Cara Famglia,
Welcome to Siena! It is pretty much the greatest city of all time history! We got here Friday afternoon, since Friday morning I had to take a detour back over to good old Torino to get my new Permesso. So now I am here in what could possibly be the prettiest city in Italy. It's divided into 16 contradas, i.e. neighborhoods, that all battle twice a year in the Palio(an awesome horse race that takes place twice a year, July 2 and August 16). The Piazza del Campo is the biggest Piazza in the city and is incredibly gorgeous, dominated by the Torre del Mangia that overlooks the city and it's surroundings. We walk everywhere, because it's way too hilly for bikes and the bus system isn't the best. Next week I will send some pictures.
The branch here is awesome! This last Sunday we had about 15 people in church, including two of our investigators. There are only one or two of the members that are active that live in the city of Siena, the rest live in little towns and villages outside. The former branch president lives in Grosseto, which is about an hour and a half drive away.
My companion is awesome, he speaks really good Italian! He is from Palermo, which is apparently about as big as Torino; there are two wards there.
Right now the work is going pretty well. There are about six new converts here in the branch, which is a pretty sizeable amount. Right now our main investigators are as follows:
-Andrea, a 45ish year old Italian man who we haven't yet taught a lesson to, but he came to church on Sunday and is a pretty cool guy
-Miwako, Andrea's Japanese wife who has two kids. She told us over the phone that she wants to be baptized, which is usually a pretty good indicator to know if someone is going to be baptized
-La Famiglia Velez, a Colombian family with a 13 year old daughter named Kimberly. Apparently the parents aren't as much interested but Kimberly reads the Book of Mormon, prays ever day, and wants to be baptized.
-Tony, a Nigerian man who is a Jehovah's Witness, yet surprisingly accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! We should be seeing him today or tomorrow.
Other than that we are working really hard trying to find new people. The city itself is pretty small and unlike in my other cities the people have usually had some contact with the missionaries before. Pray for us to find families to teach and baptize!
Today I read again some of my favorite verses in the entire Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 26. I was struck by verses 24 and 25 this time:
24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.
25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
Jesus Christ loves us so much that he gave up his mortal life so that we can come unto Him, and salvation is open for all to partake. I can testify that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, who offers salvation 'without money and without price' but simply with our faith and our willingness to follow Him. I know this is His church, and that it really is the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. I love you all lots and lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ciao Siena!
Cara Famiglia,
Well there is some surprise news going on, based on the fact that I'm getting transfered again! I never pictured me just doing one transfer here in Verona, but I will be packing up and moving to Siena. It is a bummer because I was just getting to really love the area and the work was getting better but oh well. My new companion will be Italian, his name is Anziano Minà, and he is from the good old city of Palermo in Sicilia. Anziano Parker will be taking my spot and he and Anziano Neff are going to tear it up here in Verona.
Well this week was good work-wise. We worked really hard and it paid off with being able to teach a lot of lessons. We are currently a little low on solid progressing investigators but things are looking up. We are hoping to set some baptismal dates within the next week here. One of our more solid investigators we are seeing is Isabella, I don't know if I've mentioned her in past emails. She's from Santo Domingo and has been here in Italy for 10+ years. We have taught her a couple times and we're going to have another lesson with her Friday night hopefully at a member's house.
Also tonight we are seeing Michael again, the really cool Brazilian kid who is interested in learning more. We've taught him twice and he accepted a baptismal invite for when he knows it's true. Tonight we're going to teach him the first half of the plan of salvation, and hoping to help him understand how important living the gospel is here on the earth and then set a baptismal date! So pray that can go well.
Well this week I would love to share a phenomenal scripture in 2 Nephi 2:27 - Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might bemiserable like unto himself.
