OK I will try to catch you all up with his November. The big joy of course is the baptism and a new investigator. Hope you all will keep him and his companion in your prayers, along with the people who are seeking wisdom and further truth.
He writes:
Cari Miei, 11/21/12
I hope that this letter finds you all well.
Today we are giving thanks! We are having an early Thanksgiving
because today is our P-Day, and we are having the Anziani from Pistoia
(The neighboring City, Anziano Gibbons and Moh) for Thanksgiving
feasting. We will not be having a turkey though...too hard to find and
too expensive...we will most likely eat chicken, some mash potatoes
and other small things. It's not which bird we eat; it’s what
gratitude that we render. Anyhow...I hope that everyone enjoys
thanksgiving and especially the Pumpkin Pie....That doesn't exist in
certain parts of the world....
I got my Christmas Package! It has successfully arrive from the
Office....As of yet, I have not opened it...I will try my best to hold
out for Christmas. Although it is very hard...because I know what is
inside due to the list of things contained inside that came on the
box...They are all just vague descriptions though and it makes me
wonder what they are for certain....I have been thinking of sending a
small package home with a few things. I will try and explore the cost
of sending such a package.
This transfer we have a list of less actives that we are going to
visit. Some of these members have not been seen for a long long time.
As we set out to find a certain inactive member, we headed in the
direction of the via that she lived on. On our map, it showed the
street, but then the street leads off the map, we followed it not
thinking the street would be very long and that we would find it
quickly. As it turned out the street was very long and followed a
ridiculous path. It was all 1 street, but at moments it had a
different name and then the street we were looking for picked back up.
A very confusing experience. As we biked back and forth on the
street, trying to find where it picked back up, I felt impressed to
take a different way...to leave this street for a while and head in a
way that seemed very counter-intuitive. But, I knew that it was a
prompting from the Spirit. As I sat on my bike, looking down the way I
felt to go, I knew that it was direction from heaven, without doubt,
and that we would be on the right path soon. We took the street,
followed it for a long time, we paused several times and questioned to
ourselves if it was correct, it was in the middle of nowhere and we
were the only people in sight, but still, I felt to continue. Finally
we arrived at the desired house and this inactive was home. She
welcomed us in and told us we are always welcome in her home. She
recounted to us, the motives for which she holds herself from
activity in the Church. We shared a spiritual thought and had a very
special moment; she asked us to come back and give her a blessing and
bless the house. She lives pretty far and we probably won't visit her
regularly, but we will go back once more to give her a blessing and
bless the house and leave her with a spiritual thought. She was
extremely happy that we came. She hadn't heard from anyone in the
branch in a very very long time and was touched that we came. I
personally don't believe that she is close to coming back into activity,
but I think that it was a step in the right direction. I know that we
are guided, that the Lord is watching over us and he desires that we
pay close head to the promptings of The Spirit, for it will guide us
where he wants us to go.
I hope that all is going well at home and it is good to hear from you
all. I hope that you are all in good health, I am feeling much better
than last week and we are staying nice and warm. We are having a lot
of fun and things are going well.
We will teach Lia the last of the lessons that need to be taught
before baptism and she should have a Baptismal Interview this
Saturday. She will hopefully be baptized on the 2nd of December. We
are praying that things work out and all goes well.
I love you all and miss you a bunch, before you know it we will be
talking on Christmas day!
Love,
Anziano Memmott 11/28/12
Cari Miei,
I hope this E-Mail finds you well.
This has been a good week for us. We have had a lot of good times and
memories this week. I had started to wash some clothes and then just
forgot and forgot to take them out and hang them to dry. So they
became a little moldy smelling and so I restarted the washer and let
them wash again....I did this about 4 or 5 times...I was very
forgetful....and when I finally pulled my sweater out...It was very
very tiny....I Will be sending it as a present for Nate and Sydney's
Soon-to-be Newborn, seeing as it will be closer to her size. (The tag
says XL but don't let that fool you.) At least I have a second one
that I purchased here...
This week we met a man named Luigi (Name has been changed for Privacy
of this Individual). Well...I say met because about 8 weeks ago he
called us and told us he wanted to study with us...intending to learn
about our religion. So we tried to set up an appointment but then we
had some problem and we couldn't make it. And then we just could fix a
time to meet, until this last Monday. We finally met him and he is a
really good guy. He is and has been Buddhist for 20 years....But, he
says that he is still missing something in his life and thinks that
the Mormons might be able to help him find it. He is very sincere in
his search and has many questions about the Plan of Salvation and
other things which we have the answers too. In my opinion, he will
make a sincere search and find that which he still hasn't been able to
find. I am very excited to teach him. Usually we start with the
restoration. But we are at square one because he still doesn't know if
God exists in terms of the typical God the Father, Christian
God....Then step 2 will be helping him gain a testimony that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God....But we have a little blue book to help
him with that one.
We have taught Lia everything and she has had a Baptismal Interview!
She will be baptized this Sunday. She is so ready for baptism and she
is excited to be baptized. I will send you pictures. In the Last 8
weeks...Lia has been the only investigator we have had. Including New
Investigators (which is someone who receives a lesson and accepts a
specific return appointment) So it has been a long 8 weeks, But I
know that she is the blessing for all the hard work that we have put
in and I am very happy to see her make this important step in her
life.
It is good to hear from you all and still haven’t opened my Christmas
package.....We will see how long that lasts....I still have a
reasonable resolve. The remorse and guilt I believe that I would feel
from Mom are the only things that stop me from opening it before
Christmas.
Anziano Dowling is doing good. He is just as crazy as I am at this
point. It has been a brutal 8 weeks for him and he is no longer
normal...my strangeness has rubbed off...
oh and to answer a question that Dad had asked in E-mail, Anziano
Dowling is from Boston and is the youngest of 5 boys. His bishop is
also Danny Ange...that might behow you spell it...he is the GM of the
Celtics....His dad is a Sports Reporter for a local news station and
gets to go to all of the Patriots games for free so that he can right
about them. (From what I understand...I am jealous....) He is a really
great companion and we laugh and have a good time all the time...His
is a really hard worker as well and great with the language.
Anyhow...I love you all so much and hope that you are having a good holidays....
Love,
Anziano Memmott
Cari Miei, 12/5/12
I hope this finds you all well.
Lia's baptism was this last Sunday and everything went "swimmingly."
She was baptized by the husband of the member family that gave us the
referral and help us in the teaching process This Sunday will be the
confirmation. After the baptism she got up and bore a testimony and
talked about how she felt, and it was very beautiful. She is really
great and is going to be a great strength to the branch here in Prato.
(I will attach Photos in a separate E-Mail.)
This is an excerpt from part of my letter to the Mission President
this week. It is about Luigi...or whatever fake name I gave him last
week...
This week we had a lesson with a man who has been
Buddhist for 20 years and wants to find faith. We had planned to teach
him about the Plan of Salvation, the idea being that we could help him
understand who God is and who Jesus Christ is and why they are
important. As we began to meet with him I explained that we wanted to
talk about this plan and who these people are and our relationship to
them. He then told me that he had met with the missionaries about 15
years ago and then recounted with remarkable accuracy the Plan of
Salvation. From the pre-existence all the way to exaltation....THEN he
recounted the Restoration to us.... We didn't know what to do. He
told us that years ago he had read all the way to Alma 40ish and been
in Church many times... We didn't know what to teach. I prayed at that
moment, and then I just cleared my mind and waited for a question to
ask him. One came...I waited for another question to come...It came,
and so it went until we read a chapter in the BoM and talked about our
purpose as missionaries and how he could gain Faith. I have never had
someone destroy my lesson plan like he did...I have never been in that
situation to know what to say to a Buddhist of 20 years who already
knows everything...I also have never been guided by the spirit as much
as I was in that lesson. I felt the presence of the Spirit so
strongly and I know that our investigator felt the same. I know that I
was guided by the Holy Spirit to say what needed to be said.
So as it turns out...Luigi knows a bit more about the Mormons than we
thought he did. He had told us that he met with the missionaries a
long time ago, and that they gave him a Book of Mormon, but he did not
tell us that he knew that much....So we are puzzled at what to teach
him next.
It is getting very cold here in Prato. I am almost always cold and
wishing I were in a warm building. I am thinking I will order more
thermal garments...
I hope that everyone is okay back at home and doing well. Things are
good here. Everyone should let me know what the plans are for
Christmas...Anziano Dowling and I have considered a few different
things....We will let you know what our plans end up being and when we
will be able to talk.
I miss you guys and am sorry about the quality of this letter. I hope
that the pictures I am sending will make up for that....
We went to Pisa this morning and got some revised Pisa Pictures...the
last ones were a bit off...
I hope that you are all doing well.
Love you and miss you all so much,
Love,
Anziano Memmott
As you can see he is doing well. SO excited to talk to him at Christmas. His Birthday is December 14th... get those letters out.
I hope that this letter finds you all well.
Today we are giving thanks! We are having an early Thanksgiving
because today is our P-Day, and we are having the Anziani from Pistoia
(The neighboring City, Anziano Gibbons and Moh) for Thanksgiving
feasting. We will not be having a turkey though...too hard to find and
too expensive...we will most likely eat chicken, some mash potatoes
and other small things. It's not which bird we eat; it’s what
gratitude that we render. Anyhow...I hope that everyone enjoys
thanksgiving and especially the Pumpkin Pie....That doesn't exist in
certain parts of the world....
I got my Christmas Package! It has successfully arrive from the
Office....As of yet, I have not opened it...I will try my best to hold
out for Christmas. Although it is very hard...because I know what is
inside due to the list of things contained inside that came on the
box...They are all just vague descriptions though and it makes me
wonder what they are for certain....I have been thinking of sending a
small package home with a few things. I will try and explore the cost
of sending such a package.
This transfer we have a list of less actives that we are going to
visit. Some of these members have not been seen for a long long time.
As we set out to find a certain inactive member, we headed in the
direction of the via that she lived on. On our map, it showed the
street, but then the street leads off the map, we followed it not
thinking the street would be very long and that we would find it
quickly. As it turned out the street was very long and followed a
ridiculous path. It was all 1 street, but at moments it had a
different name and then the street we were looking for picked back up.
A very confusing experience. As we biked back and forth on the
street, trying to find where it picked back up, I felt impressed to
take a different way...to leave this street for a while and head in a
way that seemed very counter-intuitive. But, I knew that it was a
prompting from the Spirit. As I sat on my bike, looking down the way I
felt to go, I knew that it was direction from heaven, without doubt,
and that we would be on the right path soon. We took the street,
followed it for a long time, we paused several times and questioned to
ourselves if it was correct, it was in the middle of nowhere and we
were the only people in sight, but still, I felt to continue. Finally
we arrived at the desired house and this inactive was home. She
welcomed us in and told us we are always welcome in her home. She
recounted to us, the motives for which she holds herself from
activity in the Church. We shared a spiritual thought and had a very
special moment; she asked us to come back and give her a blessing and
bless the house. She lives pretty far and we probably won't visit her
regularly, but we will go back once more to give her a blessing and
bless the house and leave her with a spiritual thought. She was
extremely happy that we came. She hadn't heard from anyone in the
branch in a very very long time and was touched that we came. I
personally don't believe that she is close to coming back into activity,
but I think that it was a step in the right direction. I know that we
are guided, that the Lord is watching over us and he desires that we
pay close head to the promptings of The Spirit, for it will guide us
where he wants us to go.
I hope that all is going well at home and it is good to hear from you
all. I hope that you are all in good health, I am feeling much better
than last week and we are staying nice and warm. We are having a lot
of fun and things are going well.
We will teach Lia the last of the lessons that need to be taught
before baptism and she should have a Baptismal Interview this
Saturday. She will hopefully be baptized on the 2nd of December. We
are praying that things work out and all goes well.
I love you all and miss you a bunch, before you know it we will be
talking on Christmas day!
Love,
Anziano Memmott 11/28/12
Cari Miei,
I hope this E-Mail finds you well.
This has been a good week for us. We have had a lot of good times and
memories this week. I had started to wash some clothes and then just
forgot and forgot to take them out and hang them to dry. So they
became a little moldy smelling and so I restarted the washer and let
them wash again....I did this about 4 or 5 times...I was very
forgetful....and when I finally pulled my sweater out...It was very
very tiny....I Will be sending it as a present for Nate and Sydney's
Soon-to-be Newborn, seeing as it will be closer to her size. (The tag
says XL but don't let that fool you.) At least I have a second one
that I purchased here...
This week we met a man named Luigi (Name has been changed for Privacy
of this Individual). Well...I say met because about 8 weeks ago he
called us and told us he wanted to study with us...intending to learn
about our religion. So we tried to set up an appointment but then we
had some problem and we couldn't make it. And then we just could fix a
time to meet, until this last Monday. We finally met him and he is a
really good guy. He is and has been Buddhist for 20 years....But, he
says that he is still missing something in his life and thinks that
the Mormons might be able to help him find it. He is very sincere in
his search and has many questions about the Plan of Salvation and
other things which we have the answers too. In my opinion, he will
make a sincere search and find that which he still hasn't been able to
find. I am very excited to teach him. Usually we start with the
restoration. But we are at square one because he still doesn't know if
God exists in terms of the typical God the Father, Christian
God....Then step 2 will be helping him gain a testimony that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God....But we have a little blue book to help
him with that one.
