Trasferimenti!

Hey all! It's transfer week! *Cue creepy organ music.* Let me explain

what exactly happens during transfer week. (Mission vocab, transfer =

six week period).

In our mission, every sixth Monday is called GEM Monday. (More mission

vocab, GEM = Grow Every Missionary). As a GEM for the next

missionaries to live in your apartment, you spend the morning

deep-cleaning the entire apartment. It feels AWESOME to make the

apartment so clean. A clean house is a clean life. I've learned that.

It's one of those many moments when I've looked back and said, "Wow.

Mom actually knew what she was talking about!" Anyway, while we're

cleaning the apartment we're also waiting for "the call." On GEM

Monday, either President or his assistants call every companionship to

tell them what will be happening to them: Who goes where, who is whose

companion, etc. We were at a member's house for lunch when we got "the

call."

Anz. Miller will be leaving Pesaro and heading off to live and work in

Milano. How about that?! He's really excited, but he also doesn't want

to leave Pesaro. After all, he's served all six months of his mission

in Pesaro!

As for me... I've been asked to be a trainer. That means that my new

companion will be fresh off the plane from Utah. I'm responsible for

showing him the ropes, as it were I haven't even been in Italy for

three months. I'm nowhere near fluent in the language, but I at least

have enough to get around. Yes, I'm a little scared, but I'm also

really excited. Overall, I'm looking forward to it with a positive

attitude. It will be a huge growing experience for both of us. My

trainer, Anz. Miller was put in the same exact situation. We turned

out fine and I think it was a good thing to have someone so young

training me. We both learned together. That's what I'm hoping for with

this new opportunity. Both of us will be learning together, that's for

sure. I've heard it said anyway that trainee is the one doing the

training. It will be a challenging, rewarding experience. That's the

definition of a mission anyway isn't it? As always, I know the Lord

will give us power to say what we need to say and understand what we

need to understand.

Tonight, we're taking a train to Bologna, spending the night with the

anziani there, and then taking a train in the morning to Milano! I'll

pick up my new companion, leave Anz. Miller there in Milano, and then

we'll make our way back to Pesaro. It's the beginning of a new and

exciting chapter in my mission. I'm actually really looking forward to

it. Every day is an adventure as a missionary! Every day is a miracle.

Speaking of miracles, I want to write about what happened last night.

We have a wonderful family we've been teaching since the beginning of

the transfer. I know I've written about Claudio and his wife Ombretta.

About three weeks ago, they dropped off the map. Phone calls,

pass-bys... nothing worked. Monday we gave them a call again just on

the off-chance that Claudio picked up. Miracle: He did! So we set up

an appointment and went over last night. That's not even the cool part

though. Ombretta, his wife, hasn't been too interested as we've been

teaching. From the start, Claudio has been 100% on board, but he

doesn't want to be baptized without his family. Last night, during our

lesson, the doorbell rang. Claudio went down to answer it and stood at

the door talking for at least twenty minutes. So, while he was at the

door, we decided to do a lesson with just Ombretta. We felt the Spirit

so strongly and we know she did too because she told us, "You know

there's something about this book that I like. There's something about

you missionaries too. Everytime you come I feel this feeling of

peace." We had a great lesson about the Book of Mormon. At the end as

we were walking out the door, Ombretta told Claudio that the whole

family was going to church this Sunday! Claudio turned and looked at

us with a look that seemed to say, "What did you do?!?" He was happy

to have his wife on board and we look forward to seeing them in church

on Sunday.

The new mission battle cry has been fifteen lessons a week. For some

cities this is something normal, but for Pesaro it's a lofty goal.

Lately though, the work has been picking up with speed in Pesaro. It's

amazing to see the change that's happening. People are coming to

church, we're teaching lessons, we've found new people, we're picking

up old people, and we've been doing everything we can to find people

to teach. It's been challenging, but we've been able to find people to

teach and we've been reaching those fifteen lessons a week. I don't

say it to brag, but just to say what can happen with faith and

willpower. Of course, numbers are everything, but they mean nothing.

That's the great paradox of mission life. Numbers are everything

because they're necessary for keeping records and tracking progress.

The most important thing to remember though is that every number is

actually a real person... a son or daughter of God. Numbers mean

nothing because they're really people and people have free agency. We

set our goals for numbers, but we achieve our goals for people.

The lesson for this week that I've been learning is that God doesn't

call the qualified, he qualifies the called. It's a phrase I've been

thinking of as I've been thinking about this upcoming opportunity to

be a trainer. Without God's authority, we're just two (good-looking)

Americans with white shirts and ties. However, He has called us to

preach His Gospel. As long as we do our part, he gives us the added

strength to continue and accomplish whatever He's asked us to do. This

lesson works for any facet of life. God is standing with open arms

waiting to bless us, but He can't do His part unless we do ours. When

we keep our promises, He keeps His. How wonderful are His blessings

for those who work to find them.

Alla prossima settimana, Anziano Simcox.