Malta | week 10

Regan and Anziano Burkhart with Mount Etna (volcano) in the background

 Volcano!

 Regan at Thanksgiving dinner

A picture Regan sent home of one of his best friends Francesco (in the middle)

12.1.2014

After spending 3 days in Catania this week, I know why so many missionaries always say that Sicily is their favorite area. I loved everything about Catania. The best part by far was being able to see old friends. Some of them I hadn't seen since the MTC and others in just a couple of months, but it is always so good just to be able to talk and hear about others experiences and how they are doing. 

My second day there, I got to do an exchange with Anziano Fossa. He is from Venice and goes home next week. I didn't even know that he was going home next week until I asked. He was working like he was in the middle of his mission. It was the best example to me of someone who endures to the very end. We got to go and help a lady prepare her stuff to move back to Nigeria next week, and we also got to teach a less active family together. It was a great lesson about repentance, and I learned a lot from Anziano Fossa. He was a great teacher. That afternoon we went to an American family's house who lives near Mt. Etna for Thanksgiving lunch. I seriously lucked out on being in Catania at the right time. There were 40 Americans from the military base there who prepared a Thanksgiving lunch big enough for probably 100 people. They were so nice. There were the 4 Catania missionaries, 4 Malta missionaries, the 2 assistants, and a senior couple all invited. That night I got to teach English Course in the Catania church which was fun. It was the first time I taught English in forever, because we dont have it in Malta, and the sisters taught the course when I was in Rome 5. 

Zone Conference the next day was the bomb. Anziano Romano and Fossa are the zone leaders,  so they were responsible for the conference. Each zone conference, they are allowed 3 euro a person for lunch which would have been around 120 euro. Instead Romano cooked by himself for 40 people using 35 euro, and it was really good too. It was a dish he learned from a member-dont know what its called in English. It was quite impressive. The conference itself was one of the best I have been to. Every transfer, the messages are exactly what I need to hear. Im so grateful for the leaders in this mission-both the missionaries and the Waddoups. I seriously couldnt do it without them. 

We came back to Malta Saturday morning and had a miraculous day. We got to meet with our friend Paul for the first time outside of church. He is originally from the Congo, but he just moved here a couple weeks ago from the France. The night before I slept on the floor of the Catania apartment, and I woke up at 5 to leave for the airport without taking a shower. My clothes werent really clean either. We met with Paul 2 hours after our plane got in, and right when we met with him, I wasnt tired or anything. We had a great lesson, and he committed to read the Book of Mormon, and he came to church Sunday. I cant forget experiences like that. When the Lord needs us to be somewhere or do something, we strengthens us so we can do it. Saturday afternoon we found 2 new people who agreed to meet with us again. In both occassions we applied what we learned from our leaders at zone conference. 

Sunday was a really special day in church as well. Anziano Orfila and I teach young mens which just consists of Damyan for the moment. This week we taught the lesson on work and self-reliance. At the end of the lesson we watched the video "A Work in Progress" about Tyler Haws. It made me think of all the things I have worked for in my life. I especially thought about basketball, school, and scouting.. None have been nearly as rewarding as serving a mission. None of the other things have been nearly as challenging either. Not only is it worth it, but it is one of the greatest blessings of my life. I know that the blessings we receive from the Lord always outweigh any effort or sacrifice we make for him, and on the mission we leave everything behind and give all we have. Basically, I could never thank the Lord enough for all he has done for me.  

Sincerely,

Anziano Smith