Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Torino is a Gold Mine
Cara Famiglia,
Well this week has been awesome in Torino! The big news actually is that my companion is getting transferred to Milano 2! He's pretty excited, and he will tear it up over there. My new companion will be Anziano DeVincent, he is coming from Livorno and is going into his 4th transfer. I don't really know him but I've heard he's a cool guy.
Now that Martin got baptized we are looking for more people to enter into the "strait and narrow path", and the Lord is really blessing us! We recently found a bunch of awesome new investigators! The first is this sweet Italian family, the husband is named Gianpier and the wife is Filomena. They have a 10 year old daughter named Caterina. We knocked on their door and they said to come back last Friday and talk. My faith probably wasn't as strong as it should've been because other pass-bys haven't yielded much success in the past, but we went back and taught them an awesome Restoration lesson! And now they want to meet the prophet and the 12 apostles and read the Book of Mormon. We went back on Monday and Gianpier had already read 10 chapters! They are awesome. And also Filomena's mom was at the lesson and she was super interested too! So we are seeing them again on Saturday and finishing up teaching the Plan of Salvation and helping them come closer to being an eternal family.
We also found Alex! We stopped him on the street and he was in a big hurry but he gave us his phone number and said we could meet up with him. He is half-American, half-Italian. His mom is from Baltimore and his dad(who died maybe 20 years ago) is Italian! He is possibly the most golden investigator I have ever heard of/met. We called him to set up an appointment and he says essentially "I really want to meet with you guys, I think I'm mature enough to really make a decision and be a part of something. I want to get to know God better." So we are seeing him again tonight and we are going to set a baptismal date with him!
Bright is doing okay, we saw him yesterday and really re-committed him to baptism for the 5th of February, it will be tough for him to make it but we are going to try our best. We are also seeing Collins tonight and we're going to see what's up with him and try and help him get on board for baptism. And then we are also working with other various investigators mentioned in emails past. But the work here is going really good, Anziano Russo gemmed the city for my new companion.
I was thinking a lot this week about this analogy our awesome Ward Mission Leader likes to make that's really simple. He talks about how some people have the gospel in their life like the air conditioning in a car, it's just an accessory. But to really fulfill the purpose of the gospel and receive the true blessings it has to be the motor in the car! It's really simple and obvious but I just thought it was a really cool analogy and I liked it a lot. So make the gospel the central, all-defining purpose in your life, it changes everything! I can testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he will always absolutely love us. I know that this is His church and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.
I love you all!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Well this week has been awesome in Torino! The big news actually is that my companion is getting transferred to Milano 2! He's pretty excited, and he will tear it up over there. My new companion will be Anziano DeVincent, he is coming from Livorno and is going into his 4th transfer. I don't really know him but I've heard he's a cool guy.
Now that Martin got baptized we are looking for more people to enter into the "strait and narrow path", and the Lord is really blessing us! We recently found a bunch of awesome new investigators! The first is this sweet Italian family, the husband is named Gianpier and the wife is Filomena. They have a 10 year old daughter named Caterina. We knocked on their door and they said to come back last Friday and talk. My faith probably wasn't as strong as it should've been because other pass-bys haven't yielded much success in the past, but we went back and taught them an awesome Restoration lesson! And now they want to meet the prophet and the 12 apostles and read the Book of Mormon. We went back on Monday and Gianpier had already read 10 chapters! They are awesome. And also Filomena's mom was at the lesson and she was super interested too! So we are seeing them again on Saturday and finishing up teaching the Plan of Salvation and helping them come closer to being an eternal family.
We also found Alex! We stopped him on the street and he was in a big hurry but he gave us his phone number and said we could meet up with him. He is half-American, half-Italian. His mom is from Baltimore and his dad(who died maybe 20 years ago) is Italian! He is possibly the most golden investigator I have ever heard of/met. We called him to set up an appointment and he says essentially "I really want to meet with you guys, I think I'm mature enough to really make a decision and be a part of something. I want to get to know God better." So we are seeing him again tonight and we are going to set a baptismal date with him!
Bright is doing okay, we saw him yesterday and really re-committed him to baptism for the 5th of February, it will be tough for him to make it but we are going to try our best. We are also seeing Collins tonight and we're going to see what's up with him and try and help him get on board for baptism. And then we are also working with other various investigators mentioned in emails past. But the work here is going really good, Anziano Russo gemmed the city for my new companion.
