Rome Time
Regan's companion sent us this picture labeled "Anziano Smith preaching the good word!"
Regan's new companion Anziano Hatch!
Regan: "We met these two ladies at the entrance of the Reggia Gardens and the Lord truly just placed them right in our hands. They began asking questions and we ended up becoming great friends, taught them almost the entire restoration, and then left with an invite to read and pray! Awesome! And they gave us Nutella sandwich's in return. Preachin the good word on P-Day!"
Anziano Smith and Hatch at Reggia Gardens
Beautiful waterfalls at Reggia Gardens
More waterfalls!
Regan's previous companion Anziano Heder making pretzels! (even though they aren't companions anymore, they still live in the same apartment)
A new haircut! He kinda looks Italian to me!
Pizza man!
Kebabs
Regan's first Napolitano pizza that he said was amazing!
I do not know where to begin
for my email this week. This week has been absolutely amazing. In the mission
call letter it says that more happiness and joy than you have yet experienced
awaits you as you serve the Lord with all of your heart leaving behind all
other personal affairs. I can honestly say that the past 4 or 5 days working
with Anziano Hatch have been the best days of my whole life. Anziano Heder and
I went to pick up Anziano Hatch and Tingey from Napoli Centrale on Thursday
night and it was so good to see them. I got to know both of them fairly well in
the MTC and it is incredible to see how different they are after 6 months.
Seriously, they are both men. They are both extremely humble kids who work
really hard. They also both have an incredible sense of humor which makes are
house super fun. Anyways, Anziano Hatch came to Caserta really optimistic that
we were going to do amazing work and see a lot of miracles here. The last 4
days we have not seen anything but miracles. It has been amazing and over all
it has strengthened my faith and trust in the Lord. I seriously cant write the
least part of which I feel about the work we have been doing the past few days.
All I can say is that I know that this church is true and Heavenly Father wants
all of His children to feel the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ. This knowledge has changed my attitude that this service is a privilege
rather than just a responsibility or a duty.
So this week has been a new
experience for me as well because this is the first time I have been the
missionary who has been in the city longer. For the first time I kind of had to lead the way around the city and lead lessons. However, it is kind of ironic
because Anziano Hatch has taught me more in the last 4 days about missionary
work than I have like ever known. It is such a blessing to be able to work with
him in this city. It was really neat because we have not done any English
Course publicity since I have been here and on Thursday night we had about 7
new students. I dont know how that happened, but it did. We split the course
into two groups and Anziano Hatch and I took the new students. We had a really
fun lesson and for the spiritual thought we decided to leave it open to
questions which I have never done before. That was the best idea ever. Instead
of guessing what people need to hear, just ask them. It was great and hopefully
we will be able to have success from English Course going forward.
We had a linger longer
(lunch) after church on Sunday and we dont even really have to introduce
Salvatore and Alina to the ward anymore. They are tight with everyone. It is so
cool. We also had a couple other investigators in church who we found Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday and we have really high hopes for them.
Aside from all the awesome
work, we have also had a lot of fun this week. I got a haircut and just told
the guy to make me look good. I didnt think he would give me a fro, but he did.
I rocked it for one night then when back to the normal. The people of Caserta
are awesome. They make me laugh and smile every day, like when old women ask me
to escort them past a park with scary dogs, haha. Anyways, I am excited beyond
belief for this transfer and hopefully a few more here in Caserta with Anziano
Hatch. Sorry for the short letter. There will be more next week for sure.
Love,
Anziano Smith
