Rome Time
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
