Week 7: August 24 (Terni, Italy)

My favorite people in the world!! Oh it is so good to finally be able to email, especially because I have to much to fill yall in on! Oh and sorry for my awful spelling and grammer I am now using an Italian which makes this typing even more fun.  And I think it is like 430 in the morning there which is weird cause it is 1230 here. Luckily my body finally adjusted to the time difference.

Okayyy so I have been called to serve in Terni!! It is an amazing city that is located north of Rome. And it is not really a city, it is more like a region which is great because we have a lot of ground to cover but at the same time it makes it difficult cause travel costs of lot of money. I will start from the beginning though when we left the MTC.

So the plane ride to Italy wasn’t that bad. One because I was able to talk to my family earlier so I was in the best mood that I could possibly be in, and two cause we had like 90 open seats on the plane ride so we could just pick and choose where we wanted to sit which was great. I was sitting by my friend Anziano Simonsin and we started talking to this Italian mom and her 12 year old daughter. They were super nice and patient with us as we started talking to them in Italian and they would practice their English with us. It was actually really cool and ya know built up my esteem alot cause I was like ''Okay I got this--in Rome this shouldn’t be a problem'' (Yeah totally wrong about that). So they were really nice, then I started to talk to this family that was going to Jordan. They had a daughter that was 17 and the mother was telling me that in Israel when you have a child that turns 18 they go into the military for 3 years. As a requirement, and it was really cool to hear how the mother feels it is really important cause they learn a lot of this like independence and living on your own. It sounded a lot like a mission which I thought was super sick. Anyway I had a lot of respect for that girl and how she was proud and excited to go into the militiary to serve her country. Afterwards I was about to pass out cause I had the whole row to myself except my comp was on the very far side when the Italian mom asked if her daughter could sleep on those two seats which was fine. I could sleep sitting up anyway lolo. So it was really funny cause my companion Anziano Brown freaked out when he woke up and realized that he had a 12 year old girl sleeping between him and me. Let’s just say I was super glad to get off that flight.. 

So we were picked up by the AP's and President Waddups at the airport and it was so cool to finally meet them!! They took us to the villa that the Church owns and then took us to go see the Colosseum. Something that I realized on the plane and when we were with them is it really isnt that scary to talk to people. They were talking to everyone and bringing the gospel into their conversations and it was just Amazing and Inspiring to see how easy it really was. Now in a different language that will come with practice but it really inspired me. So one thing that really helped me is that I was talking to one of the Ap's (his name is Anziano Puff who is this 25 year old guy that lived in Northern italy and worked as a model.. He’s basically a beast). I asked him for some advice and he told me that right now I am liike a child, and throughout my mission I will have experiences and be changed into a Man. Not just a Man but a Man of God. He told me that if i look in the scriptures it talks about Nephi and how he refers to himself as a child but then as it continues he refers to himself as a man. I really liked that and it really helped me cause i realized that I have so much to work on with the language and everything else.

So Terni as I mentioned is so cool. There are a bunch of mountains here that have castles like all over them. And it is so green which I love so much. I live in a four man apartment with two of the best Zone Leaders so it is cool to see how they are cause they are a really good example to me. My new companion is Anziano Ray and he is actually completely new to the area as well. There is a lot of work for us so they brought him in from Sardinia. I try to do all that i can to help him cause he is super stressed with a new area and trying to figure everything out, and training me.. the greenie.  The ward (it is amazing that there is even a ward here-- most places have branches or barely any members) is super supportive of missionary work and they are all really nice. The ward mission leader is awesome!! His name is Ricuardo (and is a professional European crump dancer he is such a boss) he is 21 and is going on a mission to Manchester which is really cool, works with us super closely which really helps. Especially cause Anziano Ray and I are still trying to figure things out. I was able to bear my testimony yesterday which was really cool cause even though I was really nervous I was still able to communicate what I wanted too. The stake president was there and he gave me a shout out during his talk which was so sick, definitely built my confidence back up cause these first few days have been really rough. 

Anziano Ray and I have taught a couple lessons in Italian and English. Englsih because we have a few investigators from Nigeria. One of them is Bright who is a super cool guy but gets really angry if you say something that he doesn't want to do. Like I called him on the phone and invited him to church on Sunday and he was like ''No Do Not Ask Me To Come Yet!!'' and when I said I wouldn't, he was like 'okay.. so how are you'' haha he is awesome. We are also teaching this amazing family who wants to be baptized but they need to get married first, but there are some complications with that. Hearing Bright and Charles pray though.. That is the most amazing thing that I have heard, it is so powerful.

We are also teaching this Italian man that has been less active so we are trying to bring him back to Church. His wife does not like us though, when we were over she came out of her room, growled at me (not kidding) and then sat down near us and started smoking. It smelled so bad I wanted to pass out dang that was awful. A ton of people smoke in Italy though so it is going to be hard to get used to. It has been frustrating for me though becasue during the lessons and trying to talk to people I try my best to understand and communicate but I can’t cause I still have so much to learn. I am doing my best though, I just need time to practice and continue to learn. Luckily we are teaching an English course so that is something that I can do well at.. It is just frustrating cause I want to do everything I can to 'hit the ground running' and I can’t cause I get nervous and forget what to say or i can’t understand people. But, I just need to be patient with myself cause that is what is best.

Some other sweet things that happened this week-

I tried talking to a man from Bulgaria that didn't like me very much, not kidding i thought he was going to hit me at one point which was intense, and kinda scary. 

I also met a man from the Dominican Republic, I invited him to come to english course and he said that he would. He was really nice to me so I hope that he comes.

Anziano Ray and I were walking around in Centro and some women ran up to us and asked if we could teach her English. She wanted to meet so badly and just learn so that was a miracle in itself so hopefully we see her on Tuesday. Definitely a miracle is was amazing!!

Okay I love you all!! Sorry this email is so long, I wanted to give some of the details of my first week here! Talk to you next week!

Ciaò!!

Anziano Spencer

Tristan discovered you can't buy deodorant in Italy. What?!?!
Grandma Riding saves the day!!!

The quintessential MTC shot. 

Tristan's MTC district with their teacher.

All the missionaries headed to Italy!

Of course we have to have a few more shots at the temple!

At the train station, headed for the SLC airport.

First meal in Italy. Doesn't look too Italian to me!

Now, this one looks Italian.

Was this photo of a slab of meat sent to alarm Tristan's vegan Mom...
or to make his meat-loving Dad a little jealous?

Ah, yes. There are a few things to see in Italy besides food!

I have arrived! 

With other missionaries and an investigator.

Terni.

As Tristan mentioned in his letter above, in Terni there are "a bunch of mountains with castles like all over them."

Adjusting to life as a missionary in Italy!

Safe and Sound! (August 18)

Hey! Just letting y'all know that i made it safe to Rome!! Love y'all so much! I can't wait to tell you all about it! 

Love, Anziano Spencer 

In front of partially completed Rome temple!

One of 20 new missionaries in the Rome, Italy mission.

With President and Sister Waddoups

Week 5: August 12

AYYYYEE!! Hello to the outside world and to all the people that I love!!

So this is my last week here at the MTC! I leave Monday morning at around 6:00 for the airport, and I really lucked out because somehow (I really have no idea) we got a direct flight from Salt Lake City all the way to Italy! So it will be a good 13-hour flight, but I have a good chance that my luggage won't get lost cause that would be terrible. So now I just have to make it through the 13-hour flight of sitting and trying to not look at the TV (cause i am not supposed to do that for those of y'all that didn't know) or listen to music so it will be a good time to sit and ponder, study, and learn more of the language. And try to sleep!! So it will be a long flight. I am seriously so excited though, like I can not wait to get to Italy!

Okay so a couple of updates from my last letter-

TRC (when you skype someone from Italy) went pretty well. Our "investigator" actually served his mission with Fratello Gessel so that was cool to talk to him about that. And he was really nice; when we struggled to find a word he would help us out unlike some of our other investigators who just stare at you as you try to form a different sentence from my limited like 6/7-year-old vocabulary. Anyway, we talked about the importance and the power of prayer and shared some scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants 121 with Joseph Smith when he was in prison. Things like that. We have our last one tomorrow so hopefully it will go well. It is hard to prepare for them cause we are never sure what their needs are so we listen and then follow the spirit, and make sure we have scriptures in mind when we are about to begin. So that we are prepared to the best that we can be. 

We also finished our last lesson with Francesco yesterday ending our lesson on following the commandment of tithing. It was seriously such a good experience teaching him because I had to really learn how to explain about Jesus Christ since Francesco knew nothing about him. Or why he is necessary in our lives. So learning to teach so simply and then just seeing him change and become receptive to our commitments was really cool.

Maria is doing really well as well. We taught her about the commandments yesterday as well and she asked why it was necessary to have more commandments like the Word of Wisdom for our day. (A few days before we learned about a principle in class about relating the gospel to own things in our life and things that we like to do that would make sense to the investigator). So I told her that I really liked rock climbing and I wish I had gotten more into it before my mission. Then, I related the commandments to the rope that we use when we climb and how it keeps us "safe" from falling and the commandments that God has given us today strengthens that rope and makes it stronger and more 'safe" to where we can get even closer to God. She really understood and it really helped the lesson. Afterwards i talked to her about it and she said that it was a really good analogy and she actually understood it a little differently from the way I was explaining but it was something that she needed to hear. Totally an example of how powerful and awesome the Spirit is when we are teaching!!

Some other things that happened this week that y'all might find interesting:

So on Sunday during devotional the speaker was doing a question and answer type thing and one of the elders got up and said that his name was Elder Hawks.. Well the speaker misunderstood

and was like "Elder Hots??' and the elder was like well I am pretty HOT but no it is elder Hawks.. and then it just got super awarkward and everyone was just like "Ohhhh you just ruined yourself man like WHYY would you say that.." Aww it was bad, I felt bad for him he was like, "I am so sorry for saying that" so life lesson right there. Don't do that in front of a 2500 people. 

Later that night my companion and I went and saw Elder Holland's talk that he gave for the MTC a few years ago titled, "Missions are Forever." It was incredible and really inspiring like all of his talks.  Some of the things that he said that really stuck out to me were, Push to the End of the Envelope, (and then go farther), Salvation was not an easy thing so why should your mission be easy for you, go out and Astonish people (and then he went on to say that the word Astonish comes from the word Thunder) and then went on to talk about Alma and how he was shaken with Thunder things like that... And he is saying this all in the normal Elder Holland way. Y'all know how he is haha. It was an amazing talk. 

I have successfully gained 7lbs since I have been here at the MTC and I am soo happy with that because I have been exercising a lot more and I can feel myself going stronger so one day I will eventually catch up to my dad. Probably not;) but that is one of my goals actually on my mission lol so you better watch out dad!

So Italians are very literal (so there is not a whole lot of scarcasm) and one phrase that I found out that they say is, "In bocco Lupo" which they mean as an expression of Good luck. But it really translates to "mouth of the wolf" Sick!!!!

Another thing that I found out is apparently they sell no deodorant in Italy.. Ummm What?!?

I was definitely feeling alittle bit of Shardenfroida when the new Elders and Sisters were coming in today and I am leaving soon haha but they are going to do great. The MTC really is awesome and I will probably work here when I get back. 

Here is a scripture that one of my teachers shared with us that I absotuely love. It is in Helaman

 10:4-5.. Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

 5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will. 

I love you all, thank you for all the support and love!!

The Radles, Morgan, and my Team Brownskin Brother Needs I am going to send y'all an email next week when I have more time. Thank y'all so much! For the packages and the letter!

Anziano Spencer

"We are coming for you Elder Cannon!!!"
(Missionary shown on the screen behind the elders is Tristan's cousin Ethan, six weeks ahead of Tristan in the Rome, Italy mission. This pic of Ethan was taken at his first zone conference and was on the Rome, Italy mission blog.)

Thank you Grandma!
(Thanks to ALL who have sent care packages and letters to Anziano Spencer at the MTC!!! It has meant a lot to him to feel your support!!!)

Week 4: August 5

 Hey Everyone!!

So I am almost done [at the MTC] and it is honestly so weird because it doesn't feel like I have been here for very long, but at the same time I am so ready to get out into the field!!

