Saturday, June 18, 2011

6 months well spent, only 18 more months to convert Italy! June 15, 2011

Ciao tutti!

Man, life is so intense! I wanna start this email by saying how ridiculously grateful I am to have this AMAZING opportunity to serve the Lord, and gather his children! It is really a unique opportunity to be able to not think about one's self, and focus everything on the needs of others! I am so grateful for the mercy the Lord has had on me in placing me in such a loving family, and with parents who are firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ! I know this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. Sono reso conto. And I can see the truth of it in the eyes of every person we meet.

Well, I'll start off with an update on Marco and family: We met with them again last thursday, and when we got there, Marco immediately sat us down on the couch, then pulled up a chair right in front of us, and began firing questions away. I was hesitant to start because we wanted the whole family to be there, but sure enough S.lla Ligas (wife) came in within seconds and made sure her two daughters (Alessia and Giorgia) were sitting and able to pay attention. She also made sure we started with a prayer, so that was awesome. After the prayer we got a little glimpse by S.lla Ligas at how interested her daughters already are in learning the gospel. The oldest daughter (Alessia, 11yrs old) has already gone through catoclysm (I think that's what it's called...) and was way impressed at the difference of how the kids behaved, and the reverence they all had for the Lord at our church. Apparently Sunday after church when they went home to eat, she even asked if they could pray <<like mom's church prays>>, so S.lla Ligas asked us to give a description of prayer, and had us give several demonstrations (for the lesson, and also the meal that they fed us) so that her kids would hear it from someone who was <<use to praying>> (S.lla Ligas went inactive when she married Marco). Other than that, we taught the Restoration lesson, and it went great, but only because they're so awesome. We spent way too much time just trying to answer all of his questions, when we should have had him save his questions to the end and told him that a lot of his questions will be answered in this short message. And also, my companion kinda went crazy. My companion isn't the greatest at speaking. Even in english at home, he doesn't make sense half the time.  BUT he's great, and I love him anyways. But also, Marco has had a hard time with understanding Anz VanAuker. When he speaks he doesn't do it with confidence, and spends half the time looking away trying to think of how to say something, or what to say, even though he definitely already knows this language like the back of his hand. But anyways, ever since we met Marco, Marco pinpointed my companion's problem, and has told him on several occasions to <<just speak, at worst you'll mess up>>. So my companion I guess felt that he had to prove something that night, and kind of took over the entire lesson. I tried occasionally to butt in, but each time I said something, my companion would take two seconds to listen,and then go trucking on again. I thought it was kind of hilarious, because there was nothing I could do about it. But it also was a little frustrating. But anyways, I talked to him after and he realized what happened, and is gonna try harder next time. Sweet. We haven't got to see them again yet,  and although the wife and daughters were able to come to church, Marco and Oscar got called into work. I'm going to call them again today and try and set up a friday or saturday appointment.

F.llo Romani we have met with two or even three times since the last email, and he's doing great! He's got some misconceptions that will need to be cleared, such as he believes in reincarnation, and he still doesn't quite have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. And we did have quite a regrettable moment the other day when we were with them... So Santos (F.llo Romani) is a big believer of dreams, and that they mean something, and so he asks us each time what we think about his dreams. This last one he had was pretty epic (at least for us). Oh, and just another piece of background info, they weren't able to come to church on Sunday because S.lla Romani was way sick. So this dream: The first thing he described to us was that there was this water coming out of the floor like a fountain, and this water was the purest, cleanest water he has seen, and so he decided to start washing his face in it. The other piece was that he was at church, and got a signed piece of paper, and then he had to sign it as well. This paper somehow told him, or at least reminded him that he needed to come to school, and he recognized that as he needs to come to church, so he's recomitted himself to next week for sure. So hearing this as a missionary, I immediately thought- baptism is ridiculously clean water that washes us clean! His dream is telling him to get baptized! But, I brushed it away thinking that it was just my over-eagerness. So when we left their house Anz. VanAuker turned to me and shared with me his interpretation of the dream, which was the same as mine as far as the baptism part goes (confirming in my mind even further that we should have shared our opinion when he asked us) and then he also pointed out that after the baptism, he went to church where he was given a signed piece of paper (baptismal certificate). So, I'm pretty sure that was God wanting us to interpret that for him, but we failed. Miserably. Oh well, hopefully he will have another dream for us today when we go over there!

Yesterday we had a zone conference, and all the birthdays from June 1st to August 30th were celebrated, so I got to go up to the front and choose a toothbrush (lol) and a candybar, and then people got to talk about how much they love me. Haha and Anz Scheurn was one of the first to raise his hand for this one, and he made sure everyone there knew that I'm awesome, a stud, and that he loves me haha. That guy is awesome!

That's awesome that Zac has already made the official decision to go on a mission, and that he has that strong desire! Make sure he knows that our stakes mission prep class is freaking amazing! Way better than mission prep any where else, and if you just study Preach My Gospel like they tell you to, you will have such an incredible advantage in the mission field!

Well, I'm just about all out of time.... So I will just leave you guys with this last testimony that gives me goosebumps everytime I think about it-

<<Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.>>

I love the people of Italy, they are so awesome! And I love all of you at home, and I hope you are all doing great: staying healthy, going to school, and making good decisions every day! I pray for each one of you every night!

vi voglio bene!
il vostro missionario italiano,
Anziano Bushman

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