Fwd: Investigators that progress!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 7:02 AM
Subject: Investigators that progress!

This week, for the first time since I've been in Pesaro, we had some progressing investigators! Yay!!! They are the Peruvian family that we taught for the first time on my birthday. Julio Manuel, and Mary, his wife.

 

On Wednesday evening, we taught the incredibly old Glauco. He's 90. He speaks English. Unfortunately, he wants company, not conversion. So.. we had to drop him. darn. Cool guy though. His name means blue eyes.

 

On Thursday, we did a lot of casa, and then we taught one of our less actives, the DiCosimo family, who have a son that turns 8 in May. So we and the primary and everybody else in the branch are scrambling to get them active and get Andrea to understand the gospel enough that he can be baptised the day after his birthday. It was interesting.

 

Friday, we did our planning and did a lot of casa and strada and then we taught Manuel and Mary. They'd read from the Book of Mormon, and they were excited to learn that they'd been praying in a perfectly acceptable manner. That was exciting. Unfortunately, Manuel plays soccer on sunday mornings with his friends, so it may be a little difficult to get him to church. But Mary did come! Real investigator in Church!!!

 

Saturday, we taught our new english students a lesson on the restoration, and gave them each a Book of Mormon. They were very interested to find out that we have another book of scripture, and such, but they feel no need to learn more for the moment. They will however, read the Book of Mormon, so there is still hope. After that, we did a lot of casa.

 

Sunday, Mary came to church for all three hours. And loved it. She'll be at General Conference next week in Rimini, with her member friend! yay! After church, we taught Marina, a Russian lady, about the Book of Mormon, and gave her a Russian copy. She was pleased with it, and will come to church the week after Conference. She's busy this week, unfortunately.

 

Monday, we had district meeting and a lot of casa. At around 7, Anz Russo was done. in every sense. So we talked. For about 20 minutes. On the stairs of a random Palazzo. That was fun. Then we found someone who was interested.

 

Yesterday, we did a lot of casa and strada, and taught Laura, a contact from several weeks ago, with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, they aren't interested in hearing more for the moment. They have a Book of Mormon, though. And she said she'd read it. So... that's a little success.

 

Today, we did our shopping. That's about it. I love you muchly!

Anziano Jolley

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Fwd: A long week. But awesome.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 7:11 AM
Subject: A long week. But awesome

It's been a very long week. I'm very sleepy as a result. Last p-day was rather uneventful. We just stayed at home. did some cleaning, etc. didn't find anyone that evening.

 

Thursday, we taught Alberto, our new convert from Congo, did some casa, getting in several times, and finding Glauco, a 90 year old man who gave us an appointment for this evening, as well as a scoutmaster who said to call in a couple weeks.

 

Friday, we did a scambio with Ancona, so I was with Anziano Murray from Idaho for the next day. we had three appointments, and they all fell through. so we did a lot of casa. we didn't find anyone. ouch. whatever.

 

Saturday, my birthday, we unscambioed, and then Anziano Russo and I planned for the week. then we had a frustrating casa day, with some delicious food for lunch. I cooked myself chicken mushroom pasta (thanks for the recipie!) and then we got pizza in the evening. Then we went to a member's house after a bit of confusion. I thought we were going to talk with her friends about the church, so I called the Ward Mission Leader. He called back telling me that she was inviting us over to give us some food for my birthday, and we went, and turns out that it was both. So we got a young recently married peruvian couple as new investigators. They were very excited to have a Book of Mormon and to meet with us again. woot! That was the best birthday present ever for a missionary.

 

Sunday, we had a good day in church with two of our dry members and like 5 less actives coming. Later in the evening, we had coordination, then we talked with Alberto again, he wanted to give us letters for missionaries, and then we taught a less-active, Victor, who is making his way back into the church.

 

Monday, we had Zone Conference in Firenze, and then on the way home I just felt I had to talk to this girl on the train. I talked to her. she was interested. I gave her a Book of Mormon and got her phone number and gave it to the missionaries in Prato. Then I talked to another person while we waited for our next train. He was interested in talking, but not in our message or the Book of Mormon. another girl in the room piped up saying (in English... the guy was English) "I'm interested, what's that book?" So we talked with her, gave her the book, and got her number. I talked to another man, who was also interested, and then another who was totally atheist but ok with talking. It was the most amazing train ride of my mission. Literally everyone was interested in our message. We gave about 5 referrals to various missionaries in the course of about 2 hours. and gave away 2 Book of Mormons, 2 pamphlets, etc. It was amazing. The best thing was seeing the other missionaries I was travelling with start to follow my example. Anziano Murray and Roberts started to talk to people on the train too, and it was amazing. We got home to Pesaro, starting a scambio about 11 PM. Anziano Roberts and I spent the day yesterday together.

 

Yesterday, we had an appointment fall through, and then we did some casa. We didn't find anybody in our efforts the whole day but one who said to call in a month, and then we had English Class. After English Class, our 5 new students from last week asked if we could talk about the gospel. We didn't have time then, but we have an appointment to talk with a family of 5 (a woman with her sister, her husband, her mom and her aunt) on Saturday. EXCITING!!!! Then we taught one of our Peruvian members with our Ward Mission Leader, and he wanted to invite 2 of his friends to hear the missionary lessons within 2 weeks. WOOT!

 

This morning we riscambioed, and then we came here for email. exciting stuff is starting to happen! I love you family of mine!

 

Anziano Jolley

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Fwd: What a week

Oops! I forgot to forward this last week!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley <benjamin.jolley@myldsmail.net>
Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 3:39 AM
Subject: What a week

My dearest family,

This week has been quite the week. We taught Maurizio two or three
times, and when it became clear he only wanted to talk with us, not
quit smoking or be baptized, we dropped him. Our Ward Mission Leader
has started us off on a great start to our ward mission plan. (read
branch where I write ward.) We have gone by half of our members and
asked them to write a list of their friends that could be interested
in the gospel. Then we asked them to fix a date by which they will
invite their friends to hear the gospel. two of them said by the end
of this week, and the rest by the end of the month. exciting? I think
so.

On Thursday, we had a Leadership Training Meeting, in which we talked
about faith, and several rule changes, the most important of which is
that our email time has been reduced by one hour. Meaning we have an
hour. and we can email immediate family and the mission president
only. So all of you not immediate family members that email me, this
is the last week. I would appreciate your letters. they are absolutely
still allowed. We also discussed memorization of the scriptures to use
in teaching and a teaching technique called teach to find. maybe ask
the missionaries near you if they do it. It's a very effective finding
technique. in essence it is this.
1. teach a principle (45 seconds)
2. ask a question  (10 seconds)
3. bear testimony (30 seconds)
4. companion bears testimony
5. companion teaches a principle
6. etc.
Very effective. and cool. We're trying to put it in practice. It's
tough, though.

Friday, we acquired a bicycle, and we did a lot of casa, and then
passed by two of our members. It was a long day. We've done a LOT of
casa.

Saturday, we got in three times doing casa, but to people who weren't
interested in us coming back. We also taught Alberto, a new convert,
and dropped Maurizio. not a very cool day.

Sunday, we had a good testimony meeting and sunday school. I liked
when our ward mission leader bore testimony that the members need to
invite people to hear the gospel, and also talked about an experience
we had friday night. I stopped a man on the street, asking him what he
thought happened at death. He then asked me who I was, I explained,
and he yelled at me. I was very proud of myself for remaining
perfectly calm in the face of a man that was rather... angry. We did a
lot of casa that evening, and my companion kinda broke down near the
end. We hadn't gotten in after 3 hours, and he just sat down. We
talked, and then we knocked a few more doors, finding a really cool
contact and some really old people who didn't understand that we
weren't catholic. oh well. Luca is a cool guy.

Monday, we had a good district meeting and then the Zone Leaders,
Anziani Duersch and West did a blitz with us. (a scambio with both of
us in Pesaro). I went with Anziano West and we taught an excellent
lesson to Nerina, our contact from the week before, who commited to
coming to church and reading the book of mormon and praying about it.
Her son, Marco commited to reading the book of mormon, and he
introduced us to his girlfriend. When Valentina, his girlfriend,
showed up, he was super excited. Nerina said "He hasn't seen her in a
week, he's excited", Anziano West and I both said "It's been about a
year for us." I thought that was a funny moment. We then did a bit of
casa and strada and found 7 or 8 new contacts, which was great. That
evening, I cooked some gingersnaps, and was very pleased with them. in
other news, I'm very pleased with my cooking skills. I'm awesome at
cooking now. Though I would very much appreciate a few recipies. Like
for the various cookies mom makes, and maybe like tuna casserole or
something.

Tuesday, Anziano Russo and I went out and worked a lot. I was very
pleased with myself in some of the stuff I did that I would not have
done before. such as, talking to a girl of about my age, and getting
her phone number for another time, walking into a house when it looks
like they're going to let us in anyways. etc. It was a cool day. The
Zone leaders left us with a powerful talk by Gene R. Cook titled
"Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ". It's crazy.

