Vicenza - Week 28

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day (I spent mine looking for people to teach outside, but there were mainly couples and single people trying to get out of the rain....)

This week had a good ring to it. Mardi Gras was all this week, so people were out and about just partying and being around the center of the city. It made for lots of great opportunities for us to speak with people. We had lots of good discussions about how God reveals his doings through the mouths of the prophets, and how we have a living day prophet on the earth. It is sad how many times people will agree that we could have a prophet on the earth, but then don't want to know any more. But we still gotta love them anyway, and keep teaching the truths we know.

Eddie has been progressing a lot lately and is on track to be baptized in the upcoming weeks. We only have one more lesson to teach him before he is baptized. A great thing that he told us the other day is that he doesn’t want to be baptized because we want him to, but he wants to be baptized because he wants to be a part of the true church on the earth. That was pretty awesome to hear, because missionaries never stay in the same place forever so when we hear an investigator say that, we know he has been touched by our Heavenly Father.

Eddie's friend, Ken, has now been meeting with us a lot lately as well, and accepted a date to be baptized. We were teaching him about repentance and how it is important that when we tell our Heavenly Father that we truly feel sorry and say we won’t do that same sin again, and then to commit it the next day or right after, it is mocking our Heavenly Father and is not true repentance.  He totally agreed with that and felt strongly that we were teaching him by the spirit. We loved hearing that because he is very receptive to what we say, and the spirit has confirmed to us that he wants to be taught and brought to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Daniele has been progressing with the lessons as well, but has been struggling with coming to church still. He expressed to us his concerns about it, because he has always had that issue, so we taught him about the importance of expressing our desires to our Heavenly Father, and sincerely asking for help. Once we ask for the help, we need to take the first step for Heavenly Father to be able to push us farther.

We had a special fast with Josephine yesterday to help give her the strength to be an example to her family. We took our senior couple missionary, Elder Pederson, with us to teach her about Eternal Families. We taught her about the importance of Family Home Evening, and family prayer. Elder Pederson did a great job of explaining how, even if there are struggles, that the love we have from the Savior should be the same love we share with our families. The lesson went great and she is going to try and be doing more spiritual things with her family. We are hoping for the best for her!

A couple of really cool things I read this week I'd like to share. The first is a quote by Gordon B Hinckley. He says "Stop seeking out the storms, and enjoy more fully the sunlight". Optimism is so important in our life, and hope. How are we to be successful and even happy with our lives, if all we do are look at the negative? I love this quote especially because compare how often you see the sunlight more than you see storms. The good is always around us, in plain sight. Sure a storm is noticeable, but why do we need to take more notice to it and let it hurt us more, when we can appreciate the light in our lives? We need to allow the good to overweigh the bad, just like the sun, always comes more often than the storm.

Last thing I would like to share is from Ebrei (Hebrews) 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him." For us to return to Heavenly Father, we must have faith in him. The part I love the most is at the end. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Our efforts will not be in vain. He promises to help us if we DILIGENTLY seek the truth. We need to do our part for him to bless us.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week, I know this gospel is true with all my heart. We are his children, and we can live with him if we follow his teachings. We have a prophet on the earth today to guide us, and we have the ultimate source of knowledge, through prayer! I know these things to be true! Ci Vediamo!!!

Anziano Chase

I was giving some service for a family and they had a wicker broom. I had to leave for Hogwarts after I saw the broom.

The view of Vicenza at night from a member’s house

La santità della domenica (Vicenza - Week 27)

Hey everyone, another week, another paycheck I'm not getting. I'm totally kidding, I receive lots of blessings, and more than I should be getting. This week was another packed week of adventure and memories.