We have taught Lia everything and she has had a Baptismal Interview!
She will be baptized this Sunday. She is so ready for baptism and she
is excited to be baptized. I will send you pictures. In the Last 8
weeks...Lia has been the only investigator we have had. Including New
Investigators (which is someone who receives a lesson and accepts a
specific return appointment) So it has been a long 8 weeks, But I
know that she is the blessing for all the hard work that we have put
in and I am very happy to see her make this important step in her
life.
It is good to hear from you all and still haven’t opened my Christmas
package.....We will see how long that lasts....I still have a
reasonable resolve. The remorse and guilt I believe that I would feel
from Mom are the only things that stop me from opening it before
Christmas.
Anziano Dowling is doing good. He is just as crazy as I am at this
point. It has been a brutal 8 weeks for him and he is no longer
normal...my strangeness has rubbed off...
oh and to answer a question that Dad had asked in E-mail, Anziano
Dowling is from Boston and is the youngest of 5 boys. His bishop is
also Danny Ange...that might behow you spell it...he is the GM of the
Celtics....His dad is a Sports Reporter for a local news station and
gets to go to all of the Patriots games for free so that he can right
about them. (From what I understand...I am jealous....) He is a really
great companion and we laugh and have a good time all the time...His
is a really hard worker as well and great with the language.
Anyhow...I love you all so much and hope that you are having a good holidays....
Love,
Anziano Memmott
Cari Miei, 12/5/12
I hope this finds you all well.
Lia's baptism was this last Sunday and everything went "swimmingly."
She was baptized by the husband of the member family that gave us the
referral and help us in the teaching process This Sunday will be the
confirmation. After the baptism she got up and bore a testimony and
talked about how she felt, and it was very beautiful. She is really
great and is going to be a great strength to the branch here in Prato.
(I will attach Photos in a separate E-Mail.)
This is an excerpt from part of my letter to the Mission President
this week. It is about Luigi...or whatever fake name I gave him last
week...
This week we had a lesson with a man who has been
Buddhist for 20 years and wants to find faith. We had planned to teach
him about the Plan of Salvation, the idea being that we could help him
understand who God is and who Jesus Christ is and why they are
important. As we began to meet with him I explained that we wanted to
talk about this plan and who these people are and our relationship to
them. He then told me that he had met with the missionaries about 15
years ago and then recounted with remarkable accuracy the Plan of
Salvation. From the pre-existence all the way to exaltation....THEN he
recounted the Restoration to us.... We didn't know what to do. He
told us that years ago he had read all the way to Alma 40ish and been
in Church many times... We didn't know what to teach. I prayed at that
moment, and then I just cleared my mind and waited for a question to
ask him. One came...I waited for another question to come...It came,
and so it went until we read a chapter in the BoM and talked about our
purpose as missionaries and how he could gain Faith. I have never had
someone destroy my lesson plan like he did...I have never been in that
situation to know what to say to a Buddhist of 20 years who already
knows everything...I also have never been guided by the spirit as much
as I was in that lesson. I felt the presence of the Spirit so
strongly and I know that our investigator felt the same. I know that I
was guided by the Holy Spirit to say what needed to be said.
So as it turns out...Luigi knows a bit more about the Mormons than we
thought he did. He had told us that he met with the missionaries a
long time ago, and that they gave him a Book of Mormon, but he did not
tell us that he knew that much....So we are puzzled at what to teach
him next.
It is getting very cold here in Prato. I am almost always cold and
wishing I were in a warm building. I am thinking I will order more
thermal garments...
I hope that everyone is okay back at home and doing well. Things are
good here. Everyone should let me know what the plans are for
Christmas...Anziano Dowling and I have considered a few different
things....We will let you know what our plans end up being and when we
will be able to talk.
I miss you guys and am sorry about the quality of this letter. I hope
that the pictures I am sending will make up for that....
We went to Pisa this morning and got some revised Pisa Pictures...the
last ones were a bit off...
I hope that you are all doing well.
Love you and miss you all so much,
Love,
Anziano Memmott
As you can see he is doing well. SO excited to talk to him at Christmas. His Birthday is December 14th... get those letters out.
No comments:
Post a Comment