by Dario Lauri from the church in Turin, Italy
On October 16–18, 2015, the Italian Field held a Spiritual Conference in the magnificent mountain scenery of the Aosta Valley.
The theme of the conference was "Family—Our Greatest Asset." Brother Pedro Conceição, the GC Auditor, was present and delivered the lectures on the topic during the weekend.
Brother Conceição prompted each of us to reflect on the authentic and valuable gift of God to man—the family, and the need to hold it together through mutual love for each other and love for God. Unfortunately, this treasure is under attack by worldliness, which allows individuals to question and violate the divine rules governing the family, rules which reveal that a family is composed of a man and a woman committed to one another for life, based on unity with God, respect, and affection between them and their children.
"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2: 21–24.
On Sunday, October 18, we had the privilege of witnessing the baptism of three souls: Natanael Bogdan, Octavian Vădeanu, and Reema Izquierdo León.
After a heartfelt reading and commentary by Brother Marcos Cometti on the passage of Matthew 9:1–8 (the healing of the paralytic in Capernaum), the gathering of believers met near a mountain stream, where brothers Jordan Hue, Abel Morales, and Marcos Cometti performed the baptism of the three candidates. The warmth within our hearts and our souls was certainly far superior to the cold water and the external temperatures of the Italian autumn.
Afterwards, the brethren returned to the hotel that hosted the conference to conclude the meetings with songs of praise, poems, and the welcoming of the three new members of the church. Each new member was also handed a baptismal certificate—a special keepsake to remind them of one of the most important and beautiful days of their young lives.
May God bless our young brothers and sister and guide them in a truly Christian life full of spiritual satisfaction and happiness!
