Dear Family and Friends,
I got a TON of letters this week! WOW!!! How fun! Sorella Hanks and I have had a pretty down week... She was REALLY sick, and we literally would leave the house, teach a lesson, then come back so she could rest more, then not leave the house again until we had another lesson. So on Sunday at church, when Capo Distretto brought us our HUGE stack of mail, we were pretty excited! Thank you all for your love and letters! I hope I can respond to you all... may take a while. :) But it was great, and not too distracting. ;)
This week we saw a fun miracle. We were pretty much stuck indoors, Slla Hanks was sleeping, and I was studying. I kept getting random phonecalls from people I didn't know. They'd say, "Who is this?" I'd introduce myself, and ask if they wanted to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ, and they'd say, "Sure, but how did you get this phone?" One girl called back about 6 times that day, and kept saying, "Sorry, I meant to call someone else." I thought it was kind of strange, but was happy for the referrals. Then Charles, one of our new converts said, "All of my friends tried to call me on Thursday, and somehow they were automatically transfered to you!" Apparently when everyone talked to him the next day, they asked him why Sister Willey had his phone. It was so funny! I told him that it's a sign, and he needs to bring all of them to church. :)
Another sad thing that happened this week... a new convert has stopped reading the Book of Mormon every day. Ok, that sounds like maybe a little thing, right? But 3 weeks ago we asked him, "Could you ever lose your testimony?" And he said, "That's impossible! I know it's all true! I so much love reading the Book of Mormon!" And this week he missed church and told us he stopped reading the Book of Mormon every day. He seemed really sad, almost like a different person, and had a lot of questions about doctrine that he had understood before. He also said that he felt his testimony was strong in that moment, but during the week he had a lot of questions. He said, "All the churches are true." And when we said, "Ok, they all have truth, but which church has a true and living prophet who speaks for Jesus Christ?" He said, "The Bible says that lots of false prophets will rise up in the last days." It made me realize just how tender and precious is a testimony! Obviously when someone is new in the church, it's even more tender. But as we talked to him, the only thing that really changed was that he wasn't reading the Book of Mormon every day. He wouldn't even commit to reading every day. He said he would if he felt like it. AHHH!!!! We came home practically in tears.
So, what do we need to do to keep our testimonies strong? Well, Alma said that we have to nourish it. If we let it alone, it will die. I have been giving everyone Alma 32 this week to read, and I'd also recommend it to all of you. I used to think of it as mostly a chapter for those who want to start a testimony. But now I realize that it's just as important to nourish a testimony that is already grown. If we stop reading, stop praying, stop coming to church, attending the temple, etc, etc, then our testimony won't be getting that important nourishment that it needs daily and weekly. Just like if we have a yummy tomato plant or fruit tree that we stop allowing sunshine, watering, and weeding.
The other chapter that came to mind, was the 1 Nephi 8, tree of life vision of Lehi. If we are not holding to the rod of iron (the word of God), we will never be able to enjoy the fruit (peace, joy, happiness - fruits of the love of God). And in 1 Nephi 11:22-23, Nephi explains that it is the most desirable and sweet above all the other fruits. These are such simple doctrines, but so powerful! I always knew and understood that these things were important, but now I am seeing just HOW important, and how delicate our testimony actually can be.
I keep learning so much, and I hope that I can retain it all! I am so grateful to be here at this time!
Take care of yourselves, and thank you for your prayers, support, and everything!
Keep the faith!
Love always,
-Sorella Willey
Sorella Willey
Sorella Elizabeth Willey
Missione Italiana di Milano
Via Gramsci, 13/4
20090 Opera MI
ITALIA
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