Working hard, Feeling Good! July 13, 2011

Heyyyy! So, I didn't realize how many times i used the word <<legit>> last week until mom and dad both quoted me in their emails saying <<legit>>... lol mah bad. COMUNQUE, to answer a couple of questions, the verb <<scappare>> means to leave/escape/get out of somewhere. So when I say we scapped, it's just like english italian saying that we got out of there. When we travelled to ravenna, we took the first like 2 hr train ride with about a dozen missionaries, and then the final hour stretch to ravenna was just me and anz bona. I have started exercising again, now i just have to get my companion to go running with me! The physical area is about the same size, but the only work we do is in the city of ravenna itself, whereas in muggiò we had a bunch of cities way close to us that we were able to bike to and what not. Here we only travel outside of ravenna every now and then to visit members. It isn't quite as hot out here as it is in AZ, but the humidity is pretty uncomfortable, and we're constantly sweating! 

We do have another progressing investigator, his name is Eddie. Eddie is from Nigeria, and has two daughters and one son. For a while it didn't seem like anything was going to happen, but then Friday, he brought his three kids to our ward barbecue, and they loved it! His wife didn't come cause she was way tired, and just wanted a break from the kids haha, but everyone loved to see them there, and it was awesome! Unfortunately Luca did not come to the barbecue because he went to the dentist earlier that day and had a huge cavity, so he couldn't necessarily eat anything... BUT we also then had a lesson with eddie the next day, and we feel that he is making some huge progress! He finally read the chapters that we have been leaving him, and this time his wife actually sat in on the lesson! (His wife had originally heard that LDS are  some kinda devil worshippers, and so she was afraid to even listen to us) So now even she is starting to make some progress! We left her a Book of Mormon, which she was way excited about and said that she would read it for sure! But, she said that she won't start coming to church until she sees some changes in <<this man>> (pointing to her husband). Hahaha and Eddie's response to that was kinda funny, he asked her <<What do you want me to change? Do you want me to be white?>> lol So we tried to convince her that she would be supporting her husband a lot if she came to church with him, but she wouldn't budge. Vediamo. But Eddie did come to church again, granted he came super late, and only caught the last 30 min of Sacrament meeting, he still came. He told us Sunday mornings are the only opportunites he gets to play soccer with his buddies... so I'm afraid that's the reason he keeps showing up so late....

Luca is still super awesome, came to church again for all three hours, but still isn't feeling anything. He trusts us, so he does the things we ask him to do, cioè read the scriptures, and follow the commandments, but he doesn't see the blessings. aaaand so yeah. Also, he doesn't like to pray on his own. He prays when we're there, but for some reason he won't on his own... And I'm about 95% sure that that's the only thing he's missing. So keep him in your prayers!

Well, right now I'm in Bologna, at the end of a 2 day scambio, so we've got 6 missionaries here and we're all wanting to go out and do something fun, so sorry this letter's kinda short.... 

The missionaries here are super awesome! It's so much fun, and i'm learning a ton! Also, every single new missionary that I meet and do any work with has complimented me several times on my italian, so I guess the language is going pretty well! Well, I will try and write more next week! 

Prendete cura e divertitevi!

-Anziano Bushman