Ciao a tutti! well it's time for my semiannual blog post! ha just kidding. Sorry about that. Anyway, It looks like My time in Bologna has come to an end. I'm going to be going to Muggiò (Monza), a city right outside of Milano, and Opening a companionship there, so we'll be living in 4! I'm excited, the other 2 are going to be both Italians, and my new companion is Anziano Cleveland. So this is more than likely the last city and last companion! I can't believe it!

I'm excited to start a new city and get to know new people. However, I am super sad leaving bologna, I absolutely love it here! Its like leaving home all over again, whoda thunk. I've just grown to love the members and the people we've been working with so much. But I guess it's got to come to an end sometime right? It will definitely be one of the first cities I come back to whenever I return for vacation. We had a baptism this last Sunday too so at least It ended on a good note as well. I've loved my time here, it's been so great! But I know that Muggiò has something waiting for me too. And I'm excited for Christmas and new years and all that good stuff! It's going to be awesome! So things are going pretty good here, I just can't believe how little time is left, it's just so unreal! The greatest learning and growing experience of my life is swiftly coming to an end. crazy. I'm excited to get to my new city and get to work tho!! It's going to be great! Anyway, That's the gist of it all! I hope all is well! Buon natale a tutti!

Anziano Bolnick

...pictures to come......

Photos from Thanksgiving!

Hello! My bad for not writing forever! This one will be short as well and I apologize.

Well, another transfer has flown by, I'll be staying here in Bologna! My companion is going to Vicenza and V'm getting Anziano Parker as a companion, I've worked with him a few times before and I love him! I'm super excited! Its going to be awesome. So a little update of this past transfer.... We live in four, Anziano Weller and Anziano Mendel are the other 2 in our apartment and they were another companionship with us in Bologna. But a couple weeks ago they reopened an old city, Ferrara, so they're working there now, they have to take a train every day ha, I feel bad for them. The whole transfer had kinda been an upset, Almost all the cities in our zone were supposed to baptize and it was going to be a miracle, but then like everyone didn't! It sucked! We were supposed to have a lady named maria baptized last week but she doesn't want to see us anymore! It was really hard with all the things going on but that's ok! This next one we'll all make up for it! I'm excited!

I cant believe I only have 4 more transfers left now, time goes by so fast! I really hope to just stay in bologna for a long time ha, I would not mind that at all! I really like it here. It has been super hot here tho lately, during august and early September was just brutal! It was too hot to even go running at 6:30 in the morning, kind of ridiculous. But the other night we went to bed and woke up and it was suddenly fall ha. It dropped like 10 degrees (Celsius) overnight and now it's cool :) So I'm happy! Well, I better get going. I'm sorry for not writing as much! I would attach some pictures but we're in an Arab point doing internet and the computers stink so it wont let me upload. I'll get some next week hopefully!

Hope you all have a great week! A presto tutti!

August 6, 2011

Well, I am so sorry I haven't really had too much time to write for my blog these last couple weeks! I just wanted to take a few seconds and talk about how this transfer has been so far. We have been traveling to as many cities in the mission as possible, training and helping missionaries out. We have gone everywhere from Lugano to Ancona, exchanging with many missionaries in many different cities. This transfer has been one of the hardest things of my life, there are never any breaks, we are always traveling, I have to worry about saving the life of every missionary I'm with, it's really tough.

But it has been the greatest transfer by far in the same time. I have learned so much about life, missionary work, myself, and the savior. It has been the coolest experience, going down into the midst of the fights with some of the greatest people I have met in my life. I have learned so much from each and every missionary here, even tho I was sent out to teach. I feel like I am a completely different person now thanks to this transfer. I just wish I would have learned this stuff earlier on so could have been better in certain instances. But I am so grateful that I did learn all that I have. Now I truly understand what it means to be a missionary.

I truly know how great my calling is, and how powerful the authority I have been given is. I know that the rights of the Priesthood are based on the principles of faith and righteousness, and every good act we perform unlocks more possibilities of what we are capable of doing. I know that the Lord is more involved in our lives than we think, and that we can all notice it more if we just slow things down and look at whats going on around us. I know with every fiber of my soul, that Heavenly Father loves us, and wants so bad for us to just be happy. There are so many people in the world that are missing something. They don't know it yet, but they are. And it is only in and through us that they can start to find it. My whole life I've been stubborn to accept the blessings the Lord wants to bestow upon me, and I've closed my heart against advice that would draw me closer. But this last transfer I have really learned to to just open up, and accept. And it has truly changed my life. To everyone out there, please, just listen when people are trying to give you advice. You never know when the littlest, stupidest sounding thing, could change the entire course of your life. Never be afraid to try something new. And most of all, never fail to let those around you know how much you truly care about and love them. It is so important i can honestly not enforce it enough. I know that my time as a missionary is more sacred than anything else, because not only am I helping other people better their lives, but it is a time given to us, to prepare for eternity.

It is a time to be literally set apart from the world, with no problems, and nothing to worry about. We get 2 straight years to focus on Christ and develop His attributes. I feel so bad for all those people who go out and don't realize that, because their lives will never be the same as opposed to how it could have been if they would have made the most out of it. So to anyone and everyone, I can not express enough how important this work is. I don't care if your an active member or a lesser active, or even if your not a member. There is no greater thing on the earth than this. Never underestimate the power of a mission and what it can for you. Never judge too quick and never be stubborn. It's just going to make your life suck. If you're on a mission, make the best of it and don't let a second go by wasted. If you're thinking about going on one, stop thinking and JUST DO! If you're less active, get back to church! If you're not a member, think about what good things could come to your life by opening your hearts and trusting others, and BE BAPTIZED!

I can promise you with every part of me that it will change your life!! All is takes is a little faith and acceptance, and it will never fail you. There are so many great things to be experienced on this earth that we are not living up to. Our potential is much greater than we see it as. think about it! I cannot not express enough how important this truly is. This is not just a church. It is not just something we do to make friends and get fancy recipes. This is life. This is much greater than any of us can comprehend. I would not be writing all this if I did not know what it could do to each and every one of your lives. Please please please, just think about what you are doing and what you can do to change your life and allow the true happiness take part in it. Because that true happiness is just a taste to what we can have after this life if we just make the most out of this time.

I will not stand another moment without screaming to all nations and people how great this is. I have learned for myself what it has the power to do. The gospel is real. No matter what anyone says or does, nothing will ever change my mind, because it is fact. My life has been changed countless times, over and over again, especially this last transfer. And I will never reject the fact that it has been done by God. I am so grateful to be here. This means everything to me. I have truly come to understand what it means to love people as Christ loves them, and the desire in my heart to tell everyone burns like a thousand raging suns. I love you all so much, and i know that God loves you. Please don't ever forget that. It has helped me one to many times to let it go to waste.

This past month has truly been fantastic, and indescribable. This is the last week and i have no idea what is going to happen for transfers, but I'm excited to hopefully get back into the field and put to practice everything I have learned and finish these last 7 months with a bang. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for every good thing that you do, and especially for the support you give to me, thank you. I hope everyone has a fantastic week! I'll try to be better at writing more often!

Ciao!

Where in the world in Anziano Bolnick?

Welcome to the new life! Man this is going to be a crazy transfer! First off, my new p-days are on Saturdays now so I will no longer be writing on Wed. Second of all, we live right next to the office, so if anyone is sending letters or whatever you can just send it to the mission home address!

So first off I'll explain a little bit about what I'll be doing! My companion (Anziano Duersch) and I, will be traveling around the mission teaching and training missionary companionships. We have our schedule planned out and we're seeing everything from Ancona to Lugano-- it is going to be way cool! We will be getting a car here shortly, too, so it's going to be weird driving again!

So now we live in Opera (where the mission home is), and when we have time (which we probably won't), we work in Lodi-- which is right outside of Milano (about a half hour away from us). But we're leaving Sunday nights and coming back on Friday nights for p day Saturday, and then church and office meetings and stuff on Sunday. Then we take off again so we're rarely at home here. But when we are at home it's SICK because we have an awesome apartment! We have 2 bathrooms, a sweet stereo system, a drier, a huge balcony with a pretty view, and a bench and exercise equipment, as well as a grill! It's so cool! In fact yesterday we grilled up some hamburgers in celebration of 4th of July. It was so nice.

We live with the other 2 assistants, Anziano Gray (who was with me in Bergamo) and Anziano Maughan -and it's way fun being in four again too! So I've been super nervous lately, but I'm excited. We have a huge responsibility, and it's going to be tough but i know I'm going to learn so much at the same time. I've already been learning a lot and I've been here for 3 days! Thursday night we got to sit in with the departing missionaries. It was incredible. First we all had a really good dinner that Sorella Wolfgramm made, and then after we had a testimony meeting of everyone in the room. the group that went home consisted of missionaries that I got to know pretty well so it was hard seeing them at the final moments, but it was so powerful. I wish you guys could have the experiences that I've had. You have no idea how great some of the things we see and experiences we have. It is absolutely amazing. Their testimonies, as well as everyone else's, were just so strong.

It's so weird to see these people that have served so hard and have finally just come to an abrupt halt. It was way weird to be there too because my time isn't too far behind and it really scared me. My mission means so much to me and it's just slipping away so fast, and there is nothing I can do about it. Thursday before we got there we had to go to the Milano chapel for the trainer's meeting and that was a hassle! It was sooo hot! We each had our 3 huge bags to lug around and they all weighed as much as a horse, so it was a super epic journey.Yesterday we just planned and did some errand's and what not. We have some big things we're going to pull off with the cities we're going to, and I'm excited about it! I'm happy that I get to serve other missionaries, it's going to be really fun helping everyone else.

Tomorrow we have church and then maybe a meeting or so, and then it's off to the start! This week we should be in Piacenza and Modena (where I get to see Anziano Neff again haha) and then we should be back by Friday. It's going to be epic! Anyway, that's the update of what's going on! It's going to be tough, but I know I'm going to love it! Well, I hope you all have a great week! Take care!
Until Saturday, Anziano Bolnick

Pictures:
1. The office crew
2. Our epic packing in the van of everyone's luggage
3. Goodbye with anziano anderson

On the road...again

Good bye Verona...........................

Well, it looks like my time in Verona has already come to an abrupt end... sadly! I am going to be an assistant and travel the mission helping and training missionaries, so that'll be fun. I'll hit you up with an update when I know about it later on. I'm pretty sure my p-day will change to Saturday now tho so yeah. I'll let you know more next week!

I'm sad I'm going to be leaving Verona already! I really love this city and we were just getting some good work started! We got to see a baptism the other day of a family, they are really cool! The dad didn't get baptized because he didn't think he was ready, but it totally is! Hopefully soon he should be getting in! We had some cool miracles in church this last week too! This member brought his girlfriend and she wants to take the discussions, and this other member brought this other lady that wants to be baptized! So that is sweet! I think we can help with that :) I'm sad I'm going to be leaving this all behind!

So Monday was crazy: we had to go to the questura to renew my permesso so I can be legal ha, we got there at 830-ish and finished at 1:30. Yeah that's right, 5 hours of waiting ha. That wasn't too fun! Then we stopped by Alessandro, the crazy bed and breakfast guy and then President called us for transfers. Then we got home and I packed a little and we headed to the arena to go see the Divine Comedy! It was way cool!! It got started an hour late so it kinda killed us over with time, but it was so cool to see! Operas aren't actually that bad haha.

So then we woke up early Tuesday morning and deep cleaned the whole house and it was so hot!! But it looks a lot better now so it's all good and worth it! Then we had to go after lunch to help a member move some things which was super hot and tiring too! We had to take down tons of cabinets and sinks and all the good stuff. I was dead afterward hah. But we got to go teach Barbara (girlfriend of guy in church) and we had a really good lesson, so that was cool! I'm super tired today though, but it was a great day!

It has been so dang hot here lately! I really hate humidity-- you're always sticky. We have three fans in our room at night because it's impossible to sleep. And of course Italians are scared of air conditioning, so no one has it! At least we get a little breeze when we ride our bikes --thats nice.

Our zone did really well this last week too! We had a total of 8 baptisms! That's so sweet! That's more than we got all of last transfer. It was awesome news! There should have been more tho but some things happened, its ok tho because most of the dates are just moved to this week so it's all good!

Well I better get going, I still have to pack and do tons of other stuff, and a nap would be nice! Hope you all have a great week!

Ciao Ciao!

June 21, 2011

Well, I have to apologize right now how, I honestly am just feeling super lazy and don't feel like writing too much - so this will be short!

So At Consiglio we talked about a promise that Elder Ballard gave to the European missions that if we teach 20 lessons each week, we will double our results. So we talked with our zone about it and really encouraged everyone to do so, and this week, companionships that have been teaching like 9 lessons a week on average and weren't doing super great, hit the 20 lesson mark, and every single one that did realized the blessings that come! Every single companionship that hit at least 20 lessons this last week picked up at least 1 baptismal date!! How cool is that?? We got to go to Mantova to do a baptismal interview for a whole family that's getting baptized on Saturday, that is so cool! This city has had like 5 baptisms in the last 4 years and they have this family of 4, and they set 3 more dates because they hit 22 lessons this last week! It's just incredible how true this gospel is! When an apostle promises something, it's gonna happen haha that's super cool.

So we already have transfer calls next week! Nuts! I don't think anything is going to happen but it'll be fun doing it with the zone haha.

Well I should probably get going, I'll get more for next week - sorry I'm just super tired today! everything is going great tho!!

Abbiate una buona settimana!

ciaody

Transfer 10, Week 3

transfer 10, week 3!

Well this was one of those trial weeks for sure -haha. It seemed like every possible thing that could have gone wrong did.Bikes were breaking, it was raining, our new convert was running into old men on the streets with his bike...it was just great!

So I got to go to my first consiglio, all the zone leaders met up at the mission home for a whole day meeting, and Sorella Wolfgramm made us breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it was soo good! It was probably the best meal I have eaten in Italy. And it was all American :) haha. Just kidding but it was really good and it was a really fun and neat experience! When we got back to Verona at night, we were holding our order box that we took from the office and we had like 5 BOMs in twi (the language they speak in Ghana) just randomly, and as we were walking out of the station, there was this Ghanaian guy that we stopped to talk to and gave him a BOM and then this other Ghana guy saw and was interested and came over to see, so we started talking with him too, and gave him another one, and while we were talking, 3 more guys from Ghana all show up (gotta love Verona) and want to know more as well, it was super random but awesome! Then after we got done talking to all the different people we started talking to this Italian guy who had been watching us and trying to listen in as well, and he was super legit! He was super happy that we talked to him because he is in a crisis right now and needs help and everything so we got an appointment with him too, it was way cool! So within like 10 minutes, we handed out about 3 BOMs, and got like 6 new investigators or something- ha it was way cool!

Tomorrow we have zone conference, and then afterward we are going to Bolzano for an exchange, which will be way sweet too! I'm excited. It's our last Scambio for the transfer, too, so that will be nice ha, we'll have a whole week to work in our city haha.That will be nice!

Well I gotta get going, but that's about the coolest part of the week! Sorry I've been short on time! There's just way too much to write about too ha, but oh well! Have a great week everyone!

No rest for the weary!

Well, to be honest it hasn't been the most eventful week! We went up to Trento for a district meeting the other day which was pretty cool! This week in church we had like 40 American students who are doing a study abroad come, it's so weird to talk to Americans again, I kind of forgot what it's like haha.

From the weekend on, we've had constant rain...Sunday night we were about 20 minutes away from our house for an appointment, and after we finished we walked outside and it was pouring like crazy! And of course we had our bikes, so we prepared for the ride of our lives! We quickly went to the train station to check some things and every one that was waiting inside looked at us like we were insane haha -it literally looked like we were pushed into a pool (we were soaked). It was a lot of fun though. It was definitely one of those memorable mission moments.

Well, I am honestly still just drained ha, every night I hit my pillow and it feels like I wake up 5 minutes later, there is just no rest- but I love it! And I know it's because we're doing a great thing! I'm so grateful that i can be here right now, its building me and helping me out so much, and I'm learning so much about who the Savior is for me personally and my own individual relationship with him. These past couple weeks I've done a lot of self reflecting and meditation, and I really feel like I've come to know myself a lot more. Things I am doing well, things I need to change. And most of all, it helped me to remember again the great satisfaction that this gospel brings, and the huge impact is has on changing lives. I may be dead tired every day, but I am constantly happy! I don't care what problems arose that day, whether it's battling through the rain, having doors slammed in your face, whatever it is, I am just completely content. Because that's what this gospel does! Twenty years from now most people are going to be looking back on the things that they didn't do, disappointments, or regrets. So why wait until tomorrow to laugh about it, when you can just laugh right now and move on? You need to throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. That's what its all about. This experience has truly changed my life, and I'm sad that it's winding down! I know this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it's reality. It's not just something we do, something we read, it's something we live. Something that pushes us, and teaches us. It heals us and brings us joy. You can never live it up too much!!

Well I'd better get going now! We got some Verona sight seeing to do haha. I hope everyone has a great week! a presto!
Brian

Torino Photos

Pictures: (from Torino)
1.Samuel who is also getting baptized pretty soon
2.Me and Anziano Glowa in front of the mole (epic pic)
3.Giusy and her family who are getting baptized
4.Cristina (little girl that is getting baptized, mom is less active)

Veronaaaaa Week 2!

Photos:
Good Italian Ads
Verona
Culture Run Spot
Anziano Wilkins and me at Centrale





So this city is super awesome! Unfortunately I don't have too much to
write this week because we haven't even really been in our city long.
We had a leadership training on Thursday which was kinda crazy, we had
to order 50 pizzas and set everything up in the church and stuff for
all the missionaries in the area. And we also had to give a training
which was kinda cool ha. It was awesome tho I really enjoyed it.

Then Friday night we did an exchange with the assistants, but we had
an activity in church so it wasn't much of an exchange haha but we did
a cool culture run of Verona in the morning and i got some pretty
pics. Then we went to breakfast (all four of us) with this Peruvian
family who were really cool. Then after we went back to the house and
had our studies, and I got to be with Anziano Mangrum who's a stud. We
had probably the best study of my whole mission we had a really good
discussion it was awesome!

Then I finally got to go to church on Sunday and meet some members! I
was soo tired tho ha I was super out of it. Then Monday We went back
to Bergamo! it was so cool to be back! We went to that district's
district meeting and it was so sweet to be there again ha, it was a
good district meeting also. Then we went back with the other Anziani
to Brescia to do another exchange and it was pretty fun!

I have just been absolutely drained these past couple days tho ha
luckily its p-day today and I'm just gonna take a nap haha.

That's about the jist of everything going down here for this week!
Everything is going great and I'm lovin' Verona, my comp, and
everything else! Its awesome!

I hope you all have a great week! Ciaowdy!

Verona! May 2011

VERONA!

Verona is SO cool! This is probably the prettiest city I have been in, it is so awesome! We have had an awesome week as well,so I'm doing great! First off, my companion is Anziano Anderson from Lubbock, Texas. He's a stud! He's only in the group ahead of me, so we knew each other for a little bit in the MTC but he's awesome! I love him! Zone Leader life is crazy, there is so much stuff we have to do! This week we have a scambio (exchange) just about every single day. Monday we were in Mantova, yesterday we were in Modena and Piacenza, tonight we are doing a blitz with Padova, tomorrow we have a leadership training conference thing, Friday we are exchanging with the assistants: its just crazy ha! I barely even get to be with my comp the whole first week- ha it's nuts. It's super fun tho we have some awesome missionaries that I have never even met before ha so i'ts way cool getting to know them all!

We have had a lot going on the past week. There was stake conference and a member from the area 70 came to speak, President and sorella Wolfgramm also spoke, it was great! and I got to see some members from Bergamo, too, which was way weird! I can't believe it's been over a year since I was there! Crazy! Then we taught a ton of lessons and have been having a lot of success, too. We had the coolest thing happen to us the other day too which is probably one of the coolest and most fun experiences of my mission- ha its an awesome miracle...

So Friday night we have an appointment with this guy named Jeffery, and then we're supposed to have an activity thing in the church at 7 o'clock. We're in the lesson and as we're closing we realize that it's currently 7:02. We are about 20 to 25 minutes away from the church on bike, and needed to be there 2 minutes ago. So as we finish with the lesson, we start booking it over to the church, on the bikes, we were soaring through the historic streets, avoiding traffic and obstacles from all around, and make it to the church in about 10 minutes or so. The activity turned out to be kind of a waste of time for us, and it was a little discouraging.

So here we are, in the other part of our city, about 20 minutes outside of our working area, and it's about 8 o'clock. We really wanted to do some more finding work and get some new people but we were still pretty far from the areas we had planned, but we started our journey back nonetheless. We were looking forward with hope that we would find someone. So as we're riding our bikes down by the river just pass this famous bridge, this kind of crazy guy starts yelling "Anziani Anziani!" so we stop and at first I thought he was just not a normal person. But as we're talking he starts explaining how he used to meet with the missionaries about 10 years ago, and was about to be baptized, that they had the font filled up and everything but then at the last second he couldn't do it and backed out. He said he loved the book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was on his heart, but he said that from that point that he made that choice, his life just got horrible, He was showing us how he got involved with Satan years ago and had all these cuts on his wrists and chest and everything and how he feels like Christ had just abandoned him and he felt like he was just completely alone and lost.He told us that because of everything that had happened in his life he feels like God doesn't love him and that he has no purpose and will never receive forgiveness, and that at that very instant, was walking to the bridge mentioned early, to jump off and end it all.

As we talked with him, we sat him down and helped him out. He was 100% set on doing it at first, because he wanted to just commit suicide and end it all. We talked and shared some scriptures and he turns out to just be this absolutely amazing and hilarious guy named Lorenzo. He's a prince of somewhere (he is Italian although) and he is an heir the the Romanov family. We talked with him on a bench for about an hour or so and it was just amazing to see how much his attitude and everything changed, we read some scriptures that struck so powerfully in his heart that it made him cry. He said he knew the church was true and wants to take all the lessons again, get his life back in line, and to be baptized! It was absolutely incredible, if we had left even a minute later he would have been dead, but we were placed right in his path and actually saved a life. And he wants to get baptized as well! How cool is that! Plus he is the funniest man I have ever met in my life! It was so awesome!

Well that's definitely the highlight of the week! I have to get going now tho but I will write more for next week! I'm sure there will be much more to write! ha. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all! ciao ciao!

Anziano Bolnick

On to Verona

Week 6 has already come!

So there is a lot to talk about this week! There has been so much going on!! I'll do my best to get everything in! So we had an awesome week in church this time! We saw a couple of less actives and are trying some new things with them to help them come back to church, and all the ones we saw came this week! It was really cool! Then we also had some of our investigators in church which was awesome too! I'm super stoked for them all! Me and my companion had to give talks this week, too, on short notice but it was all right! And Sunday was also the clearest day it's been since we've been here! We were able to see all the mountains and everything. It's so beautiful! I think that was definitely part of all of our success for the day. So then in the afternoon there was the baptism of a little girl in our ward which was awesome, and afterward we had an appointment with a new contact named Samuel who is awesome! The first thing he told us was that he hadn't been baptized and hes been looking for the right church to do it with. And the whole lesson as we were explaining the restoration he was so fascinated and was asking tons of questions and was super excited! We invited him to baptism at the end and he accepted! So it was an awesome day!

Then on Monday night, we went to go see one of our less actives, who has a 10 year old daughter that isn't baptized yet because the Mom didn't want her to, and we talked with them and we set a baptismal date for the daughter too! Her name is Cristina, and the Mom is totally down for it now! So we got a reactivation and a new member coming along which is awesome!

We also had another great district meeting last week. I really love being with this district! I've learned so much from them all and I have had some really good spiritual experiences with them as well! But, unfortunately I will not be staying with them any more! I will be going to Verona now to be a zone leader. Our whole district is changing haha there is not one companionship that is staying the same. It's weird. But I'm stoked! Ive been to Verona and it's a really pretty city! My companion will be Anziano Anderson, and he's in the group above me and he's awesome, too. So I'm way stoked! And, Anziano Glowa will be my new district leader over there. Sorella Smith will also be joining us in the district, so I get to stay with some of the same people still which is awesome!

Anyway that's about the most important parts of the week, I'm short on time tho so I have to get going. Hope all of you have a great week! Take care!

Photos:
Explanation of Torino
Torino Water Fountain
My district
Paramount Mountains

May 4, 2011

Man it has been a crazy few weeks! There has been quite a bit going on! Last week was super busy!

So let me first talk a little bit about Torino. It is the ghetto. Period. Haha it's crazy but it's way fun-- it definitely spices things up a little bit. We have a really pretty view from our balcony. We can see the hills and the mountains from the paramount movie logo (well at least when it's a clear day) and it's pretty! It's really nice because the church is literally right behind our house!

So white washing is crazy too, there was still basically no one so we had to start it all over. There were these two guys with baptismal dates, one named Michael.We hadn't even heard from him. There is also this other crazy guy named Fabio who I'm pretty sure has something wrong with him (ha) so we're not even sure he can get baptized. But we'll see what happens. We need to find out more about him. So those were our investigators when we got here. There were 2 baptismal dates, and because we dropped one, there was only one. So, now, we have 6. :) so let me just say we've been a little blessed haha.

So it all started on our first day here. We got a referral from a less active lady. It's her sister who has been having some family problems and wanted us to go over and bless her house or something. She said she knew that we had something special and knew we could help. So we go in to this sketchy looking apartment to see this lady we've never met, thinking she's probably kind of crazy, when it turns out to be this beautiful, humble amazing family! They've definitely been having some problems, especially with their son, but I wont go into details. It's a family that is just falling apart and is one of the lowest parts of their life. We asked if they could have one thing for their family in this time what it would be, and they said more faith, which is not a normal answer. So we talked for a little and explained the atonement and the power it has to help each and every one of us, and they said they were willing to do whatever it takes to strengthen their family.

So we had a cool lesson, went back the next day and found some more stuff out, talked a little more and what not. Then, the scambio (exchange) miracles start coming out. Anziano Glowa and I from Montreal Canada (He knows Trisha Fletcher) had one of the best exchanges I've been on.

We meet up and talk a little bit about our day and what not, and I explain to him the lesson with the family, but we didn't really talk about what we were going to do. We were basically unprepared (not good?) haha. So anyway we teach a couple lessons, then we go to this family, planning to talk about the book of Mormon and watch the restoration film. It was such an amazing lesson! For not being prepared, we just completely followed the spirit, we were just going off of each other, bearing testimony, promising blessings, finding out who they are and telling them what they need to hear, it was so cool!

And the cool thing is that we incorporated the restoration in with it and it made it even more powerful! In the end we invited them to be baptized (just the husband and wife) and they both accepted! They are such cool people and seriously need help right now. It's cool that we happened to meet them for the first time-- our first day haha. It was awesome.

So that night we finish up, and then the morning we have another appointment with the newlywed husband of another less active member. Yet again, we had planned something totally different because we didn't know the guy, and we just followed the spirit and changed it up, and set a baptismal date with him as well! So we set 3 dates alone in less than 24 hours before we even re-exchanged it was way cool.

We had a lot of fun on the scambio, too. Anziano Glowa and I get along super well. So anyway, Guisi and Pompeo, and Max are these 3 new dates. THEN on Monday, we have an appointment with this guy we talked to on the street named Tokumbo, from Nigeria, and we set a date with him as well! My comp was super stoked because he had missed out on the other 3. So we set one with him, then after lunch we go to teach this referral that was a guy the sisters in my district had been teaching that had moved up to Torino, and we ended up setting yet another date with, yes, Elvis Presely. hahaha. That is legit. That's his real name haha, and he's from Guinea.. It was a super awesome week and those are now our investigators! 60 hours of knocking doors the first week finally payed off haha.

So that's the investigators, but there's also a little news about our district. It is so cool! We have the biggest district in the mission, 10 people, 2 companionship's of sisters, and 3 of elders. Its HUGE! But it is so cool! The past 2 district meetings I've had have been the best of my whole mission. They have just been super strong. At the first one, all we did was talk about our miracles and problems with investigators and what not. I didn't get to do any of my trainings or anything, but it was the strongest and most helpful meeting of my life ha, it was so cool! Everyone was just helping each other out and bearing super strong testimony and it helped everyone, it was a little different than normal but it was so great! Then a couple days ago was really good too. I absolutely love everyone in my district! They are all so great! I'm super grateful to be able to work with these people!

So that's about the most of what's been going on lately, and I'm almost out of time so I better get going. I hope you all have a wonderful week and a happy Mothers Day!

Arrivederci!

Week 2 in Little Bull! (Torino)

This was a pretty sweet week. We found a couple of new investigators that are pretty cool! We had a really cool lesson with this guy named Jose and our Ward Mission leader. This ward works so well with the missionaries that it's amazing! We also set our first Baptismal date. Lucky! We had a lesson and talked about the Book of Mormon and he said he knows without a doubt that it is true and accepted to being Baptized. So, his date for now the May 14. Hopefully, everything goes well. We have a bunch of really cool people we're working with as well, so I'll give you another update once there is more progress.
In church this last week, we did a "missionary sacrament" where all the missionaries and the ward mission leader talked. We also talked about Christ. The sisters talked about his birth, the zone leaders did atonement. It was very cool. I'm stoked for Easter! They get pretty intense here in Italy, with huge chocolate eggs and colombo cakes- it's a big holiday. Then they have an Easter Monday where everyone goes out for picnics and BBQs and such. I can't believe I was in the MTC for last Easter! Time goes by so fast!

Sunday the night, the assistants (Anzianoa Gray and Mangrum) came to do an exchange and then on Monday morning we did a culture run. It was cool, but I was dead! We were running fast from our apartment to centro area and saw all the big things like the huge palace and castles and the duomo. We also saw the mole, which is a huge building in Torino: an icon. It's like France's Eiffel Tower.
We then drove up to Alessandria for interviews with the President- that was sweet, too.
Anyway, there isn't too much else to write about. I love the city! My comp is doing real well--he's a stud! We're all going to go play soccer or frisbee today, which is going to be so much fun. Anyway, spero che tutto vada bene per tutti voi!! Vi voglio bene e mi mancate tutti! Spero di sentirvi presto!

Brian

Photos: The Duomo, The Castle, The Bull-Symbol of Torino, The Mole

Torino!

Hello from Torino!

I'm sorry but I have to be quick today!

Torino is awesome!! It is HUGE! My companion and I have been getting lost a lot! It's so much fun! We have been doing so much work these last couple days. I am super exhausted haha. My comp is Anziano Wilkins from Idaho and he's a baller! He speaks pretty well already and has a super strong testimony! We taught this guy named Lucky (cool name right?) and he just tore it up it was a sweet lesson though!

So, we're in an apartment with 4 others-- the zone leaders and us: Anziano Kober from Austria, and Anziano Jenson from Texas. They're both way cool too! We have a lot of fun. In my district it's the four of us and 2 companionships of sisters as well so its pretty big! It's awesome though.

So Domingo from Pavia was supposed to be baptized last Sunday, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Why you might ask? Well, it was definitely not from his part. The ward mission leader is supposed to set everything up for baptisms: the font, program and what not. The baptism was supposed to be at 830 on Sunday before church. The anziani they were supposed to get there with Domingo at 8:20-ish. There was not a single person there: no font, no program, nothing. The ward mission leader completely just dropped the ball. So Domingo has to wait until next week to be baptized, the poor guy. That's a pretty big error on his part! But the important thing is that he's still getting baptized so that's good!
Anyway, I should probably get going now. I want you all to know that I love you and thank you for all your support! I hope you have a great week and I'll write back next week! Ciao tutti!

Anziano Bolnick

Transferrrrrrs.....where is anziano bolnick going???

Well, I will be going to...WAIT FOR IT...WAIT FOR IT... Torino! I'll be opening a companionship, training, and I will be the district leader! It's going to be awesome! I've had a couple of companions that have served in Torino (Anziano Neff started there) and they all have loved it. The pictures look awesome- so I'm stoked! It'll be pretty hard because we're starting at absolutely 0 for work and I'll be training at the same time -ha- so it'll be interesting- but we'll just light up the city like we've been doing here at Pavia! Since I'm training I don't know who my companion is yet, or anything about him. I will pick him up and head over to Torino tomorrow, so I'll let you know everything next week!

So this past week was great! Last p-day we were in Milano. It was Anziano Neff's first time, so we went to see some things. We went out with Anziano Poulson and Cluff (Milano 3 Missionaries) and Anziano Poulson is going home tomorrow, so he's pretty trunky haha -it was funny. It was a sweet day though, and just beautiful weather. At the duomo there are many Africans that put bracelets on your wrist and then ask you for money. There are also Arabs that try to put bird seed in your hands so thousands of pigeons come and chill on your arm and eat the seeds (gross). We all got out alive, but poor Anziano Neff got caught behind -haha- they sucked him in he and had hundreds of pigeons on him -haha- he was freaking out! We got some pictures!It was a relaxing day, too.

And then there was conference as well! It was soo cool! I'm going to have to say the best part was President Monson's shout out for the Rome temple! haha we were all going crazy as he was speaking it was soo cool! I am so stoked for that temple!! Conference was great tho, we didn't get to see the last session on Sunday because of the time change but I'm sure that was awesome, too! I was kind of upset to miss Anziano Holland speak, but it's ok- we'll get the liahona soon!

In other news, Domingo passed the baptismal interview and will be getting baptized on Sunday! He wanted me to baptize him, but since I wont be there, Anziano Neff is going to do it again! It'll probably be a little easier this time for him tho haha Domingo isn't as big as Gianluca- haha. We're way stoked for him too! Something else cool that happened was with Lourdes. She has had problems coming to church because she's a nurse and works all the time, but she said she wants to come and have Sundays free, but it's impossible because they never get Sundays off. So we talked about fasting with her and fasted together so she could have Sundays free (or at least freer) and she got her schedule a few days later and guess what, 3 out of 4 Sundays were completely free! That's just how God works -haha- it was so awesome. We're way stoked for her, too.

Well I'm kind of sad to have to leave Pavia. I really fell in love with this city. I said bye to a bunch of members last night and it was kind of hard! There are so many people I love here and I'll definitely miss them! I worked hard though and we helped the city so I'm glad I'm leaving on a good note! Now it's time to bring the heat to Torino! We're going to have about 5 baptisms this next transfer- I know it. Even if we have to find all the people, meet the ward, get to know the city, and do everything else in between haha it's going to be so much fun! I hope you all know that I love this gospel and I know that it's true with all my heart! There is so much joy and satisfaction that each and everyone of us can experience and it's amazing to see the influence of the gospel in the lives of others. All can be healed through the atonement of Christ. I love you all and am so thankful for all your help and support!! Vi voglio tanto bene!

Until next week,

Anziano Bolnick

March 30, 2011

Sorry this one is gonna be way short! So, Gianluca was baptized and confirmed Sunday! The water was freezing so he was freaking out a little bit, plus he was a little nervous.But after the baptism he was so calm and peaceful and couldn't stop talking about how happy he was. He got up to bear his testimony in church and talked about the liahona and how we all need to have one in our life and always have the right faith to follow the spirit. The members were all shocked haha it was great!

We also set another baptismal date this week! His name is Daniel and hes from Togo. He met with the missionaries in the past and really liked everything. He then got sick and had to go to his country for a bit. We lost contact with him, but he kept reading the Book of Mormon and praying and everything and then the other day I felt like I should stop him on the street. We set up an appointment and the first day set a date with him! So we lost 1 date (which is AWESOME! haha) thanks to a baptism, and picked up another one! It's so sweet!

Well transfers are next week so I'll let you know what's happening with me! My guess is I'm going out, but it is also kinda possible that I stay with everything that's been going on here so we'll see! Anyway I gotta get going. Have a a great week everyone! Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Bolnick

Transfers on the way!

It's been a pretty sweet week here in Pavia! We've been facing a lot of difficulties, but seeing a lot of success on the other hand!

We've been doing a good amount of finding work and basically haven't found anyone over the past week. It's been pretty tough. BUT! We set another baptismal date! His name is Domingo! He is awesome, too...We took a member to a lesson we had with him and the member was shocked by how much this guy already new about the gospel just reading through the bible. We had a super strong and spiritual lesson and set a date with him for the 10th of April! He's doing real well, too. We went to see him a few days ago, and he said he is quitting his job as a DJ because the things that go on in his club are not good for him and against the Gospel, which we never even thought to talk to him about or ask him. Ha- it's crazy!

Gianluca is also doing really well! His baptism should be this Sunday, but they're doing it before church, which is kind of stupid, so it has to be at 8:30 in the morning ha but that's ok because the important thing is he's getting baptized!

Gerard, Simona, and Lourdes are also doing pretty good. We're helping them in every way we can!

So yesterday we had Zone Conference, which was sweet, It's always a sweet super spiritual boost-- ha it's so awesome. I always learn so much! We always sing our mission hymn too which is soo cool! I have a video of it I'll try to get sent somehow because it's seriously way cool!

So not too much else has been going on this week. We've just been working hard to get everyone staying on the right path and progressing. So even tho we haven't had tons of luck finding people. We've seen huge progress with those we do have. We have about 7 or 8 investigators right now that are progressing, and 5 of them have a baptismal date. Hopefully we'll be losing one this week- although ;) haha we'll be gaining a new convert! I'm so stoked for him. He has made some pretty big sacrifices for the Gospel: he quit smoking, drinking tea, coffee etc...It's amazing how the power of a testimony can bring people so far and help them to overcome any sort of trouble. I know that one can not truly come to an understanding or comprehension of the atonement of Christ, until actually living and experiencing its healing and helping power. That is the greatest gift that we all have here on the Earth and I know that we can do anything through it.

Well, a cool scripture for the week is Nehemia 6:3.

For those who don't know the story, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the wall surrounding it was completely broken. Nehemiah knew the importance of reconstructing the wall because he knew what it meant to the Lord and the construction of his Kingdom, So he began to rebuild the wall. As he was in the process of building it, he says this:

"And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"

He knew the importance of building the wall. Nehemiah had rebuilt the entire wall is 52 days. The entire wall. Because He knew what it meant, and he knew how important it was. He wasn't going to stop, not for anything. I am doing a great work, so that i cannot come down. Why should the work cease whilst i leave it to come down to you. Like Nehemiah, I know how important this work is. I know that I am also partaking of building up the kingdom of God, and like Nehemiah, I will not come down. I will not stop. I will go until every person on the earth has heard the "good news," until they have felt of the spirit and accepted the Gospel. This work is so important, And I can never back down. None of us can. Because of Nehemiah's faith, he built the whole wall of Jerusalem in 52 days, a project that would take years. With faith we can do ANYTHING. We just can never stop trying.

Well, I better get going now, We have a lot to do today. I hope all is well for all of you wherever it is you are in the world, i pray for you all and hope the best for you! Statemi bene!

Anziano Bolnick

March 15, 2011

Buongiorno!

So I'm real short on time this week so I'll try to make it quick!

It's been a great week! We had Stake conference again last Sunday and i got to see a bunch of members and new converts from Merate. It was way cool! The stake president gave a really good talk to the members about helping with missionary work. He invited them all to pray specifically by name for the two or four missionaries in their cities so after the conference all the members came running up to us to write down our names haha it was funny. It was nice to see that they listened tho, the members here can be pretty lazy sometimes ha but hey, that's Italy for ya!

So we got to do another scambio this week. Anziano Poulson in Milano came down here and Anziano Neff, who is on his 3rd transfer, was with Anziano Cluff, who is on his 3rd week haha so they had no idea how to get around Milano or to speak or anything so I'm sure that was interesting. It seems like they did pretty well tho. We taught Gianluca again and we had his baptismal interview right after and he passed perfectly! He's fun to teach because he already knows so much about the doctrines and stuff so he always has these awesome space/deep doctrine questions. The first Sunday he came to church he was like I read the whole book of Mormon and I know about the prophets and how Brigham Young took part in the building of the Salt Lake temple and that there were all these people trying to stop the construction and so on so forth ha so we were just like, who are you? haha. He's awesome tho and he's so ready for his baptism! We taught him again yesterday and went over the program for his baptism and everything. It was funny because he doesn't really know the hymns so when he was choosing them he was trying to find ones on topics like pioneers, the book of Mormon, Brigham Young, and other things haha. He asked me to confirm him and Anziano Neff to baptize him! That will be a funny sight haha. Gianluca is a BIG guy he's like 6'5 or so and Anziano Neff is a little smaller so we'll see how it goes. His baptism should be next week! I'm So stoked for him!

In other news, We finally set a baptismal date with Lourdes! She's been reading the book of Mormon a ton and praying about it and she's feeling more and more that its true so she accepted a date! She's preparing for the 10th of April! We're way excited for her too! She was a little down this past week because she couldn't hear from her family (in Peru) and had no idea if the tsunami had hit there as well so she was a little worried but we helped her through that. She finally got a hold of them so everything's all good now!

The weather has been crappy this past week, cold and rainy. Luckily our heater finally works now so there aren't too many problems. Oh and the church is getting us a new apartment! Even tho by the time we move in I'll probably be gone since this is already my 4th transfer here, but we got to go see it the other day and its pretty nice! It's a little small but pretty! Its got a cool balcony and everything too so it looks pretty legit.

Simona and Gerard are still doing good, We've been having a little trouble seeing Gerard lately because he's been super busy but he's still progressing, so he's doing well! The work here is going super well! I kind of would like to stay in Pavia for another transfer so I can see most of these people get baptized and see the success from the work we've been doing but I think my time is about up here. So, we'll see. Conference is in a couple weeks again tho I can't believe it's already been six months! I'm so stoked! Conference is awesome! For those watching- make sure you have questions before it! Anziano Kopischke of the seventy challenged us to think of any kind of question before any sort of meeting (even church) and he said that if we pray about it, we'll be guaranteed to receive the answer. I'm at the point now where I don't believe that will happen. I KNOW it will- haha. I've done it for church, district meetings, zone conferences, whatever it is, and EVERY time i get the answers to my questions. It's awesome!

Well I better get going now, Hope you all are having a great week!

Alla Prossima!

Anziano Bolnick

Transfer 8 week 2!

Well, not too much for this week honestly! Plus we got a lot to do today so I'll make this one a little shorter, sorry!

So last week was the start of Carnevale ( a popular holiday here, i think its for the beginning of lent?) and we had a party in church on Friday, it was pretty fun but kinda lame at the same time ha. We had a couple investigators show up which was cool, hopefully they had fun. Sunday after church we went to a members house with Gerard and ate fou fou again- haha Anziano Neff was a little surprised at it. They had these peppers that were soooooooo hot haha, i probably lost a couple pounds just tasting one of them ha. That's was fun tho, Gerard is doing pretty good. Monday we had district meeting and the assistants were telling us that we had one of the best weeks recorded in the mission- ha- according to the amount of new investigators and lessons we taught and everything so that was pretty cool!

Monday we did an exchange with the Milano Anziani, and I was with Anziano Giove, he had just been transferred up there about a week ago, it was pretty fun. Right afterward tho yesterday they got a call from president and there is a missionary that is going home for some reason so Anziano Giove is going to take his spot in Merate! So Anziano Poulson (the missionary that's still in Milano) is getting another guy who is on his first transfer that also wanted to go home but decided to give it another chance, so he'll be training again ha. This will be the 4th missionary he's trained haha (that's a lot!).

Our investigators are doing well, we had a good lesson with Gianluca yesterday. We told him about the importance of coming to church yesterday and what it means for his baptism and how important it is that he tries to come every week, and he stood up in a super epic moment, took out his pack of cigarettes and smashed them , said "I am quitting. I am doing what i can to be baptized" then threw the cigarettes away. it was super cool. So hes doing really well.

Well, i gotta get going, sorry for the short update. Things are going great tho! Until next week!


Io

March 3, 2011

Well today is the official one-year mark. It honestly doesn't seem like it at all, it doesn't even feel like I've been here for 6 months and yet I'm half way done. I cant believe how fast time goes! Anyway this last week was great! There's a lot to write about this week- haha.

So I'll start with transfers. Dropped Anziano Wiederholt off and he headed home, and picked up my new comp- Anziano Neff-- he's from Salt Lake and lived by Jordan so he knows most of my friends. He's on his 3rd transfer and he's a baller! He's still struggling with the language, but he's working real hard with it! Anyway we've been working way hard since he's been here, and we've seen a lot of success! We have a high vision for this transfer and I know we're gonna be able to accomplish it!

So his first day here, we got to see this young new family, the Realis, they're awesome! There's Paola and Alessandro, and they have a one year old named Lucia, they're soo cool! They said they were going to try to come to church this Sunday so were hoping for them! Then that same night we were doing casa and these students opened up and we talked with them at the door for a little bit and they invited us over for dinner another day and we could all talk-- I love food, so I agreed instantly haha. It was three girls that we talked to and they said they would invite a couple of their friends as well, so we were stoked for that. I'll get to what happened with that later!

The next day we had an appointment scheduled with Simona in the morning, and she called us to cancel. 5 minutes later she calls back asking if we could do her shopping for her because there is some good place with good deals but the people there are mean or something, so she didn't want to go in. I don't really know why, but anyway she asked us if we could do it for her and we told her of course because a little service never hurts anyone. So she tells us to meet her at the carrefour, that's the name of the store, so we go to the one close by and wait there for a little bit. We go inside and grab an ad so she can tell us what she wants, and we wait longer.

After a little while, she calls us asking where we are and she tells us that we are at the wrong one, and that she was at the carrefour near Eurospin- another grocery store right by our house, so we go to the carrefour thing that is near our house and do the exact same thing as we had done before, only to receive another call from her. At this point it had been about an hour and a half or so, waiting for buses and what not. So she tells us that she's at one that's not even in Pavia, so were like great, what do we do? We had already wasted a good amount of time and we hadn't even gotten to do anything yet so we were like ok, we'll still come help you just have to wait for us to get there.

So we wait about a half hour more for a bus to come then FINALLY get to the right one, grab the ad thing and walk around the store for about 10 or 15 minutes while she marks the things she wants. When we go back, she's pointing to what she wants and then says that we have to spend a certain amount of money and buy all these complicated phone cards and refills and shenanigans that I don't even know. So i just acted like I understood and we commenced the voyage to get all her things. We walked around the store for about an hour waiting in line and getting everything that she wrote down while she's calling us every 10 minutes to see where we are. Then we finally get out of the store and give her the stuff (we just didn't buy the other complicated things she wanted because we had no idea what to do. It was some Italian thing that they don't have in America, so we were lost and didn't wanna mess that up). She got mad at us for not getting everything right. Its a good thing I've learned patience in the mission- haha. Anyway, that was how we wasted a good amount of morning time -trying to help one of our baptismal dates, but it's ok because we were blessed for it...

Monday, we reaped the rewards! We taught a bunch of lessons and found some new investigators, then we went to the dinner thing with the students. There were 9 other people there and us. They're all part of some Catholic thing and were interested to hear what we have to say. So the entire time throughout dinner they're all completely focused on us while we try explaining the restoration and our message. Poor Anziano Neff is still having some problems understanding and talking in Italian, so I did most of the talking. But it was SO Cool! We taught a super powerful lesson about the restoration, then a couple more people came and we taught a second one even stronger and then taught about the book of mormon.

We gave them all a copy of it and promised them that if they read it and sincerely asked God if it were true, that He would answer them. There were about 12 people or so in the room and after we had born our testimonies it was just completely dead silent and I know that the spirit pierced the heart of everyone in that room. They were all open to trying and seeing because they had seen how much it meant to us and how its helped us in our lives. We set up another appointment with them and committed them to coming to church. That day we had 10 new investigators. The standard of excellence (which is high as it is) is 5 new investigators a week, we doubled it in a day :) It was awesome. They're all about 22 or 23 I'd say and I don't even remember there names haha. But I'll let ya know once we find out more!

So we recently started doing service at a soup kitchen kinda thing called the caritas, and its way cool! We basically help prepare food, serve it, and clean up afterward, the food is all free and is given to whoever comes to the place. It's way fun and a great way to help people! It definitely brings a great joy to your life when you help others! Especially those who are in need more than others.

Yesterday we also had a leadership training which was awesome! They announced a few rules like we can no longer take culture days, or write to other people than immediate family for emails, but it all makes perfect sense and I agree with them completely! This time is so short that we have as missionaries. Its ONLY 2 years. I wish it were so much longer. I know that I need to give everything possible to fulfill my purpose and to help others come unto Christ and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to do so, because I've seen the great blessings and rewards that come from sacrifice as it is. people change, they better their lives, they come unto Christ. And that's what brings the greatest of joy.

It's just like the sons of mosiah in the book of mormon, their faith was so strong and they knew so surely of their purpose- to being souls unto Christ- that they were willing to do anything to make it possible: " E abbiamo sofferto ogni sorta di afflizioni, e tutto ciò per poter forse essere il mezzo per salvare qualche anima; e noi supponemmo che la nostra gioia sarebbe stata completa se fossimo forse potuti essere il mezzo per salvarne qualcuna." (alma 26:30) They were willing to die, to help their bretheren come unto their redeemer. Whatever it took. Because they knew that there message was so important. And that message is the exact same one that i talk about here today in Italy, and it still has the EXACT same importance, and i, like them, am willing to do whatever it takes to help them. Sacrifice brings the greatest blessings. Sacrifice comes by dedication, and dedication comes through faith. And with faith, ANYTHING is possible. This is absolutely the greatest experience i have ever had in my life, and It brings tears to my eyes that the hourglass has been flipped for the last time. I love my mission. And I know that what im doing here is greater than anything else that will ever exist in this world. Their are many ways in life, but the right way is the way of Christ, and i "rejoice exceedingly" when i see others taking that way.

Anziano Neff and I are working harder than i ever have in my life and i know that were going to see great blessing come from it, we set a high vision and i know were going to accomplish it. Our other investigators are doing great, Gianluca, Lisette, and Gerard are still preparing for baptism, and I hope that i can see the effect the spirit has on all of them while I'm still here, I'll keep you updated tho with what goes on with all them as well as the other investigators! Until then, statemi bene!

Alla prossimo,

Anziano Bolnick

One Year!

Long week! There was a lot of cool things that happened this week! So first off, we got to set another baptismal date with Lisette. Her date now is for march 20th. Hopefully she can get everything cleared up in time for that! We also found this way cool family, they have a daughter that's a year old and they lived in America for a while so they speak English and everything! Were really hoping to get something going with them! We have our first real appointment with them tomorrow! Hopefully everything goes well!


So this Saturday we got to take a culture day because its Anziano Wiederholt's last transfer, and we went to Verona! It was SO cool! Its such a sweet city! It's where Romeo and Juliet takes place, So we got to see the real balcony thing, which is pretty cool,and Juliet's house which has tons of antique stuff inside and a statue of her that apparently if you touch her in a certain spot, it's good luck -haha. And there are walls and tons of things where little lovers and can write their names and all that good stuff. There's also the tomb of Juliet - which we didn't get to see, so there's a lot from the story. I had no idea that there was that much stuff before we got there. There's also a Colosseum like the one in Rome, which was way cool too. There was a school group or something with an English-speaking teacher and he was explaining all about it and the gladiators and stuff so we snuck over and listened in- haha. He said within the first couple weeks of it opening, they had like 30,000 gladiators fight and 10,000 of them died. And tons of other cool stuff, like they would sometimes fill the arena with water and have ship battles and alligators and all sorts of stuff.I guess it's a good thing that entertainment has changed a little bit- haha. Then there was a tower you could go to that looks over the whole city. which was really cool. There were parts of an ancient theatre, as well, that we saw, too. I took some really cool pics from there. The entire day I took about 275 photos ha, there was so much to take pictures of! So it was us and the Anziani from Milano 3, Anziano Poulsen, and Balzo who's Italian. Then Brendan Foley came with us as well- since we got permission which was way cool too! We had to wake up at 4:15 in the morning, walk for a half hour to the train station because there was no bus, and then we got home at about midnight- I was DEAD at the end of the night. But it was way fun. It was cool, too, because I had been praying that we would have a nice day and not crappy weather, and it was so nice that I was walking around in a short sleeve shirt! It was great!

So we got transfer calls the other day! Anziano Wiederholt is going home, obviously, and Anziano Neff is coming into Pavia. I don't know who he is though. He's apparently pretty young in the mission. I'll get more info next time tho! It's weird to have a companion going home. And I cant believe I hit my year mark next week! Time is going by so fast! The last year is even faster too, it still feels like there's so much to do and I love being here so much I don't want to go home ha!

This last Sunday we had a really cool thing happen. This random guy just showed up in church. We talked to him and i guess he had stopped by the church some months ago to grab a book of Mormon because he heard we have them here to give out. He went home, read the whole thing, and actually followed what Moroni asks in the end about praying to know the truth, and did so and said that he feels like he received an answer. So he came to church. He had been searching through different religions, the last one he tried following krishna like the Indian kinda stuff, but he couldn't do it and felt it wasn't right so he went on the internet to look around and found our church! He knows like everything about it haha- it's way cool. We set a baptismal date with him yesterday as well for the 20th, so we know have 4 dates set! Simona, Gerard, Lisette, and now Gianluca! I'm way stoked! Its amazing the miracles you see here on the mission. And I know that I wouldn't be able to see anything even close to it if I wasn't here, because I know that this is the work of the Lord and that I'm helping His children. I know that this is the most important thing that any of these people will ever hear and I'm so glad I get to help in bringing it to them. Through the gospel, these people can be together with their families, not only for a lifetime, but forever. I'm soo grateful for the restoration of the church and i know with all my heart it's true, there's absolutely no way it cant be, it's just too perfect! And that's because is guided by Christ :) The mission is soo cool!

Well that's about it for this week, We have transfers tomorrow so I go pick up my new guy and get him shown to Pavia! I'll let you know whats going on for this next week! Hope your all doing well!

Statemi bene! Vi voglio un mondo di bene!

a doppo

Anziano Bolnick