Letter in the Mail

Monday, January 20th, 2014


Hey Fam!

How are you?  I am finally getting a letter off to you guys!  .... We just got back from playing B-ball with Palermo 2 and from eating some pizza.  The weather is pretty nice except for the fact that it's pretty windy.  Haha, it reminds me of the wind back home.  Mamma Mia!  Tonight we have English course and I'm trying to think what to talk with them about.  We have the advanced class so we just discuss different things with them, like last time we talked about fears and the biggest fear we have overcome.  I'll keep thinking about it..  :)

Palermo is pretty cool.  It's a lot different from Rome, but it is cool. ....  We have done a lot of meno-attivi ricerca (editor: less-active searching), just trying to cover our bases and trying to find those who are ready to come back.  We went to one apartment and it was really nice.  An old man opened it and asked us why we were there so we told him who we were looking for and apparently it was his son.  So we came in and met him. ... We talked a little and finished our message and said a prayer.  After the prayer he said he wanted to talk to his parents about the Gospel so we let him go see if they would like to know more.  Sadly, they didn't.  But they were at least a little nice about it.

....Well, this week is going good. The food is delicious and the Spirit is strong!  I really have good hopes for this transfer.  I just have to keep working hard and keep my eye on the goal!  I love you guys all sooo much!  Thank you for all you do for me.  If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now.  Take care, and always have an eternal perspective.  "It's only temporary."  That goes for all things, good and bad, except the Gospel.  We can't just sit back during the good times because there is still work to be done, and if we stop working for good we lose it and have to start again.

Take care!!!

Love always,
Anziano Rigby

Vi voglio tanto bene!!!

Hello :)

   Haha, it sounds like you guys are having fun with everyone! That's awesome. Tell them hi for me, everyone.  Haha, I am doing well.  And, mom, don't worry about the coconut oil, I found some!  :) Haha, thanks anyway.   :) 

   So I don't have much time today, I am really sorry!  But this week has been good. We have been working hard trying to find more people to teach and baptize.  Everyone is getting sick right now for some reason, and so it is a little hard to make appointments, but we're doing it!  

   This past week I have seen, sadly, just how hard the adversary is trying to stop people from accepting the Gospel.  The other day we were talking with this nice lady named Rosa about the Gospel, when all of a sudden this young man walking by, stopped, ran over, and started to attack both our beliefs and Rosa's.  We soon found out that he was studying to be a priest in the Catholic church and he was determined to find anything and everything wrong about our religion. We talked with this man and Rosa for a good half hour.  Mostly, we were trying to slowly diffuse the situation and bring the Spirit back so we could testify of the truthfulness of our message (because he and Rosa were now engaged in a full-on argument about beliefs), but there was a bad spirit around him and it was not getting any better.  And he was dominating the conversation. So we ended by saying that if he wanted to know what we really believe (because he was convinced we are not Christians), he was free to read the Book of Mormon.  He was about to start railing on us again so I bore my testimony of Jesus Christ and his love for us.  It is amazing what happens when you testify.  He was mad and he still had plenty to say, but in that moment he was quiet.  Testimonies are powerful.

Light reflecting off the Rome temple currently under construction.  It is the only only curved temple in the world.
(taken from steurersinitaly.blogspot.com - another great blog telling about the Italy Rome mission and life in Italy.)

 

  We also had a lesson with a young man named Marco and he was convinced that the Book of Mormon is not the word of God.  We talked with him for an hour and a half, and at the beginning the Spirit was there but as we talked about Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel and The Book of Mormon, he got really nervous and he got really defensive, and the Spirit went away.  Faith and fear cannot exist in the same place.  Something I am starting to see is that people don't realize that there can be more scripture.  They say that they already have the Bible and that "nothing can be added." They also say that revelation ceased and there is no more need for prophets, that Jesus was the last one.  It is hard.  It reminds me of when Alma the Younger and the sons of Helaman went to preach to the Lamanites.  It says that they were able to convert them because of their faith.  The faith of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah saved thousands of souls.  

  I have been humbled and reminded of the importance of being faithful and ready to testify.  When we are obedient, we read the Book of Mormon, we study, pray, fast, listen to the Spirit, and do EVERYTHING in our power to follow Christ, we will have the power and authority to preach the Gospel, and we will not be confounded before men.  I kind of realized I need to work on that because at times I found myself not knowing what to say.  But the beautiful thing is we can become better. :)

  

  Alright, I have to go but I love you all and I will talk to you next week!  Ciao! 

Love Always, 

Anziano Rigby

   

Valentine's Day

Helloooo,

   Oh my goodness, Valentine's Day is here and gone!  haha crazy.  It sounds like you guys are pretty busy and it sounds like you are being blessed with rain!  haha thats good.  This week has been good!  It has been a little wierd and it has taken some getting used to, but I like it and I am really excited for this transfer.  We are going to get some good work done!  I really like what you said dad, "If you have time to kill, work it dead!"  Haha, I think that's gonna be my new motto. 

   Sorry I don't have a lot of time today. I feel really bad!

   This week I have really been trying to be more obedient. I am obedient, but not as much as I could be.  Anziano Burnham is a great example for me in that aspect and it is really cool.  As I am becoming better, I am seeing the blessings.  At the beginning of the mission, I knew I needed to be obedient, but I didn't have the DRIVE.  Now as I learn and grow I see the importance, and I WANT to be obedient.

