I'm gettin old smh.... (041116)

Well guys,

Just wanna say thank you to all of you who wished me a happy birthday, it means a lot that you remembered ;) luckily my birthday is on a p-day so I'll be able to go hard for the big 2️⃣1️⃣ haha. Today we're going to Catania as well as pretty much the whole zone so we can play soccer and eat bomb food and kick it with each other, and it just happens to fall on my bday, pretty good present if you ask me. Btw I'm typing this thing on our bus ride to Catania so when I send it there's a good chance we will have already done said things.

This week was a good one, real good one. Things are still going great with Noemi; we're supposed to see her and her mom his week! Carmelo is killing it and came to church for the first time in a long time and he felt good. He's a lot better than he was a couple weeks ago. So glad to see him doing what he knows he needs to do.

We did an "exchange" this past Friday/Saturday here in Ragusa with the district leader and his comp. I was with the district leader, Anziano Holbrook from Sacramento, CA and my greenie was with his comp Anziano Davidson. To sum up the exchange:

-Friday we were going around trying to contact less actives that didn't have a phone number, so we just showed up as a surprise at their house

-one dude wasn't there but his wife was and she went crazy on us and screamed at us and told us to get the heck out of [here] and I was just like ok wth we didn't do anything so as we walked out of the apartment complex I said "grazie, troppa gentile. Buona giornata :)" as she was screaming at us hahaha if you don't understand it just plug it in to google translate I'm sure it'll give a somewhat accurate translation.

-then we met some "Christian missionary" dude in the street that thought he spoke English so he kept speaking to us in English even tho we were speaking Italian (he didn't speak too well). Anyway, this dude just started going off on us telling us how messed up our religion is because we have the Book of Mormon and believe in a living prophet and so forth. Basically he kept contradicting himself and I was getting pretty dang offended at his mocking remarks towards the only true church of Jesus Christ. It's whatever tho, we ended up just telling him we're here when he's ready to know the truth and then we just left haha.

-we also saw some guys about 18 years old driving in their car blasting music and smoking and drinking (they were obviously too cool to listen to missionaries 😉) but their window was down and they were stopped so we went and talked to them and gave them an English course card and they saw the name Jesus Christ written on it and laughed at us and ripped up the card. Man I got so upset like seriously make fun of us Americans all you want but you go and make fun of the Savior of humanity, Jesus Christ? Nah, not cool. So they just drove off laughing after that and I felt pretty bad that I couldn't tell them what was up before they left. But I guess they'll find out one day...

-Saturday we went to Comiso, a town like 25 mins out by car that has some members there, mainly less actives.

-we went to go try and see some less actives, didn't have much luck

-met some SICK people there tho

-we met and talked with a guy named Talel from Tunisia as well as his friend, they're both Muslim but they're very interested in what we have to say and we promised to return with a Book of Mormon in Arabic and Italian for both of them. They also wanna quit smoking. We got some real good hopes for Talel

-we also came across this couple in the street and they were prob both my age. They want a Book of Mormon so we're stoked for that.

Pretty much it's been a good week. Many things have happened and we're seeing some good potential for this city. I love you all, and I think about you guys all the time. Have a great week and I'm gonna try my best to thank you each individually for the birthday wishes you've extended my way :)

Ciao ciao!

Anziano Carter Blaise

Via Michelangelo Buonarroti 201

97100 Ragusa, RG

Italia

Inviato da iPad

Our "Ward mission leader" and his familyare like my 2nd family out here.  They had us over for lunch and made my fave stuff and made me a cake and sang and they even bought me a gift.. wth

this ones for Matt

Sprinklin' dat $

Carmelo, and investigator

We was cookin sumn

An investigator Noemi and her friend

Conference and miracles

man what a week...

this week was nice. we didnt teach a ton of lessons nor get any new investigators technically, but we saw God's hand!!!

literally, no, but we really got to see Him work His magic even in the little things.

last week we started teaching a 15 year old girl who's the girlfriend of a 17 year old member. she ate up everything we taught. i could just feel the whole time how much she had been prepared her whole life for this. after teaching her about the restoration of our church, she expressed to us that she believed everything we said was the truth, as well as everything she had read in the book of mormon so far. anyway, we taught her the plan of salvation this week and she just loved it. she just couldnt keep herself from tears when we told her that through this plan, she could be with her family for all of eternity, in the presence of God the Father. at the end, we asked her what she thought of the plan, basically, if she would be down to accept it and follow it by being baptized into Christ's church by someone with the actual Priesthood Authority of God...she said yes, she was so happy. she told us she was pretty scared though because she didn't think her mom and dad would be ok with her decision...which is pretty necessary when you're a minor wanting to make decisions like these. she also expressed how sad it made her to think that her family wouldn't accept this great plan of God that she knows to be the truth. i felt the impression to tell her that everything would be ok in the end, and that eventually, they would accept it based off her example she was setting. so, her mom came, picked her up, and saw the pamphlet we had given her. turns out she read it out of curiosity, and then asked her daughter, noemi, if she could learn more about this thing we were teaching her. and then, as you can maybe assume, her mom granted her permission to be baptized. this process happened over the course of 5 days by the way, and we had been praying hard the whole time for a miracle. and it happened. now all she needs is her dad's permission and she's good to go for april 30th :) and dont worry guys, im not dumb, we're for sure gonna work our butts off to try and teach the whole fam as well. after all, the Gospel was meant for families ;)

our ex-communicated homie we're working with decided to make a goal with us to get baptized in july this year. he came to conference, in fact, he came to all sessions of conference saturday and sunday in the church. it was his first time coming to church is straight up MONTHS. he's finally making a move, what a miracle. i been praying so hard for him, it's working.

some dude called us asking about english course, and then when i told him i was american, he flipped out and basically offered me a job with his company because of how good i speak english haha. he was like, "yeah when you get home in december you can start working from wherever you want, what do you say?" it was kinda whack haha. so when he comes to english course he wants to talk more about it...i guess i'll see what's up.

i also got some pretty spot on answers i been looking for during this season's general conference...so sick. i love hearing the Prophet and other church leaders speak, it hits me hard right when i need it. i could go on forever on what things i took from conference, but i'll save us both the time and share a quote i heard from Jeffrey R. Holland that really hit me where i needed it.

"You can have what you want, or you can have something better."

God knows us better than we know ourselves. often times we become selfish and forget that what we want may not be the best thing for us. i'm currently on the never-ending quest to align my will and desires with that of my Father in Heaven, because i know that if we both want the same thing, that I will be happier than I have ever thought possible. in the instances that we have shared the same desires, i've never seen anything work more smoothly and perfectly.

Trials are gonna come, they're inevitable. but it comforts me to read the words God spoke to the Prophet Joseph Smith when He said that "all these things shall give thee experience." It's easier said than done, but that is what life is for, to work your butt off so that you never waiver in the midst of trials because of the identical will you share with the God who created you.

love you all, and of course i miss you. i think about you guys a lot.

have a tight week and i'll talk to y'all soon!

ciao ciao,

Anziano Carter Blaise

Via Michelangelo Buonarroti 201

97100 Ragusa, RG

Italia

Inviato da iPad

Transfers...have a greenie

What up guys!

Alright so this Italian keyboard is being super weird right now and won't let me type certain punctuation marks, such as question marks, so I'm sorry if my email seems incorrectly punctuated or doesn't make sense haha.

For starters...my greenie is SICK AS HECK!! Definitely an inspired companionship right here. He goes by Anziano Perfili and he's from SO-CAL BOIII!! Got another Californian comp haha lets go!! He also loves Coldplay and sports and Taco Bell just like I do...so you can imagine how much fun we have. He's also got some serious courage and heart. I love it. We get along super well. He wants to work and he's always down to do whatever. And he never doubts himself either, I love it. We're gonna have a nice solid 2+ transfers together. It's also kinda funny because I found out that he and Anziano Goode, another missionary, and I all know someone in common from SoCal, small world.

I'd like to tell you that a lot happened to us this week, but not much has. I had to go up to Catania Tuesday with my last comp as he left Wednesday morning, and I stayed there until my greenie got there Thursday evening, and then we headed back together to Ragusa. And once we got to Ragusa, we haven't been able to do too many things special. We've been having to take care of getting his first residency permit so he's not illegal, and simultaneously taking care of renewing mine own residency permit. But all in all we were able to introduce him to some members and teach an investigator of ours, as well as plan out our first week together so we can attack at it full force. Speaking of which, were supposedly starting our quit smoking course Wednesday, so we'll see how that goes.

Sunday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, the topic was Redemption by means of Christ. It was awesome. I absolutely love giving talks in sacrament meeting. Kinda strange I know. But honestly when I get the opportunity to give a talk, I also have the opportunity to PREPARE the talk. And in the process of preparation, I learn so many new things and my eyes are opened to so many more truths and principles of the Gospel. Never feel like you know it all already, cause you never will haha. There's always so much more to learn, and that goes in regard to anything that can be learned. Anyway, in my talk I had the privilege of talking about the atonement of Jesus Christ, that is, the means by which Christ actually redeems us, and it was such a great experience. I also recounted a story told to me by a member in Foggia named Maurizio Conforte, who was in the stake presidency. He served a mission in England, Leeds and Jeffrey R. Holland was the Area President at the time and made visits to all the English missions. And during his visits he would talk to the missionaries about many things and host conferences and especially recount firsthand experiences he saw in his ministry. Maurizio related to me a story told by Elder Holland himself that is a perfect example of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us, and it's all a true story. Unfortunately it's fairly long to type right now, especially since i would have to translate it from Italian to English for you guys. But if you wanna hear it let me know and I'll send it to you. It brought me to tears. But anyway, the talk I did went well, and I was pleased to receive a bunch of compliments from the members on behalf of it. I think it was good for the relationship between the missionaries and the members.

Well guys, we got some things happening next week, and it's possible that my pday, or free day, will be moved to Tuesday next week. So if you don't hear from me Monday next week, that's why. It's not because I'm dead.

Ok well I love you all, and hope you all don't miss me too much...lol jk

Ciao ciao!

Ragusa

Modica, right near Ragusa

#Artsy

My boys Anziano Stanley and Goode!!!! At the train station waiting for my greenie

yeah that's right,that's pistachio and some ricotta gelato

my orange was bleeding

Last district pic before transfers

Yeah idk what happened but I had to clean before church Sunday...

This guy almost gave us a tour of this entire cathedral

random church in Catania

Transfers........

Sup everybody!

Can't believe it's almost Easter already...jeeze. Can't wait though! Because you know what that means...General Conference the week after 😏😌👏🏽👐🏽 so juiced.

Alright, so, to start off, we finally got our transfer calls (a week late)! In case you don't remember, some miscommunication between our mission and the MTC caused our transfers to be delayed a week, as well as our transfer calls. But hey, better late than never. Anyway, we got those calls on Friday and my current comp, Anz. Rusch, will be getting transferred to the city of Oristano on the island of Sardegna (Sardinia)! Which is funny cuz he has served his whole first 6 transfers here on the island of Sicilia (Sicily) and now is hopping over to another island, Sardegna hahaha. Still hasn't touched the mainland of Italy and he's going into his 7th transfer 😂😂 classic. And I'm gonna be staying for another transfer here in Ragusa 😁...well actually more like at least 2 since my new comp is gonna be a greenie (newbie) so I'm probs staying here with him for 2 transfers to help him get the whole "feel" of this mission thing we do. Honestly idek how to feel right now haha. Like I mean, I feel that it could go either super well or not too well. I guess it's kinda up to me how it goes so I shouldn't be worried, but I just hope President Waddoups hooks me up fat with a boss comp that's ready to go hard in the paint and have the time of his life!!! That's all I can ask for! President is a pretty inspired man so I assume my greenie will be he perfect fit for me.. :) oh and he better like to joke around and laugh cuz I think we all know that I can't go without that kinda stuff haha I like to have a good time. 

So yeah transfers are on Thursday, but our mission is fat and travel can take a lot. So the plan is that we go up to Catania TUESDAY EVENING, stay the night there (where I get to reunite with my super good friend Anz. Stanley 😄), then Anz. Rusch takes a 10+ hour train ride up to Rome, and I'll be in some trio with the homie Anz. Stanley and his current comp while we deal with others getting transferred, then I stay the night again in Catania, then on Thursday morning, Anz. Rusch takes a plane flight to Sardegna where he'll take a bus to his area, and I wait until Thursday evening for my greenie to arrive, and then we part together to Ragusa and probably get in around 8pm to the Ragusa bus station :) good stuff. So pretty much 2.5 days out of our area :// eh, whatcha gonna do? But anyway, transfers are always exciting and bittersweet times, but I'm super stoked to see who I get and to see my homie Anziano Stanley again!!

This week, nothing crazy happened. But we were SUPPOSED to start our quit smoking class today, but we can't because we realized we can't use the church on Monday evenings because the church encourages "family nights" to be on Monday. Which I respect. So yeah the only other evening we could do it that would be convenient enough would be Wednesday evenings at 7:30. Being that we won't be in Ragusa on Wednesday, we can't start it this week :( so we're gonna start it next week on Wednesday!! We're really hoping for a good turn out, we have high hopes for this course. But if I get a greenie that isn't Italian, this could be interesting since we're obviously gonna do this course in Italian...hahaha. Oh well, we will cross that bridge when we get to it ;)

Rather than bore you all with unnecessary updates with the people we're teaching, I'll just share with you an update or two and a cool(ish) story. In English course the other day, a lady came super early and was just chilling in the chapel as we were setting up the chairs and room for English course. She randomly asked about our setup on Sundays and what goes down at church. So I had the opportunity to explain it all to her, which led to more curiosity on her part. She eventually asked me about baptism and what our take on that is. As I began to describe it to her, another guy walked in and passionately joined in on the subject. Long story short, I shared with them the fact that we believe that one must reach the age of 8 before being baptized rather than as an infant like many churches do today. All due to having the agency to choose such a thing and being old enough to even be in need of a baptism. I mean, after all, can a little kid even sin if he doesn't really know what's wrong yet?...so anyway, it went like that, yada yada...next thing you know, English course is boutta start, but I wasn't finished yet. So we went out in the hall and they asked me, "so what's the main difference between you guys and us Catholics?" You can imagine the number of teachings and doctrines going through my head that I had to choose from. But I immediately recognized that what I needed to do was teach the story of the Restoration of the church of Jesus Christ. So that's what I did. I ended up starting talking about Prophets and their role and importance in the existence of Christ's church on earth (ex: so that there could be somebody to talk with Him and pass on His guidance to the people throughout the world, just like Biblical Prophets). Then next thing you know, just minutes later I was reciting to them the exact experience had by a young 14 year old boy named Joseph Smith. Many of us members know this story, in fact all members of this church know this story, because it is the very experience that changed the world; it changed our lives forever. Without taking up too much time, I explained to them the heavenly manifestation given to young Joseph on that spring morning in 1820. And how, through the guidance and help and timing of God Himself, Joseph Smith was called to be a Prophet to once again establish Christ's church to this earth for the redemption of all mankind who want it. It went great. Idk how but I got through it in like 5 minutes haha, but it didn't even feel rushed. Anyway, we then went back inside and started English course. They're both very interested in learning more, and I look forward to following up with my new greenie that's coming and seeing some miracles wrought in Ragusa. It's interesting to note that as I taught this small lesson, that I teach very often, I felt such a strong feeling within me re-confirming to me the validity and truth of what I was saying. As a missionary we get to testify of Christ, and His church, nothing but pure truths all day every day. It seems drawn-out maybe, but it never gets old. Every time I get to do this it hits me like it's the first time, every time. I have a love for this Gospel that compares to nothing else save it be my love for Jesus Christ Himself. I'm really coming to know my brother Christ out here in Italy, and I'm beginning to learn more and more each day how much he really has done for me, and how much He still does do for me. He is my Savior, He is my redeemer, and He has and continues to redeem me from things that no other man could. My heart burns just thinking about this.

Another cool little thing that happened: so yesterday on Sunday, we were studying some Italian in the house after a bomb meal appointment, and then we were arranging some times that Anz. Rusch could say some goodbyes to some dear friends here in Ragusa. As he was packing we thought, "hey we should pass by Carmello tonight." Then after some time, we got ready to head out, and then we were just like, "let's go now." So we left. On our way there i notice one of our "quit smoking" posters got covered up by some other poster. So we kindly removed the one over it and re-posted it next to it. Right after that, some old teenager walking his dog with his parents saw the poster and eagerly went over to read all the info. As we were walking away to Carmelo's, this boy grabbed the tab and was like, "Smettere di Fumare GRATIS!?" (Quit smoking for free) and showed it to his parents. I saw them look pretty excited to see it and thought about talking to them but we had to go. Anyway, Carmelo wasn't home and didn't answer his phone, eh. But then I was thinking, why do we feel the need to go to Carmelo's house? Why did I randomly notice a poster covering ours and decide to do something about it? And honestly guys, if there was even 2 seconds of delay within this whole process, these people never would have seen our poster, and thus never would have taken a tab off it. I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch, but I think it may be the start to a miracle...eh idk. We'll see next week on Wednesday if they come ;) some prayers would help that's for sure 🙏🏽🙏🏽

Well, I can't think of much else to say about this week other than it was a good one, and I look forward to many better ones and some miracles coming up. I love you all. And for those that love or miss me, just know I love it out here, and there is nowhere I'd rather be at this point in my life. I love what I'm experiencing and I hope you all can see that. Until next week!

Ciao ciao,

-Anz. Carter Blaise

They call it "Salame Turco" or "Salame di Cioccolato"

Pasta al Forno!!! (And no, it is NOT Alfredo sauce...😷 it's a mix of cheeses and besciamella, and some cauliflower) sooo bomb

I was "Lehi" and my comp was "Moses" today in primary haha we met and talked with the primary kids 😂 none of the dads wanted to do it so...

favorite...Elder Holland

Sheet music that Carter wants

Guy on left in the bible movie is in his ward in Ragusa

Carter on "splits", guy in middle has been in bible movies.