Week 5 Cagliari
Soooo, this
week I will write up each day on the day. Like a legit journal. Here it is...
Monday: Today was so so so so so
so so so fulfilling. Well, once p’day finished. P’day itself wasn't super
fulfilling, cus we spent like 2 hours waiting on the wifi. Then we did email,
then Betty helped us again with spesa #eurospinftw!!! Comunque, by the time
we'd done that, p’day was over. I'll have to get Beth's stuff next Monday.
I actually saw a really awesome shop the other day during a mostra, so I'll go
there next week! After p’day, we met up with B (finally!!!) :) We met her in
the park, began with small talk, cus it had been a while... Then HER MOM AND
BROTHER showed up and we shared a spiritual thought with them :)))) It went
really well. They were so sweet and they told us they really enjoyed the
cookies :) After B, we had a lesson with M (G’s friend, who is investigating).
We just met in the same park, spoke about prophets and the 10 commandments. She
basically knows everything già, cus G is an incredible new member and just
speaks about the gospel allllll the time, so the lessons always go really well
and G is always there to share her testimony. After that, we actually had
nothing else planned. Usually we do FHE with the Anziani in that park, but they
wanted to do it earlier and we had already set up appointments, so they did the
FHE at the chapel at 5 instead. Anyways, we finished the lesson with M, THEN
the E family rocked up. They are a family that the Sorelle before us tried to
work with. Sister E is Betty's sister. Anyways, an unexpected opportunity for a
FHE arose so that was awesome!!!! The girls in that family are gorgeous and so
cute! We played a few games, duck duck goose, signs and charades. Then we
shared a spiritual thought, SO WE HAD 3 LESSONS ON A P’DAY. That had NEVER
happened to me before!!!!!! Cus there's usually no time for that, but it all
just worked out so perfectly! Blessings!!!!! Anyways, so we are super content
cus we met B’s mom and brother and we met the E family :) so good!!!
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| A Cute Lil Jar of Lemon Curd for Betty |
Tuesday:
Today we began making a cute jar of lemon curd for Betty, to thank her for
everything that she does for us. Then we headed off to DDM. DDM was awesome.
Anziano McColloum is such a great district leader. Our district are awesome.
The first few weeks they were all super quiet and I was like oh nooooo, but
they are way cool! I love them all! Anziano Mic (he has this name tag now, cus
the Italians cannot pronounce his name ha) spoke about how the Lord has
foreordained people to receive the gospel. He based it on a really awesome talk
that he sent out to us. It's awesome. After DDM we all ate together, Betty made
a carbonara. So good! Then we had melon and stuff. After that, we did lingua
and 12 weeks. Finally caught up with week 4. (we all have weaknesses), but it's
okay. We are up to date now!! Più o meno! After that, we saw R! It was all
about the Book of Mormon and the importance of receiving a personal testimony
of it’s truthfulness. Went well! :) Then her niece came and we spoke a little to
her too! She was awesome :) After that, we tried calling Betty to tell her we
were going to be a little late. As we called, an American guy voice answered.
It was Anziano Ray (Oristano). I was so confused. It was really awkward and I
was super embarrassed. The phone has been playing up lately and the Anziani’s
numbers seem to be saved as 'Betty C', so that's weird. Anyway, we finally got
hold of her. She picked us up from home, as we needed to pick up the lemon curd
for her. She was so happy :)) Then we spoke about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
After that, we did English Course.
Wednesday:
today was awesome. Straight after our studies we went to the chapel to meet M.
