Buon Giorno! First, let me tell you about Valentin. I love him so much! He really took to heart "feasting upon the words of Christ" - he was at Mosiah 6 the day of his baptism (after 2 weeks of having the Book of Mormon). The Book of Mormon helped him change - he really learned "all things that [he] should do." It was amazing to see how much more light he had every single day that we saw him. On the day of his baptism, he was as giddy as a little kid on Christmas; he ran around getting pictures with everyone, smiling all the while. Anziano Wilkinson performed the baptism, and he told me that right before they went into the font Valentin suggested that they should say a prayer (he's learned a ton about prayer - that was one of the things he didn't understand very well when we began, but now he is amazing at it). Then, after the ordinance, he told Anziano Wilkinson that he felt free. He bore his testimony (it wasn't like a typical LDS testimony because he never has heard one before, but he was really sincere and the spirit was very strong). Then, after the baptism, some members about his same age invited him to go with them out to eat. It was a wonderful ceremony. Of all the people I've worked with, I feel closer to Valentin, seeing the progress he made, with the amazing light that filled his life, more than the others.
However... Valentin didn't show up Sunday. He wouldn't answer his phone all day long. After church, we went out to try to find him at his home (we'd never been there - he always came to the church). His address led us to the biggest complex of palazzi that we've ever seen. There were buildings with titles going from A to Z, plus 5 more. Hundreds and hundreds of doors... We did some casa, trying first to teach the gospel, and then before leaving, asking if they happened to know a man named Valentin from Romania. We didn't find him. However, we were filled with an amazing peace and joy (the Spirit...) and we continued doing our work. Finally, that night, during our prayer to begin planning, as Anziano Wilkinson mentioned Valentin's name, he called. We learned that after he went home Saturday night, he talked to a bunch of friends and family, who told him that what he did was wrong, the worst thing he'd ever done in his life. To make it short, he believed them. He doesn't want anything more to do with the church or us as missionaries. He wants all the records destroyed and everything that happened forgotten. Also, he decided to give up here in Italy - he left for Romania yesterday. When we talked to him, he seemed like a different person. His light was gone.
Despite being a complete heart breaker and tearing our spirits down for a little while, within a matter of minutes the peace and joy that comes from the spirit returned. We felt assured that we did our part, and that we had to respect that he has his agency. It was a very strange sensation - everything that we had worked for for the past couple weeks was gone - Valentin changed completely in less than a day - but we were still happy, peaceful, and we were actually filled with an even greater desire to find those people who are prepared. And these feelings are probably my big story for the week - everything revolves around this new/renewed desire and motivation.
I had an amazing scambio with one of my zone leaders - I learned a ton about having faith and how to teach with the spirit and how to have the spirit present in lessons. I also learned a lot about how I should perform my responsibilities as a district leader. After that, I worked, studied, prepared, and prayed harder than I've ever done before for my district and for what they needed in district meeting. We had an amazing meeting. We all learned a lot and were edified by the spirit.
More good news: Fernando! We taught him with a couple members present, and they helped a ton! We feel like that was the first step that will really get him to progress. Next good news: Aka! This is a 38 year old man from Madagascar (he looks like he's 25, though...)! He speaks Malagassi, lives here in Italy for work, and has a wife and a 6 year old daughter, who both still live in Madagascar. The spirit that we felt with him was incredible. Despite a huge language barrier, we taught and testified (and we actually were able to do a ton more than we planned - we taught the entire first lesson - the restoration of the gospel)! Unfortunately, Malagassi isn't exactly a common language, so we nor any other missonaries had any Books of Mormon in his language. However, we called the office, and they found one on the shelf! We'll get that tomorrow and then present Aka with his own Book of Mormon.
Anyway, despite the challenges (this was probably the roughest week of my mission so far...), it has been amazing. I have more faith and a more pure motivation to do the Lord's work than ever before. And, even with the set-backs, I still feel like we've been really successful! In the end, the thing that is important is that you do everything that you can to serve the Lord and do His work - that's the definition of success.
Thanks for your love, prayers, and support!
-Anziano Barnes
P.S. If you're going to pray for me and my companion, you should also pray for Valentin - he needs to remember the good feelings that he had. There's still hope for him.
No comments:
Post a Comment