There is an Italian named Antonio Perretti that lives here in Vicenza. He is the world's number 1 barefoot runner and his professional race name he goes by is Tom Perry. Our senior couple here in Vicenza ran into him a transfer or so ago, and he wanted to meet with them because of L. Tom Perry. Note that the Pederson's do not speak Italian, and Tom does not speak English. The Pedersons told me that he said to them in broken English "Tom Perry number 1 barefoot runner, L Tom Perry number 1 apostle" I thought that was hilarious. Anyways, the Pedersons had us call him to set up a dinner appointment with him because Sis Pederson is related to L Tom Perry and got an Italian Libro Di Mormon signed and sent here to Italy for Tom. The night of the dinner, my companion as well as our district leader, had tickets to a play for Pday. So that meant I had sole responsibility to be the mouthpiece the whole dinner appointment, because the trainee in our district would not be able to say hardly anything. I was a little worried, not because I don't know Italian, but because of the vocabulary I would have to swap from Italian to English and English to Italian. The night looked like it was going to start rough because Tom started speaking in a dialect I was not too familiar with, and Elder Pederson was using words that are not the easiest to translate into Italian. But the night went well, and I was able to create a great relationship with Tom and get everything spoken by everyone into the appropriate language. It was quite a crazy night for me.

Eddie and Daniele both had other commitments on Sunday and could not come to church, BUT they are still both progressing really really well. We taught Eddie about all the commandments that God has given us, and why we are given commandments. The more commandments God gives us, the more opportunities he has to bless us. I personally before studying to teach him that, never really comprehended that. It can sometimes be hard when more and more rules are given, but what happens when we follow the commandments of God? We are blessed eternally! Also while we were teaching Eddie, his friend Ken joined in on the conversation and we have started to teach him as well, and he wants to be baptized as well!

With Daniele, we taught La Parola di Saggezza e la legge di Castità. He had previously asked us if we drank coffee and tea, because he has had previous encounters with missionaries, and we told him we don't. So when we started teaching him the next lesson he told us that the following day after he had asked us about coffee and tea, that he thought it was finally time for him to stop drinking them. We were so excited to hear that, especially because we hadn't even asked him to stop yet, because we hadn't taught him yet. It was a testimony to me, that the spirit prepares us in ways that lead us closer to him, even before we are taught the principles of why. He has to come to church 3 times before he can be baptized, so I will more than likely leave before he is baptized, but I am just grateful to be teaching him and be able to see his progression in this great gospel.

I have been thinking a lot about the importance of the sabbath day and a lot of stuff came to my mind. The Sacrament. The renewing of our baptismal covenants we made with our Heavenly Father. Why would we not want to go to church and be made clean again through the sacrament. It blows my mind now when I think about the times I wanted to skip church and do other things. Every time I invite an investigator to church I always tell them, when they say they don't have a lot of time, to come to the hour we have sacrament because that is the most important part of church. Why are we so willing to set other things in our schedule that take away from our time to worship our Father? When we have no choice to work on Sunday, we should still set aside time to be for our growth in the gospel and for us to have the opportunity to think of him. The Lord does not expect us to quit a job if that is the only way we can provide for a family, but he expects us to do all we can to have our Sunday set aside for him. Why would he ask us to do that? Because he wants us to come closer to him and be faithful so we can stand strong at the last day.

One last thought Alma 17:11
Andate fra i [Italiani], vostri fratelli, e stabilite la mia parola; tuttavia siate pazienti nella sopportazione e nelle afflizioni, per poter mostrare loro un buon esempio in me; e io farò di voi uno strumento nelle mie mani per la salvezza di molte anime.

As a missionary, I love this verse. Go unto thy brethren in faith, in patience. There will be hard times but be a good example of me, and I will make thee an instrument that brings salvation to the people. What greater promise does God give us when we go in faith to proclaim the gospel to our fellow brethren. He has promised and will always fulfill this promise to help us when we desire to teach the restored gospel to those who have not received it.

I hope everyone has a great week and that everyone will want to enjoy the blessings of the sabbath day!

Anziano Chase

Never Giving Up (Vicenza - Week 26)

Hey everyone, I hope everyone had a busy and full week like I did, because it sure makes the time fly.

This week was another good week of work for the Lord. At the beginning of the week I took Elder England out on an exchange for a couple days. We found ourselves finding miracles throughout the day. We had a lesson with Daniele, on the gospel of Jesus Christ and had a plan to give him a date for baptism. I was a little nervous because he is a solid investigator and Elder England is only a transfer into the mission, so I had to really lead the lesson in Italian. But the Lord blesses those who put in the effort to do his work. I taught with such assurance and confidence and Elder England was able to teach a little and bear a solid testimony. When I invited him to be baptized, he solemnly said that he really wants to and knows that this is his next step in life. We were soo relieved and were so grateful.

