The Mission Family - 11/6/17

Posterity (left to right):
Anziano Hughes (new son), Anziano McConkie (fabulous middle son), me,
Anziano Youngblood (the first adventurous son), Anziano Imes (hilarious grandson)

Hey family!

As y’all can imagine, this week was weird and long. But now things should be a bit more consistent.

On Tuesday I received my new companion, Anziano Hughes. He is a good guy from Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a very musical person, and it seems as if I am meant to learn more about musical stuff/ musical theatre. Training again is strange, hahaha. 

Then on Thursday, we headed up to Rome to go to the Mission Tour. Elder Engbjerg of the Seventy came, who is from Denmark. It was great, as my favorite thing taught by him was “never give up.” He taught “don’t ever quit.” If it’s something that matters or that’s good, then it’s always worth hanging in there. There is joy in finishing what we set out to do and accomplishing. He then talked about his experience with his sons, riding their bikes from NYC to San Francisco. He said at a certain point, his son was in bad pain. They were so close to the end, but his knee kept locking up. It got so bad that they stopped, and Elder Engbjerg asked his son if he wanted to call a cab to take him the rest of the way. His response: “Are you crazy? I have come all this way, and you think I could take a cab the last bit?” I think whether we are at the beginning or toward the end of our goals, the only answer we need is if it is worth it for us. If our goals or pursuits make us better, and bring us closer to God - or they are something we want - don’t quit. Chase what is most important. 

That was also super cool because I got to see a ton of my friends here, and I got a full family pic of my sons/grandson in the mission. I’ll throw that in here too. 

We had some cool experiences when finding recently. One of my favorites is E. He is from China, and moved to Italy because he is a convert to Christianity. I talked to him on a bus, and he was so excited to hear about the gospel from us. 

G and C are still awesome. In fact, C got into my Italian genealogy, and because of her vast knowledge of law, she revealed to me that I am the last generation of my ancestors to be able to claim my Italian citizenship. So pretty soon I’m gonna hit up my Italian passport and become an Italian. Pretty cool huh? That means my kids can claim Italian citizenship too. Two thumbs up for C. 👍🏻👍🏻

This Sunday was fast Sunday, and President Pickerd came to our church. It was held in Terni, because right now that is where we do fast Sundays. It was cool, because after the meeting we had food and got to get to know some of the members here. G and C came and also got to go see the new chapel that will soon be done in Terni. They are excited because that is where they will be baptized. 

Anyways guys, don’t quit. Love you.

Anziano Ridd