And we're doing it in three! Yupppp. Hitting up that trio life with me, Anziano Martin, and Anziano Olsen!
Anyways. I have a few things to address. First, I feel like I need to start making my emails more simple. I was thinking about it this past week, and I realized it's either small plates or big plates. Either I talk a lot about the trivial things I've done, or I can focus on the stuff that really matters. Yes, I'm in Italy, and there's many beautiful things to talk about. But is that what really matters? Or is
it the things I learn from the spirit? The unique learning experiences? Am I glorifying this opportunity I've been given here in Italy, or am I glorifying the Lord?
With that in mind, here's the big things I learned this week!
- first, I decided to try something that I thought would be good for me. I got the idea that each day, I'd take a piece of paper around with me wherever I go. Throughout the day, I wrote whatever tiny
impressions came to my mind. If I felt like it was something worth writing down, I wrote it. I also reviewed everything I wrote down at the end of the day when I was writing in my journal. Ohhhhh boy the things you learn when you listen to the spirit. When Christ says his words are for those who have hears to hear, he's not joking. I also love a quote from preach my gospel (soz don't have time to find the exact one) that talks about how we keep sacred information or suggestions from the spirit shows Heavenly Father how we cherish it. For me personally, this is my way of showing him that I cherish his advice and want more. Find a way that works for you and do it!
- Along with that, there's a lot of things I've realized this last week, but there was one thing above all others that really got me. God loves me. He loves me, and I don't need to prove to him that I'm worthy of his love. I don't need to baptize every single person here. I don't need to talk to everyone on the street. I don't have to be a perfect missionary. That's something I've forgotten. It was such a
beautiful moment of recognition. It reminds me of what elder Holland said this past conference. "The first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us...that love is the foundation stone of eternity, and
it should be the foundation stone of our daily life."
I can personally witness that when we make the love of God the focus of our lives, it's so much easier to be happy. He loves us. Punto.
- Being humble. We can try to do things our way and we can fail, or we can do them God's way and succeed. I thought a lot about the song "be thou humble" yesterday. Be thou humble in thy weakness and the Lord thy God shall lead thee - shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers.
I was humble enough to ask him for help and tell him I'm ready to do it his way, and all I felt in response was "about time." In all honesty he's just waiting for when we accept him, so let's accept him as soon as possible, eh?
- I sometimes forget why I'm here. You might be thinking "what? You're a missionary! How could you ever forget that?!" But I don't mean I forget I'm a missionary. I forget why I'm here in the sense of my testimony. I remember opening my call and being so sure this is where I was meant to come.
I remember how strong my testimony was in the days leading up to leaving, and how much stronger it became while I was in the MTC, too. Out here though, it's easy to lose sight of that. But we went and saw the Pacella family this week in Chieti and before we went in, we decided that at one point or another we'd all just bear testimony of Christ. So we did, and it reminded me of why I came. This
gospel is true. God loves His children. It's because He loves us that He sent His son to suffer for all of us. Because His son suffered for us, we can overcome trials, be forgiven, and ultimately return to live
with God. That's the message I'm here to share, and it's also my testimony. Preach my gospel says to bear testimony frequently, and I now know why.
- Also! We started our member plan this week. We're going around trying to see all the members because we want to strengthen them and help them be ready for when God sends them missionary opportunities. That's why we went to the Pacellas! Doing this is 1) really good for my testimony and 2) it's helping me to love the people even more than I already do.
With Bro. Pacella
- That's another big one I came back to this week - love. I'm here because I love these people. Yeah sometimes it's hard, but what I've learned it's not really my love at all. It's the love of God. I of
myself am not good enough to love these people, but He is. Instead of trying to force myself to love them, I've started to allow the love of God to be the force behind me. While my love isn't great enough for all these people, His love most definitely is.
- Also, one of my favorite members this week said something that really got to me during his sacrament meeting talk yesterday. Can't translate it perfectly, but it was something along the lines of how "Jesus will come again, but we cannot wait until he comes to start beginning to know him. We must know him now. Today." I thought that was really profound. Just something to think about.
Here's a few small fun things to write about: PESCARA TIED WITH NAPOLI LAST NIGHT IN THEIR FIRST SERIE A GAME! Holy cow I was so happy! I thought Pescara was going to get wrecked! Also was up at three in the morning watching a fireworks show literally right across the street. That was fun. Hum. What else. Oh! I got to talk to anziano Ridd (an elder from my MTC district) today on the phone! LITTLE HAPPY MIRACLES!
There's thousands of other things I could write about, but I'll stop there for today haha. I really hope you all have awesome weeks. Vi voglio bene con tutto il mio cuore!
Che la gloria sia sempre a Dio
Anz Hansen
