Week 25 (Dec 28)--Trapani

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hello my favorite people!! I hope y'all had such a good Christmas. Thank you so much for the pictures that you sent with the Merry Christmas signs! I don’t think I can describe how much that meant to me! Christmas was different this year being not at home but Skyping with my family was by far the best Christmas gift that I could have ever gotten this year. It just made me so grateful for my family. It was sick being able to see my bros being absolute studs and talking with my parents who are studs (but I don't think that’s the best word to describe them lol). They are the best.. so yeah, that was a special moment that I won’t forget. It went by way too fast but Mother’s Day will come quickly!

This week was really good though. We didn’t see a lot of success with visiting with our investigators just because some of them haven’t been able to meet because of the holidays which has been frustrating. But a really good experience we had though was last Monday when we had our Branch Christmas Party. It was packed!!! I am not kidding, like a solid 45 people were there so it was so loud haha. It was really awesome though because literally all the people that we are working with and even some of our friends that we have met on the streets came and the members immediately friendshipped them and took them all in. And of course for the Christmas party the members ordered pizza. 10, 1-meter long pizzas. It was insane; they gave us some to take home after the party after like triple-wrapping it in bags so that we wouldn't get attacked by all the stray dogs here. For the Christmas party the members set up a really good Christmas program where we were able to share a spritual thought and then there were Christmas songs sang and a little program. It really brought a special spirit and tonight we are actually meeting with one of our contacts that came that night so I am really pumped!

This week I was also able to do a scambio with Anziano Trejo who is such a boss. He is from Mexico and actually started his mission here in Trapani. He has really good relationships with a lot of people that he introduced me to. So one of the reasons that we do scambios is so that we as missionaries can learn from one another but also these Zone Leaders have had a lot of experiences here in the mission field and so I actually love doing scambi and just trying to learn as much as I can. One piece of advice that Anziano Trejo gave me is he told me how stress is good (at a certain level) because it can help push me, but to make sure that I never let Satan take advantage of that stress and use it against me. I was super grateful he told me that cause not gonna lie being in a new city and trying to get to know everything and even finding my way back to the house can be frustrating sometimes. But using that stress to help push me and become better is something that I am trying to do. 

After our scambio we took a bus to Palermo to sing in the piazza and talk to people. It was so much fun being with a huge group of missionaries all doing the same thing. And then right afterwards we went to a Chinese buffet which was the best thing ever. It was so good to take a break from pasta. Then we all went ice skating together cause our Pday started at 1:00. I wasn’t able to do it cause of my gimpy leg (it’s not really gimpy now, I am just being careful.. it’s actually getting a lot better. I can walk now without pain and bend it most of the way back. I know that this is a miracle through faith and through the many prayers I have received; thank you) so that it will heal. It was a really fun day though.

For Christmas we also were able to watch one of my favorite movies that I watched as a kid. "Treasure Planet." It was a bomba.  So here for Christmas really the only tradition that Italians have is eating. On Christmas day and then after. And it’s kinda offensive if you don’t eat the food that they give you so you still eat it. With a smile. Last night (I am sorry to tell y'all this) I woke up and for about 5 minutes I was in and out of sleep and I thought I was being attacked by like a monster. Straight up I had no idea what was going on. Like the grudge or something like that.. and then once I finally came to my senses I realized that it was my comp dry heaving and throwing up in the bathroom cause he felt so sick from all that we ate yesterday. So yeah hopefully things will be better this week lol. I am sorry for that!!

