Sis. Hansen home from her mission in Kazakhstan
Also, this is (most likely) my last full week with Anziano Cowden before my third transfer begins, so "episode" three is right around the corner! Exciting, no?
Ciao tutti! Hope you're all as happy as I am today! Also, happy Fourth of July to all you people in America!
Anyways, I'll get right to it.
First up: meeting the president! Let me just say how awesome that was. First off we had three zones (Rome East, Rome West, Napoli) all packed into the Rome 2 church, and the Rome 2 church really isn't that big. But we made it work!
Photo source: http://pickerdsitalyromemission.blogspot.com
Anyways, all of us were there early and literally two minutes before he walked in, we decided that when he did walk in, we'd all stand up and start singing the mission hymn. I'll include lyrics and a translation at the bottom. I'll be honest, it was one of the coolest moments of my life. There were around 60 ish missionaries, we were the first group he'd met, and this was the first time he'd seen any of us. And we sang it SO loud and SO well! The room was so full of the spirit that it was tangible. IT WAS AWESOME. And then we had a mini mission conference! The assistants taught about using commitments as a way to find those people who are ready for the gospel. In preach my gospel it talks about how we should rarely ever talk to someone without inviting them to action. RARELY. What does that mean? We need to be inviting everyone to action! And how easy is it? Easier than we think it is. Invite them to church! Invite them to accept a Book of Mormon! Invite them to meet missionaries! There's so many ways we can invite people to come unto Christ. And it doesn't have to be weird either. All we have to do is go out with a willingness in our hearts, a smile on our face, and a desire to help bring people to Christ. So long as we do that, the spirit will be there and he'll carry our message to their hearts. After that our zone leaders taught us about finding and all the different things we can do! Finding is hard, but it can be effective and you can make it fun! It made me think of an idea that I'm really looking forward to trying soon. If anyone has any ideas for finding, send them my way! We need all the creativity we can get!
After that, we actually got to meet president Pickerd!
Pres. and Sis. Pickerd
(Photo source: http://pickerdsitalyromemission.blogspot.com)
That was awesome. He didn't have much time to talk with each of us, but all of us had just a minute or two to talk with them. They've went over the lists of missionaries and where they're from over and over and over again, so every time they called us by name they'd say "Anziano Hansen from Saratoga Springs!" or something like that haha. They're awesome! We got to learn a bit about their family and what they've done so far up to this point in their lives, and then president Pickerd talked to us about repentance and walking with Christ. I'm really really REALLY looking forward to getting to know him and having him as my mission president. It's going to be awesome! Afterwards we had hamburgers for lunch. HAMBURGERS. IN ITALY. It's a rare thing, let me tell you. But it was so good! We did it specifically in celebration of the Fourth of July haha. It was awesome though getting to meet a bunch of new people while we were there.
Enjoying July 4th p day celebration in Italy :)
It was a great experience. Afterwards, we drove back to Pescara with the zone leaders to do a scambio. And that's the next thing to talk about. The scambio was awesome! I went with Anziano Jorgensen and Anziano Cowden went with Anziano Coe. Both of the zone leaders are hilarious, and they've both been companions with Anziano Cowden in the past. Besides that, we got to drive back instead of taking a bus, and that was REALLY nice. Anyways, Anziano Jorgensen and I had plans to go and see a few less actives in Teramo, but the first one fell through. Instead of coming back and waiting, we stopped in Giulianova and talked to F, an investigator of mine and Anziano Cowdens. We haven't seen him for awhile, so it was nice to talk to him again. However, he basically told us that he's not really interested right now. He'd love to meet with us every now and then, but he said his desire to read the Book of Mormon and be a member of the church must come from his own heart. It was a little disheartening, but afterwards we were talking about it and he said that he's simply not ready yet. It's so easy for me to forget sometimes that agency is a thing when we're teaching this gospel. Reminds me of alma 29:1-3.
"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
"Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me."
It's hard seeing people say no to the gospel. But despite the sorrow, I'm still able to be happy. Not because everything is going perfectly or because I'm goofing off all the time. I'm happy simply because I know this church is true. I have a testimony of this work, and while it saddens me to see other people reject it, I find joy in my knowledge of its truthfulness. That's something no one can take away.
We also went up to Teramo and got lost trying to find a members house, but we found them and taught them eventually. We drove back, and had an awesome night! Why? For one, at the meet the president thing, there were some anziani from the Napoli zone that brought buffalo mozzarella
from Battipaglia.
Eating buffalo mozzarella :)
It's mozzarella made from water buffalo milk, and it's literally the best mozzarella in the world...and it was SO good. For another, we made pizzas!
