Ciao tutti!!!!
I apologize in advance, today has been a crazy day and I don't have a lot
of time to write, so I will try to do my best to make sense and tell
you everything I can.
First
of all, thank you all for your emails! I love reading them, and I miss
you all so much. I wish you all could be here with me. it is so
incredible here. I love Genova. I went on a scambio with one of the zone
leaders this week, and we went to the other side of Genova....this city
is huge. I never even knew that whole half existed!!! I loved it
though. We taught a Peruvian man, and gave two blessings. Plus, one of
the members made us piadinas. They were so good!!! Its funny because
everyone has been talking about the food I will eat, but the first time I
ate at someone's house was this week. He is less active and after we
taught him, he literally gave us an entire plate of freezing cold meat.
I don't know from what animal it came from, but it was weird. He also
made me eat a radish. Just a straight up radish. That was pretty
gross. But I ate it anyway. Now, he is not from Italy, but I just
thought it was funny that the first meal I ate at a members house was
far from what I thought it would be. haha
Jason,
our missions have something very much in common. We both taught Ecuadorians!! Literally everyone here is either Genovese or Ecuadorean.
And they are all from Guayaquil, I don't know why, but they are. I just
thought that was funny. In fact, a lot of the people we teach here are
South Americans. Most of the Italians we teach are less active. Oh well.
Also, there are a lot of Africans in Italy, so I speak English a lot
more than I ever thought I would. It's weird, and hard to switch
sometimes.
Italians
are a funny people. Everyone, and I mean everyone, goes on vacation in
August. It's super frustrating because no one is home or the people you
meet are just tourists, but oh well. The other weird thing, is that
whenever we talk to someone, they almost always start talking about
every other church but ours, the one we actually want to talk about.
They always say, the catholic church this..the Muslims do this....the
Testimoni di Geova say this.....but they never really let us talk about
our church. Its kinda frustrating, but you hear some pretty funny and
crazy things. I really love the people here, they are incredible, and as I understand more and more, they get more and more fun to talk to,
because I actually know what they are saying!!! haha
Today
for P-day we went to Cinque Terre, which are these 5 cities that are
right on the coast and they are incredible. Oh wow...We went to 4 of the
5 and in my opinion, only really 1 or 2 are worth going back too. I
took all of these pictures today, and they are not fake. Everything
really looks like this, but so much more amazing. It's nuts how pretty
this area is.
Now,
I want to turn to a little more spiritual side. During our new
missionary training a few weeks ago, we discussed that story of the
young man in Matthew 19 who asks the Lord how he can receive eternal
life, and after the Lord tells him to keep the commandments, the man
says that he has since he was young, so then he asks "what lack I yet?".
The answer that follows is specific to the young man in the story, so
we were all asked to ask the Lord that same question. There is a lot of
power in this, and when you do this, be ready to be humbled. The Lord
always shows us hour weaknesses so that we can overcome them and become
strong. Currently, I am studying the 4 Gospels and focusing specifically
on faith. I plan on doing this for all of the Christ-like attributes. I
have already learned so much. If we have faith, we can cast our all
fear and the Lord with help us. I know sometimes I feel scared to talk
to some random person in a language I don't speak that well, but every time I exercise faith and do so, the Lord blesses me so much. The
Lord is always with you and will bless you as you "open your mouth, and
it will be filled" as the Doctrine and Covenants says.
As
always, thanks for the sports updates Dad. I cant believe the Dodgers
are still doing so well! They would get good as soon as I leave. I'm so
happy to hear that the US team broke top 20 again! We are really moving
up in the world and making a name for our self. I hope we can keep it up.
I'm really jealous of your camping stories, that sounded like so much
fun. I miss camping so much. And Lizzy, I'm so glad you had such a fun
time at girls camp. Always remember the spirit that you feel at those
kind of events and try to keep that same spirit with you always. It is
possible, and when you have the spirit with you, you can do miracle. You
can be guided to people and given the specific words to say that will
soften their hearts.
Through
all the hard times, I always know that this is the Lord's true church
and that Joseph Smith really did restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to
the Earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the
proof of all these things. If you don't believe me, read it for yourself
and ask heavenly father if it be true. It will change your life.
I
love you all and wish you all the best in all of your lives and with
whatever you are doing! Also Lizzy, if you think you miss air
conditioning, then you should come to Italy. No one has air
conditioning. Its just the best. haha
State mi bene!
Vi voglio tantissimo bene!!
Anziano Langlois
Cinque Terre
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