Brindisi | week 4

So this week some very exciting things happened. On Saturday I went on an exchange with Anziano Brown to a city called San Vito. We visited a man named Victor and his wife Blessing who is a new convert. They have come to our Gospel Principles class 3 times but it was great to go to their home and get to know them better. They both speak English fairly well so we got to teach the lesson to Blessing in English which was a relief for me. We taught her about service and she committed to accept a calling soon. Then she made a delicious dinner. Also, they are moving at the end of the month, so it will be great to be able to help them out with that.

On Sunday we had two people we met last week come to church! They both had a great experience  and could feel the love of all the members in our branch. One of them is a man from Ethiopia. He showed up to church and told us the address on our passalong card was wrong. We looked it up it and it was. Missionaries have been using that stamp for passalong cards and pamphlets for the last year. I honestly do not know what to think about that. Anziano Pizza and I have under control now though. The other man is from English course and he has come to church the past two weeks. Anziano Brown and I got to teach him about prayer in Gospel Principles, and he committed to pray each night this week. At English course last night he said his prayers were going great. 

So on Sunday night Anziano Pizza and I met an awesome family. We were walking by the Marina where there is a ton of restaraunts and they were setting up for a concert. I have no idea why we decided to go there because no one was going to stop and talk to us, but for some reason we ended up down there. Out of nowhere I heard someone yelling Elders! Elders! There was an American family eating a restaraunt and they offered to buy us dinner. We told them we could not eat, but we could talk for a little while. At first I thought they were a member family on vacation, but it turns out they have lived here since December for work and they are moving back to Charleston this December. I am still not sure how they knew the missionaries or why they offered to buy us dinner, but they were a super nice familly. They live across the water and you have to get a boat ride to where they live and they said we could come over this Saturday or next Saturday so we are really excited about that.

Overall, we have been doing a lot of finding on the streets. We went to a new area that is close to the Marina which is super pretty, and we got an appointment to go back a talk with a lady this Friday. While we were exploring new parts of Brindisi, we happened to come across this market which we will definitely be going to in the near future. Also, we found a place here that sells Buffmozz (not sure on the spelling). It is a specific kind of cheese that is made from buffalo milk. We each bought a huge ball of it with a couple tomatoes each. I think it is better than the pizza.

Today for pday, we ended up going back to Lecce again for some shopping and soccer. We found small shop that was closing down and bought some soccer jerseys and funny nba hats. I got an awesome Italy jersey, but I have no skills to back it up. We grabbed a quick lunch and played soccer again. Brindisi came out on top this week. Next week will probably be our last game of the transfer.

This week I learned a lot about the power of faith in Jesus Christ. When I just trust what he says and try my best to do his will, miracles happen. This morning  I read a scripture in the Book of Mormon that said God will protect those who think of him and obey him like a father protects his son who serves him. There are a lot of voices that compete for our attention in the world. I have learned that when we just think of the Lord and try to do what he would do, we can find peace and joy that can come from any other source. It is by doing this that we can lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. 

Anziano Smith