Great news "Grade Notizia"! lessons in the Spirit

It would seem as though I would be getting a new companion and staying here in Trieste... However the Lord has called me another way, to be a Zone leader in Torino!  

Anziano Taylor will be staying here in Trieste for a fifth transfer and I am going to Torino. I feel the weight of the responsibility but I know its going to be fun. And Torino is gigantic!  (1 million people, 3 congregations ) 

Wow! Its really exciting. It was a totally unexpected call. 

It was funny because Monday is usually when transfer calls come usually at lunch time, but this time the assistants and president made almost all the transfer calls late at night. Anziano Johnson and Anziano Taylor were freaking out the entire day, and we didnt get a call until 10:00 at night. Hahah but then with all this anxiety we got this very unexpected news that he would be staying and I would be going to Torino, it was just that much more exciting.

Torino Italy (stock photo)

The biggest miracle this week has again been with a part-member/recently less active family we have been teaching, Matteo (nonmember) and Jessica (was less active), who have a little 1 year old boy. We talked to them about prayer.  Matteo talked to us about how he had started praying morning and night, which was the first great thing. He talked about how he was still not very certain on calling God padre celeste (heavenly father) when he prayed to him, but he had an experience that changed his view on things. He specifically recounted an experience he had where he said a prayer with his wife Jessica and as an experiment decided to call God "potere eterno"(eternal power) or something similar to that. Usually when Matteo and Jessica pray together they feel a feeling of peace, but that time when they prayed, "le parole erano belle, ma non mi sentivo niente."(the words were beautiful but they didn't feel anything) This was a huge testimony builder to me how the spirit testifies to people when they are doing the things that God commands. 

Another interesting thing about this family is that when we first met them, Matteo was a self professed Pagan and Jessica kind of followed along with him. They had a Druidic wedding performed about a year ago that was meant to seal their souls together when they get reincarnated or something like that.

Now, they have totally changed, more noticeably Jessica, who is now a 100 percent active member. (I always think about how the Gift of the Holy Ghost played a role in that) Matteo made a funny comment, "how could you have changed your beliefs in just three weeks?" She said, I dont know! It just is how I am now. 

This continuing conversion story is an example of how the Spirit works to help convert people. All the progress and the reasons why they have always wanted us back to teach them has been because of the "sentimento di pace" that we bring into their home. That powerful feeling that only the spirit can bring. 

I also feel that spirit every time we teach them and am thankful for that. Its is the agent that helps them learn eternal truths that they know deep down. I am so thankful for God allowing me to participate in this conversion experience for them, it has been more like one of those times where I have just worked to get out of the way of the Spirit instead of seeking for it because the spirit is so strong with them. I will definitely miss them and their cute 1 year old in Trieste, however I am excited and humbled by the calling to serve as a zone leader in Torino. 

PS they totally talked about their 1 year old going on a mission like it was totally normal too :D

The other miracle was a man we visit frequently who is a member named Tobia. We visited him on Tuesday and he has been having a lot of problems with the normal things in life, and when we visited him his house was a mess and just felt like a stressful, horrible situation. We taught him and gave him some encouraging words 

This saturday everything changed.We walked into his house and could immediately feel a feeling of lightness around his house, his house was clean, and his countenance was totally changed. He was calm and he said his problems hadnt changed, but that he is putting his trust in God now. It was an absolute miracle!!

Love, Anziano Day

Picture from Ryan's training last week in Modena

Ryan is looking down and has red tie on in the right middle  

Note from Mom-  Torino is the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics and is set with the Alps as a beautiful backdrop.  It has the third largest economy in Italy and is the automotive capital of Italy as Fiat is headquartered here as well as Alfa Romeo and Lancia. It is a 10 hour train ride from the eastern part of Italy ,Trieste, to Torino which is close to France and Switzerland.