Amo la bella città di Sassari!‏

Hey guys!
 
I'm so glad everyone is doing well! Thank you for your wonderful
emails! Things are going so great over here in Italy. We are being
blessed immensely and I can definitely see the Lord's hand in the
work, especially here in Sassari. I have my interview with President
here soon for zone conference and I'm going to tell him that I can't
leave!
 
First off, how great was General Conference! I loved it all so much! I
switched off watching it in Italian and English depending on which
sessions we had investigators. The difference was huge in how much I
comprehended. I think I can safely say that I'm finally fluent in
Italian. That doesn't mean I speak perfectly or correctly, but I
finally can say I got it down. I have a ton of practicing to go still
though!
 
I think one of my favorite talks was Elder Andersen's. It seemed like
every single talk had some kind of theme of either the family, the
Atonement, and of course I found missionary work principles in them.
It was a perfect conference for our investigators.
 
I want to start with Maurizio. He's the twenty-year old guy we found
at English course. Well, he has shown a huge desire to know the
gospel. He came to two sessions of General Conference after I gave him
the invite. He loved it so much and the members loved seeing him in
church because he hadn't been back since he bore his testimony that
one Sunday a month ago. To back track a little bit we did a split for
a few days. Our zone leader, Anziano Luke from Virginia, was with me
from Monday until today for p-day. Well we set a lesson up with
Maurizio for Monday night during family home evening with the Murgia
family. It went perfectly. We did the first lesson with him, watched
the video of the Restoration, and everyone bore beautiful testimonies.
At the end Maurizio said he knows that these things are true, that
Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, and he
wants to be baptized. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen and
I've never felt so good in a lesson before. The only thing is he's a
little scared of the changes he will need to make to be a part of the
church.  He says that he wants to become a missionary. Pray hard for
him! He is so courageous and has a strong faith in Jesus Christ. If
you want to see a picture of him, he is the one to my right with a
leather jacket and scarf in the picture with my English course
students.
 
Yesterday me and Anziano Luke had an awesome lesson with Adhemar and
Fratello Murgia. We taught him the commandments and talked about the
Law of Chastity. Step by step he's growing his testimony in the Book
of Mormon and we've been really urging him to pray with faith to know
that these things are true. He is making great progress though.
 
Unfortunately, Enoch has been really sick for the past few days so he
wasn't able to go to conference, but he is going so much closer with
the members! We are excited and hopeful for him.
 
We had another lesson with Margherita yesterday, and we had a huge
answer to prayers because her mother was there! We invited her to
listen to the lesson, and she agreed. The funny thing was she was a
little apprehensive and didn't really care or pay attention during the
first half of the lesson (we taught the message of the Restoration).
Anziano Luke was so inspired because he asked the mother, Saraiah, if
she has had any spiritual experiences. Saraiah began to get more
interested and discussed about her testimony of prayer. We also bore
testimony of the power of prayer and then she began to get more
emotional and talked about how much she needs the Savior in her life
because she is a single mother taking care of four kids. Well, we got
her! By the end of the lesson she loved us and wants us to teach her
and her family. Woo!
 
We also got lucky with Maddalena. She has been making some great
progress and we've been able to do some service for her, and then
fitting some lessons in. Her testimony is definitely growing and I
have no doubt that she'll receive a witness that the things we teach
are true. Me and Anziano Luke taught her with a member after English
course and we did a lesson completely based on the Spirit and her
needs as an investigator regarding receiving personal revelation. We
didn't even bring up anything about the things we had planned to
teach!
 
Weeks keep getting better and better! This split that I had with
Anziano Luke was the best split I've had of my mission so far! We
taught three lessons in the presence of a member within 34 hours, one
other lesson, and got a new investigator! I've never learned so much.
 
This General Conference was outstanding and definitely something I
needed for a spiritual recharge. I love this Gospel so much and I know
with all my heart that this is the true church of Christ on the earth
today, and I know that President Monson is the Lord's prophet. How
privileged we are to know this and to share this with others!
 
I love you all so much! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you
Morgan, I love you Brooke, I love you Heather, and I love you Greg!
Stay safe! Io prego sempre per voi! Vi voglio tanto bene! Ricordatevi
di mettere la vostra fiducia nel Signore!
 
Con amore,
 
Anziano Clay Lacey