So this week was pretty good! I liekd it a lot and I found out how I can send you huys pics every week if I want to:)! woohoo
So to start off this little letter to all of you, I would like to say that I love this work and I am SO lucky that I have this opportunity to serve EVERYONE else BUT myself! It is soemthing that I would reccomend to everyone that is a member of this church because it really does chnage you as a person and makes you think in many other ways! It grows you, makes your stronger, more patient, loving, caring, altruistic, ecc..... This mission really does change you! I have made leaps and bounds to become a person that I wanted to be before I left and this mission has accelerated that process x10! I am so happy that I have this bell'opportunità to help others in their search for a friend and at the same time help them find their Savior Jesus Christ! I do not have much time left and I guarantee you guys that I am working hard every single day to help people be someone even bigger than who they were! I love being here and I love showing people this beutiful message that we have. All of you should try sharing this beautiful knowledge that you have with someone this week even if it is intimidating at first! You will see that it becomes a lot easier the more that you do it and you will find a joy in doing it:). Obviously you guys do not have the calling to teach these people, but trust me, you will chnage lives jsut as missionaries do:)! I love you guys so much! Let's keep on working every single day to improve our lives and those of those who are around us also because "there hath no greater love than one who shall lay down his life for his friends."
So, the really fun part that I wanted to talk about was how I showed off my arm to the branch president here in Agrigento. We went to his father in law's property on Friday and we kind of just chilled with his family a little because it was a major italian holiday and there was literally NO ONE in Agrigento. At the end of the day, all of the kids went to the edge of the property and started to throw rocks. My new comp picks up a rock and says "I used to play baseball. Watch this....." and throws the rock. It went a fairly good distance and the kids were pretty impressed. The branch president looks at me and says, "Do you think you can do better Anziano Layton?" I pick up a rock and I say, "I don't know? Let's see?" I kid you not, after that rock had left my hand I watched it for a long time, and I think that is the furthest I have ever thrown something in 4 years! The branch president and ALL 10 kids were FREAKKING out! The branch president told me that there was a tournament somewhere in Italy every year where they take really old phones and they have a contest about who con throw one the furthest. He told me that I should enter and he would make a bet on me;). My arm felt TOO good after that launch! I loved that feeling of throwing something really hard and I am really missing baseball at the moment with all of your emails about Mountain Ridge and all that!
This week was really good in the fact that we had a lot of fun and a lot of success! You know those 10 people that came to church last week? Ya, they came again and said that they would like to coome every week and have us over at their house to teach them things about the church, so officially, we have 9 new investigators this week! I am so happy for these men and I am super happy for them men and I hope that they can all understand our message and what it means to us! I am Very happy when I see these people walk into the chapel with their smiles on their faces! It is absolutely incredible and I will send you a picture of what the group looked like after I send the e-mail!
This week, we now have 4 investigators with a baptismal date and we feel really good about them! Anziano Bethke and I are thinking about opening up an African branch here in Agrigento if we get enough investigators who then become baptized:). I think that would be great because all of the brothers that come from Africa land in Agrigento first and then they head to different places in Europe. I think it would be good for them to see what we have as a religion here in Agrigento and that way when they are ready to go to another place after receiving permission from the Italian government to stay in Europe they already know the church so they will try and find it wherever they go in Europe also:). I think it would be a really good idea:).
I am really happy to be able to do this work here and help people with different shapes, sizes, colors, talents, backgrounds, ecc....! I know that this will be a very defining moment of my life these two years! They really have shaped me in ways that I never thought I would! I love you guys!
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