I was thinking a lot this week about this analogy our awesome Ward Mission Leader likes to make that's really simple. He talks about how some people have the gospel in their life like the air conditioning in a car, it's just an accessory. But to really fulfill the purpose of the gospel and receive the true blessings it has to be the motor in the car! It's really simple and obvious but I just thought it was a really cool analogy and I liked it a lot. So make the gospel the central, all-defining purpose in your life, it changes everything! I can testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he will always absolutely love us. I know that this is His church and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.
I love you all!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Baptizm!
Cara Famiglia,
Baptism happened this week! Martin got baptized! We met with him last Thursday morning to see what he had decided and he said "Yeah I want to be baptized this weekend." So on Sunday he got baptized and confirmed! It was a really great service, we had some members that speak English give talks and us missionaries did a special musical number! He had a really good experience and bore his testimony afterwards, and his wife was crying she was so happy. So it was a great Sunday.
Congratulations to J [a family friend who just got his mission call]!!! Berlin is gonna be awesome! Almost as sweet as Italy haha.
That's basically the biggest news this week. Bright and Collins both came to church again, but they left before the baptism unfortunately. We saw Bright yesterday and he is the man, reading the Book of Mormon and praying and sees a difference. We are still working with some other investigators, Ali, Antonio, Giovanni and Gabriella, etc. that we hope will be making some progress soon.
Fun random story: in most missionary apartments, at least here in the Italy Milan mission, there is a large collection of Ensign/Liahona magazines piled up from over the years. A lot of time I read them when I have some free time, and so today I picked up an issue from way back in April 1994 and there was an article about member missionary work in [our home] stake! It was crazy.
Torino is still doing great, it is getting quite cold. I am rockin' the scarf and jacket almost every day. But there are still lots of people to talk to and the work is going really well. My companion is a stud!
This week I wanted to share a really cool verse I found about faith in Alma 44! It is verse four and it says this:
4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.
It's some awesome testimony thrown down by Moroni to Zerahemnah, and really shows the all-encompassing trust in God that defines faith. Moroni didn't have any doubt that his faith in God would see him through all the wars and everything, and I just thought the scripture was really good! I know faith has power to work miracles because we see them every single day! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and will bring us closer to God than any other book, and will truly strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel when we read it every single day. I love you all!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Baptism happened this week! Martin got baptized! We met with him last Thursday morning to see what he had decided and he said "Yeah I want to be baptized this weekend." So on Sunday he got baptized and confirmed! It was a really great service, we had some members that speak English give talks and us missionaries did a special musical number! He had a really good experience and bore his testimony afterwards, and his wife was crying she was so happy. So it was a great Sunday.
Congratulations to J [a family friend who just got his mission call]!!! Berlin is gonna be awesome! Almost as sweet as Italy haha.
That's basically the biggest news this week. Bright and Collins both came to church again, but they left before the baptism unfortunately. We saw Bright yesterday and he is the man, reading the Book of Mormon and praying and sees a difference. We are still working with some other investigators, Ali, Antonio, Giovanni and Gabriella, etc. that we hope will be making some progress soon.
Fun random story: in most missionary apartments, at least here in the Italy Milan mission, there is a large collection of Ensign/Liahona magazines piled up from over the years. A lot of time I read them when I have some free time, and so today I picked up an issue from way back in April 1994 and there was an article about member missionary work in [our home] stake! It was crazy.
Torino is still doing great, it is getting quite cold. I am rockin' the scarf and jacket almost every day. But there are still lots of people to talk to and the work is going really well. My companion is a stud!
This week I wanted to share a really cool verse I found about faith in Alma 44! It is verse four and it says this:
4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.
It's some awesome testimony thrown down by Moroni to Zerahemnah, and really shows the all-encompassing trust in God that defines faith. Moroni didn't have any doubt that his faith in God would see him through all the wars and everything, and I just thought the scripture was really good! I know faith has power to work miracles because we see them every single day! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and will bring us closer to God than any other book, and will truly strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel when we read it every single day. I love you all!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Down to the Wire
Cara Famiglia,
Well there is either really good news or really bad news. We don't know yet! It is 50/50 whether Martin will be baptized this Saturday. He is definitely ready and willing, but he doesn't know whether he'll have to leave to Ireland before then so he can earn some money to pay for rent or what. We are all fasting together for him right now. Pray for him, so he can find work! He needs a miracle.