Okay so I don't have that much time because I was finally able to upload some photos so hopefully y'all will be getting those too cause that took up some of the time I have to write! But, I am going to send the highlights of the week and then hopefully next week I will be able to write more.

Last night we had our Sunday night devotional and it was amazing because President Nelson (President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) was the speaker!! He gave a powerful talk about being an apostle to the Lord and going out to declare His message. It was amazing and the spirit was so strong in the room. What made it even better is Elder Woodland sang in the choir this time so I was able to hear an incredible talk, and sit next to one of my best-friends while we sang Be Still My Soul! It was so incredible and definitely the highlight of my entire time here at the MTC. Especially because he left this morning so it was nice to spend some time together before he flew out into the field. I was able to see Elder Olsen for just a sec on Sunday night before he flew out Monday morning so that was a really nice thing! They are going to be fantastic missionaries!!

Our lessons with Francesco are going really well! After he finally understood that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are real and they do love him he has made amazing progress. Yesterday I was super nervous for our lesson because we were teaching about the Restoration and so I was going to recite the First Vision to him in Italian. I was nervous because I didn't want to forget the words, but the spirit was so strong during the lesson that it went really well and so we asked him to pray and know if the church is true and he said he would!! So I will let you know what is happening with him next week! Tomorrow we start out first Skype lesson where we teach a 30-minute lesson with someone from Italy so I am super pumped  and stoked for that!!

We haven't taught Maria this whole week because she has been out of town but hopefully our lessons will continue to go well with her! (Just a sidenote: none of these "investigators" are real in the MTC. They are normally our teachers or members who have volunteered so that's nice except some of them are really good actors!!) Like some will help you with the language if you are struggling to find the word but then others will just stare at you and say "No Capito" which means I don't understand so it definitely helps with the language teaching these lessons!

On a completely different note... So my dad sent me pictures of my family that I taped up onto my wall as a motivation for me to work hard because why would I leave my fam for two years and slack off and not give my mission my all? So when I am having a hard time I look at those pictures. Anyway, so all of the elders have discovered that I have a "Super Jacked Dad" hahahah!! Like the first night they all came in and looked at the pictures and they were just like "Wow his arms are HUGE" and I was like yep that's my Dad hahah. But it’s great cause we are all getting super close as a zone, district, and roommates. Like Sunday night I was trying to write in my journal but couldn't really cause all 5 of my roommates decided that they wanted to sit in my bed and talk haha.. Stuff like that so it is nice to have a lot of unity because we are all here for the same purpose.

Okay last thing. So I was released as a Zone Leader. Our district presidency wants to give everyone an opportunity to be a leader and learn different skills so it was great having that calling for 3 weeks. It was kinda sad just cause I finally figured out all my duties and responsibilities right when I was switched out but it was nice to serve while I had the chance. 

Well I love you all and thank you so much for the support and the prayers--it really means a lot to me!!


Arrivederci!! 

Love Y'alll!!

Anziano Spencer

Pics taped to the wall referred to above. Chestnut has special meaning going back to Mom's mission in Italy (the meaning, not the chestnut itself! ;-))

Tristan says, "Thank you Andersons for the 100 pack of ear plugs hahah!! and the nose strips for the snorer..."

Thank you Sister Nelson!!!!!

Working hard!

Tristan's classroom.

Tristan says:"Elder Walker. Gave me advice about teaching without a script."

Tristan said, "This is an Australian elder that I met!!! He is going to Germany and has the best German/Australian accent. He is a super great guy.

Tristan and Elder Smith, who Tristan says is "going to Germany as well and such a positive and nice guy. I really hope we can connect after the mission."

With Elder Woodland. Tristan says, "My favorite picture of them all!"

Week 3: July 29

YOOOO!!!

How are my favorite people doing!? I hope everything is well, I feel so disconnected from the outside world (even though I love the MTC) like I really have no idea what is going on. What is the top song? Anything crazy happening with the government, new technology, the Iphone 8 come out yet haha? Also thanks for feeling my pain with the whole snoring thing haha. But, I have gotten used to it now, I just think of it like I am sleeping in the same room as a bear, or right next to a waterfall. If I think of it as that then it becomes rather peaceful and nice lol.

