Torino is Huge!

Cara Famiglia,

Welcome to Torino! This city is awesome! It is wayyyy way bigger than any city I've served in before. I am serving in the Torino 1 ward, which has four Anziani, we live with the other two. The apartment is pretty nice, we live on the 7th floor of a palazzo and from the balcony we can see the Mole Antonelliana (this big building that dominates the Torino skyline, look it up!), as well as that mountain from the 'Paramount Pictures' thing in movies way off in the distance. We travel around mainly on bus and tram, and lots of walking. It is nice to not be on a bike. The ward is pretty big, probably around 80-90 people come every week. For real though, this city is just massive, especially compared to Legnano/Busto/Gallarate. There are endless people to talk to, it's great!

The work is going really good too, we are seeing tons of miracles. Just a couple days before I arrived Anziano Russo and his companion miraculously found a less-active Nigerian member who is married to a non-member guy from Ireland. So they set up an appointment for us to see him, and we went and taught him. And now he has a baptismal date for the 15th of January! His name is Matin, he is super bravo. We gave him a Book of Mormon and the next day we called to follow up and see how it was going, and he had read 12 chapters! He is really just a super cool guy. We are also teaching an awesome Peruvian guy named Antonio, he is also doing really well with the Book of Mormon and came to church on Sunday! His friend Sandro is also kind of involved, but seems less interested. Yesterday was full of miracles, we taught six lessons! So we are praying a lot to stay humble and grateful for all the lessons the Lord is blessing us with.

This week I found a really awesome scripture in Alma! It is in chapter eight, verse ten:

10 Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.

I may have mentioned this before, but I love the idea of 'wrestling with God in mighty prayer.' Prayer is something I think we can constantly work on, and to make our prayers 'mighty' takes a lot of practice. I am really grateful for the power of prayer in missionary work, and I can truly feel and see the evidence of all of your prayers every day. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Christmas is coming!

Cara Famglia,

Christmas is coming! Happy December! The weather does not feel like Christmas though, it is still Autumn type weather here. Pretty crazy. But it is cool because in Legnano and Busto they put up Christmas lights all over centro, and in Busto they have a cool manger scene on the main piazza. We are even busting out the pass-along cards with the nativity scene on them haha.

The work is going well. We are teaching Isaac and Rita, and they are both doing really well. They really really really need to just get a job, get married, and get baptized. We pray for them to get a job often. Isaac came to church on Sunday, unfortunately Rita could not because she was sick. And Isaac fasted! And it was his birthday! It was really cool, he's great in church. Even though his Italian is a little tough, he tries really hard to understand everything, and actually gets a lot out of the lessons. We taught him about Following the Prophet during the first hour of church and he was excited to learn that there's a prophet on the earth today. We are really lucky to have that knowledge! We are going to see him tonight with a member and it is going to be great, we are teaching him about praying often. If you go into Preach My Gospel, you can actually count 15+ blessings promised just in the 'Pray Often' section!

We were also struggling to find new investigators this week, but last night we found one! It's a 20-year old kid named Miguel, from El Salvador. He is cool, and we are going back to teach him Saturday with a 21-year old member kid from El Salvador. So we were really excited about that. We even had a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish to give him!

This week my spiritual though is from the spiritual giant, Abinadi. I've gained a lot of respect for him as a missionary, thinking about how the only possible hint of success he may have seen as a missionary was seeing Alma say 'Hey guys, maybe he's right?' before Alma was kicked out of the High Priests' Group. But Abinadi is the man, in Mosiah 16 he throws down some T(testimony) of Christ:

9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

So remember that Christ is the real Christmas light! I'm very grateful for Jesus Christ being the light and the life of the world, for myself and for my family. I know that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the grove of trees in the year 1820, and that "the field is white already to harvest" has never been repealed, but is a truth revealed to a prophet of God. I see the fruits of this "marvelous work and a wonder" every day! I love you all a lot!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Thanksgiving in Italy!

Cara Famiglia,

Well this week was Thanksgiving. It was pretty strange not having any hype for it here in Italy, but the weather was pretty Thanksgiving-ish I guess. My companion and I spent a little bit of companionship study listing off to each other things we're grateful for, and then continued throughout the day, so that was fun. We also got some Kebab to celebrate! And I am thankful for an awesome family and an awesome mission!

This week was pretty good! We are still teaching Isaac and he is awesome. We are seeing him tonight with a member, and hoping to make some real progress. We were a little worried, because last Friday we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he was a little hesitant about accepting it, but he was still super excited to come to church so we took that as a great sign. And then he came and brought Rita(his fianceè)! It was great, and the Sacrament Meeting was dedicated to the Young Women so they all spoke and sang a song together and Isaac and Rita both liked it. We are also still teaching Thomas, although he is a bit flaky. I don't blame him because he has a really difficult/complex situation, but it's tough to teach somebody when you go to there place and then find out they're in Bergamo even though you confirmed the lesson the night before! Fun stuff here on the mission. Another cool story, this lady named Martina who Anziano Webb and I found in Gallarate about a month ago finally resurfaced and scheduled a solid return appointment. So we went over to her house the other night with a member and found out she's Seventh-Day Adventist! She is one of the first members of that church I've really come in contact with before, and she is big on Saturday being the Sabbath Day still but she is great! She had even been reading out of the Book of Mormon since we had left it with her! So we're excited to help her get baptized!

In other news, the weather is getting a bit cold. Legnano is still Legnano, and everything is going well. Today we hit up Switzerland for P-day, Bellinzona and Lugano are gorgeous, and we even got some Dr. Pepper and Vanilla Coke, which for some strange, sad reason is not sold here in Italy! Other than that, we are really pushing on member and less-active work this week and things are looking up. This work is amazing.

My spiritual though this week comes from a fantastic talk on gratitude given by President Monson in the October 2010 conference called 'The Divine Gift of Gratitude.' Even the title makes me grateful for the opportunity to be grateful! Anyway, he quotes Joseph F. Smith here: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!” I know that is true! I've noticed that when I'm ever down or unhappy during the day, I can just think back to how much the Lord has blessed me every single day of my short 20 years of life up until this point, especially on my mission! And then I realize the truth of this Aldous Huxley quote (also in the talk): “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” So I am really grateful for my family, for my mission, for my friends, for my companion, for all the blessings the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings me, and the most amazing gift ever which is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love you all a lot!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Church is awesome!

Cara Famiglia,

How is everything? Busto is awesome! We are having a great week and just tearing it up here. This Sunday we had seven non-members in church! Including Isaac, our awesome golden Nigerian friend, and two other Nigerian brothers who we found this week. It was awesome to see them there and be able to feel the spirit of church!

So Isaac is still going great! We taught him about baptism with a member during the first hour of church and it went great! He really wants to be baptized. And then last night we taught him again with a member and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it went really good! So he is progressing well, reading the Book of Mormon and praying and still hoping to be baptized on the 10th of December. Although it will be a miracle if he can get married by then. But pray for him to be able to obey the Law of Chastity! The other two Nigerian brothers we brought to church are Thomas and Augustin. They are refugees from Libya! They literally ran away from war to get on a boat and make it here with just the clothes on their backs and are living in a guest house here under the custody of the UN. It is a little bit tough to teach them because they mainly speak Pidgin English, but they came to church and are reading the Book of Mormon! We are seeing them again tomorrow. They are great.

Other than that we are doing a bunch of finding work. We talked about it in District Meeting this week about how finding work isn't just finding people, it's finding your family members who need the gospel! They aren't from someone else's family either! So we are really working hard as we contact people to love them and just bear pure testimony about how the restored gospel will bless their lives!

I read through Enos the other day, and I really liked an idea that Enos put into practice:

10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.

11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.

I liked the idea of 'struggling in the spirit'. It is really true sometimes that we may have to struggle to recognize, understand, and follow the spirit's promptings, but when we do that our faith begins to be unshaken! I wish all my prayers were like that, but prayer, as the Bible Dictionary says, is a form of work! I know that as we diligently work on improving our prayers, to make them more sincere, specific, and spirit-guided we will truly see miracles happen in our lives. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that this is his "one true and living church". I love this work, and I love you all a lot!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Hello from Laveno!

Cara Famiglia,

I'm currently using the biblioteca in Laveno, Italy at Lago Maggiore and don't have lot's of time. We came here for P-day, it's a pretty little town! It kind of reminds me of New England a bit. I'll try and send pictures maybe next week. 

The work here is going well! We are teaching Isaac still and he is rockin' a baptismal date for the 10th of December. We are teaching him the Plan of Salvation tonight with a member who speaks English (served his mission in the England Manchester Mission). He is doing well, and came to church on Sunday! He asked "Do you think the members will mind that I don't speak Italian when I get baptized?" Haha it was kind of funny, but he is doing real well. Pray for him to get a job though. We are also working with our other investigators, basically trying to find time to see them (Blandine, Saul, Roberta, Ravith). But as far as we can tell they are still doing okay. 

We are starting an English class! They haven't had one the entire time I've been here so that's going to be exciting. We are doing it Saturday mornings and we spent a bit of time yesterday putting up flyers in Busto centro. We even had some people call us about it! 

This week the letter may be a little short, so I hope this spiritual thought would go along with that. In the book of Jacob (which is actually a gold mine of awesome scriptures), chapter 6 verse 12 reads: "O be wise; what can I say more?" It's so simple, but so true! If everyone just did things wisely and really thought about the eternal consequences of their actions, the world would probably go much better. I know that it is wise to follow Jesus Christ, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know this work is the greatest thing I could ever do. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Milan soccer stadium pictures!

Busto Transfer #4!

Cara Famiglia,

Well I have a new companion! I would say that was the biggest difference this week here in Busto Arsizio. It was kind of strange not having Anziano Webb by my side, but Anziano Mitchell is just great! He is in his third transfer and is a stud already. He asks really good questions to people. 

Anyway, the work is going good. We have had trouble seeing Saul and Blandine the past couple days, but we will see them soon and help them get back on track. The big miracle this week started on Sunday. As church was starting we got a call from some random number. So we called them back and it was this guy named Isaac who says "Hey! You are those missionaries right? You guys gave me your card a couple months ago and I want to know where your church is so I can come today!" We were speechless! Pass-along cards work! But anyway, he couldn't actually come that day because it was raining and he didn't have a car, but we saw him yesterday, and he is the man! He is from Nigeria, and has been in Italy for about three years. He met some sister missionaries in Bergamo about a year ago but was too busy to take any lessons with them. But now he's just chillin' in Gallarate with his fianceè, so he is ready and willing to learn and to be baptized the 10th of December! And his fianceè Rita is also pretty interested! Basically it was one of the coolest miracles ever heard of. We are super excited to teach him. 

We went to Milano today for P-day, so that was fun. Saw a bit of the Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele again, which is always fun. The Duomo in Milano really is an amazing building. 

