Cosenza 2011

So this last week was pretty exciting. I can't remember who said it, but there was someone that said you need to be very emotionally involved in you missionary work. Well, I sure felt that this last week. We had some pretty awesome, powerful experiences. It's a shame that I already called, because it all happened after the phone call! haha.

Anyway, I'll just tell you a little, and the rest you'll have to ask me about after the mission. One thing that was awesome is that on Saturday night we decided that we need to pray specifically for three people who are ready to baptized. We prayed for them each specifically every prayer after we decided that (we're still doing so).

Prayer with faith is powerful.

The next day, after church, we got a call from Fernando. He's one of the three we had been praying for. He told us that he wanted to change his life, and he was hoping we could help him somehow. We set goals, and one of them is that he will be baptized on the fourth of June. That's about as little detail as I could possibly give you, but I'll tell you about it in more detail after the mission. Another great experience was with lesson "0". I can't remember if I ever told you what that is, but it's the first lesson we do (I know, you would think we would do the first lesson, but we do that the second time, haha). I think it's very appropriate seeing as here in Italy you start with "piano terra" before the first floor that is really on the second floor.Anyway, last night we did one and it went horribly. This morning we did taught one to Enzo and it was almost perfect. He's awesome. He actually called us on Monday to set the appointment. When we talked to him this morning he told us that when he had talked to him we had opened his eyes. A little bit before meeting us (we met him on the street last week) he had thrown away everything he had of Jesus Christ in his house, and he didn't really believe in God anymore. So when we met with him we told him that we want to teach him about the restoration, the plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, but we need to meet with each other often so that we can teach him everything. We also told him that he needs to pray, he needs to read the scriptures, and he needs to come to church so he can receive a testimony. Then we told him, once you have a testimony, will you be baptized by someone who has the correct authority? He was nodding his head before the question was even finished. He's awesome. He is around 45 yrs old, and he is a soccer coach. He's a stud.

Sorella Ziccarelli taught with us. She's totally awesome too. During the lesson she bore her testimony and I thought that Enzo was going to cry because the Spirit was so strong. She has a really powerful testimony. After the lesson she apologized for interrupting but said that she felt she should bear her testimony. We were like, are you kidding! You did awesome! It was perfect! haha. We were so stoked. She wants there to be a temple in Calabria and she's willing to act to make it happen. She's like...60 years old. I don't know if there's any other news. Well, I'm sure there is, but I just can't think of it! I'm doing well. I like what mom says that as long as I'm on a mission she doesn't have to worry about me. haha. That's totally true. There's really nothing better that I could be doing right now.

I think what makes the mission so great is that it requires a lot of self-control and discipline. In the sense that while I was in Gela we taught and baptized Nicola who used to be a Catholic monk, and we also taught Antonio who was about to become a Catholic monk. They go into the convent and they don't have anything to worry about. They just chill, study the scriptures, and they're protected from the world. It's not like that at all in the mission field! Sometimes when people here things like we can't have a girlfriend here, or that we have to go home at a certain time, they're shocked. I always say, it's not like somebody comes to check on us and if we follow these rules, but we follow them because we want to. I'm obedient because I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and I know that the restoration really happened.

It's like all the commandments. If people want to know why we follow them, they just have to try it and receive a testimony and they'll understand.

Love,

Anziano Banks