Transfers!

Cara Famiglia,

Even though the subject says transfers, Anziano Thompson and I are staying the same! It is awesome! I am really glad he is my last companion since he is such a hard worker and an awesome missionary. Everything in Piacenza is going just dandy! Today we are in Milano for Pday though. We saw The Last Supper this morning! And now we are going to play soccer with some Anziani here in Milano. Hopefully it won't rain.

So the work is still going awesome. Kind of a bummer was that Valerio didn't show up to church to get confirmed! We were kind of freaking out. But he just kind of had some last minute doubts or something, but we saw him yesterday and he is definitely committed to the gospel. He'll get confirmed this next Sunday. The biggest thing we are trying to do now is get him to wear a suit to church haha.

We are also still teaching Lalit, Tony, and Paola although we haven't been able to see them this past week and none of them came to church. It is tough to meet with people who are really busy with work. But we had an awesome miracle find this week! The Zone Leaders came and did a blitz scambio here in Piacenza, and Anziano Hardy was with my comp. They found this Ecuadorian lady named Ester who is married with a son here in Italy. Her entire family are members and live in Utah. We taught her and her husband a first lesson on Saturday and they are just so awesome! They are really searching for the truth. We taught her again Monday and she had stayed up til 2 am reading the Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet and highlighting what she liked. She read 13 chapters! It was amazing. She is so awesome. Hopefully we can set a baptismal date with her by next week.

Other than that everything is going really well in Piacenza. The weather isn't too bad. We also had a good cleaning on Monday where we threw out a ton of old furniture and broken stuff from our garage and apartment. We actually have a little 'scarico' right across the street from our apartment where you can throw away old furniture, appliances, etc. and so we started bringing stuff over there. After we had brought a big wardrobe, a mattress, and a bedframe, they told us "Okay guys, that's enough for today." We were shocked to find out that at the dump here in Italy there is a limit of stuff you can throw away in one day! So we had to go back yesterday morning and we'll have to go back again tomorrow and maybe Friday. Missionary apartments have a lot of junk in them.

This week my companion was finishing reading the Old Testament and we were talking about some sweet verses in Zechariah(who?). In Zechariah 13:6 it says:

6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

It reminds me of when Jesus said "Greater love hath no man than he that layeth down his life for his friends" or however it goes. I'm grateful for the fact that we can truly come to know our Savior and what he has done and still does for us. I'm grateful that through him we can be the best person possible. I know this is His church and that this work is true. I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Transfers!

Cara Famiglia,

Transfers strikes again! My companion is being taken away and shipped off to Trieste where the wind will carry him into Slovenia. Just kidding! But he is really excited. My new companion will be fresh from the United States of America. It should be fun!

The Palio was awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwesome!!!! You probably saw me somewhere in the crowd if you were watching. It was a really cool experience and made me feel like I was in Siena in the middle ages. When we come back to visit we have to be in Siena either July 2nd or August 16th to see it. Also today p-day is special! We are spending the night in Milano tonight and so on the way we stopped here in Genova for pday. Genova is beautiful, and the focaccia is the best in the world.

This week was pretty good! It was hot but we worked really hard. We are teaching Kellan, the chinese miracle kid! We printed out Preach My Gospel in Chinese and basically for the lessons we just read it with him and bear simple testimony haha. But he is really cool and has sincere desire to know Jesus Christ more. We also found another new investigator this week named David who is from Nigeria! We found him on a park bench and taught him and he is interested in learning more, so we will see where that goes.

Other than that there's not much going on. This week I read over one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon, Alma 34, it's a hidden gem! I like verse 10 a lot:

 10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.

It is an interesting thing to ponder the infiniteness of the atonement of Jesus Christ that passes all the way from the fall of Adam to the present day and on to the future! I am grateful that this power is infinite and therefore never runs out, because I need it every day! I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I love this work and I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Milan soccer stadium pictures!

General Conference

Cara Famiglia!

 

Well this week was awesome, highlighted of course by General Conference, which was a spiritual powerhouse. I really liked basically every talk. I liked Robert D. Hales saying "Many times we pray for patience, but we want it right now!" and also Tad R. Callister's talk about the Book of Mormon was really good. But like I said, they were all amazing as you know. I love that we have living prophets and apostles guiding the church and receiving modern revelation! It is incredible! And a second temple in Provo, Utah! That will be awesome.

 

This week was good with investigators. We've taught [Saul] five lessons in a row with members present and he is the man. He's really sincere and super humble and understands everything really well. Unfortunately he stood us up to come to General Conference in Milano but he's still awesome. He just needs a super solid testimony of the Book of Mormon and he'll get baptized! But he is progressing really well. We kind of dropped Umberto, he just was not reading or praying and didn't understand why he should, even though our member just tears it up the lessons. We just bore testimony and talked about how prayer and scripture study are exactly what he needs but he wouldn't commit to do it! We might see him sometimes in the future. Also we had an awesome scambio two days ago where we found an Italian family of five! They are really nice and we are going back to see them on Sunday, so we're super excited to teach them. Basically everything is on fire in Busto Arsizio.

 

This week's spiritual thought is one of my favorite scriptures of all time in the Book of Mormon that I read this morning, in 2 Nephi 26:27:

27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.

It's great! Christ forbids absolutely nobody from salvation, we are the ones who forbid ourselves! I have gained a great testimony on my mission of the power of us to determine our own salvation(in a way) by making the right choices. I know that the best choice is to follow Jesus Christ and his perfect example, and I know that this is His church!

Lots and lots and lots of love!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

First Assignment!

From Elder Benjamin Smith's parents:

"We got a call from Benjamin's mission mom this afternoon, he arrived safe and sound in Italy. Sounds like they're tired, and went to bed at a hotel near the mission home. She informed us that Benjamin will be assigned to Modena, which is between Milan and Florence, and his companion will be Elder Kimball from Highland Utah. Pretty exciting! Stay tuned for his first adventures from Modena. His P-Day will be on Wednesday."