Pescara

Playing a hymn, on a harp, on a train, on the way to Pescara!!

Hello fam!

   Haha, wow time flies.  It is crazy.  This week we have been working our tails off!  I am really tired, but also really happy :)  The work is satisfying. 

   This week we got 3 new investigators:  David, Crizia, And Genni.

   David is 20 years old and is agnostic.  He has a sad background because his dad died when he was 5 and his mom died when he was 15.  So now he is alone. We had an interesting lesson with him this last week. We both felt that we should teach the plan of salvation so we prepared for that. As we started to teach him, it just wasn't working. The spirit wasn't there and he was asking questions just to argue. So we followed the spirit and talked about prayer and recieving answers to prayer. We also read Alma 32 with him (we had given it to him to read between lessons but he hadn't finished).  At the end of the lesson the Spirit was there, and we were able to bear testimony of our message. 

   Crizia says she is looking for the truth, but she also says she is looking for what fits her lifestyle. We are planning on passing her off to the sisters this week.

   Genni is a freind of a member.  She was curious about what we do as missionaries and wanted to talk about the gospel with us…we can do that!  :)  So we met her and her friend.   It was a good lesson and the spirit was there.  Me and Anziano Fossa haven't been together for very long, but I feel like we teach well together. We obviously have room to improve, but it is nice.

   The work is going well and I am learning the area and the people.  I am also getting tan!  Haha, I need to take more pictures.  I am really bad at it.  I'm not sure I've taken a single picture here!  :(

   But rest assured I am doing well :)  The people are a lot different here but they are cool.  Not quite as open, but I love them still the same :)

   I love you guys!  You are awesome!  Keep your heads up, and I'll talk to you next week. 

   Love Always, Anziano Rigby

Anziano Fossa and Anziano Rigby

Goodbye To New Friends…Hello To Old Friends!

(Note:  All pictures in this post were sent from John in Palermo, Susy in Palermo, and Joyce in Rome - thank you!!)

John (in Palermo) and Elder Rigby

Palermo missionaries singing together

Meeting with friends in Palermo one more time before leaving for Pescara

Hello!  Haha, wow it has been a long week!  I can't believe I'm back near Rome!  Haha, I've already seen a couple people from Rome 3!  It was sad to leave Sicilia, but at the same time I know that there is work for me to do here. We have been really busy the last couple days. with sevice, lessons to less-actives and what not. There is a member here that is blind and we go with him to do home teaching. His name is carlos. He is ingamba! He is in his thirties, and he doesn't let anything bring him down. For instance this morning we went running with him. haha! He puts his hand on your shoulder and runs right beside you. What a Boss! But more important than that, he is a solid solid member. One of the best i have seen here. I would venture to say that he has mastered the art of listening. Not just to sounds but to the spirit. It is something very awesome to see.

Umm other then that, haha it has just been awesome!  But I don't have much to say.  I haven't met any investigators yet.

Leaving Palermo, headed for Pescara

   

What are the chances?!  Transferring from Sicily up to Pescara, Elder Rigby was in the train station in Rome and ran into some old friends from his time spent serving in Roma 3 Ward.

   Umm...haha The church is true! I can't tell you how many times i see people who are sad, or depressed, or lost, that could find happiness or that could have prevented something by following the teachings of the Gospel.  Pretty sad. But!  We are here to change that!  I love you guys so much!  You are the best!  Haha, I will have more for you next time I promise!   Keep your heads up!   I love you!

   

Love always, Anziano Rigby

Q & A with Elder Rigby

How are things going in Pescara?   

Good!  haha I really like it.  It's all new. Very different from Sicilia but I love it. :)

How did your travel go?   

It was good, really tiring. I left Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Pescara Friday morning. Woo hoo! But it was beautiful! We took a train up the entire coast. What a sight. Haha, I also got to play a harp. Awesome right? There is a Sorella that came up with me to Pescara from Sicilia and she plays the harp...Sorella Rossell. Anyway, she has a little harp and I got to play it!  Haha, I played a hymn on it. Remeber this was all on a train. Pretty fun. :)

Tell us about your new companion.   

His name is Anziano Fossa, he is Italian and he comes from...I can't rememebr exactly where. I think it is near Udine?  I'm not sure… haha, he is really cool!  Really funny but at the same time is very caring and can follow the spirit.  Good guy :)

Do you have any investigators there yet?   

Yes. I havn't met them yet though. haha :) We have 3 or so.

Hey! haha man, it was awesome talking with you yesterday! you are all looking great and sound like you are doing well! Thanks for everything! I love you guyyyys!!! :)

Panoramas of Monreale!

 Okay sorry about last week, haha, I forgot to write it! I was so busy worrying about the music thing.

 Well this week has been fun and good! This week in Monreale there has been a festa for a cross they found a long time ago, Il Santissimo Crocefisso.  It's pretty big around here… haha, there about 10,000 people in the streets on the last day.  It has been fun to talk with people and to learn about them and also a little about their traditions here, but it has not been too good for the work because they were all distracted, and there were too many people.

 They really get into things here... haha They carry this cross around all day and into the night and then they set off fireworks at midnight or one

All the people.  Yeehaw!

 Something that we are seeing however is that many people remember the missionaries from 6 years ago or so.  And what they remember about them seems to be very positive!  It is making it a lot easier for us to talk with people, and they are much more open with us as well.  We met a really cool lady this week named Adrianna. She has met with the missionaries in the past, and she has read a little of the Book of Mormon. And she liked it!  So we exchanged phone numbers and are in the process of getting an appointment with her. We called her yesterday and she said she talked with her kids about it and they said we can come, and now they are trying to find a day where they are all at home.  Her kids can't be more then 18 years-old or so, so it should be really cool. I am praying that we can do our job and that they can have the time to meet.

Haha I made rolls :) they are very tasty!

   We also met with Francis yesterday and we talked with him about church. When we got there he was watching a dvd of his brother who is a big pastor in Ghana.   He was giving a discourse on the spirit. We talked a couple minutes about his brother and what he does, and then we prayed and got started.  As we talked he kept getting stuck on one thing which was group prayers.  He really likes group prayer and he really wanted to know if we did group prayers (like evangelists).  It turned into a discussion about prayer and why we pray the way we do.  In the end, we invited him to come to church this next Sunday and he said he would love to, but he has work.  And we both felt inspired to promise him that if he prayed this week every day with real intent to be able to come to church on Sunday, he will be able to come.  He said he knows it is possible and he will pray everyday.  It was not exactly how we thought it would go, but in the end we felt like we were able to follow the spirit in the things that we said.  It was a good learning experience in that aspect.

The view over Palermo and the ocean from Monreale. Beautiful!

Haha, we had a bbq at the bishop's house a week or so back. He speaks perfect English. He is way cool! Haha, so this is at his house. It was for Il giorno di liberazione. He also really likes cars so that is pretty awsome.  Haha, we talked a while about cars. I hadn't done that for a while!

 The work is slowly growing and we feel like we are doing our part. I sure love you guys! Hope everything is going well!  Talk to you soon!  haha

 Love Always, Anziano Rigby

Anziano Rigby with his companion, Anziano Burnham