Searching for a Family

   Well, the month is already gone...!  The first month of the year, gone!

   This week was pretty good.  Haha, I started getting sick on Thursday, and so Friday and Saturday were kind of crummy but all is well!  I'm getting better!  It was just a sore throat and a runny nose...and a little bit of a fever, but it's pretty much all gone. 

   Okay, so our work!  Haha, it's going well!  We are starting to see a pick up in everything that we are doing.

   Pietro is doing well.  He is kind of busy and hasn't started reading the Book of Mormon yet so we read with him.  It is crazy because when he reads he understands really well!  He is able to read and pull out the principles that can be applied to himself.  He is praying and says he wants to come to church as soon as his soccer ends.  I am hoping he can find another job so he can quit soccer and come to church!  I know that if he starts reading by himself that he will feel a difference.

   Francesco is also doing well.  We are meeting with him often and we are pushing hard for his baptism!  He is capable of doing it, but he just needs to apply himself.  He wants to be part of the Catholic church and our church at the same time.  We told him that he can receive an answer of what he needs to do from God.  Now he just needs to read and pray and listen. We send him a text every night with a verse for him to read.  I think it helps him.  Now he just needs to understand the importance of coming to church!  We might need to push back his baptism date a little bit but we will get him there! 

   That is pretty much our work right now.  We have a lot of contacts that we are working on seeing. Yesterday we were able to see an old investigator named Isaac.  He is doing well and we set forth a time that we can see him every week.  This is the Lords work!  :)

   I am doing well, and I am excited for this new transfer.  Me and Anziano Pope's new goal is to baptize a family.  We don't want a ton of baptisms, just a family.  What a cool thing to do...help a family receive the gospel, and then sealing in the temple for all time and eternity!  That is our vision!

   I love you all!  Take care and I'll talk to you next week!

   Love always, Anziano Rigby

January 19

Hey guys!

   Well, first off, thank you for the E-mails.  It is really sooo good to hear from you!  Haha, I love hearing what's happening in your lives!  I'll try my best to fill you in on mine.  Hehe  :)

   This week I received a call from the office saying that I needed to go pick up my Permesso di Soggiorno in Pescara, sooo guess where we went this week?  Haha, that's why I pulled out more money... I'm sorry!  Gosh, I really feel horrible about it.  But it was cool to see some old friends and to see how they are doing.  Everything went well and now we are back safe and sound.  :)  ALSO, we received transfer calls and I am staying here with Anziano Pope!  Woo-hoo!  We are in a threesome right now because Anziano Turner left this morning to go home.  He finished!  Crazy!  He is a cool guy and I really enjoyed serving here with him.  Great missionary. 

    Pietro is doing well and has accepted to read the Book of Mormon and to pray.  I know that he will see a difference in his life and in his perspective on life.  I am really excited to see him this week and to hear how it went.  I talked with him on Saturday and it sounded like he was doing well.

   Francesco is also doing really well!  We re-established a baptism date with him and this time he seems like he is really trying to reach it.  We committed him to follow the law of chastity and he agreed.  He also came to church yesterday!  I am so excited to see the work start picking up!  It is happening.

   Other than that, we did some finding and we were able to find a couple people that were really cool and hopefully will want to meet with us!  We had a cool experience as we were doing so Wednesday night. We were about to go to Pozzuoli when the thought came to me to go to another area that we don't go to very often called Pianura.  The bus was literally pulling up to the stop for Pozzuoli so I said a quick prayer and told Anziano Pope what I was thinking.  He agreed and we didn't get on. Instead we grabbed the bus for Pianura and when we got there we just started talking with people.  We met some cool people and some not so nice people.  Towards the end of our night we stopped this man named Alfonso.  He was really nice and really open. We talked with him for over half an hour. He said he just came from the church where he had been praying for help.  He said that he is fighting a battle that he can't win.  He said he was losing his faith.  For the last year, slowly he had felt as a void started growing in his life.  He said that something was missing but he couldn't figure out what it was.  And then he said something really cool.  He said, "As I was praying, a voice came to me in my head that said, 'walk out of the church. There is someone here to help you.' so I walked out and now here I am."  I bore testimony of the truth that God loves each of us and that he had sent us to him.  We were his answer, or rather the message that we bring was the answer.  We Challenged him to pray at his house that night for a confirmation and for peace.  He said he would do so and we got his number so we could call him the next day.  He wouldn't take a book of Mormon or even a pamphlet because his wife apparently gets pretty crazy if he brings stuff home from other churches.... The sad part to the story, however, is that when I called him he said that he wanted us to keep praying for him because we need to save him.  He also said we could meet later when he wasn't so busy with work. Like in a couple weeks.  It breaks my heart when they say that!  It doesn't work like that!  I CAN'T save you.  Not even if I want to, ...I can't.  I can help them, but ultimately they have to work that out with themselves and Christ.  But it was still a big help for me to see that repercussion from following the spirit. 

   I know this work is real.  And I know that Christ is my Savior and that this is His church.

  I love you all and I hope that this week has been good for you.  Take care and I will talk to you soon!  :)

   Love, Anziano Skyler Rigby

Jan. 12

Hello everybody,

   Well, this week was good.  I'm glad to hear the funeral went well and that everyone was enlightened and uplifted.  That is the point of it all, isn't it?  The closer you are to God, the better you feel, and the more your testimony is strengthened.

    This week was really good as far as work goes.  We were able to get 4 lessons with investigators, and a lesson with a new convert!  Haha, I know they aren't the best numbers, but it felt pretty good for me! 

   We taught Franceso this week.  He is 19...   He just doesn't quite get the idea that this church is the only true church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He is pretty attached to the catholic church and the Madonna. ... He knows this is true.  Deep down he knows. 

   We also met with Pietro.  He is 31 and lives in Pozzuoli.  We taught him the Restoration and Prayer. The spirit was really strong and I know that he felt it.  At the end of the lesson he said the prayer, and the spirit was very strong.  I am kicking myself pretty hard right now for not saying right after the prayer, "You know how you feel right now? That is the spirit. This is how you will receive your answer that these things are true. ...This IS your answer."

   I'm sorry this is so short.  Haha, I had some stuff to write to people.  Know that I love you and that I am doing well.  Have a good week.

   Love Anziano Rigby

2015 A time for new beginnings

Hello my friends :)

   I'm sorry I couldn't write you all today. I just have to do a mass e-mail. I love you all and I hope you know that. 

   This week was pretty crazy. It was really cold for a good three days or so. Haha I bought a pair of long johns to wear underneath my suit and that saved me! Haha who would have thought that it would be cold in Napoli? Haha not me. And apparently not anyone else either. It even snowed! Haha the last time it snowed here was like more then 15 years ago. 

   We spent a couple days looking for and visiting members. It was pretty good. It was really good actually. Haha I love visiting members. I love hearing their testimonies and learning about their love for the gospel. Haha one of the families even gave us some blankets for Christmas! Haha we were pretty excited. :)

   We got a new investigator this week named Isaac. He is from Ghana and is really cool. We taught him the restoration and the spirit was really strong. I know that he felt it and I know that it bore testimony of what we were saying.

   I am very sorry to hear of the passing of grandpa. I love him very much and I feel bad that I did not do more with him when I could. I know that it is not easy to deal with, but I do know that the gospel is a huge help. It is through the gospel that we can overcome these challenges and difficulties. And I know this is NOT the end, but only the beginning. If you ever have doubts or even just a question, pray to God. Tell him what's bothering you and ask for clarification. He will give you an answer. I know this is true. 

  I love you guys and I hope you can feel the spirit that is with those that do that which is right. Keep up the good work and I will talk to you next week. I'm praying for you.!

   Love always, Anziano Skyler Rigby