Hey y'all,
So I got an email from my mom saying they have to tell
people "as far as we know he's doing great." I guess I need to
lengthen out my emails a bit.
I really am doing well. I love being a missionary. It's
hard, often we have long stretches with little success but there are so many
little miracles that make it worth it.
So a little more about my companion. His name is Elder
Yates, he's from Oregon and lives on mount hood. He is very service oriented
and is always looking to do stuff for people. We ended up busting concrete and
then pouring new concrete foundation on Saturday for a deck that one of our investigators
is building. We do a good job together in lessons because we both know our
stuff and are seeking to follow the spirit. It's fun too because he might play
college basketball when he gets home (I can still beat him 1 on 1
though).
As for the work it was a good week and a hard week. We had
one of our best days in a long time on Friday. We were in homes teaching with
members almost all day and those lessons each felt like they really helped our
investigators feel the spirit and see the things they can do to progress.
It started off with our investigator that is progressing the
fastest. His name is Roland and he's about 70 years old. He referred himself to
the missionaries by calling the mission home and asking for a large Book of
Mormon. When we dropped it off to him he asked, "is there any way you
could come back and explain the church a bit more to me?" Naturally we got
super excited and when we came back four days later he apologized for only
reading 10 chapters! (We normally struggle to get people to read a full chapter in a week.) "I'm really just trying to take it slow and soak it all in" he said.
So we explained the restoration to him and asked if he would be baptized and he
looked at us and said "of course." He explained that his wife died
and he's lonely so he really wants to have a place for fellowship and something
that will inspire him so that's why he asked for the Book of Mormon because he
knew so many Mormons through the years that seemed so happy. He keeps saying
"if only I had this 40 years ago."
He's definitely an example of someone that has been prepared
by people that have been planting seeds. When we explained the priesthood to
him he said "yeah, you have melchizedek and aaronic right?" and we
asked him how he knew that and explained that he worked with a Mormon once that
he was driving home from the airport and explained it to him. He said
"yeah, people said he would go far, his name was Monson, have you heard of
him?" and we said "Thomas?" and he said, "yeah, did he end
up becoming president or anything?" We're pretty sure he's already a
member and is just messing with us at this point.
It's super inspiring to work with him. It shows me that the
Lord is preparing people all over the place and we just need to find them. We
biked past his place ten times before we got that referral from Headquarters
and all that time he was waiting there being prepared. He's going to set a date
for early December so hopefully I'll still be around for that, not that I'd
complain if my visa came in but I really love this man. He has some back issues
and so originally when we talked about when he would be baptized he said
"you gotta be patient with me, I'll do it but I want my back to be well
for it. So how's... sayy... March?" Ahhh, I'm sure glad he's healed well
since the blessing we gave him and he feels good enough to do it sooner.
Well that's been the big miracle from this area. There's
been little ones too though. Of course it feels like a small miracle any time
someone invites us back. We just met a kid my age that plays basketball and
believes in God but doesn't go to church and we really felt the spirit when we
talked with him and as I encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon. We're going
back on Wednesday so we'll see how that turns out next week.
I wish I could write about all of the people we're teaching
but I can't. Here's one more though before my companion drags me away to go get
our p-day stuff done. His name is Emilio and we're teaching his whole family.
He really knows how important God will be in his life as he raises his kids.
The cool part is that when we stopped by the first time after he said we could
come by some time he told us about a dream he had the night before where we
were riding our bikes in the rain and there was a light around us and we were
completely dry while all the elements were clashing around us. He's been really
good about having his kids join the discussion and hopefully they're coming to
church next week.
I'm having a good time, I love sharing this message, I'm
getting better at staying on my bike, and I love you all.
Que perseverem ate o fim,
~Elder Della-Piana
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