Saturday 26 December 2015

Cagliari / Caserta 7/12/15 - 21/12/15 Un ultimo trasferimento...addio Cagliari, ciao Caserta

Week 1 of the fortnight…
This week has all been one big blur! I haven't been able to write a Monday-Sunday journal, but I'm gonna just go through some of my favourite experiences. 

After our p’day, which was kinda a day full of errands; buying things, writing notes, trying to print pictures etc we popped into say goodbye to R for the (what we planned on being my last time), then headed over to la famiglia DP’s for a FHE. Fratello DP did the spiritual thought this time and it was based on the talk Dieter F Uchtdorf did on ‘Being Genuine'; then he had made pasta al forno, which was really good! It was a really good evening and I miss the DP family already, but they welcome me back whenever, so I’ve got some really awesome friends here hehehe. 

For the remainder of my time in Cagliari, I spent it saying goodbyes to some of my favourite people that I've met here! We saw V, A and R, who took us to a lush Brazilian restaurant, just like Rodizzio Rico, MMM! Then gave me a Brazilian mug and the cutest note! Then we saw C and P, then B at church; then we did English course. I have pics, I'll send them on Monday. We had also been in to see R for the 'for reals' last time! I didn't have the time to say goodbye to everyone. I would have loved to have stopped by la Famiglia S one last time, and The D fam, but time was so short and I figured when I return I'll see them again :)

The hardest part is saying goodbye







Then I packed all my stuff on the Wednesday morning. The Coppia Hansen took us to the airport and I was 8 Kili over!!!!! We moved stuff around and figured it out (I'll explain that story when I get home). THEN we went to the Rome 2/6 apartment for the night. I SAW MY FIGLIA. SHE IS BEAUTIFUL AND JUST LUSH AND SWEET AND I WAS SO SO HAPPY TO SEE HER SHINING FACE!!! We chatted, her companion made us all a really lush soup and that was our evening. We woke up the following morning at 5:40 to leave the house at 6 to meet all the transferring missionaries at Termini near the corner inside where there is the McDonalds (that's the missionary meeting point for transfers). We waiting around, cus we needed to get our train at 11 and who came but SORELLA REBER.
Catching up with Sorella Reber

I got to see two out of the 3 of my alive companions in the mission! It was awesome! Sorella REBER is the sweetest little thing! It was cool. Then I travelled to Napoli with Sorelle Defranchi and another Sorelle who is actually from here, but can't leave for her mission yet to Colorado, because of visa problems. We got to Napoli and our comps met us. My comp is so fun I was super excited to be with her. After that, we went to Caserta, which I LOVE ALREADY. It's literally like the most convenient place I've served in! Everything is in reasonable walking distance. We don't have to rely on buses, like ever; trains now and again but it's just perfect! 

My first lesson here we did with a lady called L. She is the cutest. We basically did a lesson 0 and she agreed to take all of the lessons :) Then we did English course and as usual, the students are all super awesome! 

So you see nothing too crazy happened this week, well, I mean that up until Friday... We started with weekly planning as usual and it obviously took longer than usual because my comp had to explain everything to me. Thennnnn.... We had an appointment with a less active, which was an interesting experience.  THEN we went to see a less active African, called G. We got there and she was all 'I can only speak to you people for 5 minutes. I am tired and I want to sleep'; so we are like okay. Then we start talking about baptismal covenants and the importance of church attendance and she just went off on a rampage about how God isn't a God of peace, how the sacrament can come after all her other problems and how she hates the bad things in the world. Nelson said she has never seen her like that, so I guess I got lucky Hahahah. 

Saturday was just an awesome day. We finished our planning. Saw a less active daughter of one of the members and she was awesome and had the cutest puppy that looked just like Honey. After that we saw V, an awesome member who would be active if there was a way for him to get to church on a Sunday. He is super sweet! After him we saw G and R (he is a simp and R is a member). We did the restoration and it went really well! Then we saw K and A! They want to prepare for the temple, to be sealed; so we are working with them on that.

Sunday was the craziest thing I've seen hahaha. It was so weird. The primary did the presentation and it was all American! It was so strange for me! It was awesome though! Then at the end, one of Bishop’s kids said the prayer and he was like 'Please bless the linger-longer that it will be the best linger longer ever!' and he also prayed that we can all be on the nice list. It was HIL. Then church was awesome, I translated in Relief Society.. Then a good amount of our investigators came to church and the linger-longer, so it was awesome, cus they were able to get to know the members! Then we went home, made calls from the contact sheet while making brownies for our neighbours, then we went to do a gesso with the Anziani.  It was super great, I'm really excited to be here, Caserta is so awesome! 

I love you all so much. I cannot believe I'm in my last transfer!

Well, I wanna let you know that the church is true and this work is the best. Today I'm rushing and I'm sorry, but I love and miss you all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Week 2 of the fortnight …
HAMMYYYY’s greenie is so awesome. She is full of greenie fire even still! I love her! We get along so well .. our friendship reminds me of the friendship I have with Hammy! :) Anziano Borden likes to translate and he is way more capable than I am. I had to do it for Relief Society though. I certainly wasn't blessed with the gift of translating, so I'm very glad that Borden is here! I still do not have my suitcase, so I guess I'll see it next when I get the plane home, so it's tough; but I'm trying to buy real cheap tights and jumpers, but they only really have cheap stuff at Chinese stores.. So yeah. I'll survive though, as long as I have a functioning coat. I think I'll need to buy some boots though, cus they're in Rome haha :( I got to see Sorella Roberts on the way down here and it was so awesome!!! I have missed her a lot!

Yeah – Borden is serving in the same ward..... He is a very focused hard working missionary and he is what the ward needs. He's ready to absolutely kill it, so Vescovo is on our side. He even called us the ‘cream of the crop’, so he's super excited. They also called a new ward mission leader, Fratello C from Guam. He's so awesome! So it's all going down with the missionary work in Caserta. We're gonna see miracles. Also, Borden’s greenie, Anziano Bower, is on fire! He's the sweetest, most hard working missionary I've met! We did a gesso on his 3rd day in the mission and he was absolutely giving it his all, so we are excited! 

Monday.. P’DAY. We set this first p’day as a day of errands, so we can just live it up for the rest of our time here. We printed pictures, did a giant spesa, bought blankets; cus although this house has been done up all sweet the heating is bad. I bought socks, tights and slippers, cus it's getting super chilly and just basically random stuff like that. We got pizza for lunch, not quite real Napoli pizza yet, but it was decent nonetheless. Then we went back to church, put some more Christmas music on our iPads and that was basically our p’day. It was nice to just get relaxed and get everything ready for the transfer. I figured I'd get warmer pencil type skirts in the January sales, cus otherwise it's too expensive, so I'll wait for a little longer! After that, we saw la Famiglia G. They are the sweetest. The mother was baptised short of a year ago. We shared the Christmas video from last year and they LOVED it. They talk a lot, but they are so on topic and so sweet. I love them already! After that, we tried to pop into other people, but nothing seemed to work out, so we went home, got some of the brownie that we made, went to bed and ate it. Just kidding; we got the brownie and started getting to know our neighbours. We went to the apartment above us and she was super sweet. She let us in and was just adorable. Her name was A and then her daughter came, whose name is G. They said we should come another time to eat pizza together :) so there are some good potentials right there! By the time we left there, it was time to go home anyways (it was nearly the end of the day before). Basically that was our day, cus after that; all we did was planning and bed.

Tuesday. Dad, your talk was awesome! I especially loved the quote you used by Spencer W. Kimball. It's so true and I've come to really appreciate the Sabbath Day here in the mission!

Today kinda began naff. Nobody would see us, so we headed out to try and find a less active who we have been asked to see. The address is just a supermarket, so we asked around, knocked a ton of doors and nobody knew her... so we did casa finding and streeting. Nothing! This was probs the worst day of the week. We had just one lesson, but it was with G and so obviously that went really well. Then for English course we had the spiritual thought. For that, we wrapped up one of the baby Jesus ornaments and got someone to open it and then basically spoke about Christ and the real meaning of Christmas.

