Hey guys how are you doing? I'm am
doing very well here in Siracusa and I'm enjoying so much my time here.
I'm glad I'll be here for Christmas to be with these great friends for
my last Christmas away from home. This has been another fantastic week!
Lately I've been choosing different Scriptures as themes for each
transfer and for this one I picked John 8: 31-32. I think the words are
so powerful when Christ says "...the truth will make you free."
On Wednesday night this lady from Salt Lake came to
Siracusa because the Church is continuing the Bible videos of the New
Testament and they want to do a lot of filming here in Sicily near
Trapani. There were a lot of people who came to audition, including
non-members, so we had a great opportunity to talk to those who had
questions about the church. It's funny though because there are a ton of
members in the ward who have been growing out their beards to play
these roles so it is very strange to see them in sacrament meeting. It's
like we are going back to the times when everyone had beards! I had the
chance to talk to this lady from Salt Lake about the church's film
program and she gave me some great advice and some numbers and emails of
people I can call when I'll start thinking about these things.
Since Sorella Rosato, who is serving in Catania,
needed to wait for her new companion to come down to the island, she had
been with the sisters here in Siracusa. She is from northern Italy and
she is one of the funniest people alive! We had so much fun, especially
when we all ate together and she did an 'intense' language study with
us.
Investigators are doing well and we did pretty well
with teaching the last week, especially with members present. Riccardo
came to church for the first time so that went well. We had a historic
stake conference here in Sicily because it was the first time that they
did the conference through live broadcasting. They held the conference
in Catania and other major churches around the island received the
transmission. It went very well and there weren't many technical
difficulties like sometimes you could imagine with those kinds of
things.
Giuseppe has also been doing very well and is making
progress. The only bummer is that he hasn't come to church yet.
According to me that is the only thing that is keeping him from
receiving the answer he needs. A young adult in our ward who served a
mission, Fabio, came with us to the last lesson and it went very well.
We had a kneeling prayer at the end, and I find that those are
more powerful.
Stefania and Giovanna are both also doing very well
and Stefania has been reading frequently still in the Book of Mormon.
Our main focus this transfer is getting referrals, and I might have
mentioned that in an earlier email, but it's been great as we've visited
members and less actives, give them materials, and find those who are
searching the truth.
I had a cool experience on Monday. We randomly got a
phone call from a young man in our ward and he asked if he could see us
during lunch, so we met him at a bar (again, Italian bars aren't like
American one's). We met him, asked what he needed, and he just wanted to
spend time with us. You can tell that he is a little troubled, and it
must be tough being the only member of the church in an entire high
school. We ate, hung out during our lunch break time, and had a nice
visit altogether as he asked us questions about the mission. Little
things like that are so special because I can help someone in a small
way just by being a friend.
Anziano Smit is doing so well! Last night he gave a
whole spiritual thought by himself at the family home evening, and
everyone is really impressed with how fast he has been learning the
language. He has been doing great and we have a lot of fun together!
In the end things are good and we are working hard
to find new investigators. We are going to really use this Christmas
season to invite others to really bring Christ into their lives. I love
you all so much! Thank you for your prayers and all the help and support
you give me! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan, I love
you Brooke, I love you Heather, I love you Greg. Have a great week! Un
abbraccio! Vi voglio bene!!!
Con affetto,
Anziano Clay Lacey
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