Social Networking (that's Italian for social networking) - 11/22/14

This week has been a decently busy one. At least, we've had a full schedule every day. That doesn't always happen, but it's nice (and tiring) when it does!

We went to Firenze this week, A.K.A. Florence. Cool huh? See attached pictures. I've always wanted to hang around Florence for a day. We didn't really have a day, more like a few hours of "free time." So we stopped by the Duomo (see picture). It was pretty neat. It has a very different architectural style than most things I've seen in Italy, at least on the outside. On the inside of the huge dome, there's a big fresco of Dante's Inferno, at least that's what they told me (see other picture). One of my goals is to read that book in Italian when I get back. Things are always better in their original language! I would've have really like to see the David statue as well, but Italy has this weird custom that says that all museums are closed on Monday... Excuse me?

Anyway, the real reason we went to Firenze was not to hang out, even though that was cool too. We had a conference down there. Elder Fingerle did a mission tour. He's an Area Seventy from Germany. He's also the Director of Religious Education for the Europe Area if I remember right. He did several conferences in which he talked about using social media in our proselyting efforts. Before starting, he pointed out the elephant in the room: We're not allowed to use social media! We don't have iPads yet like some missionaries. That'll be the day, but until then, we are without. He still said that we can further our proselyting efforts with social media without even touching an iPad/computer. He talked about ways to invite members to use social media to reach out to not just some people, but ALL people. He brought up examples such as mormon.org, Mormon messages, FamilySearch (Facebook for the dead as he called it), sharing uplifting messages on social media sites, and so forth. It really opened my mind to the potentials that these sorts of tools can have. These instruments we have in our lives can be powerful tools for good if used correctly. That's the way God would like us to use them for sure. With social media, we can now reach out to many more people who before were beyond our sphere of influence. Now, our sphere of influence is the whole world!

We decided to try out this social media initiative. This week we visited several families in the ward. We talked about the practical applications we can make of the Gospel in our lives. Then we watched this video that the Church released on Easter: https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng. Take 2:45 to watch it. It's great. Then our invite to them was to share this video on Facebook with someone they thought might need it. One mother said "I'll also make an event page inviting OTHER people to share it too." Nice work. My invite to them is the same to you. Watch the video and think of someone that YOU know that could benefit from a greater faith in Jesus Christ. Obviously, the ultimate goal is not the video, but the opening of hearts and doors to the light of the Gospel. We try to open hearts and doors using all honorable means available to us. Today, these honorable means include social media.

I look forward to implementing this approach more in our proselyting efforts!

The mission's great. I love you all! Happy week. Love, Anziano Simcox

11/15/14

Hello.

This week we were able to get some good work done in Lodi. I'm getting to know the area a little better. I can drive to the church without a GPS now, and we even found a shortcut! The Autostrada here is a toll road, so we have one of those Telepass things where you just stick it in your window and you can pass through without paying cash. Although lately ours has been a little fritzy. I think we might've gotten a ticket once. Usually when we drive through, the Telepass beeps and the light turns green. This one time though we drove through and the Telepass made a different sound. Then all of a sudden the light turned red and there was a big flash of light! So we'll have to keep an eye on the mail for the next few weeks... and get a new Telepass.

Our goal has been to get to know the members as much as possible and grow a good relationship with them. It's hard to do missionary work if you don't have a good relationship with the members in your ward. If you don't have a good relationship with the members, there's not much you can do as a missionary in my opinion. We are the only Elders in the ward, and there is also a pair of Sisters. It's a lot nicer to only have to divide things between the Sisters. In Navigli we had three companionships of Elders plus another pair of Sisters. That was a little ridiciulous! It's much easiser to split between only two companionships. Anyway, since we're the only companionship of Elders we don't have to worry about who are the favorites. :P These members are great. I've fallen in love already with the ones we've gotten to know. We want to stop by everyone's house and get to know them. We've visited four families so far, so we're only at about ten percent. Our ward is decent-sized. I'd say there are probably 50-60 that come every Sunday. I'll probably be blown away by the size of my home ward when I get home.

One issue we've run into is that most people in this ward don't actually live in Lodi. Ward boundaries are much more spread out here than they are in the States. The distance from one ward to another could be as much as an hour drive. For that reason, maintaining church attendance is much harder here. Public transportation is very helpful and convenient, but on Sundays it runs very little. It's easy to get from big city to big city, but to get from a suburb to a big city is difficult without a car. There are many members for whom it is very difficult to get to church. We were visiting one such member a few nights ago. We went to the house of his sister, who is also a member with the same problem. We had a really nice lesson. We actually set a return appointment for tomorrow to see her husband who is not a member. He would really like to learn about the Church, she says. Our issue now is getting them to church.

That lesson inspired us to come up with what seems to be our "theme." In the past couple visits with members we've been doing this. First we start off by asking what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We then read D&C 4:6, which lists some Christlike attributes. Missionaries recite this verse all the time. "Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence." We then go in a circle talking about which attribute we need to develop. The conclusion ends up being, "ALL OF THEM!" because none of us is perfect. Then we read 2 Nephi 32:3, "Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." In the words of Christ, we find the answer to ALL problems and the solution to ALL difficulties. That's quite an amazing promise. Too many people, including myself, look at the scriptures as containing only answers to spiritual dilemmas. They also contain real life solutions to real life problems. No matter what problem we're struggling with, we have the promise that we can open the scriptures and find an answer if we have an open mind and heart. Cool!

All my love as always! Love, Anziano Simcox

La Mia Epistola Settimanale - 11/8/14

I'm a little later than usual. It's been a hectic day. Actually it's been a hectic week. I was expecting this week to be pretty tranquilla, but it turned out to be the opposite. That's OK. I kind of prefer it this way. I'd much rather have a lot to do than nothing to do. The best men and women in the world can become the worst when they have nothing to do. There truly is wisdom in the Lord's counsel: "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."

We saw Ronaldo today for the first time since Dolores passed away. He's in good enough spirits given the circumstances. It was strange to be at their house without her. Her mancanza, her absence, was definitely felt. I know she's in a good place though and that she's hard at work in the Lord's service. I attached a picture of Anziano Strang, Ronaldo, and I. I really love that guy, even though communication isn't the best. He doesn't speak much Italian, and his English is pretty broken, but only 10% of communication is verbal right? He's leaving tonight for a month in the Philippines. He's bringing Dolores back there, staying for a month, and then coming back. We look forward to seeing him when we get back.

Lodi is so wonderful. I've actually still only seen it in the dark, but what I've seen has been beautiful. We were out walking a night or two ago talking to people. We came into a big piazza with a decent sized church. We thought that was the Duomo, the cathedral of the city. Each big city has it's own Duomo. We continued walking down the streets and we soon popped out into an even bigger piazza with an even bigger church that turned out to be the Duomo. It was beautiful and the piazza was amazing. I'll have to get some pictures if we ever see it in daylight. The streets are very old, but very well maintained. It's the most beautiful "centro" I've ever seen. I did not want to go in for the night when the time came. The members are wonderful too from what I've seen. Our Bishop is very supportive, which is always a HUGE positive. He pulled us into his office at the end of church last Sunday and talked about how anxious he was to get the missionary work moving in Lodi and he told us that we could count on him for anything. "Potete contare su di me!" Those are beautiful words coming from a Bishop's mouth. To boot, our chapel is outstanding too. I honestly was not expecting much. It's not too noticeable and it's kind of just stuck in between some plain-looking shops in an industrial-like area, but inside it's gorgeous. The thing is it's really plain inside too, but I just really love it. Maybe because it's kind of hidden that it feels even more beautiful on the inside.

So yah, I love Lodi and I hope to never leave. Although I keep having reminders of how soon I actually will leave Italy and that's scary. Still not sure how I feel about that. I try not to think about it too much.

We had a lesson just this evening with a new member of less than a year. He really understands the Plan of Salvation and the concept of free agency. He brought up a good point. He said to think of animals. In a way they're perfect. They can't sin, and they certainly won't be punished for any wrongdoing. We are much less perfect than animals because we can sin and we can cause bad things to happen. Humans can be pretty destructive. Then he posed the question, to which he already knew the answer, "Why then did God not make us perfect like the animals? The world never had to know imperfection." Then he gave the answer. "God loves us. He made us imperfect so that we could become perfect. He made us imperfect so that we could progress." There is no joy in stagnance. There is just being. True joy comes from progression. God could've loved us enough to create us as perfect beings, but instead He loved us more. He loved us so much that He created us as imperfect beings with the possibility of progression. True joy comes from progression.

Vi voglio tantissimo bene. Ormai l'italiano è più facile da scrivere e da parlare, quindi chiudo questa epistola in italiano. Meno male c'è Google Translate, no? Spero di poter parlare inglese quando torno. :P

Transfer #15 - 11/1/14

And thus begins my 15th transfer. Wow I'm old.

Transfers went really smoothly. I am still amazed at how non-problematic the whole week was. On Wednesday the new missionaries arrived on time, got out of customs even earlier than usual, and didn't lose a single piece of luggage! The bus to pick them up from the airport was even early, so we didn't have to wait at all. Traffic wasn't a problem. There was no construction to block us on the roads. The reservations at the hotel and the restaurant were good. Insomma, everything worked like it was supposed to! Thursday, we got all of the departing missionaries to the right places. We got to wake up super early Friday morning to take them to the airport and help them find their way around. That was actually pretty enjoyable. Compared to my first transfer here when lots of things went wrong, this was smooth sailing!

These next six weeks will be decently busy. We have a zone conference in a few weeks. An area seventy will be coming to tour the mission with President and Sister Dibb. We get to pick him up at the airport in Florence and go to the conference there. I'm excited. Then before the next transfer we'll also have Christmas zone training meetings. We can't call them conferences because we have this whole mission tour thing, but it's basically a conference. Those will be fun too. I always enjoy missionary meetings. I love seeing old friends and sharing good experiences. Most of all, I just like knowing that there are other people doing the same thing that I'm doing. Especially in Pesaro, where the next closest set of missionaries were about an hour away, it was encouraging to see other missionaries and share experiences. In every other city I've served in, there has always been at least one other companionship. In Navigli this last transfer there were nine missionaries! That was a little too crowded in my opinion, but hey! It was fun.

This week, because of all the transfer logistics, we haven't been able to do a whole lot of "missionary work." I gave a pass-along card to the guy working in the post office though, so there's something. Being in the office has taught how to look for unplanned opportunities to teach and/or serve others. With limited time to do all that we need to do, setting priorities takes on a much greater emphasis. I've learned a lot about service and how important it is. When Christ was on the earth, he did a lot of teaching, but the most effective way he taught was by serving. In the Bible we have record of a few sermons he told, but for the most part, he was out serving others. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17). I've learned that there are many ways to serve others and one of those ways is to simply be a friend.

Two people that we've really been able to serve in this way are Ronaldo and Dolores. Dolores was diagnosed a while ago with liver cancer. We've been visiting the two of them to give them company, teach them about the Gospel, and be their friends. In the last few weeks as Dolores stayed in the hospice center, we did our best to visit and to just help her feel less lonely. On Tuesday of this week, Dolores passed away. Although we've only known them for a few months, I feel like I've known her for much longer. It's hard to see her go, and it's even harder to see the toll that it's taking on Ronaldo. This experience though has taught me a lot about the Plan of Salvation that God has made for us. This life would have little sense or purpose if it only consisted of birth, death, and experiences in between. Life is something that is meant to be eternal. We existed before birth and we continue to exist after death. Ronaldo has really been able to find a lot of comfort in knowing the Plan of Salvation. We gave them a little pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation. Dolores liked to keep it under her pillow and Ronaldo said that he wanted to memorize it because he liked it so much. They asked for more pamphlets so they could give them to their friends. Dolores talked about the Gospel with everyone. She prayed sincerely and loved God. She had a very good heart and a good sense of humor. I'll miss her very much. I will always carry a little piece of her and Ronaldo with me.

That's my testimony. God loves YOU! Don't forget it. Love, Anziano Simcox

Lodi - 10/25/14

What to say what to say... It's time for transfers, so things have been getting busy in the office. Transfer week is my favorite part of being in the office. New missionaries, departing missionaries, lost luggage... I live for that thrill! Haha. Anz. Stewart found out today that he's going to Imperia. Lucky duck. It's a beautiful city on the western shore near France. He's definitely not upset. We've been in three for the past two weeks. It'll be weird to be in two again! This has been a fun trio though. Sometimes they're really stressful, but we've had a lot of fun together.

President told us that our proselyting area will be changing with the transfer. We won't be working in Milano anymore. Instead we'll be working in a city called Lodi, which is about 30 miles southeast of Milano. We're still in the office like normal and we stay in the same apartment, we'll just be working in a different city. I'm excited for the change, but I'm sad to leave the Milano Navigli ward. Every ward/branch I've served in has had something different that made it special for me. My favorite part about this ward has been the youth. It's hard to be a Mormon youth in general, but in Italy it's especially difficult because the Church is not nearly as recognized as it is in other places. It was only granted full legal recognition a few years ago. Here the expectation is that if you're Italian, you're Catholic, and if you're not, it's very strange for people. So I have a lot of respect for these youth who live their faith even though it may even have a big effect on their social life. They're not afraid to share the Gospel. They will be very blessed by this new Single's Ward that will be formed soon. So anyway, Lodi will be my sixth (and most likely final) city.

Dolores's situation doesn't seem to be getting much better. We've been visiting her as often as possible and trying to bring some cheer and some Spirit. I wish there was more that we could do. It's hard on her family because most of her children are still in the Philippines. They've been trying to come over here, but because of document issues, they haven't been able to get visas. It's really frustrating that stupid bureaucracy is stopping this family from being together. I hope that some solution is found soon. It's really hard on Ronaldo too. He's been putting in countless hours staying with her and taking care of her in the hospice center. But, if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid and neither do the bills. So he's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I love this family so much and it's hard for me to watch them struggle like this.

Last night in our chapel there was a baptism. He actually belongs to the Cimiano ward, but he wanted to be baptized in our chapel. He went through the hands of many people before ending up at Cimiano. First he met some missionaries on the subway. Then, while he was in the States, he toured temple square and talked with some missionaries there. Then he came back and found the chapel in Navigli. He came once or twice, and we talked to him for a little bit. It turned out he lived in Cimiano's area, so he started going over there and the missionaries there taught him. This man's life story is crazy. Started at age 13, he lived in a monastery, studying to be a priest. In the monastery, he did two years of silence, in which he didn't speak for two years. He's originally from Croatia. He was transferred to Rome and lived in the Vatican for a while. A few years ago, he left the Church and started searching other religions. Last night after his baptism, he gave a testimony at the pulpit. He said "I sat down with the Elders and had a discussion with them. In my life, I've had many similar discussions with many different types of people. I was skeptical that this was going to be any different. As a former priest, I was looking to prove things theologically. As I listened and learned, I discovered that the theology of it all had no significance because I felt the Holy Ghost tell me in my heart that the things I was learning were true." This man was prepared to receive the Gospel and he will be a strong member of the Church.

This reminded me of something Brigham Young once said. "If all the talent, tact, wisdom, and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon, and had declared, in the most exalted of earthly eloquence, the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like smoke which arises only to vanish away. But when I saw a man without eloquence or talents for public speaking, who could only say, ‘I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,’ the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminated my understanding, and a light, glory, and immortality were before me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony of the man was true."

I'm grateful to be a missionary and see this conversion happen in peoples' lives. For everyone it's different, but the principles are always the same: "Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you."

Vi voglio bene, come sempre. Buona settimana! --Anziano Simcox