Miracles!

Cara Famiglia,

[Photo not taken by Benjamin]

Well I don't have much time to do email, today we are in La Spezia. We went to Cinque Terre for Pday, which is arguably the prettiest spot in Italy. I don't quite have enough time to send pictures so for now you can look them up. We are on our way to Milano because there is a conference for new missionaries tomorrow. Also quick shout out to Elder Dickson in Mexico, I got his letter! It was awesome. I laughed a lot at all the things he wrote, and I sent him a really good return letter but after placing it in the mailbox I realized I forgot to write 'Messico' on the envelope. It might still make it?

The real story is that this week we got blitzed by the traveling assistants, and we saw a ton of miracles. Everything is going really well! I was with Anziano Osborn who is in the group above me and we had some sweet success finding new people, including Eugenio, a student who is studying Anthropology. He let us in as we were knocking doors and we had a great lesson. We also taught Bismar and helped him see what he was missing out on by not reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, and he is progressing now. We also taught Gerald, a really cool guy from Johannesburg, South Africa who is here studying. He had a lot of great questions and was interested in the Book of Mormon.

Then Anziano Benson and Anziano Sciarretta also had a bunch of success. They set a baptismal date with this new investigator we have named Anna Maria. She is a typical Italian lady from Siena and is doing really well. We brought our Relief Society president to the lesson and they hit it off. She has a baptismal date for the 29th of September! They also found apparently the Bolivian version of Joseph Smith, a kid named Rodrigo. He is super elect and is going to be baptized for sure.

I would invite everyone to read 4 Nephi again and see what happens when the happiest people of all time turn into super unhappy people in just a couple pages! It is a good reminder to be humble always, never thinking to ourselves that we've "made it" in anything we're doing. I know Jesus Christ is the perfect example of humility and following his example brings joy. I love this work and I know it is His work. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Pictures! Woohoo!!

I can't send it home, but I also have a video of the blessing of the horse of the Contrada del Drago! It was awesome! The priest splashed holy water on it, and then he touched it with the case that holds the thumb of Santa Caterina! It was sweet! Then he said to the horse: "Vai, e torna un vincitore!" which means "Go, and come back a winner!"

1) Me with the Oca flag before the Palio
2) Anziano Benson and I at our favorite pizzeria here in Siena with the best view of the city ever!
3) The head of Santa Caterina from the 1300s
4) The horse before it's blessing
5) Me!
6) Me again!
7) Inside the Duomo on the day of the Palio. It was awesome!
8) Me under the Oca flag in the Duomo
9) Waiting on the campo for the Palio to start
10) Me, Anziano Benson, and Matteo (new convert from Livorno living in Siena for a couple months) on the Piazza watching the Palio opening ceremonies!
11) Us with a little flag of the winning contrada after the Palio
12) Me on the track after the Palio
13) Kind of a bad picture but it's me with the tie that Anziano Richards sent me from Denmark with a view of the countryside in the background.
14) Pubblicità for The Dark Knight Rises ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Palio Adventures!

Cara Famiglia,

For another year the Palio is no more in Siena! Although this most recent Palio will live on in infamy! During the second turn of the race six horses fell down leaving only four to finish. Valdimontone, a contrada that hadn't won in 22 years, pulled out a stellar victory. The race was a lot more exciting than the last one to be honest. Other interesting note: we were actually right by the drain at the bottom of the piazza with just a couple people between us and the fence. In front of us there were a bunch of kids that were watching over the fence to see everything, including a 10 or so year old German kid. What happened, I didn't actually see, but Anziano Benson describes it like this "The valdimontone supporters as they saw that they were going to win, seemed to appear out of nowhere, and proceeded to tear the kid off the fence and throw him on the ground without a second thought." The poor kid was traumatized! He was crying afterwards. Seriously, these people are nuts for this horse race!

Other than the Palio the work is always progressing, although that isn't necessarily measured by outstanding numbers. We are teaching Chiara, who is still facing some serious economic and spiritual difficulties, but she is really visibly changing as she accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is awesome to hear such sincere prayers! We are also teaching a cool guy named Bismar, he is from Bolivia. I may have mentioned him last week, but he apparently almost got baptized in Bolivia about 10 years ago but then moved. Now he's here in Siena, although he works in Firenze all week so we can only see him on weekends. But he is a stud.

We also had a cool finding experience the other day. Actually finding work in general is just better lately. We are seeing a lot of success from varying things up. Anyway, the other night we were out and it was kind of late. Anziano Benson felt like we should go down some side streets that I honestly wasn't too excited about because it was off to the middle of nowhere Siena. But we went and we ended up at a big, nearly empty piazza in front of a big church. There weren't very many people but we started talking. We ended up finding a really cool student named Andrea, who is this girl from Mexico City. She actually lived in Houston for a year so she speaks almost perfect english and was welcoming to see us again to get a copy of the Book of Mormon. We are teaching her tonight so pray that goes well.

This week my spiritual thought is an invite to read the 'Pray with Faith' section from Chapter 4 of Preach My Gospel. It is probably one of the most inspired things I've ever read! Then do the prayer evaluation activity on pg. 95 and see how you can improve! I would say one of the toughest but most rewarding testimonies I've had is my testimony of prayer, how it is a literal conversation with Heavenly Father and I'm glad we can pray about anything anywhere at anytime. It is unbelievable. I know that God answers prayers and that his Son Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I know this is His church. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Palio 2.0

Cara Famiglia,

It's Palio time again! Siena is alive and there is tension in the air again. I am really excited and fortunate to be able to see both of them this year. It will be awesome!

