Carissimi miei (My dear)! It's a wonderful day to be alive, wouldn't you say?
Anziano Hansen with Pres. and Sorella Waddoups
Source: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=pescara%20to%20tiburtina
You have one of two options.
1) talk to the person you'll be sitting next to for the next 3 hours or
2) don't.
Pretty simple, no? Anyways, the past few times we've gone to Rome I've always been quiet because talking to people is hard and scary, especially when it's in a language you don't completely grasp yet. But this time I determined it would be different. So we get on the bus and I sit down next to a girl a guess what? Silence. I don't say anything for a solid hour. Why? Because I'm a wuss, obviously. It got to the point though where I though "aww why the heck not let's just do it" so I said "scusa, tu sai quale citta รจ questa (sorry, you know what town this is)?" Probs didn't even say it right, but those words led to an awesome conversation and an extremely awkward selfie which I am debating to send or not. But yes! Alessia is 22, she loves leading scouts, reading Harry Potter, going hiking, reading various other books, movies, her boyfriend, volleyball (not soccer for some reason that I just can't comprehend. I mean you live in Italy! You have to love it!(but apparently not)), and speaking English! She spoke English while I spoke Italian, and it was hilarious. She'd mess up, I'd correct her. I'd mess up, she'd correct me. Hahaha it was fun. And I made a friend! Who knew it could be so easy, eh? In the end, I was able to exchange numbers with her so we'll hopefully contact her in the future. The one thing I wished I'd done though more than anything is shared my testimony. I felt like I should, but I didn't. Who knows what might've happened if I did? What do any of us know will happen if we share our testimonies? For all we know, one person (and not just one person. Including them, their family, their future family, and many generations to come) could be blessed because of it. That's reason enough to open our mouths, don't you think? Just something to remember next time you feel prompted to share your testimonies!
Continuing. So we got off the bus and went our different ways. We get off at Tiburtina and from there take a metro to get to Rome, and while we were walking to the metro, guess who called? Anziano Taranto! He's one of the assistants, and he's literally one of my favorite people in the mission. Why? You'll see. It's late at this point (9 ish), but he calls and asks if we want pizza. We tell him we don't have money for it, but he says "anziani, I didn't ask if you had money. I asked if you wanted pizza." HOW BOUT THIS GUY, EH? Anyways we eventually get to our stop, get picked up by Anziano Jorgensen and Anziano Borner, go to the house, practice the song for a bit, eat pizza (grazie a Anziano Toranto), and go to sleep. The next morning we get up, do studies, and head to the Rome 2 church for specialized training.
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
We were first taught by Sorella McPheters on charity. Who, why, and how. It was awesome! Then the zone leaders instructed us on retaining investigators and commitment invitations. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Both Anziano Cowden and I are wondering whether we should keep teaching some of the people we are teaching or no, and this was super helpful for us. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the future with what we took away. After that we had a few tiny announcements and then Anziano Jorgensen and I sang our song
while Anziano Cowden, my comp, played the guitar.
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
We sang "I Need Thee Every Hour",
and while it def wasn't the best, it was far from terrible. Don't know about anyone else, but I felt the spirit! ...or you know, it might've just been my shaking legs, who knows. Let's just go with the spirit, aye? Good plan. After that, president and Sorella Waddoups taught us about being grateful and about counting blessings. To do this, they used beads.
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/lesson-from-beads.html
We all made bracelets,
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
and afterwards, they talked about now each bead is a blessing.
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
In this way, we all have a unique set of blessings. Also, the blessings never end. We made a few other comparisons as well. Our blessings are different than others, but does that make them any less valuable? No! Would we probably make a different bracelet next time? Maybe. Life changes, and so do blessings, but we adjust. That, among other things, is what we took away from it.
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
At the end, because it's our last meeting with them, they bore their testimonies and afterwards we all said goodbye.
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
Bittersweet. I know I haven't known them for very long, but I've learned loads from them already. But I am happy for their opportunity to go be with their families again,
Photo source: http://romeitalymission.blogspot.com/2016/06/rome-east-specialized-training.html
And wow. Ascoli is AWESOME.
Bridge over a river, Ponte Di Cecco, Ascoli Piceno, Marches, Italy
It's a more mountainous region, and it's older than Rome. Pretty cool, eh? We got there pretty late, so we ate dinner and then went to sleep. We got up and ate breakfast, did studies, and then I went with Anziano Friedman for the day
Anziani Hansen e Friedman
while Anziano Cowden went with Anziano Anderson. It was a super good day! We first walked to go print off some flyers and on the way, I got to see a bit of Ascoli. It's wayyyy different from Pescara. It's a lot smaller, yes, but it's also older. The buildings are ancient (literally) and the scenery is completely different. Heck we were walking around and heard drums and I asked what they were for and Anziano Friedman said they're practicing to play in a jousting tournament in two weeks. A JOUSTING TOURNAMENT. You'd never see anything like that in Pescara. After that we went to go see a member who they're trying to prepare for the temple. I never realized how truly blessed I was to live in an area with a temple in ever direction. Here, it's either wait for the Rome temple, or go to
Switzerland,
Swiss Temple
(Photo source:https://www.lds.org/bc/content/church/temples/bern-switzerland/images/bern-switzerland-808x480-CU090819_dcm01alt2.jpg)
which is really difficult for most people. It was a really good lesson though. After that, we went and got some stuff for lunch, then went back to the house and made it. Did some studies after that, and Anziano Friedman helped me start on subjunctive! Still don't completely understand when and how to use it, but it's a start, and that's better than nothing. After lunch and studied were over, we went to go see Alex, an 18 year old from Romania who's the only member of his family, and who's also moving back to Romania in a few days. He wants more than anything for his family to know what he knows, and he also really wants to go on a mission. My heart goes out to people like
him, and I hope all the good comes to him and his family in Romania. We then walked around a tiny bit in the light rain that was falling. Holy cow that place made me feel like I was in Harry Potter. All these tight, narrow, crooked, cobblestone alleyways with weird shops on either side in languages I can't understand haha.
It was super cool! Ascoli reminded me more of what I thought Italy would be like than Rome does, tbh. We also went into a duomo (cathedral) that was massive.
Creeped me out, actually.
One, it's huge.
Two, it was dim lighting.
Three, the emptiness.
Four, the creepy Latin prayer they were playing through some speakers.
Five, all the weird paintings and fake bodies they had.
Six, the crypt. Yes, they had a crypt, and we walked through it.
All in all though, I liked it! Creepy, but cool. We then went to see an investigating family and had a solid discussion with them about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it. We then went home, had a scambio (exchange) review, ate dinner, and went to bed.
Lately I've been feeling overwhelmed with the amount of things I need to do. I've recognized a lot of stuff I can do to become a better missionary, but it almost feels like it's too much to do. How can one
person make so much change? Is it even possible? I know I'm only a transfer and a half into my mission, but I feel like my time in Italy is going to fly by. In dealing with these thoughts, there's a few
principles I've found that helped me.
First, looking at the big picture. In Moses 1:39, God says that it is his work and his glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Heavenly Father's plan encompasses everything I have done and will ever do. It is perfect. My time on the mission isn't the only time I'll have to make progression, and I need to recognize that. I can continue to be a missionary after the mission too! Why am I stressed out when there's no need to be? I can begin progressing now, but I need to remember that it's a plan of eternal progression, not mortal progression. I'll have all my life and all the eternities afterwards to become the person I need to be.
Two, instead of asking for more, giving thanks for what I've been given and then going and doing his work with the faith that he will make up for what I lack. I sometimes feel as though I need to be
better to share the gospel. I need to have more courage, more faith. I need more knowledge and greater understanding. And I've sometimes stopped myself from sharing the gospel because of those things. What I need to realize though is that I can share the gospel even now. We don't need to wait until we're better go begin doing good things. Right now, I am trying to become a better missionary. But does that mean I'm not who God needs me to be in order to share this gospel? No! I am exactly where I need to be right now. That doesn't mean it's always where I will need to be, but in this moment, I am what God needs me to be. Not in the sense that I am perfect, but in the sense that I can dogood things now. He can work miracles through me now. I don't need to wait to be the vessel for his good tidings. Before I entered the MTC, one of my favorite people in the world, my older sister,
Sis. Anela Hansen with Pres. and Sis. Toronto
sent me this:
"In every decision, we can either choose Christ and exercise faith in
him and live, or we can give in to doubts and lies and be sad like Satan. Learning to show faith in every decision (whether it be the faith to be obedient and workout at 6:30 even when you're tired, the faith to talk to one more person on the street after a long day of rejection because you know the Lord provides a way, or the faith to believe that the Lord has called and IS qualifying and CAN use you TODAY) is a process and the best part is that we can just start where we are."
The rest of the week was pretty normal. Not much went on. In fact we didn't get a ton of stuff done in Pescara because we were gone for three days of the week. But still good! A few other little things that
went on: yup. Kitchen sink is still clogged. But we did have a family call us this week that wants us to teach them English! The rule here is that we can teach English, but we also have to teach the gospel. We mentioned that, and they said they're totally okay with us sharing the gospel with them! Also, Italy's been doing really well in the euros so far, and I couldn't be happier #forzagliazzuri! We also got lost this last week trying to find a man named Giuseppe. Getting lost is no fun when it's blazing hot outside. You know, just in case you didn't know. Almost bought a pair of super tight, lime green pants this past Monday. I was going to do it too until they told me it was €20 and not
€4 as the signs lead us to believe. Dang you, false advertisement. I've also decided I'll never live in a city where my schedule relies on buses, cause they're just not realizable yo.
Quote of the week: "I didn't go to England or America. I went to flippin' Ireland." - Alberto Marcone on what the difference is between accents in the English language.
So there you go! Hoping you all have a great week!
Smile, eh?
May the glory ever be to God.
Anz Hansen
No comments:
Post a Comment