Bello

Dear family and friends

But look elder. There are rules.

There was an older lady at the bus stop that thought I was the bees knees. She called me Bello (Beautiful) and called me a treasure. Haha Italians can be really cute.

There were two harder situations this week I was in. The first was a Boy who's younger brother died and for that and the bad things in the world he doesn't believe in God. I tried to help him. But that's a hard thing. Leaves me a little shaken.

Then there was a Man who's wife cheated on him. That morning he had signed the divorce papers losing his wife and two children. He was a really sweet guy. One of those kinds nice guys from the south. That man was really sad. He talked to a missionary for the first time, though. We had a really good conversation. And hopefully, it was a set up for him for the next time a missionary talks to him. Sometimes I think God sends people to help us. It was the time for me to talk to him. But for him to accept a Book of Mormon etc it wasn't. Or maybe I didn't do my job well enough who knows.

Last week we had a Five lesson day which was really good. Normally Anziano Reyes and I got six lessons a week (which is more of a sign of how much we did. We deserved that number). The first lesson was with Kurush and his friends. We went to Fano to see a guy who is studying in Ancona. But lives in Fano. We went to the library where all the kids hang out. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the restoration and got another guys number. I'm hoping we'll be able to see Kurush Saturday mornings. Then we saw Thania. And then Anziano D taught a prayer lesson. Then we met a guy named Francesco who was sitting a bench eating pizza. We started talking to him. He really likes Starcraft one of the few video games I used to play. Finally, video games did something useful for me. Scherzo(Joke). We gave him a Book of Mormon and got his number. Hopefully, things go well

We then ran into Francis who was waiting for his bus. He is from Ghana. He was trapped so we taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We left the invites of what he needed to do to gain a testimony etc. 1. Read the Book of Mormon as if the Book of Mormon is true and the church is the true church of God. 2. Pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. So you really know. And pray to know about our church. Ask God to guide you. 3. Come to church. 4. Keep meeting with us. As he did not come to church the next day and slightly avoids our calls. I'm not sure if he'll make progress. I try to spell out very clearly what they need to do. So when they don't do it. That's their choice.

I talked to an Evangelical missionary for an hour. He was a really good guy just slightly miss guided. Two big things. Was how you have the authority. And the bigger problem he only believes scripture is in the bible. I hate that. I think it's the dumbest thing. A short essay on why that is dumb here we go.

1. The bible was made after Jesus Christ. They put scripture together into one book the bible. Those scriptures were still scriptures before being put in the bible. The bible is special because there are scriptures in the bible. Not because the bible makes the writings scripture.
2. Scripture definition is gods word revealed to man through prophets. There should be more revelation. and hence more scripture and hence does not end with the bible.
3. There is the prophet Nathan. The prophet gad. Where are their prophecies and revelations. I see them mentioned. But not their books. They are missing from the bible. Or what about Abraham. Jacob. Etc you see their stories. But their writings are not in the bible. Are their writings not scripture? To say no just because it's not in the bible is. Flawed.
4. The bible was written for the people in their day. It does talk about us and we can learn from it. But it does not talk about computers. Smoking. Etc. We need a modern day prophet to talk about modern day problems. If there were to be another flood. We wouldn't see that from the bible. We'd need more revelation. More scripture from a prophet to let us know that there will be another flood.
5. There are references in the new testament sometimes by Jesus Christ himself referring to old testament scriptures that are not in the Old Testament. I hate this. I can't cross reference in the Old Testament because the Old Testament is missing those scriptures. Not only did Jesus Christ the only perfect man read those scriptures. Using the time of only thirty-three years precious time to read it. He used it to teach and quote. Making those scriptures important. And we don't have it in the Old Testament. Hence, the bible is missing scriptures.
6. I can discuss with that kid about baptism and other doctrines and after an hour, neither of us won. If the bible was so clear. And we didn't need another book of scripture (the Book of Mormon) we would be able to come to a consensus. But the bible is not that strong and we left with no consensus. Showing the bible is not strong enough by itself.
7. The old saints had all of the old scriptures more than just the bible. And they fell into apostasy. Not having the true church of God. If they had all of the scriptures and it wasn't enough. Wouldn't God want to give his restored church more so it won't fall. enough as we also lack old scriptures as we just have the bible. So he would give us the Book of Mormon. The old church fell and it had the bible. The bible is not enough by itself.
8. There are no prophecies of the bible prophesying of itself. Unless you read a verse and interpret it that way. If the bible was so important. It would have prophesied of itself.
9. The guy read a verse that said if there is another gospel written do not believe it. I read it and I understood another gospel as something that goes against what was already written as in a gospel that fights against the bible and the old scriptures. He understood it as there can be no more scripture written. The bible by itself creates confusion. This is one reason why there are so many churches today. God wants us to know the truth. He does not want us to be confused. There is confusion about the bible. Lots of translations etc. If you are not careful you are in trouble. 
10. If God wants to give us more scripture. Who are we to limit God and tell him no. If God wants to give us more scripture he can. Jesus taught many things more than what is written in the bible. If some of those teachings were found. They would still be scripture even though they aren't in the bible. To say otherwise is nonsense. This is a topic I am a bit more heated about. I'm not here to tear down the bible but. It's ridiculous that this is even a topic. As even by pure intelligence it is proven completely flawed. If you add the spirit of God and prayer. It's a landslide. I was very respectful and I wasn't trying to go for the teeth as I was talking to this guy just out of respect and not wanting to argue. But maybe if I had and talked about the ten reasons here. Beh those people love their bible. I also like it. But for a few reasons I don't think it is and can only be. Scripture. I really like the bible. Some people don't like the bible very much or don't understand it. Don't get me wrong the bible is awesome. But to have the road block that the bible is and can only be the only scripture is too far.

We saw Mike last week and we were going to teach about how to gain a testimony. He had a friend over. Hillary. So we did an audible and taught about the restoration. And the Book of Mormon and how you can gain a testimony of it. Hopefully one of those guys will make some progress. I saw a South American guy with his son in his car. And normally I don't talk to people in their car. And I'll be honest I get a little excited about South Americans as they have the promise. I wanted to talk to this guy. Anziano D speaks Spanish. We had passed the car by 12 steps and I told Anziano D we needed to talk to the guy. If for anything I wanted to. I had him talk to him in Spanish. Which creates an instant bond. It's like you meet an American when you live in Germany and you talk in English. It's an instant bond. We got his number and we're going to see them hopefully Saturday.


Right after a testimony of Jehovah has couple talked to us. They were older and had experience on us. They spoke English. Spanish. And Italian. They started talking to us. And Anziano D brought up how he wants to join the military. J-dubs hate this. To quote. How can you be a Christian, and kill? They don't like this. Anziano D first answer is that the military can help him get through college. So he's going to go kill people so he can have an easier time with school. Was how he made himself look. He then brought up protecting Liberty etc. Then the guy said he had a Muslim brother who believes the same thing defending himself hence being an extreme Muslim and he said when it's going to end. Anyways we looked a bit bad because of his first answer. Anziano D knew they didn't like war and he brought the topic up to see what they would do. I told him if he's going to bring up something like that. A. Win. Show your side well. Don't let yourself look bad especially as a missionary as we represent our church. I also told him to bring up a less controversial topic that the other church still holds as important. War is a touchy subject. It's about death etc. Anyways you slice the orange you got to be careful. The couple were pretty cool with lots of life experiences. They also accepted our card which normally doesn't happen.

I'll never date a religious guy.
I greet you,
Anziano Gridley