A Month of Growth, Finding and Saying Goodbye........
A fun, event filled and loving week here in Brindisi. First let's start of with Tuesday. Valentine's Day! Man oh man was that day filled with some love. The trainer and I took on the dangerous and rigorous task of making sugar cookies for our English course we teach. Though hard, and with much trial and error on the frosting, it was accomplished! Our students loved the American cookies. It was definitely a Valentine's Day well spent. Thursday was my trainer's birthday! For lunch, our investigator who was recently baptized, made us an African dish.
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| Lunch with our investigator. |
On Sunday he received the priesthood, it was such a cool and spiritual experience. Then the guy I told you about last week, who literally walked into the church and asked to know more, came to church again! He is such an awesome guy!! In our lesson with him on Saturday we asked him how his reading of the Book of Mormon was going. He told us it went 'pretty good'. We were totally stoked when he told us he'd read not only the chapter in Alma we asked him to read, but the first 13 chapters in Nephi! Haha, we were so surprised, and excited! It was cool to see him so interested like that. I'm going to love teaching this awesome guy!
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| Ortranto |
For P-day we went to Otranto. It is this city that is over 1,000 years old and just absolutely gorgeous. The water here is so clear. We visited the beach, an old castle, and a very old church. I know surprising about the church, right?
Haha, this church was different than others I've seen so far. The floor was had mosaic artwork that was incredible. They had this room full of skulls of people that were killed because they would not give up being Catholic when Muslims took over (this happened a long time ago, definitely not recent). It was really interesting. I think the beach and the view was my favorite. It was so gorgeous.
While reading the scriptures this week I came across a verse in Alma that I really liked. It says "27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Sometimes humbling yourself isn't the easiest thing to do. Trust me lol. But when you do, when you put it all out there and you let our Father in Heaven do what nobody else can, He will make those "weak things become strong".
Thank you everyone for all of the love and support you have given! Love all of you!
Anziano Andersen⛷⚽
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| Elders in the Bari Zone with President Pickerd |
Great week! On Wednesday we had a wonderful zone conference. It's always fun seeing President and Sister Pickerd and the other missionaries from our zone! Then our investigator who walked into the church has been doing so good. He has expressed a desire to be baptized! He has been to church the past three weeks and loves reading the Book of Mormon. He is such an amazing guy!
P.S. To everyone who has written me letters, I am going to write you back I promise, I just need to find out were to buy stamps, haha!
We had an incredible week here in Brindisi. Tuesday was Carnival, Carnival is an ancient tradition occurring the immediate period before Lent. So of course we had to throw a little party for our English class, we brought cookies and drinks and had a fun time!
On Friday, we were able to play soccer with our branch president and recent convert, we wanted to show him what a younger looking ward looks like and the activities they do. It was a blast, he absolutely loved it. 
For P-day it was soccer again!! We had such a great time, as usual! After we headed to the church for some pizza and cake for Anziano Whitakers bithday! Successful P-day for sure!
Earlier this week we met two new people that were interested in the gospel. The first person we met through our recent convert. They were playing ping pong and naturally a conversation started and he agreed to meet with us. While we were talking to this new investigator, another guy heard us speaking in English. He was curious where we were from and what we are doing here. So we shared our message with both of them! They both have gone through things I didn't even know where possible. They are truly an inspiration, their life stories are incredible! Because of their stories, I have gained a greater appreciation for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The Atonement isn't just meant for those people who are in need of repentance. In Matthew 11 it states:
" 28 ¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
The Atonement is for everyone. He felt the pains for both the sinner and the person who is having a bad day, month, year, and sometimes even longer. Whatever struggle you are going through in life, whether they be big or small, Jesus Christ and His atonement can help you. Thank you everyone for your support, I love you all!
We started the week here in Brindisi with beautiful weather and ended the with a storm. By Friday we felt like a tornado had hit us! Okay maybe not that bad but it was windy. Not the most ideal weather for missionary work, haha. This Sunday was Anziano Vrska's last Sunday in the branch, he heads up to Rome this Saturday and then on to home. It was Branch Conference so we had a ton of people in church! We had like 35, I was stoked. Although like 10 of them were from the stake, but we had a lot of other people who don't usually come, come. Oh and our new convert gave a talk today and he did awesome. So that was cool. We had a little luncheon after and had a good time with the branch.
I was reading a chapter In Enos. And Enos is telling the Lord about how he is not very good at writing, and that because of this he will be made fun of. The Lord goes on to say " if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble... for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27). We are all given weaknesses. Many of the great prophets talked about their weaknesses. If we have faith in Christ, and we humble ourselves before Him, He will "make weak things become strong". Thanks for all the love and support! Have a good week everyone!!
This week really started out pretty normal. We taught all of our investigators, did finding, taught our English course and all of the fun stuff. Then Saturday came and it was time for my trainer to go home. I'm gonna miss him. Anziano Vrska has taught me a lot, like baptizing in Italy is possible and don't ever let people say its not. We had fun working together, especially these last couple weeks. It was pretty sad watching him say goodbye to all of the people we have been working with. I hadn't really thought about having to someday say goodbye to everyone I meet here... I already can tell that leaving this place is going to be pretty hard.
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| Lecce |
I'm ready to find out who my next companion is. I'm excited to work hard with him and hopefully continue growing the branch here in Brindisi! Because I don't get my next companion tell Thursday I have had to come to Lecce for a week. It's been fun, it is a beautiful city, but I like Brindisi and the people I am teaching right now, so I'll be excited to get back.
I came across a quote from Thomas Monson talking about patience. Something I need to work on, haha. He said “Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required”. Somethings don't come right away. I've learned that trying to speak a new language. It's important to remember our time and God's timing aren't the same. So be patient with the people around you and yourself. Thanks for all the love and support! Hope everyone has a fantastic week!
Anziano Andersen⛷⚽
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| Lecce |
I talk often of the amazing food! I thought Id take some pictures to share!
