Hey! It's not Wednesday. Sorry if I threw your schedule off. I think we confused the guy at the internet point too.
Yesterday we had a conference in Verona. Elder Kearon is from the Seventy and he's the first counselor in the Area Presidency. For those who don't speak Mormon, basically he's the counselor to the man who heads the church in Europe. He talked to us about his conversion to the church and gave us encouragement. One thing he said that I particularly liked was "rejection is just white noise." It will happen regardless of what we do. Every missionary works through rejection, but we're here to find those that are ready, not to focus on those who aren't. It's like looking for a shell on the beach. Sometimes you have to go through the other stuff to get to what you're looking for. Elder Snow also came. He is the Church Historian, so obviously that was really exciting for me. He talked to us for a while about what exactly he does. Under his direction, the Church records its present history (I guess that's an oxymoron, but you understand) and preserves history already recorded. He has access to the church vaults where, in simple terms, they keep all the old stuff. He handles all of the writings of Joseph Smith and he has held the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon. He searches through old records to ensure that they have been properly preserved, recorded, and published. He stands as a witness of the beginnings of the Church in these days. I'd love to have that calling.
Cool story. Our man from Bangladesh is progressing wonderfully. He has a firm baptismal date set for May 23rd. Last week we taught the Word of Wisdom (the health code that prohibits alcohol, tabacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs, and encourages us to properly nourish and care for our bodies). Growing up in Bangladesh where tea is very much a part of their culture, we thought it might be difficult for him to give it up. He told us that he gets headaches and pains when he doesn't drink it. The next day he drank his last cup of tea and hasn't touched it since. Yesterday we taught him about keeping the Sabbath day holy. He has a job that requires him to sometimes work on Sundays. He wanted to change that so that he could keep himself in line with the commandments. Tonight he has a job interview. I wish that every investigator would understand and keep the commandments like he does.
Last week I wrote about our investigator Frank and his son John. They are Italians from Sicily. Frank we've been teaching since right before I got here in January. We had our first official lesson with John last week. Since then, John's progress has skyrocketed. Before, it was something he was mildly interested in, but now it's something that he is devoted to. On Thursday, he went to a Young Single Adult activity. One member picked him up and another one brought him home. On Sunday, he took aside a member, without our knowledge, and told him that he would like nothing more than to be baptized. Our very surprised member talked with us about it and we have now started teaching him. He is very excited to be baptized as soon as he can. He actually asked us how many lessons he had to take before baptism. Next week he is going to Varese for surgery and physical therapy. We have decided together that once he returns we will finish his lessons and get him prepared for baptism.
With all this great stuff happening in Bergamo, this means I'm probably getting transferred. That seems to be how it works. Hah! We'll find out. Transfers are next week, so we should get a call by Tuesday. As zone leaders, we get the information for our zones on Tuesday and call each missionary in our zone to tell them where we are going. I enjoy listening to the reactions from missionaries. Some are excited, and some less so. Last transfer, there was one sister who just refused to believe that she was getting transferred. After a few minutes we finally convinced her that we weren't joking and that she really had been transferred. It's always heartwrenching to leave a city, at least for me. Just when you make friendships and feel like you've made a difference, you're gone in the drop of a hat. That's the way it goes though. I'm not here for me. I'm here for those people that the Lord needs me to lift up.
Vi voglio bene. Alla prossima, Anziano Simcox.
The picture is a view of Porta Nuova, the main intersection of the city. At the end of the street at the top of the picture is the train station. In the opposite direction, where I took the picture is Città Alta. The green-capped building in the center left is one of the main churches in the city, although I'm blanking on the name right now. On the opposite right you can see the long strip that leads into the old center of the town, which is now all shops.
No comments:
Post a Comment