WHAT A WEEK!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sounds like things are going well at home. As always that makes me so happy! It's still pretty hot over here but "piano piano" it's calming down a bit. I can't believe that next summer I will be able to swim and to talk to girls and see movies and be "normal!" It's going to be weird! I am going to miss Italy though.

 

What a heck? My friend Downing is home form his mission!?!!?!??! That is awesome! Man I love that kid! You need to tell him I said good work sharing the Gospel in Cali!!! Good for Brandon too. That makes me happy. WOW.... sports are starting up again!!! I miss it so much but it's OK you guys are going to keep me updated a lot! Sounds like there are a lot of great games that are going to happen! Also Bruce is going to be a daddy!!! Holy cow that is weird! ha But good for him! Tell him I say auguri!!! (Congrats)

 

It sounds like you guys had a great ward conference. That's awesome! And the Grandview celebration sounds so epic. 4000 people?! That's kinda a lot! I miss things like that! Man ...the church is awesome! Take pics and send me some cool stuff! I'm bummed that my camera is out of service for a bit! It especially sucks  because Monday I did a scambio with Anz Shuern (who is a stud) in Pisa! I saw the leaning tower and in the evening we went all the way to the top and looked over the whole city! It was so cool. Unfortunately I couldn't take pics :( I will have to do it again! Don't worry I will and I will make sure to get some good ones!

 

Mom...it is great that you are gonna read the BoM in Italian. I will be honest.. I've never read it in Italian all the way through. I got to the middle of Alma but it just wasn't the same! I couldn't get as much out of it because it was harder in Italian! I was a pansy so I switched back to English. In my personal studyIi just read the first 5 chapters of 3rd Nephi. That's where I am. I love 3rd Nephi. I'm just trying to get to the part where Jesus comes and teaches the Nephites. That's one of my favorite parts. He teaches his gospel so simply and powerfully. There are a lot of things to learn from it. It starts at 3rd Nephi 11 so I should get there in the next couple of days!

 

Things here are going pretty well. Dad, I liked your story of the cucumber and the pickle... and it kinda had to do with our week a little bit! Things overall went really well. There is a huge goal all over the mission to teach 20 lessons weekly (which isn't impossible for our mission but it's definitely something you gotta work for). We were able to reach it again for the second week in a row. The first week we got 27 lessons taught then this past week we got 20. So we are working pretty hard and we are seeing miracles.

 

For example we met these 2 Nigerian brothers named Victor and Ige. Victor went to our church in Nigeria for a year but was never baptized. They have been here in Italy for 2 weeks now. They came to church last Sunday and it was great! The only thing is that they don't speak Italian yet but they are working on it! We are also teaching Luis. He only speaks Spanish so those lessons are always fun! He is a Jehovah Witness but he is so open to us...that is crazy ...coming from a JW. Carlos is an investigator who is ready to be baptized and is super bravo! I love him. He just can't get baptized until he marries the member he is living with. It's a long complicated story but he should get baptized by December..... ya I know it's super far away, but he is awesome! Finally we have Diana who is also awesome. Everyone here speaks Spanish so it's something I'm trying to pick up!

 

All was going good until yesterday because Anz Winward lost his wallet with all his credit cards, permesso (legal document to reside in the city)... just pretty much everything, so he is kinda down today. Hopefully we can get it all worked out soon. I'm going to be paying for all the stuff now these days. Hopefully I won't have to go on my personal account to much! I' ll do my best not to, and I will be careful! Shoot an extra prayer out for Anz Winward that all will go well! He is a good kid! Thanks!!

 

As you can see there are always trials right after things go perfect...but that's when we need to show our faith and just battle through it! It's not easy but it is for our growth and our good!

I love you guys so much and miss you tons! Saturday the 4th quarter starts!!! ha ha only 6 months left starting Saturday! Super crazy!!! ha ha Don't get too trunky mom! ;)

Take care and have a great week! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week!

Love

Anziano Bona

PS...Don't worry I will forever be a Juve fan....I will explain the Milan shirt another time.

Letter to Brian:

Hey Brian!

I am glad you like Middle school bro! That is so awesome! I am glad you have friends in your classes and I know you will just continue to make more and more friends! Mr. Smith is great! Icyman comics were the best!

 

Some peopleat school think they are so cool....and they swear and do bad things. It is not true though....they are not cool at all. You just need to keep being a good example for them! You know what is right because you are a good kid! Keep up the good work at school! God loves you and I love you too! Have such a fantastic week...I love you!

Love Anziano Bona

LIKING LA SPEZIA

Dear Mom and Dad...

Whats up?

 

Hope all is well! Sounds like stuff is going so well! Brian looks like the biggest stud ever! I dunno how I'm gonna compete with him when I get back! Thank heavens I got 8 years on him ha ha!

 

Our branch does have a few GANS (YSA) aged people! ha ha they are hecka chill! In fact last night we went to Andrea and Davide's house. Their last name is Mannucci. I hope they added me on FB! They are so chill. They are 20 and 18 years old. We just went over and it was just the two of them. They cooked us dinner. We had pasta and ribs, and we just chilled there for a while! They are both preparing for a mission so we shared a lesson about the blessings of serving a mission. It was really neat. There was such a great spirit there. They are both such good kids and so funny. They are guys that I would chill with if I was normal right now! ha ha It was so cool being with kids my own age and just spending a night with them! Man it was cool! It's gonna be so weird when I can do that for real! ha ha

 

Anz Winward is a nice guy.We get along fine.It could honestly be so so much worse (been there done that!) ha ha I'm thankful for him. He really is a great example for me. We are going learn a lot from one another these next couple weeks.

 

The ward is cool. Whey are really nice and they love the missionaries. So that's nice! I felt loved right away. I'm sure with time I will come to love this place just like I loved Ravenna.

 

One down part about this city is the apartment. It's such a hole. It's so nasty and little and dirty. We are doing our best to change it and to clean it all up! ha ha Hopefully with time we will be able to fix it.

 

So bad news.... I forgot my camera charger in Ravenna. I called Bushman and he's got it. I'm gonna get it back week 5. So until then my camera is dead and I cant take pics or anything until then! I'm super bummed! Thanks for the memory cards though I'm stoked to get them!

 

The work here is going OK. We are picking it up. We have 2 families that we are now working with. We just need to know how to help them start progressing. ha Let's just say that there is a lot of work to be done! But I'm stoked, it's gonna be fun. It's just hot as heck here! 40 degrees!!!! That is 104 F plus humidity! Man it's been hot but we found a yummy gelato place so that's nice! ha ha But ya things are going OK. Just trying to make it through the summer alive!

 

Less then 200 huh? Not bad hahahaha! Man it's crazy how fast it goes.... and at the same time how slow. 4 quarter time in about 1 1/2 weeks. Time to step it up and do our best. The mission really has been fun I have loved it. 

 

I hope you guys have a great week! I gotta write pres so I gotta go! love you guys tons!!! take care!!!

 

love Anziano Bona

 

Anz Bushman and Anz Bona found out they have the same flannel pj's
(What the heck is Anz Bona doing wearing a Milan shirt??? Go Juventus!!!)

Luca with his mother and Anna

Luca and Anz Bona before the baptism....Do you like the font?

Anz Bushman, Luca, and Anz Bona @ Luca's baptism

 

LA SPEZIA~WEEK #1

Hey Mom and Dad

I am in the new city (La Spezia) and it is different than Ravenna..I just loved Ravenna so much that it was really hard to leave everyone and everything. I am sure though that I will love this new place too.

It is a huge port town. It's literally right by Cinqueterre. I bet we could do finding work there (in Cinqueterre) if we wanted to but we won't because it would be too much distracting! haha

My new companion, Anziano Winward is a really nice guy! He is from Logan Utah. He is pretty tall, not like Anz Mosely but still taller than me. I guess I am becoming just a little short fat guy now haha! He said his dad will probably add you guys on fb.... just letting you know! Anyway ...he is chill and I know we will be good friends! I hope that together we can help the Lord's work go forward and hopefully we will have a "Ravenna 2"!

The work here is really really slow. It's not that we have to start from scratch but it's pretty close! Don't worry, we are going to change that this next transfer. The branch here is chill.... there's a lot of cool people and I'm sure I'll grow to love them really soon.

Mom, It is pretty cool that you served with Brother Gianelli! He is the ward mission leader here! So I should be getting to know him pretty well! Last Sunday I had to give a talk that I didn't know about. Yayyyy for unexpected talks! :p haha The branch president just came up to me 5 min before sacrament meeting and asked if I was ready and I was like "hmmmm" (Honestly I thought what a heck??). I just grabbed the Book of Mormon that was in my bag, went up there and talked about how great the book is and how we all need to read it every day! No excuses!!! It seems like it went really well. I was a little bold but the branch pres said it was a good talk so I'll take it. In the branch there are about 50-60 active members, so bigger than Ravenna and there are young people here too, more or less our age so that's fun too! I'm totally not used to that but it's chill!

To answer your question....yes I am still the District Leader. We are in the zona of Firenze (Florence). In fact today for p-day we were at Firenze! I bought...guess what?  Some ties and just chilled with some kids from my new district. Anz Free is a boss! I love him and we are going to have fun. In my district there is us here in La Spezia, in Pisa there's Anz Giove and Anz Shurn and in Livorno we have Anz Free and Anz Stanley. It's going to be great!

I had a chance to talk to Anz. Lehnardt this week! Tuesday we had a leadership training in Modena and he was there because we are in the same zone. He is a good kid and he is doing OK. His companion is...different let's put it that way!

Anz. Mosely is chill. He sent me an email from home.

In other news... I got the wedding invitation for Jessie! Good for her and tell her the best of luck! My friend Ashley O is just funny haha but she's nice ...tell her I say hi too!

Ok so my new address is,

Via Chiodo 13

19121 La Spezia (SP)

Italia

To that address you can send me the memory card. For the mission home...well I don't know  I really don't care you can send me whatever you want like deodorant never hurts but I can live without if necessary.

I'm glad things are going well at home! haha It sounds like Brian is a boss now! Good for him just keep your eye on him ;) just in case.... Be his friend because that's what he needs at his age...at the same time don't be scared to lay down the law if it needs to happen! At that age I was lame. I didn't like girls and I just watched TV, played video games and sports and that's it! I believe that is what I am going to do at the beginning when I get back home! I like this "not worrying about girls thing". Kinda nice. Girls are just problems sometimes....so better just be friends...at least at the beginning.

Thank you so much for your emails, love, and support! I love you guys so so much and  I miss you guys tons! But it's OK we all know that what I'm trying to do is awesome. I don't express myself on paper very well but I know that it is true. I guess I'm just a private person...haha. I do keep a journal. It's not perfect but I do my best to write at least 3 times a week. I love it. I really do! I'm almost done with one but I got one more so that should be good for me! Thanks though for your thought!

Well have a great week! I love you guys! Talk to you next week! :)

Love Anziano Bona

IT'S TRANSFER TIME AGAIN

Dear Mom and Dad!

This past weekend was basically.... one of the best of my mission. You probably know what I mean by that. Luca got baptized. It was awesome. Initially I was worried because I didn't know if a lot of members would show up due to the ferie season (vacation time for Italians) but, surprisingly, everyone who was in town came! Even some that we didn't plan on being there showed up! It was amazing.

 

We met with him last Wednesday and Friday night just to make sure all was cool and that it was really what he wanted to do. Saturday came along and Anz Bushman made a ton of dolce that we ate after :) I had the opportunity to baptize him. I was greatly honored to be able to do that. There was such a great spirit! On Sunday Anz Bushman gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost and confirmed him a member of the church. It was great, and it was also fast and testimony meeting. I was the first one to get up and I just told everyone how thankful I was for them and for Ravenna and everything I felt. It was pretty powerful then the meeting went on and there was just a great spirit there. At one point Luca looked at me and asked if he should go up there. I told him if he wanted to he could share his testimony. He got up and gave a nice short little testimony about how he felt the spirit when he got baptized. It was so amazing. So everything went really well. His mom, dad and daughter came to the baptism and his daughter and son were also present on Sunday! As you can see it really was a great day!

So about transfers.... yupp I'm gone! It was pretty obvious because I've been in Ravenna for almost 6 months and now ha ha. I'm going to La Spezia! (I think that's how you spell it). It is right by Cinque Terre and Genova. President told me that he needed me in that part of Italy to help the growth of the Church. I'm excited for this opportunity and it should be fun! My new companion is going to be Anz Winward. He is a nice kid. I was in his district back in Milano. At that time he was in Piacenza being trained. He has grown a lot so I am excited for the opportunity to work with him. I am going to miss Anz Bushman ..I love him a lot! I'm sad to leave Ravenna but it is time.

 

Today we went to see Zio Nicola for the last time! It was cool to see them one last time. I wanted to give them a Book of Mormon and we got on the topic of religion and then Zio Nicola started to stress out a little bit so I didn't do it. You know how he is with religion. I guess I was a pansy and now I feel terrible about not doing it! :(

 

Last night we saw Luca for the last time. It was so sad. He is so awesome! Totally send him an "auguri" (congratulations) through facebook! He would love that!

 

So sounds like I am about to start another chapter of my mission. I am excited. Hopefully I will do better then how I did in Ravenna! There is always room for improvement! Thanks so much for your super nice emails. As soon as I have the new address of the apartment I will let you know! Well I have to catch a train soon. We will sleep in Bologna tonight and I still need to write President and a few other people so I gotta bounce! I hope you guys have a great week! Keep being awesome! I love you guys so much! Take care and give my love to family and friends over there!!!! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week!

Love, Anziano Bona

 

(PS..thanks to Anz Bushman for a few pictures!)

 

 

Activity with Ravenna Members

 

 

P-day in San Marino

 

LA SPEZIA

La Spezia is at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, and is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military industries, Today, La Spezia is the chief Italian naval station and arsenal and the seat of a navigation school. It is also a commercial port, with shipyards and industries producing machinery, metal products, and refined petroleum

La Spezia has a typical Mediterranean climate, with hot summers, but warm winters and very rainy autumns and springs. Snow is uncommon; it snows about once or twice a year. Heavy snowfalls are exceptional events.

The population of La Spezia as of January 2011 was 95,641. The elevation is 33 ft above sea level, and the area covers 19.8 square miles.

EVENTFUL WEEK!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well first off it seems Brian didn't write me this week but I understand he wasn't around.... but I do wanna give him a shout out for overcoming his fears and going on those sick roller coasters! He went also on the big swing!! I can't believe it! Now I know I will be able to have so much fun with him once I get back! That is so awesome! I also want to give a shout out to one of my best friends Adam Tubbs for helping my brother face his fears of roller coasters! That's so sick!! It made me so happy to hear that. It sounds like a really cool movie (17 Miracles) even though I am not gonna lie HP7 and Transformers got my attention a lot more ha ha ! I will put it on my list of movies to watch for sure!

Well this past week has been a pretty crazy eventful week. Last Thursday to Saturday morning we did a scambio with the traveling assistants. I got to be with Anz Bolnick :) It was so cool to spend some time with him and do work together. We got to drive around in their car! It was so cool because I haven't been in the front seat of a car in such a long time! It was fun! It was cool to talk about our missions and what we have experienced so far. We have a lot of similar stories and it was nice to share experiences with such a great friend! I am thankful that he has turned into an amazing missionary. He is a great example for me!

Then Sunday came.....and that day turned out to be very interesting! At church we didn't have too may people in attendance because we have a lot of people out on vacation. However, that  is not the reason why Sunday was " different". We are going to an appointment and I crashed on my bike! I guess it was about time, with all the close calls I've had. Everyone knew it was going to happen sooner or later and it messed me up a little bit.

This is what happened. I was going up a hill pretty fast on a small side walk. A wall was on both sides of the sidewalk so it's definitely a narrow space. All of a sudden I see this old lady flying down the hill and to me it looked like we were going to run into each other because she kept getting closer and closer to my side. Unfortunately my bike isn't the best and my tire was loose and flat so I when I  turned my handlebars a little bit my tire gave out and just completely threw me over my bike. I end up flying over the handlebars and my head went right into the back tire of the lady's bike. My legs were tangled up in my bike and I pretty much drilled my head on her bike. Pretty cool huh? I'm proud of myself  because I only said 2 bad words (sorry! in English!). A lot better then what I would of done before my mission ha ha!. After we stopped I stood up, put my shoes back on ('cause they got knocked off somehow), and checked the lady to make sure she was okay. My companion Anz Bushman was kinda' freaking out a little, I told  him, "Dude we gotta go...we have an appointment and a lesson to teach!" So  I jumped on my bike and off we went to teach the lesson. My hands were scraped up pretty good, my left wrist was killing me, I had a goose egg -the size of a baseball- on the back of my head and my right leg was all messed up. I had some nice little cuts and bruises everywhere on it.

We arrived to the member's house and I just said "Ciao can I go to the bathroom and clean myself up really quick?" They provided me disinfectant and helped me a little bit. In the middle of the lesson their little 3 year old got behind me and started saying "c'è sangue c'é sangue!!!!" (there is blood, there is blood!!!!). I said to Mattia (the little kid) not to worry because there was no blood. But on our way out as I was walking down the stairs Sorella (sister) Ongibene said "Anziano there is blood on your head for real!!! We realized that I actually had a nice cut on the back of my head and they wanted me to go to he hospital to get stitches but I said I was fine and that I didn't need it. Man I got a hard head!

I called Sorella Wolfgramm (Mission President's wife) explained what happened and she told me to take the day off and to rest so I did. Now I feel OK but I probably should have gone to the hospital and get stitches! To be honest though  I didn't want to go because I'm scared of Italian hospitals (sorry dad!) and I have heard crazy stories ...do you remember yours, mom? My leg and wrist are kinda sore but everything else is doing OK and my big toe kinda hurts too ...when my shoe flew off I nailed my toe on the sidewalk...oh well overall I'm doing OK!!! Just thought I'd let you guys know ..don't worry no major issue. I was blessed!

Monday and Tuesday I had the best scambio with Anz Dunshee. We had so many things going wrong to try to block our work but we did make the best out of our situation. We had one of the most spiritual lessons together. I can say that we were totally guided by the Spirit. We went to see Luca. We talked about how his date is for Saturday and we just wanted to see how he felt about that. To make a long story short we just explained how there is no need to be scared of baptism and we talked about his doubts and problems. At the end he said " If I'm ready then I will do it!"To that I replied  "Well there is only one way to know if you are really ready and that is to have the interview with the Zone leader." Then I pointed to Anz Dunshee and said "He can do it for you right now!"  He said OK. So I went into the other room so Anz Dunshee could interview him. I instantly felt the need to drop to my knees and start praying for both of them! I didn't know what else to do so that's what I did. It was such a long interview! 35 min later they came out of the room and Anz Dunshee said he was ready! So this Saturday he is getting baptized!

We are really excited for him! We are in super fretta ( in a hurry) to get everything set up but we are doing it and will be ready. We are seeing him tonight and Friday night just to make sure all is good! There shouldn't be any problems unless he just backs out at the last second, but I know he will not. He is super bravo. He is just scared a bit 'cause he knows it is a big important step. We are excited for him though and everything should work out perfectly. I will take pics and I will tell you guys more about it next week.

Other than that things are good here. Sometimes I am just kinda scared of my shortcomings and that I'm not letting the mission change me in ways that I should be changing. It's just weird and hard to explain. I just see things that my friends write and how great their missions are and I still don't see myself as good as they are. I know that I shouldn't compare myself to other people but I just don't see the great changes in myself that everyone talks about...maybe it is because I don't cry?... I'm scared of crying! Because when I do I don't stop! Do you remember the night I got set apart? ha ha I balled like a baby and I would prefer not to have that happening again! I guess I have a problem with too much pride! That is something I need to work with many other things because like everybody else I am not perfect. I can say though that I really love my companion! He is great and we have a lot of fun as well. I don't like the idea of possibly leaving next transfer but it is a probable thing to happen. Just in case I wrote to President and told him that I would prefer to stay if possible...but I guess we will find out pretty soon! (Next week!)

Well I've blabbed for too long now. Thanks for your emails and tell Brian hi and that I'm proud of him! I love you guys so so much! This gospel is so true! It's just hard sometimes. but I love it and I love my mission so much! I hope you guys have a great day! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week!

vi voglio bene!!!! :)
Love Anziano Bona!

The Thinkers