February 25, 2009

Yesterday we all went to Rome for a conference with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and The 70 Area President Elder Robert C. Oaks. It was amazing. the whole mission was there even the island of sardegna so i was able to see all of my companions. I was so excited to see my son! I also saw all of the missionaries that are about to die. That is not all. I also got to see my members from Rome and L'Aquila. From L'Aquila i saw Stephanie and Ariana who are african and are incredible. I also saw Marina who is an investigator and has been for 3 or 4 years. i got her number and we are going to go and see her when we do our giro. I saw Carmello and Simone who is now active in church again! yeah! i heard that The perticaroli family is now active and she is going to be rebaptized soon. She looked so great and happy. Her daughter was the one that was baptized who i taught. I saw barbera and her husband is reading the Book of Mormon and is taking the lessons. We are going to sleep there when we do our giro. I heard that Brother Banchini's wife just got baptized and their daughter. I was the first person to teach them and it all was possible through persistence. It made me so happy. You should hear the hymn of rome it is beautiful. Its the mission hymn and we all sang it together. Elder Oaks is such a loving, kind, funny and hard working man. You feel the peace and love when he is in the room. We all shook his hand and he said a little something to each of us. He talked about giving it our 110%, 10 gifts we need to take back with us from the mission, he answered questions about how to be our best and about the temple. We have to wait 1year to 5years to start building because there are a lot of permissions that have to be made for every temple. I am so excited. His wife is amazing as well. She served a mission in Japan. They did everything with the spirit. They followed the spirit in every decision and always were willing to change the plans for our benefit. I love this work. I love serving a mission. I know that we are called of God and that we have the power to help and bless people. I am working my very best to live every single day in the best way possible. I dont want anymore regrets so i will give it my all every day and follow revelation that comes to me. I love my companion. Yes, there are things that i dont like or that bug me but that doesnt change the person, who he is. I love the faith that he has and the energy. I am learning how to be patiently loving and to talk about things and help him out and take suggestions from him. Giovanna is doing well. she didnt come to church because she had the kids and had to take them to do carnival stuff because it is carnival time. But on friday we taught her the law of chastity and the word of wisdom which went well. She doesnt smoke or drink which is amazing... very rare in italy (she is prepared). The only thing is tea and coffee but we gave her orzo which will be great.She had to cancel to apointments because of things that came up. I know that all will be alright. I am trusting in the Lord and i know that it will be in His time. I hope and am still planning for her to do it in 2 weeks but if not she has time. Keep praying for her. Love Elder Brewster

February 18, 2009

i have some exciting news! Last night we had a wonderful lesson with Giovanna DeVita we have been thinking and praying about it. We have taught her the 1st 3 lessons and last night we did a lesson on Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. At the end we gave her the invite to get baptized. She accepted and she will be baptized the 11th of March, the day before i leave. I will leave (probably) the 12th of March. She is excited but nervous which is good because she realizes that the hardest trials that she has ever faced will come in these next 3 weeks but it will all be worth it. I want to tell you how i found her. She came to our english class a year ago with other missionaries. She came back in December. Do you know why she came back because she felt really strongly that she needed to come for some reason. She didnt want to come but a voice told her that she needed to come. The third time that she came was our Christmas party. At the end of the party i felt so strongly to talk to her. I followed it and got her number and address not thinking that anything huge would come of it, but in fact it did. She studied with the jehova's witnesses and the evangelists so she was prepared. She is 43 and has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. She has had many problems and mistakes in the past and it is so beautiful that she will be able to have all of that washed away and have a rebirth. Please pray for her and put her name in the temple. This baptism is going to bring a lot of hope to the branch and will bring many more baptisms. Love Elder Brewster

February 11, 2009

We had the best zone conference yesterday. This elder from Hawaii Elder Auna gave his dying testimony because this is his last transfer. It was incredible. I needed this conference so badly, it was exactly what i needed to pump me up and get that powerful missionary excitement. The zone leaders, elder Auna and Elder Taylor did a wonderful training on getting in the game. They started with a skit. They related missionary work to playing a sport. It seems really long at the first but once you play the time flies. There are struggles, challenges, tiredness comes, joys, sorrows, we must have indurance, and stay excited and focused during the whole game. It was amazing and exactly what we all needed. They then shared the most touching story of a ship that was at sea during a huge tempest. They saved all of the remaining men except for one who was holding down the ship. They went to the island and asked for volunteers to go out and save this man. Most of the men were already exhausted or injured so they was one boy that was 19 who said that would go. His mother begged him not to go because her husband died, lost some children, including one who was lost at sea that they never found. The son replied that he felt that he had to do it and he went and sacrificed his life for this one man. At the end of the story you come to find out that that one man was his brother who was lost at sea. They then related that story to us and showed us pictures of our brothers and sisters who were lost at sea but then saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ and they are now baptized. Oh, i cant fully explain how powerful that training was. It was exactly what i needed. Then we had the training given by the assistants on FEAR and the antedote which is THE SPIRIT, LOVE and FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. I loved it. I will have to show you all of my notes that i wrote some day. Elder Allen and I sang a musical number " I need thee every hour " in english and italian. Our theme was really neat. We imagined Elder Allen as the missionary that had need of the Lord to find a new investigator in the first verse and then in the second i played the investigator that had need of the gospel. In the 3rd we sang together (finding each other) and then the 4th verse we did a round. He started and sang in English and then i followed singing in Italian and then we finished together which was baptism. It reminded me of my good friend Manolo who lived in Ostia who asked me to baptize him. I really hope that he is doing well. President Acerson and Sorella Acerson gave powerful trainings. The spirit testified to me how lucky and blessed i am to have them. I know that He is called of God and is working so hard to bless this Italian people. They love us missionaries with all of their hearts. After that zone conference we all had the fire and the desire and we talked with many people on the metro. I love you Dad. I am so grateful for the gospel and for this church. I am so blessed to be having the opportunity to serve a mission. I am learning, growing, and changing in a way that i could never do doing something other than this mission. Love, Elder Beau Brewster