Well, I can't hardly believe it but September is passed and we're on to October.  The weather is cooling off, and the kids are back in school.  The piazza is calming down during the week and we are starting to get more appointments.  We were finally able to go visit our friend Enzo in Sulmona.  It was really cool.  We went there and had lunch with him and his wife, his daughter and her husband.  We talked about the word of wisdom a little bit and about our missions. 

   We were able to visit a couple members this week which was really fun.  They are awesome when we go, it's just the fact of getting the initial appointment.

   Haha, this week we did a bit of finding which was fun.  Haha, Anziano Mika is a magnet.  Everyone wants to talk to him and be his friend so we were able to talk with a good number of people and show them that we're not strange! :)

   Yesterday we had a fireside with the ward about missionary work and we are going to do a 40-day fast to start it off!  I was asked to explain that part and what we were going to do as a ward to get this dream of theirs up and going.  They want to have a chapel here in 3 years, and a stake in 10.  It will be tough but I think it's doable. 

   After that, we went to visit Franca Ricci because she is having problems with her back.  There we did some indexing with her, and I actually did one from Idaho.  It was obituaries from Nampa, Caldwell, and Fruitland.  Haha!  It was cool to do some from where I live.  I thought you might get a kick out of that. :)

   Well, I am glad you are all well.  I am doing well here and, yes, I am better now.  Thank you for the support.  I love you all!  I'll talk to you later! :)

    Love always, Anziano Rigby 

Give and take box.

I wasn't sure if I sent a picture of Franco's baptism, so here it is.

Hello, there.  :)

   Well, sorry this isn't gonna be very long.  Haha, I am a little sick and kind of tired.  I think this is the first time that I have gotten sick on the mission. And it's not even that bad, I just have a little bit of a sore throat.  I still have the probiotics so I am taking those and drinking tea!  Haha :)  Herbal tea.

Cool place near our house.

My favorite car in Pescara.  :)

   

Well, this week was good. We were able to meet with a couple of our potentials and one of them is really ready!  His name is Lucio.  He comes to English course and he is reading the Book of Mormon. We haven't been able to meet with him because he has been busy during the summer, but now he is free.  We talked to him about the Restoration and he accepted baptism.  He says if God tells him it is right, he will set a date.  We are going to teach him the Plan of Salvation tomorrow and we want to set a date.

 

  This week, while we were going to a lesson, we were on the bus and this girl came and sat by us. She knew the Church and had attended in Finland a couple months back. We were able to talk to her and invite her to come with us to Church here.  Me and Anziano Mika both felt the prompting to get her number right then, but for some reason we didn't.  Then she got up and said she had to get off right then.  We went on to our stop and got off a little disappointed that we didn't get her number. We still had 30 minutes until our appointment, and we felt we should walk back to see if we could find her.  We couldn't find her after twenty minutes so we caught another bus. And then, she got on the bus again!  It was a miracle! So we were able to talk to her again.  It reminded me just how important the Spirit is in this work.  And that God knows what he wants done. We need to listen and do his will.

Doggggs!

 

 That's about it for this week, nothing too special. Oh!  Haha, well yesterday Ascoli had a baptism and they did it at our church. So we got to go to that which was really fun.  And me, Anziano Mika, and Sorella Jackson got to sing. We sang A Child's Prayer. 

   Well I love you all and hope you have a good week! 

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Classic Italian streets.

We have friends everywhere here!
And we probably take a picture with random people on a daily basis.

  

Nice timing!  :)

Staying in Pescara

Hellooooo! Buon Giorno!

   Haha, well it's another P-day!  It's crazy how fast the time goes by.  We got our calls and I'm staying in Pescara with Anziano Mika!  Woo-hoo!  Haha, I'm doing three with my greenie!  I'm pretty excited about it :)  We're gonna have a good transfer.  We're gonna work harder than ever, and we are gonna baptize the entire city!

   Haha, the other day we were talking with this guy on the bus and he's a radio host here in Pescara and so we asked him if he does interviews and if he's ever interviewed Mormons before.  He said he hasn't and so we might do an interview!?  Haha, we need to call him and see.  He gave us his number so we can organize it.  It would be really cool.  Way scary, but way cool.

    We met with Giovanna this week and she is progressing.  We taught her the Restoration and she liked it a lot.  She had some questions about Adam and Eve, and about Prophets in general.  Her questions are sincere and she really needs the blessings of the gospel in her life.  She feels like she is alone in the world.  She just needs to see that God is here for us!  We just need to do our part to help Him help us.

   I am really excited for this transfer.  I know it will be really rewarding.  It will also be a learning experience.  Me and Anziano Mika are doing well.  He has really picked up on the Italian fast.  We are making new goals for the next transfer and they are looking really promising. We just need to work hard and follow the spirit in this work.  The spirit is the key.  And hard work.  Nothing happens by itself.

   So, lately I have been reading the Bible more.  I have a goal to finish it by the time I leave the mission.  So I started in Genesis and I am working my way through.  I really enjoyed Genesis.  There is a lot of history in there, and you get to see just how much the Lord wants to bless us and how he wants to bless us.  And that a lot of times the blessing don't come in the way we think they will.  But they come as we stay faithful and as we trust in the Lord's timing.  It is also really cool to see the generations from Adam and the layout of the 12 tribes.  I was reading the Lectures on Faith from the school of the prophets and it talks about how because Adam lived so long, he was alive or had just died when Moses was alive, and then Moses lived forever too.  Almost until Abraham was born if not until he was born. And then all the people in between lived long too.  So the point is, Moses pretty much got a first-hand account of the garden of Eden and everything else that happened.  Most important, a first hand account or testimony of God.  And then that was able to be passed down to Moses, and Moses and his sons were able to do the same thing for Abraham.  And then we have the Bible and all of these great testimonies.  But The concept of God wasn't just invented by these people.  Although it was a long time between Adam and Abraham, the account of what happened was kept pure because it only needed to be passed down a couple people.  Make sense?  I thought it was pretty cool :)  

   Alright, well that's about it for this week.  I love you guys and I'll talk to you in a week!  Ciao!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Hey there :)

  

   I'm really glad you got the package! Haha, I wasn't sure if it would get there okay.  I'll have to send another one :)

   Well this week has been good. We went to Rome for specialized training, and it was great!  I really felt the spirit and learned a lot.  We talked a bit about being consecrated missionaries. Being consecrated is so important to the work.

   We didn't have many lessons this week which was really lame.  Nobody could meet with us.  Literally no one.  We had one lesson with Franco.  Haha, I love him :)  So we did a lot of finding!  

   As we were finding, we had some cool miracles.  On Saturday we had nothing in the morning so we went out to find some new people. We had a lesson at three in Chieti so we decided just to stay out till then and grab something to eat in Pescara.  In the morning we had some success, and we were able to talk with some people and get a couple numbers.  And then on the bus to Chieti we started talking with this man named Giovanni.  He was really cool. He asked us a lot of questions and we were able to share the entire Restoration with him.  At the end we gave him a Book of Mormon and got his number to keep in contact, and set up our next appointment.  

   During all of this, we missed our stop and we were now heading up the mountain to the top.  So we decided to go to the top and catch a bus back, even though we would be late for our appointment.  But the bus stopped half-way up so we got off and started walking back.  Haha, it was going to take us a while so we thought "we might as well try to get a ride down."   We crossed the road and the first car came around the corner and slowed down to tell us it's not safe walking on the road because people speed really bad and could hit us.  We said we were sorry and that we would be careful.  He went 10 feet and then stopped and asked us if we needed a ride!  We said yes and squished into his Fiat with three other people.  We talked with the dad more and found out he knew English and that he used to have a pen pal from the states that was Mormon!  So he knew a lot about our religion and what we do.  He was not interested in meeting, but it was cool to see the connections.  He dropped us off at the bottom and we thanked him kindly. We made it to our appointment right on time.

    I know the Lord is watching over us.  And I know that he loves us.  It was a good experience and it reminded me that when we are doing what we are asked, we can expect miracles.

   Well I love you all.  Thank you for everything you do for me.  Haha, I don't deserve it!  I hope all is well, and I'll talk to you next week!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

(Elder Rigby's comments from another letter):   We get our calls this saturday.  I really want to stay one more here with Anziano Mika, but we'll see.

Lessons, finding, and friends

Rome West Zone Conference (all pictures for today were originally posted on Pres. and Sis. Waddoups' blog)

Hey y'all!

  Alright,  well I don't have a ton of time, but this week has been good!

  It is still pretty hot here, but the weather is cooling down. Today it's raining, and I hear it's supposed to rain all week?

 We have been doing some lessons, some finding, and some friend developing (it's always good to give missionaries a good name).

Anziano Rigby in the background

   This week we met with David finally!  Haha, he is cool, but kind of lost in the world.  His priorities are not set straight.  He says that he will be baptized if he finds it to be true, but he's not willing to put forth the effort.  He doesn't understand that the gospel is not something you can just do when you have free time. It's what you do everyday! It's part of you, and who you are!  So we are working with him.  We did a fast yesterday for wisdom to see if we can get him in church because he wants to come but there are some things at home keeping him from being able to come.

Photobomb!

   

We met this cool African kid on the bus last night that said he wants to be a missionary!  Haha, so we talked to him about what we do and he wants to get together sometime. So we exchanged numbers and we are gonna see what happens!  Haha, aka we're gonna baptize him!  It is cool to talk with people on the street because at the beginning they are almost always sceptical, but if they stick around they see that we are normal and kind of  cool.  Haha, and we are good people who are teaching about Jesus Christ! 

The work is good and I am happy. :)  I'm glad that you're doing well and having such a good time.  It's been good hearing from you.  Have a good week!

   Love, Anziano Rigby