Wu mun shu, Chuan djtsao shu! I want to open China to missionary work!

Cara Famiglia,

Well I hope Matt Gong doesn't hate me for the transliteration of the Chinese phrase in the subject line. It is currently the only Chinese I know. What I think it means is "We're missionaries from the church" or something. Either way, whenever we meet Chinese people on the street we say it to them and they understand who we are. I mention this because this week we have run into a lot of Chinese students that are open to the gospel.

The first is Kellan, who it is still very difficult to teach because neither of us speak Chinese, and he speaks little English or Italian. But we managed to talk a lot about the importance of the Book of Mormon these past couple lessons and re-set a baptismal date for the 19th of August. He is bravo, we just need some way to make sure he understands everything we teach. Fortunately we got a bunch of pamphlets in Chinese now so it should make it easier to teach.

We also found on the street the other day a Chinese student who goes by the name of Pietro. We fixed a tentative appointment for the next night but it wasn't really sure. Then the next day he called us and was like "Hey I want to bring a friend when we meet tonight!" And we said "Great!" So he brought his friend Giovanni (also Chinese), and both of them are awesome! Pietro is Christian but wants to strengthen his faith, and Giovanni is on the border whether to believe in God but asked those questions that make you want to be a missionary like "What is the purpose of life?" and "What happens after this life?" He is what we like to call a "golden investigator."

We also met a cool Chinese kid named Tino to whom we left a pamphlet of the Restoration in Chinese. Later we called and asked if he read it and he said he liked it! We are still trying to see him for an appointment though.

Other than that we are also contacting people of many different nations; you probably hear anywhere from 10-15 different languages on the streets of Siena every day between foreigners and tourists. It is awesome. I love Siena!

I liked a thought in Alma 44 this week:

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.
5 And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—

I liked the source of their faith, from things like the support of the family, their 'rites of worship' a.k.a. ordinances, and by their desire to live a free, happy life. I know that this faith gives us increased purpose, direction, and security in this world that every day seems to need a bit more of it. I am grateful for the opportunity to see people change and grow through the gospel, including myself. I know that this church and the Book of Mormon are true. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith