Dear Family and Friends,
It's such a struggle to remember all the things you did at the end of a week because we do just so much here! I had to buy my second journal which is crazy to think that I have been out here long enough to be able to do that! In fact, I have been in Italy for just over a year now and I can honestly say without a doubt it had been the best experience of my life. Italy and my mission here have changed me for sure (now let's hope it's for the better!)
Comunque, this was a great week! First off, we celebrated Ferrragosta! Pretty much means middle of august and every takes a week off to go to the beach for the day when the Virgin Mary ascended into heaven. Surprisingly we still were able to teach 2 lessons on that day which is unheard of! Granted, our only investigators are not the normal people to celebrate Ferragosta i.e. super old (Emanuele), not from Italy (Elias), and acts sometimes like he is always on vacation (Sebastiano). Sure it was difficult to see days where there was hardly anyone on the streets but we perservered and had some cool experiences.
One day we were in the park enjoying the much needed cool breeze in the shade after our studies, and we decided to go in an area we nevee really go into. While walking with the intention of going to check if some addresses were correct, we see two ragazzi sitting on a bench. Of course, we need to go talk with them. Turns out they do speak English and we got into a conversation. Who are you? Americans! Missionaries? Do you want this homemade arancino? (That was a surprise and it was so so good!). Daniele and Leonardo immediately launch into big questions (what's after this life? What's good and evil? What makes someone good or evil? Why does God allow suffering to exist? Does God exist?) and so we tried our best to explain all of it in the context of the plan of salvation. In the end, it came to the point that we really don't know all the answers because we live in mortality, we are meant to walk by faith, and if want these answers we turn to God. We gave them a Book of Mormon and they want to meet with us again sometime after Ferragosta! È stato bellissimo!
We also had a scambio this week where two other missionaries (Anziano Perfili e Alexander) came to Ragusa and we worked with theem seperately. We all first went to pranzo with the Lo Monaco family because they are amazing (seriously, one of the best ragu pastas I have eaten) and Anziano Perfili started his mission also in Ragusa. I was with Anziano Alexander for the day and for part of it, we literally just turned down random streets, searching for the one person on that we could ask a question, that we could help and share our message with. It was a great opportunity for me to learn and put myself out there to talk with literally everyone and just be a light.
Other highlights include: We went to Catholic Mass with Emanuele for the memorial of his wife who passwed away 8 years ago which was actually very interesting to observe how they worship. Emanuele certainly appreciated it that's for sure! We passed by a former investigator's house who proceeded to talk with us about the bad things that happened in his life while eating peaches soaking in a glass of wine, but he is still a great guy. We have started teaching Elias italian which is pretty fun and he wants to make really fast progress so he talk to everyone. And afterward we got Magna Magna pizza, probably the best pizza here (but sadly not like Napoli). We also had a fun pranzo with the Guastella family from Comiso who just make me laugh and smile that these great people exist.
Oh and since we stopped English Group, we were finally able to go to Falcone's class. For those who don't remember, he is the guy who had a giant library of books on religion and philosophy and considers our religion one of the best and comes to church often. He holds a class where his friends gather and talk about different religions and philosophies and also argue with one another at the end. It was a really cool experience because they asked lots of deep questions about our faith and what we believe (so definitely worth our time!) And they also enjoyed the sugar cookies we brought haha! By the way, we didn't have a rolling pin when I made the cookies so my first thought was unwrapping a roll of aluminum foil and using the cardboard tube. Let's just say it worked, but there was a big mess afterward.
To conclude, I'll talk about Sebastiano. He has been on and off for over a year now investigating the church and I have had the great opportunity to teach him for almost 6 months now. We had a lesson last week where he straight up told us in the middle of the lesson that he received revelation that he needs to be baptized on the 9th of September. It's a huge miracle and we will do everything that we can to help him get there still. To see people change and feel the same way I do about the gospel and how it truly makes you a better person, fills my heart with joy. When I go out each day, I try and imagine with everyone I meet, how their life could be more happy, more full of peace and our purpose, which hopefully gives me the courage to declare unto them the truth that will cause that might change of heart. I am definitely not perfect but I'm trying to let faith guide me, not fear. I know there is more I need to here, and time's sadly running out. I love this work, my comoanion, these members, and everyone really in Ragusa. I really believe that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the best thing to change someone's life for the better and I hope I truly fulfill that duty before my time runs out here in the great city of Ragusa. I certainly owe it to God to do my best!
Vi voglio bene!
Anziano Price
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