Friday, July 25, 2014

Rubinetto Esplosivo - July 23, 2014

Hello there. Due to an exploding faucet in our kitchen I'm a bit short on time. See attached picture. I'm thinking of sending it in to National Geographic.

Hmmmm. Exciting things this week... We're actually finding people to teach. That's been nice. One new investigator is from Eritrea, which apparently is a small African country whose native language is Italian! Go figure.

We're still working with our Venezuelan/Italian family. The wife is Venezuelan, he's Italian. She's a member, he's not. He was diagnosed with cancer a while back and has been going through treatments. The wife has been less active for quite a while, but now she's coming back to church with her sister who is visiting from Venezuela and pushing the whole thing along. They are a beautiful family and they are so nice. The husband is really loving the Gospel, really studying the Book of Mormon, and teaching their daughter to do the same. It's been difficult for him to come to church, but we're hoping that this Sunday he'll be well enough to do it.

Lately, we've been trying to go out and do a lot of work in the villages surrounding Varese. Every Italian city has a province surrounding it with cities varying from big to miniscule. We share most of the province with our sisters, so we've got a pretty big area. We've been trying to get out and do some finding/less active work there. It's been rewarding and we've gotten to see a lot of awesome things we wouldn't be able to see otherwise.

The focus is still big on the family. To my family members, I hope it's OK I'm using pictures of you to stop people. It's actually working decently well. Families can be united forever and it's important to know that!

Soooo sorry, but that's all I have to send today. Speaking of families, we're off to see a member family right now and help them set up a family mission plan. To all you Mormons out there, DO IT! Family mission plans are fantastic. If you're not familiar with the concept, ask your nearest missionary. He/She would be overjoyed to explain it to you.


All my love from Italy, Anziano Simcox


Friday, July 18, 2014

Andiamo al mare......... July 16, 2014

"Andiamo al mare. Ci sentiamo alla fine d'agosto."

"We're going to the sea. We'll talk at the end of August..."

That seems to be the catchy phrase the kids are saying nowadays. I don't like it. I will teach you about eternal happiness NOW thank you very much.

Other than that, the work is great. Lately in the mission we've been trying to put a much bigger focus on the family. We've each taken a "My Family" booklet (https://familysearch.org/campaign/myfamily) and decorated the front with pictures of our own families. Yesterday we took it out and tried to stop people with it. It was neat. It gave a much more personal approach than "Have you ever seen this book?" and it gave people an immediate thing to talk about that means something to them. I like it. I still haven't finished the inside though. It's basically a four generation pedigree chart in book form. There's a page for each ancestor where you can put a picture and write some stories/memories of that person. It was originally designed to help new converts prepare to go to the temple, but it's become also a great missionary tool.

In district meeting on Monday we also talked about similar methods of finding people. We talked about using the "four points" to explain clearly and simply the message of the Restoration. These four points serve as a good to us missionaries in giving a brief overview of our message and how it can be a blessing in the lives of those we teach. Really they're a great summary to what we as members of the Church believe.

God is our literal Father in Heaven. He loves us. Every person on earth is a child of God and a member of God’s family. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our Savior and Redeemer.
Our loving Father in Heaven reached out to His children throughout biblical history by revealing His gospel to prophets. Sadly, many people rejected that gospel; even some of those who accepted it changed gospel doctrines and ordinances and fell into unbelief and apostasy.
Our Father in Heaven sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to earth. He performed miracles and taught His gospel. He accomplished the Atonement and was resurrected.
Beginning with the First Vision, God has again reached out in love to His children. He restored the gospel of Jesus Christ and His priesthood authority and organized His Church on the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is convincing evidence of this Restoration

Good stuff. I love being a missionary. Overall, the goal of Anz. Atwood and I is to find people to teach. In this summer period we have to take a bit of a different approach. A lot of people want to just take a break from the things that worry them and the world around them in general. What we're trying to help them understand is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ IS this relief from the troubles of the world. The thing about the common view of religion however seems to be that the true faithful should have no problems or concerns. That's false doctrine. We read in Matthew 5:45 that God "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Faith does not decrease our problems. In some cases it might even temporarily increase them! The true doctrine however is that having faith in Jesus Christ gives us the strength to overcome the difficulties in our life and/or endure these difficulties having a more eternal perspective of what our mortal existence means. We are here for a purpose. As the famous verse in the Book of Mormon reads "Men are that they might have joy!" (2 Nephi 2:25). Faith in Jesus Christ gives us that joy, even if the trials of life seem unending. All things are in the hands of He who created all things!

All my love I send to you and yours! Love, Anziano Simcox.


Picture: Anz. Atwood and I (In hiking clothes of all things, that's a rare sight) at the peak of "Parco Campo dei Fiori." In the background is the Swiss border and the Pre-Alps. I promise I'm not that short. He's standing on a rock or something...


Wednesday, July 9, 2014

WeEkLy UpDaTe - July 9, 2014

I couldn't get creative for a title this week. Take what you can get. :P

I'm tired (I know, not news) and old (in the mission that is, although I did just turn 21). On Monday we had a zone meeting. This zone is a lot bigger than Bergamo's zone, geographically and people-wise. It being the last zone meeting we'll have before next transfer, all of the "dying missionaries," the one's going home in a few weeks, got to give their final testimonies. I'm particularly sad about this group going home because these sisters going home soon are the ones I was with in the MTC! Elders serve two years, but sisters only do a year and a half. Also, apparently I'm old enough that one of the zone leaders mistakenly thought that I was going as home as well and had put me on the program to give my farewell!! Excuse me?! I might be old, but I'm not there yet! I'm definitely getting over the hill though...

Varese's pretty great. I feel a little more adjusted than last week. I've got a good hold on the area now and I can get my way around the city, even if I disagree with the way it's laid out. Really, it makes no sense. Different from Bergamo, we also cover the entire province (think county), so I've been able to see the surrounding areas as well. Last week we visited a member in a beautiful city stuck between a lake and a mountain. I didn't have my camera with me, but I'll get one eventually.

Since summer has "started" (the rain and cold would beg to differ) a lot of people have left on vacation. One investigator went to Puglia for two months. A few members have also gone of to Switzerland/other places. There's still a good 10 or so members that I haven't met yet because of vacation or sickness. Two of our members are in the hospital right now. One has a constant fever and has trouble eating, but they're not sure what's wrong yet. He's somewhere in his 20s. The other one, an older member, had his fifth heart attack. We went to visit him and he was taking it pretty well. He said with all these operations they've done on him he should be a cyborg before long.

We had a great appointment with a part-member family Sunday night. The wife, a member, has lived here in Italy six years or so and had never been to church in Italy up until a few weeks ago. The husband, not a member, was diagnosed with cancer a while back and has been going through chemo-therapy. A few weeks ago the wife came to church with her sister, who is visiting from Venezuela. The sister convinced the wife to come to church with her so that someone could come give a blessing to her husband. The Elders went over and gave him a blessing, and he felt the Spirit very strongly. They went back one other time and taught the family. On Sunday we went over and taught the Plan of Salvation. It was one of the best Plan of Salvation lessons I'd ever been involved in. We started by watching Finding Happiness, a short film about, obviously, finding happiness in today's hectic world. That was a perfect lead-in to talking about the purpose of life. We used some figurines that Anz. Atwood had to explain the Plan of Salvation. It was good because the husband already knew about it from his wife and sister-in-law before we taught the lesson so it helped him solidify his testimony of it. Their daughter, also not a member, has been reading in the Book of Mormon and last Sunday she and the mother came to church! He would come too, but it's still difficult because of his treatments. Once his treatments are over, he's hoping to be able to come to church and be baptized. It's great to see this family re-activating and learning the Gospel together.

Listening to the "dying testimonies" on Monday, I gained an insight that I really liked. One sister held up a picture of Jesus sitting on a hill overlooking Jerusalem. She talked about how this could have been a few nights before His crucifixion. She talked about some thoughts he might have been having. He might have been apprehensive, knowing the tasks that laid ahead of Him. He might have been sad, knowing that His ministry was coming to a close. He might have been pensive, thinking about His ministry and the effects it had on people. He didn't convert everyone He met. He didn't establish world peace. However, He did all that the Father had commanded Him too. The people around Him had free agency, but He knew that He had done all He could to make a difference. Of course, Christ IS the difference. It is interesting to think however that even the Savior of the world, the only perfect being to ever walk the earth, didn't convert everyone He taught. Many rejected Him. Many tried to kill Him, and some succeeded. However, He did what He was commanded to and so should I and so should we all.


Vi voglio bene, Anziano Simcox

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! (And me too) - July 2, 2014

Hey all! The first week in Varese was great. I was a bit out of my comfort zone for the first few days. I didn't know the members. I didn't know the people we were teaching. I didn't know the area. I was in a new place/apartment/bed etc. The adjustment period after a transfer is always a little crazy. I've gotten past it though I think. I feel pretty comfortable in Varese. The layout of the city is weird, so I get a little lost sometimes. Luckily I've got a map plus a companion who knows what he's doing, or at least pretends.

The city is right up in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by hills and lakes. As a result, there's also a lot of rain. I'm going to need to get myself an umbrella. The city itself is nothing too special. It's well kept. It's old. It's Italian. But the province around it is "bellissima!" We're going to the Lake of Varese today. There's apparently a cable car that goes up the mountain. That should be exciting.

My new companion is Anziano Atwood. He's from Pleasant Grove, Utah. That's my fifth companion in a row from Utah, and second from Pleasant Grove. He's a nice, honest, humble guy. He's got some sass though too, so I like it. He's hitting his year mark in a few weeks so we'll have to have a party!

Speaking of parties, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! And Happy Birthday Me! I love the Fourth of July. My favorite Fourth of July past time is grilling at Grandma and Grandpa Venturini's and shooting off fireworks, then watching the neighbor Stan do the same thing, but twenty times louder. Hehe.

Our branch here is decently small. I haven't had an accurate measurement yet because we were missing a lot of people this Sunday due to EFY, vacation, Young Women's Camp, etc. I think there are about thirty active members though. The church isn't in the best location. It's hidden in an office complex on a side street. Above us there is a dance studio and next to us there's a club and an Evangelical church. Between the three of them, they make enough noise, especially during our Sunday morning meetings. In the evenings, the neighborhood is a hang-out for all the punk kids who leave cigarette butts and beer bottles all over the ground. We have to go to church early and clean it all up before the members get there, otherwise it's just disgusting. We might be doing a service day soon to give the outside a deep cleaning. The inside of the church is really nice though. It also has a nice piano. There's someone in the branch who plays though, so my fingers get a little rest!

Sorry, for the short email this week. I ran out of time responding to other people. Next week I should have more to say though, and hopefully some pictures. My SD card seems to have taken a virus so we might have some pictureless emails until I can figure out what's going on.

The Church is true. I love being a missionary. It's so much fun. Really it is. I love to see people changing their lives. It makes me so happy. And I'm sure it makes God even happier.


All the love, Anziano Simcox.