Down to the Wire

Cara Famiglia,

Well there is either really good news or really bad news. We don't know yet! It is 50/50 whether Martin will be baptized this Saturday. He is definitely ready and willing, but he doesn't know whether he'll have to leave to Ireland before then so he can earn some money to pay for rent or what. We are all fasting together for him right now. Pray for him, so he can find work! He needs a miracle.

Our other investigators are doing well too. Collins, who has a baptismal date for the 5th of February, came to church on Sunday! It was great. We called him Saturday night and he wasn't sure if he could make it but he was there! And even better he is really good friends with an investigator of the other Anziani in our ward. So both of them had a good time and want to come back. We're going to teach Collins the Plan of Salvation tonight.

Bright unfortuantely couldn't make it to church because he had the flu. But we taught him Monday and he is doing well. We gave him a baptismal calendar, moved his date to the 5th, and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He wants to go to the Celestial Kingdom (which is the highest one!). So he's still awesome, and we're seeing him again tomorrow.

We have found a golden Italian family. The guy is named Giovanni, he is from Sicilia, and his compagna (but don't worry they want to get married!) is named Gabriella. They have one daughter who is maybe four or five years old, and then Gabriella gave birth to a son named Nicolò yesterday morning (the day after we taught them about the Restoration). They are really great and sincere and we really don't want to mess up teaching them. But they liked the Restoration and it answered a bunch of their questions and they are committed to reading the Book of Mormon, finding out it is true, and getting baptized. They are great. Pray for them!

We had a really strange lesson with Antonio the other day. It lasted like 2 hours, which is never good haha. He had a very strange dream, and somehow interpreted it to mean that the church isn't true or something. He keeps saying 'I don't want to follow a church, I want to follow Jesus Christ.' We are working on a plan for him. He is still good about reading the Book of Mormon though.

Other than that Torino is great! We are still constantly finding people to teach and giving out tons of copies of the Book of Mormon. I would invite each of you to carry a spare copy around to give to somebody! It's a great feeling to know you can give someone a book that is so full of truth and testimony.

I may have shared this scripture before, but if so I'll share it again anyway. It's the last verse in Alma 31, and it talks about what makes missionary work so great.

38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.

In my mind, this scripture sums up the joy of missionary work. We still 'suffer affliction' because we talk to lots of people that aren't interested, we get tired and hungry, and other things. But the affliction is swallowed up when you meet someone on the street who asks a golden question, when a family truly wants to be eternal, or when you see any sort of miracle. It also highlights the role of prayer in all of this. I know that when we pray in faith, miracles happen, and people change. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share this Gospel with my brothers and sisters here in Italy, and I know this church is true.

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith