Now that I'm in the office, I feel like I don't have a whole lot to share when it comes to emailing home. Unless you want to hear about hour long phone calls with a scary "German Fleet Coordinator". there's not a ton of super exciting news to share. Although, I am REALLY excited for a mission conference we will be having in a few weeks when Elder Holland comes to our mission!! I don't want to say one General Authority is better than another, but c'mon, if we had to hand-pick a General Authority, we all know who we would choose. ;) The office elders are trying to get President Allen to invite Elder Holland over for a special dinner at the mission home when he's over here... I've eaten dinner with my family, with pretty girls, but eating a dinner with Elder Holland would be something else!

The coolest experience I had this week occurred last night. For the first time since arriving in Milan, I was in an angry mood...Something had pushed my buttons a little bit and I wasn't feeling a whole lot of love. But, I knew I was going to have to put on a happy face because we were on our way to the Ponce's house. The Ponce's are a really cool less-active family from Ecuador with two adorable little kids (one of which is a little girl that always has me worried with her flirty antics around me). Upon arriving at the Ponce's, we found out they wanted to feed us! This isn't the typical Italian family of 20 years ago where food is bought fresh everyday and the mom spends half of her life cooking; this is a poor South American family. The table wasn't set for all of us, it was only set for the missionaries. It was humbling experiencing as the family filled our stomachs because they fed us their unspotted lamb (GOOD FOOD) and I knew they were going to be eating their blemished lambs (GARBAGE FOOD) after we left. It was a meal that really touched my heart.

After the meal, we shared our planned message out the Holy Ghost and it was just what they needed! The parents opened up about how they haven't recognized the Spirit in their life for years and I was really able to relate with them. As a missionary, I haven't experienced more of those "oh my goodness, I'm feeling the Holy Ghost moments" then I did before the mission. But, I was able to bear a genuine testimony to them that as I've sought the Spirit more diligently since being in the mission field, I've been able to receive what I believe to be God-sent guidance more often. I also was able to truthfully look them in the eyes and say that although I couldn't feel a spiritual aura all the time, the times when I know I don't have the Spirit with me have become a lot more discernible (through a bad thought, an act of disobedience, etc.).

The office life has been different, but I'm really enjoying my time here. Have a great week amori!

District Meeting - chairs represent the number of mission transfers

Anziano Thompson and Lilly

I made it! ;) I didn't burn a shirt or anything for hitting my one year, but it definitely was a memorable day. I had to wake up at 4 am to help escort the departing missionaries to the airport and later that night, Sister Hoopes made us a Thanksgiving feast to celebrate my time here in the mission. 

As for my responsibilities here in the office, it seems like everyday I have a different objective I'm working toward. My main priorities our car maintenance and repair, iPad support, and mission orders (ordering new church materials and re-stocking missionary's when they are low). We stay in the mission office until 5 and then go out and do normal missionary work until 9:30 (as long as our office work is taken care of). It's been a weird position because there's always work to be done in the office, but the level of importance for some things that I end up doing seems really low. That being said, there has been a couple days where the work priority has been really high and we couldn't leave to do normal missionary work (and since we sleep on the floor above the mission office, that means staying inside all day). 

As for my companion, he's the only member of his family and has an insane conversion story. Fun fact: his dad is a producer (John Thompson) and he's been in a couple low-budget films as a kid!

The stress of office life really hit me during the past couple days...We just got through transfer week! It's not a small planning process getting missionaries to their new city while welcoming in the new greenies and sending out the departing missionaries. It's been a ton of fun! Sister Hoopes (the senior missionary that works in the office) has been keeping us fed with some pretty heavy duty lunches and an endless supply of muffins and cookies throughout the day as we all run on very little sleep.

Mission Companionship Board

It felt strange walking into an airport again earlier this week to pickup the arriving greenies. I don't know what giving birth feels like, but I imagine the anticipation waiting for the arriving greenies outside of the baggage claim room rivals the feeling. On the first night of being in Italy, all the new missionaries had a testimony at the mission home and there was a really cool Spirit that was there as they all shared why they decided to serve a mission.

On the opposite side of things, on the night before the departing missionaries left, it was eye-opening listening to all their mission highs and lows. What really surprised me was the difference in maturity between all the missionaries who are now reunited with their families. Some of the elders were men and others reminded me of my peers in a high-school locker room (only dressed in blue Boggi suits and fancy brown shoes). I know it sounds stupid, but I totally know what kind of missions they served by my brief time spent with them. They were all great people, but it was apparent which missionaries got the most out of their missionary service. It kind of worried me as I analyzed them because a year from now, I'm going to be on the other end of things and I want to be different person than I was before the mission.

On an un-transfer-week related note, I got a really cool opportunity seeing a stark difference between two kinds of happiness this past week. I saw the first "happiness" in an investigator who went through a really rough childhood and grew to drown out the negativity in his life. Currently, he says he is at a state of tranquility and experiences very little intense emotion because of the numbness that has formed from stifling them; it's hard for him to experience an overwhelming joy, but also doesn't let feelings of anger phase him. He's very logical and seems to be living a really good life.

The second happiness looked a little different- I saw it when Anziano Thompson and I did a member visit to a lady who wanted more copies of the Book of Mormon to give away to her friends. She was literally the happiest woman I ever met. Her name is Lilly and is a Peruvian spiritual giant! We thought we were doing a 10 minute Book of Mormon drop off, but we spent five hours with her. She fed us and then proceeded to take us around her tiny town introducing us to EVERYONE (friends, business owners, strangers on the street) with a permanent smile plastered on her face. After our afternoon of salutations, we went back to her house and decided to give her a little spiritual thought. The spiritual thought from Anziano Thompson and I lasted 5 minutes,  Her post-spiritual-thought testimony baring lasted 40 minutes. She told us story after story of the cruddy situations that she was in and then the miracles that followed as she kept her faith in God. Before we could leave, she gave us two phone numbers of people she met on the street that could be interested in the gospel.

There is not words to describe the difference between these two happiness-es in the English language that I know. I can say this: to outside eyes, I met two happy people. However, the happiness is NOT the same; Lilly, our devout member, had a happiness so much more deep and encompassing. Why? The investigator bore through his trials with brute force, while Lilly turned to Jesus Christ when life felt unbearable.

Watermellon at Lilly's

Lilly and her Daughter

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