Happy Wednesday

Caro Presidente Kelly,

 

This week has been strange, especially with the trip to Messina. But I got back safe and sound, and we're keeping up the work here in Cagliari as best we can. We had the opportunity to at least see Massimo and his family (the friend of one of the members here that we've been working with to help out the member, Fratello Vicedomini) on Saturday, and he is well. We didn't quite have time to give a super spiritual thought (we got there later than we had hoped), but we left a bit about prayer, and they are really willing to have us over again sometime. Sweet!

 

Working with less-actives, the past few days we've kind of been seeing if they live in the same areas on the Branch's list, which apparently hasn't been updated for years, unfortunately. We've had the opportunity to see a few, but many have moved or just don't let us come in for one reason or another. We're trying to help the members really want to work with them, though.

 

In thinking how to work with the members, we are trying out a few different things: giving members thank-you cards for dinners or helping out with appointments or anything, really looking for acts of service we can do for them, and just trying to show them extra amounts of love so that they feel a stronger desire to either help us out or work with friends on their own.

 

This past week, I've been really working on and studying and thinking about not letting little things get to me, and how I can get along better with my companions. I've found two things that can really help me with that: 1 looking for "light" every day, little positive things about what happens or events in the past, and 2 avoiding criticism in what others may do, especially little things, and instead praising anything I see good. So far, since I've come up with and worked on those, I've been feeling much better about and during the mission.

 

Thanks for everything President!

Anziano Walker

Ciao famiglia!

 

First off, before I forget, Mom asked me to tell y'all about the investigators here. The truth is, we have none. Solid, anyway. Nobody answers their phone. So this week Anziano McIntyre and I decided to change that, start over, and get a whole new list of contacts. While looking for Less-Actives. I call it "Meno-Attivo Hunting". :)

 

But that Massimo I mentioned, he's awesome! He's not quite an investigator, but we've done service with him a few times, and this Saturday was my first time seeing his family and his house. They. Are. AWESOME. They have two daughters (I only saw one, though), a son, and his wife. They're super close, and really good people. And the HOUSE! It's out in the country area, so it's actually big for any Italian house I've seen so far. And they have so many animals, it's great! Cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, fish, oh my gosh! And Massimo had added on to the house they had originally bought (he's a huge do-it-yourself kind of guy), and it's so cozy. Awesome! And he really enjoys hearing from us, whenever we call him. There's a switch, haha!

 

Ok, not quite an investigator (yet!), but we met this one guy on the street last night who was super nice. He stopped us as we were Meno Attivo Hunting, and started talking with us about where we were from, and our beliefs, and so on. He was very appreciative of the work we do, and we exchanged numbers so we could meet up sometime and see what else our beliefs have in common. The kicker: he's a Catholic Priest! Oh man, I was super happy after that little encounter, just because it was so composed, so nice, and he still wanted to talk with us about religion, which isn't normal with the Priests I've seen. Oh yeah, totally gonna start the ball rolling for this Priest here! =D

 

One thing I wanted to share with you guys from this week was something I've been studying, and it has to do with that "light" that I mentioned in my letter to the President. I've ocassionally had times in my mission where I literally felt filled with light (I even wrote it in my journal with those exact words), and I've been trying to see how to have that always happen. Useful study material: 1 This past Conference issue Ensign (which we got from one of the Sorelle's parents), especially Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on light, one from the Sunday afternoon session called "Beautiful Mornings", and the first one in the Young Women session, 2 little problems I've had with companions, about which I could think and see what I did right or wrong, 3 the Topical Guide on light, and 4 Ether chapter 2 (the last like 5 verses) and the beginning of chapter 3. I've come to draw as much from that story as I did from Abraham with his son.

 

A major thing from that story that I love is that the Brother of Jared took those rocks out of the mountain, and made them clear (I'm pretty sure the word it uses is "molten"), and then takes them to the Lord. In the verses before, he was asking how to cross the stormy sees with light (go through life with hope, Christ, the Gospel, basically, whatever light symbolizes). I find it significant that he has the solution to take the rocks from the mountain (from the world, past experiences, current experiences), work with them a bit, and then take it to the Lord. This is where the Young women's conference talk came in, looking for those holy places in life. Oh man, I feel like this is so scatter-brained, but I have no time left. Think about it, I love it! :)

 

OH MY GOSH I LOVE MY FAMILY! I miss you guys, and everyone else too! AND WHAT THE SNAP, KIMMY'S GETTING MARRIED!!!! Tell her "Auguri" for me! (It means "wishes", "congrats", etc.)

 

Ciao ciao!

Anziano Walker

Happy P-Day

Ciao President!

This week has been weird, especially with the travel. But at Cagliari, we did what we could together there. We talked with Gaetano (if you don't remember or if I never said, he's a referral we contacted my first Saturday there), and apparently he's been talking to a Priest from some other church, and doesn't really want to meet with us unless he doesn't like this guy. Evidently, a major problem that he has with us is that we are so young. He hasn't come out and said it, but he kept saying stuff that hinted to it, and that was a surprise to him, we learned from Sorella Safina (his friend in the church) after our first meeting. So, maybe with time he'll be ok with it, hopefully.

We've also been working a lot with less actives here, and trying to see members to get them to talk to and help less active people they know. We have some ideas that we would like to try to work out, like having consistent weekly activities (sorta like mutual), or doing large scambi with the members in the branch every month. Those were some ideas we got from an ex-branch mission leader, and he said those kinds of things really helped the branch get involved with missionary work, and helped less-actives come back. I'm excited to try!

With my permesso here in Messina, it was a quick fix. But unfortunately, it looks like I'm gonna have to come back in a few weeks to pick it up and to do that course on the laws and stuff. I feel kinda bad that this is eating up so much money and time for the mission. But thanks for helping me out with that, making it run smoothly!

Thanks for everything!

Anziano Walker

Ciao Famiglia!

Ok, you're never gonna guess where I'm writing this from! Go ahead, guess!

Wrong! (Probably)

I'm back in Messina, haha! Apparently, there were some problems with my permesso (an appointment in April that no one knew about), so the office bought me plane tickets to come down here and see what I could do to figure everything out. They got return tickets for Friday (I left Monday), just to give me time in case I could just pick it up in a few days. But, it looks like I'm actually gonna have to come back near the end of this transfer, cause I have an appointment at a government building here on June 17th. AND, I need to still pick it up, which they said would probably be in about 3 weeks as well. But it's SUPER WEIRD being here in Messina again, I still remember almost exactly where everything is, and the house is just about the same, English Course was super fun, I appreciate the food a MILLION times more, and it's like I haven't left. It is so.........WEIRD. But I'm basically doing a big ol' scambio with the Anziani here, so we're in 3 everywhere. Crazy! But not as crazy as me travelling alone from Cagliari to Rome, and then Rome to Reggio Calabria, and the Anziani there taking me across on a boat to Messina. How many rules did I break? I think 5. But all with permission. :)

And it's so cool to hear about all the people I know again! Sanjay moved to France, because of some problems. Dilhani and Isuri are still super active in the church, and Sahtmi is still wanting to get baptized in October! And Dilhani has a steady job now! Maria Pia is still...... Maria Pia. There were 2 guys at English course who I taught every week in the advanced class that were super excited to see me (two brothers named Giovanni and Domenico), and we're gonna go get a pizza together tomorrow night after English Course again, I think. They're moving to Ireland in a bit, for work as nurses. Fratello Impollonia is still rockin' it as the Ward Mission Leader, .... aw, man, this is so fun!

And the Anziani here are really cool. Their names are Anziano Stewart and Hurlburt. Although, It's impossible for Italians to say Hurlburt, so he got it re written on his nametag, now to "Albart". Boh. He's a little quiet, and reserved. Plus, he's a group above me in the MTC, so we knew eachother a bit before as well. But me and Anziano Stewart (Not my trainer, this guy was in the group below me at the MTC) hit it off really quickly! We never really had a chance to get to know eachother well in the MTC, but man, this guy's awesome, and super happy! I'm kinda sad I'm going back in a few days. Anziano McIntyre is great, but quiet. I'm still trying to learn how to get along with super quiet. In time. But hopefully it comes quickly.

In Cagliari, We have been really working and thinking about that goal. But just meeting Less-actives one at a time won't work, because many of them need time and multiple visits. So like I said in my letter to President, I really would like to try some of those ideas we got from the old Branch Mission Leader. I haven't really had an opportunity to talk with Anziano McIntyre about it, though, and hopefully they come up with something in Correlation with the current Branch Mission Leader while I'm out.

Oh man, this is great! Here I don't have a time limit of an hour! I can EXPOUND and RESPOND! =D I love hearing about the gardening you guys did, and a few suggestions for herbs I use consistently (if you can find them): Rosemary (It is FANTASTIC with potatoes, especially french fries. That and olive oil can replace ketchup), Basil, Origano, and if possible, pepperoncino (little red peppers). Also onions and garlic are really good too. I really want to learn specific recipes, too. So far for that, all I've got is my Pizza cookbook and Carbonara. But I've got time! :)

That's freakin' awesome with the bear, haha! That's more exciting than any Fathers and Sons I remember! And good luck with your race in a bit, you'll do great! Have fun in Utah!

Ciao!

Anziano Walker

P.S. - I just got an email from Esli today, and she knows an Anziano that just got back that I met! His name is Anziano Lacey, and I stayed the night at his house for the Stake Conference there. Crazy!

Hey, family!

 

I almost forgot: I heard about Andrea Perdichizzi here in Messina (if you don't remember, he's that less-active that was super excited about tithing, started coming back on his own right before I left). Apparently, he's still strong, and he's gonna be getting the Melchisedec Priesthood soon! Oh my gosh, I was so psyched to hear that!

 

Ok, bye!

 

Anziano Walker

Cagliari P-Day...Hooray!‏

Ciao President Kelly!

This week we've been working hard to find people, and especially to meet with the members here. Lately, after District Conference and that huge goal getting set up for us to double our church attendance by the end of June, we've also been trying to think about how to meet with members about less actives, as well. And we've seen a few less actives. A few of which, we have really come to appreciate and want to help. Mainly, la famiglia Marrocu (in which the Mom is still active, but the Dad is rather forward and blunt about continuing to be inactive) and la famiglia Gordillo, whose work and school schedules make it nigh impossible for them to come to church on time. We met with that family just last night, and hope that our message of prioritizing relationships over all else will at least help them to make more family time.

But with that big goal, it seems to me that each of the missionaries in our district is super psyched to make it happen, and we want to do it as effectively as possible. For this reason, we are trying to meet more with the members, and the leaders of the branches especially, to try to help the members take a bigger interest in helping those here. Big job, for sure.

So yeah, that's kind of where our work is focusing at the moment. One thing that I want to mention real quick, Anziano McIntyre is really great at helping me relate what I study to my life and missionary work. I don't know how, but he just asks the right questions to get my mind thinking in the right direction. It's really cool, and I'm really thankful for that in a companion. We're doing our best to work together more!

Thanks for all you do!

Anziano Walker

Well HIya!

Meh, it sounds better than it looks, that "hiya". Anywho, this week has been pretty good. Yesterday got hard: all but one appointment ended up being a bidone, and I was unfortunately getting pretty down at the end. But the VERY last one, with that Gordillo family, really helped me to perk up. (wait, that sounds weird to me, did I use that right?) But yeah, that was a good lesson. It was weird, the daughters there looked kind of familiar, but I can't think of anyone that I know that looks like them. Maybe they just have those kind of faces, boh.

Dad, it's funny that you mention the New Testament being such a huge thing right now. This morning, I was reading in Leviticus about all the "sin sacrifices", and realized that they were all the same for every group of people. I told that to my companion in companionship study, and he asked something, I forget what, and I came up with, immediately, how it relates to us, which is what prompted that last little bit to President. It's really neat to see how natural of a teacher Anziano McIntyre is.

Mom, hehe, with the food..... I honestly think I mention it too much to Anziano McIntyre. I've been working on not talking about lunch too much. It's not usually a problem, but sometimes....... haha!

But not much to report this week. I guess I kind of said everything in Skype, haha! Which honestly, was a little weird. Don't get me wrong, I freakin' loved it, but something just felt like that was all kind of...... behind. Especially seeing the house. But I love getting to talk to you guys, it honestly felt like the Christmas call was not long ago at all!

Oh, and District Meeting went swimmingly. everybody participated, and we all got great ideas from each other for this huge June goal. All conversation, including talking about how work was going in each respective area, turned back to that, which was kind of funny to see. I've never seen a district so focused on one thing before. Let's do this!

Well, ciao ciao, ci vediamo!

Anziano Walker

Dad's Last Day Being 46

Dear President Kelly,

 

Man, this week has been interesting. Trying to adjust cities as quick as possible is hard. I feel like I'm exhausting myself out, and I don't know how, it's weird. But Cagliari is, on first impression, a great city! My second day in, we contacted a referral named Gaetano, whose wife had recently died, and is really crushed by it. We talked with him a bit, and he seemed perfectly willing to meet with us whenever he's free, with his member friend (Sorella Safina). She in fact told us about an incontro they had after we saw him, and it seems like she will be a fantastic help, answered his questions, addressed concerns, it's great!

 

We've set up quite a few appointments with members, less active and not, for this week, and so far they're working out well. We talked with this one guy, Ricardo, who has a decent testimony, and told us he would be willing to talk to his friends about changing up work schedule so he could come to church this week, at least. Hopefully that all works out.

 

Thanks for being there President!

 

Anziano Walker

 

Hi guys

 

Man, I'm beat right now. I really think I've been pushing myself too hard in some way, but I don't know how. I can't even really think of what to say right now in this letter, or what I need to do to help myself. Crap.

 

But Cagliari is fantastic, and huge! I've got my first district with Sorelle, so I finally have a "Mom"! She's french, too! Haha, but yeah, this place is really nice. We have a car every other week (we share with some other Anziani in our district, Oristano). There's flamingos here (although they're not quite pink, a little more white). And it's not destroyed. Which I find is a plus.

 

And the branch here is big, with consistently about 60+ members. So far, they're really great! My companion is Canadian, named Anziano McIntyre. I'm not quite sure what to make of him yet. We'll see. He's rather quiet and shy. Maybe not so much shy as timid. Oh well, you get what I mean.

 

But yeah, ummm, we got here by plane from the Rome airport. I came with 3 greenies to Sardegna, so I was the one making sure we got to everything right, and asking questions and so on. Weird. 4 transfers in. But I think Heavenly Father decided to bless me with the Gift of Tongues at THAT point, when I needed it, because I noticed that I've been understanding and been able to talk a lot more comfortably since then. Oh, and I did not see Sorella Rossell at transfers, although I just saw in my email where everybody went. She went to a city called Battipaglia. Which is near Napoli. Not Naples. Naples just sounds weird. It's Napoli. :)

 

Yeah, district leader. We'll see how that goes. I've got an addestramento (training) to do for Zone Conference this week, wish me luck!

 

Sorry that emails came at a bad time for me. Plus, in the place we do them, it's free, but we only have an hour on the computers, so I'll see what I can do about writing better and more meaningful letters in a smaller amount of time.

 

Ciao ciao!

Anziano Walker

Almost forgot: Skype may be around 6 o clock on Sunday evening my time. I don't know a heck of a lot. Subject to change. Possibly a call. We get a call to set it up, if it's different, I'll let you know.

Hi!

Hi President Kelly!

 

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say that not a lot happened in the way of lessons this week. What with the Conference in Rome, packing, and no one responding when doing house, there was not a heck of a lot. However, one family in particular showed a bit of progress: namely, Guido and Stefania. Well, mostly Stefania. We were able to see them just last night with Fratello Custode, and Stefania seemed to be paying attention quite a bit while we talked about the family, and she seemed to be almost drinking in our words. I personally think that with a bit of time, and maybe coming to a few ward activities we're trying to plan, she'll really start investigating.

 

Other than that, not a heck of a lot thus far. We didn't get a chance to see Andra this week, cause we were (and she was) at the conference. We talked, but briefly.�

 

On another note, me and Anziano Hoover have been working on getting along better and talking openly. Sometimes it got hard in the transfer, but we ended up getting through. I've definitely learned a lot from him. One thing that I want to make a habit is to not worry so much about how others see me, and just be myself. He's definitely been helpful getting me to realize and see an example of that.

 

Thanks!

Anziano Walker

 

 

Ciao famiglia!

 

Yep, if you happened to notice that I placed "packing" in my president's letter, then you know one thing that happened this week: transfer calls. Everybody in my district was convinced that I was staying in L'Aquila, and Anziano Hoover would go train in one of his old cities. Guess what? We were all completely............................................ WRONG! I'm leaving L'Aquila. Dang. I was super bummed to hear that on the phone.