After Daniele, not more than an hour or two later, we were walking through Parco Querini, just looking for some people we could talk to, and we passed by Eddie, the first investigator I found in Italy. I hadn’t talked to him in over 2 months, because his phone wasn't working and we didn’t have an address to see him. When we saw him, he was just soo happy to see us. He told us he was fasting that day to help himself come closer to God. Well you can bet that fast was answered, because we started to teach him again, and he was so excited. He came to church on Sunday, bore his testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting and accepted a date for baptism, all in a space of 3 days. I was a little speechless. All he has to do is stop smoking for two weeks and he can be baptized. We hope that he continues to show this desire to come closer to Christ and we know that he is making a huge step in his life.

Josephine finally had the courage to talk to her husband, but he still does not want her to be baptized. She told us that as hard as it is for her not to be baptized, that when her husband is ready to talk to us, that it will be time for both of them to be baptized. There is not much we can do, but just pray and keep inviting her husband to come to a lesson.

As we keep working to become closer to our Heavenly Father, he will help guide our path and lead us to him. I have a firm testimony of the power of Christ and our Father in Heaven. Although I have never seen them with my own two eyes, I have felt the witness of their existence in my life, and just like so many others have, you all can feel that same confirmation I have.

Last little spiritual thought I would like to share is from a Mormon Message titled "You Never Know". It shows a video about a mother doing all these things for others, but as a result of helping others was not able to visit a close relative she had been planning on seeing. After a little emotional wreck, and feeling like the day was terrible, she started to notice some of the good things that happened because she had taken the time to help others. We all have so much to offer to others, and even if we do not see the fruits of our labors, we make more of a difference than we give ourselves credit for. Don’t be afraid to help others, the two great commandments from God are to "Love God" and "Love thy Neighbor". If we reach out in love and service we will not only touch their lives, but we also will see the blessings that come from it.

I know these things to be true, that we all are sons and daughters of our loving Heavenly Father. He is our creator, and we WILL return to live with him, if we follow him and keep his commandments!

Have a great week!

Anziano Chase

This is a random baby head in the center of Vicenza

Week....I don't really count (Vicenza - Week 25)

Hey everyone, another week, another email about the life of a missionary. We have continued to make progress here in Vicenza, and the work keeps moving foward. Where to start....

Well first off, we had a country wide fast in Italy for the progression of the temple in Rome, and our whole Sunday was dedicated to the blessings of the temple. Now I always am happy to talk about the temple because of all the blessings I have seen from working there, so I was especially excited for the 6 hours of church (2 wards). The spirit dwelled in the church the whole day, there was just a feeling of complete joy. Everyone here in Italy wants to have a temple, and we could all tell by the amount that fasted and bore testimony of the temple. There was one thing I especially liked. I can’t remember who said it, but they talked about temple recommends. "If you don’t have access to a temple, STILL be worthy and GET a temple recommend" The idea behind this is to me, two things. One, if there ever is the chance for us to visit a temple, we will have our recommend. The second, and more important I think is, with a temple recommend, we are practically showing ourselves and God that we are worthy to take the covenents in the temple and to dwell in the house of the Lord. What greater blessing can we receive than if we are worthy to be in the most holy of places??? We all need to be worthy of a temple recommend, and if you can get one, GET one! There is no reason, no excuse for not wanting to go to the temple. Our progression does not end after baptism. We still have sacred ordinances to perform in the temple!

In the Italian Branch I had the lovely privelage of translating from Italian to English for a member who does not speak Italian. It was a great learning experience but I know the gift of tongues works because being able to hear everything in one language and saying it at the same time in another language, especially when I am still not perfect at the language, is not easy. I know I was being blessed to speak better, and it helped me know my Italian is growing and that I am getting really comfortable speaking to anyone and everyone.

Lots of good things going on. We were not able to meet with Josephine this last week but we have an appointment with her tomorrow and hoping for the best. The work with Daniele though, has improved better than we thought. We taught him the piano di salvezza, and he said that in times past when he heard this same message that it did not really make a difference, but he feels like now is the time for him to make that next step in his life. We are meeting with him Saturday and hoping to set up a baptism date with him.

We met another new investigator named Freedom, from Nigeria. He loves letting people preach to him, so he naturally accepted our invitation. When we taught him the restoration, he was like "Of Course, that makes perfect sense, there should be a prophet and apostles". We are hoping that he continues to have the desire to make a change, as we know that it is going to change his life for the better.

