Vedrai Miracoli!!! Se Crederai!

Napoli

Hey Famiglia!

(Title translation: "You will see miracles ~ if you believe!")

So this week was pretty great. Napoli is huge and beautiful and delicious and loving and a whole bunch of other stuff. To say the least, I love this place. Every time I think about the city, I feel a surge of energy jump through my veins. This city is ready. My gosh, this city is so ready to be harvested. The work is just about to blow up, and all it takes is a little faith - which includes hope and elbow grease.

I am going to jump right into the work that we have been doing recently and then explain how it's gonna blow up in a bit. So first I want to introduce our “very much in love with America” new investigator, C. He was a contact we had in the phone and we gave him a call. He answered and we set up an appointment. WHAT A MIRACLE. He was SO excited to talk with Americans, but also about Mormons. We had an amazing first lesson and he came to church on Sunday. Then we have F. She is the bomb. We had a few lessons with her. She is about 50 and she is SO ready to be baptized. Usually we have a lot more investigators, but next week they get back from vacation. So we are pumped to teach everyone.

The zone leaders, Anziano Gay and Anziano Anderson, had a baptism this week. S (from Nigeria) is now a member of the church. We are so excited for him. Also, I gave a tiny talk in sacrament meeting this week. It was on the family, and thank goodness I have some awesome parents that I used in the talk. It went well, but we were low on time so I kept it brief. The ward is super nice. I love them already, but I am still getting to know them. 

So, I am on the final lap of the Book of Mormon (everything after Alma), and I was really liking 3 Nephi (Click to read). Jesus comes and establishes a higher law among the Nephites, just like He did in Jerusalem. I had been thinking about this a lot, and decided that I really wanted to make the effort to live by a higher law. So I set some goals, and Anziano Mercado is on board with it, too. We are going to live by the highest law that we can, and watch the blessings and miracles that the Lord will provide. I can't wait.

I love you all. Forza Napoli!

Anz Ridd

Answers to a few questions from Mom & Dad:

• The earthquake didn't affect us at all in Naples. I hear all about it, though. I have heard some people here claim that they felt it, but you can bet that I was 100% asleep at 3am when it happened. I get so tired that I sleep all I can until I wake up at 6.  As for impact, these Italians are sad for the people there (we all are), but they complain more that it was the government’s fault. Lol.

• Napoli is great. It’s been pretty windy and nice while I have been here, so I like it. The branch here is pretty sweet. Our mission leader is a guy from New Zealand named S and he is super sick. I like the city a lot, but I still am learning it a ton of the city - like what is the best path to take to find the most people, and - in general, where members and things are. So it's a lot of relying on my comp to kinda help me out there.

• We do teach English courses. We do that across the mission, and it is also one of the best ways to get solid investigators.

• So I am going on a healthy diet right now - so I hopefully will eat healthy for the next bit. We have good stores near our house in which we can shop.  But I eat pizza. That's allowed. It's magical here, Mom. It is MAGIC.

• The ward is super nice. I love them already, but I am still getting to know them. It's amazing to be working as the Lord's servant full-time. I will do all I can! 

We found a random rooster in the road!