December 28, 2011

Trevor played Joseph in his Zone's Nativity. See if you can find him.  

Caro Famiglia,

What a pleasure it was to talk you this past Sunday, Looking back over the call it seems like not much was even said. Hah, Both boys froze up... again no shock there, Maybe next year we can have a real conversation. But It was awesome to see you and hear your voices. It has been awhile and at times it was hard to call on the memory of the sounds of your voices. To be honest it was hard seeing you, the whole family, and not seeing Riley. It was kind of just like a second testimony that he really is not home waiting for me to come home. But on a more happy note it was great talking to you.

Thanks for the update on the rest of your Christmas day, Mine was pretty much over when we finished talking, My companion did his skype and then we went home. It was a good Christmas. Very different, But hey, how many Christmases does one have as a missionary and in Italy for that matter? I made the most of it and had a great time. But I still did miss home more than normal.

I spent the first part of the week in Verona on another scambio with Anz. M+++++++. I don't even want to begin explaining how to pronounce it. He's the zone leader in Verona now and we have a lot in common. Mainly, Hah we are known around the entire mission as the two Halo Kids, He's a hardcore Halo Player like me, Hah it was fun talking about stories from the past. But we went out that night and had a great scambio and were blessed with a miracle. We found a young Italian family of 4 who let us in and seemed very interested in our message.
Anz. M+++++++ is a great missionary. He also served with Anz. W*******. He talked to me a lot also about coming to USU with him after the mission and moving into to a Milano Mission Alumni Frat house. Sounds fun. Who knows where my path will take me after the mission, Boh
Vediamo.

Things in Mantova seem to be picking up. Anz. Strong and the missionaries who are coming here for the few scambios in the last 2 weeks have been somewhat successful and we've found a few more people to teach. Still work is a lil slow and we have a lot ahead of us.



Love you!


Anz. Mendel

December 6, 2011

Buon Giorno,

Okay where to start, Well the turkey wasnt too hard to find... It just took time. We must have checked 15 butcher shops and then we finally found the right one. Dont worry I made sure to ask them to clean out the center. When we found the right turkey (we only found 3, one 14 kili, 8 kili and 2 kili) we bought it and took it home right then. Stuck it in the freezer then 3 days before moved in into the fridge. I wish I could send home the videos... we took a bunch.

It was great to hear about NYC and of course Sinter Klaus. Landon and I have been talking back and forth about how much fun the last year's was... Do you remember our matching outfits we showed up in? Everything sounds like a blast... What are the shrimp things called
again? The Crackers?

So your calculations are correct, this is week 5, I should find out what happens this Monday, oh I would so love to stay in Ferrara for the Holidays. Just one more transfer is all I need. The odds of Anz. Weller and I doing another one together is almost zero so he would have to be transfered for me to stay, which is very possible. However it is still probable that I leave Ferrara this upcoming week. I don't know what will happen, I'm dying to find out but at the same time, whatever comes, comes. I'm definitely ready for a change though.

So this week has also been rather busy for us, we are completely moved into our apartment in Ferrara now. Our first night here was Saturday. The apartment is really nice and we both love it. We had help from an amazing member, S. N++++ to bring our luggage back and forth so it wasn't too hard. Just transfers bring lots of stress.... On the trains with all this luggage... Stuff like this. The office couple brought us mattresses on Saturday and also our mail so I got the 2 packages (padded envelopes) you sent! Thank you! I loved the stuff for Monkey bread... I wonder if I can find the rolls though.... The million dollar chocolate bar was
perfect too, in  fact, just a few days before, S. N++++ gave Anz. Weller and I the same thing but it was a 500£ bar. So I gave her the million dollar bar, she loved it! it was perfect and really funny. Back to the mattresses the office drove us down... Yikes. Just ridiculous the state they are in. They brought us 3, The first night I didn't sleep at all. That's how bad the mattress was. Then I switched it out for the 3rd and now I can kinda sleep but they are still terrible. We got hooked up with one of the nicest apartments in the mission, it is so nice. But the mattresses are terrible.  Aargh.

This Sunday we saw M****** with S. N++++. M, the referral from Argentina. We had planned to teach her the Gospel... We had a super powerful lesson with her. She loved how the Gospel built on itself starting with faith and then repentance. As we moved on to baptism the
spirit was just so strong so we decided to give her a date right then. She accpeted baptism and her date is for the 14th of Jan. She still has a long way to go, she needs to come to church and start reading better but I think she recognizes the spirit when we come and teach
her and she is starting to take this whole thing more seriously now. I'm excited to see if she will come to chruch on Sunday.

Okay, Anz. Weller and I both experienced the biggest miracle of our mission this week. It was just crazy what happened. About 2 weeks ago during a scambio with Anz. B+++++ and I in Ferrara we knocked into this sweet lady who was so interested in our message and was so nice to us. We couldn't go in and teach her because she didn't have a man in the house so we had to just talk to her at the door for a short moment. She told us how much she loves God and how her whole life she has been praying and searching for the truth. She told us how about 10 years back her husband and pretty much the whole extended family converted into jehovah witnesses and how she just never felt like that church was right and never felt the spirit with them. She told us that she thinks we might have the answers she is looking for and that we needed to come back and teach her more but she was leaving out of town for 2 weeks and we couldnt come back til Dec 4. Bummer we would have to wait awhile to see her again... Well the weeks passed and I had her in the back of my mind mainly focusing on the investigators we were seeing and just other missionary stuff.... We went back on Monday and we brought S. N++++ (the Member) again. She opened her house to us and let us in. S. N++++ and her, Z+++++, became instant friends. Long story short Z++++ recounted the story of when  she met Anz. B++++++ and I the first time to A. Weller and S. N++++, how she felt this overwhelming spirit about us and could feel the love and truth and that on her whole vaction all she could think about was us. The missionaries... She told us she knows what she felt from us is true and that you know when somthing is true or not, you feel it. You don't
see it. We had the most powerful lesson of my life, I was choking back tears, N++++ and Z++++ were both crying. Anz. Weller and I couldn't believe how ready this lady is. Literally prepared her whole life to meet us. This was her first real lesson. She committed herself to
coming to church every sunday, S.N++++ said she can pick her up and take her every sunday and then... she committed herself to bapitsm, after A. Weller gave her the tenth point. My mind was just blown. The rest of the Night Both Anz. Weller and I were just pacing back and forth blown away by the power of the spirit, blown away by the faith and readiness of this lady. I could not wipe the smile off my face the rest of the night... Just absolutely crazy. Tonight we will be setting a baptismal date with her. Most likely she will be coming to see a
baptismal service in Bologna this sunday. This lady is ready. She'll be baptised in 3 weeks. No doubt.

Love you! Have a great week!

Anz. Mendel

PS: I dont know the Robinsons...

Turkey Triumph

Dear Family,

So I passed my test. I officially know my way around a kitchen. The turkey turned out amazing! Absolutly perfect. And don't worry, the whole process was very well documented. I ended up having so many different recipes and hints, I just studied them all and went for it. Not following any particular recipe. Turned out amazing so I was really happy. We ended up having turkey, the sausage stuffing (my favorite dish for sure) mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, sweet corn, we all ate til we were on the floor dead and then Anz. P***** made peach cobbler for dessert. We had such a great time making the Thanksgiving meal and being together as missionaries. I missed you all so much but we made the most of our situation and had a great time ourselves. Definitely a Thanksgiving to remember. I would say my favorite part
of the night was after we ate. We, like usual, went around the table and said what we were thankful for this year. And then after, we went around the table saying what things we were thankful for about each other. For example. W******, B******* and P****** all said things
that they were thankful about me and so on in a circle. It was a really spiritual experience as we talked about our times together spreading the Gospel and thanking God for all that we have been blessed with. We have been eating Turkey like crazy all week and we still have tons left. Nothing like fresh turkey sandwiches.

So we are not moving in yet. We needed a few more things before we could move in. Like gas, electricity and mattresses. We have all but the last now and we are waiting for the Assistants to come bring us some this weekend. So after that we should be able to move over there within a week or so. We have the keys already-- its all on us when we want to move. But it is the end of the month and our monthly train/bus passes won't be valid anymore.

The new address is Via Caterina Di Siena 46. If you want to google earth it or something. I dont think it's a good idea to send stuff there with transfers so close. Probably just send everthing to the mission home from now on.

Yes, I would like that DVD, that would be awesome to see.

The weekend in NYC sounds awesome! Have fun. I don't see Dad allowing a crazy drunk guy on the subway to bug you guys this time.

N***** is doing really good. He's making good progress. We brought him to a Ward party this last friday in Bologna. He seemed to have enjoyed himself. All is good there.

Well, Love you tons. Have a great holiday season. Tell me how Dutch Christmas goes.

Anz. Mendel

November 9, 2011

Hey mom,

Well I really dont have much to say this week.

I too am so excited to still be in Ferrara for this next transfer. It's gonna be awesome. I just cant wait for the work to explode.

Dang COD came out this week... I'm shaking inside I want to play so bad... Its not even funny.

Thanks for the update on everything.

******* is doing great. We saw her Sunday and again last night. Can you believe this she gave us a refferal. She brought a friend to the lesson. And she is super interested. It's worked out great because she has been having a tough time keeping reading commitments so with her friend now involved they do it together. It's awsome teaching them...

****** is also doing well. His lessons are always so long and he has to argue on everthing. Even stuff that I thought was pretty basic christian knowledge. For example we planned to teach the Plan of Salvation this week. The first time we taught the pre earth life and the fall and by the time that was done we had already been there an hour. It just takes awhile to clear everthing up. But he is still making progress. I still have hope for him.

Sorella ***** has been in Torino this last week, its been sad to not have her cook us lunch almost every day. I have been experimenting in the kitchen these days and I haven't failed yet. Almost all missionaries here just make cheap pasta for lunch. I came to a realization that I will let Italians cook me pasta and i'll cook everything else but pasta. I made a mushroom and beef stir fry kinda thing the other day over rice. It was sooo good. Then I have been making all sorts of different potatoe dishes... italians try to make mashed potatoes here.. lets just say stick with the pasta. I bought stuff today for corn Chowder... Is a leek absolutly necessary? cause I couldnt find it. I guess by the time you respond i'll have already made it so.....

Well Love you mom.

I'm gonna write Kristy soon... I know I'm terrible..

November 1, 2011

So big news right now is transfers... (Drum beats)...... (More Drum beats)..... Im staying in Ferrara another, so doing 3 with Weller. I'm really happy about this. I was so nervous and sad that I might have been leaving. President called us and he told us that he knows me and Weller have been together for 2 already but he wants us to "finish what we started" in Ferrara. Heck yeah! Thats so sick that Pres is looking out for me like that. It would have been so anti-climatic if I were to leave now. We are going to get an apartment in Ferrara this transfer, and then these last 2 weeks or so our work has just exploded. We are finding solid people to teach left and right. Im really happy to be with Weller this long. We work good together and are good friends. I learn so much from him always.

Anz. B. and P. are staying the same as well so no changes to our apartment. Other than that there is not much I think I can say that will serve your interest.  We will have to see how things go.

First we have M, a Peruvian Mother of a sweet lil 8 year old girl. Super elect and ready, she was a refferal all the way from missionaries in Argentina who met her there about a month ago at her father's funeral. I'm really excited for her this transfer. She has some problems that are out of her control in terms of coming to church but I'm really excited for her. We had such a strong Plan of Salvation lesson with her last night. We brought Sorella N, just great.

Then we have ****** that guy our age that I told you about last week, he's making some good progress. Still a hardcore Catholic but... It's coming. Yesterday I made some banana bread and we watched the Restoration movie with him. He liked it. What we really need to do now
i think is just get him to feel the spirit super strong while we are there or while he reads the Book of Mormon. I think he's the kind of guy who won't deny these feelings... Its just a matter of time. The problem has been that he is a fan of going on the internet and finding all the Mormon Dirt there is out there so a lot of times when we are over there we are trying to clear up those problems and its hard to have super solid complete lessons.

There are two 20 story apartment buildings in Ferrara, more or less completly filled with stanieri (Foreigners) Don't know the spelling... Anyways.. we did one of them the other day and taught like 10 lessons, picked up a ton of new contacts and investigators. It cant hurt to teach them and bring them closer to Christ. And maybe bring someone to Church. I'm sick of not having any investigators that Im worried about in church.

Dont worry about the Caramel. I cant believe you sent some that must have been expensive.... Thanks though. You're such a GEM. Have to say I'm a lil disapointed in the no desire to carve pumpkins thing... No shock though. If you can remember it was always me who made sure these traditions were always done and done right.... Let's just say things will change when I return. I wanted to Carve a pumpkin here. We just couldn't find any last minute.

Well I love you, Hope your holiday season starts off great...

October 10, 2011

Dear Mother,

I jut got back from the internet point where I promised I'd write a written letter about my week and how I'm feeling. So I'll start with Conference.  How conference worked was that Saturday night we went to Modena, about a 30 minute train ride away from Bologna, and we watched the Saturday Morning Session at 6:00 pm.  Looking over my notes, I really enjoyed Richard G. Scott's address.  He is always one of my favorites and then Pres. Packard's talk was very well done.  I like how he talked about a young people growing up in enemy territory and then going on to talk about how everyone with a body has power over those who don't.  Meaning we have power over the adversary and then of course I liked the powerful end, that "this war started from before the beginning of time is not in question.  Lucifer will lose."  Super powerful, gives me goosebumps.  Which actually was a reoccurring sensation all throughout conference.  So after that session we returned home.  The following day (Sunday) priesthood session was held at 11:00 and then Saturday afternoon at 2:00 and the Sunday morning live session at 6:00 pm.  After that one we had to return home.  I'm sad I can't watch the last session, I guess I still will be able to read it.  But like I already said, I really enjoyed Elder Hales' talk.  How true that everyone in this life will have occasion to ask "Where art thou?" when he said that I thought about myself back in Pisa after Riley died.  And then I thought of Alma and Amulek in Alma 14:10-11.  Seeing the women and children in the fire and God not stopping it. Elder Holland in Priesthood session threw down hard.  Did dad tell you about it?  Was this Justin's first priesthood session?  How did the boys like conference/priesthood session all together?  The 3 boys! And then of course I loved Pres. Monson's talks.  I left feeling very edified and re-charged just like I wanted to happen.  So we returned home ready to work harder.  Especially because Ferrara needs a lot of help right now.  So my companion and I set some new goals and for now we are doing very well with them.

