Citta' Alta

June 27,2012 - A birthday wish from Ben makes Mom's day!!!

Cara Famiglia e gli amici-

This week has been great! We had church with our new ward since the split and I counted and there was about 65 people in the congragation! I like it alot smaller because I can get to know the members better! But church was great although Rogelio didn't come again but next week we should see him in church. We are still probably going to move his baptism date back another month so he can be totally prepared! We had a conference in Verona this week which was great! We had alot of great instruction on how to be better missionaries. This week we've been doing alot of work with the GANS (Giovanni Adulti Non Sposati) young single adult and also with members. It's funny because everyone here has been getting into the Euro cup they love soccer here. Today we cleaned the appartment! It was nasty. Like we had ants and all sorts of bugs filthy. But it was like that when I got here so don't worry it's not me! Yesterday we had a great lesson with the Pelle family. They have a daughter who is in critical heart condition and they are from Savonna another city in Northwestern Italy. We've been seeing them about once or twice a week to see how they are doing and there for support. We shared a scripure I like in Jacob 7:1-5 which talks about a man (Sherem) who tried to convince Jacob that there was no God. But in verse 5 it talks about how Jacob had a strong testimony and his faith could not be shaken because he had seen many miralces and revelations. We explained how important it is to grow our testimonies now because when those Sherems come (trials) we can be ready for whatever happens. Things here have been great and I am enjoying my time as a missionary! I would like to wish a Mrs. Kimberly Thomas a Happy birthday and let her know that she is the BEST mom in the world and I'm am so lucky that she is my mom! Once again thanks for everything and Vi voglio Bene!!

Anziano Thomas

Ben at the river in Verona

Ben with investigator Rogelio (on the right)

Verona- Ben says it is the most beautiful city

Visiting Verona & Teaching Rogelio

La mia Familia e gli amici-

Ciao tutti! These last two weeks so much has happend I'll start with last P'day. We went to Verona and it is seriously the most beautiful city I have been in, in my life! While we were there we saw Verona's Collasium and then went to see the Balcony of Romeo and Juliet! We then went and got Kabob for Lunch which was so good the best Kabob I've had. After we went to this view which you had to go up a ton of stairs to see all of Verona and it was amazing with the River right in front of us! After we saw a wall that was built the same time as when Heleman was on the Earth. Verona was amazing and tomorrow we will be going back for a conference so I'm excited about that!

This week has been pretty funny we helped move two families which took most of our morning but it reminded me of working for Wayne minus the cat smell. We had to clean out a house and take it to the dump but it was nice to help our members out! These last two weeks have been pretty tough with the work. Since this last Sunday the Bergamo ward spilt up we are basically whitewashing (starting from scratch) we had to give all of our investigators to the Sister missionaries and we just bought an abbonamento (a ticket that works for buses and trains so you don't have to buy a ticket everytime). So now our zone is outside of Bergamo and covers all the small cities south of Bergamo. So everyday we take a bus or train for finding work or seeing members. It's been pretty tough but it's nice working in a place where the city has never had missionaries in it before! As far as Rogelio things are going great with him we will probably move his baptism date back to July 14 because he hasn't come to church yet do to work! But Rogelio is such a great guy and I love our lessons with him he is so funny and sincere! He invited me to come to the Philliapeans after my mission so I'm looking forward to that haha! Things in Italy are great and I am loving the work and helping people! Thanks for the support and prayers! Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Thomas

New Area: Bergamo, Italy (pronounced BARE gah mo)

Address (as of May 30th):

Anziano Thomas

Via 24 Maggio 23A

Bergamo (BG) 24100

Italia

Como stas?

First week in Bergamo has been awesome and I've loved it. It is a lot different that Ravenna, more new and updated. But Bergamo is such a beautiful city! The city is surrounded by mountains and it is separated 2 ways. One half of the city is called "città alta" which is the city built into the mountains and the other half is called "Città bassa" which is the lower half of the city but it is soo beautiful I love it. You're probably wondering why I started the Email off with "Como Stas" well my new companion his name is Anziano Stromsdorfer and he is from Columbia! And in Bergamo there are many Bolivians about half of our lessons are is Spanish!! It's funny because I can understand about 3/4 of what they are saying but I can't speak it so I just keep teaching in Italian with a little Spagnolo mixed in. But Anziano Stromsdorfer is great was born in Columbia and moved to Utah around 10 or 12 and speaks great Spanish! The work here in Bergamo is great also! It's different than my last city because we do more Parco (park finding work) and Strada (street contacting). Ravenna we did a lot of (casa knocking doors). But we do have one baptism date and his name is Rogelio and his is from the Philippines! He's a nurse and is really funny he always calls me his teacher because I give him Chapters out of the Book of Mormon to read and he comes back and we talk about what he learned. He speaks English but reads in Tagolog. Our date with him will be the 29 of June! Bergamo has 2 WARDS!!! And our ward is splitting in 3 weeks to become a ward and a Branch!! So what will be cool is that we will have to take a train out to an area that has not had missionaries in it before. So a lot is going on here. We have 8 missionaries here total. 4 Elders, 2 sisters, and 2 senior couples. Also we do a lot of work with the GANS. Young single adults and we have a lot of fun working with them! Things are going great and we are continuing to work hard and help those come to Jesus Christ everyday! Thanks for all the support!

Anziano Thomas