Friends and Food. ciò e quella

Blogs... they are so helpful. How did I ever manage to properly avoid my homework before this.

Okay, well, I never got on the plane to milan and currently...just kidding. That was for you Natalie. :)

Well, everyone is really cool. Scott and Finlay are the most adorable 3yr olds in the whole wide world. Scottish/Italian boys. I mean, who can compete? They are so much fun and they are liking me more and more. They like to blame me for disappearing pacifiers and emus... but we are all great friends.

Yesterday I went on a 3hr long walk. It was so cool I have to go out today too. Which is why i'm going back to my homework soon. Fingers crossed i won't get lost. There are no such things as straight roads in Italy. It's like loopy-d-loops. good thing i have a map. Good thing i speak italian...ha...ha...

The food is amazing. I have 3 bags of chocolate in my room and i'm not quite sure who to blame for that. Mom and Bianca and Douglas or Scott and Finlay. It certainly wasn't my idea but, it's amazing none the less. It's like liquid chocolate.

I've had lots of pizza. I'm having more tonight. no gelatto yet though. i keep seeing stores with it. maybe when i'm out today i'll buy some. Today is special because it's the first day i'm going out without anyone...if i get out before everyone gets home. It's already noon.

Well, everything is great and one more thing I've been thinking about lately. Kudos to all the Italians that always keep this stuff on my mind.


Do Latter-day Saints Believe all other churches are false?

I think that this is a common misconception/misinterpretation even among our own people. The 13th article of Faith states "If there is anything virtuous lovely of good report or praiseworthy we seek after these things."

"We see that God is mindful of every people whatsoever land they may be in; yea he numbereth his people, and his bowles of mercy are over all the eart" (alma 26:37) (this is talking about Ammon and the lamanites by the way) The Lord has blessed His children with portions of light and knowledge through most religions.

I was so surprised by how much everyone always wants to talk about mormons. Usually we're comparing. I've compared doctrine with protestants cathilocs and muslims and I haven't even met very many people and it's only Thursday. It's so interesting to learn what these people believe. It's great, they don't even think i'm insane yet. :) They are very accepting. Overwhelmingly so.

Bergamo is a very catholic city. One of the previous popes was born here. Still, everyone is willing to listen and explain and accept things. I've found that I have a lot in common with muslims. I'd never thought about that before.

Statement form the First Presidency (according to LDS.org, this means that it's doctrine :)):
"The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammad, Confucioous, and the Reformers, as wells as philosophers inlcuding Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God's light. Mortal truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding ot individuals...we believe that God has given and will give to all peoples sufficient knowledge to help them on their way to eternal salvation, either in this life or in the life to come.
"We also declare that the gospel of Jesus Christ, restored to His Church in our day, provides the only way to a moratl life of happiness and a fulness of joy forever." Palmer, Spencer J., The Expanding church. 1978

We believe we have a fulness of the Gospel but, not that we have a monopoly on truth. This gives me a lot of peace of mind. Why people can feel the spirit in other churches and why so many things are similar. Like Karolyn commented. Hindu's have similar traditions. I can attest that Islamics do too.

The church is actually miles ahead of me on this. There was a special meeting in 1998 in Washington D.C with the president of BYU and a member of the 12 and 16 diplomats from islamic nations. They translated writings of great Muslim scholars. "LDS officials said they are leading such efforts both to build friendships wiht Muslims and because of LDS doctrine that truth should be sought wherever it may be, even if that is in centuries-old Islamic writings never before available in English" (Deseret News, 7 February 1998, sec. E., p. 1).

It's way cool to learn all of this firsthand. The church is true. A great part of our church is that we believe that others have truth too. It would be very narrowminded to think otherwise. It's not like "na na nanana i'm right and you're wrong. :P" Everyone has the light of Christ. Great things are happening between religions to learn truth and I think that's really cool.

I was talking to Douglas about how with religions there is always a story of persecution, either by the church or to the church. That's so wrong. Why do people do that. I thing that furthers the evidence that religion doesn't make people good. People's nature is good but, everyone chooses light or dark. Doing good is harder but, it's better. Religion, generally helps but, I mean, it's whatever people choose to put their faith and passions into. if it's good they'll do good, if not, they won't. see one of the previous posts.

I just ramble about the same things over and over don't I?

Well i hope that was good and long enough for everyone. It's been fun. Tonight for my class i have to teach something and i'm really nervous. It's different when it comes up in common conversation. my D&C teacher wants this to be more formal. We'll see how that goes. I hope America is having a good day. The whole four hours america has had so far. Its bright and sunny over here :) Everyone always thinks i should be freezing but, it's so nice outside. It feels like March. Anyway, Arrivederchi