Anziano JarDee Nessen Italy Rome Mission : November 2, 2015

November 2, 2015

Good Morning. Another week has flown bye. Pretty crazy to think that

we are already in November. I hope everyone had a great week and a
happy Halloween. I pray that everyone is doing well and staying
healthy. The holidays are coming up, and it always seems like this
last part of the year flies bye. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, then my
Year Mark, and then my Skype call home for Christmas. "It's the most
wonderful time of the year!"

Last Monday we headed down to Palermo for our P-Day. Our Zone Leaders
rounded up all of the Elders from our Zone for a Big Soccer game. Of
course Anziano Eric Mika and I were on the same team, that's a given.
It was a lot of fun, and we came out on top. It takes so long to get
from Mistretta down to Palermo and so we planned a District Blitz down
in Palermo Monday Night so we wouldn't have to travel so much. A
"Blitz" is when an entire District of missionaries enters into one
area and goes crazy with missionary work, trying to boost that area's
work. We decided to do a Gesso with four missionaries out on the
street, while the 4 other missionaries went and got some street
finding done. I love Blitz's. They are always fun, and we always get a
lot of work done.

Tuesday we had our District Meeting in Palermo and that went really
well. Afterwards The Wardles took us and their grandson to a little
place called a Catacomb, or in other words an underground cemetery,
for Halloween. It was underneath a catholic church and honestly it was
pretty gross. The place was covered with real skeletons. There were
thousands of bodies down there. From little children, to old folks and
everything in between. Some of the skulls still had decomposing skin,
some of them still had teeth, some of their jaws had fallen off, some
of them still had facial hair... It was pretty interesting and I
really wasn't a fan. Safe to say that I will never step foot in a
Catacomb again haha. One time was plenty for me. They said we couldn't
take pictures down there, but I couldn't resist. I'll send a few of
them home today. After the Catacomb visit, we returned to Mistretta
and got back to work.

Every Wednesday up here in Mistretta they close off the road right
next to our house so they can have a giant street market. People from
all over Sicily come to sell their clothes, their shoes, makeup,
socks, coats, kitchen supplies, etc. You name it, you can find it up
here at the Great Mistretta Street Market. Everyone in Mistretta is
always at the street market, and I mean everyone. It reminds me of the
Box Elder County Fair and Rodeo, but instead of a once a year event,
it' happens weekly. The one positive thing about the Street Market is
that we get a lot of exposure to everyone in the city by simply
walking up and down the street saying "Good Morning" and "Hello". We
have had some of the best street contacting conversations I've had
throughout my whole mission in that jungle that they like to call a
street market. In fact, two weeks ago we were speaking with one lady
who lives in Palermo, but street vends up in Mistretta. We began
talking with her about the family because she is pretty young. She was
pretty interested and so we gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and
told her to read it. Last week we headed off through the street
market, and she was pretty excited to see us when we stopped to talk
to her. She told us that she believed everything she had read and that
she wanted to know more. We gave her the Palermo Elders phone number
and they set up an appointment right away. We plan on heading back
though to the Mistretta County Fair and Street Market on Wednesday
morning to see how the lesson went.

Wednesday afternoon we had a meeting with two of the three Melchizedek
Priesthood holders here in Mistretta. We had Pippo Portera, who served
a mission and was the branch president for 17 years, and Ninno
Purpari, who is the little 65 year old man that is losing his eye
sight. We gathered at Ninno's house to plan our Member Exchanges ( or
Member Splits ). Pippo and Ninno were both excited for the
opportunity, as were Anziano Da Ponte and I. Pippo said...."Ninno, we
have had all of these spiritual experiences throughout our lives, now
is the time to work." We got our Exchanges all planned out and ready
to go. After our meeting, Ninno took us around and he began showing us
all of the people that he had on that list of his. Wednesdsy evening
we knocked on a door that was close to Ninno's house, and the man that
opened the door let us in right away. This man is named Sebastiano. He
is probably 60 years old and married. They have 2 sons, Alessandro and
another that wasn't to excited by our visit. They invited us right in,
sat us right down, and started filling our hands with cheese, bread
and whatever else was on the table. They were so kind and so funny.
They own a farm with cows, chickens, sheep, and horses. I told them of
my Grandpa Lyle who owned a big old farm, and also of my Grandpa Ron
who has a pheasant farm. I told them whenever they needed help, we
could be of assistance. We sat in there for a little while and had a
good time. They were throwing questions at us from left and right, but
not in a hostile manner. They touched on the Restoration, the Plan of
Salvation, and even a little bit on the Word of Wisdom. They were
pretty interested in the Plan of Salvation, and they said we could
come back at any time. We plan on heading back sometime this week to
teach them the Plan of Salvation.

Thursday was another good day. That morning we had a lesson with our
investigator Marina. Marina is an interesting lady to put it bluntly.
She has no teeth, her belly is hanging out constantly and every time
we walk into her house she is playing the strangest music that I've
ever heard ( On Thursday Morning I took a video as soon as we got in
there because I just couldn't resist. I'll send it home today). Marina
is a kind and has a really funny personality. She is always happy, but
always tries to get us upset with certain comments that should be left
unsaid. Thursday we taught her a lesson called "Small and Simple
Things" from the scripture Alma 37:6. We spoke on how The Lord uses
small and simple things ( such as: scripture study, prayer, faith ) to
bring to pass great things. Towards the end her attitude kind of got a
little sour and she was trying to start arguments about our doctrine.
She brought up the Polygamy thing, which does get brought up often.
She said, "Nephi had 30 wives." I replied.. "Nephi?" She said.."Yes
Nephi. The one in your book." I replied..."Can you show me scriptural
evidence of that?" She said.."Yes." I replied.."Show me." She began
flipping through first and second Nephi frantically trying to find
where it says that Nephi had 30 wives. After a minute or so she
exclaimed, "Okay. I didn't find it in your book, I read it on the
Internet." She was pulling stuff like that a lot towards the back end
of the lesson. We invited her to church, and she continued to deny the
invitation. I think I said this last week, but she claims to have read
the Book of Mormon and prayed for an answer "2 million times". Anziano
Da Ponte and I promised her that she has been doing a great job with
the reading and praying, but now it was time to put her faith into
action, because faith without works is dead. We promised her by the
spirit that if she would come to church on Sunday with a sincere
heart, having real intent that she would receive her answer. The
spirit was booming in the room and that was a promise that she
couldn't deny. I testified of Jesus Christ and how He overcame
everything for us, so that He could help us overcome our own
struggles, doubts, habits and fears. Anziano Da Ponte testified that
keeping the Sabbath day holy is a commandment of God and boldly
proclaimed that she would not find the whole, complete and true gospel
of Jesus Christ in any other place. Our combination of testimonies,
back with the spirit, was powerful. It was powerful. The feeling in
the room completely changed and she could feel the spirit.
Well....Sunday came along and there was no Marina to be seen. We plan
of heading over to her house this evening with Ninno yet again to have
another lesson.

Thursday evening we went back out on the streets with Ninno. The
Senior Couple have asked us many times to get in contact with a lady
called Maria Grazia. We have tried to get in contact with a member
that is good friends with this Maria Grazia, but for some reason the
member wouldn't respond to our phone calls. Maria Grazia lost her
father some months back and she wants to know more about the Plan of
Salvation. Anyways, we got over to Ninno's house Thursday evening. He
welcomed us in and sat us down. He began explaining the people that he
was going to introduce us to and he began explaining this lady that
sounded very similar to this Maria Grazia that we have yet to come
into contact with. After he had finished explaining to us about this
lady, I asked, "Ninno, what is her name?" He replied..."Maria Grazia."
Anziano Da Ponte and I starting fist pumping like Tiger Woods used to
do when he would sink a big putt, and celebrating exactly how Brett
Favre used to do back in the good old days right in the middle of
Ninno's living room. We were so excited and Ninno just laughed and
laughed and laughed. Talk about a miracle. We had been trying to get
into contact with this member that knew Maria Grazia very well, we
thighs that this other member was the only one. We had prayed and
prayed and prayed to have the opportunity to finally get into contact
with this Maria Grazia and we received an answer to our prayers. Ninno
took us over to her house and she welcomed us right in very warmly. In
her house were two friends and her very old mother who she is taking
care of. We introduced ourselves and Ninno wisely got us talking about
Families. We spoke a little bit on the Plan of Salvation and the
little old lady began to cry because she missed her husband ( as I
said earlier he passed on a few months ago ). The spirit started to
build in that little living room where we were all seated. We
continued a little bit on the importance of the family, and Ninno
asked me to share my story. I told the story of my Mom and how I was
grateful for the promise that Families are Forever. We ended the
lesson shortly there after and Maria Grazia asked us to return soon.
It was awesome.

Friday evening we went on our Member Splits that I talked about a
little bit earlier. They went really well. I went with Brother Portera
and Anziano Da Ponte went out with Ninno. Brother Portera and I headed
on down to a less actives house that has been dodging the missionaries
for the last year. In the past, the missionaries would call to set up
an appointment and one of two things would always happen. #1 - She
would tell them no or #2 - She would cancel on them. The missionaries
had not seen her in over a year. Eleanora is her name. She is probably
40 years old and has 3 little kids. One girl who is 14, a little boy
who is 6 and a little baby girl who is almost 2. Brother Portera and I
decided to just go knock on her door, because the worst thing she
could do was ask us to leave. When we came around the corner, her 6
year old son was sitting on the steps. We asked...."Hey, is your mom
home?" He replied.."Yes she is." To make a long story short, we got
into the home and had a great little talk. They are in a pretty rough
situation, but she sincerely invited us to stop bye whenever we
wanted. He mom passed away and she has always struggled with that, so
now I can see how Heavenly Father prepared a way for me to get into
that home. We plan on returning this week so time, whenever she can,
and helping out with whatever she needs. Another Miracle for us this
week.

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween back in the Land of Promise. Over
here Halloween is kind of weak. I was expecting to see swarms of
little kids dressed up like PowerRangers, Vampires, Princesses and
everything else....but the only thing I saw was some white face paint.
I was severely disappointed to say the least. There were no
decorations, hardly anyone out on the streets, the pumpkins in America
are different from the ones here, so we couldn't even carve a
pumpkin....but we did have make a Little Scavenger Hunt type deal for
our members that was great. We decided to do it on the Prophet Joseph
Smith and his story. We even found some Golden Wrapping paper and
wrapped up some Book of Mormons in Italian. We then buried the "Golden
Plates" under a rock pile. It was a Hit and turned out really well. We
all had a good time and felt the spirit as we were on our little
scavenger hunt through Mistretta.

Sunday was good. Fast and Testimony meetings are usually kind of slow
and a drag over here in Italy. There are usually minutes and minutes
and minutes of silence, but things are different here in Mistretta. We
may have only 10 members, but we used the entire hour and there was
hardly any long time periods of silence. It was the first time in my
mission that I haven't had to get up and break a long streak of
silence. The testimonies that were given were powerful. Many were on
Jesus Christ and His love, some on the Halloween activity we did, but
one was on our missionary work and it really was nice. Brother Portera
gave us a huge compliment and loves what we are doing here in
Mistretta. He said that was the first time in years that they had done
member splits with the missionaries. Things here in Mistretta are
changing. The Lord is hastening His sacred work and it is happening
before our very eyes. It is humbling to be apart of it. I love
Mistretta.

I am doing really well. This week I got pretty sick with a cold, but
Anziano Da Ponte has loads of those DoTerra oils ( or however you
spell them ) and He has been loading me up with those things. He is a
good guy and I am lucky to serve with him. Transfer calls are coming
this Saturday morning and I pray that we can continue to serve
together here in Mistretta.

