Hi there everybody! I'm here in Milano, rather permanently now. It's been a crazy few days!

I think in my email two weeks ago I mentioned how I might not be in Milano for too long. I've been in a tri-companionship for a few weeks waiting for my new companion to arrive. On Saturday, President called me and told me that my companion would be flying in this week and that we would be going somewhere else that's not Milano. I packed up my bags and got ready to head out of the city! The night before I was supposed to leave I got a call from the Assistants who basically said "Just kidding! You're not going anywhere!" President decided that Milano would be a better place for us. I'm sad I had to unpack my bags (I had them packed so nicely; Kristi Chapman would've been proud), but I am grateful that my mission president is an inspired man!

So, here I am in Milano with my new companion Anziano Parker; and when I say new, I mean NEW. Yup! I'm a father again! It came as a surprise, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to help another elder find his missionary shoes. Because Anziano Parker came in during the middle of the transfer, I actually got to go to the airport with President, his wife, and the assistants to pick him up. Most new missionaries don't get to meet their trainer at the airport! That was really exciting. He was excited too, but also dead tired. His plane was delayed and he ended up being stuck in Germany for most of the morning. When we finally got him home he just about passed out! Today is our first official day together. His Italian is very good for a beginner and he has the "greenie fire" burning strong. Tonight will be our first lesson together, so we have high hopes for that.

With Anziano Parker here now, that means that the two of us are opening a new companionship here in Milano. That means we're starting with nothing! On the plus side though, we have a fancy new phone. I've never had a phone with a touch screen in my life. I have no clue what to do with the thing... We've got a lot of work to do, but we're excited to do it. For the next few weeks we'd like to focus on members and less-active members. There's plenty of members here that can help us get started!

Before Anz. Parker got here though, we had a baptism! Valentino was thrilled to take this big step in his life. On the morning of his baptism he was terribly sick. We were worried that he wouldn't be able to make it! He walked into the church though with his head held high. He told his he knew that it was an important day and he wouldn't miss it for anything. Fighting the sickness and the really cold water in the baptismal font thanks to a broken water heater, he was baptized and he was overjoyed. Afterwards he bore a wonderful testimony about how he is a changed man and how he feels so much joy to have found this truth.

That's life for now. I love being a missionary.

I love you all! Love, Anziano Simcox.

Hey there! Wednesday comes again! Here I am in Milano. Somehow, I'm surviving the city! It's actually starting to grow on me a bit.

My challenge to myself over the past two weeks has been to learn the names of all of our members. It's been rough, but I'm getting there. I found out that Cimiano is the largest ward in Italy. It's fun to work in such a big ward because there are many people willing to do missionary work with us! We can only do so much without the members. First, members need to fellowship! Why should someone join the Church if they don't feel welcome. All are welcome because all are God's children. Second, it's hard to find people to teach if members don't help us do it! We could ring doorbells and stop people on the streets as much as we want, but the most effective way to get people to listen is if someone invites them!

I've definitely seen that happening here. One man named Valentino is an example. A member brought him to a wedding in the church a few months ago. There, he met Anz. Polson and his former companion. They invited him to meet with them and he became more and more involved in the church each week. Valentino said that he had been looking for truth for a while, but was having a hard time finding it. In this Gospel he told us that he has found peace and truth and he wants to receive more of it. To make that happen, he is being baptized this Sunday! He's very excited for his baptism and he has told us that he knows this is the path God wants him to take. He has a good spirit about him and I love meeting with him and seeing his testimony grow.

We had a neat experience with one of our new converts. He arrived here from Peru a few months ago and doesn't speak much Italian. Shortly after he arrived, he married a member here and was baptized. We had an appointment set up with him a few days ago and his wife would be there to translate for us. When we arrived though, we found out that she had been called in to work and that he was alone. We were worried about how we were going to communicate with him. We let the Spirit guide though and started out with a prayer that we would be able to communicate our message. We had a wonderful lesson about eternal marriage. Even though he spoke almost entirely in Spanish, we were blessed with the ability to understand him and to bear our testimonies to him in a way that he could understand us. I know that the gift of tongues is real and that we wouldn't have been able to do that without the help of the Spirit.

The Spirit is a powerful thing. Nothing can be accomplished in missionary work until we listen to the promptings of the Spirit. It's not always easy. The natural man sneaks in quite often and tries to rationalize. "Oh no, you don't have to talk to THAT person." "Oh, it's late. You should probably just go home." "Just stop trying with him. He's not worth it." "Sleep in a little bit. You deserve it." The natural man can be quite deceiving sometimes. I'm not here to listen to him though. I'm here to learn how to listen to the Spirit. 

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father" (Mosiah 3:19). 

It's important to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. God knows much better than us and He will never lead us astray. If we listen to the Guidance that He sends, we will be blessed. If we don't, we are missing out on so many blessings. God knows YOU and He loves YOU. If you seek Him, you will find Him. That's a promise!

Love, Anziano Simcox

The picture is a picture of our church in Cimiano.

MILANO!

Buon Giorno from the fashion capital of the world! I suppose you could call it that, although some of this "fashion" is a tad questionable. Milano is definitely different than anything I've ever seen. It's a city, but at the same time it's not, at least in the sense that an American would think of a city. Skyscrapers don't exist. Almost every building is an apartment building with businesses underneath. It smells like a city though, for whatever that's worth. There are lots of people though, many of whom are waiting for a message that will change their lives.

My companions (yes I meant that to be plural) are Anziani Polson and Stewart. Anziano Polson is one transfer ahead of me and Anziano Stewart is two behind me, so we're a decently young companionship. I wouldn't know what a more expereinced companionship would be like because I've never been in one! Although I'm not a new missionary anymore! This is the start of my fifth transfer! Time flies. "Why are you in three?" you may be asking. I don't know. The rumor is that I'm supposed to have a companion that for some reason or other is not here right now. From what we've heard he should be coming in three weeks. When I got here in Milano, every other missionary had heard that except for me. Hmmm...  Ah well! That'll get figured out eventually. For now, though, I'm here in Milano and I love it!

Milano to Pesaro was a big change. I went from a small branch of fifteen to a thriving ward of 150. In this ward though, there are about 600 other members who for one reason or the other are less-active. As you can see, we have our work cut out for us! Our job is to reach out to these people with love and discover what might be holding them back from partaking of the blessings of the Gospel.

As I said at the beginning, this city is filled with people. That's the other difference between here and Pesaro. Pesare was a smaller seaside city with lots of space. Milano... is not. There are so many people and no space to breathe. For those who know me well, you might know that "Austin Simcox + city" can be a very entertaining combination. Here's a list of things I've learned about city life in the past few days.

-How to stand on the subway and not fall over.

-What it means to "mind the gap."

-Busses will arrive when they darn well feel like it and not a second earlier.

-The people standing by the cathedral offering bird seed are much more interested in your wallet than in the birds.

-The same goes for the nice man at the train station offering to carry your suitcases.

-That puddle on the ground is anything but water. Walk around it in order to avoid finding out.

Hopefully that helps some of you for your next adventure to the city.

To finish I want to share an experience we had. We had an appointment with someone at the church, but he cancelled it. Instead, we offered to come to his house instead. He was a little reluctant at first, but finally agreed. He lives in a run-down part of the city in a tiny beat up apartment. When we walked into the apartment, it was pitch black. He told us he left the lights off because he didn't have the money to pay for the electricity. We sat down at the table and read the Book of Mormon by the light of a single candle. Although there may not have been much physical light, the room was glowing with spiritual light. He loved reading with us and talking with us and I could feel his strong testimony of the Savior. This reinforced my testimony that aside from whatever earthly obstacles we may have, we can find strength in our testimonies and live in this imperfect world.

'Til next time, Anziano Simcox

Arrivederci Pesaro!

Waiting for a transfer call brings me back to high school days. It's something like waiting for Mrs. Cook to put up the cast list... without a refresh button. The call came though! Today I'm packing my bags and tomorrow I'm getting on a train to... Milano! I'll be serving in the Northeast part of the city in an area called Cimiano. It'll be a big change, but I'm excited to have a fresh start. I've been in Pesaro for over five months now. I've met a lot of wonderful people that I will be keeping with me throughout my life. I've seen a lot of miracles, I've seen lives change, I've had doors slammed in my face... but the negatives pale in comparison to even one tiny glimmer of hope in someone's eye. Now I'll be off to Milano to have new experiences, meet new people, and help more of God's children get back to Him.

I will definitely miss the branch here in Pesaro. Though they are tiny in number, they have amazing faith. I have become close with all of them and I definitely won't be forgetting about them. Milano will be a big change. I'll be going from a branch of fifteen active members to a ward of about 150 active members! How's that for change?!

I'll sure miss Anziano Valentine too. He's been a miracle in my life and I know he'll hold down the fort in Pesaro. It's been wonderful to see his testimony and his desire to do the Lord's work improve in these past few months.

Enough about me! Let's talk about missionary work! A great new investigator has come out of the woodwork. She was a referral from someone who knew the Anziani several years ago. She is drinking in everything. She is hungry for truth and she is really looking. She reads the Book of Mormon on her own and she always has so many questions--so many that we can't even teach a whole lesson! She wants to know everything and she wants to find God. She is good at listening to the Spirit. I've loved seeing her progress over the past week and I'll be sad to leave her.

Other than her, the teaching pool has been kind of tight. Since Matteo broke his leg, he's been living in a community and we have little time to visit him... Pietro has disappeared off the face of the earth for a while. It's really frustrating to see people make so much progress and then all of a sudden... nothing. We've been doing a lot of finding work and we've definitely met a lot of different kinds of people. We're all on the same path, whether we realize it or not. We're all trying to make it back and I can think of no greater blessing at this time in my life than being able to help people make it back and to bring that extra light to people.

My message this week is simple. "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." How can someone who has love for God and all those around him have any impure thoughts? In Preach My Gospel it is written that the mind is like a stage of a theatre, but only one actor can be on stage at a time. If we are filled with love, we cannot be filled with unrighteousness. When there is light, there can be no darkness. If we have that perfect love, we are willing to follow all that God has commanded us. That is the way to happiness.

Alright everyone. I'll hear from you next week in Milano!

Vi voglio bene, Anziano Simcox

August 28th

Hello. First off, I don't like this new way to respond to emails. Dear Gmail: stop. CHANGE!!.....

Whew. Ok. That's off my chest now. Hello from beautiful Pesaro. Not much has changed here, except for Gmail's service. The weather is finally cooling down a bit. We are no longer drowning in sweat anymore. We actually had to turn off the fans last night! Woo! 

We've been back to the streets trying to find people. A lot of times, they don't want to listen. Sigh. We're also still being flooded by tourists, so that makes it a challenge too. I've met so many people from so many different countries though! I've met people from the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, Germany, the U.K., France, Austria, and name any other European country. I actually had a chance to use what little German I remember with a man in the piazza. He said he only spoke German so I just told him in German that God loves us and I gave him our card. Shout-out to Herr Sharples.

Yesterday we had a really fun branch activity. Every Tuesday night our little branch meets together for la Serata Familiare (Family Home Evening). Yesterday one of our member families prepared the game. We all sat in a circle and each held part of a string. The goal was to pass a ring down the line while the person in the middle tries to guess who has the ring. I don't know if I explained that well enough, but it was really fun. We have an 80 year-old woman named Livia who comes to our church. She's our favorite. A year or two ago, she started losing her mind. She still comes to church, but anything goes with her. Yesterday she just kept playing with the string. She ended up with the ring, so she went into the middle of the circle. She actually guessed right and was so proud of herself! Then the other game we played was called "Giovanni è morto!" There wasn't really a goal except for to see how funny you can say "Giovanni è morto! (Giovanni is dead!)" to the person next to you. When it came to Livia's turn, the person next to her told her that Giovanni was dead and she got the most surprised look and said "Who's Giovanni?!?! How sad!!!" By the third or fourth time we got around the circle she figured out it wasn't real and just started ignoring us. Even she was having a fun time by the end though and we had a great evening. We have those activities once a week so that the members can invite friends and also so that people can understand that we're not just crazy people! They always make for a good time and for good food. :)

I love our branch and I'll definitely miss them when it's time for me to go. They're super awesome. They've been on fire with missionary work lately too! We're doing our best to help them. Without members, missionaries can't do anything.

This week I've started over the Book of Mormon. I've been gaining some really cool insights. Every morning we have an hour of study by ourselves when we study the Scriptures, Preach My Gospel (the missionary manual), and other materials. While study is focused on investigators and members, I pick up a whole lot as well. Never underestimate the Scriptures. I definitely didn't appreciate them at home. They are literally words of God. He speaks to us through them. Very specific answers can be found inside. As I've said many times before, God is waiting to bless us. Some blessings are dependent solely on our asking for them. 

A bleh a bleh a bleh a that's all folks. 'Til next time, Anziano Simcox