Caserta | week 13 {"another surreal week in Caserta"}

View on the ride back from Laura's house 

 "drenched after we got caught in a rainstorm running home from church to make it home on time"

Laura and her family

 Vincenzo doing missionary work with all of his friends at the station

Baptism pic with President Miller

Vincenzo and James Prince

Regan's words... "funniest pic I have ever seen in my life. #chastitypamphlet"

Napoli! 

Garbage cans in Italy 

 "Anziano Hatch's Cousin. Small world. Laura's son is serving in the same mission"

"This is Vincenzo sitting next to and teaching Luigi about the Book of Mormon. Unbelievable."

 Walking to the baptism

2.24.14

Anziano Hatch and I had another surreal week here in Caserta. I think I wrote a little bit about James Prince last week, but whatever I said was not enough. The man is flat out incredible. We saw him on his bike Wednesday around 10 and he ended up teaching with us all morning. One of the lessons we taught with him was to a man named Duxon. He is best friends with Adam who just got baptized in Pozzuoli on Saturday. Adam has been a great example to him and Duxon and wants to get baptized as well. Anyways, James Prince was awesome in the lesson and we are definitely going to try to have him come teach with us as much as possible. We were thanking him for helping us after lunch and I will never forget what he said: No problem. It is my duty and occupation to evangelize with you guys. Absolutely incredible. 

The biggest miracle of the week was meeting a man named Vincenzo at the train station last Sunday night right before we went to the Martinsons for dinner. We were getting on our train and he came up and asked to talk for a minute. We got his number but did not think much of it at the time. We met him last Monday, and we found out that he met with the missionaries a year ago for a two month period. He said that he wasnt ready to commit to anything at that point, but he remembered what he felt when he came to church and met with the missionaries said he really wanted that back. He told us that he is willing to meet with us every day because he really wants to know what he has to do to change his life around. This past week we have met with him 5 times and he has referred us to 4 of his friends. It has been incredible. I remember after our second lesson with him we were walking him back to the station so he could catch a train home around 7:15. He saw there was another train at 8:40 and asked us what we were doing until then. We said nothing and asked him if he wanted to get a gelato and play some ping pong in the church or something. He was like, "No, but do you have another church film we can watch?" This was right after we watched Finding Faith in Christ. I have never met someone more hungry to learn the gospel. Another thing about Vincenzo is that he knows literally everyone in the city of Caserta, including some of our members. I have seen 3 people offer him cigarettes and they have all made fun of him when he says he doesnt smoke anymore. He just started sharing his testimony with them and was handing them pass along cards that we gave him. He was like, call these guys if you want help too. I couldnt even believe what I was seeing. 

Saturday was easily one of the best days of my life. We went to Adams baptism in Pozzuoli and took the train up there with Adam, Duxon, James Prince, Vincenzo, and 3 of his friends. When we were waiting for our train, Vincenzo was just inviting all of his friends who were there to the baptism. I have never seen anything like it. After the baptism we all went out to get pizza at the place right by the church and it was really fun. We truly are amazing friends with our members and investigators here and I will miss them all really bad when I get transferred. 

Last night we saw another miracle. We were taking the train to Santa Maria where Vincenzo lives. When we got there all of the doors on the train randomly locked, and no one could get off. While we were going to the next city a girl from Canada heard us speaking English. She approached us to see what we were doing in Italy. We talked for about 15 minutes and said she would love to come to church with other English speakers since she doesnt know any and we are going to meet her later this week. Then we finally got to another stop and the next train back to Santa Maria wasnt for an hour. This lady came up to us and asked us who we were and what our church believed. That has never happened on my mission. Anyways we talked for a solid hour about the Restoration and she wants us to meet her family this week. I still have no idea why the doors locked up and no one could get of at Santa Maria the first time, but we ended up meeting two amazing people who are hopefully coming to curch next week. 

Seriously the Lord has blessed us so much this week. Anziano Hatch and I have not done anything to merit any of this. All of these people were just placed in our path, stopped us, or referred to us through other people. This week has  seriously been the time of my life and I cant wait to keep seeing these people grow. Also we are going up to Rome this Tuesday and we have a conference for all the Rome and Napoli missionaries with a General Authority. Im not sure who it is, but I cant wait. It will be my first time seeing Rome in daylight. I will also get to see about 70 or 80 other missionaries! It will be amazing. There will be more news and pics next week. Take care everyone.

Anziano Smith

Caserta | week 9 {Pozzuoli, zone conference, marco being a boss!}

Anziano Duffin and Anziano Smith 

Pozzuoli 

All 4 elders on the bus! 

English Gardens 

Regan with his friends Rafael and Caterina after church 

1.27.2014

This week was a lot of fun and full of memorable experiences. We had interviews with President Waddoups in Pozzuoli on Tuesday night before Zone Conference so we had to head down a day early. The good times started on the train ride down when we sat next to Malak, a Nigerian man moving down to Foggia for work. We talked to him for a while and soon found out that his biggest hobby is rapping. He knew 7 Nigerian languages, English, Italian, and Arabic. He sang this song for us in which he used all 10 languages. It was one of the coolest things I have witnessed on my mission. Anziano Hatch got the video, but unfortunately I did not have my camera. He was really smart and hilarious too. We got his number and referred him down to the Foggia Elders and I really hope they get to meet with him. After wandering around Pozzuoli for and hour and a half we managed to finally find the church just in time to help out with their English Course which was awesome. The first man I met was Pasquale who just so happened to be another rapper. It was unbelievable. We met two legit rappers back to back. It was really funny because President and Sister Waddoups were both at the Pozzuoli church that night to do some interviews and they were there to witness Pasquale put on a show after corso. It was quite the experience. That night we also had Anziano Duffin and Anziano Philips stay with us in the Pozzuoli house. They were also in the same MTC group and Anziano Hatch and it was great to see them. They are killing it in Battipaglia, and I am super happy for them. 

Wednesday was bomb. The only bad part was Anziano Hatch and I decided not to bring rain coats or umbrellas and it ended up pouring all day and the night before. I remember telling Anziano Hatch, "If we go down, we go down together." I felt so dumb the next day. We were drenched. It didnt even matter though, the Spirit was so strong at Zone Conference like always and we were truly motivated to be even better. This Zone Conference was a little special too cause President Waddoups said we can invite the bishop, ward mission leader, ward missionaries, etc. Marco came with us and it was so fun to have him there. It honestly feels like we have 5 missionaries in Caserta with him around. He is pretty much teaching with us every day. Wednesday night after ZC, he gave us a ride back and we stopped by a couple houses of people we needed to contact and we had one really neat experience. We were looking for a lady that hadnt been to church in a while and we went to the address, but apparently the woman had moved. We were leaving and Anziano Hatch had a feeling that we should go back and ask again. We knocked the door again and explained who we were and the lady talking to us (Loata) told us her friend had gone back to Fiji for 3 months. We ended up having an awesome conversation and she wants us to come back this week, so we are excited about that. 

Marco took us out again to contact a few people on Friday night and it was awesome. We have been trying to contact this man for a month or two now, but his family tells us that he is always at his work. He is a personal trainer at a gym right outside of Caserta and Marco found the address and he just went to his gym. It was unbelievably awkward as we walked into his gym with our suits and everything just to see how he was doing. Everyone was staring at us, and I couldnt help but think about our District Meeting last week and "becoming like a little child"-just always doing my thing no matter what. We stopped by his house after the gym and left a pass along card in his door saying we hope to see him in church some time soon. There is no way he will ever forget us. 

Saturday morning we had planned to go meet a couple people in Maddaloni which is a small down 10 minutes away from Caserta. We were talking to this man the whole train ride, and we were in the process of giving him a pamphlet/exchanging numbers as we arrived in Maddaloni. Right when we finished and were two steps from getting off the train the door shut in our faces. We got to the next city, Cancello, and found that there wasnt a train back to Maddaloni for over an hour and a half. At first I was mad, but then we went to a bread shop right by the station and met the coolest mom and son. They made us some unique Nopton sandwich and it was only a euro. It was unbelievable. More importantly, they were incredible people and we are planning on going back to see them again this Saturday morning if we are free. 

So this week we met with Marco and his cousin Rafael and his girlfriend Catarina a couple times and they are so cool! I will give one quick example. We were in Young Mens on Sunday and Brother Steele asked if any young man would be willing to teach the lesson next week. He hasnt been in church for a little while because his wife just had a  baby and he thought Rafael was a new member who had moved in because he was friends with everyone and really willing to talk in the lesson and stuff. Anyways, Brother Steele asked him to teach the lesson next Sunday and he accepted. He is such a boss. That was his second Sunday in church ever and he is teaching next week. I am pumped. Anziano Hatch and I are going to help him prepare a lesson on the plan of Salvation. 

Im about out of time, but I must say, this work is full of miracles. I know the Lord is watching over all of us and very interested in our small daily choices. I feel so lucky to have this time here with these people. Anziano Hatch is helping me learn and grow so much and the people we are teaching are unbelievable. Marco is making me want to be a boss member missionary my whole life. He seriously wants to help us teach every night. Hes way too cool. Ciao!

Anziano Smith

Caserta | week 6 {Transfer calls, New Years Eve, invitation for baptism!}

Anziano Heder and Anziano Smith 

Anziano Heder and Smith at New Years Eve dinner 

Grilling eel! 

Anziano Bird and Destiny 

With Anziano Graham and Cremonese

So, I have big news that I was not expecting. I thought I was going to be companions with Anziano Heder for the rest of his mission (two more transfers), but not so. We got transfer calls on Saturday afternoon and Caserta is going back up to a 4 man city! Anziano Hatch is going to be my new companion and Anziano Tingey is going to be Anziano Heders companion. I am so excited. Anziano Hatch and Tingey were both in my MTC group. They are both great missionaries and I cant wait to work with them. Anziano Tingey has been in Sciacca his first four transfers which is a tiny city in Sicily and Anziano Hatch has been in Catania. Im grateful he has been companions with an Italian for the last 2 transfers so Im sure he is a lot better than me at Italian. This is good news. Having a 4 man house will be fun as well. They come in Wednesday night. Looking forward to it. 

This past week I have gotten to know the missionaries from our district a lot better and really look up to them in many ways. So every Tuesday we have a district meeting in Napoli which consists of opening prayer/song, fun fact, italian tip, spiritual thought, 20 minute training, and then pizza at Sorbillos. Anziano Bennet is our district leader so he runs the show every week and blows my mind without fail with how amazing his lessons are. Anyways, he asked me to give the addestramento (lesson) last week. He is sure no easy act to follow, but he and the other Anziani made me feel good and seemed to appreciate it. I gave it on consecrating ourselves to the Lord based on a talk that Anziano Bednar gave at the MTC in 2011. That talk has really helped me understand how to fulfill my purpose as a missionary better and Im so grateful for living prophets and apostles who help us know how to be successful in happy as missionaries and throughout all of life. 

That same night was New Years Eve, and Joe and Vincenza invited us over. It was a lot fun. Vincenza went to college in the states back in the 90s and majored in art. She took us upstairs and showed us her portfolio which was super impressive. We then proceeded to eat the biggest meal of my life. We started of with some mozzarella di bufala with bread, ham, and salami, and olives, scones, green beans, and I ate a couple really good chocolate truffle things. Then we moved on to spaghetti which was followed by all of the sea food: clams, fried cod, fried squid, and fried/grilled eel. By that time we had to go, so it was probably a good thing I didnt get dessert. Joe is really nice and always drives us home even though they are only about a 20 minute walk away from our apartment. That was nice of him because it was a little dangerous here in Caserta on New Years Eve. Definitely the first time in my live I have heard legitimate bombs going off. 

So last week Anziano Birds companion had to get transferred early to fill another missionarys spot in Sardegna, so he was companionless. So...Anziano Heder and I went to stay with him all day on Saturday which just so happened to be the day that they had a baptism!  It was easily one of the best days of my mission. So we met Anziano Bird in Napoli that morning and then went to Pozzuoli and we were getting everything ready for the baptism all day. We cleaned to the church, made the program, got the clothes ready, and then filled up the font. It took 3 hours for the font to fill up and we couldnt leave it, so we just picked up some pizzas and ate while the font was filling up and talked about our missions for a couple hours. It was really cool, cause we never really have time to do anything like that ever. The Sister missionaries and Anziano Graham and Cremonese came down a little later as well. I feel so lucky to be able to serve with these missionaries here in the Napoli Zone. The longer I stay here, the more I realize that these kids are the most incredible people on earth. I love them all a ton. Anyways, the baptism was slated to start at 5 and Destiny showed up at 4 because he was so excited. He got all dressed and stuff and we just talked for a while and it was great to get to know him better. Everything went perfectly. A ton of members came and it was a really diverse crowd. The branch in Pozzuoli has a good amount of Nigerians, Ghanans, Americans (because of the military base), and obviously Noptons (not Italians-completely different thing). 

This week was also very exciting for us because we made a lot of progress with Salvatore and Alina. They accepted our invitation to be baptized at the end of this month on January 25th. We are going to have to push it back maybe a couple weeks because they have to attend at least 3 sacrament meetings first. Alina works Saturday night until 3:30am and has made it to church the past two Sundays at 10:30 which is right after sacrament meeting. She is so amazing for making that effort to come, however, we know they have to come to sacrament meeting as well. Overall, everything is growing great with them and the rest of Caserta. Definitley look forward to the new Anziani which should give the city a really big lift. Happy New Year everyone!

Anziano Smith