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.
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