Brindisi | week 16 {zone conference, 2 funerals, still loving Brindisi}

Another week in Brindisi has come and gone. It seems like I am writing home every other day. My time here has been much enjoyed and it is incredible to look back and see how I have grown in these past 4 or so months. I have never been much of a talker or socializer in my life, but that is certainly beginning to change. I remember always being in my car 5 minutes after church ended or like 10 minutes after school got out. I am not like that anymore. It has become so evident to me that our relationships with others are so important and we should always treat them with a ton of care and love. I say this because we often go through our branch list to contact people to go visit. There are about 25 or 30 active members here in Brindisi and about 70 inactives. We have spent a lot of time and effort to reach out and contact all of them. I have met with many of them and it always saddens me and fills me with compassion to listen to their stories. Many have been through heart-wrenching experiences that I certainly cannot relate to, but I know the Savior can. Anyways, I have learned that everyone in the church needs good friends and support/encouragement throughout their whole lives. Visiting so many people and listening to just a part of their life stories has made me want to be a lot better listener and more concerned about their circumstances.

In the past 10 days we have gone to 2 funerals. 1 was for the mother of a lady in our ward and another was for Fratello Frascaros father. He is a really bright and funny guy - always making a joke or doing something funny. We had no idea his dad was in bad health condition, and we got a call on Wednesday morning saying that his father died the night before and the funeral would be that afternoon at a Catholic church right down our street. We went to the funeral and we saw the really rude guy I wrote about last week and probably my favorite English course student (Pietro). They were both his nephews. We had no clue. It was actually kind of cool because Anziano Alvey gave an amazing spiritual thought the night before at english course on the plan of salvation and what it means for our families. The funeral was actually the first Catholic Mass I have ever attended, and it was a neat experience. It was certainly an eye opening experience to see a lot of people who were suffering and sad and think of the message of glad tidings we are called to teach. It really made me want to be better.

The next day was Zone Conference up in Bari. The assistants gave an awesome lesson on introducing the Book of Mormon to people on the street. The key that stuck out to me was giving other people a chance. It is way cool to listen to missionaries who have been out year 18 or 20 months and listen to their teaching skills/the people they have become. Always inspiring. I have to go now. Sorry this letter is short. Missionary work is the best and I am truly loving my time here. These truly are the best two years! At least so far.

Love,

Anziano Smith

Brindisi | week 10 {Circus, Stake Conference, Zone Conference, Bari}

Train ride to Bari, Italy for Stake Conference 

Pictures from last Pday when they went to a circus that came to Brindisi! 

Freaky! Tigers! 

Haha looks like a good missionary opportunity going on! 

Such a pretty horse! I'll bet it reminded Regan of America, specifically Utah :) 

More tigers at the circus 

This is my (McKenzie, Regan's sister) husband Rhett's friend Ettore Pappagallo that lives in Bari where Stake Conference was! He served with Rhett on his mission in Manchester, England. Small world! 

Ettore and his wife with Regan. He is SO nice and took these pictures on Sunday at Stake Conference and emailed to us :) He said Regan's Italian was really good too!

This week started off with an eventful pday. We went to the circus! Yeah you read that right. I had to call President to get permission. Kind of an awkward conversation, but it was worth it. A lot happened this week so I wont waste my time talking about it. I was pretty fun, nothing spectacular though.

The next day was Thursday and we had a bit of a rough morning. I was a bit discouraged and Anziano Pizza gave me the talk "The Divine Gift of Gratitude." I totally changed my perspective and decided I would say one prayer of only gratitude every day the rest of my mission. I did right after I read that talk and it immediately changed my day and whole week in fact. That night we talked to about 8 or 9 kids who were 14 to 16 years old. It was my first time talking to a group of kids. They were all smoking so I thought at first they would just make fun of us or something, but they ended up being super nice and asking some really intelligent/deep questions. We gave them english course bigliettini and hopefully they will come. We talked to another group of kids later this week and I have found that it takes a certain level of humility to talk with/teach kids because of the culture that surrounds them and the temptations which are in the world, most dont have a basis for moral standards. We have to be 100% real with them and let them know from our hearts that this is the way to true happiness. It took a lot of guts. I need to get a lot better at it though. That night something hilarious happened at English course. We were teaching a lesson on how to order at a restaurant and we made a menu which included the word "cheeseburger." Hearing Italians attempt to say the word cheeseburger about killed me. I felt bad because Anziano Alvey and I were both laughing uncontrollably to the point where it got a little awkward.

Friday we contacted that American family we met about 5 or 6 weeks ago. They live far away and are only free on weekends at night. It was amazing. The dad was home with his kids and we got to talk to him for about 45 minutes. We found out he served a mission in Argentina. We talked to him for a bit about his mission and it was way cool. He is just found out last week he is getting transferred back to Charleston to work but will still come back to Brindisi every couple of weeks. There was a poem Anziano Alvey gave me earlier that day that we read and discussed with him for the lesson. I sent it home to my family earlier today and they will put it up on my blog when they get it. It was an amazing experience. He said when he comes back to Brindisi he will bring back stuff to make tacos and he will bring us some nutter butters. I cannot wait for that phone call!! That night I thought about how God leads us to those children who he needs us to bless. My Italian still isnt very great at all, and I thought about the people I have taught. Verah, Victor, Blessing, and this man all speak English. Like .0001% of the people in Brindisi speak any English. Maybe that is an exaggeration, but you get point. He truly does place people in our path who he needs us the reach out and help. We are only on his errand.

On Saturday we taught Gery and Dedy and Gery said something that blew my mind. We asked him how he could know for sure that our message was true. He said that he has been meeting with missionaries for over 20 years and he knows how the moral standard in the world is decaying so fast and it shows in peoples eyes. He said that he can see light and purity in the eyes of every missionary who has been in his home the past 20 years and it is not a coincidence. I thought that was so powerful. It is amazing to be part of the this army of missionaries throughout the world! It was sad though; we had to end the lesson early to catch our train to Bari for Stake Conference.

Sunday was Stake Conference! It was bomb! There were so many children, youth, and young adults I was inspired. The church has a real solid future here in Italy and I saw it with my own eyes. I will talk more about the meeting at the end of this letter. Anyways, that day I met one of the coolest missionaries I have known yet on the mission. His name is Anziano Esparza. He is from Equador, but he has lived in Germany the past 10 years. He speaks fluent Portuguese, Italian, German, and English. I asked him how long he had been on his mission and he said, "I have no idea, I just enjoy every day out here." I asked again, and he literally didnt know. He is hilarious too.

Monday night was the highlight of the week. Anziano Kasper who is an AP came down to Brindisi and went on a scambio with me. I literally felt like I was walking around with the apostle Paul all night long. We left the apartment at 4:35 to go to an appointment at 5. On the walk there he got 3 peoples phone numbers. That is how many numbers I get on a good day. During the lesson we taught to two Romanian girls we truly helped them feel the love that the Savior had for them. I cant describe it in words. They asked us why we left home and paid to come here and walk around all day to try to talk to people. He then bore an incredible testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the truths that have been restored to the earth about the nature of God and how we are his children. They were both moved to tears as we prayed at the end of the lesson. We then did an hour and a half of street contacting. Once again, unreal. We talked to so many people and he applied to so well to each person according to their needs/interests. Then we had another lesson around 7:30 in which we taught of family of 8. There is mother of 102 and she has 6 kids who are around their 70s. They are amazing. We also taught them the full Restoration lesson and read some of 3 Nephi 19 about the Holy Ghost and Baptism. Once again, I learned an incredible amount from Anziano Kasper.

Tuesday was Zone Conference in Bari and I received a lot of amazing training. The assistants gave a really inspiring lesson on obedience. They taught with such power and authority that I really desire to develop on my mission. I was talking to Anziano Bird who is the other assistant after the conference, and he told me that he and Anziano Kasper have not had a pday in 8 weeks. That is consecration to the max. I have truly been inspired.

Ok, spritual thought for the week goes back to what our Stake President said at Stake Conference on Sunday. He said I have 2 questions which may seem contradictory, but they are not. First, Do you have the faith to be healed? Second, do you have the faith not to be healed? At first I thought I misunderstood his Italian, but then I asked Anziano Pizza and I understood him correctly. That second question is very deep. Sometimes, we will do our best to show God our love for him and do what he asks, and his answer may be no because he knows another way that is better. Maybe he needs us to have a little patience. In the end, we will all have times when there is situation or circumstance that is not right. In those times, we need to trust God when it is not fixed immediately. Even if it may not be fixed in this life. We need to press forward with steadfastness in Christ with a perfect brightness of hope as it says in 2 Nephi 31. We need be strong enough to keep our faith even if God doesnt heal us immediately. He will heal us and that is the faith we can never lose. 

Sincerely,

Anziano Smith

Second letter home from Brindisi!

Second week in Italy was awesome! We got to work a lot more this week since the first week we were getting situated a lot. The day after a wrote last we had a solid english course at the church. Out of the 7 people who usually come, 4 can speak very well, so we just teach by having conversations. They wanted to know about American food so we each told them about a restaurant we liked at home. I told them all about double stamp Tuesdays at Cheeseburger Bobbys. I am becoming really good friends with everyone that comes. There is a man named Antonio who comes each Tuesday and Thursday, and he is one of the nicest people ever. We saw him on Saturday night, and he came up to us and was like the Mormon missionaries on the prowl. I could see you from a million miles away. He was on his way to church and we asked him if Saturday night was usually when he goes. He told us that he tries to go every night. I am really glad I will get to know him better, and have someone to talk to in English.

We had the branch service project again last Saturday. About 20 people showed up, and it was great. It truly is just like one big family here. All of the members show us so much love by giving us rides, feeding us, and being patient with my language skills. They try to have conversations with me even though they know I am still very new. I am learning a ton everyday. What I have learned is that I can understand a lot because I am always listening to the language, but my ability to speak will only come as I practice speaking. I just have to not worry about mistakes and try to do my best.

The last two weeks I have been able to share my testimony in church and say a prayer. All of the members are so supportive. Everyone here gives all their attention and respect to the speaker. From now on, 1 missionary will always be a speaker in sacrament meeting so within the next 3 and half weeks I will have to give a 10 minute talk in church. That should be exciting.

So August is apparently the hardest month of the year for missionary work because of a major holiday coming up that I do not know much about. A lot of people take of the whole month and go to the beach or to visit family elsewhere. It is so true. We have about 10 people we have contacted this week that have told us to call back at the beginning of September. Their lifestyle and culture is totally different than the US. However, there are still people to talk to each day. I do believe it will be much better when September rolls around and everyone is home and the weather is not so hot. A lot of people are just in a hurry to get inside because it is so hot outside.

As far as our apartment goes, things are great. Anziano Brown and I bought a 17kg watermelon five days ago and finished it last night. We are going to buy another one tonight. It will be a sad day when watermelon season ends. Anziano Browns companion is Anziano Andreason, and he is a fantastic cook. He makes a different pasta for lunch everyday. Yesterday I helped him make the pasta (which I should have been doing earlier). From now on I am going to start helping him make pasta everyday. It is fun and feels good to be able to serve the other missionaries. This morning he surprised me and made eggs with ham, three different veggies, and really good cheese. They were the first eggs I have had since before the MTC. It was unreal. I am fortunate to have such amazing elders to live with and work with.

Also, we had zone conference in Bari on Monday which was fantastic. There are 26 missionaries in our zone and we all met and had a great lunch and 4 hours of training. I loved getting to meet all the missionaries in the nearby cities. 3 sister missionaries performed I Know That My Redeemer Lives in Italian, and it quickly brought tears to my eyes. That simple phrase can bring peace that surpasses all understanding. It is eternal truth that the world is longing to know, and it is a sacred privilege to testify of it to everyone we can. While this knowledge is incredible, it is not everything. It is through the application of what we know that will help us truly become converted to Jesus Christ and his teachings. I am drawing nearer to him than I ever have before as I am trying my best to do what he would have me do and constantly relying on him for guidance, peace, and happiness.

Love,

Anziano Smith