Our other investigators are doing well too. Collins, who has a baptismal date for the 5th of February, came to church on Sunday! It was great. We called him Saturday night and he wasn't sure if he could make it but he was there! And even better he is really good friends with an investigator of the other Anziani in our ward. So both of them had a good time and want to come back. We're going to teach Collins the Plan of Salvation tonight.
Bright unfortuantely couldn't make it to church because he had the flu. But we taught him Monday and he is doing well. We gave him a baptismal calendar, moved his date to the 5th, and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He wants to go to the Celestial Kingdom (which is the highest one!). So he's still awesome, and we're seeing him again tomorrow.
We have found a golden Italian family. The guy is named Giovanni, he is from Sicilia, and his compagna (but don't worry they want to get married!) is named Gabriella. They have one daughter who is maybe four or five years old, and then Gabriella gave birth to a son named Nicolò yesterday morning (the day after we taught them about the Restoration). They are really great and sincere and we really don't want to mess up teaching them. But they liked the Restoration and it answered a bunch of their questions and they are committed to reading the Book of Mormon, finding out it is true, and getting baptized. They are great. Pray for them!
We had a really strange lesson with Antonio the other day. It lasted like 2 hours, which is never good haha. He had a very strange dream, and somehow interpreted it to mean that the church isn't true or something. He keeps saying 'I don't want to follow a church, I want to follow Jesus Christ.' We are working on a plan for him. He is still good about reading the Book of Mormon though.
Other than that Torino is great! We are still constantly finding people to teach and giving out tons of copies of the Book of Mormon. I would invite each of you to carry a spare copy around to give to somebody! It's a great feeling to know you can give someone a book that is so full of truth and testimony.
I may have shared this scripture before, but if so I'll share it again anyway. It's the last verse in Alma 31, and it talks about what makes missionary work so great.
38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.
In my mind, this scripture sums up the joy of missionary work. We still 'suffer affliction' because we talk to lots of people that aren't interested, we get tired and hungry, and other things. But the affliction is swallowed up when you meet someone on the street who asks a golden question, when a family truly wants to be eternal, or when you see any sort of miracle. It also highlights the role of prayer in all of this. I know that when we pray in faith, miracles happen, and people change. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share this Gospel with my brothers and sisters here in Italy, and I know this church is true.
Vi voglio un sacco di bene!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Well there is either really good news or really bad news. We don't know yet! It is 50/50 whether Martin will be baptized this Saturday. He is definitely ready and willing, but he doesn't know whether he'll have to leave to Ireland before then so he can earn some money to pay for rent or what. We are all fasting together for him right now. Pray for him, so he can find work! He needs a miracle.
Our other investigators are doing well too. Collins, who has a baptismal date for the 5th of February, came to church on Sunday! It was great. We called him Saturday night and he wasn't sure if he could make it but he was there! And even better he is really good friends with an investigator of the other Anziani in our ward. So both of them had a good time and want to come back. We're going to teach Collins the Plan of Salvation tonight.
Bright unfortuantely couldn't make it to church because he had the flu. But we taught him Monday and he is doing well. We gave him a baptismal calendar, moved his date to the 5th, and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He wants to go to the Celestial Kingdom (which is the highest one!). So he's still awesome, and we're seeing him again tomorrow.
We have found a golden Italian family. The guy is named Giovanni, he is from Sicilia, and his compagna (but don't worry they want to get married!) is named Gabriella. They have one daughter who is maybe four or five years old, and then Gabriella gave birth to a son named Nicolò yesterday morning (the day after we taught them about the Restoration). They are really great and sincere and we really don't want to mess up teaching them. But they liked the Restoration and it answered a bunch of their questions and they are committed to reading the Book of Mormon, finding out it is true, and getting baptized. They are great. Pray for them!
We had a really strange lesson with Antonio the other day. It lasted like 2 hours, which is never good haha. He had a very strange dream, and somehow interpreted it to mean that the church isn't true or something. He keeps saying 'I don't want to follow a church, I want to follow Jesus Christ.' We are working on a plan for him. He is still good about reading the Book of Mormon though.
Other than that Torino is great! We are still constantly finding people to teach and giving out tons of copies of the Book of Mormon. I would invite each of you to carry a spare copy around to give to somebody! It's a great feeling to know you can give someone a book that is so full of truth and testimony.
I may have shared this scripture before, but if so I'll share it again anyway. It's the last verse in Alma 31, and it talks about what makes missionary work so great.
38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.
In my mind, this scripture sums up the joy of missionary work. We still 'suffer affliction' because we talk to lots of people that aren't interested, we get tired and hungry, and other things. But the affliction is swallowed up when you meet someone on the street who asks a golden question, when a family truly wants to be eternal, or when you see any sort of miracle. It also highlights the role of prayer in all of this. I know that when we pray in faith, miracles happen, and people change. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share this Gospel with my brothers and sisters here in Italy, and I know this church is true.
Vi voglio un sacco di bene!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Capodanno!
Cara Famiglia,
First off happy aniversary to mamma e papà! Auguri!
This week was Capodanno. That means New Year's. Normally every year on Capodanno the missionaries in the mission do a massive apartment cleaning and stay inside all day, but this year since it was on a Sunday we stayed in all day on Saturday the 31st. Our apartment is super clean!
Torino is doing great! We are having some struggles with our investigators though. It seems as though three of our baptismal dates, Bright, Valentina, and Jose are allergic to setting appointments or something. Basically we are doing everything we can but fortunately people have their free agency. Either way they are still good.
Fun story about our other friend with a baptismal date, Martin. Yep, his name is Martin, not just Matin. We just misunderstood with his Irish accent, it was realllllllllly funny when we found out hahaha. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. But there's a catch! He can't stay in Italy much longer because he has no job to pay for rent with his wife! So he may have to bounce out to Ireland for like 3-4 weeks to earn some money and come back and pay the rent, which would kind of mess up his baptismal schedule. But he still wants to be baptized. We are just going to kind of have to see where it goes, if he can get a job here in the next couple weeks or if he'll have to leave. We really hope he can be baptized here 'cause he's so ready!
We met a cool guy on the street yesterday. He met the missionaries 30 years ago and said he loves the Book of Mormon and wants to read it with his daughters. We were speechless when he said that! But his name is Giovanni and he's cool and we're going to meet with him again.
This week I read a lot in the Book of Mormon about missionary work, especially in Alma 26. I can't decide whether it is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon, but it is super good! Verse 12 is always a favorite, but I also really liked verse 16. "I cannot say even the smallest part which I feel." And then verse 35 sums it up really well: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." I really liked how much true 'joy' was talked about in this chapter, and how true it is that there is no greater joy than from laboring in the Lord's vineyard to come unto Christ. I know the Lord is working with us and preparing his children to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that this is the "one true and living church" upon the face of the earth! I love my mission!
I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
First off happy aniversary to mamma e papà! Auguri!
This week was Capodanno. That means New Year's. Normally every year on Capodanno the missionaries in the mission do a massive apartment cleaning and stay inside all day, but this year since it was on a Sunday we stayed in all day on Saturday the 31st. Our apartment is super clean!
Torino is doing great! We are having some struggles with our investigators though. It seems as though three of our baptismal dates, Bright, Valentina, and Jose are allergic to setting appointments or something. Basically we are doing everything we can but fortunately people have their free agency. Either way they are still good.
Fun story about our other friend with a baptismal date, Martin. Yep, his name is Martin, not just Matin. We just misunderstood with his Irish accent, it was realllllllllly funny when we found out hahaha. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. But there's a catch! He can't stay in Italy much longer because he has no job to pay for rent with his wife! So he may have to bounce out to Ireland for like 3-4 weeks to earn some money and come back and pay the rent, which would kind of mess up his baptismal schedule. But he still wants to be baptized. We are just going to kind of have to see where it goes, if he can get a job here in the next couple weeks or if he'll have to leave. We really hope he can be baptized here 'cause he's so ready!
We met a cool guy on the street yesterday. He met the missionaries 30 years ago and said he loves the Book of Mormon and wants to read it with his daughters. We were speechless when he said that! But his name is Giovanni and he's cool and we're going to meet with him again.
This week I read a lot in the Book of Mormon about missionary work, especially in Alma 26. I can't decide whether it is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon, but it is super good! Verse 12 is always a favorite, but I also really liked verse 16. "I cannot say even the smallest part which I feel." And then verse 35 sums it up really well: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." I really liked how much true 'joy' was talked about in this chapter, and how true it is that there is no greater joy than from laboring in the Lord's vineyard to come unto Christ. I know the Lord is working with us and preparing his children to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that this is the "one true and living church" upon the face of the earth! I love my mission!
I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Monday, January 2, 2012
La vita è bella
Cara Famiglia,
Life is good in Torino. Everything is going really well! And the weather is even really nice, it's not super cold. No snow yet, and apparently much milder than it normally is here this time of year. Christmas was great, it was good to be able to see you guys and talk at the same time. The family we were with all day was super nice. The dad is our Ward Mission Leader, and his wife is a really good cook. They made us soooooo much food! We had a good time.
The work is going really well. Our investigators are progressing nicely. Matin is progressing like crazy for his baptism on the 15th of January, he is all the way to 2 Nephi 25 in the Book of Mormon! He is awesome, we had a really good lesson last night about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a member. He is so golden. Another baptismal date we have is Bright, I dunno if I've mentioned him before. He's from Nigeria and has a date for the 22nd, although we haven't been able to see him this last week. He is really good though, and is reading in the Book of Mormon. We also set a baptismal date with our man Josè, from Peru! He is a stud, he's really nice and so sincere in his desires to follow Christ. He told us that he wants to quit drinking before we even said anything about the Word of Wisdom, so he is great! And then the last baptismal date is Valentina, the 19 year old daughter of our new convert Christy. She is awesome, and had met with missionaries in the past, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of January. At the end of the lesson she said an amazing prayer it was so great! I love seeing investigators progress.
Other than that Torino is just awesome. I love my companion and we love talking to people all day, there are endless people to talk to! I wanted to share a scripture I found in the Book of Mormon recently that is super awesome. It might be kind of a stretch though, but I thought it was cool. It is in Alma 17 (which is a sweet chapter, the entire thing is really great) and part of verse 31:
"My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water".
I kind of though of it in the sense of Christ being 'The Good Shepherd', going in search of the flocks and gathering them to bring them back to the place of 'living water'! It hit me how that is our role, being representatives of Jesus Christ and searching out flocks of people to bring them unto Him. I'm really grateful that I get to talk to dozens of people every day about this gospel and the happiness it brings, and I know that this work is true! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God written for our day and that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Lots of love!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Life is good in Torino. Everything is going really well! And the weather is even really nice, it's not super cold. No snow yet, and apparently much milder than it normally is here this time of year. Christmas was great, it was good to be able to see you guys and talk at the same time. The family we were with all day was super nice. The dad is our Ward Mission Leader, and his wife is a really good cook. They made us soooooo much food! We had a good time.
The work is going really well. Our investigators are progressing nicely. Matin is progressing like crazy for his baptism on the 15th of January, he is all the way to 2 Nephi 25 in the Book of Mormon! He is awesome, we had a really good lesson last night about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a member. He is so golden. Another baptismal date we have is Bright, I dunno if I've mentioned him before. He's from Nigeria and has a date for the 22nd, although we haven't been able to see him this last week. He is really good though, and is reading in the Book of Mormon. We also set a baptismal date with our man Josè, from Peru! He is a stud, he's really nice and so sincere in his desires to follow Christ. He told us that he wants to quit drinking before we even said anything about the Word of Wisdom, so he is great! And then the last baptismal date is Valentina, the 19 year old daughter of our new convert Christy. She is awesome, and had met with missionaries in the past, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of January. At the end of the lesson she said an amazing prayer it was so great! I love seeing investigators progress.
Other than that Torino is just awesome. I love my companion and we love talking to people all day, there are endless people to talk to! I wanted to share a scripture I found in the Book of Mormon recently that is super awesome. It might be kind of a stretch though, but I thought it was cool. It is in Alma 17 (which is a sweet chapter, the entire thing is really great) and part of verse 31:
"My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water".
I kind of though of it in the sense of Christ being 'The Good Shepherd', going in search of the flocks and gathering them to bring them back to the place of 'living water'! It hit me how that is our role, being representatives of Jesus Christ and searching out flocks of people to bring them unto Him. I'm really grateful that I get to talk to dozens of people every day about this gospel and the happiness it brings, and I know that this work is true! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God written for our day and that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Lots of love!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
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