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

Birthday Space Transfer!

Cara Famiglia,

Ciao Siena! Ciao Piacenza! I love that you can use the same word for goodbye and hello in Italian! But yeah, I am now out of Toscana and in the great city of Piacenza. It is basically halfway between Modena and Milano, and in fact the district is us, Reggio Emilia, and Modena, so I will finish in the same district I started in! My companion Anziano Benson went to Busto Arsizio!!!!! He is so lucky, that city rocks! My companion now is Anziano Thompson, who is also from Idaho Falls(in fact he went to the same high school as Anziano Benson), and who is in his third transfer. He did his first two in Busto, so it has been cool to hear what was going on there.

Seeing as how I literally just got here this morning, I'm not super up to date on the work but I can just say that it is stellar! Piacenza has seven baptismal dates and a ton of investigators! When President called to tell us where we were going he said 'Piacenza is leading the mission in baptismal dates' and in the rest of the district there are seven other dates. So we will have our hands full! My companion is awesome, I can already tell!

Thanks to everybody for the Birthday wishes! Special shout out to Grandpa and also the Benson family who sent me a really great card. I hope they know how awesome of a missionary their son is and how much he is going to tear it up in Busto.

My spiritual thought is really simple, but I really loved President Eyring's talk from the Sunday Morning session of Conference about the 'pavilion' blocking us from God. I would also cross-reference Elder Holland's talk and encourage us all to leave our nets behind and join the cause of Christ with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. I know that this decision we make will change our lives, and as we pray 'thy will be done' we will find our lives more fulfilling than whatever we could fill them with. I love you all lots, and I know this work is true!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Transfer Win!

Cara Famiglia,

Transfers! Oh man. Fortunately neither me or my companion is getting transfered, we get to stay in Siena and see more miracles happen! The work here is going really well and every day it is awesome to get out and do missionary work. We finished the 12 week training program so we even have an extra hour now to be outside! Birthday time! Happy Birthday to Dad on October 2nd!! Woohoo!! Also Happy Birthday to Jason Richards on Oct. 1st, Aeldste Richards on Oct. 3, and Emily Evans on Oct. 4th! There are a lot of birthdays in October!

The work is going really well and is progressing. We are still teaching Selifa and Noelli(I don't actually know how to spell her name! haha). They are progressing and Selifa really wants to be baptized. We finally got another copy of the Book of Mormon in French too so now they can both read on their own! We have also been fortunate enough to have members help us out at almost all the lessons, which helps immeasurably. Members make a huge difference in the lessons and in anyone's progress in the gospel.

I also had a really cool opportunity this week to contact a referral from my good friend Aeldste Richards. A guy he taught in Denmark moved to Firenze to go to school, and we had a surprise opportunity to work for an evening in Firenze on Saturday night! So my good friend Anziano Warren and I went and found him and he is awesome! And it was really cool to be able to teach someone that one of my best friends taught! I will try and find a referral for him!

I had forgotten to mention that this last week was the Firenze District Conference, and we had a visiting Area Seventy, Elder Clifford Herbertson! We got to go to a really good training for Priesthood leaders in Pisa and hear him speak. It was awesome! He gave a really cool thought that I would like to share. His son had a really powerful Harley-Davidson motorcycle and was going to make a long trip. Anziano Herbertson compared that to the Holy Ghost. Seeking and following the promptings of the Holy Ghost is like riding the motorcycle, but choosing not to seek and follow it's promptings is like walking to your destination while pushing the Harley-Davidson alongside you, it just makes things harder. I really liked that analogy and am grateful that the scriptures and prayer help clarify the voice of the spirit, that is the most important voice we can listen to in this world. I love this work and I love this gospel and I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Training!

Cara Famiglia,

Well well well, I have a new companion down here in Siena and he is a stud. His name is Anziano Benson and he is from Idaho Falls, coming to Siena straight out of the MTC. He is a really good kid and basically spent his time before the mission working. He also played soccer in high school! We drove up to Milano last Wednesday and spent the night there and on Thursday morning we met up with all the new missionaries and the other trainers. It was really cool to see that Anziano Scheurn is also training.

In doing street contacting and working in general, Anziano Benson puts me to shame. He talks with everybody! It is really cool to see how much faith he has and it gives me an example to work harder and remember the fundamental purposes of missionary work. Since he has come we have probably talked with more people and gotten more phone numbers and appointments in such a short space of time than I have in my entire mission. The work is definitely growing.

We found a really cool guy named Adam who is from Mali. He is living in Siena studying to be a doctor and his wife and two kids are still in Africa. He speaks French, English, and pretty good Italian, and really loved the Restoration. He grew up in a Muslim family but read the Bible and believed it, so now he is a Christian. He is going to love the Book of Mormon.

We are still working with Kellan, our chinese friend. He came to church again on Sunday! And even though he barely understands what is said he can feel the spirit and said he likes coming. We taught him on Monday and figured out that we were making things way too complicated for him with the language barrier and everything, so we basically just talked about the really simple concept of praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He agreed and promised that he would pray. He is super sincere and even after the lesson he basically said 'Hey Anziani, if I don't join your church, can we still be friends?' It was super cool and we just said 'Yeah of course!' It was a good lesson.

