Affinché possano provare gioia

Buon giorno! How are you today? There are miracles in Pesaro my friends. It's been a hard week, but a rewarding week as well.

I'll start with a funny story first. It was Friday morning and we were getting ready for our weekly planning session. About five minutes in, our carbon monoxide detector went off. We called the mission office and they told us to go outside and call the fire department. For all the flack I give Italians, their fire department had a pretty quick response. About five minutes later we hear sirens off in the distance.

The firemen sweep the house and say that there's nothing there. This whole time the alarm has still been going off. Four of the firemen huddled in a circle all taking turns trying to disable it. Eventually one of them just pulled out the wire. Hah. Who needs an off switch when you can just pull the wires out? One new CO detector later and we are back in business.

Now back to missionary work. Carmine got baptized! It was a wonderful ceremony. Anz. Valentine and I were standing behind the font as witnesses and we pretty much got baptized too as he went under. Hah! The next day in church was just as amazing, if not more so. The branch president, the district president, Anz. Valentine, and I put our hands on his head and confirmed him as a member of the church and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. After we had finished, Carmine looked up with tears in his eyes and just said, "Wow." For a man of many words as he, it was beautiful to hear him just simply say, "Wow." I'm so happy for him and look forward to seeing his testimony continue to grow.

The weather is getting a bit cooler now. It's no longer 100 degrees at least. Thank goodness. I was slowly melting there for a little bit. I'm grateful to be here in Pesaro, however much I might complain about the heat. I love the people here and it's been such a pleasure to interact with them and help them grow closer to Christ. I've had two scriptures on my mind lately that I'd like to share. The first is from the Bible in Psalm 118:24. "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." The second is from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 2:25. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy." Our entire purpose of this existence is to have joy. Not just temporal joy that comes and goes, but everlasting joy. So that we can have this joy, God has shown us the way, which is through His Son Jesus Christ. Following His example, we find that eternal joy. Life may come with its challenges and difficulties, but if we walk in the Savior's footprints we will always be able to find peace--come what may. Keep walking and keep following His example and you will find the way.

Vi voglio bene, Anziano Simcox