Cara Famiglia,
Baptism happened this week! Martin got baptized! We met with him last Thursday morning to see what he had decided and he said "Yeah I want to be baptized this weekend." So on Sunday he got baptized and confirmed! It was a really great service, we had some members that speak English give talks and us missionaries did a special musical number! He had a really good experience and bore his testimony afterwards, and his wife was crying she was so happy. So it was a great Sunday.
Congratulations to J [a family friend who just got his mission call]!!! Berlin is gonna be awesome! Almost as sweet as Italy haha.
That's basically the biggest news this week. Bright and Collins both came to church again, but they left before the baptism unfortunately. We saw Bright yesterday and he is the man, reading the Book of Mormon and praying and sees a difference. We are still working with some other investigators, Ali, Antonio, Giovanni and Gabriella, etc. that we hope will be making some progress soon.
Fun random story: in most missionary apartments, at least here in the Italy Milan mission, there is a large collection of Ensign/Liahona magazines piled up from over the years. A lot of time I read them when I have some free time, and so today I picked up an issue from way back in April 1994 and there was an article about member missionary work in [our home] stake! It was crazy.
Torino is still doing great, it is getting quite cold. I am rockin' the scarf and jacket almost every day. But there are still lots of people to talk to and the work is going really well. My companion is a stud!
This week I wanted to share a really cool verse I found about faith in Alma 44! It is verse four and it says this:
4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.
It's some awesome testimony thrown down by Moroni to Zerahemnah, and really shows the all-encompassing trust in God that defines faith. Moroni didn't have any doubt that his faith in God would see him through all the wars and everything, and I just thought the scripture was really good! I know faith has power to work miracles because we see them every single day! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and will bring us closer to God than any other book, and will truly strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel when we read it every single day. I love you all!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Capodanno!
Cara Famiglia,
First off happy aniversary to mamma e papà! Auguri!
This week was Capodanno. That means New Year's. Normally every year on Capodanno the missionaries in the mission do a massive apartment cleaning and stay inside all day, but this year since it was on a Sunday we stayed in all day on Saturday the 31st. Our apartment is super clean!
Torino is doing great! We are having some struggles with our investigators though. It seems as though three of our baptismal dates, Bright, Valentina, and Jose are allergic to setting appointments or something. Basically we are doing everything we can but fortunately people have their free agency. Either way they are still good.
Fun story about our other friend with a baptismal date, Martin. Yep, his name is Martin, not just Matin. We just misunderstood with his Irish accent, it was realllllllllly funny when we found out hahaha. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. But there's a catch! He can't stay in Italy much longer because he has no job to pay for rent with his wife! So he may have to bounce out to Ireland for like 3-4 weeks to earn some money and come back and pay the rent, which would kind of mess up his baptismal schedule. But he still wants to be baptized. We are just going to kind of have to see where it goes, if he can get a job here in the next couple weeks or if he'll have to leave. We really hope he can be baptized here 'cause he's so ready!
We met a cool guy on the street yesterday. He met the missionaries 30 years ago and said he loves the Book of Mormon and wants to read it with his daughters. We were speechless when he said that! But his name is Giovanni and he's cool and we're going to meet with him again.
This week I read a lot in the Book of Mormon about missionary work, especially in Alma 26. I can't decide whether it is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon, but it is super good! Verse 12 is always a favorite, but I also really liked verse 16. "I cannot say even the smallest part which I feel." And then verse 35 sums it up really well: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." I really liked how much true 'joy' was talked about in this chapter, and how true it is that there is no greater joy than from laboring in the Lord's vineyard to come unto Christ. I know the Lord is working with us and preparing his children to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that this is the "one true and living church" upon the face of the earth! I love my mission!
I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
First off happy aniversary to mamma e papà! Auguri!
This week was Capodanno. That means New Year's. Normally every year on Capodanno the missionaries in the mission do a massive apartment cleaning and stay inside all day, but this year since it was on a Sunday we stayed in all day on Saturday the 31st. Our apartment is super clean!
Torino is doing great! We are having some struggles with our investigators though. It seems as though three of our baptismal dates, Bright, Valentina, and Jose are allergic to setting appointments or something. Basically we are doing everything we can but fortunately people have their free agency. Either way they are still good.
Fun story about our other friend with a baptismal date, Martin. Yep, his name is Martin, not just Matin. We just misunderstood with his Irish accent, it was realllllllllly funny when we found out hahaha. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. But there's a catch! He can't stay in Italy much longer because he has no job to pay for rent with his wife! So he may have to bounce out to Ireland for like 3-4 weeks to earn some money and come back and pay the rent, which would kind of mess up his baptismal schedule. But he still wants to be baptized. We are just going to kind of have to see where it goes, if he can get a job here in the next couple weeks or if he'll have to leave. We really hope he can be baptized here 'cause he's so ready!
We met a cool guy on the street yesterday. He met the missionaries 30 years ago and said he loves the Book of Mormon and wants to read it with his daughters. We were speechless when he said that! But his name is Giovanni and he's cool and we're going to meet with him again.
This week I read a lot in the Book of Mormon about missionary work, especially in Alma 26. I can't decide whether it is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon, but it is super good! Verse 12 is always a favorite, but I also really liked verse 16. "I cannot say even the smallest part which I feel." And then verse 35 sums it up really well: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." I really liked how much true 'joy' was talked about in this chapter, and how true it is that there is no greater joy than from laboring in the Lord's vineyard to come unto Christ. I know the Lord is working with us and preparing his children to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that this is the "one true and living church" upon the face of the earth! I love my mission!
I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Monday, January 2, 2012
La vita è bella
Cara Famiglia,
Life is good in Torino. Everything is going really well! And the weather is even really nice, it's not super cold. No snow yet, and apparently much milder than it normally is here this time of year. Christmas was great, it was good to be able to see you guys and talk at the same time. The family we were with all day was super nice. The dad is our Ward Mission Leader, and his wife is a really good cook. They made us soooooo much food! We had a good time.
The work is going really well. Our investigators are progressing nicely. Matin is progressing like crazy for his baptism on the 15th of January, he is all the way to 2 Nephi 25 in the Book of Mormon! He is awesome, we had a really good lesson last night about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a member. He is so golden. Another baptismal date we have is Bright, I dunno if I've mentioned him before. He's from Nigeria and has a date for the 22nd, although we haven't been able to see him this last week. He is really good though, and is reading in the Book of Mormon. We also set a baptismal date with our man Josè, from Peru! He is a stud, he's really nice and so sincere in his desires to follow Christ. He told us that he wants to quit drinking before we even said anything about the Word of Wisdom, so he is great! And then the last baptismal date is Valentina, the 19 year old daughter of our new convert Christy. She is awesome, and had met with missionaries in the past, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of January. At the end of the lesson she said an amazing prayer it was so great! I love seeing investigators progress.
Other than that Torino is just awesome. I love my companion and we love talking to people all day, there are endless people to talk to! I wanted to share a scripture I found in the Book of Mormon recently that is super awesome. It might be kind of a stretch though, but I thought it was cool. It is in Alma 17 (which is a sweet chapter, the entire thing is really great) and part of verse 31:
"My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water".
I kind of though of it in the sense of Christ being 'The Good Shepherd', going in search of the flocks and gathering them to bring them back to the place of 'living water'! It hit me how that is our role, being representatives of Jesus Christ and searching out flocks of people to bring them unto Him. I'm really grateful that I get to talk to dozens of people every day about this gospel and the happiness it brings, and I know that this work is true! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God written for our day and that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Lots of love!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Life is good in Torino. Everything is going really well! And the weather is even really nice, it's not super cold. No snow yet, and apparently much milder than it normally is here this time of year. Christmas was great, it was good to be able to see you guys and talk at the same time. The family we were with all day was super nice. The dad is our Ward Mission Leader, and his wife is a really good cook. They made us soooooo much food! We had a good time.
The work is going really well. Our investigators are progressing nicely. Matin is progressing like crazy for his baptism on the 15th of January, he is all the way to 2 Nephi 25 in the Book of Mormon! He is awesome, we had a really good lesson last night about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a member. He is so golden. Another baptismal date we have is Bright, I dunno if I've mentioned him before. He's from Nigeria and has a date for the 22nd, although we haven't been able to see him this last week. He is really good though, and is reading in the Book of Mormon. We also set a baptismal date with our man Josè, from Peru! He is a stud, he's really nice and so sincere in his desires to follow Christ. He told us that he wants to quit drinking before we even said anything about the Word of Wisdom, so he is great! And then the last baptismal date is Valentina, the 19 year old daughter of our new convert Christy. She is awesome, and had met with missionaries in the past, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of January. At the end of the lesson she said an amazing prayer it was so great! I love seeing investigators progress.
