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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