Verona Week 4!

Cara Fam[i]glia,

This week was a pretty good week. Big news is that we finally got to take off the suit coats! It was great because it was really hot last week but now that we have the coats off it's getting colder. But it's okay, because the things that matter are going well.

This week we set a record for lessons taught in one week since I've been here, but we are still desperately needing to reach the mission goal of 20 a week (=double baptisms!) We are working really hard finding and there has been a lot of training recently about spiritually planning and executing our plans incredibly precisely to reach the goal of 20 each week. We are kind of struggling because without our investigators answering the phone it is tough to set up appointments with them. But we will do much better this week.

Unfortunately we haven't been able to see Gladis or Isaac or Emilio since the last email, but there will be more news on them next week. We had a cool miracle the other day after a miserable day full of being stood-up and lousy finding success, when we found a new Brazilian investigator named Claudio and a cool guy named Edmond afterwards. Both learned more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and both became new investigators! We also finally got to be able to teach Michael, the 18 year old Brazilian kid who is really searching. He is very spiritual and just needs to read the Book of Mormon and he'll know it's true. Pray for all of our investigators lots!

Conference was awesome! We got to see all the sessions except the Sunday Afternoon one, which unfortunately we never get to see, but we will read the talks when the Conference Liahona issue comes out. I really enjoyed a number of the talks, especially that of President Uchtdorf in the Priesthood Session, also the Donald L. Hallstrom talk from Saturday Morning. Money quote from the 'why' or Priesthood service talk: “We need to be constantly reminded of the eternal reasons behind the things we are commanded to do. The basic gospel principles need to be part of our life’s fabric, even if it means learning them over and over and over again. That doesn’t mean that this process should be rote or boring. Rather, when we teach the foundational principles in our homes or in Church, let the flame of enthusiasm for the gospel and the fire of testimony bring light, warmth, and joy to the hearts of those we teach.” We need to be constantly thinking about the gospel this way. It's not just a bunch of things to do, but a pattern of life that we need to seek to improve each and every day. I know that as we truly 'learn' the fundamental principles of the gospel over and over and over again we will be happier and closer to God. I know this church is true, I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called to lead the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith