The Miracles of Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,

You know you've had a good week when you end it with aching muscles and just begging to take a nap for P-day. All I can say is that I haven't ever experienced a week like this in my mission. It was unbelievable.

Suffice it to say, I am having a good time here in Cagliari. Every day it seems like is an adventure with Anziano Wiggins and having two other Anziani in the house helps with the jokes, but especially the spiritual strength we have together. As a house, we keep ourselves constantly updated on how the work is going, especially in finding new investigators, in an attempt to encourage one another to work as hard as possible. For example, one night we sacrificed taking the next bus home because we saw someone on the other side that we thought we should talk to and we had a very good conversation and we got his number!

Some funny events include a strike happened for the air traffic controllers so a missionary trying to get his permesso di soggiorno was stuck here an extra day, we had a ward party where the Africans sang a traditional song for Christmas and then we had to do the same unexpectedly (all we could think of was Jingle Bells), and looking for a smoke detector and finding out that no one in Italy owns a smoke detector. But the week was really defined by the people we taught.

First off, Victor. Victor is a refugee who is from Nigeria and is also only 22 years old. He is a friend of a member that just came to church one day and felt a different spirit than he had in other churches. We have had the great opportunity to teach him for the past 3 weeks and we had an amazing lesson with him and Bishop Maltesi on tithing. Actually, it was the first time I had ever taught the law of tithing to an investigator I think. It was amazing to see his dedication to endure to the end, that's definitely something that defines him. Since he is a refugee, he is interviewed by our mission president for baptism and so that wasa really cool expereince to participate in. We told Victor to show up at 3 and he showed up at 3:45. Good thing the interview started at 4. It's not their fault usually though, but in general Africans show up late thanks to buses being late or other things.

But all went well and his baptism will take place on the 23rd of December! He is really amazing and so we are glad he wants to take a big step toward becoming closer to God. If he was the only miracle, I would be content but there's more. John has been struggling to come to church on time even though he has so much faith in what we teach. We gave him a Word of Wisdom pamphlet to read over and he came to the lesson, explaining that he had quit smoking the day before because he felt that was exactly what God wanted him to do. He taught us the lesson basically and so we decided to really commit him to come to church and so Anziano Wiggins invited him to be at church at 8. He didn't hesitate a bit and said he would be there before we were (and we are usually the first ones in church). Sure enough we get a call while we are on the bus to church, and it's John asking where we are because he was in front of the church. Just so amazing!

And then there's Domenico. Our ward mission leader gave us the information to contact someone that was interested on Facebook. And so we met at the church for a lesson and in Anziano Wiggins' words, he is the most prepared person I have ever met. We sit down talking about why he wanted to meet and so he explains that he was thinking about how many denominations of churches interpret the Bible in different ways and then searched on the internet for scripture that hadn't been changed, that was original. And so the Book of Mormon came up. For me, he was exactly like Joseph Smith in his search for where the truth was. We explained it all and left it all up to him, to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and to come to church. Well he started reading and had an amazing time in church and the members couldn't believe how cool he was. He is certainly one of kind. He even wants to see the Rome temple construction site when he visits Rome for Natale.

I've learned a lot this week. God has blessed us so much this week and is continuing to help us be his instruments. In my studies this week, I've found myself turning again like I did last year to charity and I remember the question posed to me by someone, Do you really love those you teach and serve? We are doing a lot of great work but the most important thing I should do, I realized, is love others. More importantly, show that I do love them. So I hope during this last week before Christmas that it will be possible. I love this mission and see the blessings that God has bestows on me everyday and I hope to share those with everyone. It's going to be an amazing Christmas in the Lord's service, all thanks to our Savior Jesus Christ.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Price

The Mission At Its Best

Dear Family and Friends,

So here we are. It's week two of the transfer and I feel like we have done so much yet there is so much yet to do. Exhausted and yet really excited for what's to come. Searching to improve, yet also very content with how the week. To put it simply, it was awesome!

We first had our zone conference which while being a little crazy and put together fast, it turned out really well. I love having the opportunity to try and make a difference in the lives of these great missionaries we have serving on the Rock of Sardegna! With the help of my companion, Anziano Wiggins and Sorella Demann, we delivered a great addestramento and we are shooting very very high this transfer, in terms of goals and working our absolute hardest. Better time now than never to rededicate yourself completely to the work. The tiramisù I made turned out really really well, miracles were seen the night before in finding as a zone, more trainings were done and pretty soon it was over. I'm so ready to work my hardest now.

And we certainly did. We had lessons with our investigator Victor as well as with John who brought his wife to the lesson with the bishop, both of whom are from Nigeria actually. They surprise me so much during the lessons with how much they understand on a spiritual level the gospel of Jesus Christ. I catch myself going into lessons thinking something will be difficult or that they won't understand a certain concept. Like take for example, when I ask them what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ? Everytime the answer blows me away, on a level usually that I never thought of. Victor and John have been through a lot in life and understand truly what is important in life.

But I have to say miracles just keep falling out of the sky for us. We are sitting in correlation and our ward mission leader mentions someone who we should see. So we proceed to message him on Facebook and he immediately responds with questions about the Book of Mormon and our testimonies. There's that and Anziano Wiggins randomly just talked to a man running a Cagliari jersey store that turned out to be both interested in English Group and also learning about what we believe. Crazy!

Anziano Wiggins is a really good missionary, just an inspiration in daily diligence and receiving revelation that is just incredible. Also he really loves NASCAR. Plus the other two anziani, Anziano Anderton e Hunsaker are really amazing and we have our own Christmas tree and we are going all out for Christmas! Cagliari is just a great place to be. On Saturday nights, we do a blitz which more or less is where we go out with a whiteboard that says we teach english for free and talk to everyone that is interested and give away a lot of pass along cards. The centro is packed with people and it is fun to just talk to italians as they try to speak broken english or make fun of our american accents.

Honestly, I have the mission at it's best right now. Sure there have been and still there are a lot of daily struggles and I realize that I am old diciamo in the mission, but really I realize that I have been blessed. Blessed to serve in really cool places, meet amazing people, have great companions, and just be a missionary. My message really is to just enjoy Christmas. To remember why we do this all. The fact is that we truly do have a Savior, I can testify that he lives and that means He heals us and performs miracles and comforts us and teahces us today, just like he did back in Judea. I've spent some personal study time looking specifically at the words used for Christ's Atonement, being ransom paid, blood spilt, and how he now can forgive us all. It really is an honor to be at his side and proclaiming His name for He has saved my life and I owe Him every tribute of gratitude I can muster. (Luke 7:41-47)

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Price

Welcome to the Rock!

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm sure you're wondering where I am. So am I because I got transfered to Cagliari and I feel like I am dreaming. Okay, geography lesson: I moved from the islamd of Sicily to the other island in our mission called Sardegna. Fun fact: legend has it that Sardegna is actually where the lost city of Atlantis is based. All in all, it has been a switch from night to day. Smooth streets, buses that are timely, no trash! It's like I've been transfered to a mix of northern Italy and England. And despite my heart being in Sicily, I love it here!

I bid my adieus right after I got the call on Monday night by visitng a few families, seeing our miracle investigator, Santo, and teaching our great English Group one last time. Someone must have mentioned that I was leaving because some of the students gave me some chocolate as a gift. I will miss the Sicilian generosity that I have experienced for a good while.

I found that I was leaving on Wednesday which was quite a shock because normally you leave on Thursday. So after a flight, I am here in Cagliari with literally one of the best people I could ever serve with, Anziano Wiggins. He is the best, just such an inspiration and a great hard worker. We are going to work so so so hard this transfer.

Okay I would write a lot more but we have zone conference interviews today, the first zone conference of the transfer and it has been crazy. Just know that I know God answers prayers. He certainly answered my prayers. I am so blessed to serve on a mission and so grateful to be here in this new place. I could finish my mission here. Time is flying but now is the time to literally make my mission memorable and life changing. I can't wait to get started.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Price