But seriously this week has been really great. I was able to see my two best friends Elder Woodland and Elder Olsen and they are doing so well!! It was so awesome to see them! I wish they were not leaving so soon though, like they will be in the field in only a few days. I wish they got to stay until Tuesday though cause I heard that we are having an apostle speaking to us. If you want to tune into that I think you can cause I know they broadcast those! But, before they leave we will somehow have to meet up and all get a picture because that would be so sick. I was actually able to see Elder Woodland on Wednesday night which was so cool, but he was in a meeting outside (kinda like an intro to the MTC tour thing) so I couldn't say hi. Probably one of the hardest things i have done haha is to walk by and wave to him and not get to give him a hug. But it was all good cause we saw each other the next day.

This week has also been a really successful week with teaching Maria and Francesco (and yes I know it is a really weird name for an Asian man). We also started doing this thing last Thursday where we teach members a spiritual message with finding their needs. So we taught them (one had family from Flower Mound; his name is Brother Hainey) about how Jesus Christ loves us one by one and that went really well. But we have been teaching Maria about the apostasy/restoration and we had a super powerful message with her on Friday that ended up lasting for 50 minutes without us even meaning to go long so we are trying to work on making our lessons shorter. You could still feel the spirit super strong though so that was really great. Haha so Francesco has been really interesting. The first few lessons were awful; my companion and I had a mix up when we were trying to teaching him about Jesus Christ and we accidentally mixed up the word Fratello and Figlio. So instead of saying, "We know that Jesus Christ is your Fratello (Brother), we said we know that Jesus Christ is your Figlio (which means son) aww man he was soo confused. And so were we. I was just like "Francesco please accept that Jesus Christ is your Figlio" until I finally realized it and switched it to Fratello. Hahah Mama Mia it was sooo bad. But, now things are progressing a lot better with him, and yesterday we taught him about the Holy Ghost and the difference between the Power/Gift of the Holy Ghost. He accepted our invitation to read the Book of Mormon so things are looking better. With Maria things are progressing amazingly, and something that has been really cool is every time I testify to her how I am grateful for the Book of Mormon because it has blessed my family, or how we believe that families are forever that the words just flow and I don't even really have to think about the language. It is so awesome how amazing the Gift of Tongues really is!

Grandma and Grandpa!! Okay so I met a man (he was touring around the MTC with his family) and my teacher invited him into our room so that we could talk to them! Anyway they are from Ghana and he was actually the head maintenance worker when you were the temple president!! His name is Francis, and he had a son and two daughters with him. He is living in Provo for a year so hopefully you can see them!

Also shout out to my brothers Damian and Justin--I am so happy that y'all got your mission calls!! That is so amazing and I am so happy for you. Missions really are awesome, and even though they are hard I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father for two years and have the privilege of wearing his name on my chest, and I can't wait for y'all to serve out in the field too!

So this week I have been focusing on strengthening my attributes of Jesus Christ and so the attribute that I am working on is Courage. It has been very strengthening as I read in the scriptures examples of those who have courage: Jesus Christ, The Stripling Warriors, Sammuel the Lamanite etc. I chose this attribute because I am still nervous with the language, and I will be leaving for Italy in 2 and a half weeks but I know if I rely on my Savior then I can do all things!

I have gained my four pounds back so that makes me really happy. I was doing the dirty dozen push-ups with one of my friends who actually was baptized a year and a half a go. So it’s amazing to see him on a mission. Anyway, he could only get up to 5 so SHOUT OUT TO CADEN/BUBBA for getting up to 7!! That's my little brother!

Anyway I love you all, and I hope things are going well!

Hurrah for Israel!!

Love,

Anziano Spencer

P.S Hailey- that was such an awesome analogy with Christ and lifeguarding. Honestly it was seriously so cool so thank you so much! And Lindsey... Awww I AM SOO HAPPY FOR YOU haha!

Love y'all and I will talk to y'all next week!! Also, sorry for not responding to some of the letters. Matthew and Logan thank you for the letters I will send you one soon! Everyone else, I am so sorry I will get you one soon!

Tristan with a favorite friend: Elder Grover.

Missionaries love going to the temple!

Week 2: July 22

Ayyyyeee!! My favorite people to talk to!! I miss you guys so much, so thank you for all of your letters (cause seriously they mean so much, not kidding I wouldn't mind like getting grocery lists or anything I feel so disconnected from the outside world haha) support, prayers, and love!

Okay so this week was pretty good! A couple things that I forgot to add to my first email that I wanted to say. So I have 5 Anziani in a room which is pretty cool cause we all support and help each other but we have this one guy, a big Hawaiian guy, who has like 17 letters in his first name no joke. HE SNORES SOO LOUD. I wish I could explain it better but like honestly the first night I thought he was going to die because his breathing lasted so long that I thought that was it and I was going to have to tell the District President that one of the Elders passed away cause he stopped breathing. He knows he snores though, so he bought us all ear plugs which has been really nice, but a few days ago I somehow lost mine. So one of my friends gave me one of his cause he found an extra. Kinda disgusting but I was so desperate haha. Like my other friend Anziano Bertoldo slept in the hallway for 3 hours because he couldn't sleep. It's getting better though cause I am more used to it haha.

Okay so now on a more serious note. This week has had some really good highs (being able to go to the temple, singing Praise to the Man in the choir for the Tuesday night devotional which was an incredible experience to do with 800 other missionaries.. Like during the chorus I felt the spirit so strongly it felt like my body was on fire--it was such an amazing experience, going to devotionals, studying and learning). My companion and I (his name is Anziano Brown by the way so I am still team brown skin for all of you who know what that means haha; even though I have totally lost my tan I can still be on it!) started teaching two new investigators who are more difficult and not "the perfect investigator’’ anymore. One is a Chinese man (his name is Francesco, but it is really just Fratello Gessel acting)  who doesn't know anything about God so we try to make things super simple and show him pictures but then he asks us questions that we know how to answer in English but we have no idea how to explain why Christ is the only begotten son in Italian so we have struggled with that. I was honestly feeling really discouraged with the language just cause some people are accelerating really fast and I don't feel like I am, but my Spanish has helped. I understand a lot of what people say to me; it is just trying to answer that I have a hard time with. But, on Sunday night I watched the most amazing devotional called the "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar. If you haven't seen it I would encourage all of you to watch it because it really helped me out when I was feeling pretty down on myself. He describes that during all of Christ's trials (suffering in the garden, his experience with Satan, on the cross etc..) he always turned outward instead of inward. Serving others and helping them, while the instinct of the natual man would be to turn inward and shut everything else out. I am working hard on doing this and when I struggle with the language instead of turning inward and being hard on myself I am going to to turn outward and serve and love those around me. The devotional helped me so much and I am seriously doing SOO MUCH BETTER!!

Also, Emma (our investigator from last week) is now our teacher too which has been awesome because she reminds me exactly of Aunt Nicole which is like the greatest thing cause it makes class 10 times better. We are teaching her again this week and now her new name is Maria and so our first lesson we taught the Plan of Salvation or il Piano di Salveza and it went really well cause of my cards! (Shout out to Allie Jones--those are amazing and they make explaining the plan of salvation so much easier!!) Our lessons with her are going really well, my companion and I just need to figure out a new plan for teaching Francesco so hopefully our lesson with him tomorrow goes well!!

Something else that has been a huge motivation to me is the example of an Elder named Anziano Grover. He is a little slower when he learns so he has a harder time with the language than the rest of us but he works so hard. Like it is incredible. I have such a love and respect for him because of who he is. He is always studying at meals and at night he will go into the hallway before lights out and will read the Book of Mormon to himself out loud in Italian so he motivates me to work harder and I do my best to help him out when I see him. He has touched my heart and I pray that he will be blessed with the gift of tongues (because it is real!!) so that will help him out.

Okay so I wish I had time to respond to everyone's letters, but I can't so I am going to try to answer people's questions!

So my zone is made up of 24 Sorelle/Anziani, 8 who are going to Milano and the rest of us are going to Rome. As a zone leader I get reports from all the district leaders about all the companionships, and then we report back to our district president about how everyone is doing. It has been really amazing to be in the calling because I have learned and received so much instruction about administering and ministering to others just as Jesus Christ would. Then as zone leaders we plan Sacrament/Pristhood to make sure everything flows pretty nicely. And just make sure everyone is doing okay and try to lead by example. I am so grateful for this calling cause I have learned so much from it. The best part of the MTC is being with all these missionaries and knowing that everyone is here for the same purpose that you are and the strong spirit that you feel. It really is amazing and I love it so much. Even though we are all going to different places, we are doing it for one purpose!! 

Some other things that I have learned and have happened this week that have been really awesome. 

I saw Michael (who was my counselor from Aspen Grove) because he works at the MTC now teaching Ukranian so that was really cool. I also got to see Polly Pace who left for France on Monday! And I saw my cousin Ally Riding-- that was soo nice! And it was so weird to hug a girl after 2 weeks lol 2 years is going to be different when I get back hahaha. 

Some cool Italian words that are so much fun to use-

Ecco-Behold

Chisto- I'm down!!

Managa- Dang it

Forte- Slang for Cool

But when you say them you have to use a lot of hand gestures and inflections in your voice to ya know "sound Italian" haha.

Working out this week my buddy showed me this exercise called the dirty dozen where you start at 1 and do one push-up. Then you immediately go and do one pushup on your knees. Then you do 2 reg/2 knees and go all the way up to 12 with no rest. It is extremly hard so Dad/Gav/Bubby or whoever else y'all should try it cause it KILLS.

Well I love all of you! Thank you so much for the support as I am on my mission!!
I love this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ. He literally has been with me every step of the way!!

A scripture that I really liked this week is in Doctine and Covenants when the Lord is talking to Oliver Cowdery. I forgot the exact reference but he is saying to be patient my son and don't work faster than you can bear. That really helped me with the language this week and so it is coming along a lot better now!! I love you all!!

Love, Anziano Spencer

MTC life

With Anziano Brown

Tristan's own "Golden Plates"! Thanks Avery!!!

Anziano Spencer at the Provo Temple.

Anziani e amici. 

Week 1: July 15

MYYYY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!

Oh does it feel really good to write home. To be honest I am not sure how this computer MTC system works so I am trying to type as fast as I can cause I don't want this computer to kick me off if I have gone like an hour and 1 second or something lolol. So, the MTC is honestly amazing!! My dad dropped me off on Wednesday which was a really hard moment cause I was sad to leave, but I also had so much adrenaline in my body. Like as much adrenaline as I get in me when I am about to play an ultimate frisbee game or I am at the top of the 120 foot rock wall looking down. Anway, so I got escorted around and I was give a huge pack of books and my name tag and all that good stuff. Then I went straight to class, which was super stressful. My teacher's name is Fratello Gessel (means brother) and the first day I walked in and he only talks to me in Italian which I know is a good thing cause it helps me learn faster but that first day I was like dude I really have noo clue what you're saying to me other than Mama Mia lolol. (Which I have started using too, and I talk with my hands now which is awesome haha). 

So my companion is absolutely awesome. He is from Ogden, Utah, super athletic (cause he used to play baseball) and just a really fun guy. He honestly has such a solid testimony as well like I really am glad that I got such a great companion. When he bears his testimony it’s incrediable cause you can just feel the spririt right when he begins. Anyway, the first night we were escorted into three separate rooms where there were like 50 new missionaries and we had the chance to teach an investigator that was interested in the church. The first guy was a man named Ciccio (which I found out later means chubby in Italian, he was huge Italian man though lol so I think it was kinda a joke). He was struggling cause his son passed away and he believed that his son was floating somewhere in Limbo. I stood up and shared a scripture with him from Alma 40, and he got so excited cause he saw that my name is Anziano Spencer that he started talking to me in Italian and I just kinda looked down and laughed with everyone else cause I obviously knew nothing other than Ciao, and Come sta? But, he switched back to English once I explained that I am learning and yes there are Italian Missionaires with his pope haha. 

