Reading and praying as a family -- incredible!

Hosford Family,

Yes, I know I am writing a week late, but at least you are getting something.  We just finished our p-day and another appointment. I finally found a bit of time to shoot off a letter. It’s the end of 19 months. I start 20 months tomorrow. I also am way past being here for 600 days. However, I am really enjoying myself. We go transfer calls last Saturday. I am staying with Anz. Prieto again which I am happy about and I am not district leader which is really nice. Unfortunately, Sister Rosato is leaving Catania for Bari. But to celebrate we went to Mount Etna again today. We went sledding with air mattresses today. They work very well and they go very fast. There were a lot of people there today, so we found our own personal hill.  Only problem was that there was enough room to stop. We dug a couple ditches to slow us down and we also used the bail-out strategy. I will show you the videos after the mission. Honestly, it really hasn’t felt like Christmas. I am enjoying the season as much as I can, but you only enjoy it so much as a missionary and I am ready to get back to work. We have a lot of investigators and contacts that told us to call after the holidays. In like a week, things will be getting back to normal.  We did see Francesca once last week.  She thinks she found her answer. We did a fast with her and left her some verses to read. She did the fast , read the verses, and nothing. So we left her with Joseph Smith history 1-20 after one of the following appointments and she read it and prayed.  She felt like just reading the scriptures after praying and asking about Joseph Smith. Well, she opened up to D&C 75 and read the introduction the same … the prophet Joseph Smith… she looked at it and laughed a little bit them read the rest of the section.  She thinks its an answer.  We told her to think about it more and to continue reading.  She is doing reall ywell.  Then we saw this other family.  The Zappala family. He wasn’t there but the kids and his wife were there.  They shared with us a couple things they are doing.  They are reading and praying as a family.   Which is incredible, them the mom by herself is really searching all these things. We just haven’t been able to see them as much as we want.  However, we are doing just fine.  Hope Christmas went well at home.  Love you all very much.  See each other soon!  -- Anziano Mitchell Hosford

Sledding at Mt. Etna

Dear Family and Friends

Sorry about not writing last week.  I wanted to but there were just a lot of problems. The work is going well still. We are seeing a bit of a Christmas slowdown. Not a whole lot, but a little bit. It’s also strange to think that the transfer is almost over. We get transfer calls next week. I am really hoping not to go, but sometimes you never know.

Last week we went to Siracusa and saw the Nutcracker. It was really good but a bit short. I finally understood it as well.  In Siracusa I got to see some friends like the Ardilo and Maranci families.  Then last p-day we had a bunch of missionaries here from zone conference and we went up to Etna and went sledding. We had a lot of fun, too!  There was quite a bit of snow, but the sun was out. I was up there in short sleeves and I was just fine, but as soon as you touched the snow, you had to put a jacket on cause it was cold. Our sisters here weren’t able to go because there wasn’t enough space in the cars, so we are going to go again this next week.

The work is going well.  We are helping about 5 of our investigators to quit smoking. We are having a harder time seeing some of our other investigators. Marco finally quit “quit” smoking.  He hasn’t smoked for like 3 weeks and will get the Aaronic priesthood this Sunday.

One of the members we are working with the most is having some problems with local leaders. I understand why, but its not a good reason to be doing what he has been doing. We were teaching some referrals from him and were planning on working with their family members. However, we with actions of this member we lost them as investigators.  However, we are working on getting them back.

We are finally starting to see progress from Francesca. She doesn’t have a huge testimony of the Book of Mormon but there is something. We are now working on Joseph Smith. We want to plan another date, but we really want to work on this testimony more. We have taught everything, we just need to finish the commandments.  Things are going well.

Then we have the married couple (Massimo and Anna) and the brother (Mario).  We have been focusing a lot on Anna and she agreed to a date February 2^nd. We need to work on her brother a little bit, but by Sunday we will have a date with him as well.  They are great investigators.  They have lots of questions.  It took us 3 appointments to explain the plan of salvation for example.

Things are fun here.  Really enjoying the work and hoping to stay longer.  Look forward to letters.  Love you all lots.  -- Mitchell

Sledding on Mt. Etna

Anziano Prieto

Anziano Longhurst

Anziano Kafel

At the Nutcracker ballet

Wiggling room

The Hosford Family,

Yesterday was my 19^th month mark. The mission is really flying by. I am still waiting to hear about the extension. I am still really hoping I get it. Also if I do one more transfer here (Catania) I will have been here (Sicily) for a year. It’s strange to think about it. We got a new military couple that will worth with the Sigonella branch. We took them to their house last week and when we did they took us out to eat on the Base. It felt so weird to be around Americans. I have no idea how I am going to do it when I am home. I like being around Italians a lot more. I don’t really look forward to going home very much.

The work here is going well. We are starting to take a hole of it pretty well.  We are doing little finding, but somehow we are getting new contacts.  Usually from the ward or from the church site. Things here are slowly falling in place. It’s nice to have a bit of work. Two weeks ago we bought food to last us for a couple of days.  We still have about half the food because we are never home.  However, the work is going well.

We have a 20-year-old investigator named Alberto. He is doing well.  We decided that we can’t teach him with Andrea, the guy who found him, because he disturbs the lesson too much. So we decided to teach Alberto by ourselves until we find someone else. He is slowly progressing.  He is praying, but he isn’t reading. We are working on it.  That and coming to church is another hard thing. However, it will come.

We just started with this church referral named Antonio.  He found the church because he was search genealogy site and found the church.  He is pretty reliable.  We taught him the restoration last Saturday and he came to church Sunday. He is pretty Catholic, but there is wiggling room because he is open to us.

We are also working with Francesca (Brazilian) and her boyfriend Angelo. We don’t see them much together.  We normally see Francesca by herself in a park near our house.  However, we see them together maybe once a week.  Francesca lost her date for December 1^st which is okay because we are still working at it.  We are trying real hard to get her to read.  I swear it’s harder for people to read than to come to church.

We have lots of people coming to church.  If all our investigators who say they will come, CAME, we would have like 15 investigators in church instead of 7.  Oh well.  We will work on it.  Well, love everyone at home.  Look forward to your letters.  – Anziano Hosford

Always laughing about something

Hosford Family,

Sorry about writing a little later this week. I finally found some time to shoot off a letter. I thought things would be a little more calm and slow this week.  I has been but somehow we have been busy. Things here are going as usually. Always between investigators. I really enjoy working with my new comp. We are a little too laid back, but we are working on it. We are doing good work. We are always laughing about something. I am also learning another language. I figured that while I am with him I might as well.  I don’t have anything to lose. The work is progressing here.

Last night we went over to the Castorina’s house and we taught the Word of Wisdom. They are all members except the son who is nine. However, we are working with the dad who has one little vice. He told us last night that if he doesn’t overcome it in December then he will have someone else perform the ordinance.  So December or January we should see a baptism that has been longer waited and expected.

We are still working with Nadia who is doing well.  Last week we taught the plan of salvation and as part of it, we read 1 Cor 6:18-20 which talks about our bodies and that we are bought with a price. After that we talked about the big tow commandments:  Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity and it’s real cool to see that light go off in their heads. She had a lot of misconceptions, but they were cleared up and she came to know that she needs to change. If she actually changes we will see.  I hope so.

We also have that less active from Peru (marybel) and her boyfriend Antonio. We had already seen him twice and so talked about the Plan of Salvation. Honestly he is ready. We invited him to be baptized.  Even though he didn’t respond yes/no he told us that he wanted to investigate more and to see a baptism. We also go to go and teach at their house which was nice. Here we teach a lot in church and its nice to go to people’s homes to talk. We hope to see more action out of them soon.

We still have old investigators that we are trying to see and we are slowly picking up new ones. We are also seeing good progress from others. We are doing a good job teaching a lot, we just need to set more baptismal dates and organize our appointments better. Other than that the work is going well.

Not much else going on here. Really there is a lot, but I am too lazy to write the rest cause it is a lot. Love everyone very much.  Send another letter soon.   - Mitchell

I really love this work

Hosford Family,

Well, I am slammed right now.  We are in the middle of transfer week and I have no time to do anything.  Anz. Hansen left for Rome on Monday with Silla Teichert and so I have remained here taking care of all the transfers and trying to keep work going.  It was easy with Anz. Hansen because we both carried the work, but I have been carrying the work these last couple days and I have been stressed out a little bit. Our phone never stops ringing and I always have someone to call to set up an appointment to do something.  Honestly, I probably talk on the phone for over an hour each day. It’s a lot.  I am very excited for Saturday when everyone will be gone and it will just be me and Anz. Prieto.  He is my new comp and he comes from Brazil. He is young in the mission, but he is a stud. I did a split with him two transfers ago.  I am very excited to work with him.

This is what has happened this week.  Marco got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday.  We are trying to teach him self-reliance because he always calls us and other members. We can’t baby him and he has to grow up a little bit. He has a lot to learn still, just needs time. I forgot his conversion story.  He met the missionaries seven years ago and I forgot about how he got his testimony.  However, he was on and off with the missionaries because he never kept commitments. We almost dropped him for that.  Then one day he changed and started to follow up.  That’s his story from what I remember.

Other than him, our 17-year-old girl is progressing.  We are trying to get her to read every day which is hard, but when she prays, she feels the Holy Ghost.  She is a work in progress.

We had a great lesson with an investigator named Alberto.  We taught him the restoration and pretty much told him to do things today because there might not be a tomorrow.  He understood and from the start to the end of the lesson we saw a difference in him.

There is more, but I don’t want to write about it because it’s not done yet.  We might be losing some dear investigators.  I need to call them.

Other than all of that, things are going well here. I am very tired this week with just everything going on, but we are seeing miracles.  I really love this work.  Love everyone and I’ll write next week.  – Anz. Mitchell Hosford

Marco's baptism

More emails from Italians than friends

Hosford Family,

Well, mail still isn’t getting to us.  It’s weird because it was all fine the first transfer, but not nothing is getting here.  Every now and then one get by, but not 2 or 3 a week.  It’s funny because everyone asks how you all are and I always answer “I don’t know.”  The letters I understand.  Emails, I am receiving more emails from Italians that from my American “friends”.  But ya.  Things are great out here.  My birthday was a pretty good day. I didn’t celebrate as we had a lot of work to do. In the morning we had a baptismal interview for Marco that went well and he should be getting baptized on Saturday.  Then we went out of our area to teach some of our investigators.  They pretty much live right on the border.   It went well with them.  We brought the bishop and he talked nonstop and went in a direction that we didn’t want to go really.  However, the lesson went fine after. The girl already had a baptismal date, we set one with her brother, and her boyfriend said he would like to take the lessons.  However, all of that changed yesterday.  The Catholic Church won’t let the girl (Veronica) and the boy (Andrea) get married if she gets baptized.  So she pretty much dropped us for now which was pretty sad.  She has a testimony, but I won’t say more.  We have set a couple other dates and some of those people are really progressing.  The other girl, Nadia, finally will pray for us and doesn’t block herself which is pretty incredible and she feels the spirit every time she does.  We were in Church on Wednesday learning how to cook and there was this guy that passed by and came to the church to take a look around.  It’s very, very rare that we were in the Church at that time.  It was really a miracle.  There are really a lot of things to write about.  However, after that last appointment I don’t really feel like writing much.  Hopefully everything is well at home.  Love you all very much.  – Anziano Hosford

The work is crazy

Are you having a baptism on Saturday?

We are. We had his interview on Saturday and we are going to see him tomorrow. The work is going crazy here. We have like 6 baptismal dates with more that are almost there. We have new investigators that are just coming from no where. we aren't doing finding. everyone is just coming to us.

Mixed emotions

Dear Family of Anziano Mitchell Hosford,

Anziano Hosford will be completing his mission on 03 May 2013. 

We are extremely grateful for the time we have been able to spend with your missionary as he has served the Lord and the people here in Italy. However, the time has come when we must look ahead and help you make plans for his return home.

If your missionary is planning to go to school soon after his return home, we ask that you take care of the enrollment process so that it will not be distracting and time consuming for him. Any questions regarding school and other plans should be done in your regular emails. If there are extenuating problems, feel free to call us and we can help work them out.

The Church encourages missionaries to travel directly home from their missions. Any other travel is permitted only when the missionary is (1) accompanied by at least one of his or her parents or guardians and (2) the duration of travel is limited to not more than two weeks. We ask that you be sensitive to the desires of your missionary when making this decision. Many look forward to returning home with their MTC group and to the “traditional welcome home” experience of greeting their family at the airport.

If you decide to pick up your missionary here in Rome, your plans must be based on the release date established by the mission president. Parents are encouraged not to request a change in the date to accommodate other travel plans or commitments. Parents should advise the mission office as early as possible if they plan to pick up their missionary.

One last item: If you have had a change in leadership of your ward or your stake, please email the mission office with the current email address of your Bishop and Stake President and inform us which Airport you would like your missionary to fly home to. Please include the Airport Code.

Sister Kelly and I would like to thank you for the support you have given us and your son. We ask that you help your son continue to work hard and stay focused in his missionary work. The last six months in the field often proves to be the most fruitful for our missionaries.

Please feel free to email our mission office at 2016605@ldschurch.org if you have any questions.

Sister Steurer will be happy to help in any way possible.

Best personal regards,

Thomas E. Kelly

President

Italy Rome Mission

Little miracles

The Hosford Family,

I can’t believe October is already finished. It’s crazy that one year ago I was about to leave Pozzuoli for Caserta and it’s even weirder to think that in 10 days we receive transfer calls.  My 12^th transfer has flown by fast.

This last week went very well for us. We were only able to work Monday to Thursday, but we had a very good week. On Friday we had zone conference and I was stuck in Church all day. Then I had my interview Saturday morning. Some things from the interview – I will be staying and I will probably have a younger companion than me.  I asked to extend my mission and I pleaded a good case and by January 1^st I will know. It would mean that I would be home mid-June instead of early-May.  And I will probably be driving next transfer.  Zone conference went well.  We spent all day Saturday cleaning our apartment then we were completely booked Sunday with meetings. We did a good amount of work in the few days we worked. Sunday was awesome. We had 7 investigators in Church. We hope to have more this Sunday.

Our work is going well.  We have a baptismal date for Marco.  He just needs to come to Church one more time, have an interview, and he will be ready to get baptized on November 10^th. He has made a lot of progress.  We almost dropped him several times.  His parents and girlfriend were huge obstacles for him. However, we did a fast and his girlfriend left him and his parents said they are okay with him getting baptized. Go Miracles!

After him we have Veronica who had a bit of a down week this week. However, she came to Church on Sunday and we had a lesson with her after and she got a spiritual boost. Which was nice. We are going to see her on Saturday then her and her family right after just because their needs are different.

Next we have Alberto who we will see on Saturday 3^rd.  There are things going on here with his work, so he hasn’t been able to see us.  However, all that ends Saturday so we will see him then.  He is a pretty new investigator but he is really great.

We have Francesca from Brazil. She has been out of town, but we want to see her tomorrow. It’s hard to get her to act, but we have been trying. We just hope she starts reading, praying, and coming to church more often.

Then we have a new investigator named Aladia. She is 17 and she is really nice and smart. We just started teaching her. She is hard to teach because she doesn’t open up a lot during the lessons and we are trying to find out what she reall needs. The lessons have been a bit disorganized and sloppy with her which drives me nuts. We are trying though. We are also trying to work with her sister.

We have other that we are also working with that we will see later this week.  One is the member dad or a nonmember boy who wants to get baptized. They are both great, but we are just waiting on Dad. Then we are picking up Valeria and Salvo again. They were having some housing problems; they got kicked out. Well the ward came together and they didn’t go homeless.  We are hoping to see them tomorrow as well.  We also have some sweet contacts. One found the church through the genealogy site (Antonio) and asked for a Book of Mormon. We want to see him again we just need to call.  Then last night we were having correlation and a less-active member from Peru showed up with her boyfriend who is a big curious.  We him we did a starter lesson (lesson zero) and we gave him a copy of the book of Mormon. 

Those were just two little miracles.  Another was after our first appointment with Nadia last Thursday, we took the bus home.  Nadia left her Book of Mormon on one of the seats and we went and talked somewhere else on the bus. While we were talking this lady got on the bus and sat down right next to the book and after a couple minutes she started reading and flipping through the book.  After some time I went to her and told her that she could have the book and that I would like to explain why the book is important.  I left her with a passalong card and the invite.  Then I went back and started talking to Nadia again.  However, before the lady got off the bus she came to me and asked if I was serious.  I told her that I was and I gave her a chapter to read.  She made some comment about a light around me and then got off the bus.  Her name is Angela.  I hope she calls.  It was really an incredible experience and everyone was looking at me while we spoke.

I truly love the mission and the unique things that happen.  I really don’t want to come home.  I don’t want to leave Catania either. I like it too much here.  Letters aren’t getting to me from home very much.  We are never at home either.  Well I love you all very much and talk to you all next week.  – Anziano Hosford

No idea where this year went

Hosford Family,

I just realized that October is about to end.  I have no idea where this year went. We did planning for the third week of the transfer and soon even my 12^th transfer will be over.  Things are flying here. Its really weird. Stuff that’s been going on here.  Honestly, a lot has happened in a week.  Two weeks ago we had a lot of growth then it kind of stopped last week.  Well it’s back this week. Our teaching pool is big, but still has space to grown.

We are still teaching Veronica who is making a lot of progress.  I learned that she really lives in the boundaries of another ward, but they came to our ward and they know lots of people in our ward. They live pretty much right on the line. I say they because we are also teaching her parents and brother. If all goes well she will be baptized the first week of December. The other became new investigators this week so we will wait and see. 

Next is something interesting.  We had an investigator return. Marco called us like 3 days after dropping us.  His girlfriend left him, and so he called us. He has only two problems. He smokes, but now has pretty much quit and he has a hard time coming to church. As soon as he comes to church 3 times, he can get baptized.  We are hoping for the 10^th of November if everything goes well. We don’t have lots to teach.  Just need to finish the plan of salvation and the commandments and he will be ready.

Then we have Francesca who is from Brazil. We really just started teaching her this week. We have known her for awhile because she comes to English course. We have taught the restoration and had a long talk about the Book of Mormon. She is very nice, but we don’t know where it will go. We set a date with her for December 1 as a goal. The nice thing is that she is very open. We just need to work a bit more with her living mate.

We are still trying to see that older guy named Paolo. Even though he has a date, we haven’t been able to see him these weeks.  However, we are going to pass by him this morning. He just never picks up because he doesn’t hear well.  We will keep trying.

We have a couple other investigators and some contacts. We just need to contact them. Other than that work is going well.  We are very busy and its nice.  For some reason letters aren’t arriving to me here. I hope everyone is still writing me.  Either ways Love you all lots and talk to everyone on Wednesday.  Mitchell

I LOVE to teach

Hosford Family,

I forgot how nice it is to not be a leader here in the mission.  I don’t have to take numbers, plan district meetings, or even do training sessions.  I can just simply be me and find and teach people.  Things are going well here.  Yesterday we went and saw old Greek temples.  We traveled all the way to Agrigento to do it. It’s pretty much on the other side of the mission.  I will send photos home next Wednesday. These old temples are incredibly built and are really, really old.

Work here is going well. The sisters are having two baptisms on Saturday. It’s nice to see this family getting baptized.  We found this family but Anz. Hansen gave them to the sisters to teach.  We have several dates.

We technically have 5 dates but only 2 of them do I really consider as dates. We still have two dates with the kids from Egypt, but we haven’t seen them lately. Then we have adate with Salvo, but his mom is against it.

However, we do have two good dates.  One is for this investigator names Mario. We did a fast with him so that his parents would lighten up.  I don’t know them, but he is 26 years old.  They are very against the church because they think we brain wash.  However, we did the fast and he even fasted from smoking.  We will see him today and see if he hasn’t smoked.  He is making progress, just slowly.

After him we have Paolo.  His is an older energetic guy.  We have had a couple lessons with him and he even came to General Conference. We hope to see him again this week.  He has a date for November 10^th.

Some people that we saw last week aren’t completely ready yet.  That one family of the sisters that I told you about in the last letter aren’t completely out of the picture.  We are always trying to find new people to replace the ones we lost.  We found two 17-year-old girls who are willing to listen to us.  We would have more people but Anz. Hansen likes to share our people with the Sisters.  Which for me is a bit discouraging.  I LOVE to teach.  Everything is well here.  Look forward to getting letters.  Love you all lots.  -- Mitchell

The rock formations might have been old homes.
We found them in Agrigento and they look like a lot of fun.

The guy in the red is Andrea. We are pretty much with him everyday. 

The one on the far right is Sorella Rosato...from Como, Italia. It's up north. 
Her comp is Sorella Techiert, then Anziano Hansen...then me.

One of my favorite things here...it's a drink call a Granita. Its like a slushee...
but a lot better. it has the consistency of a slushee but you eat it like ice cream.
Do you remember that Italian ice we used to buy for Megan?...
that is what this is...but a lot better and softer. 

t’s really neat to read the Book of Mormon fast

Family,

I just took a look at the date and realized 3 things. 1) Its October … where did September go?  2) I will be home in exactly seven months. 3) I will be 22 in a month.  Where did being 21 go?  I made a decision that I will be 21 when I get home. Stuff here is going well.  I am staying in Catania for another 6 weeks with Anz. Hansen. I am excited for it, we are doing well together. It’s interesting to see how quickly work turn here.  All the investigators that we had 6 weeks ago we pretty much don’t have any more.  However in this last week and even more this week we have picked up a lot of work. There was on unmarried couple that came with a baby to church a couple weeks ago.  The daughter is the daughter of a member.  We finally saw them and had a pretty good opening lesson.  We are hoping to see them next week.  Also at the lesson there were two boys and the mother of the dad of the baby.  She was really nice, but wasn’t interested as well as one of the boys.  The other boy I had already met and said that he would like to talk to me about the chapter we left for them to read after church.  He is a lot shyer and so we are going to try to see him alone.  He is kind of seeing a member’s daughter.  Either ways .

(Francesca and Angelo) Then we met this girl from Brazil and her “friend” yesterday and had another good lesson with them.  We didn’t have very much time to explain a lot. However we gave out 2 Books of Mormon and new we just need to call them to set up another appointment.  We have those 5 which are borderline investigators.  We just need another appointment and we will have 5 new investigators. We have a list of contacts, but only these have we been able to see.

We have one girl that wants to get baptized. Her name is Veronica. We are going to meet her tonight at a member’s home finally and teach the restoration. We are hoping to set a date, but first she needs to marry her live-in mater (we might be able to work with him as well.) and we want to see her family again which might be a bit harder.

(Marcos and Armondos) Then we met two boys from Egypt like 5 days ago. We gave them a Book of Mormon in Arabic (they are Christians) and we are trying the best we can to teach them because they don’t know English and they speak little Italian. We don’t speak Arabic, but we get by.  We seem to understand each other and as of now they have a date for 3^rd of November.  We don’t know how set it is, but we are going to try.  They have a friend that speaks Italian well that’s going to help us out.  These boys are 16 and 17 years old.  We need to find more teaching materials for them. We are just trying to keep everything simple and have them read.  Hope it goes well.

Last investigator, Marco. He is progressing very slowly.  We have only left him three invites.  Pray daily, read a chapter of the Book of Mormon every day, and to repent of his sins.  He is feeling guilty for something and everyone at his house is against him and the Church.  However, he is making progress.

At the last zone conference the mission president’s wife gave us the 90 day Book of Mormon challenge.  The only problem for me was that I was in 3 Nephi 5.  So I decided to read from 3 Nephi to 3 Nephi (Italian).  After 2 weeks or so I am in 2 Nephi almost.  It’s really neat to read the Book of Mormon fast.

Ok, Mom asked some questions.  Yes we cover the whole city as missionaries.  There are two sisters, but we both cover the city.  We not only cover the whole city but also the whole province. I don’t know how many people live here and the transportation is bad and for that we have a car.  Siracusa is prettier by far, but Catania is a lot bigger and there is more work to do here.

Other than that things are going well here.  Pretty much told you all everything that is happening here.  Look forward to your letters.  Love you all.  Mitchell

I belong in Catania/Sicilia

Hosford Family,

It’s been exactly 17 months since I reported to the MTC. It’s weird to think that in 7 months and a couple days I will be home again. I received an email from a friend that sked me to describe Catania. I responded Catania’s?  What’s America like?  I remember what home is like, but to be honest, I wish Italy (Sicily) was in America.

Either ways, stuff that has happened in the last week.  We had an activity in church to explain the Plan of Salvation that went well.  We dropped a lot of time in it and a lot of members and investigators came out and saw it. We received a lot of contacts and were even asked to participate with other activities.

Also, the branch president for the Americans is going to be gone for two months in America. So now we have to go to America (on base) for those two months and they are also receiving a senior couple which is exciting.

Once again this transfer has flown by.  Today and this week is week 5 and we will receive transfer calls on Saturday. We honestly have no idea who will go.  I am certain that I will stay, but I don’t know if my comp will go or one of the sisters.

Unfortunately, Salve and Valeria two of our best investigators kind of dropped us. We haven’t been able to see them for a week and they are busy this week. We are sad about them, but we are trying to see them. Our work hasn’t tanked but lots of people are busy and so we are moving on to new people.

Either ways, I really love Catania and Sicilia.  I can’t imagine coming home most days. It just feel like I belong out here and that I should stay our here. Well, I love everyone lots and look forward to your imaginary letters (except mom and dad who write to me).  Anziano Hosford

Enjoying some good old peace and quiet!

Dear Family,

Today is the day after zone conference.  Catania is where they always hold zone conferences and I was dreading having people at our house because they always destroy it. However, this time they didn’t. The missionaries that came were all respectful and I enjoyed myself a lot.  Tow anziani from my MTC group were here – Anziano Green and Longhurst. I had a great time seeing them and I met several other newer missionaries and saw a lot of missionary friends.

The house is nice and clean right now and I am enjoying some good old peace and quiet! To answer mom’s questions.  In the Rome mission there are seven zones – Rome, Napoli, Sardegna, Bar, Taranto/Calabria, Catania, and Palermo.  In our zone we have 12 missionaries and 3 districts – Siracusa, Catania, and Messina/Reggio Calabria which are also cities. We have 2 elders and 2 sisters in Catania.  I am the district leader and my comp is the zone leader.

I went to Siracusa to restart/finish my living documents for the next year. They are done. I just need to wait a month to pick up the card.  Anziano Furia hasn’t finished his mission but will finish on October 5^th with my trainer Anziano Anderson.

This time in Siracusa I saw someone names Oscar Reale who is going on his mission to Manchester. He reports  1^st of November.  The last time I was in Siracusa I saw a lot of friends and members.  (Mitchell was in Siracusa from January to July).

The work here is going.  We need to be more diligent with stopping people to talk.  Some days I really feel it and I just go crazy and some days I don’t feel finding as much.  We are trying to get Salvo baptized.  He really wants to but his mom is being a bit of a hassle right now and is in the way. We haven’t been able to do a lot of work in these last days because of zone conference but we will be getting to work tomorrow after P-day.

Well, I love you all very much.  Can’t wait to hear from people who don’t write to me.  Family you do a good job writing.   – Mitchell

FYI:  I asked Mitchell to clarify a few things and these are the answers to my questions:

1. We teach investigators in many places – at their home, in the park, and at the church.  I have tried to teach in members’ homes but have never succeeded

2. Etna blows smoke every now and then.  When I was in Napoli I met someone who was coming down to climb it even though it had erupted a few days before.  I don’t know if there are any warnings.  I have yet to hear them.  People never talk about Etna either.  It’s been there for hundreds of years and will be there for hundreds more.

3. We were working with a family in Siracusa but when then we never heard from them again.

4. Alessandro and his wife both got baptized.  She got baptized while I was in Caserta and he while I was in Siracusa.  Their son to my knowledge has not been baptized but it’s been over 7 months since I’ve heard anything.  (Alessandro was a man Mitchell found while walking around in Napoli.  They talked to him off and on for weeks before he started taking the discussions).

5. Yes, we have cell phones without texting and we are frequently grilled on the minutes we use.  Our phones are like the old Cingular wireless phones that you and dad first had.  Some are flip phones. 

Summer is officially over

Hosford Family,

The first thing I want to say is that summer here is officially over. It’s still hot during the days but the nights are cooling down. I am going to miss summer, but it’s nice not waking up all night because of the heat.

The work is going well here. Only problem is that we don’t have enough time to see them all cause we are busy and so are they. It’s nice just to have a list of people to call.

Right now the people we see often are these:  There is a kid named Salvo who is about to turn 12 who will be baptized in these coming weeks. We are thinking the 21^st, but it might be the 29^th. He is great, keeps the commandments, involved in the ward, etc. We are also teaching his mother who is supposed to be baptized with him, but she doesn’t do as much. We just want something to click with her.

Then we are teaching this 50 year old (maybe older) named Pietro. He sat a date/goal for the 29^th of Settembre.  We are seeing him about 3 times a week (he became an investigator last week) and is progressing. We taught the restoration and half of the plan of salvation. He agrees with everything but wants to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet or not. We are going to see him today, even though I will be in Siracusa. Hopefully, things go well today.

We are teaching this guy named Jay from the Philippines. We have taught about the restoration and he said he would get baptized if he felt these things were true. He was raised a Catholic, but doesn’t read the bible. So our lesson with him today will be about reading the scriptures and why its important then that will lead to the plan of salvation. We think the key for Jay will be to read.

We have more investigators than those three.  We made a list of all of them and we should be having 4-5 lessons every day. Two a day with investigators and 2 a day with new contacts, and then a member lesson.  Just it’s hard because everyone is so busy and I am glad vacation is over because people won’t be busy or out of town anymore.

Other than that things are going pretty good here.  The city is huge and still confusing, but I am slowly learning it. Thanks for the family reunion letter.  I enjoyed it.  Glad everyone is doing well.  Love everyone lots!

Anziano Mitchell Hosford

Four baptismal dates

Hosford Family,

Well, I arrived in Catania safely. Its a pretty big city and its hard to learn and get used to considering the fact that my last three cities have been relatively small.  The ward is large and actually might be the largest in Sicily.  However, a lot of the problems that we faced in Siracusa we will have here. However, I like it, I missed Sicily and even now I miss Crotone.  Oh well.

I am still facing challenges about what to do when I get home. Another option that I have added is to come home and work for a while then come back and go on vacation here for an extended period of time. I am also thinking about trying to do a semester out here not this next summer but the one following. Just so many things I would like to do.

The work is good here. We have four baptismal dates.  I don't know the people very well, but we have four. We are also doing a good amount of finding which I like and we are getting two English courses going. They will start next Thursday which I am pretty excited about.

We have a car here and I might be driving soon.  I don't know exactly hot I feel about it and I might have to learn how to drive stick which is something I want to learn anyways.  We also work with a small American branch in Sigonella (no I don't have access to the base).  However, the members are very nice.

I do need you guys to send me some things.  I need 3 tubes/things of panoxyl face wash and that should last me the rest of my mission.  I have enough tooth paste and deodorant for the rest, but I need a new power cord for my electric razor.  It's a Remington.  So if you could send these things to the mission home I would greatly appreciate it. I haven't used shaving cream and a hand razor since I got my electric razor 3 or 4 years ago.

Well, that about it for now. Not a whole lot going on. Hope everything is well at home. If Megan says anything about not writing back to her letters, tell her to read mine and she will find something.  Love you all very much.  - Anziano Hosford

Catania Address

Anziano Mitchell Hosford
Via Cesare Vivante, 69
Catania, CT 95123
Italia

Email:

In our Zone we have Siracusa, Siracusa sisters, Catania, Catania sisters, Messina, and Reggio Calabria. When we did numbers we found that even though it was a transfer week, our zone was on fire! We have a ton of baptismal dates in September, and everyone is really working hard. I am really learning a lot from Anziano Hansen.

Back to Sicily!

Dear Hosford Family,

I am getting back on my normal schedule of writing every week. But I have more news that’s a bit shocking for me and certainly will be for you all.  That and I am going to do the top ten countdown again cause it makes writing more entertaining. 

#10 – We went to Taranto again to do splits.  10 hours on the trains and buses trying to get there.  Other than that I had fun and ate some really good food.

#9 – We had transfer calls on Saturday. Even though we spent most of the day on the train, our call came during an appointment with a crazy new convert (who drives everyone nuts) being respectful, we took the call and made her wait.  If you ask me why I can just say you won’t understand unless you know her and such.

#8 – Well, the crazy lady above is named Anna and her boyfriend/future husband of now a little of two weeks, have broken up and gotten back together over 3 times which makes me extremely happy for point # 1 and you will see why.

#7 – This week I finished pretty much a dedica for Sorella Taylor, Sorella Cojan, and Anziano Furia (I just need to write on his).  I spent a boat load on his.  There are over 50 photos.  Why?  Because we had a lot of fun.  That and all my dedicas slowly become bigger and more complicated.  I only need to do two more – one for Anziano Kafel and Salvatore.

#6 – So on the train ride I will take on Thursday, I will take 3 verdini (greenies) to a certain area of the mission.

#5 – Last p-day we had a super p-day and went to LeCastella and other places.  I also ate a great pasta at LeCastella with mussels and clams if you believe it or not.

#4 – Every August 15 is a holiday or a start of a holiday here.  We cleaned the apartment like we were supposed to then we went and spent the day with Salvatore and his family which was a lot of fun.

#3 – We created a new anti-gossip lesson that we are planning to make into trainings and talks.  We randomly came up with it and it was a killer spiritual thought.

#2 – So you all will be proud of me for this one.  When I was in Taranto for splits we went to an appointment and the lady offered us ice cream which I was happy about.  Well in this ice cream there were two or three flavors and one of them was a shady brown.  Having doubt I asked what it was and received the answer coffee flavored which is normal here.  Sadly I rejected it because I knew it wasn’t right and that Mom would kill me if I ate it.  Unfortunately, the other missionary I was with ate it. Go figure.  It bothered me, but it’s between him and God.  After the lesson we went home then after a while he and another Utah missionary came and confronted me about it.  I wanted to tell them a few things, but in the end I just said that its too close to the line and I would rather keep away.  I wanted to say that coffee is against the commandments not because it’s hot but because of the contents.  You have to watch the content of gelato here.

#1 – Last.  I got transferred again.  I was really shocked to hear that I was going back to Sicily.  I wanted to go to Rome, but I love Sicily.  I will be in Catania which is very close to Siracusa and it’s a big city as well.  It will be with Anziano Hansen who is a great missionary.  We have done splits together.  We will see how it goes.  That and unfortunately again I am a district leader and I have sisters.  Nothing against sisters but they are either great or a hassle.  I liked the ones I served with in Siracusa.  But I don’t know the ones in Catania unless they stayed from before.  I hope everything goes well and I am certain I will miss Crotone, but I have plans to return.

That’s all my news for the week.  5^th city and a lot of interesting events.  Hope to hear from everyone soon.  Lots of love.  Anziano Hosford

Top ten highlights of the week

Hosford Family,

How is everything at home?  Well in Utah?  When I got on my email Wednesday morning, I felt like the luckiest person ever ... no emails from the family, no emails from anyone from Church, and no emails from any of my friends. However, I emailed Dad and Amy and we had a good time talking about everything.

This week has really flown by.  I am shocked to see that it is August and even more shocked to see that its mid-August almost. I will try to give you a top ten highlight reel of the week.  Just won't be of football ... missionary work!!

I will be a bit sarcastic so don't take offense.  But at #10:

#10 - We have a crazyish new convert who won't stop smoking. She found this guy like last Sunday and they are already talking about getting married.  We met him, he is nice but smokes.  However, he liked church today and accepted the invitation to take all the missionary lessons.

#9 - We ate kebabs last night.  It was the best one I had eaten since I left Napoli. It was also great cause I was able to talk to Salvatore without Kafel and because of that we had a real conversation for once.

#8 - August 11th would have been my 2nd anniversary with Sunny.  Nothing like a day like that to remind you (me) how dumb you (I) am.

#7 - Anziano Kafel told me that I don't talk enough to him. He doesn't speak the Italino that we use instead its a language he's made up.  I'm tired of him asking me the same questions again every night.

#6 - We pretty much lost two baptismal dates.  They belonged to two women who just stopped talking to us.  It happens.

#5 - On Monday we passed by this referral from Salvatore.  We tried to get out there earlier, but we failed.  They are studying with the TJs, but they said they would like to learn about our Church.

#4 - I did splits in Catanzaro on Thursday and Friday.  I worked with Anz. Wright who is great. It was nice to work with an American again and be around someone that I could relate to.  We also taught 3 lessons that went well and received a number from the only person that we stopped.

#3 - Today in church there were 25 people.  3 visitors from the North, 4 investigators, and 18 members.

#2 - In 6 days we receive transfer calls.  Next Saturday.  I will be interesting to see what happens,

#1 - This was the highlight of my week was when we were walking on Via Venezia this when when Google Earth car passed by.  We should be on google earth pretty soon.

That's ll from here.  Not a lot else going on.  Hope everyone is well at home and look forward to everyone's letters.  Love you all.

Mitchell

Palaces, castles and temples

Hosford Family,

Things have gotten crazy here.  At least for p-days.  Sorry I haven't had a lot of time to write.  That and we don't really do anything fun for p-days anyways. There are 4 things I would like to see here: 2 castles, 1 palace/castle/fort (who knows) and go to this old temple site.  I might have to wait till I come back.  This last p-day I was sick and the p-day before that I was in Taranto.

Things are going well here.  We had zone conference Friday. I saw Anziano Longhurst for the first time in a year and we talked the whole time.  I also had an interesting interview with President Kelly and I might go to another city after this transfer. Or I will have a new companion then go, but I won't be here for a long time.  Its sad cause there are a lot of great things about Crotone; the branch, Salvatore, the work, the city, the beach, and there are lots of pretty girls (yes, I know, don't judge me) but despite all the great things I just am not finding myself the best.  But its alright.

The work has remained, but we are searching for some new investigators.  Its because with a zone leader we are always out of town. For example, we have to go to Taranto again next week to do splits. We don't have lots of time to do our work it seems.  I really don't like being companions with zone leaders and I hope not to become one.

We really haven't seen a change with any of our investigators, but one.  Giuseppe.  We helped him and his mom clean a part of their house.  I was fine with that, but it was sad to see hwo this 22 or 23 year old acted and treated his mom.  Dad would have killed me.  His attitude left me and Anz. Kafel with bad feelings.  I want to leave him.  If he were interested and wanted to change he wouldn't have acted that way.

Well.  Not a lot has changed.  We will be moving houses soon to one that is pretty much on the sea.  I will tell you all when that happens.  For now I love you all and look forward to receiving your letters.

Mitchell

Salvatore

Email conversation:

Brother Salvatore “friended” me on Facebook. Is he the guy who gives you all the investigators? How old is he and what is his story. He said he sees you everyday.

Yes. salvatore is great. he is the guy that runs the church here. like a young unmarried italian nate wheatley. he has a cool story. he was studying to become a catholic priest and passed by the church sign one night and said...this is my church. that being our church. then the rest is history. there is more to the story. i dont remember detail for detail. but he was baptized less than two years ago and is a counselor in the district presidency. he is 28.

So it seems that Salvatore is serving a mission right in Crotone. Neat conversion story. So he’s in the district presidency but not the branch. Does he have a branch calling too? Are there single Italian women good enough for him? From his facebook it looks like he has lots of friends and does fun things. Does the church have any single activities like here? How often do you as a missionary talk in Sacrament meeting? With 17 people in the branch I’m sure it’s often.

In the branch he is the elders quorum president and does all of his home teaching. there are singles activities here...but not very often. we might have more active members in charlotte...with all the stakes...then all of italy. singles activities are hard here and they dont happen often.  i  haven't spoken in church yet. i bore my testimony when i arrived. i hope to be leaving in three weeks. so i might give one talk. 

It’s kind of fun to be a virtual sightseer. Crotone seems to be very old and beautiful or at least the touristy part. Do they have a soccer team or is the city too small? Is Salvatore taking you places today? Where does he work? He facebooked me at 11:00 pm our time so it was pretty late in Italy.

We are going with him to catanzaro today. i dont know at what time though. then for work...he just does odd jobs and he is also a taxi driver and when he doesnt have to give a client a ride...he gives us a ride in the taxi.

even though crotone is half the size...if not less then siracusa...their soccer team is in a higher league. here there is seria A...best league...napoli place 4th this year in. then seria B...Crotone is in this league. Then Seria C...Siracusa...they might not be playing this year for a lack of money. then Seria C2...Seria D...Caserta or they are Seria D2.

  

A branch of 17 souls!

Dear Hosford Family,

I’m here in Crotone now. It’s my second Sunday here in a tiny branch. There were 17 here last Sunday. The work here is really good. We don’t really do a lot of finding, but we have a lot of appointments. It’s a pretty city. Right on the beach. I am very tempted to go to the beach. I won’t though.

My new companion is Anziano Kafel from Genova. His accent if really different from Anziano Furia’s. That’s not the problem for me. The problem for me is the Calabrian accent. It’s hard for me to understand. I already miss Sicily, however, there is one thing here that I ate in Caserta (Napoli) that I really like. It’s called Nduja. It’s a meat with lots of oil and hot red peppers. It’s really unhealthy, but I love it on sandwiches.

The work here is fun and crazy. We have three new converts we are working with. One is great and is going to the temple in November. The other two would be able to go, but we are helping them overcome some things first.

Then we have 4 baptismal dates as well. One of them I haven’t met yet because she’s really busy, but her date is in September. The other if for a guy named Pino. I don’t think he’ll make his date for this month. It’s okay however. He was taught everything in Rome then moved back to Crotone. We want to reteach everything. Then we have Giuseppe, who is 21 and told us the Book of Mormon was true during out last appointment. We are jus waiting for him to tell us when. Then last Sunday a member brought a friend to church and she wants to get baptized now. Her date is August 11th. We need to see her more often to get her ready. It will be difficult because we are out of town for 6 workdays over the next 2 weeks.

We picked up a less active family yesterday. Mother and daughter and we might have the opportunity to teach their boyfriends. We will see.

Hope everyone is well at home. Look forward to getting everyone’s letters … if they come. I sent home a box, but I have no idea when it will come. Love everyone lots.

Anziano Hosford

The car Mitchell and his new companion are standing in is used for handy man stuff. cars are very different here. You don’t see this one often though. We rode in the back of it. Here are some photos of me, AnzianoKkafel, and a new convert name Vincenzo...in the back of an ape ... the name of the car.  (ah pay) instead of ape.

Mitchell with Elder Kafel and Vincenzo

Mitchell says this utility "vehicle" is called an APE -
pronounced "ah pay" in Italiano

Transferred to Crotone!

Mitchell was transferred from Siracusa to Crotone last week. It’s a small town of about 60,000 with a branch of less than 20. The economy is very depressed in Crotone and has been since the late 80s when several business shut down. He hasn’t said much about the people yet. His emails are very cryptic but here’s a little from the last email.

My new comp’s name is Anziano Munir Kafel. He’s half Italian and half Moroccan so he’s taller than Anz. Furia.
Me and my companion never stop talking. We are always saying something. We have three baptismal dates right now. Crotone, is actually the smallest branch in the smallest district in Europe. We had 17 people in church but we have the best work in our zone right now. We have 3 dates. one for july 28...which will get moved back. another for 

august 11th which we set Sunday...and another for September 27th or so. The work is great...I am just really really tired.

Well...I haven’t done finding in a week. we have a member that does it for us. all of these are referrals. i have never seen anything like it before. The branch is great cause of this member. i will tell more about him and our work here in the letter.

I haven’t found my slot here yet. I don’t think I’ll be here long. It feel s a lot like Caserta. I will go to state...in puglia for my first time while my comp goes to Rome for a zone leader conference. my comp tells me that i will be training soon. i hope not.

So we look forward to a letter instead of his short emails. Patti

The car Mitchell and his new companion are standing in is used for little handy man stuff. cars are very different here. you don’t see this one often though. we rode in the back of it. here are some photos of me, anziano kafel, and a new convert name vincenzo...in the back of an ape...is the name of the car. (ah pay) instead of ape.