Milan Cathedral

I felt a little disappointed in myself when I couldn't finish a whole pizza a few days ago. Sitting all day in an office has killed my appetite. HAHAHA, but seriously, I love being in the office so much. Even though Sister Hoopes (an elderly sister missionary) gets mad at me for eating all the office candy, I still enjoy my time here. Yesterday, Sister Allen (the wife of the mission president) was hinting that it's time for me to get a haircut and so, I let one of the assistants to the president give me a haircut! He had never cut hair before and only had access to some hair clippers and a normal pair of scissors. Surprisingly, it's not the worst haircut I've received in my life. And can I just say, I love actually having real conversations with my mission president... Instead of the once-a-transfer-zone-conference, "Hi President, work is going well here in (insert city name)," we can actually talk. For instance, yesterday I learned that my president and his wife both grew up on mink farms AND I learned that the bidet towel in the office bathroom is actually a hand towel!

There are some chunks of my day where I feel like I haven't done a lot of good (or that I'm fulfilling a minimum wage job). However, I feel like I'm starting to understand the big picture a lot better now... We went to the baptism of the bishop's son last week and there was a point during one of the songs that I felt so good! It felt like I was being suffocated with the laughing gas the orthopedic surgeon gives you before pulling out your wisdom teeth- except the feeling was all natural. Then, I remember looking and seeing four or five people on their phones (obviously not looking at a digital hymnal). It dawned on me that they were completely missing this moment of happiness and I felt a little bad for them.

In the moment, the good things are never super comfortable! I get eight hours of sleep a night and it's still never easy to jump out of bed. The Book of Mormon still isn't as an addictive of a read for me as the Twilight saga was. Eating healthy is far less attractive than ordering a few arancini for lunch (there is no English translation for this fried delicacy). 

However, when we fall into what's comfortable than we completely lose that potential peace-happiness. Lately, there's been a lot of moments where I experience intense moments of real joy- it feels good! It's so easy to say that the church is true, Joseph Smith is a prophet, Jesus Christ is our Savior... But, when I actually feel those things, it gives me so much fulfillment for everything I do (even the office work). I swear it literally made my whole week when one of the less actives we visited asked us, "How did you come up with this message that you shared with me? It's just what I needed."

our good Indian friend 

It's been a week full of firsts this past week and one of the happiest
I've had in a long time! I got a surprise call by President Allen last
week, two weeks before normal transfer calls, and informed me that I'd
be coming up to the office to be the new clerk. So, on Monday, I came
up to Milan so I could get some office training before the new
transfer begins and Anziano Freckleton got sent off to be companions
with the La Spezia missionaries.

I was honestly a little let down when I got this phone call because
I'm still searching for that specific person that I was called here to
find and I knew that goal becomes a little harder when I'm in the
mission office for most of the day. However, now that I'm here, I know
this call was revelation. President Allen told me that he was
considering two missionaries to fill this clerk position and I wasn't
one of them. But, right before making the clerk call, he felt really
strongly that I should fill it! Working in the office the past week
has provided me with some cool opportunities like getting to work with
BIG money, driving a car again, being in an air-conditioned building
all day, and sleeping in a queen sized bed on a regular basis for the
first time in my life. Yet the reason I say this call was made by
revelation is because of my new companion, Anziano Thompson.

Anziano Thompson was converted to the gospel a couple years ago and is
the only member of the church in his family. He has shown me so much
love since I've been here. It's really weird being with someone that
likes talking to people more than me! I can make you all the promise
that there isn't going to be a more positive place in Italy during the
next month or two than the Milan mission office! ;)



During my mission thus far, I always assumed we had missionaries with
Geek Squad capabilities working in the mission office.... That's not
true at all! We are normal missionaries with Google-search
capabilities!! When missionaries call with iPad problems, my favorite
phrase is, "Have you tried turning it on and off?" There is seriously
never a dull moment behind a missionary clerk phone line... Yesterday,
a sister missionary called and explained that her and her companion
found a PlayStation Portable outside their bedroom window (on the
second story of an apartment building) that she suspected was filming
her and her companion. I HAVEN'T RECEIVED TRAINING TO DEAL WITH THIS
STUFF!

COOL UPDATES FROM BERGAMO: Alessandro got baptized AND the Garcia's
family son got baptized (a less-active family that came back to church
for the first time after Anziano Stahali started visiting them)!
Furthermore, Anziano Stahali is returning to Italy in a couple weeks
to baptized Fratello Ghillardi (he wasn't baptized, but the rest of
his family was)!!! :D

We just got back from a hike in the mountains with Fabrizio and I feel like a new man. There is something refreshing about hiking in the fresh air, looking at God's beautiful creations, and then eating some gourmet Italian food. I wish I could elaborate on some of my experiences this week, but only have time to share one:

A few nights ago we were nearing the end of the work day (it was 7:40ish) and we had swung by the apartment to grab some water and use the restroom.  As we left the apartment again, we said a prayer and put our faith to the test. There is a promise in Preach My Gospel that says we'll be guided to people ready to receive the message of the Restoration and so we decided we weren't going to return to the apartment until 10:00 (the absolute latest time before calling the zone leaders) or getting a new person's phone number. Low and behold, as we talked to people in a nearby piazza, we met a man named Moreno who was no doubt put into our path for a reason. He is a doctor by trade and has a STRONG faith in God. He doesn't believe God has a church on the earth, but has read all of the standard religious scripture (including the Book of Mormon). I knew there was something special about this guy when he was telling us a story about seeing a ghost. Normally, if someone told me they saw a ghost, I'd be a little skeptical... However, during the story I felt the spirit super strong which I believe was an indication of the sincerity in this man! We got his number and will be seeing him tomorrow! 

God is very real and I know it!

As a big portion of the missionaries in the mission were transferring to new areas or getting new companions, Anziano Freckleton powered through another work week here in Livorno. However, although it may have been "another" work week, it was far from normal! In the past seven days: we witnessed a moped accident (the woman did not die), ate AMERICAN tacos from a man in our ward, and got into an inactive member's home for the first time since I've been in Livorno who is now converted to another religion that is our big proselyting competition on the Italy streets.  

Toscana Zone--w/President and Sister Allen

Sorella Johnson (one of the sister missionaries in our district) was blessed with a greeny from Alaska this past week named Sorella Carter. So, it was rather amusing getting to see her wide-eyed and panicky on Sunday as the members came up and welcomed her in Italian. Heck, it was even fun watching Jerry (the new Nigerian member) welcome her on Sunday because even though he was speaking English, she couldn't understand anything!

I think the highlight of my week was getting a particularly interesting phone call from one of our Nigerian investigators. The man called us to explain an "emergency" situation in his camp where when of the government workers that was checking up on things admitted that she didn't believe in God. Our friend wanted us to come over ASAP to "convince the lady that there is a God". So, Anziano Freckleton rushed over and had an immediate sit-down with this lady in front of all the Africans in the camp and taught her a little bit about God and how we can know him. Although she was atheist, she was a good sport and let us have a little conversation with her. ;)

Another good thing that's been happening in Livorno is CIBO (food). When I first got to this place, we neverrrrr had a meal appointment. But, as of late, we've been getting a lot of meal invitations. I scheduled two lunch appointments yesterday on Anziano Freckleton's birthday and it was painful. We came to the first appointment pretty full on pancakes, left the appointment STUFFED on pasta. Then, we went to the second lunch appointment stuffed on pasta and left dead. Part of the death was due to the overeating and part of the it came from the spiciness of lunch number two (an African meal prepared by Jerry).

African food with Anziano Freckleton

As for the actual meat of our day (the missionary work), it's been really interesting. Although we are seeing more Italians in our days, the people that will really be able to sustain and grow the church here, the people that are meeting with us are weird! It's hard meeting with the type of people that I'm embarrassed to introduce members to. Although the Africans I've come into contact since arriving here in Livorno are in a difficult situation to be a support to the ward (due to the language barrier), they have the sweetest souls ever. When I was "translating" priesthood meeting on Sunday from Italian to English, I was having the time of my life. The lesson was on temples, but I soon found myself teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to an enthused audience.