 

BUT. I got called to a place that I'm excited for, which is.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Cagliari, Sardegna! I'm going to Sardegna! I've heard that island is freakin beautiful, and there's a good size ward with an actual meetinghouse in Cagliari! Oh my gosh, I'm not going to an appartment every Sunday! They're really nice appartments, but appartments nonetheless. Anyway, I'm bummed to be leaving the people here, but psyched to go to Sardegna. LET'S GO!

 

And yeah, we had Stake Conference in Rome, in a conference room of a hotel. We WOULD have had it in a Conference Center, but the one there is still under construction on the temple grounds. Pretty sweet place for that, no? But at the Conference, seeing as the Rome Stake's Stake President just got called as an area seventy in the last Conference (Massimo Difeo, I think is how it's spelled), Elder Tad R. Callister came to call a new stake president. And his talk was pretty dang awesome, too. He talked about how the Lord really prepared the people who were the next to be called, just like Elisha was prepared for after Elijah, and Joshua was prepared for after Moses. Pretty cool comparisons.

 

A couple business things real quick: apparently, Anziano Stewart told me (he's an Assistant to the President right now, so he travels around a lot) that they are still getting mail for me in Messina. Ummmmmm, could you maybe put up the mission's address up again on Facebook? Possibly in big, bold letters? Thanks . :)

 

And! If (on Facebook again) you could send a friend invite to a few people here (make sure the home address is L'Aquila) they are: Guido Pietropaoli, Stefania Cantalini, and Roberto Crandon (he's a member here, freakin' awesome, and his place of residence would probably be Sant Elia).�

 

Oh my gosh, I forgot to write something last week! So, at English Course last Tuesday, a few people told us that Ex-Anziano Esplin is ENGAGED. They showed us pictures on Facebook on their phones. What the heck! He went to Peru for about a week and a half, and four weeks later is ENGAGED. Whoa.

 

Ok, more meaningful things. That pondering thing has been great. I feel like it's led to a lot more meaningful prayers, and has directly led to a few personal highlights in the mission. It's a little hard to keep my mind focused on one thing, so what I've kind of been doing is using a Gospel Art Book to help me refocus my thoughts on one idea. That has been a huge help. I especially drawn a lot of strength from the story about when Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, which I had just read a few days ago (I'm going through the Bible. I profess to know the Bible is true, but I haven't read it through yet. I decided to fix that.). But anyway, that story has been coming back to me over and over lately, and I've thought a lot about what it means for me.

 

I've heard a quote from Joseph Smith before, talking about Zion's Camp, in which he says (and I paraphrase) that the Lord couldn't call leaders for His church unless they had proven themselves as had Abraham, Isaac, and all the other prophets of old. I've often wondered how our challenges today can compare with theirs. It seemed to me, for the longest time, that we just have it easy, and there's no way we could be like them, or go through what they have. But with Abraham taking Isaac, what he was commanded to do was take something that he held dear, more precious above anything else in the world, almost, and say to the Lord "You are worth more to me than this." That is what I see as the real command. All his hopes for future posterity, future family, and the fulfillment of promises, rested on Isaac.

 

All of which is good. All of which is fantastic in the eyes of God. But he was asked to show that his priorities, even those which are wonderful, are not misaligned. THAT is how we are asked to prove ourselves. THAT is the test that we have before us. And that is painfully evident on my mission. I remember talking to you, Dad, before leaving, saying that I was worried about my relationships with friends. I had just started making some, and felt wonderful about them. And I was asked to leave them behind for an unknown amount of time. That was hard.

 

But, I still went. And man, 3 AND A HALF WEEKS later, Conference. The age change. Now, a ton of my friends and I are out at the same time, and coming back within a few days, to weeks, to months of each other, instead of years. I'm sure Abraham couldn't comprehend the Lord asking him to stop a sacrifice. I couldn't comprehend the changes for missionary ages. But that is a statement from the Lord to me saying "Prove me now herewith". Check out the blessings from heaven poured out!

 

1 year, 4 months to go. It's hard. It's a trial by fire. It often has very few results. I'm stickin' through with it. I know the Lord lives. I know Heavenly Father is my Father in Heaven. I know that we can eventually become like him. And for when we fall short, I KNOW that repentance can make us not only be clean, but FEEL clean. I love it!

 

Anyway, yeah. The pondering is going alright.

 

Love you all! You all rock! And Cameron, you sound like a super star this week, dang!

 

Ciao!

Anziano Walker