Addio I'Italia May 27, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!

Well, this is it. This is my last email from the mission field. Honestly, I can't describe how I feel right now. On one hand, I'm super excited to come home. I can't wait to see everyone and continue life. But on the other hand, I'm super sad. I'm going to miss Italy so much. I'm going to miss the Italian people so much. I'm really going to miss being the Lord's personal representative. I never thought that it would be this hard to leave. It still hasn't completely hit me yet, but its getting there. Packing and running around saying goodbye to people is kinda freaking me out. So much to do. So little time.

It's really been such a great week. Last p-day, we hiked to this waterfall that turned out to be way bigger than we thought. It was super cool. And we only had to run for about half of it to catch the bus back home. haha. Saturday night while coming home, the elevator door opened up and our keys fell literally down the crack into the elevator shaft. So we had to walk over to the other Anziani's apartment and spent the night there. We then went to church in the same clothes (gross) and I gave my last talk. They turned the time over to me with 30 minutes left. I talked for 25 of them. I thought it was a really good talk. A lot of members like it, so that's a good sign. While getting pizza one night, we started talking to the people inside the restaurant and after telling them multiple times that I was from California, this old Italian man who had muttered "mormoni" as soon as we walked in, grabbed my arm, looked me in the eye and said "are you Italian?". I said no, and he then told me "No?!?! Well, complimenti, you speak Italian perfectly". I know I know. Don't worry, I didn't let it go to my head, but after 2 years of working hard to learn this language, it was such a blessing to hear that. I never would have expected it, and especially from that man. I love this language so much. I'm really going to miss not hearing it all around me. Guess I have to go find little Italy in LA! haha

After being locked out of our apartment all of Sunday, we spent the night with the other anziani again and we were able to get our keys retrieved by an elevator worker man on Monday morning. How grateful I was to be back in that apartment and to change clothes. haha.

Then yesterday, we had one of the craziest experiences ever. I love the mission. This might sound like a joke, but it seriously happened:

A Buddhist monk, a rogue Jew, a pseudo-atheist, and two Mormon missionaries walk into a church....chaos ensues. It was literally the weirdest hour of my life. Not joking, they talked about (because they pretty much wouldn't let us talk) binary Jesus, female donkeys, and other crazy stuff. You guys have to see the picture. It's so funny. I love the people you meet on the mission. This is way too much fun.

This week we had some really good lessons with our members and were able to get more names of their friends to work with. In fact, we were able to meet with one of these referrals in the home of their member friend and she told us that she's always wanted to "convince herself" that the church is true, but every time, something comes up and stops her. We testified of the Book of Mormon and its power to give her spiritual strength to overcome the adversities that there would be in her search for the truth and she committed to start reading the Book of Mormon again. Then yesterday, we went to visit a new convert and we had been trying to meet with his non member brother for weeks, but we had never been able to. Without knowing it, we ran into his brother outside his house and we were able to speak about the Book of Mormon and how important it was to receive a testimony of the Lord's restored church. The great news is that he told us that he has been praying to know if this church is true, and he wants it to be true so he can be united with his brother and mother who are both members. We then had a great restoration lesson with him at his brother's home and we committed him to read the Book of Mormon and because he lives outside of our area, he agreed to meet with the missionaries of Bergamo 1. It truly was a great week of member work.

I just want to leave you all with my testimony. I know the Jesus Christ lives. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is His restored church on the earth. I know that it is guided by a living prophet, Thomas S Monson. God is literally our father and He loves us. He listens and answers our prayers. I know this because He has answered mine, and He continues to speak to me through the scriptures. Especially the Book of Mormon. This book with bring any man closer to God than any other book. It teaches us how to find peace in this difficult life and eternal life in the world to come. I love my savior. I am so grateful for all that He has done for me. I don't have the words to describe how much I have loved to be His personal representative here in Italy. I know that this is His work and that His hand is in it. I love you all so very much.

Vi voglio un mondo di bene.

Ci vediamo presto,

Anziano Eric Langlois

It's The Final Countdown May 20, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!

Well, this is the second to last email home from the mission field. That's super weird. Literally everyday is going faster and faster and its becoming more and more real that I'm actually coming home, and I don't like it one bit. So let's not talk about that. haha

Tanti auguri a Erin for graduating in smart person stuff!!! Yay Ninanin!!! (She's going to kill me for putting that. haha). You guys are like travel experts right now. I hope you're having fun in New Jersey. I'm in the rain boat too. In fact, its suppose to rain every day until the day I leave. I think Italy is crying for me. haha.

I'm glad to hear about the invites being sent out for my homecoming, I hope that means you guys made a Facebook event and invited everyone.

So this past week I gave my "dying testimony" in front of my zone. It was way harder than I thought it would be! Holy cow. I think I'm literally going to have a heart attack next week when they tell me to get on that plane. I still can't believe how fast time has flown by. It literally blows my mind. 2 years is too short!

Miracle time. The other night, we were able to go give a blessing with a member to his daughter in the hospital, and it was such a tender experience. To hear a father bless his sick daughter and to be a part of that blessing was amazing. The spirit was really strong. I love the priesthood.

Then, here's our super miracle from this week:

Unfortunately we have been having a lot of lessons cancel on us recently and so we've had to really use our backup plans. yesterday, after almost all of our lessons cancelled, we were waiting for a potential to call us when he got back from his friend's house so we could see him. We decided to go out and just do some finding while we were waiting for his call. We didn't really have a set plan on where we would go, but we just picked a street and starting walking. Upon turning the corner, we ran into a member. We talked for a moment and then asked if we could share a quick scripture with her. (This has been my new genius idea. Because we run into a lot of members on the street here, we decided that when we do, we will share a quick spiritual thought with them to bring the spirit more into their day). So we sat down on a park bench and we read a scripture that I had found that morning in my studies (Mosiah 7:33). While she was reading it, she paused and looked up at us with tears in her eyes, and thanked us for sharing that scripture with her, it was exactly what she needed to hear. We then bore our testimonies about diligence and how when we put in all of our effort, the Lord will take care of the rest, according to his will and pleasure. After saying a quick prayer with her, we looked up and saw this couple sitting on a nearby bench. We immediately walked up to them and started up a conversation. As we talked about Jesus Christ and a living prophet, I brought up the Book of Mormon and the husband looked at me and said, "Give me this book now. I want to read it." I didn't have a copy with me, but we were able to set up a return appointment to go see them and their three children in their home next week to give them one. It was such a miracle. I know that we were inspired to go to that street to run into that member and lift her spiritually and then to be in the right place to find that couple. I know that when we are truly diligent, the Lord blesses us in ways that we can't even imagine.

As my time to serve the Lord here in Italy as his personal representative comes to a close, I'm humbled and so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord's people here in Italy.

Time is a crazy thing. I can't even begin to describe my feelings right now. I will see you all very soon. I love you all so much.

alla prossima,
Anziano Langlois

He Does Listen May 13, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!

Well, only a couple more of these emails left. That's pretty crazy. Time is really going fast. Before you know it, I will be home and life will be real. I don't know if I'm ready for that.

Anyway, it was a good week. The best part was being able to Skype you guys for mother's day. That was really fun. I'm excited to be able to see you all in person soon. Get ready to party. haha

Well, you'll never believe who I met on the bus the other day. That right....Joseph Smith. No, I'm not joking. He was from Ghana and when I asked him his name, he just started laughing and then told me. So, hopefully we will start teaching Joseph Smith this week. Speaking of that, did I ever tell you about how the missionaries in Ancona baptized someone named Joseph Smith? I guess it's a pretty common name. haha.

Besides that, the title of this email comes from our miracle yesterday. Well, now that we have control over the whole city, we have a lot more people to see and so we are a lot more busy. Unfortunately, literally all of our lessons yesterday cancelled and we went from a full day, to an empty day. Good thing for backup plans, right? So as we had planned, we went and did some pass bys of less active members, and literally no one was home. We went from one end of the city to the other and found no one. While on one of the buses, I started talking to this young man who was going to church. I spoke to him about eternal families and bore my testimony to him and I know he felt the spirit. He then gave me his number, but as soon as I tried to call it to see if it worked, it said it wasn't active. So it looks like he gave me a fake number. That is always sad, especially when they feel the spirit. So our morale was kinda low yesterday, but we kept on working and literally as we were crossing the street to go home, we got stopped by/we stopped a man (it was kinda both) who had met the missionaries in the past. He had tried to go to the old church before, but since we don't use it anymore, its always closed. We were able to give him the new church address and get his phone number. When I asked if we could meet him again, he said, "Why wait? I've got time right now". So we taught him a quick lesson right there and set up a return appointment. It was literally such a blessing. I knew that Heavenly Father was aware of our struggles that day. That He saw the effort we were putting in and he blessed us as a result. I know He listens to our prayers and answers them "after all we can do"(2 Nephi 25:23). We have to put the effort in first, and then the blessings come. 

Just like you dad, I'm currently studying 3rd Nephi and I love it so much. It is so crazy how much destruction there was. I never realized it. I still remember back a few years ago when we went on a trip with Uncle Leo and his family (I think it was when we went to Jedediah smith). We had just gone on the mail boats to the lunch point and we were looking at some broken rocks on the beach and Uncle Leo got our 3rd Nephi and read about the destruction of the land and how the rocks were broken up and whatnot. I don't know why, but that stuck in my head. 

I love the Book of Mormon so much. It is such an inspired book. It literally has changed my life. Every time I read from it, I learn something new. I know that it answers the questions of the soul, and I invite everyone to read it. To ponder about its message, try and put the teachings into practice, and then to ask God, if it is not true. And I promise you, just like Moroni of old and just like millions of faithful people before me, you will receive an answer. I know this to be true, because God answered my prayer. And he continues to answer them. 

So in conclusion. I've very excited to see you all soon, but don't worry. I'm still working hard. Being trunky won't be a problem. I know how important this time is. I only have 2 weeks left, so I need to make the most of it. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week.

Anziano Langlois

3...4...5 May 6, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!

Basically, 3 is the magic number right now. I'm serving in Bergamo 3, we are in a trio, and there are only 3 more weeks left in my mission. Crazy stuff.

Well, first of all, we will not be in a trio after Friday. Anz Gibbons is getting transferred to Pistoia (the Prato ward) and Anz Lingardo and I will be holding down the fort here in Bergamo by ourselves. That's right. I started with 4, then went down to 3, and now I will be finishing with 2. It's been a crazy last transfer. haha. However, now that we have official control over all of Bergamo 3, we should have a lot more work. We have already seen some really good success this week.

For example:

On Monday, the 4th, (or May the 4th be with you), we got 4 new investigators. They were all people that we had taught before, but we finally got a return appointment, so they all became new simps on Monday. Then on Tuesday, the 5th, (or Cinco de Mayo or Revenge of the 5th), we taught 5 lessons. It was amazing!!! We are such great success yesterday and we even got a new investigator who is really cool. In fact, he called us today to just say hi to us and to tell us that he will be free tomorrow so he doesn't have to wait until Saturday to see us. Talk about elect. So yeah, we are pretty happy right now.

Thinking about my mission in general, I've realized the past few days that I am literally at the top of my "Missionary" game right now. All the things that used to scare me or make me feel awkward, don't bother me at all anymore. I may only have 3 weeks left, but I'm pretty sure they are going to be the three best weeks ever. I'm literally trying to teach Anz Lingardo at every turn and just leave as much as my knowledge as I can. I've very grateful to be here in Italy right now. This is a beautiful country and I love this people. I'm really going to miss it. It hasn't quite hit me yet, but I think it will be like a semi truck when I walk off that plane in LAX.

Am I ready to go home? No. I don't think so. I'm ready to start the rest of my life, but I'm not ready to leave all of this behind. It's become such a part of me. It's times like this when I feel like Moroni, weak in writing. haha

Life sounds to be really good for you all and I'm really happy to hear that.

Dodgers in 1st place is great news, and even better news that the Clippers beat the Spurs. (Cue dad "YES YES YES!!!!"). I'd like to go to a game before I head back to school if that's possible dad, but we have all summer to do that, so don't worry about it right away.

Speaking of giving talks, I was just assigned another talk for my last Sunday here in Italy. Guess what its called...."The last days in the mission". A fitting title, no? haha. What makes it even better is the fact that Anz Lingardo is speaking right before me on "The first days in the mission". Someone's got a sense of humor in the branch presidency.

OK, returning home stuff.  I love parties. I will definitely put together a slideshow for that, but I will wait until I'm home to do that. Speaking of my homecoming, did you make it a Facebook event yet? No? Then please do it :) And if yes, then thank you!

How many people are coming to pick me up??? haha. And I'm totally ok with El Cholo, because I MISS REAL MEXICAN FOOD!!!!! The Italian version has no spice. Now, before you all freak out, yes, I'm still Eric. I am a lot less picky now. I love food. It is such an enjoyment for me now to eat. I can't wait to make you guys some of my favorite dishes.

I would like to work in the office with you dad. Would I still be doing my runner job, or will there be more stuff to do? Either way, I'm in. And as for my gym membership, I actually would like one. I like working out now. haha. And I need to get rid of my pasta gut! haha

Please give me some info on that math refresher course, because I'm going to need it. Maybe I can also try and contact my old Calc teacher, Mr. Korshavn, to see if he could give me a little refresher course too. haha.

Well, I don't know what else to say. haha. I will see you on Skype in a few days, and then I will actually be seeing you in just a few weeks. Don't get trunky on me now ;) haha

I love you all and I'm very excited to see you all very soon.

Anziano Langlois

The Power Of 3 April 29, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!!

Well, I'm not going to lie, it's been a hard week. On Friday, we lost suddenly one of the missionaries in our apartment, who went home for some personal reasons. I really respect him. That wasn't an easy decision, but it had to be done. I'm very proud of him. Since then, we've been in a trio, which is.....weird....to say the least. It's so awkward sometimes. We have yet to find out a good finding technique, because most people are intimidated by two people stopping them, figuriamoci three now! So, we've been trying to split up on opposite sides of the street, switching off between being in two or in one. That is super weird. Stopping someone by yourself. And then its harder to balance out lessons. I feel bad for Anziano Lingardo now, because I want him to be talking a lot more, but now that we have another older missionary (been out for a year), he kinda gets left behind. This is definitely messing up my training plan. I've been praying a lot to figure out what to do, so I know the Lord will help me out. We're still waiting to here from President to let us know what is happening, if we are just staying in a trio or getting a new comp or what. Who knows. Basically, it's been an eventful last transfer.

To answer your questions dad, we teach around 10 lessons a week here. We do not have any progressing investigators here. It's been kinda frustrating because we have some legit people, but we can never see them and the people we do see aren't super committed. We are not getting discouraged though. Anz Lingardo speaks the language well, but he has a hard time understanding what people say, but I'm trying to help him all that I can. I am finding success in making friends with the members. We have few that we see regularly, but we do our best to meet and make friends with the less actives.

Well, not everything this week was bad, in fact, we were able to listen to Elder Bednar on Monday in Milano. It was incredible! I learned so much. I can't even start to explain it all, but please ask me when I get home, because I want to share it all with you. That was a huge boost for our moral. And it was beyond amazing to see all of my old mission friends, even though I did not know more than 75% of the people there. I'm old. haha.

We also had some cool miracles this week.  As I just told you, when we that missionary went home, it was something hard to swallow. We were all shocked and just kinda left in the dust as he left and we found ourselves in a trio. This first day was very difficult. All of our appointments cancelled and we were just all out of it from the initial shock of him leaving so suddenly. We did however, have a huge miracle that came out of this. A few week prior, we received a referral from another coppia in Bergamo. We contacted this man and he was very busy, so we continued to call him and try to set something up. Eventually, we were able to set up an appointment for last Friday. We called him to confirm and he moved our lesson back to 9:00. However, a few hours later, he texted us and invited us to come over for dinner instead at 7:15, so we could meet his family. We gladly accepted and went to his house. Upon our arrival, we met a few of his children, and then they just kept coming. Turns out he and his wife have 7 children, all but one, above the age of 8. We could not believe our eyes. It was incredible. We instantly hit it off with the family and we taught them the restoration and answered their many questions. Upon leaving, we left them with a Book of Mormon and they gladly accepted it. We were not able to set up a return appointment, but we hope to be able to fix one soon in these next few days. It was such a great miracle for us, just went we needed it. Our spirits were low, and the Lord lifted us higher.

