Birthday Space Transfer!

Cara Famiglia,

Ciao Siena! Ciao Piacenza! I love that you can use the same word for goodbye and hello in Italian! But yeah, I am now out of Toscana and in the great city of Piacenza. It is basically halfway between Modena and Milano, and in fact the district is us, Reggio Emilia, and Modena, so I will finish in the same district I started in! My companion Anziano Benson went to Busto Arsizio!!!!! He is so lucky, that city rocks! My companion now is Anziano Thompson, who is also from Idaho Falls(in fact he went to the same high school as Anziano Benson), and who is in his third transfer. He did his first two in Busto, so it has been cool to hear what was going on there.

Seeing as how I literally just got here this morning, I'm not super up to date on the work but I can just say that it is stellar! Piacenza has seven baptismal dates and a ton of investigators! When President called to tell us where we were going he said 'Piacenza is leading the mission in baptismal dates' and in the rest of the district there are seven other dates. So we will have our hands full! My companion is awesome, I can already tell!

Thanks to everybody for the Birthday wishes! Special shout out to Grandpa and also the Benson family who sent me a really great card. I hope they know how awesome of a missionary their son is and how much he is going to tear it up in Busto.

My spiritual thought is really simple, but I really loved President Eyring's talk from the Sunday Morning session of Conference about the 'pavilion' blocking us from God. I would also cross-reference Elder Holland's talk and encourage us all to leave our nets behind and join the cause of Christ with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. I know that this decision we make will change our lives, and as we pray 'thy will be done' we will find our lives more fulfilling than whatever we could fill them with. I love you all lots, and I know this work is true!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith