Chapter Four: The 18th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

Hello from Messina?

Ok, Ciao tutti!! All right, we're actually in Messina right now.  There was a problem with a missionary in Messina and he had to go home, so now we are three with Anziano Giovita until next Thursday transfers (Transfer calls are this Saturday)  so things are going to be pretty crazy the next week or so.  We have to split the work in Reggio and Messina...  But it's great to be with Anziano Giovita, He's a funny guy. 

Last night at English course I was able to see some of the great new members and English course students that I taught while I was in Messina in June.  It was great!  I love being able to go back to visit where you've already been.  Leona was particularly excited to see me, she's doing pretty well.  She's become great friends with some really solid members and her husband is also making some great progress.  We also saw Pina and she's been coming to church and she's stopped smoking!! Yeah boy!

That's great about Mattie and Sara running for office. It sounds like you need to make more of those strips!!  Let me know how it goes.  That's great that you all are really enjoying soccer! Do you three ever practice together?  Also, Maren and Sara sang in church?! Wow Bravi!! I can't wait to see if the video works!!  

So last month I started the Book of Mormon and as I went through it I marked any and every reference to Christ and I just finished it and last week Sorella Kelly invited all the mission to read it before Christmas.  And that as we read it we should focus on Christ...obviously, my head is a little too thick, once wasn't enough.  Hopefully (I'm sure) that this second time around I'll discover something new and my testimony and appreciation for Christ will be strengthened.

So, I already shared this with dad but it's something that I think we forget often and so we need to be reminded frequently

"Without sacrifice there is no true worship of God." Gordon B. Hinckley  

Sacrifice is something that the Lord asks that we do so that he can bless us. So if we aren't willing to do it then the ways that he can bless us are much more limited.  This week I studied the beatitudes a bit.  And I found an explanation of meek that I really liked.  It explains how we can be meek and still be strong. In Argentina, they don't break their horses because they don't want to break their spirit. Instead they work with them patiently until they are "manso" or meek.  Then, they are still full of fire, desire, drive, strength, and spirited; not timid or afraid of anything but at the same time they are obedient and very well trained and will do whatever the rider asks them to do.  

I think this is a great way to describe meekness because when we talk about it normally, it has almost a negative connotation; that it means to be weak. But these horses are in no way weak or less than what their potential is, they just have a high level of obedience.

Are you guys excited for general conference?!?! I am, I can't wait! I think that we might have to miss the priesthood session and just watch it the next day because the closest city that has a working satellite is 3 1/2 hours away.  But that's not a big deal.  Man, I can't wait; it's like Christmas for missionaries! =P Make sure that you all get some good questions ready so that you can look for the answers in what the Apostles and Prophet say.  

Alrighty, that's about all I got.  You guys are so great! Thanks for all that you do, I love you!!!!!!!!!  Stay safe. VVB.

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"Look inside yourself, you're more than what you've become.  Remember who you are."  The Lion King 

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Four: The 16th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

Captains log 19.9.12

Reggio After the Rain

Allora! Man it's great to be a missionary!  Sara, Mattie, Maren it sounds like you all are doing great at soccer! I'm glad you all really enjoy it.  But Maren, don't forget that the goal is to kick the ball in the goal and that the rest of the team needs your help!  And Mattie, mom tells me that you are a great goalie! Have you been diving for the ball?  Today we played tennis again, it's a pretty fun game but honestly I really miss racquetball, it's absurd that they don't have it here!

Yesterday was zone conference.  President Kelly had a crazy weekend because Elder Nelson came to Italy and it was conference after conference and he (Pres. Kelly) was ready to come to Zone Conference but at the last minute sister Kelly told him that he needed to go get rest and that she would share his message for him.  It was weird not to have him but it's a good thing that he stayed because Mission Presidents in their 3rd year are known for just being tired all the time and slowing down.  It's hard work.  Serving in the church in any calling is hard work.  

Sister Kelly said something similar yesterday, she said that most of the work that is done in this church is done by people who are tired.  Just imagine Elder Nelson who just did a week long trip all through Europe.  Shaking hands, in meetings, holding conferences, always smiling, traveling from one place to the next for 7 days without a break and he's 88!  No doubt he was tired.  But in the end that is the sacrifice that we have to be willing to make.

The biggest things that I took from conference are actually 2 things. 

1.  "Thee lift me, I lift thee, and we'll both ascend together" (John Greenleaf Whitier.)  We have a responsibility to help those around us to be better people and we also have the responsibility to ask those around us for help.  The Lord puts certain people in our lives for special reasons, if we don't help them and ask for help then we might never know why we met them.

2.  The second thing was similar, it's something that President Kelly says often.  "If we cannot learn to love imperfect people, we'll live a life without love."  

That's kind of the key to life and the first point.  Everyone is imperfect, the quicker we can get over the little things (or big things) that aren't perfect with others, the quicker we'll have a life full of love.

So yesterday at 11.30 in Rome the church was officially recognized as a religious institution, and not just a charitable organization!  They also created a second Stake in the city of Milano over the weekend.  And the outside of the temple is almost completed.  It is such a great time to be able to serve in Italy!! There is so much potential!  It's so exciting!

I also was thinking about what mom said a couple weeks ago about how this mission is to improve myself and how I had said that it was too selfish to say that this was only for my own improvement.  If improving myself makes me a better missionary, then it's something that the Lord wants me to do so that I can be more effective.  So, it's not selfish at all as long as it's done for the right reasons.

Things with our investigators are actually slowing down.  Tamara started school this week and she is a really great student, she's number one in her class and she's not even Italian!  Plus, we had 3ish investigators that really didn't make progress so were going to start meeting less frequently with them in order to free up more time to find the elect!  

I love you all, I miss you, I pray for you, and I can't wait to hear about all your crazy adventures this next week. =P VVB

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"Look inside yourself, you're more than what you've become.  Remember who you are."  The Lion King 

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Four: The 15th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

Smile! It's free, makes every situation better, and it's even good for your health!

Allora, how the heck is everyone?! I'm sure you're great, even if there are thunderstorms already. =) Things are good here.  Oh Sara, before I get started, I found something that you might like.  Get your bible and go to Genesis 17:15 then, when you get to footnote a, look at the bottom of the page for what it means.  Just don't rub it in Maren's face too much because she might get jealous. 

This week, or at least from Saturday to yesterday, it was "La Festa Della Madonna" (the festival for the mother of Jesus) in Reggio.  MAN! It has been so crazy!  I didn't know that Reggio could be so busy and alive.  There have been concerts, (a couple by the castle which is right by our house, it's been hard to sleep) parties, shows, fireworks, and all kinds of people selling all kinds of things.  It's been cool to see but it's made missionary work a little hard. =/

We’ve done a ton of publicity for our English course; hopefully we'll be able to recover from the summer vacations and the fact that there weren't missionaries in Reggio for a month before we came here. (It’s working! I just got 3 phone calls in a row for the course! Score!) About Tamara, she is doing great!! With the fest and everything it's been a little difficult to see her and for the weekend she went to Catania for a dance tryout.  But she has started the Book of Mormon a third time and is making great progress!  

Anyways, on Friday, we also saw a member who is starting to come back to church.  It went really well but the best part of the visit was at the end when he gave us a bunny.  Now you might be saying to yourself, but missionaries can't have pets.... don't worry, we are planning on eating it on Saturday.  It was skinned and frozen solid. =/ We’ll see how it turns out...

 Hmm, what else, for over a week now, at night when I write in my journal, at the end I add a tender mercy of the day; It’s been helping a lot with recognizing the hand of the Lord in this work and my personal life.  True sometimes it is kind of difficult to find something but as you sit and think about it, tens of examples come to mind and then it's hard to pick just one.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.  I especially like the one with the pig. =)  I love you.  Have a great week!!

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"Look inside yourself, you're more than what you've become.  Remember who you are."  The Lion King 

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Four: The 14th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

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1 Kings 18:21

Looking toward Sicily from the church in Reggio

Hello! Thank you for all the pictures!! They’re great! You all had a week full of fireworks and fun! And the girls look so much older! Holy cow! I miss you! What in the world was Mattie doing with a book at the Mandersheid castle? Time and place girl!  Hey, fun fact, I'm not sure if I've shared it with you yet; Anziani Patanè and Bitseedy both served here in Reggio!!! Cool huh?  Have you heard from either of them?

Anyways, this week was a finding week.  We did the mostra (something that is regular now, every Friday night baby! =P ) and we've been trying  to find as many people we can to meet with.  We’re seeing a lot of results, I think it helps that now, people are coming back from vacation and reestablishing their normal lives.  Most often we use a "survey" of 5 questions that establish a belief and understanding of God, and introduces the Book of Mormon as a book comparable to the bible that speaks of Christ.  It works really well, mainly because a survey isn't very forward and, because it's a survey, they can't talk (as) much.  Which if you've ever met an Italian you can appreciate the ability to keep their talking to a minimum.

This week I found a scripture that I really liked because it applies really well to missionary life but it works really well in all of our lives, especially Abby as she's at university, and you all because Germany is temporary (hopefully =P ).  It's Doctrine and Covenants 51:16-17.  The saints knew that they wouldn't be in Ohio forever, the Lord told them that.  But they were told to act "as if for years" until the Lord sent them elsewhere.  It's easy to say, "well I'll only be in this city for 3 months, I mind as well not try to do my best at keeping the area book in order" or "I'll be in this ward only for a year, what's the point of getting to know the members?"  We need to BE where we are.  