Mercoledì ... We headed straight to see Sorella B. Initially we planned on speaking about the importance of coming to church and sharing the gospel with others *referral lesson*, but we were guided to speaking about the Atonement of Christ instead and we showed the video 'Mountains to Climb'. It went really well. Sweet sweet lady! After her, we had an early pranzo, cus we had an appointment with V (investigator) at 3:00. We got there and she is such a sweet sweet woman! We shared a Christmas message with her and her cute family! It went really well too. She told us that she loves the spirit we bring. She is awesome! We also helped her with figuring out PowerPoint for a presentation she needs to make for Uni. After that, we went toooooooooo the train station to pick up Hammy and McKenzie (Hammy needed to pick up her permesso for real haha), so we did a scambio. Me and Hammy, Nelson and McKenzie. It was wonderful. I seriously miss Hammy a ton. We went to V, cus Ham never got to say goodbye to him when she left. Then we took the longest bus ride in the world home. Then we went and tried finding contacts that had given us their address on the phone when we made the calls a week or so back, but no hope. Then that was basically it. It was so so good to be with Hammy. 

L-R Me, Sorella Hamilton (Hammy) and Sorella Nelson

Sorella McKenzie catching us in her selfie


Thursday. Today was so awesome. We left super early, said goodbye to Hammy and McKenzie and headed to the station to get the train to Napoli. Mamma Mia. It reminds me of Rome. We got to the church and mingled a bit with the missionaries, then the conference started. It was all mainly just about using English course effectively in finding people to teach. They all gave us a ton of awesome ideas and really good goals! Then I did my death testimony.... I had tried to plan it, but each time I sat and thought about it I'd get distracted or nothing would come, so I just went for it spontaneously. It seemed to go well. Not sure how many of them even understood me though, cus of my weird accent haha. There were some confused faces watching me hahah, but Sorella Waddoups told people she actually understood me, so that was great. That's all that matters huh hahah. Then we mingled more while we waited for our pizza to arrive. I opened post and I had a super sweet 'chocolate letter' from the YW. It made my day! Probs the coolest thing I got. Basically the only thing I got haha; besides a card with some money from the Maces, which I really appreciated! They are so sweet! I need their email to thank them! Anyways, back to this chocolate letter. I thought it was a scarf or something with the way it was wrapped, but then I unrolled it and practically the whole zone were crowding around reading it with me, they thought it was the sickest thing in the world, no joke. My fave line was 'You are one "daim" fine girl'. They were a little tipo at that one haha, but I loved it. Then we ate, cus the pizza finally arrived, then headed out .. AND AS I WAS ON THE TRAIN I REALISED I FORGOT ME CHOCOLATE LETTER, so I called the Napoli Anziani and asked them to hide it. Luckily I trust them. Hahah. Anyways, we got back to Caserta and it was all go from there. We didn't return home literally until the end of the day! We headed to see G, a contact we found in the area book. She was the sweetest lady I have met here so far! Her little daughter was gorgeous and so sweet just with this cute lil smile there the whole time. We shared a Christmas message at her cute little shop that she owns and just got to know her. She was just like a mom. Told us to call her anytime we need anything, even during the night. She was just the sweetest lady. This was the first time even meeting her and we just both felt so peaceful and at home with her. We asked her how she met the missionaries and her story is super simple and sweet too. One day she was really struggling and she was just having a tough day (about 3 years ago) and the Elders just randomly came in to share a message with her. She was super grateful and she recognises the spirit when she feels it and she is still, right to his day; 3 years later grateful for these Anziani for helping her to feel at peace by being guided to share a message with her. We both feel really good about this lady and really we are just so excited to work with her. She is definitely prepared! She even asked us to invite her and her children whenever there is an activity at church! It was an awesome experience! Right after that we went to see A. She is a less active. She comes now and again, but we are working with her and her husband and we are hoping to help them get to the temple eventually to be sealed, :) She is super sweet. We spoke about baptismal covenants and the importance of renewing them every Sunday. :) She told us she will come every week from now on :) After A, we went to stick up some English course posters (after our zone conf). First, we found ourselves in a library, cus someone had told us before; that it's one of the best places to advertise English course, which makes sense I guess, so we went there and then had an awesome conversation with two middle-aged men. One called R and the other one .. I can't remember any more, but one is a photographer for newspapers and the other one is some kind of art history professional. Boh. Anyway, one wanted to come and see our church so he came with us as we were heading that way for a lesson anyways. He loved the art we had up. (This was R, the photographer). It as super awesome. He then headed out and told us he would for sure come the following week. I'm awful at asking for numbers still to this day gosh dang it, but I feel like he will defs come :). Then we did a lesson with G. It was ‘The Gospel of Jesus Christ’. He knows it all. He's taken the lessons before years back and was explaining everything. We invited him to be baptised on the 16th of January. He didn't say no and told us that it is definitely something that is on his list of things to do. So that's exciting! He is awesome. Anyways, after that we had English course, which went really well. The Anziani did an awesome spiritual thought about prayer :) After that, we did a lesson with L. We taught it with D, who is an awesome YSA new ‘ish convert who Anziano Smith baptised! He's super cool and really helped us out in the lesson and really fellowshipped her :) Today was awesome! Oh, then we got home and Hammy had left us some gifts :)

My last Zone Conference (Napoli Zone)






Me and Sorella DeFranchi...at our last Zone Conference


Venerdì .. We began withhhhhh weekly planning as per usual. Then ate and studied Italiano. Then we tried to see some of our less active members, but that just didn't seem to work out, so we popped into a member to see how she is doing since she has like, 0 home teacher/ visiting teacher visits. After that, we bucked it to the train station, cus we had like 15 mins to get on the train.. With a 25/30 min walk. We made it easily. Then we met V and A for hot chocolate. They are less active YSA. Well, they come to all of the things at church that they can, like seminary and stuff, but the only reason they don't come to church is cus there is NO public transport on a Sunday and they live a little ways out and no members live near. So it sucks, but they are awesome. I had the lushest hot choc ever. It was strawberry flavoured MMMM. Anyways, it went really well and we were able to make a good friendship with each of them :) and of course we shared a spiritual thought. :) After that, we headed back to see another less active before the day was through. We seem to rush around everywhere in order to see these people since they live so far away from one another, but we just wanna see them so everything is rush rush rush! We saw Sorella P. Her cat scared me a little ha. It went well and she cracked me up! Anyways, this was basically our day :) 

Sabato .. Today was so sick. We left home super early to catch the train to Gricignano, then Anziano Bryan picked us up (Me, Sorella Nelson, L and D) and took us to the base. The base is so weird! It's like a little land of America in the middle of Italy. Like I had always expected the American bases to kinda be like shelters; like little cabin things I don't know hahah, but it's so legit. We had to sign on. It was all serious business hahah, but it was cool. Then we went to the 'chapel' which I was expecting to be a Mormon chapel, cus they made it sound like they had their own... but it's just like a community chapel which I assume accommodates all Christian religions and they use it, cus we don't have a font in our actual "Mormon" church. So it was interesting. Anyways, we were early so we waited a bit with Anziano Bryan as he had to organise the font. Then we went to the food court and I got a Subway sandwich, a cookie and root beer for breakfast. Taco Bell wasn't open .. another time! 
Breakfast on the American Base.

Then the baptism started. It was a really sweet baptism. I forgot that 'normal' baptisms include the confirmation on the same day and to start with it seemed weird. I guess I haven't gone to one for so long, just new convert ones where they're confirmed on the following Sunday. It was awesome. It was so sweet and B looked beaut! Such a cutie :) Anyways, then we ate some more, cus they had prepared food! Then we went home. Well, the train took FOREVER. The one we had planned on getting, which was scheduled to come didn't. We waited more than 1 hour there. In the middle of the station, in the middle of nowhere, so we did a lesson/ spiritual thought with L as we waited! L loved the baptism :) She is so sweet! :) Then we got back and studied Italian. After that, we tried to find a few people, then found ourselves at the house of a lady who lives beneath the Anziani. Her name was M and she was awesome! So sweet and so much fun to be around! We got to know her and shared a spiritual thought with her! She is also super happy to have these new Anziani here. After that, we headed straight to the chapel for the activity that they had set up for Christmas. It went really well! 2 of our investigators came, G and S :) It went really well. :) That was that!

Domenica .. Today was great. Sunday is always so wonderful. Sacrament was awesome, all about Christmas with lots of singing! Then Sunday School was all about symbols and revelations in the scriptures and how they can be a protection and guide for us. Then Relief Society was basically an overview of everything that we studied in the year; all about centring your life on Christ. An American girl came! Her parents are here on the base and she is visiting them. She's a new convert and she is so so so sweet and she really wants to spend time with us! She wants to have us over for dinner and wants to study with us. She is super super golden! We are excited to see her again! Her parents aren't members either, so she's an awesome example! Oh, HILARIOUS story for you all. So we were in sacrament meeting, right at the start. Literally just about to sing the sacrament hymn.. and this man walks over (R, from English course) with a giant potted olive tree in his little man hands and tried giving it to Sorella Nelson, who is just like what??? and he is like "It is a gift for you" and she takes it all awkwardly and places it on the floor in front of her; then we turn to each other and D I E. hahahahaha hahahahah It was so so funny, oh my gosh. Only in Italy do they gift you with giant olive trees. Then every time we looked at it we just cracked up. It was so random hahahah. Gosh. Then after church we had correlation, B is so awesome. Like, the best Ward Mission Leader ever. He is so humble and just wants to do all he can to help us. I really appreciate him! After that, we headed home for pranzo and lingua, then we headed out for more lessons. We saw M and G. It all went super well. We even got M to commit to coming to church next Sunday, so we hope she keeps to that word! Then we tried to find another less active, buuuuut she got mad at us and didn't want to know, it seemed. Then that lead us to home. We planned, spoke to our STL and then our DL. Drank soup and went to bed. Oh, also I got super ill, so during pranzo I slept for half an hour. I have a cold / flu thing and it sucks big time.

Anyways, that's it for this week. It's been good, our numbers weren't too bad! I would really like to Skype home on Christmas Day, cus last year it sucked on Christmas Day, cus I'd already done Skype on the Christmas Eve. We do have a member appointment and so we will either do Skype 1st thing or last thing, cus in between we'll be on the base. 
Anyways! 

I love you all. I am loving every minute. I'm trying my best not to 'die'. It has just got real to me that I'll be home really soon and instead of feeling concerned and worried, I'm starting to feel really excited, but I'm trying my hardest to not let that make me lazy. My comp is also real good at helping me not to feel trunky! This mission is the best. This experience I don't want to end. I know this is the work of the Lord and I'm so grateful to be a part of it! Missionary life is the best. There is literally nothing better! 

I love and miss you all. Keep being amazing and have a Merry Christmas!

Before I forget, here is the quote of the week: (talking about exercise, cus we have worked at it these last few weeks) .. "I dunno, I just, like, hate to hear myself breathing hard, you know?"

Buona settimana! Vi voglio in sacco di bene!
Baci e abbracci

Sorella Robertson

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Monday 21 December 2015

Reinach / Wetzikon 30/11/15 - 14/12/15 Weihnachtskonferenz, Tausch, Advents-Abend und Versetzungsanruf, Basler Weihnachtsmarkt, Adieu Reinach- Hallo Wetzikon und ein Bessere Gemeinde Weihnachtsfeier!!

Week 49 of 2015- Weihnachtskonferenz, Tausch, Advents-Abend und Versetzungsanruf!
Greizi, Grüezi!

We'll just go straight into the week!- Ich gehe nach Wetzikon!!!
So Montag mogen after studies, we headed out to Lörrach to do some winter shopping! My companion needed to buy a winter coat and stuff and I wanted a more professional looking winter jacket! So we headed to Lörrach, as they have a better variety of shops and stuff! Then we popped into Maccies to pick up emails, before food shopping and heading home! Then headed out to do proper emailing time and the day was basically over, legit, P-days fly way too quickly! Then this evening we were invited over to the H's (family Ash met), for dinner and FHE! We made Christmas Cookies with them! It was cool! We had a really nice evening!

Dienstag began with an early out the apartment, as we needed to catch the train from Basel at ca.8.00 to get to Zürich for Weihnachtskonferenz! With it being Weihnachtskonferenz we had it all together- Bern Zone, St. Gallen Zone and the Swiss Part of the Zürich Zone (The German part of Zürich Zone get theirs another day with the Stuttgart Zone). It was awesome! Richterswil members sorted lunch for us and it was really good! Oh and we did the gift exchange thing again, where we all buy a gift and wrap it for like CHF5; then have a pass a round type thing where all the gifts get mixed up and we all end up with another one! I ended up with a plate for an Italian Restaurant, with a pasta recipe on it, a chocolate bar and some cinnamon flavour Fisherman’s Friends! Conference was awesome! I feel old! Looking around today, Switzerland has changed so much in the last few transfers! Sooo many missionaries are younger than me. There are legit only 6 Elders older than my group after this transfer day, in Switzerland and only 2 go home this coming transfer from Switzerland! Time goes way too quickly! Then at the end, we got our Christmas Initiative pass along cards, a Christmas Card signed by the First Presidency (which only missionaries get, apparently), then we got our gift from the Kohler’s this year; a mission-design temple recommend holder .. and finally our packages! That was fun getting home from Zürich, at rush hour time! Wahey! Then by the time we got home it was like 20.00, so we came home, had a small abendessen and that was basically our day! So packed out!  I can’t wait to open my Christmas packages!


At Weihnachtskonferenz





Christmas Parcels




Mittwoch! So, after a bit of studying we headed to the chapel to meet with our GML to have our first GMK, which was pretty interesting! Then we headed up to Basel to Tausch! I'm in Basel with Elder Cottam (DL). This afternoon we went by a Sister to help her with a few things which took a good hour or so, then headed home to change, before going by a potential/new investigator who lives in Deutschland, where bus connections are terrible! So we got there; she wasn't home; so we walked all the way back to the nearest Swiss town through some proper dark and creepy forest! Legit; it was so fetchin creepy and Cottam was worse than a little girl! Haha! It was so funny! Then we finally got back to safety and bumped into a little girl who was crying, alone on the street, so we asked if she was okay. She told us her mom forgot to pick her up from school, so she was crying her eyes out! So we walked her home! Mensch! It was quite a walk and then we found her parents and they were super grateful, so that was our extra kind deed for the day! Then we headed to Insti, which was super fun! Plus one of the JAE from Reinach brought a friend with her, which was super cool! We'll have to follow up on M next time we see her! That was pretty sweet! So all in all it's been a pretty cool day!
We had to make a bib for Elder Cottam

Donnerstag Morgen, we had some pretty good studies. I always love studies on tausch. They just seem to be more effective, especially comp study and I set some goals for the last 7 months! 7 fetchin' months - that is craziness! Then we headed to Basel SBB to tausch back! Then we headed home I unpacked. We had lunch, did Sprach, then headed out! Oh and we did internet hour- and I felt like I should use the time to look through UCAS (we're allowed to use those websites if we're looking into Uni stuff), so I was just looking to see if I could find something that stood out to me at all! There were some interesting courses and options and stuff. We had to type up our testimony/conversion story as we have a weekly zone email where each week a companionship is asked to send their testimonies/conversion story to the ZLs to send out with the email. So this week was our turn! Then we headed home, had dinner and that was Donnerstag! Oh! I also found a new tea which I really like! Well 2 actually! One is Strawberry and Rhubarb and it is sooooo fetchin good! The other is a Winter Edition; it's Orange, Apple, Cinnamon and Speculatus Biscuit flavor! It is sooooooo good!

