26 Jun 13

Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 13:18:59 +0200 Subject: Hello! Hello family!   Thats really sad about Becky. She is an awesome girl, and ill be praying for their family for sure. It makes me think of how important it is that we have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.   As usual, my letter is going to be kind of random, but here goes:   Mom, can you do some detective work and get me Janessas email? I didnt do a good job of getting peoples contact information before I left. Thanks!   Italians are funny. They write their grafitti in English. Grafitti is EVERYWHERE here, because my area is the not as nice part of Milano. Theres a gang (or group or whatever they are) in an area we work a lot in called "Rude Boys." I got a kick out of that, just because that doesnt sound very intimidating to me.   Cool miracle from this week, we were at a park in "Rude Boys" territory, and it was FULL of old people. They just like to talk to talk about politics and then they kiss the pass-a-long cards we give them with pictures of Jesus on them. Then we saw a guy on a bench who was only about 35 so we went and talked to him. He said that me and Anziano Davis had talked to him before and he wasnt interested. We still kind of went with it and asked him what we talked about with him. He said we talked about the Book of Mormon. So then we bore testimony about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible are both the word of God. Then everything changed. He thought that the Book of Mormon was a replacement for the Bible, but when he found out we use both everything changed. We had a SUPER spiritual lesson with him, and then saw him again the next day and set a baptismal date with him. We are really excited about him.   I heard that they like cancelled church in Utah and Idaho and some other places one Sunday for a big announcement. What big announcement? Or is it just mission rumors?   The mission is sad. President and Sister Wolfgramm go home Saturday morning. Then on Tuesday we had district meeting at the same time a new missionary training thing was being held. So I saw Anziano Simcox, Anziano Loveitt, and lots of the sisters from my MTC group. It was sad though cause now I wont see them probably for another four or so months. Its sad cause we were with each other 24/7 for 6 weeks and now we barely see each other. Oh well!   Remember that kid that we dragged into watch conference with us? We made contact with him again and are teaching him now! Hes SUPER shy, so its going to take some time with him.   I found a progress record in our area book that was written by an Anziano Griffeth. I hope its Scott Griffeth, if so, that would be cool!   Brandon wrote a letter awhile ago about how hes grown a huge hate for drugs and alcohol while on the mission. Me to. First, because wine breath is the worst smell in the history of time. Second, as I said, we are kind of in the not as nice part of Milano. We were in a park the other day and we sat down and said a prayer, and when we finished, a homeless guy on another bench yelled "What'd you pray about!" So we went and talked to him. He was smoking a cigarette type thing. We talked to him a little, and we got to the point where Anziano Miller said that we could help him stop smoking. He said "No, you cant help me stop smoking. This cigarette is called "The drug of poverty."(more or less) All the people like me (homeless) use this drug. You cant help me stop because its literally all I have." It makes me sad to see stuff like this. We see this drug EVERYWHERE, and its ruined so many peoples lives. Were also working with a less active family whos trying to stop smoking. They are a super nice family, but they just cant stop. We just barely started working with them, and were going to help them stop, but its sad to see this stuff hurt people so bad. Especially because EVERYONE here smokes. Follow the Word of Wisdom!   Pictures! Picture 1 is from zone conference last week. Sorella McCann, Sorella Lopez, Anziano Matau, Me, and Anziano Herrin. I think I got that order right, if not im sorry. Picture 2 is one of the places we go a lot. Its a stop on the Metro called Bonola. One of our investigators live just behind here. A lot of homeless people and poor immigrants hang out here a lot. A really run down part of Milan, but I think the grafitti is cool.   The mission is changing me a lot. Not a lot a lot, but I can tell. One example is before I thought all the EFY music was a joke. Now, I love it. Just a heads up, when I get home im going to be a little Brady Bunch haha.   The work is really picking up here. We got 15 lessons again last week, even though it was a really tough week. With Anziano Miller im learning that if you really want to do something, and are willing to give everything youve got, anything is possible. This week started off really well, so hopefully we will be able to have another good week.   One funny/not funny story. Not this past sunday, but the one before, I had to give a "Hey Anziano McKinnon, our last speaker isnt here, can you give a ten minute talk as soon as this speaker is done" talk. He asked if I could speak on member missionary work. So I got up there and did my talk and bore my testimony and said "There are tons of people who are looking for the truth. There are so many people. You have all found the true Church of God on the Earth. Congratulations! But now, we have to make sure your friends find it to." I dont know why I threw in the "congratulations," and I dont think the members really cared. The other missionaries here always say "Auguri" to me now and love to tease me about it. But, one of the sisters investigators got a huge kick out of it, and now were really good friends. Shes this old lady, but shes super awesome. Thats my one "Why did I just say that" story for the week.   Thats pretty much it for this week. I bought peanut butter this past P Day and it was the best decision ive ever made. I realized that 1. Nutella isnt like healthy, and 2. Peanut Butter is about the same price as nutella. Plus I like it better, so win win. Its not really that expensive, and we found some arabic store that sells it for only 1,50 so thats good!   I love you all! Keep CTRing, and make sure you all give each other extra hugs for me. Continue praying for the Smart family, and let them know how much I love their family.   Love, Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon