Ballin at the Colosseum - 2/27/17

Playing basketball ("ballin") plus hanging on the rim - in front of the Colosseum

Hey family! 

This week was interesting and I felt that I learned a lot - hahahah. 

So first off we had a scambio with the Assistants this week. It was cool, and I went with Anziano Battaglia, who is just an awesome guy. I don't wanna say he is a "perfect" missionary, but dang, that guy is pretty close. He was a convert 3 years ago and came right out on the mission. I guess the only way to describe him is…after the scambio, we were talking about things to improve on, and I was grasping at straws to find something good that he could improve on, hahaha. But that was really fun, because he is a good and really genuine guy. 

The other really cool thing was a fireside for the stake that we had Saturday night. It was by far the best stake fireside I have ever been at in my life, sorry American stake. It takes the cake because of all the preparation that was put into it, and also because the focus was crystal clear: missionary work. Of the things that were talked about, there was a focus on reading “Preach My Gospel;” understanding that as members, we shouldn't pray for the missionaries to find someone to teach - we should pray to find someone ourselves for the missionaries to teach; and finally, about the new stake plan to do missionary work. The plan is wonderful because it is simple. Every single active member of the stake will receive a Book of Mormon. Then during family night, they will write their testimonies on the inside of the book. During the year they will all look for the opportunity to share the Book of Mormon with a friend…not just give it away, but set up a first discussion with the missionaries and with this friend. At the end of the year, if each member did this, there would be 530 Books of Mormon distributed to friends of members, and 530 first discussions with member-present referrals. This will have remarkable success. For those of you who are or were missionaries, I'm sure you can see how this is how missionary work should ALWAYS work, hahah. Anyways, the talks given at this fireside were filled with the Spirit and it was THE BEST. 

I love all y'all and miss you too! 

Anziano Ridd

PS -  We balled in front of the Colosseum today for Pday.