I Miracoli Tramite la Preghiera

Buoooooooooooooooooooooooooooon Giorno tutti.

Ciao ciao. Another week goes by in Pesaro. My new companion is doing

well... emphasis on the new. I'm still relatively young in the

mission, so it's weird to be with a companion who's even younger.

Through God's strength though, we get things done and see miracles

every day! Anz. Valentine is super bravo. He is constantly working to

better himself and I'm grateful for a companion with that kind of

desire and motivation. I feel myself improving because of him. I also

feel my language improving in leaps and bounds too. I've had to learn

very quickly how to speak and understand! I feel the Lord giving me

strength to say what I need to say and understand what I need to

understand.

OK. How do I start? It's been a hard week, but it's also been a week

filled with miracles. This transfer, our zone has really focused on

prayer and seeing miracles through prayer. Our zone leaders have

challenged us to pray before every activity and promised that we will

see miracles through that one or the other. I know it's true because

it's definitely been happening here in Pesaro as we make prayer a

bigger part of our work.

Story number one. You all remember José. For the past three weeks he

has been missing. We actually started to think he went back to

Venezeula just because we couldn't get in contact with him. We had his

phone number, but no address. Last Friday, we were determined to find

him. After a prayer, we headed off to his baseball field to see if we

could find him. Sadly, the field was empty. I remembered him telling

us once that he lived near the baseball field, so we decided to try

around some of the palazzi (apartment buildings) until we found him.

The first one we tried was a no-go. Sitting outside of the palazzo

though were two older women who started talking to us. They didn't

know who José was, but they suggested a place we could try. As we were

about to leave, we mentioned that he was the baseball coach. They got

really excited and pointed to the exact house where he lives. We

knocked on the door and there he was! What a blessing. We've started

teaching him again now.

Story number two. We had just finished doing some proselyting in the

park. As we were about to leave, we noticed a man sitting on a bench

and decided to go talk to him. At first he wouldn't say a word, but we

ended up getting him to talk and he let us sit down next to him. We

found out that he had been kicked out of his house by his wife. He had

sold most everything he had. He got on his bike with what little he

had left and started biking. For 300 km (which is about 180 miles) he

biked up the coast of Italy. He had stopped to rest in Pesaro when we

found him. He said he didn't know exactly where he was going but that

he was just biking. We showed him the Book of Mormon and told him that

it was exactly what he was looking for and that all of his problems

could be answered to this Gospel. After some hesitation, he gladly

accepted the Book. We left him with a prayer, our card, and good

wishes for the future. As we were on our bikes about to leave, he came

after us and told us that we hadn't written anything in the front. We

gladly wrote our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and signed our

names. He told us he wanted to leave Pesaro and keep biking, but he

was grateful to have met us and looked forward to reading the Book of

Mormon from cover to cover. We may never find out what happened to

that man or that Book, but we now that a huge seed was planted that

day. I'm grateful to be a missionary and to be able to have these

opportunities to change lives and plant seeds of hope.

Aside from that, we've travelled quite a lot over the past week.

Thursday we were in Firenze (Florence for you Americans) for a Zone

Conference. It was our last one with President and Sister Wolfgramm.

They will be leaving this weekend and the mission will be taken over

by President and Sister Dibb. President Dibb and President Wolfgramm

were actually companions on their mission in Italy! Pres. Wolfgramm

says a lot of good things about Pres. Dibb, so it should be an

exciting change. Then yesterday we were in Milano for a new missionary

training. To those who aren't familiar with Italian geography, it's

over a five hour train ride from Milano to Pesaro. Whew. It was a

journey. I saw Anz. Miller though, who is serving in Milano right now.

He was excited to see me. He's a very... uhh... enthusiastic person

and almost broke my back when he hugged me. Hah! It's nice to finally

be at rest here in Pesaro though. We shouldn't have to get back on a

train for another week, so that'll be nice. TrenItalia and I are best

friends at this point.

I hope all is well with you, wherever you are. Thanks, as always, for

the love, prayers, emails, letters, and thoughts. I love you all! I'm

grateful to be serving as a missionary here in Pesaro.

