The busiest and most rewarding week of my life (so far) email from 3/30/16 Elder Adam Younce

The work here in Cimiano continues to be good. We have a ton of
investigators, new converts, and less actives to take care of and so
far I have loved every one of them. To anybody who doesn't know about
Cimiano, which is probably most of you, here is a rundown. The Cimiano
area consists of a large chunk of northern Milan. The Duomo di Milano
is in it as well as lots of other really cool and historic parts of
the city. Historically this area has been very good for baptizing and
the ward here is super strong. The members come from all over the
place and many of them can speak English (which is super helpful for
me). Our senior missionaries say that our residence is the best
missionary residence in all of Milan. I believe them because I've
heard that some missionary apartments are very loud because of traffic
and other city noises while we have a house in a nice little suburb of
Milan. Our district, for which my companion is the district leader,
only consists of us and a companionship of sisters. They are named
Sorella Pulli and Sorella Avila and both of them are nearing the end
of their missions. Even though we aren't supposed to have a lot of
interaction with the sister missionaries we always seem to be running
into them on accident while traveling to and from appointments. They
are a lot of fun and they fill in the gaps where our experience lacks.

On Thursday we met with a real Italian family for lunch. The father,
Michele has been an investigator for a long time and wants to get
baptized someday but he is a very traditional Italian man so he has
lots of problems with the Word of Wisdom and is very reluctant to
change that part of his life. We will continue to work with him
because he is still progressing spiritually and because I can see how
the priesthood could bless his home if he were to take that step. I've
only met him once but I am already in love with his family (though
that could be because he fed us a huge lunch when we were there).

We also have been meeting with a 19 year old new convert named James.
He is from Ghana and he probably has 10 times more faith than I will
ever have. He has been having some difficulties lately because he is
in a common house set up by the government for immigrants without work
but his building is getting closed down soon so if that happens, he
will be homeless. Regardless of his temporal difficulties, he
continues to have amazing faith in our Savior and God's plan for him.
He has taught me so much about humility, meekness, and undying faith.
Last time we saw him he brought a friend of his named Anthony and now
he is an investigator of ours! Now they both come to seminary. We also
extended a baptismal invite to Anthony in our second lesson with him
nod he accepted. This Sunday he came to church with James and
hopefully their friendship will help him as he makes this step in his
life.

I've had the opportunity to meet the youth and some of the other
people in this ward now and they are so fantastic! I never thought
that in Italy I would go to a youth activity and find only South
Americans though. I also didn't expect to find so many English
speakers. Almost all of the younger generation can speak decent
English. The older people don't know as much so when they
try to pronounce my last name (which is really hard to pronounce in
Italian), they can't even get past the "y" since the Italian alphabet
doesn't even have it. I can't wait to work with these fantastic
members for the next few months.

I'm starting to get used to the meal schedule here more. We usually
have a small breakfast of a banana or apple or don't have anything at
all in the morning. Then we have a lunch of some pasta and maybe some
meat unless we eat with a family (in which case they feed us their
entire pantry), and we completely skip dinner. Sometimes we have a bit
to eat while doing daily planning when we get back at night but for
the most part, we eat the majority of our food at lunch. Don't worry
though, mom, because I am getting all I need. In that time we don't
spend eating, we are able to teach people and bring them closer to
Christ. I'm actually glad that we don't get the chance to eat dinner
here in the Milan mission because otherwise we would all return home
with an extra few pounds that weren't there before we left. Though my
trainer recently took me to this kebab place (kebab here is different
from back in the states. It's not chunks of meat on a stick) which is
apparently legendary throughout the mission because it is only 1,50€
as opposed to the normal 5€ so maybe I'll gain a few pounds after all.

Saturday was a very busy day for us because we had 4 lessons in quick
succession so Anziano Hansen decided to take me to get my first legit
Italian gelato after our last lesson. I got pistachio and hazelnut
which turned out to be amazing. I think if our budget wasn't so
restricted I would get it about 5 times a day. Of course that's also a
really good way to gain 20 pounds and get diabetes. Maybe I'll stick
to pasta.

Sunday was my first Easter here and it was very interesting. After
church (which I didn't understand very well) we headed to the house of
a member named Tina with a couple of other members in the ward. She is
from the Philippines and she cooked us a ton of food and we ate all of
it. She then told us that we would have to try a traditional Filipino
food where they give you a duck egg with a fully grown duckling inside
and you eat it raw. Luckily she didn't have any at that time but she
said she would have us over again so we could try it. I'll have to
prepare myself for that moment because it is a scary thought. She
knows it is super disgusting for people who didn't grow up eating it
so she makes all the new missionaries in the ward try it and she takes
a video of their reactions. Based on their expressions as they popped
it in their mouth I know it won't be one of those foods that surprises
you like "wow this is actually really good. I think I'll try it
again". It's probably more of a "I want a really cool mission story to
tell cute girls when I get home" kind of thing. I'll let y'all know if
I ever have the opportunity to try it at Tina's house. Then we went to
the ward mission leader's home so I could meet him and his family.

Today, Wednesday, we went to Lecco for a few hours. We took a train
which only cost us 4 euros each and went up to the top of a mountain.
We had planed to spend awhile up there hiking and taking pictures but
it was a lot colder than we expected and we were pretty much inside a
cloud so we couldn't take pictures of the lake below us. When we got
lower down we were able to find some good spots for pictures so I
attached a couple in another email.

I'll talk some more about the missionary work here. I've been trying
to learn to trust my trainer and put my faith in Jesus Christ and as
I've done those things, I've seen miracles in my work. This last week
we had 17 lessons while the mission average is somewhere around 9.
President Dibb told us when we arrived that he wants us to get out
there and work hard right away. He knows that we can do hard things
even without knowing the language very well and because he has faith
in me, I have faith in me because I know he has been called of God to
be my mission president. In fact, he told us that last quarter over
half of the baptisms in this mission were done by companionships with
a training missionary. That statistic doesn't happen because greenies
are better at teaching people. It comes from hard work, faith, exact
obedience, and absolute trust in the Lord and your calling. I've
decided that I want to live my whole mission like I just arrived and I
want to carry that fresh enthusiasm and faith with me for the whole of
these 2 years.

That's it for this week. Tune in next week to find out exactly how
much I hate Italian grocery stores.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Younce

Finally In Milano. Email from 3/23/16. Elder Adam Younce

I will tell y'all everything in order so that I won't forget anything so you'll have to wait until the end of my email to see who I am serving with and where I am.

So on Monday morning we woke up at 2:50 am to fly from Salt Lake to Atlanta at 7:00.  We stopped in Atlanta for 4 hours before flying to Paris and then to Milan.  While in Georgia I had the chance to call my mom and talk with her for a few minutes.  Her words of confidence in my abilities were very welcome to my doubtful and nervous ears.  By the time we arrived in Milan it was 9:00am  on Tuesday and I had only gotten about 30 minutes of sleep in those 14 hours of travelling.  We got to the mission office and did some training with Presidente Dibb and received our iPads (though we don't get to use them for a week) before heading to the Duomo di Milano for some good old fashioned proselyting.  At first I was super nervous and needed to be prodded a bit by Sister Dibb to talk to someone but after awhile we were talking to anybody who would listen and got quite a few phone numbers.  There was one Italian man from Napoli (which isn't in our mission) and we were surprised because he was a very well educated man who was Catholic but Tantissimo faith and knew doctrine and scriptures very well.  He talked to us for about 20 minutes about what sets us apart from Catholicism and we discovered that he already agreed with many of the things we were saying, even the stuff that contradicts Catholic teachings.  He left us with a number and seemed very interested in meeting with missionaries back home.  It was obvious that the Lord had prepared him for us to teach.  There were many people who said rude things to us or gave us dirty looks but after talking to that man from Napoli, none of that mattered because I knew that I did my best and helped people to come unto Christ that day. 

 We got back to the mission home and after some more training, my first Italian Italian meal, and even more training, we fell asleep.  It was the most  glorious night of sleep of my life.  I didn't even have time to take my white shirt and pants off before I fell asleep (don't worry mom, they aren't wrinkled).  In the morning we had yet another session of training and then met the trainers.  I was given Anziano Hansen as a trainer and was assigned to the Cimiano area which is the northern part of Milano. Anziano Hansen is also relatively new to the mission as he has only been in for 7 months.  Apparently there is a lot of diversity in our ward which includes a large South American population.  Right away we are teaching a family that Anziano Hansen met in Disneyworld before his mission and who he now has the opportunity to teach.  I am so excited to serve with Anz. Hansen and teach these awesome people but I have to go now since you are now up to date with what is happening with me.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Younce

mom, apparently we cannot do the thing where we send multiple emails back and forth on p-day so you can't expect me to send a bunch of emails in response anymore.  

Mom and Dad, I love you so much and I thank the Lord every day for the blessing I have had to be raised by you.  I see people missionaries who have not had that same opportunity and need to figure out how to be a decent person on their own and I'm glad that I've had your amazing examples to shape my life.  Just know that I am alive and well in Italia.  pictures will come next week when I get my iPad set up.  until then tell people to go to the Milan mission blog where the Sister Dibb will be posting pictures soon.  Just google it and you should find the blog.

Almost There. Email from 3/17/16 Elder Adam Younce

We are just a few days away from Italy and we are doing so well!  Yesterday the new missionaries arrived who are also going to Italy and once again there are way more sisters than elders.  In one district there are 4 anziani and 4 sorelle going to Rome and in the other district there are NO elders and 7 sisters going to Milan.  We took them through an orientation last night and it seems like everybody is getting along with each other very well.  We got to know the 4 anziani pretty well already since they live in the room right next to us but haven't talked the the sorelle much because we haven't had the time to.  We hope to be a good influence on them for the few days that we have with them and hope to be able to help them with any anxiety and confusion that they may have.  It's pretty rare that an older group of Italians is around when the next group comes in because typically we fly out 1 or 2 days before they get to the MTC but our visas were delayed so we get this opportunity. Our zone didn't have anybody to set an example for us or help us out so we want to make sure that we provide that support that we didn't get to the new missionaries so they don't make the same mistakes that we did like wasting study time at the beginning of our stay here.  We are starting to make our preparations today for Italy like packing our bags and getting our last free haircuts so everything is starting to feel so real! I can't wait to get there and find out who my trainer is and where I'll be serving for the next few months of my life.  I already miss the missionaries going to Rome who left on Monday and I know I will miss my amazing companions but I want to finally get out there and do what I came here to do: invite others to come unto Christ.  

Next time I email I'll be in Italy!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Younce

Yet Another Surprise! March 10, 2016

So first of all I'll talk about another crazy change in our departure date.  Because of a mistake that church travel made on some visa applications, many of the missionaries going to Milan cannot enter the country until the 21st so now our departure date has been pushed back a week.  For those of you who haven't been following the story so far,  my original departure date was supposed to be March 14.  Then because of a mix up in transfer schedules we were going to leave March 8.  Soon afterwards we received word that because of our visas we would stay until March 14: our original day.  Now we are waiting until March 21.  Then a day after we received that news I was checking my missionary portal and saw that my mission president had changed from the one for the Milan mission to the one for the Modesto, California mission.  I checked with the one other missionary who went to the Philadelphia Italian Consulate and it was the same switch for her.  I tried to have a good attitude about it but when a few days later it switched back to President Dibb, I was very relieved. My teachers have been talking a lot about their experiences in Italy and my eagerness to get there has grown exponentially since I've gotten here.  Too bad I still have to wait another week for that to happen though.

This week was pretty good.  We had "Culture Day"  with F. Sloan and he showed us his favorite pictures from his mission in Milan and told us about the investigators and members he met there.  Each city he showed us looked gorgeous and each time he showed us a new one he would say "oh this one was the most beautiful...oh no THIS was the most beautiful place I went to...oh no THIS one was" etc etc.  I've decided that no matter what President Dibb says I want to serve in Verona (the Romeo and Juliet city) because it's sooo gorgeous, Milan so I can get a taste of real Italian fashion and pick up some cheap yet good quality clothes,  Como because it is right on Lake Como and has some beautiful opportunities for a hike on my P-days that overlook the Italian Alps, the lake, and the city, La Spezia so I can go on early morning runs along the Mediterranean Sea, and Firenze (Florence) for just about everything.  I know I'll be lucky if I even go to 1 or 2 of these places and that I will love every place that I go because, well, it IS Italy.  Plus, the reason I'm going there is not for the sightseeing or for the food or for the beautiful scenery. I'm going to Italy to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with the people I meet and invite them to come unto Christ.  Everything else is just a backdrop (though I really do want to check out those awesome street markets in Firenze).  

We have started calling the mission president for the Milan mission "Mugshot" Dibb.  We call him that because in the picture they have of him on our missionary portal he looks like he's taking a mugshot. Everyone we've talked to who knows him says he is very serious but an amazing man and mission president.  On culture day F. Sloan, who had him for the last part of his mission, gave us an impression of him and now I CAN'T WAIT to meet him.  

That's about it for this week.

