Week 50 - Dang. That's gettin' up there in time...

How's it going everyone? Everything is going well here in Modena. Anz. Perry has recovered from his death. He had a couple days of absolutely horrific sickness from allergies so that was awful. But he is still living! Silver linings. Silver linings... :)

So the big highlight from this week, well one of two highlights, the first being Christian will be baptized this Saturday woooo!!! Christian rocks. Super amazing humble guy. He's so ready too. There is an incredible spirit when we speak with him about the Gospel. He understands things so quickly and so fully. It is incredible. I'm so excited for him.

So the second highlight was Elder Bednar's visit to our mission! We all went to Milano and were blessed to be taught and instructed by the Spirit in the presence of one of the special witnesses of our Savior. That's just an amazing experience. The Spirit was filling that room. And I just wanted to share a couple things he talked about.

Our conversation with him was a lot about agency and understanding. One thing he mentioned about agency was this. The greatest use of our own agency is giving it back to Heavenly Father, that is, aligning our will so perfectly with His that there is no question of following Him or not. That's where we need to get to. That's awesome.

Then the conversation was very focused on understanding and what that really is and what happens because of it. Something the Spirit really spoke to my heart was this. Wisdom is knowing God's will. Understanding is doing it. That's awesome. A lot of us know what God wants from us, but a lot of the time we don't always do it. We lack understanding. How do we gain understanding? Prayer, faith, acting, and the Spirit. That's amazing.

The last thing from this conference that really struck me was this. As Elder Bednar was bearing his testimony at the end of the conference, halfway through he said, "Now this is my favorite part," as he began to bear his testimony of Jesus Christ, of whom he is a special witness. His testimony and witness of Jesus Christ was so powerful. I will never forget that.

To end I'd like to share my testimony of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 53, Isaiah speaks of the coming of the Messiah. Verses 3 to 7 of the 53rd chapter read as follows:

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God,and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet did no open his mouth. He has borne our griefs, our pains, our afflictions. He knows us perfectly. Let us not hide our faces from Him, but let us esteem Him. Let us praise Him as fully as we can. He has done all for us. Let us bear the cross and become more fully acquainted with all He has done for us. He did so that we may live. Let us live that life He gave to us as He asks us.

Thank you for everything you all do. You are incredible people and children of God. Never forget that. Remember who you are.

Do great things today.
Anziano Ben Guthrie