This week I read one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 29! It is just laying down the law about more scripture. I really like how strong the language is and how it reminds us that we don't tell God when his work is finished. I'm really grateful that we have the Book of Mormon to be proof of that, that God loves all his children. I know that it's true, and that this work is directed by our Heavenly Father! I know Jesus is the Christ, the redeemer and savior of the world, and I know that through him comes true happiness. I love you all tons and tons!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Miracles!

Cara Famiglia,

Well like always, miracles are happening in Busto Arsizio. There are also good investigators here. I swear, every day we find people that are super elect and so clearly need the Gospel, it's ridiculous. We are working still with Saul. He is having trouble reading, but he is still praying and is super awesome. Not too many 16 year olds I know would be spending their time meeting with missionaries and trying to fight the right path in their life to follow God. So he is still the man. Also Blandine is progressing very well. She reads and understands everything great! We taught her part two of the Plan of Salvation last night with a member and it went very well. We also had a good lesson with Ravith and Elisabeth yesterday, even though it's tough for them to understand it was great for them to realize for themselves that if they want to resolve their confusion they have to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. 

Other than that we had some good miracles. We went to Somma Lombardo(this little town where Rafael, one of our new converts lives), where I don't think missionaries have ever done finding work before. But we had a cool experience. Right as we walked out of the train station we were happy because there are some tall palazzi there that we were excited to knock. But first we stopped and talked to this lady walking her dog on the street. Her name was Chiara, and we talked with her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And it turns out she has been searching through religions for the truth for a long time! After we explained the Book of Mormon she was like "Oh I really want a copy of this book, where can I get it?" And she said a prayer for us right there on the street (after asking us how she can pray correctly to communicate with God), and said "I don't think it's by chance that I met you guys here today!" So she is awesome. We also had an awesome Sunday where we taught five lessons! It was great, and we got a couple good new investigators out of it. More to come on them. 

Oh and the big transfer news is that Anziano Webb is going to Verona! Yeah, the beautiful city of Romeo e Giulietta! My new companion will be a certain Anziano Mitchell, who has been in Italy about three months and is coming from Collegno (a suburb of Torino). It should be fun! 

Another funny random side note: I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but Anziano Webb falls down a lot. I hope as I describe this I don't sound like I'm making fun of him because we both laugh at it and he truly is coordinated, but he trips over things alllllll the time! The other day he tripped over a thing on the ground that was maybe a 1/2 cm incline. I will miss him as a companion!

This week's spiritual thought is from the doctrinal powerhouse chapter of 2 Nephi 9. I really like verses 50-52:

50 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

52 Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice.

It's like a spiritual buffet! When we come unto Christ our spirits are filled and there is no price except the "heart and a willing mind." I love the Gospel! I'm grateful for the opportunities every day to share this message with people who need it and see the impact it has in their lives. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God! 

I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

It's Cold!

Cara Famiglia,

So today is actually pretty nice, but the cold weather is arriving here in the Busto Arsizio/Legnano Metropolitan area. I got to wear my big coat for the first time since February! Other than that, the work is going good! We are working on finding new investigators, but the ones we have are progressing nicely. Last week I may have mentioned that we were seeing Blandine last Wednesday, the first time we had seen her since two months ago when we saw her for the first time and taught her the Restoration. Turns out she is golden! She had been praying ever since then in the way we taught her and is just awesome! She has a baptismal date for November 19th now and we have seen her three times in the past week with solid members! She loves reading the Book of Mormon and learning about the Plan of Salvation, so she is awesome. Saul is also still the man. We saw him on Monday and he finally opened up to us! We talked a bunch about prayer and the Holy Ghost and how it works and the spirit was really strong! He is doing great, and will be baptized for sure! He even came to Stake Conference in Milano this past Sunday! Those are the main two investigators for now, and we are also still working with Ravith/Elisabeth, our Sri Lankan/Ecuadorian couple, Roberta, and Arthur. So things are going very well.

We had our bikes stolen this week! That was a fun experience. It was kind of our bad, because we left them locked up overnight at the Busto station, but we had done it before and we were already getting a ride home late from the member who took us to see Blandine. So now we're rocking out on a nice new mountain bike. Look out Legnano! Also, I now totally understand in the Godfather the line 'Leave the gun, take the cannolle.' Cannolli siciliani are soooooooo good! I recommend finding if there are real Siciliani anywhere in DC that make cannolli. They are really delicious. 

Today we went to the San Siro Stadium in Milano! It was really cool! We got to see the musem they have that tells the history of both Milano teams, the field (but not go on it), and walk around the stands and see the Inter locker room (Milan's was closed today because they play tonight). It was awesome, and I will send pictures too.

Today I wanted to share a cool scripture I found reading the Book of Mormon today. In 2 Nephi 5 it talks about how Nephi and fam keep all the commandments, observe the law, and heed the Lord's advice to flee from his brothers who are trying to kill him. Then they get to build the temple! I liked how it describes their life in verse 27:

27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.

Living after the manner of happiness seems like a really cool idea to me. We can see from Nephi and his family's example what the manner of happiness truly consists of. I know that as we are obedient and seek to follow Jesus Christ, we can live 'after the manner of happiness.' I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Miracles and Birthday!

