, but went to church with a good attitude. During the second hour I got a call from this lady, Gladis. She said sorry, and that she had slept in but that she was on her way to the church. We quickly left and went and picked her up and walked back to the church just in time for sacrament meeting.

When we got to the church we quickly went straight to the other South American members. Now I was sure there were South Americans but I didn't know if there were Peruvians. After introducing her to some of the members I saw the of the members of the Stake presidency in our ward. I though..."Oh, I almost forgot....he's Peruvian!" I parted the red sea to the family and introduced her to the family. They instantly started talking and the father, Fratello Castillo did his thing. As the meeting started I sat with Gladis and Fratello Castillo sat on the other side. SCORE! She's already making friends! It got better... About twenty minutes into the meeting Fratello Castillo told me that he was gonna take Gladis to sit by his wife! I was like yeah sure no problem! Afterward they talked more and she told us that she would come next week, too! The Lord puts people in our paths when we are doing what's right and being diligent.





















Alright here is the dealio....Monday we were in Bergamo doing a scambio and then Tuesday we left early for our consiglio (council) with president and the other zone leaders. Today is our preparation day and so far we have taught 1 lesson. We also set a baptismal date with this really cool African guy named Kingsley. My companion and I need your prayers so we can reach that 20 lesson mark and show our zone we can do it. Your may be thinking "oh well you've got like four more days", but tomorrow we have Leadership training with our zone which takes up half the day...yikes...I know. Just pray that all the appointments we have set up will go through. Thanks so much!!!!

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for things you do for me. I'm loving the mission so much even if it can be super, super hard. Like our mission mom said "Possiamo fare le cose difficili". We can do hard things. It's simple but true. I love you all so much.

Ciao!

Tuck

We Just Need to Love and Have Patience

Yikes....what a week it has been. Well we went to Milano last week and I picked up my new mission buddy, Anziano Smith. Man, we have been having a fun time this last week. It's been tough, yet fun at the same time. He is from McLean, Virginia and is two groups below me. He's super funny yet super humble and kind at the same time. I'm fortunate enough to have a companion that will laugh at my lame jokes and let me prender him in giro (tease him). I should ease up before I annoy him because I tend to do that with people.

We had a long planning session on Friday as we planned our weekly goals as well as our transfer vision. We planned all the companionship exchanges that we would be doing over the next week. Our zone definitely was a bit deflated this last week and I think the heavy snow was a bit to blame, but I don't think we fulfilled our calls effectively enough to keep the fire burning. To solve this problem we revived the 20 lessons goals, something simple but powerful at the same time.

Today we just finished our second scambio in two days. Monday morning we went down to Modena and did an exchange with the district leader and his companion. We actually both knew the city better than both those missionaries. I did three transfers there and actually took Anziano Smith's spot after he did three transfers. It was fun going around the city inviting everyone. I actually had my closest encounter with death ever that night...agh.

We were doing casa in casa and had just about finished a palazzo when we about pooped our pants. We were in the scala walking down when we saw this 25 to 30 years old guy walking up toward us. He started screaming at us and as he was about 5 feet away we see in his right hand a long kitchen knife. We were basically backed into a corner with him waving the knife around then he started pointing it in my face and yelling. At this point the knife is inches from my face. Then he started banging it against the door and then toward my companion for the day, Anziano Strong(Anziano Glowa's old trainee). I just kept saying "Mi dispiace, mi dispiace....Usciamo adesso. usciamo adesso" (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we're leaving now). Holy smokes we were scared. We said a prayer in the elevator the rest of the way down then let out a huge sigh of relief after exiting the building.

That was interesting. We immediately hopped the bus into centro and actually found a cool African on the bus that was pretty interested. It helped calm us down a little being able to explain the Book of Mormon.

Yesterday we went to Reggio Emilia and spoke with the district there. I then did a scambio with the district leader and strolled around the city. It was a really fun scambio, at least I thought so. He's struggling with his companion so we talked a lot of the time about what he could do to have more unity in their companionship. It all comes back to love. We just need to love those with whom we serve! Sometimes it isn't easy, but totally possible. Next week we will visit Bergamo again.

Guess what? I get to go to Torino tomorrow! My companion has to go back to renew his permesso di soggiorno (Visa).

So you asked a little about the missionaries in my apartment. Well it's me, Smith, Webb and Money....yeah his name is Anziano Money!....he is a greenie and guess what his first name is? Golden! His name is Golden Money; how awesome is that! Anyway, he is a really cool missionary though and way more prepared than I was when I arrived. I think I already told you but Anz. Webb went to Olympus with me. His sister is married to Scott Neff. It's been really fun being in 4 again. The apartment is in decent condition and the food we make is ok. It's tough to make other stuff because we don't always have tons of time.

Dad so you told me to say hello to Sorella Maldarizzi (formerly Sorella Gallizia from Brad's mission). I have not met her but guess what? I think her son is our ward mission leader, Alberto Maldarizzi. He has been in the ward for like 6 months and is from the Brescia ward. I will have to tell him.