The next day was pretty good, I have a really good district and branch. Thursday night I was really stressed out though because I was called to be a zone Leader for my branch which has actually been really humbling. My first week here has really taught me that I am truly nothing without God and Jesus Christ and if I don't rely on them for guidance and help then I won’t be able to do this. I cannot complete this mission alone; I need their help and I know that they are there helping me. So as a zone Leader we get phones and we had to plan Sunday and so I was able to teach priesthood session to the other Anziani and my Branch President. We also had a visiting Mission President who served in Austialia (his accent was so sick) but I taught about personal revelation and it was actually a really good discussion. I was nervous, but I know that I was helped with the Spirit.

Okay, so now for the story about the most terrifying experience of my life. So on Thursday Fratello Gessel told all of us that we would be teaching an investigator on Friday a lesson about having hope because her daughter has cancer. But it would all be in Italian. Ohhh man I was so nervous when I found that out but my companion and I planned a lesson on Jesus Christ and his love for all of us and then we translated it to Italian. And it actually went pretty well. Obviously it was awkard, especially when I would start trying to testify to her and then not know what to say cause I didn't know the word for something. haha. So we have taught her a different lesson every day this week besides Sunday. The first two were okay, but then my companion and I felt that we should plan out our lesson with scriptures, but then not translate it into Italian and let the Spirit guide. That first lesson we taught her for 30 minutes all in Italian and it was so amazing. My companion even had an incredible experience because we were talking about baptism and being baptized by immersion and she asked him what he felt about it and he paused for a second and then all of the sudden he started bearing a powerful witness to her about following Christ's example and more all in Italian. The investigator (Emma) after he was finished told him his Italian was perfect and you could just feel the spirit so strong in that room. After we walked out my companion stood there a little dazed and looked at me and said, "That wasn’t me man, that was the Spirit." He didn't even remember the things he said or didn't even know where those words came from!! It was incredible!!!! I have felt the gift of tongues as I have been teaching too because I can understand a lot of what Emma is asking and even though I have struggled with the language I have felt it too. When I have been teaching I know what to say back to her, and even though I still need to write down some phrases  and words I am getting better. So now we just go into our lessons with scriputes and some key words that we still need to learn, but we are getting better!! I testify that the gift of tongues is real!!

Some other random things from this week that have been really cool..

We Italians played a group of Germans in volleyball and crushed them. We want to play the Japenese, Swedes, or Cambodians haha so I will let y'all know what else happens. I have lost 4 pounds since I got here since all we do is sit so my metabolism just burns everything but I am starting to gain it back cause I am working out with guys that did cross fit and they are really athletic so its pretty awesome.

Also, Sister Olsen, I met Anziano Chilvers!! He is so cool, and is in my district.

I was talking to a senior missionary who served in Germany 35 years ago. He told me that shardinfrodia (totally don't know how to spell it but when you say it it sounds super evil) means the joy that someone receives when someone else is suffering. Ummm what?!?

Kevin and Kyle just make it to Sunday. Those first couple of days were honestly so hard, stressful, but once you do it gets a lot better. Also, super cool my dreams in the MTC are the most vivid dreams that I have ever had in my life like I don’t really know why but be prepared cause a lot of other Anziani think so too. Just get ready to work and study and you will be fine. I am so happy to hear that y'alls talks went well though!! I will see y'all soon!

Allie and Benson, I wish I had more time to respond to your emails but I will do my best next week. Thank you so much for them, and Benson I will crush you in racquetball when we play haha;)

I love you guys!! I miss everyone so much, but I just want to let y'all know that Jesus Christ lives and he loves each and every one of us. I know that he is guiding me and reaching out to me every day and I just need to accept his help which I have been getting better at. I love this gospel, I have honestly never worked so hard in my life but I love it so much. Thanks for the letters! I will talk to y'all next week!!

Love, Anziano Spencer

July 8--The Big Day!!!!

Wednesday morning, Tristan received some final counsel from Grandpa Riding (whose current calling is to provide such counsel for all prospective missionaries in his stake), bought one more pair of shoes at Mr. Mac, said his final good-byes, and was off!

Grandma and Grandpa Riding

...And Jim

Still in the col-de-sac near the temple...

In front of the MTC.

Thanks for the great luggage, Nana Sally and Papa Jerry!

Arrivederci!

Next post: Tristan's letters start.