Ciao ciao!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Younce

Are You Serious? March 3, 2016

So APPARENTLY we got our departure date moved back to the original one.  I was so excited to get to Italy early but now I have to wait the full time.  I guess it's fine since now we have another week to review and now I have a better chance of getting my visa papers in time.  They reverted back to the original date because for some reason our visas won't let us get into the country before march 14.  At this point all of our emotions are used up so nobody even cared when they told us. Not much else is going on here.  After 4 weeks of seeing the exact same walls, seeing the exact same people, and eating the exact same food the days are running together and there is nothing else for me to talk about.  My district did hosting for the new missionaries yesterday and it was fun. That's about it.  Hopefully next week I will have some more stuff to tell y'all.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Younce

Slightly Surprised! February 25th, 2016

This week was pretty awesome. I'll start off with the news my zone got late last Thursday.  One of the other Italian teachers burst into our room and started talking furiously to our teacher in Italian.  I couldn't understand a word of it but at the end they told us that they had received news that because of a mix up in transfer schedules, the Italian missionaries would be leaving from the MTC a week earlier than we had anticipated. Che Cavolo! Initially we were scared and I think some of the missionaries cried a bit but after everything had settled down we were actually really excited to finally leave the MTC.  The food is destroying me, the blank walls are driving me insane, and I've decided I don't want to live in Utah ever again.  Or may'be all those things just seem worse because we've been looking at cities in our mission on Google Earth and we just want to get out there and do what we came on a mission to do.  We leave March 8th and even though our language is still gonna stink at that point I couldn't be happier.  The speaker at the Tuesday devotional this week we Sister Wixom of the Primary presidency.  She taught about how we need to become like children if we want to become effective missionaries. The characteristics of meekness, humility, and love of everyone are some of the things that we can all learn from children and are essential to anyone who wants to follow the example of Christ.  I've been singing in the MTC choir for the past few weeks with the rest of my zone and the performance for that devotional was precious.  We sang "Child's Prayer" with a group of primary children and I wish that I could have the simple, strong testimony of God's love that was evident in their voices.  We had another companionship inventory this week and I think it was the best one yet.  I'm grateful that we have all been willing to change based on the things that have been brought up in previous inventories because this week everything was super positive. Even when we suggested ways we could improve to each other, they came out more as compliments than anything like "Anziano Kim, you should speak more in our lessons because everything that you say is so powerful and contributes so much to the lesson."  Then we told each other what our strengths were and it was such a sweet experience because we all had amazing things to say to each other.  I can't think of 3 people who are more different than us but I've learned so much about loving others unconditionally and I've also learned a lot about myself in this companionship.  I know God loves me and I know He loves everyone who has ever lived because I'm starting to feel that love for others even while I'm still at the MTC.  The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed me so much and I can't wait to share it with the people of Italy.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Younce

Week 2 at the MTC‏ February 18, 2016

Buon giorno!                    February 18, 2016

While the first week at the MTC may have seemed like an eternity, the second week felt like a day.  It doesn't feel like there was a life before the MTC right now and it doesn't seem like there is one after it.  We just completely focus on learning Italian and how to teach and invite by the Spirit.  We are getting into a groove and everything seems to be getting smoother as I refine my study habits, get more comfortable with my companions, and my bowels adjust to this food.  At the beginning of my stay here my compamiomship had some problems with communicating and there were some things that we kept bottled up but we have gotten to the point where all three of us feel comfortable saying what is bothering us.  my advice for anybody who is going on a mission someday: don't bottle things up when it comes to your companionships.  There is no good that can come from not talking to the person/people who you literally see every moment of every waking day. I felt so stressed about the language last week but now I have realized that I am progressing pretty well and my lessons are getting pretty darn good.  Now that I'm not reading off a script as much, I can connect more to my investigators and can bring the Spirit to my lessons.  My district has made a goal of not speaking english during our meals and speaking Italian whenever possible so we can get used to using it in normal conversation.  This week we pestered our teachers until they told us some cool Italian slang words as well as some Italian missionary slang (2 very different things) so now instead of saying "we nailed that lesson!" we say "Lo destruto!". We have grown close to this group of Tagolic speaking missionaries who are going to the Philippines and they just left today.  There was this gigantic Samoan elder named Elder Milford who was my host on the first day and he was both one of the stupidest and one of the funniest people I've ever met.  Elder Banto and Elder Cram ( who is the smallest non dwarf man I've ever seen) made sure that we got royalty status in the MTC by giving us a mini basketball hoop to hang in our room since they couldn't take it to the Philippines.  I don't know why they chose us as their favorite missionaries but they certainly showed us how to have a good time in the MTC. For this week's Tuesday devotional Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke!  He went around the room and asked questions and answered some about the process of missionary selection. I already knew all about it but as he spoke I gained a further witness by the Spirit that he and the rest of the Twelve Apostles and the Prophet have the authority and power to run the Lord's church and that it was the Lord who selected me to go to Milan, Italy and not just some guy who thought I would do alright there.  

I'll talk to y'all in a week!

Anziano Younce