Other than that Torino is just awesome. I love my companion and we love talking to people all day, there are endless people to talk to! I wanted to share a scripture I found in the Book of Mormon recently that is super awesome. It might be kind of a stretch though, but I thought it was cool. It is in Alma 17 (which is a sweet chapter, the entire thing is really great) and part of verse 31:
"My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water".
I kind of though of it in the sense of Christ being 'The Good Shepherd', going in search of the flocks and gathering them to bring them back to the place of 'living water'! It hit me how that is our role, being representatives of Jesus Christ and searching out flocks of people to bring them unto Him. I'm really grateful that I get to talk to dozens of people every day about this gospel and the happiness it brings, and I know that this work is true! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God written for our day and that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Lots of love!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Torino is Huge!
Cara Famiglia,
Welcome to Torino! This city is awesome! It is wayyyy way bigger than any city I've served in before. I am serving in the Torino 1 ward, which has four Anziani, we live with the other two. The apartment is pretty nice, we live on the 7th floor of a palazzo and from the balcony we can see the Mole Antonelliana (this big building that dominates the Torino skyline, look it up!), as well as that mountain from the 'Paramount Pictures' thing in movies way off in the distance. We travel around mainly on bus and tram, and lots of walking. It is nice to not be on a bike. The ward is pretty big, probably around 80-90 people come every week. For real though, this city is just massive, especially compared to Legnano/Busto/Gallarate. There are endless people to talk to, it's great!
The work is going really good too, we are seeing tons of miracles. Just a couple days before I arrived Anziano Russo and his companion miraculously found a less-active Nigerian member who is married to a non-member guy from Ireland. So they set up an appointment for us to see him, and we went and taught him. And now he has a baptismal date for the 15th of January! His name is Matin, he is super bravo. We gave him a Book of Mormon and the next day we called to follow up and see how it was going, and he had read 12 chapters! He is really just a super cool guy. We are also teaching an awesome Peruvian guy named Antonio, he is also doing really well with the Book of Mormon and came to church on Sunday! His friend Sandro is also kind of involved, but seems less interested. Yesterday was full of miracles, we taught six lessons! So we are praying a lot to stay humble and grateful for all the lessons the Lord is blessing us with.
This week I found a really awesome scripture in Alma! It is in chapter eight, verse ten:
10 Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.
I may have mentioned this before, but I love the idea of 'wrestling with God in mighty prayer.' Prayer is something I think we can constantly work on, and to make our prayers 'mighty' takes a lot of practice. I am really grateful for the power of prayer in missionary work, and I can truly feel and see the evidence of all of your prayers every day. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Welcome to Torino! This city is awesome! It is wayyyy way bigger than any city I've served in before. I am serving in the Torino 1 ward, which has four Anziani, we live with the other two. The apartment is pretty nice, we live on the 7th floor of a palazzo and from the balcony we can see the Mole Antonelliana (this big building that dominates the Torino skyline, look it up!), as well as that mountain from the 'Paramount Pictures' thing in movies way off in the distance. We travel around mainly on bus and tram, and lots of walking. It is nice to not be on a bike. The ward is pretty big, probably around 80-90 people come every week. For real though, this city is just massive, especially compared to Legnano/Busto/Gallarate. There are endless people to talk to, it's great!
The work is going really good too, we are seeing tons of miracles. Just a couple days before I arrived Anziano Russo and his companion miraculously found a less-active Nigerian member who is married to a non-member guy from Ireland. So they set up an appointment for us to see him, and we went and taught him. And now he has a baptismal date for the 15th of January! His name is Matin, he is super bravo. We gave him a Book of Mormon and the next day we called to follow up and see how it was going, and he had read 12 chapters! He is really just a super cool guy. We are also teaching an awesome Peruvian guy named Antonio, he is also doing really well with the Book of Mormon and came to church on Sunday! His friend Sandro is also kind of involved, but seems less interested. Yesterday was full of miracles, we taught six lessons! So we are praying a lot to stay humble and grateful for all the lessons the Lord is blessing us with.
This week I found a really awesome scripture in Alma! It is in chapter eight, verse ten:
10 Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.
I may have mentioned this before, but I love the idea of 'wrestling with God in mighty prayer.' Prayer is something I think we can constantly work on, and to make our prayers 'mighty' takes a lot of practice. I am really grateful for the power of prayer in missionary work, and I can truly feel and see the evidence of all of your prayers every day. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Christmas is coming!
Cara Famglia,
Christmas is coming! Happy December! The weather does not feel like Christmas though, it is still Autumn type weather here. Pretty crazy. But it is cool because in Legnano and Busto they put up Christmas lights all over centro, and in Busto they have a cool manger scene on the main piazza. We are even busting out the pass-along cards with the nativity scene on them haha.
The work is going well. We are teaching Isaac and Rita, and they are both doing really well. They really really really need to just get a job, get married, and get baptized. We pray for them to get a job often. Isaac came to church on Sunday, unfortunately Rita could not because she was sick. And Isaac fasted! And it was his birthday! It was really cool, he's great in church. Even though his Italian is a little tough, he tries really hard to understand everything, and actually gets a lot out of the lessons. We taught him about Following the Prophet during the first hour of church and he was excited to learn that there's a prophet on the earth today. We are really lucky to have that knowledge! We are going to see him tonight with a member and it is going to be great, we are teaching him about praying often. If you go into Preach My Gospel, you can actually count 15+ blessings promised just in the 'Pray Often' section!
We were also struggling to find new investigators this week, but last night we found one! It's a 20-year old kid named Miguel, from El Salvador. He is cool, and we are going back to teach him Saturday with a 21-year old member kid from El Salvador. So we were really excited about that. We even had a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish to give him!
This week my spiritual though is from the spiritual giant, Abinadi. I've gained a lot of respect for him as a missionary, thinking about how the only possible hint of success he may have seen as a missionary was seeing Alma say 'Hey guys, maybe he's right?' before Alma was kicked out of the High Priests' Group. But Abinadi is the man, in Mosiah 16 he throws down some T(testimony) of Christ:
9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
So remember that Christ is the real Christmas light! I'm very grateful for Jesus Christ being the light and the life of the world, for myself and for my family. I know that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the grove of trees in the year 1820, and that "the field is white already to harvest" has never been repealed, but is a truth revealed to a prophet of God. I see the fruits of this "marvelous work and a wonder" every day! I love you all a lot!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Christmas is coming! Happy December! The weather does not feel like Christmas though, it is still Autumn type weather here. Pretty crazy. But it is cool because in Legnano and Busto they put up Christmas lights all over centro, and in Busto they have a cool manger scene on the main piazza. We are even busting out the pass-along cards with the nativity scene on them haha.
The work is going well. We are teaching Isaac and Rita, and they are both doing really well. They really really really need to just get a job, get married, and get baptized. We pray for them to get a job often. Isaac came to church on Sunday, unfortunately Rita could not because she was sick. And Isaac fasted! And it was his birthday! It was really cool, he's great in church. Even though his Italian is a little tough, he tries really hard to understand everything, and actually gets a lot out of the lessons. We taught him about Following the Prophet during the first hour of church and he was excited to learn that there's a prophet on the earth today. We are really lucky to have that knowledge! We are going to see him tonight with a member and it is going to be great, we are teaching him about praying often. If you go into Preach My Gospel, you can actually count 15+ blessings promised just in the 'Pray Often' section!
We were also struggling to find new investigators this week, but last night we found one! It's a 20-year old kid named Miguel, from El Salvador. He is cool, and we are going back to teach him Saturday with a 21-year old member kid from El Salvador. So we were really excited about that. We even had a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish to give him!
This week my spiritual though is from the spiritual giant, Abinadi. I've gained a lot of respect for him as a missionary, thinking about how the only possible hint of success he may have seen as a missionary was seeing Alma say 'Hey guys, maybe he's right?' before Alma was kicked out of the High Priests' Group. But Abinadi is the man, in Mosiah 16 he throws down some T(testimony) of Christ:
9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
So remember that Christ is the real Christmas light! I'm very grateful for Jesus Christ being the light and the life of the world, for myself and for my family. I know that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the grove of trees in the year 1820, and that "the field is white already to harvest" has never been repealed, but is a truth revealed to a prophet of God. I see the fruits of this "marvelous work and a wonder" every day! I love you all a lot!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thanksgiving in Italy!
Cara Famiglia,
Well this week was Thanksgiving. It was pretty strange not having any hype for it here in Italy, but the weather was pretty Thanksgiving-ish I guess. My companion and I spent a little bit of companionship study listing off to each other things we're grateful for, and then continued throughout the day, so that was fun. We also got some Kebab to celebrate! And I am thankful for an awesome family and an awesome mission!
