Sunday 27 September 2015

Dielsdorf - Reinach 7/9/15 - 21/9/15 Zonentraining, Ausstausch, Versetzungen Anruf, Stefans Taufe!!!...Tchüss zäme, Versetzung Tag und Hallo Gemeinde Richterswil... Oh Reinach! Sorry! Grüezi wohl!

Week 37 of 2015 
Höi zäme! 


Legit, this weeks’ email is legit just my journal! I typed it up as we were late home most nights, so I typed whilst on the train home... Enjoy! 

Monday 7th September-
So, after studies we began the day with emails. Then we wanted to do something cool for P-day, but didn't have time to travel somewhere far away, so we headed to Zürich Zoo, took loads of pictures, grabbed a few things we needed on our way home and then did a little more emails. Then headed off out to do finding! We want to make this a good week for finding, so we even planned to do finding tomorrow in Singen before Zone Training! Find them some potentials and this evening, we got called over by a guy who apparently knows us... and he wants us to come to his with him and read and pray with him!
A few photos in Zurich





Tuesday 8th September-
So we left bright and early, as last time we had Zone Training we got there last and we were there at like 12:15, so we got terrible seats, so this time we took the earlier train, but then we were there like 2 hours too early, so we get to Singen, drop our bags at the chapel and go out finding to kill the time. Oh mensch! We had 2 decent conversations; one decided she doesn't want to meet, the other is now a referral for Missionaries in Holland, not Singen, but that was pretty cool! Oooo, also on our train to Zürich HB on the way to Singen there was a teenage girl on the other side of the train to me, reading a Bible and I had the strongest feeling ever to talk with her, but there was like no possible way for me to do it without talking over people, as there were people between us! I was so annoyed .. and looking back I'm kicking myself. Then after she finished reading she totally prayed as well, which was the coolest thing ever to see. So, I tried to get Palmer to talk to her, but he gets super nervous, especially talking to people on trains, so I get him to at least pass her a pass along card and he does it. She thanks him and like as soon as she takes it she goes on the mormon.org website and is reading through it with a smile on her face. As she leaves the train she thanks us again and that was that. I hope she calls or texts us! She seemed so prepared! Then, Zone Training was amazing as per usual, but this time President now wants all meeting to be auf Deutsch, so Zone meetings are now also all auf Deutsch! It was awesome! I loved it! Then, we are on Tausch with Schaffhausen. I'm with Elder Dzierzon (my mission Bro), it’s been cool! We got them to drive us over the Grenze to save a train ticket cost, but me and Palmer forgot our passports. It was super awkward! We did have our AusslanderAusweiss with us, which is ID in Switzerland, but they didn't like it, but luckily he was a Swiss Controller, so he let us through trotzdem! Continuing on the way home, on the train from Zürich to Steinmaur, this lady on the train (who was wearing sunglasses) kept staring and I was a little confused as to why she was staring. Then just before her stop she just asks us if the church is still in Steinmaur by Bahnhof, so we say ‘yes’ and had a short conversation, but she wouldn't give us her number. Meh! We'll just pray that she comes as she said she will. Then this evening we went to Insti with S! It was great, but we were made to go to the older people class, but it was a brilliant class, so all in all it was a great day! Plus, we're on tausch, which is always cool- and with me being with Dzierzon it’s an all-German speaking tausch, which is also awesome! I'm actually loving speaking the language all the time! 

Wednesday 9th September-
Today was a pretty good, yet extremely tiring day! We had some pretty effective studies, before heading out to Affoltern to go by the referral whose name wasn't on the list or briefkasten, as we saw Bonstetten at Insti last night and they were convinced that his name is on there, so I decided to take Elder Dzierzon with me to check and typically, it wasn't on there. Then we did some finding and headed off to our dinner appointment! It was mega lecker! Then we did our Auswertungsgespräch in the park and went home to grab his stuff before heading to Schaffhausen to tausch back! It was an awesome tausch! Me and Palmer then headed home and got delayed, because of something going on on the Gleis! Who knows! So, when we finally got home, we ate and then did 12 week catch up. 'Twas fun! Then we headed to the chapel, so I could put a talk mash-up on my USB for us to listen to. It was one we heard after the break at Zone Training yesterday, which really spoke to me! You should definitely give it a listen- if you google 'Missionary Work and the Atonement President Eyring and Elder Holland' it’s the first YouTube link on there. There is a talk from Pres Eyring called that, but it has to also have Elder Holland in it for the mash-up, cause that is super powerful stuff! I have no idea what the video is like, cause we can't view YouTube, but I have an mp3 version! It is amazing! I loved it and plan on listening to it every day from now on! 

Thursday 10th September-
Oh mensch! I am dead! So, after studies this morning we headed out to Oerlikon to meet a member who wanted to take us out for lunch, so we met her and she takes us to this proper posh restaurant! It was well posh and the food was amazing! Starter was a salad and it was amazing! I have no idea what dressing it was, but it tasted so darn good! Then I had some pasta dish for my main and that was sooooo good! It was like mozarella pasta, with sundried tomatoes and olives and it was amazing! It was so good! I would definitely recommend this place! Then we headed to M! We read a talk with him this time. Apparently, he can't come again this Sunday, so we tried to get him to come to the baptism Sunday afternoon- I guess we shall see how that goes! I hope he comes! Then we did finding whilst walking home as we had a good few hours to find! It was like a 2-3 hour walk, but typical of our area there were next to no people. There were still some to speak to, but still no potentials from it! Then, this evening we finished studies and headed back for dinner! I'm writing this whilst waiting for my dinner to be ready! I made some sort of sweet potato bites and they're roasting in the oven- we shall see how they turn out! I'm excited! Then I think I may get an early night! I'm so dead lately! 

Friday 11th September- 
I am still major dead! Like, so dead it’s untrue! We began the day by meeting Y in Oerlikon at like 9.30 and ended up having like a 2 hour lesson! We taught the Law of Chastity and we were on a bench in the park. Then like part way through, a guy who was dressed up in a bright red Dosenbach elephant suit walks up to us to give us some discount vouchers for the Dosenbach store, which was reopening today! It was so awkwardly funny! Just because we were like talking about chastity at the time! She had so many questions it was crazy! Then we finished up after an hour, then she starts asking more questions about other things with the church, so it went on for another hour, but her questions are always super good and we didn't have other major plans for today, so it didn't matter too much! Then, home to print something for a little personal touch (no baking this time). Then dropped it off and did finding on route! Then home for weekly planning! Then finished the rest of our studies! And Bible Prophecies! It’s crazy that transfer calls are here already! Mine was Numbers 3:51-4:1-2. It’s pretty weird, but we did it with Biel and Bakewell prophesied that I will move to Bern. Opening up Bern 2! Hahaha! I doubt it, but who knows! I'd love to go back there, but we shall see what comes tomorrow! Oh .. and I also hit my year mark in the field! This time last year I would have had a nice long train ride from München, met Elder Little, been super confused cause we were going to Bern instead of Pratteln (which Pres told me the night before I was going to be trained in) and had my first lesson auf Deutsch, as joint teach for Elders Dewey and Simon! Craziness! I remember that day as though it was only yesterday, but that was a whole year ago! I'm officially old! I've passed all 3 year marks! That’s just sad!

Saturday 12th September-
Major dead still! Dielsdorf is killing me! Plus, I always sleep terribly up to transfer calls! So, after a sleepless night, got up and did frühsport, got ready and the ZL’s finally called. Elder Palmer is getting Elder Schiffer aus Deutschland, and I am going to Reinach to work with Elder Hiemer. I'll be ‘golden busting’ him .. and he was Palmers’ MTC companion, so it should be fun. He's from Deutschland somewhere and my Bible Prophecy came true in a way. It’s just that Bakewell interpreted it wrong! Then, after Comp study we headed out and taught F. It was a good lesson again! Then went to another member (who’s part active) to give her a blessing. It was really nice! The Priesthood is an amazing gift! Then we headed to the event thing that N invited us to. It was pretty good. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but for what we did stay for, it was good! Then home to finish studies and we filled out S’s Taufschein! It's happening and I am super excited for tomorrow! 

Sunday 13th September-
I actually slept pretty well last night, so I'm not too dead today! So, we get to church and people begin finding out I'm moving. Then I have to say goodbye/testimony in Sacrament Meeting! I hate doing it! I've done it way too much in the past year! Then all of the talks were brilliant! Legit, they were the BEST talks I've heard, but actually in this Branch I've heard the BEST talks in general! Then I could hold the goodbyes off for a little longer... so we headed back home to grab something before heading off to Pfahlhaus for S’s Baptism! I've been excited for this all week! I was filling out his Taufschein last night and was just super ecstatic for him! So, we got there a little earlier to help set up, but they had already done like everything, so we just chatted for a bit with him and greeted people! He got ready and we got a couple pictures! 

 A great day witnessing S Baptism

Catching up with (former) Elder Huby at the Baptism

Then it was the service! It was beautiful! Me and Palmer were witnesses and the Elders Quorum President performed the baptism! Legit, it was the coolest experience I've had so far! The chapel was packed and the baptismal room was like overflowing! S’s wife came and stood next to me and was like "Can I be a witness as well?" I was like ‘Of course!’ Then the baptism happened and as he came out of the water I was just filled with so much joy, I couldn't stop smiling! C (his wife) was stood next to me almost in tears with joy and I just wanted to give her a hug! She's waited quite a long time for him to make this step and he did it today! I am over the moon right now! Give it a year and they'll be going through the temple to be sealed as a family! I soooo want to come back for that! There truly is nothing better than helping someone make that step to baptism! With S, it's been a long process and I've only been a part of it at the very end, but I am so grateful for that opportunity, even if it's been just a small part! He is the BEST and his family is going to be eternal! This gospel is true! I love it! 


I love you all loads! Have a brilliant week!

Alles Liebe,

Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxx

Highlight of the Week
So, this one comes from our lesson on Saturday evening with Frau S who now has a baptismal date. So, in this lesson, I really saw how important asking inspired questions is. I've really never really realised when I've had promptings to ask a certain question before, but this time I had the strongest prompting ever to ask her something. I was pretty quiet for most of the lesson, then I just jumped in and asked her why she thinks we need prophets in our day? She gives a pretty vague answer and we speak a little more about prophets and move on. Then Sunday at church, she is speaking with me and a member who came with us and she just says how she’s been thinking a lot about the question I asked the night before and how it makes perfect sense and she basically answers the question again in the most perfect way I've ever heard anyone answer such a question. It was beautiful! It really strengthened my testimony of how the Lord really has His hand in every aspect of His work. How asking inspired questions is so vital in a lesson and as we have a prayer constantly in our heart and listen carefully to the investigator, our companion and most importantly the Spirit, we will be guided with the words to say, the questions to ask and the testimony to give in the very moment that it is needed the most! That was this weeks’ highlight for me!

Week 38 of 2015

Montag we had a pretty early start this morning; sent the main email and picked up emails, before heading to meet Y in Oerlikon to say Tschau! We spent like a good hour or so with her, chatting about life, answering more questions. Then we spent the day in Zürich for my last P-day. We were meant to have a District P-day going rock climbing, but then Scaffhausen had to drop out cause Elder Murray’s new GA hasn't come yet, which sucks! Me and Palmer didn't really have money to spend on it, so we just chilled in Zürich, went up Grossmünster and looked around a bit! It was nice .. before coming back for proper email time! Then we headed off to the Familie R for FHE and -inner. It was awesome! I love their FHE! They are my all-time favourites here! I just feel at home when we go to theirs! Then that was Monday!

Saying Tchüss to some wonderful friends in Dieldsdorf

Moving on to Dienstag... So we began the day with Personal Study, preparing District Meeting assignment and taking the train to Schaffhausen for DM. The chapel in Schaffhausen is like a house; converted into a chapel- it’s small, but it's the coolest thing ever! So we had DM and legit, I'm gonna miss this District sooo much. We had another really spiritual meeting! I hope meetings in the Basel District are going to be just as good! Then we got a District photo and headed back to our area and grabbed lunch on the way! We basically got a giant pizza! It was soooo good! Then went to see M to say goodbye, shared a spiritual thought with him. Then we headed home, finished studies, caught up on the 12 week, as that should have been finished on Sunday, but hey! We are now done with it! Wahey! Then I started organising stuff to make it easier to pack tomorrow.

My final day in Dielsdorf rolls around before I know it! We had studies and I did a bit of washing, so I didn't have to take dirty washing with me and then we headed to the Walders’ for lunch... It was amazing! We had Tacos, which were beautiful, then for dessert I requested an Oreo Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. As Sister Walder makes the BEST cheesecake ever and I had heard from Elder Huby that she makes an awesome Oreo one and since I hadn't had it yet, I sneakily asked for it when she invited us at church on Sunday .. and she made it! It legit was the BEST cheesecake I have ever had! It was Amazing! Legit- You have to try it to believe it! It was like a baked cheesecake with an Oreo base and like chocolate chips in the cheesecake part! It tasted sooo good! I asked her for the recipe and she said she'd email it to me, so hopefully she will, cause it was AMAZING!!! Then home, I organised all of my stuff, which took forever. Then we headed off to the M’s for dinner! It was awesome! They cooked some sort of casserole thing- but it wasn't! It was like a celery with meat and cheese bake type thing- with loads of celery! I usually hate celery, but this was amazing! I loved it! The members of this Branch are soooo good at cooking! I'm so gonna miss dinner appointments here! Then, home to actually start putting stuff into my cases and I'm almost finished! Just got to put the last few things in tomorrow and I am ready to go! I am going to miss this place! The Branch is amazing and our investigators are awesome! I'm gonna miss them all!

Transfer Day! Donnersatg! So we get to Zürich HB, chill, chat; wait for everyone to turn up, then leave to our new area! Oh and shout out to Sister Freeke! We were just chatting and she cracks out some Cadbury Flakes and gives me one! Oh boy, was that needed! I know I said I'm not eating junk food, but I didn't mean don't send me any. I meant don't send sooo much! Haha. So, we got to our apartment and it’s alright! It’s on the 2nd floor, with like a relatively narrow, round staircase, with no lift, so it was evil trying to get my cases upstairs! Then we had lunch and I unpacked my stuff! Unpacking is so much easier than packing! Then we did studies and went out to do a bit of street contacting! There are a load more people on the street here compared to in Dielsdorf and it’s the same type of area. Lots of dorfs with a little bit of city! It’s cool! The chapel is in an office building again, but that’s pretty common in Switzerland. I guess getting land to build a chapel is ridiculously expensive, but it’s cool! Then in the evening we went over to the GML’s. It's a new GML, so that’s cool! We went round, had dinner, got to know them and they got to know us! So it was a pretty nice evening!

Freitag! What a day! We began with studies and my studies have actually been pretty effective this past week! Then we headed to Basel SBB to meet up with the District to get a few things and exchange some info. Then back to Reinach to meet an investigator at the chapel and we had a nice little lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation. It was good! Then we headed home to grab lunch and start Weekly Planning! We had a really long, but super good planning session! It seems like
we've got quite a few awesome people to work with! I'm excited! Then, this evening we headed out around where we live, here in Dornach! It's an interesting little dorf! ... Then back for dinner whilst watching 'Meet the Mormons'. It was cool! Then I think I may go to bed early! I'm dead and we have an early start tomorrow! Plus, my brain is so tired! We speak auf Deutsch the majority of the time, every now and then we'll do a few minutes auf Englisch, but the majority is Deutsch, which is super cool! I love it and Elder Hiemer is a cool guy!

So on Samstag, we headed out bright and early. Legit today was a brilliant day (so brilliant that we had no time for studies). We left the apartment at like 7:20 to get down to Bahnhof to catch the train! We had a service project we were helping the Pratteln Elders with! It was a lady (I'm not too sure if she's an investigator or just a potential or what, but anyway), we were helping her as she is opening up an old people’s home, so we went round to help her put a load of furniture together. Legit, by the time we had to go, I became a pro at IKEA furniture building! It was actually a really fun service project.
Es macht spaß! Then we had to leave to get home, get changed and head over to the chapel for a lesson with a less active guy, who’s JAE age! He was super cool and we got to know why he's WA and how we can try and help him out! That was a cool lesson. Then we headed out to find a bit before going over to a referral. He requested a Book of Mormon, so we went by to get him one and had a little lesson about the BM. Let’s just say it was interesting, but he is super open and cool and we got
a return appointment for this coming week! So, he's a new investigator of ours! That was cool! Then we went to meet Brüder C as he was picking us up to be our joint teach. We had a really cool lesson! We spoke about a number of different things! Then she fed us and it was super good! Then we came home and planned for the next day! So all in all it was a real success of a day! Oh, then of course we had to fill out Teaching Records in our Area Book, cause we all know from the District that if you don't keep your area book up to date, you clearly don't understand the Atonement! (Hahaha! Legit that one line in the District 1 from Sister Meyer is ridiculous)!!

And on Sonntag we began with a half hour of comp study before catching the bus to the chapel. We got there first (which is apparently the norm), although we are like 30 mins early with the bus we have to get. So, people start arriving, small talk, and Sacrament! As per, I get asked to introduce myself and bear my testimony. Like whenever I get up there, my German just goes all over the place, so I'm really trying to concentrate on how I'm saying it, instead of what I'm saying and I made such a stupid mistake. So, I was like I'm really excited about the opportunity I have to serve here in.... And I say Richterswil (apparently). I didn't even realise I never said Reinach until I heard them behind me saying Reinach, it's Reinach! .. and I'm just like, what are they going on about, I know we're in Reinach. Then it hits me and I'm like, oh no! Sorry!!! I mean Reinach, I know where I am.... I've
just worked in so many areas. Awks! Haha! I'm really excited about the opportunity I have to serve here in Reinach. Then I carried on, but I was so embarrassed! Haha! Major awkward moment, but they laughed, so I hope it makes them love me! Haha! Then we went through the rest of the meetings and I got asked a number of times if I'm related in any way to Jacob Robertson (my cousin) who served here about 2 years ago! People asking if he's married yet- haha! Then we headed home and got lunch! Then studies, then headed out to go to a lesson with S. He's an investigator from Tibet who we teach German to. He speaks a bit of English, but like next to no Deutsch, so we taught him a bit of Deutsch and had a little lesson with him! He's cool! Then we were gonna do some finding for a few hours and get a call from a member who lives pretty close to us asking if we have time to come round, cause they cooked a little too much food, so of course .. as any sane
missionary would, we said ‘Yes!’ It was super good! This Ward is really cool, so I'm enjoying it and believe I'll come to love it even more so!!


I hope you have a brilliant week!

Alles Liebe,

Elder Ammon Robertson xxxx

Saturday 19 September 2015

Cagliari 31/8/15 - 14/9/15 Super scambio, un visitatore inglese di Cagliari, particolari esperienze spirituali

Week 1 of the fortnight in Cagliari, Sardegna
Monday: Today was greattttt. First thing after our studies, B picked us up to take us to do spesa. Right after that we headed to the church to emailllllll :) Email was the best. You all sent me so many pictures and you aren't half a good looking bunch! B made us lunch again! This time, rice with frutta di mare. Weird seafood stuff that actually tastes super good. I'm getting way better with seafood these days, you'd be proud!!! Still heave on certain textures, but I'm getting there! Anyways, after that we literally just chilled out with the raggazzi of the ward and emailed. It was super chill and I loved it, cus we were in air conditioned rooms all day long.
After p'day, we went to read some scriptures with R! Then we headed for the family home evening at the park with the investigators. It was awesome. We played some games and Caballero did the spiritual thought.



Tuesday... Today was awesome. We began by using the half an hour or so before DDM by making calls to ex students (English course), then had DDM... This was yet another awesome DDM. Anziano Molnar did an awesome spiritual thought, based really all on how we can relate the scriptures to our lives, as missionaries. Then Anziano Jacobs did the 'random something' activity, where we played this super weird 'detective' came. Hahaha. Then I shared the miracle moment. I spoke about the man, who after inviting him to church when we saw him in the park 3 weeks ago, he came! :) Then Anziano McColloum did another awesome addestramento. Honestly, that kid is awesome. It was really scripture based this time round, I loved it. I felt like a lot of the district meeting was all about the scriptures and finding comfort from them and applying them to our personal lives. McColloum spoke of different prophets and missionaries in the Book of Mormon, how they had their difficulties and trials, but because of their faith and trust in the Lord.. and diligence, they were strengthened. He actually began by asking us to define the word diligence. These were some of the answers... To put in 100% of your time and energy into accomplishing something; to show faith through action; pay careful attention; exact obedience and to never stop. It was basically a really awesome addestramento. He then invited us to read the talk 'Ponder the Path of thy Feet' by Thomas S Monson... So, I'll be doing that tomorrow on the way in the car to Sassari for our scambio! Then the zone leaders gave us a sfida! So, basically they are doing this thing where each companionship had to do the 'evaluating prayer' activity in PMG and to pray for one way the zone can better the work - to then use as invites for the zone each week.. If that makes sense! This week they are inviting us to put the Sassari sorelle idea into practice, that is - 'To become converted to the principle of faith'. So this week is gonna be all about faith! :) After that, the wonderful Fratello C made lunch :) .. Me and Roberts were late cus I had ANOTHER nose bleed. I literally don't think my body is coping well with the humidity. Anyways, once it had passed after like 15 mins, we ate the pesto lasagne. It was SO good!!!!!!!! Then a potato/bean/sausage concoction.. I ate all but the sausage. It was a 'help yourself' kinda dish, so I avoided the sausage at all costs hahahaha. Then we finished off with gelato.. Just what I like :D After that, we headed home and did a bit of language study, then headed straight over to Quartu to see another ex investigator who we got in contact with last week while doing area book calls. We were supposed to get off at piazza 4 novembre, but for some reason when I saw 'via 20 settembre' I thought we were there, boh. I guess I was just like 'oh look, a date, this is us'. So we ended is taking a 35 min bus ride, then a walk from there, which took just as long as the bus ride we had taken hahahaha. Well, we finally got there and she was super cool with us being late.. I HATE being late. It's the worst feeling, but she was awesome about it. Her name is C and she's in her early 60's. She has been seeing the missionaries on and off for MORE than 29 years. MORE THAN 20 years and she isn't baptised???? Isn't that CRAZY! Well, she was awesome. She was showing us all these pictures and letters and wedding invitations that these sorelle sent. PROBABLY SORELLE THAT WERE SERVING HERE WHEN MOM AND DAD WERE SERVING IN LONDON!!!! Sorry, but it's just so crazy. Anyways. We shared a small message. Unfortunately after all of that, we didn't have much time to do much more cus we had organised a lesson with B. OH, ALSO THIS WOMAN HAS A BANANA TREE IN HER GARDEN!!! AND SHE FED US BISCUITS. MMM. We left and got to the chapel. Again.. We were late. :( we saw B. She showed me the message mom sent her. She thought it was super sweet, but I had to translate it for her cus she doesn't speak English. She is so cute ahh love the woman! She was like 'you have to show me how to reply' haha. We watched the Restoration dvd. She had never ever seen it before and she LOVED it! Then we did English course. A TONNNN OF PEOPLE CAME. Finally it seems that 'summer' is drawing to a close. It certainly doesn't feel like that's the case (physically), but they're all returning from the beach homes, so that's awesome. A few new people who we had invited this last week came too. We might have to start doing basic and intermediate separately cus the intermediate were getting frustrated with how slow some of the new students were hahahah. Good times. After, we did the spiritual thought. We decided to base it on the 13 articles of faith. Just the basic foundations and things we believe, then to expand and bear testimony on them over the next couple of weeks. It went well :) 

Wednesday was an early start. #scambiofun The anziani picked us up at 07:15 AM to drive up to Sassari... They had to do a baptism interview, so it made sense to go up with them, just like last time - so we did just that! The trip itself was cool. I slept for the most part ha. Couldn't keep my eyes open for beans. Va beneeee. When we arrived, we dropped our stuff off at the sorelle's apartment, then I went with McKenzie for Correlation, while Roberts was with Hansen. I did it a little bit differently this time.. Last time I did half and half, but I felt that this time I needed to do the whole scambio with McKenzie (then the whole time with Hansen when we have conference in a couple of weeks) .. just cus last time round I didn't get to really talk with either of them to see how they were doing, as we just had appointment after appointment. Correlation went well, then we went straight to the hospital with a sister, to visit one of the older members of the church who is waiting for an operation. The sister was this adorable lady. I don't remember her name, but she was so sweet. She spoke to the member who took us for the most part. When they handed the time over to us, we decided to show a Mormon message to her. The Earthly Father, Heavenly Father one. In the room, there were 2 beds. A middle aged woman was in the other one. As we were showing the sister this message, she invited the other lady to watch (this other lady was called L .. I will never forget this), so she did. Part way through, she turned her head to look away. At the end of the video I realised that she was crying, so I went over to sit with her. I found out that she had been told that morning that they would not operate on her. I don't know what the actual problem was, or what needed operating, but she was distraught that they wouldn't do it. I felt that I needed to show her the 'Mountains to Climb' message, and so I did. She cried part way through that too. Me and Sorella McKenzie were able to bear testimony of the Atonement of Christ and how it also covers pains, sorrows and disappointments, as well as sin.  I was able to explain the Priesthood briefly. As in the video, one of the men receives a Priesthood blessing. She seemed to be so so interested .. her heart was completely soft and open. (Spiritually) I really felt impressed that she was ready to receive the message of the gospel. In the end, I offered her the option of having the Anziani come another day to give her a Priesthood blessing. She accepted, 100%. She was the sweetest, most prepared woman I think I have met in the mission. I know the message that we shared touched her heart and her sweet presence and friendly smile touched mine too. It was honestly a really beautiful experience. A completely unexpected one, but so joyful in the end. The Sister who we originally went to see had also been talking to her all about the gospel and she knew quite a good chunk. She was also impressed with the amount of members who cared enough to visit the member sister, as she thought that they were relatives, but turned out to be members of the church who just wanted to serve her. After that, we went home for pranzo. After that, we went to see F, the African man who I saw last time with Sorella McKenzie. He remembered me! It was so funny. He was super confused; he was all 'yes.. I remember you, you are from England .. yes you came back!' hahahahah. #itsgoodtobeloved. The lesson went really well, other than the fact we were in a park full of high teenagers. We spoke about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was super simple and he had no questions. It just made sense to him. He accepted everything. It was so coollllll. After, we went to see a new convert. Spoke about courage, because she is struggling right now with friends who are not members of the church, bad influences and not many people in the church her age. I saw this lady last time with Hansen. She is the sweetest! It went really well :) Then we got a bidone, so we did a bit of finding. At the very end of the day, we ate pizza. I literally rarely ever eat pizza, this was like the 6th pizza I've ever eaten since the start of my mission. 

Thursday... The Anziani picked us up to go back home. Anziani Caballero bought us breakfast like last time, these pastry roll things. He's awesome! At the beginning of the journey Anziano Molnar was talking about funny mission stories, that was super duper fun. When we got home, we met up with an ex simp, V. We met her at Peter Pan for gelato and spoke a tonnnnn about family history, cus she's super interested in it :) Then we saw G and spoke about prayer and scriptures. :) After that, we had English course. A ton of people came. Roberts did basic and I did intermediate .. then that was basically our day.

Friday...we started with weekly planning and ate party rings as we planned. I forgot how good they are MMM. Saw R, then B :) It wasn't a super eventful day, but we were super happy to finally see B!! She is awesome. We spoke about the sabbath day and she told us that she feels bad for not going to church and that next week she will come and she will try to bring her parents. This girl is incredible. 

Saturday: We had planned a better day than it actually turned out, but it was still good. We began with M at the chapel. We just basically went for it, beginning with our missionary purpose, then we asked her why she thinks that each step (faith, repentance, baptism etc) is important and she gave awesome answers. Then we explained the differences between this church and all the others, focusing heavily on the Priesthood. She seemed to get it. WHY WON'T SHE JUST GET BAPTISED AGHHHHHH. She even says she knows the Book of Mormon is true. It is a little frustrating, but there has to be a reason and we are just trying to find out, so we can help her!!!! She was so adorable though, she bought us these tasty little cake things, but they weren't cake. It was weird. I miss cake. Like, proper cake. I literally feel like I haven't had a proper cake since when I was at home (besides the angel cakes in my package) haha. Sad times. I miss cake and fish and chips.. And crumpets... And all the different flavours of crisps mmmmm. ANYWAYS, I get really good pasta here, so I'm good for now hahaha. Well long story short, I awkwardly accidentally dropped my cake on the floor as she was standing there and she looked super sad, so then I just ate it. I ate the cake from the floor hahahahahahaha. I'm getting so gross. I'm sorry. The floor was cleaned that morning though and I feel fine soooooo boh! Anyways, straight after that we went to the park to see F and we taught our lesson. Last time we saw him he had a ton of domande about the apostles, so today we did the 'cup' Restoration lesson with him and he loved it. He has a TON of questions, which is super awesome. Sometimes I feel super incapable of answering them all and stuff, but it's all good. He bought / just got us a drink from the bar at the park. (He works at the park, so I think he just gets whatever he requests for free haha bargain!) Then we went home for pranzo and ate lunch - chicken and rice and tomato wraps, with mayo obv. Oh, then a ginger biscuit gelato sandwich. They're incredibly lush. Haha. After that, we received 2 bidonessss. :( IT WAS GONNA BE THE PERFECT DAY. We nearly made up for the loss being in Sassari... Nearly! Anyways, we tried to find the Brother of Fratello C (from Ragusa) as he gave me his info just before I left Ragusa and told me to go find him. There was a road and a name, but no number, so we had to look on every door for the name, but didn't find it.. :( then we did some finding in the park, kind of.. But not. Then we had a lesson with , a less active member. SHE BROUGHT A FRIEND. SHE KEPT HER SFIDA, had a gospel conversation and brought her pal to the lesson!!!!!!! It was awesome! Her friend, M wants us to see her again, so we are super duper excited about that. After that, we tried to go to a different park, but it was just full of runners, so we went to do casa, then we remembered that we had a referral from the office and we needed to figure out how to get there, so we headed to the station to organise that. (Oh, I forgot to mention, I was really tired this day and I just wasn't feeling anything, so I prayed and asked Heavenly Father for an experience that would help us realise our purpose, or that would help us remember that this is his work. Anyways, back to the scene. We are on the bus, the M to be precise.. At the back, cus that's how sorelle roll. Then Sorella Roberts turns to me and points out that the girl sat far opposite from us was crying. I asked her what she wanted to do and she didn't know, I also had no idea. Then she reached into her bag and got a pass along card ..the one with the picture of Jesus, which says 'faith brings us hope'. Then we moved. I sat next to her and Roberts sat behind me. I took a while to figure out what to do and what to say, then we were getting closer to the last stop, so I took a deep breath and went for it. I asked her how she was and she told me she wasn't good. She then said something else, but began to cry hysterically, so I didn't quite catch it. I asked her to repeat and she didn't want to. Then it was really awkward and I felt awful, so I explained what I am doing here and that Italian isn't my 1st language, but I'm trying and I really want to help her etc. Then she just speaks to me in PERFECT English. She told me that she feels like a shame, that she escaped for a year, but had to come back, that she had been abandoned and that she is alone, that she feels like there is nothing here for her and it would be better if she wasn't here. All this as she was crying. I was lost for words and all I could do was cry with her. My heart literally ached for her. I don't even remember what I said, I really didn't say much, because I was really just in shock and I was crying myself. All I remember telling her was that she shouldn't be ashamed and that she doesn't have to be alone, that we are here and we really want to help her if we can. She explained that in this moment in time she wasn't her 'normal state' and that she was really grateful and that not many people ever want to help, but she could see that we were genuine. We got to her stop and I left her with our pass along card and told her to call us whenever she needs anything. She told me that it is unlikely that she will call, but that maybe if she finds herself in a better state, that she may. She wished me luck with life and was really grateful, then left. I was literally heartbroken for her. As I recounted everything to Roberts, I just cried again. I don't know exactly what this girl needed, or exactly what her situation was, or where she was going, but I know that we were on that bus for a reason, that Sorella Roberts was prompted to say something to me about the girl and that I was able to cry with a complete stranger. As we headed home, me and Sorella Roberts spoke a little and pondered in amazement at how the Lord works. It's incredible. I really do hope this girl is okay and that we were able to help her in some way. I guess that I will never know, but what I do know, is that Heavenly Father put us in the right place at the right time and that we were at least able to show this young girl that someone out there values her and cares. 

Oh, also this morning I found 2 quotes during my studies that I really liked.. I've been studying about compassion and charity, as it's something I feel I need to work on. “The touchstone of compassion is a measure of our discipleship; It is a measure of our love for God and for one another.” and "We need to remember that though we make our friends, God has made our neighbours--everywhere. Love should have no boundary; we should have no narrow loyalties."
Goodnighttttyyyy

Sunday. Today was so awesome. Oh my goodness. We went to church and I was super excited cuuuuuus I WAS GONNA SEE SOMEONE FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD. CHRIS HUGHES. It was actually weirder than I expected. Hahahahah he came in and shook my hand, so very formal. I couldn't cope hahahah. He doesn't even sound like a northerner, he has picked up the southern accent big time! I told him that he sounded like our Sam R. He wasn't impressed and told me that he just blames the fact I've not been around English accents for a while... Hahahah so funny. For reals though, he sounds like a right Londoner. It's awesome. I adored hearing a British accent, these things in life are rare right now, so it was super splendid. Anyways, andiamo avanti.
Seeing a friend from the "outside world"
We had Relief Society and they based the lesson on the talk given by Dallin H Oaks 'The Parable of the Sower'. It was really good. After that, the Anziani had to do the lesson as there was a last minute emergency and Fllo Ancis had to pop out. They did an awesome job, as always. I had to translate for one of the African members. I am the worst at translating, like I physically cannot do it. It's like impossible for my mind to even function like that. Like by the time my brain has processed what they say in Italian, then translated it to English, then relayed it in English, while they are still talking in Italian... I miss so much. Gosh. It's the worst. Translating is NOT a strength of mine by any means. He told me he understood though and that it went well. I think he was being nice, but I'll take it anyways. Ha. After that, we had Sacrament meeting. There were a ton of awesome testimonies. B shared part of the email mom sent her and spoke about missionary work and the role of a mother. She is adorable. Thank you for sending her that mom, she really appreciated it. :) She talks about it all the time :) Then there was another member who shared part of a talk given at a BYU devotional. I don't remember what it was called, but in the end I asked about it and she told me that she will try and find it for us :) After that, I spoke to Chrissssss and we got a picture together. It was funny .. he was like 'we should probably take a picture, otherwise your mom won't be impressed' hahaha. So we did that. I hope you're impressed mom hahahah  Then we tried to organise something for p'day tomorrow, together with some ysa. So it should be funnnnnn. He leaves on Tuesday to join his family in Napoli.. Or Rome. I can't remember which one he is doing first haha. Anyways it was super cool. After that we had pranzo at R's house, with B and G. It was super delish. We had a lasagne, a really good one. Then we ate like, pig's face, which was actually really good. Well, the good part that I ate was the part that wasn't the face, but the face was there. Then we had watermelon, then cake pastry things. I was super full. Loved it. After that we studied un po' then we had a lesson with R. The lesson went so so well. She is awesome. She shared us her testimony, told us that she really wanted to share it at fast and testimony meeting, but that she was too shy and couldn't do it. She spoke about her family who are in Brazil (she is Brazilian). I also really love Brazilians. They are the coolest people. I love every single Brazilian I have ever met, especially Sofia Fusco Nagliati ❤️ Anyways, her Dad calls her and this week when she spoke to him he spoke of how he saw the missionaries and has set up an appointment with them for this week. Her brother told her that her Dad is really changing and that his heart has really softened. She was super emotional about it. She spoke about her baptism and how she felt. It was just a really sweet experience. I love her so much. After that we went to A. An African less active member. SHE IS SO FUNNY. oh my gosh. She had like, just woken up and so she wasn't 100% with it. The spiritual thought went well. We started off with the pair game, of names and their meaning, then it lead onto the talk 'What have you done with my name?' which speaks about the baptismal covenant. She started then talking about her name and one of my fave lines from the people here in Cagliari so far, she said, and I quote "In Africa, I am the queen of the coast. That is my name, but here in Italy, I cannot be the queen of the coast, so I changed it". She was dead serious as she was telling us this. Then she was speaking about how much she enjoyed sacrament meeting. She said how she wanted to share her testimony and that she had a really good one to share, but that she was too nervous because she would have done some in English and some in Italian. Then she was like "Next time I will just close my eyes and maybe God will lead me there"..."but then people might laugh, maybe I will make a joke and it will be ok" It doesn't sound funny written down like this, but I was in hysterics. So was she. Love her! After that we got the bus. There was a group of men who were like, totes creeping on us. After a while of staring, they asked if we are German. I was like like 'nope' then they asked where we are from, so we did the whole 'I'm English and she's American." Then this guy starts speaking in English to us and he was showing off big time, it was super funny. He told me he lived in Liverpool for a while for work. Then I was like 'What did you do for work there?"..and he was like 'la pizza'. That again, doesn't look or sound funny, but imagine the situation. Made me lol. Then he spoke about a ton of random stuff, then he was like asking for our number, so we offered to give him the number for the Anziani, cus we are done with creepy men. Then he said 'But I want yours. I will cry all night!' in English, which makes it s whole lot funnier. After that he must have ran out of things to say and he was like 'I have one stop, what can I say in one more bus stop!' hahaha then he like, blushed and got off the bus.  Comunque, we got home, I made calls, Roberts made dinner, we planned then Anz Mic called for numbers. He asked us to feedback on the challenge the ZL's gave us and to tell him about a miracle we have seen, because of faith. We spoke about the girl who we met yesterday, then he told us it reminded him of a story he once heard, which is way cooler than ours, so I'm gonna share it. He said:
"There was a mission reunion for the missionaries in Japan. During this reunion, each missionary got up and described a successful moment, achievements and miracles they had seen throughout their service. The time arrived for this one ex Elder to get up and share something. He said "I didn't see baptisms and I don't feel like I had a ton of achievements, but this is the coolest story from my mission" he proceeded "one morning, during the mission, I woke up at 430 am and felt impressed to study, with my companion, so I woke him up and told him. He studied with me. While we were studying, I felt again impressed to go with my companion to study outside, so we did. When he went outside, there was a river right nearby the house, where a young boy was drowning and a woman (probably his mother) was by the side, helplessly freaking out. That day, this Elder was able to save this little boys life."... He then finished the story.."This Elder then said, 'I don't know what happened in the end to this boy, as I have never heard anything of him, nor have I seen him, but this was my story, I was able to save a life" After this Elder told his story, another ex missionary stood up and said "I am that boy and I have had a really successful mission. I have baptised many people and I want to let you know how grateful I am for you. Me and my mother converted not long after that happened and I want to tell you that you never know how much good you do!" 

Anziano Mic told us the same. That we may never see that girl again, but we never know how much good we do and that God trusted us enough to be put in the situation that we were in. 

I have had an awesome week. Each week just seems to go by faster and faster!! I cannot believe I'm half way through my 2nd transfer with my greenie. I love her a ton and I could honestly do a 3rd transfer with her, quite happily. She is awesome. So much love for the girl, ahhh! I love you all incredible amounts. You are all in my prayers. You're all in my thoughts. Always. 
Hugs and kisses.
Me xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

Week 2 of the fortnight in Cagliari, Sardegna
Monday: today was so strange. We began emailing at the piazza again, like before cus these last few days the wifi at the chapel hasn't been working, so I didn't wanna risk traveling there and then finding that it doesn't work. It was a lush lil email sesh. Then after, we did spesa at Auchan. We chose to go there, cus when we helped V the other week with her spesa. We went there and we saw a ton of lush cereal and we wanted to go get some, haha. This shop is just like Asda, or Tesco. It's huge and it has everything. We even got Oreo cookies. They even sell curries and stuff. Miracle!!! Oh, and oats! Anyways, after that we got home and called Alice to see where her and Chris were at. Then we met them. It was super cool to chill out with them. I thought we were gonna do something, but we literally did a bus giro and basta, but it was good to chat comunque. It was awesome catching up on what's going down in England with marriages, mission calls, pregnancies and all that stuff. After that, we did a lesson with R. We read 3 Nephi 18 and spoke about taking the sacrament and the sabbath in general. It went well. After we did the FHE at the park, which was fun. We did the spiritual thought this time on prayer.

Tuesday: began with 12 weeks. Then straight after, DDM. It was all based around Jacob 5 and he related everything to missionaries and missionary work. It was super awesome. After that, Anziano Caballero made pranzo for us all. I don think I've ever eaten so much rice in my life and it was the first time in forever eating food with actual spices inside. It was so good! Then Frattelo Caravagna made a Nutella cake, which was super delish. After that, we saw R, then we saw B, then we did English course. There's like a super awesome man in English course, who is new. I think I spoke about him last week, well .. this week at the end, he pointed out one of our pictures of Jesus and asked if it would be possible to get him a copy, so we will work on it. He could totally be our next new simp. Woooooooo!na
So, another Corso student told us she feels peace whenever she walks into the chapel. Yeyyyyyyyyyyy

Wednesday: Today was alright. We began at the chapel, with P. The man who was an investigator about a year ago, who we called and met last week. This was super sad. After last week we were super excited about him and felt that he was ready this time. Today we felt that he needed to hear the plan of salvation, as his wife died years ago and he didn't sound too hopeful about the after life. We barely got through the 1st half. He was super nice about it and he has some awesome beliefs, but he told us that if we are looking to 'convert him' than we are wasting our time. In that sense he isn't interested, but he likes to have 'spiritual conversations' with us. Anyways, after that we did some English course calls, basically calling all past students to remind them that we still run the course and that they are still welcome etc. They all seemed awesome... Anyways, then we headed home. IT WAS RAINING ... wow I've missed the rain so much! So much fresh air I almost didn't know how to handle it! Hahah. Anyways, after pranzo, we went to try and find some ex investigators who own a photography shop. We called them a few weeks back and they told us we are always welcome, so we planned on going in to do a spiritual thought, but the shop was closed... and the opening times weren't anywhere to be seen, so I guess one day it'll be a pot luck visit. Vediamo! After that, we did park finding. We met an awesome lady who seemed interested. She is from Bari, but she's living here (I assume) and her name is A (I'm trying to ask for and remember the name of people we meet during the day, so I can pray for them by name, as it's something I'm not super great at and I need to be better). She told us that she would love to come to church to see what we are all about, so prayyyyyyy for her PLEASEEEEEE :) After, we did a lesson with B. AHHHHHH THIS GIRL. Love her. I forget that she isn't a member. She just seems like a member through and through. It's so good to be finally meeting up with her more frequently again now that the holiday period is over! We did the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she knew it all already, cus her friends taught her everything while she was an exchange student over in Idahooooo woooo. She's awesome. We just wanna work with her parents so bad. Cus then it will be way easier for her to come to church etc. After that we did casa. This time round, nothing happened, but there was an apartment complex we finished at and we both felt impressed to go back there another day. Then 12 weeks. Then bed. Oh, also I cooked some meat things for us tonight and then I wasn't sure they were cooked properly. Speriamo bene.

Thursday: okay, so we began with a lesson with a less active member, V. SHE BROUGHT HER FRIEND AGAIN and her friend asked for a Book of Mormon and had a TON of questions, so we are so super excited about that. After that we did finding. Then we saw C, did the restoration, then she fed us a ton of cake and got out all these ancient recipes that she's got from all the missionaries over the course of 22 years. It was great, but because of this, we missed a lesson and were late for English course. We finally arrived and G helped us out. She's adorable.

Friday: weekly planning. Pranzo with G. Lesson with G. Lesson with R and then a lesson with R and her family. I'm really running out of time, so I will be brief. Sorry. All of these lessons went well.

Saturday... Well today was awesome. We started with a lesson at the chapel with M. We spoke about tithing and fasting. She asked a ton of questions and it went really well. At the end, we invited her to fast with us, so that she can receive an answer that she needs to be baptised and she agreed! The only thing is, we didn't set a date, because she is waiting for a call for an operation and they can call any time within the next few weeks and do it there and then, but she agreed to do it after the operation, so we are super excited about that! Then we made a cake for Anz Molnar, cus it was his birthday.
We made cake for Anz Molnars Birthday
Then we got lost trying to find less actives. Then we had stake conference, which was super awesome. The Saturday night session was so so good. Loved it. They spoke about a ton of stuff. The Bern Temple spoke. Then when the Stake Pres spoke, the spirit was super duper strong. Anyways, then we did the birthday surprise for Molnar. 

Sunday: there's a lot to say, so I'll type it up later and attach it to next weeks' email. I'm so sorry. The whole zone is here and I feel really anti social, so gotta go.

I love you all a ton. Incredible amounts.
Miss you lots and lots and more.
Ashleigh xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

Monday 14 September 2015

Dielsdorf 24/8/15 - 7/9/15 Week 35 and 36 of 2015- Interviews,Training, Suchen und Essen!!!



Week 35 of 2015-


So, Monday was one of those days that just didn't seem like it happened. We studied, cleaned the apartment, wrote emails, got a haircut, then basically P-day was over; so we headed out and did a bit of Tür zu Tür in Affoltern. It was good apart from the ridiculous amount of rain!

Tuesday was a pretty long day and I can't even remember why. We basically had no appointments all day, which sucked, so we were on the street all day finding and our area really sucks for finding! The busiest part of our area goes a little something like this- speak to the only person in sight, finish the convo or just get a flat out "Kein Interesse" oder "Keine Zeit", keep walking, at least 5-10 minutes walking pass by and then there's finally a form of life, so speak to them and the pattern continues. Legit, this area is dead for finding! I love the branch and I love our investigators, but finding kills me everytime, just because the area is dead!) Anyways! Then, in the evening we went to Institute with S, (he's getting baptised on the 13th). It was super cool and Brüder U was doing the class and he does the BEST lessons EVER and I got to catch up with some of the JAE from Bonstetten, so that was cool!

Mittwoch - we had interviews with Präsident whilst doing District Meeting. As per, DM was super spiritual and yet again I had an assignment for it! Legit, I get assignments every week. I was given another one Saturday evening to do for DM tomorrow! Aarrrrgggghhhh!!! My interview with Pres was okay and then we had training with him and the Singen District. It was more a question and answer session, so that was cool! Then, we recorded Beth's Birthday video! Then we went home to finish studies and in the evening we had a lesson with the Schnyders, so it was a pretty long day again!



Thursday - we headed out and did some finding, then we finally had a dinner appointment with a member. It seems like forever since we last had a meal appointment during the week and we did a missionary work based Spiritual Thought, so we got them to do something that makes them feel a little embarassed or something difficult for them to do (like we got them to sing a hymn that isn't in the German hymn book in a foreign language). It was pretty funny! Then we compared the feelings they had doing that with members doing missionary work. Then we shared the Tommy video and they loved it! Then D&C 84:88! Then we just challenged them to bring a friend in the next month. It was pretty good!

Taken after Flat Inspection

Freitag - we did studies, then we cleaned the apartment a little bit, cause it wasn't quite perfect after 4 days from last cleaning it. Then, we had our apartment inspection. Then we met with Y! It had been a while since we last met. We met in Oerlikon and she wanted to go to a restaurant and get a drink (non-alcoholic of course- she's living it before we've even taught her it) and on our walk from Bahnhof with her to this restaurant a lady notices us as missionaries and calls us
over, apparently she's a member from Aarau, so she was asking how we were and stuff. Then we went and sat down and had a lesson! It was a super cool lesson and we answered her questions. She's been studying the BOM like crazy, it's amazing. She marks her scriptures in a way that I've never seen scriptures marked before- it's so cool! Then we met with M for a couple of minutes, set up an appointment and then headed to the W's for dinner. It was amazing as per. Then we were on our way home and the tram to Bahnhof was packed. We were by some crazy guy! I think he may have been a little drunk. Well, he was! His breath reaked
of alcohol and he was talking to us. Telling us how the Church's name is conjugated wrong, blah, blah, blah. Then he was asking where we are from and I said England and he was like, 'What, really?' You look like you come from Albania! - He was a weirdo! Now I realise why we should be in our apartments for 9:30, cause after 9 all the weirdos come out!

Happy Birthday Beth! We started the day by meeting with F! It was cool! We shared an article from the April 2015 Liahona called 'It Isn't a Sin to be Weak'. It is super good! If you haven't read it, give it a read! It's amazing! Then, we did some weekly planning, finished studies and then baked brownies for Sunday, as we had lunch as a Branch, so we figured we'd take something! Then we headed out for some more finding, before coming home! Oh and we found a super cool looking chess set in our apartment, so we had a game of chess before going to bed! Palmer was thrashing me the whole game and then I got him cornered and won the
game! Mwahaha!

Sonntag was a pretty sweet day! Sacrament meeting- all of the talks were based on The Family, which made me think of mine! Sonntagschule was also super cool. It was about the Spirit. Then we had a Gemeinsameklasse for Priesthood/FHV. Our GML did it and it was based on missionary work and it was amazing. Hopefully it got the members as excited as it did us and we'll be getting some referrals in the next few weeks. Who knows! We'll be praying for it! Then Gemeindeessen! It was amazing and the brownies went down pretty well! Then we cleaned up, then studies and that was basically the day over. I don't get why days are so long sometimes, but the weeks go so fetchin' fast! It's craziness!

That is basically it! This week actually sounds pretty lame, but hey! It wasn't that bad, there just isn't much to actually say about it.

Alles Liebe,

Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxxx
Week 36 of 2015-
Höi zäme!

So, what did we do on Monday... Ahh, that's right- we headed off to Deutschland again... Who knows if we're allowed to go this often in one transfer, but hey! This time we headed to Konstanz, as we fancied a change again. We bumped into the Kreuzlingen Elders who work in Konstanz and Elder Byrom is in Kreuzlingen- I love that kid! I believe he's one of those friends that Mom was talking about last week! So, we had some pictures- by the Bodensee and it was a B-E-A-UTIFUL day! (I sent those pics last week as promised in last weeks email). Then in the evening we did finding- always finding! We started with a bit of Tür zu Tür aber es gibt nichts. So, I suggested we move to the street and we did. Still no potentials found, but we got a good few conversations out of it. When you get out of that comfort zone and speak with the people it feels soooo good! Plus, it shows how much my Deutsch has progressed. It's still not great, but I can actually hold good conversations with people and understand almost everything, but it does feel amazing to actually speak with people and getting out of that comfort zone you were speaking about!

Moving on to Dienstag... So, after Personal and Comp Study we headed off to Schwamendingen for District Meeting and as per usual it was amazing and the spirit was super strong. This week I got the joy of doing Deutschtipp, so I got to give it in English (It's the only part of DM that we can do in English). It went well! I can't even remember what I taught, but it was super basic stuff! Like Word Order/Sentence Structure. Elder Marley did a great assignment on Nächstenliebe (No idea auf Englisch- sorry) and how love is necessary for everything, without it, everything else is pointless. It got me thinking quite a bit whether I actually love the people I meet on the street, before I even stop them to speak, whether I actually love the people we teach. Yes, I do, but I can love them, so much more than I do and as we have that love for them we can have so much more success! So, my goal this week is to love the people more, even when they are rude and verbally abusive- kill their anger with love! After DM we headed out and did a bit of finding and it rained- just beautiful! Luckily, I remembered my umbrella- my Golden on the other hand forgot his, so we went to get him another one! It's like the 3rd umbrella he's bought in the last 2 transfers- hahaha! Then after a bit more finding we headed home for the 12 week program and dinner, before heading back to Pfahlhaus for Insti with Stefan! It was awesome and as per Brüder Uchtdorf's class. This weeks was basically about the War in Heaven. It was so interesting! I love getting to go to Insti with Investigators!

On to Mittwoch! It was a pretty cool day! We made cupcakes to P-touch some members, as it's been a while since our last P-touch and then off to meet the Schaffhausen Elders, as Elder Murray was doing S's Taufinterview! It went swimmingly! He is so fetchin' prepared it's untrue! Just one week to go! I am beyond excited for him! Then more finding and home to finish studies and finally eat something for the day!

Donnerstag was another pretty good day! Lots of studies! Then to M! We ended up reading with him in the BofM. He read, but he didn't read much and it had been like over a week since we last met. Plus, he still hasn't come to church, which totally sucks, cause we will more than likely have to push his date back now! Then we did a load of finding between Glattbrug and Oerlikon. Then we headed to Niederhasli and did a bit more finding there before heading to give blood! So, the story goes- on Wednesday I had a major desire to just give blood! I miss getting blood drained from my arm, it's the BEST! So, I messaged President Kohler to ask if I could give blood and he replies saying 'Yeah sure, just make sure it's a safe place and to not do it more than recommended!' So, we headed to the chapel and searched where we could go - Service activity and all! It just so happened that the very next day (so today, Thursday) they were in Niederhasli. So, we planned it and went. I filled out all the paper work, get my blood pressure checked, temperature, iron level, etc. and then have the interview part when they go through the questionnaire thing with you - you know the drill! .. and they straight out refused me! Apparently because I was in the UK for 6 months or more between the years of 1980 to the end of 1996 (bearing in mind I was only there for the very first 6 months of my life during this period of time) and it's all because of Jakob's disease (Is that mad cow disease?) .. because apparently they aren't sure if it can be transmitted and lay dormant in the blood. So, they just flat out refused me, even though I've never had the disease! Pure Racism! I was well annoyed, cause I just wanted to give blood, but they did feel bad, so gave me a couple of freebies! Nicht Schlecht! Then we headed back, did the 12 week program and I got my Golden to make his mormon.org profile, whilst I made one auf Deutsch.

Freebies from "Not" Giving blood!

Then let's move to Freitag! So, we began the day with Comp study, planning for Y. Met her, had a pretty intense lesson, but it was pretty amazing. We went through so much with her. She has so many questions, but they always link into what we plan to teach, which is beautiful and we committed her to baptism and she agreed. If she feels she is ready, she is gonna be baptised on the 17th October! I am soo excited, it's untrue! She is the most Golden person I have ever met and she can totally be ready by that date! So, I am super stoked about it! Then we did weekly planning whilst doing our washing .. Fridays are our wash days in our apartment building. Basically there is like 1 or 2 washing rooms and each apartment in the building has a certain day, which they can do washing, but luckily our day is weekly planning day, so it sort of works out. It just makes Weekly Planning a little longer and interrupts it a little. Then we headed to Nkederhasli again to go to one of my all time favorite families for dinner! The Rysers! They are the BEST! We did the Tommy video spiritual thought, which I told you about last week. It went so well!  We followed up by asking about their Family Mission Plan and they told us all about it and it sounds amazing. They have some brilliant ideas on there! Then without us even asking, E (about 8) and L (about 5) just start telling us all about how they do missionary work at school and some experiences they've had! It was soooo cute and soooo amazing! Kids really are the BEST missionaries out there! So, my Commitment I will extend to you this week is if you don't have a Family Mission Plan- make one! 

And Samstag rolls around. Seriously, this week has gone pretty fast! It's crazy! So, we began the day by heading out to see F! We had a pretty good lesson with him and he said how he is feeling much better after the blessing we gave him last week! Then we headed quickly to Schwamendingen to meet the ZL's, so I could get my package. Wahey -and it's great! Thank you! You are the BEST! So, we took it home and grabbed lunch before heading back out to go by a Potential I found with Elder Vasicek, when I was in Bonstetten. I handed this guys' info onto Dielsdorf back when I realised he lived in the area, but they did nothing about it, so we figured we should probably try it out. Unfortunately he no longer lives there! Then we went by a referral we received from Bonstetten, whilst we were at F's this morning. He lives in a student building, so it was super difficult to find which apartment was actually his! So, we just left a note for him on the notice board in the building. Hopefully he'll get in touch; if not we'll go by again next week! Then a few more Vorbeis before heading home to finish studies and we just finished week 11 of the 12 week program! Can't wait to finish it and get an extra hour to work again and I believe that was our Saturday!

Moving on to Sonntag and we began the day with church. We kind of had to skip out on our meeting to try to get a Weniger Aktiven to church, unfortunately it never worked out, but we had an amazing fast and testimony meeting. Sonntagschule was great and Priesthood was also amazing! Both were taught by members of my favorite family! So, of course it was brilliant! Then we headed to Schwester Marty's for Lunch! It was crazy long, but super good as per usual! We did our Tommy Video Spiritual Thought again! Everyone thinks he's super sweet! He's the Best! Makes getting members excited about missionary work a lot easier! Then she told us she has a new church movie, which is super good. So she goes to play it and it's only the '2008 Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast' auf Deutsch! Oh my goodness! We were dying! Bless her! She is the Best! Then by the time we got home we had like just enough time for Sprachstudium before meeting with our GML for GMK! It was good, so all in all we had a great day!

Today I'm not entirely sure what we're doing! We want to head to the zoo, but I don't believe I have money, so we shall see! Other than that, we have a relatively busy week planned, but you shall learn all about that in next week's email! I can't believe transfer calls are nearly here! My little boy will be all grown up next week and ready to take on Dielsdorf! That's crazy! (Unless we stay for another, but I doubt it)! All will be revealed on Saturday!

But until then.. I'll leave you with my testimony-

That I know with my whole heart and mind that this Church is true! I know with full knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world!  I know that it is only through Christ that we can return to God, our Heavenly Father. I know that God has a plan for us. We are his Children and He loves us more than we could understand. I am so thankful for this knowledge. I am so thankful that I know the family is eternal. I am so thankful to be
a missionary, that I can serve the people in Switzerland and share the Gospel with them. There is nothing better than missionary work! It is wonderful. I see the miracles that appear in peoples lives as we share the gospel with them.

Alles Liebe,

Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxx

Saturday 5 September 2015

Cagliari 17/8/15 - 31/8/15 "la voglia di vincere è nulla senza la volontà di preparare"

OWeek 7: Cagliari, Sardegna
There's no super duper important news for you all this week, so we'll dive straight in to Monday (in the words of Elder Ammon Robertson hehe ;) ) .....

P’day was a little bit different this time round. We went straight to do email. Then B, G, M and V came (oh also Anz Cab, Mic and Jorg were there). B made lunch... Lasagne. My faveeeee; so I was all made up hahahah. She's awesome. She's so good to us missionaries :) After that, we played a bit of table football with the girls and the Anziani, then me and Roberts did a lesson for B, so we could get them all done before the big day (Saturday) then we did spesa.. (B took us to Eurospin, cus it's the best supermarket in town Hahahah). Then we wrote some letterssssss. Then had the FHE. The Anziani did the spiritual thought and we played Charades. We made Anziano McColloum pretend to be the crazy hyena from the Lion King. It was super funny. After that, we went homeeee and planned.

Tuesday... Started off with 12 weeks, cus we got a bit behind again. Then had DDM. Anziano Cab shared part of the talk called 'The Atonement of Jesus Christ' by Jeffrey R Holland taken from the Liahona in March 2007. He began with the story that he starts with. It was awesome. If you have spare reading time, I'd recommend it. :) Then McColloum did an awesome (as per) addestramento on Charity. He gave us all the opportunity to share an experience when someone did something nice for us, which affected us and made us happier than they probably will ever know. I spoke about when I was in the MTC and it was just me and my teacher, Sorella Urban, because the other missionaries were in Salt Lake sorting their permesso stuff. I got really really stressed out, cus Italian was super super solid for me. She told me that she had a surprise and told me to follow her. She took me to one of the chapel rooms and let me play the piano for 30 
mins, while she hummed along, because she remembered that during the first week of the MTC I told her that to calm down when I'm stressed, I play the piano. So yeah, that was the experience I shared. :) Then I got to share the miracle moment. I shared one of my Dad’s experiences from his mission about the Polish man. They all thought it was awesome. Even though it wasn't my miracle, I just felt prompted to share that experience. :) I ADORE the mission stories that my parents send me. They are incredible. Keep them coming! :) After DDM, Anziani Cab and Ray went to the shop to buy some food for us to all eat together. They made little pizzas and got a huge watermelon. It was awesome, cus we were able to get to know each other way better. These Anziani are really cool. :) After DDM, Bd cancelled us :( so we went to the park for find some souls haha. Always a joy! After that, we did another lesson with B. :) One of the ‘Laws and Ordinances’ lessons, but I can't remember which one though. It went well – as usualllll, as she's awesome :) After that, we did English course. 




Wednesday.. We saw M. Did the ‘Gospel of Jesus Christ’ and again extended the baptismal invite. She told us again that she knows it's a good thing, but she's wants to be 100% sure. :( We tried testifying to her that we know that between now and then, she can be 100% sure, but she wasn't taking it. Maybe the next time. After that we went to sort B's baptismal programme out. Then we went to have pranzo with R. We cooked Pesto di Pistachio, cream and bacon with pasta. She fed us octopus. Yes. I ate an octopus leg. Grosssss. Nah, it wasn't that bad, but still Flushed face#dignity there is none these days .. anyways. 



After we ate, we spoke about the importance of gaining and developing a personal testimony of the gospel. Then we went to see Re, a less active member. She is awesome. Her friend was also there to listen to our message. We spoke about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, how he helps us overcome trials and difficulties. Showed her the Mormon message 'Mountains to Climb'. I think the talk itself is one of Henry B Eyring’s, but don't take my word for it, I'm probs wrong. It went really well. After A cancelled us too, we did more findinggggg in the park. Yeyyyy.

Thursday... We began doing area book finding and set up about 3 appointments with ex investigators, so we are super excited about that. One ex investigator even gave us a referral, so that was awesome. We called her and she told us that right now isn't possible, but after the 19th September – we should call her. We'll be on it! We also helped one of the YSA girls from Milan who is waiting for her mission call with mission prep. She had a ton of questions and wanted advice and stuff :)

Friday started off with the usual weekly planning sesh. We did finding at another park. There was a bloke who seemed to be interested and asked a ton of questions. He listened to basically all of the ‘Restoration’, then was like 'but there's a ton of religions, Catholics say this, TJ’s say that, Buddhists say that and you're saying this. How am I supposed to know what to believe?' We were like 'That's exactly why we are here; there is a way to know' etc etc you know the drill. He wouldn't swap numbers with us, but promised to meet us on Saturday, at 1700 in the same park. Then after a while, Roberts decided she wanted to do Casa finding. We went to this one apartment complex and started ringing the citos. Then there was this banging sound coming from the building, so as Roberts was ringing them and waiting for someone to answer, I looked up and there was this little crazy old woman waving a clothes hanger at me as if was a gun. Yelling at us saying that everyone is sleeping at this time (side note, it was about 4:45pm) anyways, it was hilarious. After that, we saw B for her last lesson as a non-member! It went really well. She was super excited, but also super nervous! Love herrrr

Saturday was a crazy day. We began meeting a less active called V in the park near her house. We spoke about the Sabbath and how it is a delight! She shared experiences of the Sabbath day that she had as she was growing up – when she was young. She is really sweet. She asked us to help her with her shopping next week, so finallyyyy we have service! :)) After that, we went to get a little something for B to give to her after her baptism :) We got her some bracelets :) Then we went to meet the man.. who never showed up, so we did more finding; then went to the chapel to set up for the baptism.



The baptism was absolutely beautiful! The spirit was certainly there – a very sweet presence. I felt the joy and happiness that Heavenly Father has for her for making this decision to come back. The happiness that G felt, brought her to tears. The talks were awesome. It was truly an incredible evening. Our ward mission leader (her hubby to be) baptised her. While we waited for her after the baptism itself, G (her daughter, who was baptised in June) shared her testimony. Then we all sang a few hymns. I'll send you some pictures :)

Sunday was awesome too. We got to church, and there was the Anziani and a random lady. We spoke to her and she told us that she had never been to our church before, but she lives close by, so she felt like coming to see what it's all about. She stayed for all 3 hours and loved it, we set up an appointment with her and E (the girl from Milan, who is waiting for her mission call) – for Thursday, so we hope it all goes well :) After, we had Relief Society. We did our usual spiritual thought and spoke about how with ‘Faith in Christ’ we can do anything. Roberts shared an example of when I got her to make a phone call; how she was scared and didn't want to do it, but she prayed and received the strength and ability to do it, to understand and to make sense. Then we shared 1 Nephi 3:7. The lesson was based on the talk that Anziano Bednar gave last General Conference titled 'Therefore, They Hushed Their Fears'. The Anziani did an awesome lesson about ‘Faith’ and the talks given in sacrament meeting were also awesome. After that, we came home, ate, studied, did area book finding again, then went out to find lonely old people (members' less actives); then ended up in another park, finding. We spoke to a few awesome people. One lady told us that she had seen us missionaries before. We spoke to her about how we believe that in questi giorni we have a loving prophet and apostles; just how it was when Christ was on the earth. We bore our testimonies of Jesus Christ, his gospel and church and invited her to read the Restoration pamphlet and to come to church. She accepted. :) After, we went home, planned, made calls to set up appointments for this week and ateeeee. Oh, also, 2 less actives that we have been working with came to church today!!! One for the full 3 hours and the other for 2.

I just wanna let you all know how much I love you. Each one of you. It has been said that we can read email during the week again now so ... ;) if you wanna..

This gospel is true. Jesus is the Christ, our Saviour, Redeemer, Brother and Friend. God is our loving Heavenly Father. I love the simplicity of this message. It is for everyone! All of us need the blessings that this gospel brings. I wanna invite you all to invite someone to church this week. I don't wanna sound bossy, that's not why I'm saying this.. but I know that if you exercise that faith by doing so, you'll be blessed along with the lives of your friends :) I'm so excited to do missionary work as a normal member when I get home. It's gonna be awesome! 

BACI E ABBRACCI XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Ps I'm really really really excited for my packageeeeee from home xxxxxxxx

Week 8: Cagliari, Sardegna
Sorry that is isn't super detailed, but we are at church again with some of the Ragazzi and they wanna play with us soooooo, I'll start with Tuesday...

Or Monday. I GOT THE PACKAGE!!!!!!!!! THE QUAVERS ARE ALREADY GONE AND ANZIANO CABALLERO ENJOYED STEALING MY PARTY RINGS. Lucky I still have another packet at home hehe yeyyyy. I forgot how gooooood they are mmmmMmMM.


We both enjoyed the contents of the Parcel from Home :)
Tuesday. Today was so great! We began with Skype Capi Conference. President began by speaking about the standards of excellence and how we as a mission are doing with them. We seem to be doing pretty good, but there is visually a ton of room for improvement! He then got some of the missionaries to share miracles that they saw during ferragosto. The AP’s spoke about making the first lesson count. Sorella Waddoups spoke about obedience and reiterated a few basic rules and emphasised on how everythingggg we do should relate to our missionary purpose. President spoke again more about obedience... Anziano Sear and Stevens spoke about technology. Thennnn the AP’s again about obedience! It was a really good conference.. even though the connection was on and off throughout. Then at the end we sung the mission song. Wheyyyyyylaaaa 

After that, the Oristano Anziani came (for DDM) but before that .. we ate at McDonalds next door to the chapel. I got chicken nuggets and a coconut milkshake, so I was super contenta; then after thattttt we did DDM at the chapel. Anziano Jorgenson did the 'funny' story and explained about the time he ate the wax from the cheese... Then Anziano Caballero did the language tip. Jacobs did the miracle moment and my figlia did the spiritual thought... and it was awesome!! After that, as per usual, Anziano McColloum did an awesome addestramento. This was all about giving everything over to the Lord and concentrating 100% on the work. He began telling a story. I don't have a ton of time to write it down, so I'll tell you next week.. but I loved it. He is an awesome DL. Probably one of the best I've had. After that, we studied, saw R, then B and then did English course. 

Wednesday.. Oggi was awesome. We began with a lesson at the chapel for M. We spoke alllll about the Holy Ghost and began with an extract from the talk 'Receiving a testimony of light and truth' by Dieter F Uchtdorf. Then we spoke about how the Holy Ghost works. We used a variety of scriptures, which describe the nature of the Holy Ghost and how it helps us and she seemed to understand. She really is awesome and sweet. Straight after her, we went to meet P. He is an ex investigator who we found doing area book finding. He met with the Sorelle about a year and a half ago. He agreed to meet us when we called him last week. We met him at park, local to where he lives. He was there! We went and sat on a bench in the shade (otherwise I would have died and melted away) and he just told us all about his life. As he began to speak about his father, he began to cry. His father is still alive physically, but it's super hard for him to see him so old and unwell. He just got emotional. Then he went on to explain how his Dad went to this one church, where they only pray to God and that surprised him. He is super sweet. He has had it pretty tough life. I felt impressed to show him the Mormon message 'Montagne da Scalare' (Mountains to Climb). The spirit was definitely present. He has a few doubts, but me and Sorella Roberts felt really strongly that he is ready now, so we will see him again next week and begin over with the lessons:) After that, we went home for pranzo. I didn't sleep all night, so Sorella Roberts made dinner while I tried to take a nap. I don't know what is up these days, I haven't slept super well for about 2 weeks now. After that, we did our studies. Then we went to see R and spoke about the Word of Wisdom. We felt it was time, as each time we have gone over for pranzo she has offered us wine, even though we tell her we don't drink it, haha. She seemed super cool with it and agreed to follow the Word of Wisdom, so that was awesome haha :) Straight after that, we went to try and figure out where one of the referral lives.. We received one from the office and couldn't find her road name on any of the maps, so we went to Piazza Italia to use the wifi for the maps. She lives super far, so that's gonna be fun figuring a visit, especially when the only thing she gave was her address, no number.. Vediamo. As we were sat on the bench trying to figure this all out, a man approached us to ask us about English course. He seemed super friendly and after we explained how corso works, he then asked about church and said that it would be a pleasure for him to come one of these days; so we explained how it all works etc. It was super random, but another tender mercy, being in the right place at the right time I guess :) Right after that, we went to do some park finding We had 3 really really awesome gospel conversations, so hopefully something will come of them:) Then we went to see A. We shared the same message that we shared with R. Trying to get those referrals. She agreed to invite a friend to church next Sunday and promised to pray for missionary experiences. Today was awesome. Nobody cancelled us, so we did everything that we had planned. 

Thursday... We started off meeting up with V, a less active. We spoke about how we can be the Lord’s hands. Again, that good old referral lesson! :) After that, we helped her with her spesa. We went to Auchan and then to the fruit store with her. She introduced us to the fruit guy and we got to speak a bit about our purpose and we invited him to church, which was cool. She was so funny, just tasting all the different fruit there, she must be his friend. Then in the end, we took the stuff back to her house and then she gave us a watermelon and some peaches. So cuteeeeee .. love her!! Straight after her, we went to read some of the Book of Mormon with R. It went well. Initially when we walked in, there was a bottle on the table. It looked suspiciously like wine, so I asked her what it was and she was just like 'wine' hahahahah and I was like .. errrrrm 'Do you remember what the Word of Wisdom is?' .. and she was all 'No, no, it's not alcoholic... Try some' and I was too scared to try some just in case hahahah Then she went and got the bottle and in the end, all it actually was, was blueberry juice hahahah. I love her, she's so cute! We read 2 Nephi 32 with her. Spoke all about the Holy Ghost and the importance of prayer. She understood everything and answered alllll of the questions right. After that, we pranzo'd, studied then left straight away for a lesson with F in the park that he works at. He got us gelato, haha even though we said we were bene. He's super sweet. We didn't have a ton of time, cus we were scheduled for another appointment at church for 5:00, so we shared a spiritual thought (as he was also on the job) all about Faith. There is a Mormon message that Elder Russell M Nelson presents. We obviously mentioned that he was one of the 12 apostles and that then led to an awesome conversation about Apostles and Prophets. He still has a ton of questions, but unfortunately time was running super short and we had to leave him with a prayer, but we are super excited to teach him next time about that stuff. He seemed to be super intrigued about it all. :) We get to the bus stop and realise we missed the bus by 5 mins and that the next one wouldn't have been for another 15 mins.... so we got speaking to a guy who was waiting there. He could obviously tell we were English, so he began saying the few odd words in English – to show off haha. I asked him about it and he told me he had lived in England for 5 years for work (in a bar) St. Albans infact! He seemed awesome. We got speaking about religion and he told us he is a practising Catholic.. but would listen to our spiel. We invited him to English course and that was that, cus his bus arrived. Finally our bus came and we got to church. E was there (we had planned to do the lesson with her .. for the random lady who came to church on Sunday), but the lady didn't turn up. (Also, side note, E’s mission call has arrived and she'll open in on Saturday when she's back in Milan!) Right after that, we did a lesson with G about Tithing, Fasting and Fast Offerings. It went really well and she knew everything really well, cus the last time, she asked a tonnnn of questions and she remembers basically the lot. Love that girl! Then .. The lady showed up, so me and Roberts did a lesson 0 with her and she said she will come to church again this week. After that, we did English course. It went super well. There are a few new students, which is awesome. In the end, Sorella Roberts did the spiritual thought (I do Tuesday's, she does Thursday's). Then we had an experience which made me glad I had my 'Sorella-Robertson-have-patience-and-be-nice’ face on and not my ‘Ashleigh-tell-them-how-it-is’ face. Luckily, Heavenly Father has blessed me with the ability to distinguish the two and keep the Sorella Robertson face on. Hahahahah. Anyways. That was English course. Such fun! So yeah, 5 lessons in one day .. so sick.

Friday... We began with weekly planning. Straight after that, we FINALLY got to see R. FINALLY. GOT A LITTLE LOST ON THE WAY AND THIS CRAZYYYYY man helped us out Hahahahah. He was literally pazzo, but he helped us out, so that was awesome. We finally found this library that she wanted us to meet her at... then did a lesson inside the library. Kinda a weird experience, cus we basically whispered the lesson (obv cus we were IN the library). The Sorelle taught her before and allllll of last transfer we could just never see her, as she was always busy, or she wouldn't answer our calls or she’d cancel on us last minute; but this time we actually saw her and spoke about the Book of Mormon. After that, she went and bought us a milkshake from Maccies hehe. After that, we went to meet E (the pic I sent where I look a ton like my mom). She had set a kinda appointment to give this guy a Book of Mormon and asked that we go with her! Soooo, we did :) He wasn't there to begin with, then he was. It was a young guy, probably mid 20’s, in a wheelchair with a missing leg. He was actually begging for money on the road. We gave it to him and he told us that he was grateful, but that he couldn't talk because he was 'busy'. However, E was so excited that she gave a Book of Mormon out, that she was lost for words. She is adorable! She is gonna be an awesome missionary! She told me a story of a man in the church who was converted not that long ago and it all began with the Book of Mormon. Then I shared Dad’s story of when the Sorelle left a Book of Mormon on the train and the guy (I forgot his name) found it etc. She was just over the moon, it was so awesome. After that, we did some finding. We spoke to one woman, who actually only spoke to us in French, but it was super strange and cool and weird and amazing, cus we each understood each other; so that was a really awesome experience .. and that was basically our day. Also, quote of the day that I found as I was reading a General Conference talk "The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare" – Food for thought. 

Saturday... Happy Birthday to Bethhhhh, I was thinking about my sister all day!!!!! We started the day off making Reece's pieces cookies to take to some more of the less actives. Then we made calls while we waited for them to cook (area book). Thhennnn we set off to find the less actives who live in Quartu. It was a really hot, really long day! None.. of them were home, ther that or they ignored us, so the ones where we could, we snuck into the apartment and left them in their little post box thing. Muahahah. Then we saw J. Gave him the Book of Mormon, explained it, invited him to read and pray and he accepted. Thennnnn, we made him pinky promise to come to church. Then we went to order a Book of Mormon triple for a less active; then we saw a man (the kind of creepy one) we met before. It went well, but he isn't interested in our message, he just wants to be pals .. and that was our day!

Sunday... Church was awesome. More so than usual. We began all together (5th Sunday) and Fratello DePlano did an awesome lesson based on the talk 'On Being Genuine' that, if I'm correct, President Dieter Uchtdorf gave at the Priesthood Session April 2015. Then Gospel Principles was awesome, all about Repentance. Then sacrament meeting was super cool too. This week, Anziano Molnar played the piano, so I finally got to sing altoooooooooo yeyyyy! This was the first time ever on my mission where I have felt surrounded, in sacrament meeting, by investigators. M (the lady who rocked up last week), who is one of our new investigators; came again, J kept his pinky promise, R came, the kind of creepy man came for sacrament 'just to say hi', M came and Mi came. It was just incredible! ALSOOOO, THERE WAS A MAN WHO WE INVITED TO CHURCH IN THE PARK LIKE 3 WEEKS AGO AND HE ROCKED UP TOO and told Anziano Caballero that he just felt prompted to come. He said he wants to come again next week. He is totally gonna become an investigator. He even participated in gospel principles :) Then after, we pranzo'd, had correlation, then did more less active finding. One of the areas we had to get out of quick, cus it was way too ghetto for our liking and we totally did not feel safe. Then we did 12 weekssssss and that was that.

A Flamingo (A common sight in Cagliari)


I'm sorry this email hasn't been super detailed. I didn't get to type everything up each day like I did the last few weeks. I'll be better at that this week, especially since this is basically my journal. 

This is all for this week.

LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU
Baci e abbracci xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx