So with P-Day being Tuesday last week we finished and went right into the drum circle with the Africans, it was a good time and We were in a trio because Anziano Pesci came to do his fingerprints for his Permesso. We had a good time and then had a pretty bug group for English Course, I think there were almost 10 people in our class and 15 or so in the basic class.
Wednesday morning I had my appointment with the doctor, Italian medicine is so dysfunctional but I finally got in to see the doctor and he said everything is looking good! I get the stitches out on Wednesday this week so I hope to be walking normal soon! We came back and had studies that we missed because of the early morning appointment and then had correlation with Sam. Unfortunately our work hasn't changed much because we haven't been able to work :( But it was good and we made some progress in the Branch! In the afternoon they had their first Institute lesson and we showed up to help with the Africans and we found all of them in a room with Austin who was baptized like 3 weeks ago teaching about the priesthood! He had chalk in hand and was teaching like he had been a member his whole life! It was so awesome, we just took a seat and listened as he taught the fundamentals of what it means to be a worthy Priesthood holder! Institute went really well, there was 8 Africans and two Italians... there's some work to do with our YSA Italians! So we had a class in English and one in Italian. We won't usually go but since I can't walk super well we figured we could help!
Thursday morning we had to take Anziano Pesci to the airport so he could fly back to Cagliari, he's in my first city! I told him to say hi to it for me! Then we had District Meeting which is always good! We talked a lot about using technology and these new tools to further the work! I really liked one of the principles that was taught at Zone Conference as well as in District Meeting. "We are not a Facebook mission, we are a Preach my Gospel mission that has been given an extra tool to use!" I think it's so true, not much changes because we have Facebook, it's not the silver bullet of missionary work, its just another tool!
We got lunch afterwards together and then in the afternoon before English Course We were able to do a little bit of finding which was great! Then at English Course we had a good group again, we talked about their favorite restaurants and I was getting so hungry! Also I think it's so cool to see how cheap it can be for Europeans to travel to so many different countries. You can get a round-trip flight to England for like 40 bucks!
Friday morning I had an appointment at the immigration offices to have my fingerprints done to renew my visa... I got a call from the mission office saying that they had increased the price so I had to go to a post office and pay 40 extra euro before going to the immigration office. So I went there waited for it to open at 8:20 and we were one of the first people and I told him what I had to do and he said they were out of that paperwork so I had to go find another post office. :( Italy can be so dysfunctional... so I called the office to see if they could look up another post office. We walked about 25 minutes in the opposite direction of the immigration office to find another post office (on my bum foot) got there paid the 40 euro and then walked to the immigration office. So they schedule you for an appointment here but then when you get there you just take a number and wait, your appointment time doesn't matter so that's why we left at 7:30 but because of this post office business we didn't get there until almost 10 :( I took my number and read 142, I looked up at the board and it said 56... two and a half hours later they called my number, this place is worse than the DMV in Utah! I was up at the window maybe 5 minutes and got everything done!
We had an exchange with the Napoli B Elders starting Friday night so I got to work with Anziano Wagstaff, he's a Greenie and has been out for about a month now! He's a stud and is doing pretty well with the language. We did some finding and tried to teach this guy that ended up smoking marijuana during the first vision so we decided to move on... :/ Finished off the night with some language study!
Saturday morning we did some Facebook contacting, sending out some sweet videos and invitations to people that we had made contact with on the street. Anziano Wagstaff met this lady in the grocery store the other day who had lost her son (People open up to missionaries really fast, sometimes they tell you more than you want to know) and she added him in Facebook and so we were able to send her a message about eternal families, I should follow up with him and see if she accepted to meet with them! We then went out on the streets, I had remembered this bakery place that a member's wife said was really good and so we went and tried it out! They had these Nutella filled doughnuts for 80 cents... sign me up. Finished the exchange off with a little more finding and then lunch and companionship and language studies. I was feeling pretty good with walking and I really was feeling like going crazy if I had to stay home or at the Church anymore so we went white Boarding! It was a lot of fun and we got some really good conversations out of it. We are going to go and visit a family this next week to teach their daughters English and they said they would listen to a spiritual Thought!
Sunday was a great fasting & testimony Meeting, all of the testimonies were so powerful. I got to translate the Meeting and sometimes I feel like I get more out of it when I translate, sometimes not, but I definitely got a lot out of it this time. Also knowing that 20 people in the congregation are listening to you makes you pay attention really well! A lot of the testimonies compared the Church to a hospital, how we are all being healed but none of us are ready to be released yet but then an American member who works here bore his testimony about how the Church is like a gym, there are those who do physical therapy, those who lift weights, those who run laps, yoga, stretching, those who are trainers and those who are being trained and I really liked that analogy, I think it fits really well. We are all there to improve and better ourselves.
Today is Anziano DeFeo's last P-Day in Italy 🇮🇹 so he wants to go and play frisbee and then get pizza, so that's the plan for today!
Ok, General Conference... so I still have some more to study but I wanted to share one of my favorites that I've been studying. I really loved this talk by Elder Holland "Be ye there perfect-eventually" There is a quote that I really love he says:
"What I now say in no way denies or diminishes any commandment God has ever given us. I believe in His perfection, and I know we are His spiritual sons and daughters with divine potential to become as He is. I also know that, as children of God, we should not demean or vilify ourselves, as if beating up on ourselves is somehow going to make us the person God wants us to become. No! With a willingness to repent and a desire for increased righteousness always in our hearts, I would hope we could pursue personal improvement in a way that doesn’t include getting ulcers or anorexia, feeling depressed or demolishing our self-esteem. That is not what the Lord wants for Primary children or anyone else who honestly sings, “I’m trying to be like Jesus.”
We are all meant to improve, we are all meant to repent and change, but it is meant to be a loving process in which we grow and improve. I know that this principle is true and I am so grateful for prophets and apostles that help us in this process but it's only through Jesus Christ that we will ever be able to accomplish this. I love you all!
Elder Jacob Bellucci
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