Ben' last letter!

Ciao Tutti!!!!

I believe this will be the last letter I write because next week I will be traveling to Milano.  But this week has been pretty emotional.. haha.  To begin with one of the elders in the apartment was hit pretty bad by a car.  We get a call from his companion and he told me that they were in the hospitale and he had to get x-rays.  Right now he's wearing a neck brace.  But what we had to do was go back to the place he got hit by a car with and pick up the bikes that were locked up.  I'm sure my parents might of done this before but we had to ride steering our bike while holding the other.  The bike I was holding was tough because it was the one that was hit so the wheel was bent.  But we managed to make it back which was nice.  This last Saturday I gave my last talk.  It was interesting we had just finished lunch and the branch president called saying that the person he had assigned couldn't make it so he asked me.  I only had a night to prepare but what I ended up talking about was patience.  I thought it was perfect for what the ward needed and was really thankful that I was able to give it.  It was nice I really felt the spirit and the members seemed to of liked it as well.  We also got to eat with president Quartarone and he has been such a huge help in the missionary work here.  I've really enjoyed him being the branch president and know that the work is going to go up from here.   Monday I had my last Zone Meeting and I had to give my dying testimony which was super weird..  I can't believe that these two years are finishing it's been such a special blessing.  A cool miracle that happened this last week was it was POURING rain as we were doing pass bys.  I was just amazed/irritated because it seemed like there was just a small cloud above us but it was pouring and we were drenched.  As we were riding to pass by a less active members home my companion screamed out from behind me, we should say a prayer!!  I was amazed my initial thought was why pray its not that big of a deal the rain will eventually stop but then I thought no we should pray.  So we did.  As he was praying the rain stopped.  I just sat there for a few seconds thinking how many miracles I've seen in the mission it was really a humbling experience.  I'm so thankful for these two years the things I learned and also the chance to strengthen my testimony so many people have touched my life.  This is the church of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is our Savior and God loves us.  I'll see you all soon  and love you all!!  

SEMPRE AVANTI

Anziano Thomas

On top of II Duomo

Michelangelo's La Pieta

Ben in Firenze! (Florence)

II Duomo

Small cars in Italy

November 13, 2013

Ciao!
Another pretty normal week a lot of finding work.  Time is still flying by however.  One cool miracle that we had this last week was Thursday we were doing a ton of finding work. The whole day talking to a lot of people without anyone stopping, we get to the night and we are walking down the street and we start talking to this guy from Peru we talked about the book of Mormon and he said we can come see him this next Sunday with his family!  We were super happy!  Even though everyone else before him rejected us it felt great when we finally found someone that would listen to us.  This week the other anziani had 2 baptisms!  A woman who was baptized a year ago her husband and 16 yr old son were baptized this last Saturday strengthening the branch!!    The baptism went great the only thing was the water was freezing.  Church was great as well all the talks that were given were nice.  We are trying to pass by a lot of members and strengthen the trust with us and the members. the members are really nice here.  Yesterday we ate with a man from southern Italy and he almost killed us with all the food we ate haha hope this week went well for all of you! Ciao!

Fort in Livorno



Ben' loves his cousin Spencer who is now an eagle scout!  They both did similar eagle projects -Christmas gifts taken to the Navajo Indian reservation.  I also love the family picture in the bottom left corner, scriptures, and Italian language book.

3 Weeks Left, still working hard!

Ciao!

This week you could say has been one of the harder weeks in the mission.  Just for the fact that we've been doing constant finding work with no success.  It was a hard week but we got through it and that's great haha!!  No one really was interested this week I don't know what it was and on top of that it rained....  it's funny to look back on now but in the moment it was rough.  Something good this week that happened was we had a zone conference in Florence and Elder Teixiera from the area 70 came and spoke to us.  I've heard him speak before, but this time was one of my favorite conferences I've had.  The only bad part was everyone was walking up to me and saying wow your done you only have 20 days... but it was fun.  We saw mostly members and had family home evening and English class.  For English class I substituted for a member because he went to the temple and it went well there were only 2 students in his class but it went really well I enjoyed it they were cool guys.  Family home evening was good we were in charge of the lesson and we talked about the holy ghost and its different roles.  Then we did an example with a bowl of water and put a layer of pepper inside and then put a knife inside saying that the bowl filled with water is the world.  The pepper is the sins.  And the knife is us.  When we put the knife in you could see it was dirty but with a rag we cleaned it off (repentance) put dish washing soap on (the holy ghost) and when we put the knife back it the pepper was pushed away.  The people there said I was a magician haha but it went well.  We are working just trying to find some investigators this week will be better love you all!

Ben

Elba Island.  This is Napoleon Bonaparte's villa where he was exiled.

Napoleon

Portoferraio

October 30, 2013

....sorry mom once again I can't write a big email because today we went to Elba Island!!!!!!! Hahah I've wanted to go there for my whole mission and I finally got to go I really enjoyed it!  This week went pretty good we had an activity but unfortunatly no one came.. it was an open house we'll do another one in 4 weeks so hopefully this one will go better!  Not much happend this week we found 2 new investigators but both of them didn't come to church.  This Tuesday, we'll be going to Florence for a conference with Elder Texiera so I'm excited for that.

A Tender Mercy on Ben's Birthday

On the morning of Ben's 21st birthday his mother received this text:
"I met your missionary at the train station in Florence, Italy.  He looks great and says he will
see you in one month.  Best, Greg Mclff, Draper UT.  - My sisters, Jill Lyon and Cathie Burnham
live in Mesa, their kids go to MV high school.

Ben turns 21 years old - October 24, 2013!

Some wine (juice), cheese, Tuscan meats and grapes in celebration of Ben's birthday!



Davide

Donatello's grave

Michelangelo sculpture

Scary/Funny Story

Ciao!

Another good week in Livorno!!  I'll start off with the scary/funny story I had here.  So last week we did a scambio (exchange) in Pisa it went really well and I learned a lot I went with Anziano Gessel who is going home next week and it was cool because he's the group right before me.  Anyway,  when we finished the scambio we came back to Livorno and the other Anziani were not there at the station.  We thought they we're suppose to be there but in the end we took a bus to get back to the apartment thinking they would be there.  We got back to the house and it turned out that they weren't there... so we decided to get a payphone and call them.  We walked around for about 5 minutes going to two different payphones until finding out the payphones in Livorno are no longer available at least where we were... so we walked back to the apartment and decided to wait for them.  We were standing in front of the building when we see this elderly woman on the second story wave us over.  We walked over and she said nothing that made sense just random words.  We were like uh... then a another woman walks out and says that this woman has Alzheimer's and we were like ohh it's fine.  As we were walking away I asked her if she's seen any other missionaries like us around and told her we couldn't find the other missionaries because they had the keys to get in.  She offered to let us use her's and we were like nice!  We go up to the second floor and the woman quickly hands us the phone as we start making the call, the woman with Alzheimer's starts screaming "Aiuto!  Aiuto!"  Trying to get out the door.  It was sad because she didn't know where she was.  We make two calls but the other Anziani don't answer us and she's screaming louder and louder.  We kept trying to tell her "tranquilla signora, tranquilla" (Relax or everythings fine.)  I saw each time I made a call it used some of this woman's credit so I told my comp to grab some change to give her .50£ The woman who lent us her phone was on the other side of the door trying to hold this woman in so I reached around to door to give her the phone with the change.  As I'm doing this the woman is screaming in my ear "Aiuto" the woman took the phone but didn't want the change as I was telling her to take it I look to the old woman whose right in front of my arm and she takes a huge bite into my arm!!!  AHHHH!!  I dropped the .50£ and we took off it was a traumatic experience as we walk out the door the other Anziani pull up in there bikes and we're like answer your phones haha but it's just funny to think how some missionaries get bit by dogs but in this mission you get bitten by people... 

Other than that traumatic experience haha the week went well.  We had a district conference in which Anziano De Feo from the 3rd quorum of the 70 came to talk to us.  What's weird is this last district conference was ALL focused on missionary work.  At the beginning of the mission it wasn't like that but it's really changing.  The talk given by Elder De Feo was great though I really enjoyed it he's a really young guy so I wouldn't be surprised if one day he gets into the 70.  This last Monday we did transfer cleaning.  We had transfers and no one is getting transferred so it will be the same.  We cleaned the apartment and it looks great.  As for the work it's still going slow we did find a new investigator this week and hopefully we can help her she's from Romania and been here in Italy for some time now.  Things are going well thanks for all the support and love!

Anziano Thomas

Ben's 2nd companion Anziano Marino he is from Pisa.  He was released 1 1/2 yrs ago. 

Volterra- Ben in front of the place where they filmed part of the movie Twilight.



Right in front of the main door at Volterra.

The rolling hills of Toscana (Tuscany)

Roman Theater

This is Ben's room (his bed is the closest one)

October 9, 2013

Ciao tutti!

This week went well as usual.  The highlight I would have to say was watching conference.  I feel like all the conferences throughout  have been amazing all of them really powerful.  Ones that come to mind were the talks given by Holland talking about depression.  I don't know I always enjoy talks that have a different topic than that of usual.  I would have to say my favorite talk of all was that by Elder Uchtdorf talking about when we fall to get up.  For conference we went to Pisa to watch it which was great.  I ended up seeing half in English and the other half in Italian.  It's great to know we have a living prophet which really made me thankful.  Something cool that happened this week was we've been talking to a ton of people and now we are getting some numbers so hopefully this week we'll see some of the fruits of all this hard work!  Yesterday we taught English class I teach the intermediate class which is pretty simple I like it a lot because it's conversation.  Monday I had a scambio with the zone leaders and really enjoyed it.  It seems on scambios more miracles happen and we were able to get into a less active members home and teach them a lesson so hopefully we'll be able to see her more often now.  Tonight I'm going to Pisa to scambio so I'm excited to go again. As for Anziano Larson things have been going good as well he's learning Italian quicker than I thought and he's working really hard to learn.  Things are going good in Livorno every so often it rains but it's starting to get cooler.  The branch president here is awesome his whole focus is missionary work even though there are some problems here with the branch things are slowly getting better.  We are trying to see at least 3 members a week.  Well hope all goes well this week love you all!

Anziano Thomas

Today went great! We went to Gli Uffizi which is the most famous gallery in Italy of art, so we went to Florence. It was really Fun!

Engraving by Donatello

Michelangelo's burial place

Galileo's death tomb

Davide

October 2, 2013

Ciao!

Sorry I don't have a lot of time to write today but this week has been pretty good.  Something I just finished with was a member map and it looks great.  During lunch and it the morning I've been working on it and it's finally finished so it will help the work with both missionary companionships since we spilt the city.  So we'll be now be able to pass by more less actives because we know what area they live in.  Also the apartment is almost totally decluttered!  I cleaned off both balconies of pigeons and once again it reminded me of working for Wayne but instead of cats, birds haha.  Sunday went well once again for the 2nd week in a row we were without lighting (no lights in the church) because there was a problem with someone forgetting the payments but this next week it should be resolved.  Right now the branch is facing some major problems and we are focusing on working with them I feel bad we are so close to becoming a ward/stake and you can just see how Satan is working it's frustrating but we are praying for them.  We are still trying to find new investigators a lot of finding work but hopefully soon we'll be able to get things going here in Livorno.  Our branch president is awesome he's really pushing for missionary work/reactivation just pray for the branch of Livorno that there can be some miracles we are so close!  Cool thing that president did in church last week he printed off names of less active members and gave every member 4 names to call for that week so hopefully we'll see some new people.  Hope all is going well at home the weather is great here in Livorno still a lot of Mosquitoes but it's cooling down so they should go away thanks for everything love you all!

Anziano Thomas

Firenze by night

Ben in front of the rolling hills of Toscano

Ben wrote to Daniel and said "remember on the James Bond video game
we used to play the Siena level?  haha I was there!"

Duoma in Siena



Siena a super old city

Siena

In medieval times Siena was known for their banks.  This is one of the
oldest running banks in the world.

Modena, Firenze, and Siena

Ciao Tutti!

This week went by quick!  The beginning of the week we had to go to Modena a city known for Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and nice cars.  We had to go to Modena because there was a new missionary training meeting there for all the new missionaries.  It started on Friday so on Thursday night we had to head over and sleep the night in Firenze (Florence) it was pretty cool because we got into Firenze a little early and so we just walked around and checked it out during the night.  Such a beautiful city!  We slept the night there on the floor... haha it was fun and early in the morning we took off to go to Modena.  The conference went well we went over a lot but it was good. 

We are still doing a lot of finding work and the other day we had a miracle!  We set a baptismal date!!  With a guy named Claudio really cool so right now we are working with him.  It was really cool because Anziano Larson got to set his first baptismal date and he was really excited when he accepted!  Haha it was fun.  Monday we had district meeting and I did a scambio in Pisa, it was really cool doing work in Pisa at one point we passed the leaning tower but I had a good time there.  We teach English class in Livorno and we had about 35 students we teach advanced so we just make conversations but unfortunately the power in the church wasn't working.  In fact for about a week it hasn't been working.. because our check didn't get transferred or something this Sunday was interesting but everything went well.  Today was really cool we went to Siena and I loved it super old medieval city.  Things are going well still looking for investigators so keep praying for us love you all!

Anziano Thomas

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.  This is in Ben's area.

The leaning tower!

La Torre di Pisa

Beautiful buildings in Italy

Ben at the top of the leaning tower

The top of the tower

The Pope

The city of Lucca

Livorno, Florence, Pisa!

Ciao!

So this week went by really fast.  To start this last Thursday we went down to Firenze (Florence) for a zone meeting.  It was really cool because we got there a little early and we just stopped by real quick by the duomo and it was HUGE.  Then we ran down to the church.  It's funny because right now all of Toscana (Tuscany) is a district but there has been some talks of it becoming a stake within 6 months so that's really exciting for us!  Also this last week we helped with Spanish class haha  a woman in the branch who's from Honduras has started it up again and asked for the missionaries to come so I learned a little Spanish.  Right now with the work it's still going slow we are talking to alot of people just looking for someone to consistently teach.  A cool miracle we had this last Monday was we were riding to doing finding work in a certain area and we get a call that the power in the church was out.  So we turn around because we had keys for the church so we had the doors opened , waiting for the member to come and these two woman walk up and kinda look in so we greet them and start talking.  They say they pass the church every so often but it's always closed so we go with them and give them a tour and then taught them the restauration.  It was really cool they were really impressed we gave them a book of Mormon in Italian and invited them to read it they said they could come Sunday!  Also we've been trying to get to know members better.  Trying to see at least 3-4 a week so they know who we are.  We saw some members this last week and all of them are great.  Sunday I had a talk and I talked to the branch about Unity referring to president Uctdorf's talk "Lift Where you Stand"  basically it talks about working where you are and magnifying your calling.  I talked about how the church can't move forward if everyone doesn't work together and do there part I thought it went well.  I had alot of time to prepare for it because the new missionaries had to go to residency permits.  Things are going good we are doing ALOT of finding work and just trying to find new investigators so pray that we'll find some new people this week to start teaching!  Today we went to Pisa and Lucca both cool cites.  Love you all!

Anziano Thomas

Roberto's Baptism Day

Roberto

When Ben first went to his new apartment the missionaries had 2 baby pigeons that they
had left there on the balcony.

One of Ben's favorite families Pipo!

Ben said goodbye to Tirso.   This is where he works for one of the coach's of Jueventus (soccer team)

Goodbye to Torino

Ciao!!

Wow so much has happened this week.  Well to begin with, Roberto got baptized!!!  It was an amazing experience to get in the font and baptize him!  The baptism service went great and my favorite part was when Roberto bore his testimony at the end.  It was really powerful how he talked about all that he went through to get to that point.  The baptism itself went well also.  We did a few practices to make sure there would be no problems and at first I was a little nervous, (he's a grown man pretty heavy) but all my morning workouts payed off!!  

Also this last week it was weird leaving Torino I've been there for about 6 months and it was nice to say goodbye to all the people I've met.  Also I was bummed that I left Anziano Colemere he was another great companion that I've had.  

Anyway that Thursday was transfers so I needed to be in Milano before 9 because I was training.  So President Dibb talked for awhile and then, we got to meet our new comps!!  What we did was we would go up there, say something about the city where we are and then the assistants would give us the name of the new companion and they would run up to you and give you a hug haha.  So I went up there said a little bit about Livorno (I don't know much) and my new companion is.. Anziano Larson from Provo, Utah!!  Haha.  Just a little bit about him, he's a dancer and he likes latin music so that's great!  So after that we left to go to Livorno.  So the missionaries that live in the apartment are Anziano Olsen (Kansas city) his trainee Anziano Scott (Logan, Utah 18yrs old) and my comp Anziano Larson.  So we took a Freccia-rossa (red arrow) it's one of the fastest trains in Italy because it would take forever to get there from Milano.  One of the coolest things was when we started going through the rolling Tuscan hills hahahaha finally!!!  We got settled in and right after we did a little bit of finding work.  Livorno is an interesting city.  It's old but it was carpet bombed in WW2 and a lot has been redone but it's still old.  The end of last week was spent doing finding work and getting to know the area and members as soon as possible.  I called the Branch president, elders quorum president, and a few other members just to introduce myself.  Also one of the first things we had to do was buy a bike.  So we went to a few different bike stores and all of them had just new bikes or terrible used bikes.  So we walked around searching for places and finally we found two new bikes!  They're two nice bikes so I'm glad.  The Monday was also cool because we went to Pisa!!! For district meeting it will be cool because I think I'll be doing a scambio there as well.  I haven't see the leaning tower of Pisa yet but soon we'll see it!  Today was pretty normal but pray that there will be people ready here in Livorno to here the gospel We need to find people but hope all is well Love you all!

Roberto will be getting baptized!



Anziano Grimaldi from Sicily and Ben as the "showmen" for the "Serata Musicale"

Transfers - LIVORNO!

Ciao Tutti!!

This last week a lot has happened and today is really exciting!!  This last week we had a "Serata Musicale"  which was a night where all the missionaries from the mission came into Torino and what happened was they all sang, played the piano, or anything musical and showed off there talents.  I didn't end up singing but the sister's who coordinated everything asked me and Anziano Grimaldi (from Sicily) to be the "showmen" haha we just announced who was going up next, what they were singing.  It was a good night and we had a lot of fun!  The next day I had a scambio (companion exchange) with other Anziani of Torino 2.  I ended up going with Anziano Betchi who is from Canada but came from Cameroon Africa after he was born.  It was a really fun scambio his first language is French and where he's from in Canada they speak only French so it was interesting to hear his story.  Then later in the week the Anziani from Cuneo came because one of the missionaries needed to email Roberto for the baptism!  What ended up happening was we got there I went into another room and he got interviewed and passed!!!  So today he will be baptized and he asked me to baptize him so tonight hopefully all goes well..  he's really excited and knows that this is a big step in his life.  This last Monday I got a call from president and he told me that I'm getting transferred!  He told me that I was leaving from Torino and that I've been hereby called to serve in LIVORNO!!  I'm really excited because I've wanted to serve there since I've gotten into the mission.  Just because one it's in Tuscany and it's another port city like Genova.  Another thing he told me was I will be opening the companionship with new missionary whose just coming from the MTC so I'm looking forward to that.  There's two other missionaries there right now so it will be a good experience.  Tomorrow I will go to Milano to pick up my new comp and then we will go together to Livorno!  I will miss Torino a lot though I've learned a lot here and am sad to say goodbye to the people but am looking forward to this next step in the mission!  Things are going good hope all is well at home love you all!

Anziano Thomas

Ben in Switzerland!

The Matterhorn

Ben took a funivia to get to the top of the mountain by the Matterhorn

Everyone was skiing at the top.

More Alps

Skiiers 

The ski resort, it was freezing at the top.