Ben's cooking

Parmigiana!  It's like lasgna but instead of pasta it's melanzane (eggplant)

Gaetano's Baptism this Saturday!

Ciao Tutti!

This week went by quick! I think mostly because I was sick Monday. It was funny because one elder in our apartment got sick and then all of the sudden the next day the other 3 of us were sick. It's easy to get sick in our apartment because it is so close and small. So all of Monday I was in bed with a stuffy nose, fever, cough, and a sore body. BUT I was able to go out for an hour to go see Gaetano so he could get a baptismal interview from our district leader. Although I seriously thought I was going to die on the way there. But we taught him about tithing and the word of wisdom and it went well. We did an example to help explain the law of tithing. We went to a store and bought a bag of candy and when we explained tithing we gave him 10 pieces of candy and then read Malachia chapter 3 which says if we pay tithing God will open the windows of heaven enough we will not have enough room to receive it. So we read that and told him tithing is 10% and he gave us one piece of candy and then we dumped the bag into his hands and he didn't have enough room to receive it! It was a great lesson and Gaetano loved it (because he got to keep the candy afterward) but then he had his interview and passed so he's ready! We are all excited for this Saturday! This last Thursday we went to Mestre which took us 3 hours in train and had a conference. It went really well and it was alot of fun. What's nice about conference is that each conference we always get lunch for free so they ordered pizza for us all. It went well we did some role plays when talking about the book of Mormon to someone on the street. This next week will be interesting because I will find out where I'm getting transferred. I'm probably getting transferred because I've been here for about 4 months and been with Anziano Treadway for 2 transfers so next email I will know where my next city is! But I've really come to love the ward and the city so that will be tough to leave.. Today we are probably not going to do much these last pdays it has rained and one of our members told us that today it would rain today. Things are going well we saw Mareno the other day and went to see his brother who has schizophrenia and talked about how God has a plan for all of us. Mareno has said he has stopped smoking a I'm super happy for him. His mom says he definitely seems happier. We've set another date for the 10 of October so we are looking forward to that! Things are going well and I know that the Lord is guiding us to those who are in need. Thanks for all the support and love!

vi voglio bene!

Anziano Thomas

U.S. Pen Pal- Joe

When Joseph (Ben's 10 yr. old brother) found out that there was a 10 yr old Italian boy who was going to be baptized in Ben's area this Saturday, Joe wanted to write to him and tell him how excited he was for him.  Joe wrote the letter in English then had it translated into Italian.  Here is the letter and response from Ben:

 

Caro Gaetano,

Ho sentito dire che si sono sempre battezzati. Questo e incredible! Si tratta di una grande esperienza per essere un membro della Chiesa di Gesu Cristo dei Santi degli Untimi Giorni. Ho sentito che hai incontrato io fratello Ben. Ho 10 anni, mi chiamo Joe, e vivo a Mesa, Arizona, Stati Uniti. Non vedo l'ora di sentire ome va. Ma a me piace mettere a nudo la mia testimonianza so questa chiesa e vero, e so che tutti andranno in cielo e dico queste cose nel nome di Gesu Cristo, Amen. Spero che tu write back!

II tuo amico,

Joe Thomas

 

Ciao Giuseppe Tomaso,

Come stai? Tutto bene? Adesso qui in Italia sto bene. Abbiamo una data di battesimale per il 29 di settembre e siamo molto emozionati per Gaetano. Lui è un ragazzino molto bravo ed anche divertente. Penso che questa settimana qui a Bergamo sarà il mio ultimo a Bergamo. Però la prossima mercoledì io ti dirò dove andrò per la prossima città. Come sta la tua braccio? Spero che senti meglio più presto! Ma Giuseppe sono grato per l'email e spero di ricevere più! Tu sei bravo. Non ti dimentichi, tu poui fare qualsiasi cosa! Grazie a mille per tutto a Bocca a lupo per baseball e basketball!

Ti voglio bene

Anziano Thomas

 Translation below:

Hello Joseph Thomas,
How are you? all right? Now here in Italy I'm fine. We have a baptismal date for September 29 and we are very excited about Gaetano. He's a very good kid and fun. I think this week here in Bergamo in Bergamo will be my last. But the next Wednesday I'll tell you where I'm going to the next city. How is your arm? I hope you feel better soon! But Joseph is grateful for the email and hope to get more! You are good. Do not forget, you can rank do anything! Thank you so much for everything Mouth luck for baseball and basketball!
I love you
Elder Thomas

Ben's brother- Daniel opening his Mission Call!

Daniel is going to the Keyna Nairobi Mission
He reports Feb. 7th!

La mia Famiglia-

Today I just found out that my brother Daniel is going to KENYA! I cannot believe it, Africa did not even pass my mind.. I'm so happy for Daniel. This week I've been praying that where ever he gets called to he will love it and know that it's where the Lord needs him! I have to laugh though. We will have such completely different experiences! I'm so excited for his experiences that he will have.. it still hasn't hit me but something I do know is that he will GROW and learn so much and that is a HUGE blessing! Haha I still can't believe it!

Well these last two weeks have been great! Especially with the work! Right now we have 2 baptisms scheduled for the 29 of Settembre! But as of now it's looking that it will only be one. Our baptismals dates are Mareno and Gaetano! We will probably have to postpone Marneo for a few weeks later just to make sure he's 100% ready! I'm a little bummed because I know that I'll probably be getting transferred before I see him baptized but all that matters is that he's getting baptized right? I love Mareno such a character with a strong desire to follow the Lord also something cool is that he has family that lives in our area and I believe he will be a great source for referrals! Our other baptismal date is Gaetano Heleman Di Stefano. He is a 10 year old boy whose family is from Sicilia. Super great family probably my favorite family in the ward. When I got into Bergamo I found out that Gaetano was not baptized just because his family had not been active for several years. But this last year his family is now active and strong and his father just received the Melchizedek priesthood. We've eaten at their house twice in these last two weeks and I've had some really good Siciliano food! I love their family though the Francesco (the dad) works for the Italian Army and both him and the wife talk super fast haha I love it! But right now with them we are teaching Gaetano the gospel principles because he didn't grow up and have a strong knowledge of our church! He's super cool though the first time we saw him he asked a ton of questions about what missionaries do and is really interested in serving a mission!

But those are our 2 baptismal dates. Our other investigators are doing well still working with Natacha and Fausto just trying to get them to understand that this is the TRUE church and has the AUTHORITY. They're great though. In fact this last week we had a cool experience. We were in Dalmine and we where going through the park. We saw this massive man riding on a bike and just totally biff it. He got up real quick and looked around to make sure nobody saw him. (We acted like we didn't see it) So we walk over and this guy is 6'4 320 lbs from Romania. We told him that there was a purpose in life and talked to him a little about God. He started crying and just told us that he's just lost his job and misses his brother who is living in the US. It was incredible because the day before that he told his wife, <<this week will be the week that I change my life>> and so we show up. Super awesome guy his name is Adreano and we had a lesson with him yesterday with a member and was one of the best lessons that we've had! The member was great I was a little hesitant to use him but was solid! So we will see him this Saturday! This week has been great lots of things going on today is raining and P'day last week was funny. We went to Lecco and and soon as we got off the train it was pouring! So we just went back to Bergamo and played calcetto and P'pong! Things are going great I still can't believe Daniel is going to Africa and know it's where he's supposed to be! Thanks for all the support I'm loving my mission and enjoying the experiences I'm having everyday! Love you all Vi voglio bene

Anziano Thomas!

Lecco

Catholic Church in Lecco

Ben, Destiny, Anziano Treadway

Destiny in his African suit

Citta Alta- Bergamo

The scorpion on Ben's wall.  He killed it!  Ben was stung when he was little, he had a bad reaction and spent hours in the emergency room convulsing.  He knows how to take care of scorpions now.

Investigators at Church and Scorpions

Ciao tutti!

This week was great! Especially this Sunday! These past few weeks we haven't really had anyone come to church and really this week we've been praying for them to come. So on Sunday when we get there, first hour of church no one is there. But we know for sure our investigator Mareno was coming he was just a little late. So I'm sitting in priesthood meeting and someone knocks on the door and it's Natacha!! I couldn't believe it she even brought her daughter Kait with her. So we ran out showed Kait where Primary was and then took Natacha upstairs for Relief society. After we were waiting awhile again and we were still waiting for Mareno. So I walk outside and in the distance I see this African in an African suit walking and I think, "that's not Mareno, where's Mareno!" So this African gets closer and I realize that it's Destiny! It was hilarious I couldn't believe it! We only taught this guy twice and he told us "by God's grace he would come to church" which means maybe probably not. So I took him into class and as soon as he walks into class he says "Gooooood morning everyone!" Hahaha and everyone in the class spoke Italian! And then finally Mareno came! It was amazing everyone in church had a great experience! Oh and by the way we had a lesson with Mareno and he has a baptismal date for Sept. 29!!! And he keeps asking about it he wants to get ready!! So we are super happy for that he's a miracle and really a great guy about 37 years old, born in Lombardia, right now he lives with his mom because he had an incident 10 years ago where he got into an accident and now is in "retirement" because he physically can't work but really nothing is wrong with him he's completely normal! Work is going great! Last P'day we went to città alta again and went to the top and checked everything out it was great and we had alot of fun. We went into alot of Catholic Churches up there and got to see all of Bergamo super beautiful. This week I also did a scambio in Brescia and had a funny experience. We were doing finding work and we bumped into this Family from Peru and I start talking to them in Italian and they're like "uhh.. we don't speak Italian only Spanish and I was like oh.. va bene. So I started speaking Spanish. Except it wasn't. I just put the letter s at the end of every Italian word. But it doesn't work like that hahah. It was terrible but the family appreciated it and after me and the elder in Brescia just busted up laughing! Other news, this week I made pigs in a blanket! Very Italian I know but I made it with my own bread I made and it turned out pretty good!

Also this week I saw something I haven't seen in a very, very long time. A Scorpione!! I walked into my room and saw it on the wall. So since everyone from my apartment was from Washington, California, and Utah. I had to kill it because I was from Arizona. It was funny. I dropped it on our electric racket we have for killing mosquitoes. This week was great today we are going to Lecco. A city on the Como Lake. Anziano Treadway served there so he's going to show us around! Things are going great loving the work and really appreciate all the prayers. This week pray for Mareno, Natacha, and Fausto as well as pray that we find new investigators! Thanks for everything and all the support! Vi voglio Bene! Grazie a mille!

Anziano Thomas