Transfer 16

Well it's transfers again so that means that I should probably write and email I guess haha. But this time there is a lot to update on. 

Also I wrote this on my phone and I know I made many spelling errors but I thought I'd magically remember where and be able to fix it but that doesn't seem to be the case.

So in case I have done a bad job on giving updates (which I have), let's run a little reminder. I am currently in Piacenza, a city less than an hour south east of Milan. We are branch with about 50 total showing up on sundays, honestly one of the bigger areas which is fun! When I first arrived the members honestly felt super distant from the missionaries. As I welcomed people in there weren't even many people that would shake my hand or talk to us as they walked in to church. But over the past 2 transfers they have opened up a lot and we have been in their homes move often and gotten to know them for who they truly are. Here are some highlights:

*Enrica- One of my favorite members in the entire church and I cannot even tell you why. She is not the mosttttttt active.....but hey at least she comes on the sundays with the branch lunch after (and brings the best tiramisù--we have seen an actual coffee maker in her house so maybe that's the secret). She didn't have missionaries over much before, but we've been twice now and she always spoils us. She lives alone but loves telling us about her kids and the people that she has helped raised as she has helped many of the members that have fallen on hard times in the past. But if you ever get in a car with her be sure to pray....a lot. I've never seen the back window of the car in front of me so clearly. 

*GianPietro- I am sure that I have talked about him in the past but he deserves another shout out. We go out with him and his friend Paolo. He is so funny (without meaning to) and has great care for Oliver, my olive tree. We see him around the city SO MUCH. One day we ran into him 3 times, no joke. He is passionate about the arts, and I have learned more from him than any class could teach me. He also knows like everyone in the city. And this has started to pay off for our missionary work. He has given us 2 referrals at this point. One is Massimiliano who I will talk about more in an email in a couple weeks as he is being baptized. And his other friend actually won a Nobel prize for a piece of his art, and has worked with Andy Worhal (in all honestly he has not progressed much, but he's cool).

*Sorella (Lucia) Draghi- To be honest, I don't know her well. But she has helped us with our investigators that speak french. She also has opened up a lot more to the missionaries and I am excited to get to know her whole family even more this transfer.

*Patricia & Michele Lombardelli-- If you can remember one of my earlier emails from Piacenza we did service out on their farm. And we actually went out again this week. We stood in a massive trailer and just chucked wood into a big pile. But we also got to see their new baby chicks and play with their dog that can climb ladders. Sorella Lombardelli is from Equador and helps us with many spanish lessons. Her husband actually is not baptized but he is slowly stopping his drinks of wine. 

And now onto the investigators:

Well actually we'll start with Tony who was baptized:

Tony is from the Congo, he lives here all alone and is only 20. We found him just on the street outside the church and our first lesson he saw the baptismal font and said that he would like to be baptized. He's only been in Italy for 8 months but has learned so much italian. He has such a cool story but I think I'll just sum him up by putting the testimony he shared after his baptism:

I want to testify of Jesus Christ and all he has done for me. When I was in Tunisia I went through a difficult time. the day I left Tunisia to go to Italy we were shipwrecked in the Mediterranean Sea I was the only person I left alive. The moment I was in the water I said to God if you save me I want to serve you all my life if you see me like this.

 Thank God I was met by missionaries named Jackson, Wallace, Winegar who were showing me the Prophet Joseph Smith. From the first day I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I felt that my spirit became stronger when I was baptized. Thank you for everything, God bless you.

 In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Temi & Isrele:

I also think that I talked about them before but they are set to be baptized later this month after Isreale turns 8. The branch LOVES them. They are truly already like members. Temi is the mom and her 3 sons love primary, and are learning about the Book of Mormon and memorizing the articles of faith rn. Temi doesn't speak much italian but she watches the church videos in english during second hour. 

Masamilano:

Again I will talk about him more when he is baptised but he is a really cool guy who was referred by GianPietro. He knew missionaries about 20 years ago and just instantly felt the spirit once he came back to church with us. 

Sylvie:

She is a french speaker and has nearly no italian. So it is kind of hard to communicate but she is so sweet and has the biggest desire to learn more about Christ. 

Those are all our friend who are currently on date. Coming up we also have some friends that we think are close. These would be Love, Tina, and Lucy. So if you could pray for them I hope to give more updates with them as we see them grow more and grow closer to Jesus Christ.

We also have a couple young people that we meet with. One being Esena, a super shy 18 year old from Ukraine who is SO SHY but she came to church! The young woman's took her in so well and made her feel so welcome even as she doesn't speak more italian either. The other is Giuliomanuele. He is so cool. He is 20/21 and is super slow to many progress but he asks the hard questions. He is not scared to be bold and has taught me how to have a conversation the italian way. Which is to speak all opinion as fact and not back down. I have had some powerful moments where all I can do is testify and share what I believe and why. He says we are the first people he has seen who truly have a testimony of what they say and doesn't understand how we can say things that impact him so much (we told him it's the spirit but it may take more convincing). 

 As far as a little spiritual thought. We have this church right down the street from our church that is not much of a church at all anymore. During Napoleons time his army or group came down to Piacenza and took over the church to make it a hospital to help wounded soldiers. While they were there they stole all the art off the walls and decapitated all the statues. But now it is owned by the state and there is a little art exhibition inside. But it is interesting to see the walls so bare. There are ornate frames with beautiful carving but they surround just a white wall. But it made me think much about the idea of a church in general. Why we go and the importance of having the true substance and the reason behind why we go. While it is important to have the social aspect and having meaningful activities, it would mean almost nothing spiritually if there wasn't the substance of the restored church. It's a bit like doing things just out of habit instead of doing in because we have a true testimony. They may lead to similar outcomes in the short term but one spiritually strengthens and helps us in our eternal progression why the other is just a nice waste of time. 

But at the same time there was such a beauty of showcasing nothing. No fancy jewels or bright colors. Just a blank wall. It was something so simple that showed how basic and simple the gospel can be. And that's something I keep seeing over and over as a missionary. Focus on the basics and the secondary things come as a natural consequence. I listed to a BYU talk the other day that talks specifically about the importance of asking all the main questions, not the secondary. And how the secondary can never answer the fundamental questions and can never lead to a true lasting testimony. Focus on what matters. In church & in life. 

Love you all, see you in 12 weeks 😊 (Pictures: Tony's Baptism and spending time with the missionaries)