Week 35 (Mar 7)--Trapani

TRAPANI!!

Whattt uppp everyone!! I am so glad to always hear from you every
week and I hope everyone is doing well! This week has been awesome,
and really crazy at the same time. I love the mission life so much. So
on Saturday we should have actually gotten our transfer calls (even
though we are getting transferred not this Thursday but the next
Thursday... it's super weird) but our mission president felt really
strongly that he shouldn't make the calls yet and he is not sure when
he will. Not gonna lie it's kinda distracting cause it's exciting to
get them and Anziano Garrett and I want to know what is going to
happen over here in Trapani. So to be honest we could find out tomorrow
or the latest by Saturday. We don’t know, but Anziano Garrett has been
here for six months now and I think he might be transferred somewhere.
I have been super grateful to get to work with him and I have learned
so much from my bud.

So a lot of stuff happened this week but the definite highlight was
being able to do a Scambio with Anziano Palazzo for the last time
before he goes home. I have learned a ton from him and it was really
fun to teach together before he heads home. Some things that I
really learned from him: there is a difference between being a
Christ-like missionary and just doing missionary things. I am really
trying to put this into practice and doing things that Christ would do
and it is something that really helps. Also, not feeling like I am
entitled to anything without working. What I mean by this is hard work
pays off. I can't just expect to find new people without doing
finding, building relationships without talking to people. The

entitlement factor-- aww man, it's so good. It was an awesome time and I
am grateful for that Scambio.

Okay so now for some really interesting things that happened this
week. I am going to start off with English Course because that was the
most surprising and interesting thing that happened. So every week
when we teach English Course, at the end we teach a spiritual thought.
Things about Faith, Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, Prophets, things
like that. And so right now we are going through the Plan of Salvation
in small steps. So this Thursday we planned to do our thought on the
Creation and how we can see the power of God in our lives when we take
the time to look around us and see how beautiful the earth really is.
We were sharing our thought and bearing our testimonies and Anziano
Garrett is bearing his and when he finishes all of the sudden someone
was like, "YESSS" and then she starts clapping... Umm what? And then
everyone started clapping for us which was interesting and kinda weird
cause that doesn't really happen. Everyone was clapping like a crowd.
So we were just standing there kinda in shock and we asked if anyone
wanted to say the closing prayer. This one woman (who is so awesome)
raised her hand and mentioned how she wrote a prayer for us to say. (So
normally when we pray, we pray from the heart and it's very personal.)
But this was personal for her and something she did and so she had her
boyfriend read it. Through the middle of it someone was like, "Yes!!"
And then another person was like, "AMEN" And “YESSSSS." When people
were leaving they were like, "I am going to do that!! I want to write
written prayers too!!" Oh freak. So yeah, we know what we will be
including in our spiritual thoughts now! It was seriously very
interesting, strange, but at the same time very cool cause the prayer
was about us and how grateful they were for us so it was cool to see
how much influence English course has had on these people. We are hoping to
teach more of them after corso so we will see how that goes.

Another interesting lesson that we had was with this new family that
we met when we were doing finding. They are seriously the nicest
people, but the dad is sooo crazy. I can't explain it very well other
than trying to describe him as someone whose mind is going a million
miles an hour; he likes to speak in broken English and then switches into
Italian, and talks extremely fast. Not gonna lie it makes me anxious
when I am around him. So we were eating at the dinner table and he was
pulling all sorts of stuff out for us to eat like, “here, have some
tuna..." And then just pulls out a can and dumps it on my  plate, and
then starts getting mad at Anziano Garrett for how he eats his pear,
and then all the while while this was happening his wife is gagging
and coughing over the sink and when he realizes it, he looks at us and is
like, "Just a moment please." And then runs over and was like, "MY
LOVE!! WHATS WRONG?!" And then he looks back at us and was like, “DON'T
WORRY.. SHE IS JUST CHOKING ON AN ORANGE.." While this is happening in
my mind I am thinking... "What is going on??!"  It was a very
interesting dinner, and they are honestly really nice. The wife is
actually really receptive to our messages and their friend was there
too so we are hoping that we can see them more, and that things will be calm
and tranquilo. We will see, it was fun. It kinda reminded me and
Anziano Garrett of when the Joker in the Dark Knight was like, "And
everyone loses their minds!” Yeah, that's how that dinner was.

We had a really solid lesson with one of our English Course students
who is doing really well. He has read the entire book of First Nephi
within a week and has made all these connections in his mind; it is
incredible. We were so happy during that lesson, especially because the
spirit was so strong and he was realizing these things for himself. He
started relating his life to how it's like a promised land and how
just like the Nephites, God will guide and direct him. The only thing
that we are struggling with is he has had some bad experiences in the
past of going to church and also some with prayer. Good too, but also
some bad memories and so he feels like he is not at a good position in
his life to do those things right now which is something that we are
really working on. He is so awesome and I love this guy so much. I
hope through the Book of Mormon he will be able to realize through the
Spirit that going to church and praying are more things that we can do
to feel closer to God and receive more blessings in our lives.

Another thing that was so great this week was seeing the new couple
that just moved into our ward. They are seriously so excited about
missionary work and are coming tonight with us to a lesson. I am so
pumped; the wife came up to us after church and she was like, “Anziani,
so I just got called into the Relief Society and so I would like you
to work closely with us and work on bringing some of these people back
to church who have stopped coming." I was so happy, aww man it's so
good to have some awesome support now. They have brought such high
energy and so I am really excited!! I really hope that I stay here in
Trapani so that we can all work together!!

So this week for my spiritual thought I want to share something that I
read in my personal studies that I really like from 2 Nephi 7.

6 I gave my back to the smiter, and my cheeks to them that plucked off
the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded.
Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not
be ashamed.

8 And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with
me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near
me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth.

9 For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me,
behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat
them up.

10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of
his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?

11 Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with
sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have
kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand--ye shall lie down in sorrow.

I love these scriptures a lot because as a missionary I want to do
everything I can to be bold, loving, help people, and stand together
with God as I do this work. "Set my face as a flint" to speak where I
have goals and I am going to do everything I can to accomplish them.
These verses just really caused me to reflect a lot about how I want to
"walk in the light of my fire and the sparks of which I have kindled"
and be the best missionary I can be by becoming and doing these things.

Not gonna lie, I don't really understand the moth part (vs. 9) but I wouldn't
really mind that for some of these people out here ;) just kidding... But
really, though.

VI VOGLIO A SAAIII

Anziano Spencer

Zone soccer from last week.

Last day with Anziano Palazzo, who is headed home! (On exchange.)