I was interested to know what number weekly update this was, so I did the math and this is the 86th! I was close. I guessed 84. Maybe just because I like the number 84 though. It was probably just a lucky guess. What does one write after 85 other weekly updates?
LIFE'S LESSONS LEARNED:
-Don't ask the Evangelical Filippino to say the opening prayer. He may take way longer than you planned.
-If you're sick and a member offers you a get-better-quick remedy, be careful. His "magic pill" might actually just be extra-strength Alka Seltzer. You'll start out with a sore throat and you'll end up with a sore bottom. I should've realized that what the Alka Seltzer did to the water was what it was about to do to my stomach. I didn't put those dots together fast enough. On the other hand, my sore throat is not as sore, so you just have to decide what's more valuable to you.
-Italy has very big spiders. I had a very frightening experience where I was in the church and another missionary suddenly noticed a very large spider hanging from my sweater. He was very calm about it. My companion was not.
-Which brings me to my other lesson learned: Don't bring Anz. Stewart with you to Fear Factor.
Hopefully you too were able to learn some things from this segment of my weekly update. Maybe I'll have more for you next week. Who knows what life has in store?
For the past few weeks we've been teaching a wonderful family. She is a member for most of her life and he is not. She has been diagnosed with liver cancer and has been staying in the hospital for the past week and a half. We've gone a couple times to visit them and every time it's been a very spiritual experience. Their testimony of the plan of salvation has really grown. Before she went into the hospital, we left them with a plan of salvation pamphlet and told them to read it before our next visit. The first time we visited after she had been admitted to the hospital, we weren't even thinking about the pamphlet, but he brought it up and talked about how much he enjoyed reading about it and how much he had learned. She said that every day her and her husband read the scriptures together. She also told us that she keeps the pamphlet under her pillow as her "guardian." A few days ago the husband said that he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Church is true. He's hoping that once his wife is out of the hospital they can start attending church together and he can be baptized. This family is really growing in the Gospel and they are grateful to have found renewed testimonies to help them through this difficult time.
They've grown my testimony even more that the Gospel is a real solution to real problems. It was not made simply to prepare us for a life to come, but to help us live in the wonderful life that we have. Today I studied a little about the purpose of life. It's a big question! As members of the Church many of us believe to have an easy answer to it. Ask any Mormon what the purpose of life is and 90% of them will say "TO HAVE JOY!" Some of them might even quote a scripture at you, "Adam fell that men might be, and men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). Once we've figured out the what, however, we need to figure out the how. I've been meditating on that for the past few days. Of course, we know that one way to find joy is to follow God's commandments. That's why he gives us commandments. "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God" (Mosiah 2:41). Is it enough to simply be obedient though. In the back of the Italian Book of Mormon, there exists a "Guide to the Scriptures" that doesn't exist in English, but that I'm really grateful for. It's basically the Bible Dictionary, but with Book of Mormon topics in it too. Anyway, one entry is entitled "Gioia" which means "Joy." (I really like that word in Italian by the way). It says that "joy is a condition of great happiness that results from righteous living. The purpose of life is that all people may know joy. Absolute joy is known only through Jesus Christ." So really, is purpose in life is to know Jesus Christ, because through Him, we can experience the ultimate amount of joy possible. If we do not know Jesus Christ, our joy is not full. If we do not know Jesus Christ we cannot fully follow His example and we cannot live righteously to earn that joy. Remember, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (St. John 17:3).
Buona settimana! Vi voglio sempre bene.
Picture: Us at Torre Pellice last week, holding up the mission plaque. (Behold, we are disciples of Jesus Christ. We have been called by him to proclaim his gospel among his people, that they might have everlasting life. 3 Nephi 5:13).
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