5/18/15

Family,

Well what a great week. We have really been blessed and had some crazy things happen. On Wednesday we went to Siracusa on an exchange and it went really well. The Anziani there are doing really well and they are working really hard and doing some great work. Funny part of the story though. Wednesday night they had to many things going (washing machine,fan, a.c. ect.) and the power went out. Well because the washing machine was going, then entire room where it was, was filled with an inch and a half of water and everything,including all the stuff the my comp had brought for the exhange, was soaked and lots of it was ruined. So we spent the morning helping them and working with their down stairs neighbor who wasn't very happy when he woke up to leakage from above. That was a pretty crazy experience along with the fact that they had a few lessons set up that they had to be at but luckily for the most part it was fine when we needed to leave. 

Then that night we got a text message from a member in Brazil that gave us a referral and we felt like we needed to go see them as soon as possible so right when we got back from Siracusa, (we did the trip in P.J.'s because our normal clothes were completly soaked we got changed really quick and went and found this referral. We got there and they let us in but these people spoke little Italian, they spoke only Siciliano. So that was fun and the referral was drunk to add on top of that and so it was twice as hard to understand him but the parents seemed to be interested and when we see them again hopefully they will be sober. haha

Then we had a good day on Sunday. We actually had a cousin of a member come to church and he is AMAZING!! He seems really cool and very prepared and we are beyond excited for him and to see if we can help him in anyway shape or form. We had a really good week and we have been blessed a ton. My comp leaves on Friday and so that will be weird. It has been weird just seeing him get ready but lots of this week will be the goodbyes and getting ready for him. I hope you all have a great week and know how much i miss you all and love you all!! 

Love

Anziano Passantino

Pictures

Happy Birthday!!!!

This is a birthday Present. It is called a coppola which means hat in Siciliano! Plus the sisters got me a cake for District meeting.

5/4/15

Family and Friends,

Well this is going to be a short email for a few reasons. First, I just emailed on Thursday so not a lot has happened. Second, I get to talk to the Fam this week!!!:)

The last few days have been kind of slow. Coming back after an amazing conference up in Rome it as been a little bit slow trying to get back into the swing of things but we had many miracles. For example, we had an entire family ,who want to know more about the church, that came to church on Sunday. That is amazing and I feel like it was such an amazing miracle after what might have seemed like a slow week. Also my comp did his skype home on Saturday so that he could see his brother open his mission call! He is going to Madrid Spain and so that was a cool experience for him. 

Other than that I just want to tell everyone at home that I love you guys. Last night I had a very special experience that helped strengthen my testimony a lot. I have been focused a lot on something that my Mom has always taught me, by example and through her scripture study, and that is the importance of the heart. I have been reflecting a lot on many of the people that I have met on my mission whether missionaries or members of people who want to know more about the church, and I have always grown close and become friends with those who's heart are in the right place. I feel like it is so easy to get caught up in the outside picture or the way we see peoples outward achievements or appearance. Sometimes we do things to have those outward achievements or to be recognized outwardly and we might even do good things for that but that isn't what the Lord wants. He just wants our hearts. We just need to do the right things for the right reasons or else doing the right thing doesn't have much valor. It doesn't mean as much. I testify that the Lord needs us to give our hearts to Him by doing His work not for the outward recognition but because our only desire is to serve Him. It is just another LARGE step on our way to become more like Him and return to live with Him.

I know that I have a lot to work on in this sense but I feel like I understand better my role and what I need to be doing. Even though there are many trials happening right now in our lives, the Lord knows where our hearts are and He can change us to make us better!! I hope we can all look inside and figure out where our hearts are and where we need to go to be better. I love you all and I testify that God's Plan is PERFECT and we need not worry but we must have faith!! I love you all and can't wait until I get to speak with my fam next sunday!!

Love

Anziano Passantino

4/30/15 Bednar and Rome

Family,

Well this week has been fun but I'll start with last week. Last week we went and did and exchange in Reggio Calabria. It was super fun but it takes like 3 hours to get there and they needed a ton of Books of Mormon for this missionary activity that they are doing so me and my comp had to carry two boxes of Books of Mormon from Sicily to the main land and we walked like 10 miles with them. They weighed like 40 pounds a piece. It was quite the trip. As a plus though, the best gelato in all of Italy is found there on their lungo mare and it was soooooooo good. We did a thing called gesso where we write on a sheet some questions or maybe draw the plan of salvation and then we talk to people that pass by on the street!! It was very succesful for them plus they needed some work so it was a lot of fun.

Then this week was crazy!! Monday we went early to help a member clean up this new area for their house and paint a little bit then, we had to sprint home and get changed so that we could meet up with the rest of the zone to go to the Conference in Rome. My comp and I were running all over the place trying to make sure everyone was at the Airport on time and everyone had forgotten to take certain items out of their carry on's but they didn't want to throw them away so we made one last run to the airport with the car, picked up all of their stuff, went back home and put it away and then we walked 35 min to the station where we got a bus to the airport so we didn't have to pay for parking and we finally got there 35 min before the plane took off. The plane was a little bit late, luckily, because when we got there they told us if it hadn't been late then they would have already closed up. Afterwords we finally got there and everything went smooth. Getting to the Hotel/mission Villa where we all stayed was crazy as well but it all worked out well. 

Then we had the conference. It was soooo special having and Apostle of God in the room with us. He made it very clear that the conference was not about Ipads. haha He taught us so much and I wish I could explain it all but most of it was done by his example. He taught us with the spirit and was very specific in not playing the "guess what's in my head" game that many teachers play, and making sure that every question he asked wasn't searching for a specific answer getting in the way of the learners. It was funny as he explained the fact that those types of questions drag the spirit away because when you ask bad questions searching for specific answers, especially when asked by an apostle, you brain freezes up even if you might know the answer. You just freeze up and it takes away from the learning process. It was really a cool experience. He taught us many other amazing and great things, that I won't go into now but it was really amazing!! This is just the first one that comes to mind. 

Then yesterday we had another conference and we flew home yesterday evening! Overall it was a great week and I feel very edified. The work of the Lord is going forward with this work. technology is going to chance the work of the Lord and He has made it for His purposes. It was great getting to shake his hand and speak with him. I have such a huge testimony of living day prophets and their role. I know that He is and apostle of the Lord and I sustain him as a prophet, seer, and revelator. This is the Lord's work and He guides it!! thanks for all of your help and love!! I hope you all have such a great week!!

Love

Anziano Passantino

4/20/15 First Week in Sicily

Family and Friends,

This has been a great week. It was hard saying goodbye to all the people in Caserta and after such a long time it seems weird to be in a new city but I feel at home already and I have been welcomed in really well. I am in a 4 man apartment again which makes it fun. This next week is going to be filled with us trying to figure out how to make everything work for the mission conference with Elder Bednar next week. We are super excited for it but it is pretty hard in our mission because we are all so spread out. We will have to take a plane to Rome and so that'll be fun. I feel bad for all of the people in the office that have to do most of the work there. There is always a special feeling when a general authority comes so it will be great!!

These weeks was filled with many goodbye and many new people. I really liked the ward here so far. It seems like we will have a good ward and they were all super nice and it was nice having the last name Passantino. They recognize it right away which is pretty cool. We went to our ward in Catania then my companion and I went to the American Branch here that they hold on the base and we translated for a member of the High Council that spoke there. It was pretty funny, I thought I just left the only place with the Americans and here we were again doing the translating haha it was fun though. I guess we also teach an Italian class on the base which should be really cool.

Well there isn't a lot to report for this week. Transfer weeks are always super crazy trying to get people back to their cities and to their new ones. It was a bit crazy also because some of the sisters got off the train and we saying hi to their new comps and they forgot their little bags on the train and the train left. hahaha that was crazy but not too difficult because they just called to Train Leader and they brought them back on the next train back. 

Well, I'm sure this is going to be a great transfer. I am really looking forward to it!! I am loving it here already and can't wait just to get to work!! I love you all and thank you always for your influence on me. I hope you all have a great week!! 

Love Anziano Passantino

Ray Bands

This is a pic of all of us with fake glasses on. The Elder on the right had his birthday on Sunday. Those fake glasses that he is wearing are really nice Ray Bands and they cost a ton of money so we always make fun of him for paying so much for fake glasses. The rest of us three went and bought 4 eruo fake Ray Bands and we wore them around for his birthday haha just a little joke!

Good Guys

Well how do I put this nicely!! These are two of our special members who are a little bit crazy! The one with his hood on is the one that we took to the hospital twice and who vomited on me. The other on is another one that is a bit crazy. I will miss the many experiences with them because in the end, they are both good guys but they just have had some experiences in the past that make them a little interesting!! haha they are good guys!

SICILIA!!!!!!! 4/13/15

Hey Fam,

We as the subject says, I have finally gotten my wish!! I am going to SICILY!! I am beyond excited to get to serve there and meet all of the new people there. If you guys remember my experience the last time I went to Sicily you can imagine how excited I am to go back!! It has been a good week this week. Luckily bishop asked me to give a talk this week so I was lucky enough to be able to speak in my last week here. It is bitter sweet because in these past 9 months I have come to love a lot of people here. I will miss them all but I am ready to go to Sicily as it has been my dream to go there my entire life. To be exact I will be in Catania on the East Coast of the Island. It is soooo beautiful there and I can't wait!!

We have had such a good week. I am also a little sad that I won't be with my "son" in the mission anymore because he has really taught me a lot in these past few months that we've been together! He is going up north to a place called Ascoli Piceno and he is super excited about that!  The cool thing is that Elder Bednar is coming in a few weeks and so we will all see each other for the First whole mission conference since I've been here. It should be quite the experience as we are also going to be recieving council on how we can use the IPads that I believe we will be getting soon. They are coming to start us in using the  technology a lot more in this work!!

Other than that it has been a solid week. We had a really special experience this past Friday. We were doing an exchance with the Zone Leaders here. On Friday morning we went up with the Senior Couple to go see a "less-active" sister who is only less active because she lives 11/2 hours away by car and she can't drive and there are 0 busses that pass on Sunday. She has been really down because her husband has been very ill recently and isn't doing very well. We had the chance to use the Priesthood to give them blessings and the spirit was extremely strong. Some of the greatest experiences in my mission have been as I have seen the power of the Priesthood act through blessings for the sick and the afflicted to the blessings of God's beloved children. I have countless sacred experiences with it and I have been blessed to participate in many miracles because of it. This was no exeption. I feel immensley grateful for the restored power of the Priesthood of God and I strive to be worthy of it. This is my constant prayer to be worthy and prepared when the call comes! There has been no greater blessing or feeling than the ability to bless other because in this manner!! I love this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ. I have had many confermations about that this week along with a greater love for a living prophet! 

Thanks for everything that you all do me!! I love you all!!

Anziano Passantino

The Best Pizza in the WORLD!!!!

4/7/15

Dear Family,

How is everything going? I hope you each had a great Easter Sunday as we had the chance to reflect on our gratitude for our Savior Jesus Christ's Atonement and Resurrection for all mankind. This week has been a little bit strange but really good. We were in the church literally the entire day on Easter watching conference with a different croud each time but we were happy to be there. In Italy Pasquetta is another HUGE holidy which is the day after Easter and we did a big deep cleaning of our appartment and then at the end of the day we went and ate with a member who gave us TONS AND TONS of food. We had 5 different types of meat, with pasta, tree types of cake, and salad fruit and pretty much everything you can think of. It was a 7 course meal and the family fed 23 guests haha it was quite the cite. 

I loved all of the talks given in General Conference. For those of you who didn't get the chance to watch it or don't know what it is I would invite you to take a little time to do so. I have had the chance to be grateful for modern day prophets and for my Savior who gave His life that I may live. I know He lives, that He is willing to bless us as we follow His grand invitation to follow Him. I pray that more and more people will accept His invitation and feel of the joy and peace that comes with it. 

We have been extremely blessed this week. I wish it was possibly to truely show to all of you how happy it makes me to share this gospel with others. The knowledge that NOBODY is beyond the reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ as he reaches to save us from our trials, sicknesses, pains,and mistakes. This principle was taught so wonderfully by Elder Holland this weekend. Although nobody spoke directly about it, I was taught and testifyed to by the spirit about the importance of hearts/desires. This is only possible through the power of the Spirit and this means that we must always live worthy of it. Anything that leads us not to feel the spirit or disobey it's promptings is very dangerous and we deprive us of the opportunity to bless our lives but more importantly the lives of others. I wish I could adequately describe in this short amount of time the blessings that come as we follow the spirit and the blessings we see as the Lord guides our lives in EVERY moment. We have the chance to be a saving hand in the lives of others if we are worthy of and follow boldly, as it says in PMG, the promptings of the spirit. 

I love this gospel and this work. I love you all.

Love

Anziano Passantino

Pictures!

3/30/15

Ciao,

Well it has been another week that has just flown by!! I cannot believe how fast everything is going, it feels like I was just here yesterday sending you all and email. We had a really good week filled with many miracles. More than anything I am just excited that the work here is starting to do a lot better. As a city we found 7 new investigators this week. The other companionship found a new family of 4 and we are super excited for them and we were able to find some new people that seem super interested as well. We are sooo happy to have the work here start to grow. We fell so blessed by the Lord and honestly we just try to continue to do what is right and He blesses us beyond on own personal beliefs. 

We have had a lot of what we call "bidoni" this week. It means that you have and appointment then they don't show up without really telling you why or letting you know so you end up just waiting there for a little while. Those are a little bit frustrating but you always move forward and keep trying to help this people come closer to Christ. Sometimes it is hard not to base your success on the free agency of others but are just trying to do what is right and leave the rest up to the Lord. Sometimes Satin strives to get us frustrated and in so doing we become ungrateful for the many miracles and blessings the Lord gives to us each and every day. 

A scripture that has come as a revelation to me is Joshua 1 verses 8-9. I have decided that my personal study of the scriptures needed to improve so that I "mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein". I then tied this into how we must also "meditate" also on the rules of the mission affectionately called the "White Bible" and how reading and pondering both of them together would help me to be obedient and have the success that the Lord wants me to have!! I am trying to find little times during the day when I can get a chance to study them so that I can know them and use them better. One of my favorite quotes from Preach My Gospel is that "Your ability to teach with power from the scriptures comes in large measure from the time you personally spend studying them. As you daily feast upon the word, your ability to teach from the scriptures will improve. In addition, your invitations to study and ponder the scriptures will be more powerful because you are doing the same thing in your life." Its not that I don't read them it is just finding little pockets of time where I can read them for personal gain not trying to do so when I should be worrying about others and their needs. It has helped me a lot!!

It has been really a fantastic week and I feel so blessed to be here. There is nowhere I would rather be. These people are truly amazing and they help me so much. I have learned so much from the Italian people and I love them more than I would have ever imagined. I thank you all for your love and support. I want to leave you all with my witness the Christ lives! He is the King of Kings! He is our Savior and Redeemer! That however hard our lives may be the beautiful message of Easter is that one day we will ALL be resurrected and have perfect bodies but it is our decision how comfortable we will be in those bodies and how comfortable we will be in the presence of our Elder Brother Jesus Christ who suffered every pain imaginable for us! I pray that we can all become more like him and remember that even when we mess up, he will help us learn "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; [for] blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more". I love you all! Thank you for everything and I hope you all will be blessed on this sacred and holy week!

Love

Anziano Passantino 

3/23/15

Hey Everyone,

Well this is going to be a super short email. We just had a super cool conference here this week and Elder Texiera the Area President came to speak to us!! It was super good and it was nice because I was able to see lots of the people that I hadn't seen in a really long time. He taught us a lot about how we can do finding and how we need to be more bold. He taught us how important the Book of Mormon is and how we need to use it way more in our work. There is just a special spirit when general authority comes to the mission. I think the entire mission just got a huge boost of energy that we needed to go forward. 

Other than that it has been a good week. Our work is getting a little bit slower but it happens. We are just trying to do our best and get the work going before either of us get transfered. We are doing well though. 

There isn't a lot to talk about and I don't have like any time so I hope you are all

doing well and that everything goes well this week. I love you all!!

love

Anziano Passantino

ps my ex comp sent me this funny saying!! haha

3/16/15

Family,

How is everyone doing this week?? We have had a super solid week. We were expecting to have 5 investigators in church this past week but none of them showed up unfortunatly. This is a problem that we deal with a lot here. Lots of things are said but not a whole lot is followed up on by actions but it's okay because the Lord's plan is perfect and it will all work out. 

We went to visit this African member named F****r this week. He just got back from a trip to Ghana and it was the first time that he had been back in 8 years. He hadn't seen his son that entire time because he was born a few months after he left to come here. He left to come to Italy because he had a preacher from the Pentacostal church tell him that his mission to God would be served in other parts of the world. So he picked up everything a left because of a desire to serve God and while here he found the read for the first time the book of Mormon. Since that time he has helped 20 other African friends in this area be Baptized. He is really amazing. He made this crazy food that is super famous in Africa called Fu Fu. They make a thing they call the stew(which is made different every time) but for us he put in Chicken, Gizard, buffalo, dry fish, ginger, peanut butter, lots of spicy peppers, two onions, garlic and water and a normal pasta red sauce all together and lets it boil. Then when that is about to be finished he makes this dough type mixture called Fu Fu. You eat it with your fingers and dip your fingers in the stew, then grab the dough mixture and dip that in as well. It is super good but pretty spicey. Then after you just eat the stew like a stew. They say this is why all africans are super strong and have good teeth because they eat the bones as well. Pretty Crazy!! I thought Anziano S**** was going to pass out before he even tried it just watching Foster make it but he ended up liking it. 

That was a big highlight of the week but we also were able to teach a little bit more than usual. All of our all day finding is starting to pay off a little bit so we are looking forward to the future and all that we are doing. Another little funny story of the week is that because we are a half English speaking and half Italian speaking ward I get to do the translation every week for most meetings becuase there are only newer missionaries here and then one other that doesn't feel 100% confident because sometimes some of the members get frustrated if the translation isn't super good. It's been a good experience for me for the past 3 transfers though. Anyway, during the meeting yesterday a new greenie started quoting Shakespeare from Elder Christofferson's talk during Sacrament Meeting and it was quite the ordeal trying to translate something I barely understand in English let alone Italian having to translate it back into English in Shakespeares way of speaking hahaha. At one point I just said in the translator speaker that I may speak English and some Italian too but I don't speak Shakespeare and I got quite the laugh from the congregation and the speaker had no idea what was going on. haha Luckily the speaker was a newly arrived missionary.  I just decided to give a summery of what he was saying and it turned out alright haha. It was a funny story anyway haha maybe I shouldn't have said anything:)

Well we've had a good week work wise as well. The other elders should be having a baptism in the next few weeks so we are happy for them and their success! I love it in Italy. Sometimes I find myself just stop and realize that I'm Italy and it makes all the troubles go away. Anziano Scott is improving in every aspect and I am really proud of the progress he is making. He is just a great person! Well Hope you all have a great week! Love you all!!

Anziano Passantino

3/2/15

Well,

We got the news on Saturday that I will be doing my sixth transfer here in Caserta!! Pretty crazy huh?? I am super excited, I thought that I was going to leave to be 100% honest but I am looking forward to these next six weeks. Obviously the Lord needs me here to do His work so I will do my best here!!

We've had a good week. We are excited and there is a lot of energy here. The week went really well as we had planned. We had a less active/new convert lesson each day this past week. We have had the change to work with lots of them and help them to come back to church. We have a less-active that the Anziani having been working with since a little before I got here 7 months ago that has finally started coming back to church. She has been less-active since she was about 12 years old and now she is 28. She is starting to come back and Satin has been working really hard on her but she has seen that as a reason why she needs to come to church. She has figured out that because of all these trials she knows that what she is doing is right and that she will be blessed and grow from them. We are really excited about her progress.

We have also been working a lot on our daily Planning and making sure we fine tune everything. This week we saw a true miracle. We recieved a bidone (a canceled appointment) on Wednesday from a member here but as we were planning the day before we made sure that we are having back up plans for everything and so we had a back up plan. Although when we went to our backup appointments we found people that were busy and not interested any more, we were walking on the street and I stoped a lady that was about 37 years old. We started talking to her and we found out the 25 years ago she was  baptized in the Phillipines and she hadn't been to church in about 20 years. We now are working with her and trying to help her come back to activity in the church. It was a very special blessing thanks to the importance of planning and back up planning!! 

Anziano S**** and I  are excited to be together for another transfer. He is starting to get the hang of things really well and I know he is going to be an amazing missionary. He works really hard even when physically he is completley drained. Yesterday in a lesson a member asked him a question, directed at him only and he was the only one that could respond, (even if the Bishop was there ) and he handled it with confidence and answered with the spirit and a scripture. He gave this member exactly what he needed to go forward because he was listening to the spirit. 

We are doing really well and I love and miss you all!! Thanks for everything!!

love

Anziano Passantino

2/23

family,

Well it has been another crazy week but it has gone really really well. I think that this coming up week is going to go really well. Tuesday we were at the Hospital with the same member, he is still in there but hopefully in a few days he will be able to exit. We have all been a little bit sick. I got a little thing on Saturday night with a high fever and felt super achy but I feel a lot better today just a little bit of a sore throat!

 We had Zone Conference and it was all about faith. Something very enlightening was given to me by the Assistants when they talked about the story of David and Goliath as they talked about how to not have fear. I would invite everyone to read that story again verse by verse thinking about the faith that David had. He was not scared in the least bit about anything that Goliath could have done because he knew what the Lord wanted him to do! Read this and tell me if you think David was scared of a giant that was much larger, much more experienced in fighting and had all "physical" advantages: 

Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.

It is this same strength a power that we need to show to the Lord in all that we do. We cannot be scared to stand up for the Lord, there is no more time to do so. The Lord needs us to be more committed and working hard for Him every day!! We should all say as did Paul to the Romans "For [we are]not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16). I am glad to have learned this one lesson in my mission, along with many others, and it has really helped me get ready to see success in this work!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!

Love

Anziano Passantino

ps We have Elder Texiera coming to our mission next month then Elder Bednar coming in April!!!!!!!!!!!!! How cool is that!!!

Pictures

Some pics from last P-day. The first one is the Zone here in Napoli from our Zone soccer game and the second is of an investigator that works at a bar. He thinks he is really funny because he always will offer us alcohol but then he will explain to everyone else in the Bar (remember that a Bar in Italy is like a little Cafe in America) who we are and what we do. We passed by to see him last Pday and he wanted to take a pic with us because it was the first time he saw us in normal clothes haha

2/9/15

Hey Family,

How is it going?? We have been doing really good down here. Just like you guys have been talking about in your  emails the Lord really blessed us with what we needed this week which, for us, was new investigators. The Zone leaders came down on Wednesday after lunch and we did a Scambio for the day! I went with Anziano G******* and Anziano S**** went with Anziano B********* (Fun fact is that my first scambio and Anziano Scott's first scambio  was with the same person haha) The Lord really blessed us during the scambio as we were able to find some of the Lord's elect. I really was shown this week the fact that the Lord blesses those that endure. When I first got here to Caserta the work was going well and we had a few baptisms then the last little while it has been a little bit harder but the thing is that the work level was going up and up. This week we saw the blessings of that hard work and effort as we were able to find 4 new investigators 2 of which came to church on sunday!! 

We are still striving to reach our goals and work hard towards our vision. It was really cool because we had the idea that we should give our district vision to our ward mission leader. Yesterday during our Coordenation meeting he followed up on it and we were able to given an accounting of that which we had done through the week toward our vision. It really helps to have that person who will help us to become the missionaries we want to become. It has also taught me the importance of following up with our investigators,members, less-actives and all those in whom we contact every day. This helps them towards their true potential. 

We have had many miracles this week and the Lord is really guiding the work here. Anziano Scott is making leaps of progress. He is really getting out of his comfort zone while finding and then he is doing well at helping in lessons as well. I know that I need to get him more involved in teaching but we are working on planning lessons more thouroughly so that we can be prepared for them. It has been a great week and we are doing really well!! Thanks for everything!! Love you all!

Anziano Passantino

2/2/15

I have 0 time to write and email this week but I want everyone to know that Miracles are happening and that the Lords work is going forward. I love you all and I love my Savior Jesus Christ you makes this life worth living!! Thanks for your strength and Love!!

Anziano Passantino

1/29/15

Hey Everyone,

Well it has been a good week here in Caserta. It's cool to think that I'll be here for 7.5 months by the end of this transfer and who knows maybe even 9 months!! Well I am glad to report a good week to finish off the transfer. Anziano Scott and Anziano Del Dotto arrived safely on Thursday and they got straight to work here in Caserta. We were able to do some good work this week and we know that the work is going forward. Anziano Scott will be my "son" in the mission and Anziano Del Dotto is from Luca in Tuscany. He is like 6'6 and he is with Anziano Pingree 6'8 and so everyone just stares at them when they walk on the street haha. 

We are excited to have Anziano S**** and Anziano Del D**** here with us now. I think that we can all benefit from their talents and ideas on how we can improve. Anziano S**** seems to have fit right in and seems like a great missionary who will have lots of great input in the work here. 

I have prayed and feel like this transfer(and all those to come) that I need to focus on a certain goal or objective. I am going to try and make sure that this transfer our District has a VISION. I think that will be the word of the transfer:) I really have noticed the importance of having a vision of where we are going and how we are going to get there. I have had this testimony in the past but for some reason it has really sunk in this transfer. We will use Preach My Gospel and the Standards of Excellence to formulate not only district Visions but also visions for each and every companionship and each missionary. I know all you buisnessmen who read this know the importance of this in work but what about our everyday lives. It is soooo important so that we can reach our full potential. The scripture that triggered this is found in Proverbs 29:18 which says " “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. In my opinion the one thing that needs to be eliminated in missionary work is wasted time and just going around doing missionary "things" instead of missionary "work". Something to think about even in our everyday lives in my opinion. 

I hope everyone has a better week this week and that everyone is doing well! I love and pray for you all!!

Anziano Passantino

1/19/15

Family and Friends,

Well I was a little bit shocked when I got on my email today and found out about the news for this week. I am not sure exactly what to say as I just sat here for the past 20 min thinking about all of the amazing memories. I had a little bit of a miracle, friday night in fact, while I was saying my nightly prayers. I have developed the habbit of writing down promptings and spiritual ideas or revelation as I say my nightly prayers. This friday as I was praying, my thoughts were on those of my family and those who either have or have not had the chance to recieve the joy and knowledge that comes with the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ in these last days. I prayed for those, not in my emediate family, namely Aunts, Uncles, cousins and Grandparents and that they might be touched by the Love of God this next week. I don't know exactly what will come of this situation and I don't think we are ment to understand everything that happens in God's PERFECT plan. I do know, however, that the Lord loves you and that you will be blessed beyond belief for your love and Charity to your Sister both her on the earth and after. I know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is His only begotten son who came to earth to suffer not only for the sins of the world but also for the sorrow that we sometimes feel sorrow but we know that "men are that they may have joy". I know that The Enabling Power of the Atonement is real and that it can and will give us the strength to do whatever the Lord sees fit that we do. One of my favorite quotes from Elder Henry B Eyring is "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

My advice would be that of Elder Worthin when he said "“Be assured that there is a safe harbor. You can find peace amidst the storms that threaten you. Your Heavenly Father—who knows when even a sparrow falls—knows of your heartache and suffering. He loves you and wants the best for you. Never doubt this. While He allows all of us to make choices that may not always be for our own or even others’ well-being, and while He does not always intervene in the course of events, He has promised the faithful peace even in their trials and tribulations.”  I love you all and hope that everything goes well this week.

Love

Anziano Passantino

1/5/15

Sorry I lost track of time as I was writing and forgot to do a big email. I love you all soooooooooooooooo much. I hope you all had a happpy New Year and that this year will be filled with happiness and joy!! Thank you all sooooo much for your support. The work is going better and we are doing well here. I am grateful for you prayers and support. You guys can take little parts of the person emails to put on a big one if you want but just make it a review of what I said!! Love you all!!

12/29

Dear Family,

I hope everyone had a great rest of the Christmas week!! We had a great time at Christmas and we feel grateful to have members willing to invite us over for this amazing day!!

 I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, and the opportunity that we have each and every day to testify of Him brings me more joy than I can possibly describe. I have tried this week to reinforce in myself the knowledge of the importance of bearing testimony of Jesus Christ. It is sooo important to testify of Him because as we do so the spirit can testify to others of the truth of what we are bringing with us. Something I have always struggled with is saying the right/most important thing without adequate preparation but I have learned in my mission and can testify of how the spirit will literally give you the words you need to use at the correct moment, especially as we testify of our Savior Jesus Christ and let others know exactly who we are as His representatives. It has been something on my mind that has really stuck out to me recently. 

The work has been going okay, it could be better, but we cannot complain. Last night was one of the more productive nights that I have had here in Caserta as we were able to go and see different members and less-actives with our Bishop and share quick 20 min messages with them about the Savior and His earthly ministry and what He actually did here to save us. While pondering and praying about the message of Christ and the mission of His earthly ministry I have come to realize exactly the importance of Him descended below all things. The condescension of Jesus Christ is something that I hadn't really grasped until recently. And if He, being perfect, had to descend below all things, who I am I to complain during trials or abandon ship when things begin to get difficult? We talk often about His perfect example but how much do we really understand about it and how much do we really put ALL His teachings into practice? I think more than anything it has served as a reminder of the importance of being humble and willing to submit our will to the Fathers "even as a child doth submit to his father" as said in Mosiah. I Love my Savior and am grateful and humble to be his representative for those that we come in contact with here in Italy. I know that we must always continue to grow and learn on this our journey through life and that if we will endure to the end, we will receive eternal life. Of this I am sure.

 I love you all and hope and pray that everything is going well. I love you all and Hope you have a great New Year!!

Love

Anziano Passantino

ps haha in this pic, I tried to time a jump so that I would be bigger than Anziano Pingree and totally failed as you can see, haha o well these are the families that we were with for Christmas! Love you