So my spiritual thought for this week is about something that I am learning about: the importance of acting. We are working with this one guy who has a lot of really hard things happening in his life right now. We have talked to him a lot about how if he starts to pray, starts to read in the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and comes to church willing to learn, that yeah, his problems might not get fixed right away but he will start to feel better. But he never acts. He expects God to do everything for him. This made me think of the video clip Remember the Giants. And how there is the boy that’s doing the "Death Crawl" carrying the other boy on his back. And his coach blindfolded him and told him that I want you to give me your very best, and because of that I don’t want you to stop if you can still go farther. And in the middle he’s like "It hurts Coach!!" And the coach is right there and he is like "I know it hurts, but you don’t stop. You keep going, you keep going!" This boy didn’t stop until he had nothing left. He acted and he moved forward until he made it into the End Zone. Without him even realizing it cause he was blindfolded. I like that a lot because I can relate that to my life and how I can act and move forward. Always, even when things are really hard and when it hurts and things kinda really suck. Cause Jesus Christ knows exactly how I feel and what I need and how far I can go. And I want to give my very best to God by serving a mission and even in the future after my mission. 

There is this quote from Elder Holland that I really love about being strong. Even when times are hard to just keep moving forward:

"Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them. A long history of inspired voices, including those you will hear in this conference and the voice you just heard in the person of President Thomas S. Monson, point you toward the path of Christian discipleship. It is a strait path, and it is a narrow path without a great deal of latitude at some points, but it can be thrillingly and successfully traveled, “with … steadfastness in Christ, … a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.” In courageously pursuing such a course, you will forge unshakable faith, you will find safety against ill winds that blow, even shafts in the whirlwind, and you will feel the rock-like strength of our Redeemer, upon whom if you build your unflagging discipleship, you cannot fall. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I really like that cause I know as we continue on that path, when we are doing the things that we should. We will never fail.

I love y'all so much!! Have an awesome new year!! If you know me well enough, you know that I will be missing going to a dance on New Year’s Eve, so if you can.. go! Dancing is the greatest thing haha. 

Love,

Anziano Spencer

Week 24 (Dec 21)--Trapani

CHRISTMAS!!

Hey friends and family, I just want to let y'all know that I love y'all so much. I know I probably say that every single week but it really is true; y'all are awesome. I hope everyone has a good Christmas this week, spending time with family. For Christmas, here’s what we are doing. Christmas Eve (we are doing a scambio so I am going to be with Anziano Trejo who is an absolute boss from Mexico; he's so sick), our whole Zone is going in the morning to Palermo ( hour and a half away from Trapani) where we are going to carol in the city and have missionaries talking to people. It will be really cool, and after we are getting lunch together at this Chinese buffet (I haven't had Chinese food since America--soo hyped) and then doing a gift exchange. After that we will head back to Trapani. I am pretty excited, and then of course for Christmas we get to Skype home for an hour!! This is definitely going to be the highlight of my year haha and something I have been looking forward to for a long time so I can't wait. Family is the best.

Anyway, this week nothing really huge happened; everything was kinda normal which I guess is a little strange. Something that Anziano Garret and I are trying to do is be intelligent missionaries. One of my favorite scriptures (I forget where it is found) is like “be peaceful as a dove but smart as a snake." I really like that because God has given us talents and tools and we are really trying hard to use them. For me personally, I don't like getting stuck into a routine and just doing the same thing over and over. So some of the things that we are trying to do: there is a member  in our ward who works at a university library here. We talked to him about seeing if we could organize a presentation on the Book of Mormon. I think if we could get it going it would be pretty sick, the history of the Book of Mormon and what it's about. Not gonna lie I will be scared to death explaining the history of it in front of a bunch of college students but at the same time I am so pumped and want to do it so bad. Other stuff is we want to ask the Catholic Church if we can help serve food to people that don't have any. Working with members obviously making a branch calander, even setting up a group text with a scripture sent out once a week to everyone to strengthen people. Stuff like that. So we are really doing our best to be the best missionaries we can be but being as smart as we can to to be effective.

Also I finally met the old Mafia Boss who is in our branch. He's so sick. He discovered that I used to be in choir. Oh my... So we were singing random songs and he was wondering if I knew all these different singers and I was over there agreeing enthusiatically trying to please the guy that apparently everyone is scared of on the streets. So sweet though, he's actually a really nice guy. So yeah, that was our week, sorry that I don't have a whole lot of anything else.

I want to bear my testimony to you all about Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I am so grateful for him and I don't think I can really put it into words truly how grateful I am. He was willing to die for us, and complete the atonement so that when we feel like we can't go on, and  when we experience trials and difficulties, he knows exactly how we are feeling. Not just how we are feeling but also how to succor us and help us grow and learn. He's there to get us up when we feel like we can't go on. As President Uchtdorf puts it, "Every person, young and old, has had his own personal experience with falling. Falling is what we mortals do. But as long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier as a result. My dear brethren (and sorelle!) my dear friends, there will be times when you think you cannot continue on. Trust the Savior and His love. With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power and hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and continue on."

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to be his representative and tell others about the hope and joy and knowledge that I have experienced from being blessed with the Gospel in my life. Being a missionary is the best.

Love you all!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS/BUON NATALE

Love,

Anziano Spencer

Week 23 (Dec 15)--Trapani, Sicily!!!!

Trapani Week 1!!

Oh it is so good to finally be able to write y'all!! Sorry that I wasn't able to send email yesterday; I had Zone Conference, so our Pday is today. This week has been really awesome, though. I absolutely love Trapani so much!! And it's the coolest city that I have ever been in or probably will be in in my entire life... It really is incredible. So Thursday I took a 12-hour train ride (with Anziano Palazzo; he's in my district down here) from the middle of Italy all the way down to the bottom near Messina and then what our train did is it docked on a boat and it took us across to Sicilia!! Apparently there was a bridge across the ocean that was connecting the two but then the Mafia here blew it up... Sick. So yeah we crossed by boat. So I finally made it to Palermo where I met my new companion!! He's such a stud, like I don't think I can explain it better than he's just an absolute stud. He loves sports, is fun, really wants to work hard, is obedient etc. So I am super pumped for this transfer. Trapani is beautiful though. In the morning I looked out the window and our house is right next to this huge mountain, and then our other window overlooks the ocean where there is an island off the coast. It's amazing, so Pdays here are going to be absolutely sick (today we had to clean for a long time though so.. Starting next week they are going to be sweet lol). Our house is pretty nice too; it is kinda gross though so we have been doing a lot of cleaning. There is black mold growing right above my bed on the ceiling sooo yeahh. We are getting it better!!

The members here are really nice too. The branch is small though; there were only 22 people in church this Sunday but I am hoping these next few transfers that I am here that hopefully that number will grow!! Even though it's small, the members are super strong and really supportive of us. We have already seen miracles here with working with them, and getting new investigators. Like I am really hoping to build some strong relationships with them. And some of them are so fun, like one family has a kid that's 11 years old that reminds me of my little bro Bubba so much. He was doing a lesson with us and the question came up about Adam and Eve and why couldn't they have children and things like that. And he said the most perfect answer without hesitation. Sooo awesome!! Seriously it was weird cause it was like being with my little brother.

Not gonna lie, leaving Terni was pretty sad. I have made some really good friends there that I am going to miss a lot. Well most of them... There was this one woman that we started teaching my last week in Terni and she was, I seriously think, mentally insane. During the lesson she would stop and tell us how beautiful we were and how much she loved us and then continued to repeat herself 7-8 times. And every morning she would text/call us with random stuff like, “ Spencer, when I see you it's just like looking in the mirror" ummm what?? Didn't know I looked like a 42 year old woman...  So sick haha. Goodness she made me feel so uncomfortable like more than the transvestites at times. I had to take a train at 5:30 that morning to head to Rome and as I was buying my ticket she  peeled out from around the corner to say goodbye (when I saw her I literally had chills; it was creepy) and then gave me a snow globe and her phone number to always remember her. Hahaha poor Anziano Ray cause it's just him now to deal with her; I am really glad I left that behind. But, other people I am really going to miss, Stefano gave me a departing gift and so did Nadia which I wasn't expecting at all. So I was really able to leave Terni happy that I had done all that I could and really tried my best in that area. 

So yeah now about my knee.. I just want to say thank y'all so much for all your prayers that are in my behalf for this. It is getting better, my knee hasn't locked up since last Pday which is really good. I am really hoping that it starts to heal cause the pain is going away and I am getting some of my motion back which is really good. My spiritual thought this week is actually about what happened Tuesday night when I received a call from Sorella Waddups [mission president’s wife]. She told me that she was very concerned about my leg and that she didn't want me going all the way down to Trapani (which is literally the farthest way away from Rome). She told me that that night she wanted me to pray and really seek for an answer to know if I should go or not and then call in the morning about my decision. So I really, earnestly tried to do that. Because as y'all know I do normally hurt myself in really stupid ways like diving into a tree, going off a rope swing.. Stuff like that, but I have normally healed pretty fast from them.. so I was really trying to know if the Lord would have me go down to Sicily where there are not really any doctors or anything to help me. And I felt peace about it. Even though not gonna lie I do want to figure out what's wrong with my leg and get it better I felt that this is where Heavenly Father would have me be. Some things I really liked from it as I was thinking about fear and going down- 

"That is the second lesson of the spirit of revelation. After you have gotten the message, after you have paid the price to feel His love and hear the word of the Lord, go forward. Don’t fear, don’t vacillate, don’t quibble, don’t whine. You may, like Alma going to Ammonihah, have to find a route that leads an unusual way, but that is exactly what the Lord is doing here for the children of Israel. Nobody had ever crossed the Red Sea this way, but so what? There’s always a first time. With the spirit of revelation, dismiss your fears and wade in with both feet. In the words of Joseph Smith, “Brethren [and sisters], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!” 

And then he says this- 

The third lesson from the Lord’s spirit of revelation in the miracle of crossing the Red Sea is that along with the illuminating revelation that points us toward a righteous purpose or duty, God will also provide the means and power to achieve that purpose. Trust in that eternal truth. If God has told you something is right, if something is indeed true for you, He will provide the way for you to accomplish it.

I know that that is true. I have seen that already with my leg how right now I am able to do everything that the Lord wants me to do with serving a mission. Yeah it kinda sucks that I’m in pain and I can't go for a hard run or jump rope right now but I am doing my best to trust in the Lord. Hopefully in his time my leg will heal, and I know that whatever happens it's his plan.

Okay I love y’all. Sorry this is so long, I just wanted you to get a complete update in everything!! 

Some other funny things-

Everyone here is so small to me. I don't know if that's cause I have grown but some people here in Sicily are literally like little dwarves. So even if they are yelling or upset at me I just think it's so fun. Kinda like in Elf when that Miles Finch guy gets up on the table and runs to Buddy and he just has his arms wide open (but Basta [Editor’s note: this means “enough already!” in Italian] right there; I don't get kicked in the face lol). I love being a missionary so much; it's literally the best thing!! Till next week!

Ti voglio bene,

Anziano Spencer

Saying good-bye to Terni!

Heading to Trapani, Sicily:

 Zone Conference!

Birthday boys!

Week 22--Dec 7 (Last week in Terni!)

(Don't miss all the pics at the bottom!)

TRAPANI!!

Wazzupp my family!! I hope everyone is doing so good! Okay, so by my title of this email y'all can guess that I got transferred!! I got the call on Saturday and like I don't know why but Friday night before transfers feels like the day before Christmas for me.  Like Christmas Eve kinda just getting super hyped and excited. Anyway, so Saturday morning we wait for the AP's to call us and tell us if we are going to another city or if we are going to stay. So we waited... And waited. Goodness we had a lesson right after studies and so we go to that and 5 minutes into the lesson I feel the phone ringing and I was like are you serious. Lolol. Kinda like wanting to go downstairs to see what you got from Santa but you can't kinda thing. The waiting was agonizing haha. So finally we called them after our lesson and I was told that I am going to be transferred to Trapani, Sicily!! I am sooo excited!! It's the farthest I could possibly go on my mission (I have like a 12-hour train ride and I have to take a boat as well) to get there but I am seriously so happy.

My companion is Anziano Garret who I met cause he was in my zone and he's super sick. Into sports, fun, good missionary, and the only thing that I know about Trapani is if any of y'all have seen the new bible videos, that's where they filmed them. It's right on the coast, and there are actually islands in my area so that will be really cool. Anziano Palazzo got transferred too and he is actually the new Zone Leader right next to my city in Palermo and I think that he is in my district so we will be literally together for around 8-9 months That's a long time, but he's a really good example to me and teaches me so much so I have been really blessed. 

I am really sad to be leaving Terni though (I leave Thursday morning). I have made a lot of really close friends here who are very inspiring. Also, there are people every day who maybe don't want to hear about the gospel but who love to say hello and see how we are doing. Little things make the difference!! Yesterday I was able to give my farewell testimony and afterwards Sorella Petrucci leaned over and said, “You're a great missionary" which really helped me a lot because sometimes I feel like I can't be as effective as I want to cause I can't always communicate as much as I want. So that really meant a lot to me. And just a bunch of families who I have met that were saying goodbye, and our investigators, also the Tarzan-looking guy who literally crushes my hand every time even though I am trying to get stronger to crush his back. Things like that. So Terni has been a really good experience for me and I am super grateful that I got to serve here with my companion cause I have learned a lot from him too and really respect him. 

This week, though, has been pretty good, other than that last week I actually really hurt my knee in that football game that I played in. So I have been in a lot of pain because of that lately. I called a doctor on the phone who is a senior missionary here that's a specialist surgeon for this stuff. He said that I might have torn my ACL or my Miniscus but because I have been getting a little better he thinks that I tore it in a place where it will heal on its own. So it still hurts and sometimes my knee randomly will lock up where I can't straighten it, which is awful, and one of my companions will straighten it out for me--which is excruciating pain... but I was able to receive a blessing which gave me a lot  of faith and hope. It was actually a really powerful experience for me with the three missionaries that I have become really close to. So I am just doing my best to not strain it and to hope that it will get better. I was at a family's house last night and they are really into natural healing. They gave me "virgin soil" (umm what?) and so I basically put mud on my knee and wrap it up. She said it worked for her compound fracture on her shoulder and I am willing to try anything to get better so it's so sick now. I sleep with mud paste on my knee--like not gonna lie--how awesome is that?! I was actually super appreciative they were giving me all the advice they could to help me and to take care of me so that was really nice. (And I am only telling you this because when I write I try to be honest and let y'all know what's going on; I really don't want to sound like I am complaining or anything like that! I hope y'all can see that!!)

So one of the things that I really like studying is motivation, desires, effort...Things like that and there is this quote that I really like, 

"You may have learned endurance playing a trumpet, or throwing a football, or riding a bucking horse, or drawing a picture. But you learned what we all did. Effort only “now and then” didn’t take you far. The dreams that turned into reality stuck with you nearly all the time. You worked at them, either in fact or in your thoughts, every day and almost every hour."

I know that as I try to get better at the language, try to understand how to help people and know what to best teach people, that if I really put my full effort into it, then the spirit can help guide and direct me. I know that it takes time but as I continue to become a better missionary, to really bless and help people the way that Jesus Christ would and put in my full effort, then I can be the missionary that Heavenly Father would have me be!!  I am grateful for that and also for the knowledge that I have of Jesus Christ. Because of him we can be made clean again and we can be better. I have felt strength from him during trials like this week with being able to still work even with my now-pathetic leg. Things like that...I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary and share that with everyone!! I love y'all! Thanks for your support and prayers; they really mean a lot to me!!

Love,

Anziano Spencer

Terni dressed up for the holidays