PALERMO/CATANIA
Hey everyone! I hope y'all had a great week and an awesome Easter. As of right now I am typing this on a train on the way to the airport. We have a flight that we need to catch this morning to go down to Catania, where we will be greeted by the Zone Leaders (Anziano Berger and Anziano Bertoldo, both of whom are my really good friends, so I am excited). We will be there for tonight and tomorrow and then we will drive across Sicily to Palermo. It will be really interesting to be back there because I left from Palermo about a year ago. I am really excited to go and work in Sicily again and see the missionaries there. We will get back to Rome on Thursday night, so it’s going to be a fast but really rewarding few days!
This week was incredible. It went by extremely fast as we went to Bari, where we met up with two missionaries there at the station and immediately went off to go and do some finding. I was able to work with Anziano Whitaker, who is from my MTC group and is a really good missionary. We had a good zone conference there and then drove to Taranto where we had a good scambio with the missionaries in that zone. One huge miracle that I saw is as we were walking down the streets in Taranto, President Miccoli (my old Branch President from Brindisi, who is from Taranto but drives every Sunday to Brindisi because he was called as a branch president there) pulls up on the side of the road as we were doing finding and gets out and gives me a huge hug. It was a really joyful experience for the both of us. He was just on the way to the store to get some groceries, so it was definitely a miracle and a great experience. I don't know how much of a "coincidence" it could be, seeing your old branch president from Brindisi within an hour of arriving in a different city that is as big as Taranto. I enjoyed working with the missionaries in Taranto. One of them told me that this was the most he has ever talked to people on his mission after we got done working together. I am not saying that to brag or anything... but I am writing that because the missionaries here have such an incredible potential, and it’s awesome to help them discover that and get over their fear of talking to people.
After Taranto we drove to Napoli…probably my most favorite city of my mission. The pollution was super high, the smell was pretty bad, and I just felt like I was right at home again. [Ok, wait. Editor’s note: this does not describe his true home, here in FM!] I love Napoli so much. I was able to do a scambio with Anziano Faranoti who is from the north of Italy. We had a great time together and we made a goal to find 2 new investigators and 4 contacts from it and we did! It was super fun to work back in my old area. I love the people of Napoli--they are all so crazy! Anziano Battaglia and I, of course, bought a Napoli pizza as well, which was delicious. The best part of being in Napoli (other than the zone conference and seeing my former comps Anziano Brown and Morlock) was on Wednesday night; Anziano Friedman and I were able to go find the family that I worked with a lot when I was in Napoli. Two of the little girls were baptized that we worked with a lot. I was really close with this family and it was sad when I got transferred because I was not able to say good-bye and they took it pretty hard as well. So Anziano Friedman and I headed out to their house, but when we got there they were not home... after waiting for a while we headed over to her sister's house and managed to get through the gate, but they were not home either. I was starting to get nervous at this point because I really wanted to see them so badly, but I was running out of time. We ended up talking to the sister’s neighbors and they directed us to the grocery store. As we were heading to the grocery store, someone started screaming my name and then sprinted up to me. It was the mom!!! I honestly don't know how we met up other than saying it was a miracle because we were walking through the streets trying to find them and we ended up crossing paths!! She was so happy and brought me to go see her children, L. and J. It was a super happy reunion and probably one of the most special nights of my mission, being able to see them and hear that they are still reading the Book of Mormon, hear them pray, and see that they are doing so well. They actually are in the process of moving houses because there were complications with the house and basically the owner said that the mom couldn't go to church anymore with her children, or have the missionaries over. So, the family ended up moving. It was super special to see them and something that I will never forget. While I was in Napoli, I was also able to see Fratello Grandulli, (Genni's father), President Amodio, and Fratello Granata (who I spent Christmas Eve with); they were all in the church, so that was a really happy reunion as well.
As for the work, things are going well. Our main investigator is doing well and is coming to church! We will be doing another Skype lesson with him this week and we are really happy to see him progress. We also were able to perform some service for this family in our ward in their huge yard. I absolutely loved being able to work out in the yard again doing yardwork. I never thought I would say this, but it is something that I miss a lot. The father of the family ended up coming to church the next day, which was great because he is not a member but he is really supportive of his family. I have a lot of respect for him.
Easter Sunday was great. We ended up doing some finding which was awesome. I love being here and testifying that Christ lives!
For my spiritual thought I wanted to share some from the Doctrine and Covenants (a book of modern revelations given to prophets by Jesus Christ). This is found in section 18 and it is instructing the prophet about the church. I like to think about how this can relate to me as a missionary.
10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
This week I seriously had so much joy in being able to see my missionary brothers, my good friends from other cities, and being able to see that they are all doing so great! This scripture has really come true for me and I am so grateful for this time I have to "call repentance" and invite others to come unto Christ in his restored church because He lives and loves us!
Vi voglio un sacco di bene!!
Anziano Spencer
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