4th QUARTER! 4TH QUARTER!          July 28,2014



Good Morning!!

     As strange as this is to say, this will be my last email, I may send a really short email next week but I am not sure I will have time.  It just keeps getting closer and closer, but still doesn't seem real!  I have a week left!  But first, this last week!

     Monday night, we went to the Petrignani family, they are so cool, some of the first members here in Terni and have a some who got back from the Paris mission a couple of years ago.  We had a really fun time with them and had a great spiritual thought talking about our example that we can make and the effect it can have on others.

     Tuesday morning we had district meeting, and afterwards we rode back together with the missionaries of Roma 5 to start our scambio with them.  I was with Anziano Blair, he is awesome, we ended up doing finding and getting to know some awesome people, and went to teach a lesson to a big group of Muslims, and it was Rhamadam, and they wanted us to stay and hang out, but we had to get going.

     Wednesday we finished up our scambio with some more finding, got back that evening for a lesson that we ended up getting a bidone.  So it gave us some time to go do some finding.  Thursday morning we had another lesson set up, that we got another bidone, then we had a lunch apt with an investigator and she cancelled on us too... :(  but it gets worse... we had a member apt that night, so we get on the train, and before long we realize we are on the wrong train!!  And we end up way out of our area! hahaha  But it all happened for a reason because we met a super cool man on that train, so it was a great day!

     Friday morning we did weekly planning, then went to a members for lunch, we got to spend a lot of time with their kids and talk about missions and how they have blessed our lives and our families, it was really cool to get a chance to reflect on all that we have been given.  Got another bidone, but right after got a call from Marco Petrolini, the Im a Mormon guy, and the people who were going to their house for dinner cancelled on them, so they invited us.  They are the coolest people on the planet and every time we go there you always feel the spirit so strong and learn a lot!

     Saturday we got to go to a members house to have a lesson with some investigators and it went super well, he has arrived at Mosiah 18!!  So cool!!  It will be really hard to leave these people that I have really grown to love.  Sunday was already hard because I had to say goodbye to certain people, not the fun part!

     I just want to thank you all for the support and the prayers in my behalf in these 2 years, I love you all so much, I love the Savior Jesus Christ and his Gospel, and am so grateful he gave me this opportunity, couldn't think of anything I would have rather done.  Love yall!!  Have a wonderful week!!!!!

VVB!!

Anziano Bird

21-7-14....Weird!

HELLO BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!

     How was your week?  Hope everyone is enjoying summer!  It is SO hot here!  It will be nice to jump in a pool soon! :)  Man, when I said there is no time to slow down last week I was not joking!  The craziness started Tuesday.  We picked up the car from Roma 5 and drove to the other coast to go to Pescara for district meeting.  

     After district meeting we started our scambio with the district leader and his companion.  Anziano Bermudes and Garcia, they are both from South America, so I worked on my spanish!  We had a lot of fun that first day, we did finding all night and met some super awesome people as well and some super crazy people!  One guy told us he wanted to get baptized, and still would as long and we reinstated poligamy! haha

     It was a super fun time because there is a greenie in that city as well, Erik Mika, who if you remember was the star center for BYU last year!  So I was with him all evening swapping stories, it was super cool!  He is 6'10" so we are going to do another scambio and go play basketball against Italians, and teach them the Gospel when they lose! haha

     The next morning we continued with finding and at lunch headed out to go to L'Aquila!  THE RETURN!!  The best thing about doing scambi in cities you have served in is that you don't have to do finding the whole time!  So we went and saw old investigators and some less active members that I love!  That scambio lasted though lunch the next day, and thats when we headed back to Roma! 

     So Friday we started work back in Terni!  We were able to meet with a new contact we had who is Muslim, but very open to our message, his name is Mafi!  The next day we made the journey to Caparolla to see Alessandro and Patrizia, and Riccardo, our ward mission leader came which was awesome, they know it is true but just have something holding them back.  Afterwards we saw Anila (new convert) and she took us to a castle to do our lesson (just another day in the Italy, Rome mission :) And this was my last time seeing her because she is going on vacation.  It is weird already saying goodbye to people!

     Church was good, everybody asks me every week how long I have left, then tells me how little time that is! haha  Then we went to the Di Lorenzo family, they are awesome, and he is pretty much a chef and made the BEST meatballs ever!!!  Then we had another lesson with Mafi, but he didn't show, so we did a lesson with Riccardo who had come to help us out, and we just shared our favorite scriptures and talked about them.  

     It seemed like all the scriptures we picked all had to do with the Atonement.  And it is something I have gained such a strong testimony of on my mission, especially the power to change ourselves.  And change isn't an easy thing, but its not supposed to be.  But its not that way to punish us, its that way so we can change, because we know from the scriptures, no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God, but no unchanged thing will want to.  I read a couple of chapters in the Book of Mormon that really struck me this week, so I invite y'all to read 2 Nephi 4, Mosiah 5, and Mormon 9.  I love y'all more that words can say, I love the Lord and am so grateful for all he has done for me.  Have a great week and enjoy the picture of our scambio!

VVB!

Anziano Bird

14-7-14

BUON GIORNO!!!!

     How is everybody!  Thank you to all who sent me a countdown this week! ;)  I almost forgot!  Except for my roommates tell me everyday! haha  Still doesn't feel real, especially because we are so busy.  This week we had our Zone Conference, my last, so I had to do my "dying testimony".  It was SO weird!  But it was a really good conference and gave our zone the lift we needed.  Afterwards we got to go visit a less active member who I love in the Roma 2 area.  And of course she fed us dinner, and we got to teach a lesson to her and her sons who aren't members!

     The next day we went to Roma 1 for a scambio, I went with Anziano Carr who is one of my best friends!!  We sat next to each other in the MTC!!!  It was awesome!!  Just in the little time together we saw a lot of miracles!!  We went to find an old investigator of mine, and instead there was a different guy there who wanted to meet with us again!! So sweet!!  The next morning early we caught a train back to Terni.

     Unfortunately we were talking with somebody and we missed our stop!  So we got off at the next one, not knowing where we were, and we were in the middle of nowhere!! and the next train didn't come for 3 hours!  We asked around and there where no buses, so we decided to walk to our next appt.  Little did we know, the next town was 2 hours away, up a couple of mountains away! haha  But we finally got to a city where we caught a bus and we were only an hour late!!

     Then on the way back, we caught the wrong connecting train and ended up going in the wrong direction!! haha so we were much more careful of where we got off this time and we made it back okay, the Lord was looking out for us!

     The coolest thing about the week was on Sunday, a family of 6 we have been teaching came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was incredible!  The speakers were so guided by the spirit, it was incredible to watch.  We met with them afterwards and they have been recognizing the spirit lately, and the husband has already read to Mosiah!!!  It really goes to show how important the small things are.  I am so happy and really blessed to have had the opportunity to serve these amazing people... it is life changing seeing other change their lives.  I love this Gospel with all my heart, and know without a doubt it is true. 

     I cannot wait to continue to share my testimony, even after the mission!  So my invite for this week, is to pray to straighten your testimony, then bear it to somebody, because that is how is really grows is through sharing it!!  Today for p-day we went to Perugia and when to the chocolate factory, it was soooooo cool, not to mention all the free amazing chocolate they gave to us!!!  It was a lot of fun.  Tonight we are going to Roma 5 so we can steal their car and do a bunch of scambi this next week!  Love y'all SO much and have a great week!  Don't get too trunky!!

VVB!

Anziano Bird

 Week 1  7-7-14



 So week one of the transfer has already flown by!  We have been so busy and will continue to be very busy all the way to the end.  Here we work a lot outside of the city of Terni so we are always pressed for time and sprinting to a from the station!  This week in Rome we had a leadership conference, and this was the first time instead of having everybody come up, the other have of the mission used a video conference feature to connect to us.  It was way cool.

     This transfer we will be doing a lot of scambi, so we will actually be in Terni very little, also seeing that the closest city to us in our zone takes 2 hours to get to!  Monday night we did a FHE with vescovo, it went really well and were able to plan many activities and also get some referrals!!  YEA!

     Wednesday we traveled to Viterbo to see Anila, a new convert, she is super cool and super receptive to the spirit.  We talked about missionary work with her because her family still doesn't know much about the church, and we did a fast together with here so that her family would be more receptive, super excited to see how it all turns out!

     Friday, July 4th!  Just so happened there was an activity planned that we went to, it was with the young adults which was cool, we played volleyball and got pizza, there were a couple of there friends that came which was super cool!  We got to share a spiritual thought and then had a little testimony meeting and the spirit was so strong!

     Saturday I got to meet Alessandro and Patrizia.  They are a referral from mormon.org.  Alessandro wanted a Book of Mormon, and he is already to Mosiah!  And he understands so well too, we talked about baptism and they said when they receive their answer they will be baptized!  They are also already planning on their 6 year old son going on a mission!! AWESOME!!

     Fast and testimony meeting was great, then to break the fast we went over to a Peruvian family's house, and the food was INCREDIBLE!!  Fried chicken and rice with a homemade spicy sauce, then shrimp and fish wraps!!  WOW!  So overall this week was great!  Next week will be even better! Hope y'all have a good week too!

VVB! Bird

Anziano 

Goodbye ladispoli 

Our single adults!

FORZA AMERICA!!!         June 30,2014



Happy fourth of July in advance!!  Go AMERICA!!

     So I am in Terni right now, and it is incredible!! I love it!  The members are sooooo cool!  We went to ones house on Saturday for some service, and look at that, he has a Mormon message!!  Here it is.

http://www.mormon.org/marco

     He is soooo cool!!  Got to week that whole garden the other day! haha  So the begining of the week was crazy trying to see all our investigators and members, so we were running around like crazy!!  Not to mention that we had to celebrate half Christmas, so happy half Christmas!!

     Thursday we all went to Rome for transfers, and my new companion, Anziano Cicon came and picked me up and we went straight to L'aquila!!!  We had to go for a conference.  It was really cool to see all of those members again.  Friday we went to an area called Viterbo and met with Francisco, he is Colombian, and super cool.  We talked about the Restoration of the Gospel, such and incredible feeling to bear testimony of truth and watch people feel the spirit and hear them describe the amazing things they felt.

     Saturday we did service with Marco Petrollini, and they are the only house in Italy that has a basketball court, so of course we played afterwards, and I won "21" both times, get ready dad! ;)  They are such a cool family, he even calls me Larry, for Larry Bird! haha  Church yesterday was awesome, and they asked me to give a talk!  So I spoke on the Atonement, and based it off of 2 scriptures, Mosiah 5:2, and Alma 7:11-13, so I invite y'all to read these scriptures and to think about how you can more fully use the Atonement in your life.

     I love y'all so much, celebrate 4th of July for me too, and America is going to win the World Cup!!!!  Have a fantastic week!!

VVB!

Anziano Bird

Death Transfer!!!    6-23-14

How is it going?! The title of the picture is what happens when you don't coordinate with the sisters for p day... haha this week was super awesome!!  Also forgot to tell you about a joke they played on me last week, they made a fake email saying Beaux had died, they are evil!  So I was happy to get the picture!

I got transferred, will be going to Terni for my last 5 weeks! Crazy! I am super excited, it will be a lot of fun!  Love y'all so much, have a great week!!  Compito della settimana, send me your favorite chapter of scripture!  love y'all!!

vvb!

Anziano Bird

6-16-2014

Good morning!!

     How is everything back in the states?  Everything is super good here and we are staying very busy and have a lot to do in the coming weeks as well.  This week has been awesome!  One of the coolest parts was when one of our investigators came to church yesterday in a super nice suit!!  And he has to drive an hour to get here!  It is amazing how so many times we don't have to say anything, but the spirit begins to work inside people and that is when real change occurs.  I am so happy to be apart of this great work!

     This week we did a scambio in Ostia with Anziano Baggaley and Zemp, and it was a lot of fun.  Anziano Zemp and I taught a older Italian man who seriously looks like a carbon copy of Mario, and guess what his name is... Mario!  We talked with him for about an hour and got about 2 sentences in! haha I am going to miss these people so much!!  

     I got may haircut (professionally) for only the second time since I have been in Italy, and it looks WAY better than the first!  We were able to have a great FHE with our investigators at the bishop's house, talked about the Restoration, and it made so much sense to him! Wahoo!  

     Yesterday we had a ward lunch after church, it was good, but it is always an interesting situation when the missionaries bring more food than everybody else combined! haha  It was a lot of fun, transfer calls are this next Saturday, so we will then know my final resting place, everybody pray for Malta!!!  Love y'all so much and have a great week!!

vvb!

Anziano Bird

It's June!!    6-2-14   



  WOW!!!  Its is summer time!!  I don't have a lot of time today but some highlights from this week is we set 3 baptismal dates, we are super excited!!  Got to meet some really cool people, yesturday in church there were almost as many non members than members!  It was so cool!!!  Transfers are in about 18 days and then we will find out what my final resting place in the mission will be!  Just wanted to say that I love this work, and love these people!!  

     My invite for this week is to read Alma 34: 17-28, think about your prayers and then read "Its a miracle" by Neil L. Anderson from the April 2013 conference, and then follow his invite!  Love y'all so much!  And have a great week!!

VVB!

Anziano Bird

5-26-14


Ola family!

     This week was super super cool!!!  Last p-day we went to the Vatican for the first time, I live 20 minutes by train and had still never gone, it was pretty sweet, we will have to go back another day to see it all.  That evening we had a family home evening with a member and her boyfriend (who is from Napoli), so we had a lot of fun talking and he is now a new investigator!

     Tuesday morning we met with a man named Bobby, he is an African man who is in a band here in Rome!  He sings and plays the guitar!  Then we met with Michele, who is from Romania and is a mma fighter!  We know some pretty cool people! haha  After that Anziano Caballero had to skype his family and we had English course.  Wednesday we cleaned the church and passed by some members before Spanish course.

     Thursday we had to wake up super early for zone conference, went well, it is weird, it is my last one!!!!!! Crazy!  Friday was the baptism of Ayelen, she is from Argentina, and she asked me to baptize her, in the ocean!!!!!!!!  It was just about the coolest thing ever! Everything went really well and afterward we had a huge dinner at bishop's house where we ate homemade pizza!

     Saturday we had to go to Ostia to do 2 baptismal interviews, it went well.  Oh and I forgot we got to go biking with a member and he took us up into the mountains close by and we biked back and saw all the waterfalls and things, it was incredible!  And Sunday was church, now I am writing.  Today we are having a Mexican food party, I made the taco meat, refried beans, and salsa, and other are making guacamole and other good things, should be awesome!

     Hope everything is going well at home and know I love y'all.  ah!  I almost forgot, since I am training, you kinda go back to the basics... and so this week for my invite, it is to go back to the basics, I want you all to read and pray to know these things are true.  And if you are listening to your thoughts and feeling, you will receive your answer! 

Vi voglio bene,

Anziano Bird

19 maggio 2014 

ciao famiglia mia!

     So the happenings of the week!  Honestly feel like there is still not a lot to say because we talked a week ago!  But since when we talked, like always a lot has happened!  Monday night we did a family home evening with a family from Peru, they are super awesome and we ate a ton.... of Italian food. haha

     Tuesday morning like usual we had to go into Rome to do district meeting, it was our last one of the transfer so we had a lunch afterwards, and a sister made Brazilian food!  That afternoon we got to see one of our investigators named Mario, he is from Romania and is super awesome and super ready for the Gospel, but will probably be moving to England in a couple of weeks... but it will be good for him.  Then we had English course, which is finally starting to grow.

    Wednesday we went to pass by some members houses, and when we got to one members house, there were a bunch of Americans with cameras and filming crews, they told us we couldn't stay and couldn't tell us what they were doing, but I am expecting a sweet Mormon message to be coming out of Ladispoli soon! haha  We got to teach a man named Giancarlo with our bishop, which is always fun, and nice because we have a ride!  Then in the evening we had Spanish course!

     Thursday was transfer day, but we were not transferred so it didn't affect us.  We saw a man named Michele, and he dumped us :(  but on the bright side it was a beautiful day!  Then English course.  Friday we did weekly planning and then saw John and Festus, then went to a members house for dinner, and she made lasagna that was soooo good.  She is also  translator for the church, so she had tons of good stories!

     Saturday morning I did a baptismal interview for a girl who is getting baptized this week, it was really cool to see people who are so prepared and ready to accept all these things and make changes in their life to follow Christ.  Then we went way out to Civittavecchia for an appt. with Reda, our Muslim investigator!  Went really really well!  Then we went to a birthday party for a member in the ward, Alicino family.  

     Sunday, church, lunch at Sorella Squarcia's house, then we saw John and Festus again, and that was our week!  I love y'all all so much and hope everyone's week is  full of tante belle cose!  Challenge of the week, do family home evening!

Vi voglio bene,

Anziano Bird

May is here!   5-5-14

  How is everything going back in the states?  Here, the weather is warming up and our work is hopping!  Already been here a month and things have changed a lot!  We have been finding new people to teach left and right and they are all super awesome!  Lately we found a man who is from Tunesia and his girlfriend is from Romania!  And the are super interested!

     This week has been kinda crazy because Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we had conferences to go to in Rome!  There was zone conference, 2 professors came from BYU to speak about the Book of Mormon, and Elder Snow from the 70 did a conference with the missionaries and one with the stakes.

     Thursday we had our first ward activity in this huge park in the forest (which are pretty rare here).  And we had to take the trains out, and since it was labor day, there were hardly any trains, so it took a good 2.5 hours to get out there!  We had a pic nic and somebody brought a football and so Bishop and I got to play catch for a while..... it was AWESOME!!  And when we first arrived, bishop told us not to worry because he would find us a ride home, so we didn't worry about it.  The activity comes to an end and turns out the members only have room for the sisters.... so we are stuck with the train, that is going to take more than 3 hours going back!  Fortunately a member who is super into bikes, had brought 2 bikes with him to the activity, so he pointed us in the right direction and said, see you at my house in a couple of hours!  It was about 25 kilometers and it was going up a mountain, then when got to go down the mountain and towards the ocean, it was beautiful!!  And a lot of fun!

     Hope y'all have a fantastic week, and have a happy mother's day!!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Bird

Almost Summer     4-28-14


Hello family!

     This week has been crazy busy, Monday was a holiday, so we cleaned the house all day, then went to a bar b q on the beach that our investigator was having, it was awesome, just missing the bar b q part! haha  So Tuesday was our pday, we went to a market and just relaxed, nice to be able to save up some energy every once in a while! 

     Work has been awesome this week, it was really short for the fact we cleaned, then I was out of the city for 2 days doing a scambio, but we were able to find 5 new investigators, and they all seem super interested and like to see us!  The coolest guy is a muslim from Tunesia, so we are super happy about the way things are going.  This week Elder Snow is coming to see us which we are also excited about.

     I also hear that mothers day is coming up, so we will be talking soon!  That will be cool!  It is starting to get pretty hot here so that makes me happy, and Ladispoli will start filling up with people really soon!  Hope all is well at home, I love y'all a lot!  And hope your week will be filled with wonderful adventures!

Vi voglio bene,

Anziano Bird

Buona Pasqua!                               4-22-14


Happy late Easter!!!

     Hope everyone had a super sweet Easter!  Ours was super good here, it was a little scary because going to church, we didn't have an appointment for lunch still!!!  But luckily we got an invite at church!  And guess what kind of food we had..... Chinese food!  This ladies son-in-law was Chinese and he made the lunch!  It was really good!  They even bought us a big Easter egg!

     We have seen a ton of people this week.  It is super cool to work so closely with the ward in everything, things just work better.  So between that and finding on our own, it has been fun!  Time is really starting to fly, seems like just last Easter I was in Palermo!  Fun story of the week is when we got stuck out in a city way far away, then found out there was a strike, and we were stuck out there!!!  Luckily the assistants were heading in that direction already, and they owed me one, so they took us home!

     It is now just starting to warm up and the warmer it gets the more people are here in Ladispoli, so that is sweet.  We got a bad-mitten set so the next ward activity will be super sweet!  We are slowly meeting everyone here and trying to find our way around, and we never leave home without our big map!  Just a couple of scriptures that came to my mind on Easter - 2 Nephi 25: 26 and 2 Nephi 33:10-15.  Love y'all and have a great week!!!!!!

Love,

Anziano Bird

Good Mid April   4-14-14


Hey everybody!

     Hope everything is going well with y'all this week!  We had a really good week here, just starting to get settled into things here.  Ground breaking news of the week, I  went to my first ward council during my whole mission! Sweet, a ward that works! haha  I really do love this new city and the people here are pretty awesome.  Dont know if I told you but our balcony looks out onto the most popular beach for people who live in Rome... so it is incredible!  

     This week there was an artichoke festival and there was so many people in the city that you couldn't walk!!! We did a ton of finding and it was so much fun trying to talk to people, because they had to talk to us cause there was no where to go! haha  Anziano Caballero is awesome, he is a Bolivian chef, so he makes lunch everyday, and so in the past 2 weeks I have not ate a meal that didn't consist of rice, fries, fried egg, mayo, ketchup, and some kind of meat!  Delicious, but all meals are the same! haha

     We were able to find some new people teach this week which was awesome, got lost a couple of times of course, and just went and hung out in Rome today, maybe I will just stay forever!  I love y'all a ton, read through Nephi 16 this week, who all is keeping up with the D&C reading?? I'm not... whoops, love y'all!!

Anziano Bird

7 April 2014

To the Family of Anziano Bird

Your missionary, Elder Bird ,  has recently been assigned to be a "New 
Missionary Trainer".  In this assignment he will be the companion of a newly 
arrived missionary.  This is a very important responsibility.  Trainers have a 
profound and lasting influence on the development of a new missionary's attitude 
and habits.

I am confident that Elder Bird will do an excellent job in this new assignment.

Sister Waddoups and I thank you for your faith and prayers on behalf of our 
mission and for all you have done to prepare such an outstanding missionary.

Sincerely,

Michael G. Waddoups

President

Italy Rome Mission

7 April 2014

To the Family of Anziano Bird ,

We are pleased to inform you that Elder Bird has been called as a District 
Leader here in the Italy Rome Mission.  It is a position of trust and an 
opportunity to serve.  As a District Leader he will be responsible for all of 
the missionaries in his district.  He will meet with and teach them weekly in a 
district meeting.  He will also encourage them in their own areas, supervise 
their service, and be a mentor to them.  He will interview all baptismal 
candidates and supervise the baptismal services.

Elder Bird has been called to this new assignment based upon his outstanding 
service and dedication as a missionary.

Sister Waddoups and I thank you for your faith and prayers on behalf of our 
mission and for all you have done to prepare such an outstanding missionary.

Sincerely,

Michael G. Waddoups

President

Italy Rome Mission

Happy April   4-7-14


Hello Family!

     So this week has been super crazy, but super fun!!  The first part of the week was super busy, literally running from appointment to appointment to see everybody!  Got the packages ready to send... finally!  And got all packed and ready to go!  My train got to Rome, and when I got off, there stood my new little Bolivian/Italian companion, Anziano Caballero! haha He is the best, he has lived in Italy for 3 years and is just a super good guy, not to mention a chef! 

     Since we have been in Ladispoli everything has been crazy as well, not knowing any members, or investigators, or even how to find out house or the church!  It has been fun and it is a really strong ward with some very very great members here!  Conference was awesome, I hope everyone took somthing from it and have made a type of action plan with it.  Reading for this week is Mosiah 4, I love all ya'll so much and hope ya'll have a great week!

Vi voglio bene|

Anziano Bird

Happy Italian Day Light Savings!     3-31-14


It finally came!! haha

Hope everyone is doing well this week.  This will be brief, got a bad keyboard today.  Got transferred, I will go to Ladispoli, and I am blow in training a greenie from Italy!  So I will finally have an Italian comp again!  I am really sad to leave Pozzuoli, and yesturday in church was really hard with all the members and investigators.  It is going to be very very hard to leave Italy!

Today Sor. Trimble took us to Paestom for pday where there are some old Greek temples, so that was super cool.  We met some super cool people this week and in this next month they will have 4 baptisms here in Pozzuoli!  It has been a good run, besides being assistant it is my longest run in a city, so needless to say there are a lot of people to see in the next two days!!  Love y'all and for mail you can just send it to the mission office again because I will go there every week for district meeting.  Love y'all a ton!!! Have a great week!!

Love,

          Anziano Bird

3-24-14


Good Morning!

    Just a quick email today, but everything is super great!  This week was really crazy, mostly because I spent 3 days out of Pozzuoli!  Monday night we ate at Rita's house, and they have the coolest family ever, and we have been trying to teach the husband and son.  Tuesday night we had our meeting in Castelvolturno and we had a turnout of about 7 Africans so that was super fun as always.

    Wednesday morning we caught the train down to Catania and arrived about 9:30 that night.  Slept in an apartment with about 20 other missionaries... didn't miss doing that at all! haha  But Thursday we had our conference with Elder Kearon, it was incredible!!  The spirit was so strong the whole time and he taught some really cool stuff!  The next day we had our leadership conference in Catania and it gave us all a good chance to ask questions and get more time to talk about the work.

     We were supposed to come back Saturday, but I really didn't like being gone that long so we got permission to try and switch our tickets, and after a while we were able to!  We switched them to the night train!  So it was Anziano Cremonesi and myself, and the 2 sisters, and when we got on the train, we found out they had put us in the same cabin even though we had made that very clear! haha  So we had to fight for a while longer but finally got separate cabins! And I slept so good!  We got back to Napoli at about 7:30 and got a whole other day of work we did not anticipate.

     Today we met an American family here in Napoli that bought us lunch and had a daughter that just got off her mission and was in the MTC the same time as me!  Weird!  Well this week is transfer week, pray that I will stay here or go somewhere awesome!  Have a great week!

Love,

Anziano Bird

Pompeii

Here are some pics from that guy we found with all the cars! cant wait to take that jeep out for a spin!  Funny thing is he hates the Ferrari...

                                             Sor. Viazzo, Henson, Alfredo, Me, Anz. Kemple
                                                             
                                                                Alfredo's Baptism

                                                                 Alex's Baptism

                                                            Anz. Kemple, Alex, Me                       

                                                                Alex's Baptism
                                                  Evans, Alex, Roselyn, Brother Bonner

3-17-14   St Patrick's Day


Hello everybody!!

     So first we will run through the week really fast!  Monday we had to cut p-day way short to visit a couple we are teaching, Robert and Shirley!  Because he leaves every month and travels to the north for work!  They are about the coolest people on the planet, she is an angel, just like another Shirley I know!  We set a baptismal date for April 5th for them and they can't even hardly wait that long!  We have gotten so many member referrals in the past month we have slowly been able to see many of them and this week we were able to meet with Yaw!  He is a really cool guy!

     We were able to meet with several less active families this week, and the coolest thing is many of them came to church on Sunday.  It was super cool to see the chapel full and for them to see people that they hadn't seen in a while.  We headed down to Battipaglia this week for scambi.  Met probably the coolest guy ever there! He owns a gas station in town and he was a race car driver an he has all these metals of crazy things he did, and so he is a huge hero there.  He loves Americans so he showed us his collection!  He had 5 beautifully restored Fiat 500s, 2 Porsche's, 2 Jeeps from the war, and to top it off, a Ferrari of course!  And he loved us so much he said on p-day we could take out the jeep to the mountains and tear around!!  I will have to take him up on that after the mission!

     There has been a lot of planning for our conference we will have next week with Elder Kearns who is coming, it will be tough because we leave Wednesday morning, and get back Saturday evening..... love transportation in Italy! haha.  We saw our Vito and Julia this week, they are going to New York next month and wants to know if we know any LDS people there who could be his tour guide, and he said they could name their price!  So if y'all know anybody, let me know!  We also saw the Calahan family, and they made us bacon cheese burgers!!!!  WOW!  They were very good!  Saturday we spent almost all day up in Mondragone seeing people up there because we only make it up there about once a month, because it takes about 2 hours to get there!  

     Things really couldn't be better here!  Now I just hope I can stay here to see all these great things happen!  Love y'all a ton!!

Anziano Bird

     

Fake Daylight Savings      3-10-14


  So I forgot that the whole world didn't follow America when we changed the daylight savings time! haha  So we will have round 2 in a couple of weeks!  But this week was about a fantastic as it gets!  We were able to find 4 new investigators this week and just teach a ton!  We ended up teaching 20 lessons this week!  We have 2 baptismal dates right now and soon to be many many more.  We are teaching  some super awesome people! 

     There is one guy, Vito, who in the 80's lived in Louisiana for about 6 months!  So we get along real great!  And we have so many Africans that we need to teach that we have started doing group lessons where we will teach 7 or more at a time!  So it is really just a lot of fun right now!  Really hope I don't leave after next transfer!

     So we have been running around like crazy just trying to fit everything in!  I cant remember if I told y'all about that American family that was here for a month that was from Ucon, and so they left this week but took all my info so they could come to my homecoming! haha  I hear y'all got the emails from the mission about them starting to get travel and everything, so where am I going to fly into?  Food for thought!  I love y'all a ton, if you have any questions I am happy to respond!  Have a great week!

Love,

Anziano Bird

 Ciao Tutti!!                             3-3-2014



  Hows everything going?  Things are really good here!!  I will start with the work which is just incredible!!  We set a baptismal date this week and will set 2 more this next week with a couple who asked us to hurry up and come teach and baptize them because we were taking too long to get around to them because we found so many other people first!!  And the way things might turn out we might have one of those baptism days that makes it into the conference edition of the Liahona where 20 people get baptized on conference day!  So we are very happy here!!  Really starting to see all the fruits from the last couple of months, so anybody who thought we don't baptize in Italy, your wrong!!! haha

     Super cool thing happened this week, we got to go to Rome for a day because Elder Allen stopped by the mission and had a conference with the missionaries.  He had lots of cool updates on the temple and other things with the church here.  It was awesome because he tells it to ya strait and laid down the law, but he did it all through teaching doctrine and the spirit was so strong!  

     Everything about our work is super cool right now because the branch temple trip is coming up in a couple of months so we are helping our new converts get family names ready to take and we know that when the members get that spirit it is only going to help the branch and help our work, not to mention all those on the other side!  I am so grateful I have gotten to serve here, this area has changed my life, these people are incredible and it is a hard thing to explain how fast it happens, but when you truly seek to serve as Christ would, you build the strongest relationships. 

     Homework!  D&C 100, but focus on verses 3 and 4 (I think) I want to here about what yall think the "effectual door" is!  Love yall!!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Bird

2-24-14

 This week was pretty crazy, but pretty cool.  So it was already crazy because of transfers, then, one of the sisters in our branch got transferred.  She told one of their investigators on Sunday and he asked when she was leaving, her train was for Thursday morning, so he said he wanted to be baptized on Wednesday night!!  So Monday was at Pompeii, Tuesday we spent planning the baptism, and getting his interview done.

     He is a twelve year old boy that I have taught quite a bit and was incredibly prepared, and it took one of the missionaries leaving to give him that final push.  And I didn't know at the time, but he wanted me to baptize him, and he told me 20 minutes before! haha  So it was a rush to try and find clothes and everything for everybody!  But it was a super awesome experience, his name is Alfredo!  Cool huh?!

     Thursday was transfer day, so a lot of that time is spent in Napoli making sure nobody is alone and everyone catches their train.  Friday morning we went and set up for the carnivale party, and we had to be there to fill up the font (because it takes 6 hours) because the Caserta Anziani had a baptism there, pretty cool we got to see 4 baptisms in a week!  And so that makes 4 baptisms for our area this year!

     We have been working a lot with our new converts and helping them continue to become integrated to the branch and getting them ready to receiver the priesthood!!  This transfer will be super fun because we have gotten so many member referrals lately that our days are so filled we barely have time to eat!!  The party was cool and we had tons of members and investigators show up and they all had a good time.  And we have a new American family here for a month who is from Ucon and was the wrestling coach of some of my cousins at Bonneville! haha He said he wants to come to my homecoming!  So that will be sweet!

    That is it for this week, I promise some pictures will come soon, but I tried uploading some here at the Internet point so now my sd card has a virus so I don't know what to do, help Ryan!  Love y'all!!!

Anziano Bird

     

February 17,2014

Hey Everyone!

Okay, it was a great week, we had Alex's baptism and will have another on Wednesday!  Wahoo!!  Great times and great things!!  Went to Pompei today, super cool, pictures of everything to come!!!  Love y'all a ton and thanks for your prayers and love!!!  Scriptures  Matthew 14: 36, Matt. 15: 28, Matt. 9: 22, Enos 1: 8.... what are the things these verses have in common?  Love y'all!!

Anziano Bird

February 10, 2014

Good Morning!

     This week flew by so fast!  But some highlights are that we set a new baptismal date for Alex and he will be baptized this coming Saturday!  Thursday was Destiny's birthday so we threw him a little party, he is doing so well!  But Thursday I woke up and felt terrible, and so that night we were translating branch council and we found out I had a fever.  Went home and it was pretty high!  So I got some medicine and the next morning it was still really high so almost all day Friday I was in bed, which was pretty awful! haha  First time I have really been sick on the mission.