This week, I would like to share a few stories that I found while
reading a talk from President James E. Faust from a conference back in
1992. These Coke directly from his talk.

"It was an emotional experience to see the Sweetwater River crossing
where most of the five hundred members of the company were carried
across the icy river by three brave young men. Later, all three of the
boys died from the effects of the terrible strain and great exposure
of that crossing. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic
act, he wept like a child and later declared publicly: “That act alone
will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant and David P. Kimball
an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds
without end.”
We continued to travel up over Rocky Ridge, seven thousand three
hundred feet high. This is the highest spot on the Mormon Trail. The
two-mile ascension to Rocky Ridge gains over seven hundred feet in
altitude. It was very difficult for all of the pioneers to travel over
Rocky Ridge. It was particularly agonizing for the members of the
Willie Handcart Company, who struggled over that ridge in the fall of
1856 in a blizzard. Many had worn shoes, and the sharp rocks caused
their feet to bleed, leaving a trail of blood in the snow.
We went on to Rock Creek Hollow, where the Willie Handcart Company
made camp. Thirteen members of the Willie Company who perished from
cold, exhaustion, and starvation are buried in a common grave at Rock
Creek Hollow. Two additional members who died during the night are
buried nearby. Two of those buried at Rock Creek Hollow were heroic
children of tender years: Bodil Mortinsen, age nine, from Denmark, and
James Kirkwood, age eleven, from Scotland.
Bodil apparently was assigned to care for some small children as they
crossed Rocky Ridge. When they arrived at camp, she must have been
sent to gather firewood. She was found frozen to death leaning against
the wheel of her handcart, clutching sagebrush.
Let me tell you of James Kirkwood. James was from Glasgow, Scotland.
On the trip west, James was accompanied by his widowed mother and
three brothers, one of whom, Thomas, was nineteen and crippled and had
to ride in the handcart. James’s primary responsibility on the trek
was to care for his little four-year-old brother, Joseph, while his
mother and oldest brother, Robert, pulled the cart. As they climbed
Rocky Ridge, it was snowing and there was a bitter cold wind blowing.
It took the whole company twenty-seven hours to travel fifteen miles.
When little Joseph became too weary to walk, James, the older brother,
had no choice but to carry him. Left behind the main group, James and
Joseph made their way slowly to camp. When the two finally arrived at
the fireside, James “having so faithfully carried out his task,
collapsed and died from exposure and over-exertion.”

This last week I have pondered on the Pioneers and their truly
powerful, inspirational, and moving stories. The one that hit me the
most was the one about the older brother, carrying his little brother
all that way....arriving to camp with his brother still on his
back.....and then dying on arrival. I have asked myself millions of
questions this week such as... "Would I have been strong enough to
carry all those people across that frozen river?" Or "Would I have
been strong enough to continue to walk through the snow, even though
the sharp rocks were digging through the soles of my shoes and cutting
my feet?" Another one I asked myself...."Would I have been responsible
and loyal enough to still fetch some wood for the fire? Even if that
mean that I would freeze to death?" And lastly....."Would I be strong
enough to put Tyke on my back and carry him for miles and
miles.....even if that was the last thing I would ever do?" The
Pioneers are strong and we are indebted to them for all that they
suffered through to reach Zion. They gave up their homes, their farms,
their money, and many even fave their lives on trek across the plains
in the freezing cold. We can learn many priceless lessons from them
and the depth of their faith. They knew that they were walking away
from everything that was normal, that was comfortable and what was
easy and voluntarily walked into unfriendly territories, freezing cold
blizzards, countless days with zero food.... They did it because they
knew that "all things work together for good to them that love God"
and put all trust in him (Romans 8:28). The Pioneers were strong, and
I pray that , like them, we can become strong as well.

I love you all! I can't believe that it is already November. I hope
you all had a Happy Halloween and a great week. I hope you all have
another great week this week. Thanks for everything! Y'all take care
and be safe. I love you!

Peace be the Journey,
Anziano JarDee Nessen