Immense is the library of the Lord!

Today was a really good day, we got to tour the offices and art collection and Chapel of the Bishop of the Diocese of Piacenza and we looked at paintings that were older than our entire country. We also toured the Catherdal in Piacenza and went clothes shopping because everywhere in Italy is trying to get rid of this years stock before next year's stock comes in.

Our work has picked up a lot here. We have three relatively new investigators. I mentioned Osas and John in Last e-mail. They are super cool and John is so ready for the message! We also met with another man named Alvaro who is from Ecaudor and lives a 15 minute train ride away. That was awesome we gave him a Book of Mormon in Spanish and read a few passages with him and I realized that my Spanish has been destroyed by my trying to learn Italian. 

Our regular investigators are doing great. We got some members from our branch to come with us to a lesson (a Portugese lady and her Italian husband who served a mission in Portugal) with Mauricia and I think it helped a lot. The lesson was mostly in Portugese but I am pretty sure that it went well and from what I could tell they were saying some really awesome things.

My Italian is getting way better. I still need a lot of improvement but at Church on Sunday, I understood almost all the things that were said. I remember my first Sunday here when I came to church I understood nothing and the following evening I did street contacting and ran into a lady who talked and I just smiled and nodded. I was so lost but I am not that lost anymore. I am starting to carry around a book of words I don't know to help me with my language study.

Church on Sunday was about the family--I thought of you all back home. There were really great talks and President Taina asked Anziano Thompson and I to bear our testimonies on the Family and how we have seen the gospel bless ours. He called on Valerio to say the closing prayer and instead Valerio decided to bear his testimony on the family too. He is really awesome, but the 70's were not good to him. He bore a really faithful, moving testimony on the family and the love that he feels while he comes to church. It just threw everyone off when they all bowed their heads to pray and he started with "Quanti belli voi siete... E puri anche (How beautiful you all are... And clean too)" President Taina ended up saying the closing prayer.

Another fun Valerio story is that in Elders Quorum and Relief Society, we are studying form the Teachings of Lorenzo Snow and Valerio leans over to me and says "I have that book! Must I study it too?" I explained to him that he could but mainly we just study it in that hour. I then told him that there were a lot of Gospel related books... Sort of like a Library and he said "Immensa è la biblioteca del Signore (Immense is the library of the Lord)" best thing I have heard in a while. It went on the back of my planner. It was just perfect in his cloudy far off Valerio voice.

Last week we did scambi (temporary companion exchanges) with the Elders in Reggio Emilia. I got to go to Reggio for Friday and Saturday and work with Anziano Day there and in Sant'Illario and Parma. Scambi are really fun and I learned a lot of things to apply here in Piacenza. Anziano Day rocks. We had a really fun time and we contacted a lot of people.

I love being here in Italy! It really does rock. Some times, I forget and then it hits me again and I remember where I am. It is kind of weird to realize that my native language is a foreign language that not a lot of people speak. My companion and I are at times "those people" who hae a conversation in a language that nobody knows. We are working on SYL or Viva La Lingua as President Wolfgramm puts it. Its a new goal. I know that the Lord is helping us here and that he loves these people and I can feel that love for them too as I am here to love and serve them. Whenever I get discouraged and it is hard to focus, I remember that I am here to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help these people find joy and peace and a knowledge that their family can be together forever. It is a sacrifice that I am willing to make to bring that to these people.

I love you all and I pray for you all daily. I can't wait to hear form you!

Love,

Anziano Cook

Third Week in Italy!

Well today was largely spent on cleaning the apartment, getting spesa (groceries), doing laundry and writing letters to all of you beautiful people. I still have a pile that I am going through and chipping away at but know that I am going to write you back as soon as I can. 

Our week has been really really good. Especially yesterday. We have seen a lot of miracles happening for us this week or gearing up to be happening. It will be great!

We have been doing a lot of finding work lately and it has had its successes and drawbacks. But I want to talk about some of the awesome things that happened.

We were doing casa which means knocking on doors. The way things are set up in Italy, you have to "knock" twice because everybody, at least in Paicenza lives in an apartment. So you have to buzz on the citefono... I don't even know what it's called in English to get let into the building and then once you are in the building, you knock on the doors to see if you will be let in. 

Well we were doing just that as we always do around 6-8 at night and we came to a door and they answered and said "Wait, are you the Mormons?" and we said yes we were and the man opened the door a little wider (I thought to get better leverage to slam it in our faces) but to my surprise he moved out of the threshold and said "come in"... It turned out that this was a couple from Napoli and they had previously met the missionaries and had a Book of Mormon and were midly interested in our message and quite interested in Englsih class but we left a spiritual lesson with them and they are coming to English class thay said, so we may get the opportunity to teach them further. Which would be really cool

Then Yesterday, we set up an appointment with somebody who ahd been contacted last month who had expressed interest in our message and getting closer to God. He is a refugee from Libya and he lives in a Refugee camp (which actually isnt literally a camp. I was surprised). So we were teaching this man our message and his brother who also lives there came in towards the end and he is also interested to know more. They are both New investigators and we are going to return and teach them tomorrow. That was rocking! Also, after that we were doing more casa and this older couple let us in before we could even explain who we were. They said that they have been in Paicenza before the rocks were, or at least thats what I thought they said... The husband listened while the wife popped in and out in the process of making dinner. Dinner ended up being ready before we finished our lesson and they told us to come back later to finish up the lesson... Not before giving us a candy shops worth of sweets and water and juice for both of us.

I love you all and I am so happy to be here serving and I can't wait to hear more from what's happening at home.

Love,

Anziano Cook

Awesome and Busy Week!

This week has been so busy and so Awesome. 

Today being P-day our district decided to go clothes shopping in Parma. That was really fun. Italian fashion sense is wild. I have seen some really cool things and some really ugly things on those shelves and somehow the Italian people can pull it all off. Let me give an example... In Italy, brown, and fur, and puffy jackets are all as chic as they day they were introduced and sometimes all three in one outfit.

Some of my favorite people here are the Old Grandma Italians. We visit one, Sorella Libé every Sunday and give her the Sacrament and leave a spiritual thought with her. She talks a lot and is always trying to give us candy and sugary stuff. Last Sunday she gave us so many sweets that I thought I was going to die if I ever saw a grain of sugar again and then we went to another appointment we were given more sugar... I was swimming. I thought I was on the brink of Death. But she told me last Sunday "Sei più bello oggi da settimana scoursa (You are more beautiful today than last week)" She went on to talk about all of the biking around we do and how Italy's air is good for the skin

We have a new investigator, Giovanna. She really is in need of the direction and peace that comes from the Gospel and we are happy to give it to her and help her along the way. She was a really cool find. We met her on the street and she told us at our first meeting that she hadn't originally been planning to go the route she did to meet us but something told her that she had to go that way and she also said that when we parted after a brief exchange, she was left wanting to know more. We have taught one lesson with her so far and she wants to bring her mom to the next lesson. Wahoo!

Last night we also found a man named Angelo who we might start meeting with who seems really Awesome.

We have a couple of investigators that we see several times a week. There is Maurizia who is from Cape Verde and speaks Italian and Portugese (and finally came to church with her sons and daughter and had a great time because our Branch is fantastic at helping people feel welcome!!!) Her husband is Muslim and is always back in Africa doing his job as a salesman. She is really lonely and has a hard time trying to take care of all three kids alone. But she is really receptive. We have Cinzia who is really awesome. She was in my basic English class last week. She always gives us lunch appointments and we see her all the time because she loves our Branch and our Branch loves her. At the Baptism my second day she bore her testimony and that was really cool to see. She says she feels Peace and Joy when we are all around and she likes The Book of Mormon a lot and she finds comfort in the Scriptures but is trying to sort it all out as she was raised Catholic and really likes to pray to Mary. 

We are also helping our Branch President with getting people to come back to Church. We are working really hard to strenngthen less actives and New converts and find new investigators. Appointments have been hard to come by lately and the past few days, Anziano Thompson and I have both been sick. Him more than I so we have only gone to our appointments because its cold in Piacenza right now and the mission president doesn't want us to get worse. Speaking of... in Italy they have this belief  in this thing called culpa d'aria or a falling of air. They believe that if the wind blows and hits the back of your neck, then you could get sick. So they wear scarves all the time to make sure that they don't get that. And Sorella Libé is always mad when she sees me without a scarf "You will get colpa d'aria! Mark my words!" 

It is fun here and I am well taken care of. We eat well. And I can get a pretty good week's worth of groceries for 20-30€. Anziano Thompson and I have just figured out how to make soup and now he's obsessed with it especially because of his cold.

Through all of the colds, and the skinned knee that I got the other day on my bike, and Language issues, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we are doing the Lord's work and that we have the great opportunity of finding and teaching his children here in Italy. It is tough work, but it is vale la penna (worth it) to be here and serve and learn and teach. Italy really is bomb. The people are great and I just know that I was called here for a reason. I love you all and I hope you are all well.

ITALY!!! 2013

Wow! What an amazing first few days I have had out in the field in the Italy Milan Mission. Contrary to any guesses, I am in Piacenza. It is a really nice town and there are plenty of people to talk to and A LOT of work to do.

My companion's name is Anziano Thompson. He is a super cool down to Earth guy and we get along super well. Well, where to begin? Italy is really cool and Piacenza is pretty nice too. Centro (downtown) is almost always crowded and there is plenty happening all of the time. The streets in Piacenza for the most part are cobblestones and the roadway situation is hillarious. Its kind of like a huge free for all. Bikes (us), cars, people all in the same place all trying to do their thing. 

We have a small branch of about 40 people and growing. We had a baptism on my first  full day in Piacenza. A couple, named Tony and Jacquiline! They are fantastic. So are all of our members and our branch President, President Taina.

Italians are a hoot! I love them already. They are really fun to talk to even though I pick up on 70% at the absolute maximum of what they are trying to say to me. They are really patient with my lack of understanding and shower me with compliments about how good they think my Italian is especially given how long I've been here and then they always say something about how they have no idea what they would do in America. What rocks is that not a whole lot of people speak English here so I am sort of forced to use Italian. So I am growing. I've come up with a rule: "I am in Italy, I speak Italian" they love it. 

We do a lot of finding work in centro. For the most part it is given a polite ear and when it isn't it is for the most part poliltely rufused like this "Well thank you so much for thinking of me. You guys are great really and it takes a lot to do what you do and thank you again but I am Cattolico al massimo (Catholic to the Maximum) and I am not super interested, but thanks".  Italians are generally open and willing to talk about most things so it works well.

We also do a lot of strenthening new converts and less actives. So far I have met 3 of the new converts including the two metnioned above and one named Valerio who is a total character. The members in our branch affectionately refer to him as "The Mormon Gandhi". He usually wears all white sometimes with a colored scarf and long white hair that he wears in a bun on top of his head and a beard. His house smells violently of incense. And he stares at people when he first meets them for a really long and uncomfortable time. Before the missionaries found him, he was practicing Shinto. He kind of reminds me of the peopple back home  except even more wild than that.

The food here is really good. Anziano Thompson and I eat well. We switch days that we cook lunch for the both of us and we do something simple for breakfast and we don't have dinner per sè but we do something light and snack-y when we get home. Since I reported to the MTC, I have lost 23 pounds and Anziano Thompson is sure that there is more on its way since we a) bike everywhere and b) I like veggies and rice cakes which he finds weird. It's really great here. I've got a nice clean apartment and an awesome collega (companion) to share it all with.

I love you all and I hope you know that I am safe and happy and that the Itlay Milan Mission is seriously the bomb! I could say the best in the world but I know that some people would disagree and try to tell me that theirs is better. I know that the Lord is watching over us and I will see miracles here in Piacenza and for the next two years in this mission. 

Stay safe tell and me all about what is happening with you all.

Also, I am still working on letters. Next P day will maybe be the day where I write a ton of letters and stuff look out for it all.