Another incredible week!

Anziano Bona on his way home to Provo.

Romanian man and wife Anziano Barnes helped find on a scambio in Prato.

Maria Grazia baptized in Milano 3rd Ward.

CIAO!!!

WOW!  This week has been an incredible week - I've learned and grown so much!  So many things seem to just be falling into place and clicking in my head!  I'll tell you about it!

So, we're about to do the full change over to the new ward (we're switching with the other elders in the office - I'll now be in Milano 3).  We've done a few exchanges throughout the week with them so that we can meet some of the people that they are working with and so that they can meet the people that we are working with.  Due to the way things worked out with those exchanges and other exchanges we've done with other people throughout the mission, I haven't been in our area at all this past week (except last sunday).  It seems like Jessica, the new convert, and Francesco, her father, are doing really well.  Francesco will come to church for sure this next week, but his wife, Simona, has backed out and won't come.  Fortunately, both of them are still very hopeful and determined that she'll come.

This past week we prepared for and did a special training for all of the district leaders in the mission.  We think that it went really well.  One of the coolest things for us to see was how unified our teachings were with what President Wolfgramm had prepared.  We had planned together a little bit - but no more than planning basic topics to teach.  But, come Wednesday, we all drove home the same message - the importance of being in line with God's will.  Our purpose in the district meeting was to help the district leaders raise their visions and see the great effects they can have on their districts and who they need to become in order to do it.

Ever since Wednesday, I've been on exchanges with other elders.  It's been great!  We had a really cool experience wednesday night.  We left the training and headed out to an appointment.  We arrived about 15 minutes before it would start.  We determined that we were going to find someone in their home and try to teach them (or at least get them interested in the BOM and set up a specific return appointment when we'd have more time).  So, we said a prayer.  We walked around.  And, we found a palazzo that we liked.  We saw a south american name on the citofono and hoped that they'd let us in.  They did.  Arriving at the elevator, and realizing we'd only have time to knock on a few doors at most, we decided that we'd just go to the fourth floor.  There were a few doors on the floor, and one of them caught our eye - it said "carnevale."  So, we rang it and a man came out.  He didn't really seem super interested at all at first, but then we pulled out the Book of Mormon and explained a little bit and everything changed!  We set up a return appointment for the next night to bring him one for himself!  It turns out that that man lives in the apartment that we rang that had the south american name on it!  God guided us to exactly where we needed to be and helped us out with our super short block of time!

On Friday we did another scambio.  This one was really cool as well.  My scambio partner is an amazing, pure missionary.  One of the things that I admire most in this missionary was that he prayed to be able to focus all of the time on missionary work and have all his desires be in line with that, and it showed!  We maintained a really spiritual level together!  It was one of the roughest days in terms of success and getting rejected and dissappointed - by people on the street, investigators, and even a new convert.  However, we stayed super positive, had a great time together, and learned from each other!  Something amazing happened on this scambio.  I've been trying my whole mission to desire the salvation of souls.  I yearn to feel true joy when people live the gospel and feel pain "for the sins of the world" and "shake" at the thought of someone not being able to receive salvation.  And, yesterday, it happened.  I'm sure that it's happened before, but yesterday it was super apparent (the funny thing is, though, that I didn't really understand what exactly what was happening until I was praying that night)!  I wanted so bad that the people we were teaching just turned to God - read the Book of Mormon and pray - and it pained me so bad to see that there wasn't any light in their countenances (it was super painful to see the new convert that was baptized a couple months ago - she isn't doing well at all).  I love them all so much!  It's so cool to see how far God has helped me come over the past year or so.  And, I'm excited that I can grow even more and love the people around me even more!  Also on this scambio, since I was in Pavia, I was able to teach a couple of the African new converts that were baptized when I was there.  Also, I was able to contact Tiziano and Daniela (who haven't come to church for several months now)!  They've been continuing to have problems, but they've been doing decently at keeping close to God - the kids are reading a lot from the illustrated BOM, Daniela is devouring D&C, and Tiziano is making sure that they all keep studying and that they do FHE every monday.  They committted to come to church this next week (I still couldn't figure out what was keeping them...)!  And, I found out some cool news - they're expecting a baby at the end of October!

There's been one other really cool realization that I've had over the past week.  The events that have been happening finally culminated into me realizing better the power of the atonement.  For a long time I have been trying to develop Christlike attributes or work on things so that my weaknesses aren't weak anymore.  However, I've had a slightly distorted view of things because Christ is the "bridge" for all of these things.  For example, I wanted to grow my charity and have more love for people.  However, the only way to really have charity for them is through Jesus Christ.  I need to access His atonement because He's the only one that knows everyone perfectly and loves everyone perfectly.  So, if I want to have this kind of love, I have to be filled with the love that he already has.  It can come through His Spirit thanks to the atonement.  Another thing that happened this past week also helped me realize this - I'm not the greatest speaker (I can struggle in lessons and when speaking in front of people - like in trainings we do).  Anyway, I wanted to improve my ability to speak.  However, what really needs to happen is that I speak with the Spirit.  It doesn't matter at all how great of a speaker I am - it's all weak when compared to what can happen when I'm guided by the Spirit.  Anyway, I'm excited that I'm finally seeing another way that I can apply the atonement more in my life!

Vi voglio bene!!!

-Anziano Barnes