 So for work, F_______  fell back again this week.  She fell through on her comittment to go down to 15 cigarettes and she hasn't come to church for 2 weeks now.  The frustrating part is the fact that she doesn't seem that repentant... I think she is getting used to not following through and she's okay with it. We want to do a lesson with her about procrastination and what happens when we don't repent.  You could say in the words of the prophets, we are "calling her to repentance." 

   Samuel has been sick this past week and so we haven't been able to meet with him. But we have been doing some good work.  We went through all the people on our contact sheet and called them.  We were able to get some appointments and it was good.  We have also been doing a lot of finding. Anziano Burnham has a good way of finding that really works for him.  He likes to stop them, kind of as if he is looking for directions.  For some reason I just can't do it that way.  I feel like I'm lying when I stop them like that.  Maybe part of my problem is that I imagine if I was on the other end.  I would be kind of mad if someone did that to me.  But that's okay.  I just need to find my niche and the way that works best for me.

   Well you guys are awesome.  I am so proud of each one of you and I think of you every day.  Keep up the good work and I'll talk to you next week. 

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

________________________________________________

Q & A:

How many wards in Palermo?  Are all the missionaries in the same ward or do you guys split up into different wards like the missionaries do here?   There are 2 wards, 8 missionaries for our ward and 4 for the other.  haha

How do you like Palermo compared to Rome?   I like it!   It is way cool.   Different, but cool :)

I need to write something for the Ward History that tells about your mission.  Any thoughts, experiences, or reflections about your mission that you would like to share?   Hmm, can I think about it and write you next week?  This work is important! 

From Hailey:   Have you ever walked on the beach?  Kind of, haha, but it was raining so it wasn't very fun.  We aren't really allowed to go to the beach when it is sunny... haha, too many bikini's.

From Hailey:   Is the ocean pretty?    Yes! it is amazing!  I like it a lot. :)

Febbraio

Hey fam! It sounds like some fun! Haha, I miss snow a lot! haha, I acctually saw the count for medals today in a newspaper!   USA is in third. :/   Norway is tearing it up!

   So this week has been busy. At the beginning of the week we had P-day with the APs.  We didn't really know what to do so we kind of just walked around and did random stuff.  Tuesday was just normal and pretty boring, and then Wednesday we had Zone Conference!  It was really good.  It was about Personal revelation. And then the rest of the week was kind of strange.  We had an emergency transfer and now my new comp is Anziano Burnham.  I'm really hoping we can get a long, haha but it will be what it will be, just have to work hard.  So basically neither of us know the area.  I've been here for 4 weeks so its gonna be interesting for sure. haha.

  Okay, so we were able to meet with F_______ this last week, and she is still having problems, but I am excited to see if we can get her to make a plan to quit smoking.  Last time we saw her she talked about the Spirit and how the first time she stopped smoking, the Spirit was strong and she was able to feel it more in her life, and she knew the Book of Mormon was true.  But after she went back to her old habits she said it has been weaker, not as strong.  We told her how, when we recieve an answer through the Spirit and we know what we have to do, we then have to DO it and follow the the promptings.  If we continue to do what we know is wrong, the Spirit will have no place in us. 

   Other than that, ae and Anziano Burnham have some finding to do. We need to get the work going here.  They haven't had a baptism in a year.  The sisters have one this next Saturday so that's good. haha  

   Alright, well I love you all and I thing of you every day.  Keep your heads up, and keep on truckin'!

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

Picture from Mt. Pelegrino.  Really cool view!

Hey y'all!

   

Wow, it sounds like you guys had a pretty crazy week!  haha We kind of did too! I'm glad to hear you are all doing well and that the whole Bounce thing is out of the way, phase 1 anyway.  haha   So this week has been a good one.  It has had its ups and downs, but it is ok. We keep going.

   The down that I am talking about is our Filipina friend. We went to her house to do a first lesson, and she dropped us.  It was pretty heartbreaking.  She said that she doesn't doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, but she just doesn't see any reason to change.  She prays to God, she reads the Bible, she is content.  As we left her house I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.   I felt like we did what we had to do, and I felt at peace inside, but I still felt bad for her because she didn't WANT to know. 

My new suit.

We were also stood up by one of our African friends, Joseph. We have tried to meet with him multiple times but he never comes, or he says he is busy.

   We were able to meet with F______ a couple times and we taught her about genealogy (we were hoping that she could do genealogy to keep her mind off smoking, and to have more of a spirit in her home.) The lessons went well, but on Sunday she didn't come to church.  She said that her boyfriend was sick.  I really don't know what to do with her because we have given her commitments, but she just isn't progressing.  It might just be me, but she always gives the excuse that it is too hard. We asked her to start coming to all three hours of church and she said she can't because she gets tired.  She doesn't want to set a date to stop smoking, she won't tell her children that she started smoking again.  I would be lying if I said I'm not frustrated but we are praying to know what to do next.

Some pancakes I made the other day.

   We have a husband and wife that we are teaching from Ghana, Samuel and Grace. They are really cool. They love having us over, and they love learning about the gospel.  Samuel is stuck in bed because he has a broken leg so he is very available. We taught the plan of salvation last time, and we will teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week and we will try to set a baptism date!

   Other then that, We are busy trying to find new investigators and we really want to start working with a couple people from English course. 

Mmmmm, pizza!

   Other than that, we are going to John's house, a kid in our ward. We are having lunch with him. There's not much to say. haha  The work keeps going. We have zone conference this week so that will be awesome! Anyway yeah! haha  Thats pretty much it on my side of the world.  I love you all and I pray that you are all safe.

   Love Always, Anziano Rigby