Mt Etna in the background

Sunday we had a pretty cool surprise, a contact (Andrea) came to church!  Right during the middle of the second hour,  afterwards we were able to have a member lesson with him and Presidente Pipolo.   He LOVES to talk and has some strange ideas but he's a cool guy, and it's obvious the Lord is preparing him.  Federico, is leaving today for London.  He's going there to study for 3 weeks so things will have to wait with him.  However, before he left, he told us that he (finally) decided to start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning.  This is the best news ever.  In Preach My Gospel it explains that the Book of Mormon combined with the spirit is the most powerful tool in conversion.  Also, things with Tamara are going great.  We had a really powerful lesson yesterday on the Plan of Salvation.  Also, she told us that she threw away all her mini skirts!!! Score!! Piano piano. =)

Well, sadly, my time's up.  We need to go get ready to play tennis! I love you all,  you are the best!

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"Look inside yourself, you're more than what you've become.  Remember who you are."  The Lion King 

Anziano Camron Stewart

Chapter Four: The 13th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

"Kindness is the essence of greatness" Anziano Wirthlin

Buon Mercoledì a tutti!!! Today it's not too hot, there's at least some wind.  This morning we played tennis with the Branch President and his wife, it was a lot of fun.  This week either it wasn't as hot as it's been in the past or we're so burnt we can't feel it anymore.  

We were able to meet with a sister who was baptized 18 months ago and sadly is less active.  She and her husband were investigating the church but he couldn't get over the requirements of the word of wisdom.  So she is the only member in her family, then recently, she also had a baby girl and seeing as she lives kind of far away, it's a hassle for her to get everything in order so that she and the baby can come to church, but every once and a while she does come.  

Anyway, we met at her house (sadly her husband was working) and she might be the most normal member that I've met in Italy (normal in the sense of lifestyle and social class.)  Plus she has a very strong testimony.  We now are trying to meet her husband and to start helping him make progress because if their whole family were members it would be a huge help and hope to the branch to have an entire family that's relatively young.

Also, Tamara came back from vacation and we were able to see her yesterday.  She's finished the Book of Mormon again, this time in Russian. That's twice in less than 5 months.  She is absolutely in love with the book.  We tried to set a baptismal date with her but she said that she is still confused and is not ready.  However, her comments and answers say otherwise.  So our goal is to help her recognize that she is ready.  She is also worried about what her friends will say/think and we feel she isn't 100% on board for the lifestyle changes required, however, she knows it's true.

My talk went well which I based it off of this one by Heber C. Kimball  http://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/01/the-potter-and-the-clay?lang=eng  it's called the Potter and the Clay.  I'm assuming that he used Isaiah 64:8 for inspiration.  Both the talk and the verse are a great analogy for putting our trust in the Lord and being humble.  It's nice giving talks in Italian because you take more time to say the same thing you would say in English. ;)  Anyways, the talk went well, it's the putting it into practice that is the hard part. But the closer we come to the Lord the more weaknesses he shows us. Fact.  Take it how you want to.

President Pipolo said something in his talk that I really liked.  He talked about how no matter how much we like something we can never substitute it for what the Lord has already established.  I'm not sure if that makes sense.  He used this analogy.  That even if we like Cola drinks so much that we drink 2 liters a day, if we try to use it as fuel in our cars it will never work.  It doesn't matter how happy it makes us cars require gas.  Similarly, the Lord has made it so that for us to know his will for us, we need to pray daily, and to read the scriptures daily.  Only in this way can he give us the knowledge that we seek. 

I guess this morning at like 1 o’clock; there was an earthquake at Scilla.  It's like 20 kilometers away.  Thankfully no one got hurt and there wasn't any damage done but it was 4.6 on the Richter scale! We slept through the whole thing. 

So Mattie is a secret world cup level goalie, huh? 9 attempts out of 10 aren’t bad!  Why didn’t you ever want to play with us?!  That's great about the 200 people in church! How is it going with that German family of 4 who were baptized recently?  Well I'm out of time and things to say.  Mom, I hope it's long enough for you.  Remember to take plenty of pictures at the Bern Kastel wine fest.  But not too many, I really miss those German festivals.

I love you all, and I hope that all is well with you, ciao. =)

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"Look inside yourself, you're more than what you've become.  Remember who you are."  The Lion King 

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Four: The 12th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

First of all... mom, don't worry if the letters I write aren't novels, we have work to do. I can't be at the computer all day. =P  

So Ferragosto wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  In fact, it was the missions record for most baptisms in 2012! Yeah Boy!  As far as transfers go, we'll both be staying in Reggio for another 6 weeks.  Which is really good because we both know the city and branch really well, I'm looking forward to taking advantage of this.  Another plus is that we both (still) want to wake up early and workout. 

