Bourne Again - 3/27/17

Bye to Allen! 

Hey family!

This week was pretty sick and really busy. That was because we had transfers, and sadly, that meant I said goodbye to Anziano Allen.

So Monday night came around, and we got our calls. Anziano Allen was transferred to be the zone leader of Taranto, and I will be here in Rome 3 for another transfer. BUT, Rome 3 received some big changes. The other companionship of Anziani were blown out and shut down. So my new companion, Anziano Bourne, and I will get their work too, and will make sure Rome 3 gets huge this transfer. I am super excited.

A little about Anziano Bourne ~ he is from Washington DC and his family has just recently moved to The Woodlands, Texas! So they are actually in the home ward right next to mine. He has only 2 more transfers left, so he is by far the oldest missionary I have ever served with. That being said, he is an absolute workhorse, and he knows what he is doing. Even in the first few days with him I have learned so much about being a better zone leader and missionary. I'm excited for this transfer with him. Self-described, he is a Pretty Chill Guy. I agree.

Anyways, in the last few days we have found quite a few new investigators: 2 from Iran, 1 from Moldova, and the others are cool Italians. So we are excited to see them progress and read the Book of Mormon. OS is going to be baptized on the 8th of April, and we are excited to get a lot of people out to that.

I am really excited for next weekend though. This week we will be spreading the news to all that we meet that the prophets of God will speak this weekend. I hope we can get everyone out to see it. (Click here or here for info on how to watch this weekend's LDS General Conference this Saturday & Sunday at 11am & 3pm Houston time - aka Central Time Zone; or 10am & 2pm, MDT). 

Other than those things, this week I have been focusing on diligence and growth. Something I learned is that real growth always comes through diligent effort. What does diligence mean? I like to think of it as consistent effort, or constant repentance. As we are diligent, we have to have patience; we may not see the changes or growth we want after a week, or maybe even two. But if we keep it up, we will see lasting changes. I found this to be especially true with a testimony. We might not get a big one from an amazing experience, but if we are diligent, it will surely grow. Remember, it takes 3 weeks to make a habit. At least shoot to be 100% diligent with whatever you do for 3 weeks and see how it becomes a desire instead of something you are "supposed to do."

I love you all!

Anziano Ridd

WOW! UN'ANNO IN MISSIONE! 3/20/17

For my Hump Day (half-way mark on the mission/1-year of missionary service), I went and took my picture 
in front of some camels. There was a circus in the town, so that was cool.

The R Family and the Anziani

Ok fellas, I did a year.

First things first. I attended a Catholic funeral. Sadly, a member's mother passed away, so we went to the funeral to support him. Well I kinda feel bad for that poor priest...because the people who were at that mass were all Mormon except for one. All I gotta say is....wow, I understand why some people might not like going to church...that mass was pretty boring. I just am so thankful for the talks we get in church every Sunday that bring the Spirit and edify.

Going forward, this week we couldn't meet with a lot of our investigators for many reasons. But hopefully next week we will. We did meet with many potentials...sadly, we didn't pick many up as investigators. But hey, that's how things work.

So then other than those things, this week I was studying the last bit of John, and I love the last chapter. It reminds me - as I hit the second half of my mission - that I came for a simple reason. Just like Jesus reminded the apostles, "If ye love me, feed my sheep." (John 21:16-17). This simple concept and desire to follow my Savior drives me as I serve the people of Rome with all I can. I know Jesus Christ loves all of us, and even though He sacrificed all for all of us, he would have done it even just for you alone.

Thank you all for the emails for hump day! Especially my mother, she is the best ;). I had fun celebrating with the camels. I can't wait to shred it for the next year here in Italy.

I love you all!

Anziano Ridd

Hump Day package from home!

HUMP DAY?! 3/13/17

Celebrating the 25th wedding anniversary of a couple in the ward with their family

PC: Pickerd's Italy Rome Mission blog

Rome West Zone Conference

Hey Family,

This week was one of the busiest weeks ever. It was full of logistics, scambi and ZONE CONFERENCE. 

So Anziano Burgos was with us for the beginning of the week, because his companion left to get his permesso. Then we were invited to go to the anniversary of a family from our ward. They took us to eat Filipino food with them and were celebrating 25 years of marriage together! That was super fun.

Then we had the Maltese anziani come in. We had to do some improvisation with them, because instead of the scambio that was planned, I ended up taking one companionship. Anziano Allen took the other, so we were in 2 trios. We had the opportunity to teach the family we found last week. This time it was the whole family - Mc, M, Gi (20) and Gb (16). They are the best! They love the message of the Restoration and we have high hopes for them progressing. Sadly, they didn’t come to church, but that’s because M wasn't feeling well. (She has been ill). So - hopefully next week. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I TAUGHT A WHOLE FAMILY OF ITALIANS. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL AND GREAT! They look like they are Mormons and the Spirit is there....:P

Continuing forward, we had Zone Conference on Friday. That went crazy, hahaha. There were some last minute technology problems and we had to improvise. Sadly, it came down to it and there was a time crunch, so Anziano Allen and I only got to give the first half of the training we prepared. That's sad, but we taught some important principles of following up. In the end, it went well enough and I just hope to see improvement in the zone from it. 

Saturday was cool cause we met with a guy named MN, who is in the Carabiniere, which is like…military police. We taught him and his girlfriend (she's also in the Carabiniere) the Restoration and it went really well. We expect to see them again soon. Sunday was okay, O came to church again. He is getting close to baptism, and said "I will follow the rules!" when we taught him about the commandments like the Word of Wisdom. He is a beast. Sadly, no other investigators came. 

Today should be fun. We plan on doing a Zone Pday at the Colosseum. I can't wait. That and the Roman Forum are two things I have wanted to see for forever!

Anyways, I love you all! I can't believe my year mark is this Thursday. Time flies when you’re having fun. 

Anziano Ridd

Wow.... I can't believe this week is my 1-year mark. Strange.

The Blessing of Work - 3/6/17

GOOD MORNING!!!

This week was soooo full. 

So to start it right off, on Tuesday we did a scambio with the Anziani serving in Ostia. We had a district meeting with them and then Anziano Perfili and I went to Rome. He is a stud from Orange County, California. He and I did some good work finding. Then we saw a cool miracle. While we were doing house, we found a family who wanted to learn some more. We now are teaching a super awesome family of 4 and we are so excited to see them again next week. 

Then on Friday we did another scambio with the Anziani in Rome 1. Once again I stayed in our area, and Anziano Burgos came over with me. He is from the Philippines and is a guy who is very in touch with the Spirit. We got the opportunity to visit a member's house who is Filipino, and that was really cool because they all connected so well as fellow countrymen. The next day we got let in to a couple homes, but had no success finding anyone wanting to learn more. 

After that, we had good success with finding new people during the week. I am really excited to see if some of our potentials will be real investigators. Our work is going well though. O has a baptismal date of 25th of March. He and GD came to church. In fact, GD received the priesthood this week by Anziano Allen. 

Next week is Zone Conference, and Anziano Allen and I are prepping to teach. So we’ve got a busy week coming up. 

One thing I have been studying this week have been work. Work is a gospel principle that is not often talked about, but I think it is probably the most important principle of life. Things take work. The Gospel Principles manual says, "There is no real division between spiritual, mental, and physical work. Work is essential to each of us for growth, character development, and many satisfactions that the idle never know."

For us to grow we need to work, but we can enjoy any kind of work we are doing. In fact, President David O. McKay said, “Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that the love of work is success." 
(​Pathways to Happiness​ [1957], 381).  I know this is true and I hope all of us can start to go about our work with a different attitude. If we are surviving through life, we will probably survive...but we shouldn't expect to get more than that. If we raise our visions to a higher goal, we are likely to achieve that goal or at least get close.

I love you all! 

Anziano Ridd

PS - We played basketball again for Pday. We love sports and we don't care who knows. Also - I stink.