Aug27
'Twas the 24th day of August
Buongiorno Tutti.
I love you all. This past week I said Goodbye to Anziano Just and said Hello to Anziano Lasarte. Anziano Just is a great missionary and I was very fortunate to serve with him for a short 6 weeks. He will do great things in Rome. Anziano Lasarte is awesome. He originally comes from Argentina, but bas lived here in northern Italy for the last 13 or 14 years. He is also a very good missionary. This is his last transfer and so he goes home in a few weeks. I can already tell that we are going to have a great transfer together. I am excited to work with him. Anziano Just and I had some really good things happen during our transfer together, now Anziano Lasarte and I are planning to capitalize on the good things that have happened.
This past week we did not have the opportunity to meet with very many investigators, in fact we weren't able to meet with any of them. They are all gone on vacation. So this past week we did finding ( also known as tracting ) and we sure did a lot of it. We met some good people and some nice families that we will be contacting soon to set up appointments. Hopefully this week our investigators will return back to Napoli so we can continue to meet with them. This whole month of August thing here in Italy really blows my mind.
The people that come to our English Course are the best. Last Wednesday one of our students, named Mario, invited us over to his house to eat a Pizza because Anziano Just was leaving the next day. Mario is catholic and was baptized in The Jordan River ( where Christ was baptized) and Mario knows the bible really well. Mario has been coming to our church for the past few weeks. We have never invited him personally, but a few weeks ago page just started showing up. He has been coming to English course for years and years ( he speaks English fluently) but he has never came to church before. The other missionaries are planning on making him an investigator this week. Mario is a stud and I sure love the guy. I will send a picture home next week with Mario and Me.
Another cool English Course story is about a Mom and Daughter from the Ukraine. A few weeks ago we stopped them in the street and invited them to English course ( most of our investigators actually come from English course ) and she was very excited to come. The mom has lived here for a few years and speaks Italian really well. The daughter arrived in Italy only a few months ago, and she does not really speak Italian yet. The daughter is learning English and Italian right now and the mom is learning English and German. I do not know much about this Mother and Daughter yet, but I am planning on getting to know them both better throughout the next little while. They came to English Course last Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday Anziano Lasarte and I did the spiritual thought to close English Course. We decided to do it on prayer. Anziano Lasarte and I both testified that we had seen blessings in our lives because of the power of prayer. Right after I testified that I had seen blessings a student raised his hand and asked me if I could share one of these experiences. I said of course. At first I was a little startled because usually the students don't ask us questions like that, but the first thought that came to my mind was Momma Mandee passing away. I told them the story of her accident and what happened that day. I told them that the prayers of my father were answered because we were lucky enough to have another wonderful lady to call mom. I testified that since the accident some days have been hard and that there will be hard days in the future, but that I know everything will be okay because I will always have the opportunity to pray. Now you are probably wondering why I was talking about the Mom from the Ukraine... Here is why. During the beginning of our spiritual thought, the mom was not translating what we were saying into Ukraine for her daughter, but when I started to tell my story....she translated word for word. Immediately after we were finished, the mom said she wants to know more. Anziano Lasarte and I will begin teaching them this week.
Friday Night the other two missionaries that are serving in Napoli and Anziano Lasarte and I decided to join up and do a "Gesso" together. A gesso is when we take a sheet out in the street, draw on it and talk with people on the street. It is a tracting tool to talk to hundreds and hundreds of different people in a short amount of time. We decided to boost up our English Course and so that became our topic for the night. We handed out hundreds of English Course Pass-A-Long cards and even a Book of Mormon or two. We talked to hundreds of people and tried to talk to thousands. We set up shop just after 5 and finished at about 8:45. We decided to do it on the busiest walking street in all of Napoli. Via Toledo is always crowded with people and especially on a Friday evening. At around 7 o'clock a giant parade of Evangelists came parading down Via Toledo ( the street we were on ). They were playing loud music and carrying large signs that said "Gesù Ti Ama" ( Jesus loves you ) and "Dio è amore" ( God is love ). These evangelists walked right over top of our sheet and stopped the parade right after everyone in there group had passed by our little set up (They had around 30 people). They stopped the music and their leader grabbed a microphone and began preaching. He said many different things but some of the things he said and did shocked me. He looked and pointed directly at us, with hundreds of people watching and screamed "The Mormons come from the Devil." As he yelled this tons of people were shouting "Hallelujah!" He then said, looking directly at us..."Go to hell!!!.....In the name of Jesus Christ I cast you all out!!!!" It was easily the most blasphemous thing I have ever seen. I just laughed at the guy the entire time, the entire time. Luckily, I pulled my iPad out and caught everything on video. After the blasphemous parade marched farther down the road, we went back to work. Napoli is insane and I am starting to get to the point where nothing surprises me anymore.
3 Nephi 14:13-14
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat;
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
I love those scriptures and I thought they went along perfectly with what happened last Friday night. "Narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few be there that find it." That guy that "Banished" us to hell in front of all of those people, he has his reward. That reward may be a few more seats filled in his congregation, but those few seats filled will do nothing for him in the life that is yet to come.
Last night, Sunday Night, we did another Gesso. This time we decided to do it on Eternal Families. We talked to many people, handed out loads of Mormon.org cards, and even walked away with 7 cell phone numbers from younger people that have little families. It was the best Gesso that I have ever done, and we did not end up getting thrust to Hell by some old crazy Evangelist preacher. We plan on contacting those people in the next day or two and setting up some appointments. When I was able to speak with someone that was willing to listen, I was able share why being a Forever Family is so important to me. I would say that in this life things happen unexpectedly and they happen without a moments notice, but if we make sacred covenants with our Father and Heaven and do the things that we are required, we can spend forever with the ones we love most. What a wonderful gift and extraordinary opportunity from our Heavenly Father.
Some Random Things that happened this past week:
1-Nee Convert Pizza Night was good. We read Alma 36 together and had a good time. We ran into Mario, the english course student, on our way to Pizza Night and asked him what he was doing. He said nothing and so we invited him to come with us. He said yes! Mario tagged along and participated the whole time. It was awesome!
2-I changed a flat tire Friday night before we went and did our Gesso. The poor Italian guy looked like he had never done such a thing and was struggling. So while I was changing his tire, Anziano Lasarte was teaching him The Restoration. It was awesome! It felt good to get some dirt on my hands and actually use my hands for the first time in awhile. We switched phone numbers and we will be calling him in a few days. Service opens people up much easier. I am grateful to the Lord for giving us that opportunity to perform a small act of service.
I love you all. This past week I said Goodbye to Anziano Just and said Hello to Anziano Lasarte. Anziano Just is a great missionary and I was very fortunate to serve with him for a short 6 weeks. He will do great things in Rome. Anziano Lasarte is awesome. He originally comes from Argentina, but bas lived here in northern Italy for the last 13 or 14 years. He is also a very good missionary. This is his last transfer and so he goes home in a few weeks. I can already tell that we are going to have a great transfer together. I am excited to work with him. Anziano Just and I had some really good things happen during our transfer together, now Anziano Lasarte and I are planning to capitalize on the good things that have happened.
This past week we did not have the opportunity to meet with very many investigators, in fact we weren't able to meet with any of them. They are all gone on vacation. So this past week we did finding ( also known as tracting ) and we sure did a lot of it. We met some good people and some nice families that we will be contacting soon to set up appointments. Hopefully this week our investigators will return back to Napoli so we can continue to meet with them. This whole month of August thing here in Italy really blows my mind.
The people that come to our English Course are the best. Last Wednesday one of our students, named Mario, invited us over to his house to eat a Pizza because Anziano Just was leaving the next day. Mario is catholic and was baptized in The Jordan River ( where Christ was baptized) and Mario knows the bible really well. Mario has been coming to our church for the past few weeks. We have never invited him personally, but a few weeks ago page just started showing up. He has been coming to English course for years and years ( he speaks English fluently) but he has never came to church before. The other missionaries are planning on making him an investigator this week. Mario is a stud and I sure love the guy. I will send a picture home next week with Mario and Me.
Another cool English Course story is about a Mom and Daughter from the Ukraine. A few weeks ago we stopped them in the street and invited them to English course ( most of our investigators actually come from English course ) and she was very excited to come. The mom has lived here for a few years and speaks Italian really well. The daughter arrived in Italy only a few months ago, and she does not really speak Italian yet. The daughter is learning English and Italian right now and the mom is learning English and German. I do not know much about this Mother and Daughter yet, but I am planning on getting to know them both better throughout the next little while. They came to English Course last Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday Anziano Lasarte and I did the spiritual thought to close English Course. We decided to do it on prayer. Anziano Lasarte and I both testified that we had seen blessings in our lives because of the power of prayer. Right after I testified that I had seen blessings a student raised his hand and asked me if I could share one of these experiences. I said of course. At first I was a little startled because usually the students don't ask us questions like that, but the first thought that came to my mind was Momma Mandee passing away. I told them the story of her accident and what happened that day. I told them that the prayers of my father were answered because we were lucky enough to have another wonderful lady to call mom. I testified that since the accident some days have been hard and that there will be hard days in the future, but that I know everything will be okay because I will always have the opportunity to pray. Now you are probably wondering why I was talking about the Mom from the Ukraine... Here is why. During the beginning of our spiritual thought, the mom was not translating what we were saying into Ukraine for her daughter, but when I started to tell my story....she translated word for word. Immediately after we were finished, the mom said she wants to know more. Anziano Lasarte and I will begin teaching them this week.
Friday Night the other two missionaries that are serving in Napoli and Anziano Lasarte and I decided to join up and do a "Gesso" together. A gesso is when we take a sheet out in the street, draw on it and talk with people on the street. It is a tracting tool to talk to hundreds and hundreds of different people in a short amount of time. We decided to boost up our English Course and so that became our topic for the night. We handed out hundreds of English Course Pass-A-Long cards and even a Book of Mormon or two. We talked to hundreds of people and tried to talk to thousands. We set up shop just after 5 and finished at about 8:45. We decided to do it on the busiest walking street in all of Napoli. Via Toledo is always crowded with people and especially on a Friday evening. At around 7 o'clock a giant parade of Evangelists came parading down Via Toledo ( the street we were on ). They were playing loud music and carrying large signs that said "Gesù Ti Ama" ( Jesus loves you ) and "Dio è amore" ( God is love ). These evangelists walked right over top of our sheet and stopped the parade right after everyone in there group had passed by our little set up (They had around 30 people). They stopped the music and their leader grabbed a microphone and began preaching. He said many different things but some of the things he said and did shocked me. He looked and pointed directly at us, with hundreds of people watching and screamed "The Mormons come from the Devil." As he yelled this tons of people were shouting "Hallelujah!" He then said, looking directly at us..."Go to hell!!!.....In the name of Jesus Christ I cast you all out!!!!" It was easily the most blasphemous thing I have ever seen. I just laughed at the guy the entire time, the entire time. Luckily, I pulled my iPad out and caught everything on video. After the blasphemous parade marched farther down the road, we went back to work. Napoli is insane and I am starting to get to the point where nothing surprises me anymore.
3 Nephi 14:13-14
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat;
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
I love those scriptures and I thought they went along perfectly with what happened last Friday night. "Narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few be there that find it." That guy that "Banished" us to hell in front of all of those people, he has his reward. That reward may be a few more seats filled in his congregation, but those few seats filled will do nothing for him in the life that is yet to come.
Last night, Sunday Night, we did another Gesso. This time we decided to do it on Eternal Families. We talked to many people, handed out loads of Mormon.org cards, and even walked away with 7 cell phone numbers from younger people that have little families. It was the best Gesso that I have ever done, and we did not end up getting thrust to Hell by some old crazy Evangelist preacher. We plan on contacting those people in the next day or two and setting up some appointments. When I was able to speak with someone that was willing to listen, I was able share why being a Forever Family is so important to me. I would say that in this life things happen unexpectedly and they happen without a moments notice, but if we make sacred covenants with our Father and Heaven and do the things that we are required, we can spend forever with the ones we love most. What a wonderful gift and extraordinary opportunity from our Heavenly Father.
Some Random Things that happened this past week:
1-Nee Convert Pizza Night was good. We read Alma 36 together and had a good time. We ran into Mario, the english course student, on our way to Pizza Night and asked him what he was doing. He said nothing and so we invited him to come with us. He said yes! Mario tagged along and participated the whole time. It was awesome!
2-I changed a flat tire Friday night before we went and did our Gesso. The poor Italian guy looked like he had never done such a thing and was struggling. So while I was changing his tire, Anziano Lasarte was teaching him The Restoration. It was awesome! It felt good to get some dirt on my hands and actually use my hands for the first time in awhile. We switched phone numbers and we will be calling him in a few days. Service opens people up much easier. I am grateful to the Lord for giving us that opportunity to perform a small act of service.
This week I would like to share a little bit about something that was said to me when I was just 8 years old and it is something that I have never forgotten. I remember one summer day I was at my Grandpa Martin's house and later on that day I was playing in the City League Pitching Machine All-Star Game. As we were getting ready to leave Grandpa Martin said to me..."Jardman...don't you ever quit." I was only eight years old, but I have never forgotten that advice. I can remember many instances throughout my life where it would have been easier to quit, it would have been easier to throw in the towel and walk away....but during these times of trial, these times of difficulty, I would think of my Grandpa Martin's wise advice... "Jardman...don't you ever quit." This life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, I think we all know that. This life will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently as long as you let it. This life isn't about how hard you can hit, this life is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. My challenge this week is to keep moving forward. Never give up. Trust in the Lord. Take my Grandpa Martins advice... "Jardman...don't you ever quit." There is power in having enough courage to move forward and press on through times of darkness, doubt and fear.
I love you all so much. Thank you for everything. Enjoy the fair everyone and be safe.
Much love from Napoli,
Anziano JarDee Nessen
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