Cara Famglia,
Well I guess you guys were praying for us a lot because this week went much better! We had a lot of success finding people and the work is starting to really pick up. Also conference is this weekend woohoo!
So this week we found a bunch of two people including but not limited to:
-Amut and Saijo, two Somalians who are here under the custody of the UN and want to read the Book of Mormon
-Emilio, a referral from a member in Verona 1(the other ward) who is from Romania. He is "orthodox" but really wants to know why their are so many churches. He came to church on Sunday dressed in a suit and tie and liked it, followed by yesterday's lesson with a Romanian new convert who probably has one of the strongest testimonies in all of Italy even though she has no work either! He is super cool.
-Isaac, a Nigerian from Port Harcourt, one of the first Nigerians I've met here who wasn't from Benin City, Lagos, or Delta State (I swear all the Nigerians from those places have moved into our mission), and who knew the church in Nigeria when he was younger. He's 29, and is looking to focus his life back on God and cut out the wordly distractions. He is really elect and we're going to be seeing him three times a week now. He wants to hear the living prophet!
We have also found a bunch of awesome other potentials that we need to go visit and hopefully who will become investigators. We also talked to Gladis on the phone, who stood us up again but told us she's interested in our church and this "baptism" thing. But we really still need to keep working hard and finding more people! So keep praying for us.
This week basically my spiritual invite would be to listen to General Conference. Considering all the people in the dispensations of the gospel or during periods of apostasy who never had the chance to hear the light of the gospel, it's a ridiculously great blessing to be able to sit at home, or in church, and watch a living prophet and 12 Apostles speak! So go listen and like Jeffrey R. Holland said: “If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you”. I know the church is true, and I love you and all the people here lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Lago di Garda!
Cara Famiglia,
This week has been pretty awesome in Verona! Today for P-day we went to the Lago di Garda with a member from Verona 1(the other ward in Verona) with the other Anziani. It was really pretty! The peach trees blossoming look a lot like the cherry blossoms in DC.
Working has been pretty good. Right now we are kind of struggling to find new investigators but things are looking up. We are still working with Kingsley and Gladis but unfortunately neither of them made it to church on Sunday for various reasons.
Last night we found a super cool kid named Michael who is Brazilian. He's been in Italy for about five years. We had had a pretty lousy day in terms of finding people and he was the last person we stopped while he was riding his bike. Turns out he's been going around to different churches because none of them feel right to him. We talked a little bit about the Book of Mormon and after a while he pointed at it and was like "Where can I get that book?" It was awesome! He lives really close to our house with his mom and we are going to go back and see him and blow his mind with the Restoration.
Other than that we are trying to build up relationships with members, a lot of which actually live in this suburb of Verona called Bussolengo. The ward here is really good though, we have about a 90-100 people that come every week.
This week I finished the Book of Mormon again, woohoo! I had been doing the thing where you highlight every reference to Jesus Christ and there are a lot! It was great. But I particularly liked verse 25 at the end of Moroni 9, after Mormon writes about all the horrible things the Nephites and Lamanites are doing:
25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in yourmind forever.
So he explains all this really awful stuff and then says "but hey, don't let it get you down, because Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world!" It was a really interesting thought of how important it is to always be optimistic and how "it's better to look up." I'm really grateful for the Book of Mormon that bears testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His church. I know it is true. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
This week has been pretty awesome in Verona! Today for P-day we went to the Lago di Garda with a member from Verona 1(the other ward in Verona) with the other Anziani. It was really pretty! The peach trees blossoming look a lot like the cherry blossoms in DC.
Working has been pretty good. Right now we are kind of struggling to find new investigators but things are looking up. We are still working with Kingsley and Gladis but unfortunately neither of them made it to church on Sunday for various reasons.
Last night we found a super cool kid named Michael who is Brazilian. He's been in Italy for about five years. We had had a pretty lousy day in terms of finding people and he was the last person we stopped while he was riding his bike. Turns out he's been going around to different churches because none of them feel right to him. We talked a little bit about the Book of Mormon and after a while he pointed at it and was like "Where can I get that book?" It was awesome! He lives really close to our house with his mom and we are going to go back and see him and blow his mind with the Restoration.
Other than that we are trying to build up relationships with members, a lot of which actually live in this suburb of Verona called Bussolengo. The ward here is really good though, we have about a 90-100 people that come every week.
This week I finished the Book of Mormon again, woohoo! I had been doing the thing where you highlight every reference to Jesus Christ and there are a lot! It was great. But I particularly liked verse 25 at the end of Moroni 9, after Mormon writes about all the horrible things the Nephites and Lamanites are doing:
25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in yourmind forever.
So he explains all this really awful stuff and then says "but hey, don't let it get you down, because Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world!" It was a really interesting thought of how important it is to always be optimistic and how "it's better to look up." I'm really grateful for the Book of Mormon that bears testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His church. I know it is true. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Ciao da Mantova!
Cara Famiglia,
Well Verona is awesome, but I am actually not there right now. Monday we went and did a blitz scambio(where both my companion and I stay in the city and work there) in MODENA, and then yesterday we did the same thing in Reggio Emilia. We kind of missed the train to get back to Verona earlier so we are chilling in Mantova for a couple hours and doing e-mail here. It was really cool to go back and do some work in Modena, that city is so great.
Verona is awesome! My companion is Anziano Neff straight from East Milcreek, SLC, Utah! I think he lives really close to Grandpa. He's a really good companion and we're going to see great things happen this transfer.
The investigators we are currently teaching are as follows: Alessandro is a cool Romanian guy who used to be Evangelist but is now not really affiliated with any church. He really loves the Bible and was wondering why in our church last Sunday the women were allowed to speak in church! He's only been here in Italy for about 4 months but he speaks really well and is interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We will see what happens. We are also teaching Juliet, a Nigerian lady who is super cool and really wants to follow Jesus Christ. We set a baptismal date for the 31st of March and we will see how that goes. Other than that we are doing a bunch of scambi this week and the next couple weeks, and so we will not be in Verona super often but will really strive to find new investigators. Verona has a lot of people that are ready for the Gospel.
This week I really liked in Ether 6 when it talks about light. In verse ten it says: "And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." I really liked that they had light continually, both spiritual and physical light. It is really cool that the light of the Gospel of Christ works in all situations in life to bring joy and happiness to someone's life. As we react to each and every situation we encounter the way Jesus Christ would act, our light will grow and the darkness around us won't matter. I know that Jesus Christ brings this true light into our lives, and that his church is guided by a living prophet. I love you all lots! Sorry this letter is kind of short!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Well Verona is awesome, but I am actually not there right now. Monday we went and did a blitz scambio(where both my companion and I stay in the city and work there) in MODENA, and then yesterday we did the same thing in Reggio Emilia. We kind of missed the train to get back to Verona earlier so we are chilling in Mantova for a couple hours and doing e-mail here. It was really cool to go back and do some work in Modena, that city is so great.
Verona is awesome! My companion is Anziano Neff straight from East Milcreek, SLC, Utah! I think he lives really close to Grandpa. He's a really good companion and we're going to see great things happen this transfer.
The investigators we are currently teaching are as follows: Alessandro is a cool Romanian guy who used to be Evangelist but is now not really affiliated with any church. He really loves the Bible and was wondering why in our church last Sunday the women were allowed to speak in church! He's only been here in Italy for about 4 months but he speaks really well and is interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We will see what happens. We are also teaching Juliet, a Nigerian lady who is super cool and really wants to follow Jesus Christ. We set a baptismal date for the 31st of March and we will see how that goes. Other than that we are doing a bunch of scambi this week and the next couple weeks, and so we will not be in Verona super often but will really strive to find new investigators. Verona has a lot of people that are ready for the Gospel.
This week I really liked in Ether 6 when it talks about light. In verse ten it says: "And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." I really liked that they had light continually, both spiritual and physical light. It is really cool that the light of the Gospel of Christ works in all situations in life to bring joy and happiness to someone's life. As we react to each and every situation we encounter the way Jesus Christ would act, our light will grow and the darkness around us won't matter. I know that Jesus Christ brings this true light into our lives, and that his church is guided by a living prophet. I love you all lots! Sorry this letter is kind of short!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Torino Week 10
Cara Famiglia,
This week was a good week, we made some good progress with our investigators. The weather is also getting really nice recently; most of the snow has melted and it's spring-like warm and sunny. I wish we had clouds like Mexico though!
So this week we went and picked up Bright for church. We knocked on his door and woke him up out of bed to get him there, but he seemed truly grateful that we did. So we walked like 20 mins. to the chapel and had him there in time for the Sacrament, which was really good. Afterwards he said he liked it but then he escaped and didn't stay for the last two hours for some reason! We are going to see what's up with him. Gianpier was not able to come to church this week for sickness reasons, but the good news is that now his wife wants to come and bring their daughter too! We saw them Saturday with another solid member who struck up a really great friendship with them, and so Gianpier invited this member and his wife to come over for dinner sometime. Then we taught him yesterday about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really good lesson, we helped clear up some things. He is really interested in a lot of things and already says he wants Anziano DeVincent to baptize him! Haha but first we have to set a date to do it. Unfortunately Antonio, Sandro, and Assunta all didn't come to church. But we had another FHE with Antonio at a member's house two days ago that went pretty well, so we're hoping to help get these people really progressing towards baptism.
We've also been doing some good finding work, last night we found a cool Romanian guy named Tun Vasile(I don't know how to spell it!), and he was pretty interested so we'll see how that goes. We've also been blessed with some sweet referrals that we hope turn into solid investigators. The work is going really well and I am quite happy!
This week I read in 3 Nephi 18 about the Sacrament, and I can't really quote just one part so you should all just read the whole chapter. It is amazing to think about what the Sacrament really reads and know that we have the blessing and opportunity to partake of it every week. I have been trying recently during church to really focus on just being in the true Church of Jesus Christ as a member instead of just spending all the meetings stressing out about investigators. The Sacrament is a great opportunity to focus on the things that are truly eternally important. I know this church is true!
Vi voglio bene!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
This week was a good week, we made some good progress with our investigators. The weather is also getting really nice recently; most of the snow has melted and it's spring-like warm and sunny. I wish we had clouds like Mexico though!
So this week we went and picked up Bright for church. We knocked on his door and woke him up out of bed to get him there, but he seemed truly grateful that we did. So we walked like 20 mins. to the chapel and had him there in time for the Sacrament, which was really good. Afterwards he said he liked it but then he escaped and didn't stay for the last two hours for some reason! We are going to see what's up with him. Gianpier was not able to come to church this week for sickness reasons, but the good news is that now his wife wants to come and bring their daughter too! We saw them Saturday with another solid member who struck up a really great friendship with them, and so Gianpier invited this member and his wife to come over for dinner sometime. Then we taught him yesterday about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really good lesson, we helped clear up some things. He is really interested in a lot of things and already says he wants Anziano DeVincent to baptize him! Haha but first we have to set a date to do it. Unfortunately Antonio, Sandro, and Assunta all didn't come to church. But we had another FHE with Antonio at a member's house two days ago that went pretty well, so we're hoping to help get these people really progressing towards baptism.
We've also been doing some good finding work, last night we found a cool Romanian guy named Tun Vasile(I don't know how to spell it!), and he was pretty interested so we'll see how that goes. We've also been blessed with some sweet referrals that we hope turn into solid investigators. The work is going really well and I am quite happy!
This week I read in 3 Nephi 18 about the Sacrament, and I can't really quote just one part so you should all just read the whole chapter. It is amazing to think about what the Sacrament really reads and know that we have the blessing and opportunity to partake of it every week. I have been trying recently during church to really focus on just being in the true Church of Jesus Christ as a member instead of just spending all the meetings stressing out about investigators. The Sacrament is a great opportunity to focus on the things that are truly eternally important. I know this church is true!
Vi voglio bene!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Finding IS Teaching!
Cara Famiglia,
Buon giorno di San Valentino! Happy Valentine's Day! I guess it was yesterday, but holidays basically don't change anything for us haha. This week the weather has gotten better, less cold and today is actually quite warm. Last week we actually went to the Egyptian Museum here in Torino (apparently the second biggest one in the world after Cairo!) and it was very interesting. A bunch of the papyri looked like the Pearl of Great Price. Today we are going to Collegno to eat at a supposedly really good pizzeria ftw!
This week we did a lot of finding work! But it was great! We did really good work and taught a lot of people. I believe I mentioned we set a baptismal date with Bright for the fourth of March, so keep praying for him to make it! He is really great. We also taught Giovanni and Gabriella again! They were the couple from about a month ago, and they had their newborn son the day after we taught them. They decided to name him Joseph Smith in honor of our message. Just kidding! But then their son went to the hospital for a couple weeks because he had some form of bronchitis, but he's back home now and so we went back with a member and taught the Plan of Salvation! It was awesome, they liked it a lot and it really grew their faith in the Restoration. Having a member at lessons makes a huge difference!
We also passed by Gianpier yesterday with another member who struck up a really good friendship with him. And the member is teaching a lesson on Sunday so now Gianpier is going to come and bring his whole family! I just hope there will be church in our building, because this last Sunday the heater was broken. Everyone was in Sacrament Meeting the first hour with coats and scarves and hats and then they just canceled the other two hours. So we might have to go to church in another building this week, who knows.
I never remember past emails I've sent, but we're also teaching this Italian lady named Assunta, who is maybe 70 years old. We found her in the Area Book and have taught her three times in the past couple weeks. She's really nice and you can tell she wants to know if this is true but is kind of scared of changing her life at this point. But we will build up her faith!
This week in a spiritual thought I share 3 Nephi 11:3, probably one of the best verses in the entire Book of Mormon. It says:
3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.
There are a lot of voices in the world competing for our attention, but whether they be good or bad the best voice to listen to is always the still, small one. I know that as we open our ears to hear this voice and pray for it, it will guide us to what is right, and testify of the truth. I know the Holy Ghost has borne witness to me that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this is His church. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
P.S. Hebrews 13:24-25
Buon giorno di San Valentino! Happy Valentine's Day! I guess it was yesterday, but holidays basically don't change anything for us haha. This week the weather has gotten better, less cold and today is actually quite warm. Last week we actually went to the Egyptian Museum here in Torino (apparently the second biggest one in the world after Cairo!) and it was very interesting. A bunch of the papyri looked like the Pearl of Great Price. Today we are going to Collegno to eat at a supposedly really good pizzeria ftw!
This week we did a lot of finding work! But it was great! We did really good work and taught a lot of people. I believe I mentioned we set a baptismal date with Bright for the fourth of March, so keep praying for him to make it! He is really great. We also taught Giovanni and Gabriella again! They were the couple from about a month ago, and they had their newborn son the day after we taught them. They decided to name him Joseph Smith in honor of our message. Just kidding! But then their son went to the hospital for a couple weeks because he had some form of bronchitis, but he's back home now and so we went back with a member and taught the Plan of Salvation! It was awesome, they liked it a lot and it really grew their faith in the Restoration. Having a member at lessons makes a huge difference!
We also passed by Gianpier yesterday with another member who struck up a really good friendship with him. And the member is teaching a lesson on Sunday so now Gianpier is going to come and bring his whole family! I just hope there will be church in our building, because this last Sunday the heater was broken. Everyone was in Sacrament Meeting the first hour with coats and scarves and hats and then they just canceled the other two hours. So we might have to go to church in another building this week, who knows.
I never remember past emails I've sent, but we're also teaching this Italian lady named Assunta, who is maybe 70 years old. We found her in the Area Book and have taught her three times in the past couple weeks. She's really nice and you can tell she wants to know if this is true but is kind of scared of changing her life at this point. But we will build up her faith!
This week in a spiritual thought I share 3 Nephi 11:3, probably one of the best verses in the entire Book of Mormon. It says:
3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.
There are a lot of voices in the world competing for our attention, but whether they be good or bad the best voice to listen to is always the still, small one. I know that as we open our ears to hear this voice and pray for it, it will guide us to what is right, and testify of the truth. I know the Holy Ghost has borne witness to me that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this is His church. I love you all lots!
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
P.S. Hebrews 13:24-25
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