Another One Bites the Dust!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week there isnt a lot to talk about. It has been a pretty normal and boring week. We had to stay at the Church for almost all of 3 days because we had the keys and we were the closest to the area. Great use of the Missionaries huh... Anyway its not a big deal. We got a lot of study in this week so we learned a lot haha. The theme (title of the post) is because every day when we are at home we here these explosions and they sound like gun shots but we saw some kids just blowing off little fireworks. We all start singing that when we here them. 

I have been studying a lot this week as I said. I have been reading a lot in the Book Of Mormon. I want to bear my witness of this book. It has the answer to soooo many questions of the world. I know that whoever reads it will know of the truthfulness it contains. I have found that all it takes is a little bit of effort and the Lord does the rest. We just have to read a little and we can find the answer to the questions we have. If anyone wants to get a copy all they have to do is ask. As we study  the words of God as contained in his scriptures we can become closer to Him and know his will for us. I know that this book is a book of scripture that we have as another testament of Jesus Christ. It contains with the Bible the fulness of the Gospel. I have a testimony of Modern day revelation. This is the way we recieve lots of council when we need help in our lives. I am so grateful for this gospel . I wish more people would just put in a little effort using only a little faith and they will recieve more than they can possibly imagine. Thank you for the example you all are to me. Each day I strive as hard as I can to become better. I strive to follow the perfect example of our Savior. He is the only way we can become worthy to enter into our Father in Heaven's presence after this life. I love you all soooo very much. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and please remember the real reason. Love from Italy! 

Anziano Passantino

If you would like a copy of the Book of Mormon leave your e-mail address and we will get your contact information to send you one right away and completely free! 

Hello from Terni

Wow,

I have a lot that I wanted to talk about in this week's letter but I don't think I have enough time to fit it all in... I will try my best though. Last pday we went to Rome. We get to go there once a transfer and it was super legit. We went past lots of the cool monuments that everyone hears about. Those will be sent in the pictures. We only had a little bit of time to see a ton so we didn't get to linger a lot but we saw a whole lot. Rome is huge though so you can't really see a lot in just 6 hours. We are really blessed to be close enough to do that and to be able to have such amazing monuments so close to us here. 

    In terms of the week it was really good. It seems like the days are going by faster and faster. I am trying to soak it all in. I wanted to share a little bit about the spiritual part of the week. I have been studying a lot about the need for an organized church rather than just a belief in God. The talk Two Lines of Communication by elder Oaks is amazing to clear it all up. Personal revelation is something we need to be using a lot. It helps us to make decisions and to guide us in our lives. I would recomend reading it for sure.

    Also I have been studying a lot about about our work in the church. Here in Terni we are trying to get the members more involved but they lack the motivation. I love Elder Dubes talk about this. This is a lifelong work that we are all a part of. We have to work until the end to bring people to this wonderful message. Just like he said, faith is always pointed to the future. The scriptures that I have been studying are my daily Book of Mormon Study and these in particular. Doctrine and Covenants 58:2-3 and Mathew 11:28-30. Everyone should look those up. They are great. Other than that, my message would be to serve others. Through us God may answer the prayers of others so always be willing to serve when we can.

    Sorry this is just the short message but I hope it brought a little light. I hope everyone is doing well and remembering Christ this time of year. He is why we celebrate Christmas. Have a great weeek!!

Love

Anziano Passantino

Look for the Miracles in YOUR life!

Family and Friends,

   Another week here in this amazing County. We are all doing well. We got a new Anziano this week named Anziano M******n. He seems like a great missionary and we are excited for the work in this city. I am sure he will help there companionship a lot. We have had a good week but not a ton going on. It is getting to the point where the people here are staying inside a lot more or going to different places in the world that are warmer. Our church attendence has droped a lot so thats too bad but it's just because people are traveling all over the place. 

   Today I wanted to write this email a little bit more about some of the things that I have learned this week. I have learned a lot here in Italy about a number of different topics but one of the things that I have learned the most is how much we are blessed when we do the things that we know to be correct. I have found that as I strive to work my hardest and to follow the Savior in all that I do that he blesses me. At times we go through our life and we miss all the little things that we are blessed with. The Thanksgiving season helped me to look for these little things a lot more. I have noticed the little blessings he gives us. Something I have noticed is that when I follow the to the number I am blessed with the ability to speak to these people in the language they need to here. It is something I have seen the opposite as well. When I do not follow the rules exactly and I am lost for words, I don't know what to say and I am really unable to convey the words I want to. It is weird but is a blessing. With the advice from family and friends I have been writing down miracles or little blessings that I have seen in my life.As I notice the little things I am blessed with more big things and can see how much I am being blessed each day. S I have noticed that some people  don't want to do the things of the Lord because they don't see the fruits of it. As we come to the realization that everything  we have is given to us by the actions we make and based on our obedience we are more willing to give back and continue to move forward. The little things are so important, as we look really hard for those little things we will be blessed. I know that the Lord blesses us. 

    As humans we make miracles be something we cannot comprehend, such as the miracles Christ did when he was on the earth such as Healing the Sick and raising people from the dead. The cool thing is that miracles are not something man can comprehend, God knows all things so therefore he creates the rules on what can happen and what will not. As we try to limit his strength by defining miracles as something we cannot comprehend we miss the many miracles each one of us sees. For example the internet that I am using to write this e mail. It is not a miracle in the eyes of many that I am able to write and send the e mail but to me it is. Someone was guided by a God whom I know to be there to create this way of communication. It is a blessing we don't even realize because we use it every day. 

    I would hope that all people would look for these little miracles, these little blessings we have in our lives that we see. It is my prayer that as we look for these we will be able to realize that it wasn't by chance that we are here. That everything we have, we do, we see has some type of heavenly purpose that only God knows the answer to. I know that there is a God, that He sent his son Jesus Christ to Atone for our sins and that He loves us so much and blesses us more than we can possibly understand. He wants to hear from us through prayer and He wants to help us even more as we recognize that all we have is for him. I love you all and hope you have a great week. 

With Love

Anziano Passantino

Staying in Terni

Dear Family and Friends

     Wow I cant believe it has already been a transfer. I got my first transfer calls on Saturday and that was exciting. They joked with me a bit but then they told me I was staying here in Terni. I also will have the same comp follow up train me! I am glad to stay here. I like it here and I like it more and more as I go to some of the other cities, not that they are bad but I am happy here! Hopefully I will get to go down south sometime soon!!

     We had a random conference on Tuesday in Rome with only our Stake and the other Rome stake and the General Sunday School teacher sopke to only us missionries and also a member of the Young Mens Presidency. It was PERFECT. We all needed it and the stuff they taught helped a lot. It was good for everyone, the main message being about Real Intent. How we need to have real intent in everything we do starting from waking up and ending with going to sleep, everything needs to be done with a purpose in mind and we need to always ask each ourselves if what we are doing in purposeful. It made me think a lot about the little things we do doing the day like working out, and those types of things. The other was about how to become better teachers. That was great to but focused mostly just on us misisonaries. It was a great learning experience. 

        We have done a lot of traveling back and forth to Rome these last few weeks and will have to do it a couple of times again this week. We are getting a new elder, Anziano M*******n I think is his name. We have only heard good things about him so we are very exciting to keep moving foreward with the work . 

       I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I am grateful for all of you and for the chance that I have to be here. I have seen people become happier as they have learned about the message we have. It is my hope that all people will at least give it a chance. I know if you do then your life will change for the better. The joy that we have is something I wish for everyone because I have seen lots of people lacking that joy. It is one of the greatest things about this gospel. I hope everyone eats a lot this week, we are having a little thanksgiving party for the English class we teach so they can realize all they have. I hope everyone this week reflects on the things they have, and not just the big things, but the little things. Look for the little things in your life that you may not appreciate as much. We all have so much. Hope everyones week is great. I love you all.

Love

Anziano Passantino

First Baptism!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow this week!! I have like no time to write all that I want to about this week but I will try my best. It has been great. I think I will focus on Saturday. We preped the "baptismal font" in the morning. It was really just a minny backyard pool that we filled up. That was funny we climbed in with chairs hahaha. It was pretty funny and great. We then went and did a thing called gesso, it is where we stood in the Center and drew the Plan of Salvation of a sheet and it gets the attention of all the Italians and then from there we have Plan of Salvation pamphlets and explained it to them. In one our we had 3 numbers and a return appointment. It was great. 

    Then for the Baptism. Everything went great. The printer at the Church was not working and so me and my comp ran around looking for a place to print the programs for like an hour because everyone was closed. We then went back and I had to get changed and just a little bit after that we started. It was a little close but it all worked out. We got to see S***** sincerely happy for the first time. It was great. I was super nervous to say the Prayer in Italian but once we got in the font I was no longer nervous. It wasnt difficult because I didnt really remember saying it but I know that it happened. That might sound a little strange but I know it was becuase the Spirit helped me with it. I am so happy for him. I wil try to put on some pictures of the night. 

      Other than that this week has been good. Finding went good this week. Lots of that is because we went on an exchange and I had Anziano B. again and he is super excited about Finding so it makes it easier and more successful. We have lots of appointments this week. Overall this week has been great. I know this letter has been super short but it was good. I am happy to be here. We have transfer calls this week so that should be fun. This transfer has felt long and short at the same time but from what everyone is saying it just gets shorter and shorter so hopefully I will be able to work to the best of my ability these next two years. Hope everyone is doing well. I love you all and am so grateful for you. Have a great week!!

Love

Anziano Passantino

When in Roma

Family and Friends

This week has been filled with a lot of travel and a lot of fun and learning an all sorts of different things. We had Zone Conference on Tuesday and I was given the chance to bear my Testimony in Italian in front of all the other Anziani and Sorelle which was a bit nerve racking but everything went very well. I have been blessed to learn the language and because of this I have not being super diligent on language goals but I do know how important they are. The more we set goals the more we will succeed. I am trying my best to become better and better at this and the more I do it the more I have seen my language skills grow and grow. We then had Stake Conference in Rome both Saturday and Sunday. That was good. I did not understand all of it and some people I can understand a lot better but they were using very formal language with another form that is not used very often so it was difficult. Other than that the conference was great. It was all about missionary work and how we need to work more with the members. In our last 100 baptisms as missionaries 48 of them have come from members and 4 from door to door and street combined. It really helps and I know how important that is. My friend Anziano M. was transferred today. Too bad we will miss him but are excited for Anziano T. to come to Terni. I have spent a lot of time in Rome this week but have not seen a thing. Hahaha o well I will at some point im sure. I wanted to share about something I have been studying a lot about here lately. This is the importance of being humble and Charitable. I have found that in my life sometimes I get jealous at others for blessings they recieve and have a hard time showing happiness for others when these kinds of things happen to them. I have been working really hard on this. I know this is because of pride that I have in my life. I know that this is something I need to be working on and will continue to work on my whole life. I really like a talk called Beware of Pride by Elder Benson if I can remember correctly. It is great and has helped me to see how I can improve in this area. Also I will try to be more charitable. It is hard sometimes but I know that it is important. I have not always been the best in the past and hope to get better and better. I know that this life is based mostly on our journey to become like Christ. I love studying from the Christlike Attributes in preach my gospel. We gain so much from there. It is my prayer that we can all become more Christlike and to strive for this in our life. We will all come up short but as we use the Enabling Power of the Atonement we can continue to improve each and every day. I hope all is well at home and everyone is doing good. I think about you all daily but I know this is where I need to be so I strive to focus on the work each day. I know that this message is special, some may disagree with me but I have seen miracles in the lives of these people as they follow Christ, it is truly amazing to see the fruits of this work. We have a baptism on Sunday and I am so happy for him. I have been given a love for these people that I am so grateful for. I hope everyone is doing well and that you will try your best to improve and become like Christ each day and if you fall get back up and start continuing on the path. 

Love 

Anziano Passantino

sorry again for the spelling it is really hard!! 

"He asked me to perform the baptism"

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow another week here in Italy. This week was both long a short at the same time. I was feeling a little under the weather all week. I am starting to get over it now but I felt pretty bad around Wednesday. It was just a little cold I think but everything is getting better now. We have had a harder week in terms of teaching. We have 6 investigators and only one came to church and he is getting Baptized in two weeks. We have Stake Conference this coming up week and tomorrow is my first Zone Conference. I am looking forward to that. About this guy who is getting baptized, his name is S****** and he has been taking the lessons for a while now. He comes to English course every week twice a week. He is a huge fan of the Band Genesis and he sings them all the time to me in English. He always try to speak to me in English it is pretty funny. He is a good guy. He has asked me to perform the Baptism so that will be a good experience for me. I am looking forward to that opportunity, and am honored that he chose me to perform it. He is the one in the pictures that I will try to send.

 The language is coming step by step. It is hard to always pay attention when I dont know what is going on in the conversation. The hard part for me right now is having just normal conversations. When we are teaching and talking about the Gospel I am blessed with the ability to understand for the most part what is happening its the normal conversations that are still difficult for me now. This is also hard becuase I cant really relate to people or get to know them and their needs if I cant talk to them about normal everyday activities. I am doing really well though. My comp helps me as I make mistakes. We work good together becuase I am the one that wants to talk to people but cant becuase of language barriers so I stop the people start a little converstion then he finishes it by talking about whatever. Just a little team I guess haha. Everything is going well, we love all the people here. I know that this is the Gospel of Christ. I have witnessed the spirit touch people. One of our investigators prayed for his life to change for the better then the next day he ruined his hand in a machine at work. He took this to be a sign from God as the next day the Missionaries showed up. We were able to get him a book of Mormon in his native language and he is traveling to Sri Lanka this week to help his mother who is in bad health. He has said that he wil read the Book of Mormon on the plan where there wont be any disractions so hopefully this happens. I am so grateful for the Gospel. It has changed my life for the better and I wouldnt rather be anywhere else right now. I am thankful for my family and friends and their example to me!! I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week.

Love

Anziano Passantino

ps Sorry about the spelling mistakes it is harder to type on these Italian keyb

Week # 2

This week has been great. I feel more in the flow of things now but obviously don't know everything yet. I am starting to understand Italian pretty well but speaking and responding is the hardest thing for me. I am lucky to have a comp from Italy that speaks great and others that help me along. So we have had a great week this week with lessons. This week we went on our first splits. My comp and another elder that live with us are district and zone leaders. They went to some meetings in Rome so I was with Anziano M. He is awesome and has a great spirit. He is somewhat new as well as he came in the transfer before me. We are both still struggling with the language but he can speak better than me but I think I understand a little more when others speak so we were a good combo. We didn't really know what to do always but we did good. We had to go to a lesson and teach. The lesson was in Italian, Spanish, and English to these guys from Ecuador but they are awesome. They had family from America there and they had lived in Italy for a while so they knew Italian also. We were very grateful for the relatives from America because if we didn't know how to say something we could ask them in English and they would translate into Spanish and then we would continue in Italian. It was a good lesson. I feel like we did well even though we are not super experienced but we both taught by the spirit so it went well. It was a miracle that we got there because it was in a city that we didn't know and we both were a little lost but somehow we made it. I love it here. We are in an Internet point right now which is a little bit different for me but its cool, I keep getting sprayed by a little air freshener hahaha. Wow the food is great. Yesterday was the first day that we didnt have pasta haha. It is one of the few things we can cook and is something that others usually cook for us. But yesterday we got a Taco Salad which was fantastic because it was new and different from pasta. So like everyone knows we get a lot of food at appointments. When others cook they give you a ton. First like 3 servings of Pasta then another plate with meat and beans or rice. Then a desert then fruit to top it all off. This is of course with bread and with this raw meat that I am not very fond of because it is raw meet but of course everyone says that I will like it by the end of my mission so I guess we will see. So for study I have started the Book of Mormon. In a talk called the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar he gives the suggestion to read the Book of Mormon and have a question and just study the Book of Mormon about that topic. Right now I am doing the Atonement and the Enabling power that it can give to people along with the forgiveness part but more specifically on the Enabling power of it. I would want everyone the read another talk by Elder Bednar about the Atonement and Journey of Our life. It is perfect about this and has changed the way I study and pray. It is absolutely perfect. I hope everyone will find a question they  need answered then read the Book of Mormon and continue this as they finish to start again with a new question and then after a 20 years we will have quite a collection of doctrinal based questions answered as we study it. I am going to try it! I hope everyone is doing good. Thank you for all the emails and love. I am working hard and it is coming step by step! Have a great week. 

Love

Anziano Passantino

The first week in ROME!!!

* Note from Kindra - Only two of us got e-mails from C.J. on his P-day saying that he was online really quick and would get on for longer later. Well, we waited and waited and never heard anything...

Family and Friends.

I am sorry for all that happened yesterday. It was kind of a crazy day. We went to this awesome place for our Pday and it was incredible. I cant really describe it because it wont even give it any credit but hopefully you will get the card in the next few days. After we were going to go to this lesson and it is an hour away from our house. We were going to come back and Email after so I didn't really think about who I was emailing at that time. We were running a little late for our train back after a great lesson and we were in such a hurry that we got onto the wrong Train. It took us to the middle of nowhere and we were stuck there. There were not any trains until 11 oclock and that is way past when we are supposed to be back. We had to call everyone and let them know. It was freezing cold and we couldn't go inside for the reason that there were a bunch of people sleeping there and so we couldn't do anything to wake them all up. We waited outside and sang songs huddled next to each other. I can only imagine what we looked like. hahaha. We didn't get home until 1 in the morning which was a little hard because we had to get up at 630 right after. Hahaha it was a fun experience because we learned a lot. Always double check the signs at the stations:) My trainer was super worried and upset with himself. Speaking of him. He is Italian. He speaks perfect Italian from the North where they speak a lot clearer and he is really cool. He didn't know any English 2 transfers ago but now he can speak almost fluent English. His district two transfers ago told him that they were only going to speak English with him the entire time so he learned very quickly. hahaha he is helping me a lot. I am in the North most part of our mission where they speak the best Italian and so it is helping me to understand. Lots of the time I don't understand but I can understand a lot more than I ever thought I would when I left the MTC. So we got here on Wednesday and we saw the Temple and the Colosseum. Those were both really cool. The temple is coming along really well. I cant wait until that is done. We still dont know when that will be but we are hoping it will be done within my mission because it gets pushed back all the time. It was hard to say goodbye to all my district from the MTC and everyone there on Sunday but I loved talking to the family on the phone. We have been doing a lot of teaching. We have 6 investigators and they are all awesome. Hopefully we can continue to help them come closer to Christ in the next few weeks. My city is cool, it is the safest city in the mission so im sure Mom will be happy about that. We stay in an apartment with two other Anziani and they are both from the US but one speaks fluent Italian because he grew up here but he also speaks all English also. The other one just came the Transfer before me and he is awesome to. We all get along very well. Church was different but great, the ward is awesome and the Mother of one of my teachers at the MTC is here and she is the one that took us to that awesome place yesterday. Almost a city on a mountain. I have so much that I want to say but so little time. I love everyone here and everyone back home. I know this work is the work of God. I know this is Christ church that has been restored to the earth. I have seen miracles happen in the few days that I have been here. I want everyone to feel the joy that I have by serving and being a member of this wonderful church. Thank you all so much for all of the support I have been getting from home. I love you all and again I am sorry about the mix up. My Pday is on Monday from now on. I hope everyone has a great week.

Love

Anziano Passantino


***Note from Kindra*** If you click on the tab "Presidente or Sorella Waddoup's Blog" you can see lots of pictures of C.J. Here is a link to my favorite post http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2013/10/dinner-with-new-missionaries.html

Last week in the MTC..it's go time!

Wow,

Well this came really quickly. Don't get me wrong I am way stoked to go to Italy and even more so to be out of here. But I am way nervous. I do love it here and love hearing the General Authorities Speak each week but I want to get to work. I am beyond excited that I get to go serve those in the Italy mission and those that may even be long extended family. I love hearing stories and hearing experiences about all these things that will happen there. I am going to miss my teachers. They are super awesome!! Each one out of the four of them have a new perspective to give and I love it. Three out of the four served in Italy and the other one is from Italy and he is excited for us to go teach to his people. We have these things called guided study where they help us with a certain subject just one on one and tell us what to do to get better at it. I really like these and I also like when they take that time to help me with what to expect and what to know. This last week I had one from our Sister teacher and we talked about the mission and she helped me and just let me ask any questions I had and what to expect there. She gave me the truth rather than trying to just sugar cote it but now I feel ready for what might happen and I am grateful for that. Each one of them is super supporting and helps me in a different way that I need and I couldn't have asked for better teachers and a better way to learn about the gospel/language. General Conference was amazing wasn't it? I learned a lot about all of the questions I had and I loved all the talks. My favorites were Pres Uchtdorf on both the Saturday session but more so in the Priesthood session. I couldn't help but think about how it might be here in a few months or even weeks we he said, Stand Up men of God and dust off and get back to work. We will all have times where we feel like we can't get up but thanks to our Savior we can get back up with his help and Do it "right now". I also couldn't hold back tears as Elder Holland Talked about those with physical disabilities. They are so much greater than us in So many ways and I thought of seeing them someday after this life in there Perfected bodies and it made me happier than ever before. I thought of Lauren our cousin and how sweet her spirit is. I thought of all these missionaries who although they have physical disabilities are still out here serving missions. I had and Elder sit by us in a devotional the other day and he was in a wheelchair and his comp helped him in and out whenever he needed to sit down. I wish I could be that Christlike in my life. Also we heard the singing group Vocal Point from BYU at a devotional Sunday night and they were fantastic. They are all without instruments and they sing. They brought the spirit to the meeting with their voices as they sang Hymns that were important to them in some way or another. I loved that and it made me Think of my buddy Jack Hansen and how he can bear his Testimony with his voice and bring the spirit with it as well. I am grateful for good music because it has a special effect and with it we can be sure that Christ is happy when we listen to good wholesome music. I have heard lots of music used in the other way but when used correctly in can bring tears to the eyes of all who are hearing it. I loved this week. Conference was great and I hope everyone took the challenge of writing down questions and having them answered through Conference. I am grateful for this Gospel and the opportunity I have to serve the people of Italy. I am thankful for you all and your friendship and love and hope you all have a great week. 

Love 

Anziano Passantino

Whatever you do WATCH GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!

Hey family and friends. I was hoping that this week I could write a big long letter in my family letter but I took to long on the person ones so I will have to cut it pretty short. I am sorry. This week hasn't been very exciting but we had this devotional this past Sunday that was amazing it was given by the President of the Provo Temple he a spoke about woman and their ability to access the priesthood in there lives. I really liked it. He spoke about the sanctity of women and how much they are favored by the Lord. It was great. He shared an experience when he was with Elder Ballard at a stake Conference and Elder Ballard stopped in the middle of his talk and stood up and called all the men in the conference to repentance. He said that they were not treating God's daughters with the respect they deserved and that needed to repent at that moment. He told them that if a man raised his voice at a women then they needed to repent because of the love God has for all of his daughters. I really liked it and I wish I could share more but the point of all this is that the Spirit was stronger to me in this talk than any other I had ever heard. I felt the spirit testify each time he spoke and it was fantastic. The devotionals are so good here. Each time they speak we can feel the spirit testify of what they are saying. I wish everyone could listen to the Character of Christ by elder Bednar. It changed my life for sure. I wish I could be better at being more like Christ. I really wanted this letter to focus on the importance of Conference this week. I want everyone who reads this whether you are LDS or not to watch Conference. I promise all of you that if you go into Conference with a question in your heart and in your mind it Will be answered. I KNOW this can and will happen if you do this. The Prophet and Apostles are inspired by God along with all others who will be speaking. They have the spirit with them and will speak about what you need. I know some of you won't believe what I say but I promise you that if you try it, it will happen. The MTC is great and I am learning more and more each day. I do love it here and hope that I will continue to grow in the Language and the Gospel in these next two weeks. I will not stop trying that is for sure. I love you all and more importantly Jesus Christ and God do also. Thank you all for everything.

Love 

Anziano Passantino 

Guess Who I Saw?

Dear Family and Friends

Wow I can't believe we have been here for 3 weeks already. Sometimes it feels really slow but when I think about it it has really flown by. I do really like it here. I can't believe the amount I have learned and all that has happened. We just got back from the Temple here in Provo and it went really well. I love having the opportunity to go to the temple each and every week because it really puts me in a great frame of mind for the rest of the week. I am learning so much. I can speak the language okay right now and can teach people all about Christ and our message for them. It is crazy how blessed I am to be doing this. This week had a few difficult days including some where it was hard to keep going, the blessing being that I did keep going and am doing even better for it now. This place is really fantastic and the amount going on is awesome considering all the people, all the languages and everything that is happening all the time. I know I am repeating myself a lot in this email but it really just blows my mind with all that is happening. It is weird to think that in 3 weeks I will be in Italy and working hard. O MY GOSH I can't believe I forgot but just like 10 min ago I was walking outside and we were going to come email and we were walking by all the new elders and I stopped and waited a little while and I saw my boy DALLAS!! hahaha he hadn't taken 10 steps out of the car and I saw him. I wish I could have seen Brian too but he had just driven away. Hahaha pretty funny huh? So make sure the Schoens know that he is doing well and we took him to his dorm and class for the next six weeks. He is going to be great! Thank everyone for all the letters and packages. Getting a letter or a package is like Christmas everyone always wants to check the mail and see what is happening. Its pretty funny actually:) So this week is fast Sunday and then we have General Conference. I am totally stoked about that. The General Authorities are AMAZING!! They have the spirit with them and when they speak they speak with divine inspiration for many who need to hear it. I am really so excited for that opportunity to hear them all speak. We had a great devotional from Elder Clarke of the Seventy and he talked about our ability to speak with power and authority from god and he was amazing. He talked a lot about being obedient to everything that was told of you and when you do so you will be blessed beyond belief. It remeinded me of the Prophets talk about Dare to Stand Alone, and when we do so we must Dare to Make our message know. I also like something else. He said "this work only works on the basis of love. Mom that made me think of you and how you were such an amazing example of that. I shared that example in our district meetings after the devotional. Even though I am still hoping to get an apostle I really do love all the talks given in these devotionals. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the time at home. I love and pray for you all daily. Have a great week everyone. 

Love

Anziano Passantino 

Note from Kindra...Dallas is C.J.'s best friend in Texas. He is going on his mission to Brazil and  was supposed to go to the Brazil M.T.C. but hasn't gotten his visa yet so he is in Provo. They were of course, hoping they would see each other. Dad saw Dallas at the DFW airport and Brian picked him up and brought him to the MTC. We can only imagine how excited those two awesome Elders were to see each other right of the bat, truly a gift from Heavenly Father. 

Elder Schoen and Anziano Passantino best friends ready to serve the Lord!  

"I've only been here two weeks, I've already been here for two weeks"

Hey,

Hows it going everyone?? Week two has been good. Not nearly as exciting as week number one so this email is going to much shorter!! Sorry about that. We have had a good week. Lots of lessons and teaching in Italian so we've been working our way through those but we are getting a lot better. I don't know if I told you but my comp's name is Anziano S. and he is from Spanish Fork Utah. So we get to teach in Italian each day to our two new investigators M**** and S******* which is Italian for Savior! S******* is working to be a catholic Minister and M***** is alone and needs the plan of Salvation in her life! Our group Has been getting along really well again and we all just get closer and closer each day. After our planning a few days ago we went to the Milan Missionaries apartments and we all just started cracking jokes and we literally were on the floor crying laughing it was so funny. I think the fact that we were all exhausted had a little bit to do with it but it was so much fun and ever since then all we do is laugh and make stupid missionary jokes back and forth. I taught my first lesson without any help from me writing things down or any materials to back me up on Tuesday and it went really well. In my personal study I have been trying to focus on how I can be better at Teaching with the spirit and by making my investigators feel a little bit more comfortable around me. It helps but when they say something really fast in Italian and use words I haven't really heard before I have learned just to rely on what I do Know in Italian and teach them from my heart. It is hard but fun. I  really do like it here but I can't wait to get to Italy. I feel like its this feeling of I've only been here for two weeks while at the same time feeling like I've already been here for two weeks!! Its weird for sure. That elder I told you about last week who has been here for 8 weeks now is probably going to be here for longer now which I am happy about because he is probably the one I get along with the best! Him and Anziano T. who I think Melissa knows somehow!! He is awesome. I actually get along with everyone really well but those are probably the two I get along with the best and its cool because I can still become way good friends with the people going to Milan because we are so small that we all get to be together like all the time and we all are each others best friends for sure. It is really going to be hard to say goodbye to all of them at the end of all this because only 3 of us out of the 14 are going to Rome. O well it will be fine. Well i hope you are all doing well and know how much I love all of you! I love this gospel and I know without a doubt in my mind that it is true. Each time I testify of it the Spirit confirms that to me! I love being here and I know with no doubt this is where I am supposed to be at this time in my life! I love you all but more importantly Heavenly Father and Christ love you! They know each person personally and give us challenges but also give us a way to get through those challenges! Each person is different but God knows what we need and when we ask He will answer! Have a great week!!

Love 

Anziano Passantino

"The MTC is Amazing"

Dear Family and Friends,

I want to start out by thanking everyone for all the cool things you have done and all the support I have received from everyone!! The MTC is amazing! I know its only been one week but it really is great here. The spirit is strong and the people are great. For those who don't know I am on the West campus not the original campus. The rooms are bigger the food is better and the work is just as strong:) I know that this work is true. The spirit is strong here whenever there is a devotional and whenever we are together. I did get called as our district leader but its kind of funny because we only have 4 people in our district, me and my Comp Anziano S and two sisters who are going to Rome as well. Our branch is only 15 people strong but we have grown so close together as a group that I wouldn't change it for anything!! The first day was quite crazy, they rushed us off and we got all of our books and tags and all of that then we had to rush to get on a bus that was taking us over to the West Campus so that we could put all of our stuff down in our living area. Our living area is huge compared to what I expected, We have two rooms with a bathroom, a living area with two couches and a kitchen area. From what I've heard it is a ton bigger than what the people on the main campus are sleeping in! We then went to our classes where we waited until everyone got there and then we started. The only people in our class is our district so those same four people. I think that helps a lot with the language because each of us can get a little more one on one time with our three teachers who all went to Rome on their missions. I have learned how to pray in Italian and I know the "scopo" or our missionary purpose it Italian as well. I am half way done with the first Vision but it is quite a bit harder than the other two. They only speak to to us in Italian so at times it is frustrating but its alright. I have learned how to say "Posso dirlo in englese" which means can I say it in English and they usually say yes so if I am struggling with carrying a conversation in Italian that helps a ton! After class we met the Branch Leaders and we had a little get to know you testimony meeting with us and they interviewed us all and thats when they called me to be district leader. I was honored to be responsible for the district even if it is just four of us. The sister are Sorrela K and Sorrela P and because we are in the Class more than any other place by far we have grown together as a district and we all get along very well. They are by far the best at the language too so I have to give them their props! We finally got to relax as little bit after all of that and unpack. We then met our roommate Anziano P who has actually already been here for 7 weeks but he got delayed because of sickness and physical reasons so he has been there for a while. He has a very strong testimony and has really helped us as a group. We have two Zone leaders for our group who also have very strong testimonies of the gospel as well but Anziano P is kind of our leader for now! We have two guys in our district that are over 6 foot 7 so when we play basketball they have to be on different teams. Sunday was really amazing!  It was so spiritual.I  was able to bless the sacrament for our small little branch but it was defiantly special for me. Also we all had to prepare a Talk and on Sunday during Sacrament meeting they chose who was going to speak. And yes you guessed it, I was asked to speak. Luckily it was a short talk but I kind of went over a little bit, o well:) We had leadership meetings in the morning and priesthood and then we went to devotional at night. It was really good and was all about how we need to work hard and Prayer especially and how the gospel truths cannot be testified of without prayer!! He explained about how necessary it was that we always pray. We also had an amazing devotional by a member of our branch Presidency about how we knew Joseph Smith before this life and in Doctrine and Covenants 138:56 when he is talking about the meetings that we could have been in them with all the prophets and how it wouldn't be a stretch to say those were taught by Christ to help us to prepare for this time in my life. It was really incredible and it made me think about my purpose in life. We also had a great devotional on Tuesday from a member of the seventy. Elder Martino, if I remember correctly he spoke at either Conference or something recently because the name sounded super familiar but it was all about testimony and was super good. In this last week we have taught six lessons all in Italian and they were okay. Some of them went good and some didn't go as good but we tried to testify of the gospel of Christ in each. My comp and I get along but we are very very different. Our investigator has the desire but just hasn't been taught by the spirit yet that it is true so we try to help him recognize it in each lesson. Well that has been the update for the week. hopefully I answered everything you all wanted to know because I am rushing to finish so! I want each of you to know that I have a testimony of this gospel and I KNOW that it is true. I am out serving because of that Testimony. I know Christ loves us all and cares about everyone. He has shown me a lot in this last week. I love you all and I pray for my family and friends all the time. Thanks again for everything you have done to support me!

Love 

Anziano Passantino 

And so it begins....

He entered the Missionary Training Center! Doesn't he look ready and excited to go and serve? His blog will be updated with his first letter as soon as we get it.

In the meantime let him know you're thinking of him by emailing him at charles.passantino@myldsmail.net

Going to www.dearelder.com

or sending a letter to the address posted on the side!

Ciao!

And he's off.. to Provo that is. 

He's headed to the MTC on Wednesday! 

Ciao, C.J. you are loved!