Alright alright. So this past week we had a combined zone conference in Verona(bleh). It was all good. It was great seeing a bunch of missionaries from all over, especially some old friends. It was especially nice not having to do anything. Not being a zone leader is great hahah. We talked mostly about working with members, because that is the best source of finding people to teach. Overall good conference with a cool experience that I'll talk about later in the email.
On Saturday we had a lesson with one of our investigators. He's extremely Catholic and he asked me probably the most difficult question I've received this whole mission. We were talking about how he has to pray to know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We talked a bit about faith and prayer. His concern was this. "If I pray to know that your church is true, then I'm showing God a lack of faith in the witness He gave me about the Catholic church." I always try really hard to understand where people are coming from when they ask us questions like this and with this one I'm stumped. I thought about it in my shoes and I'm just stumped. But I like getting stumped with questions because I work harder to find the answer because I know there is one.
Sunday was great overall. Sunday night we went over to the house of the members where we go every Sunday and they're doing well, a bit rattled by some stuff going on, but well overall. They're strong people. We always bring a random spiritual thought, whether it be a scripture or video or whatever, and every time it seems totally insignificant and random, but without fail, every time it is exactly what they needed to hear. It's pretty incredible.
Then Monday night we had a fun experience hahhaa. We got home from a lesson and we got to the door and realized we left the keys inside.... Eh whatever. The zone leaders will be home soon. Oh wait... They're in Milano until Tuesday afternoon.... Dang it... Ah that's okay. In every city I've ever been in, the guy who actually owns the apartment always has a spare set of keys and here he lives a few floors above us. Oh wow... He doesn't have an extra set of keys... Okay then.... So we hopped on a train at around 10pm and got to Bergamo at 11pm and walked to the apartment there and had a little sleepover because we couldn't get into our apartment hahaha. Anz. Schwiermann wasn't very ecstatic about that night but I was having fun hahaha. A bit of an exciting change hahaha.
(Us being locked outside)
Yeah besides that, everything has been normal. I just wanted to share a couple scriptures that I've read in the past few days. So in 2 Timothy 3:12 it reads,
"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."This is a fact of life. Christ suffered so much for us and for the way He lived His life. We can't expect to have an extremely easy life without any trials living the way He lived. The trials and tribulations come, but they come for a reason. There is always a reason, something to learn, some attribute to grow and develop. God is a smart guy. He will never waste a trial or an experience you've had, whether it be good or bad.
Then in 3 Nephi 9:13 it reads,
"O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?"This verse really hit me when I read it. This is literally our Savior, our Healer, begging us to return to him, repent, be converted, and LET Him heal us. I feel so often that we don't allow ourselves to be healed. We have a perfectly loving Savior who is ready at every moment to help us overcome everything and heal us, and we don't let Him. Think about how much that hurts Him. Think about how much that hurts us. I feel like it goes along with trust and allowing yourself to be open to others. I've got massive problems with this concept. Trusting people is just not my game. I'm absolutely terrible at it. And this causes problems. Christ begs us to let Him heal us, but at times we just won't let him. He's not a scary guy. He is definitely someone you can trust with anything. If we will open ourselves up to Him, return to Him, and repent, the conversion will come in turn, and surely He will heal us. He always has and He always will. I can witness to that. Let Him heal you.
The last thing I wanted to share was something that happened at zone conference. You don't know the effect you have on people around you. You do a lot more than you think. That's what everyone has always told me but I've never really believed it. So there was a missionary bearing her departing testimony in conference and she mentioned a phrase that one of her district leaders said in a district meeting and how it had such a profound effect on her and her mission. The quote was this. "Fill your life with love, light, and laughter." When she quoted that, in my mind the thought came up, "wow that sounds really familiar." After a couple minutes, I realized that the district leader she was talking about was me. To be completely honest, I don't even remember how I came up with that phrase or what I was even talking about. I don't remember what the district meeting was on that day. I had completely forgotten about that phrase I said until she brought it up in her testimony. When I realized all that, the Spirit basically said, "I told you so." That was a sweet experience. You do make a difference, even if you don't realize it. You do a lot more for others than you think you do. You're doing better than you think you are.
I hope you guys all have a sweet week and that you see God's hand in your life. Looking for God's hand has definitely changed my life and the way I see it now. Thank you all for everything you do for me. You're all great.
Anz. Ben Guthrie
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