A very nice week

December 28, 2011

Well, this week's been a pretty good one. Wednesday night, we did some finding work and knocked into a couple, Ciro and Manjola, from Italy and Albania respectively. They have two beautiful children named Giovanni and Rebecca. As I and my companion had not gotten in doing casa in nearly a month, I had no idea what to say to them. So we taught probably the worst lesson of my life. We sorta presented the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it. They said they would and we said a prayer and set up a return appointment. As I walked away, I thought "Why in the world do people like that even let us into their homes?" In fact, I remember thinking at the door approach, "Look's like they're busy. Darn, another door knocked." Then they invited us in. Shortly afterwards we taught English Class and it was good. we talked about Christmas traditions.

 

Thursday, we met with Roger, and he didn't understand the baptismal invite the first two times we gave it. When we explained better, he said "If I come to know the Book of Mormon is true, it's normal that I'd get baptized." We then invited him to church on Sunday, which he commited to. Later, we did some strada and casa, and taught a few people on the street.

 

Friday, we did a lot of finding and we ran into the girl we gave a Book of Mormon to on Sunday the "where's my Book of Mormon?" girl. We got her number and set up an appointment to teach her. We then planned.

 

Saturday, we decided to make a tiramisù for our members, thinking it would take 1/2 hour. It took us about 1.5 hours. oh well. We went over to the Garcias house for a Christmas eve lunch and ate an incredible amount of food. then we invited their daughter's boyfriend to listen to the lessons. He said "later." Afterwards, we were exhausted, so we took a short nap, and then we got a call from the Rossi's asking if we could go caroling to their neighbors with them. So we did. This took the rest of the night, and we came home.

 

Sunday was fun. We went to pick up Roger for church, and he came. In our Sacrament meeting were 4 dry members, and Roger and a mother with three sons who are Gertrude's friends. That would be 9 investigators. Wow. The Lord dropped a good one there. We got an appointment with Yvette and her sons, and went to the Rossi's for Christmas lunch. We ate some delicious food and I called home. Shortly afterwards, my companion tried to call home, but... no one answered. He was a little distraught the rest of the night. Around 9 he tried again, but no response. Then we went home, and slept.

 

In the morning, we studied, and with President's approval, he called again. This time he got a hold of them, while I washed the Rossi's dishes. I learned some really good Italian language jokes from them too. Example: Qual'è il contrario di Abbondantemente? (What is the opposite of abundantly? Answer at the bottom) After that we headed to Rimini and did a scambio. Anziano Scalese from Maryland and I went back to Forlì and did some good work. I called a member wanting to pass by and they responded "Didn't you know that you are supposed to be coming for FHE tonight?" oops! Anziano Scalese is a great missionary with a great talent for being grateful. As we walked into Piazza Saffi, the main town square, I thought "eh, the thousandth time I see this piazza." He says "WOW! this is ITALY! It's so pretty in this country!" I took a step back, and agreed with him. We talked a lot about Faith and obedience and how he can help his companion. I was amazed. Our conversations the whole scambio were about gospel topics and ideas and how to help missionaries and investigators and why we're on missions and such, as opposed to normal scambio discussions like girls and america and JW's and such. It was an awesome scambio.

 

Tuesday, we studied and went down to Rimini for district meeting. It went pretty well. We talked a lot about Finding Work, and it was pretty cool. My companion is awesome. After that, we grabbed lunch at Burger King, and then went back to Forlì. We got back and I was exhausted, as was my companion. We had appointments in about 20 minutes though, so I just got on my knees and prayed for the strength and alertness to be able to teach after little sleep. We went, and miracles happened. The first appointment was with Ciro and Manjola. We taught them the restoration, and as we brought up baptism, Manjola was fascinated. She has always wanted to be baptized, but has never had the chance. This family has been prepared by the Lord. They accepted a conditional Baptismal date for the 28th of January, if they come to know it's true before then. Afterwards, we went and taught Yvette and her 3 sons. We started out talking with Yvette, and the TV was on, and then we asked to say a prayer to start the lesson properly, and so we turned off the TV. Suddenly her sons, ages 9, 11, and 13 are fixed on us. We start to explain the restoration, and these boys understand EVERYTHING. They are full of faith and I'm amazed. "What did Jesus do while he was on the earth?" I ask. "He was baptized by John the baptist, he did miracles, he called 12 men to be specially taught by him to then teach others and he was crucified." I look at my companion in utter disbelief that this is happening. As we explain the First Vision, the 9 year old says "I would die of joy if I saw God. How did Joseph Smith not die of joy?" As we explain the Book of Mormon, the 11 year old notices a picture of Alma baptizing and says "We've been baptized Catholic. Do we need to be baptized Mormon? Yes." Will you read the Book of Mormon? Absolutely. Will you be baptized? YES! Mom says, they've already been baptized Catholic. 13 year old says, No, mom, We have to be baptized again because the LDS church is the Lord's new restored Kingdom. I have NEVER met such amazing children. They were super excited to learn more. End result of day? 6 baptismal dates for the 28th of January.

 

Investigators as of now:

Roger from Burkina Faso

Yvette, Raphael, Cesare and Jean Jacques, from Benin, Baptismal Date, 28 January

Ciro, Manjola, Giovanni and Rebecca, from Italy and Albania baptismal date 28 January

 

Answer to joke above: A Berlino Petrarca dice il vero. (In Berlin, Petrarch tells the truth). Why is this funny? Abbondantemente spoken sounds like a sentence A bonn, Dante mente. (In Bonn, Dante lies).

 

I love you. Keep praying for us. We're seeing miracles thanks to your prayers.

 

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A scambio and some work

From: Benjamin Jolley

Date: Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 3:18 AM

Well, another week gone. Thursday was an interesting day. All of our appointments fell through, but we still had an opportunity to speak with someone and place a Book of Mormon. I love the feeling of a bag that has been carrying a Book of Mormon all day that is now empty. Another person has the opportunity to find truth. I hate the feeling of having a full bag at the end of the day. It feels so heavy on my shoulder, even though it's like 1/2 pound. It feels SO heavy. Otherwise, we taught Moreno and Laila about the Temple and Family History work, and they were pretty excited to get started.

 

Friday, we planned. My companion is senior companion this week. So far he's doing a WONDERFUL job. I feel like a huge burden is off of my back. And that frees me to just work super crazy hard. We went and taught our African friends, and gave an Urdu Book of Mormon to a man from Pakistan, and then we were able to teach several other people, including an adorable old man that looks like the grandpa from Up! who was an ex investigator and is now an investigator again. His name is Sandor.

 

Saturday, we were able to teach a father in a park about the restoration, he has wondered what we believe since he was a little boy, because he's seen the missionaries before but never talked to them. He wasn't particularly interested in learning more, but he was grateful that we satisfied his curiosity. We taught lots of people on the street. Then we went to our less active's house and talked about Temple work, and they got pretty excited about doing their family history and preparing a name to go get baptized for is the future months. We then taught Daniel one of the best lessons we've ever had with him. He was awake, active, and interested. He commited to church this coming Sunday.

 

Sunday, we didn't have any investigators in church. In fact, it was a rough day. But we worked anyways. We found our new investigator Raffaele, who tried to give us back the Book of Mormon, but he still has it, and he commited to English class, even if he dropped us as an investigator. Then we taught a few other people on the street. It was good. By the end I was REALLY wanting to go home, but my great senior companion kept us outside till it was time to properly go home.

 

Monday, we had a scambio with Rimini. I went down with Anziano Portellano, from Marseilles, France. It was an interesting scambio. I learned a ton about what I need to do better as a missionary and a district leader. We taught a wonderful member family about scripture study.

 

Tuesday, we had district meeting, and we talked about consecrating our missions. I realized how not perfect I am, but I'm trying. and especially I feel like I've made a lot of progress this week itself. That afternoon we did some contacting, and then we taught a member who has been coming back to church and is starting to understand things now as she reads her scriptures. It's super good to hear.

 

This morning we've come to email our dear families. I love you all.

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Some miracles

Well, it's another week gone. This week was interesting. Thursday, we went and did some casa after P day and found a family to teach, and then we went and taught a member family. We'll hope that that family turns out well.

 

Friday, we put up some english class publicity, around the city. It was pretty cool to see how in 4 days practically all of the little tickets we'd put up were taken. It was one of those ads that you see with the little things to pull off on the bottom. In theory, each of those went to a different person. If so, and they all come to english tonight, we should have an english class that is about 45 people, as opposed to our usual 5-8. That'd be cool. That evening, we taught Sorella Veronica about repentance.

 

Saturday, we were looking at having taught 7 lessons all week. We really wanted to get our 20 for the week. On Saturday, we taught our africans, then a cool guy named Davide, who we gave a Book of Mormon to and who wants to come to church, and then we talked to some ragazzi on the street who were decently interested.

 

Sunday, we were at 10 lessons. I was convinced that reaching 20 lessons for the week was impossible, especially given that we had zero appointments set up. Somehow, we did it. We talked to people on the streets and in houses, and we taught 11 lessons in one day. Some highlights: First person we stop is an ex investigator named Diana who has read nearly the entire Book of Mormon but hasn't prayed about it yet. We invited her to pray about it. We'll see her this evening. Raffaele is an engineer who really liked the analogy between a line with two dots and the bible and Book of Mormon. Several atheists started to doubt their atheism. It was a sweet day.

 

Monday, we did a scambio with Rimini, and Anziano Snedaker and I did some good work in Rimini. It was a good scambio. I learned some good stuff, and got to know him better than I think I know my own companion. We taught their investigator Aniko about the Plan of Salvation and baptism. She was excited, but doesn't think that she can possibly keep all of the commandments.

 

Tuesday, we riscambioed, and got many a bidone. It was a less than effective day. I think my companion and I were tired from Sunday and that scambio.

 

Today, we cleaned our apartment. and set up a Christmas Tree. Yay! Christmas! I have a advent calendar too. Anyway, I love you!

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Transfers!

Well, I'm leaving Reggio Emilia. Surprise Surprise. I'm headed back to the Rimini District, to the city of Forlì. I'll be companions with Anziano Nelson from Wales, and I'll finishing his training. Explanation: Training now is a 12 week process. He's been in the mission 6 weeks, so I'll be finishing his training. I'll also be district leader over Rimini and Forlì, with Anziani Snediker and Portellano in my district. In my place here in Reggio will come Anziano Jeter as district leader. Exciting!

 

My address will be:

 

Anziano Jolley

Via Francesco Greca, 67

47123 Forlì

Italia

 

So, Wednesday, we taught Stefano about the law of chastity. He said he'd keep it. That was good. He's interesting. Believes everything we tell him, accepts all the commandments, but doesn't have a super strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ. Then we went and taught Samuel and we set up his baptismal program. He's a stud. Then we went and talked with Ella, who wants to get baptized, but is super sketchy about the commitment to come to church. We'll see what we can do.

 

Thursday, we taught Pacomeo, who was back for the weekend to get his stuff before he permantently moves to Nice, France. Then we went and taught Fratello Rene, who still doesn't want to come to church. bummer. oh well. Then we got on the train, got on our bikes and made the half hour ride to the church in 12 minutes, just as ward council started. It was pretty funny. We come in, all sweaty and out of breath and the bishop says "you can catch your breath Anziani." It went well.

 

Friday, we taught Samuel in the morning, who handed us a bag with all of his worldly possessions, and we sorted out his baptismal clothes. Then we headed to Modena, filled up the font, and showed Stefano and one of Modena's investigators how to start on their genealogy. Then we baptized Samuel. Anziano Wilkey baptised him, and I confirmed him. As the bishop welcomed him to the ward, he looked straight at me and told us his conversion story, which he's shared all of about 3 times in his life. It was interesting. Then we headed home.

 

Saturday, we taught Godfrey, who looks like he's 30 but is 20, about the restoration and invited him to baptism. He said yes. 26th it should be.  We then went to Gioel's, where we met a super cool guy named Tiziano who was super interested in our message and commited to read the entire Book of Mormon. sweet. Then we went over to Salome and Giovanna's, and taught them about scripture study.

 

Sunday, we went to Stake Conference, and Stefano came, along with several less actives. It was sweet. In the morning, the hours changed, so now the sun sets at like 5:30. that's annoying. We got a bunch of bidoni, so we did some casa and found a couple potential investigators.

 

Monday, we moved all of our stuff to our new apartment by the station. That took basically the whole day. We did a little finding work and got a few more potentials. Also President called to tell me about transfers.

 

Tuesday, we helped Ivan, a member from Milano get started painting the apartment on Via Jodi, where we were. Then we taught Victor the restoration. He still wants to get baptized, and he comes here every day, so hopefully we can get him there. Then we had coordination meeting with Fratello Pianegonda, where he bid me farewell, thanking me for my work and my professional attitude (professionalità... not sure how to translate it.) He gave me a huge hug and said "Anziano Jolley, non è un Anziano per me. è un amico." (Anziano Jolley, you're not just an Anziano for me, you're a friend.) That was sweet. I'm glad my work was appreciated. After that we went to Parma and found Fratello Peralta, a sweet Peruvian member who doesn't come to church because he's upset that Parma got closed. But he's willing to help us teach in Parma, drive us around Parma, and generally help out. We'll take advantage of that, and hopefully he'll return to activity. He's super cool. He did a scambio with the missionaries during transfers when he was six years old (weird, but ok. in Peru.)

 

Today we helped Ivan a little more, and then started doing email. I love you all.

 

Anziano Jolley

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Africa

Dear Family,

 

I love Africa. It is a wonderful place. I've never been to the actual continent, but I live in an extension of it. And an extension of many other places. Like China, South America, and the Middle East. Also, I live in Italy. The people I meet come from every imaginable background. This week I met a Chinese, some Italians, a few Alabamians, some Ghanans, Nigerians, Moroccans, a Brit, Iranian, Bosnian, from every religion and social class I can imagine. Italy is a very different place than Utah, and also very different than the way I imagined it a few years ago. When you think of Italy, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Probably Mafia and Pasta, right? Then catholicism, old buildings, European people that speak one of the most beautiful languages in existence. The truth is that it's at least as much of a melting pot as the United States of America, if not more so. And all these people need the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only way to find peace and happiness in this life. It has the solutions to all the problems and concerns of each and every one of these people, individually and collectively. I know that to be true. I invite every person who reads this to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which I believe is the last beacon of hope in this dark world. People are realizing that, and are flocking to it. This will continue to happen.

 

For those that are more interested in my travelog than my random thoughts, I will return to that. This week started with a somewhat effective ward council meeting, that was much improved by the fact that instead of just saying what was happening, we invited our Council to act in very specific ways. Like a ride to church, or presence at a specific lesson.

 

Thursday, we taught Samuel about the law of chastity, and he was fine with it. He did tell us that he's been in prison, though. That afternoon, we went to Parma, where we met brother Rene, and invited him to read the Book of Mormon once again from the beginning. He accepted, and has decided to pray once again to know it is true. It's sad to see that a High Priest seems to have lost his testimony. But we'll rekindle that flame and bring him back. We need him. In fact, we need everyone. 14 million people trying to save 6 billion need all 14 million. Then we went to Katya and Tonia's, and talked about tithing. It was good. Then we went and saw Uyi again. He and his wife liked most of what we said, especially about baptism. They're a wonderful family.

 

Friday, we did our planning and worked. Then we taught Stefano and tried to build him up emotionally. He cried. I love that man. Then we went to Gioel's, and talked with him and his friend about their relationship with God, and whether they wanted to know more.

 

Saturday, we found Victor at the station, and talked with him shortly. He's moved to 60 km away. annoying. Then we went to Ciano, where we taught Brother Menca, who commited to come to church next Sunday. Then we went and did some casa, and knocked on the door of an inactive member, Sorella Giron. It was her Birthday. She was crying. She said to come on in. So we did. and we spoke about her and invited her to come back to church the next day. She said she would, along with her husband and her friend. Yay! Then we went to Uyi's and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we mentioned baptism again, they both said they'd thought about our words and both desired to be baptized as soon as possible. They seem to want to stay in their own church, though, so we'll have to keep working with them.

 

Sunday, we went to Ward Conference, and Sorella Giron came, with her husband. It was awesome! It was a very good sunday, and I was very happy. Then we went out and taught Abraham and his wife Agatha again. We discussed their beliefs about the Book of Mormon, and the Prophet Joseph Smith. They believe it is true. So my bravo companion told them, "well, you know what you need to do then." He wants to leave his current church in a nice way. So he'll be in church with his wife in 3 weeks time. and will continue from then on. Then we went to Hope's, and taught he and his wife and friend about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I'm quite pleased to have so many Families to teach.

 

Monday, we had district meeting, and then I went with Anziano Wilkins to Piacenza, where we met a very interesting englishman named Keith, who has some very interesting theories. Then we met a Bosnian named Adis, who doesn't believe in God, but wants to. That was super cool.

 

Tuesday, we taught English to Paola, one of Piacenza's students, and gave her a Book of Mormon as well. Then we came back to Reggio, and had Correlation meeting, followed by a little strada and then we attended Uyi's bible study class, at the Treasures of Grace International Ministry. We found out that not only is it Uyi's church, but Abraham and Agatha's as well. It was quite the experience. I'm very happy I'm a member of the true church. It was loud and nothing like I expected. We then went with Uyi to his house where we spoke with him and his Pastor, Frank, who showed a lot of interest in our church. At Correlation, I found out that Brother Panico paid his tithing for the first time ever this week! yay!

 

Wednesday, we had interviews in Verona, where we discussed bringing the spiritual side into everything we do, even managing money and the food we eat. After that we went to Uyi's again, where Pastor Frank and his wife Sussex were. Pastor Frank had read the restoration pamphlet we gave him very well, and understood all the doctrines we taught quite perfectly. He commited to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon without me having to explain how to do so. It was amazing. This work that we do is of God. I'm constantly amazed by the work he does for us.

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Downs and ups.

Wow. I don't know what happened this week, but I've certainly learned something. Work hard, and the Lord puts people in your path. Don't work hard, it doesn't happen. "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land."

 

So Wednesday night, we went to a ward genealogy activity, at the request of our ward leaders. It was well... not very exciting. But we went anyway. Thursday, I don't really remember what happened. We got a lot of bidoni, and we went to Parma and saw brother chagua. Friday, we planned, went and found Roberto the gun man again, and then we went to our WML's house for dinner with Stefano. That was good. Our WML is a little green in missionary work, but that's ok. He was shooting off every different aspect of the gospel, and especially the temple and marriage. At that point we were intending to explain the Joseph Smith story, but didn't get the chance. But they formed a strong relationship of trust, so that's in the end more important.

 

Saturday, we got many a bidone, and we taught Saverio, who had supposedly read the entire Book of Mormon. But as we talked with him it became apparent that he either didn't read it or didn't understand a word of it. That was really frustrating. Anyway, then we went out to Brother Laratro's house, and taught him and his girlfriend about the restoration of the gospel. She was fascinated. It's sad that he is keeping the commandments, because I'm certain that if he was setting a good example for her, she'd get baptized, among a lot of other amazing things. One of my great desires is to see Parma reopen, because it is a beautiful city for missionary work. We just don't have enough worthy priesthood holders there. If just one or two of them got their act together, Parma would be open. It's sad, because there are like 15 Melchizedek Priesthood holders there, and only 2 come to church regularly. We're doing what we can to reactivate many, if not all of them.

 

Sunday, we went to church, to which Stefano and Samuel came. That was good, but super disappointing. We were expecting all of our baptismal dates and our regulars. In the end, we've decided to move the dates of a few of them, and drop a few more, because we haven't seen them since the first appointment.

 

Our current investigators:

Stefano, Italy, 29th October

Samuel, Nigeria, 29th October

Spencer, Nigeria, 29th October

Gioel, Santo Domingo, 5th November

Raymond, Nigeria and Sarfo, Ghana, have both travelled, but should be for the 22nd October

 

Monday, we decided to actually work hard for the first time in a week, and things started to happen again, in spite of some disappointments. We got the keys to our new apartment, at the following address

 

Via Quattro Novembre, 8

42121 Reggio Emilia (RE)

Italia

 

Don't send mail there till next week, though. We haven't moved in yet, and you'll just confuse the postman. Please continue to send mail to the mission office. Anyway, after that we went and found our investigator Samuel on the street, and we taught him about the restoration. He was much calmer about the Book of Mormon. Then we went and did some park and found Quemal, who doesn't really believe in God, but was willing to meet with us again. Then we went to the Nuredini family, who live a ways away, and we taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ, (the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are...). They commited to coming to church in two weeks time, which will be huge, because they haven't come in over a year. I'm very excited to see them in church. Then we went and taught Spencer about the Restoration, and commited him to reading the Book of Mormon again.

 

Tuesday, we went out and worked again. We went and taught Samuel with a less active member named Danny. They made a strong friendship, and I could just feel the spirit poured out on us as Danny shared his conversion story. I think that that experience will help Danny to return to full activity in the church, and help Samuel to be baptized. Then we walked through a park and talked with a man who asked us for a book to read. He was very very muslim, and was super excited to share his beliefs with us. He was speaking half arabic half italian, and it was pretty funny. Then we went and found Stefano biking down the street, so we walked with him and told him the Joseph Smith story finally, and he was pretty touched. Then we found Kobe at the bus stop, and taught him and his friend Didian about who God is and that he loves us, and then we prayed with them. That was sweet. After lunch, we went and taught Benson, a contact from 2 transfers ago, who asked us many a question. As we responded, his attitude changed. He had been under the impression that the LDS are an occultic group, but as we spoke, he was amazed by our doctrine, and accepted a soft baptismal invite. Then we went and did some casa in Gioel's palazzo, and knocked the nicest doors of my mission. We got in once, to a nice old man, and then we knocked on Gioel's door, and discussed the plan of salvation and the concept of fogiveness with him. Then we went to Salome's house and talked with them about President Uchtdorf's talk about the great dilemna of mankind.

 

This morning, we studied and came to do email. yay.

I love you!

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Fwd: ridiculous week

Anziano Wilkey is a stud. We're doing an amazing work. We're teaching more lessons to more investigators and getting higher key indicator numbers in EVERY one than ever before in my mission. It's incredible. Since you asked, Anziano Aaron Wilkey is from Bournemouth, England, just turned 20, and is amazing. Yes, I'm starting to pick up fun british sayings, though I'm trying to resist the urge to become british. He often says "Oh, grief!" and makes me laugh every time he says "oh damn it!" (It's not really a swear word in england).

 

So Thursday, Anziano Ellsworth and I go to Milano, and I pick up Anziano Wilkey. We come back to Reggio, and we teach Sarfo, and immediately set a baptismal date for the 22nd of October. He always prays that he will be able to build up the true church. It's awesome. We asked him to bring a friend to the next meeting. Then we went and taught Sasha about missionary work, and then we did our shopping and went to Salome and Giovanna's and taught them about obedience.

 

Friday, We taught Tony, who brought his friend Raymond to the lesson, and we set baptismal dates with both of them for the 22nd of October. Then we went and taught Gioel with our Ward Mission Leader, and set a date with him as well. Then we went out to Parma, where we taught Gabriella, and commited her to placing a Book of Mormon.

 

Saturday, we went and taught Sarfo again, giving him a Book of Mormon and he brought his friend Dennis to the lesson. Then we went to Paul's house, which took two hours to find and he was drunk when we got there. "I have a problem. I drink. I'll be in church on Sunday." That was a strange lesson.

 

Sunday, we go to church, where we have Opare, Bonini, Katya and Pamela. During the second hour, Raymond calls saying he's getting off the bus. We go and pick him up and he has brought his friend Samuel along. They both enjoy Sacrament meeting. Then we go home, eat lunch, and then we go to teach Abraham. Abraham has read the chapters we assigned last week, believes they're true, and commits to watching conference. His wife believes Joseph Smith is a true prophet. Then we go, having forgotten to plan and we teach Danny, a less active who wants to meet with the bishop, and then Ernest, our High Priest Group Leader.

 

Monday, we go and teach Raymond at his house, and once again Samuel is there. We fix a baptismal date with Samuel for the 22nd of October as well. He's very excited, as is Raymond, because they've never been baptized. Then we go home, do some area book, and eat lunch. Then we go and have District Meeting about the Book of Mormon and baptismal invites, and then we go on scambio. Anziano Armenise and I go to Parma and teach Katya, and then the Menendez family. The Menendez's are a less active family with the same problems as all of our other less actives it seems. As I teach less actives, I note the same things. Financial difficulties and not paying tithing. Pay your tithing. I understand SO well the concept of tithing now. "

 8 ¶^aWill a man ^brob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In ^ctithes and offerings.

 9 Ye are ^acursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

 10 Bring ye all the ^atithes into the storehouse, that there may be ^bmeat in mine house, and ^cprove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not ^dopen you the ^ewindows of heaven, and pour you out a ^fblessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

 11 And I will ^arebuke the ^bdevourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts."

Ye are cursed with a curse. It's true! All of them are incredibly in debt and don't have work. I know tithing is a true principle. Pay it. Put the LORD to the test. He will bless you.

 

Tuesday, We go and teach Victor, setting a baptismal date. As I invited him to baptism, I thought "the 22nd? no... the 29th" Will you prepare yourself to be baptized the 29th? That is my birthday. I would really like to. Then we go to the station and teach Ella, who starts crying when we ask him to be baptized. He says yes. also the 29th. Then we go to the bus stop and teach Kobe about the priesthood, and then as we walk back we see Samuel and Raymond and we teach them a short lesson about prayer. Then we eat lunch and get a call from Francis, who wants to know where the bus stop is. So we go and teach him. Then we go to the park to teach Sarfo, but he's late, so we do some park contacting and find Stefano, who wants to know if Jesus is truely divine. Then we go to Sarfo, who has brought his friend Adae to the lesson, and has read to 1 Nephi 6. We talk about the Plan of Salvation, and he is excited to hear it. Then we go to interview the sister's baptismal date, but she decides not to be baptized this week. Oh well.

A short list of our investigators and dates for quick looking

Sarfo 22/10 Ghana

Gioel 15/10 Santo Domingo

Samuel 22/10 Nigeria

Tony 22/10 Sierra Leone

Raymond 22/10 Nigeria

Ella 29/10 Ghana

Victor 29/10 Nigeria

Lots of other people.

 

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Transfers

Dear family,

 

It's been an interesting week. First things first. Anziano Ellsworth is leaving to San Remo, and I'm getting Anziano Wilkey, from England! I've met him and I'm super excited to have him as my companion. Our sisters are changing too, Sister Jones will be getting Sister Cazier. So it looks like beginning of October I'll be moving to our new apartment and the sisters will be taking ours. So please send my mail to the mission office in Opera, Milano. A lot of letters have never arrived here for some reason, so just send the letters to the mission office.

 

This week's been a slower one. On Wednesday, we went to the Nuredini's house, where we went with our Ward Mission Leader. The Nuredini's are an albanian less active family. There you have it.

 

Thursday, we taught Pacomeo about the Aaronic Priesthood, and we did a lot of finding work with not particularly exciting results.

 

Friday, we went out to Kobe's, who we taught a little about missionary work. Then we attempted to contact Joyce the brasilian member, but the address was wrong, and she didn't answer the phone. Oh well.

 

Saturday, we got a lot of bidoni, but we met a guy at a bus stop named Safo, who was really cool. He had to leave after about one minute, so we gave him a card. "give me a complimentary card." Then during lunch we got a call from him saying "I met some of your people, they gave me this complimentary card to call, I'd like to meet with you." So we met and explained the restoration and gave the soft baptismal invite, to which he said yes. That evening, we went to Salome and Giovanna's, who we talked to about missionary work and the gathering of Israel, since that was the RS lesson the next day. Giovanna was very pleased to be well informed for the lesson.

 

Sunday, we had Opare, Salome, Giovanna, and Saverio in church. Our chapel is full to bursting. It's exciting. Sasha and Pacome were ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood by our Priest's Quorum, which was super exciting. Good for our Priests, good for Sasha and Pacome. Then we went and taught Abraham, who is super cool, still. He was agreeing with everything we said except "All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God;" Somehow that didn't work for him. Oh well. He's a cool guy. That evening, we also made contact with one of the sister's referrals, Tony Amanka, from Sierra Leone, who speaks 5 languages+, and had only one question before we could come into his house. "Do you believe Jesus Christ is the BEGOTTEN son of God?" Yes, of course. So we should be back to teach him tomorrow.

 

Monday, I went on scambio with Anziano Proctor, of Park City, UT. We went and "taught" some atheist college students. It was more a discussion about God than a teaching situation, but it was fun. Then we did some casa looking for one of their investigators, and got in to two muslims. One was from Pakistan and when we asked him to pray at the end, he gave a Muslim prayer, in Arabic. We asked him what it meant. He said... "I don't know." Interesting. Then we went and taught a man from Ethiopia, who walked out of the room in the middle of the first vision. That was disappointing, but... ok. Then we got a gelato from Marco, the awesome half-investigator gelato man. He talked with us about Jesus and how his family is about to fall apart, so I promised him as a representative of Jesus Christ that if he would pray every night with his wife, their marriage will improve. Then we talked about faith, and how it changes things.

 

Tuesday, we rescambioed, and then we went and helped Francis, one of our new converts, prepare his first talk for church. It'll be in Italian, which is scary for him, because he's been in Italy 9 months. He's a really cool kid. Then we got some bidoni and did some finding work and got the transfer call. This morning, Anziano Ellsworth packed his bags and we came to do Email. We'll be going to Sasha's in about a half hour.

 

I love you!

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Fwd: BAPTISM!!!!! (from Benjamin in Italy)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley <benjamin.jolley@myldsmail.net>
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:10 AM
Subject: BAPTISM!!!!!
To: Ariana Black <ariana.black@myldsmail.net>, Camille Jolley <melers20@hotmail.com>, Caroline Jolley <caro.jolly@gmail.com>, Christopher Jolley <tophinator@gmail.com>, Dad <deanjol@gmail.com>, Elijah Milne <elm2164@columbia.edu>, Joseph ballsteadt <jgballstaedt@gmail.com>, Megan Milne <nutmegnut@gmail.com>, Mom <carriejolley@gmail.com>

Dear family,

 

This week has been... incredible. I won't tell you what happened until it happens in my story. please read on.

 

Thursday we taught Sasha a lesson on what the baptismal interview means and reviewing the plan of salvation. We also invited him once again to our baptism on Saturday. We went to Kobe's house with our WML, who made a great friendship with him and then reviewed anything for his baptism on Saturday. Then we saw Bill, who turns out to be the same person as Guerthy, an old investigator from before I got here. We then taught a couple other lessons doing casa. For some reason we went to the train station, and a lady ran up to us saying "eglise mormona?" "Io Mormona." "...um... Address?" "um... Telephone?" So we gave her a pass along card and wondered who the random georgian lady is and how in the world she found us.

 

Friday we taught Guerthy Bill and set a baptismal date with him for the 15th of October. He's a cool guy from Congo. In the afternoon we taught Saverio, our moroccan friend and then Sasha again about enduring to the end. As we looked for Saverio, we ran into Pacome, who is back from France and wanted to be baptized the next day. So we organized everything for that. We then went to Modena to do a baptismal interview for Ettore, one of their investigators who will be baptized this coming Saturday. cool. Then we went home. In the station we met Moose and Carlos from Tanzania, who were super interested in the Gospel and wanted the Book of Mormon, so we gave them a copy each.

 

Saturday, we went to Maurizio's work to give him a Book of Mormon, which he received gladly. He's an agnostic guy, but likes reading. Then we went to the church, organized rides for us and all of our investigators, and then planned and printed programs for the baptism. Then as we went to go see Pacome again, Sasha called and asked if he could be baptized today. "Guys, can I be baptized today?" So we organized an interview for him, clothing and everything. And then we went to Modena chapel, where we had a baptismal service for Kobe, Sasha and Pacome. I baptized all three myself. Pacome went first. It was really funny. As we were going down into the font, he started to take off his jumpsuit, thinking he was going to be baptized naked. so I said "no put that back on!" Then when we were in the font he just started to go down into the water before I said the baptismal prayer, so I stopped him and then baptized him. Then I baptized Sasha, who raised his arm when I put mine to the square. When he came out he said "I'm alive, I'm so happy!" Then I baptized Kobe, who said "This is the best day of my life!" when he came out of the water. It was awesome. Then they all gave awesome testimonies. And then we went home.

 

Sunday, we had three confirmations, of Pacome, which I did, Sasha, which Anziano Ellsworth did, and Kobe, which our bishop's first counselor did. Also, the georgian lady came to church. She speaks russian, so we found out about how she found us. Turns out that she's been in Italy 3 months, looking for the church. The day she stopped us, her son had a dream and called her saying "go to the train station today at 4 PM, you'll find something important." and she found us. That afternoon we went to our WML's for lunch, which was really good.  Then we went to Fidenza to teach the Dorofeev family, an inactive family with two unbaptized daughters. Then we rushed to Salome and Giovanna's house for a short lesson. As we rode down the street, we saw Hope, who I looked at like I was about to baptize him, and he stopped us. That was crazy.

 

Monday, we had Zone Conference about the Book of Mormon. On the way home, as we were walking through the station, these two kids looked at my companion weird and so we stopped them. The girl looked at our tags and said "Grande. siamo mormoni anche noi!" they were baptized in Brazil, but never found the church here in Italy. So we got their address, phone numbers, and birth dates so we can move their membership records here. Then I rushed home because I had an upset stomach.

 

Tuesday, we went and looked at apartments for the sisters with our bishop. It looks like we'll be moving to one of the new apartments, and the sisters will be taking ours. After that we went looking for a member and my companion placed two Book of Mormons while I was on the phone for 15 minutes. Also, we placed a Book of Mormon with the lady who took us to look at apartments. Then we met with sorella Maria, the agnostic lady who was baptized for her son's sake. She's interesting. Then we went to Saverio's and ate delicious moroccan food. mmm. spicy.

 

What do you think? 3 people stopping us saying they're members, and three baptisms? good enough of a week? You can stop praying for me to get people to baptism and start praying for me to find people ready for baptism again. thanks. I love you so much. Thank you so much for your prayers!

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Fwd: A scambio, 18 months

From: Benjamin Jolley <benjamin.jolley@myldsmail.net>
Date: Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 8:29 AM
Subject: A scambio, 18 months

Dear family of mine,

 

This week has been a good one. Thursday, we went out to Kobe's, and we watched the Testaments with him. He liked it. Then we went and taught Pacomeo the Word of Wisdom, and did a short baptismal interview prep. He's great. When we asked about homosexual relationships, his response was "What kind of person does something like that? I am a man! I like women! What a waste!" It was funny. Then we went and taught Paul about fasting. However, as we left, we saw him open a beer. I don't think he understood the Word of wisdom. oh well. We then went to the church, where we taught Sasha the restoration again. He kept saying "I know that." Then he said "Guys, I have good news! I haven't smoked or drank coffee for two days!" progress!

 

Friday, we did a scambio with Modena. Pacomeo passed his baptismal interview, but he'll be in france for a week, so he'll be baptized with Sasha on the 17th. I taught a random member in church, who seems to be a super awesome member. His prayer for us was epic. I was so excited to work after that prayer. We talked to a lot of young people on the street, and then we taught Ettore about how to get an answer to prayers, and he should hopefully be baptized also the 17th. We then headed home to Modena's apartment, where I found the name of a certain Robert Cowart on the wall as one of the missionaries that served there. That was cool.

