Ciao ciao!
Another week lived in the greatest country in the world! B-)
The highlight of this week was definitely Solomon getting baptized...
It was such a cool experience! We were a little worried though because
Solomon didn't show up for his baptism until 3:27 (and the baptism
started at 3:00)! But, the ceremony ended up working out perfectly and
Solomon bore an awesome testimony at the end of the meeting.
Unfortunately, Solomon couldn't come to church the next day (because
the buses got shut down in Carmignano due to a market that was being
hosted there), so he still hasn't received the Gift of the Holy Ghost
yet! And remember how I gave a lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost
for priesthood meeting at the MTC? Well, I think that was a blessing
from Heavenly Father that I had to do that because I had to give a
lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost at Solomon's baptism as a result
of the person that was supposed to do it, bailing out.
Even though Solomon didn't receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost on
Sunday, it was still a really good day because it was our ward's
primary program! There is like 25ish primary kids in our ward and it
was so humbling listening to all of them speak... Even the youngest
primary kid has a lot better grasp on the Italian language than 18
year-old Anziano Anderson! ;p In fact, when I was congratulating a few
of the kids after sacrament meeting on a job well done, they ended up
teaching me a few Italian words that I didn't know!
And, going back to Solomon's baptism, besides from the fact that
Solomon made a really awesome covenant with Heavenly Father.... I also
learned a really cool skill because he did! For Solomon's baptism, we
had to fill up a big swimming pool type thing because our church
building doesn't have a baptismal font. Then, after the baptism, we
had to empty the pool... So, our ward mission leader taught us how to
syphon the water out of the pool with the hose we used to fill up the
pool. I don't understand the physics behind syphoning, but it blew my
mind! ;p Unfortunately, it was really slow, so we had to start
emptying water out of the pool with empty trash cans to speed up the
process. But, watch out, I might syphon gas out of your cars when I
come home with my newly learned trick. ;)
Since being on my mission, I've come to the realization that
missionaries are magnets for awkward experiences... Earlier this week,
Anziano Gibbons and I forgot a bag of random stuff at the train
station (umbrellas, food, etc.) on a day this past week. When we
realized we forgot the bag at the train station, we hopped on the
first train back to the station to see if our bag was still there.
Luckily, it was. Unfortunately, a beggar-lady had moved the bag and
was now sitting with it. So, Anziano Gibbons had to awkwardly go up
and ask for the bag back... I felt SOO bad for the lady (and a little
bad for my companion for having to utter the awkward phrase to get the
bag back)!
Luckily, Mormon missionaries attract more than awkward experiences....
They attract Jehovah Witnesses! A few nights ago, when we we doing
house-to-house tracting, we knocked on a door and the man that opened
it welcomed us in with open arms. For the first five minutes we were
inside the house, I thought it must be a member family because of how
happy everyone was to see Anziano Gibbons and I... But, after they fed
us a few snacks, we found out they they were Jehovah Witnesses! I did
A LOT of listening (and not much understanding) as Anziano Gibbons had
a big doctrinal talk with them regarding Adam and Eve. From what I
understood of the conversation, Jehovah Witnesses have a lot of logic
to what they believe... But, I'm a little bummed because I couldn't
share my testimony of Jesus Christ before we left (the conversation
was only on Adam and Eve the whole time) and I know that baring
testimony is key in situations like that! :( It was also kind of funny
because when we were leaving their house, they gave US some church
pamphlets! ;p
Another cool tracting experience I had this week was when we were
doing street contacting... We ended up stopping a man and baring our
testimonies of Jesus Christ. When we asked the man how he has seen the
hand of Jesus Christ in his life, tears started streaming down his
face... I usually consider it a successful street contact when we get
the person's contact information, but this was the first street
contacting experience where I felt like we actually touched someone's
life.
With all the street contacting we do, I have seen a ton of super
fashionable people during the past three weeks. And because of this,
I've also come to the conclusion that I'm going to be a huge
scarf-wearer after I get married... All the coolest Italian guys wear
scarves! But, I know it's a little feminine for guys to wear scarves for
fashion in America.... So, that's why I'm going to start wearing them
AFTER I get married. You can't question the sexuality of a man walking
down the street if he is holding the hand of a super pretty girl. ;p
It's kind of funny though because in Italy, Mormon missionaries aren't
the strangest people to see walking down the street (like they usually
are in America)... With all the nuns and army guys carrying huge guns
(to prevent terrorism), the Mormon missionaries look pretty dang
normal!
 |
| Cool kids wear scarves |
And remember how I told you guys that the watch you sent to me was a
little too big? Well, I went into a fancy jewelry store and the old
lady working there did the resizing for free! I'm not sure if it was
because I was reppin' Jesus Christ's name on my chest or because of my
big smile, but it felt pretty awesome being treated like something
more than just a punk teenager.
Now, I'm going to share a few random things (one is about a ward
member, one is about Solomon, and the last is about Italy):
1. There is an African member of our ward, named Nosa, who has the
best prayer catch phrase I've ever heard in my life. Remember how I
used to say, "Please bless us that we can look good, smell good, and
be good"? Well, in every prayer Nosa says, he asks that, "We can sleep
like babies and wake up like giants."
2. We had a lesson on the restoration with Solomon this week because
after investigators get baptized, the missionaries need to teach them
all the lessons again. When Anziano Gibbons was talking about how
there was lots of reformists during the Great Apostasy that recognized
that the doctrines of Christ had been changed, he talked a little
about Martin Luther. Then, he asked Solomon, "Do you know anything
about Martin Luther?" Solomon replied by saying, "Yeah, yeah.. I know
a little about Martin Luther. He's said some great things about black
people taking over America one day." IT WAS HILARIOUS! I knew
instantly that he was talking about Martin Luther King Jr., but I
looked over at Anziano Gibbons and his face was priceless... I could
tell he had no idea what Solomon was talking about! ;p
3. When was cooking some ham-and-grilled cheese sandwiches this week
and I looked down at my package of ham... There was a random lady
posing on the front! The closer I examined my food packages, the more
I began to realize that Italy has models for more than just
clothing... They have ham, cereal, yogurt, milk, and jelly models! ;p
...And speaking of those ham-and-grilled cheese sandwiches, that was
the meal that I learned that cheese was bad for you... My whole life I
thought cheese was healthy because it was a dairy product! But, after
I had consumed half a brick of provolone cheese for lunch one day this
week, my companion told me how unhealthy cheese was for you!
Anziano Gibbons and I have spent the day in Pistoia showing the
Firenze Elders around our city. We made the mistake of going into one
museum full of naked women statues (probably not the best
advertisement for the church seeing Mormon missionaries in a naked
statue museum)! Luckily, the museum is free, so we left soon after
arriving ;p Now, Anziano Gibbons and I are about to go prepare to give
a lesson in Italian to this high schooler, named Lorenzo, who has been
SUPER receptive to the gospel!
Vi amo,
Anziano Anderson
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