His email was late this week, he said it was because they had appointments up the wazoo which is great!
Update on Richard –
"Oh yeah speaking of Richard he said (and did) that he wanted to quit his job to be able to come back to church! I thought that was a really great step of faith on his part! So hopefully we will be able to see him tomorrow in church! And yeah it was really nice of the members to offer to do that for him!"
Update on Mack –
"we set a baptismal date with him!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything is going really well! He has told us that he has found the truth and that he really wants to be part of the church! It was awesome! As of right now he will be baptized on the 6th of March!!!!!!!! He is making great progress!"
Update on Sina –
"Sina is making great progress as well! We have set a baptismal date with her too!!!!!! We hope that everything will go well so she can make this important and necessary covenant with the Lord!! We have been going over the baptismal questions with her to make sure that she is completely ready to go! ... Well we had the interview and it went really well but there were a few things that we had to go over again since it had been such a long time! But it will be fine! We will just have to push the date back!"
Update on the family on the street that wanted to buy a Book of Mormon –
"we actually haven’t been able to see them! The adversary is working hard trying to stop us from seeing them! But the really cool thing is even though it hasn’t worked out we are still maintaining contact with them and they are still really interested! There was a little bit of time when they weren't able to get a hold of us and we just figured that they were not interested anymore but then we got a call from them that said they were sorry they were sick and they still wanted to meet and were sorry that we haven’t been meeting! It was great!"
When they have a delay or disappointment Anz Nielsen uses this mantra –
“Oh well, we keep moving forward right! Nevertheless we progress!”
About the huge mission changes –
“I’m not sure what the changes with the new mission will entail but it's going to be huge! It is really cool to be here at this time! I will attach the email that pres. Toronto sent us about what's going on!...
he said:
The Church is growing in Italy! No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing! Zion is being established in this part of the Lord's vineyard! It is through missions and missionary work that the Lord establishes and sustains stakes of Zion. As the number of stakes increases, the need for missions decreases. More faithful, mature, self-sufficient members require fewer and fewer full-time missionaries to assist in building the Lord's kingdom. We see this pattern here in Italy with the formation of one mission in 1965, a division into two missions in 1971 (Milano and Roma), and later creation of a third in Catania and a fourth in Padova. As stakes have continued to be formed, the number of missions decreased back to three, and now, with six stakes in Italy, the building of a temple in Rome, and the formation of a seventh stake (we hope!) in the near future in Sicily, the First Presidency has decided to consolidate the missionary work in Italy into two missions, Italy Milan and Italy Rome. It is an exciting time to be a missionary in Italy! To be a part of bringing to pass the fulfillment of prophecy is a tremendous honor and blessing!
As I said in my SMS to you all on Sunday, our Catania mission and all missionaries will become part of the Italy Rome mission effective July 1. Your day-to-day work of bringing souls to Christ using PMG will not be greatly affected by this change, other than you will suddenly have twice as many wonderful missionaries to serve with (120 missionaries, instead of 60) and many more exciting cities, including Roma and Napoli and Castellamare di Stabia and Sassari, that you might have the privilege of serving in at some point later in your mission. I think you will also see a realignment of zones to make them larger and more effective in the work. The new president will of course decide what changes need to be made. However, I expect that, for a few months after the unification of the two missions, most of the former Catania missionaries will continue to serve in the cities and among the people that they came to know and love in Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, and Malta.
It is a little sad to see the closure of the Catania mission after 35 years of service involving thousands of missionaries, but it is also gratifying to witness the hand of the Lord working to guide His servants and bring about His purposes in this marvelous land. The most important principle to keep in mind is that we all serve the Savior, Jesus Christ, and it doesn’t really matter where we serve or what our mission boundaries and name are: we give our best effort always because we love the Lord and we love the people He has entrusted to us—the people of Italy.
back to me now. This is everything that I know other than the speculation that you know we are doing lol!”
Their friend Jerry took them to see the Brindisi basketball team practice. He said it was pretty cool, they met and talked with most of the players and had a good time. Then they played basketball with Jerry and his friends and it was pretty fun.
They had a great lesson with Roy and Bonnie, and Roy who is a big sailing guy, taught them how to take a bearing.
While home teaching a member they discovered that he is a musician so they had a little jam session! Anz Nielsen played the djembe (he owns one of these too!) and the member said he was impressed with him! Lol
He said they had a musical night at the Church and he heard a lot of the songs our family had listened to when he got his mission call and it was fun hearing them from actual Italians!
Mack brought a friend to Church and he shared this about it…
“Mack and one of his friends came! It was awesome! And it being testimony meeting at the end Mack’s friend told us that he wanted to share his testimony the next week! It was awesome!! We taught them the Restoration with Bonnie and it was so awesome! It went really well!!! It was so cool!! Man that was great! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! man it is so awesome! We are having so much fun! I love to teach! I get so pumped after teaching! I love it!”
He closed with this…
“Today for p-day everyone in our district (all four of us) went and had a p-day together in Ostuni! We walked around for a bit and took some pictures and then got some pizza! It was fun being with the other missionaries! We are just like a little family! it is awesome! We had a great time! The cool thing was it was raining really hard and we almost canceled but we said a prayer and it turned into a really great day! it was a great miracle!
well that has pretty much been it for me this week! Nothing super out of the ordinary but another fantastic week in the service of the Lord! I love being out here in Italy serving the Lord! It rocks!
There is a little Italian boy here on the computer next to me that is playing computer games and keeps asking me if I like the game he is playing, it's funny lol! He's my friend! Talk to you soon! Ciao!!”
Monday, March 1, 2010
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!"
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!"
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Jan 27 duties of a Senior Comp
This week has been really great! Awesome in fact! Some what challenging but none the less a wonderful week in the service of the Lord!
I am loving being the senior companion but I am really starting to see how much I need to learn! It's been a blast though!
Some of the things that I take care of now are:
I am in charge of the work and how it goes, setting appropriate goals to help the work move, making sure everything in the companionship is going well etc....!
One of the best things I learned from my other senior companions was to really sit back and listen to the junior companion! I can learn so much from Anz. Marx! He is awesome!! He really is a great missionary! We have had a lot of fun together already! This is going to be an awesome transfer! That would be really cool if he got stationed in oki him being in the air force an all! In fact he took Japanese and speaks quite a bit still, that and his dad served his mission in Japan (Tokyo North!) Just like my dad served it Japan! yay for Japan!!
Anz. Marx has a lot of really good ideas to help the work move along here in Brindisi! He is really fired up about the work and ready to go! I love it! I am very excited to work with him! It has been great being senior companion this week but I really have learned a lot!
Since it was the first time for Anz. Marx to meet Roy and Bonnie they cooked us a big BIG meal! It was really good! Bonnie being born and raised in Texas made us some really good fried chicken! man it was tasty! Then we had a good lesson with them and as always had a good time! They are fantastic! I love them! Roy has been going to the hospital lately because they discovered a tumor behind his ear! They say it's ok though because it is on the surface instead of being on the inside but still he needs to get it removed. He is going to go pick up his yacht from France in March so he may get it removed then....we'll see! Hopefully he will be ok! He is a great guy! In fact he has invented a method for freeing people from rubble (after seeing the destruction in Haiti) that should be very successful!
We had a lesson with Sina! She is so awesome! She made us her special dessert called bloob bloob bloob! She calls it that because when it makes that sound its done lol! It’s really tasty! It’s just a cream kind of thing! We talked about the Book of Mormon with her and are doing our best to strengthen her testimony of it! The powerful thing about the Book of Mormon that I fear we often forget is it really is the key stone of our religion and when we have a testimony of it we know that everything thing else in the church is true! That book has such power! We need to be reading it every day to strengthen us and help us continue forward! Man I love the Book of Mormon!
Saturday we went out into our housing area to do some more work out there! It is a really golden area! We had some fun talking with some great people! Most of the time when we ring someone's citofono (its like the outside gate doorbell to get to the door doorbell) they just open the gate so we go in and knock on the doors. When they answer we do a basic approach and the usually say "oh we already have a bible" or "we already believe in Christ" and start to put up a wall. SO what I like to do is talk about what they believe! I say "yeah the bible is really important because it brings a wonderful literal testimony of Christ!" they agree and then I continue "in fact we have another testament of Christ and what He did in America" etc.. I really like to do that because it works! I love doing house! It is probably on of my favorite methods!
Sunday was great day! I loved it! It was Anz. Marx' first Sunday here and he really liked it too! The members really delivered this week!! The talks were just extra great and the members really felt the Spirit! Then after church we went and ate dinner with the Palma family! It was really good! S.lla Palma is a really good cook! We had some pasta (of course!) and then some really good meat and then fruit and then cake! That is usually how all the courses go when you eat with Italians! It's awesome!
Later that night we had a lesson with our new member Richard! He is doing great! He found work...but he has to work on Sunday! We are praying for him to be able to find a different situation! It is just so hard for them to find work! I hope he can! He really misses church and really wants to come back! The members really miss him too!
He mentioned doing “mostra” out in centro and had some great lessons that way too.
He was called to be the Branch Archivist and is putting his computer skills to good use!
They printed a list of the entire branch and called everyone to see who would want to meet with them.
They are working on some advertising for their English course.
They got locked in at the Church and locked out at their apartment all in the same day but were able to get out of both situations successfully. Lol
I am loving being the senior companion but I am really starting to see how much I need to learn! It's been a blast though!
Some of the things that I take care of now are:
I am in charge of the work and how it goes, setting appropriate goals to help the work move, making sure everything in the companionship is going well etc....!
One of the best things I learned from my other senior companions was to really sit back and listen to the junior companion! I can learn so much from Anz. Marx! He is awesome!! He really is a great missionary! We have had a lot of fun together already! This is going to be an awesome transfer! That would be really cool if he got stationed in oki him being in the air force an all! In fact he took Japanese and speaks quite a bit still, that and his dad served his mission in Japan (Tokyo North!) Just like my dad served it Japan! yay for Japan!!
Anz. Marx has a lot of really good ideas to help the work move along here in Brindisi! He is really fired up about the work and ready to go! I love it! I am very excited to work with him! It has been great being senior companion this week but I really have learned a lot!
Since it was the first time for Anz. Marx to meet Roy and Bonnie they cooked us a big BIG meal! It was really good! Bonnie being born and raised in Texas made us some really good fried chicken! man it was tasty! Then we had a good lesson with them and as always had a good time! They are fantastic! I love them! Roy has been going to the hospital lately because they discovered a tumor behind his ear! They say it's ok though because it is on the surface instead of being on the inside but still he needs to get it removed. He is going to go pick up his yacht from France in March so he may get it removed then....we'll see! Hopefully he will be ok! He is a great guy! In fact he has invented a method for freeing people from rubble (after seeing the destruction in Haiti) that should be very successful!
We had a lesson with Sina! She is so awesome! She made us her special dessert called bloob bloob bloob! She calls it that because when it makes that sound its done lol! It’s really tasty! It’s just a cream kind of thing! We talked about the Book of Mormon with her and are doing our best to strengthen her testimony of it! The powerful thing about the Book of Mormon that I fear we often forget is it really is the key stone of our religion and when we have a testimony of it we know that everything thing else in the church is true! That book has such power! We need to be reading it every day to strengthen us and help us continue forward! Man I love the Book of Mormon!
Saturday we went out into our housing area to do some more work out there! It is a really golden area! We had some fun talking with some great people! Most of the time when we ring someone's citofono (its like the outside gate doorbell to get to the door doorbell) they just open the gate so we go in and knock on the doors. When they answer we do a basic approach and the usually say "oh we already have a bible" or "we already believe in Christ" and start to put up a wall. SO what I like to do is talk about what they believe! I say "yeah the bible is really important because it brings a wonderful literal testimony of Christ!" they agree and then I continue "in fact we have another testament of Christ and what He did in America" etc.. I really like to do that because it works! I love doing house! It is probably on of my favorite methods!
Sunday was great day! I loved it! It was Anz. Marx' first Sunday here and he really liked it too! The members really delivered this week!! The talks were just extra great and the members really felt the Spirit! Then after church we went and ate dinner with the Palma family! It was really good! S.lla Palma is a really good cook! We had some pasta (of course!) and then some really good meat and then fruit and then cake! That is usually how all the courses go when you eat with Italians! It's awesome!
Later that night we had a lesson with our new member Richard! He is doing great! He found work...but he has to work on Sunday! We are praying for him to be able to find a different situation! It is just so hard for them to find work! I hope he can! He really misses church and really wants to come back! The members really miss him too!
He mentioned doing “mostra” out in centro and had some great lessons that way too.
He was called to be the Branch Archivist and is putting his computer skills to good use!
They printed a list of the entire branch and called everyone to see who would want to meet with them.
They are working on some advertising for their English course.
They got locked in at the Church and locked out at their apartment all in the same day but were able to get out of both situations successfully. Lol
Jan 20 new calling and new companion
I am doing just great!! And I have had a super week! So many miracles so many blessings! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!
That is pretty awesome that the mission home sent you an email about my call to senior companion! I’m nervous but I will do my best to do what the Lord wants me to do!
So yes I did get a new companion. His name is Anziano Marx! He is awesome! He is a great guy! I’m sure we will get along really well!! We are a pretty young companionship though. He is in his 4th transfer and I am in my 6th, it will be awesome though!!! I am really excited! Nervous but excited!
Anz. Marx is from Portland Oregon, he studied for a year at the air force academy and wants to be a pilot. he loves running, in fact he ran the Seattle marathon and placed first for his age group, plus he ran for air force! He's good! He is a great guy! I really like him!
Yeah Peter's situation is really gnarly huh!? They really can make him be a part of their church if they want just by firing him and making him live out on the streets again with no work. Well there is a camp here but most of the Africans don't like it there they say it's not the best place in the world to live so they prefer to have a house. It's just a convoluted mess. BUT we did get to see him on the street the other day for the first time since he didn't show up at the baptism. He ran up to me and gave me a HUGE hug! It was so great to see him again! We are hoping that we can meet this family soon and let them know we are good people and maybe even teach them too! The Lord will provide! It's all good! "Tutto Posto!"
With the investigator that had the bad experience at church we actually got to see and talk to her the other day! We went over so Anz. Wood could say good-bye to her. She told us that that day she had actually had a problem with her family and so she was just upset about that. So she is totally fine and wants to keep meeting with us! Thankfully!
Wednesday after we went and did email, we actually had a really good lesson with the guy that works here at the internet point! He told is that he wasn't really believing of really anything, and told us that he had posed a question to his priest that his priest couldn't answer and from that day he hadn't been to church. We answered the question for him (it was: How did Adam and Eve multiply and replenish the earth with only cane and able as children? he had never read the bible really, which is classic here for most people. We just showed him where it talks about the other children of Adam and eve.) He was really down with the answer and said that he had never felt the way he felt before! We talked with him for a bit and then went on our way. I had hoped he would be here today but he must have been called into his other job, and just his wife is at the store today.
Sunday was probably one of the most memorable Sundays I have had here in the mission! Bonnie came to church! As well as an investigator from Poland! It was awesome! The culminating part of the whole thing was that after church we were talking with bonnie and she told us that she had been away from church for so long she had sort of forgotten it but that day we showed up at her door was the day she decided to come back. She told us thank you, and when we asked her for what she said "For saving my eternal Soul!" WOW!!!!!! What an experience! I am so humbled that the Lord was able to work through me to literally find His lost sheep and bring her back to His fold! He really does know each and every single one of us and will do everything He can to help us! It was such an incredible Miracle! God lives! I KNOW IT! I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary! It is the greatest thing ever!! What a great day!!
I am excited to be senior comp now and do my best to help my companion! The Lord will help me and it will be all good! I love it here!!
The Stake Presidency has a goal for Brindisi to be a ward in two years, he thinks they can do it sooner and the PMG class will help the members get ready for that.
He was not expecting the transfer call since he had only been with Anz Wood for one transfer. Anz Wood is now in Cosenza as a Zone leader and he stayed there and is now the Senior Companion. He said he has learned a lot from Anz Wood and will hopefully be able to learn a lot from Anz Marx as well.
That is pretty awesome that the mission home sent you an email about my call to senior companion! I’m nervous but I will do my best to do what the Lord wants me to do!
So yes I did get a new companion. His name is Anziano Marx! He is awesome! He is a great guy! I’m sure we will get along really well!! We are a pretty young companionship though. He is in his 4th transfer and I am in my 6th, it will be awesome though!!! I am really excited! Nervous but excited!
Anz. Marx is from Portland Oregon, he studied for a year at the air force academy and wants to be a pilot. he loves running, in fact he ran the Seattle marathon and placed first for his age group, plus he ran for air force! He's good! He is a great guy! I really like him!
Yeah Peter's situation is really gnarly huh!? They really can make him be a part of their church if they want just by firing him and making him live out on the streets again with no work. Well there is a camp here but most of the Africans don't like it there they say it's not the best place in the world to live so they prefer to have a house. It's just a convoluted mess. BUT we did get to see him on the street the other day for the first time since he didn't show up at the baptism. He ran up to me and gave me a HUGE hug! It was so great to see him again! We are hoping that we can meet this family soon and let them know we are good people and maybe even teach them too! The Lord will provide! It's all good! "Tutto Posto!"
With the investigator that had the bad experience at church we actually got to see and talk to her the other day! We went over so Anz. Wood could say good-bye to her. She told us that that day she had actually had a problem with her family and so she was just upset about that. So she is totally fine and wants to keep meeting with us! Thankfully!
Wednesday after we went and did email, we actually had a really good lesson with the guy that works here at the internet point! He told is that he wasn't really believing of really anything, and told us that he had posed a question to his priest that his priest couldn't answer and from that day he hadn't been to church. We answered the question for him (it was: How did Adam and Eve multiply and replenish the earth with only cane and able as children? he had never read the bible really, which is classic here for most people. We just showed him where it talks about the other children of Adam and eve.) He was really down with the answer and said that he had never felt the way he felt before! We talked with him for a bit and then went on our way. I had hoped he would be here today but he must have been called into his other job, and just his wife is at the store today.