 

Saturday, we taught Edmond about baptism and confirmation, because he really wants to be baptised in our church. He came to church a few times in Ghana, and wants to go to the temple even. Then we riscambioed, and we taught Sasha a short leson where he asked about Alcohol, and why we can't drink it. He said, why though, guys? In the end, he read to us the last verse of D&C 89, where it says the destroying angel shall pass by them. "God needs a way to tell who will obey or not. This is the reason guys. When I read this I crap my pants. God's gonna kick your butt if you don't obey this commandment." (swear words mormonized). That was hilarious. And awesome. He still hasn't drunk coffee or smoked since he quit. WOOT!

 

Sunday, we had Abraham in church for the first time, along with a total of 10 investigators in Sacrament meeting. We had the best attended sacrament meeting since I've been here with 10 investigators and about 75-80 people. The chapel was completely full. And 3 of our larger families didn't even come. Good thing we'll have a new chapel in early october! We need it. I decided to set a goal for myself of doubling sacrament meeting attendance by the end of the year. We have about 20-25 less actives that we can work with, the sisters have set 5 baptismal dates this week, and we have 3 baptismal dates that attend church. Kobe was there too! So if all of these people get baptised and the less actives we reactivate, that's already about 50% increase from when I first got here. And it's 4 months time to find and baptise 15-20 more between us and the sisters. In the afternoon, we went to Fratello Triglia's house, who is a sweet 40 year old bachelor in our bishopric.

 

Monday, we had district meeting very shortly because Piacenza showed up an hour late... and then we made a lot of calls and had FHE with Sasha and his mom and his girlfriend's family. And we met a cool guy named Kwame (he was born on Saturday). Which reminds me... I'm learning Twi, the ghanan language. My name is Kwaku (I think. What day was I born?). Kwaku means born wednesday. Ye fre me Anziano Jolley.  (My name is Anziano Jolley). It's fun.

 

Tuesday, we taught Sasha during lunch, with his family. I think we're part of the in laws meeting each other because we had dinner at his girlfriend's house with her family, and at his house the next day. anyways... It rained a lot. We attempted to contact a member in the middle of nowhere, who no longer lives there, but then stumbled across another member. So... there you have it. We taught a sweet kid named Patrick that night from the czech republic. He's a cool kid. We'll repass him later this week.

 

Today we went to Modena and harvested a vineyard with some members. We filled a large truck with grapes. by the way, there are a lot of earwigs amongst grapes, if you didn't know. It was fun. I love you all very much. Pray that all will go well for Kobe's baptism.

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Some Wins, some fails, some postponing

From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 2:40 AM
Subject: Some Wins, some fails, some postponing

Dear family,

 

We've had a crazy week. Once again. Things are happening here in Reggio. When our Bishop got back in town, we told him we have five baptisms coming up, the sisters need an apartment and he was just taken aback. He joked that he should stay on vacation longer. Also he invited us to Bishopric meeting so that we can bring him up to speed on what we are doing. I'm pleased.

 

Thursday, we went to Kobe's with Paul Martin, and when I asked him if he'd prayed about the Book of Mormon he said "well, I haven't seen an angel yet." "But I feel inside of me that it is true." He is so cool. We then rushed to Budrio where we ate lunch with Marco, and while we ate his friend Antonio showed up. We started to teach Antonio, and he was super cool. I feel like he's not becoming an investigator solely because we don't currently have time to teach him. Maybe in a month's time? Then we taught Sasha about the Word of Wisdom. He's not currently keeping it, and it's his biggest obstacle to baptism in my opinion. Pray that he'll be able to stop smoking and drinking and such, please.

 

 

Friday, we planned and we went and taught Paul about the Word of Wisdom, and he's been obeying it since the sisters taught it to him. Then we went and talked to Shafkri, a pakistani who called us the day before wanting to meet. He has read the entire Book of Mormon in Urdu (his language), and wants to learn more. He doesn't speak very good Italian so it's hard to understand what he wants.

 

Saturday, we did some area book work and found about 30 records to give to the sisters. Hopefully that will help them to get a teaching pool again. (since they gave us practically all their investigators). That afternoon, we taught Paul about keeping the sabbath day holy and determined that he has trouble reading. Then we taught Pacomeo the plan of Salvation, and he is just solid. That evening we went to Parma and taught Perla and Gabriella a short lesson on Prayer and scripture study.

 

Sunday, Sasha, Salome, Opare, and Pacome all showed up in church. We had gospel principles about work and personal responsibility, an interesting topic since half of our investigators are looking for work. Sacrament meeting the talks were about all of the major commandments. It was interesting. The bishop gave an excellent talk about tithing. In the afternoon, we went and taught Abraham, who had taught Sunday School in his church that morning about "how to be great in this world". His church is sort of all about money, and he doesn't like that, so he taught about Shadrach Meshach and Abed-nego being great because they kept God's commandments. His pastor didn't like that. He'll be coming to our church next week. Then we went and did a lot of finding work, determined to teach 2 more lessons to round off 20 in the week. So we went and taught some people on park benches. One of them was actually a cool guy. Kwame just moved here from Ghana, but he's lived in Columbus, Ohio for a large part of his life. So he knew a lot about America and that Mitt Romney was a member of our church. It was cool. That evening, just before I called our district for numbers, a man named Bartolome, who I couldn't remember for the life of me called and said that he liked what we had said and wants to be a member of our church. "I will be in church next week. I am already a member of your church." So.. that was cool.

 

Monday, we went to the church to teach Sasha about tithing, and he said that it is a good commandment and he will keep it. Then he stayed for district meeting, and called my district out on complaining about their situation. Then I shared ideas about finding work and felt the spirit SUPER strong. Then we taught Sasha during the meeting and he helped us a lot on improving our teaching. We then started a Scambio, and I and Anziano Wilkins taught Pacomeo about Tithing, he's ok with it, then Paul about the plan of salvation, and he had a question about chastity. So we talked about it. Then we went and did some finding work and taught Issac the man from Burkina Faso, Vincent, a Ghanian, Bright, who is a "Fasting man", then Godfrey stopped us. Godfrey is a man that has been taught about 100 times by the missionaries. His teaching record is 6 pages long. So I sorta just held a baptismal interview as we walked "Godfrey, have you ever commited a crime?" "Yes. I was in prison for 4 years. But now I'm free and I don't want to do that stuff anymore" "Godfrey will you be baptised?" "If God wants me to change my life and will help me, yes." Yes, we now have 6 investigators with a baptismal date. Godfrey is from Nigeria, FYI. He was taught by my old District Leader, Anziano Shill. Then we went and talked to some people in another park among whom was Dominic, the Polish man. He is a cool guy. He doesn't want to be rich, just wants to live well with his family. And maybe quit smoking. So if we see him around we'll see if he wants to quit.

 

Tuesday morning, we went to Kobe's, and we moved his baptismal date, because he didn't come to church on Sunday. He will be baptised instead the 10th of september. We read with him 3 Nephi 11, and he wanted us to clear up about the Godhead. So we did. Then we riscambioed, and we taught Paul about the rest of the Plan of Salvation, then Pacomeo about the Law of Chastity, which he liked a lot. He obeys it. He wants to know about the Word of Wisdom, though. We'll teach that tomorrow. Then we rushed to teach Sasha, who we also taught the Law of Chastity. He will continue to obey it. We also read 1 Nephi 11 with him, which is his girlfriend's favorite story.

 

Today we'll meet with our Bishopric, and probably go on a bike ride. Not in that order. I love you!

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Fwd: What a week!!!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley <benjamin.jolley@myldsmail.net>
Date: Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Subject: What a week!!!
 Wow. What a week. Literally crazy. This week, we had 8 investigators in church, and we now have five investigators with a baptismal date. whoa.

 

Wednesday, as we did shopping, our Croatian friend Sasha invited us over for lunch. He fed us a 4 course meal. pizza, pasta, fruit and salad. It was delicious. He also commited to come to church next week.

 

Thursday, we taught Kobe the plan of salvation, and he was ok with it. I'm not sure he understood really well, but he understood repentance. That's the most important. That evening, we taught Ludovico, our JW friend, who couldn't deal with the idea of the Book of Mormon. It was an interesting lesson. He's 19 years old. weird.

 

Friday, we got all bidoni, but we went and taught a man named michael. Also, the sisters called and wanted to talk. Apparently they had prayed, and decided that all of their single male investigators (all of their investigators more or less) should be referred to us. So we suddenly have 5 new people to teach. whoa! This was super good, because I was getting a little... well... discouraged for a bit. the results of the following days brightened my spirits a lot.

 

Saturday, we planned, taught Paul, one of the sisters' old investigators, who is pretty cool "I believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet." He should be baptized the 17th of September. Then we went to Kofi's house, one of our less actives that showed up in church last week. We made him some delicious banana bread. Then we went and taught Bright, a man the firenze capi had referred to us. He commited to read the Book of Mormon, pray, come to church (next week), repent of his sins, and be baptized the 17th of September.

 

Sunday, we went to church, where we had 8 investigators, and like 5 of our less actives we've been working with come. It was super gratifying to see our work start to pay off. I taught Gospel Principles about Sacrifice, and our investigators really liked it. The people in church were Kobe, Pacome, Sasha, Fratello Bonini, Katya, Opare, and the daughters of fratello Appiah. sweet! That afternoon, we went with our high priest group leader to teach Abraham and Agatha, some of our cool investigators, who have commited to coming to church the 4th of september. They refuse to come any sooner. But they are the kind of people that get baptized. We told them, and Fratello Asare told them too. (Asare=high priest group leader). Then we randomly knocked on Samuel's door, another of our less actives who the sisters found. His records are in Ghana still. So we commited him to come to church, and got his info so we can get his records moved here.

 

Monday, we went and taught Pacome, who is a stud. He studied to be a catholic priest, and wants to be baptized. He will be baptized the 10th of September. That afternoon, we taught Kobe an intense lesson with Fratello Borelli. We taught the law of chastity, the word of wisdom and the law of tithing in the same lesson. He's a stud. We set up a baptismal interview for him. Then we came back, and we taught Salome and Giovanna a short brief on what happened in church, since they missed it.

 

Tuesday, we had a scambio with the capi. I and anziano Anderson went to District meeting, which I loved. We talked about the Atonement. I felt the spirit super strong as I bore testimony to our district. In the afternoon, we taught Pacome, gave him a baptismal calendar. He's so solid. Then we taught Paul, who will be baptized the 17th of september. We taught about repentance to them both. In the meantime, Anziano Armenise and Ellsworth went to interview Kobe for baptism, he passed! then they taught Sasha, our croatian friend, and set a baptismal date with him for the 17th of september. That evening, we went to teach Bright, who we taught about scripture study, since he hadn't read the Book of Mormon since we'd seen him. We also gave him a baptismal calendar.

 

Today we went to Verona. It was sweet. Our train was late though, so I'm writing a little later.

 

Since Dad asked, here's a list of investigators we are teaching.

 

Kwabena (Kobe) 17 years old, from Ghana baptismal date 3 september

Pacome 30, Ivory Coast, BD 10 September

Bright, +-25, Ghana, BD 17 September

Sasha, 25, Croatia, BD 17 September

Paul, 35, Ghana, BD 17 September

Abraham and Agatha, +-35, Nigeria

Salome and Giovanna, +-55, Cuba and Italy

Katya, 17, Moldavia, BD 11 November

 

 

Less actives we're teaching

 

Mensah, 30, Ghana

Nuredini, 45, Albania

Kusi, 35, Ghana

Dan, 35, Ghana

Samuel, 30, Ghana

Emmanuel, 30, Nigeria

George, 30, Nigeria

Pianegonda, 40, Italy

Anna and Salvatore, 25, Italy

Nicola, 28, Italy

 

As you may guess, we are BUSY. This is simply actual investigators. We have about 5 more legit referrals from the sisters that we'll start teaching soon. For example Tony from last night. He stopped them and said "I am looking for truth. Can you teach me?" Since he's a single man, we'll be teaching him. Crazy right?

 

Anyway, we're super busy, so bye!

Love

Anziano Jolley

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Fwd: A new transfer

From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 3:22 AM
Subject: A new transfer

So, in case you were wondering, we didn't get transferred. We're here until at least Sept 22. Returning to my travelog, Thursday, we went to Kobe's, and he said "I want to do everything you guys ask me to do. If you ask me to come to church, I'll come to church. If you ask me to be baptised, I'll be baptised." That was intense. We gave him For the Strength of Youth as part of a lesson on following the prophet. We then went to Issac's house, the member that accompanied us. We met his family, who are quite lovely. Then we did some finding work, and then we taught George, one of our less actives. He is an interesting man. Got baptized in Holland, and then moved here. He hasn't had work in nearly 8 years. And now he finally found decent work.

 

Friday, we went out and worked with Fratello Borelli all day long. We went to Maryam's, a really sweet nigerian member who's pretty active, then we saw where the new church building will be here in Reggio. It's a much better location, and much more obvious. I'm pleased. Then we ate lunch with the Borellis, and then we went and taught Franco, who is an interesting guy. Then we went to Salome's, and taught them tithing. They accepted it full heartedly, and just said, yeah, that's true. We'll pay it. CRAZY! Then we went and met one of our assigned less active families, the Nuredini's, from Albania. They have apparently had serious troubles since the economic downturn. And hence, they went less active. We talked more or less about the church's welfare program.

 

Saturday, we started going to Kobe's, and he said he was busy. So we looked for a member in Cadelbosco, a tiny town nearby, and placed a Book of Mormon to a man on the bus home. Then we went to teach some of our less actives, who weren't there. darn. And then we went and contacted a referral, this legit young man named Federico, who we had met through his dad Roberto a few weeks ago. (The guy with a bunch of guns). He said he'd read the Book of Mormon, and wanted to talk about God. We'll go back tomorrow.

 

Sunday, we went to pick up Gilbert for church, and he was already in church! Hurray! Some of our members came back from vacation, so I met Katya and her sister Tonia, who are an investigator and new convert respectively. Yay. After church, we ate pizza with Danso, who's in the bishopric, and he explained some things about how he got to know the church. He loves the hymns like I do. They are legitimately my favorite part of church, when I feel the spirit the strongest. Later, we visited Lucy, one of our new converts, and then Abraham, who really just needs to come to our church and get baptized. He understands basically all of the doctrines. Then we found a man named Ludovico, a Jehovah's Witness that accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon. That makes him the most elect JW I have ever met. It makes me excited.

 

Monday, we cleaned the apartment, gave Sorella Jones a blessing of comfort, and searched for members in Parma. Tuesday, we had zone conference in Modena, where they gave us DVD players.

 

Today is P day, and we're going to have a good one. I love you all.

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Fwd: Africa

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 3:12 AM
Subject: Africa

Family,

 

I realized once again that I am serving my mission in Africa. About 50% of this ward is african, and more than that of our investigators are African. Anywho, Wednesday we had a cool training meeting. We did lots of role plays. Also, President announced that the trainers in the mission will have new instructions. They will be with their missionaries for 12 weeks and will have an extra hour of study time. That was interesting. We talked to some interesting people on the train ride back. A french woman and an Italian man, that are muslim originally, but don't believe in God.

 

Thursday, we went out to Kobe's house, the 17 year old ghanan. He accepted a baptismal date for the 3rd of September! We then returned to Reggio where we taught English, and then we taught this man named Jude who we found earlier. We asked him to be baptized. He is preparing to be baptized in another church. Interesting. Then we did some casa and found Jackson and Anna, a nice Ghanan couple.

 

Friday, we planned, did area book, made a baptismal calendar for Kobe, and then we went to Andrews' house. He is now in Holland, but we were able to teach him and his friend Hope a short lesson. Hope wanted to know if drinking alcohol is a sin. He commited to live the Word of Wisdom. And he's a new investigator. Hurray referrals!

 

Saturday, we went to Kobe again, and explained to him what we do in church. He's solid. In the afternoon we taught Ernest the plan of Salvation. He said "Whenever you come to visit me, I feel so happy." He's super cool. He's also one of 16 children, his dad has 4 wives. interesting, huh?

 

Sunday, we had Ernest and Salome and Giovanna in church. We had a super spiritual testimony meeting, and Sorella Chambers said goodbye to the ward. I felt the spirit super strong during church. Then we taught Salome and Giovanna a short lesson, and then we did finding. During lunch, I found a less active's number in the phone. I called, got his address, and we went out there. Gilbert is a stud. He's an Elder, and promised to come to church on Sunday. He also said his brother John would be interested to hear more about the church, so we're going back to teach them on Saturday. Referrals!

 

Monday, we had an awesome district meeting that I turned into a testimony meeting. "how did you come to know the church was true?" It was awesome. Then we did a scambio. Anziano Wilkins and I worked in Reggio, and had all of our appointments fall through. We just did finding work with little success till a group of younger people waved at us from a park bench. We went over and taught them the restoration and gave them each a Book of Mormon. It was awesome. One of them said she'd love to meet with us. So we gave her to the sisters. Also, in another park, we talked to some drunk Ghanans, and I was confused as to why I talked to them until one of them said that he was baptized in the church, and I got Yaw's contact information. We'll teach him on Saturday too.

 

Tuesday, we taught a Liberian named Charles on the street, and then we headed to Piacenza to re exchange. on the way, we talked to a very attractive napoletana girl, who was decently interested in the gospel. Thank goodness she doesn't live here. That would be difficult. Then, as we got lunch at the McDonalds, a man stopped us and said he was a member from Nigeria. We talked to him, and he even called his brother who is a bishop. He hadn't been able to find the church since he's been in Italy. His name is Emmanuel. In the last week, we have found 5 members. 3 have records outside of Reggio. They all live in our boundaries though. It's bizzarre. All of them look like good prospects to reactivate. In the evening, we taught Nicola, a less active, and his girlfriend Antonia about scripture study, and then we went to Danny, one of those 5 people we found. He said he'd come to church. Exciting!

 

Today, we should teach George, another less active, and Hope, Andrews' friend. I love this place.

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Fwd: KOBE!

