March 28, 2012

Okay hello my lovers, 

 

Let me just say this to begin with.  I have never had a better week of email yet.  Things are so great here and they are only better when I hear from all of you and everything is going very well.  I love opening up my email and having 9 messages.  Its great to hear from all of you and you are all wonderful people.  Just remember that.  Today, sheesh, so I will send some pictures next week but I just took the hike of a lifetime.  And boy was it difficult.  There is a Church high up on a cliff and there is a very long hike too it.  So we woke up and took on the mountain.  When we reached the top, THAT IS ITALY!!!  I cant believe how beatiful it was.  I was so happy up there, and then there was a cross even higher.  AND so we went to that.  That took forever but it was something that we had to do.  Just something free to do for PDAY!! 

 

This week was very difficult for Lessons.  We really didnt have many but we were able to meet with an old investigator.  SHE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED!!!  I am so excited, she will be baptized next month.  Hahaha.  AND people are just falling in.  They want to be saved, MOSTLY South Americans but there are some Italians there.  ITs been a very strong testimony builder.  I have fallen in LIKE with Lecco.  Its definitley a difficult city, BUT, there is many good people here.  But if they just would come to church and see then they would want to be baptized.  We have run into many people that speak english but they just want to Practice and so we talk for 45 minutes but nothing.  Thats ok.  And Comp stuff....MUCH BETTER!!  Just saying that.  So dont worry. We are doing great.  He just had a bad week.  But now we are working on full blast.  Tomorrow is going to be a good break.  We have a new missionary council, with all the missionaries that came in the past 2 transfers, which means, my comp and All the awesome people that I have been waiting to SEE!!!  That is where I pick up packages so dont worry mom.  I will have it tomorrow. 

 

Hmmmmm what else.  A good story this week. Okay...so here in Italy when they answer the phone they say Pronto, meaning READY!!  And I have been giving the responsibility of practicing on the phone.  Its one thing to understand someone is person, you can read their emotions and all that good stuff but when you put me on a phone with bad service, fuzzy sounding voices, and ITALIAN people speaking...ahhhahhahaha....NO!  So I answer the phone, PRONTO...I was talkign to the BIshops wife, and she just goes....no idea what she said, and then at the end, Capito, meaning Understand...hahahahha....NO!!  So I just say, Hold on a second, IN ENGLISH, and just give it to Anziano Anderson, not even thinking.  THEY DONT UNDERSTAND ENGLISH!!!  So That was my first experience.  i have gotten better...but still could really use some work on the phone so that is what I am going to do.  Its okay.  Things are getting a heck of a lot better with the language.  I am loving Italy.  Just had a little problem with the money.  Living off what I can.  BUT I WONT TAKE PERSONAL MONEY OUT!!  I dont want to waste that money.  I love the people, love the food and love the way that it is just heating up.  We get to take off our suit coats on Sunday for six months.  Thats the schedule, we must wear suits from October conference to April conference and no suits the other six months.  So this is the last week, but unfortunately one of suit pants is just beyone repair.  really bad.  Dont know what happened.  Maybe it was just getting on the bikes but yeah.  There is a large hole in my seat..area...so I will have to talk about that later.  But I dont need them now.  I am going to be wearing slacks here pretty soon.  Its all good. 

 

 

Love you all.  I loved the pictures from Hawaii, you all look great.  All of you others.  YOU ARE ALL GREAT!!   OH and Forza Elder Hendrix and Forza Elder Deal.  You guys are great.  Love you all!!  Have i said that enough.  Ciao

 

Anziano Treadway.

BEN!! 

 

Ps..the baseball updates were wonderful! 

March 21, 2012

Ciao TUTTI!!! Come va? Spero che tutti siete bene.

I am doing absolutely wonderful. I had the wonderful oppurtunity to hear from everyone and read their letters. Thank you for your letters and your support. I would just like to start this by saying, dont let the subject line get you. I had a great week. I went on two scambi this week. SPLITS. I went to Como and Merate. And I went with two missionaries that were both about to be going home, one that lived in El Dorado hillls that I have seen before. He was very quiet though. Didnt talk to me at all! Like litterally at all. It was silent and I am not good with silence so I would try to talk to him but nothing. No response. Only a yes or a no. Sometimes even a blank stare. Its ok. He is a great zone leader and is doing very well with baptisms there in Como. But the way he does casa is very....awkward. Kind of rings and runs. And then when the person opens up its a spring back up the stairs to talk to them and shove the BOM in their face. Kind of an awkward moment for me. I thought, Well then, thats how its not supposed to go. Then yesterday I was in Merate with my District leader. He wouldnt stop talking. I dont understand it. Like asking weird questions and then talking about some bad companions he has had. I though it was so funny but I didnt want to laugh whenever he talked but it was nice. I talked back. I talked alot and satisfied his needs of a person to talk to. Right before we went out of the street he told me his isnt very good at talking with people so I am going to be teaching all of the lessons and contacts. Awkward. But surprisingly i talked with basically everyone, and held conversations with basically everyone. I didnt say it in all perfect Italian but it was great. But that thought, he is almost done, shouldnt he help me. Well then, thats how its not supposed to go. HMMMM!!! Let me just say this, my Italian has shot through the roof. I held a 40 minute conversation with someone last night and she complained about the catholic church and why she hasnt been going, and then said, WHY IS YOUR CHURCH DIFFERENT. I told her whats up and invited and she is coming this sunday. The lord has really blessed me with the language. I cant believe that I understand basically everything. Some words fly over my head. But I get the basic concept. I know that abusare is to abuse. The lady last night used that alot about the catholic church. Penso che e schiffo quando un vescovo abusa un bambino. I think it is disguisting when a bishop abuses little children. I defintiely agreed with that. There have been 5 different news stories about that since I have been here. BAD TIMES IN ITALY!!

The food is amazing by the way. The pizzas are funny. They kind of just throw stuff on the pizza in no organized manner and just throw it in the oven. Its good but like I order a diavola, pepperoni, and i get like 4 pieces of pepperoni on there!!! But it was funny last night, we knocked again into dinner. I dont know what It is but we have the best luck with that. I hope that everyone understands that this doesnt happen very often. Like people have gone their entire mission without knocking into dinner, and I have done it twice with Anziano Anderson. We are just way lucky. And before dinner the son comes out and he speaks perfect english. He is working for some company that deals with hinges for doors in America so he has to know. We talk to him for a little bit and he goes, do you want to watch tv...we said no we are good. He then turned it on and said, I need to watch Fox News to practice. SO I watched fox news from AMERICA for like 10 minutes before he turned it to.....drummroll....Spring Training baseball. He asked if we liked baseball and both of us just nodded as we were entranced by the tv. Detroit and Atlanta. Good game. They didnt turn it off during dinner. It was on for like an hour. I miss baseball. But we taught a great lesson about authority because that is what all italians think the catholic church has!! Hahahaha. Then the father talked himself into saying that the Catholic church is not true. We said a prayer and invited them to the church and left. Good times.

We have a few lessons this week. The mission goal is 20 lessons a week. That is freaking hard in Lecco. Like the most lecco has gotten in a week was like 7 for the past 5 transfers but last week we got 13!! We are working very hard. We have a few new investigators. And our very promising one, or so we thought, she is a prostitute. We had to drop that one. IT only seemed right. hahahha. Oh and those people from Crump, i know about all of them. Most of them are active and strong but there are a few that are not. Pelluchi is awesome. He helps us out a lot. Some of them have changed. And the Bossetti family, we found out they are not married and wont be able to be married for about 3 years because divorces here are impossible so they just drop and move in somehwere else. Funny. But BAD!!!

I hope everything is well in Hawaii and everywhere else in the world. Tell the Goolds i said hi. Love you all

Anziano Treadway

March 14, 2012

March 14, 2012

Hello Everyone.  I hope that everything is going well.  I know that you are all loving life.  Just like me.  Thanks for all the emails.  Its great to hear from you all.  So I am guessing you want to hear what is going on here in Lecco.  Well okay then, here it is. 

 

So we have been doing a lot of finding work.  That is what we do here in the Italy Milan mission.  It is great.  We get to see a whole bunch of different parts of the city and get to really walk and ride our bikes everywhere.  And every time we go and do some work we teach at least one lesson.  Really seeing the hand of the lord in this work.  Even just random people that I feel like I should contact in our work.  I just say hi, introduce who we are, ask if the believe in Christ and then Anziano Anderson takes the rest.  Its basically all I can do now but I have been asking more questions regarding their life.  I had a majorly embarrasing moment doing casa a casa.  We knocked on some guys house.  He opened and I did the routine.  Completely perfect, he started to answer back (which is rare here).  I was so surprised, we started to have a really good convo with him.  I could barely understand much because he was muffling what he saying.  Anziano Anderson talked with him for a while, and then I asked, Secondo te, perche e importante di credere in Cristo.  Perfect italian, no problem whatsoever, he answered.  I UNDERSTOOD!!!!  He said it was important because Christ died for our sins and knows all the things we are doing.  In the mean time, Anderson is busting up laughing.  The man finishes and says Buono Serata and closes the door.  I asked what I did wrong.  I guess the man had just lost his wife the other day, he had the funeral the day before and he was recounting the experience to Anderson.  I didnt understand and after he said, I feel like nothing is going right in my life, I asked my question, and I completely ruined the mood.  Way not what I thought he said but it was worth a try right.  Embarrasing.

 

We finally got a Lesson in with Rafaella, her phone was broken for the longest time so we just rode our bikes out there.  Completely on a whim and she was outside with her dog.  Perfect timing.  She asked us to walk with her and come get her medication from the Farmacia.  So we did, and then she bought us some gellato...way good... and then we took her dog on a walk.  We finally got back to her house and we taught her.  She committed to come to church with us and read the book of mormon, but sunday she went with her friend to Bergamo and so she couldnt come but I know that she will definitely come somtime.  Excited about that.  We also found another man yesterday, Johnson, a man from India.  He had believed in god his whole life and started to really talk to us.  (we knocked his door and he let us right in.)  So we taught him and now we are going to teach him next week.  I think he is one of the elect. 

 

Cool thing, one of the quorom of the 70 came to Italy and said that in every city there is 400 elect people, we just have to find them. So we have been going to all the Pilazzi possible walking up the stairs, down the stairs, completely whiping us out.  But its all good.  I learned in the MTC from Russel M Nelson that Satan puts challenges in our way and when we turn them around and find the joy in it, it really makes him mad, so thats what I have been doing.  Whenever there is something that I could just get so mad at, I just look at the silver lining and everything works out.  Lecco is a city on a mountain, everything is uphill.  I looked at it my first day as this is going to suck.  But now I look at it as I am losing weight.  I have lost 15 pounds since I have started my mission.  I am doing great.  My legs are in the best shape ever!!  I am loving this stuff.  Everything is exactly as i had hoped.  Could use a few more people to teach but they are coming.  Thanks for all the support I love you all.  I am putting some pictures up, hopefully that will make you somewhat happy.  Here you go. 

 

 

Vi vogilo il megliore

 

Anziano Treadway

March 7, 2012

ok to start, this email wont have very many capital letters. no shift button in the right place here in italy.

anyways.  How is everyone.  i am doing wonderful here in lecco.  such a great place.  i didnt really get to see it till friday because when we arrived on thursday we were late for out english class so we hussled over there to teach english to some sisters that want to learn it.  way sweet way to get some investigators.  there is some non members there that they didnt know how to like touch them with the spirit to get them interested.  i suggested a spiritual thought before the lesson so that is the plan.  anyways.  this place is great.  i was kind of skeptical to say anything becuase anziano anderson is way good at the language and i am...not.  hahahaha.  its okay.  friday was great.  we started with studies and the regualar and then went to get my promesso.  if you live in italy, as a foreigner you need a promesso or you could get deported.  and so that didnt not go over too well.  we were told the wrong amount for how much it is and so i still havent gotten it. i have one day and then i become illegal but we dont know what we can do, we cant really do anything.  its all good though.  no one really stops the missionaries and i know that the lord will protect me.  we have tried everything. 

we started working..  last transfer anziano anderson was in bed with sore throat and then he got a spider bite on his toes and it put him out with infection for like 3 weeks so we basically are starting with no investigators.  but i had faith and so has he that we will find some new people.  well saturday, we were walking down the street and i dared him to talk to some lady and so he did, she immediately became very interested and told us a lot about her family.  we meet with MARIA on saturday.  she said that she had been praying a lot for her family and her daughter had a baby with some heart problems.  so we are going to teach here about the family can be together forever and the resturation.  its going to be good.

sunday was a difficult day.  Anziano Anderson chose a street at the highest point in the city.  at the top of the mountain.  so we hopped on our bikes and started to climb.  way high.  and when we got the pilazzi, the car gate was closed and we werent going to get in.  but i knew that there was someone in there that needed the gospel in their life.  i had faith and prayed silently that someone would come around the corner.  nothing.  pretty diflating.  as we were walking away, the gate opened out of no where and so we looked at eachother and walked in.  we figured that someone was coming around the corner to come in, we waited for 10 minutes before we didnt anything, and no one came.  it just opened, and that never happens.  miracle number one.  for some reason, i have a lot of luck getting the people on the little thing where we buzz them, they always buzz the door for me.  so i get us in the pilazzi and anziano anderson talks to the people.  thats how it works.  so we got up to the top floor and someone opened the door.  a beautiful family of three.  Nicoletta and Mauro and Gloria, their little baby.  We taught the first lesson to them after they let us in to get some water.  (beer was first offered).  But we are going back to teach them.  Nicoletta was so interested, we left them a book of mormon.  hopefully they feel the spirit and want to know more.  then, we went down the mountain and we went to another pilazzi and the first door we knock on, another awesome family of four.  they let us in and we are going back tonight.  THEN we go down one floor knock on a door and the door right next to them, opened up, and it was some people that had just gotten back from a hike, i waved to them and they told us to come in, we talked with them for a while, and they told us to stay for dinner.  ONE OF MY FIRST NIGHTS KNOCKING AND I KNOCK INTO DINNER!!!  And the dinner was way good.  The people here know how to cook.  hahaha.  they werent interested but told us to come back anytime.  Sweet people.  Well the night was almost over and we have the lake like 1 minute from my apartment, so we decided to do our nightly walk around the lake.  (We do it everynight at about 8 because it is too late to knock on doors, so we just street contact).  The first lady we saw, stopped us and poured her soul out to us, I ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD.  the language is coming along really well.  she said that she has been trying to repent but she feels like redemption will never come.  so we teach her tonight and hopefully that goes well. 

this place is so awesome.  i love everyone. the food is amazing and yesterday i had my first italian pizza.  WONDERFUL.  I am so blessed with my mission call. 

Anziano Anderson went to PIneview and Desert Hills for school.  He is great.  Always has high spirits and is always saying that faith will make us strong.  But we have so much fun doing casa a casa.  Door to Door.  its like we knock into some insane people.  funny stuff.  well i love you all.  ciao

mailing address

Anziano Ben Treadway

Via Bovara 1

Lecco, LC 23900

Italia