Cara Famiglia,

 

Well this week was just awesome! Anziano Webb and I are having an awesome time here in Busto Arsizio. The work is picking up too! We have unfortunately not been able to see Arthur though this past week. He stood us up when we had a member come to the lesson on Saturday and everything, so we passed by the next day and he was super sick, wrapped up in a blanket and just about to go to the hospital. So we gave him a blessing! It was cool, and when he gets back from the hospital we hope to be able to keep teaching him. He doesn't know how long he'll be there though. Saul is also good, we just keep teaching him and he's super open to everything. He kind of shares the opinion of his parents in that he doesn't want to be baptized if it's a mistake, so we just have to make sure he gets a super solid testimony. Pray for him to get answers to his prayers! Another miracle we had this week was with an Italian family of five! Anziano Dean and I found them on a scambio two weeks ago, and they gave us a bidone the Sunday after when we were supposed to see them. So we called them and they had read the pamphlet we left and said 'Look, we don't really think we're going to change our religion', but they agreed to let us come over again anyway. So we went over on Sunday and had an awesome Restoration lesson with them! They understood everything perfectly, and agreed to be baptized when they know it's true! We are super excited for them and will go back to see them on Saturday. Miracles just pile up here. I dunno if I mentioned but it's actually a mission standard of excellence to recognize a miracle every single day. So for the past couple weeks we have been writing a miracle on a sticky note every night during planning and putting it up on the wall. And the wall is getting full! It helps us remember how much the Lord has blessed us.

 

We are also working with some other people who I may have mentioned in the past: Ravith and Elisabeth. He is from Sri Lanka, she's from Ecuador. They live together and have a seven year old daughter named Mariam. They are super nice but they are really busy and hard to teach because neither of them speak Italian perfectly, and we don't have any material except selections of the Book of Mormon in Sindhala for Ravith. But they are awesome, we had a good lesson with them with a member last night. Roberta is also cool, we weren't able to see her this week because all of a sudden Monday morning we went to give a blessing to the Second Counselor in our ward who is suffering badly from cancer. He went to Germany for a special two month treatment today, so pray for him!

 

Other than that everything is great. We have interviews tomorrow, and then Saturday we get to go to a special meeting with missionaries with Walter F. Gonzalez of the Presidency of the Seventy! And then Sunday is Stake Conference. So we will be spending a good amount of time in Milano this week. Today was great, Anziano Webb even woke up early to make me breakfast in bed! Haha it was really funny, I did not see it coming at all, but Anziano Webb is the man. Then we went and did shopping and slept and threw the (american) football around. A relatively normal P-day. Next Tuesday is Anziano Webb's birthday though, so we are going to go see the Milano Stadium for P-day next week.

 

So today I read 2 Nephi 2 during personal study and it just about blew my mind. It's amazing! It covers so many aspects of the Gospel and really brings in the full effect of the Fall of Adam and Eve as a personal thing. Anziano Webb and I were talking about it and thinking how every single emotion we feel is thanks to the Fall. So thanks Adam and Eve, you guys rock! I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that this is His work. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by living apostles and prophets! I love you all a lot! Thanks for your prayers!

 

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Hey Arthur

Cara Famiglia,

We set a baptismal date with Arthur about 20 minutes ago! It was awesome! In fact, to explain who he is, he is a referral from a less-active family in our ward. He is from Peru and is 19 years old. This family took us over to see him last Friday because he's going through a rough time in life suffering from Hemophilia. But he has remarkable faith and really wants to follow Jesus Christ. So we went over and talked a little bit about faith and gave him a Book of Mormon in Spanish. Then we called him earlier today to find out when we could meet again and he said 'Come over in the next hour or so since I'm really tired from work.' So we sacrificed some P-Day time to go see him and asked him how the reading was going. He had read nine chapters in the Book of Mormon! And some various other parts. Then he started asking us some questions about life after death and such, and we proceeded to rock his world with the Plan of Salvation! We weren't going to but we said 'We can either teach you about what our church is(the Restoration) or the plan that God has for us in this life.' He answered 'the second one!' He understood everything and said it answered a lot of the questions he had! So then we set a baptismal date for November 12th! He is so awesome and humble and we are really excited to help him progress towards the waters of baptism. So pray for Arthur! 

In other investigators news, the pool is a little thin. But our teenagers are awesome; Saul is the man as is the aforementioned Arthur. We saw Saul last night and started talking about the Gospel but then ended up talking a good while about the Word of Wisdom with our all star member that we brought with us. However we still feel like he is holding something back, but he is still reading and praying and is really humble and has great desires. So pray for us to have the spirit of discernment so we can help him feel the spirit and see the need to be baptized. We also finally saw Roberta today, who is a referral from the Anziani in Varese. They taught her about six or seven times, and since they started the following things have happened in her life: her sister died of cancer, her daughter is addicted to drugs again, and she moved to a new city in our area. So her life is really hectic but she needs the Gospel really bad and recognizes that there must be something stopping her from meeting with us. She talks a lot during the lessons but says really good stuff! She is great, we can't wait to start teaching her more. Today we kind of re-passed the Restoration and next time we will watch the film with her about it to clear it up.

So the work is going really well. We are really stepping it up trying to talk to everybody and thus find more people to teach. Money quote from Preach My Gospel: "Nothing happens in missionary work until you find somebody to teach." The Lord is truly blessing us with lots of miracles and we can see his hand preparing people to receive the restored gospel. I am really grateful for the opportunity to participate! 

This week my spiritual thought is from 1 Nephi. I started over reading the Book of Mormon and I'm doing the activity where you color every time a reference to Jesus Christ is made. There are a lot! It's awesome to see. But anyway, in chapter 15 Nephi is talking about how Laman and Lemuel don't understand everything that Lehi says. And I quote:

6 And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations.

7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles.

