Cara Famglia,
Well I guess you guys were praying for us a lot because this week went much better! We had a lot of success finding people and the work is starting to really pick up. Also conference is this weekend woohoo!
So this week we found a bunch of two people including but not limited to:
-Amut and Saijo, two Somalians who are here under the custody of the UN and want to read the Book of Mormon
-Emilio, a referral from a member in Verona 1(the other ward) who is from Romania. He is "orthodox" but really wants to know why their are so many churches. He came to church on Sunday dressed in a suit and tie and liked it, followed by yesterday's lesson with a Romanian new convert who probably has one of the strongest testimonies in all of Italy even though she has no work either! He is super cool.
-Isaac, a Nigerian from Port Harcourt, one of the first Nigerians I've met here who wasn't from Benin City, Lagos, or Delta State (I swear all the Nigerians from those places have moved into our mission), and who knew the church in Nigeria when he was younger. He's 29, and is looking to focus his life back on God and cut out the wordly distractions. He is really elect and we're going to be seeing him three times a week now. He wants to hear the living prophet!
We have also found a bunch of awesome other potentials that we need to go visit and hopefully who will become investigators. We also talked to Gladis on the phone, who stood us up again but told us she's interested in our church and this "baptism" thing. But we really still need to keep working hard and finding more people! So keep praying for us.
This week basically my spiritual invite would be to listen to General Conference. Considering all the people in the dispensations of the gospel or during periods of apostasy who never had the chance to hear the light of the gospel, it's a ridiculously great blessing to be able to sit at home, or in church, and watch a living prophet and 12 Apostles speak! So go listen and like Jeffrey R. Holland said: “If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you”. I know the church is true, and I love you and all the people here lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Lago di Garda!
Cara Famiglia,
This week has been pretty awesome in Verona! Today for P-day we went to the Lago di Garda with a member from Verona 1(the other ward in Verona) with the other Anziani. It was really pretty! The peach trees blossoming look a lot like the cherry blossoms in DC.
Working has been pretty good. Right now we are kind of struggling to find new investigators but things are looking up. We are still working with Kingsley and Gladis but unfortunately neither of them made it to church on Sunday for various reasons.
Last night we found a super cool kid named Michael who is Brazilian. He's been in Italy for about five years. We had had a pretty lousy day in terms of finding people and he was the last person we stopped while he was riding his bike. Turns out he's been going around to different churches because none of them feel right to him. We talked a little bit about the Book of Mormon and after a while he pointed at it and was like "Where can I get that book?" It was awesome! He lives really close to our house with his mom and we are going to go back and see him and blow his mind with the Restoration.
Other than that we are trying to build up relationships with members, a lot of which actually live in this suburb of Verona called Bussolengo. The ward here is really good though, we have about a 90-100 people that come every week.
This week I finished the Book of Mormon again, woohoo! I had been doing the thing where you highlight every reference to Jesus Christ and there are a lot! It was great. But I particularly liked verse 25 at the end of Moroni 9, after Mormon writes about all the horrible things the Nephites and Lamanites are doing:
25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in yourmind forever.
So he explains all this really awful stuff and then says "but hey, don't let it get you down, because Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world!" It was a really interesting thought of how important it is to always be optimistic and how "it's better to look up." I'm really grateful for the Book of Mormon that bears testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His church. I know it is true. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
This week has been pretty awesome in Verona! Today for P-day we went to the Lago di Garda with a member from Verona 1(the other ward in Verona) with the other Anziani. It was really pretty! The peach trees blossoming look a lot like the cherry blossoms in DC.
Working has been pretty good. Right now we are kind of struggling to find new investigators but things are looking up. We are still working with Kingsley and Gladis but unfortunately neither of them made it to church on Sunday for various reasons.
Last night we found a super cool kid named Michael who is Brazilian. He's been in Italy for about five years. We had had a pretty lousy day in terms of finding people and he was the last person we stopped while he was riding his bike. Turns out he's been going around to different churches because none of them feel right to him. We talked a little bit about the Book of Mormon and after a while he pointed at it and was like "Where can I get that book?" It was awesome! He lives really close to our house with his mom and we are going to go back and see him and blow his mind with the Restoration.
Other than that we are trying to build up relationships with members, a lot of which actually live in this suburb of Verona called Bussolengo. The ward here is really good though, we have about a 90-100 people that come every week.
This week I finished the Book of Mormon again, woohoo! I had been doing the thing where you highlight every reference to Jesus Christ and there are a lot! It was great. But I particularly liked verse 25 at the end of Moroni 9, after Mormon writes about all the horrible things the Nephites and Lamanites are doing:
25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in yourmind forever.
So he explains all this really awful stuff and then says "but hey, don't let it get you down, because Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world!" It was a really interesting thought of how important it is to always be optimistic and how "it's better to look up." I'm really grateful for the Book of Mormon that bears testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His church. I know it is true. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Ciao da Mantova!
Cara Famiglia,
Well Verona is awesome, but I am actually not there right now. Monday we went and did a blitz scambio(where both my companion and I stay in the city and work there) in MODENA, and then yesterday we did the same thing in Reggio Emilia. We kind of missed the train to get back to Verona earlier so we are chilling in Mantova for a couple hours and doing e-mail here. It was really cool to go back and do some work in Modena, that city is so great.
Verona is awesome! My companion is Anziano Neff straight from East Milcreek, SLC, Utah! I think he lives really close to Grandpa. He's a really good companion and we're going to see great things happen this transfer.
The investigators we are currently teaching are as follows: Alessandro is a cool Romanian guy who used to be Evangelist but is now not really affiliated with any church. He really loves the Bible and was wondering why in our church last Sunday the women were allowed to speak in church! He's only been here in Italy for about 4 months but he speaks really well and is interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We will see what happens. We are also teaching Juliet, a Nigerian lady who is super cool and really wants to follow Jesus Christ. We set a baptismal date for the 31st of March and we will see how that goes. Other than that we are doing a bunch of scambi this week and the next couple weeks, and so we will not be in Verona super often but will really strive to find new investigators. Verona has a lot of people that are ready for the Gospel.
This week I really liked in Ether 6 when it talks about light. In verse ten it says: "And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." I really liked that they had light continually, both spiritual and physical light. It is really cool that the light of the Gospel of Christ works in all situations in life to bring joy and happiness to someone's life. As we react to each and every situation we encounter the way Jesus Christ would act, our light will grow and the darkness around us won't matter. I know that Jesus Christ brings this true light into our lives, and that his church is guided by a living prophet. I love you all lots! Sorry this letter is kind of short!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Well Verona is awesome, but I am actually not there right now. Monday we went and did a blitz scambio(where both my companion and I stay in the city and work there) in MODENA, and then yesterday we did the same thing in Reggio Emilia. We kind of missed the train to get back to Verona earlier so we are chilling in Mantova for a couple hours and doing e-mail here. It was really cool to go back and do some work in Modena, that city is so great.
Verona is awesome! My companion is Anziano Neff straight from East Milcreek, SLC, Utah! I think he lives really close to Grandpa. He's a really good companion and we're going to see great things happen this transfer.
The investigators we are currently teaching are as follows: Alessandro is a cool Romanian guy who used to be Evangelist but is now not really affiliated with any church. He really loves the Bible and was wondering why in our church last Sunday the women were allowed to speak in church! He's only been here in Italy for about 4 months but he speaks really well and is interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We will see what happens. We are also teaching Juliet, a Nigerian lady who is super cool and really wants to follow Jesus Christ. We set a baptismal date for the 31st of March and we will see how that goes. Other than that we are doing a bunch of scambi this week and the next couple weeks, and so we will not be in Verona super often but will really strive to find new investigators. Verona has a lot of people that are ready for the Gospel.
This week I really liked in Ether 6 when it talks about light. In verse ten it says: "And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." I really liked that they had light continually, both spiritual and physical light. It is really cool that the light of the Gospel of Christ works in all situations in life to bring joy and happiness to someone's life. As we react to each and every situation we encounter the way Jesus Christ would act, our light will grow and the darkness around us won't matter. I know that Jesus Christ brings this true light into our lives, and that his church is guided by a living prophet. I love you all lots! Sorry this letter is kind of short!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
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