Preparing People

March 27, 2013
Well we have finally broken the thick ice of baptism here in Busto. Busto or Bust! Our part member family accepted a baptismal date after 3 months of teaching. We just need to pick a day haha. We are really excited!!! We also found an entire family of 4! We built up a fat pool of investigators this last week! We now have about 8 investigators instead of just 5 and now are teaching more. We had a really good week and taught lots of lessons. The ward has been helping us a ton. When I got here there was not a lot of enthusiasm for missionary work but I think the members are getting on board and are more willing to help us. We are having success with them and we are going to try to hunt down some inactives and get them back to church! Endure to the end! Everyone has trials but we should make church a priority so that we can have God’s help. “ I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, when ye do not what I say ye have not promise.” Cioe...(in other words) keep the commandments! Not find an excuse to stop observing them because your life is hard. God will help us only after we do what he asks. We can’t expect him to work miracles when we don’t even follow what he says.

Oh man that was a good story. The email can translate to Italian so I read your story in Italian and It was the funniest thing I’ve ever read haha. But anyways, I hope that you guys are helping the missionaries not just with food and fun, but by giving them referrals. Even if you don’t think you know anyone think about it and see who we can invite to hear the message of the restoration. Even if we have already talked to them about it, give them another chance huh? The Lord is preparing people to hear the truth, yes, even in Idaho Falls. And the only way is through members. These missionaries have to run a whole stake, not just a ward. I can barely get work done in a ward and I can’t imagine a stake.

Well things are going good and I’ve had to learn some time management while being district leader. Anziano Heaton is doing good. I’ve started to talk to him only in Italian and I think he is getting the hang of it. Well anyways the weather here has taken a nasty turn and it’s been cold here! Not like Idaho but still. Well we are pluggin along and doing our best and I don’t have a lot of time here left so I have to work my hardest.! Bike is good and I’m about 50 km from getting to 1000 km since I’ve been here in Busto. that’s like what 620 miles or something? I don’t know. Well finally in my life I’m working all the days you work Dad!  I don’t even get vacation. Even p day isn’t free day. It’s get chores done day. Blehh. Anyways, carry on and persevere through the Idaho spring weather there haha. Ciao

Thank you sisters for all the love and support. Happy Easter and eat some eggs for me.

Love Anizano Benson

More Busto

March 20, 2013

Family,

Anziano Heaton and Anziano Benson in Milano

I am still in Busto and I will hit the year mark leaving Busto haha. We are right in the middle of trying to work with some people. We probably won’t see a ton of baptism this next transfer but we would like to see 2. We have about 8 investigators but only 2 of them would be ready. Things have been going good and we are seeing a change in all these people. I’m now the district leader for the district which has the assistants and a sister couple who are on the south side of Milano by the mission office so the responsibility grows even more haha.  Kind of stressful. I don’t have time to do anything. Ever. But the work is moving forward and we are doing all we can to keep it that way.

 I’m glad to hear that we will be getting Allison. I hope I will be in her district. Hey I’m super excited for Austin Jensen. (Anziano Jensen is the 4th missionary from our ward to serve in Milan Mission- all serving right now. Anizano Benson, Anziano Salmon, Sorella Astel, and now Anziano Jensen) Tell him that he is coming literally to the best mission in the world. Lots of people say that theirs was the best mission in the world. But the Italy Milan Mission is for a fact the best mission in the world, not an opinion. It demands a lot of patience, faith, and obedience and if he can do that he will come home happy and full of success! But anyways I’m excited to hear that more missionaries will be coming from Idaho. It is quite strange, but the more people that get called here the more I will be able to use the language at home. Tell Ellis to sign up for Italian at BYU and I’m sure she will get called here haha. No doubt. Love you all and take care. I will try to get a letter to the girlies this week.
The weather was pretty nasty here last week but nothing terrible in Busto. We got some snow but it’s just the 32 degree snow where it doesn’t stick, and Yes!! I did finally get the Easter package! It was good because the post lady just puts it outside my door so when I open the door in the morning I get to see a nice big package full of candy. So happy!
Anziano Benson
(Families with missionaries in Italy: We have found that small padded envelopes sent straight to the missionaries address gets there at no additional charge to the mission or the missionary.  It takes about 4 weeks and is delivered to their door, so timing is crucial.)

San Siro

March 13, 2013

Me and Anziano Heaton at San Siro- home of AC and Inter Milan

Family!

Hey things are super good! We are working hard and Anziano Heaton is laying down some solid testimony in the lessons bringing people to tears in his new found language of Italian.  I have great hope for these people. They are some of the best people you will ever meet. I hope the best for them and pray for them and that the work for the Lord will progress.
Man the San Siro Stadium Tour was probably the greatest thing I’ve ever done, ok not ever but it was definitely one of my favorite Pdays ever. I loved it.  After awhile, doing tours of art and churches gets boring and this was just amazing. Anz Heaton probably loves calcio as much as I do so we were both right at home when it comes to this stuff. We went into the locker room of AC and Inter. Not going to lie, it was pretty awesome!!!! Probably one of the funnest things I’ve done here in Italy. I sat in one of the chairs. For a small moment I felt so close to being pro, but my skills are far from it haha. But that’s ok. Life of the pro is not all its cut out to be right? We went to the team store, and I got a Milan flag to add to my collection haha. We had a great time!

 Remember last week when I said the good, the bad and the ugly and how I couldn’t find anything ugly in Italy?  Well, I found something.  This morning I decided that I needed a haircut and I’m too cheap to go to a barber so I did it myself again. Except something went terribly wrong and I totally cut a fat patch all the way down to the scalp on the top left side of my skull. I loooookkk terrible!!!!!!!! And Anziano Heaton laughed pretty good. Well what do you do? Nothing at all. You leave it, and let your pride get destroyed as people laugh at you I guess. This was truly an ugly experience and I couldn’t even take my own self serious because I just Imagine what I look like, and then start to laugh, but then I get mad because it’s not that funny, and then I laugh because its way funny and then I get mad because well that was dumb. Anyways I’m still peeved about it so moving on haha. Give it 4 weeks and you won’t be able to tell.

At the AC Milan Museum

Well have a good week and don’t give yourself haircuts family. Hear from you next week.

Love, Aniziano Benson



AC Milan Locker Room




My new AC Milan Flag



AC Milan Trophy Room

Inter Milan interview area

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

March 6, 2013

The Good: We had 6 investigators in church! That’s super high!
The Bad: Hmmm it’s raining really hard
The Ugly: My bike broke, but I fixed it! I don’t think there is much ugly in the mission. I’m in Italy!!!

Well today it’s just dumping rain, but we are going to go do a tour of the San Siro since Anziano Heaton is a big Inter fan. Sorry, but I’m not. Milan is way better haha. Anziano Heaton is doing good, and is picking up on the language. We are working really hard to help him learn it as fast as possible. He just needs to speak it more and he will get it, but sometimes it’s hard for us to speak in Italian all the time. We had a really good week last week with 6 investigators in church so we are definitely getting things in ship shape around here in Busto. We are also working with the mission office to get us out of Legnano and into Busto. We don’t have word on if we are moving apartments but for now we are in Legnano and it’s a lot of travel. Also, we might be building a new chapel in Busto. The one we have now is not very good and it’s a rent so they want to buy and build their own. We are pushing for these things because then it would speed up the work. As far as baptisms, we don’t have anyone lined up for this transfer, but last minute baptisms can happen haha. I’m still positive and if not for sure next transfer. We are having good success finding people to teach and we have a part member family where the wife is getting ready for baptism for sure. Just not this transfer. But everything is in the Lords time. Yeah we did Scambio and I got to go to Milano and do it. It was fun and missionaries are actually close to the stadium. They hear the roar of the stadium when Milan wins over Barcelona. But unfortunately I’m a Barca fan before a Milan fan so wasn’t cheering much 2 weeks ago.

 
Well I’m glad that you are all learning lots and studying the scriptures. I ask the family and everyone else to study preach my gospel chapter 3 as well for family home evening and personal study. It will change your life. Get out there and be member missionaries! And don’t make the same mistake that I did and be lazy about sharing the gospel. Even if you don’t baptize them or convert them they need to hear it, they have to have the chance to accept it or reject it. There are not enough missionaries on the earth to talk to every living person. The members MUST to their part or our efforts are in vain as missionaries. Talk to your neighbor, family, and friends at school and whoever else about it.  Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’m great and wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world right now.  Anziano Benson