December 17, 2014 - Baptism on the 20th!

Hey everyone!

Well this week went by super fast! My new companion is Anziano Shepard and he is from Duchesne Utah. He is a really great missionary and we get along VERY well! He played high school football and his team won state championship 3 times in a row! crazy right?! We also moved back into the apartment with the zone leaders Anziano Jensen from Idaho Falls, Idaho and Anziano Peterborg from Idaho as well but i'm not sure what city ha. We have are having a great time and are doing a lot of good work here in Bologna!

Well I have some CRAZY news to tell you guys but you might have already heard... Sister D'ambrosio (Madeline's really good friend) is serving here in Bologna and is in my district!!! How insane/weird is that?! We talked over the phone since she and her companion took over the apartment and area in which i just served in last transfer and so i was helping them out get around and what not and when i told her my name she asked if i remembered who she was and said that she was good friends with madeline from back home. I had no idea which one she was because madeline has a ton of friends but then later that night when we all went to teach English class she ran up to us and was all excited and said, "STEV... i mean Anziano Delgado!!". haha i totally recognized her and was SOOO thrown off haha it was crazy for me. And then she was like, "i just saw your mom like 3 months ago!! She is so sweet!!!" hahaha i was pretty caught off guard to say the least. So yea she is serving here in Bologna and we are having a good time. 

Yesterday we just had the baptismal interview for Sara and everything went great! She will be baptized this Saturday right before the Christmas party so there should be a lot of people there :) Also, she asked if i could be the one to baptize her! I'm so excited for her and her mom they are so great! Even though she is so little she has such a feel for spiritual things whereas when i was her age i just went through the motions. She is such a funny girl and i am so happy for her and her mom :) I'll send you guys some pictures of the baptism next Wednesday :)

So everything is going great here in Bologna as you can see. We did have to give up some of the people we were meeting and teaching to the sisters since they are females but that's alright the sisters are already doing such a great job here in the first week! Also one of the ladies that we passed a few days ago came to church this Sunday and brought her non-member husband!! It was so good to see her and him together in sacrament, the husband said he had a really good time and looks forward to coming next week :)

Okay well X-mas is coming up soon and i can't wait to see you guys! i am pretty sure i will be at the house of our ward mission leader and his wife who is American. I am still unsure of what time we will be there but im guessing it will be around 3ish our time. I will let you know more details next Wednesday just to confirm. 

I absolutely love this work and i know that i could never do it without the help of the lord. I love Christmas time because it helps everyone remember their savior and redeemer Christ and helps them think a little bit less about themselves and a little more about others. Christ really was and is the perfect example of love and my Christmas wish this year is that i and you all can really show our love for Christ by loving and giving charity to the ones around us. "When we are in the service of our fellow beings we are only in the service of our God" :) I love you all very much and can't wait to see your wonderful faces next week!!! Ciao!

 -Anziano Delgado

December 10, 2014

TRANSFER CALLS! 

I am staying for another!!! YESSSSS! :)))

Okay so the most unexpected thing happened to us. Remember last transfer how i lived with the other anziani and we were in 4 in the other apartment? Yea, well 2 more sisters are coming to bologna and kicking us out of the apartment that we just moved into and we are moving BACK in with the other 2 anziani hahaha. I have packed my bags 3 times now and i haven't left bologna xp

No i am actually super excited for this transfer i like living in 4 it has god perks and it is much more exciting and fun :) HOWEVER, my companion Anziano Bingham is getting TRANSFERED! Crazy right?! This will be my third companion in 3 transfers! crazy! His name is anziano Shepherd... i don't really know him but he is about 2 or 3 transfers under me and apparently he is a really cool guy so that is good!

So if you still have the address of my last apartment then perfect, if not then here it is just to make sure...

Via Giovanni Brugnoli, 11

40122 BO
Italia

So yea very crazy transfers this time around, i was not expecting that ha. The only down part is that all but one of our contacts are females which will have to be passed to the sisters when they get here thursday. Little Sara will still be ours to teach though since she only needs two more lessons before she can be interviewed for her baptism which as of now will take place on the 20th!

 Ok so today for pday a less-active member, Fratello Mantovani, took us to a place called "The Motor Show". IT WAS AWESOME!!!! We got to see so many different kind of cars it was amazing. We got to ride in a race car simulator which was really fun haha almost like a rollercoaster, we road in some cool test driving cars that took us drifting around some obsticles which was SWEET, we ate at a VERY good but VERY expensive restaurant and then we got to watch a bunch of souped up cars race each other around a drifting course and we were right next to the action! I took some really cool pictures and even cooler videos that i will have to send to you next week when i bring the cable to hook up to the computer! Unfortunately this computer wont let me send you the videos (I have already tried a bunch of times in the past) so i'll just send you the photos. And then tonight after i finish writing you guys Sara and her mom are taking me and Anziano Bingham to get some pizza which will be super fun, i love them so much they are hilarious :)

 Well i have already moved into the new apartment (i guess old apartment ha) so feel free to send the package whenever you guys want. It should arrive this time since we have a really nice lady in the lobby of our apartment that makes sure all the mail gets delivered right. Also, thanks for all of the pictures that you guys sent me! HOLY CRUD DAVIS IS BIG! I can't believe how tall he is!!! Man it just blows my mind haha. Wow kelsea and wess's baby is very cute! Can't wait to see you guys for Christmas! Talk to you later, ciao!

 

-Anziano Delgado

December 3, 2014

Ciao ciao, 

This week went by super fast!! Our investigators are all doing well, especially little sara :) She is CRAZY fun haha a little difficult at times to teach because she just wants to play haha so at the beginning and end of each lesson we make a little chaos in the church playing games haha :) 

Well this Christmas is going to be kind of weird for us missionaries. I am actually pretty bummed out. This year we aren't going to have any Christmas Conference... i guess our mission president doesn't feel that it is necessary... :((( kinda lame. Tomorrow we will be having a small Zone training though so i'll be able to say hi to some of my friends there :) 

So this week we didn't find any new investigators unfortunately. The weather and Christmas season isn't really favoring us right now. It has been raining every day non-stop this week and since it is Christmas a lot of people are out of town or just don't want to talk to us, but it's okay because the members are starting to invite us over to see them more often! 

So this week we weren't held up by a drunk guy BUT i did get hit by one! haha We were walking down the city center where all the people go and as we were walking down the street there was a group of drunk kids about our age walking toward us. The "ring leader" that was also the most drunk looking one tried to spit on my shoes but i moved and as we walked past him he swung at me and hit me in the back (im not sure exactly where he was aiming but it hit my upper back ha). I probably would have been more upset if he hit me somewhere else but i didn't really care in the end. There are so many weird people here in bologna though, everywhere we go we see the strangest sorts of people. We have had many people tell us that the streets of Bologna at night are not the safest places to be haha go figure. 

Well other than that things are going pretty well here in Bologna! My companion and i are getting along alright, kinda so-so but i got some good advise from President Dibb on how to help out the situation. I just hope that this last week of the transfer we can really get along like best friends and look past the dumb little imperfections that we each have.  

Okay well Saturday we get the transfer calls so next Wednesday i will let you guys know what is going to go down here in Bologna :) ciao cari miei!

-Anziano Delgado

 Also, this Saturday we find out about transfers so next Wednesday i will let you guys know what is going to happen here in Bologna. 

November 26, 2014

HELOOO!

Ciao, 

This week was a pretty normal week, nothing too crazy happened. It was still a very good week though:) We met with a couple of our investigators and less-active members that we are teaching and had really good lessons with each one! We also watched the new "He is the Gift" video on Lds.Org which is pretty cool :) I got to teach the training for District meeting this week which was pretty cool! Our district is actually a pretty old district in the sense that we are all nearing the end of our mission and so i decided to teach about "Diligence". It went really well and we had a really good district meeting! (I learned that the best way to do district meeting is by bringing candy to give to the people who answer questions and participate haha it worked like a charm). 

Well we are still working with Sara, the little 8 year-old girl who is getting baptized the 20th of December. She is soooo funny!!! Her and her mom are from the South of italy and totally talk like southerners with all their slang and sass and just all around crazy personality haha we have a good time to say the least :) Sara is so great though, she already knows so much and every night she reads the BoM and Bibble... FOR FUN! I never would have guessed it because she isn't like an anti-social girl or anything at all, more like the opposite but she just LOVES to read the scriptures haha pretty cool!

Well we are working with a couple other people right now, one lady and one man but niether of the two are making a whole lot of progress... we'll keep working hard with them though and hopefully God will soften their hearts :9

Ok well tomorrow is Thanksgiving and unfortunately here in Bologna none of the members are american except for one family but they are going to be busy i suppose.... so we are just going to celebrate thanksgiving by ourselves by making mashed potatoes and eating chicken since turkey here is wayyy too expensive. It'll be fun :)

Ok well that is pretty much it! Hopefully next week i'll have a good story to tell you :) Talk to ya then, ciao cari!

-Anziano Delgado

PICTURES from Torino and Bologna

with Anziano Ferradini and an Investigator in Torino

Tower of Bologna

Ducati Factory

Views from Tower over Bologna

with Anziano Oz

with group from MTC at Zone Conference

November 20, 2014

CIAO!

Well yesterday we had an AMAZING combined zone conference with a member of the 70 Elder Fingerle. He and his wife came to give us a little instruction on how we can better improve the success in our mission. His entire lesson was all about 1% improvements on all that we do and how even little changes can make a huge difference. It is so true! It was also great because i got to see some people that i havent really seen since the mtc and got to catch up with them which was REALLY nice :)

 So this week we met with our new investigators and so far only one of them seems to want to make good progress but that is better than nothing :) We taught another couple lessons to the little girl who is going to be baptized the 20th of December and had a great time with that! We taught her about obedience to God and the prophets and then we taught her the 10 commandments and why they are so important. We did a really cool visual lesson with an empty tea pack and a lighter. We folded the tea pack open and stood it on top of her hand and then lit the top of it on fire. We told her to have faith in us and not to move her hand because when the flame would reach her hand it wouldn't burn her. When the flame got down right about to touch her hand all of a sudden it flew up into the air and she never got burnt :) It was really cool hahaha she made us do it like 5 more times :p

Fortunately we didn't have any encounters with any drunk dudes with handguns this week but we DID get to go to VERONA! It is sooo beautiful. We went there for the conference and so we didn't really have time to tour the city or the colosseum but we did see them as we drove by it in the bus on the way to the church :) It was awesome!

So my companion and I are convinced that sister missionaries need to learn how to do simple around-the-house things. So when we got to our apartment there were so many things that needed to be fixed. 1)the shower head was busted and water squirted EVERYWHERE when you turned it on. so we had to buy a new one... 2) The shower curtain was half torn/a couple loops were not attached (simplest fix ever)... 3) ALL the handles on the cooking pots were way loose and about to fall off (screw driver...done).... 4) the legs on the bed frames were supposedly "broken" but all they needed to do was flip it over and tighten some screws... 5) this doesn't have to do with the others but there is GIRL HAIR EVERYWHERE!!!!!!! hahaha i feel like instead of putting laundry detergent inside the washing machine the sisters just decided to scrub a cat with soap and throw him in there as a sponge or something! SUPER NASTY! 

So yea, my companion and I have been making a lot of sister jokes lately because of all of the "broken" things around our house haha (of course we still love the sisters though :) ). 

Well ill send you guys some pictures now since i did bring my camera this time, yayyyyy ;) ciao, talk to you next week!

-Anziano Delgado

 

November 12, 2014

CRAZY WEEK!

Ciaooo!

Ok well this week has been very good and VERY interesting ha. So to start off ill tell you about the work and how much it is improving. This week we got 3 new potentials and numbers, 1 new investigator, 2 new less active members that we are teaching, and 1 baptismal date! We are having such a better week than the past ones it is great :) We are doing a lot more pass by's and proselyting along the way and Heavenly father keeps putting us in the right place at the right time. So that is going really well, my companion and i are getting a long much better now and all is looking up!

Ok so last thursday an interesting thing happened to my companion and me. After teaching english class at the church we got on a bus to head to the center of the city so that we could take another bus there that takes us to our apartment on the other side of the city. We got on the bus and there was a man standing on the inside of the door who smelled like beer and was talking to the driver. We walked passed him and sat down behind to other ladies. At a certain point i felt a tap on my shoulder from one of the ladies. When i turned around i saw that her face was VERY preoccupied and nervous. She told me that the man up front talking to the bus driver had a PISTOL in his jacket and that she and her friend by her both saw it with their own eyes! They were freaking out and shaking from nerves. I was very caught off guard and didn't know how to react so i tried to get them to calm down a little and that we would get off at the next stop and that if they wanted to they could get off with us. they agreed. All of a sudden, almost as if the drunk man with the pistol (very tall and very large statured) turned around and walks up to where we are and yells to us and the rest of the 6 or 7 people that were on the bus saying (in a very drunk italian) "Ok from now on I am your guys conference and if you do what i say then everything will be fine." Then the stop came and me, my companion and the two younger ladies got up to leave the bus. The man however decided to leave his "conference" and follow us off the bus! When we got off he started talking to my companion and i asking us where we were going. We told him that we were just going to the center of the city. I then asked him where he was going... he said,I'm going wherever you go." by this time the two younger ladies had already gone their own way. It was obvious that he was VERY drunk and as we were walking down the streets he was yelling out loud the most random things and cussing out people as they walked by us. My companion and i were trying to think how in the world we would get rid of this guy because if we just ran we feared he would just pull out the gun and shoot so we had to do it while he wasn't looking somehow. When we got to the bus stop that we had to take to get home i told him "okay we are going to visit a friend that lives a little far away and we can go by ourselves seeing as how we aren't little kids and don't need help getting there". He said, " no no you guys are of the church and i want to "make sure you get there safe" so i'll go there with you. I insisted that we didn't need help and he started to understand that we thought he would do something to us so he gets close to me and looks me in the eyes and says, "what are you going to punch me in the face?" I didn't want to make a drunk man get mad or anything so i said no, he also said then that nor would he punch me so all is well. Of course that didn't really make us feel at ease however. Then all of a sudden, as if it were God sent, a street vender came up to the man and tried to sell us things. the drunk man was distracted while playing with the laser pen that the vender sold so we took advantage of the opportunity and BOOKED IT! We ran and ran until we were farrr from being found from him. 

CRAZY RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!

that one went in the journal hahahaha. 

Well all is well and Heavenly Father really looked out for us on that one. Okay I have no more time to write haha but don't worry mom im fine and if we see him again im sure heavenly father will help us out again :)

Love you guys and cant wait to hear from you next week! Yes i will have pictures next week :) Ciao!

-Anziano Delgado

November 5, 2014

A GOOD WEEK!

Ciao!

Ok well unfortunately i dont have much time to write this week because i had to fill out a huge missionary survey that took most my emailing time, sorry! Well this week was really good! We got a few new investigators, some from the sisters that left and some from our own efforts doing proselyting. 

My new companion is Anziano Bingham from Utah and he is about half way finished with his mission. He is a pretty cool kid and is very hard working. We get along pretty well and im really excited for this transfer! :) 

This week we also moved into a new apartment that is way on the other side of the city so a good amount of our time was spent just trying to figure out how to get around haha. But in the end it worked out well because we talked to some people along the way and we got a new investigator from it! Now we also know all of the shortcuts of the city and we also know which dark alleys NOT to take haha there are some craazzy people out at night.

Ok well unfortunately i have like no time to write so here is my new address and I hope to hear from you next week! love you guys! Ciao :)

-Anziano Delgado

October 29, 2014

TRANSFERS!!

Ciao!

Well this week has been a little rough and weird unfortunately. My companion and I have been trying really hard to find new people to teach but we just can't seem to find anyone and we have done almost everything that we can think of. We were able to meet with Lukebana though which was really nice. Unfortunately he wasn't able to come to church but the next lesson we are going to talk about why doing the little things like reading, praying, and coming to church consistently is so important. 

So my companion Anziano Warren and I are really getting along well and everything was going great but saturday we got the call for transfers and Anziano Warren will be going to La Spezia tomorrow. We were having a really good time and we really helped eachother keep our heads up through this rough time of no investigators which was really nice because usually missionaries get really on edge and depressed when there is no one to teach.

My new companion will be Anziano Bingham who is a couple months away from his year mark. The cool thing is that we will be getting our own apartment instead of living in 4 with only one bathroom so that will be REALLY nice haha.

Well unfortunately today all of the internet points that we went to are having maintenence done on them except for this really really cheap one that doesnt even have usb outlets so i cant get any photos to you this week but next week the guy we normally go to for internet said that all would be up and running much better than before :)

Ok well thanks for all the photos and emails! Halloween is coming up and friday we will be having a party in the church which will probably be a really small one but im sure we will have a lot of fun :) Ok i love you guys and hope to hear from you next week! Have a fun Halloween! Get a lot of candy Dallin! ;)

 -Anziano Delgado

October 22, 2014

WELAA!!!

Ciao cari miei,

Well this week was pretty good here in the beautiful city of Bologna. We met and had a good lesson with Lukebana and he finally found work which is so great! So the bright side is he is now looking a lot better financially but already he has had to reschedule appointments with us twice since now he is pretty busy... hopefully he can find time for both work and us! 

So we have constantly been doing proselyting work here and so far we have been completely skunked and haven't found anyone who wants to set up a real appointment. The people here are really nice and open to talk to about stuff but when the topic of religion comes up they close right up and want nothing to do with it which is really unfortunate. But it's alright because my companion and i are determined on finding and teaching and we both have enough experience in the mission to not get down from little things like that :) We are actually going to focus more on less active pass by's this week and just doing proselyting on the way between pass by's and hopefully be in the right place at the right time! fingers crossed ;)

Well last week we did go see the Ducati Factory which was pretty awesome, and today we climbed up the HUGE tower in the center of Bologna. I got some really cool pictures of both and i'll send them all to you next week since i have been saving up a good amount of pictures by now haha. 

Well i don't have any SUPER funny stories this week but i guess recently i have been talking A LOT in my sleep and sleep walking every now and then hahahaha. I was on an exchange with the District leader who is from my group in the mtc and at about 4 in the morning i woke up (totally half asleep still) and looked over at the foot of Anziano Lewis's bed and "saw" a HUGE snake like the size of an anaconda! So i didn't want to wake up Anziano Lewis and have him freak out so i said "Hey... hey anziano lewis.... there is a balloon on the end of your bed.... yea there is a balloon on the end of your bed hurry look!" hahahahahaha i didnt want him to freak out if i said there was a snake so i just said there was a balloon hahaha. But then like 5 seconds later i realized that i was sleep talking and woke up and was super embarrassed haha it was good. :)

Well that's pretty much it hahaha, hope to hear from all of you next week! ciaooooo!

-Anziano Delgado

October 15, 2014

MIRACLES IN TORINO!

Buongiorno cari miei!

Well this week was pretty great! My companion and i were able to meet twice with our investigator lukebana and teach him some really great lessons on the life of christ and his teachings and how proper authority is so important when we do ordinances like baptism. He actually is not baptized in any church but he has now understood the importance of doing so and is really praying hard to know if it is the right thing to do. I promised him that i am sure he will recieve an answer from God if he prays with a sincere heart and full faith that God will answer him. The coolest thing about him is that every time after we finish a lesson with him he will call or text us letting us know how greatful he is for the joyfull lessons that we bring him. He is such a sincere guy and is so respectful and nice, just a really genuine guy :) Other than lukebana we are yet to have any really in depth lessons with other people, people here are a little more closed than passed cities in which i served but thats always ok because miracles are still happening in other places... like TORINO!

So i am writing mine and anziano ferradini's recent convert, Barbara, that we baptized back at Torino and she is doing SOOO GREAT! 1) The triple combination that we had made for her with genuine leather and her name on the front finally got finished and she was so emotional about it and was so happy and grateful :). 2) She got a calling in church to be the head of the visiting teaching and she makes sure everyone is passing by their families and what not and she is sooo stoked and she said it made her feel very proud and good that bishop had so much faith in her to give her a calling haha which is way cool. 3) This monday before going to a lesson with the new missionaries that took over my spot after we left she asked her friend to give her a ride because it was raining and she didnt feel like going alone. When they got to the church for the appointment she thought that her friend would just wait in the lobby until they had finished but instead she decided to join barbara and the Anziani in the lesson! They watched the restauration film and at the end barbara's friend couldn't stop crying and really felt the spirit. She then said that she would love to come back again and listen to another one of their messages!!!! member missionary work already from a new convert!!!! so cool :) 4) Barbara has been taking the temple class lessons in church and got an interview with the bishop there and he said she is worthy to enter the temple and she will be going with her 8 year-old son AND her non-member husband who has been so very supportive of her this entire time. The is SOOOOO EXCITED to go to the temple and she just cant get over how much she feels the love of Gad in her life and how blessed she feels to be a member of this church. SHE IS THE BEST!!!!!

Well pretty awesome right?! i love barbara she is such an amazing person and i am so grateful to have had the opportunity to know and help her along this path to salvation :)

Well that is pretty much it for the week, today for p-day we are going to the Ducati factory here in Bologna and taking a tour inside of it so that will be pretty fun :) Hope to hear from you next week, love you ciao!!

-Anziano Delgado

October 8, 2014

ANOTHER WEEK IN BOLOGNA!

Ciao!

How great was general conference?! Unfortunately i still havent seen the sunday afternoon session so dont tell me anything about it yet! I really enjoyed President Uchdorf's talk about the dandylions, it reminded me of the hymn "Lord, I would follow thee" when in the 2nd verse it says "who am i to judge another when i walk imperfectly". In life we are always going to be faced with hurdles, or challenges. And when we trip over our hurdles and fall down the last thing that we want is for people to laugh at us when we are down and judge us for not being able to jump over the obsticle. When Christ was on the earth he too had to take part in the "race" to the "finish line", however instead of laughing at or judging the people who had tripped over hurdles as he rand by them he helped them back up to their feet and gave them a second chance to finish the race. This talk helped me realize that. I hope that i can immitate christ's love and do as he did while he was here on the earth which is to not judge others because they sin differently than me, but rather to help them to their feet and continue onward. 

Well the work here in Bologna is still going a little slow. However, our investigator lukebana is making some really good progress! Yesterday while i was on an exchange with another missionary in Ferrara, my companion and the District Leader taught Lukebana the Plan of Salvation. He accepted all of it and really enjoyed the idea of eternal families. He is a really great guy who has a great faith in God but has a little difficulty accepting that christ is our savior and the Son of God. He is getting a little more accepting of the idea however and i really think he is going to make some great progress.

Well that is pretty much all that happened this week, nothing super crazy but thats not always a bad thing ha. Well i love you guys and i'll hear from you next week!

-Anziano Delgado 

October 3, 2014

CIAOO!

Come va!

Well this week has been very good! Sorry i couldn't write you wednesday we were super busy and got permission to change pday to friday which is much better for us. Bologna is so beautiful and my companion and i are really starting to get used to the city and how to get around... for the most part.. so far we have only gotten lost once haha. Well this week we got a new investigator named Luca and he is really cool and funny. He is African but has been in italy for about 9 years and speaks italian pretty well. We had a quick little lesson with him that only lasted about 10 minutes because he had to return to work but it went very well. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he was very excited to read it and meet with us again. So we made an appointment for tomorrow :)

This week we also were fortunate enough to get invited by a less active member to go eat at a VERY DELICIOUS bolognese restaurant because it was anziano Jensen's (zone leader that lives in our apartment) birthday... IT WAS THE BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD. No joke, i was speachless when i ate this food. I'll try to explain to you how it works here in this restaurant because they serve you a little differently than other places... So here you sit down, they waitors come by and ask you what you want to drink (normal so far) but then they asked if we wanted the full course.. (the less active didnt tell us what type of restaurant it was before we went so it was all a surprise). So the waiter comes back with 2 giant plates full of thin slices of meat and these really good bread roles and delicious slices of amazing quality cheese. After we had finished those plates the waitors came back with another plate that consisted of a soup with inside it tortellini with are small, ring shaped pasta that are to die for. THEN, after that plate is finished they bring out another plate! This time they brought out Tortellone (im pretty sure it is spelled like that but im not sure), which are pillow shaped past but this time filled with The most creamy amazing quality cheese i have ever had in the mission. THEN, after that plate they bring out just normal spaghetti that is covered in a sauce called ragù which is like a beef flavored sauce and little chunks of meat in it. SOOOO GOOD! By that time i was pretty dang stuffed to say the least, but we weren't even close to being done hahaha. After that they started to bring out ALLL the desserts. There were THIRTEEN different types of desserts that they brought out to us, one after the other! All were one huge plates so there were plenty for each person to have as much as they wanted. I cant even remember all of the names of these desserts but a couple of them were flawn, chocolate cake, cream filled crepes, strawberry cake, sweet rise balls, brownies, and many many more haha. BEST restaurant ever... im guessing it was quite pricy however and i felt kind of bad that the less active paid for all of us. i was so curious to see how much it had cost but of course i couldnt ask...

It was so good though. He also wants to take us out to get some really good steaks apparantly! He is also a lawyer just like you dad and so we got to talking about that and how different law is here in italy compared to the Sates. 

Well other than that really amazing dinner we were also invited by our english class that we teach to go eat at an all you can eat sushi restaurant last night. It was SOOOO good!! Dont worry though, we haven't just been eating this whole week, we also are doing a lot of proselyting ha. Besides, i have to take advantage of this once in a life time opportunity living in the great Bologna! ;p

Well tomorrow we are going to watch the general conference in italian because the english broadcast is going to be in Modena which is outside of our zone so we aren't allowed to go unfortunately :/ It's okay though i enjoy watching it in italian to be honest, they use really big words and it increases my italian vocabulary a lot :) We are also hoping to have our new investigator come to the broadcast, it would be really nice if he could but he works a lot so we will see how it goes.

Ok well thats about it for me! I really hope that we can find more people on the streets or in the area book but so far we havent found a whole bunch. Unfortunately there are a LOT of tourists and students here in Bologna that want to have nothing to do with our message so proselying is a little tougher than it has been in the past so we are really going to be relying on area book and member referrals this transfer. I hope all goes well! Thanks for the emails and pictures! I love you guys and ill hear from you next week :) Ciao!

 

-anziano delgado

September 24, 2014

I GRANDI BOLOGNESI

 

Ciao!!!

Well I'm here in Bologna and i love it sooo much! It is such a beautiful city and is full of beautiful people. My companion's name is Anziano Warren and he is from Indiana! He is kind of a shy type but really smart and is a huge baseball player, we get along perfectly! He is just about to hit his year mark in the mission and he is a great missionary with some good experience which will really be of help since we are practically opening up a new area with no investigators ha. I say practically because there are already 4 missionaries here in Bologna... we live with the zone leaders and there is also a sister companionship here. They are all sooooo fun!! Living in this apartment is definitly the most fun i have had all mission haha dont worry though we are getting a lot of work done as well :) Fortunately there were missionaries serving in our part of Bologna in the past and they did a really good job with the area book so we have been making a TON of calls and trying to set up appointments that way as well as less active pass by's. The work here is starting out pretty slow but im sure it will soon pick up the pace. 

Well this Sunday after stake conference us 6 missionaries decided to go to the Centro (the center of the city where all the people are, including the 2 famous towers) and we did what's called a "mostra". In the past i have done 3 mostra's and usually what we do is set up a table and a stand with giant pictures of our church and the restoration and stuff like that and we just talk to all the people that walk by or stop to look at our stand. BUT, this time we decided to bring chalk and draw the Plan of Salvation on the street because they were doint a HUGE festival that day and all the streets were closed off to cars (dont worry it's not illegal ha). It was so much fun and we got a ton of people to stop and ask questions about our church, it was great! We handed out a couple books of mormon and a lot of pass along cards so hopefully we get some investigators from it! I took some pictures of centro and our plan of salvation drawing but i didnt bring my camera with me to do internet so ill send them to you next week and ill have even more pictures then anyway :) 

Well that is pretty much what has gone on. I love it here in Bologna and i really feel like i do need to be here and i know that someone here needs to here the message that i bring about our Lord and Savior and His church. I love you all very much and i cant wait to hear from you next week! Ciao!

ps- Barbara is doing great and i got her email address to continue writing her. She might even come down to Bologna, if she gets the chance, to see me haha i hope Pres. Dibb will be alright with that!

-Anziano Delgado

September 17, 2014

BOLOGNA!

Ciao cari,

Well this week was very surprising... im getting transferred to Bologna! To be honest it is really a bummer that i have to leave barbara (She is doing AMAZING by the way)... i mean i just got here :/ It's alright though, at least i got to be here to see her get baptized! We just went over to her house last night and had the "last supper" with her and her family which was really nice. she made me lasagna alla bolognese since i'm going to be going to the city where that lasagna comes from haha so that was pretty cool. 

Well this week we haven't really done a whole bunch other than say goodbye to everyone that we know here at Torino. It's really a bummer that i only got to stay here for 2 transfers... the members really started to warm up to us and we were doing a lot of good work. I am going to be opening up a new companionship in Bologna so at the start im sure the work is going to be pretty slow but i have faith that we will get some really good investigators and get some people in the water :)

Well I'm definitely going to miss this city... it has been very nice living here and i've had such a great time. Although, everyone tells me that Bologna is a BEAUTIFUL city and the food there is AMAZING so im pretty stoked for that haha. 

Ok well make sure not to send any mail to this Torino address! Im not sure what my new address is just yet but when i get it ill be sure to let you guys know :) Ciao! 

-Anziano Delgado

September 10, 2014

Baptism!!!

Ciao!

This saturday Barbara got baptized!!! I have been so happy this entire week it's just been amazing. Everything just seemed to work out perfectly this weekend and it was so great. There were so many members, missionaries and even investigators from other missionary companionships that came and brought refreshments as well it all played out so wonderfully. The coolest thing though was that Barbara's husband, who is atheist, ended up leaving his vacation in the mountains (he paraglides which is SO cool) and showed up to her baptism right in time before it started! So he was there holding her hand all the way through it. It couldn't have been any more perfect. she also brought her 8 year-old son alessandro, who is very funny and VERY energetic, to the baptism so they were all there as a family. Barbara also bore a very beautiful testimony after the baptism which really touched my heart. She is going to be such a strong member and i really look forward to seeing the progress and change in her now that she has the Holy Ghost as a helpful companion :) 

We plan on getting alessandro to be baptized soon as well, Barbara would just like that he has a little more of a base knowledge of our church's doctrine before he gets baptized. He really wants to though and loves coming to church to learn and mostly play with his new friends that he made here in the ward ha. 

Well there isn't a WHOLE lot else going on other than Barbara's baptism. We are working with a couple people right now who are making progress but at a very slow pace. I love them to death though, especially one man named Lorenzo who is the sweetest guy EVER. 

Ok well that is pretty much it for this week. Most of it was just getting things ready for the baptism and making sure everything went smoothly which really paid off! Thanks for the emails guys and the photos as well, love you and hope to hear from you soon! Ciao!

-Anziano Delgado

September 3, 2014

Baptism this Saturday!

ciao ciao!

Well this week has been really great but pretty crazy at the same time. sunday we found out that Barbara actually lives right on the border of the Torino ward zone and the Vercelli ward zone but moreso on the Vercelli side by literally about 50 meters. So we were a little worried about this because being in that zone means that obviously she would have to go to the Vercelli ward and not ours. So we called our Bishop and explained to him the situation and he was a little worried as well because we all love barbara so much and we want her to stay here! So bishop pulled some strings by calling the stake president and now barbara is going to get baptized here in torino this saturday and will stay a part of this ward :) MIRACLES!

yesterday we also had a zone conference in Alessandria which was very nice. I got to see a lot of familiar faces, some people from my mtc group and we at mexican food!!! It was so good ha. It really did end up being a great zone conference and gave me some more motivation and new ideas for teaching. 

So this Saturday is going to be the baptism for Barbara and i am soooo excited! She has made so much progress and has really come a long way. She is just so humble and willing to accept God's will for her. We NEVER had any truble teaching her, she would always keep our commitments and even when we got to the word of wisdom she was all for giving up her coffee and wine! I just feel like she truly has been prepared to recieve and accept this gospel in her life. she will make an amazing member and im sure that she will help others as well by her wonderful example. 

I absolutely love this gospel. The mission can be pretty difficult at times and it has definitely been the biggest trial of my faith, but i have learned so much and I have never had such a strong testimony of this gospel than i do now. As long as we continue in the faith and hold fast to the iron rod when times get hard, all will be well in the end :) As italians say, "quando il gioco si fa duro, i duri cominciano a giocare". 

I love you guys so much and i am so thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers towards me, my companion and our investigators. Love you guys and ill talk to you next week and hopefully i will have some baptismal pictures to send to you :) Ciao!

