A Verona!

Cara Famiglia,

My time in Torino is up! It was pretty surprising when President called and said I was getting transfered. I will be going to Verona and my companion will be Anziano Neff, who I've heard is a really cool guy. And I get to live in four again, one of the four being Anziano Webb! Yieah! But I am pretty sad to leave Torino, I love this city! The work is always great and I will be praying for Anziano DeVincent and his new comp. Other fun note, Anziano Proctor is going to Busto! He is so lucky.

Anyway, this week went pretty well. The worst part though was a lesson with Gianpier. We went over on Thursday afternoon with a Sister in the ward because Filomena had been asking 'are there any women in your church?' and we always said 'Yeah definitely!' So we went over and we told the sister that they were doing really well and we were planning on talking about the Word of Wisdom. So we go in and start talking and then Gianpier just drops a bomb on us and pulls out a computer, and I'm thinking 'oh no, what happened??' And he pulls up all these anti-Mormon websites that he found and talks about all the doubts he has now and is just barraging us with all this anti-Mormon stuff. We basically spent an hour and a half trying to just bear really sincere testimony and testify that his doubts will be resolved as he reads the Book of Mormon and prays sincerely to know if it was true. It was a huge bummer because he was doing so well and now it's really unlikely that he'll still want to meet with us, but we will see what happens. I really felt the spirit as we testified of the Gospel truths and hope he can feel the difference between that and the feeling he gets when he reads all this stuff against the church. It was the first time in my mission that an investigator stumbled upon a ton of anti-Mormon stuff and it was not cool! We are really hoping he keeps reading and praying though.

Other than that we're still working with Bright, Antonio, and Assunta. The work seems a little slow right now but we're exercising a lot of faith and really working hard to find new investigators and help the ones we have to progress. Keep praying for the work in Torino 1!

One cool thing that happened was that I found a Bortolussi! We were knocking a palazzo and we just walk down the stairs and bam, there was a nameplate that said 'Bortolussi I.' I thought Mom might have rented a house here in Torino and put her name up! But they weren't home! So it was a bummer I didn't get to meet any possible relatives.

Also I forgot to mention in my letter last week but we made it up to Courmayeur! It is a city that is past Aosta in the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta, and it is right at the foot of Mont Blanc and about a 10 minute drive from France! It was incredibly gorgeous! We went up to teach a part member family, the husband is semi-interested in the gospel. They made us a delicious Peruvian lunch, and seriously Courmayeur is breathtaking. I think we are the first missionaries to go there in a long long time too, it was really cool.

This week I translated my Patriarchal Blessing in Italian. It was really eye-opening! As I really focused on every word it helped make this reading another really spiritual experience. I really like a line in it that says the trials I face in life are simply an opportunity to help me find no fault in the Savior's gospel. Also, I wanted to share a quote from a Henry B. Eyring talk that goes along well with it:

"Our humility and our faith that invite spiritual gifts are increased by our reading, studying, and pondering the scriptures. We have all heard those words. Yet we may read a few lines or pages of scripture every day and hope that will be enough.

"But reading, studying, and pondering are not the same. We read words and we may get ideas. We study and we may discover patterns and connections in scripture. But when we ponder, we invite revelation by the Spirit. Pondering, to me, is the thinking and the praying I do after reading and studying in the scriptures carefully." (Oct. 2010 Conference)

This promise applies to the scriptures and I would definitely say that includes Patriarchal Blessings. I would invite each of you to not only read and study your Patriarchal Blessings, but to ponder them throughout the day, which is when a lot of revelation can come to us. I know that this church is true, and that it is guided by a living prophet called of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith