Wonderful thing for Tuesday, 2 June:
Now that Pathway is in full gear and we're all fairly acquainted with its operation, and now that we've done the initial training sessions with the Young Men/Young Women organizations, we have a little more time to do outreach to individuals. Today we went to see our lovely friend. She is a member of the Pisa ward, but right now she is staying with her sister in Pistoia, recuperating from an operation, which puts her closer to us.
She is one of our Nigerian sisters. She was baptized several months ago; over time, she kind of got bogged down with "stuff" - most recently, depression. It's so interesting that when you're down, the things that could lift you up seem odious to you, you feel to draw away and thus go deeper still into your funk.
BUT the Lord is faithful; He will not abandon us. I love Him for that! She is his beautiful, wonderful daughter, with an amazing life ahead of her, and He is just not going to let go. She let us come to see her, we had a great talk, and then we read from the Book of Mormon.
"Enos" jumped right out at me as I was looking for a passage to read together. Discussing it afterward, we talked about how, at a certain point in his life, the principles his father had always taught him sunk deep into his heart. For whatever reasons, his life up till that point seems to have been rather superficial; but as truth flooded his mind, he was struck with a kind of amazed remorse, I would say; as in, "Why did I not see this before!? I did see it, but I wasn't willing to recognize it. Oh God, can you forgive me?"
This train of thought struck a definite chord with our friend. As we discussed the power of covenants, she realized that making a promise to study the scriptures every day, and to pray about what she reads, is just what she needs to persevere when the will comes to just move on to something mind-numbing or unprofitable.
There was a light in her face and joy in her eyes when we left - not for anything we did, but for the work the Spirit did for and through all of us as we talked, studied, and prayed.
This is what everything we do is all about, being edified and rejoicing together (D&C 50:22).
I love this work.
fun thing:
Today is the Festa della Reppublica Italiana, a celebration of the day in 1946 when the Italian citizenry decided they wanted to live in a republic instead of a monarchy. Viva Italia!
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
lambs and tigers
Wonderful thing for Weds., 25 March:
We do a fair amount of lost-lamb searching. We can attest to the joy that is felt when one is found.
We saw M. in church in Florence Sunday with delight; we had heard that he had been in church the week before (we are back and forth between Prato and Florence wards), but this was our first opportunity to see him in months.
M. is an American student in Florence. He has been taking a lot of art trips. He got a little lost.
We asked if we could come visit. We said that our job here is to encourage. He said, "I really need that."
So yesterday, with homemade cookies in hand, we met him and the elders at his apartment. What a great visit, what a wonderful, uplifting talk we had. He shared about unmet expectations, about getting distracted and caught up in other things; we shared about crying unto God "in our wilderness" (Alma 34:26); we talked about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. We saw delight and relief in his eyes, we felt ourselves connecting. I think he felt at home.
Oh how I love this work.
Fun thing:
Found this great store under the train station at Florence called "Tiger". It's pretty much a glorified dollar store, you might call it the IKEA of dollar stores. I bought half a dozen journals and some stuff for the grandkids' Easter baskets. Woot!
We do a fair amount of lost-lamb searching. We can attest to the joy that is felt when one is found.
We saw M. in church in Florence Sunday with delight; we had heard that he had been in church the week before (we are back and forth between Prato and Florence wards), but this was our first opportunity to see him in months.
M. is an American student in Florence. He has been taking a lot of art trips. He got a little lost.
We asked if we could come visit. We said that our job here is to encourage. He said, "I really need that."
So yesterday, with homemade cookies in hand, we met him and the elders at his apartment. What a great visit, what a wonderful, uplifting talk we had. He shared about unmet expectations, about getting distracted and caught up in other things; we shared about crying unto God "in our wilderness" (Alma 34:26); we talked about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. We saw delight and relief in his eyes, we felt ourselves connecting. I think he felt at home.
Oh how I love this work.
Fun thing:
Found this great store under the train station at Florence called "Tiger". It's pretty much a glorified dollar store, you might call it the IKEA of dollar stores. I bought half a dozen journals and some stuff for the grandkids' Easter baskets. Woot!
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Cry unto him in your wilderness
Wonderful thing for Monday, 2 March:
Churchill had it; Lincoln had it; I get it every now and then - the proverbial black cloud.
I think it has to do with this illness that keeps its grip on Blaine, even though he is slowly getting better. We're in the same house, and we do our best to minister to each other, but this illness necessarily puts a barrier between us, which opens a chink for more barriers. We've been just the teensiest bit testy with each other today.
We are both dealing with some emotional/spiritual/physical gloomy weather.
The wonderful thing? We reach past the darkness, continuing to minister to each other and to do our best in our work. We forgive easily. We find things to laugh about. Comfort is just a prayer away.
Man, I love this mission.
Fun thing:
Blaine acts so cute sometimes.
Churchill had it; Lincoln had it; I get it every now and then - the proverbial black cloud.
I think it has to do with this illness that keeps its grip on Blaine, even though he is slowly getting better. We're in the same house, and we do our best to minister to each other, but this illness necessarily puts a barrier between us, which opens a chink for more barriers. We've been just the teensiest bit testy with each other today.
We are both dealing with some emotional/spiritual/physical gloomy weather.
The wonderful thing? We reach past the darkness, continuing to minister to each other and to do our best in our work. We forgive easily. We find things to laugh about. Comfort is just a prayer away.
Man, I love this mission.
Fun thing:
Blaine acts so cute sometimes.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
sweet and bittersweet
Wonderful thing for Tuesday, 17 February:
I almost wrote her name, but she should remain anonymous; she is an excommunicant and deserves privacy. She is, however, the wonderful thing.
We have a list of all the GANS in Pisa, and have been asked to visit them, especially those who don't come much. Our job, as we see it, is to be mentors, "coach", to get to know them and to encourage and love them. We went down the list Monday, trying to make appointments. We had discussed the list with the bishop and the Institute director, and marked the "low hanging fruit" - those who are most likely to respond. We made an appointment with one of them for yesterday, and agreed to pass by the store where another works. We then went to the next set of check marks, those who have not been heard from in quite awhile. We also got an agreement to introduce ourselves at the store where another one of the young women works.
Then we saw this name written in at the bottom of the list. She has been excommunicated but she comes to GANS activities with her boyfriend, who is "abbastanza bravo". We called. She was happy to hear from us, and readily agreed to meet us at the central station, which is near her grandfather's house, with whom she stays during the days of the week before she goes to school in the evenings.
She hastened to be sure, when first we met, that we knew she isn't officially a member, that she has chosen to live in a manner that she knows to be contrary to the laws of God - but that that's the choice she has made and she isn't willing to change that decision. There was no belligerence in this admission; it was more just to get it out in the open so that there was no deception on her part.
There are a lot of underlying circumstances, of course - there always are. What impressed us was her openness, her sweetness, her also readily avowed love of God and of the Gospel. Our hearts ached for her. We shared with her that we also have issues that plague us, which we are continually trying to ameliorate through prayer, repentance, renewing our covenants, etc. We promised her that we also are painfully conscious of our sins and weaknesses when we kneel to pray.
We challenged her to, if she can do no more, at least "check in" every morning and every night with her Father in Heaven. If she continues to do this, we promised her that she would know that He has not forgotten her, that He truly loves her, that He is right there, ready to bless her. We told her that we will keep in contact; she was pleased to hear it.
Really, there is a very thin line between the "saint" and the "sinner".
fun thing:
We found vanilla! And jalapeno-like peppers! And okra!!??! as well as cheaper peanut butter, all at Doris' store. She is from Nigeria, and operates a store with "exotic" food. This Friday there's a Carnevale festa at church; I have vanilla and saffron; I'm supposed to bring a "dolce". Google, here I come.
We have a list of all the GANS in Pisa, and have been asked to visit them, especially those who don't come much. Our job, as we see it, is to be mentors, "coach", to get to know them and to encourage and love them. We went down the list Monday, trying to make appointments. We had discussed the list with the bishop and the Institute director, and marked the "low hanging fruit" - those who are most likely to respond. We made an appointment with one of them for yesterday, and agreed to pass by the store where another works. We then went to the next set of check marks, those who have not been heard from in quite awhile. We also got an agreement to introduce ourselves at the store where another one of the young women works.
Then we saw this name written in at the bottom of the list. She has been excommunicated but she comes to GANS activities with her boyfriend, who is "abbastanza bravo". We called. She was happy to hear from us, and readily agreed to meet us at the central station, which is near her grandfather's house, with whom she stays during the days of the week before she goes to school in the evenings.
She hastened to be sure, when first we met, that we knew she isn't officially a member, that she has chosen to live in a manner that she knows to be contrary to the laws of God - but that that's the choice she has made and she isn't willing to change that decision. There was no belligerence in this admission; it was more just to get it out in the open so that there was no deception on her part.
There are a lot of underlying circumstances, of course - there always are. What impressed us was her openness, her sweetness, her also readily avowed love of God and of the Gospel. Our hearts ached for her. We shared with her that we also have issues that plague us, which we are continually trying to ameliorate through prayer, repentance, renewing our covenants, etc. We promised her that we also are painfully conscious of our sins and weaknesses when we kneel to pray.
We challenged her to, if she can do no more, at least "check in" every morning and every night with her Father in Heaven. If she continues to do this, we promised her that she would know that He has not forgotten her, that He truly loves her, that He is right there, ready to bless her. We told her that we will keep in contact; she was pleased to hear it.
Really, there is a very thin line between the "saint" and the "sinner".
fun thing:
We found vanilla! And jalapeno-like peppers! And okra!!??! as well as cheaper peanut butter, all at Doris' store. She is from Nigeria, and operates a store with "exotic" food. This Friday there's a Carnevale festa at church; I have vanilla and saffron; I'm supposed to bring a "dolce". Google, here I come.
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