Over the Hills and Far Away Email from 7/13/16 from Elder Adam Younce

So this week has been particularly exciting. We got our transfer
calls, but I'll talk about that later. We also met with our
investigator named Hector again and when we asked him about what he
thought about the Book of Mormon, he said he had read a few pages and
that it felt right and that it was very interesting. When we asked him
whether he thought it was a true book and about all of the things we
had taught him previously in the restoration lesson, he said he
believed it all so we went off of that and extended a baptism date to
him! It seems that even though we have had a tough time with some of
our people lately, the Lord does reward us for our sacrifice with
blessings such as Hector. We also were given the opportunity to give a
blessing to a little girl in a less active family. Once we were done
with the blessing we chatted with them and had a good time before we
told them that we had to leave. Before that, though, the husband asked
what he would need to do to receive the priesthood so he could do
blessings like that and we told the family that for all those sorts of
blessings to be available to them, they would have to start coming to
church and living the gospel in their everyday life. They seemed to
really like us and talked about having us over again sometime. The
Sorelle were the ones to give us their information so we could go give
the blessing but they are usually the ones to go see them. We told
them what happened today and they were amazed because they have never
been able to meet with the husband and they did not form a friendship
with the family that fast. Usually the situation is the exact
opposite, where Anziani have a tough time meeting with an
investigator/less active and the Sorelle are the ones who are welcomed
in more readily so it is nice to have it switched every once in a
while. So now we are both meeting with the family to try to get them
to church.

So with transfers there are some really good things happening. We
learned that I am being transferred to Verona and that Anziano Pyper
is training a new missionary here in Cimiano! I'm excited for the new
guy because Pyper seems to be an ideal trainer, doing work while also
having fun and not letting the stress get to him. I'm thrilled to be
going to the "Romeo and Juliet" city where apparently the work is good
and the city is beautiful. I will be there with Anziano Gridley, who
Pyper served with in Vicenza and we will be whitewashing in, which is
missionary slang for when you and your companion transfer into a city
at the same time when neither of you has been serving there before. It
will be fun but also very trying because we will not know who the
investigators are and what their needs are so we will be trying to
figure out all of that, plus figure out our method and how to get
around the city. I'm up for the challenge though and I can't wait to
see how I do once I'm out of my crib and into the meat of my mission.
Anziano Pyper has been telling me about G. throughout this
transfer and from what I've heard, I can expect a quirky guy with some
unusual methods, he will be a great companion. We will definitely do work and  we will
definitely get along as long as I do my part to be a good companion.
Instead of going around everywhere on metros, trams, and buses, I'll
be riding my bike everywhere in my next city so that should be way
different, especially since it is in he heat of the summer right now
and we've been dying just being outside period, let alone riding bikes
everywhere. I guess it's about time I get some good leg workouts in
after not doing any for the duration of my time in Cimiano. There are
apparently lots of missionaries in Verona so in my district there will
be the zone leaders, two sets of Sorelle, and another companionship of
Anziani besides us (there might be even more but that's the
missionaries I know of in Verona). Also, I talked to one of the office
Anziani who used to be in Verona in the same apartment that I will be
in and he said that it has AC! There will be a lot of changes with the
place I live considering the place I have now is more of a house in
this cute little neighborhood in the suburbs of Milano and is always
super humid and hot inside, no matter what we do to try to change
that. I will now be living in an apartment with rockin AC and will be
more in the city. In my district will be a trio of Sorelle including
Sorella Harris, who was in my MTC group and was in the Milano area
Lampugnano this last transfer. We have only just recently been
"bottlebroken" (which is when your trainer leaves and you are
introduced to what the mission is really like) but now she is
bottlebreaking two people at the same time in a totally new city.
Luckily one is from Italy so she is fluent in Italian and the other
one lived here for a few years so she knows it very well for her age
in the mission. The zone leaders are also in our district so we should
be in close contact with them all the time. All in all, I should be
having a really great next few transfers. I will be "killing" Anziano
Gridley because he only has 2 transfers left, which will be different
from my two companions that I've had who are not yet to their year
marks. I've also been told by an office Anziano that it is most likely
that they are setting me up to train after G. leaves because I
will be old enough in the mission at that point and have been doing
pretty decent work so far, plus I will be in an ideal training area
and there will be a gigantic group coming in at that time so all hands
will be needed to take care of them. The prospect of training scares
me right now but I'm ready for whatever the Lord sees fit to throw at
me.

That brings me to my thought for the week. I am a person who always
wants to know the plan. I want to know why I am doing something, how I
am to do it, and what the end result will be, all before I ever start
it. Life doesn't always allow for that though. In Ether 12:6 it says
"...I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped
for and not seen. Wherefore dispute not because ye see not for ye
receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." In other
words, the Lord will not show you the blessings of your faith until
you have already put it into action. Doing the will of the Father and
exercising ones faith in Him is rarely convenient or easy, and we are
rarely shown the full picture in that moment, but we can rest assured
that He has the full plans and knows how to go about making it happen.
All we have to do is trust in Him and submit ourselves to His will. I
wish I always knew what He has in store for me but I guess I need to
just show a bit of faith so He can use me in the way He needs so that
His plans may be fulfilled. As I've looked back on my life, I have
seen the hand of the Lord and how he has guided me to the place where
I am today. The more I see where submitting blindly to His will has
taken me and the blessings that have come from it, the easier it is
for me to do the same in these days, despite not knowing where I might
be going.

As always, thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers.


Anziano Younce