Monday, May 11, 2015

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

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