8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?

11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

I would echo what Nephi says in verse 11. I know that if we will soften our hearts and ask in faith, believing that we shall receive, with diligence in keeping the commandments, these things shall be made known unto us. Remember -- he that seeketh diligently shall find. Nephi is the man. I know the church is true!

I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

General Conference

Cara Famiglia!

 

Well this week was awesome, highlighted of course by General Conference, which was a spiritual powerhouse. I really liked basically every talk. I liked Robert D. Hales saying "Many times we pray for patience, but we want it right now!" and also Tad R. Callister's talk about the Book of Mormon was really good. But like I said, they were all amazing as you know. I love that we have living prophets and apostles guiding the church and receiving modern revelation! It is incredible! And a second temple in Provo, Utah! That will be awesome.

 

This week was good with investigators. We've taught [Saul] five lessons in a row with members present and he is the man. He's really sincere and super humble and understands everything really well. Unfortunately he stood us up to come to General Conference in Milano but he's still awesome. He just needs a super solid testimony of the Book of Mormon and he'll get baptized! But he is progressing really well. We kind of dropped Umberto, he just was not reading or praying and didn't understand why he should, even though our member just tears it up the lessons. We just bore testimony and talked about how prayer and scripture study are exactly what he needs but he wouldn't commit to do it! We might see him sometimes in the future. Also we had an awesome scambio two days ago where we found an Italian family of five! They are really nice and we are going back to see them on Sunday, so we're super excited to teach them. Basically everything is on fire in Busto Arsizio.

 

This week's spiritual thought is one of my favorite scriptures of all time in the Book of Mormon that I read this morning, in 2 Nephi 26:27:

27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.

It's great! Christ forbids absolutely nobody from salvation, we are the ones who forbid ourselves! I have gained a great testimony on my mission of the power of us to determine our own salvation(in a way) by making the right choices. I know that the best choice is to follow Jesus Christ and his perfect example, and I know that this is His church!

Lots and lots and lots of love!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Miracles and Conference Time Again!

Cara Famiglia,

Well we had some more great miracles this week! Busto Arsizio is amazing. It is good Anziano Webb and I are staying together because we are absolutely tearing it up over here! Last Thursday was amazing! (Probably because it was Austin's birthday!) It started in the morning, when we went to do some Parco. We weren't having much success, but then we found this guy named Renzo who was fixing something on his bike. We stopped and talk to him a bit, and then asked if he wanted to sit down. So we proceeded to sit down and present the Joseph Smith story and the Book of Mormon. We were about to just leave the Spanish Restoration Pamphlet because we didn't think we had a Book of Mormon in Spanish with us, but then BOOM! Anziano Webb pulled it out of his magic backpack! It was sweet. Then we proceeded to fix a baptismal date with him for October 22nd! Right there on the bench in the park. He is the man. We've taught him again since then and he actually gets it! He is awesome, so definitely pray for him. Then that afternoon we taught two lessons in casa! One was with a teenage kid from Morocco, the other with a 17 year old kid named Fanso from Senegal. We gave Fanso a Book of Mormon in French and taught a lesson in the hallway. It's really apparent that a lot of the teenagers here actually do want to know God, and are just trying to find out the way! Then we finished Thursday strong with a member present lesson with Solomon, our awesome Ghanaian kid who is progressing really well. He's another really sincere and smart teenage kid just trying to find the truth. He wants to be baptized but his parents are kind of against it, so pray for a miracle to happen there!

Other than that we are just keepin' on. We had a sweet lesson with another Temple Square Referral named Valeria, but she asked for a bit of time before she meets with us again. Oh well, at least she has a Book of Mormon now, and she even gave us one of her friends as a referral! We are still trying to work with [Ravith] and Elisabeth, but they are super busy, as is Luis. Umberto is doing okay, last night's lesson didn't go to well but we really want him to succeed. He just doesn't pray! Pray for him to pray! Anyway, the work here is just awesome, thanks for all your prayers and support!

This week's spiritual thought is centered on General Conference this weekend, for which I am soooo excited! It's gonna be awesome. I was reading through a bunch of the past conference issues and I found two talks that I really liked. One is called "That Your Burdens May Be Light" by Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy. Money quote: "Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection." The other awesome talk is called "Love and Law" by Dallin H. Oaks. I would recommend both as some warm-ups for Conference this weekend. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that the Book of Mormon is they keystone of our religion. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

The Dream Team Stays Together! And more!

Cara Famiglia,

Well the news is that Anziano Webb and I are staying together for a third transfer! It is kind of unheard of, but the crazier thing is that our district leader is staying in Varese for his fifth! So our District will be mostly unchanged again. Anziano Anderson is actually going to open up a new coppia in Mestre, a.k.a. Venice! I am excited to stay with Anziano Webb though, he is a stud and we are both growing a lot together. 

This week was really good! We didn't quite reach the goal of 20 lessons, but we did some good work. Highlights include that we were finally able to come in contact with an investigator named [Janelle]! She is American, married to and Italian guy here in Italy! And she is awesome. She first met the missionaries about the year ago and is basically half-Latter-day Saint/half-Catholic. She is a really cool lady and is really truly honestly seeking to understand whether the Book of Mormon is true. She really recognizes it's importance and definitely has the faith and everything to get an answer. She just needs to read and pray about it! She says sometimes she feels 'foreign' reading it though, I think just because it's a new book of scripture, but she committed to read as much as she could and keep praying. She is sooooooooooooo golden though! Another highlight is we came in contact with a referral from Belgium, a 16 year old Ghanaian kid named [Saul]! He is a stud! He had an Italian Book of Mormon already from the missionaries in Belgium and had read about 14 chapters in 1 Nephi! And he is basically just awesome; at the end of the lesson he asked "So when are we seeing each other again?" We are also helping Umberto make some progress, he's feeling kind of unworthy to pray and feels a lot of anger in his heart over past situations he's had to go through, but we had an awesome lesson last night with a member who bore some solid testimony and helped him realize he needs to pray! Anyway, the work is going great here in Busto and we are really excited to keep working together. 

This week I would like to share as a spiritual thought basically all of Mosiah Chapter 4! It is amaaaaaaazing! Such good stuff about how the Atonement works and what blessings it can give us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book of scripture, and I am so grateful to have it in my life and be able to read it every day! I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and that the Atonement is real. I love you all a lot!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Sacro Monte pictures!

From our awesome hike at Sacro Monte today by Varese! This was a series of 12 chapels that depict the life of Jesus, surprisingly including post-cross events! And the 'Ascension of Mary?' They were depicted with Terra Cotta statues, and it was awesome!

Busto Arsizio #11

Cara Famiglia,

This week went by pretty good! We did struggle to find new investigators though. But we have some good prospects coming up. We actually finally were able to teach this family that we found a couple weeks ago. Yesterday we taught them; the husband is [Ravith] from Sri Lanka, and his compagna is from Ecuador. He is Catholic, she is Evangelist, but they are both really cool and really receptive to the Restoration. They said yes to the baptismal invite! Giuseppe's situation has gotten a bit tricky, but we are still hoping it will turn out with the best. He seems to be experiencing a lottttttt of opposition from his family and acquaintances, which just means that he's that much more ready and will be a great member! I don't know if I've even mentioned Umberto before, he's an awesome guy who stopped us on the street a couple weeks ago and wanted to know who we were. It was a Saturday, so we invited him to church, and he's come every week since! That's three weeks! His progress is a little slow though, he is still hesitant to accept to be baptized, but we are working on it. And we are continuing to improve our finding so we can help get more people to come unto Christ.

This week I got to do a scambio with Anziano Kimball! It was really cool, also kind of strange working with him again. I think he's gotten to be an even better missionary than when he trained me, and we did some good work.

This week's spiritual thought is a powerhouse from Mormon chapter 9:

19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

Sometimes we as missionaries, and probably as members, underestimate the fertility of the area we live/work in for missionary work. We talked in District Meeting about how in all the cities all of us have served in, members have said 'Oh, this area is really hard to do missionary work in!' And too often we believe it! But the reason we may not see miracles isn't because the field isn't white, it's because our faith isn't strong enough to thrust in our sickle with all our might. We decided the best way to move forward in faith was to recognize miracles more often, and share them with members to help them see that missionary work can move along at a blistering pace. It was an interesting thought, and it worked really well last night when we tried it before teaching the Bishop's family. Members love to hear missionary miracles! So everyone who reads this should go ask the missionaries serving in their ward to hear about the miracles they see and then put their faith in the Lord and help share the gospel! I'm not trying to say that in a self-righteous or reprimand kind of way, but miracles can help strengthen faith a lot. I hope this spiritual thought makes sense, it does in my head.

But more importantly, I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Persevering pt. 2!

Cara Famiglia,

We are working hard here in Busto and Legnano, although we are still struggling to find new investigators. We have really improved our work with the Book of Mormon and our inviting, but we can definitely still improve. Keep praying for these people! Giuseppe is becoming a little flaky, his compagna is kind of holding up his progress. We haven't seen him, or any of our other investigators, in about a week. We taught 18 lessons last week and got some new investigators but they kind of dropped off. This week we have taught eight lessons the first two days and we have two for tonight, but they are mainly with members! Which is not a problem, but we are doing a lot of finding to harvest the elect. We unfortunately haven't been able to contact Elvis since we taught him in his house last week, but we did pass by and drop off a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon in Albanian for him and others in his family to read. But hey, even when the investigator pool is low the mission is still awesome! We see little miracles every day just to show that the Lord is preparing people. Yesterday we taught this lady a lesson on the street and talked all about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And then we challenged her to baptism, and she accepted! It was great until she didn't give us her phone number. But she was really elect, and I'm really praying she reads the Book of Mormon and prays and receives her answer. 

We're emailing later today because we went to Milano for P-Day and saw a castle and a smaller version of the Arch of Triumph(sp?) from Paris. I love serving in Italy, everything is awesome, including the people! 

This week's spiritual thought comes from Romans 8, which is probably one of the best chapters of scripture I've ever read! In verse 18 it sums up pretty well one aspect of patience:

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The sufferings we have in this life are 'not worthy' to be compared with the glory that awaits us if we are following Jesus Christ! It's a pretty humbling thought. I think sometimes we lose sight of the hope of better things, which is one of the easiest traps to fall into. However, we should be constantly hoping and searching to always move towards eternal life with our Heavenly Father. I know that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that it is led by a living prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Pictures: The first three are from Milano today, the panorama one is a little poorly done on my part but it's not too bad. The last one is one of the main churches here in Legnano.

Persevering!

Cara Famiglia,

Well this week has been pretty eventful! It started out on a kind of rough note, notably that Angelo, our number one investigator who was supposed to be baptized soon dropped us! It was really surprising. We showed up to the lesson with a member and everything and apparently he just had come up with a bunch of doubts. We think his girlfriend had something to do with it. But anyway we just had a super powerful parting lesson about the Book of Mormon, telling him how important it was that he continues to read and pray to resolve these doubts and follow Jesus Christ. We definitely moved him up on the number scale at least, but it's a bummer that he won't be getting baptized this transfer. We are also now working more with this awesome ex-communicated member named Guido, I dunno if I mentioned him before. He is super solid, and really wants to get re-baptized. We have taught him a couple times the past couple weeks, and we are seeing him this Friday with the Bishop so it should be really good. We are also working some more with Giuseppe, and hoping to get him baptized this transfer. He is super awesome when we teach him but sometimes he's hard to get a hold of and sometimes gives us bidones. Also yesterday we had an awesome experience! We went to do some finding in a little suburb city above Busto called Olgiate Olona. Basically we did a bunch of calls and then did the only four big palazzi in the city. As we were biking back we biked by one last really big palazzo, and we hesitated to stop and knock it, but we did! We did one staircase and there was nothing but J-Dubs and people not interested. Then the first door that opened in the next stairway was this 19 year old Albanian kid named Elvis! He's been in Italy for about nine years. He let us in and we proceeded to blow his mind with the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught everything and then right before we were going to teach the Joseph Smith story and share the first vision his mom walked in! We were afraid she wouldn't like us but she sat and listened as well! And then as we were explaining the Book of Mormon his 17 year old brother walked in and listen from there! It was a really super good lesson and at the end as we were leaving the mom was like 'You guys are always welcome here!' It was incredible! So now we are going back to see them again, and we are going to baptize them. It was a really cool miracle to see that the Lord is always preparing people. 

We also had dinner last night with this awesome couple that I don't know if I mentioned before, named Claudio and Louisa. Louisa is a member who's slightly less-active, she was baptized 11 or 12 years ago but she's brava. And then her companion Claudo is also really bravo. He's not a member (yet), but he brings his triple to work and reads during his spare time. He knows the gospel as well as we do! And as soon as his divorce from a previous marriage goes through so he can marry Louisa he'll get baptized. Also he is hopefully going to give us a sweet insider's look at the AC Milan stadium coming up, since he's worked there as a security guard.

This week the scriptures are awesome! I read the Book of Mormon every day and it is just too good. I was reading in 3 Nephi 9 today and it was talking all about repentance. I especially liked verses 13-15: 

13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

Christ is just waiting for us to come unto him and repent! All we have to do is be humble and he's willing to completely forgive us. Repentance really is a miracle process, and I'm grateful that I can be a part of this work to call people to repentance and to come unto Christ. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that he is the Savior of the world!

I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

[The view from Anziano Smith's roof!]

Spiritual Earthquake!

Cara Famiglia,

Earthquake! That's crazy. I never would've imagined one like that happening in Virginia. Also good luck with the Hurricane coming up. 

This week has been pretty awesome, I am loving Busto Arsizio. Here's the run-down of our current investigators:

Angelo! He is the man. He got back from vacation and we have taught him three times since then and he's come to church. He's getting set to be baptized on the 17th of September, which is going to be awesome. We are really excited for him! We taught him the Word of Wisdom yesterday and he was like 'Yeah, I understand this completely. I will stop smoking five cigarettes a day.' He is also continuing to read and underline his Book of Mormon, in addition to using the index in the back to help him study. He is great, but pray for him so that he will be able to come to church instead of going to school after his baptism. 

Giuseppe is the man too. We went over last night with a member to see him and had a sweet lesson where we just read from 3 Nephi 11 and talked to him about the Book of Mormon. The member bore some super powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon and the church being true. We're pulling for him and he's really good about reading and praying, but we are going to have to move his baptismal date until after he comes to church. 

Wilson is kind of dropping off the list, we haven't been able to see him in over a week and he hardly answers his phone. Kind of a bummer since he's really nice and is gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but he is just sooooooooo busy with work. Another cool thing is that going through the area book we found this old investigator who is the husband of a member. Anziano Webb and Anziano Dean went and saw them on a scambio and apparently they're awesome, they just are waiting for a divorce for the husband, Claudio, to go through before they get married so Claudio can be baptized. We are having dinner with them tonight and hoping to get them regularly coming to church. But apparently Claudio reads the Book of Mormon a lot and knows everything about the gospel and that it's true. 

Please pray for our investigators! They are all awesome and need help to get baptized. 

This week in studying Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel I was looking at the Charity section. It is awesome! And then it directed me to read 1 Corinthians 13 which is probably one of the best chapters of scripture I've ever read. 

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Basically you can do all the good actions in the world, but if your heart isn't full of charity behind those actions it doesn't profit you at all! Also I would recommend reading the Bible Dictionary entry on charity, it is short and sweet. So this week I am really working on being more charitable and loving towards all the people we meet, and to my companion! I know that this work is true and that when we have charity we are more willing to help share this gospel and bring it's blessings to everyone we meet. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Pictures!

It's Baptism Time!

Cara Famiglia,

This week was fantastic! Marked by an awesome baptismal service of Rafael Di Iorio, who is the man. The baptism was amaaaazing, there was such a great spirit there. And Rafael is such a stud. Also his wife who is now re-activated! She even gave a talk at the baptism! And their son Nicolas is the man. But anyway, Anziano Webb baptized him into oblivion and it was amazing. We are super excited for them because they are going to help out the ward so much. Even though a lot of the ward members were out of town the baptismal service was really good. One of the highlights was afterwards Rafael's wife made a bunch of treats (she apparently makes decorative cookies for parties and stuff sometimes) including very detailed Book of Mormon, missionary, and angel cookies. When I can I will send pictures home. And then the day after the baptism I confirmed him in church! I was pretty nervous but it turned out pretty good I thought, now he's got the gift of the Holy Ghost and he's good to go! 

Other than that we are still working hard on finding other people to teach and baptize. We are still working with Wilson who reads and prays solidly, but is incredibly hard to get a hold of and teach. His work is terrible, hopefully we can set up some sort of schedule or something. Another miracle happened the other day as well. We were stopped at a red light and waiting to go and Anziano Webb suggests we race across the intersection (which may have been somewhat unwise). So I'm like 'Yeah, bring it on!' and when it turns green we start racing. I was ahead slightly and I hear Anziano Webb cackling as he catches up so I turn around to look and right then he just eats it! His bike chain popped off or something so he just fell down right on his side. It was intense and then the bike kind of fell on him. So I stop on the side (by this time we're basically right at the other side of the intersection) and run and help him, pull the bike off him. He says he almost blacked out but he got up and walked it off and just had a scratch on his elbow. So we're sitting on the curb recuperating and this guy in a wheelchair comes over and talks to us and helps wash off a little bit of blood with his water bottle. We start talking and his name is Piero, and we got a return appointment with him! He was a really cool guy. Then even better, this couple who had driven by drove back around and stopped their car to talk to us, and they said 'Hey can you come to our house and talk to us about your religion?' Cha-ching! So we walk right over to their house which was super close and taught them. Turns out they had met the missionaries twice before but fallen out of contact with him. And now Giuseppe has a baptismal date for September 10th (Elder Dickson's birthday!). So we once again for maybe the 100000th time realized how many times the Lord blesses us by putting people in our path. The strange thing is that it was really weird how Anziano Webb's bike stopped working right then, it had never broken like that before. So we count it as a 100% miracle, and now have another very promising baptismal candidate with a date. He is the man too! He reads and prays like nobody's business. 

So other than that the work here is going great. I love it! Being a missionary is so awesome. There is nowhere else I would rather be. 

I wanted to share an observation I had in reading the war chapters still. In Alma 61 Pahoran has just gotten an angry letter from Moroni who calls him a traitor and reprimands him for not helping out the armies. Pahoran's return epistle makes him realize that he totally misjudged what was going on for Pahoran, and for me is a great example of not being offended. When he has reason to be angry back instead he responds like this: 

9 And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart.

I think the world would be a much better place if everyone followed this Christlike attribute of not being offended! I'm sure we can all put ourselves into both Moroni's and Pahoran's positions at different times, and change how we react. I really liked this. I know the Book of Mormon is the true word of God and that if we read it and live by it we will grow closer to Him. I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and I love you all a lot!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Pictures from Modena

Pictures from Anziano Smith's previous area of Modena.

Ancora a Busto!

Cara Famiglia,

The first piece of news is that I'm staying in Busto with Anziano Webb for another transfer! It is good, we work really well together and are seeing a lot of miracles. Our zone almost stayed the exact same actually. One change is that Anziano Kimball is going to be the new zone leader in Como though! He's a stud. 

Also the big news that I foolishly forgot to mention last week is that this Saturday Rafael is getting baptized! He passed his interview on Saturday so he's good to go. It's gonna be excellent, like I said before he's already set to go to the temple with the ward in October. We're really excited! In other news, Wilson the Brazilian is also still awesome. Every time we teach him his responses to questions make him seem like he's already a member. The only problem is his ridiculous work schedule that makes it hard to have appointments. But he's reading and praying and really getting a testimony. Angelo, another awesome investigator should also be getting back from vacation this week, so we're really excited about how the work is going.

This week we had a tender mercy from the Lord. It was Sunday night and we were struggling at the end of a difficult week. We had been having statistically our worst week of the transfer and were kind of bummed out. So we were doing some casa and hoping for a miracle. And it happened! We got in and taught an awesome Restoration lesson to a family of five Italians! They are so awesome. The mom was super interested and the dad was cool too, and they have three daughters. We challenged them to baptism right then and they said that if they know it's true they will do it. We were stoked! I really think they are promising, and we are really excited to go back and teach them tomorrow. We also found this awesome guy on the street the other day named Mohammed! He is a non-practicing Muslim guy from Morocco, but he gave us his phone number and address so we decided to go see him. Turns out he's super awesome and really receptive to the Book of Mormon and our message. He even prayed correctly at the end of the lesson! So we have high hopes for him as well. 

This week in my Book of Mormon reading I started the war chapters in Alma. I really liked how it talks about the causes of why the Nephites and Lamanites were fighting. In Alma 43 it talks about how the Lamanites were simply fighting because they were inspired and stirred up to anger by the wicked leaders, and that they were fighting 'like dragons.' But then in verses 45-46 it says: 

45Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a ^abetter cause, for they were not ^bfighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their ^cliberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.

 46And they were doing that which they felt was the ^aduty which they owed to their God

I really liked the idea of being inspired 'by a better cause.' As missionaries it seems sometimes like we're at the forefront of the battle against the adversary, and he definitely fights like a dragon sometimes. But it helps a lot to remember that we are inspired by a much better cause, the best one in the history of the universe. I know that the message of Jesus Christ that we bring can overcome any opposition and as we are here working to find the elect the Lord is helping us. The gospel is sooooooooo true. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith