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

Immigrant Song Email from 7/6/16 from Elder Adam Younce

This week has been brutal to us with our work once again. Sometimes
you just do everything you can to meet with people and to help them
progress and it just doesn't work out the way that you want it to. We
plan lessons and call to confirm the day before or that day so we go
to the appointed spot and they aren't there. We call again and either
they don't pick up or they forgot and are across the city. So we have
been stood up or "bidoned" as we call it more than ever before. Each
day we might plan 4 lessons and 3 of them fall through or something
like that. Putting so much love and work in every day and not being able
to see an equivalent amount of change in the people we teach
absolutely breaks my heart. Also, our investigator with a baptism date
set named Isidro just found out that he is going to have to go to
Toscana for 2 months starting Thursday for work. That means that even
if I do stay here for another transfer, I won't see him again. Luckily
there are missionaries where he is going so we will put him in contact
with them and he can be taught while he is down there. I don't even
care whether I'm able to be there for his baptism though because I
know that I did everything that I could do for him and that ultimately
it paid off even if I didn't get to be a part of the final process.

On a positive note though, happy Independence Day! We spent our Fourth
of July by bringing a bunch of American desserts to district meeting
and then we went to the apartment of one of the companionships in
Milano with the rest of the Milano people and we made burgers and
steaks for lunch. On the way over there I had a really special
experience. We were getting off the metro and a man recognized us as
Mormons and then told us that he is American. We were confused because
he looked Italian, started by speaking in Italian to us, and spoke
English after that with a thick Italian accent. He confirmed once
again that he is American and told us that he is from North Carolina
and showed us his license to prove it. I told him that I am too and
showed him mine and he totally freaked out and told us his story. He
is from Napoli and then moved to North Carolina to teach Latin at
Sanderson high school in Raleigh. I told him that I have friends that
went there and that there was recently a missionary in Italy who went
there. He then told us that his sister and her family is Mormon and
that he is not but goes to our church a lot. I asked where and he said
that he lives in the neighborhood right by the Raleigh temple and that
he goes to church there at the stake center right by it except when he
goes to Wilmington in the summer, when he goes to that church. I told
him that the stake center there is mine because I live in Cary and
that I've lived there my whole life. He seems to be someone who was
right on the edge of being baptized after many years by the stories
that he told us. He came to America to be with his sister who married
this returned missionary who served in Italy and then he was
introduced to the church through her. He had many students in his
class over the years who were members of the church and he told us
that every single one of them really impressed him, especially how
they got up early for seminary before school. Remember, youth, that in
every respect you are examples wherever you are. You have the capacity
to change hearts just by living righteously. Now this man came across
me completely by happenstance while he was in Italy looking for
records of his grandpa and it seemed to be some sort of answer to a
prayer for him. During our conversation he was crying the entire time
and probably said "thank the good Lord Jesus for the blessing" about
20 times. It was weird being able to talk freely with someone who
knows your hometown as well as you do and it was great to have such a
positive on someone just by existing and being in the right place.
Yesterday we woke up early to do some service but I didn't know what
kind of stuff we would be doing until we got there. All we knew was
that we couldn't wear our missionary tags in there and had to wear
normal clothes. Turns out that we went to this huge warehouse full of
old birth, marriage, and death records for the Milano area and got to
search through and organize these records so they could be taken to
the FamilySearch center here in Italy to be photo captured and then
put up to be indexed. I really felt the importance of the work that
these people do all the time and that I got to do this one time
because each name in each of these old books represents a person who
did not have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the
accompanying ordinances, just like any one of our investigators. Just
because they are no longer with us doesn't mean that they aren't
important. Over the past few months I have really gained a great love
for family history work and hope to do more with it once I get home
and have the time and resources for it.

I'd just like to end things with a little bit of a tribute to America.
Being away from it for an extended period of time has really made me
appreciate it for what it is: a choice land. There are few other places in
the world where children are brought up with the knowledge that they
can do or become anything if they work hard and even after over 200
hundred years of our government being established, it is still a
beacon to the world of freedom. We have some stains from a past filled
with racism and slavery, but the good thing is that we know that we
must change and then we actually do something about it. Also, while I
grow to love the Italians here a little more each day, I guess I have
a special connection with the massive amounts of immigrants here as well.
These people come to Italy for many of the same reasons that my
ancestors came many generations ago such as for work opportunities,
religious freedom, safety from a hostile government, simply looking to
improve their lives. Many of them want to eventually eventually get to
America where these things they seek are in even greater abundance and
are willing to work hard to get to that point. The fact that for the
most part we have been very good to immigrants in the past and that we
have such a rich tradition of immigrants in our country. Everyone
except for a few Native Americans can trace back their family to
European, Asian, or African immigrant ancestors who came looking for
freedom and opportunity and I think that is the exact attitude that
was needed for God to decide to restore His gospel on the earth once
more here in the United States, a place where it would never again be
taken from the earth, but rather protected and nurtured by this
country.

Vi voglio bene
Alla prossima!

Anziano Younce

"Have You Ever Seen Rain?" June 29th email from Elder Adam Younce

There are some events in your life that you don't recognize as a
moment that you will always remember until after it happens and then
you reflect on it some and realize the gravity of it. I'll tell y'all
about an experience that I've had this week that elicited such a
response.


It happened when we were visiting a less active family 
to help them get them involved in missionary work by sharing the gospel with
their friends so we can start teaching them. They fed us dinner and we
taught a lesson to them, but then they said that they had a favor to
ask of us. Using language that they knew their little girl couldn't
understand, they explained to us that she the mom was pregnant. Apparently
because she is a little bit old to be having children and she has some
other health problems, she will be going to the doctor to assess the
health of the baby and mother. They haven't told anybody, including
their daughter, because they aren't sure what is going to happen but
they told us because they wanted her to have a priesthood blessing.
The husband could not participate for reasons he didn't specify but
I'm glad that they trusted us enough to ask for our help. We were
about to start when they both said that they would like me to say the
blessing. I guess it made sense because it was the first time they met
Anziano Pyper and I had seen them a couple of times before, but they
also knew I wasn't very good at speaking Italian. As I was pronouncing
the blessing on her, I realized that it was the first time that I had
actually said a priesthood blessing, let alone in Italian. I'm
starting to see more and more the purpose of the priesthood. It isn't
a means to exert power over other people in the church, but rather is
a way to serve others and carries with it that responsibility. Our
prophet, Thomas S. Monson, is known as one of the most service
oriented people on earth. Since his early adulthood he served
countless widows, sick people, and poor people in his numerous
callings, all in the name of Christ and his priesthood. Our Savior,
the prime example of priesthood holder, never used it for selfish
purposes but instead served others. He healed the sick and fed
multitudes but when he was suffering of hunger or bodily pain, he
refused to do the same for himself.

Ok I know I pretty much already a spiritual thought but I want to
do another one really quick because I feel the need to do so. This
week we met with our little Peruvian miracle man, Isidro, again and we
talked with him about how he is doing with some of the commandments we
talked to him about. He expressed concern to us his doubts with the
Law of Tithing and Word of Wisdom and said that he doesn't know yet
what the benefits will be for him or why he has to keep them. In
essence, he doesn't know why he has to keep them because he has never
tried it. We were almost out of time when he told us this so we
decided to talk about it the next time we see him. I felt that I
should really put some thought into a response to his questions
because at this point, he just needs to attend church one more time
and get this out of the way and he will be ready for baptism. As I
reflected on his doubts, I realized that it was completely based on a
lack of experience on his part with these commandments and that they
may sound strange at first but that once he puts it into practice, he
will see the blessings that will come from observing them. I thought
about how a person who had never seen rain or snow had it described to
them: little drops of water or flecks of ice falling from the heavens,
seemingly spontaneously. However, if they are shown a fresh layer of
snow or get caught in a spring rainstorm, that uneasiness, doubt, or
fear will soon turn to delight as they dance around in the cool shower
or make snow angels for the first time. When we meet him next I will
be sure to try show him how sometimes we just need to have the faith
to follow God and that he will take care of the rest.

From what it sounds like, everyone back home is well and blessings
continue to be showered on all of you. If there is anything that any
of you want to talk through or want me to keep in my prayers, please
don't be afraid to contact me. Also, please don't neglect to think of
all the good things that are happening in your lives and inform me of
them. I want to know!

Con un cuore pieno d'amore

Anziano Younce

"Fortunate Son" June 22 email from Elder Adam Younce

Hey everybody I hope you've had a good week.

This week has been pretty good to me. I'll start at the end of last
Wednesday, after my emailing time was over. We were doing English
class and we decided that since there were so many people at different
levels in our class, we would do 3 classes. So the Sorelle took the
absolute beginner students, Anziano Pyper took the advanced students
who pretty much already know English, and I took the intermediate
ones. The people in my class really don't know how to speak or
understand a lot of English but do know a fair amount of grammar so I
had to mostly speak in Italian and be able to translate lots of random
words and phrases that they had questions about directly. I did
surprisingly well and one of the students who has been coming since
the beginning of my time here remarked on how much my language skills
have improved since my first day. At the end of the lesson I was going
to share a short spiritual thought with them and the thought came to
my head to share a video where Elder Holland explains the Book of
Mormon. While it was playing I realized that I had that thought
because the 3 people I was with had all at some point expressed some
sort of interest in our church or had been picked up by us as an
investigator even though only one had received a Book of Mormon and
none of them had read it(I don't know how that happened). After the
video was over I talked about what the Book of Mormon means to me and
the powerful effect that it can have in a person's life as it has in
mine but for the first time ever, I didn't feel limited by my ability
to speak in Italian. The words just flowed from my mouth and even the
student of ours that had been dozing off the entire time before was
sitting up and listening. After I was finished I asked the people who
didn't have a Book of Mormon whether they would like one and they were
very interested so I quickly ran upstairs to get a couple of copies
for them. I know that I couldn't have done that without the guidance
and power of the Spirit. I finally am starting to feel like I can do
this "missionary" thing on my own. Obviously, for a lot of things it
is helpful to have someone with me that knows the language very well,
but it is comforting to know that if I needed to that I could do
things on my own. The rest of Wednesday was a little rough because we
had ward council and we butted heads with the bishop some more but I
won't go into more detail since I don't like to criticize local
leadership to such a large audience, especially since he really does
mean well and is trying to do his best.

The rest of the week was pretty normal for the most part. Isidro
didn't show up to church again because he had work, which is a
problem because if he can't change his work schedule he won't be able
to come to church at all. Since we've had a lot of referrals lately,
we have been busy trying to schedule appointments with all of them
but, as usual, it is harder than it should be because that's just how
it is to be a missionary. There seems, at times, to be an invisible
wall of force of some sort that prevents us from being as successful
as we would like to be. It's exhausting working against the grain like
that but we just have to "continuare avanti" with the knowledge that
it will not always be that way and that we are doing the right thing.

By the time I send my next weekly email out, there will be a new
Mission President here named President Allen and the old one,
President Dibb, will be gone. I've really liked Dibb even though I've
only been with him for a few months. There are some rules that he has
made that lots of people don't agree with but all of them have been
for the purpose of protecting us and making us most effective
missionaries that we can be. I've been told that there are two main
groups of mission presidents: ones that focus on missionary work and
ones that focus on missionaries. President Dibb definitely belongs in
the former category but from what I've heard of President Allen (my
companion's parents know him from back in Idaho), he is a very relaxed
person and is open and friendly with everyone around him. His wife
apparently even told the parents of missionaries serving here who came
to their farewell to write down something that they can bring out to
Italy for their missionaries. In essence, I'm sad to see President
Dibb go but I'm excited to see how things are under different
leadership. All I know for sure is that I want to try my hardest to be
a person that the president can count on for anything he needs to be
done.

This week I've been reflecting on exactly how fortunate I am. Of all
the places in the world that I could have been born into, I came to
America. I received a complete family who loves me and who taught me
from a young age the teachings of Jesus Christ. I was born into the
gospel and now have the opportunity to share those same blessings that
I've received with people in far off lands. Then I realized that
everyone on this earth has been blessed enormously as well. We all
have a Heavenly Father who loves us beyond comprehension and who
blessed us with life and this earth. We have a Savior who made it
possible for us all to return to live with God again. I am amazed
everyday as I try to think about all the eternal potential in the
people around me and I know that each of them are beloved sons and
daughters of God. If there is ever a time in life where it seems like
privileges or talents were unevenly distributed or like nothing is
going your way, remember who you really are and that your final
destination is not at the end of this life. You were created for grand
purposes.

Vi ringrazio per tutto il sostegno che ricevo ogni giorno da voi
Vi voglio bene

Anziano Younce

"Emotional Rescue" June 8th email from Elder Adam Younce

Before I begin, I would like to just talk about some things I'm grateful for. I'm extremely grateful for my loving and supportive family who, even though they are thousands of miles away, has found a way to uplift and sustain me. I am grateful for all of the church leaders and teachers I've had over the years that have been instrumental in getting me to this point in my life. I'm grateful for the chance I have to serve here in Italy with the best people on the planet. 

So my trainer, Anziano Hansen is now far away from Cimiano. Luckily, my new companion has arrived and has been fantastic. Anziano Pyper is from Idaho Falls and is one of the goofiest guys ever. There really isn't a dull moment with him around and we have gotten along really great. One of the best things about him is that he is a great people person so he has been able to connect with all of our investigators very easily. Also, he is good friends with one of the missionaries who work in the mission office, which is very handy when you live so close to the office. Actually, we have connections all over the two Milano zones. On Saturday we went to an all you can eat sushi place for lunch with pretty much everyone in Milano and we are all buds, including the APs and office elders.

Sometimes there are days and weeks on the mission when you wonder whether what you are doing is enough. Then along comes a miracle that seems to say "you're doing just fine". I had a couple of those this week. We were just walking home one day and a man approached us and said that he and his son had some problems that he wants to fix. We talked with him and got a prayer lesson out of it before getting his contact information and giving him the address of the church and our number. He came to church the next day and then later that day he called us and set up his own appointment. When we met with him the next day, he said he wants to meet as often as possible, as in every day if we can, because he really wants to change his life. We gave him a Book of Mormon and restoration pamphlet and set up an appointment for the following day. When we met him, he had already started to read the book and we taught him about the restoration without a hitch. Next time he plans to bring his son as well so we can teach them together. It's moments like these that give me that little boost to keep going forward. I know that God is watching out for each of us and that when we are feeling at our lowest, that is when He is with us the most. Through prayer we can reach Him and He can give us the emotional rescue that we need. I've learned how to turn to prayer for that spiritual and emotional support on my mission because if I didn't, I would have probably exploded from all the stress a long time ago. I wish that I had discovered this little "secret" to a stress-free life a long time ago. It has helped me see the hand of God in my life so that I can see exactly how close He is to me. Even if you not feel him close, He is there and is waiting to come to your emotional rescue so you can see how much He loves you.

Thanks for all the emails everyone! I'll talk to y'all next week.

Anziano Younce

"Money" an email dated June 1, 2016 from Elder Adam Younce

This week was amazing in some ways and frustrating in others.

First off, I feel like we didn't get to teach nearly as many lessons to nearly as many of our investigators as I wanted to but I guess there were some things that got in the way. Early in the week we got "bidoned" (a term we use here for being stood up) a bunch early in the week. On Monday we had 4 appointments lined up at the church building and non of them showed up even though we called all of them and they all said they were on their way. On Thursday we had a "scambio" (exchange) with the zone leaders and while it went very well and I learned a lot, we didn't get to talk to any of our people for a day and a half. Then, on Saturday, the European cup championship soccer match was being played in Milano so all of us couldn't use the metro (meaning we pretty much couldn't do missionary work in any efficient way) and then had to be inside our houses by 5. 

Alright. Now for all the tender mercies of the Lord!

Usually we are lucky if we get 1 referral in a week but last week we had received 4 and we already have another 3 this week! We have been meeting with Michele a lot lately and he is super close to coming to church. He has told us so many times that he knows that this church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true (though he always reminds us of how boring it is to read it) and that he needs to go to church but there are still some matters of stubbornness in his way. However, I have no doubt in my mind that by the end of this transfer, he will have come to church. Also, yesterday, after Anziano Hansen's farewell party, we ran into someone on the metro who used to be an investigator but who fell through the cracks and was never baptized. He is an African refugee but has been here for a few years already so he has his documents and is no longer living in one of the refugee houses so we can teach him. He was so excited to find us again. Anziano Hansen is leaving for a little city by the coast out in the boonies of the mission called Ancona so he will no longer be here. Starting Thursday I will have a new companion and I will no longer be in training. It seems like the Lord has given me all these people to take care of as a way of testing me. I have learned from tough experience that when the Lord gives you an opportunity, you make the best of it. I'm reminded of the parable where a master gave his 3 servants varying amounts of money before he left for a lengthy spell. When he returned, 2 of them had doubled their money but one of them, hoping not to mess up and lose the money he had been entrusted with, didn't do anything with it. The master said to the first two "well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things". To the one that didn't make an increase, he took away that which had been given him. I think one of the lessons to be learned from this parable is that when the Lord gives you something, don't be selfish. For instance, because He has blessed me with abilities and opportunities to care for many of His children, I have the responsibility to do so and if I do it to the best of my ability, he will offer more opportunities and will give me even more blessings to be able to do so. If I don't do so, he will take away all of those blessings and will not receive an increase. This principle doesn't just apply to missionary work. Use your talents for good and do good things. Take those opportunities you are given to improve other people's lives and you will be blessed.

So this transfer I'm staying in Cimiano and I am getting a companion named Anziano Piper. He is in the same group as my trainer was so they know each other very well. I've only heard amazing things about him so far so I'm very excited. I'm also nervous because for the first week or so I will be pretty much in charge until my companion knows all of our investigators and the members. I'm a little scared but luckily I think my Italian has really picked up. Instead of staying silent because I don't know what I'm saying, I just start speaking and hope that the words come to me and luckily that has helped a lot both with understanding and speaking because I get some practice and because I am more involved in the conversations so I can follow it a little better. Anziano Hansen will be with someone from Spain who grew up in Pavia, Italy (which is actually in our zone) named Anziano Sossa. His English ability is very limited and apparently has decided he will only speak Italian with his companions so Anziano Hansen is worried because he still isn't totally confident with his ability to speak Italian but he is an amazing missionary and man so I'm not worried for him at all. He gets along well with everyone so that should help.

Thank you everybody for your love and support! I feel your prayers and I enjoy all of the encouragement I receive through emails. 

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!

Anziano Younce

"Get Off My Cloud" Email from May 25, 2016. Elder Adam Younce

These past two weeks have reminded me of a scripture from the Book of
Mormon that I memorized in Sister Despain's seminary class (thanks to
a catchy tune). In Ether 12:6 it says "And now I, Moroni, would speak
somewhat concerning these things. I would show unto the world that
faith is things which are hoped for and not seen. Wherefore, dispute
not because he see not for he receive no witness until after the trial
of your faith." Last week was absolutely brutal to us and I started to
lose hope in my ability to fulfill the Lord's errand but we tried to
exercise faith by taking steps with investigators towards baptism and
by shifting our efforts from some people who need to do some more
personal preparation for baptism to the exhausting process of finding
people to teach. In this area we had just about given up on "finding"
because, at least while I've been here, we haven't had any success.
However, we felt impressed that instead of wasting our time on people
who are not ready to listen to us, we needed to make an effort to find
the people that the Lord has already prepared for us. Because we
exercised our faith in something that we hoped for but could not see,
the Lord decided to bless us tremendously. My companion says that he
has never had success in "finding" the way that we have this week. The
miracles were not limited to just finding though. One time, we had an
appointment with our new convert, Anthony, and he didn't show up and
wasn't answering his phone. We were worried about him but it wasn't
the first time this had happened so we forgot about it. Anyways,
afterwards we were about to head to la stazione centrale for a lesson
with someone but when we called to confirm with him he was not
answering. In the past he has been super flaky even when we were able
to get ahold of him and he hasn't ever come when we have not gotten
through. As the metro came my companion turned to me to make a
decision about whether we should go or not. At this point I was about
97% sure that he wouldn't show up and even if he did, he was one of
the people that we were going to drop considering he isn't progressing
at all and even if he was, he couldn't be baptized because he lives in
a refugee camp, it wouldn't be a big deal if we blew him off to get
some awesome finding work in. In addition, we hate going to centrale
so in essence, there were about zero reasons for us to go to the
appointment. If I were to follow my own logic and desires, I would
choose to go looking for people to talk to in a beautiful park on a
gorgeous Italian spring day. However, I was moved on by the Spirit to
go to the appointment so we hopped on the metro. It just seemed like
the logical thing to do even if it really wasn't. Immediately when I
got on the metro I was regretting the decision and thought that my
companion would soon be teasing me gently for wasting the Lord's time.
When we got to centrale we decide to walk around and look for our guy
and then if he wasn't there, go back. While looking, we found Anthony
sitting next to a friend of his. We started to teach Anthony and his
friend listened in as we talked about eternal family and he seemed
really interested so after the lesson we exchanged numbers and will
see him sometime soon! There were many other miracles that happened
this week that I do not have the time to write but you get the
picture. By exercising faith we leave room for God to work miracles.

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had on the mission so far. It
started out with us going to the church early so that we could unlock
it and set it up for the new missionary training conference. About 25
minutes before we left Michele, one of our beloved investigators,
called us and told us to meet him at the metro station so he could
show us something. When we got there he took us to this little hole in
the wall pasticceria that has super cheap and super good dolce. On the
way there and back we were talking about his life and his experiences
with investigating the church in the past. He has really grown to love
and trust us and we live vet him in return. He is definitely someone
who I will miss and who I will tell people about when I get home.
After that little adventure we were at the church where I got to see
President Dibb, probably for the last time, and all the new Sorelle
who I saw at the MTC before I left. We did some catching up but soon
left because they had the training to do and we had work to do. At the
church we picked up an Anziano who had just come back from the States
for some surgery and for the next 5 hours until his companion could
pick him up, he was with us. It was awesome having him with us because
I learned a lot and he is a pretty cool guy. After we handed him off
to his companion, we went to the house of an investigator of ours
named Prince. He is from Africa and he is very involved with some
ministries up here so he is very interesting to talk to. He reminds me
of some of the people I would talk about religion to in high school
because he always tries to tempt us into a Bible bash. My companion
let me sort of take over the lesson because I have a lot of experience
talking to people like that, growing up in the south. It was actually
very fun because he had many very complex questions that he wanted
answered that could be answered with simple principles of the gospel.
I don't think I've ever met a man that is as curious as he is. His
questions are not designed to try to trip is up. Rather, he wants to
know more about what we believe and why and we try to find common
ground but when we can't find any, we bear testimony and give
scriptural evidence. The problem with appealing to the Bible for
answers or any other scripture by itself, for that matter, is that
there are many ways to interpret it and just about every scripture
from the bible we used he turned around the other way. That is the
reason that the Book of Mormon and modern day revelation is so
necessary, though. There are infinite interpretations of any one
scripture but with two witnesses, the Book of Mormon and the Bible, we
can gain a clear picture of what God wants for us. Unfortunately,
Prince only takes the Book of Mormon to be a study of our religion and
not to be the word of God yet but that is what we are working on with
him.

I may have had an awesome week and I may be on cloud 9 right now but
that doesn't mean that I will always be there. Even now I still feel
the pull of Satan into thoughts that would bring me down from this
wonderful state. Thoughts of self worthlessness are always from him so
never let him pull you down that way. He wants you to remember the
imperfect person you used to be, even though you have changed. He
wants you to think about the shortcomings you have now, even though
you are trying your best to be better. He wants you to lose all hope
for the future by reminding you of what you weren't and aren't, even
though your potential is infinite. He does this because his past,
present, and future are pitiful. He is the lowest of the low and he
can't improve so he wants you to feel the way that he does. I bear
witness that God loves everyone on this earth and that He wants
everything that is good for you. My favorite thing about being a
missionary and thus a representative of Jesus Christ is that I just
get a glimpse of that love that He has for people. On the days where I
feel like I'm going to pass out from exhaustion, that love that I feel
and all that potential that I see is what motivates me. It motivates
me to try to show people what I see. Never let Satan pull you off your
cloud. You have been born for better things than that.

Alla prossima settimana, vi voglio bene!

Anziano Younce