T'was the 18th Day of May

T'was the 18th Day of May

Good Morning Everybody!

I hope that you all had a good week this past week. This past week was a good one for me. This past week seemed to flyby. Which is nice. Another week bites the dust. I am doing well. Things are doing great and I am really loving life out here. May seems to be flying bye.....Rather quickly. Alright....enough small talk.....Let's get to the good stuff. 

 

This past week we were able to see Antonella and Gianluca. We saw them Wednesday evening. We had a great night with them. It was there older son (Francesco's) Birthday. So we had a little party with them. She made some super good food. She made some amazing birthday cake. We all laughed a lot and had a good time. It was a good night. We left a good spiritual thought on the importance of strength in the family. I feel like I am really starting to get closer and closer with them, I love Antonella and Gianluca. Their divorce is nearly finished.......so soon they will be married and baptized. I cannot wait. I hope and pray that I am still in Crotone when they are married and baptized.  

 

This past week I went on an exchange with an Elder from Catanzaro after District Meeting on Thursday Morning. We had an amazing time. I went with Elder Kawai. He is from Springfield, Utah has been out for just over a year now. He is our District Leader. He is a super good guy and a great missionary. When Him and I got on the train to head back to Catanzaro we sat down and began talking about each other.....so we would know each other a little better. We were talking for a minute or two when the lady sitting next to him interrupted us and started talking about Religion. In the beginning she kept bringing up that she was Catholic and what they believe. In the beginning she was having a very hard time listening to us and the message that we were trying to share. We talked the entire train ride, which is about an hour. During that hour we spoke about religion and we shared The Restoration with her. The deeper we got into The Restoration the more she listened and she quit bringing up that she was Catholic. We told the story of Joseph Smith and the spirit was just continuing to grow and grow and grow. At the end we started to get into The Book of Mormon and we were explaining to her that The Book of Mormon is the evidence that all of this is true. She then said....."I do not need the evidence. I know it is true. I can feel that this is true." Hearing her say that felt so good. It was a huge testimony builder to me that the power of the Holy Ghost is real. It really taught me that no matter what religion someone is or how evil they may be......The Power of The Holy Ghost can still touch them. It was a good train ride to Catanzaro.....that is for sure. We got her name and where she was from. The missionaries will soon be over to her house and hopefully she will be baptized. When we were almost to Catanzaro she leaned over to me and said...."Do you think that it is a coincidence that you sat by me on the train today?" I just simply shook my head and said..."No." It is so cool to see how The Lord puts people in our path that are ready for the gospel. I love it. Thursday was a good day.

This weekend in Crotone there is this thing called "La Festa Della Madonna" or the Celebration of Mary. It is a huge thing here in Crotone. Some Priests carry a statue of Mary and walk along the beach for miles and miles and miles.......While all of the Catholics follow the statue. To me it is freaking weird.....but if they like it.....more power to them. This celebration started on Friday and goes until tonight. There are so many people here in Crotone right now. The population of Crotone has tripled. Somewhere around 200,000 were in the city last night. There were people everywhere. Every night it has been so loud and so hard to sleep....so my comp and I have stayed up talking pretty late for the last few nights. Last night there was a huge firework show out on the Mediterranean Sea. It was pretty cool to watch. We had a great view from our front balcony. 

Yesterday I gave my second talk in church. Mytopic assignment was The Restoration of the Priesthood or "La Restaurazione del Sacerdozio." I felt like this talk was much better than my first talk that I gave. My pronunciation is getting much better and I can read much better now than I could then. It was cool to have the opportunity to learn a lot more about the priesthood and the restoration of the priesthood. We also taught the elder's quorum lesson, the gospel principles lesson and spoke in sacrament. The Elders had a busy Sunday yesterday. It was good! After church an older lady from our branch invited us over for lunch. She is super nice. Sister Zito is her name. She is the Relief Society President here and does a great job. She is the only member in her family, but her husband is a super nice guy. I had the opportunity yesterday of meeting him and he is a great person. He reminded me a ton of Grandpa Lyle. 

So that is about it for this week.....but this week I would like to talk a little bit about a quote from C. S. Lewis. The quote is.... 

"You may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God."

I love this quote. I came across it yesterday and it really did hit me pretty hard. I have always known and always thought that we depend on God a lot.....but it never quite hit me that we are constantly dependent on Him. At times we may feel that God is hidden, or that He is unable to communicate with us for some reason. This is not true. God is never hidden although sometimes "our own desires, rather than a feeling of 'Thy will be done', seem to create the feeling of a Pavilion blocking God." Many of us, including me, during times of trial or difficult times of life feel that God is far from us. The pavilion that seems to halt aid from the other side of the veil does not cover God but sometimes covers us. Let us not forget that we are completely and utterly dependent on our Father in Heaven. Let us not turn to Him only when things get hard, or times get rough.....Let us turn to Him in all things happy or sad. Let us align our desires so they are towards serving and loving others. When our desires and actions are truly inline with the Will of God.....We will never feel like we are hidden from our Master. We will never feel alone. When we come to see the Hand of The Lord in all things, and I mean in all things......We truly come to see that we are completely dependent on The One who grants us daily breath. We need Him for everything and anything. Let us be more aware of the Hand of the Lord in all things and be grateful in all things.....because it is not the times in this world that are easy that shape somebody. The tough times are the times that mold people into who they need to become. The same thing applies to me out here in the mission field. The 2 companions that I had that I loved....I honestly didn't learn that much. But when I was placed with a different companion....I was forced to grow and have learned so much more about myself these last 12 weeks rather than what I learned during the first 12 weeks of my mission. God is never hidden. He wants us to continually go to Him in prayer....for everything in our life. If you have ever felt like God is distant, do not worry....A man named Joseph Smith felt the same way in Liberty Jail when He said..."O God, where art thou?" During times of difficulty, like what the Prophet Joseph Smith was experiencing in the terrible conditions of Liberty Jail, let us remember that God is always nigh. He is never far. No matter how far we may feel from Our Eternal Father in Heaven and His only begotten son Jesus Christ, I testify that we are never out of reach of their divine, loving hands. Their hands are stretched out still, and I testify that they will be forever. So if for a moment you may feel that God is far away, that He is unable to communicate with you or that He is simply not there.....Take Pause and remember that He is unfailing. His love is infinite. His is never far.....We must seek Him. When we seek The Master, we are always found. He is there and will be forever. God is never hidden, but sometimes we hid ourselves from Him. My challenge this week is to Find the Master and Seek Him. I promise that you will be found and come to the knowledge that God is never hidden. We rely on Him for every single thing.....Let us find Him.

I love you all so much. Thank you all so much for the Love, Support and Prayers. Life is good. Let us Smile and Be Happy. Enjoy today...because we will never have May 18th, 2015 again. Today is a good day. Let us all make it a day worth living.

peace, love and blessings.

Anziano JarDee Nessen