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
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