Finding investigators using the Book of Mormon

Ciao!

This week has been another great week.  We did our last training down in Firenze and we've done a couple exchanges.  Also, we've been having some excitement in our work in Lodi.  We've been helping some of the members who have been struggling with some questions and doubts.  But, it seems like they're coming back up again!  And, there's good news with Francesco, Simona, and Jessica!  We went to their house a couple days ago and they were all there (finally Simona stayed!!!) and there was an incredibly good feeling and spirit there.  The parents have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot, and it seems like Simona's heart has been softened a lot - she should be coming to church tomorrow.

We had some cool miracles on our exchanges, and they were perfect to what we were trying to emphasize and train.  We're working a lot on using the Book of Mormon when we are finding new investigators (especially when we contact people on the street), and we were able to find people, teach them, help them feel the spirit and get interested in the Book of Mormon, and then set a return appointment to be able to teach them in their homes with their families!  On each exchange, we were able to set up a couple return appointments!  And, we're trying to help the missionaries become "forever finders," which means that they talk to as many people that they can (I like trying to talk to everyone in my path).  Anyway, we were walking to an appointment and we were super close.  It was basically the time that the appointment needed to start, so we could've justified ourselves in not talking to the people on the street as we hurried over.  However, I didn't want to do that too much.  We stopped a lady just as she got off of a bus.  She was a super nice lady from Kenya.  She has a really strong belief in Christ.  And, when we pulled out the Book of Mormon, she was sucked in!  Just a couple seconds after pulling the book our of our bag, she asked "Can I see the book?"(we didn't even need to have her hold it!)  She got so excited that, before we even told her that we give these books away and that we'd like to pass by her another day to give one to her, she started to put it away in her own bag - she was willing to do whatever for it!  Anyway, we exchanged information and set up a return appointment!  It was a cool "last minute" or "just one more" kind of miracle!

I keep on seeing how far I have to go in my progression, and I keep on making more progress!  I've realized how selfish I still can be sometimes.  In fact, Anziano Jenson and I had a really cool spiritual experience together - it was an epiphany moment where many things that had become part of us over time finally just all clicked and came together.  I'll explain what happened.  We were talking about how we could best help the mission and we realized that it would come through blessing others through personal sacrifice (selflessness).  We were discussing what we could do to get it going or to practice, and we came to the conclusion that it had to start in our own companionship.  We considered the things that our companions did that meant the most to us and helped us grow the most.  I said that it was when my companions helped me open up and share my personal goals, and then help me reach them.  Anziano Jenson said something super similar - that he is helped the most when his companions "hold him to his potential."   And, we realized, that this is exactly what we need to do!  We need to first try to see others' potential (this is the hardest part for me - I am too focused on myself and not enough on other people, so determining their strengths and gifts and potential is difficult for me) , "hold them to it" (praise and acknowledge these qualities and then, if they act in a way that is inferior to their potential, that we help them change and see that they are better), and then help them set goals to take them from where they are at to the next level.  It's funny because between the 2 of us, we do all of it (the second part is super natural for me, and the first parts - finding others' potential and helping them see it - are strengths of Anziano Jenson).  But, the cool part is is that I've been being prepared for this - I really want to be less selfish.  Now, I know a lot better what I must do to achieve this goal.  And, if I can do it, I'll be a ton more Christlike and I'll be a ton more able to live the gopel of Jesus Christ!

Anyway, that was pretty much my week!

Vi voglio bene!

Grazie!

-Anziano Barnes

Trainings; Listening and Acting on the Spirit

It's been another crazy week of driving all over the place and training the missionaries - it's been a blast!  We've also been able to work some more with our new converts and also with Jessica and her parents, Francesco and Simona.  Anyway, I'm writing a day early because this is the only free day we have this week (we'll be gone again for the next few days - actually the next week because we're doing exchanges with several of the zone leaders...).  But, I'll tell you about the week!

One of the new convert families that we are working with is south american, composed of the mom, Consuelo, a daughter (probably about 18) named Sofia, and a 16 year old boy named Christian.  They are an amazing family!  They were baptized just a few months ago and they are already really solid.  The mom was called last week to be the counselor in the relief society and Christian goes around with us to do missionary work (he is going to be a fabulous missionary - he's really sharp and he has a great testimony).  

We've also been working more with the parents of Jessica.  Both Francesco (the dad) and Jessica (the daughter who was baptized a few weeks ago) are doing fabulous!  Jessica learned about personal progress last week and has already jumped in and completed a bunch of things!  Francesco's faith has grown a ton and he's made a ton of progress in the Book of Mormon - in the past 5 days he's gone forward 20 chapters.  Also, he told us about how he's been wanting extra work to get a bit more money, so he prayed, and then he got a call from his brother in law asking him to go paint his house and his little shop/restaurant!  God answers prayers!  Simona is still trying to avoid us, but Francesco told us last night that she said that she would be present for the next lesson.  We'll see!

The trainings are still going really well.  Almost all of the missionaries are responding positively and are giving good remarks about it.  That's always good to here - the spirit is working through us!  And, it also says something about the missionaries right now - they are great.  One of the most important factors for a missionary learning and growing is his own openness and spiritual readiness to be taught by the spirit.  So, if they're learning a lot, it's because they're really humble and they are searching for ways to improve.  It's been really cool for me to feel an increase in love for these missionaries.  It's getting easier and easier to love them and serve them.  God is helping me get a glimpse of who they really are.

I've been trying to really listen to the spirit.  So, whenever a thought comes into my head (talk to them, ask them this question, say this to them, etc.), I've been trying to act (I'm not perfect, but I've been making progress!), and some cool things have happened!  Some of the missionaries have opened up, with others we discussed certain things and I found out later that the things we discussed were actually fixing problems that they were having, and so forth.  One of my goals now is to grow my faith and trust enough so that I don't have any fear or hesitation acting on the things that come to mind.  I'm also striving to purify my heart and make my motivating desire the welfare and salvation of both the missionaries and also the people here in Italy.  When I'm able to remember this and make it at the forefront of my mind, everything else is super easy!  One time, yesterday actually, we were beginning the training.  I guess I wasn't quite in the right state of mind/spirit because I felt super weak and I wasn't doing a great job.  A couple minutes into the presentation we had to turn off some lights (I had to go into another room), so I took that opportunity to open my heart to God and plead for help and discuss my needs and desires.  I felt super good afterwards and I walked into the training like a new person - I think I was better able to help the missionaries more than I ever had before!

Thanks for your prayers and love!

-Anziano Barnes

The Spirit works; Being qualified by the Lord

This week has been a little bit different because it has included a very different type of missionary work - literally "missionary" work.  We've spent the week training the missionaries in our mission (we'll do it all next week too!).  It's been a really neat experience getting to know the missionaries, loving them, serving them, and helping them improve.  I think one of the neatest things for me to experience was the qualifying power of the Lord - I was able to do things way beyond what I normally could do.

As far as our work in Lodi is concerned, nothing has really changed other than the fact that we received several referrals at the end of last week.  We'll be following up with those and hoping that something comes of them!

The first couple days of the week were cool because it was amazing to experience first-hand the process of revelation.  It took a lot of praying, studying, and planning, but it all turned out.  The coolest part for me was to see how what I came up with was exactly the same as what President Wolfgramm did (the areas in which we needed to train, the results we wanted, and even what to do for a role play)!  And, it's been super-relieving to hear people tell us after the trainings that they came with lots of questions and left with answers to them all!  The Spirit works!

The big focus of our training is helping the missionaries see things as they really are - how the Spirit shows us.  When we can see God, ourselves, and those around us for what they are (God= our Heavenly Father who is involved in every aspect of the work, We= called of God and handplaced where we are to work miracles in His behalf, They= children of God who are being prepared to receive the gospel and who need it to be happy now and to have eternal life after).  We used these points to emphasize our finding work (that we need to talk with everyone and really get to know them - our desire to find and our ability to teach with power increases dramatically when we can see people the way that God does), using the Book of Mormon (it's the tool that can fix pretty much any problem), and our teaching (that the most important part of teaching is inviting people to make commitments, because it is by keeping commitments that people become converted - we need to see how God works in people as they keep their commitments).  I could go on for a couple hours about this stuff (I learn more and more and become more passionate every time we teach other missionaries), but I won't.  Anyway, I love these principles because when we can truly understand this part, all of the little technicalities fall into place.  It's great!  it's been cool to see how the missionaries have responded to the training.

I've been able to see some cool parts of the mission that I've never seen before (more of Genova, Torino, Como) and see some of my past companions (Anziano Boscia and Anziano Heninger) and meet a ton of missionaries that I've never seen before!  It really is exciting!

Thanks for your prayers, and your continued ones will be great - especially that we don't wear out completely (we're already starting to get tired, and we're only about 20% through - we've got 2 more full weeks, and these ones will be even more intense because we're throwing exchanges in between everything)!

Vi voglio bene!

-Anziano Barnes

Snow, mission counsel, and driving in Italy

This week has been incredible - time has seemed to be distorted again.  It has gone by super fast, but looking back on events that have happened, it seems like they were ages ago!

We're still working with Francesco and Simona (they have the daughter, Jessica, who was baptized 2 weeks ago).  Last sunday, Simona didn't come to church and Francesco told us that Simona had told him that she had made up her mind that she didn't want to be baptized.  However, Francesco is still agreeing with everything (his one concern is that, if he gets baptized, he will divide the family against his wife).  Fortunately, some members jumped on it and invited this family to their family home evening the next night (and, of course, invited us too).  There was a really nice spirit there and it was really cool to see the facial expressions on Simona's face - we could see that she felt something.  We're going back today so we'll see how much she has actually changed!  We're really hopeful still because she loves to do all of the things that lead to conversion - praying, studying the Book of Mormon, (not coming to church, though...) - and she sees and loves the blessings that come.

So, let me explain a little bit about how my week played out.  Last sunday we went to church and had an awesome experience - I felt so at home in this branch!  The members are all super friendly and most of them are really into missionary work.  Afterwards, we went to the home of a member who has to take care of an old lady to give her the sacrament.  Then we visited a less active family and then a family of new converts.

Monday was a really crazy day.  First thing, we had to call all of the zone leaders to get the numbers for the week.  Also, being the first week of the transfer, we asked about what they were going to focus on for the next transfer.  We are trying to help everyone put into practice the things that President Wolfgramm is emphasizing and especially the things that we learned from Elder Causeé.  Fortunately, most of them were right on track and had chosen perfect focuses.  However, there were a couple that weren't quite in-line.  So, I had to do one of the things that I'm not super comfortable with (especially right on the spot) - giving correction.  Fortunately, the days before I had been thinking and an example of the reasoning behind all of this came to mind.  So, I gave correction using this "parable" - there once was a man who had to move a box.  He bent down, grabbed it, and was walking with it.  However, as he was walking, his arm got distracted from the main objective and he grabbed his cell phone.  And, he dropped the box.  I used this to try to show how we need to be unified in our mission - we're all working towards a common objective (in the example - moving a box).  However, when we choose to focus on something else, even if it's good, we "drop the box."  I felt really helped by the Lord in these moments because I was able to express a lot more love than I know I normally would have and also because things just made sense for the missionaries that I was talking to.  And, later, they got in-line and changed their focus!  Anyway, also on Monday, we had a district meeting, then we worked on a lot more of the number stuff, we counseled with President about the upcoming Mission Counsel and trainings, and then we went to the FHE with Francesco and Simona.

Tuesday was a very different day.  Anziano Healey (who was in the MTC with me), who had to go home 6 weeks ago due to a bad knee injury, came back to the field!  It was a super fast recovery (they were expecting 3 or 4 months, and he was ready to go in 6 weeks)!  So, we had to pick him up at the airport.  He met with President Wolfgramm for a few minutes and then we took him out to his new area - Genova.  However, there were some complications.  First, it started to snow.  But, looking at the forecast for the next days, we decided that it would be smarter to try to get there ASAP. Fortunately, we were super blessed.  The Italians kept the roads super well and we were able to get to Genova rather quickly.  Then, apparently everyone was scared of the snow because the streets were nearly empty in Genova (and it's usually one of the craziest cities in Italy to drive in)!  But then, another complication - while moving some stuff around, our cell phone fell out of my pocket and it broke, completely.  So, we were a few hours away from home, it was snowing like crazy, we couldn't give updates about our progress and in our arriving back to the office, and, if we were to get hurt, no one would ever know!  But, again, thanks to lots of prayers and to the hand of the Lord, we made it back without any problems!

Wednesday was another interesting day.  We got word that a couple missionaries were in a car accident the day before due to the snow (they're fine now), so Sister Wolfgramm didn't want us to go out in our car at all.  So, we finished up all of the number things, prepared for the Mission Counsel the next day, we got invterviewed by President Wolfgramm, and did a bunch of other little projects that needed to get done.

Thursday was the mission counsel - it went great!   We tried something new - we wanted to make it more of "counsel" (in the past it has been more of a training for the zone leaders and bringing up  new things that they need to teach their zones).  We worked with them to try to prepare more for this upcoming training we will be having.  Also, Anziano Jenson and I were able to do a little training to try to help the zone leaders understand their role a little bit more. 

On Friday we did a scambio with the elders in Pavia (it was cool being back in my city again) and then we saw a family back in our area.

Oh, I get to drive.  It's pretty crazy here.  We have two cars - a huge van and a little stick shift car.  My first day driving, I almost wrecked (there was a corner that we took that all of a sudden merged into another lane (in the USA there isn't anything like it) right before that lane merged into the freeway.  Luckily, we didn't hit anyone but I stalled the car and all of the cars behind me got mad.  However, ever since then, I've gotten a lot more used to driving again and used to the way that Italians drive.

It's definitely a lot different here in the office, but I love it.  I feel super good spiritually, I'm still growing a ton (especially in humility - I'm seeing how much I need God's help in everything, because without it I really can't do anything right).

Thanks for all of your support, love, and prayers!

-Anziano Barnes