July 25th, 2016 // #30 of 2016

July 25th, 2016 // #30 of 2016

Good Morning!
So first things first, I have to tell you about a little run in we had
this morning with some sort of Italian law enforcement as we were
leaving our house. Each week we have to send an email to our leaders
before 8 o'clock in the morning, informing them on how things are
going with the missionaries in our zone. We leave the house right
after we wake up, head to the church house and send the email. So at
6:35 we left the house with two bags of trash that we needed to
dispose of in hand. We exited our apartment building and began walking
to the trash dumpsters. Elder Borough and I both toss the garbage bags
into the dumpsters and we hear, "Excuse us Sirs, may we see a
document?" Turns out it was the Garbage Police of Bari. They were
sitting "undercover" in their car right next to the trash can, waiting
for the next law abiding citizen to throw their garbage away in the
dumpster. We handed them our documents, and they begun to practically
rip us in half not for throwing our trash away, but for throwing it
away outside of the time frame. Turns out, you can only throw your
trash away between 6:30-10:30 in the evening here in Bari. We
explained that we are both new here and we had no idea, and they
proceeded to point to a little piece of paper, that was ripped in half
and there was no information on it whatsoever, on top of the dumpster
that declares that no one is allowed to throw there garbage in that
dumpster unless it is 6:30-10:30 in the evening. I was so furious.
Anyways he walks me over to the dumpster (because I kind of ripped him
about that little paper up on top) and shows me that on the back side
of the dumpster in the bottom right hand corner, there is another
piece of paper that says we cannot dump out trash at 6:30 in the
morning. They then proceeded to tell us that they were going to give
us a €100 Euro (Roughly $110 IS Dollars) fine and I was thought to
myself, "The heck with that... " I'm not going to  pay 100 euro for
being one person in this country who actually throws their trash away
in the dumpster instead of on the side of the road. In those
situations I'm never very good at keeping my mouth shut, so (and I
remind you that I was in work out clothes, not my missionary clothes)
I reminded both of "Bari's Finest" that they have much bigger problems
to worry about that a simple dumpster and what time people are
throwing their trash away. After I reminded him that, I gave him a few
examples (which I will not be mentioning here). So we ended up somehow
getting off scotch free from our 1 Degree Dumpster Violation, but they
made us take our garbage back up to our apartment. I was seriously
soooo fired up, and still am...but it will make for a good story one
day. So Friends and Family, if you ever find yourself in Bari, please,
I beg of you... Never throw your trash in the dumpster unless it is
from 6:30-10:30 in the evening. You can throw it on the side of the
road, off of your balcony, on top of someone's car, practically
whatever else you want to do with it and nobody will even look at you
twice....BUT please don't throw it in the dumpster, "Bari's Finest"
Garbage Police will get your every time.
Anyways, we had a great week here in Bari and it was the most
successful week of my mission thus far. We were about to teach more
lessons this week here in Bari, than all of the lessons that I taught
in two transfers in Cosenza combined. We have been seeing a lot of
success by going after young adults and young families. We have been
hitting the parks really hard, and especially this one park named
"June 2nd" (I like it, because it reminds me of my birthday). The Lord
has been blessing us immensely, and honestly I've never had more fun
during my mission. I've never worked so hard, or experienced so much
joy. Bari is really growing on me, and fast. I've been blessed with a
great companion, a great city and a great ward. I have much to be
grateful for.
So I'd like to share a few pretty neat experiences that we were lucky
enough to be apart of this past week.
For starters, we have a car here in Bari but we are not allowed to
drive it unless we have an international drivers license. So for our
first couple of days, it was parked. Tuesday, with the help of our
senior couple here in Bari, I was able to get online and apply for an
international drivers license. To our surprise, it showed up to days
later and it was shipped from America. It was truly a miracle. Here in
Bari there are many little towns and cities on the outskirts of Bari
and we have some investigators there and without the car it makes it
really difficult to reach those people. So my license showed up on
Thursday, allowing us access to the car. It kind of felt different
being behind the wheel for the first time in over 19 months, but being
able to drive is super nice. The only problem is that driving here is
like a Zoo. There are traffic laws, but no police department to
enforce the laws. So people do whatever they want, whenever they want.
Italy doesn't have a highway patrol, but they've got a garbage patrol.
Makes me laugh. Anyways, Saturday we drove down the coast about an
hour and a half to a city called Brindisi, because we needed to take
care of a baptismal interview. I was able to conduct my first
baptismal interview and goodness I was nervous. The young 18 year old
girl has been investigating the church for many years, and randomly
out of the blue she called the Elders and told them that she was ready
to be baptized. She has 8 sisters and one brother and age wise she is
right in the middle.  Her whole family is incredible and she is making
a difficult decision. Yesterday in church, 3 of her sisters came with
her as well as her father. I was able to meet the parents, 5 of the
sisters and the son and they are good people, good good people. They
live out on a little farm, in a modest home and honestly they don't
have very much....but they are happy. The whole time I was thinking to
myself that this is what this life is supposed to be like. This family
gets it. They understand that happiness doesn't come from a bigger
home, or a newer car...they understand that the depth of their
happiness doesn't depend on the amount, quality or quantity of
material things. It was a pleasure to be with them and it was a
pleasure to conduct my first baptismal interview there.
Saturday marks two years since the day that I opened my mission call.
I'll never forget that day down at Hansen Park with all of you there
to support me. Time flies.
Alright family, I would love to email a little more, but I'm running
low on time. We have Zone Conference tomorrow and we are trying to get
everything set up and ready to go. It's been a great week and things
here in Bari are great. I love being a missionary and serving in The
Lords Army. Have a great week everyone and take real good care. I love
you all so much.

Here is a poem I received today from Pippo Portera down in Mistretta.
I love that guy.

Before the cathedral in grandeur rose
At Ingleburg where the Danube goes,
Before its forest of silver spires
Went airily up to the clouds and fires;
Before the oak had ready a beam,
While yet the arch was stone and dream—
There where the altar was later laid,
Conrad, the cobbler, plied his trade.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It happened one day at the year’s white end—
Two neighbors called on their old-time friend;
And they found the shop, so meager and mean,
Made gay with a hundred boughs of green.
Conrad was stitching with face ashine,
But suddenly stopped as he twitched a twine:
“Old friends, good news! At dawn today,
The Lord appeared in a dream to me,
And said, ‘I am coming your Guest to be;’
So I’ve been busy with feet astir,
Strewing the floor with branches of fir,
The wall is washed and the shelf is shined,
And over the rafter the holly twined.
He comes today, and the table is spread
With milk and honey and wheaten bread!”
His friends went home; and his face grew still
As he watched for the shadow across the sill.
He lived all the moments o’er and o’er,
When the Lord should enter the lowly door—
The knock, the call, the latch pulled up,
The lighted face, the offered cup.
He would wash the feet where the spikes had been,
He would kiss the hands where the nails went in,
And then at the last would sit with Him
And break the bread as the day grew dim.
While the cobbler mused there passed his pane
A beggar drenched by the driving rain.
He called him in from the stormy street,
And gave him shoes for his bruised feet.
The beggar went, and then came a crone,
Her face with wrinkles of sorrow sown,
A bundle of fagots bowed her back,
And she was spent with the wrench and rack.
He gave her his loaf and steadied her load,
As she took her way on the weary road.
Then to his door came a little child,
Lost and afraid in the world so wild,
In the big dark world. Catching it up,
He gave it milk in the waiting cup,
And led it home to its mother’s arms,
Out of the reach of the world’s alarms.
The day went down in the crimson west
And with it the hope of the blessed Guest,
And Conrad sighed as the world turned gray:
“Why is it, Lord, that your feet delay?
Did you forget that this was the day?”
Then soft in the silence a Voice he heard:
“Lift up your heart, for I kept my word,
Three times I came to your friendly door;
Three times my shadow was on your floor.
I was the beggar with bruised feet;
I was the woman you gave to eat;
I was the child on the homeless street!”


Have a good one everyone. I love you❤️

--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39

July 18th, 2016 // #29 of 2016

July 18th, 2016 // #29 of 2016

Good Morning Everyone!
  So I again would like to apologize for the weekly email I sent out
last week, we had a little too much fun at the beach and didn't leave
ourselves with a ton of time. It was the first time in over 19 months
that I was able to toss a baseball around with a baseball glove on,
and it's safe to say that I had missed it. I woke up on Tuesday and
the ole cannon was a little bit sore, but it was so worth it. After
our PDay was over, we ended the evening by going on exchanges with the
Elders who are serving in Crotone. I went with Anziano Draghi (Elder
Dragons in English) and we went and visited a sister who is less
active. Sister Amoruso is her name, and Elder Kiser (my trainer) and I
worked with her in the beginning of my mission. At that time I
couldn't speak the language whatsoever. I didn't understand the
language at all and often wondered if they even understood each other.
Throughout a good majority of the lessons I remained pretty silent,
and would pitch in a little testimony here and there. During those
first few months I felt like I wasn't asking a difference. I felt like
I wasn't hurting anybody, but my presence surely wasn't blessing
anyone as well. Those first few months were tough, I loved being a
missionary and serving the Lord, but they were tough. Here is where I
am going with this... Elder Dragons and I showed up at Sister
Amoruso's doorstep and she opened the door. She seemed a little bit
surprised when she noticed that Elder Dragons usual campaign wasn't
there, but she then looked at me smiling and said..."Hey...I remember
you!" I just smiled back and asked her how she was doing.
Unfortunately she was literally walking to the front door when we
knocked, and so we did not have the chance to have a lesson with her.
As I was walking away I was smiling ear from ear, not because she
remembered me, but rather because for the first time since I left
Crotone the first time I felt like I made a small little difference
even though I didn't really speak, nor understand.
  Coming back to Calabria (Calabria is a Region, and both Cosenza and
Crotone are cities in Calabria) has truly been one of the biggest
blessings of my mission. It has been the most difficult time by a long
ways, but it has also been the most rewarding two transfers I've ever
had. I can't even count how many times that I was beaten to my knees
in Cosenza, but yet I feel like I learned so much from those moments
when I was open my knees. It was a pleasure to go back, and it taught
me that God is truly merciful. I've come a long ways since my days in
Crotone, but I wouldn't have come all that way if it wasn't for those
hard times that came my way. I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven who
loves us enough to hurt us. I know that seems like a strange concept,
but sometimes hurting us is the best thing for us.
  BARI. Goodness gracious I love BARI. Seriously I've never been more
excited to serve somewhere in my entire life. We got into the city on
Saturday afternoon and I already feel at home. We received a warm
welcome from the ward (that's right. I said Ward. this is the first
ward that I have served in my entire mission.) and I feel like we are
going to do good work here. My companion, Elder Borough is a STUD.
Holy Cow we go together like Chinese Food and Chocolate Pudding. Haha
Just Kidding, but he really is a STUD and we are going to get some
work done together. He is from San Diego California and finishes his
mission in October. I'm so happy to be here, serving with him.
  Friends and Fam. I love you all. I thank you all for all of the
love and support that you send my way. I'm not sure how many of you
know this, but in Bari last week there was a serious train wreck and
many people lost their lives. There were no missionaries involved, so
don't worry about that... But I would ask that you would keep the
people of Bari and the families of those who were involved in your
prayers. Thanks for everything everyone. I hope you all have a great
week.
  PS.....UNDER FOUR MONTHS TO GO!!
  PSS...Here is a story that I came across and enjoyed. Figured I
would share it with everyone.

"A story written by Karen Nolen, which appeared in the New Era in
1974, tells of a Benjamin Landart who, in 1888, was 15 years old and
an accomplished violinist. Living on a farm in northern Utah with his
mother and seven brothers and sisters was sometimes a challenge to
Benjamin, as he had less time than he would have liked to play his
violin. Occasionally his mother would lock up the violin until he had
his farm chores done, so great was the temptation for Benjamin to play
it.
    In late 1892 Benjamin was asked to travel to Salt Lake to
audition for a place with the territorial orchestra. For him, this was
a dream come true. After several weeks of practicing and prayers, he
went to Salt Lake in March of 1893 for the much anticipated audition.
When he heard Benjamin play, the conductor, a Mr. Dean, told Benjamin
he was the most accomplished violinist he had heard west of Denver. He
was told to report to Denver for rehearsals in the fall and learned
that he would be earning enough to keep himself, with some left over
to send home.
    A week after Benjamin received the good news, however, his bishop
called him into his office and asked if he couldn’t put off playing
with the orchestra for a couple of years. He told Benjamin that before
he started earning money there was something he owed the Lord. He then
asked Benjamin to accept a mission call.
    Benjamin felt that giving up his chance to play in the
territorial orchestra would be almost more than he could bear, but he
also knew what his decision should be. He promised the bishop that if
there were any way to raise the money for him to serve, he would
accept the call.
    When Benjamin told his mother about the call, she was overjoyed.
She told him that his father had always wanted to serve a mission but
had been killed before that opportunity had come to him. However, when
they discussed the financing of the mission, her face clouded over.
Benjamin told her he would not allow her to sell any more of their
land. She studied his face for a moment and then said, “Ben, there is
a way we can raise the money. This family [has] one thing that is of
great enough value to send you on your mission. You will have to sell
your violin.”
    Ten days later, on March 23, 1893, Benjamin wrote in his journal:
“I awoke this morning and took my violin from its case. All day long I
played the music I love. In the evening when the light grew dim and I
could see to play no longer, I placed the instrument in its case. It
will be enough. Tomorrow I leave [for my mission].”
    Forty-five years later, on June 23, 1938, Benjamin wrote in his
journal: “The greatest decision I ever made in my life was to give up
something I dearly loved to the God I loved even more. He has never
forgotten me for it.”"

I love you all. Have a good one. ❤️

--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39

July 11th, 2016 // #28 of 2016 🇮🇹🐳

July 11th, 2016 // #28 of 2016 🇮🇹🐳

Hello Family!!
   So today we are really short on time because we have had ourselves
one wild PDay. We have spent most of our day at the beach playing
catch with a football and baseball, we've played soccer and
volleyball. It's been a super fun PDay...but it hasn't left me very
much time to email everyone, so I apologize for that.
   Last Monday was the Fourth of July as you all know and we had
ourselves a nice little Barbecue with our ward members trying to build
unity. It went super well and it was honestly a lot of fun. We were
able to strengthen our relationships with the members a ton, and it
was surely a successful activity.
   Here is the big news for the week....Saturday we received Transfer
Calls and found out that I will be leaving Cosenza... My time there
was short, but truly refining. I will now be serving in Bari. Im a
little nervous because my companion and I are going to both be brand
new to the city and we are going to have to lead a zone of
missionaries at the same time, but we will get it done.
   This week we have another crazy week. Today we are doing exchanges
with the Elders in Crotone, Thuersday I am heading up to Rome for a
conference Friday Morning with all of the Zone Leaders and Mission
President. Friday we will have the conference, and Saturday we will be
traveling down to Bari. It's going to be one wild week. Once again, I
apologize for such a short email, but I hope you all have an amazing
week. I love you all and pray for each of you. Have a good week and
God bless.

--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39

Grilling with my bandana. Happy Fourth!

PDay Today.

My favorites from Cosenza.

Marlisa is the coolest girl in the world.

She sang for me after church. We are best friends.

July 4th, 2016 // #27 of 2016 🇺🇸🇺🇸

July 4th, 2016 // #27 of 2016 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Hello there!
Goodness it was good to see everyone on Saturday. It was something
that I really, really needed. It's pretty wild to think that was the
last time that we will see each other until the Salt Lake City airport
which isn't too far away. I apologize for my English, I'm sure I made
40 million grammatical mistakes and pronounced a few things a little
strange. Once again, it was good to see everyone and spend a few hours
with y'all. I thank you for all of the good laughs and everything
else. It was a good few hours that seemed to fly on by, but I'm truly
grateful for chance we had to see each other and talk one last time
here in Italy. It was a good recharge to the ole batteries, and I'm
ready to finish this mission in the Lords way. Saying Goodbye never
gets easier and seriously it kills me every single time, but no more
Goodbyes will be said. I'm glad that there is still time for me out
here in Italy. I know I vented a little bit, but I truly love these
people, this country and this culture. This place has become a part of
me, and someday I hope to be able to share with each of you how
incredible this place truly is. I love you fam and friends..

This week was a good one, it was real short where we moved our pday to
Wednesday, but it was still a good one. Finally we are seeing some
movement here with the members, and we are finally starting to see a
few potentials pop up here and there. As for the unity problems in the
ward...they are getting better. We just have a few members that love
to "find fault" in everybody else, instead of trying to work on their
own weaknesses and shortcomings. It reminds me of the story of a man
who always took an evening stroll around his neighborhood as the sun
was going down. One of the homes in this mans neighborhood had a lawn
that was in excellent condition. One evening the man was once again
putting in his nightly exercise around the neighborhood when he
spotted one single dandelion sticking up in the middle of this
seemingly perfect lawn. The man thought to himself, "What a joke...
How embarrassing is that... Maybe I should go pick it myself..." He
thought maybe he should give his neighbor a call to inform him that
there was one single dandelion sticking up high above his nicely cut
grass. He sat there for a minute, stared at the well kept lawn and
focused only on that one dandelion. After some time, he finally
decided that it was time to head on home, but still the thought of
that one dandelion sourly filled his mind. When he arrived at his
home, he walked up the sidewalk and through the front door but he
failed to recognize that his own lawn was full of dandelions,
absolutely full of them. Instead of focusing on the dandelions that
covered his lawn, he was obsessed with the fact that his neighbor had
one single dandelion on his practically flawless lawn. Here in Cosenza
we are trying to eliminate exactly this. Some members have themselves
a lawn full of dandelions, but still some of them try to vocally make
known the one single dandelion that another member may or may not
actually have. It is an ugly, and unquenchable, fire that only ever
requires more pain, and more hurt and more damage. Some members, and
this is a church wide issue, that we are in some kind of race towards
Exaltation. We are in no race, nor are we in a competition to put
ourselves above another by intensively searching for others
dandelions...because God will be the Perfect Judge, and as we know He
Son will be our Advocate. We are seeing some progress, but we've got a
long ways to go. When I started my mission I was in a city very close
to Cosenza and I knew a little bit about these problems, and let's
just say that things hadn't changed when I returned for the second
time. Someone's got to put a stop to these things, and Elder Stanley
and I are going to give it a good shot.

Wednesday we woke up really early and headed to Taranto, which is on
the other side of Italy from Cosenza. It was a solid 3 and a half hour
bus trip. We got to Taranto and everyone in our zone spent pday
together. The Elders in Taranto just got themselves a new apartment
and the people that were supposed to be moving their things from the
old apartment to the new apartment didn't exactly get the memo that
there would be 8 missionaries sleeping in the new house. To make a
long story short we only ended up having 6 beds, and so Elder Stanley
(my companion) and I snuggled up on the nice tile floor. Honestly it
wasn't as bad as it sounds. I woke up with a few lines on my face from
the ground, and I'm pretty sure I ate a few bugs during the
night...but it was worth it. Thursday morningwe met President Pickerd
for the first time, and WOW....what an amazing man. We could all feel
his love for the Lord, the Book of Mormon, the temple and for us. We
will miss President and Sister Waddoups, but I feel like we will keep
moving forward with President and Sister Pickerd. They both served in
the Italy Rome Mission 37 years ago. They both speak Italian really
well. We are excited to have them here with us.

Elder Stanley and I have been preparing for our Barbecue this evening
and I think that we are about ready. We've been inviting everyone and
their dog to come down and eat a good ole fashioned American Hamburger
with us. We are hoping for a good turnout this evening, but regardless
of what happens...we will have a good time and we will continue to
build solid relationships with our members. Our plans for the evening
are pretty simple. Eat a hamburger, and watch Meet the Mormons
together because most of our members haven't seen it. I'll be rocking
my American Flag Bandana with pride.

That about wraps up the goods from this last week, but in closing I
would like to talk about how great America, and especially Utah, truly
is. We are so blessed to live where we live, and to call ourselves
Americans. Being away from the USA for the past year and a half has
really opened my eyes to just how good we have it back home. From
clean water, to many job opportunities. From athletic events, to good
public schools, high schools and universities. America is set up for
the people to succeed, while many other countries are not. At home
youth have standards and good examples to look up to. Here, youth have
zero standards and very few good examples to look up to. I've seen
more ten year old kids with a cigarette in hand than you could ever
imagine. The young ladies dress horribly immodestly, while the young
men smoke like chimneys, drink like fish and live at home until they
are 30-40 years old. It makes me sad, but at the same time make me
love Home that much more. We are so blessed friends and family. I'll
love this country forever, but it could never hold a candle to Home.
In Utah, we are sheltered and honestly I'm happy it is that way. We
don't need to know about all of the evil that happens everyday
throughout the world, and I'm grateful that we don't hear about it.
One thing that has repeatedly come to mind throughout my time in the
mission field is the phrase, "Freedom doesn't come free..." I remember
as a young feller, my dad and mom and I were sitting in the Atlanta
Georgia Airport waiting for an airplane that would be taking us to
Green Bay. We were on vacation and it was just a few weeks before
Christmas. We had a four hour layover in Georgia, and so we had lots
of time to watch thousands and thousands of people walk by. Amongst
the people walking by, I noticed many soldiers who were traveling home
for Christmas break. I couldn't fully comprehend, and still cannot
fully comprehend the sacrifice that these young men and women make day
in and day out to ensure our freedom back home in America. One of the
soldiers came and sat down about 20 feet from where we were sitting
and I remember looking at his uniform and thinking that it was the
coolest thing I had ever seen. My dad told me, "Go shake his hand and
tell him Thank You..." I was super intimated and a little scared, but
after a couple of minutes I got up, walked over, shook his hand and
told him Thank You for serving our country. He looked surprised and
replied, "Don't mention it kid.." I returned to my seat next to my
mom, picked up a notebook and continued to draw without even thinking
to much about it. Now looking back, I thank my Dad for taking the time
to teach me a lesson of a lifetime; that our armed forces and military
put their lives on the line day in and day out to ensure our freedom.
We have much to be thankful for... I'm proud to be an American and I
pray everyday that God will bless the USA. My invite this week is to
pray for those young men and women who are valiantly serving out
country. Pray for their parents, their spouses, their children and
their safety. They put it all on the line, and there is no love
greater than that...lets ask for a few special blessings to be sent
their way this week.

John 15:13
"13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends."

I hope you all have an amazing week. Please take care and take care.
Light a few fireworks off tonight on my behalf. I'm praying for each
of you, and I love each of you. Thanks for making Saturday so great,
and for spending a few hours with me. God Bless the USA. God Bless
America. God Bless each of You.

--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39