Monday was district meeting, like usual.  And as a district vision we decided we were all going to work on developing Christlike attributes this transfer.  So the first one my companion chose to address was Diligence.  Something I think the whole district needed.  We had a great district meeting and after went right out to work.  We taught this German guy on the train out to Ferrara who is working for the French Foreign legion and has been in Iraq for the last 7 months.  He was really cool.  Swore a lot and wasn't really good at it either. Ha Ha.  I thought to myself, "this guy needs to get XBox Live and learn how to swear."  Then we got to Ferrara and went to a park that we visit often.  I didn't find many to speak with.  Pretty much on the way out of the park we saw a middle-aged couple and just said Hi.  They said hi back and said they were good and here's the strange part...they then asked us how were were doing.  Really strange.  So we jumped on that opportunity to tell them who we are and what we are doing in Italy and started talking to them about the Gospel and restoration.  Pretty normal stuff.  The part that made it not normal was when their 7 year old kid came up and started listening to us and then one by one more and more lil kids came over to where we were talking.  All in all it probably got to be about a group of 7-10 kids and then the couple.  We were preaching the gospel "Suffer the children to come unto me." It was really fun.  The lil Italian's Italian was so cute too.  So I would say the work in Ferrara is starting to come along.

I had a scambio with Anz. P, the zone leader who took D's place yesterday.  Oh my goodness it was so much fun.  We had so much success together.  We taught 7 lessons that day.  Finding sweet people who need the gospel left and right.  He is a really cool guy.  I like the way he picks up the people around him by example instead of being a self-righteous aspirer.  So my scambio with Anz. P was a big success.  Ferrara really needs the work.  Right now our problem is turning all these sweet new contacts into investigators and then get them progressing towards baptism.

I love you mom.  Your love and support sustain me. Through hard times, moments of trial, doubts and temptations, I think of you.  Yu help me through the thick and thin.  Your love and testimony are my rock.  I love you so much.  Thank you eternally for the sacrifices you make and made for me. I know this work is the work of the Lord.  I'm thankful to be a missionary at this time.  I pray I can learn to magnify my calling to the best of my ability.  Talk to you soon.

September 21, 2011

Wow, lots of cool information this week, That is so awesome that Josh is going on a mission! I've been praying so hard for this! Just amazing! When is his availability date? I'm so curious where he will go! Do you know if he is going to school this fall?

Way funny to here about Newton and Wright being in Miranda's FHE group. I know Newton, Not Wright. Small world indeed.

So transfers news came in the other day, Anz. Weller and I are staying the same out in Ferrara. I'm very happy about this, Anz. Weller and I are so tight. So another transfer will be awesome. Never done 2 before. I think it will make it go that much smoother. So Duque is being transferred up to Vicenza. To be with... none other than my old MTC comp Anz. Taggart. Funny huh? Anz. Parker is coming here to be ZL. He has been a ZL in Milano... Not much else is happening. Remember my friend Anz. Free? He is training this transfer. Pretty sick.

Ferrara has been really good lately. We weren't able to go to church this Sunday because there was a train strike, so we went to Bologna ward. It was fun to see some cool old members but I really just wanted to be in Ferrara. This Monday we taught some super cool people on the trains To and from Ferrara. Awesome to know that the Lord is sending us people to teach wherever we are. A sweet, older sister member has really taken us under her wing out in Ferrara.  She has been feeding us and giving us a place to come and rest on the long days out in Ferrara. She is so amazing. Makes us the best meals and just opens up her home for us. I dont know where we would be without her help.

Right now we have really just been trying to expand our teaching pool, and seeing the members out here. Trying to activate and bring people to church. We still hold church in a member's home but the members are looking for a building as well as an apartment for us. I
really just want to move out to Ferrara now. So these days are just filled with lots of Finding work. It has been very interesting to see that many people know who we are even though the church hasn't been in the city for several years. We are meeting old investigators and less actives on the streets. Ferrara is a lot friendlier than Bologna.

Send my Love to everyone and Justin. Sounds like soccer is going pretty good for him. 

Love you Mother.