Rome 5 | week 21

Regan and Anziano Blair helping Fratello Garcia paint his new apartment

8.25.2014

This week we had a couple interesting experiences. The first one happened when I called up the Fratello Gessati to see if he could come to a lesson/dinner with us and Francesco. He agreed, but said that he had to check with his wife to know what time he could come. There was a serious miscommunication that went down that was probably all my fault. We all met up at the Poggio train station and Fratello Gessati brought his wife and 3 kids. It was so awkward and everyone was looking at me, haha. It was okay though. We stopped to buy some more food, and we had a really good lesson on prayer in which everyone was able to share some experiences and thoughts, and then we ate lasagna, pizza, grilled out, and ate a bunch of fruit from Francescos garden. It was awesome. However, half our members still think i dont speak Italian. Probably because I dont. 

Ok I wanted to write about our Nigerian friends and the Jehovahs Witnesses we taught this week, but my time is short and I only have time for one more story. At the beginning of this week, Anziano Blair and I set a goal to teach 70 people out on the street not including our current investigators. We worked so hard to stop as many people as possible, and Sunday afternoon we had 35 gospel conversations with a total of about 45 people. I was honestly thinking to throw in the towel, and call 45 a good effort. However, a miracle happened. 3 weeks ago, our Romanian friend Stefano told us he would come visit our church if we agreed to visit his church. Yesterday we met him at his house at 2 and we went to his church which was a Roman Orthodox church. The service consisted of about 45 minutes of prayers/songs. Then everyone ate together which was really cool. There were 3 plates of food (pasta, some sort of romanian meet dish that was good, and then a dessert). In between each plate, the priest read from the Bible for about 15 minutes. While we were eating, at least 5 people asked us who we were. We responded that we were missionaries for our church then changed the subject, because the last thing I wanted to do was start proselyting in another church during their services. Super bad idea. Anyways, at the end of the service we waited for the priest to greet eveyone as the exited, and we stayed behind to thank him for letting us come. While that was going on, 5 deacons (not sure what they are called) started a conversation with us about who we were. When the main priest finished his thing, he came over to talk to us, and everyone else that was still in the chapel turned to watch what was going to happen. I didnt count, but it was at least 25 people. After like 2 minutes of thanking him for letting us come and complimenting his work, he switched the topic to Mormonism. It was the first time in my life that someone told me to my face that Joseph Smith was a false prophet who made up a story to get money and followers. I will never forget the next 20 minutes for the rest of my life. I looked him right in the eyes and testified of the Restoration through the Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and prophets that walk the earth in these days. There was a spirit that came into the room that no one could deny. He responded by taking our temple pass along card and saying that if we were true Christians, we would use our money to help the poor instead of building elegant churches. Then we talked about what the church does with money, how we are paying to serve these missions and how there are no paid leaders in our church, but everyone pays tithing to build the kingdom of God throught the whole earth. After we finished explaining that, it was over. They didnt want to talk anymore. Then he made fun of us for something and we thanked them again and left. We went with zero intentions to talk to anyone about the church, but we realized how inspired it was when we were leaving and realized we had just reached our goal of teaching 70 people for the week. Definitely an experience I will never forget. 

The most inspired part of it all was what President Waddoups emailed me the week before. He told me that we would never reach our goals if we relied on our own strength/wisdom, but only on the Lords. 45 people was seriosuly our best effort, and then the Lord made up for the rest Sunday evening. It helped me realize how inspired my leaders our and how involved the Lord is in our work when we give him everything. Have a good week.

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 20

8.18.2014

Things in Rome 5 are seriously going awesome. I feel so lucky to be in my 3rd transfer here with Anziano Blair. This week we had a couple awesome experiences, but the coolest of all was with our friends from Nigeria: Daniel, Noel, Samuel, and Tony. They got here in Italy 4 months ago on a boat. Their first day here was in Sicily and they met the missionaries who gave them a Book of Mormon, but didnt have a phone yet to switch contact info. The next day they got transfered up here like 5 minutes away from Fiano Romano where we meet for church. Anyways, we met them on the bus last week then they invited us over to their place on Wednesday afternoon. We showed up and it was an refugee camp with a couple thousand people living in it. We walked back to their room and their were 7 guys living in 1 room with a bathroom. That may sound kind of depressing, but it was the coolest thing ever. The first 15 minutes there we were just cracking up they were making us laugh so hard. They were the happiest people I have seen my entire time here in Italy. Then they told the whole story about how they already knew the missionaries and stuff, so we started to talk about the church a little. I asked Noel what are some of the blessings he has recieved from God in his life, and I will never forget his answer. He said, "We would be here all night man if you wanted me to answer that." So cool. We had an awesome lesson, then we went back on Sunday afternoon to see them again and they wouldnt let us in the camp cause we werent certified to enter. They are totally down to meet us somewhere else though. So glad we met them this week. 

Friday and Saturday were good days too. Friday was deep cleaning day all day for the whole mission cause it is a huge holiday here in Italy. We finished cleaning early afternoon then went up to Terni to be with them for the night and do an exchange all day Saturday. We had a lot of fun and I was able to work with Anziano Bee for the first time since the MTC last June! It was so fun going out with him. He just got blown into Terni with Anziano Pingree (greenie) so they dont really have any work yet, so we just went street finding all day. Usually street all day is pretty brutal, but Bee and I had a lot of fun with it, and we found some sweet people. One guy even sang to us in English. Interesting experience. 

Francesco took us out to lunch this week which was a blast! There was a restaraunt in the mountains by his house, and i seriously felt like I was on a campout back in the states. Only difference was it was delicious Italian food instead of burgers and hot dogs. Francesco is a lifetime friend for sure. We had a lesson with him after lunch on the top of a mountain looking over a huge valley and it was sweet. It was probably the first time on my mission I had a lesson in a really pretty place in nature. Definitely something I wont forget. Pretty memorable week. Have a good one. 

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 19

8.11.2014

This week a lot of awesome stuff happened. On Thursday morning we went to termini to pick up Sorella Pattersons greenie (Sorella Decker) and we also got to meet all the other new greenies who looked awesome. I was so fun asking them where they were going and who their trainers are. President chose the best missionaries to train this transfer and stuff is going to happen. That is for sure. Anyways, Sorella Patterson and I both had to go to Rieti to renew our permessos, so the 4 of us all went up together. After we finished that, we pulled a bomb greenie prank on Sorella Decker. We have a friend in Rieti named Cammellia who we are really good friends with, and we got her to take us out for a snack and she ordered us all orzo cappucinos. It smells and tastes exactly like coffee, but its totally not. We were all just like, "sometimes you just have to in certain situations. Its really just cultural." And then we all downed it, and she was so confused, haha. 

We had another funny experience last night. We told Lorenzo a while ago that the next time we ate with him, we would finish early and do all the dishes. We ate with him last night, but it was to late again and he was telling us to just stop making excuses and get out. When we were walking out the door and he was still on the 2nd floor and we shouted up "ciao bellino!" which he hates (bye little beautiful). He came sprinting down and chased us out of his apt and down the road like 200m and we totally passed a park with like 20 kids and a bunch of moms who saw the whole thing go down. Funny times. We love Lorenzo so much. 

Earlier in the week we were able to see our Nigerian friends Raymond and Latif. We found out that Latifs dad died 4 days before and Raymonds best friend moved to Germany the day before. We didnt have any special lesson prepared, we just wanted to see them and read a little from the Book of Mormon, but it ended up being one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. It wasnt because of Anziano Blair or me at all, but it was because God was aware of their situation and knew they needed to feel his love for them. It reminded me of a scripture in the Book of Mormon. "I will ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders...so that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and they ye may know of a s urety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." Raymond and Latif are awesome, and we were so grateful to offer some comfort during a hard time. 

We also got to see our friend Francesco two times this week. Once for a BBQ and a lesson at his place and the other in church on Sunday! It seemed to be a great experience and he got to meet some of our awesome members. We also started a geneology course Thursday night that two people came to, and hopefully members will come to that when they get home from vacation. They are seriously the key to helping our work go forward. Overall, this week was awesome, and its looking like it will only get better this transfer. Im really excited for the next 5 weeks here because they will probably be my last here in Rome. We shall see. Have a good week everyone. 

Anziano Smith 

Rome 5 | week 18

 On scambi (exchange) in Terni 

 Rome

 Elder Smith with Elder Morgan, Elder Mika, & Elder Blair for Rome 1 zone blitz!

 Train finding with the guitar...Regan said it did not work as well as they had hoped :)

Francesco's house in Poggio!

 I feel like this picture is straight from a magazine! 

8.4.2014

This week started off pretty sweet. Tuesday after district meeting in Terni I went on an exchange with Anziano Morgan to go see a contact with found in Rieti the week before at a Gelateria. We walked in and this other guy started talking to us and being super nice. Turns out he was the owner of the place, and his friend Silvanus showed him the Plan of Salvation pamphlet we left, and he loved it. Then he gave us each 2 free triple scoop cones of gelato, haha. And then he said he wanted to bring 2 of his other friends to church in Terni the next Sunday. It was so cool, we literally did nothing except show up and a bunch of free gelato and more people to teach just came out of nowhere. I need to start giving out more plan of salvation pamphlets. Morgan and I were super happy the rest of the day. 

Wednesday we did a zone blitz in Rome 1, which meant all the missionaries from Pescara, Laquilla, Terni, Ascoli, and us went to go help out Rome 1 with their work. It was cool to get to work with some new missionaries and be in Rome for the day. I was stationed to work at Piazza del Popolo which was a heavy tourist spot and talked with 2 Italians the whole time I was there. Everyone else was on vacation. I remember in specifically talking with people from Egypt, Isreal, Holland, Germany, and England. Not sure it helped out Rome 1 so much but it was a good day of missionary work anyways. 

On Thursday we had a really good service opportunity. So we went and had dinner with the Vaccoronos last week and we noticed that the kitchen really needed to be cleaned. Fratello Vaccorono is raising his 3 teenage sons alone, and doesnt really get a lot of help cleaning the house. We showed up to his house in the afternoon while he was at work and spent over 3 hours just cleaning his kitchen. We got Mattias phone and downloaded Pandora then just listened to Lower Lights while we did dishes forever. It was so much fun. I totally understood what it means in Doctrine & Covenants when it says we should seek to do good out of our own free will. When we seek to do cause we want to it is so fun and fulfilling and doesnt feel like a chore or burden at all. It felt so good to hear how appreciative Frat Vac was too. 

Saturday morning we had a funny experience. The hot water stopped working completely, so it was not like the Liahona. We called a guy to come fix the water heater. He unscewed our faucets and they were clogged with Calcium and other minerals that build up after time. It was nasty. I looked at Blair and was like, "No poison can harm us." And then he was just like, "Whos on the Lords side who?" We have totally been drinking that water for months and it was gross. Its all good now though. 

Saturday night we went and visited Francesco in his mountain house up in Poggio, and it was so cool. He brought a dinner that his sister made for us, and we had a lesson/dinner sitting outside in his frontyard. I dont think I have ever met anyone who is more giving/generous in my life. He seriously treats us like his closest friends even though we are just 18 and 20 year old kids. I want to be just like him when I am older. 

This week a lot of our members went to the Swiss Temple, and they brought us back Swiss Chocolate! I was so happy. I ate it all Sunday during Language study in less than 5 minutes. Anyways, this week was fun and spiritual like every other week in the mission. It is incredible how time flies. 25 missionaries fly home tomorrow many of whom I have known since day 1. About 20 others come in Wednesday and we will have 2 of them in our district, so it will be fun to get some youngbloods in the district. More news to come on that next week. Ciao.

Anziano Smith 

Rome 5 | week 17

7.28.2014

I finally got to go to the Vatican this week! It was my first time, and it was certainly a treat. I got to see many things that I studied European History which was really cool, and definitely an experience I will never forget.

 

After we visited the Vatican we got to meet with a new friend of ours named Francesco. He plays in an orchestra that is right next to the Vatican, and we met him outside of his work. He was seriously too nice (offered us food and tickets to see his orchestra). He showed us around his work and it was so cool. He showed us pictures of all the places his orchestra has played which was really fascinating. One time he actually played right next to where Anziano Blair lives in Baltimore! Anyways, it was very neat to meet someone so open to sharing with us about his work and his life. Even though we have only met twice, he is already a very dear friend who I am very grateful to know.

 

Later in the week we went to Rieti to pick up Anziano Blairs permesso (green card type thing). Something is up with that city. I have been 4 or 5 times for permesso stuff, and every time someone has stopped us and asked who we are. I have taught as many lessons in Rieti as I have in Passo Corese and I have been to Rieti about 5 times now. Probably not that many, but a lot. Unfortunately Rieti is out of our area, so we have to pass off the people we find there to the Terni Anziani. However, one lady we found this week who lives in Rieti is the English teacher at the school right next to our house and she said when school starts in September we can come to her class to help out with English! She also took a Book of Mormon to read while she goes to the beach for all of August. We have a list of about 10 people we can start seeing again right when August ends.

 

Sunday night we had a good lesson with our boys Latif and Samuel from Ghana and they taught us some Twi (not sure on the spelling), which was really fun. They are such cool guys, it is hard for me to understand their English and it made me want to improve my Italian cause sometimes Italians dont understand me all the time. So...I bought a pocket dictionary this week and Im trying to learn new words everyday.

 

We saw Lorenzo again this week, and I learned a lot from him. Because we have such a good relationship he expresses us all of his concerns/things he doesnt understand. Sometimes when we teach people and they dont understand something and they stop meeting with us. We have such a good relationship with Lorenzo that he is not afraid to ask us anything. That is why it is so important to have relationships with love and trust with these people.

 

We will see this week if I follow my pattern of 3 transfers in each city! This week is transfer calls. So long til next week.

 

Anziano Smith