FERRAGOSTO (Holiday over here; everthing is closed for a time to "relax")
Hey everybody! I hope you are all doing well! I really don't have time
today because we are doing our deep cleaning when we spend most of the
day cleaning the house. Lucky for us, this day is always on Pday for
some reason, so yeah that's pretty sick;) It's good to hear from all of
you, though, and thank you so much for your emails; they really do mean a
lot. Also, we find out about transfers tonight instead of last
Saturday.. So if I do get transferred, I will be emailing from a new city
next week. However, I think I will be staying here kickin' it in Death
Valley;) hahaha. I am totally kidding, I really do enjoy Brindisi and I
hope I actually stay so that I can really continue to work hard here
and help grow the work and the branch. This afternoon was pretty
interesting because we were able to go out and have a picnic (of
lasagna, pasta, normal Italian things...) in the countryside with a
couple from our branch and their family members, so in total there were
about 20 people. I wish I got pics, mannaggiaa. We were literally
eating in the middle of olive trees. It was so cool. We had a good
time and at the end we were able to share a spiritual thought about
the restoration that went well. It's always the best when there are
a lot of people because not gonna lie I feel like Alma or Ammon or
Abinadi (such a beast) sharing a message about Jesus Christ with
all of them. They were really respectful too and so we are happy
with how it went.
This week was good though, although the quick sad update on M is that she is
no longer attending church and she has expressed her desire that she
does not want to. To be honest, it was pretty tough for me when I
heard that because for one I can't do anything about it, especially
being here in Brindisi instead of Taranto and two, because she has a
testimony and she knows this is true. I kinda feel like I broke the
record for how quickly a person I taught who was baptized went into inactivity but it's her
choice in the end, and we tried our best, so I pray in the future that
she will return.
From Monday to Tuesday I was able to work with the zone leaders in
Bari which went well. I enjoy being around them because they are super
funny and good guys who want to work. On Tuesday morning I was able to
go to the district meeting held by my cousin Anziano Cannon, which
probably was the sweetest and one of the best district meetings I have
been to. He did an awesome job and represented the family well. I was
really proud to be there, to be honest.
I was also able to go to Lecce and work with Anziano Larrain, which is
always super fun. Lecce is a pretty tough city in general and in
the summer it was really interesting because everyone that is there is a
tourist. Literally we tried to talk to everyone and only four-ish
people were from Lecce. Everyone else was from Rome or Milan. So it
was hard finding people actually to work with but we were able to have
a very interesting conversation about faith and God with this one
really cool 22-year-old guy who is atheist. He asked us some really
hard questions about evolution and theories and we kept talking about
going to the base of our faith and not gonna lie I wish I had some of
the answers to what he was asking. Yes, I explained that it relates back
to first knowing if God exists and then acting on that belief and faith
and growing it, but he was not accepting that. It was a good talk
though and I wish that he was staying in Lecce to still meet with the
missionaries there, but he left for Calabria.
We also had our "Meet the Mormons" night which turned out Soo much
better than last time haha! Two of our investigators showed up and so
in total there were about 12 of us. That's pretty good for the summer
and there is this sick guy that came that is 21 that we are going to
try to start working with. We brought a lot of treats too and
if you ever want to make an Italian happy, give them brownies. It's the
best thing ever. It was cool too because one of our buddies from
Kurdistan came and so I translated for him in English. I am glad he
was there. The not-so-cool part was there was this couple behind us
(the guy is 60 and the woman is 30) that were literally going Soo hard
kissing each other during the movie... I wanted to throw up. Yeah,
that was something I never want to see again in my life.
Other than that, we have been doing a lot of finding and talking to a
lot of families in the parks and Centro trying to build up our work.
Our friend that we met came to church this week, which made me so
happy! He is really open and really had a good experience at church.
The sad part is is he is here for a month and then moves back to
Napoli.
Also, during finding we met this sweet guy from Nigeria that is a
member of the church.. What is his name: (oh baby it's so sweet) "Gods
Power.. " Oh yes! Now that is what I am talking about. He came up to us
and was like, "I have been looking for you guys everywhere!!" "I want
to be a missionary like you!!" So we are pumped to work with him.
So for my spiritual thought I wanted to share some quotes that I chose
out of a talk that my seminary teacher (Mamma Cluff) sent to us this
week that I love so much. It's a talk called “Will you engage in the
Wrestle" by Sherri Dew and it's incrediable. I invite you all to read
it if you have a chance because she talks about how having questions
is good. Questions about the gospel and how we can find questions to
these answers but sometimes it's not easy.. We engage in a "spiritual
wrestle" but as we work God will always show us and give us the things
we need.
"My dear friends, questions are good. Questions are good if they are
inspired questions, asked in faith, and asked of credible sources
where the Spirit will direct and confirm the answer.
None of us are entitled to revelation without effort on our part.
Answers from God don't just magically appear. If we want to grow
spiritually, the Lord expects us to ask questions and seek answers.
"If thou shalt ask," He promised, "thou shalt receive revelation upon
revelation, knowledge upon knowledge...."[x] How much clearer can it
be? The Lord loves inspired questions asked in faith because they lead
to knowledge, to revelation, and to greater faith.
Champion wrestlers tell me that it isn't necessarily the strongest
wrestler who wins. It is the wrestler who knows how to leverage his
strength to overpower his opponent. Spiritual wrestling leverages the
strength of true doctrine to overpower our weaknesses, our wavering
faith, and our lack of knowledge. Spiritual wrestlers are seekers.
They are men and women of faith who want to understand more than they
presently do and who are serious about increasing the light and
knowledge in their lives.
Seekers have certain habits that are key to learning to communicate
with God. For starters, they engage in the wrestle, meaning they work
at it. They immerse themselves regularly in the scriptures, because
the scriptures are the textbook for the Lord's language. They also
work to be increasingly pure-pure in their heart and thoughts, pure in
what they say, watch, read, and listen to. Purity invites the Spirit.
And then, pure seekers listen. One of my former institute students
periodically turns everything electronic off. TV off. Music off. Phone
off. Computer off. She says, "I like to let the Lord know I'm
listening."
As you cultivate these spiritual habits, there are two questions that
will help open the heavens. First, ask the Lord to teach you what it
feels and sounds like for you when He is speaking to you via the Holy
Ghost, and then watch how He tutors you. And, second, if you've never
asked the Lord how He feels about you, that is a great question to
ask. In time, He will tell you, and as He does, you'll learn more
about speaking His language.
When the Lord sees that you want to communicate with Him, He will
teach you how.
Growing spiritually and receiving answers to our questions depends
upon our ability to feel, hear, and understand the whisperings of the
Spirit. It is worth engaging in a spiritual wrestle to learn to
receive personal revelation, because we can only know what is true
when the Spirit bears witness to our hearts and minds as only the Holy
Ghost can.[xxv] Revelation must include both, because intellect alone
cannot produce a testimony. You cannot think your way to conversion,
because you cannot convince your mind of something your heart does not
feel."
I love that last part because again we need to feel the message in our
hearts to know if it is true. That is why we must act for ourselves
and not be acted upon when we grow our faith and when we build our
testimonies and receive revelation.
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