Freitag! After studies we headed to the chapel quickly to get the broken bike, as we needed to get rid of it! So we grabbed the bike then headed to the place where we can get rid of it! Oh and we got the zone email with our part to it! Then home, mittags, and weekly planning! Oh the joys! Then basically straight after that we headed down to gemeindehaus again; to be there for the Ward Christmas Party. Basically they had musical items with piano, organ and saxophone and some singing parts. Then adults all mingled, while the kids had a puppet show. Then we had a Wünschkonzert (no idea what to call it in English- when people just put their hand up and say a song, then we all get to sing it), then Samiclaus came to give the kids like a handful of sweets when they did something for him, like sing, or play an instrument, or something else showing a talent. Then we finally got the Imbiss that was promised! It was a tiny little sweet bread man thing that is like a Christmas Time thing here! We had a cool experience this morning though- we were walking down the street and this guy was walking in the other direction; he sees us, smiles and begins to take out his earphones and then he just starts talking to us in like the quickest Swiss German I've ever heard. My comp didn't catch any of it, so I'm like trying to communicate with this quick Swiss German-speaking guy! He's basically just saying how he met us a long time ago, but had no time to meet up, but he now has time and wants to meet with us, so we set up an appointment for Saturday! So that was super awesome!
Samstag morgen began with transfer calls! So the ZL's call and do their little thanks for all you’re doing there stuff, then they're just like, so Elder Robertson you’re going to the St. Gallen Zone to work in Wetzikon with Elder Kilgore; Elder Hiemer you’re also going! You’re off to Richterswil with Elder Stomps! So we ask them who’s coming into Reinach to replace us and they had no idea. It wasn't even written on their list, but then we got a call a little later from the Aarau Sisters and it was Sister Van der Put just asking a little about the area cause she's pink-washing in with a Golden, which is pretty awesome! Legit! I spoke to President about the ward a few weeks ago in my weekly email and basically just said to him that I think Sisters are what the ward needs, but all he responded was that it may be a good idea and he'll consider it! So that is super awesome! I'm excited to see the results of having Sisters in the ward instead of Elders! So, transfer calls were pretty awesome! Then we had a lesson with the guy we met yesterday. It was interesting; good, but interesting! He is pretty golden and we got a return appt for Mittwoch! Sweet! We'll get these Sisters stuff to work on! I'll do my best to make it a nice transition for them! Then we had Mittags, headed to the M’s and basically just taught them the Restoration lesson. It was really nice! Then headed to Basel to meet Frau S to go to the baptism of R (8 year old member). It was really nice! It was held in Pratteln, as obvs our building doesn't have a font! Then after the baptism we were invited to the Familie B. It was again a really nice evening! They are such a funny family! I love them! Honestly, I am gonna miss some of these members!

Letzten Sonntag in der Gemeinde Reinach!!! So as per we got to church at 9.00 for meet and greet. Nobody asked us about transfer calls, so we didn't say anything! Oh, apart from to the H's! This is the family Ash met, so we are invited to theirs for the 24th, which is basically when they do Christmas and the Presents and everything here in the Alpine area .. and he's the only man in their family with 5 daughters(1 auf mission), so he was super excited for us to be there at Christmas, cause then he has a bit of manly company! So when we broke the news to him, he looked a little disappointed … no man-time this Christmas! Then Sacrament Meeting- Fast and testimony. The best was when my companion got up there and said "We had transfer calls yesterday and it's really interesting when they tell your companion he is leaving to go to Wetzikon and then they carry on with .. and you are also leaving to go to Richterswil; oh and you aren't being replaced with any new Elders." You should have seen the wards faces! It was a picture! Then he proceeded to tell them that later we found out that Sisters would be replacing us and they were so confused! Hahahhaha! Then the rest of the day was normal, pretty good! Said goodbyes! Mittagessen! Studium and then headed to the S’s for dinner and a spiritual thought! Then home, chatted with Byrom for a bit, as he served in Wetzikon a while back, so I got the low down on the ward and area! So that was sweet! Then we also spoke with Sister Van der Put to give her a bit of info and ask her for some plans for Thursday, as we thought it would be nice if one of the JAE girls could pick her and her golden up from Bahnhof and bring them home, as they'd have like 4 suitcases. We found a JAE who would love to help them out, so we just wanted to see when they'd get here! So that was also cool! Answered some of her questions about the ward and area and stuff! And yeah! Then the day was basically over! I don't think too much will happen the next few days, just cause we have so much to sort out to make it a smooth and easy transition for the Sisters! Mensch! So much to think about, my head might explode! Handing an area over when it's to your companion or golden is stressful, but when neither of you are gonna be there and you’re handing it over to two completely new missionaries it's way more stressful! But hey! Everything is in order, so it shouldn't be too bad! It's just making sure that it actually is ready to hand over!
Oh and my new Comps name (for the blog) is Christopher Kilgore he's from Duisburg, Deutschland!
Well, I believe that is all for this week! I think! So, have an absolutely brilliant week! I love you all loads and loads!
Alles Liebe,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxxxxx



Week 50 of 2015- Basler Weihnachtsmarkt, Adieu Reinach- Hallo Wetzikon und ein Bessere Gemeinde Weihnachtsfeier!!!

Grüezi wohl! (Back to some beautiful Züri-dütsch)!

I'm so excited to serve here! The area is great, the apartment is tiny (but with views like the picture I sent, who cares about the size of the apartment) .. and the Ward is just amazing! I love it here already, but lets go into what’s been going on this past week....
Last P-day in Reinach! So, after studies we headed off to the chapel to do emails! I love emails! Well, after emailing we headed into Basel to check out the Weihnachtsmarkt! Apparently, Basel have the best in der Schweiz, so we had to check it out! We met the Basel Elders there and went around! It was a pretty fun afternoon! Then this evening we were invited to a members’ for Raclette and FHE! It was a really nice evening, but today is wash day and we need to get the washing out and hang it, so I better go and sort that!
Dienstag morgen- M cancelled on us, so we did a proper study morning before heading off to Basel for District Meeting! It was a really good meeting! We talked about goals and set goals for the coming transfer! Then we did some roleplays with the Christmas Video Pass Along Cards! 'Twas fun! I have actually started to enjoy roleplays recently! I used to hate them, but now a days I actually enjoy them! Then we had mittags as a district. Elder Evans made us all eggnog and it was actually pretty good! Then we headed home to sort the apartment out, basically we took down a bed in one room and put it back up in the other as for some reason we slept and studied in the same room, so we asked Sister Van der Put if she'd prefer to sleep in the same or different room to where she studies. Her reply was that she isn't a morning person, so will just want to sleep in studies if the bed was in the same room as her desk! So we thought we'd be kind and move it to the other room for them! Mensch! That was a little more complicated and longer than anticipated! Then we headed to P to say goodbye! She was pretty gutted and she said she hasn't felt so sad about a transfer since Elder Little (Papa) was moved out of Reinach, but the Sisters will be great for her. She'll love them! Then we headed to the C's for Abendessen! It was a Mexican style dish! I don't know how to describe it or what it's called, but it was soooooooo good! Then we chatted for like ever, shared a spiritual thought and they gave us a little leaving gift! I'm gonna miss some people from this ward!
The day before transfers! I hate these days! The mess just stresses me out so much and it’s way worse when both of us are leaving! Arrggghhh! So, after studies we tidied up a little bit, then headed to Gemeindehaus to teach our New Investigator from last week. It was interesting! He has loads of questions and doesn't like answers from the BoM, so that was the interesting part! Then we popped quickly to the shop on our way home to get the Sisters some milk, bread and bin bags. Bin bags here are ridiculous, because council tax in Switzerland is different. It doesn't cover rubbish collection, so you buy the special bags for your gemeinde, which are ridiculously expensive, cause then the cost of them is also the collection price. It's stupid, but hey! Then we headed home, cleaned the apartment, (as in a real good clean) got rid of all the rubbish that missionaries leave over the years, then packed up! Then one of the JAE helped us out by picking all our stuff up in her car and driving it to Basel for us. Then we met at Insti. It was a really good Insti class; all in Swiss German, but I actually understood way more than normal. Then she drove our stuff to the Basel Elders’ apartment and we met her there and took our stuff to theirs. We stayed there overnight, which was fun. Had next to no sleep, but hey! Then we have a nice early start tomorrow to get to Zürich! The Basel Elders are gonna help us get it all on the train, then we'll get someone else to help us out on the other side. Should
be fun!
Transfer Day! Adieu Reinach! So a nice early start, left to get to Basel SBB to catch our train. We missed it by like 5 seconds! So annoying, but the next one was in 20 mins, so we just waited for that one to arrive. Plus it was a quicker train, so we only got to Zürich 10 mins later then we would have with the other train. So the Basel Elders helped us get everything on the train and then we got it all off and Bakewell and his Kid and my Kid came down the Gleis to help us take it all up to the top where we all congregate. Catch-ups, handed everything over to Sister Van der Put and goodbyes for the next hour or so before heading off to new areas! So we got here, I unpacked a little bit, before we headed to the chapel as my new comp needed to write something to President, so I took the time to do some UCAS searching again. I've suddenly had a weird feeling about it all recently, so I'm just doing some research! I'm considering studying Medical Science and then going from that into Dentistry. We shall see though. I have until January 15th to decide and apply if it feels right! It does at the moment, but I haven't fasted or prayed about it yet, so I'm not making any solid decisions until I get an answer! Then we came home, I unpacked, Mittags, and then this evening we headed to an investigator(R), who lives in Uster. We talked about the Book of Mormon and it was a really good lesson! I'm excited for this area!
The View from our Apartment in Wetzikon

Freitag was kind of a boring day! Studies, Weekly Planning and cause it's the first one, it took a little longer than normal, but that's all good - it might be needed! We have like just 3 investigators, but that's cool! More than what we had in Reinach! Then this evening we had a lesson with Herr S and that was basically our Friday!
So Samstag morgen/mittags presented itself as rather disappointing! As Ash would say "That was a big fat bidone if ever I saw one!" .. but the worst thing about this one was, that it wasn't even an investigator or less active – it was member! So we headed home and had another fix up mittagessen. We have like no food in this apartment! It's a good job P-day is soon! It was alright! Then we did some area book work and member mapping, then headed to the chapel as we needed to print a load of invitations off to hand out and get the members to hand out for the Special Weihnachts Sonntag we have on the 20th. It seems like it's going to be really nice! Langweilig! Oh and President finally sent us the Alphorn (Mission Newsletter- it has a message from Pres, personal touches, mission miracles, who went home, who came in, Birthdays, etc.) from last transfer and this transfer- so that was a wait that went on way longer than expected! The Alphorn is what everyone gets excited for every transfer and we just never got it last transfer, so it was a sad transfer, but it finally came, so we're all happy! Wahey! Then yeah! Not much else happened! Some good convos, but nichts! Then home! Abendessen and sorted a Progress Record for tomorrow .. and that was basically Samstag! Oh I also just loved the fact that todays’ Advent Chocolate was a Swiss Cow! hahaha!
Sonntag morgen began with a bit of studying and then we headed to church! Got there early, joined in for choir practice! That was fun! We have like 2 musical items that we're doing next Sunday for the special Weihnachtsversammlung! So I best get learning the Bass part pretty quick! Then church! Oh my goodness! I love this ward! I felt so welcomed to the ward- by like everyone! I did my little introduction testimony thing, no mistakes this time! Haha. Then two of the JD's spoke and they were awesome talks, then Präsident Jäger (Pfahlpräsidentschaft) spoke and again it was a really good talk. There was a scripture that stood out for me, but I can't remember the reference and there's no point in writing it out, cause I only know it in German! Sorry! Then we had Sunday School, which was brilliant again! We spoke about Symbols with Christmas and what they mean- it wasn't the original lesson, but it was so good and super spiritual! Loved it! Then Priesthood was also ganz toll! It was lesson 24 and there’s one principle that stood out to me again. It went with the scripture in D&C about "look to me in every thought, doubt not, fear not" and how looking to the Lord in every thought is the only possible way that we can become the Men and Women that we should be. I found that pretty cool! Then we mingled for a little, got to know some more members, then we had Gemeinderat and Bishop brought some biscuits to keep everyone awake and stomachs from rumbling! Hahaha! It was a good Gemeinderat to be fair. Probably one of the best I've been to! Then we went to a families for Lunch, apparently they invite us every Sunday for Lunch if we have no other appointments or anything in the afternoon, which is super awesome and they are really cool! We also have Heiligabend with this family! So I'm super excited! Oh and we have like an appointment near enough every day between Christmas and New Year! I'm so excited! Then after our lunch appointment we came home for Comp. Study before heading to meet a member who was going to drive us to the ward Christmas activity. A little strange to be on a Sunday, so it was in a little cute Log Cabin in a forest, so cool! We had dinner, sang hymns, mingled and had a Christmas Story auf Schwiezer Dütsch! It was a really nice evening! I loved it and I already love this ward. I'm so excited to serve here and get to know these members even more!

I'm excited to Skype home next week!!!! Well, have a brilliant week!
Alles Liebe,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Monday 14 December 2015

Cagliari 19/11/15 - 7/12/15 Un pezzo del mio cuore appartiene a Cagliari

First week of the fortnight:

I love getting post - picture from my 2 year old Cousin

Giovedì .. We began by popping in to see V. With V we spoke about the Christ-like attributes again :) She is doing well and is really progressing. She has come to church for about 6 weeks in a row now. She is awesome. After V, we popped in to see R.... Who is preparing for her baptism! We spoke about some commandments. We need to finish all the lessons and make sure she remembers everything, so she can get baptised on the date set for her. I don't know how much I've told you about R.. The other Sorelle found her through some random lady who had no interest in the gospel.. At the moment.. but they found R, who is the sweetest, happiest, tiniest Sardinian lady of 85 years. She is the absolute cutest. Out of all of our investigators, she is the only one who comes on a weekly basis for all 3 hours. When I was with Sorella Roberts we figured that she was our most progressing investigator, so we prayed a lot and spoke a lot about her and had a conversation with her and she wanted to be baptised, so we set the date with her and she was so so happy.. Anyways we are now working really hard, seeing her practically on a daily basis, cus she just wants to be baptised. She wants to take that step with God and she is just so so genuine and so so sweet, so hopefully if all goes to plan she will be baptised on my (potentially) last Sunday here in Cagliari (6/11/15), so PLEASE pray that all will be well with her interview and baptism :) Anyways, after this, we headed home for pranzo, lingua, then headed out to see R. I always feel so good after seeing her. She is awesome! We read a verse from the Book of Mormon and then discussed it. Then we headed straight to see L, a less active member. She is so sweet! We spoke about prayer, the scriptures and the importance in going to church and used the knife and cup visual. Then we had English course :) 

Venerdì .. We began with weekly planninggggg :) then we saw R first thing in the afternoon, then met A at a Gelateria for a lesson. This is the day I tried walnut gelato, which is now one of my top faves. I mean, I don't serve in the Italy Rome mission for nothing.. Haha ;) Well, we taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and it all made sense to him and he agreed to pray about it :) After that, we headed straight over to AM. We taught her about the Restoration and watched the film. It was so good to finally teach her a lesson... She still had a ton of questions, but we told her this time that she just needs to listen and that she would find answers if she did just that. It went well and she understood :) Oh, awkward story moment ...
So, Sorella Rossi and I are waiting at the bus stop... and I get my English/Italian dictionary out and try to test her on English words and myself on Italian words... Then this man comes and stands next to us just as I read out the Italian version of the word 'pocket knife' all loud and proud. He looked at us both like .. what the freak .. and then when he saw my dictionary he burst out laughing hahahaha Then he got on the bus and kept looking at is and laughing hahaha.

Sabato .. We began at the chapel with M speaking about the Plan of Salvation. It went so well and she absolutely loved it :) The rest of the day was taken up with finding and making calls. In the evening we met with the Anziani and the other Sorelle and did a gesso in town. We basically just had written "GRAZIE A LUI" and we were showing the ‘Because of Him’ Mormon message. :) It went really well, (once the Hare Krishna’s had passed by). After that, the day was over. How interesting.. Oh no, actually .. here is a real funny story of our trip home from the gesso. There was this drunk man who Sorella Rossi and I saw a few days before. When I say drunk I mean absolutely out of it. He had like a McDonalds straw through his nose.. I mean, at least this time he was dressed. Yeah.. Anyways, he is on our bus and he starts talking to the Africans .. Kind of in English kind of in a language I don't think anyone in this world has ever heard hahaha Then the bus (after his loud shouting and talking) went silent and he sings at the top of his drunk croaky voice "Yellow Submarine"... IT WAS HILARIOUS, CUS HE KNEW ALL OF THE WORDS HAHAHAHAHAHAH us missionaries were DYING. It was so funny, oh my gosh, I wish I’d recorded it! Then he said something else, which was hilarious, but I'll tell you about that when I get home haha. Never a dull moment! 


