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
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