1/6 Kids

1/6 Kids

Buon Giorno Tutti. ( Good Morning Everyone )

Well another week has come and gone out here in the mystical land of Crotone. This past week was a good one. The seems are really seeming to fly one by. The weeks seem to be going faster and faster. I believe that this past week was Spring Break for everyone. I hope you all had a great break full of fun adventures and experiences. 

 

Here is a quick little update on me. I weigh 185 lbs. I am around 192 cm ( I have no idea how many inches that is ). I am on a pretty healthy diet. My diet consists of fruit in the morning, some pasta for lunch and Tomatoes with Cucumbers for dinner. Don't ask me why I decided to do this, but my intentions are to create some good healthy eating habits....and also to be a little more healthy. I drink around 2 Liters of Water everyday. I am understanding a lot more Italian as the days go on. I am happy and everything is good. 

This past week I went on a Scambio ( exchanges ) with one of the Elders from Catanzaro. On Wednesday I went there and spent the night with him. This Elder, Elder Williams, has been having some troubles with his back....because of this problem he gets to go to the gym a few times a week. At the gym they have this personal trainer that has a bunch of exercises to help him get his spine back to where it should be. So last Thursday morning I was able to tag along with him and go to the gym. Goodness it was nice to see workout equipment. I went right to the treadmill and took a good 20 minute warm up jog which felt so good. Then the personal trainer came in and destroyed me. Now I am not sure what lifts they have for Cross-Fit but I imagine that most of the lifts she had me do were all from Cross-Fit. While the other Elder was doing stretches and exercises for his back....This personal trainer was killing me. I was sweating so bad and breathing like a horse. You get pretty out of shape out here on the mission. Push-Ups only do so much. She worked with us for about 2 hours and by the end I was dead. We got back to the house and I almost shed a tear when I was taking off of my shirt to get into the shower......but all in all I loved the Gym! 

This week we met with that family that I talked a little bit about last week. Goodness they are so ready for the gospel. We were teaching The Restoration and the mom just kept saying..."This is exactly what I have been looking for." and "I believe that!" It was awesome. We taught the first lesson and plan on teaching the second lesson sometime this week. The Mom and the two young boys are ready. The dad is going to need a little work, but we will be able to help them out and get them going on the right path. She is going to teach us how to cook pizza as well. She is seriously one of the most caring and giving ladies that I have ever met. I keep thinking that if they lived in Utah that they would already be Mormons. When they come to English Course my mind just thinks that they are already Mormons just by how they act. They are good people. I will keep you all updated on them and their progression. 

Saturday was transfer calls. I hate transfer calls because I always get pretty homesick. I think it is just because I realize that I have 14 transfers to go, and that seems a little daunting.....but I am fine! Really I am doing great and loving it. The people here are great and I love where we are going in our missionary work. The Report from Transfer calls is that Me and My Companion will be staying together for another transfer and we are staying in Crotone. I had mixed feelings about my comp. but I was super happy to stay in Crotone. I love it here! 

This past weekend The Sisters here had a baptism. They baptized a young black guy named Endurance. In the first lesson that they were teaching him....he said..."Okay so when can I get baptized?" So he was pretty ready for the gospel if I do say so myself. Anyways he was baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday in Sacrament Meeting. The confirmation was pretty cool for me, because he actually asked me to do it. I felt honored. So now I can say that I have officially confirmed someone a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have never really had a super long conversation with Endurance. I have only just hook his hand and said a simple Hello......but He chose me to confirm him. It felt great and I was honored to perform this Sacred Ordinance. Yesterday was a good day. Sundays are my favorite days. The Sabbath is truly a Beautiful Day. 

That is about if for this week here in Crotone. This week I had the impression to share with you all the importance of The Family. 

The Family. In this world that we live in today.....The importance of the Family is slowly deteriorating. This is truly sad to see. The Family is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, blessings that our Father in Heaven has blessed us with. Today is more important than ever to make The Family the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father's plan. Our relationships that we create here on the earth last long past the grave. The relationships that we build last forever. When we die our personality doesn't change. After death we are the same person, with the same thoughts, the same desires, and we will continue to have the same loving relationships with the ones that we love the most. The Family is crucial. It is so important to have a family that you can trust and know that they truly love you. Family Activities are some of my fondest memories that I am carrying with me out here in the mission field. I will never forget camping trips with The Nessens, Family Home Evenings with The Huffs and The Birthday Parties with my Momma Mandee's Family. The Family is the one thing here on the earth that we will always have. I am not sure if I was able to choose my family in the premortal life or not......but I do have to say that I was born into the greatest family on the earth. I was so blessed with two loving parents that sacrificed and still continue to sacrifice so much for me. I was blessed with two adorable little sisters and one stud of a brother. I was blessed with the most incredible Grandparents and Great Grandparents. I was blessed with the most loving and supporting Aunts and Uncles. I was blessed with The Greatest cousins. When I was 5 I was blessed to join a completely new family that has blessed my life in more ways than I can possibly think of. I am lucky enough to have two Moms. One on the other side of the veil and one still here on the earth with me today. Family is the most important thing we have. The Family is the one thing that we know we will have forever. How we treat and how we love each one of our family members is crucial. Let us love each and every one of our family members. Let us always be there to lift up, offer a hand, be a shoulder to cry on, and be someone that our families can count on. My challenge this week is to take the time to say Hello and I love you to a family member that you haven't seen or talked to in awhile. Make that extra step to reach out and make someone else feel loved. When we extend our arm and love someone else....We are really extending out and loving our Savior. Families are Forever. I believe this and I know that this is true. I consider myself one of the luckiest guys to ever walk the earth and this is all because of my truly amazing family. Heavenly Father blessed me with the absolute best.

I love you all. Thank You so much for all of the love, support and prayers. I hope and pray that each of you will know how grateful I am for you and how much I truly love you. You are all amazing in every way possible. Have a great, safe week. 

This Church is True. Through The Gospel of Jesus Christ The Family is Forever. How grateful I am to know that this is true. 

peace, love and blessings...

Anziano JarDee Nessen