Then, earlier that week, we got a referral from one of our members. We went out to this city to meet her and we literally wandered around this small town for an hour lost. Finally, I found a pizzeria and asked them if we could use their map to find this street. hahaha. Smart, right? Well, we found it. Turns out we were super near to it before hand and we just didn't know it. But this lady who we taught in a park near her house is amazing. Her faith was incredible. We had a great lesson and unfortunately, because she lives outside of our area, we had to pass her, but I've learned that doesn't matter because we are all on the same team. So now the sorelle got a totally golden referral.

It's really weird how fast time is going. Thanks for the heads up on the post mission info. Do they have a specific topic for my homecoming? Did you guys make a Facebook event yet? Please do and invite all of my friends!!!

As for Skype, I don't know the plan yet. Because we are in a trio and all from California, it will be weird and a little difficult to work it out the times. I will give the precedence to the other two because I will see you guys soon enough. We will still do it, but it probably won't be for too long. Boh...I will figure it out this week and let you know.

Well, life goes on here in the mission. Things are starting to change. We are officially getting ipads. Don't know when, but they should be getting here soon. Weird. Doesn't really change anything for me, but it is exciting to see how the Lord is hastening his work through technology.

I love you all so very much and I appreciate your prayers in my behalf. Continue to pray for Bergamo 3. We love the support!

Ci vediamo prestissimo!

Anziano Langlois

It Makes A Difference April 22, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!!

It's crazy to think that I will only be writing about 5 more of these....super weird. Time has really flown by. Before I know it, I will be seeing you all in person. Crazy.

Anyway, the work keeps on truckin' forward here in Bergamo. We had some really cool miracles this week. But I just wanted to start by saying that because of Stake Conference and General Conference, we were not able to take the sacrament for almost 3 weeks, and I can tell you. I felt a difference. These past few weeks, I've felt really weird. Off and just tired. While taking the sacrament this past week, It literally just hit me how much of a difference it makes. I know that we literally NEED to take the sacrament each week. It is the recharge of our spiritual battery that we need every week. We can't afford to miss a single Sunday. Seriously. This week has been so much better than the last two, and I'm convinced the sacrament played a huge part.

OK. On to miracles! One of them started a few weeks ago when Anz Miles and I found this new investigator, Antoine, on our scambio. We were able to meet with him once after that and set up a return appointment, but he didn't show up and because his phone was broken, there was no way to contact him. I was very sad, but I felt like it wasn't the end with him. In fact, during studies one morning this week, I was thinking about passing by the park that we met him at to just see if he was there. I looked at our schedule and we didn't have time. Then, during companion study, I called our appointment for that morning to confirm, and he had to cancel. So I decided that we should just run by the park. At first, he wasn't there. Then after talking to this man for a few minutes, we were walking and we found Antoine laying on a bench. We sat down with him and taught a quick lesson and set up a return appointment. Then a few days later, we got a random text from him saying that his phone was working again. It was such a cool string a miracles! I know that God listened to my prayers because I really prayed hard to find him again and we were led to him yet again.

Another miracle came from a man we met on the street a few weeks ago. We were finally able to get a hold of him and set up a return appointment. We showed up for the lesson and he wasn't there. So we waited....and waited. After waiting, we decided to go finish our language study (which I am still doing by the way dad) and after that we were on our way to do some strada, when someone came up behind us and stopped us on his bike. It was our investigator! He found us! So we had a great lesson with him where we talked about the plan of salvation, which was really good for him because he had just lost his mother.

Then, later that night, we went and visited some members and they brought some of their nonmember friends over. We were able to teach the restoration and the spirit was totally there. One of the friends, immediately accepted the book of Mormon and is excited to learn more. It was incredible.

Then, yesterday, while doing some strada, I told Anz Lingardo, who was struggling a little with having the courage to stop people, that the next person we saw was going to stop and become a new investigator. And just like that, it totally happened!!! We stopped this very nice man and were able to set up a return appointment with him and his family tomorrow. It was such a testimony builder to me to see that God really does place people in our path that will accept us and the message that we bring.

In other random news, I gave a talk on Sunday. I was suppose to speak for 20 minutes, but one of the talks went super long, so I only spoke for about 7. It wasn't enough. haha. I had to pretty much cut out all of my talk. haha Oh well, you do what you can. The members said that they liked it, so I guess that's the important part.

Also, on Monday night, we were able to be interviewed by these journalists doing an online article on the church here in Bergamo. They interviewed us and some of the other Young Adults. It was really cool to see how all of the young adults were born into the church and almost all had served missions. It just hit me then that the church in Italy is strong. It's not going anywhere. That was really awesome to see.

About sports, super cool that the Dodgers are doing well. That's good news. We should totally go to a game when I get home dad!! haha. Keep me updated on the NBA. It looks like a tough road for the Clippers though against San Antonio. Who knows though. Sad to hear that the Kings didn't make the playoffs though.

Well, it's kinda weird thinking that I only have 5 weeks left. That's totally crazy. My Italian is doing really well, but I'm still trying every day to improve it. I've gotten more compliments here in Bergamo on my Italian than ever before, and all the young missionaries keep on asking me questions, so I think that means I'm doing pretty well. I'm on track to finish the old testament in Italian right now. I'm in Isaiah and loving it. I love this language so much. I'm going to miss it so much. I can already tell you that.

Well, I don't know if you know, but Elder Bednar is coming to our mission on Monday, so that should be pretty crazy. I'll tell you more about it next week. Everyone is excited for Ipads, but I already know that I will never see them and I'm fine with that. I don't really want one anyway.

Then a few weeks after that, it's Skype time for mother's day, the 10th right? and then I'll be home. That's so crazy! I'm kinda starting to freak out, but I also feel calm. I love this work and I love this country. I'm really going to miss it.

Until next week,

Anziano Langlois

PS: Guess where we went for Pday today dad? That's right. San Pellegrino Terme where they make your favorite sparkling water. haha. I drank from a sponsored drinking fountain. haha. It was gorgeous. I took pictures, but it seems like it never works out for me to send them home. Sorry. haha

Langlois and Juliet April 15, 2015

Ciao tutti!!!!!!

This has been a tiring week. I don't know if its just me getting more and more tired ever day or the ever increasing heat, but I'm tired. My body is just kinda tired. It didn't help that this week, we had Stake Conference in Verona (finally got to see it!!!!) and to get there in time we had to wake up at 4:30 to catch the train. That kinda threw off my sleep schedule, but I'm surviving. Don't worry, I'm still enthusiastic for the work, even though its not going super great right now. I know that there are still people for me to find here in Bergamo. Anz Lingardo and I were talking about how we want to improve for this next transfer together, and we are going to work our butts off. This is my last one, so there is no time for screw-ups. I've only got 6 short weeks left and I want to make them count.

A miracle from yesterday. We had a lesson cancel during the morning, so on our way home to do 12 week, we stopped this man. After talking to him for a little bit, we found out that not only did he used to come to church, but he had also been to a baptism before here in Bergamo. He told us that he had a Book of Mormon, but he had lost it. When we told him that we could get him another copy, he was more than willing to exchange numbers and meet us again. We also found out that his sister also used to come to church and still lives here in Bergamo. We will hopefully be able to bring both of these siblings back into the gospel.

Like I mentioned earlier, we went to Stake Conference in Verona this past Sunday. It was so awesome. That city is gorgeous. It's just got such a cool feel to it. Super touristy, but I liked it. I got to see "Juliet's house", which was pretty cool. I think it would be worth a a quick stop by on our trip. But the best part of conference was the area 70, Elder Kearon, who came to speak to us. He is such a cool man. It was really weird to hear him speak in English and then have it translated into Italian. It's odd to hear the same thing is two different languages that you understand. haha

He gave some really powerful talks, especially his Saturday evening talk during the adult session. After the Sunday session, I had the opportunity to go and talk to him for just a few seconds, but he was very nice and grateful for us as missionaries.

In a more touristy sense, last p-day, Linghi (Anz Lingardo) and I went and hiked to the top of the mountain to the Bergamo cross (Canto Alto). It was a pretty hard hike. Got pretty slippery and steep in a couple spots, but nothing dangerous. The view from the top was amazing. Looking straight out into the snow covered alps. I love nature. I'll try and send some pictures.

I'm excited to see you all in a few weeks. That's totally crazy.

Well, I love you all so much and I wish you all the best in these next few weeks.

Sorry this email is kinda lame, I'm really tired right now. haha. I'm like falling asleep at the computer. haha

Anziano Langlois