Domenica .. church, obviously. The talks were awesome. Something that stood out was Fratello D’s talk when he said "The gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't change our situations and that which we face, but what it changes is the way we face them". After sacrament meeting, I was in primary for both hours, cus I was helping with the music :) I LOVED IT. Italian primary kids are just so much cuter than any other kids! Haha, love it! After lunch and language study we saw G and started up Personal Progress with her. It got me regretting not doing it as a teenager and I have actually started now :) I use like the first 10 mins or so of my study for it :)  Then after that, we met A and read more of the ‘For the Strength of Youth’ and she made Fufu for us, cus Rossi has never eaten it. She actually liked it, which surprised me! Then we had plantain (in Italian it is platano) – like a giant banana? Boh. We had it with a really spicy soup! Lush. Although... I've learnt to love spicy food being in the mission and that was basically our day!

Lunedì .. We did shopping, I've started sharing shopping with Sorella Clark :) We eat similar things and our companions would rather buy their own, so we did kind of a split when we spent shopping and it was GREAT, CUS IT’S SO MUCH CHEAPER AND WE GET MORE FOOD AND I ACTUALLY HAVE SOMEONE TO EAT WITH. I hate eating alone, it's so sad, but now I have someone :) :) :) My buddy Sorella Clark haha! We did that” We went to the piazza just to download our emails, then typed them up at home. It's better this way, cus otherwise we wait outside in the cold where the wifi is close to our house or we travel forever to get to church.. Well, we don't travel forever, but it's p’day and who has time on p’day to wait for buses? Not me! So yeah, we did that! Then we went shopping a bit and had to leave to get the bus early, cus we had a family home evening set with la famiglia L. They live a little bit lontano, but it's the cutest little town! They are a super brava family. There have 3 boys who are absolutely adorable, especially their youngest who is 7! He is the sweetest little kid and he says the sweetest sweetest prayers! Sorella L is the Relief Society President. We did a lesson about being the light to our friends and sharing the gospel and using the knowledge that we have to help our family and friends. We began with a little game where we got them to draw their family, but we turned the lights off, so they couldn't see anything. Then we got them to do it again, but we let them use a torch. It was really fun and the boy loved it :) They are awesome and it's sad, cus they're wanting to move to America, waaaaaaaaa. I love them. They then fed us dinner. The typical sard pasta, which was real good and like a salted cupcake, so a savoury snack. It was real good. Then for the dolce, she made ginger cake and also aubergine cake. YUM! Then they took us home.

Martedì .. Began with M and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went well. After that, we saw R again. We are just going through the lessons with her so thoroughly! She is doing well and just wants to learn! Then we had lunch, studied and headed straight out to V. We spoke about how each of us are of value and of worth and that here in Cagliari we need her talents, testimony and abilities in order to build up the Kingdom of God. We used the scripture in 1 Corinthians 12. :) After V, we were running late, so luckily the other Sorelle were able to cover for us and teach S! Then we did English course! :) 

Mercoledì .. We headed off to see C! :) She made us a hot chocolate. The Italian hot chocolate is different to back home; kind of like a hot chocolate pudding. It's real good. I'll sent some home – hopefully this week! :) The lesson went well. We are on the commandments now, but still not really seeing much progress :( I feel like this with most people we are seeing. I love them so much and they have a desire to learn, but the action part; such as actually coming to church, or committing to a baptismal date or reading the scriptures is what seems to be hard for them! Help! Then we headed home for pranzo, (C lives so far awayyyyy) .. then studied Italian.. Thennnnn saw R :) She made little cheesy breads for us and gave us pear juice (one of my faves :) We spoke with her about the Atonement. Sorella Rossi found an awesome quote from a testimony of Elder Packer found in the Liahona from Dicembre 2015. After R, we received a call from L telling us that she had bought us some oranges and tomatoes. We went over and began from the start with the Restoration. It went well. Although we got to the "God sends His Son, Jesus Christ to earth" part and she was all "okay grazie Sorelle per il pensiero... Fai tu la preghiera Sorella Robertson?" We were like errrrm okayyyyy.. I guess we'll finish it next time. Hahaha .. She offered us some tomatoes to eat here and now, but Sorella Rossi can't eat them.. So we kindly declined and told her we'd eat them at home (I'd eat them at home) and then she disappears and comes back with a plate all full of cut up tomatoes and she's all "c’monnnnnn Sorelle, eat them now!" .. and so my comp is all 'I'm fasting" and I'm all... "Errrrr okay haha." What an experience. L is so sweet! :) 

Giovedì .. We headed over first thing to see A. Another less active who we are working with. SHE IS SO CUTE. She's the sister who always gives us food; like she literally goes through her cupboards and gives us whatever she has and refuses rejection haha. She is the sweetest! Well, it was also really interesting, cus Sorella Rossi is friends with her granddaughter who is in Salt Lake serving a mission. It's such a small world. I feel like it would be like this for me if I served in England. It's kinda cool... but not as cool as serving in the Italy Rome mission, so I'm not even jel. She made these cute Sardinian dolci and made us a tropical tea. The good kind. I'm quite a fan of fruit tea these days. It was real good with a spoonful of sugar and a slice of lemon haha. I feel like such a granny! After that, we had a last minute change in schedule, so we changed our day a little and had an early lunch, so we could fit in the other things in the evening. After lunch and studies, (the Sassari Sorelle came too, cus there was the conference on venerdì). We thennnnn headed to the church to help C with her translating... Then we received another cancellation from someone we were supposed to see afterwards... Soooo, we headed to town and did another gesso with the Anziani and the other zone missionaries. That was our day.
 
Last Conference in Sardegna




Venerdì .. We headed straight to church for our interviews. I feel like just as I die my interviews with President get better and better. I love President. He is truly an inspired man and he is so right for this mission! After interviews, we had the Leadership Council. It went well :) Then we had the Conference. The conference was awesome! Anyways, after the Conference, Fratello C had made dinner for us! :) Then we did the scambio with the Sassari Sorelle. I was with Sorella McPheters in the evening, so we saw R, taught her the law of chastity, then went to see B and spoke about missionary work and then met with G and did some Personal Progress :) Then on the way home we had a scambio treat from McDonald's. Hot choc :) That was basically our day! In the evening, Sorella Littlefield was chasing after Sorella Clark (they were in the MTC together) and the quote of the week is Sorella Littlefield "YOU COME HERE YOU DIVINE SOUL. I’M GONNA RIP OUT YOUR NOSE HAIRS" hahahahaha so gross, but it cracked me up!

Sabato .. I spent the morning with Sorella Littlefield. We couldn't get any appointments with anyone, so we went to Quartu to do some less active finding. Some of them were 'busy', some 'don't live there anymore', some of the addresses don't even exist... So we went to do street approach and headed home. Wasn't the most successful morning I've had.. Va bene! Then they left and me and Rossi did weekly planning and saw R. 
  
Domenica .. Wellllllll the house was empty.. It was just me and my comp.. So we got one bathroom each, which was heaven!!!! Got ready and headed to church :) set up the chairs and then it all began. The primary did the presentation and did a really good job. They are so cute ah!!! After the presentation, I was playing the postlude music and Fratello D comes and waits for me to finish and asks if my companion and I can join the mission prep class that he runs during gospel principles, so we said yessss. We assumed it was to translate, cus usually the Anziani translate for one of the African members... but they were there too and we were like boh why are we here booooooh. Anyways, Fratello D, in short words is an inspired man. The whole lesson was just for me. There were points that I cried and I haven't cried in a lesson since being at home and even then it was years ago. He spoke first about companionship unity and then he spoke about when he was finishing his mission and how he felt etc and I just feel exactly how he explained. He explained how as a missionary you have a purpose every day. You recite your purpose every day; everything you do has a purpose, or at least should have. You're with someone who shares the same beliefs as you all day every day; everything you are expected to focus on is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ; everything you do is for others. It's just an experience of a lifetime. Then you get home and your focuses are different. You aren't surrounded by these kind of people anymore all the time, every day. You have a different purpose and before you find it, you're out there searching for it.. Everything's gonna be different .. and I just started getting a little down, as he was saying all of this and yep, it made me sad, but then he said how all of this doesn't have to end etc. but yeah it was something I really needed... but then at the end he (unexpectedly) turns the time over to me.. and is like "and now we are gonna ask Sorella Robertson to share her testimony... and I was like .. "On missionary work?" and he was all "Whatever you want; it can be on cheesecake if you wish" haha, so sassy .. and I was like blown away, cus I hadn't felt so emotional for such a long time and then I was asked to bare my testimony and I was just so overwhelmed.. but it went well. I don't even remember what I said, but it went well I think. :) After that, we had Relief Society and Priesthood together, I sat with A. I LOVE HER and the E family. I LOVE THEM TOO! Vescovo C did the lesson all based on "With small and simple things, great things come to pass" and spoke also a lot about the family :) E was all emotional too with me, cus we get transfer calls this Saturday and she knows I'm leaving and so yeah, it's really sad, cus I love everyone here and I am like 97% sure I'm gonna be death transferred. Anyways, we got the bus home, ate, then did journal writing. After that, we went to correlation, then we waited around for the youth to come to the FHE we planned for all the young people... but no one came AWKWARD. So we went with the zone leaders to do a gesso. It was actually a really good one! We just wrote with the chalk "chi sono I mormoni?" .. and it was so easy to speak to people that way, just cus it was kinda casual, but led onto a gospel conversation really easily! So that was fun! 

Okay literally that is it for the week. I love you all tons! I love you so much AHHH and miss you too. See you real soon! BIG KISSES. PS I CAN’T BELIEVE I GOT MY DEATH PACKET WAAA
Transfer calls his Saturday too... Where will I die? Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Last week of second to last transfer:
Heyyyyyyyyy! I don't think I have anything super exciting to tell you, at least anything that you don't already know, so I'll start with the .....

Lunedì lowdown...we did spesa and email first thing and then we went 'Christmas shopping' / sard shopping, because I knew that I'd be getting transferred soon. Then we met with the Anziani and went to see the flamingos / beach! After that, we did a little more email and headed over to K. We found her doing area book. She met with the missionaries previously, but it just wasn't her time back then. It was just a lesson 0 and we got to know her a little. We decided with her that we will meet with her twice a week; once to do the missionary lessons, to help her spiritually and the other time to go through the programme. After that, we went to a school. So a few weeks back we received a call from a guy who knew the Sorelle from before (they must have helped him out at the school before, who knows when) and he asked us to come. We met him at the front of Auchan and then got in a taxi to the school. This is like a night school.. Open till midnight. (Isn't that nuts?) So we went and then basically taught a class full of 20+ year olds, English... So that was really interesting! It was a good experience. I'm sad I probs won't ever do it again, but it was cool nonetheless. Some really good potentials in the class too :) so it was a really busy day, but that then took us up to going home to plan!

Martedì .. So today was awesome! We went to church first thing to meet up with D and his sister or mom, D. We met him doing a gesso last week when all the missionaries were down for zone conf.. He was on the street too playing the violin for money and Anziano Draghi spoke to him and got his number for us. We called yesterday to confirm too and all was well, but we got there and they weren't there, called them and they hung up, so that was a big fat bidone if ever I saw one. Anyways, who ever let bidones ruin the day? We headed straight to L’s house, cus it was her birthday and so we heart attacked her door. Everyone here lives in apartments and so we had two doors/gates to pass by, which is always the struggle if you ever wanna do something nice and secret for the members haha, but we always find a way. To get through the gate we just rang a random person and just asked if they'd let us in and they did? So much trust haha. Then we got to the door of the apartment block and luckily someone walked past inside and let us in, so that was a relief! We heart attacked her door and then headed straight to R! R is adorable. We began with pranzo; started with tomato pasta, then had a hamburger, then we had brought some options for her baptism dress and she tried some. YOU WOULD ALL FALL IN LOVE WITH HER, she's the cutest little person ever; oh my gosh I just love her! She chose the one she liked. We did a lesson, went over the interview questions again .. Cus she's old and forgets things, but wants to be baptised so bad, so yeah! Then headed straight to C. We got there and spoke about the importance of the restoration and what it means to us individually and then she made us hot choc .. theeeennnnn we headed straight over to the chapel to see S. We did that lesson with R, one of the coolest members ever and began the Restoration.. I say began, cus we didn't get the chance to get past the Life of Christ. After that, we did English course. It went well and at the end we showed them the Mormon message Christmas video from last year (He is the Gift) .. and it went really well. A few of the students made comments and it was awesome! I got a little chance to try out "Mary Did You Know?" on the piano :) I love it, more Christmas music videos / music would be awesome, that way I can listen to stuff in the apartment, cus although I have an iPod, I don't have speakers and I haven't had for the whole of my mission hahaha. I would just use my comps speakers and now I have a comp without speakers, so it gets quiet.. I've played the ‘Mary Did You Know’ by Pentatonix’s a ton of times. I'm not bored of it yet, but I'm worried I'll get bored haha. :P After, we headed home on the bus with the Anziani .. never a dull moment. They're so funny! THEN THE SORELLE CAME HOME WOOOOOOOOOOO I've missed them!

Mercoledì .. Today we had DDM first thing, cus we had to move it, as the Sorelle were in Palermo to pick up Sorella Clark’s permesso. It was awesome! It was all about developing talents.

Anyways, after that, he got us to write down 3 talents that we have (ourselves) then we each had to write one about one another. Apparently I'm funny! Haha who woulda thought? 
How the district see me!

Talking about that, after DDM, we did transfer predictions then Fratello C made lunch and during lunch one of the Anziani told me I was a 'bro' hahah bro-zoned. Then when I asked him what made me a bro he was like "I dunno, you're kinda just like a bro, like masculine I guess?' and I was like kinda offended and kinda not. Haha anyways, then I was asking him how I'm masculine, cus I'm not masculine in any way (secondo me), but then he was like 'yeah, just cus like you get along super well with the Anziani like we're all friends and you get on with the Sorelle too, but you just like connect with Anziani' or in other words boh. That's basically what he meant, but I'm sure they're not the words he used hahaha. So that's fun, I'm a bro. Anyways, after that we headed over to R’s with the ZL’s for her interview and SHE PASSED WITH FLYING COLOURS WOOOOO. She was so excited! Her little face :) Then we taught her a lesson, which went really well. After that, we popped in to do a spiritual thought with V, which was awesome. She seems so much happier these days :) THEN WE GOT TO SEE ONE OF MY FAVE FAMILIES WHO I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SEE EVER SINCE I GOT HERE, but one got ill, then the other got ill and it just never seemed to work out, but woooooo finally we got into their house haha. They live super far away, so the ZL’s had to pick us up from Quartu, then drive us there. We did the ‘He is the Gift’ spiritual thought and all wrote one thing that the Saviour has done for us; went around reading them out and then challenged them to think of one new thing every day. Then we had dinner with them .. so lush mmmmm. Then they drove us home. I love this family. I'm super sad, cus it got late and I never got to take a picture with them, but it's okay, cus I'm deffs gonna come back and visit them! Then that was our day! :)  

Giovedì .. Today was awesomeeeee. I did a scambio with the Sorelle Di Cagliari. I began with Sorella Clark, one of my faveeees! We had an appointment with a lady called C who she found doing area book. It was their meeting her and she was GOLDEN. We planned originally to do the Plan of Salvation, but then things led to The Restoration. She had so many questions. She asked how she can better herself. We testified a lot of prayer and then at the end she offered one of the most amazing prayers I've ever heard an investigator offer! It was super sincere. She asked Heavenly Father to help her to pray even more sincerely that she may strengthen her faith and relationship with him. She was just adorable. I'm so happy for the Sorelle! She's absolutely golden! After that, we made some calls, then swapped over to normal companionships, cus we had a lunch apt with La Famiglia S.. It was awesome. They are the family Chris stayed with when he came here and they told me I can stay whenever I want to so YEY :) After that, we came home and swapped again. I was with Sorella Chandler. We did language study then saw E and R. It was awesomeeee and they have these tiny little kittens and they're just the cutest little things! Then we had English course. I got to speak to each of the Sorelle and things are going well. Then we had English course and that was our day :))) 

Venerdì .. Today was good! We began with weekly planning, much to my happiness. Planning went well and after that, we went to see K. This woman is so humble and ready. We are gonna do the missionary lessons and also go through the stop smoking programme that the church has created. We began today with The Restoration. It went really well. She remembered a few things from the missionaries before, but we got to explain it more. We were able to talk with her about the spirit and how it works. We also explained why we don't pray to Mary and she had a few other questions, but she seemed quite satisfied with our answers. :) After that, we headed over to R to finish off her lessons before her baptism TOMORROW yeah, it was changed back to tomorrow last minute, cus Bishop called this morning and said we couldn't do it then, because there will be some kinda fireside.. So yeah! R is super excited and it works out better this way, cus she will get the Gift of the Holy Ghost this Sunday and won't have to wait a week...cus that's how they were gonna do it. It went really well and I've not seen such an old lady so happy and sassy and funny and full of life since Nana B, so it's just so awesome! She would actually be really good friends with Nana B .. I can just see it! You'd love her. She's the best!!!! After that, we came home and made some calls. Had success with a few people who wanna see us! Anyways, I need to sleep. Notte. 

Saturday. The longest morning ever. We did our studies and as usual, we opened our calendar for day 5 (it's like become a ritual, brings us together Hahahah)! We then found out about the changes within the zone, but still hadn't received anything... So we headed to the chapel, cus we had a lesson with C aaand as we were waiting for her, Anziano Pingree called (AP) So, time for a low down on things on the island. I am gonna go to Caserta to die with the greenie of Sorella Hamilton (Sorella Nelson), who my family met on their vacation in August .. haha that's weird! 
So my final transfer means, I'm back on the mainland!

Sorella Battezzato comes to replace me (just like she did in Ragusa ha), the Sorelle stay. Williams leaves to Siracusa and a guy comes to replace him..... and the poor poor ZL’s stay and get another guy, so they're gonna be in a trio, which is super weird, cus they were just blown in and the works pretty hard sooooo boh. Anyways, Sassari stays the same. Beesley goes to Pescara (I’m jel) and Mercado leaves after only 4 weeks of serving here and Haroldsen stays and gets Anziano Scott. I'm aware that this all means nothing to you haha, but this is my journal, soooooo I'm gonna write it anyway ha. When the members ask how I feel it's hard, cus I'm really sad and I'll miss them. They're all incredible and this city is absolutely lush, but I know it’s my time. The lesson with C went well. We helped her with translating. Then we shared a message about Christ :) After that, we headed for pranzo and lingua, then finally saw B after all this time! :) She is so awesome. She is literally like a member. I'm gonna miss B a lot! She just seems to me like a member already. She said the most beautiful prayer asking Heavenly Father to bless all the missionaries with success, thanking him for his teachings! She is one of my faves! Gosh, I have to come back here for her baptism!! After that, we headed straight to the Chinese shop to buy white socks for R, then to the church! SHE IS SO CUTE WOW WOW. HER 3 nieces came and helped her out with everything, asked a ton of questions and it was just awesome. Mamma, it was the most incredible thing I have ever seem. An 85 year old woman entering the waters of baptism. So many people would have us believe that they are too old to change. R is nothing like that. She is so awesome. She knew what she was doing and I've never seen such a determined little old soul in my life. You saw the pictures and how happy she was! The service was beautiful. Lots of members came. We had F and C give the talks (she chose them, cus she loves them and she went to their wedding a few weeks back). They did awesome talks. There were a lot of member involvement. EVERYBODY loves her! We did a musical item (the Sorelle) and Fratello D performed the ordinance (with the assistance of Anziano RASBAND). As she entered into the water so slowly with her dainty tiny little feet, the spirit just filled the room! She went down first time. It was incredible .. and we all helped get her ready; me, my comp and her nieces :)
R's Baptism.....happy days!




 THEN we had asked her last week if she wanted to bare her testimony during the closing of the service and she said no, but Fratello A who was directing asked her and she said ‘Yes’! She got up and said 'Devo ringraziare il Signore per il mio battessimo .......' Then she was silent for a few seconds, looked at Fratello A who went to prompt her and said “Ora non mi vengono le parole" .. which in English would be something like 'Now the words aren't coming to me" haha Then she came down and sat back with us. IT WAS SO CUTE, just a huge confirmation that this gospel is for EVERYONE OF ALL AGES. She is such an example to me! I love her ahh!!! :) and that was our day! So awesome! Good news all around :) I'm so happy!

Domenica .. Today was great. Man this ward is awesome! We got to church and did the usual. I got to leave the ward with my testimony and then the members bore their testimonies, many about Thomas S Monson. Then Sunday School was all about charity. Then Relief Society was all about temples! I was so sad to say goodbye to the members. Honestly, the members here are incredible. Their perspective of the gospel is on point and I've said this before, but I've never seen reverence like it anywhere else. I'm so grateful for their example; that I had to thank them for it as part of my testimony and I told them how I've never experienced such reverent, peaceful sacrament meetings! :) ALSO, a side note: IMPORTANT SIDENOTES. 1. M (who I haven't seen forever, who we used to teach .. came to church to say goodbye and stayed for the whole of sacrament meeting. :) Then 2) R’s confirmation was just awesome. She was a little late, so we did it after the ordinance of the sacrament, but it was absolutely beautiful and she is just so happy! Fratello D did it and it was awesome. He mentioned how Heavenly Father has saved her to be baptised at this time in her life and how precious she is. It was just an absolutely amazing experience. Everything about R is just incredible! After all of this, first we headed to the bus stop, then the Anziani came and told us that there were some members who had prepared pranzo at church and had spare to feed us too, so we all headed back (all but Anziani Williams and Bertoldo) and ate with Fratello C, F, C and their kids. It was awesome! Then we went home. I sorted some bits out, then we headed over to A. We shared the Christmas video from last year and wrote down one thing that we are grateful for (one thing Christ has done/does for us). It went well. We all went round the table sharing what we wrote. We got to her and she started singing what she wrote. I think it was an African Redeemed Church song from before she joined the church... I don't know, but it was hil. I got her to do it again and I recorded it. I LOVE THAT WOMAN. I'm gonna miss her so much. After that, we headed to town to do a gesso with the others (but not the Sorelle). It was a Book of Mormon gesso and went abbastanza well considering; although it wasn't my fave topic just cus it was harder to grab the attention from them, but it was cool, We had like all the Books of Mormon in all the different languages and wrote in the middle "Would you like a free copy?" .. so it was cool. Then we headed home, planned, called the DL and the Sassari Sorelle and called it a night :)

Gesso 

.. and that was our week. I'm so sad to leave the people here. They are incredible. This city is gorgeous and the work I've been able to do here has been awesome! However, moving to another city was also an answer to a prayer.

ANYWAY, IT’S PDAY ... MY last one in Cagliari.. That's not happy .. that's sad, but I'm gonna go make the most of it, so I love you all so so so much. I'm so excited to go to the Napoli zone and try this pizza that everybody talks about! My companion sounds hilarious and she was trained by one of my best friends, so I'm sure we will love each other! I cannot believe it's the last transfer! So sad! So exciting! I will fly out to Rome Wednesday evening and hopefully stay with SORELLA ROBERTS IN ROME 6 HOPEFULLY ;) .. then I'll get the train to Napoli on Thursday morning.

The church is true. God is so patient and merciful. Christ is our Redeemer.  Never forget that they both love you all .. and so do I!

You're all in my prayers. Keep being amazing and I'll see you SO SO SO SOON!

Baci e abbracci xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


I went to say goodbye to B and she had got me the cutest Pandora charm.
I will remember Cagliari and the people with so much love x