We began speaking about the 10 commandments and prophets. Just like we did on
Monday with M, but we swapped :) She loved it. We spoke about the importance of
the scriptures and how she felt about the Book of Mormon. She said she believes
it's true, but then when I asked if she had prayed about it, she said she
hadn't. She thinks that she already knows it's true, but then we shared the
promise in Moroni and said how it is great that she has so much faith, but
there is a better way to really know, without doubt through the Holy Ghost that
it's all true and then we bore testimony of that and it lead perfectly to the
baptismal invite (we set the date for 5th September – but she wants to be
100% sure). We bore our testimony and told her that we'd be here to help her
prepare and that there is, obviously a lot of preparation but that we felt it
was achievable. She still said that she doesn't want to 'commit' until she is
'100%', so then we just invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray about
it. She agreed to that and then we just closed by saying 'we know that when you
do this and receive your answer that you will be ready' and we promised to send
her small verses each night :) after M, Roberts did some 12 weeks on the
computer, cus it wasn't working on the iPad, while I made calls. Well, until
the phone died. I called this one lady, she talks forever! Like, literally. She
spoke to me and sung to me until the phone died, so that was fun. After that,
we headed home for pranzo and lingua study. I made carbonara and it was pretty
good;);) Dopo that we did 12 weeks while cooking brownies. After that, we
headed over to find Vescovo’s house. We wanna know the members better and
Vescovo is a really good place to start. We made it to Vescovo’s house and we
just caught them! They were heading to the beach, but we managed to get them in
perfect timing. Gave them the brownies, spoke with them for a bit, then they
invited us to go to their house next Wednesday for a FHE :), so we are
super excited about that :) Also, we found out that the wife of Vescovo served
a mission in Temple Square! So coollllll. After that, we headed to see A, who
we've been trying to find for ages (the house that was once impossible to find),
but we found it .. and she was super cool! She's from Nigeria! We spoke mostly
in English and a lil bit in Italian. She told us about her conversion story and
the visions and stuff she had, so that was cool. I think it was Sorella Roberts’
first proprio African experience. I mean, there was the strange man we met in
the park, but that doesn't count! Then after, we each shared a scripture and
spoke about how Heavenly Father prepared her before to receive the gospel
message! It was super sweet! After that, we went home, planned and I ate a
peach ‘cus I'm scared of getting fat.
Giovedi ...
First we tried putting finding material together to find we only had..... 5
Restoration pamphlets in Italian and like 500 in Russian, Romanian, Polish,
Albanian, Spanish.. Every language under the sun, but Italian. Anywayssssss
after that, we began by trying to find a members’ house to give them brownies and
to get to know them better... but we got lost. Yey. so we decided
that maybe Heavenly Father wanted us to go find some souls; so we got off on
via Roma. It's along the beach, where the flamingos are and there are a few
piazzas with a ton of people, so we did that. Nobody seemed to want to listen
and the people just seemed to be in such a rush. That or they were too hot and
couldn't be bothered. It was really hot today. I would probably have been the
same! Anyways, we then thought that we'd have more success 'flushing' (I
explained that last week), so we went to a park and flushed through the phone
until it was time for pranzo. We actually managed to book 4 appointments! One
with a Nigerian guy called J for Saturday, who was listed as a potential, an ex
simp called F, another potential called K and another potential called F, so we
are super excited about that! Hopefully they won't 'bidone' us! :) Maybe we'll
pick up some new simps that way :) Pray for them please! Not only that, but that
the lessons happen and that they will progress! Progressing investigators would
be... Really awesome! :) After that, we had pranzooo, then we studied the
lingua ... Then saw R agaiiiiin! She refused to pray as per usual, but I was
way more persistent than usual this time. FINALLY she prayed and asked for help
in reading and understanding the Book of Mormon !!!!! I had to close it in the
name of Jesus Christ .. but she prayed!!!! I was really proud of her though, as
it was the cutest little prayer. She's adorable and I love her to bits. She is
just so stubborn sometimes haa ha. So we have to play the stubborn game too.
Anyways, after that, we spoke about scriptures and we got her to read (Alma 32
and spoke about faith and the Holy Ghost. Then we met her niece, A. She is
awesome. Then we headed to the chapel
for a lesson with G and spoke about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went well.
Then we had English Course. Again, a repeat of 'At the eye doctor’s office'
(opticians.....not really sure who says 'eye doctor’s office')! Then Betty, G
and M took us home. We planned, ate cucumber and tuna mmmm (fave snack). Oh, and yesterday Roberts’ mom sent us a
joint letter with a cuuuute necklace :)))
:) ..
Shout out for Sorella Roberts’ mom!!!
Ps today I
thought a lot about Maddie, because it's her birthday … shout out
for Maddie Richardson!!!!!!
Friday:
welllll we started the day off with the weekly planning session. During the
weekly planning session, Sorella Roberts suggested we made an eating plan.
Soooo, we also did that. I'm not sure how well I'm gonna follow it ‘cus I just
get so hungry these days and so yeah... We'll see! Haha. She's very serious
about it though. Maybe that will help me, boh! After that, we ate what we could
‘cus our lighter for the stove and oven broke the other day, so we are
basically living ghetto. We borrowed our neighbours’ the other day, but feel too
awkward to ask to borrow it again haha; so we just ate cucumber and tuna, then
mozz with tomato. Thennnnn gelato haha. So, we ate abbastanza bene. After that,
we studied the lingua. After that, we went to see R :)))))) She is so awesome!
We decided to speak about covenants we make with God and based the lesson on
the talk given by Jean A Stevens in October 2014 titled 'Figlie di Dio
nell'alleanza', since she wants to prepare for the temple :) She loved it. One
part that I particularly liked in the talk was where she invited us to think of
our baptismal covenants and of it’s significance (individually for each one of
us), then emphasised the importance of always looking toward the temple:
"Think
back and picture your own baptismal day. Whether you can remember many details
or just a few, try to feel now the significance of the covenant you
individually made. Having been called by your own name, you were immersed in
water and came forth as God’s daughter--a covenant daughter (or son), one
willing to be called by the name of His Son and promising to follow Him and
keep His commandments.
Covenants
with God help us to know who we really are. They connect us to Him in a
personal way, through which we come to feel our value in His sight and our
place in His kingdom. In a way we can’t fully comprehend, we are known and
loved individually by Him. Think of it--each of us holds such a place in His
heart. His desire is that we will choose the path that will bring us home to
Him.
As
essential and significant as the covenant of baptism is, it is only the
beginning--the gate that puts us on the path to eternal life. Ahead on our
journey are temple covenants to be made and Priesthood ordinances to receive.
As Elder David A. Bednar reminds us, “As we stand in the waters of baptism, we
look to the temple.”
It
is not only in making covenants, but also in faithfully keeping these covenants
that we are prepared to receive eternal life. That is our Hope, our Goal, and
our Joy."
She
later continued ...
"If
we are to receive all the blessings God so generously offers, our earthly path
must lead to the temple. Temples are an expression of God’s love. He invites us
all to come, learn of Him, feel His love and receive the Priesthood ordinances
necessary for eternal life with Him. Each covenant is made one by one. Every
mighty change of heart matters to the Lord. And yours will make all the
difference to you. For as we go to His holy house, we can be “armed with [His]
power, … [His] name … upon [us], … [His] glory … round about [us], and [His]
angels have charge over [us].”
I
just think that the way she puts it is so simple, yet so beautiful. Covenants
are sacred, and it is a blessing that each one of us has, to make covenants
with our Creator! :)
After
her, we headed to the chapel to help the Anziani set up for the activity.
Tried. We tried to get there early. Our original plan was to get 3 buses that
we know very well, but R told us that we could take the 3 or just the 1 straight
to church. Well, we followed her instructions, but didn’t cross the road, so we
went on the full giro of the number 1 route. Never again will we be taking that
bus!!! We made it barely just in time for the activity. It went really well
though. We began with a small clip of the importance of doing all we can to
keep our family unified. Then each of us bore our testimonies, then we invited
some members to. Betty bore hers. She spoke how the recipient to a happy family
is love. :) and service. Love her. Oh, and talking about Betty, she will get
baptised in 2 weeks!!! :) ) so that is exciting!!! During the activity we spoke
to a few people that aren't members, some contacts and some friends of members.