From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:00 AM
Subject: KOBE!
ok. cool story of the week. We start to talk to a kid on the street last week, and he says he'd love to hear our message. He gives us his address and it's FOREVER away. (45 minutes on a bus). We go there. Kobe picks us up and his whole family is interested in the message. six people want to hear more. Yes, they live a long ways away, but... there are members somewhat nearby. So worth it. This was thursday morning. Later that afternoon, we meet Roberto, who talks... a lot. I try to get out of there, but he keeps talking. and then he shows us his prize collection. He opens a door and shows us his collection of about 1000 firearms. Pistols, rifles, every shape size everything. He owns every berretta pistol except one. He hands me a gun and I say... wow. these fit way too well in the hand. And then he explains to us that he dislikes killing things. He went hunting once, and hit a bird that looked at him as if to say "what did I do to you?" he doesn't kill things with his guns. He just has a lot of them. That evening, we get stopped by a man as we walk past a bar. He asks who we are and explains that he wants to come to church. So we explain a little, and he is very pleased with our responses. We see him the next day and he explains that he told the catholic priest what we'd said. He was like "he didn't know what to say." apparently he went a little overboard with that though, and got himself kicked out of the local caritas (homeless shelter). oh well. He also didn't come to church because he had slept through it. bummer.

 

Later on Friday, we found an awesome Cuban man named Olevares, who is an endocrinologist and was loving everything we said. So he said we could come back whenever.  Saturday, we had a bunch of appointments, and they all fell through. It was super disappointing. We went to Salomé's, who was pleased to see us. We taught them about the sacramental prayers. The next day, his wife/compagna came to church for the first time in months. WOOT! They're waiting on a divorce so they can get married and then get baptised. Also in church was Spalanzane, our dear conspiracy theorist neighbor.

 

Sunday, we taught Abraham, who told us he couldn't come to church, but said that he'd read the book of mormon and that if he found it was true, he'd be baptized and come to our church. That's an interesting response. Rosa told us that she hadn't watched the movie we left her, and more or less understood our message, but said she can't come to church.

 

Monday, we got all bidoni again. BUT! we went to our backup plans and found 4 women... that the sisters will teach. oh well. Better for them. One of them was amazing. A chinese woman named Francesca who speaks Italian and is an evangelical Christian. she asked "if this is true, what do I need to do?" BE BAPTIZED! She accepted the invite to read the Book of Mormon, and the sisters will teach her and I'm certain baptized her whole family. This was an amazing experience because chinese people almost NEVER speak Italian, and are even more rarely Christian, at least here in Italy. I have spoken with my companion many times about my racism in general. I can generally tell you how much a person will listen to our message by just looking at them. BUT sometimes you meet those people that breaks those molds. I love it when racism is proved wrong by people like Francesca. That evening, we found one of our members at home, a girl named Chantal. We taught her a short lesson about prayer with the rest of her family. It was sweet.

 

Today we'll go to a member named Dan who we've never met. That'll be fun. I love you.

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Scioperi and Andrews

From: Benjamin Jolley
Date: Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 3:38 AM
Subject: Scioperi and Andrews
This week has been interesting. Wednesday, we taught Ernest, our investigator, for the first time in a week, and then we didn't see him again for a long while. He understood that he must be baptized again to join this church, but he does not want to fix a date. Also, he doesn't give us much time to meet with him, which is frustrating. Then we had Ward Council, and we taught one of our members. She told us that she was born a member. That's pretty rare in Italy, especially among somewhat older members. Apparently her mother was baptized while she was in the womb, so she's been baptized... twice.... Then we went and taught Judi, a nice Peruvian man. My companion struggles with the spantalian that south americans speak. After Pesaro, I understand it just fine. He was busy, so we quickly got to know him and said a prayer, then left.

 

Thursday, we had a bunch of appointments, which all fell through because of a sciopero on the trains. We had to leave for Modena early because the trains had a strike (sciopero). It was a disappointing day. Then we got up around 4:30 AM to go to Verona for interviews and training. We talked about planning better, and being more sincere in our teaching. I have been impressed many times this past week with the concept of sharing my feelings about the gospel more than just the gospel. My teaching for my entire mission has consisted in sorta dumping information into my investigators, rather than sharing with them how I feel about the information I'm sharing. I feel deep in my heart that the gospel in true. It fills me with joy. I love it.

 

Saturday, we did a little bit of area book, and got an appointment with a super cool looking ex investigator named Roberto. Then we went to our WML's house, to teach him a short lesson and to give him a blessing. A few days before, he had gotten into an accident at work, where a train type thing ran over his foot and cut him pretty bad. Fortunately, he was wearing steel-toed boots or he would have no toes. That evening, we passed by Franco, and taught him a short lesson, and then we taught Salome as well. We called many people for church, and no one responded. That was frightening.

 

The next morning, we called Andrews, our less active, and his phone was off. So we went to his house, knocked on his door around 8:40 AM, and his roommates let us in. We knocked on his bedroom door till he woke up, and then told him to get ready for church. We waited for him, and drove with him to church around 9:15 AM, and he came to church for the first time in about a year. The members, including most of his siblings, were very pleased to see him. Unfortunately, none of our investigators came to church. But he came. We went back to his house that evening, taught him a short lesson, and he told us about a friend of his named Hope. We're hoping to get Hope as a referral now.

 

Monday, we had a good district meeting about following your heart in teaching, asking questions inspired from heaven to dig deep into the person's concern. Then we went and passed by two members, one of which had an address for c/o Rugby Reggio, so we asked them if they knew him, and it turns out that he's in Australia, and they'll get us his new address and phone number when we go back tomorrow. This reminds me to mention that this transfer, one of our goals has been to meet every member on the ward list that is possibly contactable. We have now been to every member house inside of the city. It's incredible how many people don't live at those addresses. Having an up-to-date ward list is an incredibly important thing. I remember 3 transfers ago in Pesaro the District President telling us that we needed to update the ward list, because if these people don't live here anymore they are like a sheep without a shepherd. That man in Australia is a member, but his bishop doesn't know that he exists. We'll try to get his information to that bishop ASAP, so that that sheep can have water. Anyway, we taught a man named Nima, from Persia, who claims Bahai as his religion. I've never heard of it. He has a Book of Mormon, and he speaks English. Then we went back to Judi's, and taught him a short restoration lesson. It was interesting how when we stated "there should only be one true church," he said, "the JW's and everyone else says the same thing. How am I supposed to ever figure it out?"

 

Tuesday, we got super confused by a man who wanted to meet with us, and told us where he was, and when we got there we called him, and he said he couldn't see us, nor could we see him. "I'm at the station, wearing blue jeans and a white shirt". "We're at the station!" This was resolved when we figured out that he was in Modena. That afternoon we taught a very strange character, named Augustine, who for some reason recorded on his cell phone the entire lesson. That was weird. That evening, we taught another strange character, Spalanzane, the conspiracy man. It was a distracted lesson, we'll say. "there's no God, he's in our hearts!" ok... will you come to church? "I'd love to!" Confusing?

 

I have a flat tire on my bike, we found this morning. We'll see what we can do about that. I love you tons.

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Fwd: Quite the week

From: Benjamin Jolley <benjamin.jolley@myldsmail.net>
Date: Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 4:45 AM
Subject: Quite the week
Dear family,

 

I've had a crazy week. I'll just get straight into it. Pday last week, we taught Ernest again. He told us more about his story, and then told us he couldn't come to church on Sunday. bummer. We then taught him the first lesson and gave him the baptismal invite. He says he's already been baptised, but... we'll see. Then we went with one of our members to teach one of our new converts, Fratello Panico. He's from Napoli, and speaks mostly in Napoletano. It's hard to understand. Imagine the most stereotypical Italian "eh make-a me-a pizza!" And then add local dialect. That's the Italian he speaks It's very different from my super northern accent. Two native missionaries have told me they hate my accent. They say I sound super Milanese and they dislike it. Oh well. Better than sounding American.

 

Thursday, we found a random african who listened to us and then asked us for money. We are not here to give people money. Oh well. Then we taught English class to Renata, our single Polish student, had coordination meeting, and then we found GianCarlo and his family. We'd met this family before, as I greeted them on their porch, and they responded in English. So I had to go back. That was a week ago. We passed by them and they were home, and we taught a lesson on Prayer. This family is amazing. GianCarlo and Stefania have been married twenty years, and have 3 children, Brian, 15, Alexis, 11, and Caroline Meaghan, 9. They are the sweetest family. Little Meaghan thinks we're the best thing ever, and the rest of them just love us too. We invited them to pray as a family and to come to church on Sunday. We left a pamphlet explaining Sunday services. It was awesome.

 

Friday, I went on Scambio with Anziano Proctor, in Piacenza. We went and did work. We tuaght Daniel, a sweet ecuadorian, a random Muslim guy named Mohammed and this AMAZING brasilian lady. She needs to meet with the missionaries. We got her number and I hope Anziano Proctor followed through on it.

 

Saturday morning, we taught Anna, a woman who has met the missionaries about 1.000.000.000 times, but has never come to church... and she couldn't come this Sunday because of going on vacation. darn. Then we taught Rosario, this sweet guy who has a baptismal date and wants to be baptized, he just has this problem of not coming to church consistently because he works the night shift. So we commited him to read, pray, and come to church in a sweet, short 20 minute lesson that had the spirit strong. It was way nice. Then we picked up our dear companions and went to Winter's baptism. Piacenza had 5 investigators with a baptismal date. now they have 4. Because they baptized one. Sweet. I had to interview one of them, so our day was shot, but that's ok. I interviewed GianPaolo, who really likes the church. I love baptismal interviews. I don't know why I worried before. The questions are so easy. You just ask, and they just open right up. So easy. Those questions are super inspired. Then we went home.

 

Sunday, we helped the sisters get Gregoria to church, and then in the second hour, GianCarlo and family ALL came. He even wore a shirt and tie. and the girls wore dresses. Is this family elect? absolutely. I taught our gospel principles class, and it was awesome. People were crying and spiritual experiences were shared. GianCarlo lived in New Jersey during 9/11, and he was about 1 mile away when the planes hit. He helped clear the rubble, and... yeah. he has a flag that he took from the rubble. It's amazing. His family met the church for the first time there, and they were part of a block party, and one of their LDS friends gave them a cross stitched pillow that says "We Believe" on it. That is one of their family treasures. Keep making those pillows and other crafts. They're excellent missionary tools.

 

That evening, we taught Abraham, a cool nigerian man who is married and believes a lot in common with us. When his wife asked about the gift of tongues, I explained my belief that my ability to speak Italian is a manifestation of the gift of tongues, she laughed and started talking about the "tongue of angels"/babbling of pentecostal churches. He explained that our belief makes more sense because people can understand Italian. God is a God of order, not of confusion. That was cool. It was like having a member present. Then we went and taught Samuel, our other nigerian who is obsessed with the concept of Saturday being the Sabbath, and cannot accept Sunday worship. We more or less dropped him. Then we went to Andrews' house. Andrews is a less active Ghanan, who has a strong testimony. We're not really sure why he doesn't come to church, and read the Book of Mormon, except that he doesn't. When we invited him to do both he just said... yeah, why not? That was easy. Then we did some casa and found Kevin, another nigerian, who tried to convince us to work and be missionaries at the same time.

 

Monday, we went to Parma, and helped the Chagua family, from Peru, to move some stuff and then we invited them to have family prayer every day. Then we went to the DelMonte family, who are awesome. Adorable family. They even had a friend there. His name was Claudio. we'll see if he wants to know more about the church. I gave him a pass along card. Then we went back to Reggio, where we prepared to teach GianCarlo again, with our WML, Fratello Pianegonda. We went over and taught them the first lesson and they chatted a lot with the Pianegonda's. It was good, because the doctrine was taught, and they made a good friendship, but we weren't able to give them the baptismal invite like we wanted too. Oh well.

 

Yesterday, we did some finding work, and then looked for less actives. In the afternoon, we went back to Kevin's, gave him a Book of Mormon, and more or less dropped him. "I'll maybe come to church next year. But I'll read the book." Then we found this less active named Stefano, who has... problems. He's been to prison for possession of illegal drugs... and he is clearly still using. yeah... but he'll come to church on sunday! that'll be good. We went back to Andrews', who we talked with about how we feel about God being our heavenly father. After that, we did a little finding work and found Samuel, who we commited to church on Sunday. That'll be sweet.

 

That's our week. cool, eh? We have a crazy week planned. Like we're going to Verona and a lot of other things. So... till next time, Eat lots of Parmesean!

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BEST WEEK EVER!

Benjamin's new address:

Anziano Benjamin Jolley

Via Don Zefferino Jodi, 6

42120 Reggio Emilia (RE)

Italia

As you may have seen above, I have had an amazing week. I don't think it would be possible to tell all of the crazy miracles we had this week, but I'll try. So Wednesday night, Anziano Rockwood and I headed to Bologna and were stopped by two different people who we talked to for about a half an hour each about the gospel because they were interested. We gave them the contact information about the bologna missionaries. On the way to Bologna, we talked to Felix and Harrison. Felix is peruvian and was SUPER interested. We gave his contact info to Ancona. Harrison wanted a Book of Mormon. Felix kept saying que bueno, que bueno as we explained the restoration to him.

 

Thursday, we headed to Milano Centrale, where we met up with our new companions. We got back to Reggio around 6, and we did some casa, teaching two lessons to people that were ALL atheist. everyone we stopped that night was atheist. But we gave one a Book of Mormon.

 

Friday, we did our planning session, and then we went to get the Reggio Sisters their maps and get them situated. On the way their, I hit a car. It was raining. My shirt is SUPER dirty. Incredibly dirty. I tried washing it, but there is still mud. The hitting the car was funny. I pulled out of our apartment, went after my companion, and a car came out of nowhere. I pull my brakes, but it's wet, and the brakes are, as most missionary bikes... destroyed. I hit the car and I'm on my back. two seconds later I jump up "I'm fine, I'm fine!" I have a dirty shirt and a one milimeter cut on my hand. I was a little shaky too. We then showed the Sisters where the church is and we had a coordination meeting with our Ward Mission Leader who told us how he met his wife. It was an awesome story. That evening, we got to work, and taught two more lessons. One to our investigators Salomé and Giovanna, who are super solid and want to be baptized, they're just not actually married. They've lived together 3 years and she's been trying to get a divorce that whole time, but it's a long process here, and so they can't get baptized till she gets a divorce and then they get married.

 

Saturday, I had the best studies ever in the morning, about missionary work and the promises we have. This translated into the most epic day ever. I stopped over 100 people and found 4 potential investigators and was super happy and inviting just massive numbers of people. At the end of the day, we had taught many lessons, but didn't have any new investigators until at 9 PM Uyi stopped us. Uyi is a nigerian man and has a Book of Mormon, but wanted us to explain to him what it really is. so we did. We explained the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith story and the entire restoration lesson as we walked with him to his house. He said "wow. now I have to read this book." Then he said a prayer and we carried on towards home.

 

Sunday was a similar experience. We went to church and had 5 investigators in church, one named Benjamin that the sisters found the night before. Go Sisters! That evening we used our newly made member map to try and figure out who all the 60 members in Reggio are and why we don't know any of them. We went and found Maria, who was baptized 15 years ago to please her son, and then we found Ernest, our High Priest Group Leader. How did we not know him? Also, during lunch we got a call at random from another Ernest, from Ghana. The call went like this: "Is the the Latter-day Saint ministry?" Yes. "I tried to find your church this morning but I could not find it. Could you help me get there next Sunday?" "yes of course could we meet earlier?" "Wednesday?" "sure. what's your name and address, and where should we meet?" and then we arranged a meeting. When I called back yesterday he said "we have an appointment tomorrow at 6:30 right? Can I bring a friend?" This man is amazing! I'm excited!!!

 

Monday, we went to Piacenza for a district meeting. I more or less had it planned, but on the spot I felt to change all my plans to helping investigators get to church. It was a sweet meeting. I felt the spirit. Then we did a scambio with our Capi, and Anziano Nielsen of St. George, UT and I went and had the craziest day. So I pick up my bag and notice it's about the weight of a Book of Mormon. so I assume it's Italian. I grab a Polish Book of Mormon for the old Pole that we'll meet that day, and we go. The second person we stop is the girl that is super interested and accepts a Book of Mormon no sweat. As I reach for one, I realize that I don't have Italian, I have Russian. WHY? I dunno. Anziano Nielsen pulls out an Italian and we give it to her. we carry on, stopping people once again like crazy. as we do, we meet a young man on the street who speaks english. We walk with him about 15 minutes and find that he's Ukrainian and speaks Russian. He wants a more united family and so we promise that if he'll read the book, his family will be more united. We give it to him, and he is content. We are amazed that God put a Russian Book of Mormon in my bag. We carry on and Anziano Nielsen feels like stopping an African. We stop Daniel, who is interested and we invite him to be baptized. He accepts. He should be baptized the 30th of July assuming all goes well. We carry on and have about 10 more crazy experiences stopping people who are interested. At the same time, Anziani Anderson and Ellsworth invite another man to be baptized the same day. He accepts. CRAZY! We now have a ridiculously busy schedule.

 

Tuesday, we have sweet studies with our capi, and then we go and do some strada and contacting in general. We place a Book of Mormon on the last stop of the morning to this practically Mormon woman so far as her beliefs are concerned. She didn't give us her number though. In the afternoon, we go to one of our priests, Sebastian the 17 year old awesome, teach him a quick lesson and the try to find another member, who isn't at home. I've taken it upon me to update the entire ward list. It's very out of date so far. We go and teach a part member couple, Nicola and Antonia. We invite Antonia to be baptized. She says I can't say yes or no. But she does say no to the 30th of July as a date. oh well. We head home. Luna stops us on the way home. We get home and sleep, SUPER tired.

 

This morning, we do our studies and come to do email. Sweet week, huh? I guess something just clicked for me. I love this city! Also, in our district the Piacenza Anziani have 5 baptismal dates, two for next week, so I'll have to do some sweet baptismal interviews soon. Woot!

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