Feb 3 HUGE MISSION NEWS!

He said it snowed and winter there is pretty cold and wet especially right by the sea where they get the shore winds that just carry the cold in but he says he kinda likes that.

They didn’t have anyone show up for the PMG class which was disappointing but they plan on teaching the members with PMG in their individual homes until they can get a class up and running.

He shared this advice on using PMG:
“Study the lessons and how to teach them, study the other sections such as chapter 6 or chapter 5 on the Book of Mormon, even chapter 7 might come in handy! You can use this manual in every aspect of the church for all your callings and everything that you do! It is such an inspired book! Family home Evenings, and many other things can come from it! I LOVE PMG! Here we call it PMV (Predichare Il Mio Vangelo).”

They were able to teach Sina about the necessity for baptisms for the dead and she accepted it and realized the need for that.

He said he actually loves the planning sessions they have and it is really great to sit down and think and pray about their investigators and members and receive revelation for them!

They are home teaching companions with Francesco Palma and are having some really good lessons with the members who are less active. He shared this… “Brother Palma says he likes to teach with us since we bring a good Spirit! Here as Ammon did I must boast in my God. I think it is so cool that God gives us this special light and that we get to carry it around with us! Here in Italy we are told all the time that they see us from a distance and know who we are, that we have light and that they want what we have! They say we are beautiful young men and we have a power with us, and I KNOW that is the Lord with us! He is the one doing this! He is using us His instruments to do His work! He is the one! Only Him! I am so honored to be a missionary and to be a representative of Him! I love it! Without Him I am nothing, we are nothing! Just like President Packer said to Neil L Anderson after he was ordained to be an Apostle..."you are nothing and don't you ever forget it!" It's true! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! I LOVE IT!!!”

He updated us on Kwame and Richard:
“We actually haven’t seen Peter but I assume he is doing well and we are praying to meet with him and the family he lives with! Richard is happy and the members offered to go talk to the owners of the store where he works to see if he could come to church! SO that is nice! Kwame is starting to have the same problem with the family he lives with now and we haven’t been able to see him for awhile! It has been frustrating but we are trying our best! It is in the Lords hands now!! Things are going great and I am having a blast! I LOVE Brindisi! This little city is really a city that is ready for miracles and it is such an honor to be a part of that!”

They took a train to Bari for a conference and met up with the Anziani from Lecce on the train. He said they talked about BYU sports pretty much the whole way! Lol

At the conference Elder Gérald Caussé of the First Quorum of the Seventy taught them how to become better teachers, to help new investigators better understand the purpose of the teaching program and challenged them to ask every investigator to be baptized. Anz Nielsen said the conference was so awesome, Elder Caussé had a cool accent and he learned so many awesome things from him!

The Saturday after the Conference they met Mack and applied what Elder Caussé had taught them and Mack agreed so he is officially a new investigator! There are three conditions to qualify someone as an investigator:
1. be taught a lesson
2. be interested
3. schedule a return appointment

They had Sunday dinner with the Palma family again. Sister Palma made spaghetti, chicken and blood oranges, he said it was all really good. They taught the Palma family how to share a Book of Mormon with their testimonies inside.

During mostra Anz Nielsen had a really good lesson with a Jehovah’s Witness! Here’s what he shared about that: “I saw some people walking on the street and went to stop them. When I got close the one guy just stuck up his hand and said I’m a Jehovah’s Witness. The first thing that came out of my mouth was "Perfect!" I don’t know why I said it but it stopped him! Then I was like uh oh! What did I do!? lol! But it went really well! He was great guy!”

They also met a family on the street that was really interested! He said it was so great and in the end they asked where they could buy a Book of Mormon! He said “you gotta love a question like that!” So they gave them one and plan to meet with them again soon.

They also had a district meeting in Lecce this week and afterward they picked mandirini at a member’s house that owns a bed a breakfast place.

He closed this week’s email with MAJOR MISSION NEWS…

“I have some HUGE HUGE NEWS!!! There will no longer be an Italy Catania mission! President Toronto sent us a text message with the info! They are combining our mission with Rome!! WHOA!!!!! It will happen in July! But I will no longer be an Italy Catania missionary I will be an Italy Rome missionary! I could go to Rome! WHOA!! If they finish the temple I could go to the dedication! WHOA!!! This is HUGE!!!!! It is really really interesting!! WOW!!! haha! I don’t really know what to think!! Anyway that has really been the week! It has been really awesome! I have been having a blast with Anz. Marx he is great! We love working together!"