All day every day this week. We're working really hard to find new investigators, which means nose to the grindstone everyday trying to talk to people and share the message. Our new finding technique this week was using gospel art! We walked around and asked people which painting of Jesus they preferred and why. It was really interesting to hear the words people used to describe why they liked the painting; pure, light, clean, kind, gentle, etc. It was pretty easy to segue into the gospel after that.
We had one big finding miracle this week. We were headed to a lesson and stopping people on our way. We got about 6 "non mi interessa" before we had success. We stopped this woman by telling her we liked her bracelets. Turns out they were Madonna bracelets (finally something useful coming out of the Italians' obsession with the Madonna) and she started telling us about how much she loved Christ and was so excited when we told her we were here to preach of Him. I've never met someone so open about their faith and so excited at the prospect of meeting with us.
Italian Culture Fact: They never. stop. celebrating. In the time I've been here, I have yet to have a week without some sort of Holiday. We had Maria day, Santo Stefano, Christmas, New Years, The Befana, about five other random Saint days, and now there's Carnivale. I think the Italians keep party store companies around the world in business. For the past week our Centro and main Piazza have been covered in mountains of confetti while little children in costumes run around and spray people with silly string.
Spiritual thought: I've truly discovered the meaning of and the joy in "feasting upon the words of Christ." I love the scripture study time I've had on my mission, because the more I read, the deeper my testimony becomes. This week was a trickier one in terms of feeling homesick and discouraged, but every time I even opened my scriptures, I felt a rush of peace and comfort. I know that we have been given scriptures so that we might be able to cherish and study the teachings of our Savior. They are a constant source of truth and happiness even when everything around us is changing. As missionaries, we're always supposed to be leaving people with invites, so I'd love to invite you all to set apart some time everyday this week to just listen to or read from the scriptures - whether it be first thing in the morning, in the car on the way to carpool, during lunch - in an effort to make scripture study a habit. I promise that it will help you feel joy and find guidance through the spirit.
I love you all so much!
Sorella Maxfield
No comments:
Post a Comment