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