Through Trials We Must Prevail!

Hey!!

So this week was for sure a difficult one but good, nonetheless, we grow in our most trying times.

THURSDAY- We did a lot of casa, which is awesome because I friggen love casa! I love working so much its crazy, its like I'm not Ben here haha its like I'm Anziano Glowa and when I'm here I just love to be working and doing the Lord’s work. We taught Samantha the law of tithing. She accepted so we have taught her everything and she is ready for baptism, but we are teaching her parents on Tuesday to see if they will let her be baptized. Right now her mom is okay with her doing it but her dad is not so we will see how things go. Then we had English class where we played this game that you write a famous person down and then put all the names into a pile and then pick one and put the paper on your forehead and ask questions to figure out who it is, pretty fun.

FRIDAY- We did weekly planning that went well. Just planning for our investigators and how we can help them and also get more of them. Today something cool happened. I got whacked by and old lady with her cane. Haha it was the first time that happened on my mission so I figured it was worth mentioning. Haha she whacked me and then I asked her what was wrong and then she asked what we wanted and I said we were here to talk about Jesus Christ and then she was yelling and waved her cane at us and then told us to leave haha. She didn’t hurt me when she hit me because I dodged it and it only hit my hand haha but some people eh? Haha we did referral hunting the last part of the day and we only saw one person who said he wasn’t interested. No one else was home. That’s all we did but it was a good day.

SATURDAY- We did more casa, but again we didn’t get in, haha we will continue to work hard and show our faith. We taught Vanessa at church and then walked to her house because her parents were having some party or something, or some get together with food, so we went to meet people and talk about the church and stuff. They were all really nice, no one was interested but we were able to show that we are just normal people and plus the food was AWESOME!!!!!!!!

SUNDAY- Easter Sunday! Hahaha church was only 2 hours long we had sacrament meeting and then we had priesthood and then we went to a member’s house for lunch it was wayyyyyyy good! We had lasagna and meat. I was soooooo stuffed but it was so good and then for desert we had tiramisu and the sister told me next time I go over she’s going to show me how to make it. She already gave me the recipe but she’ll actually show me. :) It was soooo good I cant explain how lucky I am to be here just to enjoy all the food. Haha don’t worry I'm not getting fat I'm just getting big boned hahaha joking. Afterwards we did casa, at first I was afraid to do casa and get yelled at but according to me when would have been a better time to talk about Christ than on the day he was resurrected? Anyways so if people started to get annoyed I would just say something like oh well today is all about Jesus so what do you believe about Jesus or something like that. I would refer to how they should be thinking about him, but in a non-snobby way. It was fine, we didn’t get in....again but we were able to do the Lords work.

MONDAY- We had district meeting which was awesome. I love district meeting because you feel the spirit sooooo strongly and it’s just like a refuge of the hard times of the mission I guess, like not getting in once all week or like getting in once all transfer, so I really like district meeting. We did scambio, so Anziano Wilkins (greenie) from Torino 1 came to Collegno. We had a lot of fun doing casa and talking and getting to know each other and helping each other out. We didn’t get in but I found the coolest old couple ever. Between a few missionaries we have this game with old people. Like obviously try and share the gospel with them but if they are not interested, just have fun with them haha not in like a bad way, just because they are so old they don’t know what’s going on haha. For example I was talking to this old couple and the husband kept saying he didn’t believe in Christ and he had no faith, and then I tried teaching him but it was going no where so I just tried being nice to him and trying to make sure that I could make his day. Anyways right before leaving I asked for a hug and he totally hugged me and said that he felt like my Italian grandfather because he never had children. Haha so I was able to make his day and help him feel special even though he didn’t want the gospel. Haha this game with old people is pretty fun and you make them feel really good too! :)

TUESDAY- We re-scambied and then had a lesson with Eddy one of our investigators. And we taught him the restoration to make sure he understood it. Anyway we gave him a baptismal date for the 14th of May and he accepted. Which is awesome so we are going to help Eddy progress and get him in that water! Hahaha then we did some casa and didn’t get in... Haha and then we had a lesson with Samantha and her parents. We watched the movie Finding Faith in Christ and then bore testimony and then let the parents talk about their feelings. According to them they didn’t see a difference and thought that our church was the same, so I explained the whole restoration for them and talked about authority and made it clear that we are not the same. Anyway then Samantha bore a really strong testimony about why she wants to get baptized and how she knows these things are true. The mother was fine with the baptism as long as Samantha was 100% sure and she was so the mother was fine. The father on the other hand was not and his point didn’t even make sense. We talked for a long time, up until 9 but there was no way to help him see the importance of it. I don’t feel it necessary to go into detail but pretty much how it ended it Samantha is not getting baptized this Saturday. She has to wait until she is 18 which is next March.... it was a happy and sad day: happy for Eddy but sad for Samantha. We have seen her progress so much and then this. Anyway she was way sad about it and really wanted to be baptized but I explained about how we need to respect her father and that she just needs to show him that she does have a testimony of these things and that she is 100% sure that this is what she wants. So it was too bad but Samantha knows that this is a trial of her faith and that this will make her stronger. It’s just too bad that things like this happen. But like I said before its these trials that make us stronger...

WEDNESDAY- I had to go to the police station with my comp because he needed to get his Permesso to be in Italy and that took a lot of time haha but yeah we did that and then our district leader and his comp came to Collegno to do a blitz, which means that they come into our city and work with us. And then they slept over. The district leader is Anziano Bulnick. He’s such a cool guy! Courtney I don’t know if you remember Sister Fletcher from the YSA but before I left she told me about a guy who was in the Milan mission and this is him. Anyways we are really good friends. He’s such a stud, anyway Courtney if you see Sister Fletcher, tell her that Anziano Bulnick and I are way tight hahaha!

So that was the week. It was a little hard because we haven’t gotten in doing casa in FOREVER but we know we only receive blessings after the trial of our faith and I know we will get in soon we just need to continue to show our faith and continue to work hard, we will just work 10 times harder next week to find the people Heavenly Father is preparing to hear this message. This week wasn’t the easiest either because we lost a baptism but that just means we need to find other people. Pray for us, I know you do and your prayers help a lot. I love you all so much. Just know that I love the work, I love everything about it, I love the door slamming, the cane hitting, and all the yelling. I love it because I'm not doing it for me I'm doing it for the Lord and for the people of Italy. This work is true, and I will not let up, slow down or shut up. I will continue and push and run and fight and do all I can to bring my brothers and sisters in Italy back to the fold. I love you all so much and just know how blessed I am to be here and to serve the Lord and to actually work in my life. I'm learning life long principles here and I'm so grateful for that. I love you all!

Love Anziano Glowa :)