Time Is Flying

October 23, 2013

Anziano's Benson and  Fiorentino

Hey!
Well things are going well. I’m so very thankful to get into the groove with my new comp. Thank goodness transfers are over! Most crazy day of my life! But it was fun and I actually handled it pretty well and got everyone where they should be. Things are going well and not much has changed at all in the last transfer. I still haven’t set any bap dates my entire time in Muggio. But that’s all good! We are having a blast and we are getting things in line with the ward. Pres. Dibb wants us to work more with members so we are going to give it a shot and see what happens. We are praying hard and we seriously have been like 100% obedient and so we are starting to see a few blessings. My new comp Anziano Fiorentino is a stud! He is just driven to get stuff done. Example... he didn’t want to speak English anymore so for the past 5 days I haven’t spoken any English. It’s really weird and even though both of us are American and it’s so much easier to speak English we just do it in Italian. I’ve never done this before for so long. It’s really stressful at time because you really see how much of the language you still don’t know, but it’s been good and I’m getting the hang of it. He’s just a really really good missionary; top notch. One of the best I have had. Actually I have had all really really good comps, but this one is just awesome. He has 2 transfers left including this one. He gets home in January. Kind of crazy because when he goes home I will have just 2 transfers left! Oh man Someone help me I’m on the 6 month countdown and I’m freaking out! Man I’ve really got to get some stuff done! I am really enjoying my time here in Muggiò. The ward is really really big; bigger than I thought and we have a lot of work to do.

Well that’s all I got for this week. Time is flying. Especially as ZL. I don’t think we have been home before 9:50 all this week. We have just been so busy. It’s fun though! Well have a good week!

Elder Benson

Fortza Milano Est!!

October 16th, 2013

So anyway here is the news! I am staying in Muggiò and my new comp is Anziano Fiorentino! He isn’t Italian but is from Florida! He seems pretty cool but I haven’t met him yet, tomorrow we will be at the Milano Centrale station bright and early. Too early perhaps, but that’s all good! 

Last week was crazy.  Here is what I did last week:

View from our appartment.  My old area in in the
Mountains in the background


So I will give you a quick lowdown of this week. Well Monday we had transfer cleaning day where we deep clean the apartment. Then we had to get on a train after lunch and go to Pavia and do a bap interview. Takes 2 or more hours to get there. Then Tuesday we had a few appointments in the morning and then apparently they decided to add sisters to Monza so we had to go set up their apartment that they just bought so Tuesday evening we spent some time unloading all the stuff from IKEA and putting together everything and all that fun stuff. Wednesday Anziano Moore has to pack and all that fun stuff. Thursday we will be at Milano Centrale station all day from 8:30-5:00 calling and making sure that everyone gets to their city safely. In short when it comes to transfers we are the assistants to the assistants because we live close to Milano so we are as much as a part of transfers as the assistants because if anyone gets lost we are the first people to call. Then Friday we have weekly planning and probably grocery shopping and then a few appointments set up in the afternoon. Saturday we have some time but after lunch we are going to Milano Lamgugnano chaple for the stake conference adult session and leadership training for all the stake people. Sunday stake conference again Milano. And on top of that we had to call our entire zone and give them travel plans for transfers and tell them what time they are leaving what who they are meeting up with what train they are taking and so forth. Then when we get to the station on Thursday when all the missionaries meet up in a big group we have to organize all the missionaries to get them where they need to be doing and people are late and so on. Anyway this is probably like your INL users week but in Italy and well if you have ever used public transport in Italy you know it’s terrible, confusing you get lost, never on time, and unreliable. But we somehow are managing to fit lessons in! I’m not sure how that is possible but it’s working out!

Anziano Moore and me with our game soccer game face


Like I said we have been busy.  This is actually our only relaxed p day.  Our last pdayshave been really busy and we have even had to sacrifice our time to teach lessons and do some other stuff what we were not able to get done during the week. This has been going rather slow work wise, but there is always something to be done. I’m really not able to keep up on everything; we could really use like 2 more hours each day to finish what we need to get done. It just kind of continuously piles up. I don’t know if it just that we need to plan better or what but it’s just rather ridiculous, we have a ton of fun doing it though. The transfer has just flown. 

Fiat 500.  Very Italian

It’s crazy I can’t believe that I have 4 transfers left is all! Are you kidding me! I’m freaking out! But I’m really happy to be busy. Better busy that not so I can’t complain. Anziano Moore has been a great comp and I’m thankful for his obedience and great attitude about everything. He never wants to stop he just goes and sometimes I have to tell him. Anziano its 10:00 you can’t call investigators at this hour! We will do it tomorrow, don’t worry. haha. He has no on or off switch he just goes and goes and goes. It’s been great! We laughed a ton and he is quite the jokester. Sometimes it’s hard to keep ourselves focused, but we manage to do just fine without too many distractions. Anziano Moore is off to Torino to train open a 


My normal Transportation

new companionship and be district leader! That probably the only thing busier than a zone leader is doing that! That’s just crazy! But he’s really excited. The transfer we had was full of laughing and joking, and thank goodness because otherwise the work can get really, down and depressing, but not for us that was completely the opposite. Well the work is slow a little but we barley have time to teach lessons this week anyways so that’s probably ok for this week. But we will have to focus more on that next week when we can get some more time to sit down and think about it and get ourselves organized and planned better. If you want to succeed in life you have to plan and organize yourself! That’s just the way it works! Huge testimony of planning and organization in the mission. I invite you to put it into practice at home as well. It is a principle of the gospel because the gospel is planned and organized. Did God not say in Moses that all things were organized spiritually before they were created physically? He planned all the creation and how it would go as well. That is why he is perfect because he is perfectly organized unlike us. We need to do the same. Hope that all of you are doing well and that you are living the gospel like you should. I am just loving every second of the mission and I’ve put into the practice the words of Anziano

Holland. "Teach your missionaries to love rejection!" He explained to the mission presidents of the Rome and Milan missions. I love rejection, sounds crazy but if you don’t you can’t reach your full potential as a missionary. I wonder how rejection can apply to real life, but I will figure that out later. Well that’s everything for now and we will see how this next transfer goes! Transfers 12 prepare to get dominated by Anziano Benson and Fiorentino! Forza Milano Est!

All is Well

October 9, 2013

Oh man the weather took a nasty turn this last week. I went from short sleeve shirt to suit and overcoat and scarf in one day. I feel like I’m back in Idaho. We got a peek at the forecast and we are hitting 100% humidity and about 50 degrees. Let’s just say it feels more like 30 degrees not joking. The humidity just pierces all 5 layers you have on, and not helping was that we got rained on all day. I came home drenched and it’s not like I get to sit under an umbrella I’m on a bike! So I just get wetter than a dog. Wasn’t too fun the other day.  We are going forward, but so help me if it rains every other day just like last winter I don’t know if I will make it through this. There is nothing worse than being cold wet and 5 hours on a bike. There are no buses here so no chance of that. For now all is good and we will live. We have just been so busy with zone stuff and trying to keep our own work straight, but all is well.

Hey I won! I get a special award! I guessed where Joseph is going on his mission! Ghana! haha I was right! What up! haha I hope I get something fragile in the mail because of it! Congratulations Joseph.

Well love you! Have a good week!

Anziano Benson

I Really Feel Kind of Italian Now

October 2, 2013

Well this will be really short and I’m really sorry, but we are always in a rush. We have gotten into a habit of teaching on pday so we don’t even get time to do full email and stuff. But things were a little harder last week, and we are looking to find a few more people. We still have lots of people to teach but their work just consumes all of their time and availability. I really really love Muggiò. I feel right at home here and everyone here is really friendly and just calm. We are near Milano and I don’t mind the big city nearby. The air here is kind of dirty but it’s still beautiful where we are. I like Muggio because its more calm and outside the hustle and bustle of Milano and Monza. All is well on my end. I really like being a zone leader. Its helped me a lot more than I have helped others. It just really gives me no chance to think about myself and that’s just great! I love serving others. I’m still pretty focused on the mission and things are going well. I feel honestly right at home. I really feel kind of Italian now. The way they think, talk, act and live.  I just fit right in now haha. I have forgotten what life is like in America. It’s just so different here that I don’t remember even much about home and what it’s like. I’m just content working hard and having a good time. Me and Anziano Moore are having a lot of fun together and we keep the work going.

Well I really love you guys and don’t ever doubt that I don’t love you guys because I just absolutely adore my family and look forward to hangin with the fam again soon. I really have some good people in the fam and have the best sisters ever! Thanks for your thoughts!

Have a good week from your only and best son and child Elder Benson! haha

The Missionaries Are Top Notch Here!

September 25, 2013
Well I honestly hate so say it but there really isn’t anything new going on. We have just been busy busy managing the zone and keeping in contact with everyone. Yesterday I got to go to Pavia which I didn’t know was that beautiful but it was just a fantastic city. I really liked it and it was a lot like Siena, but still Siena is better haha. Well we have been hard at work and we are searching out a bap date. We are being patient and waiting for the right person to pop up though so they can accept the date. We have been doing some good work and we have about 14 investigators we are working with; most of them couples, and a family. We are just working working working and doing our best. I have been having a ton of fun and it’s been a real pleasure to get to know all these awesome missionaries. I think that all the missionaries are top notch here! I really love them and they are just great. We even have the chance to have some awesome Sorelle in the zone who are just working hard and having some good success. Last week in the zone we had 4 baptisms and it’s been really fun to watch and celebrate with these missionaries. I have to keep reminding myself how lucky I am to be here in Italy. Sometimes you just are kind of used to all the cool stuff. But more and more I am creating a deep love and awe for all the things I see and hear.

Love you all!

Drew

"Muggio ZL's At Your Service"

September 18, 2013
Che Settimana! Well things are going good here again. Staying busy, busy, busy. I’ve learned that zone leader means absolutely no personal time. I think I have written in my journal 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Pretty bad, but I just can’t find the time. When we get home we call many of the zone members to see how their week is going to encourage and inspire them to do better. We also have to see how all the sorelle are doing and that they are safe and not getting harassed or feeling down. It’s been good but tiring. We deal with phone calls from the minute the alarm goes off till the time my head hits the pillow Our phone basically rings every 5 min with questions, problems, and so forth. If we aren’t calling them they are calling us. It’s just so hard to stay focused, motivated and driven when you seriously are just dead dog tired because you did not sleep that well on the old squeaky hurt your back bed. Me and Anziano Moore try to keep a good attitude about everything and laugh off the sleepiness with jokes and funny phrases and making fun of stuff. It seems to work ok. It’s hard work. Sometimes we aren’t as efficient as we should be, but we are trying our best. I think we have done pretty good with being zone leaders and are making sure that we are watching closely to make sure everyone is doing ok.


"Muggiò Capi qui per il vostro servizio!" 
translation: Muggiò zone leaders at your service!



We are teaching a ton, but all of our investigators have things to work out.  We are praying for a miracle because there is one of these couples who is ready for baptism. Right now we are living in Muggio, but our proselyting area is Monza and Muggio and some of the surrounding cities. We are a rocks throw from Milano, but its way better than being stuck in that concrete jungle of dirty streets. Not a fan of Milano. But they have some good soccer that’s for sure. Keep me updated on AC Milan. Well not much new we have a lot of work to do and the lessons are going well! We seem to always have something to do and we haven’t had to do much finding work, but we will probably sift out some people this week and search out a few more. The ward is pretty big. About like my home ward right now. So it’s really fun. Thanks for everything! Love you all!
Drew

P.S. You will never guess what I found! Literally around the corner from the apartment there is an Adidas factory outlet! They have everything there! Its super awesome. I was thinking maybe of getting everyone in the family a Milan jersey for Christmas so that when I come home we can all match. I don’t know what you have in mind, but I think we are all Milan fans now, no?

Muggio- Milano East Zone

September 11, 2013

"I found Elder Jensen Fresh off the Plane."
Both from the same home Ward in Idaho

"You Know You're in Italy When."

Well things are going well in Muggio. I am in the Milano East Zone. This last week was just absolutely exhausting. Transfers, and not to mention we are in charge of making sure everyone gets on the right train and everything. So we spent like 9 hours in the Milano Centrale Station helping new missionaries and everyone get to the right train and get to the new cities. Then we had a consiglio with the Mission President and we met with all the zone leaders in the mission. We are over 4 districts and 13 couples of missionaries. Most of the missionaries being younger than 5 transfers and well, now the phone rings off the hook for questions, problems, reporting numbers of the week, and so forth. It’s just a lot to take care of. We are doing our best to care for all these new missionaries and make sure that everything is going well for them. I love it but I’ve also never been so tired in my life. Sometimes I wonder if I’m going to make it through the day. It’s been a lot of fun though. My new comp Anziano Moore is a pretty funny guy. We make a lot of jokes and we have some fun. Thank goodness we have fun or I would be going insane right now! We are in a pretty big city. At least Monza is. It’s bigger than I can handle anyways!  I never have served in this big of a city. The ward here is massive, one of the biggest in all of Italy. They have a lot of members here and it’s a strong ward. They even have young men and young women’s every week, just like at home! I haven’t seen that since I left home! The church usually isn’t strong enough to hold such activities every week, but now we are in an awesome ward so the ward is able and willing to help us with a lot, and we have a fair amount of investigators.

"Goodbye  Anziano Guzzle." Sad.

Yeah the Monza Grand Prix was last weekend. There were a lot of people coming from out of town to see it. I don’t think I have ever seen so many Ferraris in my life, not to mention some Lambos. I was on my bike riding to an appointment just chilling behind a supped up Ferrari for like 5 minutes. Talk about distractions! I almost wrecked at one point because I got caught gawking a little too much at the 20 Ferraris parked on the side of the road.

Well, I really appreciate all the emails I get from home. I think about you guys a lot and how lucky I am to have such a good family. The situation in Italy has been really bad. Everyone is out of work, it is probably worse than that we had in the states few years back. Even the members are having a hard time and people are sleeping in the streets, it’s really sad.  I have been humbled, saddened, even desperate to help someone. What do you do in a situation like this? Ahh, man it’s just been tough. It has caused many to turn to God for help and we are doing the best we can to be his instruments.  


Goodbye Lecco. My Favorite City!

Love, Anziano Benson