 

-Anziano Delgado

 

 

August 27, 2014

GREAT WEEK~

ciao tutti! well this week has been fantastico! We have really been blessed lately and i am so grateful for all of your prayers and thoughts because i can definitly feel the extra support. This week we had a few lessons with barbara and they all went extremely well. she asked the most perfect questions about our church and has a VERY strong desire to continue with her investigation. Last week after the lesson she told us that she recieved and answer that the book of mormon is true, that joseph smith was a true prophet and did really see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and she knows that our church is the true church and she stopped drinking wine and coffee! So we asked her if she will be ready on her baptismal date that we set as a goal for the 6th of september. Her answer was that she really wants too, but that she doesnt feel like she is worthy enough to be baptised. We of course told her that none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes but that if she continued to not drink wine or coffee that all would be well and God would give her the confirmation that she is indeed ready to make that promise with god and be baptised. I also told her that sometimes when i have a question i open the book of mormon to a random page and start reading and that SOMETIMES i find the answer that i am actually looking for and said that she could try the same if she wanted to. This happened last Friday. Then Saturday night around 10 we got a message saying that she opened the BoM to a random page, which was 1Nephi 17:55 and the first words that she read were"We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee." And she continued the message by saying, "now i know that i am ready for the baptism because i know that the Lord is with me... i am very happy, thank you :)"  it was the happiest moment of my entire mission when i read that. I felt sooo extremely happy for Babara and i knew that Heavenly Father is watching over her and guiding her every step of the way.

Then monday night we decided to have a family home evening over at the bishops house with barbara and her 8 year old son and us. We had homemade pizza and soda and it was just a GREAt time, our bishop is a really funny guy, in fact he reminds me a lot about you dad haha. We talked about her baptism and she shared her feelings about at first not feeling pure enough but now feeling certain that she wants to be baptise on the 6th of september. She also wants to buy her own baptismal dress to keep as a memory and she wants to also take it to the temple when she goes to do baptisms for the dead! When i say she is the golden investigator i mean she is THE GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR :)

Well that is pretty much the highlight of the week. we are setting up all of the baptismal preperations and getting everyting ready for who gives the talks and all that good stuff :) im so excited for Barbara i know she will be blessed so much and i cant wait to see her in her white baptismal dress it will make me the happiest person on the planet. well i love you guys and again i thank you all for your thoughts and prayers i couldnt have done it without you! Talk to you next week! Ciao!

August 20, 2014

Ciao Cari!

Okay well this week went by extremely fast! My companion and I are having a great time here in torino! This week we met with barbara and she told us that she read the scriptures, prayed and received an answer that she needs to be baptized! We planned for the 6th of September since we have already taught most of the lessons to her and she accepted it without a problem! We are so excited for her! Out of all of the baptismal dates that i have set with our investigators in the past this one is the most solid and promising :) 

Our new convert, the 14 year old girl and i are actually great friends now so that is also very great ha. She was just upset for the longest time that her first missionary who baptized her right before i got here had to get transferred and she took it out on me since i was the one who took his spot lol but she is over it and she actually made me a braclet with my name on it so that was very sweet :) 

So the work is going great here in Torino. it is definitely the most progressing city that i have served in so far and we are having a great time moving the work forward. The members still need a little bit up a push to get going on the member missionary side of the work but we are slowly getting better and better each week :) 

Well that is pretty much it. My companion and i are doing great and we are totally kickin it at his place after the mission in california (caugh caugh... BEVERLY HILLS... caugh ;) ). He is a very easy guy to get a long with and is a convert at 16. he is the only member in his family but is very strong willed and has a great head on his shoulders. 

Ok well i love you guys so much and cant wait to talk to you next week! hope you have a great week, ciao!

 

-Anziano Delgado 

August 13, 2014

Ciao tutti!

Well this week has been really good! We have been extremely blessed here at torino with the work and i am absolutely loving it! A lot of people are coming back from vacation (its funny because entire italy is pretty much a vacation) and we are super excited to see what we can make from it! Recently we are still teaching barbara, our most progressing investigator who found the church from a friend on facebook and she is making outstanding progress! She came to church again last sunday and this time she stayed all three hours, as well as her son who is 8, and she really enjoyed it. We also had another one of our investigators in church, Lorenzo. He is catholic but knows how corrupt the catholic church is and ALWAYS says that our church, the mormon church, is the true church... its just that the catholic church is also true... according to him ha. so that is a little tough to get past. we have been trying so hard to help him realize that only one can be the true church but its just not getting through. I love him to death though he is the sweetest most loving guy ever and i know he would make a very strong convert. 

Well this week one of our very progressive investigators, yuliya should be returning from her vacation to the Ukraine and we will set a new baptismal date with her. its just a matter of if she will have enough time to meet with us since she will have to get right back to work when she returns... i hope she will find the time though. pray for us please :)

well that is pretty much it here. we haven't found any real new investigators this week but we are working hard with the ones we do have! hope that everything goes the way Heavenly Father wants it to.

Thanks for the emails, hope to hear from you all soon! love you, ciao ciao!

-anziano delgado