Love, Anziano Simcox

The picture is Anz. Valentine and I.

[P.S. We have a conference next Wednesday so we might not email until

Thursday next week. Just in case that happens, know I haven't

forgotten about you. :)]

C'è sempre una scelta

I have a new companion! His name is Anziano Valentine. Sadly, his

birthday isn't on February 14th. That would've made it perfect. He's

awesome though from what I've seen so far. He's from Boston and is

fresh off the plane from the States. Even though he has a very limited

Italian vocabulary, he has no fear to talk to people. It's awesome to

see him in action. If I don't pay attention, he'll already be halfway

across the piazza talking to somebody.

Because he's so awesome at contacting people, Pesaro has seen a lot

more impromptu lessons. We've been doing tons of finding work lately.

Most of our investigators seem to have disappeared for now. Aside from

getting a huge tan, I've also gained a stronger testimony. The theme

of the past week seems to be choosing your attitude. We've talked to

so many people over the past week who have said something like "I

can't be happy. I have no money. I have no job. There's a crisis (C'è

la crisi... I hear that at least ten times a day). I can't be happy.

It's not fair that some people live comfortably while I have almost

nothing." To people who say things like this, I always ask one

question: "Are you still alive?" The answer has always been something

along the lines of yes. If nothing else, you're alive, and that's a

blessing. Somehow, someway, you were able to provide for yourself. You

are still alive, and you will continue to live. Take that blessing and

do something with it. Being happy is always a choice. Money means

nothing. Money does not bring happiness. It may bring the material

comforts of this life, but you can't take that with you. Like one of

our members told us the other day, "There are no pockets in that white

robe the angels wear." Whatever your challenges or difficulties may be

in life, I am still convinced that happiness is always a choice.

To illustrate this point, I'll tell you about Raffaele. We found him

sitting on a bench in the park, looking pretty discouraged and beaten

down. We talked with him for a little while. He had been kicked out of

his house. He had lost his job. He was working his way down the coast

trying to get to Bari, his hometown. We talked to him about faith and

hope and how we can do anything we want to with enough faith and hope.

He asked us for money, but we told him we had nothing to give him

except for a message of faith and hope. We felt the Spirit very

strongly as we were talking to him and at the end we noticed a spark

of light that hadn't been there before. We told him to never give up.

We promised him he could make it home if he kept working and didn't

give up. It's amazing to me that as missionaries, we have these kinds

of opportunities every day to give people light, even just a tiny

spark.

We met another person in the park too. His name is Roberto. I'm not

sure how I could ever describe Roberto to give him justice. He is a

little Italian man who hangs around in a little grove in the park and

he carves statues out of stone. He's a very gifted stonecutter. We

don't think he has a house. He just lives off of nature. We have very

good discussions with him though (missionaries talk to everyone!) and

he's actually a very smart person. Once he reached up and pulled a

leaf off of a tree. He gave me the leaf and said, "Look at that leaf.

You could go anywhere in the world and you will never find that leaf

anywhere else. There is not a single leaf in the universe like that

leaf. That's how wonderful God's creations are." I still have the leaf

and I keep it as a reminder of that fact. We are all unique, but we

are all children of God.

The weather has become very hot and muggy here in Italy. Mamma mia.

Italians also don't believe in air conditioning, so we've been pretty

sweaty here as we've been trying to adjust. We've broken out the fans

and we're drinking lots of water. Despite the humidity, Pesaro is very

beautiful in the summer. I'm looking forward to the summer and all of

the opportunities it brings here!

Vi voglio bene. Alla prossima volta.

--Anziano Simcox

The picture is the fountain in la Piazza del Popolo, the center of

Pesaro. The building on the right is the post office (pretty cool post

office huh) and the one on the left is shops and a restaurant. I'm

loving this Italian architecture.

Trasferimenti!

Hey all! It's transfer week! *Cue creepy organ music.* Let me explain

what exactly happens during transfer week. (Mission vocab, transfer =

six week period).

In our mission, every sixth Monday is called GEM Monday. (More mission

vocab, GEM = Grow Every Missionary). As a GEM for the next

missionaries to live in your apartment, you spend the morning

deep-cleaning the entire apartment. It feels AWESOME to make the

apartment so clean. A clean house is a clean life. I've learned that.

It's one of those many moments when I've looked back and said, "Wow.

Mom actually knew what she was talking about!" Anyway, while we're

cleaning the apartment we're also waiting for "the call." On GEM

Monday, either President or his assistants call every companionship to

tell them what will be happening to them: Who goes where, who is whose

companion, etc. We were at a member's house for lunch when we got "the

call."

Anz. Miller will be leaving Pesaro and heading off to live and work in

Milano. How about that?! He's really excited, but he also doesn't want

to leave Pesaro. After all, he's served all six months of his mission

in Pesaro!

As for me... I've been asked to be a trainer. That means that my new

companion will be fresh off the plane from Utah. I'm responsible for

showing him the ropes, as it were I haven't even been in Italy for

three months. I'm nowhere near fluent in the language, but I at least

have enough to get around. Yes, I'm a little scared, but I'm also

really excited. Overall, I'm looking forward to it with a positive

attitude. It will be a huge growing experience for both of us. My

trainer, Anz. Miller was put in the same exact situation. We turned

out fine and I think it was a good thing to have someone so young

training me. We both learned together. That's what I'm hoping for with

this new opportunity. Both of us will be learning together, that's for

sure. I've heard it said anyway that trainee is the one doing the

training. It will be a challenging, rewarding experience. That's the

definition of a mission anyway isn't it? As always, I know the Lord

will give us power to say what we need to say and understand what we

need to understand.

Tonight, we're taking a train to Bologna, spending the night with the

anziani there, and then taking a train in the morning to Milano! I'll

pick up my new companion, leave Anz. Miller there in Milano, and then

we'll make our way back to Pesaro. It's the beginning of a new and

exciting chapter in my mission. I'm actually really looking forward to

it. Every day is an adventure as a missionary! Every day is a miracle.

Speaking of miracles, I want to write about what happened last night.

We have a wonderful family we've been teaching since the beginning of

the transfer. I know I've written about Claudio and his wife Ombretta.

About three weeks ago, they dropped off the map. Phone calls,

pass-bys... nothing worked. Monday we gave them a call again just on

the off-chance that Claudio picked up. Miracle: He did! So we set up

an appointment and went over last night. That's not even the cool part

though. Ombretta, his wife, hasn't been too interested as we've been

teaching. From the start, Claudio has been 100% on board, but he

doesn't want to be baptized without his family. Last night, during our

lesson, the doorbell rang. Claudio went down to answer it and stood at

the door talking for at least twenty minutes. So, while he was at the

door, we decided to do a lesson with just Ombretta. We felt the Spirit

so strongly and we know she did too because she told us, "You know

there's something about this book that I like. There's something about

you missionaries too. Everytime you come I feel this feeling of

peace." We had a great lesson about the Book of Mormon. At the end as

we were walking out the door, Ombretta told Claudio that the whole

family was going to church this Sunday! Claudio turned and looked at

us with a look that seemed to say, "What did you do?!?" He was happy

to have his wife on board and we look forward to seeing them in church

on Sunday.

The new mission battle cry has been fifteen lessons a week. For some

cities this is something normal, but for Pesaro it's a lofty goal.

Lately though, the work has been picking up with speed in Pesaro. It's

amazing to see the change that's happening. People are coming to

church, we're teaching lessons, we've found new people, we're picking

up old people, and we've been doing everything we can to find people

to teach. It's been challenging, but we've been able to find people to

teach and we've been reaching those fifteen lessons a week. I don't

say it to brag, but just to say what can happen with faith and

willpower. Of course, numbers are everything, but they mean nothing.

That's the great paradox of mission life. Numbers are everything

because they're necessary for keeping records and tracking progress.

The most important thing to remember though is that every number is

actually a real person... a son or daughter of God. Numbers mean

nothing because they're really people and people have free agency. We

set our goals for numbers, but we achieve our goals for people.

The lesson for this week that I've been learning is that God doesn't

call the qualified, he qualifies the called. It's a phrase I've been

thinking of as I've been thinking about this upcoming opportunity to

be a trainer. Without God's authority, we're just two (good-looking)

Americans with white shirts and ties. However, He has called us to

preach His Gospel. As long as we do our part, he gives us the added

strength to continue and accomplish whatever He's asked us to do. This

lesson works for any facet of life. God is standing with open arms

waiting to bless us, but He can't do His part unless we do ours. When

we keep our promises, He keeps His. How wonderful are His blessings

for those who work to find them.

Alla prossima settimana, Anziano Simcox.

Parliamo con Tutti

As a missionary, I have the wonderful opportunity of interacting with hundreds of people every day. It's a very eye-opening experience. I get to hear a lot of different viewpoints and see a lot of different ways of life. We talk to many different people every day. Every one of them is unique and individual. Every one is a member of the human family; brothers and sisters in the family of God. Some of them love to talk to us. Some very nicely reject us. Others do so not as nicely. Some engage in very educated discussion. Some of them love to share their opinions, sometimes very forcefully and rudely. Some think that yelling at us is a good solution to the problems of the world. Every now and then, one of them is sincerely looking for something. Of course, all of us are looking for things in this life, but some don't know where to find it and others have given up. Every now and then we find that person who is ready to hear what we have to say and recognizes it as a possible solution to their search.

What saddens me is those who simply just brush us off or quickly close the door when they see us. For me, that's the most disappointing rejection. At least the person who yells at us took some amount of time to listen. Many people just walk away or close the door because they're distracted by other, less important things. The usual excuses are "sono in fretta (I'm in a hurry)" "che se ne fregga (I don't care)" "ho problemi abastanza (I have enough problems)" and the most upsetting one "non mi serve niente (It's not worth anything to me)." I'm not saying that people have to believe every word we say and get in line at the baptismal font. Of course, I'd by lying if I said that wouldn't be nice. It would be nice though if people would at least listen. Too many people in this world are distracted by things that just aren't important. The other sad excuse is "Ho gia pregato oggi (I've already prayed today)." Prayer is so much more than something on a to-do list. It's literal communication with your Father.

Once in a while though, we find that person who is ready to listen. One of those people is Jola (yola). She is from Poland and we found her sitting on a bench in the piazza. She at first introduced herself as "una donna (a woman)." With that, we began to teach her. As we talked, she began to open up and share her thoughts about God, religion, and faith. We saw light dawning on her with every principle we taught and it was amazing to see. Moments like that make all of the rejections way more than worth it. Finding that one gem among thousands of grains of sand is such an awe-inspiring experience.

Another one of those people is José, who we found at the immigration office of all places. He is progressing fast and he came to church this week! He's hungry for the truth and he loves finding it. He's already seen it blessing his life and the life of his family.

Yet another is Daniela, who we've just started teaching. We found her while visiting the house of a less-active member. She told us that she used to be one of those people who would just shrug off the missionaries. She said she never knew what we were there for, so she never bothered to listen. Now she says she's grateful she took the time to listen because she feels herself coming to closer to God. She says she feels a peace in her heart whenever we teach her and whenever she reads the scriptures. That's the Holy Ghost. It testifies of truth and leads us down the right path.

What do I mean by all this? Find time for the things that are most important. We don't expect people to believe everything we teach. We don't want people to believe everything we teach. We want them to listen and then ask themselves and God if what we're teaching is right. God is the source of all truth. I know we're just two young men with white shirts and ties. However good-looking we may be, that alone doesn't qualify us. What qualifies us is that we bring truth, being given authority from God to do so. He qualifies us. We are only mouth-pieces. Yes we bear testimony in our own words, but that alone means nothing. I could give the most eloquent speech ever written and it wouldn't mean a thing unless I had the Holy Ghost as witness. That's what teaches us. We expect all we teach to seek for the truth on their own.

All that being said, it's an amazing opportunity to be able to do this every day. I love people. I love talking to people. I love all of the people that I've met and that I serve every day. It's challenging and tiring and all that, but it's worth it. Besides, I know it's true, so what else matters?

Vi voglio bene,

Anziano Simcox

The picture is of the Piazza del Popolo (Piazza of the People). It's the main piazza here in Pesaro. This is where we do a lot of finding work.