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