September 18, 2013

Ciao tutti!

Well another great week in Verona! Not really too much to report this week.

So the last couple of P Days have been really fun! Two weeks ago, I went with the zone leaders and my companion Anziano Lovett to Lago di Garda! Very beautiful! Last week, with my new companion, Anziano Burton, and the other new anziani that are living with us, we went to centro to see the Arena and Torre dei Lamberti.  It's all stuff that I've seen before but it's cool to see it again.  This morning, however, was awesome!!  We went and played soccer! We had 4 companionships! So it was 4v4 and it was super fun.  There was also a dirt bike trail close-by...we went jumped the bikes a couple of times haha.  It was fun to get some energy out and get a little dirty.

So not many miracles this week.  But! I did learn a good lesson! Anziano Burton and I planned one night to find a ragazza wearing a red sweatshirt. We set out the next morning to find her. We searched everywhere but didn't find her. We stopped to pray for help and continued our search. We found a couple women wearing red but not a red sweatshirt. We searched for a good hour and a half. We have decided that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor because at one point we walked out to this intersection and there were four or five people all wearing red shirts! So after much searching, we never found the ragazza. But I learned a lesson! We can't limit ourselves to just one person or people. There are so many people who are ready to hear the gospel and we need to talk to every one we meet. I think this is the lesson Heavenly Father wanted to teach me.

Well gotta get back to work! Love you all! Vi voglio bene! Ciao!

-Anziano Cody Petterborg

New companion!! Anziano Burton 

September 11, 2013

Ciao tutti!

Whew I've started my third transfer here in Italia. Pretty crazy. I am now completely finished with my training as a new missionary and I'm a real missionary now! I got a new companion last thursday. His name is Anziano Burton. He's a pretty cool dude and we've already done great work together. I'm still here in Verona but I am working in a different in a different area and living in a new apartment. It's a great opportunity to learn more about this beautiful city!

So last week for P Day we went to the beautiful Lago di Garda. It is a large lake just north of here. It was so pretty and there is a castle on the shore and ancient Roman ruins. Unfortunately the internet point that I went to won't allow me to attach pictures...sad day. I'll get some sent home eventually.

The other day we met with a man from Sri Lanka that the sorelle had referred us to. He doesn't speak English very well...or Italian. It's very hard to teach him in a way that he understands. We brought a Book of Mormon in Singhala to give to him. After we had explained a little bit about the Book of Mormon, we were very unsure about what he understood. We asked him to read 3 Nephi 11:7 in his language. As he began to read, the spirit filled the room. It was like a light bulb turned on inside his head! We then showed him a picture of Christ appearing to the Nephites and he nodded and smiled as if he now understood everything. It's amazing how the Book of Mormon brings everything to light. Simply reading from it's pages can bring in a powerful spirit, even if it's in a language you don't understand.

Well gotta get back to work! Love you all! Ci sentiamo!

-Anziano Petterborg

September 4, 2013

Wow we started September this past week!! That's pretty crazy! That means that I've been a missionary for 4 months!  I've got only 20 left! I better use them wisely. 

So it is the end of the transfer.  Luckily I get to stay here in Verona! I will have to change apartments but I'm super glad that I get to stay in this beautiful city.  Anziano Lovett isn't so lucky...he is being transfered to Ancona.  That is a city much farther south.  I hear that it's pretty down there but the city is a lot smaller.  He'll get to open an area and train again.  Poor guy...good thing he is good at it!  My new companion is Anziano Burton.  I haven't met him yet but from what I've heard he is a pretty good guy so I'm excited for that.  Another 6 weeks in Romeo and Juliet country!

We didn't go anywhere for P-Day last week, unfortunately.  We did go to Lago di Garda today...but you'll have to wait til next week to hear about that!! It was really cool!

We had another slow week...not a lot to report this week unfortunately...however, I would like to share a spiritual thought.  One of my Zone Leaders shared this thought one morning as we were leaving the house.  In 3 Nephi 11, Christ appears to the people living in America.  He is introduced by God our Heavenly Father, "Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name-hear ye him." Heavenly Father expressed his appreciation for his son as he introduced him.  That could make us think, how would God introduce me?  We are all his children and He loves us very much.  But if he were to introduce you to somebody, would he say "Well, this is So-and-So...he's...well...good luck."  I challenge all of us to take an accounting on where you stand with God.  Alma chapter 5 is a great reminder to us all.  Heavenly Father loves each of His children more than any of us can know.  He wants us to reach our full potential and knows how to help us reach that potential.

Well I gotta get back to work! Love you all! Ciao!

Spent some time with my friends before the next transfer!

Went to Lago di Garda

Made a trip to an Army Base in Vicenza & bought peanut butter and other good stuff!

August 28, 2013

Ciao tutti!

Things seemed to have slowed down here in Verona a bit.  We have slowly lost a lot of our investigators unfortunately.  However, it has given us a chance to reevaluate and see what we really want in an investigator.  It has given a chance to kind of start fresh.  So, we have been doing lots of finding work the last couple of days and really searching out referrals from our members.

So last P-Day we decided there isn't much else left to see in Verona...so we really didn't do anything to fun to report.  We just ran some errands and stuff.

This week had a couple of experiences that I would like to talk about.  On thursday, all of the district leaders had to go to a meeting in Milano, including my companion Anziano Lovett.  In our zone, all of the district leaders have brand new trainees who are in their first transfer (I'm in my second) and so all of the trainees had to go some where while their trainers are at this meeting.  Well, that leaves me as the most "experienced" and I ended up in charge of two really green missionaries for the day.  Luckily, we met with mostly Africans that spoke English, but we did have to do some finding work and we had to use Italian for that...it really put my Italian to the test...but it was a really good experience! I really helped me to see where I'm at and what I can improve on.

My other story I want to talk about is a miracle that we had.  A couple of days ago, my companion and I were doing some finding work. While we were out and about, a really prized investigator texted us and told us that they didn't want to meet with us at all this month and that they preferred that we didn't send them text messages every now and then. We were very disappointed but we quickly said a prayer to make sure that we kept up our spirits and we asked that we could find someone else to take their place. The next doorbell that we rang, a lady answered the citofono and let us in. She said we couldn't meet with her right then but she had heard of the church and wants to learn more! She has a husband and two kids and we are super excited to teach them this coming friday.

Well sorry for the really long email this week! Love you all! Ciao!

-Anziano Cody Petterborg