It's been an exciting week for Anziano Leavitt and I down here in Pesaro! It feels like the days have become 3x longer than they were when I served in the office (luckily they aren't terrible days). On a non-spiritual related note, here are a few of the memorable moments from this past week:
1. Anziano Leavitt's face when our zone leaders broke it to him that they weren't Italian. Since we arrived here in Pesaro, they've been pretending to be Italian (they both have Italian last names and speak really good Italian) and they broke it to my companion this week that they were Americans.
2. I said a quote from the TV show Monk and for the first time in my life, someone actually got knew where it was from ("it's a gift... and a curse"). Mom and dad remember, when that used to be our show? <3
3. My companion gave a KILLER 10 minute talk in sacrament meeting and even busted a couple tears. I was a proud father.
4. I got a little old grandma to turn a brilliant shade of red when Anziano Leavitt and I were doing an unorthodox proselyting method; we were standing next to an old river in Pesaro breaking the ice with the people by saying, "Hey, doesn't this river look like the river Jesus was baptized in?"
Now, spiritually speaking, God has definitely been showering his blessings upon the Pesaro Anziani. It's cool having Gospel vision where I'm able to see a natural man's "coincidence" as God's hand in my life. For instance, earlier this week, Anziano Leavitt and I planned to input Pesaro's old paper area book records into our digital area books at our church building. To make this tedious process a little more bearable, we planned a quick trip to the local supermarket before heading over to the church for some cookies and milk (yummy food can make anything fun ;)). When we got on our bikes to go to the supermarket, we felt like we should bike to the church, leave our bikes there, and then WALK to the supermarket (a decision that doesn't make a lot of logical sense). Upon arriving at the church building, there was a man named Paulo that happened to be waiting outside who wanted to know more information about our English Class. We don't know how or where he learned about our class, but I don't think it was any coincidence that we felt like we needed to park our bikes at the church.
Speaking of our area book efforts, they weren't in vain! In the area book, missionaries record all the lessons they've had with investigators. So, Anziano Leavitt and I spent several hours this week inputting this information into the new digital area book that the church released. This information helps us and future missionaries find old investigators that might be more ready to accept the gospel now than they were in the past. We've been passing by the homes of these old investigators this week and seeing if any of them have a renewed interest in our message. Many of the people have moved since they were last taught by the missionaries, but we did manage to make contact with an old investigator named Angelo!
Angelo's area book record said he was 71+ years old and was taught one lesson in 2009, but had no other information other than that. Anziano Leavitt rung the intercom of his apartment complex and Angelo buzzed us into the building without asking who it was. When we walked up a few flights of stairs and arrived at his door, he was waiting for us.
After Angelo found out we bring a message of peace and happiness and wanted to present ourselves, he broke down and kind of angrily yelled, "My wife has been in the hospital for 15 days. My mom died when I was three. And my daughter died when she was 15. How is that for happiness?!" Considering he was yelling those things a few inches from my face, I was scared. It was apparent that he wasn't interested in our message so we asked him if there was anything we could do for him and he declined. We left him with a restoration pamphlet (we were out of plan of salvation pamphlets) and bounced! After we left the apartment building and were walking to our bikes, I was really shaken up. All of a sudden my message of peace and happiness didn't feel very real.
Luckily, we felt that we needed to go back. We walked back up to the apartment building and rang his intercom again. This time, he answered and asked who it was. We told him it was the Mormon missionaries again and bore a little testimony. He let us back into the apartment building. After we got into his house, we let him vent to us for a long while. Then, one of his daughters arrived home named Antonella. Antonella is 53 years old and fairly disabled (she is in a wheel chair and has limited use of her hands). We then proceeded to talk about faith and the reality of Jesus Christ's mission. It was awesome! Angelo welcomed us back later this week for a follow-up appointment. It was a really special experience for me getting to see an 85 year-old's anger transform into peace during our short time together.
Before I close, I just want you to know that I love being a missionary so much! It's been really great being back out in the field. I'm learning a ton from Anziano Leavitt and hopefully I'm teaching him a thing or two. New missionaries have a drive that I think a lot of older missionaries lose. I really appreciate being around someone that is ready to work and is trying to live in a way where he can have access to the Spirit. Tonight, we're super stoked because we are meeting with a woman named Selhina Gomez (pronounced SELENA GOMEZ)!
1. My handlebars fell off my bike while I was riding it the other day. Luckily, I wasn't hurt and Massimo (our bike shop friend) repaired it free of charge and gave me a wink when I was leaving.
2. I spotted the bike that I SHOULD be driving around Pesaro (please notice beautiful logo written across the frame of the bike).
3. I have a new hobby: putting candy hearts on Anziano Leavitt's morning pancakes and making him feel uncomfortable. Hehehe.
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