Last One

Hey guys!!!!!!

   Well here it is.  The last email.  I have been running around like crazy this last week making sure everything was ready for the baptism.  It almost didn't happen.  But we were able to do it.  

   So Monday we skyped, Tuesday we had our district meeting and a scambio with the APs that carried over to Wednesday, then Thursday we had Moses's wedding which went well.  Friday we had a branch activity about the pioneers.  It was fun. We got bolo ties and sang a couple country songs, and then me and Anz. Bates shared some stories about our ancestors that crossed the plains. 

   And Saturday we had the baptism!  It went well and there were a lot of people.  Most of the Branch was there, and then there were all the relatives of Mimmo and his wife.  I made cinnamon rolls for after and I guess they were pretty good 'cause they were gone in 2 minutes!  There were a couple people who wanted the recipe so that was cool.

   That is what we did for the week. We didn't have very many lessons because we were running around so much dealing with all these crazy activities!  But it was good.  The week went by really fast.  We said goodbye to everybody yesterday at church because they were going up to the temple this week and because I am leaving to Rome on Saturday.  We have a scambio again this week so we won't be back at our house until Wednesday afternoon.  Then I need to pack, write everybody, and print out pictures to give people.  It is going to be a crazy week. 

   Looking back, I think one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission is that the gospel gives you what you put into it.  If you are going to church and doing what's right, that's great.  Good on ya'. You can go through life pretty happy.  But if you are anxiously engaged in the gospel, if you are constantly looking for more, looking to learn, and looking to help others and follow the counsel of the prophets, you will gain a lot more.  You will be happier, and the Lord will use you to complete his work.

   I am glad that I have served a mission.  It has been hard, but I am glad.  I love you guys very, very much and I can't wait to see you!  I will see you next Tuesday!!!

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

Mother's day & Conference with Elder Bednar

We enjoyed Skyping with Elder Rigby the day after Mother's Day.  In fact, it was the highlight of our year so far!  He is doing great and will be completing his mission in two weeks.

Also, on April 28, 2015 all the missionaries in the Italy Rome Mission were brought together for a special conference on technology with Elder David A. Bednar and two members of the Quorum of the Seventy, as well as their wives.  

According to President and Sister Waddoups' blog, "Very little was said about Ipads, but much was said about obedience,  listening to the spirit, avoiding evil, and learning the importance of using technology properly so when they go home they will continue to use technology to bless their lives and avoid the pitfalls that can be associated with it."  Skyler also told us that Elder Bednar spoke a lot about marriage and families.

Elder David A. Bednar

All Italy Rome Missionaries together for Elder Bednar's Technology Conference

May!!

Hey y'all!!!

   Wow time is flying by!  It's crazy.  So this week we taught Mimmo, and he is getting ready for baptism on the 16 of May.  He is a really good guy, and he is ready!  We also have Moses that has a bap date for 30 of May.  She is just waiting for her marriage papers.  But it's all good.  We also got a new investigator named Carlo.  He is so cool.  I love him already!!!  He is so sincere.  He is the friend of a member and he has been coming to church for the last 3 weeks, and this last week he even bore his testimony in sacrament meeting.  We are going to invite him to be baptised on the 6 of June.  I think it will go through.

   Other than that, we are doing some finding and we are also teaching other people. They just aren't really progressing that much...but that's okay.  We are also teaching a couple 7-year-olds in the ward who are getting ready for baptism.  It's pretty fun.  Haha, I've never done it before in any other area but it's good.  I enjoy it because I can practice teaching really simply.

   Other than that, I have nothing.  The work is going well  and I am excited to see you guys on Monday!  10 o-clock your time!  :)  Take care my friends.  Have a good week!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Bednar Conference

Hello Y'all,

   Alright, so this week and a half has been a pretty crazy one!  Haha, we've been busy with work and finding, and just missionary life in general!  Haha, and then Sunday night we went to the Anziani's house in Taranto to sleep the night and then we were off Monday morning to Rome.  It took pretty much all day.  We were put in an old nun convent. Haha, so yeah, kind of interesting.  Funny if you ask me.  :)  I was reunited with my son (Mika).  It was a huge reunion...200 missionaries.

   Tuesday we had the conference, which was great!  There was Elder Bednar, Elder Texciera, Elder Allen, and all their wives. We really didn't talk of iPads that much, maybe for an hour.  The rest of it was pretty much a question session.  Some from Elder Bednar to us, and then from us to him. And not just about the iPad thing.  It was about everything and anything.  It was pretty awesome.  I learned a lot.  And I have a new drive to be even better than I am now.

   Other than that, I don't have much to say.  Haha, I'm sorry if I'm not writing much.  I'm just so tired, and there really isn't much new.  Missionary work is pretty much the same from day to day, and week to week. 

   I love you all and hope you are doing well.  It sounds like you are!  Take care!

   Love, Anziano Rigby

Statte

Hey guys!

   Alright, so we have been working hard here in Statte the past couple days. Anziano Puff (the missionary that I replaced here) did some awesome work here.  So we have a lot of stuff to do.  The branch members are way awesome, and way into missionary work which is cool.  I'm still trying to get my bearings on everything and what not, but   ( ? )      it's working.  We have a car here because the area is pretty spread out, and so that's fun.  Anziano Bates drives and I navigate.  But really I just act as the DJ   :)   Haha. 

   So, Yeah. Anziano Bates is from Arizona and he is awesome.  Way good at the language, smart, funny, haha and he does some pretty sick voice impersonations.  All in all, a great guy.  We get along well and that's cool.  We have a couple bap dates for May and we are pushing hard for those.  Moses from Nigeria, Mimmo who is an Italian, and... yeah, I can't think of anything else right now. 

   Statte is really cool.  It kind of reminds me of Idaho a little bit... it's pretty windy, there's a lot of farms and orchards. I t's beautiful. Overall, I'm doing good.  We are preparing to go up to Rome for the conference with Elder Bednar. ...Did I tell you about that?  Hahah, boh, well yeah.  He's coming to introduce iPads to the mission next Tuesday.  So we will be up there.  We will also be doing P-day on that Thursday instead of Monday.  So next week it's Thursday.  

   I love you all and hope you are having a good time.  Take care and we will talk next week.  

  Love you, ciao!!!

Last Transfer

  

Saying Goodbye

 

 

 Well, I am now going into my last transfer... What the... ?

  Haha, that's all I'm gonna say about that.  Next subject!

  This week was good.  It was full of....finding! We had a ton of lessons planned, and none of them went through!  Oh man.  It was always the morning of, they would call us to tell us they had something come up and they couldn't meet.  It was a little discouraging, but we were able to hit the streets and meet some cool people.

My African friends

  

  Oh, so I've been transferred to Statte!   It's outside Taranto.   My new comp is Anziano Bates.  I'll be follow-up training him.   I'm really excited to see what it's like there.  I've never been to Puglia before!  :) 

  Giordana, well, Lia, was not able to meet us either.  It was a slow week.  But we were tracting and we felt we should know this one Palazzo so we went in, and we came out with two return appointments!  Haha, it was pretty cool.  That doesn't happen very often! 

The Bonners

Cool pics from the church

   

   I do know that this gospel is true, and that God loves each one of us unconditionally.  He just wants us to be happy, and he is there waiting for us.  And as we heard in conference, he doesn't even ask us to make the walk alone.  But just that we turn around.  

  Alright, I love you guys!  Have a good week!  You are all the best people ever!!!   :)   Take care.

   

  Love, Anziano Rigby

Easter

Hello guys! 

   Alright, well Happy Easter!  Haha, I hope everybody had a fun time, and that you were all able to think about Christ's sacrifice a little bit more throughout the day.

Okay, well the first one I just think is funny!  Haha, I like the little Pucinello.  :) 

   I had a good week. It started out playing paintball! Woo-hoo!  Haha, it was way fun.  It was a nice little change up from what we normally do.  Then we went back to work. We did a bit of finding this week which was fun.  Haha, I am always grateful for the Lord's help in that aspect.  It's awesome to see the difference.  If you go out with a smile on your face and a goal to be happy and to say hi to everybody, then you are going to have a fun time.  If you go out grumpy, you're gonna be grumpy.  It's your choice. 

And then there is the undergound.  It was used as an aquaduct for the city
 so these caves were filled with water. 

  We taught Pietro on Wednesday and he committed to come to General Conference. But he didn't end up coming.  It was a little discouraging.  But we also met with Giordana. We taught her the Restoration, and we set a bap date with her for the 9th of May. Woo-hoo!  Haha, so that was cool. This next week we are supposed to meet with her at a member's home which should be really exciting!  :)

   Other than that, yesterday, because it was the day after Easter, we were supposed to do a deep clean on the apartment.  So we did that.  Today was our P-day.  We decided to go to the Napoli underground which was actually really cool!  Haha.  I took some pics that I'll send to you.  It's crazy the things that are under the city.  It's really funny because I've talked with old timers who talked about their younger days and how they would go down there with friends to play.  Crazy.

  

During WWII, the peolpe hid down there as protection from the bombs.
But I think a couple of them got through...

  So this week we receive our transfer calls!  Haha, my last one... Yikes!  I really don't know whether I'm staying or going.  I think it could go either way.  Anyway, we'll see.  :)

  Alright, well I love you!  Hope you are having a good day!  Ciao! 

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

Just hangin' around in some caves... :)

We needed to go through a really thin, really long tunnel. So they gave us candles :)

"P" stands for Paintball!!!

Hey Guys!

   Well, if you can't tell by the title of the E-mail, today for P-day we played paintball.  We found a field behind out house and so we organized it with Napoli so it was 4 against 4.  It was pretty sick.  I think we all had fun?  Haha.

 

   So this week, as far as the work, was a little slow.  BUT, we are doing stuff.  We are working on growing it again right now.  There are people out there that are waiting for us. We just need to find them.  :)

    I'm doing good.  Haha, there's really nothing to report.  Our work is continuing to go forward.

    We taught Pietro about the Word of wisdom, which went well.  He has committed to stop smoking and he is working on that.  We are going to talk about coming to church this week cause his soccer will end soon and then it will be important for him to come to church.

  

   It has been a little warmer this week which was really nice!  Haha, I always like this spring weather...

  Well, I love you all!  Haha, I hope you are having a good time there and that all is going well.  Keep your heads up and look for the miracles around you, cause they're there!  Take care.

   Love, Anziano Rigby  

Mar. 23, 2015

Hello guys!

   Wow, this week has been pretty crazy.  It's been busy with traveling and conferences, and finding! Woo-hoo!

   So this week we went to the mission tour in Roma on Friday.  Elder Tixieria and his wife came to talk with us. They talked about finding, and faith, and repentance, and diligence in everything (especially in listening to the spirit).

   As for the rest of the week, it was a little slower but we are working hard and we are slowly getting new investigators. We ended up dropping Francesco who wasn't willing to keep his commitments. But we were also able to make some new friendships and set the grounds for new investigators.  It's a little sad and frustrating dropping people, but you know, I feel we did our part. I know that we were able to set another bap date with him because you were all praying for it but, at the end of the day, the decision was left up to him to follow what we asked him to do and he just wouldn't do it. 

   We were not able to see Pietro this week due to a dislocated knee.  He was in physical therapy all week, but we saw him this morning and he is doing well. We taught the word of wisdom and he accepted it very well.  He smokes, but he wants to stop and we were able to set a goal with him to stop smoking.  He is looking forward to his baptism on the 18th of April, and so are we! We are role playing his lessons at home before we go over and it really does make a huge difference.  I am a firm believer of role playing.  I may not have been at the beginning of my mission, but I am now.

   We also met an inactive member this week named Sergio.  He seems to know that the Church is true, but he continues to break the commandments and then make excuses to why he is doing so.  It's a little weird, but we are just focusing on helping him find the fire again in his life.  I know it's there.

  I really don't have much else to say... oh!  Haha, there was a baptism this last week! Gianni Lucci, the other anziani's investigator, was baptized.  It was a good baptism and the spirit was there. This week there is the baptism of an 8-year-old that we're helping out with.  It is soo cool! I love to see baptisms happen!  We're trying to get all the members pumped up for this work right now.  It's slowly working.

   Okay, now I don't know what to write.  Haha, alright, well I love you guys!  I wish I could tell you how much I love you!  I wish I could give you a hug when you're feeling down, when you have a bad day, and when you're just tired.  I can't help but imagine it's the same for our dear Father in Heaven... I know he loves us dearly. 

  Well, have a good week and a good day.  Thanks for the e-mails!  I'll talk to you soon  :)  Ciao!

  Love always, Anziano Rigby 

March 9th

Hey Y'all! 

   Thanks for all the updates on what's going on in your lives.  iI know that God is watching over you and keeping you safe, but also helping you learn through experiences.  After all, isn't that what life is for?  :)

    So this week was really good.  We are seeing great miracles! We were able to set another baptismal date with Francesco. He is up and down, and we never are quite sure what to think about him. We went into the lesson expecting to do a drop lesson, and instead we came out with a date for his baptism. He needs to find some self-drive somewhere between now and then!  Haha, or else it's not gonna happen...It's really the basics that make the difference.  Reading, praying, going to church. Really, it's just having a sincere interest in what you're doing.  Haha.

   We had another lesson with an investigator named Sirio.  He's from Napoli and he is progressing well.  He wants to be baptized as well.  He is praying to know his date and we are going to talk to him tomorrow.

   We also got a new investigator this week.  Her name is Giordana.  She is from Pozzuoli and she first met the missionaries like 30 years ago.  She liked them a lot and wanted to get baptised but her husband at the time would not let her.  They are no longer together and she is quite interested.  I really think she will be baptized as well.  So as you can see, the miracles are present. We have the energy and the faith!  Now it's time to reap the rewards.  I'm praying that they can all feel the spirit and that we can do our part to help them come to Christ.

   Me and Anziano Pope are doing well together and we are becoming better teachers together.  Haha, he's a good missionary. 

   Other than that, I don't have much to say.  The district is doing well and I'm really excited to see the work that will be done this transfer!  Woo-Hoo!

   Haha, I love you guys and hope you are having fun!

Love, Anziano Skyler Rigby

Rain!

Hey guys!

  Alright, well I don't have much time.  Today we are going to a member's house who lives a little ways out.  It's raining outside right now, but it's not that heavy.  It's nice here when it rains.  It acts like a purifier.  After a day of rain, you can look out at the ocean and see everything.  The islands, the boats, the waves on the ocean.  It's really cool.  It's just like baptism.  After the washing, its all calm. Just like after baptism. 

  We saw Pietro today just for a moment. He was limping pretty bad. When he was playing soccer yesterday, he hurt his knee. (sound familiar...?) So needless to say, he's not playing soccer anytime soon... so we're praying for him that he can get better.  We still are hoping he can come to church!  We were talking with him this last week about the Book of Mormon and he said he believes it it true. And he wants to read it all the way through. We are seeing miracles. And our new investigator, Giordana, is way cool too.  As well as Sirio.  We are passing Sirio to the elders in Napoli and he will get baptized there.  He wants to be baptized and we even talked about it with his family this last week when we went to their house. We explained it all and they really thought it was cool. They felt the spirit and I'm hoping that they will take the lessons in the future.  :) 

  Alight, well I love you all!!!  Oh man.  Thank You so much for all your prayers and your love and support.  And your good examples.  You guys rock!  Haha, have a good week!

  Love always, Anziano Rigby

March!

Hey guys! 

   Okay, I'm gonna make this quick.  Sorry! 

   Well, haha, needless to say, I think both me and Anziano Pope were a little surprised to hear that we were staying together for a third transfer!  But we're excited for this transfer!  We are becoming better at teaching together and we are seeing miracles! 

  So yeah, this week we were finally able to set a baptismal date with Pietro!  Woo-hoo!  It's set for April 18th.  I am sure that he will be baptised.  He is just what this branch needs.  We are working on doing more role-plays and I am really excited to see the effect that it has on our teaching.  I know that it's making a difference. 

   Francesco is not progressing, sadly.  He is stuck behind old addictions.  He thinks they're just gonna go away on their own. He just won't act.  We are giving him this week and if he isn't progressing and keeping his commitments, we're going to drop him.

   Other than that, this week has been full of finding. We did a scambio with the other Anziani here in Pozzuoli.  It went well.  I was with Anzizano Davidson and we had some fun while finding.

   So yeah.  That's the week. We are seeing miracles!  We have some cool people that we're gonna start teaching this week.  We'll see what happens!

   Well, I love you guys and hope you are all well.  It sounds like you are.  Take care and I'll talk to you next week!

   Love, Anziano Rigby 

Feb. 23, 2015

Hey guys  :)

   Wow, this week has gone by fast!  It was packed with stuff, which was cool.  First, we had a scambio with the Zone leaders Wednesday and Thursday.  It went well.  I was with Anziano Grahm on Wednesday and we were doing finding.  I always enjoy doing finding with new people because it gives you a chance to try something new, see what they do, and it helps get you out of the rut of saying the same thing over and over.  We had some success and I'm hoping that they get some new investigators out of it.

   Zone conference was really good and I really thought that it was directed to our Zone.  A lot of it was about using time wisely.  If I have learned anything, it's that time is precious!  So I'm hoping we can take the teachings and roll with them this week and into the next transfer.  Which brings me to that.  We get transfer calls this Saturday!  It's crazy how fast time flies!  Haha

   I am really excited to see the miracles come from our faith and our hard work!  

  Other than that, I don't have much to say for this week.  Francesco was sick, and we saw Pietro once. We talked about baptism. We covered it really well, explaining the why's, how's, blessings, promises, and everything else. His problem was that he was already baptized as a child.  So we explained a little more about authority and the restoration of that authority to Joseph Smith.  In the end, he agreed to pray to know if he needs to be baptized again.  So, yeah.  Haha, that's about it!  I love you guys and hope you are having fun!  Take care  :)

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

Valentines!

Hello Y'all! 

   Haha ....Ah! That's my reaction to you receiving that e-mail! Mamma Mia! I'm not sure whether to be happy or scared!  Haha, not scared just...I don't know.  I can't explain it.  (We received the email with his release date of May 26th and I asked him how he feels about only having three and a half months left.)

   Haha, well this week was a whirlwind of action!  We moved into our new apartment and it is pretty cool (literally...the heater is broken).  Haha but we have one that works in one of the rooms so in the morning we go in there.  :)  But as soon as we moved in there, we started to see miracles.  It was/is really cool.  The first night we were there we dedicated it and as we did so I felt a difference in my surroundings.  I always like to think about it.  The ability we have to call upon God for his protection and blessing is amazing.  Only if we are righteous though!  And then I think of the priesthood and I think of all the things that have happened during my mission that have strengthened my testimony and my knowledge that the priesthood is real.  It is power, real power.  And hardly anyone knows about it!  Some do, but they don't have it (even if they think they do). We are acting as God's messengers. 

   (His dad asked him what his most uplifting experience was this week)  I don't know, I guess you could say that was one of my uplifting experiences.  Haha, also, we were studying the Abrahamic covenant and it is really cool.  I am constantly amazed at how much I can learn just by studying the scriptures!  I often forget the power in studying with the spirit.  There is no substitute.  

   So, like I said, we are now moved into our new apartment and we are seeing miracles!  We have found people that have been in contact with the Church in the past but stopped meeting with them. There's a lady that lives above us that had the missionaries over for dinner and she has a Book of Mormon.  This was a long time ago, but she remembers!  We also found this man... well, he found us. He lives above our investigator, Pietro.  He wanted to meet with us after our lesson, so we went to his house and started talking.  Turns out he is, or was, a member of the Church.  He was even married in the temple. As we talked, he expressed his desire to come back.  We left a spiritual message and he, along with us, bore testimony of the truthfulness of this Church.  Meanwhile, Pietro sat listening.  I think it was good for Pietro.  We want to set a baptism date with him, and I think that he is ready.  We will see!  I laughed a little at your joke about Pierre.  (Our family prays for his investigators by name and a couple days ago our other son forgot Pietro's name during prayer and called him "Pierre"...he knew it started with a "P."  I joked that there is now an investigator somewhere in France who is receiving an extra dose of the spirit.)  Haha, but at the same time I choked up a little.  I can't express my gratitude that you are all praying for those I meet here.  I feel power in that fact.  I can't tell you how sure I am that prayer works. It works!!!  Especially in settings like this.  God listens to his children.  Jesus loved little children, and isn't he the Only Begotten of the Father? Aren't they one in purpose and desire?  So then why would we think anything other than that God is aware and very pro-active in comforting and answering the prayers of children?  (Sorry, I went off on a little tangent there. There are just so many cool principles to learn!)   We invited Francesco to baptism again and it was a long lesson.  He said that he knows that the Catholic church is not correct all the time and in his words "fa schiffo," but he's happy where he's at?  He really doesn't want to leave that church.  And he says he hasn't received an answer that this church is God's true and only church.  He kind of takes it as an answer, you could say, that God doesn't want him to leave the Catholic church... It was...disheartening.  I came to the realization that he's not ready yet to receive his answer.  Even if he did get it (which I think he kind of is getting an answer)...but he just isn't willing to follow it.

   Alright, well, funny story for the week!  Haha, so last night we were coming back from Fratelo Bonner's house after correlation and we get on the bus and we're talking. Twenty minutes later I look out the window and we are turning on a weird road. ...Huh that's weird.  We start asking around and it turns out we were on the wrong bus!  We were on our way to Aversa! Haha, fun detour.  Anyway, we had to get a train from there to Napoli and while we were on the train we were all talking and telling stories.  We sat by this nice-looking lady,  probably mid-fifties.  She seemed like a business lady.  We continued to tell stories and, as we are getting to Napoli, I was finishing this story that was kind of funny so we were all laughing and what not.  And we started to get ready to get up when the lady across from us starts laughing...and laughing and laughing!  Haha, we were all so confused!  And then she said, while laughing, "I'm sorry, I just understood what you were saying!" Haha, as she continued to laugh and leave the room!  Hahaha, it was the weirdest thing ever.  She apparently understood English enough to follow along, but she didn't realize what happened in the story till a little later.  She also apparently thought it was funny!  Hahahaha, It was a good laugh.  I was glad that I could brighten someone's day.  :)

  Well guys, I love you all!  Thank you for your prayers and for your support.  Take care and I will talk to you soon!  :)

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

   P.S. Happy Valentines day!!!! <3 <3 <3

9th Feb. 2015

Another visit to Pompeii

Rock Band Cover!  :)

Wow, I still can't believe it's February!  Crazy!

   Well, this week has been pretty good.  Right now it's snowing so that's weird... I'm freezing my behind off!  Haha, I'm not outfitted for all this white stuff to be floating around!  Haha, so we went to Pompeii today and it was funny because we were standing there as it was snowing and we were wondering if that's what it looked like when the ash was falling...?  Maybe?  Haha, but, yeah, it was fun!  It's still weird to think that I live under Mt Vesuvius.  Weird.

Snow!  Brrrrr!!!  Hahaha 

  Oh! Haha, so weird, unexpected news.  We're moving apartments!  We now have a new one much closer to the church. You can still send stuff to the old one because the other Anziani will still be there.  So you can do that until I can get you the new address.  Yeah, it's pretty cool.

   So this week we taught Francsco and he is progressing!  Haha, and he is coming to church!  It is so cool to see him because he is changing.  That's when you know that it's sinking in.  Hehe  :)  So yeah. He is praying for a date right now.  We want it to come from him.

Haha, I look sad in this photo!!!  Practicing the puppy dog look  :)

   Pietro is also doing well.  We invited him to be baptized if he recieves an answer that this is true and he said he would!  He still can't come to church but he is getting there. Thank you, thank you,  thank you so much for your prayers! You are making the difference.  You are helping the Lord perform his work!

   I have realized even more lately the importance of prayer.  Prayer is such a special part of our lives. Never forget to pray.  Always make time for it.  It will help you tremendously!

   Alright, well, I have to go but I love you guys!  I'm sending some pictures!  Ciao! :)

A castle we visited last week

Ciao, Ciao!!

Feb.!!

   This week has been really rainy here in Napoli.  It even hailed a little!  Haha, not many people knew what to do on the road!  But it was a good week for missionary work.  We are working towards our vision of a family and we are also working towards working with/ helping members come closer to Christ in their daily life, but also through missionary work!  I really have a testimony of the importance of this work.  I also have seen and come to know that even solid members that have been part of the church forever need a boost every now and then too.  There is no one who is above learning and growing in the gospel.  I truly believe that when we understand the gospel more fully, we have the natural desire to share it because we are more converted.  I have to say that my desire to share the gospel with others has grown a lot during my mission as I have become more converted.

   So this week we were going out finding and we ran into this man we had met a couple weeks back. It was funny because we had tried to call him the day before but he didn't answer.  But anyway, he remembered us and said he was free that morning and we could come to his house so we went with him.  We began to see that he wasn't all together.  He had gotten into something that had affected his brain but he was still a really good guy.  So we went to his house and he rung the doorbell and nobody answered...apparently his mom had left and he didn't have any keys.  He started to freak out pretty bad as he began to cuss and think of what he could do to get in.  After a couple minutes Anziano Pope suggested that we pray for help.  The man was willing so we stood there and said a prayer, after which this man calmed down substantially.  And a couple minutes later his mom came walking around the corner!  He soon realized that God had answered his prayer and he was very grateful.  His mom is Catholic but nice.  It was a cool experience and you could see the difference that the gospel makes... not even the gospel, but just prayer alone makes in our lives. 

   Pietro is reading and praying, and he is doing well.  We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week and he agreed with it, but as we talked about the lesson we both felt that we didn't explain well enough that this means that his baptism in this church is vital, or the fact that the other churches don't have authority.  So this next time we go over we are going to talk about that.

   Francesco is doing better but sadly he will not be ready for his baptismal date the 14th of February. He still has quite a bit to learn and do before he is ready for baptism.  One of the biggest problems is his obedience to the word of wisdom.  He needs to start following that.  We are working with him a lot and, step by step, he is improving.  We are getting him to read and pray everyday and then to come to church every week.  You can see a difference.

    We are trying to find more ways to get investigators to church because it seems to be a big problem here.  We are all having a hard time getting them in church.  So, yeah, we are working on that!

   Me and Anziano Pope are doing well. We are looking for new investigators and trying to contact the people we have talked to in the last couple weeks.  No one will answer their phones!!!  Lame! :( Haha, It's okay.  We keep trying.  But, yeah, that's pretty much it.  Life is good!  I'm glad that I can be here.  It really is a huge blessing.  The church is true!  AND IF YOU HAVE DOUBTS, PRAY ABOUT IT!  :)  

   Love you guys! Have a good week!

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

Questions and Answers

1.  Do the wards over there have many 8-year-old baptisms when their children are of age?  Having gone to a baptism this weekend, I began wondering if the Church is growing much in Italy due to     8-year-old baptisms or if the growth is mainly coming from converts still? 

You know, it really depends on the area.  There really aren't that many little kids.  There are a couple but I don't think I have ever been in a ward when an 8-year-old has been baptized. Just because there aren't any!  Haha, so I would say new converts are the majority.


2.  How is English Course going in your area now?  

It's going well.  It is slowly growing. We have around 20-25 students.


3.  Being in a ward with great diversity, do you get to translate much? 

Haha, oh yeah.  I translate a lot.  Especially now since there are two missionaries that don't speak English that much.  Plus newbies, and then Anziano Pope.  Haha, I translate a lot more now.  But it's good.  It's really good practice!