Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Narnia

Dear Family and Friends
We have had another good week here in Terni. Today we went to Narni. The old city that CS Lewis took his story from. We found a lampost that looked exactly like the one in the movie. Then there was a door in a rock wall just like the house Tumnas in the story. You will all have to look that all up. Plus we saw a lot of Lions in the city.  The place is really beautiful but then again, I see so many beautiful things every day. It is becoming sad because I don't want to take them for granted. It is really amazing.
Anziano M****** and I are doing well together and in my opinion we get along very well. We are very different in many ways but that makes for a great thing in the end. The work is going foreward here. We were happy to get Anziano P**** and he came in and fit in right away. He seems like a great missionary. The work has been going very well. We have an 18 year old investigator named M****** and he is great. His parents are against what he is doing because it goes against the tradition of the family but he is trying to find his own personal path and he is striving to find and follow God in his life. He just wants to get better each and every day so with that being said, he is perfect. Yesterday we had a baptism for a member, this turned out to be really good as M****** was able to come along with his girlfriend. He is really golden.
Other than that, we had a great lesson with R******. R****** has been meeting with the misionaries for a long time now and he was starting to fall back. We brought him to a lesson with our Ward mission leader and it was amazing. He let out his heart to us and you could tell he needed it. We were able to teach him about how when you put God first in your life, He will be your guide in all things. He really needed some guidence in his life. He has seen that as he reads the scriptures, everything gets better. He is able to deal with the problems in his life much easier when he is following the principles of the gospel and study out of the scriptures. We were able to give him a blessing at the end and he said he felt the spirit stronger than ever.
It is so true. When we put the Lord first in our lives, we don't have to worry about anything. 
Sometimes I have little problems come into my mind about the future but I have the comfort of knowing that if I give everything to the Lord, He will never leave us alone. We don't have to worry about what will happen if we are following the priciples of the gospel. So I am doing well. I have never been happier in terms of where I am and what will be happening. I have been trying to keep a mindset about the future and now I know that it wil all be okay. I am so grateful for the gospel and the joy that it has brought into my life. I am also thankful for all of you. I hope everyone has a great week.
Love
Anziano Passantino

St. Valentine

Dear family and friends
Like always I hope that everyone is safe and well. We have had another great week here in Terni. The trio is sad to be splitting up but we are happy to be getting another Anziano, Anziano  P****. I am happy to be working with Anziano M******* this next transfer. He is a great missionary who has the language down very well. His grammer is fantastic so I am looking foreward to being able to learn from him and the hard work he has put in and be able to grow myself as well. 
This past week has been very exciting in many different ways. We started with our Pday in Rome. We saw some of the big cites. We were able to see the Vatican and a giant Castle as well. Just like us Americans we had lunch at the only Subway I have ever seen. I had a normal sandwhich for the first time in 5 and a half months haha. The funny thing is it smells exactly the same in Italy as it does in America. Oh also, I forgot to tell you all. This week for Valentines day, we were in the city where Saint Valentine was born. He is the Patron Saint of the city of Terni. It was a huge party here so nothing was open and everyone was packed in center. There was people from all over Italy here trying to sell different things.It was a big festa. 
This past week we have been trying hard to bring the members with us to all of our lessons. I have seen that when members bear testimony along with ours the spirit is even more strong. I love when others are able to be there as well because in that way we can learn from other teaching techniques. As I have said before one of the greatest things about being on the mission is growing along with those you are teaching. I see the truth grow in others but it also grows in me each time we teach.  
We are having a little trouble with our new convert S******. We are trying to help him in everyway but he has this idea in his mind that some of the members have their own personal objectives in mind when they make decisions. It makes me sad to see. I will continue to pray and hope that his heart will be softened to know the truth about these members. I am also frustrated with the fact that others have been planting these thoughts in his mind recently. I know that the Lord is in charge so that makes everything more assuring knowing that I am doing all I can to help. In the end his will will be done. It is also hard because I know the prayers, fasting, and revelation that goes into this work and he just 
can't see that as of now. I know that with faith he will be able to see that. 
Other than that, this week has been good with work. We have all been feeling a little under the weather this week, especially Anziano W******, but it seems to be getting better.His fever was at 102.6 but it is going down.  Hopefully we can avoid it for the next little while so the work can go on here. I am so grateful for this work that we are doing. I have NO doubt that it is the work of the Lord and that it is being hastened for a reason and that we are definatly in the last days. I love seeing this work go foreward. Thank you all for all you do for me. I love and miss you all but I am doing well here. Have a great week everyone!!

Love,
Anziano Passantino