 |
| The baptism of G! The "other" Anziani have been teaching her. |
Dear Family,
This week was interesting. So we had our work kinda disrupted quite a bit this week because a couple of things. The first thing was a culture class. Oh man, that was tough. It was 5 hours a day for 2 days. It was aimed at people trying to get Italian citizenship and was SO boring. So that really killed Monday and Tuesday. But on the bright side, my permesso will be ready on the 20th of July. Then the other thing is, we got Anziano Jensen's permesso early so we went to Catania and met our new mission president. This took 2 days, and was mostly traveling.
But that brings me to meeting the new president. We went to Catania, and that was kinda sick (sick = way cool). I love seeing different areas of Italy. Catania is a bit cleaner than Palermo, but Palermo is still my home so it was cool to get back. Anyways, we had both zones - Catania and Palermo - at that conference. It was super awesome to finally meet with President and Sister Pickerd. They gave an amazing addestramento and it was cool to talk to them afterward. They spoke a lot about Enoch. They said that the Lord tends to have a habit of calling people who the world might not see as fit for the calling. We see this with the story of Enoch; also Moses, the Apostles, David and Goliath, and then Joseph Smith. They all are not necessarily men who appear the most qualified for the job, and often, many people disliked them. The Lord called them however, and "Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." Mosiah 8:18. Often, we as missionaries are like these men. To the rest of the world, we appear unqualified, or, not as though we are representatives called of God (especially because we are 19-22 years old). But, like the messengers of old, our Gospel that we share is the same, and we have the same purpose and are called by God. He gives us the strength to do all things in His name if we align our will with His.
I am so excited to have the Pickerds here to lead this mission for 3 years. They are wonderful and I know that they have been called of God to be here at this time. It will be a great 2 years with them.
This week we went to a baptism for G, an investigator of the other Anziani. So that was awesome, because she was investigating for a long time. And we had A there. Speaking of which, A is still doing well on her “Stop Smoking” program. So she is on track to be done by the 15th!! She is awesome, and really trying to make the necessary changes in her life to come unto Christ. DM is getting more serious about the gospel and has been fantastic. He hopefully will be baptized at the end of this month. On Sunday, both DM and A came to church again, and loved it.
And that pretty much takes us to today. Which is kinda the best day in the world! AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. So happy it's the Fourth of July. We went to the Garrett's house. They are a new senior couple here and are very nice. We ate tons of burgers and hotdogs. It was delicious and very American. Today we sang all the American songs in the hymn book and pledged to the flag.
Also here are some amazing talks to look at: But Watchmen What of the Night? by Vaughn J. Featherstone in the October 1975 General Conference (click here to view or read this talk); and then Our Divine Constitution by Ezra Taft Benson in October 1987 (click here to watch or read this talk).
But yeah, I love it here, I hope y'all have a great week. Keep being awesome. Happy freedom. America is the best country on Earth.
Love,
Anziano Ridd
This week was interesting. So we had our work kinda disrupted quite a bit this week because a couple of things. The first thing was a culture class. Oh man, that was tough. It was 5 hours a day for 2 days. It was aimed at people trying to get Italian citizenship and was SO boring. So that really killed Monday and Tuesday. But on the bright side, my permesso will be ready on the 20th of July. Then the other thing is, we got Anziano Jensen's permesso early so we went to Catania and met our new mission president. This took 2 days, and was mostly traveling.
But that brings me to meeting the new president. We went to Catania, and that was kinda sick (sick = way cool). I love seeing different areas of Italy. Catania is a bit cleaner than Palermo, but Palermo is still my home so it was cool to get back. Anyways, we had both zones - Catania and Palermo - at that conference. It was super awesome to finally meet with President and Sister Pickerd. They gave an amazing addestramento and it was cool to talk to them afterward. They spoke a lot about Enoch. They said that the Lord tends to have a habit of calling people who the world might not see as fit for the calling. We see this with the story of Enoch; also Moses, the Apostles, David and Goliath, and then Joseph Smith. They all are not necessarily men who appear the most qualified for the job, and often, many people disliked them. The Lord called them however, and "Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." Mosiah 8:18. Often, we as missionaries are like these men. To the rest of the world, we appear unqualified, or, not as though we are representatives called of God (especially because we are 19-22 years old). But, like the messengers of old, our Gospel that we share is the same, and we have the same purpose and are called by God. He gives us the strength to do all things in His name if we align our will with His.
I am so excited to have the Pickerds here to lead this mission for 3 years. They are wonderful and I know that they have been called of God to be here at this time. It will be a great 2 years with them.
This week we went to a baptism for G, an investigator of the other Anziani. So that was awesome, because she was investigating for a long time. And we had A there. Speaking of which, A is still doing well on her “Stop Smoking” program. So she is on track to be done by the 15th!! She is awesome, and really trying to make the necessary changes in her life to come unto Christ. DM is getting more serious about the gospel and has been fantastic. He hopefully will be baptized at the end of this month. On Sunday, both DM and A came to church again, and loved it.
And that pretty much takes us to today. Which is kinda the best day in the world! AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. So happy it's the Fourth of July. We went to the Garrett's house. They are a new senior couple here and are very nice. We ate tons of burgers and hotdogs. It was delicious and very American. Today we sang all the American songs in the hymn book and pledged to the flag.
Also here are some amazing talks to look at: But Watchmen What of the Night? by Vaughn J. Featherstone in the October 1975 General Conference (click here to view or read this talk); and then Our Divine Constitution by Ezra Taft Benson in October 1987 (click here to watch or read this talk).
But yeah, I love it here, I hope y'all have a great week. Keep being awesome. Happy freedom. America is the best country on Earth.
Love,
Anziano Ridd
 |
| The 4th of July BBQ at the Garrett's home. It was delicious and very American! |