The more important thing is that the work here in Siena is having it's usual ups and downs. We were working with this awesome 21 year old girl from Napoli, and she was doing really well. We taught her some good lessons and she was really searching for peace. But then today we got totally dropped by her through a text message which was a major bummer. We don't even know what happened but it's always sad when someone chooses to stop investigating the gospel. Hopefully in the future she'll have another opportunity to get to know the church.

We are also still teaching Chiara, the Sri Lankan woman who is super elect. She is still going through a really rough time and her family/economic situation is not really improving. But it is awesome to see the happiness that she shows when she learns about the gospel or comes to church. When we first met with her she was sad all the time, but now she smiles! It is amazing.

Last but not least is our Chinese friend Kellan. We found out he is moving to Firenze in September for some art school there, which means we will probably have to pass him to the Firenze Anziani. But he has come to church six weeks in a row and so he's doing well. We are just trying to organize a time when we can get some Chinese translators to help him understand everything, but he has definitely received a warm welcome to the church and the branch here in Siena.

This week I was impressed with the idea of a 'broken heart and a contrite spirit' and the 'heart and a willing mind' that the Lord requires to participate in his work. It is interesting to think about what it really means to have all those things specifically in our lives, since I would guess the feelings are unique in one way for everyone who has them but also somewhat universal. I would hope that every day even in a tiny little way we can commit to the Lord that we will show forth our 'broken heart', 'contrite spirit', 'heart', and 'willing mind' through the actions we perform throughout the day. I know that every day as we act like Christ and think more about others' needs than our own, we will see that we are happier and have a greater desire to serve. I'm grateful for the opportuntiy to serve the people here in Siena and invite them to come unto Christ. I know this church is true!

I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Miracles in Siena!

Cara Famiglia,

Another week in the mission always equals another week of miracles. This week it was really hot, but the work of the Lord moved forward. We saw some really cool miracles.

The first was a referral from a new convert, a Sri Lankan woman named Chiara who has been here in Italy for 20 years. She literally came out of nowhere, but when she says "We can even meet every day if it means I can get baptized faster" should tell you how elect she is! We have set a baptismal date with her for the 26th of August, and it will be a great day. She is so ready for the gospel and so humble. She is also going through a really tough time with no job and some family troubles, and it's somewhat tough to teach her because she doesn't have money to buy reading glasses so she can read the Book of Mormon. But we are helping her out and she is loving everything and the spirit she feels. Missionary work rocks!

We've also been having a lot of success finding with the most recent finding fad in the Italy Milan Mission -- the whiteboard! We have a little whiteboard and we write a yes or no question (our most favorite recently is "In these days does God still speak to us?") and just go around asking people. It's a really great way to break the ice and we always have great invites to people to hear more about the Restoration. It is a great way to switch things up.

We are still teaching Kellan although we are still trying to find a translator. We have a number of possibilities, the biggest problem is just scheduling.

Other than that everything is fine and dandy. It seems as though the Lord is blessing us in the month of August, when most people see the opposite because everybody in Italy goes on vacation for the entire month. The work is always increasing though. I am really happy here!

I am a big fan of some hymns recently. I have especially liked Lead, Kindly Light. Here are the lyrics:

1. Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

2. I was not ever thus, nor pray’d that thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.

3. So long thy pow’r hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

I especially like the second verse and the power we have in turning over our heart to the Lord. Yesterday in Interviews Sorella Wolfgramm gave an awesome training about living a Christ-centered life. I promise that as we give everything to the Lord we will be so much happier and really reach our potential as children of God. I love this work, I love this church, and I love the Book of Mormon. I know these things are true. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

It's Always Sunny in Siena

Cara Famiglia,

Well it is pretty hot in Siena. Although it isn't too bad because in Centro the streets are narrow so there's shade most of the time. But it is going really well here. Today we actually got hooked up by one of the BYU students who's doing his internship at the Palazzo Pubblico; he got us into the museum and up the Torre del Mangia for free!! We even got to cut the line! It was awesome, definitely one of the prettiest views I've ever seen. Mom would've loved the art tour he gave us too, he is studying art history at BYU so he told us all about the frescoes. Also later today we are going to play soccer with Kellan, the BYU Students, and some members. It will be awesome.

The work is continuing to grow, this week we had some really cool miracles. The first was that we were finally able to get an appointment with a potential investigator that Anziano Minà and I found. His name is Aldrin and he's probably 20, a student from Gabon in French speaking West Africa. He's only been in Italy nine months but he already speaks fluent Italian, along with French and English. He's a really smart kid. We taught him a lesson about the Restoration and it was one of those lessons where you suspect the investigator of reading out of Preach My Gospel because they are so elect. He is kind of like a French West African version of Joseph Smith. He is going to read the Book of Mormon and he accepted a baptismal invite; the only problem is that he along with most people in Italy goes out of town for the month of August. We will see where that goes.

The other cool miracle was with a certain Signore El-Nabawy, from Alexandria in Egypt! We met him at a piazza one night and set up an appointment for the next evening. We gave him the Restoration pamphlet, chatted a little bit in Arabic, and he's a very interesting guy. He owns a pizzeria on main street in Siena where his son and daughter work, and we're actually trying to help him find an apartment for them because right now they are sleeping in the pizzeria. He even came to church the day after our first appointment and enjoyed it a lot! He is a really nice guy and now whenever we walk by his pizzeria at night he always offers us free pizza!

This week I think an interesting thing to ponder is the idea of true joy. I wish I could just list all the scriptures that contain the word 'joy' but the email would never end. I did really like this one from Doctrine and Covenants though:

 61 If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.

I am grateful of how all the sources of joy eventually lead back to our Savior Jesus Christ and his eternal sacrifice that makes the purpose of this life to have joy obtainable. I am grateful for you all and your prayers and also the prayers that I've seen answered here on the mission and throughout my entire life. I love this gospel, and I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith