È Risorto!! - Week 84

I hope you all had a good week, and more importantly an amazing Easter! It's weird to see all the holidays just fly by out here. This week went by well.

P. is doing great. We finished teaching him all the lessons he needs to know and now should be ready for his baptism in a couple of weeks. I've have noticed that he gets even more excited for the lessons, than even we do. Being 19 years old he truly has taken this message and made it a part of himself.

P. with myself and Anziano B.

Easter was pretty good. We only had one hour of church, and I was asked to give a talk. My subject was on the atonement, and my mom was so kind to send me some material for my talk, even though she no idea I was giving a talk. After the meeting, we went to the branch president's home and had some ljubljasnka and a lot of chocolate eggs. It was a nice simple Easter to remember Christ. Christmas is important because we remember that Christ came into the world. I like Easter a little bit more because we remember what Christ did while he was on the earth.

We saw Z. after a little while. He had been busy, and we focused on the simplicity of church songs. Z. was a choir director, so we did a lot of singing. Well, I played the piano, and my companion and him sang.

G. is doing well, he said something neat and simple the other day. He said that no matter how hard the world gets, missionaries like us, and members never seem to look like they've lost hope. That made me think about how much the gospel gives us hope to continue forward. We know that the lord is blessing us, and even when things get tough, we are getting stronger through the trials.

P. is doing well. E. just had a little loss at love, but no he wants to do more with us, especially out of work. We usually pass by them while they are working in their store, but it will be a great opportunity to be able to do more with him outside of the work atmosphere.

This week has gone by and as general conference arrives this weekend, I have been trying to spiritually prepare myself with questions. General conference is a time where we can get the most current revelation and guidance in the world. Even though they speak to everyone, I believe we are each individual spoken to. When we have spiritual questions, and open hearts I truly believe we will be inspired and guided. As I hope most of us will watch conference, I know I will be touched personally by the messages brought. I know God guides our prophet to lead and guide us, and that this is his church on the earth today!

San Sabotino - Week 83

This week has gone by and I am exhausted. So I apologize if this is shorter than normal.

So exciting news. P. has made the decision to be baptized! We are working towards the day he chose, and are just working to make sure that everything will go through. It is still a little ways away but the important thing is that he chose to take this step.

D. is doing well. We got on a deeper level with him and we think we have finally figured out what some of his doubts are. Now we just need to find a way to help him understand this for himself.

We had a great discussion with P. and E. about the plan of salvation. Anziano B. and I were talking with them and the subject of heaven was brought up. We were able to bear our testimonies on the principle of the resurrection and how all of us will see our loved ones again. This then helped us tie in the other points of the plan of salvation, and P. was in agreement with it all. We left her with some stuff to read and will be following up with them this week.

Monday and Tuesday we went to Mestre again to do an exchange with the Capi Zona. I was with Anziano S., who I got to know a little bit when I was in Busto Arsizio. We met some great people, and I actually met a girl from San Diego, who was staying in Mestre for a good amount of time. She thought it was cool that I was from Temecula and said we could come back and talk (but I forgot to tell her I actually serve in Gorizia....) so I'm hoping she still will meet with the other missionaries.

Today we hiked in Gorizia to a mountain that borders with Slovenia. We went to the top of the cliff and had a beautiful 360* view. It was super windy, but there were many trenches and caves from world war 1. It was awesome!

Caves from WW1

Trenches from WW1

This half is Nova Gorica, Slovenia

This half is Gorizia, Italia

This week I spent a good deal going back and rereading notes I had taken down during studies. I realized that often times we study things, we do it once and never study it again. But we neglect their value. When we go back we can learn more than we did the first time. I felt like I was learning so much more, even though I had read some of the notes/scriptures at least 5 times. I truly believe that the scriptures, words of the prophets, and direction of our Heavenly Father, are to be of constant help, giving us something new to learn daily.

Have a great week everyone, and don't forget that because Christ rose the third day, all of us will return to our father in heaven. #alleliua

A stingray in Italia?

Golf Italia - Week 82

I hope you all had a great week! This one was very nice. We have been doing a lot of good things lately. We traveled with a member of our branch presidency this week to Grado to move some furniture for an older sister in the branch. Grado is a very pretty place near the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and we were able to move some things for her to the disposal unit using the car of our branch counselor. After that we were able to go see the T. family in their home. They had both their kids with their significant others, and we had a great evening with them. C. is very Austrian proud, and loved showing us all his collections from 200 years ago. We had a great dinner with them and were able to talk about how important the family is to our Heavenly Father. They are an incredible family and families are meant to be together forever. We feel like we left a big impression on them from the evening and message.

 
 
 
 

P. is doing good. Still coming to church every Sunday, and is making his friends listen to our message. We just need to help him move forward for his official baptism. He knows it's true, we just need to get him to say the official I'm ready statement.

G. is being G. M. is being M. But we keep pushing both of them because we know that they know this is important. We are just looking for ways to get the message to be vital enough for them to hold onto it.

This week I had Anziano C. come and scambio with me all the way from Trieste. He is a hilarious guy from Texas and we were able to see man named A. He seemed very interested, and felt like we had something he was missing, so we are hoping to see him again. We were also able to have an activity with a couple of our less active young single adults. It went really well and S. and I. both are
starting to do institute now, and want to do things with us more. We really hope this helps them get fully integrated back, because they will be a great help to this branch.

Today we were able to be classy Americans playing Italian golf. We went to Grado, and launched a lot of balls at the driving range and practice fields. It was a blast. Being right next to the sea made it nice too. We made good friends with the workers there, and we might come back and play a couple holes with them.

 

This week my mind has been focused on strength in overcoming trials. I was thinking about how when we exercise faith, we receive the strength to overcome it. Elder Bennett of the seventy said, "Our willingness to take a step is not just met; it is exceeded by the Lord’s promised blessings... Strength is given to those who keep seeking and trying" When we do not know if we have the strength to overcome something, we need to at least have the desire to receive strength, and try. When we take a step the lord gives us an extra push to move forward. He gives us the momentum to keep going forward. As we do this we find the strength we wished we would have had at the beginning. Like it says in Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them". We will find the strength, if we keep going forward in faith.

I know this gospel is designed to perfect us. It is the ultimate guide to become like our Heavenly Father. Have a great week everyone!

Our branch likes to call Anziano B. and myself cheeseburger (B., cheese, ya get it?) so one of them drew this when they heard we were doing a third transfer together.

Eccomi - Week 81

Hey everyone, another week down. The time keeps getting shorter. This week was a little anticlimactic, but nevertheless was a good week.

We had a branch activity for the Festa Delle Donne. We fed all the sisters in the ward dinner, and the primary kids performed some talents, and we ourselves also performed a little talent. We did the morning routine of a missionary, where I controlled Anziano B.'s hands (his face and body, but my hands) We'll just say everyone got a good laugh out of it. There were a lot of potentials that showed up to the activity. One of them I particular, J.P., really enjoyed the courtesy of the members in this branch.

Saturday we had a lunch with G. and his grandchildren A. and J., and we had a great time with them. We had a great discussion with A., about how much our agency really affects our lives. Sometimes we think of everything such as rules, restrictions, or limitations just as things to keep us from being ourselves. But there is nothing that stops of from being ourselves. When we choose to follow the guidelines or rules, it is because we want to. Sometimes we kid ourselves into thinking it is just pear pressure or just to please someone else, but in reality, we chose to do it, because deep inside us, that is what we wanted to do. In following the gospel and in life we understand that the rules are for our benefit, and no one can force us to follow or break the rules. God gave us agency to learn and grow, and every choice we make, is a just more proof of us being ourselves. We chose to either stay protected or see if something bad might happen.

P. is doing great. He is coming to church frequently now, and the members are doing a great job trying to fellowship him. We still need to choose a date for him to be baptized, but we can see the testimony in him taking hold.

We saw M. after a little break, and we focused on the most powerful experiences we have in the gospel. When we have confirmations of truth, or spiritual experiences that really touch us, it is a convincing evidence of truth. We can go forward in life, but we can never deny the truth that we felt at that time. We all have major changing points in life, and we always need to hold on to those memories, because they help us remember why we are on the path we chose. It gives us a reminder of the feeling that was felt during that experience.

A really cool thing that happened this week. We were visiting a family this week, talking about a friend that they were thinking about. We talked about many ideas of how we could help this friend, but none of us felt certain about what to do. After reading some things, we decided we needed to kneel in prayer. We offered a prayer, and I kid you not, moments after when we were casually talking about something, a word that came out of my mouth triggered a thought in the members head. This thought of hers was the exact solution we needed to help this friend of theirs, and we saw immediate results. We were able to set up an appointment with their friend, F., because we followed the impressions of the spirit and had kneeled in humble prayer.

Anyways I am excited to still be working in this beautiful country of Italy, I am grateful to help these wonderful people. I know that God is waiting to aid us in our needs, and that he is much closer than we think. I know that we can all receive his help, if we humbly seek and ask of him. I know it with all my heart.

Venezia - Week 80

Hey everyone I hope this week has been a good one for y'all. So I started off the week with a nice little cold, but I was fortunate enough to not have to be bedridden. It just made the days a little longer and tiring. It continues to rain, but things are going well. We were able to continue our service with the Codarin family and we are seeing great things from D. We still don't know what is holding
him back from making the step forward in the gospel, but his testimony really is getting stronger.

P. had a little nasty accident playing soccer, and now is in a cast because he broke his collarbone. They wrapped his arm into his chest and when he walks around with his jacket he looks funny because you can only see one arm. But due to this,  he is more free on Sunday and was able to come to church with us. The branch was great and focused a lot of the lessons on his questions and needs. He felt very welcomed and content.

P. is doing ok. She too is having medical problems and she works too hard. We always tell her she needs to rest, and she knows it. But we set a day to go to their home where she can be relaxed and will have a lesson with them. Her son E. has been very open to us and said he will be there too when we pass by.

G. is being G. Always happy to see us, and always ready for a good conversation. J. and A., his grandchildren, convinced him to have a lunch with us this upcoming Saturday which gives us the perfect opportunity to teach them all together. We are excited that they are so excited to learn and be with us.

We met two new people this week, A. and M. They are friends of P. We were casually talking with them trying to get to know them and M. says right off the bat, "teach me about Jesus Christ". We were able to have a good lesson with them and were invited to come back and teach them.

Today we decided to go to Venezia. I know, I know, Venezia. Every tourist's must visit site. It was a nice day so I can't complain. We saw a couple of my old members from Vicenza and it was nice to walk around. It was fun to walk up to Americans and speak English to them. I got in a little debate with a lady that sad Bakersfield was better than Temecula. But it was a nice day.

Venezia??

 
 
 
 

I've been pondering a lot about gratitude lately and it has been big for me. I realized that it rained 20 of the 29 days in February. I remember everyday just looking to see if there would be more rain, and then when there was I would be upset. But then towards the end I started thinking something. I was seeking out the rain. I was seeking out the thing that I didn't like. I had been neglecting the nice sunny days I did have in the month. We have sooo many beautiful days during the year. Way more than ugly days. If we search for the bad days, we will never be able to enjoy the good days that are usually already in front of us. "Stop seeking out the storm and enjoy more fully the sunlight" God blesses us daily. When we look for trials, we forget how I immensely blessed we are. I know I have so much more to be grateful for, and that I need to recognize that, and search for that. It is truly in front of all of us. I am grateful to be out here as a missionary. Not many people have this opportunity to come to Italy and teach people about God and Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the lessons I've learned and the good I am able to give. I know this gospel blesses us.

La vita missionario - Week 79

This week has been long, and short at the same time. We were full with our days, but lots of travel was included. This week I have only spent two days in my serving city Gorizia.

Friday we spent in Mestre for a zone conference. We focused on the importance of intense studying, and speaking our language more. Sometimes when we start our studies, especially our language studies, we zone out. We don't make it effective. If we don't put the effort into our studies, we are just wasting time. We won't get the results as often as we want, and we will not want to study. When we study, practice, and evaluate during our studies, we can hash out the mistakes more frequently.

Conferenza della zona

Saturday we helped a family in our branch move 2 tons of wood from their yard to their storage unit. My arms still feel a little sore. After we went to the Saturday evening session of stake conference in
Mestre. We met Elder Adler of the seventy. He was talking to us, and we didn't even realize who he was until after he walked to the podium to speak. He said some very profound things though. He used a driving analogy for the gospel. There can be noise to our left, and noise to our right, but we can still drive the car. In the world there will be plenty of "noise" or distractions all around us, but we can always choose to "drive", or focus on the savior as Elder Adler put it.

Sunday we went back to Mestre again for the Sunday session of stake conference. It was really nice because I got to see all the members of the Vicenza branch and military ward.

Monday I went to Udine to do an exchange with one of the missionaries in the district. To be honest it was one of the most unique days I've had in my mission. We had no appointments the whole day so we were on the streets looking for people to talk to. We ended up running with one guy to teach him, we met some guy in a local park, after it got pitch black, and then we say a lady on the first floor (which is the 2nd for America) looking out the window, and said hi to her, and started teaching her from the street. We had decided that whatever opportunities came our way, we would make the most of it, and that we did.

So for an update on the people we got to see this week. P. is doing well. He's still reading the Book of Mormon, he just has problems being free on Sunday. G. is doing well. He struggles with the idea of life after death, but is willing to pray about it. M. is doing well, we focused on the importance of having spiritual conversion daily.

On Tuesday we had this awesome opportunity to give two elementary school classes a tour of the church. We had about 40 ten year olds show up to the church in the morning with parents and teachers. We gave a presentation of how he church was established, watched a church video presentation, gave them a tour of the building, and answered questions they had. These kids were soo smart. I was honestly shocked at how intelligent their questions were. At the end we were able to give each one of them a Book of Mormon and some information about the church. We hope we can see some of them again.

Handing out 40 copies

Just one thing I want to leave on was a question that one of the kids asked me. He asked how we feel when we start to talk about God and Jesus Christ. That question kind of struck me. I realized that
sometimes I forget how how I feel when I talk about them. As a missionary I talk about them everyday, and as this kid asked me this question I recognized the feeling that I get when I talk about them. I feel a strange calmness and peace that always soothes me. Then I realized sometimes in order to feel the spirit, we need to have the desire to receive a feeling. We need to try and feel something. And when we do feel it, we need to write that feeling down. We need to recognize the feelings we get when we receive them. It helps us when we start forgetting the conversion we had in the first place.

I know that Heavenly Father gives us spiritual witnesses and that we can have them over and over again, if we let it get inside of us. I know he loves us!

Una bella domanda

I treni.... - Week 78

Hey everyone. I hope you all had a good week. This week has still been wet, we scarcely get a day without water pouring down on us.

So this week has been busy. Thursday we went and did more work for the Codarin family. I love working in the fields with them. It's a different type of work than I'm used to, but missionary work means service, and I enjoy this service. We are really close with D., the father who is not a member. He acts like a member, but for some reason is not baptized. We have been trying to figure out what is keeping him from this step, but we know the spirit is working hard on him.

P. is doing ok, he's been busing traveling, but still is reading from the Book of Mormon. G. is doing good, we watched the Mormon message about leaving behind old dirt that has been transformed into something better. (I think I translated that right. In Italiano il titolo è Redenti) we all make mistakes, but the atonement helps clean us, and we are able to "recycle" these things to make a pure field, a pure body. 

We had to go down to Mestre this week to do an exchange with the zone leaders. We also have to travel two more times this week, and it takes 3 hours in train to get there. So we have been on trains for 8 hrs so far this week, and have another 12-16 to go... But we are able to sit and talk with people more freely. We met this one lady named S.. I won't lie, she might have had a couple of loose bolts and screws in her. She's from Ukraine, and we spent two hours with her on the train. We taught her many of the lessons, and then somehow at the end of our train ride, she had given us jewelry, taken our pictures, given us postcards with her address in Udine, and Ukraine, and had answered so many strange questions about religion... But hey at least it's a strange story I won't forget.

Our exchange with the zone leaders was nice. It was pouring rain, but we were able to talk to a lot of people. A lot of people in Mestre are stranieri or tourists who visit Venezia (which once again we didn't go see......) but we were able to get the zone leaders a couple of potential people to teach. 

Due to traveling and being in Mestre, we haven't been able to see a lot of people, but the days have felt useful and full. This week my mind has been focused a lot on the commandments. When we think about the 10 commandments, we believe them to be logical, which they are. So that being said, it is easy to follow them. But then we look at the word of wisdom, some people have trouble finding the logic in not drinking coffee or tea. We can go all scientific and dive into the details of whether or not coffee and tea are technically bad, but that still causes debates. When I think about the commandments, I have to blot out the logic of why a commandment is given. I do believe that there will be given revelation as to why coffee and tea are not good in the future, but the scientific reason should not be my reason to follow the word of wisdom. When Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac, was that really a logical commandment? When the lord commanded Joshua and his people to walk around the walls of Jericho multiple times in order to capture the city logical? They honestly are not. But what we learn is, by our faith in keeping any commandment, we will be blessed, and I believe we sometimes need illogical commandments to test our faith. we can understand the blessings of the commandments, after the obedience to the commandment. It is not bad to ask the physical or logical reason why we follow a commandment, but it is more important that we follow the commandments, because of our faith in the almighty.

I have a testimony of this gospel, and of the following of the commandments. They never lead us astray!

Cinnamon Rolls