Persevering!

Cara Famiglia,

Well this week has been pretty eventful! It started out on a kind of rough note, notably that Angelo, our number one investigator who was supposed to be baptized soon dropped us! It was really surprising. We showed up to the lesson with a member and everything and apparently he just had come up with a bunch of doubts. We think his girlfriend had something to do with it. But anyway we just had a super powerful parting lesson about the Book of Mormon, telling him how important it was that he continues to read and pray to resolve these doubts and follow Jesus Christ. We definitely moved him up on the number scale at least, but it's a bummer that he won't be getting baptized this transfer. We are also now working more with this awesome ex-communicated member named Guido, I dunno if I mentioned him before. He is super solid, and really wants to get re-baptized. We have taught him a couple times the past couple weeks, and we are seeing him this Friday with the Bishop so it should be really good. We are also working some more with Giuseppe, and hoping to get him baptized this transfer. He is super awesome when we teach him but sometimes he's hard to get a hold of and sometimes gives us bidones. Also yesterday we had an awesome experience! We went to do some finding in a little suburb city above Busto called Olgiate Olona. Basically we did a bunch of calls and then did the only four big palazzi in the city. As we were biking back we biked by one last really big palazzo, and we hesitated to stop and knock it, but we did! We did one staircase and there was nothing but J-Dubs and people not interested. Then the first door that opened in the next stairway was this 19 year old Albanian kid named Elvis! He's been in Italy for about nine years. He let us in and we proceeded to blow his mind with the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught everything and then right before we were going to teach the Joseph Smith story and share the first vision his mom walked in! We were afraid she wouldn't like us but she sat and listened as well! And then as we were explaining the Book of Mormon his 17 year old brother walked in and listen from there! It was a really super good lesson and at the end as we were leaving the mom was like 'You guys are always welcome here!' It was incredible! So now we are going back to see them again, and we are going to baptize them. It was a really cool miracle to see that the Lord is always preparing people. 

We also had dinner last night with this awesome couple that I don't know if I mentioned before, named Claudio and Louisa. Louisa is a member who's slightly less-active, she was baptized 11 or 12 years ago but she's brava. And then her companion Claudo is also really bravo. He's not a member (yet), but he brings his triple to work and reads during his spare time. He knows the gospel as well as we do! And as soon as his divorce from a previous marriage goes through so he can marry Louisa he'll get baptized. Also he is hopefully going to give us a sweet insider's look at the AC Milan stadium coming up, since he's worked there as a security guard.

This week the scriptures are awesome! I read the Book of Mormon every day and it is just too good. I was reading in 3 Nephi 9 today and it was talking all about repentance. I especially liked verses 13-15: 

13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

Christ is just waiting for us to come unto him and repent! All we have to do is be humble and he's willing to completely forgive us. Repentance really is a miracle process, and I'm grateful that I can be a part of this work to call people to repentance and to come unto Christ. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that he is the Savior of the world!

I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

[The view from Anziano Smith's roof!]