We also have been making slow progressions with Luke and Katelyn. We taught the plan of salvation to them with the McBryde family and there was a calm that just settled in when we taught. They have not expressed a desire to be baptized, but they do believe what we are saying is true doctrine. They both head off for a few weeks so we won’t be seeing them for the next little while but we are praying that this message continues to run through their mind. Even if they are not baptized we know that even hearing our message is going to help them. That is something I have really learned out here.  There will be rejections, there will be people who just love our message, but not want to change and be baptized, but why do we teach and invite others to come unto Christ and be baptized? Because we want every soul to return to our heavenly father.

Little spiritual thought or two:

Alma 37:36 There are two things I especially like in this verse: "Let all thy doings be unto the Lord" and "Let all the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord" - I feel like the first part of doing everything unto the Lord comes from when our heart is first placed on the desires of the Lord. If HE is on our minds first and foremost, our actions will naturally follow in his name, and in his ways.

Alma 14:13 "Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished" - The Lord will always guide us and let us know what is to be done. If he wants us to stop, it will be his will, but if not, keep going. All of us still have lots of work to do for the Lord, we are not finished. We still have a mighty work to do, whether it be in the home, at work, as a missionary, as a parent, husband or wife, teenager, whatever it may be we still have work to do!

I know that we are in a marvelous time, and age where we are able to freely follow our beliefs and that this gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the true and restored Gospel on the Earth. We can know for ourselves through reading the Fruits of the Gospel, The Book of Mormon. Through asking God we can know that it is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that Thomas S Monson IS the living prophet on the earth today. "If Any of you lack Wisdom, Let Him (YOU) ask of God" I know all of us can receive the same comfirmation of the truth from our loving Heavenly Father. I know these things to be true!

Buon Settimana e ci vediamo!

Anziano Chase

Vicenza - Week 24

Hey Everyone,

Transfers calls were this week and I am...... staying in Vicenza for my 4th transfer. Doing 6 months in an area is certainly long, but the relationships with investigators and members I wouldn’t change for the world. This week we were especially blessed in finding new investigators. I can testify of the power of Family Night activities with non-members because in this last week we have met two great couples who agreed to hear our message. Did I also mention that both these couples came from the same members?? All these members did was invite us over to Family Home Evening to participate in their lesson. They did not ask us to try and meet with them, but they did want us there in case they asked questions. They did not want to push their friends, and in return the friends started asking the questions without being talked to. It was great!! We hope that we can get something really going with these couples and I know the Lord has already touched their lives.

We started working with an ex investigator named Daniele this week. We were looking through the notes other missionaries had written about him and he seemed to be a very receptive person. We gave him a call and he gladly invited us over. He is a nice man of the age of 47, who just loves to talk with missionaries. We taught the Restoration to him and his friend Mario. Both of them agreed that the principles taught in our church were great for society. We have another appointment with them this upcoming Saturday and we hope that they will continue to have the desire to follow the path towards baptism.

We also have been working with a Nigerian named Josephine. I think I’ve mentioned her before, but we made a big step with her this week. She believes in everything we teach, and has been taught all the lessons. Her only setback is not wanting to go against her husband’s wishes. She has not talked to him about wanting to be baptized but we set a baptismal date with her this week and are going to pray that she might have the courage to speak with her husband, that his heart will be open to her being baptized. We are praying fervently for her and hope she exercises her faith this week

I was reading a talk this week by Joseph B Wirthlin on lessons he learned as a boy. I really liked a section where he talks about taking his eye off the football for a split second. He talks about how if we allow ourselves to get distracted from the object or goal we are seeking, there is a much higher chance of us dropping the ball and falling short of the potential we have. In today's society it is very easy to get distracted and take our eye off the ball, but we need to stand firm and be strong in our concentration towards the eternal plan of redemption.

I know the Lord has a plan for me here in the city of Vicenza.  I know that I am a servant of the Almighty. I know that the Libro di Mormon is true and that we all can have that same confirmation through humble and sincere prayer. I know that I can work mighty miracles through faith, and that we all can be missionaries of Christ. I hope everyone can take the time to invite a friend over for a family activity and that you take the time to share a little message, if they don’t seem interested, there is no need to throw the missionaries at them, but the Lord will bless all that share what they believe to be true with others. I know this gospel is true!!