This week I really enjoyed reflecting on a talk from David A. Bednar in the November 2006 Conference called "And Nothing Shall Offend Them". I quote:

"When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not acondition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.

In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:13–14). As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity for independent action and choice. Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon. To believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry, hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation."

The idea of 'acting' versus 'being acted upon' is a really cool concept that you can think a lot about. Every time we choose to not get angry, offended, upset, or bitter towards someone we are choosing to act instead of being acted upon. I am grateful that the example Jesus Christ gave was to act, and that by acting we not only better ourselves but are more capable to serve others and bring to pass our missionary purpose. I love this church and I love this restored gospel. I love you all lots too!

-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

Siena Rocks

Cara Famiglia,

Siena is awesome! We have been having a pretty good week. The weather continues to be excellent and Siena is still beautiful. Transfers happened this week and my father finished his mission! Bummer too because his companionship is now in my district. But that means Anziano Warren is in the district, and he's training yeah! Today is a great day for P-day, we are going to play soccer/frisbee/gatorball with the BYU students. They are awesome and are a really great help to the branch.

Andrea and Miwako both came to church again on Sunday! It was awesome. It was fast and testimony meeting and Andrea got up and bore his testimony! At first I was a little nervous like 'Oh no, what is he going to say!' But he basically just talked about how the teachings of the church are really blessing his life. He also said (not verbatim) 'I was supposed to be baptized today (he had a baptismal date for the 3rd of June) but we had to move it, so I will be baptized in the future.' It was sooooo cool! He is doing really well and continuing to read the Book of Mormon. Also his son Leo who is 11 is almost finished reading the Book of Mormon kids stories book. This family is so golden! We also had another cool miracle in that Bianka, a new convert, brought another friend to church! She was visiting from Calabria just for the weekend but apparently is reading the Book of Mormon and is super cool. The branch here is great and there is a lot of potential for growth. We are working really hard to find people and are feeling your prayers helping. This morning we also taught a lesson to a Peruvian lady named Gloria who's nephew is 18 in Peru and apparently preparing to go on a mission. She seems super cool and accepted a soft baptismal invite so we should be able to see some good things happening. 

I really liked the scripture Dad sent me in Alma 6:6 that talks about members fasting and praying in behalf of those that are not part of the church. It reminded me of a really awesome quote by Bruce R. McConkie in Preach My Gospel that talks about a usually less-common part of prayer: action. He said in a talk “Our deeds, in large measure, are children of our prayers. Having prayed, we act; our proper petitions have the effect of charting a righteous course of conduct for us”. I was reading conference talks the other day and an article that really exemplified this principle was by President Monson from the April 2002 General Conference called 'They Pray and They Go.' I have really been trying harder recently to not just pray for miracles to happen but have my actions, planning, and studies reflect that desire. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, and that this is His church. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith

Miracles!

Cara Famiglia,

Well like always, miracles are happening in Busto Arsizio. There are also good investigators here. I swear, every day we find people that are super elect and so clearly need the Gospel, it's ridiculous. We are working still with Saul. He is having trouble reading, but he is still praying and is super awesome. Not too many 16 year olds I know would be spending their time meeting with missionaries and trying to fight the right path in their life to follow God. So he is still the man. Also Blandine is progressing very well. She reads and understands everything great! We taught her part two of the Plan of Salvation last night with a member and it went very well. We also had a good lesson with Ravith and Elisabeth yesterday, even though it's tough for them to understand it was great for them to realize for themselves that if they want to resolve their confusion they have to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. 

Other than that we had some good miracles. We went to Somma Lombardo(this little town where Rafael, one of our new converts lives), where I don't think missionaries have ever done finding work before. But we had a cool experience. Right as we walked out of the train station we were happy because there are some tall palazzi there that we were excited to knock. But first we stopped and talked to this lady walking her dog on the street. Her name was Chiara, and we talked with her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And it turns out she has been searching through religions for the truth for a long time! After we explained the Book of Mormon she was like "Oh I really want a copy of this book, where can I get it?" And she said a prayer for us right there on the street (after asking us how she can pray correctly to communicate with God), and said "I don't think it's by chance that I met you guys here today!" So she is awesome. We also had an awesome Sunday where we taught five lessons! It was great, and we got a couple good new investigators out of it. More to come on them. 

Oh and the big transfer news is that Anziano Webb is going to Verona! Yeah, the beautiful city of Romeo e Giulietta! My new companion will be a certain Anziano Mitchell, who has been in Italy about three months and is coming from Collegno (a suburb of Torino). It should be fun! 

Another funny random side note: I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but Anziano Webb falls down a lot. I hope as I describe this I don't sound like I'm making fun of him because we both laugh at it and he truly is coordinated, but he trips over things alllllll the time! The other day he tripped over a thing on the ground that was maybe a 1/2 cm incline. I will miss him as a companion!

This week's spiritual thought is from the doctrinal powerhouse chapter of 2 Nephi 9. I really like verses 50-52:

50 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

52 Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice.

It's like a spiritual buffet! When we come unto Christ our spirits are filled and there is no price except the "heart and a willing mind." I love the Gospel! I'm grateful for the opportunities every day to share this message with people who need it and see the impact it has in their lives. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God! 

I love you all lots!

-Anziano Benjamin Smith