Sunday was probably one of the most memorable Sundays I have had here in the mission! Bonnie came to church! As well as an investigator from Poland! It was awesome! The culminating part of the whole thing was that after church we were talking with bonnie and she told us that she had been away from church for so long she had sort of forgotten it but that day we showed up at her door was the day she decided to come back. She told us thank you, and when we asked her for what she said "For saving my eternal Soul!" WOW!!!!!! What an experience! I am so humbled that the Lord was able to work through me to literally find His lost sheep and bring her back to His fold! He really does know each and every single one of us and will do everything He can to help us! It was such an incredible Miracle! God lives! I KNOW IT! I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary! It is the greatest thing ever!! What a great day!!
I am excited to be senior comp now and do my best to help my companion! The Lord will help me and it will be all good! I love it here!!
The Stake Presidency has a goal for Brindisi to be a ward in two years, he thinks they can do it sooner and the PMG class will help the members get ready for that.
He was not expecting the transfer call since he had only been with Anz Wood for one transfer. Anz Wood is now in Cosenza as a Zone leader and he stayed there and is now the Senior Companion. He said he has learned a lot from Anz Wood and will hopefully be able to learn a lot from Anz Marx as well.
Jan 16 a letter from the Mission Home
CHIESA DI
GESÙ CRISTO
DEI SANTI
DEGLI ULTIMI GIORNI
MISSIONE ITALIANA DI CATANIA
P.zza E. Vittorini, 7 (Parco Inglese)
95030 Sant’ Agata Li Battiati (CT)
Tel. uff. 095/411009 – 411054
Fax uff. 095/411244
15 January 2010
Dear Brother and Sister Nielsen,
We are happy to report that Anziano Nielsen has been made a senior companion. This is an important calling and comes because of his proselyting and teaching skills and his diligence in studying and learning the Italian language. His familiarity and study of Preach My Gospel is an important component in his knowledge and understanding of the missionary lessons and doctrines of the church. We are pleased with his overall growth and development as a faithful servant of the Lord.
It will be important for your son to rely on the Spirit for inspiration on how to conduct the work in his area. As senior companion, he will be responsible for the missionary work of his companionship. We are confident of his abilities as he has shown leadership and enthusiasm for growth.
We know you are proud of your son. He is a wonderful young man and we are thankful to have him here in the Italy Catania Mission. Thank you for preparing him to be called to this great work. We know the Lord will bless him and also bless you as a result of his missionary labors.
Sincerely,
James A. Toronto
President, Italy Catania Mission
GESÙ CRISTO
DEI SANTI
DEGLI ULTIMI GIORNI
MISSIONE ITALIANA DI CATANIA
P.zza E. Vittorini, 7 (Parco Inglese)
95030 Sant’ Agata Li Battiati (CT)
Tel. uff. 095/411009 – 411054
Fax uff. 095/411244
15 January 2010
Dear Brother and Sister Nielsen,
We are happy to report that Anziano Nielsen has been made a senior companion. This is an important calling and comes because of his proselyting and teaching skills and his diligence in studying and learning the Italian language. His familiarity and study of Preach My Gospel is an important component in his knowledge and understanding of the missionary lessons and doctrines of the church. We are pleased with his overall growth and development as a faithful servant of the Lord.
It will be important for your son to rely on the Spirit for inspiration on how to conduct the work in his area. As senior companion, he will be responsible for the missionary work of his companionship. We are confident of his abilities as he has shown leadership and enthusiasm for growth.
We know you are proud of your son. He is a wonderful young man and we are thankful to have him here in the Italy Catania Mission. Thank you for preparing him to be called to this great work. We know the Lord will bless him and also bless you as a result of his missionary labors.
Sincerely,
James A. Toronto
President, Italy Catania Mission
Jan 13 "a roller coaster ride"
(FYI: everything in italics is Anz Nielsen talking, otherwise its me, sorry if that's hard to follow when I jump back and forth between the two!)
Well this week has been really boring, sad, and depressing....NOT!!! ha ha!! It is has been FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO!!!!!!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! Did I getcha? Probably not because you probably saw out of your perif. all the exclamation points and bold letters! But hey it was funny anyway yeah? lol! :)
With peter we figured out what the deal is! It's not his family back at home. it's the Italian family that he lives with and works for that say if he wants the job he has to be a part of their church! We actually haven't heard from him for about...well since the day of the baptism! But yesterday in Lecce we got a call from him!!!! Our prayers were answered and hopefully we can meet with him soon!!! I don’t know what happened with the family's father. Hopefully we can help them out!