Your camping trip to the Netherlands sounds like a blast!  I'm glad you had fun and everyone got sun burnt. =P  I'm also glad to hear that Abby got to Utah safely. Then you are going to go to the Mandersheid festival, man! What a summer.  I'm jealous that for Stake Conference you're going to have Anziano Kearon as the visiting general authority.  I remember the talk he gave in general conference Oct. 2010, I was at the Smith's house.  Anyways, the church ended up making this video from the talk. https://www.lds.org/youth/video/sting-of-the-scorpion?lang=eng  It's good stuff.  Tell him hi for me =P  So school starts this next week huh? Are you guys excited?! If not, why not?!  You are all going to have to let me know what classes you're taking and stuff.

This week, we had to say goodbye to Anziano Errante.  From what I understand he's doing well, getting back to normal life.  We miss his Italian-ness, but I am glad to be back in just two.  I think we'll see better results this week.  We were able to do a split with Catania on Thursday.  I stayed in Reggio and was with Anziano Hanson.  He's a great person and bomb missionary.  Federico is still coming to English course regularly but it's becoming harder and harder to fix an appointment with him... however he did come to family night on Monday.  He really enjoyed it, even made some comments.  We also played "do you love your neighbor" but there was one member (58ish) who had some difficulty in understanding how to play, which in the end just made things more fun.

Mom, you talked about how this mission is more for me than it is for those I teach.  That might be true, but I can't allow myself to think that because it's too selfish.  Just thinking about all the time, effort and money that is put into just me as a missionary and then to think of it as something that is for my benefit is just too selfish, it's too hard to accept. I'm supposed to be dedicating 2 years to the Lord and his work, not my self-betterment.  My purpose was pounded into my head in the MTC, it's to "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." I'm only the messenger; I'm just supposed to invite as many people as I can to apply this gospel to their lives.

Sorry, maybe that's a little heavy.  I'm studying pride and humility this week for a talk on Sunday and I'm doing my best to apply it.  I feel particularly lacking in this area since I've started focusing on it.  It's funny how that works huh? We think we're going great until we take a little closer or longer look and then we see that maybe the windows weren't as clean as we thought they were. 

Anyways, enjoy this last little bit of summer before everything starts back up, and remember to take pictures!! I want to see pictures!!  and as far as mail goes feel free to send everything to "Via Filipini 85/c  /  89125 Reggio Calabria, Italia"  everything arrives even packages (our neighbor takes them).  Well I need to get going.  I hope everyone is healthy and well. Ciao.

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"Look inside yourself, you're more than what you've become.  Remember who you are."  The Lion King

Anziano Stewart

P.S. oh by the way, I did get the package, I even have a picture to send you but at this Internet point it's not possible, hopefully next week.

I'm off now. love you!!!!! Say hello to everyone for me!!
Ciao!

Chapter Four: The 11th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

Buon Ferragosto!

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Hello dear family! I hope everything is well.  Things here aren't bad.  Sadly, Anziano Errante is leaving us tomorrow evening. He's a good missionary, I've really enjoyed serving with him, he's a lot of fun and he gets work done really well.  He's gained a nice bit of weight on his mission and he's doing his best to take me and Anziano Malan down with him, thankfully he's failing! =)  And then once he leaves, for at least another week me and Anziano Malan will be together. (transfer calls are this Saturday) but I'm almost positive that we'll stay together for at least another 6 weeks.  

This week flew by!  Between helping Anziano Erante getting ready to go home and missionary work we barely had time to sleep!  However, Sunday evening we were invited to an Evangelist church.  It was a very interesting experience.  Things started off more or less "normal".  They started to sing but instead of singing they were just yelling.  Then once the songs (shouting) was over, they all started whispering and the pastor started to "prophesy". They were waving their hands in the air yelling "gloria a dio!" "alleluia!".  

Then, the pastor gave the "word" but instead of a structured discourse, it was more or less stand up comedy.  It was very hard to feel the spirit during the service.  As I was thinking about everything, it just makes me sad that these people who at one point were looking for the truth (because everyone who's not Catholic in Italy has a conversion story) and they have been deceived.   They are now convinced that this is the truth.  But, the Lord knows what he's doing, it's his work not ours. 

This Monday, we watched 17 Miracles and made pizza in church for family night.  It was a great turn out, we even had 3 investigators come!  The movie was so good.  I really liked the messages that it portrayed.  Especially that through the gospel, we can, even in dire circumstances, maintain our dignity and humanity.  Then afterwards it caused me to reflect on the pioneers, and I remembered our great, great, great grandma and the stories from her diary. I'm really grateful for their dedication and commitment, it's a great example for me.

Well, sorry it's short, I love you can't wait to hear from you.

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Mai arrendersi,

Anziano Stewart