Then Fratello S came up to me and was all excited and was like 'Sorella
Robertson did you know Chris Hughes is coming in September and he is staying
with us!!' Hahaha he's so sweet!!! Love that family. It was awesomeeee. Then at
the end, the Anziani took us home. So lucky they have a car!! :)
Saturday: We
went to the park to do findinggggggg. On the way to the park we met an Indian
man, teelling some random things on the side of the road. We spoke to a few
people and actually found a young guy who used to do Family History and so knew
a bit about our beliefs. His name was F. He seemed really cool. I'm hoping we
will be able to meet up with him within the next few weeks, so please pray for
him! After that, we did some more 'flushing' and booked an appointment with an
ex. Simp, who had already planned to invite us over for dinner tomorrow,
so I'm super excited for that!! :) Then some other people said they would love
to see us again, so we set up some more appointments for next week with old
contacts and previous investigators :) speriamo bene! After that, we did 'bus
finding', so we cracked open our Restoration pamphlets, sat in different spots
next to people and just started reading them. (This works every time, plus it's
awesome for practising the language). I sat next to an African man, probably in
his mid 50’s. Within about 4 minutes of me sitting there, I noticed him looking
every now and again, then after a bit he asked me (in Italian) if I was a
Mormon. Then obviously I said yes, then asked him what he knew and he told me
that he used to meet with them and he has a Book of Mormon in French.. So then
that just all lead onto the whole Restoration lesson. He remembered some bits
from before. He told me that he hadn't yet been to our church, but that he had
been looking at other churches because 'Like your Joseph Smith, I am searching
for the truth' unfortunately his stop came and he rushed off before I had
chance to get his number to talk some more, but I managed to give him our
number and told him to call. I hope so badly that he calls, he is so ready! So
frustrated that I didn't ask for his number earlier! While this was all
happening, my awesome lil verdina was also having a conversation with the lady
she was sat next to! She is doing so so well and handles situations wayyyyyy
better than I did as a greenie! After that, we had pranzo and lingua. Then we
went to meet J, one of the contacts from the phone. I wasn't really sure he
would actually meet us, but we planned to meet him on his road. HE CAME. We
went to his house, there was a ton of family and friends there doing their own
thing. We spoke to him about our purpose and briefly went over the restoration.
The setting wasn't really ideal. So much going on, lots of noise, but then we
invited him to church. He said initially that he already has a church, but in
the end he asked us to write down the directions to the church and said he will
come. When we were discussing where it is, one of the ladies in the house
explains perfectly to him, then told us that she used to go, until her American
friends went away. That was kinda sad and I didn't know what to say, so I was
like 'Well, now there are new American friends and an English friend and a
friend from Bolivia'! She was just like 'Ah, nice' .. not sure if she'll come
too, but J said he will! :) He was awesome! After that, we planned to do some
less active finding in the city (Quartu). On the way a few funny things
happened. A really weird old man squirted my foot with a hosepipe and sat there
like he didn't do anything. Then there was literally an Italian twin of Justin
Bieber and I was really confused, cus he actually was like Justin Bieber, but
Italian, so that was weird. Then we tried asking a lady for directions and she
thought we were trying to talk about religion and she was like no no no; then
we were like 'no no stiamo cercando per Via San Benedetta' and the she
listened... Con piacere... Finally we found the less actives’ house after
walking for like 1 hour .. to find that she doesn't even live there anymore, or
so said one of the other men that live there. So then by this time we needed to
head home ‘cus we were in the literal middle of nowhere. Got the first bus, SAW
FLAMINGOS, but didn't get a pic ‘cus the bus was full. Sorry. Next time! Then
got the second bus home. Planned. Ate ice cream. Melon. Pasta.
Sunday:
suuuuundayyyyyy. We left to go to church. The lesson 'The sacred callings of
fathers and mothers'!!! I was asked to share my thoughts and experience of
eating together as a family. So I thought back to when I was at home and
remembered that although some days we were busy and different people came home
at different times due to college and work, but whenever we could, we would eat
dinner together. I never really thought of that as necessarily a 'bonding' or
'strengthening' thing before, as it was just something we did, but as I was
able to reflect on something as simple as that, I actually realised how much I
appreciate the effort my parents went to, in order for us to eat together as a
family whenever possible. Especially after church. That is something I miss a
lot. You take things like that for granted until you're at the point where you're
not there doing it anymore, so I just wanted to thank them for that. After that,
the Anziani did an awesome lesson 'The Church of Jesus Christ in former times'.
They make it look so easy and they just do such an awesome job with it. I play
the piano and choose the hymns every week for sacrament meeting, so that's
awesome and it again reminds me of home :)) After that, AUNTY SHELLY’S FRIEND
CAME WITH THE CUTEST LIL PACKAGE FROM THEM!!!!!
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| A Package from Aunty Shelly ;-) |
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| Sorella Roberts and Myself with Aunty Shellys friend Elena (right) |
It was adorable .. and her
friend was the sweetest most awesome person ever! She gave me a hug from
Michelle and from home too. :) sooo SHOUT
OUT TO AUNTY MICHELLE!!! I love you!!!! (There's a pic I have attached and the
cute old lady is the one and only R!) After that we went home and ate, studied
Italiano, then had correlation. That was great. Then we had a lesson with
Sorella A, her daughter and sister. It went well. We began asking them all what
role religion has played in their lives (pmg style), then spoke about how the
gospel has blessed us in our families and did the spiritual thought taken from
Alma. I think I've explained that one before. I learnt it in Pescara from
Anziano Kawaii. Then we came home and made callsssssssss. Tomorrow the Anziani
want to go bowling with us, woooooo!
Week 6 Cagliari
Monday: Today was
awesomeeee. We actually did p’day with the Anziani for once! We met them near
their house and headed to Via Roma, cus Anz Teichert wanted to get souvenirs
(he finishes next week); then I also wanted to find something for Beth! After
that we did spesa! (So much quicker, cus we had the car.. They drove us around
everywhere haha! Then after spesa.. We went to go bowlinggggg. I lost!
 |
| P-Day Bowling with the Anziani |
 |
| P-Day fun - Bowling |
Moving
on.. Then we played air hockey, then we met with AD and her cousin, who the Anziani
are teaching and then we ate! Then we went to do email! I didn't get to email
many people, cus my iPad was playing up and so was the Internet. :( I don't
know why, so sorry to anyone who I didn't respond to! I even tried messaging
Michelle to thank her for the package, but it didn't send. I'll try again next
week! After that, we went to do a lesson with R. Weeeeeee did the Restoration really
simply and throughout we asked questions, so at the start we spoke of how God
is our loving Heavenly Father, then asked her what God has given her to show
his love. After a while she said 'felicità' (happiness) then prophets, we asked
her what a prophet is and if she could name some from the Bible. She said 'eve'
to start with, but after we explained the question again, she said Abraham :) Then
we just did that throughout to make sure she understood. She comes to church
EVERY Sunday, says that she reads the Book of Mormon, but doesn't remember anything
and WANTS to be baptised, but is still waiting for an answer that the Book of
Mormon is true. We both love her A LOT. After that, we met the Anziani and the
investigators in the park for the usual FHE. We played Ninja. Then spoke to
them all. Me and Roberts did a spiritual thought. We began by getting them each
to name something that they are grateful for, then we shared part of the talk
by Dieter F Uchtdorf 'Grateful in Every Circumstance', then the scripture in
D&C 78:19 and it went well! Then we went homeeeee and planned! Tomorrow
looks like an awesome FULL day, so we are contente!
Tuesday:
first we met V in the park. We spoke about her conversion story, how she met
the missionaries etc. then spoke about baptismal covenants and the blessing
that each of us has of renewing those covenants every Sunday when we take the
sacrament. She was super nice to us, so I think she's warming to us, and that's
super sweet. After that we got a bidone, so did some area book finding. There
is a ton of that, as before there used to be 4 Sorelle, so that's awesomeeeee!
Then we saw R, based our spiritual thought on the talk given by Elder Russell M
Nelson 'The Sabbath is a Delight'. It went really well and she told us that
when she goes to church it feels like it's the 1st time again. It's just hard
for her to actually come, cus of work and stuff, but we are working on it.
The desire is definitely there! I love her :) oh, sad news though - one of her
gerbils died. Then we went straight to see Betty. HER BAPTISM IS NEXT SATURDAY
(22nd) woooooohoooooo!!!!! So we are just making sure we get everything covered
before the big day! Then we headed to English course. Hahahahahahahahahahaah
lollllll. We actually saw Betty at her Mom’s house who lives rightttt on the
other side of town, so to get to the church we needed to take 2 busses, both of
which were 1) running late and 2) managed to stop at EVERY red light, so bear
in mind that English course starts at 1900. We got there at 1950. Luckily for
us the Anziani are awesome and they just combined both classes, without fuss. I
felt so bad. We were told it would take 30/45 mins to get to church. 1.30 hours
later.... Hahahaha, so that was our day!
Wednesday.
DDM. Anziano Ray brought the 'surprise activity'...
Worm
cheese: cheese that worms eat then poo out then eat again the poo out... I
don't know how many times. It's a delicacy. So gross, but it's a sad thing and
I was put under pressure, so yes, we all ate it! I'm no longer a dignified
woman!!! I ate the poo of a worm!!!
 |
| Casu Marzu - Or Worm Poo Cheese! |
MOOOOVING ON .. we also did transfer predictions.
For me and Roberts, we all knew we'd stay, same for Mic and Jorgenson. We knew that
Cab would stay too... AND I TOTALLY CALLED THAT ANZIANO MOLNAR WOULD COME!!!
Then, that Anz Ray would leave, so we were all right. Then for Teichert the Anz
like, tried to guess how long it would take him to get married, hahaha death
transfer predictions are the most awkward. Then after DDM and pranzo we went to
see an ex simp. He works in this big park not too far from our house, so we met
him there. We spoke about our purpose, then began the Restoration. He's awesome
and super open and promised to read the Book of Mormon, sooooo vediamo fra un
po'!! After that, we did a bit of finding. Then we saw R :)
Thursday:
first we saw M. Got E to come (member present lesson woopwoop). We did the
Restoration, cus she didn't remember anything. It went so well. E is awesome. I
love that girl. She is actually from Milan and is waiting for her mission call
:)))), so we are super excited for her. M told us that she knows the Book of
Mormon is true (again), so this next week we're gonna do the baptismal invitation
again. After that, our day was full of bidone’s. Ferragosto week. Woo. So we
did more area book finding and that was basically our day.
Friday:
weekly planning session... Betty. We planned her baptism and went over a few
more commandments. It went really well. Then we went to the chapel to practise
a musical number with the Anziani. (They have a baptism scheduled for Sunday).
After that, we went to see A and that went really well. We again spoke about
covenants. She asked us how we renew our baptismal covenant, so we explained the
sacrament. She is so awesome and I feel like we're good friends :) She's the
best!
Saturday.
Because of Ferragosto, we had 'deep cleaning' day, so that took us forever. We
reorganised the house and gave it a real good clean. Sorella Roberts loved this
day. Haha. She likes cleaning things, so that was cool. After that, the Anziani
came to help us out moving some stuff like old mattresses, broken chairs,
broken exercise bike etc. They're so awesome. Probably the best I've met in the
mission in all honestly. They're always happy to help us and really watch out
for us, so that's a huge blessing. :)
Sunday:
churchhhh. We gave the gospel principles lesson. 'The Church of Jesus Christ Today'.
It seemed to go really well. Sorella Roberts is awesome – so blessed to have
her! I chose and played the hymns. Anziano Teichert gave his farewell
testimony. A ton of the girls were all emotional, hahaha. Then we went home,
had pranzo, studied the language and made cookies for the Anziani to show our
appreciation. They came like 30 mins early to pick us up for correlation, soooo
that was awks, cus we were in the middle of doing the cookies hahaha. Anyways,
we had correlation and said goodbye to the Anziani, then did more area book
finding. We got a ton of ex Simps. :) and that was that.
It's
always sad when someone finishes the mission. Every area I've been in has had a
missionary 'die'. Part of me is really excited for them to start getting on to
next phase of life, but the other part of me feels kinda sorry for them, cus
the mission here in Italy ends. I can't even imagine how I'm gonna feel in less
than 6 months’ time. I don't like thinking about it now. The thought of coming
home brings very strong bitter sweet feelings. Sweet as heck, cus I've missed
you all more than words can describe and cannot wait for the day we're together
again, but bitter as heck, cus I love the mission so much and I don't know what
I'm even gonna do when I finish this. Ahhhhh. Anyways. Thought of the week. Ha.
The
church is true. Keep your testimonies precious. Guard them and nurture them
like you'd do so with a new born baby. This is cheesy, but it's important.
Missionary work is the best. I can't wait to help the missionaries in the
England Birmingham Mission. It's gonna be so fun!
I
love you and miss you.
BACI
E ABBRACCI mwah mwah mwah xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
