Il Giorno del Ringraziamento!

Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for? I'm thankful for tons of things, like the fact that I'm serving the Lord in Italy! I thank God also for my family and friends who are always behind me cheering me on. I also give thanks that I'll be spending the holidays in Milano! I found out yesterday that Anz. Parker and I will both be here in Milano until the middle of January. I can't think of a better place to spend the holidays as a missionary.

Our plans for Thanksgiving at the church backfired, so there will be no big dinner. I'm still planning on making a Thanksgiving "feast" though. I wasn't brave enough to try to bake a turkey, so I just bought some turkey breasts and I'm going to make some stuffing with a recipe from Grandma. We'll see how it all turns out! I'm excited though. I wanted to make pumpkin pie too, but I cannot find pumpkin ANYWHERE. Mamma mia... Ah well. Apple pie is good too.

Our friend from Nepal was baptized and confirmed this week! He was so happy. After the confirmation, he was so happy that he got up, hugged the two of us and the bishop, then went down the stand and shook hands with everyone, including the counselors, the deacons, the chorister, and the pianist. He couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. It was a good weekend. It was made even better when our mission presidents gave him the contact information for the branch in Kathmandu and the service missionaries there. He was ecstatic, and so were we.

Last Saturday we had a little conference where we met Pres. Osguthorpe (Sunday School Pres.), Pres. Ridd (Young Men's counselor), and Elder Kearon (Seventy). Although it was super short, we learned a lot of things about how to be better teachers. I really enjoyed it. I also got to see a few missionaries that I haven't seen in a long time! It's always really exciting when that happens.

Despite all this, we actually did do other things this week. We talked to people in the Metro. We talked to people on the street. We talked to people in the park. We talked to people outside of the castle. You get the picture. Talking with people is always an interesting experience. It's kind of like Forrest Gump's mom always said. "You never know what you're gonna get." Although I feel comfortable with the language, the prospect can still be a little daunting. I always try to remind myself that if I didn't have the joy of the Gospel in my life, I would want someone who did to give me the opportunity to listen! I try to keep that in the back of my head. As one man reminded us in the park yesterday, people can do whatever their mind tells them they can.

"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have..." (Mosiah 4:19). I've had this scripture on my mind throughout the holiday season. It's important to remember where all of our blessings come from. They come from God. Of course, we also must do all we can to achieve these blessings. Good things cannot come to those who do nothing. In the end though, all things come from God. He will give us, not the things we need, but the strength to obtain the things we need. Put your faith in Him and you will have exactly what you need.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Love, Anziano Simcox.

11/20/13

Wow. Another transfer is already almost gone! On Monday or Tuesday I'll be getting a call telling me whether I'm staying in Milano or moving on to another city. I'm not sure which I'd rather do! I was ready to leave Pesaro after staying there for six months, but I feel like I've barely arrived in Milano! I'll go where I'm needed. We're all guessing that I'm getting shipped out though. We'll see! Isn't it exciting?

What can I say about this week? It's gone by so fast that I'm not even sure what my name is. It's a good thing I always wear a nametag or that could be really bad. Really though, these past few weeks have almost literally flown. It's been raining nonstop. I think I said that in my last email. I haven't seen the sun for a few weeks. My left shoe has a hole in it. I normally wouldn't mind, but when the ground is constantly wet, that's not too good. I'll probably look around for some shoes today. Last P-day we went "shopping" (a.k.a. we walked around the fashion district looking in the windows) and I forgot how much I hate shopping. Anz. Parker was having a grand old time, but I was just getting stressed. I tried to look for a sweater; nothing too fancy, but I figured I am in Italy right? I might as well get something cool. 300€ for a sweater?!?! Excuse me... I will never pay that much for anything that I put on my body, let alone a sweater as thin as paper.

In other news, Thanksgiving is next week! I will do something. We've been trying to plan a dinner at the church but it hasn't been working. If not, I will at least make lots of food for our apartment and we'll have our own little Thanksgiving dinner. It's the little things that count, no? 

Miracle time. Our friend from Nepal is getting baptized on Saturday! It should be awesome. He's very excited. Just as a side note, we've been going along this whole time thinking that he spoke hardly any Italian. On Monday we brought him over to a member family's house for dinner and he spoke Italian like a champion. That obstacle has now been eliminated. We were a little worried about how he'd do with the members if he couldn't speak Italian. All this time he's just been modest. He speaks enough to get by. We're so happy for him and he's happy as well. One of his worries was that when he goes back to Nepal this year that the Church wouldn't be there. President Dibb did some research and found a branch of members and a companionship of missionries in Kathmandu, which is where our friend is from. Can you believe it? The Church is everywhere. All the obstacles that stood between this man and baptism have been eliminated this week and he is ready as can be. We were talking about him the other day and saying how cool it is that just seven weeks after meeting missionaries on the subway, one can decide to change his/her life. When we first met him, we had no idea that he would progress in the Gospel, but his heart had been prepared and he was ready to listen. That's what the Gospel of Christ can do. It is the power to change eternity.

"And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true... And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" (Alma 5:12, 14). Have we had this change in ourselves? Every one of us is a convert, whether we've had the truth for a day or a lifetime. 

Vi voglio tantissimo bene e vi auguro una buona settimana. --Anziano Simcox

The picture is one of the streets in the fashion district. Nothing too fancy, but I just love the old stone streets and shuttered windows.

11/13/13

Ciaooooooooooo.

Hello everyone. Thus flies another week. I'm going to crazy before long with how fast this time is going. Oh wait. I went crazy years ago. Hardy har har. 

I heard the snow has already hit Ohio! Not here. I wish though. I love the snow. Although, I'll probably take that back when I'm trying to proselyte in it. Here it's just getting cold.

The mission is just a constant downhill slope of tiredness. The longer I'm here, the more tired I get. Tireder........ No...... More tired. English...

We have got some AWESOME things going on in Cimiano. Hearts are changing. Lives are being touched. Copies of the Book of Mormon are becoming tattered and worn. Shoes are getting holes in them, mainly my left one. Journal entries are (on occasion) being written. Pasta is being boiled. Italian is being spoken. People are being baptized. In short, miracles are happening. This Saturday the sorelle, errr sisters, in our district are seeing one of their investigators being baptized. She is just thirteen years old, but she has had her life changed and she is following the example of Jesus Christ. 

One of our investigators has decided to be baptized as well! He is the man from Nepal that I've been writing about. The change we've seen in him has been astounding. When we first met him he was a bit closed off and hardly wanted to touch a copy of the Book of Mormon! He told us a while later that the only reason he talked to us that day was because we wore Jesus Christ's name. Slowly, he gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon. We had a few great lessons at the beginning, but we were seeing no progress in his testimony. Then something happened somewhere along the line. I think it might have just been our persistent invitations to read the Book of Mormon. Every night we sent a short message with a scripture reference and every lesson we would check up and see how he felt. At first he didn't read. Finally, he decided to read. That was when the big change was visible. He started become very involved in the lessons. He started to not only read the scriptures we assigned to him, but also to study them. I'm not kidding when I say that he brings a study journal to his lessons. Every night he prays and he studies the scriptures. He is excited for his baptism, which we have scheduled for next Saturday, the 23rd. We met him six weeks ago on the subway. It's amazing how a testimony like his can grow in that amount of time.

"And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people" (Mosiah 3:20). I've seen the fulfilment of this scripture as I've been here. One thing that people don't know about Italy, and something I didn't know before I got here, is that it is filled with people from many different countries. I've met people from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brasil, El Salvador, the Philipines, China, Nepal, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Senegal, Togo, the DR of the Congo, South Africa, Algeria, Romania, Albania, Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Germany,  Spain, Portugal, France, the UK, and even the USA. There are more countries I'm sure that I haven't named. I'm living in a melting pot! The awesome part about the Gospel though is that it is being spread to all of these peoples, here and in their own country. There are translations of the Bible and the Book of Mormon in languages that I never knew existed. This is possible through missionaries like yours truly, but more so by average people who simply open their mouths and reach out to help someone in need. Be that light! You never know what miracle you'll bring about.

Love, Anziano Simcox.

11/6/13

Hellooooooo everyone! How did Halloween go? It was really uneventful here. I bought a pumpkin shaped cookie, but that was about as exciting as it got. Halloween isn't very celebrated around here so it was pretty normal. Thanksgiving should be exciting though! Even though it's an American holiday, we're hosting a big dinner anyway. It's super expensive for a turkey though! Mamma mia... Maybe we'll just buy a bunch of lunch meat instead.

Last Wednesday we had a new missionary conference for Anz. Parker. I saw some missionaries that I haven't seen since the MTC! It's really neat when we see each other because we can see how much we've all grown. All the missionaries I've seen since the MTC have grown a ton. I'm sure I have too. Tomorrow we have a big conference with Elder José Teixeira, who is a member of the Seventy and president of the Europe Area (a.k.a. top dog Mormon of Europe). That should be really cool. I'm ready to learn, and probably be humbled. Hah!

Anz. Sexton is walking (almost) normally! I'd say that's a miracle. He's so happy and feels like a new man! Winter is starting to creep in, along with lots of rain. I think it rained every day last week. I want to see the snow! That's what I love about winter.

As for missionary work, it's going along here in Cimiano. We had a wonderful investigator in church this week-- the man from Nepal I wrote about last week. He is so cool and so humble. We think he enjoyed church. He doesn't speak much Italian, so I translated for him. That was exhausting, but I know he was able to benefit from it. 

For my thought this week I thought I'd share one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 24:10-17. The people of Alma were forbidden by a wicked ruler to pray. Instead of defy his commands, they prayed secretly in their hearts for deliverance from bondage. "And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." They kept praying with FAITH and with PATIENCE. We need both to get through this life. One part I particularly like about this verse is that God promises them deliverance, but "on the morrow." He does not promise immediate deliverance. I had this conversation with someone the other day. Too many people look at God as an automatic problem-fixer. God will deliver us, but on His own time and in His own way. He expects our faith and patience, which we demonstrate through prayer and willingness to get up and work. Prayer means nothing unless it is followed by action. God can only bless us when we are doing our part. Deliverance won't always come right away, but it will come. Hold on until the morrow, and finally it will come.

Love, Anziano Simcox.

The picture is of a really neat castle grounds in central Milano. I'm so blessed to be serving in a place with so much beauty all around me.

Buon Halloween!

It's Halloween week! It's actually not that celebrated here... I've seen a few pumpkins, but that's it. I miss standing out in the yard and scaring the rotten teenage kids that try to steal our candy. This year I think I'll dress up as a missionary. Oh wait...

We've got good things going on in Cimiano! My district makes fun of me because I say that a lot. They say it's become our district catchphrase. Really though, there's some great things going on. We will definitely be seeing a few baptisms in our ward before the end of the transfer. As President Wolfgramm always said, "the greatest miracle is the changing of a human heart." We've definitely seen that. One investigator that we're working with is working diligently and reading and praying every day. He is from Nepal and has been in Italy for eight or nine months. He converted to Christianity from Hinduism about ten years ago and he is always interested in growing his faith in the Savior. He has been studying diligently and really wants to know if he should be baptized. I love him so much and I'm so excited to see his progress and to see how much his faith has grown in the past month that we've been working with him. We met him on the Metro, cioe the subway. He was looking at our nametags, so we started talking to him about how he could know Jesus Christ more.

Last Friday we had a great lesson with a part-member family. They were married a few months ago and moved into the ward at the same time. The wife is a very active member from Colombia and does not speak much Italian at all. Her husband is Italian and is not a member. At first he started attending church just to help her through the language barrier, but in that time has started to become interested himself. The Saturday of Stake Conference, he called us and asked us if we could come give his wife a blessing (we found out later that the blessing was his idea!). While he was walking us to the house from the station he had nothing but good things to say about the church and he told us that he'd like to get to know it better. They invited us over the next week for Family Home Evening. We went over with a lesson planned, expecting that they wanted us to teach. After we said the prayer, the wife opened her scriptures and said in very confident Spanish "Today we are going to talk about the scriptures." The lesson was beautiful because everyone could feel the desire she had for her husband to understand the importance of the Book of Mormon. As he translated for her, we could hear a certain conviction coming into his voice and we know his testimony definitely grew from that lesson. This weekend they are travelling up to Bern to see the temple. I'm sure that will be a huge testimony builder for him as well.

There really are some good things going in Cimiano. I love being a missionary and I thank God for the opportunity every day. Some days are hard and I'm tired a lot. The mission is just a steady progression of tiredness. I've been sick this week too. I get sick about once a year. I made it all the way to October this year, so hey. It seems though that the harder it gets, the more blessings I see. I'm so grateful to be serving God's children here. Thank you all for the continued support and love.

Vi voglio tantissimo bene. Ci sentiamo alla prossima. Anziano Simcox