Thursday, May 1, was Labor Day, a national holiday here in
Italy. Therefore, all the Italians were
off work, most of the stores were closed, and the weather was bright and sunny. Our missionaries decided to take advantage of
all these factors and put a mostra (or streetboard) together. They wanted to invite all the missionaries
and members to come to a crowded piazza in the middle of Siena where we could
explain the plan of salvation to all those who might stop by.
Forty years ago when Darryl was a young missionary in Italy,
he used this technique quite often; even setting up a streetboard right on
Vatican Square, within a stone's throw of the Pope's residence and the famous
Swiss Guards. However, things have
changed. Now there is bureaucratic red
tape to fight through, permits to obtain, fees to pay, etc., in order to pull off
this type of proselyting activity. But,
undeterred, our sister missionaries jumped through all the hoops, got the permit,
made a wonderful poster of the plan of salvation, and got the members excited
for this adventure.
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| Elders Robb and Axson with most of the Rotelli family |
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| The Army of Israel, at least in Siena |
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| Sister Roth with a member, explaining the plan to some friends |
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| Sister Boscia with their great artwork! |
We spent most of the afternoon and evening at the mostra,
explaining the plan to those who were brave enough to stop and listen. It becomes increasingly clear that the world
is becoming more secular everyday, and finding someone who is really open to
God and His revealed word is difficult.
That is why all of us need to share the gospel with our friends and
families, and find new ways to bring people to Christ. The old techniques of knocking doors, street
tracting, and even streetboards are less and less effective. While they are useful and need to be done
when more productive means are not available; members and missionaries must
work together to find ways to invite friends, neighbors, co-workers and family
to listen to the message of the restored gospel.
Last Sunday, May 11, Elder Timothy Dyches, a member of the
First Quorum of Seventy and a counselor in the Europe Area Presidency, along
with Elder Massimo De Feo, our Area Seventy, created the first stake in the
Florence area. This new stake extends
from Pisa and Livorno on the Mediterranean Sea, to Rimini and Ancona on the
Adriatic Sea. This is a huge
geographical region for one stake. We
feel sorry for our new Stake Presidency and the many, many kilometers they will
be putting on their vehicles.
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| Elder Dyches before the meeting |
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| Ready for history to be made! |
They created five wards within this new stake. There will be six other units, still
branches, and Siena will be one of these branches. Our members were very excited to be a part of
the creation of this new stake, as we all work hard to make Italy "blossom
like a rose" as prophesied by Lorenzo Snow when he first dedicated this
land.
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| Lucy, Francesca and Bianka |
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| Franca, Maria Rosa and Diletta |
In addition to this historic stake conference, Sunday was
also Mother's Day. The elders came to
our apartment Sunday evening where we helped connect them with their families
via our IPads and Skype/Google. We also
had a chance to talk with some of our children and their families, and they all
seem to be doing fine. It seems like
great blessings are happening in all of our lives!
Our Siena missionaries gave Bonnie a beautiful lily plant
for Mother's Day, along with a very nice card.
Bonnie is really a second mother to all the missionaries who are
fortunate enough to serve in this beautiful city.
Yesterday we had our weekly Family Home Evening. We decided to celebrate the May birthdays,
and make cards for all our members and missionaries with birthdays this
month. Two of our missionaries, Elder
Axson and Sister Roth, have birthdays in May, so they had a good time at this
activity.
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| Bonnie, Elders Axson and Robb, and Luca from the branch |
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| The sisters, an investigator, and Bonnie |
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| Sister Roth and Sister Boscia |
A former missionary, Sister Katie Soh, dropped in on our FHE,
and our members were so excited to see her.
She and her companion were the first sister missionaries to serve in
this city, and Darryl and Bonnie happened to be sitting in the Sacrament
Meeting in Siena in October 2012, as tourists, when they were first introduced
to the branch. What a coincidence!
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| Sister Soh and Bianka, talking via FaceTime to another former missionary |
This week is transfer week, and we may lose one or two of
our great Siena missionaries. But with
everyone who leaves, they leave us with great memories and stronger
testimonies. And these changes give us
the opportunity to meet and work with other great servants of the Lord, and
that is awesome.
The work moves forward, and with everyone's dedication and
hard work, it will roll forward as a stone cut without hands until it fills the
whole earth. May we all do our part!
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