Anziano Orso Letter March 26, 2014

sorry i dont have a lot of time but this week has been really good, we set a bapt. date with an investigator that we met in the park, hes really awesome! we found him in the park doing strada, his name is giorgio, hes 50 years old, but has an amazing spirit, and our last lesson we was telling us how he know that hes changing his life, when he talks to us he likes the feeling he gets when he talks to us and loves us and the gospel. we're very excited to keep seeing him and help him progress, the lesson we had was with our bishop, it went really good, they are all awesome people, i love all the members here in the ward. 

we are still working with alfredo, hes really awesome! he has an amazing spirit and loves when when we come over, sometimes its frustrating because his phone doesnt work, so we can only pass by, and its takes about 45 min, by subway and bus to get to him. then hes not there......so it stinks a lot. but we continue to go see him atlest twice a week, because somedays we score and hes there! his next step he needs to do is come to church.

nothing really crazy happened this week, just been really busy, we went over a filipino family for lunch on sunday! it was really good, that family is so awesome, they dont speak italian so we have to speak english with them. im starting to wonder if my english is sounding weird, only because we dont hear american english everyday, only italian english and filipino haha. 

last night we had serata familiare with members in the ward, every tuesday we have english class and family home evening! last night was really fun! we played a scripture scavanger hunt in the church! and my team won! there were three teams! it was really awesome! but it helped us all learn that the scriptures can mean different things, as long as we apply it in our lives for good it will bring us blessings. 

another cool experience that we had was we got a referall for a less active member, we called her and she said we could come by and see her at work. we passed by and come to find out shes a nanny for a family, the husband is a writer and the wife is a tv host! we new they were wealthy right when we saw the door haha. but they are a nice family! so we are trying to see if we can go back share a message with the family. 

vi voglio bene!! ci sentiamo! ciao!

Anz. Orso

Anziano Orso Letter Marcy 19, 2014

dovremmo essere in primavera presto (we should be in spring soon)

so this week was crazy, this is one of my fastest cities in my mission, the weeks just fly by haha. still in navigli milano, and the weather has been really awesome, all sun, and its starting to get warm, so that means we will be wearing short sleeves soon again! i miss the sun haha and the heat, but i only have one full summer here, so thats not that bad, because its very humid here during that time. we'll see how i can handle it, haha

we did a lot this past week, we had a scambio (exchange) with the zone leaders this week. i stayed while my comp when up to como, i hope next transfer i can go up to como....but here in milano they like to have a bunch of strikes, with transportation, so they completely shut down all buses, trains, metros, everything, so we cant get really anywhere because everything is far from us. but other that that the scambio was good, tomorrow we got invited to play volley ball (pallavolo) tomorrow with a less active....so im excited. th scambio was about two days because of the transportation. but sat. we went and played basketball with our new converts, sometimes its easier to do sport finding or service finding than actually knocking of doors or walking through the park, and we have been blessed to be given chance like that this past week. but its was cool because we went to the basketball court which was at  catholic church, and we saw a bunch of nuns, priests and bishops, they were really nice, it was a cool experience, because some can be harsh to us at times. 

cool blessing that i will have in a couple weeks, so there was this lady that came to church at random, she not a member, well here family is she just wasnt baptize with her family. i have a good conversations with her and her daughter, soi found out she decided to get baptized i was so excited. and this sat. she asked me if i could be the one to baptize her!! it was so amazing! im so excited because its crazy how much love you have for people, people you just met but there is just a feeling there. so ill send you pictures when we have the baptism! her name is Sandy, shes 35? and has a daughter. shes awesome and so excited, also me!

yesterday we had a zone conference, and i was able to see missionaries that were with me from the MTC! i had almost my entire district!! the conference was really spiritual! and we learned a lot of things about how we can help our investigators come closer to jesus christ, and how important the boo of mormon is.

vi voglio bene!! ciao!! 

Anziano Orso Letter March 12, 2014

abbiamo avuto i battesimi questa settimana scorsa!! (we had baptisms this last week)

this week has been really awesome!!! we had a baptism of the two kids that were referalls! they are so awesome! im so excited that i was able to know them and help them come closer to christ. i was given the opportunity to Baptize Bryan May Federico. 1, he's half filipino half italian 2. he's 11yr. 3. he gives the best prayers, this kid is just amazing! then my companion baptized Marco Jordan Arrojo. their brothers because of the mom. hes 15yr. they are really awesome! and im excited for them to continue to grow in the gospel. right now they said they want to be missionaries like us haha. 

an amazing miracle we had this week was with this guy named giorgio. we found him doing parco, and we asked him some gospel questions and he seemed really interested about our message. he said we could sit down and explain it for a few minutes. he seemed really interested  and we got a return appointment. so when we went back for the return appointment we talked about more of the restoration and the priesthood. he then told us how he feels excited and calm when we talk to him, and that one of the reasons he let us talk to him was because how we present ourselves. he said we look like nice young men, who have a strong testimony in our faith, and that its something we believe and live. and that we are here to talk about our church and how it can help his life. so at the end of the lesson we asked him to pray and he did. then he asked us "if a man my age wanted to join your church, could he?" we said absolutely and set up another appointment. he is so elect, so the next time we see him we are giving him a bapt date. he also has a wife that he wants to share the gospel with too. we're really excited. 

this week me and my companion got go to a Casino in Lugano.....but we cant do that so we had to turn them down, but its weird thinking im the age here i can do anything haha. this was the same people that fed me stomach haha

gross thing i ate this week was at a filipino members house.....it was called blood.....and you put it on top of your fish....which by the way it was a whole fish, with the head and guts inside.....interesting haha. 

for Pday this week we went to a city called Lecco, so awesome!! its on the other side of Como. the lake is like a rainbow, the left is como and the right is lecco. well we went to this awesome place called the Billagio (based off of the casino/hotel in vegas) there is also an island there were they filmed the wedding in star wars 2. COOL HUH! and there is a huge mansion there were the name of the house is "rocketfeller....." rich people live here haha. it was such an awesome experience!

italian words for the week!!

feelings:

felice-happy

triste-sad

confuso-confused

fame-hungry

sete-thirsty

stanco-tired

ansioso-anxious

i have a strong testimony of this church and there is no doubt in my heart that this is the true church on the earth today. no other gospel has been able to change lives as quick, except it be the true gospel of jesus christ. which i know that we have on the earth today. i have seen the guidance of the book of mormon in my life and with others. there is no other true book on the earth that has the knowledge necessary to learn about our potential here on earth. i know that god knows us and has a plan for each and everyone of us. i know he answers prayers and makes miracles. im thankful to be serving here in italia!! amen.

Some pic's from the baptism

Anziano Orso Letter March 5, 2014

Sono estato in Svizzera!  (i was in Switzerland)

Ciao bravi tutti!!!

this week has been good!! this week has gone by so quick! we have a baptism this week that we have been preparing for. they are to filipini ragazzi Jordan and Bryan. and me and my companion are baptizing them!!! they were prepared to for the gospel, they both love it, and love the church. it happened so quick. it has only been about a month! i know im in italy, but there are so many filipino and south americans here!! and theyre not from mexico, theyre from columbia, peru, argentina! so i eat a lot of south american food! its so good!!! haha 

this week we have been doing everything we can to get new investigators, because we have been really busy with the inv. that were getting baptized we didnt have a  lot of time for finding work this week. so now that theyre getting baptized we are out of people to teach.....and because this week was fast sunday we fasted to help bless with a family! i havent really taught families so asked if we coul be given the opportunity. then we recieved an invite to go over a families house after church, to talk to this guys sister. we get there and comes to find out that she is married and just had a baby  months ago! and so we taught them how the gospel promises us we can be together forever in this life and the next. and how with the gospel of Jesus Christ we can learn to better ourselved and our families. so our fasting was answered!! we now have a new family to teach!!! its so awesome!! a huge blessing this week!!

this week for finding was pretty fun though! me and Anz. Miller went on the metro and sat next to random people about the gospel, and then when they didnt seem interested we would invite them to english class! and speak english to them ahah. they like english, and every tuesday and soon thursday too we teach english class to people for free! its really fun. usually after enlish class we have family home evening! and we met this girl that came with her boyfriend. she was baptized in the church from peru, but for some reason the church didnt put in her records there, i guess during that time they werent well organized. so she may have to be baptized again. but her boyfriend isnt a member so we invited him to church and english class. we'll see how it goes!

for the gross thing i ate this week:

cow stomach.......it tasted like nothing, but it had a weird texture.....i never would have thought i would be eating these things....but im doing it haha. 

for Pday this week we went to Switzerland again!!! we went to a city called Bellinzona, there are a bunch of castles!! its so awesome and beautiful!! if i could choose country go on vacation i would go to switzerland haha.

vi voglio bene!!! ci sentiamo!! ciao!!

photos are me messing around in Milano!

 

 

And this is in Switzerland!

 

 

Anziano Orso Letter February 26, 2014

this week.

this week has been really good, so the transfer just restarted, and every transfer is 6 weeks. all anziani have 16 transfers in their mission. i just started transfer 6. so i still have a long way to go. but transfer 8 is my year mark. but we have a lot of goal for this transfer, and my comp. anz. miller is the district leader! so we get to do scambios with other missionaries. but im staying another transfer here in Milano! they say Milano is like a vortex, once you come to milano, its hard to leave haha. but we'll see, i like it here a lot. the weather is starting to get better, yes it rained today, but this week we have had three days of Sun!! wahoo.

the past week has been really good with missionary work, we got 4 new investigators! and the language is improving! i starting reading the grammar book that we got in the MTC and its helping me understand the language a lot more. because now i can also read the book because its in italian. in the beginning i didnt understand it. im at that point where i can sit on the bus or subway and eves-drop in others conversations and understand them. its cool. 

yesterday we had to do a scambio, so i was in a tri-panionship with two missionaries that has been here for 7 weeks and the other 3 months. so i was senior comp! it was weird being the one who know more italian haha. but i did it, we had a good time and talk to a lot of people. for those who have learned another language its weird when you understand it, how it makes sense. its hard to explain haha.

so this past week have a lot of stuff happening!!! we have two Baptisms!!! wahoo! this is my first one from finding them, teaching them, and baptizing them! im really excited! ill take pictures and send them to you. 

but other than that this week has been good!! every tuesday we have english class and family home evening, its pretty fun, last night we played musical chairs with the ward, and this guy the sisters found came and plays the piano really well! (this guy is pretty interesting, i swear sometimes im just like, is this real, because the guy is a cop from russia, hes pretty cool haha. 

vi voglio bene!!! ciao tutti!!