I am a big fan of this verse because it really exemplifies the power and value of free agency and choice. I know that we are all completely and truly free to choose, and I know that the only choice that brings eternal life is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon that contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel and that our Heavenly Father loves us. I know this church is true. I love you all a lot!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Well there is some surprise news going on, based on the fact that I'm getting transfered again! I never pictured me just doing one transfer here in Verona, but I will be packing up and moving to Siena. It is a bummer because I was just getting to really love the area and the work was getting better but oh well. My new companion will be Italian, his name is Anziano Minà, and he is from the good old city of Palermo in Sicilia. Anziano Parker will be taking my spot and he and Anziano Neff are going to tear it up here in Verona.
Well this week was good work-wise. We worked really hard and it paid off with being able to teach a lot of lessons. We are currently a little low on solid progressing investigators but things are looking up. We are hoping to set some baptismal dates within the next week here. One of our more solid investigators we are seeing is Isabella, I don't know if I've mentioned her in past emails. She's from Santo Domingo and has been here in Italy for 10+ years. We have taught her a couple times and we're going to have another lesson with her Friday night hopefully at a member's house.
Also tonight we are seeing Michael again, the really cool Brazilian kid who is interested in learning more. We've taught him twice and he accepted a baptismal invite for when he knows it's true. Tonight we're going to teach him the first half of the plan of salvation, and hoping to help him understand how important living the gospel is here on the earth and then set a baptismal date! So pray that can go well.
Well this week I would love to share a phenomenal scripture in 2 Nephi 2:27 - Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might bemiserable like unto himself.
I am a big fan of this verse because it really exemplifies the power and value of free agency and choice. I know that we are all completely and truly free to choose, and I know that the only choice that brings eternal life is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon that contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel and that our Heavenly Father loves us. I know this church is true. I love you all a lot!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Learning in the Mission
Cara Famglia,
So I'm writing today because yesterday we had a zone conference! It went pretty well, we got to do an addestramento on planning and we hope it helped out. It was also cool to be able to see everyone from our group in the Verona and Mestre zones (8/10!) Today for the first time in Italy we played soccer for P-day! We played on the court at the church, they have a playing field (cement) with a goal right behind the chapel outside. We also found out that up above the church property you can walk up and have an amazing view of Verona. This is probably the prettiest chapel I've been in so far in Italy.
Well the weather (which has been cold and rainy the past 1-2 weeks) has basically matched our investigators. Not necessarily cold, but if you define cold as not responding to phone calls or showing up at appointments than yes. Basically right now we are going crazy trying to figure out how to reach 20 lessons because unfortunately we haven't been able to hit it all transfer. Finding work is actually going pretty well in the sense that we have been able to get in knocking doors a fair amount but the people we find don't seem to stick.
Even though the work is kind of tough right now I feel like I am learning a lot about being a better missionary. Not having a large teaching pool forces you to give an honest evaluation of what you can improve on and where you can get better. I have learned a lot about the importance and power of prayer and planning this last week, and am grateful for the lessons I'm learning that will bless me eternally. And I'm really happy!
Kind of a cool spiritual thought I realized this week that maybe you had all thought of. Basically revolving around the principle of Heavenly Father being obligated to bless us if we keep the commandments (see D&C 130), I realized that Heavenly Father not only blesses us when we keep commandments, but when we are trying to! In this sense, he blesses us with the strength to keep commandments, so he can bless us more! I don't really know if that makes sense, but it was really cool when I thought about it. I am grateful for all of your prayers and well-wishes, and I'm grateful that on Sunday we were able to celebrate the resurrection of or Savior Jesus Christ. I know that thanks to Him we can overcome any obstacle or problem, and that he can heal, strengthen, and help us through any trial. I know that this is His church, and that the Book of Mormon is true! I love you all!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Verona Week 4!
Cara Fam[i]glia,
This week was a pretty good week. Big news is that we finally got to take off the suit coats! It was great because it was really hot last week but now that we have the coats off it's getting colder. But it's okay, because the things that matter are going well.
This week we set a record for lessons taught in one week since I've been here, but we are still desperately needing to reach the mission goal of 20 a week (=double baptisms!) We are working really hard finding and there has been a lot of training recently about spiritually planning and executing our plans incredibly precisely to reach the goal of 20 each week. We are kind of struggling because without our investigators answering the phone it is tough to set up appointments with them. But we will do much better this week.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to see Gladis or Isaac or Emilio since the last email, but there will be more news on them next week. We had a cool miracle the other day after a miserable day full of being stood-up and lousy finding success, when we found a new Brazilian investigator named Claudio and a cool guy named Edmond afterwards. Both learned more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and both became new investigators! We also finally got to be able to teach Michael, the 18 year old Brazilian kid who is really searching. He is very spiritual and just needs to read the Book of Mormon and he'll know it's true. Pray for all of our investigators lots!
Conference was awesome! We got to see all the sessions except the Sunday Afternoon one, which unfortunately we never get to see, but we will read the talks when the Conference Liahona issue comes out. I really enjoyed a number of the talks, especially that of President Uchtdorf in the Priesthood Session, also the Donald L. Hallstrom talk from Saturday Morning. Money quote from the 'why' or Priesthood service talk: “We need to be constantly reminded of the eternal reasons behind the things we are commanded to do. The basic gospel principles need to be part of our life’s fabric, even if it means learning them over and over and over again. That doesn’t mean that this process should be rote or boring. Rather, when we teach the foundational principles in our homes or in Church, let the flame of enthusiasm for the gospel and the fire of testimony bring light, warmth, and joy to the hearts of those we teach.” We need to be constantly thinking about the gospel this way. It's not just a bunch of things to do, but a pattern of life that we need to seek to improve each and every day. I know that as we truly 'learn' the fundamental principles of the gospel over and over and over again we will be happier and closer to God. I know this church is true, I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called to lead the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
This week was a pretty good week. Big news is that we finally got to take off the suit coats! It was great because it was really hot last week but now that we have the coats off it's getting colder. But it's okay, because the things that matter are going well.
This week we set a record for lessons taught in one week since I've been here, but we are still desperately needing to reach the mission goal of 20 a week (=double baptisms!) We are working really hard finding and there has been a lot of training recently about spiritually planning and executing our plans incredibly precisely to reach the goal of 20 each week. We are kind of struggling because without our investigators answering the phone it is tough to set up appointments with them. But we will do much better this week.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to see Gladis or Isaac or Emilio since the last email, but there will be more news on them next week. We had a cool miracle the other day after a miserable day full of being stood-up and lousy finding success, when we found a new Brazilian investigator named Claudio and a cool guy named Edmond afterwards. Both learned more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and both became new investigators! We also finally got to be able to teach Michael, the 18 year old Brazilian kid who is really searching. He is very spiritual and just needs to read the Book of Mormon and he'll know it's true. Pray for all of our investigators lots!
Conference was awesome! We got to see all the sessions except the Sunday Afternoon one, which unfortunately we never get to see, but we will read the talks when the Conference Liahona issue comes out. I really enjoyed a number of the talks, especially that of President Uchtdorf in the Priesthood Session, also the Donald L. Hallstrom talk from Saturday Morning. Money quote from the 'why' or Priesthood service talk: “We need to be constantly reminded of the eternal reasons behind the things we are commanded to do. The basic gospel principles need to be part of our life’s fabric, even if it means learning them over and over and over again. That doesn’t mean that this process should be rote or boring. Rather, when we teach the foundational principles in our homes or in Church, let the flame of enthusiasm for the gospel and the fire of testimony bring light, warmth, and joy to the hearts of those we teach.” We need to be constantly thinking about the gospel this way. It's not just a bunch of things to do, but a pattern of life that we need to seek to improve each and every day. I know that as we truly 'learn' the fundamental principles of the gospel over and over and over again we will be happier and closer to God. I know this church is true, I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called to lead the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
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