We were thinking a few weeks ago about a good way to get the members pumped for missionary work! And to get them ready to help us teach so we decided to do a Brindisi member MTC!! We have some classes all ready to go and will start soon! We are really excited about it! It should be really good! And it should get the members all excited! The Lord will help them and us get ready to help spread "the Good News!"
In their English course they played Pictionary and taboo. He said he loves teaching and maybe that is what he will end up doing for a career “Vediamo” (we’ll see).
He loves to ride the trains and says it’s a great time to just sit and ponder and watch the countryside go by, its fun!
They did splits in Lecce and he said “The highlight of the split was not only hanging out with Anz. Hansen who came into the MTC after me, (and that we may be related to) but we went and taught this sweet less active member! It was great! We taught about prayer! In the closing prayer she thanks the Lord for sending "me" to teach her about prayer! It was really cool!”
He finally got a recipe from Sister Palma but now he needs to translate it, I didn’t think about that!
They had an investigator come to Church then told them not to come back for awhile, that was hard for them but he said: “There is a purpose in everything so we will see what the Lord has in store! It will be ok! Life is great!”
He shared an experience he had while on splits with Anz Peterson (from Eagle Idaho and one of Anz Nielsen’s favorites) “this girl came up to us and asked us if we spoke English. It turns out she is from California, played soccer for the University of Hawaii and is now living here in Italy for six months and needed to find the church! It was pretty cool that the Lord had Anz. Peterson and I walk right where she happened to be that day! it was great!”
He coined the phrase “weekly run down” then it evolved into “weekly fun down”. This week he closed his email this way: “Well that is the weekly fun down!! It has been another roller coaster ride! I love it! Being a missionary is so great! It is fantastic!! The best thing ever!!”
Well this week has been really boring, sad, and depressing....NOT!!! ha ha!! It is has been FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO!!!!!!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! Did I getcha? Probably not because you probably saw out of your perif. all the exclamation points and bold letters! But hey it was funny anyway yeah? lol! :)
With peter we figured out what the deal is! It's not his family back at home. it's the Italian family that he lives with and works for that say if he wants the job he has to be a part of their church! We actually haven't heard from him for about...well since the day of the baptism! But yesterday in Lecce we got a call from him!!!! Our prayers were answered and hopefully we can meet with him soon!!! I don’t know what happened with the family's father. Hopefully we can help them out!
We were thinking a few weeks ago about a good way to get the members pumped for missionary work! And to get them ready to help us teach so we decided to do a Brindisi member MTC!! We have some classes all ready to go and will start soon! We are really excited about it! It should be really good! And it should get the members all excited! The Lord will help them and us get ready to help spread "the Good News!"
In their English course they played Pictionary and taboo. He said he loves teaching and maybe that is what he will end up doing for a career “Vediamo” (we’ll see).
He loves to ride the trains and says it’s a great time to just sit and ponder and watch the countryside go by, its fun!
They did splits in Lecce and he said “The highlight of the split was not only hanging out with Anz. Hansen who came into the MTC after me, (and that we may be related to) but we went and taught this sweet less active member! It was great! We taught about prayer! In the closing prayer she thanks the Lord for sending "me" to teach her about prayer! It was really cool!”
He finally got a recipe from Sister Palma but now he needs to translate it, I didn’t think about that!
They had an investigator come to Church then told them not to come back for awhile, that was hard for them but he said: “There is a purpose in everything so we will see what the Lord has in store! It will be ok! Life is great!”
He shared an experience he had while on splits with Anz Peterson (from Eagle Idaho and one of Anz Nielsen’s favorites) “this girl came up to us and asked us if we spoke English. It turns out she is from California, played soccer for the University of Hawaii and is now living here in Italy for six months and needed to find the church! It was pretty cool that the Lord had Anz. Peterson and I walk right where she happened to be that day! it was great!”
He coined the phrase “weekly run down” then it evolved into “weekly fun down”. This week he closed his email this way: “Well that is the weekly fun down!! It has been another roller coaster ride! I love it! Being a missionary is so great! It is fantastic!! The best thing ever!!”
Jan 7 obstacles and miracles!
New Year’s is called capodanno! it means literally head of the year. He said fireworks were going off everywhere, they couldn’t sleep so they were out on the deck and saw explosions everywhere. The next morning everything was closed and people were with their families so it was a deep cleaning day for them. He said there was leftover mold on the bathroom walls that he finally got off with all the cleaning they did that day. They had a traditional New Year’s lunch with a family of lamb and tortellini in turkey broth.
There may be a delay on Peter’s baptism… “He told us that he talked with his parents about his baptism and they were a little worried about it since he is in a foreign country, which I can understand. He is 20 so he doesn’t need permission to be baptized but he doesn’t want to disappoint his parents which I can also understand” They told him that he needed to ask the Lord if he should be baptized and he said he would. They agreed to call him on Saturday to find out the answer.
They had a new investigator not show up for an appointment but are hopeful they can get in touch with him soon and they had to move Sina’s baptismal date back but he said “that is ok, we want her to be really ready before she enters the water! We are praying hard for her! She will be baptized, it's just a matter of leaving it in the Lord's hands and letting him decide the date that would be the best for her! Everything will work out well!”
Peter and Kwame’s scheduled baptism day arrives…
Saturday morning! The day of the Baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a great day!! It was awesome!! Ok so we spent the whole day at the church filling up the font! We tapped the water from the bathroom sink and just sat and studied scrips and helped Fratello Frascaro with his computer stuff, had some really good conversations betwixt out selves! it was great! We also went and got some really great sandwiches! (Panini) At four we called peter but his phone was off! We prayed and called again but his phone was still off and it wouldn't work! We actually never got a hold of him. He never came. We did find out that the family he works for and lives with's father died and he was with them, so we figure that is what happened. He still will be baptized, in the Lord's time. So the other part of the story is with Kwame! He called us telling us he was sick and didn’t want to do it!! We told him to come to church early and we would give him a blessing! We told him to come at six and we would talk and then watch Finding Faith in Christ to strengthen his testimony until time for the baptism at 7:30. So we went outside to wait for him and around 6:30 he goes walking past! We chased him down and asked him where he was going! He told us he would be back, don’t worry....we worried! After about an hour he showed up again and didn’t want to do it. He was nervous, and he didn’t feel well so he wanted to push it back. We gave him a blessing and in the end he decided to do it! I was able to baptize him! It was a great experience! It took three times though because he has a bum leg that kept floating up. But in the end he was baptized! After the baptism he told us he felt no illness at all!!!!!
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!! IT REALLY IS!!!
It WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It rocked! It was fantastic! We had the Anziani from Lecce come and the Sorelle from Taranto sang a song that was really good! it was a great service and Kwame was just GLOWING!! he kept telling us how happy he was!! The Lord immediately poured out blessings on him!
I LOVE IT!!! IT WAS SUCH A MIRACLE!!!!
We put our faith in the Lord and He helped us out BIG TIME!!
IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY JOY IS FULL!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEN Sunday!!! man that was great too!!! Kwame showed up in the white shirt and tie we had given him as a baptismal present! He was looking great!! Richard a new member as of 4 weeks (the one who introduced us to Kwame and peter) passed the sacrament. Then Kwame received the Holy Ghost! it was great! Kwame was just beaming! It rocked!!! I LOVED IT!!!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is Ostuni where we went to find the referral!
Well that has been it pretty much this week! It has been incredible and full of miracles! I love being a missionary!
There may be a delay on Peter’s baptism… “He told us that he talked with his parents about his baptism and they were a little worried about it since he is in a foreign country, which I can understand. He is 20 so he doesn’t need permission to be baptized but he doesn’t want to disappoint his parents which I can also understand” They told him that he needed to ask the Lord if he should be baptized and he said he would. They agreed to call him on Saturday to find out the answer.
They had a new investigator not show up for an appointment but are hopeful they can get in touch with him soon and they had to move Sina’s baptismal date back but he said “that is ok, we want her to be really ready before she enters the water! We are praying hard for her! She will be baptized, it's just a matter of leaving it in the Lord's hands and letting him decide the date that would be the best for her! Everything will work out well!”
Peter and Kwame’s scheduled baptism day arrives…
Saturday morning! The day of the Baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a great day!! It was awesome!! Ok so we spent the whole day at the church filling up the font! We tapped the water from the bathroom sink and just sat and studied scrips and helped Fratello Frascaro with his computer stuff, had some really good conversations betwixt out selves! it was great! We also went and got some really great sandwiches! (Panini) At four we called peter but his phone was off! We prayed and called again but his phone was still off and it wouldn't work! We actually never got a hold of him. He never came. We did find out that the family he works for and lives with's father died and he was with them, so we figure that is what happened. He still will be baptized, in the Lord's time. So the other part of the story is with Kwame! He called us telling us he was sick and didn’t want to do it!! We told him to come to church early and we would give him a blessing! We told him to come at six and we would talk and then watch Finding Faith in Christ to strengthen his testimony until time for the baptism at 7:30. So we went outside to wait for him and around 6:30 he goes walking past! We chased him down and asked him where he was going! He told us he would be back, don’t worry....we worried! After about an hour he showed up again and didn’t want to do it. He was nervous, and he didn’t feel well so he wanted to push it back. We gave him a blessing and in the end he decided to do it! I was able to baptize him! It was a great experience! It took three times though because he has a bum leg that kept floating up. But in the end he was baptized! After the baptism he told us he felt no illness at all!!!!!
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!! IT REALLY IS!!!
It WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It rocked! It was fantastic! We had the Anziani from Lecce come and the Sorelle from Taranto sang a song that was really good! it was a great service and Kwame was just GLOWING!! he kept telling us how happy he was!! The Lord immediately poured out blessings on him!
I LOVE IT!!! IT WAS SUCH A MIRACLE!!!!
We put our faith in the Lord and He helped us out BIG TIME!!
IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY JOY IS FULL!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEN Sunday!!! man that was great too!!! Kwame showed up in the white shirt and tie we had given him as a baptismal present! He was looking great!! Richard a new member as of 4 weeks (the one who introduced us to Kwame and peter) passed the sacrament. Then Kwame received the Holy Ghost! it was great! Kwame was just beaming! It rocked!!! I LOVED IT!!!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then on Tuesday another mission miracle…
ok Tuesday! The day the angels guided our path ten miles into the wilderness to find the lost sheep!! We had received last week from church headquarters aka the MTC referral center (really rare here) that there was a couple named Roy and Bonnie that wanted the "joy to the world" DVD. Tuesday we finally found the time to go out there since they live in a little city in our pros. zone but still about a 20 minute train ride. The city is called Ostuni, or aka the white city! it is this really old city up on this hill! it is really beautiful! The thing is, the referral we got had no address, just a street, not even a house number! But we knew we had to do it, and could do it with the Lord! So we set off walking towards the city from the train station, that took about an hour, then we walked though the city asking here and there for directions. but really what we were doing was following the Spirit, literally. We walked in a direction until we felt we should turn! Then we would ask someone where this street was. they kept telling us that is was a long long way walking, about 6 or 7 kilometers. But still we felt this drive to keep going! We had no idea where we were going. We ended up getting directions from this guy to just keep walking straight after this round about. So we did. In total we walked about 10 kilometers on this tiny dirt/paved rode in the middle of no where. Just countryside. Yet inside we knew that we were going the right direction. We never turned back. we just kept going and going. It was beautiful! but desolate. We did meet this really cool German guy that had studied English with missionaries in Germany 15 years ago! He was great! He had a Book of Mormon that he had actually read that morning before he saw us in his remote area of the earth as he called it! he was great! So after him we kept walking and walking. Finally we saw a sign that told us we were on the correct street!! We were so excited we took a picture by it! lol! And then after a while more we saw this house with a doorbell so we rang it...nothing....nothing....and then....nothing. But Anz. wood looked behind us and saw an England license plate and we both KNEW that it was the house. We ran over there and saw several other cars with England license plates. The house was being built so we didn’t know if there would be anyone there so we just yelled HELLO! This guy came to the door and we asked him "are you Roy?" he said "yes I am" then we said "we are the Mormons!" His wife came running out and said "you found me! you found me!" " come in!" so we went in and told them the story! literally angels guided us right to this house! We were in a city we had never been in before, didn’t know, and had no idea where we were, yet something told us to go, and where to go! it was incredible! Roy is from Wales and Bonnie is from Texas! She cooked us some really great food! then we watched “Joy to the World”! Bonnie not knowing where the church was and having lived in their countryside home for three years was some what less active, and after the movie was just crying! She is coming to church on Sunday! It was so cool to see how the Lord works to bring back the 1 to the ninety and nine! It was really cool! I have no doubt angels literally guided us there! it was so cool!! Roy gave us a ride home luckily and we are going back soon! The cool thing is too is the referral we got was from her son. He had called the MTC with her address ordering the DVD so we could go see her! and it worked! God LOVES HIS CHILDREN and will do EVERYTHING to get them back! It was such a miracle!! Such a miracle! A literal mission story! It was awesome!!!! It was the best day ever!! They are so cool!!! Man it was so great!!!
This is Ostuni where we went to find the referral!Well that has been it pretty much this week! It has been incredible and full of miracles! I love being a missionary!
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