Anziano Chase

Vicenza - Week 23

Hello my good friends!! (That was way too formal and strange)

This week was definitely a better week. It has been just so spiritually uplifting. This week we found 4 new investigators!! We have been working with a lot of families and there is a new private, Luke, who is working on the base. We invited him to hear the gospel and he was all up for it. We are teaching him again today and we just hope that he keeps his enthusiasm up, because he said ever since he started talking with us, he has been much happier with life and himself. On Sunday, we did a pass by with an African member named Anes, to stop by a lady named Patricia. We taught her the Restoration, and the spirit literally overtook the room. I had a hard time opening my mouth because I just wanted to sit there and take it all in!

On Monday we didn’t find anyone, but what we did find, was a smoking cool Ferrari just parked outside our apartment. I know I am in Italy, but every time I see one, it still gives me the same wow factor. So naturally I took a picture with it.

Yesterday, I gained a huge testimony of fasting again. We decided to start a fast to improve the work of investigators. I started with a prayer and just asked if we could get our message across to everyone we spoke to the next day. We started off the morning doing some park finding. The first person we spoke to listened right up and accepted our invitation to meet again. We were both shocked because the finding percentage of people who say yes to us is soo low. The next person we speak to, surprisingly says YES too! It happened like that 4 times!!! We were soo blessed. We also were able to meet with Josephine and teach her about Esther and the courage that she had to face her fears, and she started tearing up with joy. I know the Lord blessed us in our fast, and that we had the faith to receive these miracles in our lives

I know that as we go throughout our lives, if we use the opportunities the Lord has given us to receive blessings, then he will thereafter pour them out to us!

One last message: I was reading about families and this little thought popped up. Heaven is a continuation of the ideal home. If we set our principles on the foundations of the gospel, then we will see all the blessings that come from God, and it will be as if we never even left home. I know that we can have our own little piece of heaven if we set our standards in our homes and that we can help others by being that example!

Have a fantastic week everyone and ci vediamo il prossimo settimana!

Anziano Chase

Vicenza - Week 22

Well First off, I personally think it is really weird that the week I got snow, you all got snow too.... But anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year’s parties and are ready for this wonderful upcoming year of 2015. This week in Italy, there were still holidays going on until yesterday with the 6th of January being the last winter holiday, the day of Epiphany. I won’t describe the holiday in detail because I know you all have the means to look it up yourselves haha.

This week we consecrated ourselves to working on the streets to find some new investigators. In the midst of the freezing cold, we were stopping people and knocking on doors trying to get someone to listen to our message. With the lack of success we were having this week, I started to wonder what I was doing wrong, trying to figure out how we could do a better job finding more people, and I couldn’t figure it out. But I didn’t let that discourage me because out here in Italy, it is going to be hard.  I am going to have plenty of weeks that I would sure love never to go through again, but as quoted in Batman Begins "What do we do when we fall? We pick ourselves back up". Myself and Anziano L.continued to keep our happy faces, and tried to make as much fun as we could out of street contacting. We sang horribly out of tune songs, cracked jokes to each other, and acted like weird Italians. As soon as we changed our attitude about finding work, we were able to start seeing some success. We received a lot of potential investigators that we are visiting this week. We had worked our butts off, and slowly started to see something come out of it. It certainly boosted my testimony that if ye are diligent in your labors, you will receive the fruits of them. I certainly am starting to taste of the fruit

This week we were also able to, in addition to finding work, start family mission plans with a lot of member families. We go to their house and work with them on things they can do, through goal setting, to increase their activity in missionary work. One family was so excited that they invited us over this upcoming week to follow up on their mission plan that includes 2 families they want us to teach. I know for a fact that when members get involved in missionary work, that it grows exponentially. So, as a missionary who's job it is to teach and invite people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, I ask that every member see what they can do to aid missionary work.

I would like to just leave with a little quote:

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun is out"

If we are not constantly praying and giving thanks to our Heavenly Father when he blesses us, than why would he want to bless us when time gets hard? He loves us and will always love us, so we need to always love him and pray always to him, not just when we have no where else to go.

Hope everyone has a great week and can see many blessings!

Anziano Chase 

My California flag

English class