Alessandro is hanging in there but we are having to overcome lots of his concerns with church. Apparently the Bible says woman can't speak/teach in church. Well our teacher in Gospel Principles is a woman. Fortunately, he now has his Book of Mormon and has promised to read and pray about it. We are learning how to jump all these questions he presents, and just lead everything back to the Book of Mormon. He is super cool and just searching for the truth. We need to just love and have patience with him.

Hopefully after all these scambios we can focus on the Zone and our own personal work in Verona. We are super excited though and we feel our zone is gonna explode!!!!

Love you all!...

Tuck

The Spirit Will Guide Us in Our Work

Anziani Neff, Ramjoue Meszaros and Webb after playing soccer at the church








Transfer week......yikes. Yeah, the transfer was only five weeks but the next one will be 7 weeks. I guess President Wolfgramm has a meeting with the Area President in Germany which is when the dying missionaries depart. He wanted to be able to send them all off so he just made this transfer a little shorter.

Anyway, here is the news. Unfortunately my companion is leaving me and going to the furthest place away in the mission, Ancona. He will be whitewashing and training so that should be a fun experience. I guess that city hasn't baptized anyone for about 3to 4 years. My new companion will be Anz. Smith. I'd say it's a bit more common name than Meszaros. I'm bummed to be losing him cause he's awesome but he's gotta go baptize in Ancona. Anz. Smith was companion with Anz. Webb and Anz. Scheurn so there are some ties there. He a great missionary. Anziano Glowa just got called as a Zone Leader, too which I knew would happen. I'm a bit jealous that he didn't get sent to be with me but...oh well.

I'm really excited for some of the missionaries who will be entering the zone. We got scouple more awesome missionaries(to add the other great ones). Our district leaders are all great so I'm excited to see miracles and more people enter into the covenant of baptism. We are in a dry spell right now and have not yet baptized this transfer....We have a lot of goals right now in the mission and I think missionaries, me included, are confused or struggling with putting these things into practice. We need to really just love these people more than anything.

I've realized that over the past three or four transfer my love/charity haven't been up to par. I'm at the end of the Book of Mormon and I got hit in the face by Mormon about charity. I'm gonna start changing my studies and prayers a lot to really help my charity and love grow. This doesn't apply for just the people, but to the missionaries I'm serving so I'm super duper excited to help them all out in the best way possible.

Well the end of last week went so so but this week has picked up a lot. We haven't had contact with Fernando for about two weeks now so that's a bummer. I feel like he will keep reading the Book of Mormon though and feel in his heart it's true. He will be baptized someday for sure. Last week during my scambio with the Assistants we had a cool experience. Anziano Jensen and I set out to do some casa. We quickly discovered that the area we were in was dead. People weren't home and nobody was in the streets.

It's Wednesday night after P-day so it's late, maybe 8 PM. We decided to walk toward centro because I knew people would be there. Well I decided to take a short-cut to save some time but I took a wrong turn and we ended up close, but by that time it was too late to go to centro. Seeing that we were close to a small piazza we walked into it. During this time I was a bit frustrated because my backup plan was sort of lame. I wasn't very confident in the direction we were heading, but we'd said a prayer and we're going forward.

After talking with a few people who weren't interested we ran into Enrico. We talked with him for about 20 minutes and discovered much about him. We found out that he's searching for the "strada giusta" (the right road) in his life. He is Catholic but knows it's not true and that there are errors in the Bible. We did a explanation of who we were and talked about the Book of Mormon. He wanted to know more so we set an appointment with him a few days after!

It was a great testimony to me about 1)prayer and 2) going about doing good. I didn't received a huge wave from the spirit telling me where to go but I went forward trying to do what's right. The spirit will guide us in our work and that night was an awesome example of that.

We have taught him twice since then and both lessons have been great. He says that once he knows the Book of Mormon is true he will be baptized! He lives here in Verona by himself and is single. The other missionaries are super lucky because he lives in their zone....lucky them...Enrico is so prepared!

Right now we have one really cool guy from Romania. His wife is in Romania with their four kids. He is ex-evangelist and just wants to know about Christ. He's super humble, kind and intelligent in his scriptural knowledge. He came to church on Sunday but unfortunately our gospel principles class just tanked. The teacher was so not prepared for the lesson. She basically read straight from the book the whole time and then after running out of things to say said, "Anziani volete dire qualcosa?" ("Elders, would you like to say something"). I know I shouldn't complain but it's tough when we have lessons that are more of a turn off then a spiritual experience. Anyways Alessandro is really cool and hopefully will come to church next week too!

I did get the money from Grandma and Grandpa. I'm going to try and send a package home this week or next. I hope you like it and that it's a fun activity. If I don't send it home yet it will be because I want to save a bit of money and wait until Mother's day to put something else in it. I'm still deciding.

Love you all....have a great week!