I can't believe that this week is
already over. It feels like it was yesterday when I was back on the
computer writing, and it's even been an extra day! Honestly, everything
is such a blur that I can hardly even remember what was in this week and not
another. I'll be going through my notes and trying to figure things
out...
Gianni is doing wonderful! He
gets married this saturday and next saturday he'll be baptized!
Pilar is doing quite well also - we
had to "reprove with sharpness" this week because she had made some
pretty dumb decisions, but we she expressed her godly sorrow through tears and
then changed! She's still really excited for her baptism, and whenever we
go to teach her, there is always a really strong spirit.
Victor is doing pretty well
also. Last week he got lost for about 4 hours in Milano before making it to
church for the last 20 minutes. And, this week, he made it (earlier,
thank goodness!) but he had to leave early so that he could get back to where
he lived in time for another commitment he had. We should be able to work
out rides for him in the future so that he can stay until the end of
church. He keeps on reading the BOM every day, and he is really excited
for baptism and he knows that it is the right thing for him.
Nelson is doing quite well
also! He came to church last week, but he didn't show up today. We
don't know why - he didn't answer his phone. Hopefully he has a
legitimate reason... However, he also feels good about his baptism and
he's continuing to make progress in the BOM! There's always a great
spirit when we go to see him at his house.
We got a new person as well!
His name is Francisco! He's from Santo Domingo. We went to him last
week to give him a BOM on CD in spanish (he can't read) and we went back this
week to check up on him. Oh, this is a cool miracle by the way. We
went to watch the restoration DVD with him so that he could understand better
why our church is different and so that we could be set up to invite him to
baptism. A couple minutes after the DVD had started, a 40 year old-ish
lady walked in. He said that she was a lady that lived there. She
walked in, looked up at the TV, and said "I'm mormon. I got baptized
when I was 16." Completely not expecting that sort of answer,
especially since she realized who we were by the film, we told her we'd talk
more after. It turns out she hasn't been active since she moved to Italy
over 10 years ago. We asked her to share her testimony about why she got
baptized - she got really excited with that and shared her experiences with us
and Francisco. By the end, she was telling herself that she was going to
come back to church! We turned to Francisco, and I don't remember exactly
how it happened, but basically what came out of his mouth was that "I
already know that this church his true. [pointing to his heart] I
felt it here as we watched the movie." We took the opportunity and
invited him to baptism! He accepted a date! So, in the end, we had
an unforseen member with us to bear testimony, we reactivated a less-active,
and we set a baptismal date all in the same lesson!
Today in church we got blessed a ton
with a couple referrals from the members. They brought their
friends! The friends are interested and we have appointments to meet with
them during the week!
This week was full of
interviews/trainings (there were 3). They all went quite well! And,
in addition to that, we had 2 exchanges (one we were both in Torino and the
other was a normal exchange with the elders in Pavia - I stayed here with one
of them and Anziano Osborn went there). The one in Torino was quite strange
and I was a bit dissappointed in not being able to do what I would've normally
wanted to do. But, after leaving the exchange review/ companionship
inventory the next morning, I was no longer dissappointed in the least - we
were both really edified and we learned what we needed.
I am feeling great and doing
great! I was reading my patriarchal blessing this morning as well as the
notes I have from my setting apart and a father's blessing I got right before
leaving, and I was amazed to see how many of the things have been coming to
pass! It's incredible! I was reminded and taught of some things
that I need to keep doing and improve, but mostly I was just filled with
gratitude for how much God has been doing for me!
The things between Anziano Osborn and
I are going great! I love serving with him. I'm acquiring some of
his attributes, and I love it - it was exactly what I wanted and needed!
His influence is helping me be a lot more full of energy and much more able to
spread that energy and spirit to other people (it's been especially evident in
the trainings we've been doing). He's also an amazing example to me in
searching for opportunities to serve and then giving of himself. This,
too, is just becoming part of me! Going back to what I was saying before
with how so much of my blessings are being fulfilled, it's so cool to see how
God has set me up to learn and grow and make me who He needs!
Vi voglio un sacco di bene!
-Anziano Barnes
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