July Zone Conferences

This post covers the first four zone conferences that took place at
the end of July.  Pictures of the upcoming zone conferences will be
added next week.  Thank you for your patience!

D&C Section 4 was given to Joseph Smith when he was just twenty three years old.

Missionaries worldwide commit it to memory and rely on its guidance. We began each

of our zone conferences by reciting these inspirational missionary-minded verses.

This "marvelous work" that was about to come forth preceded the Book of Mormon, the

restoration of the priesthood and even the official organization of the Church itself. Did

they have the vision of what was to take place?  Could they have imagined the Church

growing to 40-45,000 members strong during the 14 years Joseph served as prophet?  

What did they expect?

 Torino Zone

When President Allen served in the Italy Rome Mission there were just over 1,000
members in the whole country!  Church meetings were held in various places 
including the missionaries' apartments.

 Genova Zone

Despite having been considered primarily a "seed planting" mission for decades,
baptisms in Italy have moved and are moving along at a steady pace and
today there are over 25,000 members and ten stakes!

 Milano Est Zone

This is a miracle!  But there is more in store for the people of this great country
who are anxiously awaiting the completion of their own temple in Rome.

Our missionaries continue to sow, but they also plan to reap - 

a GREAT harvest!

Milano Ovest Zone

We are ready to harvest.  We are planning to harvest!

Our new mission scripture is:

"Behold, a marvelous work IS about to come forth among the children of men."
D&C 4:1

Support scripture:

"And by your hands I will work a marvelous work among the children of men,unto the convincing of many of their sins, that they may come unto repentance,and that they may come unto the kingdom of my Father."D&C 18:44

We are excited!  We have set a mission goal to bring three hundred children of 

God into his fold through the waters of baptism prior to the dedication of the Rome

temple and with great faith in Him we will achieve what the Lord has asked us to do!

We are amazed at the greatness, maturity and testimony of your sons and daughters

and feel privileged to serve with them. Thank you for supporting them as they

continue this marvelous work!

The following are pictures from the first four zone conferences. To maintain reverence

and focus pictures were not taken during presentations, but we would like to share lunch,

our learning activity, some roleplays and the fun we had both before and after the meetings.

We hope you see many of your son or daughter.

Enjoy!

Yes - Pizza!  Real Italian pizza!

No wonder they are smiling!

This activity shows the importance of missionary skills such as planning

and teamwork.  Teams of 5 missionaries established non-verbal signals

that the blindfoldless person in the back then used to communicate down the
line to the person in front.  The task?  Move the scattered cups (investigators)
from around the room into the bin (the church).  After the activity we discussed
what we learned.

The young man in the beard will soon head off to serve in the Rome

mission.  We enjoyed having him.

This activity was observed by our Sorelle as we had the 

Anziani try to successfully sit on the knees of the person

behind them.   This requires trust, faith and even a little practice

as some efforts are more successful than others.

We talked about what they observed: the importance of following instructions,

working as a unit, and holding on to the person in front of them.

Certainly, missionary work should be fun!

We should find joy in service!

Roleplays helps us get over hurdles so that we can have the courage
to be the best missionaries we can be.

Who wouldn't want to hear the gospel
from these beautiful missionaries?

Tired? Me? Not when I'm spending time

with amazing missionaries.