And the next morning was even better. I'm pretty sure Anziano Jorgensen is one of the hardest working missionaries we've met. That morning we set up three appointments, got two numbers, taught a lesson AND got a new investigator. How about that for productivity? Afterwards, back in the house, we had a scambio review, and for me this was the best part of the scambio. Since I've come to the field I've been praying day after day to know how I can be a better missionary, and it seems like Heavenly Father wasn't ready to answer me...until that morning. At the end of a scambio, missionaries tell each other things they could work on. Anziano Jorgensen told me I should study patience, specifically with myself. The words were coming from his mouth, but I felt so sure they were coming from God. Of all the things he needs me to work on, it's this. I would've thought it'd
be something like diligence, concentration, courage or something like that. But no. Patience. And as I've been thinking about it, it makes sense why it's a heavenly attribute. In fact, it's the spiritual thing
I want to write about today!
All of us could use just a tiny bit more patience, I think. And it's not just patience. It's faith and hope, too. These three things are inseparably connected. Patience without hope or faith is merely a test
to see how long your strength can last you before you fall apart, and it's not really patience at all. But with faith and hope, patience becomes a willingness to endure all trials and hardships with a happy
heart. And why is it important to be patient with ourselves? Because we are not perfect. Sometimes I feel as though our understanding of the plan of God can make life harder, not easier...but only when we focus on ourselves. We understand that we need to be perfect, and that we ultimately will become perfect if we endure to the end. But let us not forget that 1) this is an eternal plan. Yes our goal is eternal life and perfection, but our path there is one of pain and sorrow, happiness and joy, change and development, commitment and dedication. It is not an easy path and merely walking it changes our very natures, so of course it's going to be hard! But it's an eternal path, and it's not one we're meant to complete in this life. President Uchtdorf said that "Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey." Let's be happy that we aren't perfect right now instead of being downhearted that we aren't like God already. We have weaknesses for a reason. Let's accept that. And how much happier we could be if we'd admit to ourselves that we're not perfect, but we're working on getting there. Let's be as kind and patient with ourselves as we are with others. We are all learning. We will all fall short at times. But let's take it one step at a time. "Don't be hasty", eh? Also let's not forget 2) that we aren't doing this alone. This is the most important thing. In this process of progression, let's remember the Savior and all he's done for us.
Instead of getting angry at ourselves for our shortcomings, let's replace that frustration with gratitude for the Son of God whose sacrifice makes up for more than what our shortcomings could ever amount to. That's the real key to patience and happiness. Instead of turning in, let's turn to Him, the source of all light and goodness. Gratitude, in my opinion and experience, can calm even the heart that's raging. So let's be grateful for Him, full of love for others, and patient with ourselves.
Few other little things from this week:
FOURTH OF JULY TODAY WOOOOOOT. Went to a park and played football and frisbee and ate steak, sausage, brownies, snicker doodles, cornbread, bruschetta, potatoes, cinnamon rolls, and tons of drinks. Pretty dang good p day! Saturday was awesome! Had two lessons fall through and got
rained on, but we did meet a guy named F, so there's that. We also had a movie night planned on Saturday in which we were going to show meet the Mormons, but uh, that was also the night that Italy played Germany in the euros, so.....yeah. We spent a solid 10 hours or so letting people know about it, and no one showed up. But instead of sitting around and doing nothing, we went out and sang hymns to people with the Sorelle, and it was a lot of fun! One thing I've learned out here is that when we work, God WILL bless us. Could we have stayed and just watched the movie with the members who came? Yup. Would it have been a good use of time? Nope. It would've been looooads easier than going out and working, but that's what we did! And I know Heavenly Father will bless us because of it. Also, I'm 100% sure I'm going to come home fat. We walk all day everyday, but when members feed us 5 course meals (per esempio yesterday we had a meal that started out with pasta, then went to sausage, then breads, then chicken, then dessert), walking won't do anything haha. Ah well. We're heading to Rome next week for p day, and we'll be going to the Vatican, so look
forward to pictures of that!
Anyways, I hope you all have fantastic weeks!
May the glory ever be to God
Anziano Hansen
Mission hymn lyrics in Italian :
The translation (secondo me, who has been "speaking" Italian for three
months so no judging) in English.
In the fruitful soil
Singing with happy heart
We declare love
Like heaven reveals it
For the humble and sincere
That which we say is true
Which manna is for the heart
Man will also know
Chorus:
With faith we advance doing His work
With strength we bring souls back to the Lord
Great is the priesthood that will save the world
Faithful to the mission, with honor we serve him
With laughter and with love
The kingdom we uphold
And with the truth
We free humanity
Of him, we testify
That he lives and reigns in heaven
We give life to God
But we will find it again (ma poi la ritroverem. This line is missing
from the paper)
Chorus
Italy is flourishing
Like it was promised
And the saints will advance
In the work that Paul did
The disasters and the problems
Will disappear to the sun
We will have blessings
If we look to eternity
Chorus
Pretty cool, eh?
