February 19, 2014

It's already Wednesday... I feel like I just finished writing the last letter. Let's see what I can come up with this week.

Transfers happened again! I'm still here! Hah. My companion is still Elder Hansen. We were really surprised that he stayed here because he's been here already for six months! Who says another six weeks won't hurt right? A couple of missionaries from our zone left, so we'll see a few new faces around Bergamo. One of them is a new missionary, so that'll be exciting. I remember when I was a greenie and I thought my zone leaders were the two best missionaries on the planet. Now that I'm a zone leader, I think the new missionaries are way more bravi than I am. Oh, how the tables turn.

With another transfer down, that means I'm now in my ninth transfer. One more until the double digits! This transfer we've got a lot of things planned. Next week we have a training meeting in Milano. Then we have to run a zone meeting about that meeting. Then a meeting in Verona. I feel like I've been doing that a lot lately. Meeting, finding work, teach lessons, sleep a bit, repeat. No I love missionary work though.

We've been seeing some good results from the whiteboard I talked about last week. That's been a good way to spice up our finding work. This week too we also made a companionship goal to talk to at least one person on each bus/tram we get on. I don't know why, but it's always hard for me to talk on public transportation. I already don't like public transportation to begin with: lots of people, tight spaces, people who aren't wearing deodorant. But they're children of God, so I've been really pushing myself to open my mouth. It's actually much easier than I thought. Anz. Hansen calls them proselyting machines because they can't escape. Cue evil laugh. But no really, I've been pushing myself and it's been working. I can do hard things.

In church we've been seeing new people. There's one man we've been teaching; I'll call him David (I'll have to start writing down these fake names). A few of our sisters found him on the street a few weeks ago so we gave him a call and had a wonderful lesson at his house. He's going through a rough time and so he's been trusting a lot in God. His Bible is almost torn to pieces. I've never seen a Bible more used. He came to church, which made us extremely happy because we didn't think he'd be able to make it. One of the greatest joys as a missionary is seeing people actually come to church. It's so refreshing and hopeful. He came, loved church, and was rocking an awesome purple suit. Another man whom I'll call Johnathan just walked into church off the street! He said he was passing by and "felt the Spirit tell him to enter," and so he entered. He is a refugee from Ghana. He doesn't speak much Italian, but there was a member who speaks Twi, so they got along really well. He also speaks English too. He loved church. He calls himself a "born-again Christian," but he's very open to other ideas and churches. I like him because he's very sincere.

Thus it goes in Bergamo. I love this city and I love all of the people we're teaching. Here in Bergamo especially, I've been able to teach a variety of different people from different backgrounds. Here in Bergamo, aside from Italians of course, there are quite a few Bolivians, Ghanaians, Nigerians, and Tunisians. I've been able to experience different cultures and even learn some phrases in a few other languages too! I love being a missionary because of all the people we get to meet. Every day I get to talk to random people! Who knows what will happen?!? Hah!

Until next week. Love, Anziano Simcox.

February 12, 2014

These weeks are disappearing faster than my gelato... and that says something. Ooooh I'm funny.

This week I've been travelling a bit. On Friday we went to Milano for mission council, where leaders from each zone meet together and we talk about ways to improve the mission and we talk about problems in each of our zones. And we eat food. Yay pizza. :) I saw a few missionaries that I haven't seen in a while so that was nice. It's always a nice morale-booster to see mission friends from the past and see that they're still doing the same thing you're doing. Then last night we went to Verona (Romeo and Juliet anyone?) for another similar meeting just with Italians this time. Italians can really talk fast when they want to! It was good though. Now I can say I've been to Verona, even though I just saw a couple old buildings and the autostrada (freeway). 

The weather is beautiful. Nothing like Ohio from what I hear. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. We go out in the day without jackets. This has been the least scariest winter of my life. 

What did I do this week you may ask? More or less the same as usual, but hey! We did try a new way to make talking with people more effective. To be honest, going out in the street attempt to show people a book they've never seen/don't care about doesn't usually yield a whole lot of results. We decided that we would try to make it a little more exciting. How often do you see two nicely dressed young men with a whiteboard strapped around their necks walking down the street? Not too often I would venture to say. [see attached picture.] We took a big whiteboard we had hanging on our wall, strapped it around my neck, and wrote on it "Dio ci parla oggi?" which means "Does God speak to us today?" Then, we walked down to centro (the old part of town where the streets are wide and there are lots of shops) and started talking to people. It turned out to be much more effective than normal. It was a good way to talk to the younger generation too, because usually they don't want to listen to us. We had over a hundred people that day at least give us a tally and we were able to stop and have a few good conversations along the way. We have a few people with whom we working to set up a return appointment with. Cool huh? I like it a lot.

Well that was my week. Nothing too crazy, but I'm trying to keep the spice in life! Next week are transfers, so I might be getting a new companion. Anz. Hansen has been in Bergamo for six months now.

Here's your daily dose of spirituality. I've been looking for this scripture forever and my companion showed me last night. You Mormons have probably heard this before, but hey. I got excited. "Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be Spiritually-Minded Is Life Eternal" (2 Nephi 9:39). Look at the letters I capitalized. Hehe. Scripture gem. It's true though. If we focus on the things of least importance, we get nowhere in the end.

Lots of love from Italy, Anziano Simcox.

A Year in Review

Hello everyone! This week I thought I'd do something a little different. Instead of writing about my week, I thought y'all would enjoy a little review of my year. Tomorrow makes ONE YEAR as a missionary. Crazy huh?

One year ago I entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. It was nice to get back to the dry Utah air and those beautiful Wasatch mountains. I spent six weeks there while learning Italian, meeting new people, and figuring out what it means to be a missionary. I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't scared. Thankfully my district there (the nine other missionaries I went to class with) was amazing and each one of them touched my life and helped me to truly become a missionary. My companion, Anz. Mata'u, became a good friend of mine as we both struggled, learned, and succeeded together.

Then it was off to Milano. That plane ride took forever. In reality it was only about 20ish hours, but I got off the plane already feeling like I'd served two years. I remember that first day in Italy as clear as I remember my own name. It was cold and rainy (e.g. exactly how it is as I'm writing this). Our first stop was the church where we unloaded our stuff and then we headed off to an Italian restaurant where I had my first Italian lasagna. Che buona! Then it was off to the hotel. To this day, I think that was the best night's sleep I've ever had. The next day I was paired with my trainer Anz. Miller and then it was off to my first city: Pesaro.

Pesaro was everything I imagined when I thought of Italy. It was old, green, and a bit eclectic. The streets in the center of the city were made of cobblestone, there was usually a man in the piazza playing an accordion, and around lunch time the city smelled amazing! In the morning we woke to the smell of sea-side air and the markets were filled with freshly caught fish and merchants spitting non-sensical Italian phrases back and forth. On a good day, the sun hit that sea just right and the water dazzled as it crashed up against the face of the hills. The branch of the church there was composed of only fifteen members, but I loved seeing their faith despite the difficulties they may have had. My first few weeks as a missionary, to be honest, were incredibly hard. I was surrounded by a language I didn't really understand or speak. I missed my family and my friends and adjusting to the missionary schedule took quite an effort. I spent a lot of time on my knees praying for help and a lot of time on my feet working as hard as I could. I learned soon that it all depends on me. If I work hard and put my whole soul into what I'm doing, I'm happy doing it, no matter what the outcome may be. "Piano piano" as the Italians say, step by step, I learned how to communicate what I needed to say and do what I needed to do. About three months into my stay in Pesaro, my trainer was transferred away and I in turn was asked to train a new missionary, Anz. Valentine. Being as young as I was, it was as much of a learning experience for me as it was for him. At many points it came down to "sink or swim." I learned how to communicate, I learned how to talk to random strangers, and I learned how to be a missionary who cares. Anz. Valentine was very good at all of those things. I miss him a lot. Together we did a lot of finding, a lot of teaching, and near the end of our companionship we saw a wonderful Italian man step into the waters of baptism and change his life for the better.

After about six months, my time there came to an end and I was transferred to Milano. Our chapel was in a part of the city called Cimiano. When I walked into church that first day, I was shocked by the amount of people. 150+ members was quite a contrast compared to those fifteen in Pesaro. I spent a few weeks working with Anz. Polson and Stewart, and then my new companion arrived fresh off the plane from Utah. I had the blessing of training Anz. Parker and helping him get his start. I realized very quickly that he had a good heart and a growing testimony. We served together for just about four months. At the start of our companionship, we started off with pretty much nothing in an area neither of us knew very well. We decided to hit the pavement and talk to as many people as we could. Though the language was difficult for Anz. Parker at first, he pushed ahead and didn't let that stop him. We taught a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds. We worked a lot with the members of the ward and gained good relationships with them. Anz. Parker was very good at letting people know how much he cared. He taught me a lot about that. Together I feel that we accomplished a great deal, even if the outward results may not immediately show it. That's one thing about missionary work: the fruits of our efforts are rarely visible. It's so rewarding though. In November, we were able to see a wonderful man from Nepal be baptized. This man has become a very dear friend of mine and I'm so grateful to have played a little part in his conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Anz. Parker and I also spent Christmas together. Christmas in Italy was amazing, however different it may have been. We went caroling with our district quite often near the Duomo and we took it upon ourselves to spread as much Christmas cheer as we could. In Milano, I developed many good friendships that I miss already.

Then it was off to Bergamo with Anz. Hansen. Being a zone leader comes with extra responsibilities and an even higher standard of perfection. I'm grateful for it though because it pushes me to work even harder and care a lot more about the work I'm doing and the people in my care. I love the city of Bergamo, even though I've only been here a few short weeks. It is a beautiful city with a faithful branch of about 40 members. Much of the city has been preserved in it's original design and so I enjoy the old style of architecture and just the older "feel" of the city in general. Part of the city, named Città Alta, is built up in the mountain. From the top, you can see the entire valley spread out below. We are again teaching many people from many different backgrounds, mainly Bolivian, Ghanian, and Italian. I love the work here and there's always something to keep us busy. With Anz. Hansen I've learned how to "spice up" my work a little bit, for lack of a better term. We've been doing our best to think out of the box and come up with new ways to find and teach God's children.

Thanks for sticking through this ridiculously long, slightly sappily-written email. I hope this will give you at least a taste of the work I've been doing and the things I've been experiencing. I look forward to another year in Italy working for the Lord. It's not easy, that's for sure. It's definitely worth it though.

I think one of the most common questions I get in letters/emails is "How is your Italian coming?" So I figured I'd end by writing a bit in Italian, just for kicks.

Sto molto felice di poter servire come missionario della Chiesa di Gesù Cristo dei Santi degli Ultimi Giorni. Ho imparato un sacco di cose in merito alla vita, alla religione, a Dio, all'essere cristiano, e all'essere una persona in generale. Ringrazio ognuno di voi per il vostro sostegno. Questa missione sarebbe impossibile senza di voi. La mia testimonianza è cresciuta straordinariamente in quest'anno e spero di poterla vedere crescere anche di più nel prossimo anno. La mia testimonianza più grande è che Dio è il nostro Padre. Egli ci ama in un modo che non capiremo mai in questa vita, ma con un'amore che è vero. Questa chiesa di cui io sono un rappresentante è veramente la chiesa di Gesù Cristo nuovamente stabilito sulla terra. Contenute in essa sono tutte le cose di cui abbiamo bisogno per avere la felicità per sempre come una famiglia. So con tutto il mio cuore che Dio è mio Padre e che lui vuole che ognuno di noi ritorni a Lui.

I love you all. Thank you again for your support and encouragement. Love, Anziano Simcox

1/29/14

Hey everyone! Did y'all have a good week? I sure did!

Bergamo's been getting a bit chilly, although nothing compared to Ohio from what I've been hearing! We're supposed to get snow today, but I doubt it. I've still only ever seen snow once in Italy! I figured there would be some since I'm in the mountains, but alas, I remain snowless.

This week at church was one of the best Sundays I've had in the mission. We had two investigators come and they loved the whole thing. The talks that were given were very inspired and well delivered. The topics went along directly with what we had been teaching one of our investigators, so I think he was especially excited to hear some additional testimony about the principles he had been learning. The Sunday School class was just as exciting. We were a bit concerned at first because the lesson that day was on something we hadn't taught yet to either investigator. The sisters taught a great lesson though and both investigators accepted it like it was yesterday's news. By the end, they were both bearing testimony about something they didn't even know about an hour before.

Speaking of testimonies, I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. We've been teaching several people who are having trouble gaining testimonies. Some aren't yet members and some are. I had an example come to my mind. I took a Book of Mormon and said, "Let's pretend this represents our testimony." Then I held up three fingers and said, "These represent the three things that are vital to us receiving a testimony: Reading our scriptures, praying to our Father in Heaven, and attending church." I balanced the book on top of my three fingers. "When all three of these things are being put into practice, our testimony is balanced and able to grow" I said. "If one of them is missing [I removed a finger and the book fell] then so is our testimony. Our testimony needs all three to be able to function."

Ether, a Book of Mormon prophet, wrote, "Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:27). If we don't take steps to grow our faith, we will never have it! God can only do for us what we can't do for ourselves.

That's my weekly update for now. Have a great week I love y'all! Love, Anziano Simcox

Segui lo Spirito! - 1/22/14

Howdy y'all! Woops sorry. My American slipped out there for a second.

This past week has been a busy one. I've settled into my new home. From day one we hit the pavement and kept running. There's a lot of teaching going on around here lesson-wise. Of course, we should always be teaching in whatever thing we do.

I've had two experiences this week that I thought I would share.

Last night I was on a bus. To begin with, I already don't like crowds. Public transportation is everywhere in Italy though, so I've had to learn how to deal with it. It's actually really useful though because using public transportation you can get almost anywhere in the country. Talking to people on public transportation though has always been a bit difficult for me. I'm not scared of it. I've been talking to strangers every day for almost a year now. Something else though makes it hard for me. I don't know. Anyway, last night I felt an urge to talk to the man standing next me. Immediately I thought to myself that he wouldn't be interested in what I had to say, but the prompting just kept getting stronger. I pushed down the natural man and opened my mouth. What do you know... He wasn't interested at all. Bummer. I then said to myself that there still must have been some reason that I received the prompting. Immediately though, a man behind this other man leaned over and said to us "What does Mormon mean?" We were able to have a nice conversation and leave him with a pamphlet and a much better view of the Church. Always follow a prompting, even if it may yield no immediate fruits.

Second, the biggest thing I think I enjoy about the work in Bergamo is the willingness of the members to be involved. Last week we had a lesson at a member's home with an investigator. He is an older Italian man in his 60s who is very intellectual. He loves to analyze little details and he LOVES to talk. He comes to church every week on his own. He doesn't wait for us to invite him---he invites himself! This last lesson we had at a members home was very spiritual and uplifting for all of us. Usually he loves to talk, but there in the member's home we were able to invite the Spirit in such a way that when we were testifying, he was silently listening to the Spirit. I think the things that invited the Spirit the most were the members' testimonies. They were able to connect with him in a way that we never would've been able to do, but they were also very careful of the balance between them bearing testimony and us teaching. They love our investigator and are fellowshipping him wonderfully.

I hope all is well. I appreciate as always your letters, emails, and prayers. Every week I love opening my inbox and seeing your names and knowing that you've "got my back" so to say.

Love, Anziano Simcox

Bergamo - 1/15/14

Buon giorno tutti!

Hello! Here I am in Bergamo. What a beautiful city! I wish I had a picture to give you. I'll make sure to have one next week. This is a huge change compared to Milano. I liked Milano, but it definitely wasn't very high on the natural beauty scale. This city is awesome though. It's built at the base of a mountain range. Part of the city is built literally on the mountain. They call it "Città Alta" (High City). Most of the inner part of the city and all of Città Alta has still maintained the old architecture and street layouts that you imagine when you think of Italy. E.g., cobblestone streets, mismatched houses, shuttered windows, colorful walls, man on the street playing the accordion, etc. The people of the city have their own dialect called Bergamasco. It's completely different than Italian and I don't understand a word of it. Luckily, most people speak Italian too. Although my accent must be just right because someone on the bus a few days ago mistook me for a Bergamasco and started speaking to me in dialect. I just smiled and nodded.

Anyway, this is a great city and I'm grateful to be serving here. There are two wards (congregations) and one branch (little congregation). Anz. Hansen and I, along with two sisters, are assigned to the branch. There's about 40 members, so it's actually a decent sized branch. There's a large majority of Italians too, which is more uncommon than you would think. Italy is very demographically diverse, especially in the Church. There are so many South Americans in the Church that I can actually understand Spanish now too just from being exposed to it so much. Some people hope to serve in South America, or Africa, or Asia, or Europe, but I get to serve in all four places at the same time!

There are so many wonderful people that I've met here already. We are teaching a decent amount of people now, which was a pleasant surprise for me when I arrived. Yesterday we had dinner with an Italian family that let us in while we were ringing doorbells. That's a rare occurence, let alone to be let in by a family! They were so awesome and such a beautiful family. They were a true example of what Christians should be. Plenty can have faith, but in the end only those who act on what they believe are those who are profitted by their faith. Another neat investigator is an older Italian man who stopped the missionaries in the street. Usually we're the ones who do the stopping! He came to church on his own three weeks in a row and has already started to make friends with the members. He sure likes to talk (typical Italian), but he loves the church and the ideals that we practice. Another great family we are teaching is from Bolivia. A few weeks ago as they were teaching the family about the Word of Wisdom (Mormon health code, e.g. no coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs) the wife listened very intently. After they were done teaching, she said "If it's a commandment from God, we should follow it!" In that moment she vowed to give up her tea and coffee. That takes a lot of faith to make a life change at the drop of a hat.

That's the work for now. There's A LOT to be done in Bergamo. I've been busier than ever this past week, but I love it. I wouldn't rather be doing anything else.

Recently, someone referred to us missionaries as "angels." Now I'm nowhere near even kind of on that level, but I was touched by the compliment. While I definitely don't measure up, the comment did get me thinking. Who are the angels in our lives? "And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them" (1 Nephi 11:30). God loves us. He won't leave us alone and so often, he sends down his angels. An angel may be a friend, a missionary, a teacher, a parent, a sibling, or any other number of people in our lives. God sends all sorts of help and guidance especially for YOU because YOU are his child! The other part of this though is just as humbling. God sends angels to you, and He also sends you to be an angel for someone else. Look out for those opportunities. Often you might not even notice them, but if you are keeping your life in line with the will of God, you will be that angel for someone around you.

I love you! Love, Anziano Simcox

Hello everyone! Happy New Year! It's been quite a while since my last legitimate weekly update. Sorry about that. Here I am though!

Christmas was fantastic. We visited a friend of ours who bought us lunch-- Turkish Kebab. It was the only shop that was open. Plus, I like kebab anyway. Then we went over to a member's house. She fed us LOTS of filipino food. Oh mamma mia it was soooo good. The night before we went to the Duomo and saw all the lights and music and what not. It was raining a bit, but it actually added a bit of fun to the night. I made so many memories this Christmas that I'll keep forever: caroling with our district almost every night, eating roasted chestnuts (which are actually pretty good), visiting the members of our ward, eating SO MUCH FOOD, our little tiny Christmas tree and the one strand of tinsel over our door, watching the Emperor's New Groove on Christmas morning after opening our little stack of badly wrapped presents to each other, going to give service, the mountain of panettone (Italian fruitcake) in our kitchen, and so many more great times. I am so blessed that I was able to serve in Milano at Christmas-time.

With that being said, the holidays have finished and so has my time in Milano. I spent the morning packing, because tomorrow I'll be moving to Bergamo. Bergamo (Bear-gum-oh) is a city in the mountains about 30 or so miles away from Milano. I'll be living in the mountains! I'm so excited. I've heard it's a great city. Also, I've been called to serve there as a zone leader. I feel really inadequate and a bit nervous. Luckily, my new companion, Anz. Hansen, has been a zone leader there for three transfers already. I look at it really as he'll be re-training me in a sense. I'm really excited for the new opportunities and challenges that lay ahead of me.

Before I get into the spiritual stuff, I figured y'all would appreciate a little language humor. Each foreign-speaking missionary has those moments where they make a blunder in the language and get laughed at for the rest of their life. I was pretty proud of myself because I've been going almost a year now without a super memorable one. No more. Hehe. I laugh at myself in retrospect. Here's some quick Italian grammar so that this will make sense. To intensify a word, you can add suffixes. The letter -one make the word bigger. Example: "porta" means door, so "portone" means big door. You get the picture. Since the word "capo" means boss, I assumed that adding a suffix would make it mean the big boss. I found out that it doesn't work in this case... I used that in a conversation with an investigator and was puzzled by the look of confusion on his face. Later while looking through the dictionary I found that instead of calling his wife the boss as I intended, I referred to her as a castrated chicken. Why those words are so similar, I'd like to know.

Anyway, aside from that, life is going great. I love my mission and will be forever grateful for the lessons that I'm learning and the experiences that I'm having. In leaving Milano, I will be leaving a part of myself behind. There are so many people that have influenced my life for good here, and I hope I've been able to do the same to them. Serving a mission is definitely the best choice I've ever made, despite the difficulties and challenges it contains. I am so excited for this new year ahead of me and this new opportunity to serve God's children in Bergamo. Wherever I am called, I know that it's where God needs me. I know the work that I am doing is from God and I feel his guidance in everything I do. It is an experience like nothing else to put myself completely in God's hands and let Him direct all of my actions. This is His work, not mine, and I am humbled that He has chosen someone as imperfect as I am to do His work.

I love all of you. As always, I thank you for all of the love and support you send me from afar. Without you, this would be near impossible.

Happy 2014. Until next time, Anziano Simcox.