Today, we shopped. and studied. and now I'm down to crunch time on
email. I love you!
Anziano Benjamin Jolley


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Fwd: going a little crazy

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 8:14 AM
Subject: going a little craz
Dear family,
Well, I'm in Pesaro. Since many of you asked, I'll describe in detail
our trip here. I went to Milano from Merate Thursday morning, where we
met up with the other trainers, and we went to Milano 2, where the new
missionaries were all waiting. We had an EXCELLENT trainer meeting,
getting our new missionaries just super excited about life, and then
we were paired up, one at a time. The 4 companionships that were
whitewashing, the assistents before saying who it was asked the
trainers (including me) if they'd ever been to their city. "Anziano
Jolley, have you ever been to Pesaro?" "nope, not in my life"
"Someone's in for an adventure, and they might be russian. Anziano
Russo from Sacramento California hops up and gives me a big hug. we
get our things together, and we get on a train at 3:30 to Bologna,
getting there at 6:30 PM, and then another train to Pesaro arriving at
8:37 where our Branch Mission Leader picked us up in his car and drove
us to the apartment. We arrive, unpack a little, and don't find ANY
information about the city. we find some lasagna in the fridge, throw
it in the oven, and I get a call from one of the former inhabitants of
the city. He explains to me where to find things of importance, where
the church is, and a little about our members. Also he transmits a
VERY negative attitude about the city. "It's tiny! you can't work
there!" "Have you ever been to Merate?" "no, why? because it's a tenth
the size of this city." "wow. suddenly 100,000 people seems like a
lot." Come to find out that we have... 0 investigators. ZERO.
wonderful. well... casa here we come. at least there's a lot to do
here. It's the biggest city I've served in, so... all good.

Friday, we wake up, study, do our groceries, I pay for both of us in
the largest spesa I've EVER made. 55 euro. wow. ouch. Then we go home,
plan, which mostly means that we discuss what our transfer goal is. I
ask Anziano Russo how many baptisms he wants to see this transfer. He
says 10. I say... wow. That's going to take a lot of work. It's
possible I guess, but... wow. The whole mission got 25 baptisms last
transfer. He says, let's do it. I say... wow, ok... that's intense. I
think what are they teaching them in the MTC these days? all right,
since I have no idea what to expect, that's our goal for the transfer.
We eat the rest of the lasagna and I realize that this kid doesn't eat
as much as Anziano Ballif. not even close to close. So we go out, and
we do some casa and some 10 inviti. I'm doing some of my best work my
whole mission, and he's following. We get in once doing casa. We give
out three book of Mormons, and get 2 potential investigators. The
other one isn't from Pesaro. So then we go home, tired like crazy, and
somehow we don't get lost. Thank you navigation skills.

Saturday, we go out and we do a lot more casa. We get a call from
Alberto, a New convert, he wants to meet us in the church at 7. phew.
I was not looking forward to casa all day. We go crazy on casa, and...
don't find anyone. ouch. But we teach Alberto, and he's a SOLID guy.

Sunday, we show up to church, and it's branch conference. By the way,
we have 15 active members here. 4 new converts and 15 less actives.
Small branch. This ain't piemonte. Or Lombardia. We're part of the
Rimini district. not even a stake. wow. Anyways, we get a new branch
president and our current branch president is now our branch mission
leader. We go out after a delicious lunch (My cooking skills are
awesome now.) and casa like crazy. We get in at the last door to a
psychological house... for minor cases. We talk with the caretaker and
one of the patients, who is apparently an ex-investigator.

Monday, we hit the casa, and then we go to start Anz. Russo's permesso
process. Then we meet with Maurizio, the psychological case.
Apparently he's been taught everything, he just won't give up
cigarettes. so we set a return appointment with him. and ask him to
come to church and read and pray. he says he will. We go out and do
more casa. niente

Tuesday, we go do some more casa, and then we eat lunch, once again
cooked by me. then we go look for bikes in a store because only one
works. Also, we go do some casa, and Anz. Russo starts to get a little
discouraged. We say a prayer, and find two potential investigators
about 20 years old. exciting! At 6, we meet with our new DLM (branch
mission leader) who has a plan all worked up for how we're going to
get referrals out of our members. we call half of them and get
appointments for every evening this week. WOOT! then we teach english,
and go home.

Today, we wake up, study, do our shopping and then go on a quest to
find an internet point. we eventually find this library that uses IE2
and windows me and I start this email. we have a lovely city. and....
that's my week.

Training is interesting. The kid barely speaks italian at all. He's
far too similar to me in that he doesn't like to plan lessons. uh oh.
It's going to be an interesting transfer. I'm a little stressed, but
mostly just happy. I'm in a city again. that gives us SO many
possibilities. we live way on the periphery of the city though. by the
way, my address is

Anziano Benjamin Jolley
Strada di Borgheria, 15
61100 Pesaro (PU)

The fact that we have only 2 investigators is driving me a little
crazy. we need a lot of prayers. We're working ourselves like crazy.
hopefully we start to find people this week. we're not going to see 10
baptisms this transfer if we don't (goodness that's a lot.)

I love you all!
Anziano Benjamin Jolley


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