Ciao!
This week has been an interesting one. We took all day Friday and Saturday to prepare our old house, move all of the stuff, and get a few things set up in our new apartment. Those two days were some of the hardest of my mission - we didn't have any time to get out and try to serve others. For the first time in a while, I realized how much the Lord blesses me as a missionary with the Spirit - I am sustained in a remarkable, nearly indescribable way. That feeling diminished quite a bit by the end of Saturday. However, I had a few minutes that evening right before bed in which I took some time to study the Book of Mormon and a little bit from Preach My Gospel. Right as I opened, the amazing feeling - the power of the Spirit - returned, and I've been feeling great ever since! I guess I learned that I need to always be focused on my purpose as a missionary, even when I have to be doing mundane, boring, and temporal things!
In the past few days, miracles have started occuring! A week ago we took some baby clothes over to a man who is an ex-investigator (they recently just had a baby) who used to have a baptismal date but then said he didn't want to meet with us anymore (some members had some extra clothes they wanted to give...). A few days later, this guy, Daniel, a man from Africa, called us back, thanked us, and asked when we could come over! We went over, had an awesome lesson with him, and re-set a baptismal date. He seems really sincere - he said that he now just wants to move forward (a lot of times in the past he'd back out and could never put his mind to something), he wants to come to church, wants to become integrated with the ward, and wants to be baptized!
Also, a family (their name is Virzo) in our ward brought another family to church with them and took us with them to have a picnic and a lesson. These friends were pretty apprehensive in coming to church and meeting us (in fact, the mom said that she wasn't really interested at all and that she'd never convert). The Virzo family thought that this family was ready and said that, even though they say that they're not interested, that deep down they want to know. Anyway, we had the picnic. It wasn't going very well... We couldn't find anything to talk about that seemed to interest them. After all the food, we tried teaching and talking more, but nothing hit them. We were thinking that we needed to go soon, so in a last attempt to try to see them again, I asked "is there anything that we can do for you and your family?" This turned out to be the "inspired question" that we were looking for. The mom couldn't believe that we would actually do something like that. She asked us a lot of questions about what we did. She was amazed at the sacrifices that we and our families make so that we can be here. We bore testimony to her that we do it because we know that the message we bring is true and we want, more than anything, that others can have the same knowledge, hope, and blessings that we've found. We were unable to set a return appointment with her then because she needed to check her calendar. However, that night, the Virzo family called us back and told us that they'd got a text from their friends saying "Thanks so much for the afternoon we had together. It hit me, and is making me think. I want to learn more about your church..." We arranged for a return appointment a couple days later (it was yesterday). That appointment was a huge miracle. I need to explain something. Both of these families are big (the Virzo family has 6 kids and the other family has 4; all of them are small - younger than 7 - except for 1 of the daughters of the investigator family, who is 15). In the house was chaos. It was the loudest environment that I've ever tried to teach a lesson in. However, the Spirit was there. It was a cool testimony to me that the family truly is ordained of God - crazy and wild kids running around isn't at all contrary to God's plan. Anyway, amidst the confusion in the rooms all around and the noise that filled the house, we commenced. The lesson that we had prepared did not get addressed hardly at all. The parts we did share were actually probably things that we didn't need to talk about at all (we both learned, my companion and I, that we need to be willing to follow the Spirit, not think about how we can relate what they're saying to what we want to teach, and just follow the spirit some more)! The testimonies that the Virzo family shared were amazing. Many of the concerns and questions of this investigator family were answered. The Spirit was super strong. They already seemed changed a little bit: their family is stronger (especially the father - he seems like he now loves his kids more and that they love him more and that the relationship he has with his wife is stronger) and they're all happier. One funny thing is that the mom, Benedetta, is quite timid and still tries to show that she's not interested, however, it's written all over her face and her countenance that she wants more! When we asked when we could return, the father said "Subito" (right now)! The mom of the investigator family and the mom of the Virzo family have been talking a ton (the other day Benedetta went over to the Virzo home several times with some questions, and then Sister Virzo went over in the evening to Benedetta's home for a while to talk and didn't get home until 1 in the morning (they were just "talking..."). We're super excited about this family.
A couple cool things about our apartment right now. We don't have gas (which means we can't cook). We don't have electricity (which means we can't have a refrigerator, we can't have fans to cool us down, we can't have a washing machine, and we don't have any lights). Going around the house at night has become an adventure! We go around with little flashlights! It's just like camping! A lot of the stuff is still not hooked up or mounted, so we're, in part, still living out of boxes. Luckily, we got our huge dresser/closet thing set up yesterday, so we don't have to live out of our suitcases for clothes. As far as food goes... it's difficult. Luckily, they sell milk here that doesn't have to be refrigerated until it's opened (so we can do cereal in the morning). And, we've been trying to get over to member's homes to eat lunch! We've had several lunch appointments! It's great for us, and the members love it too (they always try to feed us...)! It's been working out well for us in teaching members as well because we're able to share a short message about the restoration and help them help their friends learn about the gospel (what we were trying to do anyway)! 2 birds with 1 stone! In eating with the members, I think I have a new favorite Italian food - Parmigiana. It's basically a lasagna made with eggplants. It's so good! When we had it with the Virzo family, I downed about 1/2 of it!
I don't have pictures this week because my camera is still packed away somewhere. Hopefully I'll find it before next week! Pavia is absolutely beautiful - I'm excited to show you a bit of what we live every day!
Vi voglio bene!
-Anziano Barnes
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