Italian Twins!  

My District

We just got our transfer call news and I'll be staying in Livorno with Anziano Freckleton for another transfer! I'm excited to get some good work done in the next few weeks. Some highlights of the week:

It's been 19 years and they were finally able to do it; I was stuck in a psych ward this week! ;) Luckily, my stay was short-lived. We had a man call us earlier this week who wanted a blessing because he was in the hospital. When we got to the hospital, we discovered that he was in the psych ward! So, after passing through some tight security, we were able to meet with him and apparently he's a member of our church who has not participated for 10 years. He was a very pleasant man, but some of the other patients in the facility really scared me.. But, it was cool getting to reconnect with an old investigator of ours that we stopped seeing a couple months ago because he seemed a little crazy (we made a good call on that one)! AND, we were able to give out a Book of Mormon to a nice lady before we departed.

Another unusual experience we had this week was helping one of our African investigators stick it to the man! Our investigator, Stanley, has had some problems with the cook in his African camp (the cook is an old African lady that's been in Italy for 20+ years). About 6 months ago, the cook was pressuring Stanley to sleep with her for bigger food portions. When Stanley declined, the cook gave him "bad food" that made him really sick. Since then, Stanley has avoided the camp's kitchen and has been using his own money to buy his meals. Stanley tried taking this problem to the government a few months ago, but the government assigned THE COOK to be the translator when he went to file his claim. So, this past week, the Mormon missionaries in Livorno helped present Stanley's case to a government official. It was definitely an usual act of service, but it felt so cool being apart of
something bigger than us (besides from the message of eternal significance that we share with people on a daily basis).

You guys always might be interested to know that at our African family home evening this past week, I beat all the Africans that came in a race! It was also pretty funny because we were racing TO Anziano Freckleton and one of the men took that to mean we had to touch Anziano Freckleton to win the race, so as this particular man nears the finish line he sticks out his hand to touch Anziano Freckleton (me and this man our neck and neck at this point).... WHAM- the man NAILS Anziano Freckleton in the gut as he passes him! Needless to say, I love being a missionary in Italy.

Wearing an African gown for our last district meeting

La famiglia Ainello

Visiting Lucca, Italy

The new president and his wife gave us a slideshow presentation of their lives at zone conference and they definitely come from an adventurous background! President Allen is really optimistic, talks a lot about love (a principle I think we need more of), and has a super strong testimony of our Savior. I'm definitely really stoked to see how he shakes up the mission. Interesting fact: our mission is being dominated by sisters and for this upcoming transfer, there will only be 2 normal companionships of sisters (the rest will be sister training leaders, bottle breaking, or training)! It's a little funny seeing him and Sister Allen interact because they are a lot more publicly affectionate than President and Sister Dibb! ;p 

And oh, as for the England wanting to leave European Union, we heard a little bit about it at English class and that's about it. I'm not sure if it's because it's what people are focused on or because it's a lot easier to bring up when talking about God, but I've been hearing about all the bombings and terrorist attacks from people we meet on the street.

In other news, we found a cool couple named Riccardo and Francesca this past week after going to a member's house and having them pray for an area where we can do finding work! :) The only problem is that they live in a ritzy area of Livorno and the only way to get to their house is by passing a really popular Livorno beach with lots of sketchily dressed people walking around at our viewing disclosure. So, it's going to be a battle making our way to their house for our next appointment! 

Furthermore, we all know that dumb things happen and this week, a particularly dumb thing happened to me. My iPad has been my little baby thus far in my mission and earlier this week, my baby's crib (my iPad case) came tumbling to the ground and my baby got hurt. Yes, I cracked my iPad screen! It was a pretty sad moment because it totally could've been avoided if my hands hadn't been so slippery! But, even though this dumb, expensive thing happened to me, it's always easy to put life in perspective here on the mission!

This past week, at our African family home evening, we had a little sharing time where we asked people to share stories about how they've seen the hand of God in their lives. We had three new investigators at this family home evening that have only been in Italy for a month and they shared some really fresh stories from their journey to Italy. I am 100% the general news does not fully understand what's going on over there in parts of Nigeria/Libya, but there's some really messed up things happening. However, despite the evil, these men have all had some powerful God-sent experiences. When I hear their stories I can rationally draw two mental conclusions, one, I am stupid if I'm complaining over a broken iPad screen considering the absolute HECK that is going on in Africa. And two, we live in a period of miracles. People can deny the existence of God or they can just talk to some men living in Italy that have come from Nigeria.

It was manifested pretty plainly earlier this week that I'm living the life here in Livorno. We went on companion exchange with the zone leaders a few days ago in Florence and as cool as Florence is, I'm glad I'm where I'm at. It was SOOO hot. Florence is surrounded by mountains and so all the hot, recycled-tourist-breath air lingers. It made me feel really bad for all the miserable tourists I saw walking around that paid big bucks to be there... Most people looked wet and frankly, a little agitated! However, on the bright side: we witnessed a massive firework show from he zone leader's balcony that was taking place over the Arno River, I discovered that I love fried eggs, and now I'm back in Livorno- where there is a sea breeze and investigators to teach (we did finding work the whole time on companionship
exchange)! ;)

Too much tracting!

Speaking of teaching investigators, I want to tell you guys about our attempting teaching experience last Saturday night. Back story: Anziano Freckleton and I met a few young men last week while doing finding work and they seemed really energetic and positive. Unfortunately, after baring testimony and talking about what we do here in Italy as missionaries, they weren't super interested in meeting again... But, I didn't want to just let them escape without trying, so I asked if we could go to a kebabery later in the week and talk about life together. They readily agreed to grab a kebab with us and have a little bro time.

Now, fast forward to Saturday night in the kebabery, it felt like I was at one of those crazy college parties that us Mormons see in the movies! Two of the three guys we were with were pounding shots and saying some pretty stupid stuff. The third guy on the other hand wasn't taking part in the drinking, smoking, or cat-calling and was asking Anziano Freckleton and I a lot of questions about what we believe in. The third guy, Michael, seemed genuinely interested... I just hope it was interested enough that he's interested enough to meet with us
again in a more formal setting without his little less than formal friends. If not though, it was definitely a night to remember- and hey, I got a free kebab and an invitation to go clubbing out of the encounter. ;)

This letter is about to take a depressing turn... I'm sure you guys remember Alex (one of our long term Nigerian investigators that bought us McDonald's for our first lesson together). Well, this week, we had a "drop lesson" with him. A drop lesson is basically a final lesson you have with someone when they aren't progressing where you tell them that you can't meet anymore unless they start acting. I've given quite a few drop lessons during my mission, but this lesson was so different. It was one of the hardest emotional things I've had to do out here.

Besides from the companions I've had here in Livorno, the most time I've spent with someone here has definitely been Alex. I love him so much! When I told him that because he wasn't keeping commitments, we couldn't see him anymore, I just lost it. What made it harder was that he just couldn't understand why... He just didn't get why we wouldn't teach him anymore when we're such good friends and he likes the word of God. After a long talk about emphasizing the importance of keeping commitments we thought he was on the same page and understood why we couldn't see each other again. However, after the closing prayer, he looked at me and asked completely seriously, "When are we going to meet again?" Needless to say, I WAS DYING! I really hope that Alex decides to do something, so we really can meet with him again.

We were eating lunch a few days ago and we get a call from a random
American number.... It turned out to be a guy that Freckleton knows
(standing RIGHT outside our apartment) and he brought a lot of
American candy for us while passing by Livorno for business!!

We played croquette today with the Pisa elders and I won! Shoutout to
Ashley for getting me prepped for this day by taking me on a croquette
date! ;p