(Anziano Wilkinson)
This week we had a conference up in Modena because we were
being visited by a member of the area presidency, Elder Paul V. Johnson, and his
wife who's name I don't remember. They talked to us about serving with your
whole heart and the difference that it makes in missionary work. Our mission
president also talked to us about Christ and the magnitude of His role in our
Heavenly Father's plan for us. It was a really uplifting conference and a
perfect way to prepare ourselves for the Christmas season!
The Ancona branch also threw a Christmas party last Saturday
and it was actually a really big success. Our senior missionary couple, the Kochs,
put together a Christmas program that really helped to invite the Spirit into
the event. My companion, Anziano Larsen, who hasn't even been learning Italian
for more than four months yet, sang a solo in Italian that turned out to be
really great! It was the first verse of "Venite Fedeli", which is the
Italian version of "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful". I can't believe that
we've already been together for 11 weeks by now. He's almost done being
trained! He's grown up so fast! Haha
After the Christmas program we ate, and there was a LOT of
food, even for the 40 or so people that were there. As I said last week,
Anziano Larson and I brought some American desserts, which turned out great. Our
apple pie was surprisingly good for our first attempt ever, our banana cream
pie was amazing as always, and the chocolate chip cookies were phenomenal.
Anziano Larsen couldn't stop eating them until they were completely gone haha.
All in all, it was a really good experience and a lot of fun for everyone who
went!
This last Sunday, our zone fasted together in order that we
might be able to advance the missionary work in our respective areas. On Monday
morning we finished our fast and spent some time before lunch doing some
finding. We decided to ring doorbells since we hadn't done it in a while and to
our surprise we were let in four times in only
two hours. Those kind of odds are very good, in my experience. We shared
with each of them the Light The World video and found, in total, five new
people who asked us to come back!
The next day, Tuesday, we didn't have any appointments planned
because we weren't able to set anything up (everyone is on vacation it seems, unsurprisingly
haha). However, as the day went on, things just seemed to fall into place to
allow us to set up last-minute appointments with the few people I hadn't called
the day before. One of those people, a new contact named Evans, told us quite
sincerely that he really wants to develop a stronger relationship with God.
Perfect! That's our job! It just goes to show that there is a lot of power in
fasting and that when we commit ourselves so serving the Lord He provides a way
for us to succeed.
I hope this Christmas is a very special one and that you can
always remember the blessing that it is to have a Savior. Make someone's Christmas
bright this year by spreading a little joy and positivity wherever you go!
Merry Christmas!
-Anziano Jake Wilkinson
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