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