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.