Italia!

Cara Famiglia!

 

[Background note: Benjamin's mom, two brothers and a cousin just visited Italy... without telling Benjamin that they went. Only after leaving did they inform him, to which he responds:] That is....insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane!! I am actually quite impressed you kept that trip a secret so well. Unbelievable. My mind was literally completely blown when I read that email. But glad you enjoyed Italy, it is the bomb.

 

Modena is doing great! It's too bad you guys didn't stop by, the weather has been pretty nice and Modena is a good city. Today we are going to the Ferrari Factory with the Anziani from Piacenza and Reggio.

 

Our investigators are....doing well? Michael has basically stopped progressing, we can tell he's just not reading the BoM or really praying about the stuff we leave him with, kind of a big bummer. We had a lesson to try and jump start him on keeping commitments that went pretty well, we will see if he can do that. We have also found some other new investigators that we are hoping to have progress. Castro is a gold mine for referrals, we need to ask him more! He is so good, he always has someone who he thinks would be ready to hear about the gospel. One of his friends is named Chris and accepted a baptismal challenge so we are going to be working with him to get there.

 

We had another Zone type mission meeting here in Modena yesterday, it was awesome. We had some really awesome training things from President and the Assistants about utilizing the spirit more in teaching. I think it was something specifically aimed at us, to help us become better teachers. We also talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ, that is, Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. It is cool to see just how much we need to make it not just a thing we can recite but to make it a way of life! It gives me a lot of focus and drive to get better, and just generally become more Christlike.

 

I really liked reading over some stuff in Doctrine and Covenants section 84, it is way good. Verses 79, 85, and 88 are some of my favorites, and the promises they give are really good. My testimony about missionary work has definitely grown (obviously!) since I have been out here on the mission, and I am so grateful to be able to serve the Lord for two years. I know the Lord really is watching over us and all we do, and the promises in the Doctrine and Covenants about missionaries are real. I love you all, all the time!

 

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

 

P.S. Pictures! From around Modena, with Anziano Scheurn and Anziano Portellano, the tomb of St. Geminiano, and making pizza!