Nothing too special this week. Its been a difficult one with lots of set backs. One of our progressing investigator has dropped his baptismal date because he wants to wait until he has a job and can lose some weight. He was a little depressed about not having nice clothing to wear to church because he has gained weight. So we haven't taught him for the last week because he doesn't respond to our calls. We are just gonna give him some space.
We met a really cool African woman who is about 60 years old. One of the African members in our ward brought her to church a few weeks back and she saw Kingsley's baptism. It really got to her and now we have a baptismal date with her.
So yeah this week we have just had many cancellations. We set up multiple appointments with three Italian families and some how they all cancelled. We were able to set up appointments with all three for the next day...but the next day all three cancelled. It is pretty tough because we kinda have to pick and choose who we want to teach each day, so when we have a cancellation, the only thing we can do is more finding work(which isn't bad but its always better to be teaching.
I have definitely struggled a lot this week. Part of this is because we have spent a lot of time not teaching and looking for people to teach, but I have thought a lot about home and stuff. So yeah hopefully next week, things will be a little more cheerful.
It is good to hear from you all. I love you all so so much and I know you are always here to support me through everything. I am so blessed to have such an awesome family, all you at home and all my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. Again, you're awesome and I love you all.
Tuck
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
"So I Found Ya Dad"
CRAZY. Guess what happened this last Sunday? So, I'm just chillin' in our apartment during lunch about ready to start some language study. I look next to the chair I'm sitting in and there is this old wooden clip board. Of course I pick it up and I notice there are a bunch of names on it. I keep looking and there are just a bunch of sister missionaries names on it because our apartment used to be the sisters. Then I notice the dates start getting older...and WOAH....there it is....in green ink....ELDER NEFF....9/6/79.....to Milano.....I was like....NOOOO WAAAYY...haha super crazy. So I found ya Dad...crazy. I took some pictures of it and with me with the clipboard. Pretty sweet huh?..
I have yet to get an email from Connor, you should try tell him that I have emailed him and have him email me( that troutsniffer). The address of our apartment is Corso Grosseto 59 Torino 10154.
The transfer has been going awesome. Basically, I went to the train station with all the others who were leaving Torino and then me and Anziano Dean left the train station to our side of Torino. It would have taken like 20 minutes but we got on the train going the opposite direction. Anziano Dean has been here in Torino for only one transfer as well. We hit the ground running though. This last week their copia had found a ton of investigators. So between last Thursday and today, we have taught almost 20 lessons(which is a ton compared to last transfer). We had a baptism this last Sunday with a Nigerian named Kinglsey. His girfriend is a member and now he is, so it's pretty sweet. He will be confirmed next Sunday. We also have a baptism set for February 5 with a 30 year old Giuseppe. He had been pretty crazy and actually tried to kill himself. He got put into a special community place and is pretty normal now. I actually thought he seemed very normal when I first met him. I didn't know anything about him until after I had met him. He is super cool though, and is a very solid investigator.
Tucker, Kingsley, Elder Dean, Marco Botalla
I will probably be able to go to Obeng's baptism, which should be this week. The capi zona we were living with got all of our investigators after my copia was closed. They were also able to get a baptismal date with Biyaho, our Chinese investigator which I was surprised to hear.
I am already loving the new change this transfer has brought. We have been teaching like crazy and have already seen a few mini miracles. We were walking back to the apartment and this Nigerian was changing the name on the citofono(doorbell on the apartment building). We set up an appointment and have taught him again since. We found out that his brother is the father of one of the families we are already teaching. The Lord blesses us in so so many ways; it's incredible.
I'm a little jealous you will get to have Elder Scott at stake conference. It must be a little exciting to see who the next stake president will be. President Pingree was such a stud. I don't think I have met a more loving guy.
My new ward is pretty sweet. The mission leader is such a cool guy; he is like 26 years old and is pretty funny. Anziano Dean has been a big help in the work though. He has only been here like 4 months and he speaks very, very fluently. I think he got like a 34 on the ACT and spoke a lot of French before the mission so it wasn't too hard to switch, I guess. He also has a lot more drive than my past comp had. We do a very precise daily planning which really helps with the work and our effectiveness throughout each day. It is something I really like and hope I can develop and use the rest of the mission.
I am going to try and get my pictures on a CD today and send them home. Hope everything is going well. That's great that work's keeping ya busy, dad. Mom that is awesome that Relief Society is keeping ya busy(haha, it's for the best). Keep up the great attitudes.
Another highlight of the week was when we were teaching this Italian. He is kinda poor so he switched over from buying already made cigarettes to the ones where you need to put it together. So, we are totally teaching the lesson and right in the middle of the lesson he starts making one, right in the middle of 2 Nephi haha. It was pretty funny. I think there might be a little tobacco in the crease of the page. haha
"Big Gulps huh?....well cya later"
Love ya.........Ciao
I have yet to get an email from Connor, you should try tell him that I have emailed him and have him email me( that troutsniffer). The address of our apartment is Corso Grosseto 59 Torino 10154.
The transfer has been going awesome. Basically, I went to the train station with all the others who were leaving Torino and then me and Anziano Dean left the train station to our side of Torino. It would have taken like 20 minutes but we got on the train going the opposite direction. Anziano Dean has been here in Torino for only one transfer as well. We hit the ground running though. This last week their copia had found a ton of investigators. So between last Thursday and today, we have taught almost 20 lessons(which is a ton compared to last transfer). We had a baptism this last Sunday with a Nigerian named Kinglsey. His girfriend is a member and now he is, so it's pretty sweet. He will be confirmed next Sunday. We also have a baptism set for February 5 with a 30 year old Giuseppe. He had been pretty crazy and actually tried to kill himself. He got put into a special community place and is pretty normal now. I actually thought he seemed very normal when I first met him. I didn't know anything about him until after I had met him. He is super cool though, and is a very solid investigator.
Tucker, Kingsley, Elder Dean, Marco Botalla
I will probably be able to go to Obeng's baptism, which should be this week. The capi zona we were living with got all of our investigators after my copia was closed. They were also able to get a baptismal date with Biyaho, our Chinese investigator which I was surprised to hear.
I am already loving the new change this transfer has brought. We have been teaching like crazy and have already seen a few mini miracles. We were walking back to the apartment and this Nigerian was changing the name on the citofono(doorbell on the apartment building). We set up an appointment and have taught him again since. We found out that his brother is the father of one of the families we are already teaching. The Lord blesses us in so so many ways; it's incredible.
I'm a little jealous you will get to have Elder Scott at stake conference. It must be a little exciting to see who the next stake president will be. President Pingree was such a stud. I don't think I have met a more loving guy.
My new ward is pretty sweet. The mission leader is such a cool guy; he is like 26 years old and is pretty funny. Anziano Dean has been a big help in the work though. He has only been here like 4 months and he speaks very, very fluently. I think he got like a 34 on the ACT and spoke a lot of French before the mission so it wasn't too hard to switch, I guess. He also has a lot more drive than my past comp had. We do a very precise daily planning which really helps with the work and our effectiveness throughout each day. It is something I really like and hope I can develop and use the rest of the mission.
I am going to try and get my pictures on a CD today and send them home. Hope everything is going well. That's great that work's keeping ya busy, dad. Mom that is awesome that Relief Society is keeping ya busy(haha, it's for the best). Keep up the great attitudes.
Another highlight of the week was when we were teaching this Italian. He is kinda poor so he switched over from buying already made cigarettes to the ones where you need to put it together. So, we are totally teaching the lesson and right in the middle of the lesson he starts making one, right in the middle of 2 Nephi haha. It was pretty funny. I think there might be a little tobacco in the crease of the page. haha
"Big Gulps huh?....well cya later"
Love ya.........Ciao
"Dear God, I Am From China..."
January 12, 2011 email:
HELLO HELLO.....whats up everyone? It's has been a fun week. Well, first I gotta say. I got a personal email from President saying...it is allowed to write friends and family.
Mom i am just kicking butt and taking names..at least I'm trying to. My Italian is crap but guess what? That's OK. I know it, the Italians know it. haha. I will learn though, I'm just "gonna fight, fight, fight until I get across that goal line"-RUDY
So who is Hillary going on a date with? haha.
I have been doing very well. We got transfer call yesterday and it was pretty crazy. I'm being transferred!.......to Torino 1. haha. My companion is going to Milano 3 and I'm going to the north side of Torino. They are making the missions smaller and smaller. Our copia has been closed so its just Zone Leaders in our apartment now. My companion found out pretty early in the morning that he will be going to Milano. I wasn't sure if I would be staying in Torino 2 and someone else would be coming here or if I would be leaving. I got a call from Torino 1 during the afternoon and they said that I was going there. We were hearing all sorts of rumors, but this seemed pretty legit. Sure enough around 10pm last night, the assistants called and confirmed. I will be in Torino 1 with Anziano Dean. He has been out for 4 transfers, I think. He speaks pretty fluently already so I'm excited about that. I have already met him before and he seems pretty chill. From what I already know, he is from Cincinnati, took ballroom dancing haha, and likes Disney music? It should be fun, he is a pretty good missionary from what I have heard. I want to try and do an SYL (speak your language) for the whole transfer because it would definitely increase my Italian a lot.
This transfer we just did not speak any Italian. We had so many African and Chinese investigators that spoke English that I just never really had a chance to even practice. Everything is going sweet though. We have a baptism set for the 22nd of January with Obeng, our African investigator. He is super stoked, at least I am and I hope he keeps progressing. His father is getting a little more interested which is also good because he can help him understand English better.
We called Eduardo this week and he is back from vacation. He told us right as we called that he had gotten all his documents(visa,permesso etc.) stolen and he was just stressing out a lot. We were able to teach him though and I think we will be able to keep teaching him (well the other copia will be able to). He said he hadn't read a lot since we had last met with him which was a bummer, but I think it is because he was on vacation and what not. We are pretty sure he will get baptized though, we just know haha....
On that same note...our other investigator Biyao, also from China, is progressing a lot. We have already taught him like 4 lessons. He really loved the plan of salvation and that we can live again. At the end of the lesson he prayed and it was super awesome. I almost laughed at the beginning but it turned out to be so cool. He basically said...Dear God, I am from China.........................where I'm from, the government doesn't allow us to learn about you. He prayed that the missionaries could be able to enter and teach there. It was so sweet and the spirit was very strong. He even said he wants to basically serve a mission there and tell them all about what he knows. He is just starting school and its pretty hectic so we cant meet that often with him anymore but..........but but.....he says after the next semester he cant meet more often. haha. He is such a stud. He is gonna be baptized I just know it. I know it's not about the numbers but.....we get excited when we know certain people will be baptized....I mean...baptisms are the bees knees....they're sweet.
Monday was cool. Our apartment used our Culture Day. President Wolfgramme lets us take one day, every other transfer to go on Culture Day. Basically we can travel to another city, see an Opera, or go to famous places that are close to our area. We used it because Anziano Brannon is leaving this week and we thought it'd be sweet. We went to Genova which was so awesome. It is a lot more italianesque than Torino. We were able to get around relatively easily because Anziano Pilcher(Anziano Brannon's companion) served there. I will try sending some pictures.
Sorry, I haven't sent any pictures; I just keep forgetting. Ya gotta remember that I'm a missionary and we have lots of things going on. haha. I'm not sure how many pictures the email attachments hold, but I will try sending some. If I don't do it this week then I will try next week.
By the way...haha the CD you sent for Christmas, I already have. I got it from Jenn and Nick the day all the aunts and uncles gave me the mission presents. haha sorry. Thanks for everything though, I loved each gift...seriously. By the way....who are the WHEATS? I totally spaced on which family they are....try and help me remember?
Love you all....TUCK
HELLO HELLO.....whats up everyone? It's has been a fun week. Well, first I gotta say. I got a personal email from President saying...it is allowed to write friends and family.
Mom i am just kicking butt and taking names..at least I'm trying to. My Italian is crap but guess what? That's OK. I know it, the Italians know it. haha. I will learn though, I'm just "gonna fight, fight, fight until I get across that goal line"-RUDY
So who is Hillary going on a date with? haha.
I have been doing very well. We got transfer call yesterday and it was pretty crazy. I'm being transferred!.......to Torino 1. haha. My companion is going to Milano 3 and I'm going to the north side of Torino. They are making the missions smaller and smaller. Our copia has been closed so its just Zone Leaders in our apartment now. My companion found out pretty early in the morning that he will be going to Milano. I wasn't sure if I would be staying in Torino 2 and someone else would be coming here or if I would be leaving. I got a call from Torino 1 during the afternoon and they said that I was going there. We were hearing all sorts of rumors, but this seemed pretty legit. Sure enough around 10pm last night, the assistants called and confirmed. I will be in Torino 1 with Anziano Dean. He has been out for 4 transfers, I think. He speaks pretty fluently already so I'm excited about that. I have already met him before and he seems pretty chill. From what I already know, he is from Cincinnati, took ballroom dancing haha, and likes Disney music? It should be fun, he is a pretty good missionary from what I have heard. I want to try and do an SYL (speak your language) for the whole transfer because it would definitely increase my Italian a lot.
This transfer we just did not speak any Italian. We had so many African and Chinese investigators that spoke English that I just never really had a chance to even practice. Everything is going sweet though. We have a baptism set for the 22nd of January with Obeng, our African investigator. He is super stoked, at least I am and I hope he keeps progressing. His father is getting a little more interested which is also good because he can help him understand English better.
We called Eduardo this week and he is back from vacation. He told us right as we called that he had gotten all his documents(visa,permesso etc.) stolen and he was just stressing out a lot. We were able to teach him though and I think we will be able to keep teaching him (well the other copia will be able to). He said he hadn't read a lot since we had last met with him which was a bummer, but I think it is because he was on vacation and what not. We are pretty sure he will get baptized though, we just know haha....
On that same note...our other investigator Biyao, also from China, is progressing a lot. We have already taught him like 4 lessons. He really loved the plan of salvation and that we can live again. At the end of the lesson he prayed and it was super awesome. I almost laughed at the beginning but it turned out to be so cool. He basically said...Dear God, I am from China.........................where I'm from, the government doesn't allow us to learn about you. He prayed that the missionaries could be able to enter and teach there. It was so sweet and the spirit was very strong. He even said he wants to basically serve a mission there and tell them all about what he knows. He is just starting school and its pretty hectic so we cant meet that often with him anymore but..........but but.....he says after the next semester he cant meet more often. haha. He is such a stud. He is gonna be baptized I just know it. I know it's not about the numbers but.....we get excited when we know certain people will be baptized....I mean...baptisms are the bees knees....they're sweet.
Monday was cool. Our apartment used our Culture Day. President Wolfgramme lets us take one day, every other transfer to go on Culture Day. Basically we can travel to another city, see an Opera, or go to famous places that are close to our area. We used it because Anziano Brannon is leaving this week and we thought it'd be sweet. We went to Genova which was so awesome. It is a lot more italianesque than Torino. We were able to get around relatively easily because Anziano Pilcher(Anziano Brannon's companion) served there. I will try sending some pictures.
Sorry, I haven't sent any pictures; I just keep forgetting. Ya gotta remember that I'm a missionary and we have lots of things going on. haha. I'm not sure how many pictures the email attachments hold, but I will try sending some. If I don't do it this week then I will try next week.
By the way...haha the CD you sent for Christmas, I already have. I got it from Jenn and Nick the day all the aunts and uncles gave me the mission presents. haha sorry. Thanks for everything though, I loved each gift...seriously. By the way....who are the WHEATS? I totally spaced on which family they are....try and help me remember?
Love you all....TUCK
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Torino 2 Titans
January 5, 2011 Email:
It seems like your lives are just busy these days. Dad, I gotta admit I was a little homesick when you wrote about ward ball starting up(not too bad though). I definitely miss the physical activaties of sports and what not...a lot. We have a basketball court near our house but it's cold outside and we aren't allowed to play competitively at all. I guess a bunch of missionaries got hurt from sports this summer so they changed the rule. We are allowed to shoot and that's about it. We are allowed to get our ping pong on though; there is a table across from our apartment in the old church that is now the young single adults center. Of course, we only do this on P-day.
I wasn't homesick at all when you talked about the fisherman's stew on New Years. While it is a fun event, the smell of fish and other fishy stuff is too strong. I always left the party smelling terrible, but I did enjoy the lobster.
That was pretty interesting about the Taggarts being in Italy. Knowing you Dad, I'm willing to bet that you sent him message on facebook saying something like, yeah I served my mission there. haha just kidding...but really you did, didn't you?. I wonder if their son, Connor is going to go on a mission. buh...
The work is going great with us, The Torino 2 Titans. Last week however it was looking kinda rough. We started off with a bunch of investigators but we've slowly had to drop a lot. A lot of them we have had to drop because they don't progress and cancel on us when we set up lessons. But....( I know I cant start a sentence with but)...we found a few this week. We found this really sweet Chinese guy named Biyao. We have already taught him 3 lessons and we've been able to create the basic belief in God and Jesus Christ. Most Asians we teach just know nothing about this. He has been sweet though and came to church last week. Yesterday we had a way sweet lesson that we just focused on Christ and we watched the movie, Finding Faith in Christ. He had some question but I really think he understood it(we watched it in Chinese, which obviously helps even though he can speak some English). He was a little freaked out at the beginning though. He asked us if we knew about Chinese government and their laws. We kinda already knew that they can't have religion in China but he proceeded to tell us that their government will kill people if they find out they are apart of certain religions. He said like in 1999 that some of his relatives were killed for being apart of a group that is a break off from Buddhism. Maybe you can research some specifics about religion in china and stuff and enligthen me???? He basically told us to not give any of his information to others. It was a bit awkward but you could see he really wanted to learn more from us. This discussion was before we watch the movie and talked about Christ. Sorry if that was confusing. Anyways..Biyao is a super sweet investigator and I really think our lessons with him have helped him to feel the spirit.
Obeng is probably our best progressing investigator. His baptism was set for the January 11 but he was sick last week and couldn't go to church. We will probably have to change it because he has to come to church 2 more times. He has been super awesome though and we meet with him twice a week. It has been a little rough because he can't read and doesn't always understand everything we said. We were able to teach his dad yesterday. Apparently, Obeng forgot about our lesson, but his dad was home. It will be really awesome if we can get his dad to read with Obeng because he can read and understand English a lot better.
I think one of the most surprising things about missionary work is how much we must use the spirit in our lessons. If the spirit isn't there in the lesson then it's almost pointless. The spirit is what is going to convert our investigators, not us as missionaries. I think the hardest thing is trying to communicate with people(for me anyways). I can kinda say what I want to say(in basic Italian) it's just sucky trying to understand people. I definitely rely a lot on my companion to help with that.
Well, this is my 5 week mark. Holy smokes as Andy would say. Our transfer is basically over. I think my companion is a little ready to leave the city, mainly because he has been here since the summer. There is a possibility that it could happen. I'm excited to see what will go down...I'm fine with whatever. I don't want to say my preference because I know that opposite will happen. Sorry if I didn't get to answer all the question.
Good luck with ward ball Dad. Mom keep tuckin' along(sorry to steal that phrase dad, but it is my name), and everyone else...I know its hard not having the favorite sibling around, but I'm needed here. haha
Ciao
It seems like your lives are just busy these days. Dad, I gotta admit I was a little homesick when you wrote about ward ball starting up(not too bad though). I definitely miss the physical activaties of sports and what not...a lot. We have a basketball court near our house but it's cold outside and we aren't allowed to play competitively at all. I guess a bunch of missionaries got hurt from sports this summer so they changed the rule. We are allowed to shoot and that's about it. We are allowed to get our ping pong on though; there is a table across from our apartment in the old church that is now the young single adults center. Of course, we only do this on P-day.
I wasn't homesick at all when you talked about the fisherman's stew on New Years. While it is a fun event, the smell of fish and other fishy stuff is too strong. I always left the party smelling terrible, but I did enjoy the lobster.
That was pretty interesting about the Taggarts being in Italy. Knowing you Dad, I'm willing to bet that you sent him message on facebook saying something like, yeah I served my mission there. haha just kidding...but really you did, didn't you?. I wonder if their son, Connor is going to go on a mission. buh...
The work is going great with us, The Torino 2 Titans. Last week however it was looking kinda rough. We started off with a bunch of investigators but we've slowly had to drop a lot. A lot of them we have had to drop because they don't progress and cancel on us when we set up lessons. But....( I know I cant start a sentence with but)...we found a few this week. We found this really sweet Chinese guy named Biyao. We have already taught him 3 lessons and we've been able to create the basic belief in God and Jesus Christ. Most Asians we teach just know nothing about this. He has been sweet though and came to church last week. Yesterday we had a way sweet lesson that we just focused on Christ and we watched the movie, Finding Faith in Christ. He had some question but I really think he understood it(we watched it in Chinese, which obviously helps even though he can speak some English). He was a little freaked out at the beginning though. He asked us if we knew about Chinese government and their laws. We kinda already knew that they can't have religion in China but he proceeded to tell us that their government will kill people if they find out they are apart of certain religions. He said like in 1999 that some of his relatives were killed for being apart of a group that is a break off from Buddhism. Maybe you can research some specifics about religion in china and stuff and enligthen me???? He basically told us to not give any of his information to others. It was a bit awkward but you could see he really wanted to learn more from us. This discussion was before we watch the movie and talked about Christ. Sorry if that was confusing. Anyways..Biyao is a super sweet investigator and I really think our lessons with him have helped him to feel the spirit.
Obeng is probably our best progressing investigator. His baptism was set for the January 11 but he was sick last week and couldn't go to church. We will probably have to change it because he has to come to church 2 more times. He has been super awesome though and we meet with him twice a week. It has been a little rough because he can't read and doesn't always understand everything we said. We were able to teach his dad yesterday. Apparently, Obeng forgot about our lesson, but his dad was home. It will be really awesome if we can get his dad to read with Obeng because he can read and understand English a lot better.
I think one of the most surprising things about missionary work is how much we must use the spirit in our lessons. If the spirit isn't there in the lesson then it's almost pointless. The spirit is what is going to convert our investigators, not us as missionaries. I think the hardest thing is trying to communicate with people(for me anyways). I can kinda say what I want to say(in basic Italian) it's just sucky trying to understand people. I definitely rely a lot on my companion to help with that.
Well, this is my 5 week mark. Holy smokes as Andy would say. Our transfer is basically over. I think my companion is a little ready to leave the city, mainly because he has been here since the summer. There is a possibility that it could happen. I'm excited to see what will go down...I'm fine with whatever. I don't want to say my preference because I know that opposite will happen. Sorry if I didn't get to answer all the question.
Good luck with ward ball Dad. Mom keep tuckin' along(sorry to steal that phrase dad, but it is my name), and everyone else...I know its hard not having the favorite sibling around, but I'm needed here. haha
Ciao
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