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| New companions: Anziano Barnes and Anziano Osborn |
It has been another week full of
miracles and craziness! It was transfer week, so we had to do a bunch of
office work, take care of the new and departing missionaries, and, of course,
make the work move forward in Milano! I got a new companion, Anziano
Osborn. He was the traveling assistant
before this. He is awesome! He is super energetic, super fun, he
makes everyone around him feel pumped and loved all of the time, and he's a
super hard worker. Anziano Jenson went off to a little corner of the mission
to do his last transfer. He's really excited. I'm seeing now how
much of an influence Anziano Jenson had on me! I'm a lot more focused on
others, more considerate, and more enthusiastic!
Let me share some of the awesome
things that have been happening! Last Saturday, we went to do a couple
baptismal interviews for some investigators in Pavia. I interviewed a
25ish year old South American lady. She was so awesome! After every
question, she wouldn't just say "Yes, I believe," but she explained
why and how she got her testimony. The spirit that was in that room was
incredible - I felt so much love for her! It was a really upliting
experience for both of us.
On Sunday, Anziano Jenson and I went
out to find some new investigators. We wanted to find a south american
family. We were doing casa in an area and we weren't having much
success. Then, at the same moment, we both felt like we needed to change
areas. We hurried back to the car and started driving. A place came
to mind and I told Anziano Jenson to put it into the GPS. We followed
that for a couple minutes and then we saw a road off the the right. We
turned onto in and we pulled into the first available parking spot. As we
were parking, a south american lady walked past us. We hurried and shut
the car off and hurried after her. She already knew some members of the
church and had read the BOM. However, she said that she was in a really
difficult time in her life. Notwithstanding our testimonies, questions,
and striving to teach to her needs, she said that she couldn't listen to us at
this time of her life. We exchanged information so we could hear from
each other after a couple months, and then we asked if she knew anyone else
that would be interested. She said, "well, maybe my kids would
listen. Should I present you to them?" What! Okay!
So, we went in and met the kids and started to teach them. And, the mom
came down and listened too!
After that on Sunday, we went to talk
about transfers with President Wolfgramm. At this point, he had already made
the transfers and had everyone in a place. But, this time, he pointed out
several people that he didn't quite feel good about where they were at and who
they were with. We counseled with him and figured out exactly what needed
to happen. It was really cool as we considered the needs of each
missionary - pondering about them, their companion, district leader, and
zone leaders - and then listening to the promptings of the Spirit to see how
certain combinations would bless and grow the individual missionaries.
Each one of us had played a little part in the grand scheme that Heavenly
Father has! I'm so glad that I was able to hear and feel those things and
then not hesitate to make them known! Anyway, it was really cool to see
how, in the end, the situations were perfect for each missionary. We have
such amazing missionaries here!
On Sunday a guy named Joseph came to
church. He's from Ghana. The sisters met him in a bus and invited
him to come, and he did! We went to see him a couple days later. We
had asked him to bring a couple friends with him that would want to hear (he
lives in a hotel with almost 200 other africans). We got there, and he
took us around to meet about 15 of his friends. We then went down to
teach him and 2 others - Joe and Emmanuel. It seems like they have been
prepared, especially Joe, for when we invited him to be baptized in the middle
of may, he said that he definitely would need to read the BOM and pray about it
beforehand! All of them accepted baptism on that day! We've set up
a return appointment to see them and a lot of other africans. Joseph told
us that "There might be 10, or 30, or 50 people!" We're super
excited! That should be tonight!
Tuesday was the first day Anziano
Osborn and I worked together. And, on the very first door that we knocked
on, someone let us in. His name was Nelson. He's a south american
who lives here with a couple friends whose family is still in south
america. After a couple minutes of teaching him, his friend Alfonso walked
in. We were able to teach them. The lesson went super smoothly -
almost too smoothly and too easily! They both accepted baptism, and when
we tried to commit them to a specific date, they said, "Well, I'd like to
come to your church before I I get baptized into it!" Alright.
That'll work! We set up a return appointment to come and teach both of
them plus Alfonso's wife. When we went back yesterday for that, they were
doing super well. Both Nelson and Alfonso had begun reading the
BOM. Nelson was super interested by some things in the introduction -
especially the fact that Christ spoke to more people than just those in
Jerusalem. It made so much sense to him! They hadn't, however,
asked God yet if it was true. But, they were all super committed after
this second lesson to do so. The wife, Alba, is really solid as
well. She sees how necessary and helpful the restored gospel will be to
her and she accepted baptism as well!
So, there's the story of the first door
we knocked. Let me tell you the story of the last door we knocked.
We were doing casa yesterday, and again, we weren't having success. In this
period of time we wanted to teach 2 lessons and find 2 families. We
hadn't even had yet the opportunity to talk for more than 10 seconds! I was
beginning to question whether or not we should change areas. But then, I
remembered how we had felt good about this area when we did our planning, and I
realized that the person waiting for us might just be a little bit further
on. So, I told myself to have faith and we kept on going. And, sure
enough, within a minute, we knocked on a door and got in! It was a guy
from Santo Domingo. His whole family still lives there while he tries to
get enough money to bring them over and support them. One of the first
things that he told us, after we had just explained our purpose as missionaries
and how we bring a special message of a restoration, he told us that he would
have to ask God to know if it was true! Exactly! After some more
teaching, we asked him how he thought he would recognize an answer from the
Holy Ghost, and he said, indicating his heart, that he would feel it
immediately! So, it was a really cool experience for me because it was a
great for seeing how faith and enduring to the end can make all of the difference!
I'm feeling really good (physically
because my toe is getting lots better, now it's just bruised - no blood or
swelling or anything - and also spiritually - I'm still growing)! I'm
striving to maintain a grasp on and wrap my arms around all of the cool
things that I've been learning and beginning to apply. I'm really excited
for this new transfer. Anziano Jenson and I were figuring a lot of things
out (learning from our mistakes), and now Anziano Osborn and I will
be able to go full throttle putting them into practice!
Vi voglio bene!
-Anziano Barnes
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