     Saturday evening we went and did a FHE with some less active members and their friends and it was super awesome!  Then yesterday the sisters were sick so our translating duties in church doubled!  It was an interesting day, but in sacrament all the African members did a musical number that was super sweet!  Then today we went to Caserta to see la Reggia, which is just a huge palace!  I guess the largest in Europe, or the universe or something. It was cool, they filmed a piece of star wars there!  And there was a huge garden section that we wanted to rent bike to go in, but they were closed and it is way to long to walk, so why talked a guy with a horse and buggy down from €60 to €20 split 6 ways, so that was cool!  Everything else is good as well, transfer calls are this Saturday, so we will see, I think I am staying but ya never know!!!

     Reading - Matthew 5, then find the bible video and watch it too, cause they are done super well!!!!

vi voglio bene!

Anziano Bird

2-3-14            6 months left!!!



I hit my 18 month mark this week!  Gotta start hitting the workouts hard now!  So, starting back at Monday.  We went to a part member family home (Italians) and we had ordered a bunch of American food from the base, and we went over and made them 100% American Fajitas!!!!  They were soooooo good and they were soooo impressed!!!! It was about the funnest night ever because nobody had ever done anything like that before.  And we had an awesome lesson about the Atonement which went really really well!!

    We have been focusing a lot of our time on less active members and trying to help and strengthen them this week, and we found an older man named Luciano who is a super cool guy who has fallen in love with us and wants to take us to Pompeii!  Cool!  We have continued to meet with Fidellio, continuing to help him to stop smoking, things are progressing..... slowly. 

     We should have a baptism next week of Alex, he is super super cool, and we have continued to work a lot with our new convert Destiny!  He is one of the smartest guys I have ever met and just loves learning about the Gospel!  Thursday morning we had my first apartment check since I have been in the mission, and you will be happy to know we got the highest marks and rewarded us with chips from America!!! haha

     Reading for this week is Jacob 4, and have I already gave Moroni 7?  If not, that as well! haha  Tons of things have happened this week, we actually had a kinda branch council which was cool, oh, yesterday was one of the most interesting sacrament meetings of my life!  So in our branch here we have quite a few Africans.  And they are super awesome and some of the more spiritual people I have met.  But sometimes they get talking and since English is not their first language, nothing makes sense! haha  So my companion, Anziano. Kemple had to translate for Evans, so I already laughing from him translating this testimony and all the Italians being so confused, than another African man, Phillip, got up and bore his testimony.  But instead of talking he sang a solo with some real soul from the pulpit, and it was super super awesome!  There was no one that didn't have a smile on their face after that!  

     Well, y'all all have a good week and we will talk next week!  Don't forget to read!!

Vi voglio bene,

 Anziano Bird

January 27, 2014

    It still feels really weird to write 2014!  So this past week has been a really good week!  It started off pretty interesting when we locked our keys inside of our house and house to make a trek out to a members house to get them, which ended up taking all night!! haha our area is very very large!!  Just to put it into perspective, to go from one end of our area to the other, takes about 4 hours!  Good news was we ended up meeting a guy who we were able to teach!

     Tuesday was different because President Waddoups and the assistants came down and so I got to do a scambio with Anziano Da Ponte (from Moses Lake).  We went and taught a new convert lesson to Destiny and it was incredible, there are just certain people who you can teach really well with and the spirit is always so strong!  Wednesday was Zone Conference which was good as normal, feel like I have had my share of them from doing 8 every transfer for 4 transfers! haha  But they are always spiritually uplifting!

     After Zone Conference we headed out to an American families house for dinner.  And they made us ribs!!!  Probably the best meal I have had in Italy  ;).  haha  We read about when Nephi breaks his bow and had one of the best member lessons I have ever had with anybody!  Thursday we taught Alex, who has a baptismal date for Feb. 8, and things are looking good for that!

     Thursday night, since we work as part time translators here, we went to a meeting with the branch presidency and primary presidency, and to say the least it was interesting!! haha  Friday, we got to go up to Mondragone, which is very far away but we have some families that live there.  We went and helped with home teaching and visited a few people out there, is was good to show them we are still thinking about them even though they are so far!

     Seems like our week was full of treks!  Because Friday we went out to see Asante, who is a new convert preparing to receive the priesthood.  And we took a bus, then ended up walking about an hour to get to him.  And he should be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next week!!  Then we went out to see an American less active member named Randall Lott.  And he was baptized when he was 10 and then went in active, and we committed him this week to take all the missionary lessons!  So that will be cool!!

     Sunday was a normal Sunday, we had a lesson with Destiny and missionary coordination.  And that's about it, love y'all and hope your week is good!!!

Vi voglio bene!!

Anziano Bird