Jul09
Over 200 Days in the Mish
Good Morning Everyone,
I hope you all had an amazing week. I hope you all are enjoying the
summer and having tons of fun. I hope everyone is doing well and
staying healthy. I love you all. Truly thank you for everything. Thank
you for your prayers. Your love. Your support. I thank each one of you
reading this email right now for the positive impact you have had on
my life. I am truly grateful for you all.
I want to start off by telling you about our little trip down to
Crotone, then to Sicily and then back home to Pozzuoli. So our little
journey started off last Sunday night when we took a train from Napoli
to another train station about 4 hours away. At that train station The
Bullocks ( The Senior Couple I served with in Crotone ) picked us up
and drove us to Crotone. Monday morning we went to the place to get my
Permesso ( My documents. So I can legally live in Italy. ) and
immediately after I got my permesso......We got back in The Bullocks
car and they drove us back to the same train station that they picked
us up at the night before. It is about and Hour and A Half drive. We
got out of the car and caught our train. That train went from the
little train station to the train station in Palermo ( Palermo is in
Sicily). That was a solid 8.5 hour train ride. The view was
incredible. I was able to see a good chunk of Southern Italy and lots
of Sicily. It was amazing really. It was 8 pm when we arrived in
Palermo last Monday Evening, so we went and slept at the Elders'
apartment who serve in Palermo. Tuesday morning we woke up at 4:45 am to catch a bus at 6:15 am. That bus went to Sciacca ( which was my
companions first city in his mission). The bus ride from Palermo to
Sciacca is about 2 hours. I slept the entire way. We got to Sciacca
and did what we had to do. When we finished we had enough time to get
some lunch and get on another bus that would take us to the airport
back in Palermo. We got to the airport at about 1:45pm and our flight
didn't take off until 5:30pm. So we had lots of time to kill in a tiny
little airport. We got on the plane and flew back to Napoli. The
flight was around 45 minutes. It was super convenient. We landed at
the Airport in Napoli, took a taxi to the train station in Napoli, and
took a train back to Pozzuoli. We left Sunday afternoon and were home
Tuesday Evening.
Did you get all that? If not don't worry, I still don't understand
what we did either. I just know that we travelled a lot in two days,
but I was lucky enough to see lots of the beautiful Southern Italy.
Tuesday night I slept pretty good you could say. I have never been
more happy to be in my own bed. What a trip.
This past week we had some pretty cool experiences. We had some solid
lessons, met some new people, have some new investigators and even
taught the restoration to about 10 evangelists during one of there
ceremonies last night.
I will start with the 10 Evangelists. So last night we were out and
about when we heard, off in the distance, what sounded like a speaker
system. The closer we got, the louder it got. We just kept following
the noise, until we stumbled upon a giant Evangelical meeting in a
park. So of course we wanted to sit in and listen in the back behind
everyone else. We weren't there for 14 seconds when all of a sudden
people started coming up to us and asking us about what we believe. It
was pretty cool really. They were all super kind, but there were a few
of them that didn't really want to talk.....they wanted to "Bible
Bash". I could tell that a few of them were trying to ask difficult
questions and they were trying to catch us with tricky doctrines, but
we simply taught the restoration, stayed calm, smiled a lot and bore
testimony on the things that we know to be true. At the end we parted
ways by saying an evangelical prayer and a Mormon prayer together. It
was really cool. The people we met could seriously be Mormon, and
strong members, if they would give the Book of Mormon a shot. They
simply couldn't accept the Book of Mormon. It reminded me of the verse
in 2nd Nephi 29:3...."A Bible! A Bible. We have got a Bible, and
there cannot be any more bible." They were shocked that God waited
almost 2,000 years to bring forth the Book of Mormon. We explained to
them why.....They just couldn't wrap their minds around it. In the
chapter heading of Chapter 29 it also reads....."Many Gentiles shall
reject the Book of Mormon." Well that is how I felt last night and
that is what I saw last night. I simply just wanted to take their
moral agency for a moment and make them read/pray about the
truthfulness of The Book of Mormon.....because truly we are holding
Eternal Life and Exaltation in our hands.....They just have to give it
a shot. None of them would, like I had expected because it would be
kind of hard to accept a Book of Mormon while your evangelical church
is having there Sunday ceremony right behind us......Haha! But we gave
our number our and got some numbers. Hopefully someone was touched by
the spirit and hopefully we will be able to talk move about the Joseph
Smith Story and The Restoration. Last night was a good time. Crazy and
a little bit scary.....but good. We were in the line of fire for an
hour or so, and I felt like we did the best we could.
We have 2 new investigators. Claudio and Gina. They are married and
own a glasses store near Pozzuoli. She is a die-hard Catholic and He
doesn't really believe in anything. Some members sent them to us as
referrals. Last week we met with them. We planned on teaching the
first lesson ( The Restoration ) but when we showed up.....our lesson
plan went out of the window. We got to know them a little bit better
and they had some pretty deep questions about the Plan of Salvation
and about the life after this life. Claudio asked some rather
difficult questions and I remember thinking in my head....."This would
be hard to answer in English, let alone Italian." I wanted so badly to
bare my testimony about Eternal Families and how special the Plan of
Salvation truly is, but I felt the need to save it for another time.
We spent an hour or so with them, and during that hour they were super
receptive to the things that we had to say. The Spirit was definitely
there and I hope that Holy Ghost bore truthfulness to what we were
saying. They accepted another appointment with us and agreed to start
reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. They are really awesome
people, and very kind. They would make good, strong members.
Sergio, the little old man we are teaching, is my hero. He is truly a
champion. Sunday morning He wasn't feeling very well. He doesn't own a
cell phone, so there was no way for him to tell us he wasn't feeling
so good. When we met with him on Saturday he told us that he would see
us on Sunday. So instead of him leaving us high and dry, he got ready
and walked 45 minutes one way to the church.....to tell us that he
wasn't feeling well. He looked super weak and exhausted. I felt so
bad. He simply said, "Elders I am sorry, but I am not feeling very
well today. So I wanted to come and tell you that I wasn't going to be
able to make it to church." We told him we loved him and asked if we
could do anything for him.....of course he said no. He than walked the
45 minutes back home and rested. Goodness......I love that guy. I
thought to myself...."Would I be willing to walk that far, to talk to
some 19 year old kids, early in the morning.....especially when I
wasn't feeling good. Just to make sure that I didn't let someone else
down." Wow. Seeing him this morning and listening to him talk to us
was truly incredible. I love Sergio. I want to stuff him in my carry
on and bring him home with me....because he would fit. He is just s
little guy. I would ask that you would keep Sergio in your prayers. He
is a good guy and we need him. Thank you all. Yesterday.....He taught
me a pretty incredible life lesson. I will never forget my little
conversation with Sergio on The Sunday Morning of June 28th, 2015.
People say we go on missions to teach other people, but I have learned
way more than I could ever possibly teach. I am very grateful to have
experiences like the one I had with Sergio. Very grateful.
The Hubbard family. This past week we went and taught the Hubbard
Family. They are an American less active family. They have three kids.
Russell who is 5. Hannah who is 7. Amzy who is 2. They are from South
Carolina and Georgia. We taught their kids the atonement and about
Jesus Christ. I also hooked them up with a little CTR ring. They loved
them. I told them who they came from and they wanted to send some
pictures home with our new CTR rings. I love that family. They are
going to take us, this coming Saturday ( The Fourth of July ), to the
American Base. I am super excited! Fireworks, Americans, American
Food, English.....I am super pumped!
That is about all the good stuff that happened this past week. I also
found where Pozzuoli is mentioned in the New Testament. This is when
Paul is making his way to Rome.
In Acts 28:13 it says...."....and we came the next day to Puteoli."
In the Italian bible Acts 28:13 says..."....in due giorni arrivammo a Pozzuoli."
Also on Friday, I hit my 200th day in the mission. That felt good. Real good.
This week I wish to talk just a little but on being Proud and Humble.
This thought came to me yesterday at church.
In the grand councils of Heaven there were two plans presented to our
Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ's plan that gave us the opportunity to
decide for ourselves and all of the glory would go to our Father in
Heaven. “Thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” (Moses
4:2) Lucifer's plan which was to give us no moral agency, therefore
all of us would be saved. The negative thing about Lucifer's plan was
that He wanted the glory to be his own. “Because … Satan rebelled
against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord
God, had given him, … I caused that he should be cast down.” (Moses
4:3) Lucifer abused his ow moral agency, because of his pride, and was
cast out of Heaven along with 1/3 of the hosts of heaven. Those who
did not choose to follow Jesus Christ in the ore mortal life, were
also cast out with Satan.
This hit me yesterday pretty hard.....Lucifer and Jesus Christ were
once both spirit children of our Father in Heaven. They were both
given the opportunity to present their plan. Jesus Christ was humble
and wanted no glory for Himself. Lucifer was prideful and desired that
glory would come his way. Pride was the once difference. Look at how
far the pride of one soul took him. It took him from being considered
in the Grand Councils of Heaven, to then being cast out of the
presence of God and becoming the adversary. One man had pride. One man
was humble. Crazy for me to look at the difference and see truly how
damaging being lifted up in the sight of our own eyes truly is.
"The greatest, most capable, most accomplished man who ever walked
this earth was also the most humble. He performed some of His most
impressive service in private moments, with only a few observers, whom
He asked to “tell no man” what He had done. When someone called Him
“good,” He quickly deflected the compliment, insisting that only God
is truly good. Clearly the praise of the world meant nothing to Him;
His single purpose was to serve His Father and “do always those things
that please him.” We would do well to follow the example of our
Master."
-President Uchtdorf (April 2015 General Conference)
My challenge this week is simple. To be a little more humble. A little
more grateful. Give praises unto The Lord in every meaningful thing.
Look for an opportunity to serve. To accept that sometimes we aren't
as big as we think we are.
This week, this is more so for me than anyone else. I need to be more
humble. I need to be more grateful. I need to look for more
opportunities to serve. I need to become less proud.
It means nothing to be looked upon highly by other people, because in
the end being looked upon highly by other people will not buy our
ticket into Heaven. The only opinionated relationship that we should
care about is the relationship between ourselves and our Father in
Heaven and His Son. If we are more worried about how our Father in
Heaven is looking down upon us, rather than what our neighbor ps or
friends think.....We will be much better off. The opinions of others
mean nothing. The thoughts that others have about us mean nothing. The
opinion that matters, and the opinion that will earn us our salvation,
is the opinion that comes from our Father in Heaven. Let's not have
the desire to be praised by man, because that got Lucifer nowhere and
it will get us nowhere. It could get us somewhere, but nowhere that
matters in the eyes of God. Let us remember our Master in all things.
Let us remember the one that grants us daily breath, that has given us
everything we have ever had and continues to love us no matter how
many times we slip up. Let us live, and live righteously, for our
Heavenly Father. Let us strengthen our relationship with Him, and
continually strengthen that relationship. Let us put away our pride.
Let us see where we can improve. Where we are coming up short. Where
we can change.....and let's work to be looked upon highly by our
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, rather than being praised by man.
I love you all. I am really going to focus on this pride thing. It
took a man from being considered in Heaven, to then becoming Satan and
the author of sin. Pride is a big thing. I pray we will all have the
sincere desire to be a little kinder and to love others more fully. I
hope you all have an amazing week. I hope you all are safe and are
having an awesome summer. You guys are awesome. You are all in my
prayers. Much love.
peace be the journey,
anziano jardee nessen
Ps......I love you all.
I hope you all had an amazing week. I hope you all are enjoying the
summer and having tons of fun. I hope everyone is doing well and
staying healthy. I love you all. Truly thank you for everything. Thank
you for your prayers. Your love. Your support. I thank each one of you
reading this email right now for the positive impact you have had on
my life. I am truly grateful for you all.
I want to start off by telling you about our little trip down to
Crotone, then to Sicily and then back home to Pozzuoli. So our little
journey started off last Sunday night when we took a train from Napoli
to another train station about 4 hours away. At that train station The
Bullocks ( The Senior Couple I served with in Crotone ) picked us up
and drove us to Crotone. Monday morning we went to the place to get my
Permesso ( My documents. So I can legally live in Italy. ) and
immediately after I got my permesso......We got back in The Bullocks
car and they drove us back to the same train station that they picked
us up at the night before. It is about and Hour and A Half drive. We
got out of the car and caught our train. That train went from the
little train station to the train station in Palermo ( Palermo is in
Sicily). That was a solid 8.5 hour train ride. The view was
incredible. I was able to see a good chunk of Southern Italy and lots
of Sicily. It was amazing really. It was 8 pm when we arrived in
Palermo last Monday Evening, so we went and slept at the Elders'
apartment who serve in Palermo. Tuesday morning we woke up at 4:45 am to catch a bus at 6:15 am. That bus went to Sciacca ( which was my
companions first city in his mission). The bus ride from Palermo to
Sciacca is about 2 hours. I slept the entire way. We got to Sciacca
and did what we had to do. When we finished we had enough time to get
some lunch and get on another bus that would take us to the airport
back in Palermo. We got to the airport at about 1:45pm and our flight
didn't take off until 5:30pm. So we had lots of time to kill in a tiny
little airport. We got on the plane and flew back to Napoli. The
flight was around 45 minutes. It was super convenient. We landed at
the Airport in Napoli, took a taxi to the train station in Napoli, and
took a train back to Pozzuoli. We left Sunday afternoon and were home
Tuesday Evening.
Did you get all that? If not don't worry, I still don't understand
what we did either. I just know that we travelled a lot in two days,
but I was lucky enough to see lots of the beautiful Southern Italy.
Tuesday night I slept pretty good you could say. I have never been
more happy to be in my own bed. What a trip.
This past week we had some pretty cool experiences. We had some solid
lessons, met some new people, have some new investigators and even
taught the restoration to about 10 evangelists during one of there
ceremonies last night.
I will start with the 10 Evangelists. So last night we were out and
about when we heard, off in the distance, what sounded like a speaker
system. The closer we got, the louder it got. We just kept following
the noise, until we stumbled upon a giant Evangelical meeting in a
park. So of course we wanted to sit in and listen in the back behind
everyone else. We weren't there for 14 seconds when all of a sudden
people started coming up to us and asking us about what we believe. It
was pretty cool really. They were all super kind, but there were a few
of them that didn't really want to talk.....they wanted to "Bible
Bash". I could tell that a few of them were trying to ask difficult
questions and they were trying to catch us with tricky doctrines, but
we simply taught the restoration, stayed calm, smiled a lot and bore
testimony on the things that we know to be true. At the end we parted
ways by saying an evangelical prayer and a Mormon prayer together. It
was really cool. The people we met could seriously be Mormon, and
strong members, if they would give the Book of Mormon a shot. They
simply couldn't accept the Book of Mormon. It reminded me of the verse
in 2nd Nephi 29:3...."A Bible! A Bible. We have got a Bible, and
there cannot be any more bible." They were shocked that God waited
almost 2,000 years to bring forth the Book of Mormon. We explained to
them why.....They just couldn't wrap their minds around it. In the
chapter heading of Chapter 29 it also reads....."Many Gentiles shall
reject the Book of Mormon." Well that is how I felt last night and
that is what I saw last night. I simply just wanted to take their
moral agency for a moment and make them read/pray about the
truthfulness of The Book of Mormon.....because truly we are holding
Eternal Life and Exaltation in our hands.....They just have to give it
a shot. None of them would, like I had expected because it would be
kind of hard to accept a Book of Mormon while your evangelical church
is having there Sunday ceremony right behind us......Haha! But we gave
our number our and got some numbers. Hopefully someone was touched by
the spirit and hopefully we will be able to talk move about the Joseph
Smith Story and The Restoration. Last night was a good time. Crazy and
a little bit scary.....but good. We were in the line of fire for an
hour or so, and I felt like we did the best we could.
We have 2 new investigators. Claudio and Gina. They are married and
own a glasses store near Pozzuoli. She is a die-hard Catholic and He
doesn't really believe in anything. Some members sent them to us as
referrals. Last week we met with them. We planned on teaching the
first lesson ( The Restoration ) but when we showed up.....our lesson
plan went out of the window. We got to know them a little bit better
and they had some pretty deep questions about the Plan of Salvation
and about the life after this life. Claudio asked some rather
difficult questions and I remember thinking in my head....."This would
be hard to answer in English, let alone Italian." I wanted so badly to
bare my testimony about Eternal Families and how special the Plan of
Salvation truly is, but I felt the need to save it for another time.
We spent an hour or so with them, and during that hour they were super
receptive to the things that we had to say. The Spirit was definitely
there and I hope that Holy Ghost bore truthfulness to what we were
saying. They accepted another appointment with us and agreed to start
reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. They are really awesome
people, and very kind. They would make good, strong members.
Sergio, the little old man we are teaching, is my hero. He is truly a
champion. Sunday morning He wasn't feeling very well. He doesn't own a
cell phone, so there was no way for him to tell us he wasn't feeling
so good. When we met with him on Saturday he told us that he would see
us on Sunday. So instead of him leaving us high and dry, he got ready
and walked 45 minutes one way to the church.....to tell us that he
wasn't feeling well. He looked super weak and exhausted. I felt so
bad. He simply said, "Elders I am sorry, but I am not feeling very
well today. So I wanted to come and tell you that I wasn't going to be
able to make it to church." We told him we loved him and asked if we
could do anything for him.....of course he said no. He than walked the
45 minutes back home and rested. Goodness......I love that guy. I
thought to myself...."Would I be willing to walk that far, to talk to
some 19 year old kids, early in the morning.....especially when I
wasn't feeling good. Just to make sure that I didn't let someone else
down." Wow. Seeing him this morning and listening to him talk to us
was truly incredible. I love Sergio. I want to stuff him in my carry
on and bring him home with me....because he would fit. He is just s
little guy. I would ask that you would keep Sergio in your prayers. He
is a good guy and we need him. Thank you all. Yesterday.....He taught
me a pretty incredible life lesson. I will never forget my little
conversation with Sergio on The Sunday Morning of June 28th, 2015.
People say we go on missions to teach other people, but I have learned
way more than I could ever possibly teach. I am very grateful to have
experiences like the one I had with Sergio. Very grateful.
The Hubbard family. This past week we went and taught the Hubbard
Family. They are an American less active family. They have three kids.
Russell who is 5. Hannah who is 7. Amzy who is 2. They are from South
Carolina and Georgia. We taught their kids the atonement and about
Jesus Christ. I also hooked them up with a little CTR ring. They loved
them. I told them who they came from and they wanted to send some
pictures home with our new CTR rings. I love that family. They are
going to take us, this coming Saturday ( The Fourth of July ), to the
American Base. I am super excited! Fireworks, Americans, American
Food, English.....I am super pumped!
That is about all the good stuff that happened this past week. I also
found where Pozzuoli is mentioned in the New Testament. This is when
Paul is making his way to Rome.
In Acts 28:13 it says...."....and we came the next day to Puteoli."
In the Italian bible Acts 28:13 says..."....in due giorni arrivammo a Pozzuoli."
Also on Friday, I hit my 200th day in the mission. That felt good. Real good.
This week I wish to talk just a little but on being Proud and Humble.
This thought came to me yesterday at church.
In the grand councils of Heaven there were two plans presented to our
Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ's plan that gave us the opportunity to
decide for ourselves and all of the glory would go to our Father in
Heaven. “Thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” (Moses
4:2) Lucifer's plan which was to give us no moral agency, therefore
all of us would be saved. The negative thing about Lucifer's plan was
that He wanted the glory to be his own. “Because … Satan rebelled
against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord
God, had given him, … I caused that he should be cast down.” (Moses
4:3) Lucifer abused his ow moral agency, because of his pride, and was
cast out of Heaven along with 1/3 of the hosts of heaven. Those who
did not choose to follow Jesus Christ in the ore mortal life, were
also cast out with Satan.
This hit me yesterday pretty hard.....Lucifer and Jesus Christ were
once both spirit children of our Father in Heaven. They were both
given the opportunity to present their plan. Jesus Christ was humble
and wanted no glory for Himself. Lucifer was prideful and desired that
glory would come his way. Pride was the once difference. Look at how
far the pride of one soul took him. It took him from being considered
in the Grand Councils of Heaven, to then being cast out of the
presence of God and becoming the adversary. One man had pride. One man
was humble. Crazy for me to look at the difference and see truly how
damaging being lifted up in the sight of our own eyes truly is.
"The greatest, most capable, most accomplished man who ever walked
this earth was also the most humble. He performed some of His most
impressive service in private moments, with only a few observers, whom
He asked to “tell no man” what He had done. When someone called Him
“good,” He quickly deflected the compliment, insisting that only God
is truly good. Clearly the praise of the world meant nothing to Him;
His single purpose was to serve His Father and “do always those things
that please him.” We would do well to follow the example of our
Master."
-President Uchtdorf (April 2015 General Conference)
My challenge this week is simple. To be a little more humble. A little
more grateful. Give praises unto The Lord in every meaningful thing.
Look for an opportunity to serve. To accept that sometimes we aren't
as big as we think we are.
This week, this is more so for me than anyone else. I need to be more
humble. I need to be more grateful. I need to look for more
opportunities to serve. I need to become less proud.
It means nothing to be looked upon highly by other people, because in
the end being looked upon highly by other people will not buy our
ticket into Heaven. The only opinionated relationship that we should
care about is the relationship between ourselves and our Father in
Heaven and His Son. If we are more worried about how our Father in
Heaven is looking down upon us, rather than what our neighbor ps or
friends think.....We will be much better off. The opinions of others
mean nothing. The thoughts that others have about us mean nothing. The
opinion that matters, and the opinion that will earn us our salvation,
is the opinion that comes from our Father in Heaven. Let's not have
the desire to be praised by man, because that got Lucifer nowhere and
it will get us nowhere. It could get us somewhere, but nowhere that
matters in the eyes of God. Let us remember our Master in all things.
Let us remember the one that grants us daily breath, that has given us
everything we have ever had and continues to love us no matter how
many times we slip up. Let us live, and live righteously, for our
Heavenly Father. Let us strengthen our relationship with Him, and
continually strengthen that relationship. Let us put away our pride.
Let us see where we can improve. Where we are coming up short. Where
we can change.....and let's work to be looked upon highly by our
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, rather than being praised by man.
I love you all. I am really going to focus on this pride thing. It
took a man from being considered in Heaven, to then becoming Satan and
the author of sin. Pride is a big thing. I pray we will all have the
sincere desire to be a little kinder and to love others more fully. I
hope you all have an amazing week. I hope you all are safe and are
having an awesome summer. You guys are awesome. You are all in my
prayers. Much love.
peace be the journey,
anziano jardee nessen
Ps......I love you all.
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