With the new year, the Lord has also brought in new blessings! Sunday night we were a little discouraged because our investigator pool wasn't very big, plus none of our investigators made it to church. We were out doing casa for the last hour and a half. We decided to pray to know where to go, and instead of turning like we had planned to go to a different suburb, I felt like we needed to go straight. We stopped at a few places without success, and then were in one building where a man said some not-so-kind words and threw us out. We only had about ten minutes left and were debating what to do when I said, ''What's the worst that can happen, they can tell us to leave as well.'' We walked to the next building to find the door open, and the elevator waiting for us. Luigi opened the door in his pajamas and talked to us for 20 minutes about the Book of Mormon. He kept asking us a million questions and at the end we asked if we could pray with him. He then invited us in where his wife had been on the phone, but hung up to talk with us. She was even more curious then her husband, asking so many questions that we kept telling them we'd have to come back to answer them. 9:00 passed, then 9:10, then 9:20. We then told them we absolutely had to leave for safety, but we didn't want to because there was such a spirit and also they were so hilarious that we were laughing almost the entire time.
And the next miracle? Another Italian family! We had run into the father before Christmas, but with the holidays they had been too busy to meet with us. We finally had an appointment with him again monday with his wife and ten year-old daughter. They have investigated many different religious groups, and at the end Rocco (the dad) told me that everyone has god, has faith, has prayer, and has scriptures whether it's the Koran, Book of Mormon, Bible, etc. I don't know where it came from, but I just told him straight up that yes, everyone has those things, but the thing that sets us apart is a modern prophet to lead and guide the children of men who receives direct revelation from God. I told him that I had studied various religions as well, and scriptural texts are always limited to human interpretation. However, a church led by God has continual direction and revelation, so there never is confusion or differences in interpretation. There was a silence for a few seconds after, and it set in that maybe I had been a bit too bold. Then Rocco quietly said, ''There's a prophet today?'' They then agreed to read Alma 32, pray as a family, and come to FHE - something they had politely refused before. Rocco then asked his daughter to say the closing prayer, but she didn't want to so my companion said, ''Why don't you show your daughter how to pray.'' Rocco then said a very short but very sincere prayer. He said that he had never prayed like that before, but that he felt something different as he prayed.
These are just two examples of the miracles the Lord is blessing us with. There are so many people He is preparing for this good news! We are getting so many golden contacts each day, some of which turn into lessons and some of which don't. For example, yesterday one of our senior couples called us with the number of a woman who wants to be baptized because her brother is a bishop in Ghana. She had previously taken lessons and come to church, then had to leave for work, and now is back. I am so excited for how He is blessing the work in Bergamo!
Time is going so fast that I hardly now what to tell you. We met with one of our Italian families again, Rocco and his family, after seeing them at ice skating. They also came to the ward family home evening. Last night one of our members came with us whom they had met at FHE, and we were able to explain more about the restoration. We then challenged them to baptism and the dad said, ''It would only be logical to be baptised after we received an answer.'' They are so awesome, and very informed. They've met with Jehovah's Witnesses before, read parts of the Koran and other religious books, etc. When I said we wanted to read from the Bible they went to their library and came back with about 5 different versions. The wife had even checked up on the internet and asked us about the word of wisdom, etc. She studied music at the university and teaches how to sing gregorian chants. Please pray for them! The daughter is hilarious, but also gives these one liners that are just so inspired. I think she will be a great help for her family. Last night I could tell she wanted her own copy of the Book of Mormon, so I asked if I could leave one for her. She said, ''I don't really know why, but I just love it when you guys come over. Hope to see you soon!''
Another miracle is the miracle of Anna. She had come with her niece to one of the baptisms in the other ward, and then stayed for the Relief Society dinner where we got her number. She was super difficult to contact, and we weren't able to see her during the holidays. So finally we called her niece who arranged a meeting for us. When we walked in, she had cooked dinner for us. We started eating, and my companion asked the niece how she came to know the church. That started the whole dinner off on a conversation about the gospel. Instead of talking about other things, like the weather, Anna was talking about her religious background, experiences she had had to know there was a God, how she was Catholic but always felt that something was off, etc. Meanwhile the niece was sharing stories and bearing testimony about anything from the Word of Wisdom, to young adult activies, etc. Towards the end, Anna said, ''I want to know everything. After seeing my niece all these years, I know this is what I need to do. I want to read the Book of Mormon, and can I come to church sunday? I also want the missionaries to find my daughter in Bolivia.'' We briefly explained the Book of Mormon, and she accepted to be baptized! Richard's right, member referrals are the best!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful NEW YEAR!
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