This week was pretty good! We are still teaching Isaac and he is awesome. We are seeing him tonight with a member, and hoping to make some real progress. We were a little worried, because last Friday we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he was a little hesitant about accepting it, but he was still super excited to come to church so we took that as a great sign. And then he came and brought Rita(his fianceè)! It was great, and the Sacrament Meeting was dedicated to the Young Women so they all spoke and sang a song together and Isaac and Rita both liked it. We are also still teaching Thomas, although he is a bit flaky. I don't blame him because he has a really difficult/complex situation, but it's tough to teach somebody when you go to there place and then find out they're in Bergamo even though you confirmed the lesson the night before! Fun stuff here on the mission. Another cool story, this lady named Martina who Anziano Webb and I found in Gallarate about a month ago finally resurfaced and scheduled a solid return appointment. So we went over to her house the other night with a member and found out she's Seventh-Day Adventist! She is one of the first members of that church I've really come in contact with before, and she is big on Saturday being the Sabbath Day still but she is great! She had even been reading out of the Book of Mormon since we had left it with her! So we're excited to help her get baptized!
In other news, the weather is getting a bit cold. Legnano is still Legnano, and everything is going well. Today we hit up Switzerland for P-day, Bellinzona and Lugano are gorgeous, and we even got some Dr. Pepper and Vanilla Coke, which for some strange, sad reason is not sold here in Italy! Other than that, we are really pushing on member and less-active work this week and things are looking up. This work is amazing.
My spiritual though this week comes from a fantastic talk on gratitude given by President Monson in the October 2010 conference called 'The Divine Gift of Gratitude.' Even the title makes me grateful for the opportunity to be grateful! Anyway, he quotes Joseph F. Smith here: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!” I know that is true! I've noticed that when I'm ever down or unhappy during the day, I can just think back to how much the Lord has blessed me every single day of my short 20 years of life up until this point, especially on my mission! And then I realize the truth of this Aldous Huxley quote (also in the talk): “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” So I am really grateful for my family, for my mission, for my friends, for my companion, for all the blessings the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings me, and the most amazing gift ever which is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love you all a lot!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Well this week was Thanksgiving. It was pretty strange not having any hype for it here in Italy, but the weather was pretty Thanksgiving-ish I guess. My companion and I spent a little bit of companionship study listing off to each other things we're grateful for, and then continued throughout the day, so that was fun. We also got some Kebab to celebrate! And I am thankful for an awesome family and an awesome mission!
This week was pretty good! We are still teaching Isaac and he is awesome. We are seeing him tonight with a member, and hoping to make some real progress. We were a little worried, because last Friday we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he was a little hesitant about accepting it, but he was still super excited to come to church so we took that as a great sign. And then he came and brought Rita(his fianceè)! It was great, and the Sacrament Meeting was dedicated to the Young Women so they all spoke and sang a song together and Isaac and Rita both liked it. We are also still teaching Thomas, although he is a bit flaky. I don't blame him because he has a really difficult/complex situation, but it's tough to teach somebody when you go to there place and then find out they're in Bergamo even though you confirmed the lesson the night before! Fun stuff here on the mission. Another cool story, this lady named Martina who Anziano Webb and I found in Gallarate about a month ago finally resurfaced and scheduled a solid return appointment. So we went over to her house the other night with a member and found out she's Seventh-Day Adventist! She is one of the first members of that church I've really come in contact with before, and she is big on Saturday being the Sabbath Day still but she is great! She had even been reading out of the Book of Mormon since we had left it with her! So we're excited to help her get baptized!
In other news, the weather is getting a bit cold. Legnano is still Legnano, and everything is going well. Today we hit up Switzerland for P-day, Bellinzona and Lugano are gorgeous, and we even got some Dr. Pepper and Vanilla Coke, which for some strange, sad reason is not sold here in Italy! Other than that, we are really pushing on member and less-active work this week and things are looking up. This work is amazing.
My spiritual though this week comes from a fantastic talk on gratitude given by President Monson in the October 2010 conference called 'The Divine Gift of Gratitude.' Even the title makes me grateful for the opportunity to be grateful! Anyway, he quotes Joseph F. Smith here: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!” I know that is true! I've noticed that when I'm ever down or unhappy during the day, I can just think back to how much the Lord has blessed me every single day of my short 20 years of life up until this point, especially on my mission! And then I realize the truth of this Aldous Huxley quote (also in the talk): “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” So I am really grateful for my family, for my mission, for my friends, for my companion, for all the blessings the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings me, and the most amazing gift ever which is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love you all a lot!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
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