Con amore,
Sorella FlansbergThe district.. :) Don't ask me what Anziano Tew is doing.
Waiting to Skype... I was so anxious! But my family is real folks!
Missing baby Jesus.. :)
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Week 31:
Con amore,
Sorella FlansbergThe district.. :) Don't ask me what Anziano Tew is doing.
Missing baby Jesus.. :)
Week 31: Almost 2016!!
Hello and merry late Christmas to y'all:
Christmas in Italy was so great. We loved getting to skype our
families and watching two approved Disney movies, and spending time
with our district.
P-day last week, we had decided to go Catholic Church nativity
hunting. We heard that the churches have pretty awesome ones to see.
But there is a tradition in Italy where you don't place baby Jesus
until Christmas Eve. So the one church we went to had Mary and Joseph
and an empty manger. We kind of joked around a bit about the missing
baby Jesus, but then we realized what Christmas would be like if Jesus
was missing. Obviously, there would be no Christmas at all. This year
while in Italy, I was given the opportunity to reflect more on why the
baby Jesus was born instead of how. Every year before, I thought about
the humble circumstances of the stable. But how grateful I am for the
birth of my Savior and for what that single event meant for the rest
of the world. That event started the unlocking of the door between us
in our fallen state and the perfected state we all want to reach.
Without the birth of Christ, the atonement never would have happened
and we would never be worthy to live in Heavenly Father's presence
again. I count my blessings everyday that I get to share the sweet
message of Jesus Christ and what it means for each of us.
Monday night, we received a call from the Anziani B here in Catania
meaning the district leader. We learned that Anziano Bellini is
getting emergency transferred. It wasn't really emergency since he
can't leave until tomorrow. But we are all sad for him. He has really
come to love the city and the people love him too because he can speak
Italian with an Italian accent. But with this transfer, it also means
that I am the only missionary in this city that has been here for more
than 2 transfers. Go me! ;)
Wednesday, all our plans fell through.. Again. Christmas week, yo. :)
I felt like we needed to go to Librino... A little area outside the
city. An ex-investigator came to church and wanted a Book of Mormon
and we exchanged phone numbers. So we had been trying to call her for
a while and she never responded, so because missionaries keep the area
book up, we had her address. There are also a bunch of less actives
who live in that area, so we took a field trip. I guess I should
preface this story by saying Librino is surrounded by places that say,
"for the love, no", "don't go here", "not allowed", "all kinds of
sketchy". We just called the Anziani and told them to keep their phone
on. Haha.. But we went, rode a bus there, and we tried to find
Rosaria. No such luck. We did leave a BOM on the floor where it said
she lived, and we went and knocked on some less active doors. Nobody
was interested in a 5 minute Christmas message and we left without
doing anything as some people would say. All I know is that I felt
like we needed to go down there. And I know that what we did, someone
needed it, even if the trip seemed pointless. We'll see. (Vediamo.)
Thursday, Christmas Eve was going to be a really good day. It ended up
not going as planned, but what day ever does that as a missionary? It
started with us riding a bus. It is a longer bus ride so we decided to
sit when we got the chance. This lady comes and sits across from us
and asks us who we are. It ends up that she is a Jehovah's Witness.
She asked if we had ever read the Bible, we said that we have studied
it. And after we explained the BOM with her, she shows us the
scripture in Revelation where it says "nobody can add to this.." And
then she said that Joseph Smith wrote the BOM after that revelation so
it can't be true. We attempted to explain that we don't believe that
Joseph Smith wrote the BOM, and that he actually translated the record
from plates that were engraved 600 years before Christ was born. She
wanted nothing to do with that, and we stopped talking while she kept
arguing. It was time for us to get off, and so I said, "we don't want
to argue with you and we need to get off." (Non vogliamo litigare con
te, e dobbiamo scendere.) She continued to follow us up the aisle of
the bus. I was just grateful that I kept my head. I realized it wasn't
worth it to argue with her even though it would have been so easy.
That night, our plans fell through again and we didn't have a dinner
appointment. President said that going door to door on Christmas Eve
wasn't allowed, so we went home and made a makeshift couch out of
extra mattresses and watched the Joseph Smith movie. We ate a bunch of
junk food and had a lot of fun. I am grateful for my testimony that
Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he translated the Book of
Mormon.
Christmas was a blast. We had an appointment with Sorella Bachetti and
the Battezato family. It was a really fun lunch appointment. We talked
a lot about missionary work as Gabriele is on a mission as well. It's
really fun when you get to the point in the language when you can
understand all the stories and also tell stories. My personality is
starting to form in Italian. Woohoo! We also ate a lot of good food. I
was so full and made a joke about how I was grateful that Skype is
only from the chest up. Haha... Why is Italian food so good? :)
Christmas movies. We were allowed to watch 2. After the skype call, we
watched The Incredibles. And on Boxing Day (for my lovely Australian
companion).. Basically just another day to celebrate Christmas, we
watched Narnia with the whole district. It was kind of funny because
throughout the movies, we still found spiritual messages in both of
them. I wonder if I'll ever be able to watch a movie like a normal
person again. But I learned from The Incredibles that it is never good
to lie to your spouse and that you can do anything that you put your
mind to. And Narnia has a TON of symbolism regarding the Plan of
Salvation, and it was really cool to watch that. A Disney movie
strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ. Sounds weird, I know.
On Sunday after church, we got a call from the zone leaders saying
that Dallin H. Oaks was in Rome and that he was doing a conference for
the missionaries and it would be broadcasted. Haha.. It's funny how
members of the church literally fan boy or fan girl over the apostles
and we drop anything and everything to go listen to them. We were
like, we're down. (Ci stiamo.) The computer ended up being super lame
and we only got to see the last 15 minutes, but it was really great. I
will just be super jealous of all the missionaries who were serving in
Rome on Sunday.
Sunday night as I was writing in my journal, our sweet neighbor who is
also deaf turned on the Catholic prayer channel. It just reminded me
of Music 101, Jake, with all the ancient Latin music we listened to. I
just love Italy so much!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Christmas in Italy was so great. We loved getting to skype our
families and watching two approved Disney movies, and spending time
with our district.
P-day last week, we had decided to go Catholic Church nativity
hunting. We heard that the churches have pretty awesome ones to see.
But there is a tradition in Italy where you don't place baby Jesus
until Christmas Eve. So the one church we went to had Mary and Joseph
and an empty manger. We kind of joked around a bit about the missing
baby Jesus, but then we realized what Christmas would be like if Jesus
was missing. Obviously, there would be no Christmas at all. This year
while in Italy, I was given the opportunity to reflect more on why the
baby Jesus was born instead of how. Every year before, I thought about
the humble circumstances of the stable. But how grateful I am for the
birth of my Savior and for what that single event meant for the rest
of the world. That event started the unlocking of the door between us
in our fallen state and the perfected state we all want to reach.
Without the birth of Christ, the atonement never would have happened
and we would never be worthy to live in Heavenly Father's presence
again. I count my blessings everyday that I get to share the sweet
message of Jesus Christ and what it means for each of us.
Monday night, we received a call from the Anziani B here in Catania
meaning the district leader. We learned that Anziano Bellini is
getting emergency transferred. It wasn't really emergency since he
can't leave until tomorrow. But we are all sad for him. He has really
come to love the city and the people love him too because he can speak
Italian with an Italian accent. But with this transfer, it also means
that I am the only missionary in this city that has been here for more
than 2 transfers. Go me! ;)
Wednesday, all our plans fell through.. Again. Christmas week, yo. :)
I felt like we needed to go to Librino... A little area outside the
city. An ex-investigator came to church and wanted a Book of Mormon
and we exchanged phone numbers. So we had been trying to call her for
a while and she never responded, so because missionaries keep the area
book up, we had her address. There are also a bunch of less actives
who live in that area, so we took a field trip. I guess I should
preface this story by saying Librino is surrounded by places that say,
"for the love, no", "don't go here", "not allowed", "all kinds of
sketchy". We just called the Anziani and told them to keep their phone
on. Haha.. But we went, rode a bus there, and we tried to find
Rosaria. No such luck. We did leave a BOM on the floor where it said
she lived, and we went and knocked on some less active doors. Nobody
was interested in a 5 minute Christmas message and we left without
doing anything as some people would say. All I know is that I felt
like we needed to go down there. And I know that what we did, someone
needed it, even if the trip seemed pointless. We'll see. (Vediamo.)
Thursday, Christmas Eve was going to be a really good day. It ended up
not going as planned, but what day ever does that as a missionary? It
started with us riding a bus. It is a longer bus ride so we decided to
sit when we got the chance. This lady comes and sits across from us
and asks us who we are. It ends up that she is a Jehovah's Witness.
She asked if we had ever read the Bible, we said that we have studied
it. And after we explained the BOM with her, she shows us the
scripture in Revelation where it says "nobody can add to this.." And
then she said that Joseph Smith wrote the BOM after that revelation so
it can't be true. We attempted to explain that we don't believe that
Joseph Smith wrote the BOM, and that he actually translated the record
from plates that were engraved 600 years before Christ was born. She
wanted nothing to do with that, and we stopped talking while she kept
arguing. It was time for us to get off, and so I said, "we don't want
to argue with you and we need to get off." (Non vogliamo litigare con
te, e dobbiamo scendere.) She continued to follow us up the aisle of
the bus. I was just grateful that I kept my head. I realized it wasn't
worth it to argue with her even though it would have been so easy.
That night, our plans fell through again and we didn't have a dinner
appointment. President said that going door to door on Christmas Eve
wasn't allowed, so we went home and made a makeshift couch out of
extra mattresses and watched the Joseph Smith movie. We ate a bunch of
junk food and had a lot of fun. I am grateful for my testimony that
Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he translated the Book of
Mormon.
Christmas was a blast. We had an appointment with Sorella Bachetti and
the Battezato family. It was a really fun lunch appointment. We talked
a lot about missionary work as Gabriele is on a mission as well. It's
really fun when you get to the point in the language when you can
understand all the stories and also tell stories. My personality is
starting to form in Italian. Woohoo! We also ate a lot of good food. I
was so full and made a joke about how I was grateful that Skype is
only from the chest up. Haha... Why is Italian food so good? :)
Christmas movies. We were allowed to watch 2. After the skype call, we
watched The Incredibles. And on Boxing Day (for my lovely Australian
companion).. Basically just another day to celebrate Christmas, we
watched Narnia with the whole district. It was kind of funny because
throughout the movies, we still found spiritual messages in both of
them. I wonder if I'll ever be able to watch a movie like a normal
person again. But I learned from The Incredibles that it is never good
to lie to your spouse and that you can do anything that you put your
mind to. And Narnia has a TON of symbolism regarding the Plan of
Salvation, and it was really cool to watch that. A Disney movie
strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ. Sounds weird, I know.
On Sunday after church, we got a call from the zone leaders saying
that Dallin H. Oaks was in Rome and that he was doing a conference for
the missionaries and it would be broadcasted. Haha.. It's funny how
members of the church literally fan boy or fan girl over the apostles
and we drop anything and everything to go listen to them. We were
like, we're down. (Ci stiamo.) The computer ended up being super lame
and we only got to see the last 15 minutes, but it was really great. I
will just be super jealous of all the missionaries who were serving in
Rome on Sunday.
Sunday night as I was writing in my journal, our sweet neighbor who is
also deaf turned on the Catholic prayer channel. It just reminded me
of Music 101, Jake, with all the ancient Latin music we listened to. I
just love Italy so much!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, December 21, 2015
Pictures!
Sorella Flansberg Me and the Aussie
Abbracci e baci, The spray paint artist.. :)
The picture I bought.. :)
Week 30: Merry Christmas!
Hello!
Merry Christmas to everybody! This is my favorite time of the year!
And I am absolutely loving my first Italian Christmas! :)
This week was really great! It also seemed like the longest but
shortest week of my life! On Tuesday, we had a specialized training
with Presidente and Sorella Waddoups. The zone leaders and STL's gave
an Addestramento about repentance. They talked about how sin is like a
dirty pair of clothing and how there is still a child of God
underneath all the clothing. When we repent, we take the dirty clothes
off and put clean ones on. They shared a little story about a beggar
man who wanted to go to a royal banquet. He decided to go to the king
and ask for one of his old robes in exchange for his rags. The king
said yes, and told him that it would last forever and he wouldn't need
his old rags anymore. But the beggar didn't believe him. He picked up
his old clothes and carried them around with him wherever he went. He
didn't enjoy himself at the banquet because his dirty clothes kept
slipping out. And even though he had on this grand robe, everyone
still paid attention only to the little sack of dirty clothes hanging
around his waist. In the end, the robe actually did last forever and
he felt silly for clinging onto his old rags for his entire life when
he should have just trusted in the new robe. The story has a sad
ending, but I really liked all the symbolism. I have to remember to
get the real version of the story from Anziano Stanley. Then they
challenged us to find something that is holding us back from being the
best missionaries that we can be and to throw it away and enjoy
wearing our new robes or in other words, to trade our rags for robes.
After that, we acted out the nativity. I was an angel, and it was
really fun. I haven't acted it out since I was like 5. They took a
picture of the zone in all our costumes and will be posting it on the
blog on Christmas morning. So look for me with a halo on top of my
head. :) I also got a few things for Christmas. I am being obedient
and I haven't opened them yet. We got Christmas cards from the first
presidency, the mission DVD for the year, and new pillows!
Wednesday was an awesome day! We were busy, we ate lots of food, and
we met a whole bunch of people! After our afternoon appointment, we
were walking to catch a bus to the church when we saw this man
painting something with spray paint. Because I'm a geek, we stopped to
watch. When we stopped, he had a piece of paper with orange painted on
the bottom, blue on the top, and a big white circle. And he literally
painted a full moon, a starry night sky, a tree, a forest, two
waterfalls, and a pool of water all with spray paint. And we watched
it unfold before our eyes. I thought it was so cool, and I had to buy
it.. it was only 10€. :) He also knew about the church and said he had
tried to read the Book of Mormon before but there were a lot of
unfamiliar words to him. So we asked if he would want the Anziani to
help him, he said yes, and we got his phone number. I also got a
picture with him since he is the master creator with spray paint. :)
Thursday on the way home from English course, we were on the bus and
this woman got on with her son and another girl we've met before. I
started talking to the three of them and eventually I asked for the
lady's phone number. She seemed really sweet. We did a lot of
contacting this week, and we have quite a few potentials. :) One of
our goals this week is to get some new investigators because we
haven't had anybody new for the past 6 weeks. We're excited.
Friday morning, we went to sing at an old folks home. We sang a few
Christmas carols and ate Pandoro and visited with the women there. It
was a really fun experience. And doing actual service activities is
really fun as missionaries. So many of the people there perked up and
the Christmas spirit lit up their smiles. We gave a Book of Mormon to
one of the employees and she seemed really really sweet. We hope
something comes of that.
Saturday evening, we went to the piazza in town with the university
buildings in centro and we sang carols with a few ward members and the
youth. One of the young women played the saxophone and we sang along.
A lot of people stopped to listen and a few of the missionaries
pounced. We placed an entire box of Books of Mormon. And we sang
Angels We Have Heard on High a few times more than I might have
necessarily liked. But it was really fun. After we finished singing,
we had a district challenge to finish placing the box of books and we
were successful. We got a few phone numbers out of it too. :)
Christmas makes people more open to listening to a message about
Christ.
Sunday was a really great day at church. We are going to Sorella
Battezato's moms house for Christmas. We really didn't want to be a
burden on ward members, so we were grateful when she invited us. She
was going to be alone as Sorella Battezato will be waiting for a Skype
call from her son, and we didn't want her to be alone. Plus she is a
really great cook. We also ate there on Sunday, and we ate something
that seemed like an American crock pot meal. It was delicious! :) We
had a lesson with Kiran and she was talking about how I had a really
hard time when I first got out on the mission, and how I was thinner
back then. I was like, "thanks Kiran!" *rolls eyes* haha.. Obviously I
had a hard time for awhile. New language, new culture, everything
else. Haha... Oh well. She's become as blunt as real Italians, but I
love her to pieces.
This morning, we had technicians to come over to fix our heat. Our
thermostat was broken and the water heater had a leak. But they fixed
it and it is the best Christmas present ever. :) now our house is
warmer than 60 degrees.
I read a talk this week called the 4th missionary. It was so good as
it talked about how we can be obedient but resentful obedient
missionaries, or we can turn our will over to God, be obedient, and
gain something from our missions. I loved how he said that life is
always dynamic. Every choice we make moves us either closer to Christ
or farther from Christ. It is a good talk to read even for not
missionaries as we all need to learn how to accept God's will
cheerfully and happily and hopefully.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Buon Natale! And remember
the reason for the season in the midst of all the rest. I love the
church video that talks about what the world would be like if we
didn't have a Savior. I am so grateful for my savior Jesus Christ. I
learn every day a little more about the sacrifice he made. He did it
because he loves us. And he did it for me, and for all of you. We are
never alone. And we can never go to far to be able to come back into
the fold. And to make this email go full round, this Christmas season,
trade your rags for robes and enjoy the banquet of the atonement.
Vi voglio bene! :)
Sorella Flansberg
Merry Christmas to everybody! This is my favorite time of the year!
And I am absolutely loving my first Italian Christmas! :)
This week was really great! It also seemed like the longest but
shortest week of my life! On Tuesday, we had a specialized training
with Presidente and Sorella Waddoups. The zone leaders and STL's gave
an Addestramento about repentance. They talked about how sin is like a
dirty pair of clothing and how there is still a child of God
underneath all the clothing. When we repent, we take the dirty clothes
off and put clean ones on. They shared a little story about a beggar
man who wanted to go to a royal banquet. He decided to go to the king
and ask for one of his old robes in exchange for his rags. The king
said yes, and told him that it would last forever and he wouldn't need
his old rags anymore. But the beggar didn't believe him. He picked up
his old clothes and carried them around with him wherever he went. He
didn't enjoy himself at the banquet because his dirty clothes kept
slipping out. And even though he had on this grand robe, everyone
still paid attention only to the little sack of dirty clothes hanging
around his waist. In the end, the robe actually did last forever and
he felt silly for clinging onto his old rags for his entire life when
he should have just trusted in the new robe. The story has a sad
ending, but I really liked all the symbolism. I have to remember to
get the real version of the story from Anziano Stanley. Then they
challenged us to find something that is holding us back from being the
best missionaries that we can be and to throw it away and enjoy
wearing our new robes or in other words, to trade our rags for robes.
After that, we acted out the nativity. I was an angel, and it was
really fun. I haven't acted it out since I was like 5. They took a
picture of the zone in all our costumes and will be posting it on the
blog on Christmas morning. So look for me with a halo on top of my
head. :) I also got a few things for Christmas. I am being obedient
and I haven't opened them yet. We got Christmas cards from the first
presidency, the mission DVD for the year, and new pillows!
Wednesday was an awesome day! We were busy, we ate lots of food, and
we met a whole bunch of people! After our afternoon appointment, we
were walking to catch a bus to the church when we saw this man
painting something with spray paint. Because I'm a geek, we stopped to
watch. When we stopped, he had a piece of paper with orange painted on
the bottom, blue on the top, and a big white circle. And he literally
painted a full moon, a starry night sky, a tree, a forest, two
waterfalls, and a pool of water all with spray paint. And we watched
it unfold before our eyes. I thought it was so cool, and I had to buy
it.. it was only 10€. :) He also knew about the church and said he had
tried to read the Book of Mormon before but there were a lot of
unfamiliar words to him. So we asked if he would want the Anziani to
help him, he said yes, and we got his phone number. I also got a
picture with him since he is the master creator with spray paint. :)
Thursday on the way home from English course, we were on the bus and
this woman got on with her son and another girl we've met before. I
started talking to the three of them and eventually I asked for the
lady's phone number. She seemed really sweet. We did a lot of
contacting this week, and we have quite a few potentials. :) One of
our goals this week is to get some new investigators because we
haven't had anybody new for the past 6 weeks. We're excited.
Friday morning, we went to sing at an old folks home. We sang a few
Christmas carols and ate Pandoro and visited with the women there. It
was a really fun experience. And doing actual service activities is
really fun as missionaries. So many of the people there perked up and
the Christmas spirit lit up their smiles. We gave a Book of Mormon to
one of the employees and she seemed really really sweet. We hope
something comes of that.
Saturday evening, we went to the piazza in town with the university
buildings in centro and we sang carols with a few ward members and the
youth. One of the young women played the saxophone and we sang along.
A lot of people stopped to listen and a few of the missionaries
pounced. We placed an entire box of Books of Mormon. And we sang
Angels We Have Heard on High a few times more than I might have
necessarily liked. But it was really fun. After we finished singing,
we had a district challenge to finish placing the box of books and we
were successful. We got a few phone numbers out of it too. :)
Christmas makes people more open to listening to a message about
Christ.
Sunday was a really great day at church. We are going to Sorella
Battezato's moms house for Christmas. We really didn't want to be a
burden on ward members, so we were grateful when she invited us. She
was going to be alone as Sorella Battezato will be waiting for a Skype
call from her son, and we didn't want her to be alone. Plus she is a
really great cook. We also ate there on Sunday, and we ate something
that seemed like an American crock pot meal. It was delicious! :) We
had a lesson with Kiran and she was talking about how I had a really
hard time when I first got out on the mission, and how I was thinner
back then. I was like, "thanks Kiran!" *rolls eyes* haha.. Obviously I
had a hard time for awhile. New language, new culture, everything
else. Haha... Oh well. She's become as blunt as real Italians, but I
love her to pieces.
This morning, we had technicians to come over to fix our heat. Our
thermostat was broken and the water heater had a leak. But they fixed
it and it is the best Christmas present ever. :) now our house is
warmer than 60 degrees.
I read a talk this week called the 4th missionary. It was so good as
it talked about how we can be obedient but resentful obedient
missionaries, or we can turn our will over to God, be obedient, and
gain something from our missions. I loved how he said that life is
always dynamic. Every choice we make moves us either closer to Christ
or farther from Christ. It is a good talk to read even for not
missionaries as we all need to learn how to accept God's will
cheerfully and happily and hopefully.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Buon Natale! And remember
the reason for the season in the midst of all the rest. I love the
church video that talks about what the world would be like if we
didn't have a Savior. I am so grateful for my savior Jesus Christ. I
learn every day a little more about the sacrifice he made. He did it
because he loves us. And he did it for me, and for all of you. We are
never alone. And we can never go to far to be able to come back into
the fold. And to make this email go full round, this Christmas season,
trade your rags for robes and enjoy the banquet of the atonement.
Vi voglio bene! :)
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, December 14, 2015
Week 29: don't have a title for this week
Dear people I love:
I'm getting bored of addressing my emails the same way. So, I might
get a bit creative in the next few weeks. Okay... To get this off my
list so I don't have to think about it anymore... The mission sent out
release dates this week for the entire next year. They asked us to
tell our families and people.. So, I will be getting off an airplane
at the Reno Tahoe International Airport on November 15, 2016. Be there
to pick me up please! ;) Okay, no more thinking about that...
This week was not my favorite. I spent the first part of the week in
Siracusa. On Monday, we went Christmas shopping in Ortigia. The only
thing I bought was for me. I think I have this Christmas thing wrong,
haha. I bought a really nice skirt from Zara. It is a long pencil
skirt with a slit but the slit doesn't come above my knee. It is
adorable, and you will see it on November 15, 2016. I felt kind of
silly buying something for after the mission, but it was too cute to
pass up. And it was only 18€.
Tuesday, I went to lessons with them since I still didn't have a
companion and we did English course and family home evening. Nothing
too exciting, other than the fact that I was still sick and I had to
run around Siracusa for a few days. We came back to Catania on
Wednesday, I felt horrible. I received a blessing and rested the rest
of that day. Thursday was transfer day and we had a lot to do. I woke
up without a voice, we had to meet Sorelle at the airport at noon, we
had a lesson, and then we had to be at the station at 5:20. We barely
made it in time and I credit it all to miracles from Heavenly Father.
Then I picked up Sorella Davison and we went to English course.
A little bit about Sorella Davison. She was born in Sydney, Australia
but her family now lives in Newcastle. She has 7 siblings and she
studied nursing. She has a boyfriend at home, and she has been out for
a year. We are probably at the same level as far as the language goes,
and as she would say, we are getting on great. I'm learning a new
vocabulary, haha..
Trackie dacks: sweats
Jumper: sweatshirt
Getting on: getting along
Shrapnel: change(money)
Foot-paths: sidewalks
Capsicum: bell pepper
She definitely has an accent, but she says it isn't as strong as it
was. They don't pronounce the r's and she says a's differently.
Overall, she is the Australian twin of Bella Favero.
Friday and Saturday, I had no voice. It was a very unfortunate case of
laryngitis, and I still sound a bit croaky, but it's coming back. It's
hard to introduce someone to a city or form a friendship when you
can't talk. But Sorella Davison was very patient. We both have a
desire to work hard, and this city has a lot of potential. So... I am
very excited! Speaking of which, Catania is pronounced Ca-tawn-ya. But
it would be pronounced ca-tan-ee-a if it was a normal Italian word. I
asked about that too, but I can't remember the reasoning. It might be
Greek or something.
Because I didn't have a voice, we organized the area book a bit and I
learned how to do area book finding for the next time that it rains.
I'm always learning something new. I also still haven't figured out
the not feeling guilty about staying in when I don't feel well. I have
the "I'm a missionary.. I don't have time to be sick." Mentality stuck
right now.
On Sunday, the ward had the primary program. My heart melted watching
the kids get up and bear testimony about the Savior in Italian. And
the singing was adorable too. Gah... Kids here are too cute!
Sunday night, we watched the Christmas devotional. It was so good! I
really enjoyed all of the talks. I feel like this Christmas is going
to have a lot more meaning this year. And I feel really blessed to not
be in the center of all the commercialism. It's kind of nice
disappearing out of the world for 18 months. :)
We have a Specialized training tomorrow. It should be really good. I'm
sad it is only going to be 2 hours long, because I cherish all the
time we get for those. So, look for pictures on the blog.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy holidays! Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
I'm getting bored of addressing my emails the same way. So, I might
get a bit creative in the next few weeks. Okay... To get this off my
list so I don't have to think about it anymore... The mission sent out
release dates this week for the entire next year. They asked us to
tell our families and people.. So, I will be getting off an airplane
at the Reno Tahoe International Airport on November 15, 2016. Be there
to pick me up please! ;) Okay, no more thinking about that...
This week was not my favorite. I spent the first part of the week in
Siracusa. On Monday, we went Christmas shopping in Ortigia. The only
thing I bought was for me. I think I have this Christmas thing wrong,
haha. I bought a really nice skirt from Zara. It is a long pencil
skirt with a slit but the slit doesn't come above my knee. It is
adorable, and you will see it on November 15, 2016. I felt kind of
silly buying something for after the mission, but it was too cute to
pass up. And it was only 18€.
Tuesday, I went to lessons with them since I still didn't have a
companion and we did English course and family home evening. Nothing
too exciting, other than the fact that I was still sick and I had to
run around Siracusa for a few days. We came back to Catania on
Wednesday, I felt horrible. I received a blessing and rested the rest
of that day. Thursday was transfer day and we had a lot to do. I woke
up without a voice, we had to meet Sorelle at the airport at noon, we
had a lesson, and then we had to be at the station at 5:20. We barely
made it in time and I credit it all to miracles from Heavenly Father.
Then I picked up Sorella Davison and we went to English course.
A little bit about Sorella Davison. She was born in Sydney, Australia
but her family now lives in Newcastle. She has 7 siblings and she
studied nursing. She has a boyfriend at home, and she has been out for
a year. We are probably at the same level as far as the language goes,
and as she would say, we are getting on great. I'm learning a new
vocabulary, haha..
Trackie dacks: sweats
Jumper: sweatshirt
Getting on: getting along
Shrapnel: change(money)
Foot-paths: sidewalks
Capsicum: bell pepper
She definitely has an accent, but she says it isn't as strong as it
was. They don't pronounce the r's and she says a's differently.
Overall, she is the Australian twin of Bella Favero.
Friday and Saturday, I had no voice. It was a very unfortunate case of
laryngitis, and I still sound a bit croaky, but it's coming back. It's
hard to introduce someone to a city or form a friendship when you
can't talk. But Sorella Davison was very patient. We both have a
desire to work hard, and this city has a lot of potential. So... I am
very excited! Speaking of which, Catania is pronounced Ca-tawn-ya. But
it would be pronounced ca-tan-ee-a if it was a normal Italian word. I
asked about that too, but I can't remember the reasoning. It might be
Greek or something.
Because I didn't have a voice, we organized the area book a bit and I
learned how to do area book finding for the next time that it rains.
I'm always learning something new. I also still haven't figured out
the not feeling guilty about staying in when I don't feel well. I have
the "I'm a missionary.. I don't have time to be sick." Mentality stuck
right now.
On Sunday, the ward had the primary program. My heart melted watching
the kids get up and bear testimony about the Savior in Italian. And
the singing was adorable too. Gah... Kids here are too cute!
Sunday night, we watched the Christmas devotional. It was so good! I
really enjoyed all of the talks. I feel like this Christmas is going
to have a lot more meaning this year. And I feel really blessed to not
be in the center of all the commercialism. It's kind of nice
disappearing out of the world for 18 months. :)
We have a Specialized training tomorrow. It should be really good. I'm
sad it is only going to be 2 hours long, because I cherish all the
time we get for those. So, look for pictures on the blog.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy holidays! Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, December 7, 2015
Pictures!
Sorella FlansbergEnglish course!
District #4 :)
Week 28: volcanic eruptions and other fun stuff
Dear family and friends:
This week has been anything but calm and serene. I don't think I've
had a crazier week yet on my mission. Actually, I can't remember...
But here are some highlights.
-emergency transfers
-dying companion
-transfer calls
-baby cold
-Mt. Etna erupting twice
-and being in a trio with the Siracusa Sorelle
Monday night, we went to see Laura. She is one of our wonderful less
actives and we went over at 6 to help her learn some English and then
we were going to stay for a family home evening and dinner (cena).
When we got there, we discovered that she had no voice. Like barely
even a whisper. It is hard to teach English when they can't talk, but
she offered to find our mothers on Facebook and write a message to
them in English. It was nice to get to know her a little better. Then,
we shared the new Christmas video with them. I love this video so
much, and it was such a helpful tool to use in lessons this week. It
quickly brings the spirit in and helps them remember why we celebrate
Christmas.
Wednesday, we had DDM in the morning, and we did transfer predictions
and everyone predicted that I was leaving. We also predicted when
Sorella Decker is going to get married. ;) After DDM, a senior couple
drove us home to do an apartment inspection. It was nice because we
finally got to tell someone how ghetto our apartment is. (No heat, no
toilet seat, window that is stuck open, bathroom sink that leaks onto
the floor, and a toilet that sprays clean water out the back every
time it flushes). Mission life really does teach you what you can and
can't live without. The rest of the day was spent saying goodbye to
people. I kind of half said goodbye to everyone because I didn't know
what was going to happen. Then we ran... Almost literally to Kiran's
house. Like 2.5 miles in 30 minutes where we had dinner with them.
Thursday morning, we went to see one of our investigators who is
dating a member, Nicoletta. It was perfect, because Marco had just
received the Melchizedek priesthood a week ago and so she wanted to
know what that was. We were like, well let us explain. All of her
questions went right in order with the restoration lesson, and it was
wonderful. She then asked what needs to happen before she gets
baptized and we set a date with her for January 9. Later that day, I
got an email from a friend who ended her week with 4 baptisms, and
here we are celebrating a bap date. It's the little victories. ;)
Thursday night, the Messina Sorelle came to stay with us because
Sorella Embley was getting emergency transferred to Rome. (We learned
from them that Mt. Etna had erupted because there was ash all over
Messina. The smoke column was 4 km high). Sorella Embley had a flight
the next morning at 7:20 so we had to be at the airport at 5:30
meaning we had to wake up at 3:30. Because this was so last minute, we
already had plans for the rest of the day... So we couldn't get extra
sleep even though the zone leaders told us to. After we dropped her
off, the new companion was going to land at 9:30.. But it ended up
being 11:20 before she got off the plane and found her luggage. So we
sat waiting for 6 hours in the airport of Catania. Also I started to
not feel well Thursday morning. Yay for being sick 3 times in 6
months...
More about the volcanic eruption: we didn't even know it happened.
Haha, but I am safe. All the snow that was on Mt. Etna melted...
Obviously. ;) I think there might have been a small earthquake, but I
didn't feel that either.
Then we went to the Battezato's house for pranzo and the funeral of
Sorella Decker. It was really fun, and I absolutely love their house!
It was adorable, and definitely the cutest one I have seen here in
Catania. It's just way out in the middle of nowhere, so we had never
seen it before. Pranzo was delicious, and as always... The company was
great! Then the Siracusa Sorelle came that night so I would have a
companion after dropping Sorella Decker off at the train station.
Also, over the course of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we walked
approximately 15 miles. This is what happens when the month changes
and we don't have bus passes anymore. Can anyone else believe that it
is December?
Saturday morning, I said goodbye to Sorella Decker. It was quick, and
painless.. Kind of like waxing your eyebrows except for the painless
part. We were outside waiting for Gabriella and then she ended up not
coming, so we ran back to the binario and she gave me a quick hug and
she hopped on the train. Then the waiting game began. Transfer call
days are so stressful. We couldn't plan anything because we didn't
know if I was staying or if I was going. So we waited while we did
personal study, and companion study, and then we waited while we
cleaned the house a bit, and then we waited while we did language
study, and while we ate pranzo. I was getting just a bit antsy. So 4.5
hours later, I called the assistants. They didn't answer, and so I
called Sorella Waddoups. And....
I'm staying for five in Catania. My new companion is Sorella Davison
(I'm staying with the d name trend) and she is Australian. She is
going into her 9th transfer. Even though the next 8 weeks are going to
be tough because 5 transfers in any city is tough, not even counting
that it is my birth city.. I'm excited that I get to stay with who
I've heard is a really good, and fun companion. Right after we got the
call, we packed up our bags and we headed to Siracusa because Sorella
Thorpe is going to Bari and we figured we would spend the next 3 days
there so she can say goodbye to people. As we were leaving, we heard
that Mt. Etna erupted again. Haha... Active volcanoes, cool stuff.
Sunday was weird. It is weird not being in your ward and without your
own (proprio) companion. But it was a good Sunday nonetheless here in
Siracusa. This city is so different from Catania. Nobody is on the
streets and it is so quiet. Siracusa is like the calm, cool and
collected beach town, and Catania is like the party it up all night
kind of town. At least I'm not breathing in ash. :) News update: there
is lava flowing down Mt. Etna now. Also, I ate a pasta dish with fish
in it tonight. It was like the small version of mussels. I don't know
what they are called. It was good preparation for Christmas Eve since
they eat fish that night. The zone leaders called to tell me that a
lot of people asked where I was at church today. I guess they missed
me. Little do they know, I will still be part of their lives for
another 8 weeks. How lucky are they? ;)
I read a talk this week by Neal A. Maxwell called "brightness of hope"
and he said that "genuine hope gives spiritual spunk". This quote made
me remember when I was in the MTC and dad said I was spunky. Now I
know what he really meant. ;) But I really liked that quote because
when we are hopeful, we know who we are and we know why we are here
and where we are going. When we are confident, we are able to be more
"spunky".
My other thought from this week is from a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland
called, "io credo" or "Lord, I believe." He talked about the story
from Mark where a man's son is having seizures and he asks the savior
to heal him. The man says that he believes, but help thou my unbelief.
Jeffrey R. Holland pointed out that he acknowledges first what he does
believe and then he asks for help to believe what he doesn't. It's not
about our level of faith or the amount of knowledge we have, but about
how we show the faith we do have when experiences become challenging.
Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Enjoy the holiday season.
I am thoroughly enjoying seeing all the lights go up here in Italy.
The Main Street in Catania has lights all up and down. I think they
are waiting until December 8 to light them all up. The 8th is the
immaculate conception... A Catholic holiday. I guess it is a big deal.
:)
Vi voglio un mondo di bene!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
This week has been anything but calm and serene. I don't think I've
had a crazier week yet on my mission. Actually, I can't remember...
But here are some highlights.
-emergency transfers
-dying companion
-transfer calls
-baby cold
-Mt. Etna erupting twice
-and being in a trio with the Siracusa Sorelle
Monday night, we went to see Laura. She is one of our wonderful less
actives and we went over at 6 to help her learn some English and then
we were going to stay for a family home evening and dinner (cena).
When we got there, we discovered that she had no voice. Like barely
even a whisper. It is hard to teach English when they can't talk, but
she offered to find our mothers on Facebook and write a message to
them in English. It was nice to get to know her a little better. Then,
we shared the new Christmas video with them. I love this video so
much, and it was such a helpful tool to use in lessons this week. It
quickly brings the spirit in and helps them remember why we celebrate
Christmas.
Wednesday, we had DDM in the morning, and we did transfer predictions
and everyone predicted that I was leaving. We also predicted when
Sorella Decker is going to get married. ;) After DDM, a senior couple
drove us home to do an apartment inspection. It was nice because we
finally got to tell someone how ghetto our apartment is. (No heat, no
toilet seat, window that is stuck open, bathroom sink that leaks onto
the floor, and a toilet that sprays clean water out the back every
time it flushes). Mission life really does teach you what you can and
can't live without. The rest of the day was spent saying goodbye to
people. I kind of half said goodbye to everyone because I didn't know
what was going to happen. Then we ran... Almost literally to Kiran's
house. Like 2.5 miles in 30 minutes where we had dinner with them.
Thursday morning, we went to see one of our investigators who is
dating a member, Nicoletta. It was perfect, because Marco had just
received the Melchizedek priesthood a week ago and so she wanted to
know what that was. We were like, well let us explain. All of her
questions went right in order with the restoration lesson, and it was
wonderful. She then asked what needs to happen before she gets
baptized and we set a date with her for January 9. Later that day, I
got an email from a friend who ended her week with 4 baptisms, and
here we are celebrating a bap date. It's the little victories. ;)
Thursday night, the Messina Sorelle came to stay with us because
Sorella Embley was getting emergency transferred to Rome. (We learned
from them that Mt. Etna had erupted because there was ash all over
Messina. The smoke column was 4 km high). Sorella Embley had a flight
the next morning at 7:20 so we had to be at the airport at 5:30
meaning we had to wake up at 3:30. Because this was so last minute, we
already had plans for the rest of the day... So we couldn't get extra
sleep even though the zone leaders told us to. After we dropped her
off, the new companion was going to land at 9:30.. But it ended up
being 11:20 before she got off the plane and found her luggage. So we
sat waiting for 6 hours in the airport of Catania. Also I started to
not feel well Thursday morning. Yay for being sick 3 times in 6
months...
More about the volcanic eruption: we didn't even know it happened.
Haha, but I am safe. All the snow that was on Mt. Etna melted...
Obviously. ;) I think there might have been a small earthquake, but I
didn't feel that either.
Then we went to the Battezato's house for pranzo and the funeral of
Sorella Decker. It was really fun, and I absolutely love their house!
It was adorable, and definitely the cutest one I have seen here in
Catania. It's just way out in the middle of nowhere, so we had never
seen it before. Pranzo was delicious, and as always... The company was
great! Then the Siracusa Sorelle came that night so I would have a
companion after dropping Sorella Decker off at the train station.
Also, over the course of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we walked
approximately 15 miles. This is what happens when the month changes
and we don't have bus passes anymore. Can anyone else believe that it
is December?
Saturday morning, I said goodbye to Sorella Decker. It was quick, and
painless.. Kind of like waxing your eyebrows except for the painless
part. We were outside waiting for Gabriella and then she ended up not
coming, so we ran back to the binario and she gave me a quick hug and
she hopped on the train. Then the waiting game began. Transfer call
days are so stressful. We couldn't plan anything because we didn't
know if I was staying or if I was going. So we waited while we did
personal study, and companion study, and then we waited while we
cleaned the house a bit, and then we waited while we did language
study, and while we ate pranzo. I was getting just a bit antsy. So 4.5
hours later, I called the assistants. They didn't answer, and so I
called Sorella Waddoups. And....
I'm staying for five in Catania. My new companion is Sorella Davison
(I'm staying with the d name trend) and she is Australian. She is
going into her 9th transfer. Even though the next 8 weeks are going to
be tough because 5 transfers in any city is tough, not even counting
that it is my birth city.. I'm excited that I get to stay with who
I've heard is a really good, and fun companion. Right after we got the
call, we packed up our bags and we headed to Siracusa because Sorella
Thorpe is going to Bari and we figured we would spend the next 3 days
there so she can say goodbye to people. As we were leaving, we heard
that Mt. Etna erupted again. Haha... Active volcanoes, cool stuff.
Sunday was weird. It is weird not being in your ward and without your
own (proprio) companion. But it was a good Sunday nonetheless here in
Siracusa. This city is so different from Catania. Nobody is on the
streets and it is so quiet. Siracusa is like the calm, cool and
collected beach town, and Catania is like the party it up all night
kind of town. At least I'm not breathing in ash. :) News update: there
is lava flowing down Mt. Etna now. Also, I ate a pasta dish with fish
in it tonight. It was like the small version of mussels. I don't know
what they are called. It was good preparation for Christmas Eve since
they eat fish that night. The zone leaders called to tell me that a
lot of people asked where I was at church today. I guess they missed
me. Little do they know, I will still be part of their lives for
another 8 weeks. How lucky are they? ;)
I read a talk this week by Neal A. Maxwell called "brightness of hope"
and he said that "genuine hope gives spiritual spunk". This quote made
me remember when I was in the MTC and dad said I was spunky. Now I
know what he really meant. ;) But I really liked that quote because
when we are hopeful, we know who we are and we know why we are here
and where we are going. When we are confident, we are able to be more
"spunky".
My other thought from this week is from a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland
called, "io credo" or "Lord, I believe." He talked about the story
from Mark where a man's son is having seizures and he asks the savior
to heal him. The man says that he believes, but help thou my unbelief.
Jeffrey R. Holland pointed out that he acknowledges first what he does
believe and then he asks for help to believe what he doesn't. It's not
about our level of faith or the amount of knowledge we have, but about
how we show the faith we do have when experiences become challenging.
Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Enjoy the holiday season.
I am thoroughly enjoying seeing all the lights go up here in Italy.
The Main Street in Catania has lights all up and down. I think they
are waiting until December 8 to light them all up. The 8th is the
immaculate conception... A Catholic holiday. I guess it is a big deal.
:)
Vi voglio un mondo di bene!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, November 30, 2015
Week 27: thanksgiving, coldness, and little boy kisses
Dear family and cari amici:
This week has been so good! And this p-day has been amazing. I am in
love with Italy. :)
On Monday, as you saw from pictures... We went to Ortigia which is a
small island off the city of Syracuse or Siracusa. It was absolutely
beautiful, and I died a million times over. Giant piazzas, beautiful
buildings, lovely CLEAN streets, and so many picture taking
opportunities! It is the city where Archimedes grew up. Someday I will
go back with my nice camera and never leave. ;)
Tuesday, I went on a scambio with Sorella Thorpe. All but one of our
lessons ended up falling through, but I think the purpose of a scambio
is for more than doubling the amount of lessons we could have. It's
nice to have someone else to talk to, as much as I LOVE Sorella
Decker. The one lesson we did have was with Rossella. She is an
English course student and loves the missionaries. We read the intro
of the Book of Mormon and Moroni's promise, and then the spirit
prompted me to do an impromptu baptism invite... Scariest thing I've
ever done and so unexpected, but it felt right. And she accepted..
Without attaching a date to it. So fun to feel Heavenly Father working
through you. :)
Thursday was thanksgiving... And it turned into a really cold,
uneventful day. It was raining in the morning when we went to figure
out the bus times, and it stayed cold and windy all day. Humidity and
wind makes for freezing sister missionaries. We went to the Foulk
family for thanksgiving. They made turkey, Mac and cheese, mashed
potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, pulled pork, and A&W root beer.
They also invited an Italian sister over whose husband is on leave and
her mother. The sister speaks English, and then there were 3 kids all
together. The Italians brought lasagna and cannoli, so it was a nice
blend of Italian and American deliciousness. It was so nice of them to
invite us over. We had figured all the bus times out, so it would work
perfectly, and they dropped us off at the stop 15 minutes before the
bus was to get there. And we wait, and we wait, and we wait some more.
No bus. It is freezing. And we wait, and wait... And still no bus.
Finally an hour and a half later, we called the Foulk's back...
Feeling really horrible the whole time... And Zach came and rescued us
and took us back to Catania. We still feel really bad... But
thanksgiving memories. Next one... I'll be home. Ahh! Weird to think
about! They also gave us leftovers and they were just as good the
second day. Italians don't believe in leftovers, but they are missing
out.
It has been really cold the last few days, which calls for tights,
boot socks, wool skirts, and my wool coat. Yes, I finally broke it out
of my suitcase. And our house doesn't have heaters and we have a
window that will forever be stuck open. Haha... It makes it really
hard to get up in the morning.
My 6 months and Sorella Decker's 17 months happened this week. We
didn't celebrate... Because we were broke. Now that I have less than a
year left in this beautiful place, it makes me a little sad. My life
will be forever changed from this experience, and I wouldn't change my
decision to come for anything.
Transfer calls are haunting me. I am so torn on what I want to happen.
Sorella Decker leaves Saturday morning, and then I will find out what
is happening a few hours after she leaves. I don't want to think I am
leaving... And it is only the really selfish part of me that wants to
leave. But the work would fall apart here. So, I read a verse in 2
Nefi in Italian and it talked about reconciling yourself with the will
of God. I know that whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. If I
stay, I hope I get a younger missionary so I will not be the "greenie"
anymore. Stay tuned until next week. :)
Saturday night, we went finding. I've decided that it takes two kinds
of faith to go. One to actually leave the house into the cold air to
talk to strangers, and then two... The faith that it will work.
Finding definitely isn't my favorite thing not because I don't like to
talk to strangers or because I'm afraid of rejection.. But Catania is
a really hard place to find good places to go finding. If you go to
downtown, everyone is too busy to talk to you, if you go to the
historic parts, everyone is a tourist, and if you go to parks, you'll
talk to a bunch of creeps. Hopefully if I stay, I will discover a good
place to go.
Sunday... We spent a lot of time with the Bruno's who are now ward
missionaries. We went to see Jennifer together because she is sick.
Bro. Bruno gave her a blessing, and as we were leaving... (We usually
ask for a bacio from the boys. A kiss on the cheek. And in Italy, it
is perfectly acceptable for girls to baciare girls and boys to boys)
.. It is really just touching cheeks to greet each other. Anyways, we
ask Emmanuel for un bacio... And he does.. And then Bro. Bruno asks
and he says.. "Sei un maschio" or you are boy! Haha... He refused to
do it.. And it was the cutest thing I have ever seen.
In my studies this week, I especially enjoyed 2 Nefi 11. Nefi is
explaining why he likes Isaiah, and why he uses Isaiah so much.. And
he said because Isaiah has seen Christ as I have seen him. And I
realized that Isaiah is one of the most powerful testimonies of Christ
as the savior in all accounts of scripture. He also talked about how 3
witnesses are used to establish truth.. And how his soul delights in
proving to his fellow men that Jesus is the Christ. I loved this
because, my soul also delights in demonstrating that Jesus is the
Christ. That is why I am on a mission. Because Jesus Christ has
changed my life, and I want to show others how he can do the same for
them.
Well, I am glad you all had a great thanksgiving! Vi voglio un mondo
di bene. :)
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
This week has been so good! And this p-day has been amazing. I am in
love with Italy. :)
On Monday, as you saw from pictures... We went to Ortigia which is a
small island off the city of Syracuse or Siracusa. It was absolutely
beautiful, and I died a million times over. Giant piazzas, beautiful
buildings, lovely CLEAN streets, and so many picture taking
opportunities! It is the city where Archimedes grew up. Someday I will
go back with my nice camera and never leave. ;)
Tuesday, I went on a scambio with Sorella Thorpe. All but one of our
lessons ended up falling through, but I think the purpose of a scambio
is for more than doubling the amount of lessons we could have. It's
nice to have someone else to talk to, as much as I LOVE Sorella
Decker. The one lesson we did have was with Rossella. She is an
English course student and loves the missionaries. We read the intro
of the Book of Mormon and Moroni's promise, and then the spirit
prompted me to do an impromptu baptism invite... Scariest thing I've
ever done and so unexpected, but it felt right. And she accepted..
Without attaching a date to it. So fun to feel Heavenly Father working
through you. :)
Thursday was thanksgiving... And it turned into a really cold,
uneventful day. It was raining in the morning when we went to figure
out the bus times, and it stayed cold and windy all day. Humidity and
wind makes for freezing sister missionaries. We went to the Foulk
family for thanksgiving. They made turkey, Mac and cheese, mashed
potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, pulled pork, and A&W root beer.
They also invited an Italian sister over whose husband is on leave and
her mother. The sister speaks English, and then there were 3 kids all
together. The Italians brought lasagna and cannoli, so it was a nice
blend of Italian and American deliciousness. It was so nice of them to
invite us over. We had figured all the bus times out, so it would work
perfectly, and they dropped us off at the stop 15 minutes before the
bus was to get there. And we wait, and we wait, and we wait some more.
No bus. It is freezing. And we wait, and wait... And still no bus.
Finally an hour and a half later, we called the Foulk's back...
Feeling really horrible the whole time... And Zach came and rescued us
and took us back to Catania. We still feel really bad... But
thanksgiving memories. Next one... I'll be home. Ahh! Weird to think
about! They also gave us leftovers and they were just as good the
second day. Italians don't believe in leftovers, but they are missing
out.
It has been really cold the last few days, which calls for tights,
boot socks, wool skirts, and my wool coat. Yes, I finally broke it out
of my suitcase. And our house doesn't have heaters and we have a
window that will forever be stuck open. Haha... It makes it really
hard to get up in the morning.
My 6 months and Sorella Decker's 17 months happened this week. We
didn't celebrate... Because we were broke. Now that I have less than a
year left in this beautiful place, it makes me a little sad. My life
will be forever changed from this experience, and I wouldn't change my
decision to come for anything.
Transfer calls are haunting me. I am so torn on what I want to happen.
Sorella Decker leaves Saturday morning, and then I will find out what
is happening a few hours after she leaves. I don't want to think I am
leaving... And it is only the really selfish part of me that wants to
leave. But the work would fall apart here. So, I read a verse in 2
Nefi in Italian and it talked about reconciling yourself with the will
of God. I know that whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. If I
stay, I hope I get a younger missionary so I will not be the "greenie"
anymore. Stay tuned until next week. :)
Saturday night, we went finding. I've decided that it takes two kinds
of faith to go. One to actually leave the house into the cold air to
talk to strangers, and then two... The faith that it will work.
Finding definitely isn't my favorite thing not because I don't like to
talk to strangers or because I'm afraid of rejection.. But Catania is
a really hard place to find good places to go finding. If you go to
downtown, everyone is too busy to talk to you, if you go to the
historic parts, everyone is a tourist, and if you go to parks, you'll
talk to a bunch of creeps. Hopefully if I stay, I will discover a good
place to go.
Sunday... We spent a lot of time with the Bruno's who are now ward
missionaries. We went to see Jennifer together because she is sick.
Bro. Bruno gave her a blessing, and as we were leaving... (We usually
ask for a bacio from the boys. A kiss on the cheek. And in Italy, it
is perfectly acceptable for girls to baciare girls and boys to boys)
.. It is really just touching cheeks to greet each other. Anyways, we
ask Emmanuel for un bacio... And he does.. And then Bro. Bruno asks
and he says.. "Sei un maschio" or you are boy! Haha... He refused to
do it.. And it was the cutest thing I have ever seen.
In my studies this week, I especially enjoyed 2 Nefi 11. Nefi is
explaining why he likes Isaiah, and why he uses Isaiah so much.. And
he said because Isaiah has seen Christ as I have seen him. And I
realized that Isaiah is one of the most powerful testimonies of Christ
as the savior in all accounts of scripture. He also talked about how 3
witnesses are used to establish truth.. And how his soul delights in
proving to his fellow men that Jesus is the Christ. I loved this
because, my soul also delights in demonstrating that Jesus is the
Christ. That is why I am on a mission. Because Jesus Christ has
changed my life, and I want to show others how he can do the same for
them.
Well, I am glad you all had a great thanksgiving! Vi voglio un mondo
di bene. :)
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, November 23, 2015
Week 26: 1/3 done? Please tell me that isn't true....
Dear family and friends:
This has been a long week. The time warp quit working... Haha, just
kidding. But this week did seem really long. However, this next week,
I will hit my 6 month mark. How did that happen? I still am not quite
sure.
On Monday night, we had planned to help Jennifer move into her new
house, so we thought we were going to go to her old house and help her
pack up her things. But we arrived, and she said she was at her new
house, and we didn't know where that was. So, we went on a treasure
hunt. We would call her, and she would give us the next thing to look
for. Haha.. It was kind of fun. And it was refreshing because we wore
tennis shoes and sweats. I think that was the first time walking
around the city where my feet didn't hurt. Jennifer's new house is
wonderful and her landlord is literally an angel sent from heaven.
There are windows, and nice floors, and a little more space than her
other one.
On Tuesday, we had a lesson with our investigator, Gabriella. I don't
think I've told you about her before. Whoops! She is a golden simp and
we love her. She is adorable, and super short, and has such a blank
religious slate that we can write all over it. She asks a whole bunch
of questions, and she is already into second Nefi. Her boyfriend is
doing dialysis for liver failure from a drinking problem so she is all
about the word of wisdom. However, she isn't married, so we have to
work on that issue before she can get baptized. She is also like 50,
so I feel like the word boyfriend is a bit odd.
One day this week, we had like zero lessons planned. So, we took the
stop smoking program to one of the less actives we work with, and as
we were walking back, we stopped at a bancomat(ATM) for Sorella Decker
to get money. Then we both had the idea to go get French fries at this
place. Side note: this place puts sauce on French fries, like garlic
sauce and curry sauce. It's a thing from Holland, and if someone took
that idea to BYU, they would make bank. Copyright validated... :)
Anyways, we went to buy french fries and then got on the bus to go
home when we got a call from Marianne. She was having a really hard
time and because we didn't have plans, we were able to go and help
her. We have decided that this woman has so much faith and Heavenly
Father loves her so much because of all the miracles we have seen in
the past few weeks since we met her.
On Thursday, we had English course. Halfway through, Valentina asked
what the church's viewpoint is on war, and the entire English course
turned into a gospel discussion. It was really cool, and everybody was
listening to us very intently. I just love sharing the gospel, because
that is when I am the most happy.
Friday night, we had 2 hours to do finding. I was on a scambio with
Sorella Fuller, because we had the Messina Sorelle with us after the
training on Friday. I didn't really want to go finding, but I knew
that we needed to. So, we set a goal to get 2 numbers and have like 2
quality conversations. And we came back with 3 numbers and a work
location. I truly saw the blessings of setting a goal and having the
faith to go and talk to people on the street even when I didn't want
to walk any further or go out into the cold.
On Saturday, we had to go to Siracusa or Syracuse for stake
conference. We went to the bus stop to catch a bus to the train
station, and the bus sat there for literally 20 minutes and we had to
go, like we were going to miss the bus. So, I said an unspoken prayer
that the circular bus would come, and that we could get there on time.
And right before the driver of the bus drove away, there comes the
628. It was literally a miracle, because Heavenly Father knew I didn't
need any added stress... Not that I was stressed.. But it was a
blessing. Then we went to Siracusa and had stake conference. The
entire thing was about keeping the sabbath day holy. Even if I got
super bored after 4 hours of the sabbath day, I still learned
something. :)
In Italian, you say "observe the sanctity or sanctification of Sunday"
and someone mentioned that we should also observe the sanctification
of ourselves while we partake of the sacrament. Another person said
that there are cycles for everything.. Day and night, winter to
spring, and all of those cycles are meant for the earth to rest.
Humans need to rest too, so that cycle is consisted of 6 days of work
and 1 day of rest. The other thing I liked was someone said that the
sabbath is like a spiritual shower. It refreshes us and washes us
clean.
Two other things from this week. This weekend, we had a sleepover with
all 8 Sorelle since we were all here for stake conference. We are also
doing pday in Siracusa. It will be really fun. We are going to Ortigia
today that has a whole bunch of cool Greek ruins. I love this place.
Anyways, one of the Sorelle told us about the painting in the Sistine
chapel and how Michaelangelo added things that actually go against
Catholic doctrine. God and Adam have the same kind of body, Heavenly Father
and heavenly mother, the cherubim and the flaming sword, and Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Adam in the garden of Eden. :)
How cool is it to think those things are painted on the ceiling of the
headquarters of the Catholic Church? Haha.. It was cool to learn and
see on postcards that people have.
Then this week we also had specialized training. Nobody mentioned
seeing pictures so they probably aren't up yet... But it was so good!
I felt like every one of the trainings was meant for me and it was
such an answer to my prayers. Some of the things that I took from the
conference was that as missionaries, especially in other parts of the
world, disregard preach my gospel because they think it was written
for American missionaries. But as we worked with it a bit, I found a
new found appreciation for that book. Someone said that it was written
for us by someone who knows more than us. And if we don't use it, we
are making missionary work harder than it needs to be. And that
chapter 3 is only like 20 pages and the rest of that book is for the
missionaries. It was really enlightening. Then we talked about having
the faith to finish. Not necessarily finish the mission but finish
everything. They talked about how our happiest moments on the mission
are when we are out working and not when we are in bed sleeping. And
then they asked us rhetorically whether we have faith like Nephi or
Laman and Lemuel. They said that all of the brothers accepted the
mission call to collect the plates, but Laman and Lemuel were going to
give up when it started to get hard. It was just a really cool
comparison. Then president talked about how we receive and recognize
spiritual promptings and revelation. It was just a really great
conference and it got me all pumped up to be a better missionary.
Well, I love you all. Happy thanksgiving! We were actually invited to
the American base for thanksgiving, so I might be getting turkey after
all. Italians don't really celebrate thanksgiving. They don't even
really know when it is. It was fun to explain to them what we eat and
about Black Friday during English course. Americans are crazy! :)
Love you!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
This has been a long week. The time warp quit working... Haha, just
kidding. But this week did seem really long. However, this next week,
I will hit my 6 month mark. How did that happen? I still am not quite
sure.
On Monday night, we had planned to help Jennifer move into her new
house, so we thought we were going to go to her old house and help her
pack up her things. But we arrived, and she said she was at her new
house, and we didn't know where that was. So, we went on a treasure
hunt. We would call her, and she would give us the next thing to look
for. Haha.. It was kind of fun. And it was refreshing because we wore
tennis shoes and sweats. I think that was the first time walking
around the city where my feet didn't hurt. Jennifer's new house is
wonderful and her landlord is literally an angel sent from heaven.
There are windows, and nice floors, and a little more space than her
other one.
On Tuesday, we had a lesson with our investigator, Gabriella. I don't
think I've told you about her before. Whoops! She is a golden simp and
we love her. She is adorable, and super short, and has such a blank
religious slate that we can write all over it. She asks a whole bunch
of questions, and she is already into second Nefi. Her boyfriend is
doing dialysis for liver failure from a drinking problem so she is all
about the word of wisdom. However, she isn't married, so we have to
work on that issue before she can get baptized. She is also like 50,
so I feel like the word boyfriend is a bit odd.
One day this week, we had like zero lessons planned. So, we took the
stop smoking program to one of the less actives we work with, and as
we were walking back, we stopped at a bancomat(ATM) for Sorella Decker
to get money. Then we both had the idea to go get French fries at this
place. Side note: this place puts sauce on French fries, like garlic
sauce and curry sauce. It's a thing from Holland, and if someone took
that idea to BYU, they would make bank. Copyright validated... :)
Anyways, we went to buy french fries and then got on the bus to go
home when we got a call from Marianne. She was having a really hard
time and because we didn't have plans, we were able to go and help
her. We have decided that this woman has so much faith and Heavenly
Father loves her so much because of all the miracles we have seen in
the past few weeks since we met her.
On Thursday, we had English course. Halfway through, Valentina asked
what the church's viewpoint is on war, and the entire English course
turned into a gospel discussion. It was really cool, and everybody was
listening to us very intently. I just love sharing the gospel, because
that is when I am the most happy.
Friday night, we had 2 hours to do finding. I was on a scambio with
Sorella Fuller, because we had the Messina Sorelle with us after the
training on Friday. I didn't really want to go finding, but I knew
that we needed to. So, we set a goal to get 2 numbers and have like 2
quality conversations. And we came back with 3 numbers and a work
location. I truly saw the blessings of setting a goal and having the
faith to go and talk to people on the street even when I didn't want
to walk any further or go out into the cold.
On Saturday, we had to go to Siracusa or Syracuse for stake
conference. We went to the bus stop to catch a bus to the train
station, and the bus sat there for literally 20 minutes and we had to
go, like we were going to miss the bus. So, I said an unspoken prayer
that the circular bus would come, and that we could get there on time.
And right before the driver of the bus drove away, there comes the
628. It was literally a miracle, because Heavenly Father knew I didn't
need any added stress... Not that I was stressed.. But it was a
blessing. Then we went to Siracusa and had stake conference. The
entire thing was about keeping the sabbath day holy. Even if I got
super bored after 4 hours of the sabbath day, I still learned
something. :)
In Italian, you say "observe the sanctity or sanctification of Sunday"
and someone mentioned that we should also observe the sanctification
of ourselves while we partake of the sacrament. Another person said
that there are cycles for everything.. Day and night, winter to
spring, and all of those cycles are meant for the earth to rest.
Humans need to rest too, so that cycle is consisted of 6 days of work
and 1 day of rest. The other thing I liked was someone said that the
sabbath is like a spiritual shower. It refreshes us and washes us
clean.
Two other things from this week. This weekend, we had a sleepover with
all 8 Sorelle since we were all here for stake conference. We are also
doing pday in Siracusa. It will be really fun. We are going to Ortigia
today that has a whole bunch of cool Greek ruins. I love this place.
Anyways, one of the Sorelle told us about the painting in the Sistine
chapel and how Michaelangelo added things that actually go against
Catholic doctrine. God and Adam have the same kind of body, Heavenly Father
and heavenly mother, the cherubim and the flaming sword, and Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Adam in the garden of Eden. :)
How cool is it to think those things are painted on the ceiling of the
headquarters of the Catholic Church? Haha.. It was cool to learn and
see on postcards that people have.
Then this week we also had specialized training. Nobody mentioned
seeing pictures so they probably aren't up yet... But it was so good!
I felt like every one of the trainings was meant for me and it was
such an answer to my prayers. Some of the things that I took from the
conference was that as missionaries, especially in other parts of the
world, disregard preach my gospel because they think it was written
for American missionaries. But as we worked with it a bit, I found a
new found appreciation for that book. Someone said that it was written
for us by someone who knows more than us. And if we don't use it, we
are making missionary work harder than it needs to be. And that
chapter 3 is only like 20 pages and the rest of that book is for the
missionaries. It was really enlightening. Then we talked about having
the faith to finish. Not necessarily finish the mission but finish
everything. They talked about how our happiest moments on the mission
are when we are out working and not when we are in bed sleeping. And
then they asked us rhetorically whether we have faith like Nephi or
Laman and Lemuel. They said that all of the brothers accepted the
mission call to collect the plates, but Laman and Lemuel were going to
give up when it started to get hard. It was just a really cool
comparison. Then president talked about how we receive and recognize
spiritual promptings and revelation. It was just a really great
conference and it got me all pumped up to be a better missionary.
Well, I love you all. Happy thanksgiving! We were actually invited to
the American base for thanksgiving, so I might be getting turkey after
all. Italians don't really celebrate thanksgiving. They don't even
really know when it is. It was fun to explain to them what we eat and
about Black Friday during English course. Americans are crazy! :)
Love you!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, November 16, 2015
Week 25:
Hello to all of my favorite people:
This week had its ups and downs and roller coaster whirls just like
any other week in the mission. So to get started:
Tuesday, we got bidonied... Twice in fact. But to count the blessings,
we found out the lessons had been cancelled before we walked the mile
and half there and back two times.. If you haven't figured it out yet,
we walk a lot... So when we find out we don't have to walk as much, we
get really happy. So we decided to go pay our tickets for riding the
bus "naked". The lady who helped us was actually really sweet. Usually
office people are miserable to work with here, but she was really
happy and we invited her to come to church. Now we are happy because
we can ride the bus whenever we want since we have the monthly passes.
And yes, we have been using it to our advantage. We then went to a
Chinese store to buy a toilet seat. The one in my bathroom has been
broken for who knows how long.. So we measured it, got one we thought
would fit, went home... Too small. Went back, exchanged it for another
one, still too small. So as of right now, I am still toilet seat less.
It's either that or having my knees run into the sink in the other
bathroom. I think there is something wrong with that picture. But home
sweet home in our real ghetto apartment.
Wednesday after district meeting, we rode the bus home and we started
talking to these ladies. Eventually the conversation turned to where
we are from, so we said America.. Then the one lady was like, "I could
have guessed that... Look at her eyes and how tall she is. Obviously
American." So far, the project of me fitting in is a failure.
Then after that, we met with the lady from the Mauritius islands who
speaks French... And apparently better English than she let on. But we
were attempting to teach her some Italian in a piazza where there were
a bunch of old men sitting and playing cards. There were some men on
the bench across from us, and they were watching us and were very
amused with our trilingual conversation. M is so sweet and at
the end she said that, "seeing you two just makes my heart hot."
Seriously the cutest.
Thursday was transfer day! One of the sisters from Messina was leaving
to go to Bari, so we got to be in a trio with her companion or in
other words, Sorella Embley who was in my group. :) We are the only
two sisters who are still in our birth city... I guess us Eastern
Sicilians get to stay in one city for a long long time. We had a really
great lesson with G about the 10 commandments, obedience, and
the word of wisdom. We talked about how those teach us how to respect
God, respect others, and how to respect ourselves. I decided that I
don't really like transfer days, because quite often, we miss out on
personal studies. That is probably my favorite hour of the day, so
when I miss it... My day just doesn't feel complete.
Thursday night while on the bus to English course, I was surprised by
something. The drunk man who hates the bus system that I talked about
a few weeks ago got on the bus and looked all calm and peaceful and
kind of sad.. And as I was looking at him, I just felt this feeling of
pure love for him run through me. It's happened a few other times too.
One other time was when one sister in the ward said the prayer
in relief society. As she was praying, she sounded like a completely
different person, and her prayer was so sincere. That was a cool
experience. Then it happened again on Sunday during sacrament when one
of the creepers from English course came who is on again, off again
investigating the church. That time, I was like, "what's happening to
me? " but it just reminded me that I need to have charity for everyone
I run across. Even the people who seem different are children of God.
Friday just wasn't the best day I have ever had. I am pinning it on
the fact that it was Friday the 13th.. But it just wasn't a good day.
We had weekly planning that morning, which is always fun because I can
wear sweats all morning. Coming home at the end of the day and putting
sweats on is like my favorite part.. I hate skirts... Sometimes.
Friday afternoon, we had a lesson with a new convert, and that was
really interesting. Sorella Decker is really good at making people
spill their guts out at us. That evening, we had a lesson planned with
a members girlfriend. I think he told her beforehand that we were
American and we don't speak great Italian, so she came expecting us to
not be understandable. Comunque, the lesson was horrible. We were
saying complete sentences that were grammatically correct, but she
wasn't really listening and then her boyfriend would say the exact
same thing we said and she'd be like... Oh, okay. Then the member had
the nerve to say that I don't really speak Italian that great. Well,
no duh. I've been here for 4 months. I just really hate it when people
don't try to understand me. I am trying my hardest, and it's hard to
learn a new language. Then it also really annoys me when people speak
really fast, ask if I understand, and if I don't... They repeat
themselves in broken English. I mean it is really nice of them to try
to speak English, but if you slowed down a bit... I'd be able to
understand perfectly. #languageprobs
We had a lesson with G and I on Saturday night. It consisted
of an hour of chatting, a 10 minute spiritual thought, and 50 more
minutes of chatting. I actually think those two are professional
chatters. It is also literally impossible to get out of appointments
with them in less than 2 hours.. G kept saying how he know the
church is true, but right now he's happy where he is being an ex
member of the church. He thinks he can help more people come to the
gospel by being an outside perspective. He said he calls himself a
Mormon on vacation. I really wanted to ask him when he planned on
coming back from this vacation. The fun never ends around here.
Sunday was full of miracles again. Gabri came to church!!! Woohoo!
Also, Jen found a new house, so tonight we are going to help her
move. Those two things were enough to have the fact that Heavenly
Father answers prayers reconfirmed. :)
No additional spiritual thought this week. But I did want to talk
about how the attacks in France have impacted things here... It really
breaks my heart that people can do such horrible things. We learned of
the attacks on Saturday night at I and G"s. The first thing
we thought of was Sorella B, and how she must have been coping
with knowing her son is on a mission there. He is in Lyon, but still
in France. We were glad to hear that all missionaries were safe as
they happened after the time we are to be home. There are rules for
reasons. I guess the Lyon mission president had his missionaries not
leave their homes for a while. Everyone around here is worried that
the next attack will be on Rome. Italy is supposed to have 15 million
more tourists this next year alone for the Jubilee? Last week, the
Europe area presidency said that missionaries are no longer allowed to
teach immigrants without identification or permesso paperwork. I don't
know if it has something to do with all of this, but we also heard
that Italy is cracking down on letting people immigrate here now from
Africa. I don't really know much about what happened as I'm away from
the world right now, but my heart is saddened. And my prayers are with
the French. We might hear additional news from president today.
I actually read a really great talk this last week by Neal A. Maxwell.
It is called Applying the Atoning Blood of Christ from October 1997.
Add it to your reading list. It touched my heart. :)
I love you all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
This week had its ups and downs and roller coaster whirls just like
any other week in the mission. So to get started:
Tuesday, we got bidonied... Twice in fact. But to count the blessings,
we found out the lessons had been cancelled before we walked the mile
and half there and back two times.. If you haven't figured it out yet,
we walk a lot... So when we find out we don't have to walk as much, we
get really happy. So we decided to go pay our tickets for riding the
bus "naked". The lady who helped us was actually really sweet. Usually
office people are miserable to work with here, but she was really
happy and we invited her to come to church. Now we are happy because
we can ride the bus whenever we want since we have the monthly passes.
And yes, we have been using it to our advantage. We then went to a
Chinese store to buy a toilet seat. The one in my bathroom has been
broken for who knows how long.. So we measured it, got one we thought
would fit, went home... Too small. Went back, exchanged it for another
one, still too small. So as of right now, I am still toilet seat less.
It's either that or having my knees run into the sink in the other
bathroom. I think there is something wrong with that picture. But home
sweet home in our real ghetto apartment.
Wednesday after district meeting, we rode the bus home and we started
talking to these ladies. Eventually the conversation turned to where
we are from, so we said America.. Then the one lady was like, "I could
have guessed that... Look at her eyes and how tall she is. Obviously
American." So far, the project of me fitting in is a failure.
Then after that, we met with the lady from the Mauritius islands who
speaks French... And apparently better English than she let on. But we
were attempting to teach her some Italian in a piazza where there were
a bunch of old men sitting and playing cards. There were some men on
the bench across from us, and they were watching us and were very
amused with our trilingual conversation. M is so sweet and at
the end she said that, "seeing you two just makes my heart hot."
Seriously the cutest.
Thursday was transfer day! One of the sisters from Messina was leaving
to go to Bari, so we got to be in a trio with her companion or in
other words, Sorella Embley who was in my group. :) We are the only
two sisters who are still in our birth city... I guess us Eastern
Sicilians get to stay in one city for a long long time. We had a really
great lesson with G about the 10 commandments, obedience, and
the word of wisdom. We talked about how those teach us how to respect
God, respect others, and how to respect ourselves. I decided that I
don't really like transfer days, because quite often, we miss out on
personal studies. That is probably my favorite hour of the day, so
when I miss it... My day just doesn't feel complete.
Thursday night while on the bus to English course, I was surprised by
something. The drunk man who hates the bus system that I talked about
a few weeks ago got on the bus and looked all calm and peaceful and
kind of sad.. And as I was looking at him, I just felt this feeling of
pure love for him run through me. It's happened a few other times too.
One other time was when one sister in the ward said the prayer
in relief society. As she was praying, she sounded like a completely
different person, and her prayer was so sincere. That was a cool
experience. Then it happened again on Sunday during sacrament when one
of the creepers from English course came who is on again, off again
investigating the church. That time, I was like, "what's happening to
me? " but it just reminded me that I need to have charity for everyone
I run across. Even the people who seem different are children of God.
Friday just wasn't the best day I have ever had. I am pinning it on
the fact that it was Friday the 13th.. But it just wasn't a good day.
We had weekly planning that morning, which is always fun because I can
wear sweats all morning. Coming home at the end of the day and putting
sweats on is like my favorite part.. I hate skirts... Sometimes.
Friday afternoon, we had a lesson with a new convert, and that was
really interesting. Sorella Decker is really good at making people
spill their guts out at us. That evening, we had a lesson planned with
a members girlfriend. I think he told her beforehand that we were
American and we don't speak great Italian, so she came expecting us to
not be understandable. Comunque, the lesson was horrible. We were
saying complete sentences that were grammatically correct, but she
wasn't really listening and then her boyfriend would say the exact
same thing we said and she'd be like... Oh, okay. Then the member had
the nerve to say that I don't really speak Italian that great. Well,
no duh. I've been here for 4 months. I just really hate it when people
don't try to understand me. I am trying my hardest, and it's hard to
learn a new language. Then it also really annoys me when people speak
really fast, ask if I understand, and if I don't... They repeat
themselves in broken English. I mean it is really nice of them to try
to speak English, but if you slowed down a bit... I'd be able to
understand perfectly. #languageprobs
We had a lesson with G and I on Saturday night. It consisted
of an hour of chatting, a 10 minute spiritual thought, and 50 more
minutes of chatting. I actually think those two are professional
chatters. It is also literally impossible to get out of appointments
with them in less than 2 hours.. G kept saying how he know the
church is true, but right now he's happy where he is being an ex
member of the church. He thinks he can help more people come to the
gospel by being an outside perspective. He said he calls himself a
Mormon on vacation. I really wanted to ask him when he planned on
coming back from this vacation. The fun never ends around here.
Sunday was full of miracles again. Gabri came to church!!! Woohoo!
Also, Jen found a new house, so tonight we are going to help her
move. Those two things were enough to have the fact that Heavenly
Father answers prayers reconfirmed. :)
No additional spiritual thought this week. But I did want to talk
about how the attacks in France have impacted things here... It really
breaks my heart that people can do such horrible things. We learned of
the attacks on Saturday night at I and G"s. The first thing
we thought of was Sorella B, and how she must have been coping
with knowing her son is on a mission there. He is in Lyon, but still
in France. We were glad to hear that all missionaries were safe as
they happened after the time we are to be home. There are rules for
reasons. I guess the Lyon mission president had his missionaries not
leave their homes for a while. Everyone around here is worried that
the next attack will be on Rome. Italy is supposed to have 15 million
more tourists this next year alone for the Jubilee? Last week, the
Europe area presidency said that missionaries are no longer allowed to
teach immigrants without identification or permesso paperwork. I don't
know if it has something to do with all of this, but we also heard
that Italy is cracking down on letting people immigrate here now from
Africa. I don't really know much about what happened as I'm away from
the world right now, but my heart is saddened. And my prayers are with
the French. We might hear additional news from president today.
I actually read a really great talk this last week by Neal A. Maxwell.
It is called Applying the Atoning Blood of Christ from October 1997.
Add it to your reading list. It touched my heart. :)
I love you all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, November 9, 2015
Week 24: A week of firsts.. :)
Dear family and friends:
Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I had such a great day,
but you'll have to wait until the end to read more about it. :)
Okay, on Monday this last week, Sorella Decker and I splurged and went
to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Well, sort of fancy. We aren't that
rich... Haha, the first thing they bring us is two glasses of wine...
Haha, we looked at each other and were like uh....we didn't drink it
in case anyone was wondering. Anyways, it was really delicious. I
ordered the pistachio, bacon penne pasta and it was absolutely
delicious! I took my first bite and almost melted into my seat. The
restaurant was really cute, but the company wasn't that great. Well,
Sorella Decker was great, but there was a table of really rambunctious
English people across the room who made it not as enjoyable. I've
gotten to be really good at the game, "Guess where the tourist is
from." :)
Then Tuesday, our week began to go downhill. I think it was the worst
day of my mission so far, but it is far easier to have days like that
when you have a friend like Sorella Decker. So we started the morning
out with a bidone, or a cancelled appointment, so we decided to make
fudge for our recently released ward mission leader because he did so
much for us and we wanted to thank him. But it never hardened. Oh
well, we put it in the freezer and now it is like chocolate ice cream.
Back to Tuesday, then we walked the mile and a half to our next
appointment. She cancelled because she was sick, and our backup plan
fell through too. So, we decided to go to the church to make English
course posters to hang up. We do English course as a service to the
community, but it also makes for a great finding technique, however
right now... We just have a bunch of creeps who come so it helps the
sisters.. Aka us.. Squat. But as we are walking back to our house..
Sorella Decker gets pooped on by a pigeon right in her hair. She
decided to take a shower when we got back, and then we left for the
church. Before we sit down to wait for the bus, I had the thought.
"Hey, you should go buy a ticket." So I get my wallet out and walk up
to the booth, but it was closed. So I was like, oh well. It's their
fault if I don't have a ticket, because I am not going to walk all
over town to find a tabacheria. Plus, nobody EVER checks on this bus
anyways. But, at the first stop, guess who gets on? Ticket checkers!
So, they asked for my ID and I received a €60 fine. Sorella Decker got
one too, and we both resolved to never ride "naked" again... I was
really frustrated, because I am pretty sure it is a game that the bus
company plays to be able to fine more people. Oh well. At least it is
only 20 euros out of pocket because if we go pay it within 15 days, we
get a month pass that is worth 40 and we can get that reimbursed. That
was my first run in with the law. Oops! I'm pretty sure it was the
spirit reminding me to buy a ticket, but it didn't help with the
ticket booth being closed.
At the end of Tuesday, I felt like I needed to get a comfort blessing.
I had felt like I should get one 2 weeks ago, but I didn't... Because
I didn't feel like anything was wrong. I still didn't feel like it
wasn't anything I couldn't handle on Tuesday, but then Sorella Decker
said that maybe it isn't because something is wrong, but maybe
Heavenly Father has something to tell you. So, I resolved Wednesday
after DDM to ask for one so I didn't inconvenience anybody. Then
Wednesday morning, I had so much anxiety. I didn't want to eat, I
couldn't concentrate during studies, and I just felt sick to my
stomach. I decided Heavenly Father was just giving me a reason to have
to ask for a blessing, because maybe he knew that I wouldn't. I'm a
bit stubborn. But the comfort blessing was totally worth it. I felt so
much better. :)
On Thursday, Sorella Decker and I did a calculation of how many
miles I have walked since I arrived in Catania. We guesstimated that
we walk about 4 miles a day. 7 days a week for 18 weeks, and that is
about 530 miles. Obviously, I don't think I have walked that much, but
I know that I have at least walked 300. That is like walking to Reno
and back 5 times. Ha.. I'm pretty sure my body is going to be so beat
up from walking this much, and it is also the only thing that is
keeping me thin. Pros and cons. Everything has an opposite. Lehi was
right about that. :) And a lot of other things too.
Friday was a really great day. We finally got to meet with Gabriella
after 3 bidones this week. It is so hard to teach it public places
though and we teach her at a hospital. The spirit is still there, but
I find it harder to recognize. However, she is willingly reading the
Book of Mormon and she said she was going to come to church on
Sunday.. Which she didn't, but that is a different story. Later that
evening, we went to the areas around the church to hang up English
course posters, and as we were waiting for the bus, the anziani come
by and offered us a ride home. One of the elders in our district went
home this week, so the anziani are in a threesome, and we love it
because we get rides now. At least, for a week. We are sad that
someone went home, but it was his decision. That night we did weekly
planning while eating pizza. One of my favorites is a pesto potato
pizza. It is so good. :)
Saturday... TRANSFER CALLS! And... Drum roll please.... I'm staying!
Anziano Borden talked to Sorella Decker first and she handed the phone
to me.. And he asked me if I have ever committed a crime.. I was like,
no. Then he said that there is a first time for everything because I'm
murdering Sorella Decker. :) We were so excited, we might have
screamed in his ear. Oops! Ha... Now I get to worry about what is
going to happen next transfer. I'll either be in this lovely mad house
forever, or we will get blown out. I think we will probably be blown
out. This transfer is only 4 weeks long for the holidays, so I think
President kept it all the same for this time, but next time...
Everything is going to change before the 8 week transfer so all the
missionaries have a renewed sense of energy. We'll see. Vediamo. :)
Saturday morning, we had a lesson with a less active, and we had
planned this lesson for her about a week ago.. But we get there and we
start the lesson, and she told us that she had been thinking about the
exact thing that morning. Inspired lesson plans from the Lord. We used
a talk by Neil L. Anderson called, "what thinks Christ of me?" It
basically talked about our personal discipleship and how this is going
to be the only question that matters at the day of judgement. It
doesn't matter how great of a disciple other people think you are.
Only Christ. I think this is a really great concept to remember.
Riding the bus to this lesson, this lady saw our name tags, and from
that the entire bus started to talk about baptism. 4 pass along cards
later... Haha.. That was probably one of the coolest things that has
ever happened. It is also amazing to see how many people disagree with
infant baptism, but yet they are still Catholic because of the family
traditionalism.. Really?
Saturday night, the anziani had a baptism for this really sweet lady.
It was a part member family, the husband was inactive, and he is the
grandson of one of the really active members of the ward, Fratello
P. (Perciò quindi guy...) Sorry, that note is for me for future
memories. :) Anyways, the baptism went really great. The husband
baptized his wife. We were waiting behind the font with the towels, so
we didn't get to see it, but we heard the water swish, and then the
spirit just swished right over us. It was so cool. Baptisms literally
make every rejection so much more worth it. :)
Then, Sunday was my birthday!! I am now two decades old as Heidi so
lovingly pointed out. Thank you... :p I don't feel any different..
Just like any other birthday, but I had a really great day. Mom and
dad, thank you for the surprise you sneaky people... :) After church,
we went to Kiran's house for pranzo... And then we had a lesson with
the Fichera's and then we went to Sorella Catania's house for dinner
(cena). I figured I would just list all the delicious food I ate
yesterday... Chick peas, cous cous, fried rice, fried potatoes, fried
ham and cheese crepes, birthday cake, sponge cake, brownies, pancakes,
homemade lasagna, polpette, and tiramisu. I pretty much died. Or my
stomach almost burst. But, it was so so so dang good. The lasagna was
to die for. Also, I won't be eating for the next few days. What
surprised me about this birthday was my outlook on it. Before the
mission, I was all about the me, me, me aspect of my birthday.. But
this year, I was like, "yeah, it's my birthday today, but I am here on
the Lord's errand as a missionary, and it isn't about me today." It
was really fantastic.
Sorella Decker shared a talk with me this week. It is called becoming
a consecrated missionary by Elder Callister. It was so good, and made
me think about some things that I need to get better at. You should
try to find it. It is from an MTC devotional, so it isn't on gospel
library, but maybe you could find it online.
Anywho, in conclusion, this week was rough at the start, but because
we handled it well, we received blessings from on high. :)
I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I had such a great day,
but you'll have to wait until the end to read more about it. :)
Okay, on Monday this last week, Sorella Decker and I splurged and went
to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Well, sort of fancy. We aren't that
rich... Haha, the first thing they bring us is two glasses of wine...
Haha, we looked at each other and were like uh....we didn't drink it
in case anyone was wondering. Anyways, it was really delicious. I
ordered the pistachio, bacon penne pasta and it was absolutely
delicious! I took my first bite and almost melted into my seat. The
restaurant was really cute, but the company wasn't that great. Well,
Sorella Decker was great, but there was a table of really rambunctious
English people across the room who made it not as enjoyable. I've
gotten to be really good at the game, "Guess where the tourist is
from." :)
Then Tuesday, our week began to go downhill. I think it was the worst
day of my mission so far, but it is far easier to have days like that
when you have a friend like Sorella Decker. So we started the morning
out with a bidone, or a cancelled appointment, so we decided to make
fudge for our recently released ward mission leader because he did so
much for us and we wanted to thank him. But it never hardened. Oh
well, we put it in the freezer and now it is like chocolate ice cream.
Back to Tuesday, then we walked the mile and a half to our next
appointment. She cancelled because she was sick, and our backup plan
fell through too. So, we decided to go to the church to make English
course posters to hang up. We do English course as a service to the
community, but it also makes for a great finding technique, however
right now... We just have a bunch of creeps who come so it helps the
sisters.. Aka us.. Squat. But as we are walking back to our house..
Sorella Decker gets pooped on by a pigeon right in her hair. She
decided to take a shower when we got back, and then we left for the
church. Before we sit down to wait for the bus, I had the thought.
"Hey, you should go buy a ticket." So I get my wallet out and walk up
to the booth, but it was closed. So I was like, oh well. It's their
fault if I don't have a ticket, because I am not going to walk all
over town to find a tabacheria. Plus, nobody EVER checks on this bus
anyways. But, at the first stop, guess who gets on? Ticket checkers!
So, they asked for my ID and I received a €60 fine. Sorella Decker got
one too, and we both resolved to never ride "naked" again... I was
really frustrated, because I am pretty sure it is a game that the bus
company plays to be able to fine more people. Oh well. At least it is
only 20 euros out of pocket because if we go pay it within 15 days, we
get a month pass that is worth 40 and we can get that reimbursed. That
was my first run in with the law. Oops! I'm pretty sure it was the
spirit reminding me to buy a ticket, but it didn't help with the
ticket booth being closed.
At the end of Tuesday, I felt like I needed to get a comfort blessing.
I had felt like I should get one 2 weeks ago, but I didn't... Because
I didn't feel like anything was wrong. I still didn't feel like it
wasn't anything I couldn't handle on Tuesday, but then Sorella Decker
said that maybe it isn't because something is wrong, but maybe
Heavenly Father has something to tell you. So, I resolved Wednesday
after DDM to ask for one so I didn't inconvenience anybody. Then
Wednesday morning, I had so much anxiety. I didn't want to eat, I
couldn't concentrate during studies, and I just felt sick to my
stomach. I decided Heavenly Father was just giving me a reason to have
to ask for a blessing, because maybe he knew that I wouldn't. I'm a
bit stubborn. But the comfort blessing was totally worth it. I felt so
much better. :)
On Thursday, Sorella Decker and I did a calculation of how many
miles I have walked since I arrived in Catania. We guesstimated that
we walk about 4 miles a day. 7 days a week for 18 weeks, and that is
about 530 miles. Obviously, I don't think I have walked that much, but
I know that I have at least walked 300. That is like walking to Reno
and back 5 times. Ha.. I'm pretty sure my body is going to be so beat
up from walking this much, and it is also the only thing that is
keeping me thin. Pros and cons. Everything has an opposite. Lehi was
right about that. :) And a lot of other things too.
Friday was a really great day. We finally got to meet with Gabriella
after 3 bidones this week. It is so hard to teach it public places
though and we teach her at a hospital. The spirit is still there, but
I find it harder to recognize. However, she is willingly reading the
Book of Mormon and she said she was going to come to church on
Sunday.. Which she didn't, but that is a different story. Later that
evening, we went to the areas around the church to hang up English
course posters, and as we were waiting for the bus, the anziani come
by and offered us a ride home. One of the elders in our district went
home this week, so the anziani are in a threesome, and we love it
because we get rides now. At least, for a week. We are sad that
someone went home, but it was his decision. That night we did weekly
planning while eating pizza. One of my favorites is a pesto potato
pizza. It is so good. :)
Saturday... TRANSFER CALLS! And... Drum roll please.... I'm staying!
Anziano Borden talked to Sorella Decker first and she handed the phone
to me.. And he asked me if I have ever committed a crime.. I was like,
no. Then he said that there is a first time for everything because I'm
murdering Sorella Decker. :) We were so excited, we might have
screamed in his ear. Oops! Ha... Now I get to worry about what is
going to happen next transfer. I'll either be in this lovely mad house
forever, or we will get blown out. I think we will probably be blown
out. This transfer is only 4 weeks long for the holidays, so I think
President kept it all the same for this time, but next time...
Everything is going to change before the 8 week transfer so all the
missionaries have a renewed sense of energy. We'll see. Vediamo. :)
Saturday morning, we had a lesson with a less active, and we had
planned this lesson for her about a week ago.. But we get there and we
start the lesson, and she told us that she had been thinking about the
exact thing that morning. Inspired lesson plans from the Lord. We used
a talk by Neil L. Anderson called, "what thinks Christ of me?" It
basically talked about our personal discipleship and how this is going
to be the only question that matters at the day of judgement. It
doesn't matter how great of a disciple other people think you are.
Only Christ. I think this is a really great concept to remember.
Riding the bus to this lesson, this lady saw our name tags, and from
that the entire bus started to talk about baptism. 4 pass along cards
later... Haha.. That was probably one of the coolest things that has
ever happened. It is also amazing to see how many people disagree with
infant baptism, but yet they are still Catholic because of the family
traditionalism.. Really?
Saturday night, the anziani had a baptism for this really sweet lady.
It was a part member family, the husband was inactive, and he is the
grandson of one of the really active members of the ward, Fratello
P. (Perciò quindi guy...) Sorry, that note is for me for future
memories. :) Anyways, the baptism went really great. The husband
baptized his wife. We were waiting behind the font with the towels, so
we didn't get to see it, but we heard the water swish, and then the
spirit just swished right over us. It was so cool. Baptisms literally
make every rejection so much more worth it. :)
Then, Sunday was my birthday!! I am now two decades old as Heidi so
lovingly pointed out. Thank you... :p I don't feel any different..
Just like any other birthday, but I had a really great day. Mom and
dad, thank you for the surprise you sneaky people... :) After church,
we went to Kiran's house for pranzo... And then we had a lesson with
the Fichera's and then we went to Sorella Catania's house for dinner
(cena). I figured I would just list all the delicious food I ate
yesterday... Chick peas, cous cous, fried rice, fried potatoes, fried
ham and cheese crepes, birthday cake, sponge cake, brownies, pancakes,
homemade lasagna, polpette, and tiramisu. I pretty much died. Or my
stomach almost burst. But, it was so so so dang good. The lasagna was
to die for. Also, I won't be eating for the next few days. What
surprised me about this birthday was my outlook on it. Before the
mission, I was all about the me, me, me aspect of my birthday.. But
this year, I was like, "yeah, it's my birthday today, but I am here on
the Lord's errand as a missionary, and it isn't about me today." It
was really fantastic.
Sorella Decker shared a talk with me this week. It is called becoming
a consecrated missionary by Elder Callister. It was so good, and made
me think about some things that I need to get better at. You should
try to find it. It is from an MTC devotional, so it isn't on gospel
library, but maybe you could find it online.
Anywho, in conclusion, this week was rough at the start, but because
we handled it well, we received blessings from on high. :)
I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Monday, November 2, 2015
Week 23: Rain, rain, go away...
Dear family and friends:
Last week ended up being a pretty great week. Miracles happened. Those
two words pretty much sum it up. But since I know those two words
aren't enough for all y'all... I'll expound a bit.
So on p-day, Sorella Decker and I had a blast (we are both history
geeks). And we went to see this Ancient Greek theater and a monastery
that turned to a university building. The theater is the oldest one
that has ever been discovered, I think. So that made it cool. There
was a sign that said we couldn't take pictures, but everyone was
ignoring it... So I ignored it too. Shhh, don't tell anybody that. ;)
Also, there was a house built over the theater that existed during
World War II, and the replica was beautiful. Sorella Decker and I came
up with a historical fiction plot that travels back into two separate
periods of history. If I ever find the time in my life after mission,
I might try to write a book. How cool would that be? The monastery was
also beautiful. I just think I scored the jackpot for missions. Italy
is so dang cool. I mean, other missions are cool too... But not as
much. ;)
Okay. 5 months down happened this past week. And it's freaking me out.
When you think about serving a mission, it is always 18 months.. And
now it's less. And I don't like that. I also don't know where time
goes. It disappears faster than you can snap your fingers.
This week, we had scambios. I was with the lovely Sorella Fransden.
And we had a really good time. We laughed harder than I ever have, and
I actually had fun finding for the first time. That morning, we went
to dolce America for American sweets with Angela for her birthday. We
got this really good cake, that was perfect in lightness and flavor,
and it was delicious. Also, America needs to adopt the pistachio
additions to their desserts. :)
This week, I received 3 birthday cards all on the same day, and then I
got one other one the next day. Strangely enough, they all say I can't
open them until November 8th. My family knows me too well. ;) They are
now sitting, and taunting me on my desk. I'm excited to open them. :)
Twice this week, we had people smile and wave at us that I've never
seen before. One of them on the bus home from English course. So we
turned around and asked her what her name was. She said Mary. And we
asked her if she knew the missionaries, and she said no. She just said
hi. We invited her to come to English course, and then she pointed at
the name of the church and said she wanted to learn more about that
too. We then saw her again the next day.. And she said she would come
to English course the next night, but she didn't. We are hoping she
comes this next week. She was really cute. We also met this lady from
Germany who lived in Ireland for 12 years who heard us speaking in
English on the bus. She was pretty excited to speak English with us.
We invited her to come to church too, so maybe something will come out
of that. Those were two of the miracles that happened.
We threw a Halloween party for English course on Thursday. And it was
really fun. A lot of people showed up, and brought treats to share and
we taught them words that are Halloween related. We also played a cake
walk type game and the game where they stick their hand in something
gross that they can't see.. And the things feel like various body
parts. They thought we Americans were nuts. :) Halloween here is
celebrated more with the dead and scary things. Then they have a day
in February to dress up like princesses and cartoon characters. But
their version of trick or treat is dolcetto o scherzetto? :)
This week, I started reading 1971 conference talks. Holy cow are those
things bold?!! But the world during the 70's had started to go crazy
with the hippies. So, I can imagine how important it was to emphasize
the law of chastity and word of wisdom. They are really fun to read.
It's funny to not recognize any of the general authorities though..
Well, I recognize their names, but not how they write their talks. It
is really fun.
This week, we also went over to the members house and her less active
daughter was there. She asked us for scriptures that talk about prayer
because she has been trying lately to make her prayers more
meaningful. We were more than happy to help. She was super sweet, and
we asked her if she would like us to come and visit more often, and
she agreed. :) She also has the cutest little boy who literally has a
smile on his face all the time. Not being able to play with kids is
the hardest thing ever.
On Saturday, the ward put on a Halloween party for the youth and the
singles, and so we went to the church to help them set up. We ended up
blowing up balloons. I think I blew up like 20 balloons. I figured out
how to tie them though. Haha, the things you learn on your mission. ;)
After blowing up that many balloons, you start to get a bit
lightheaded. My hands smelled like latex for the next two days. Haha..
Then it started to pour down rain, and we had to walk to the bus stop
and ride the bus home. We sat in the pouring down rain for 30 minutes
waiting for the bus in which we experienced a very genuine Halloween
storm. There was the rain, thunder, lightening, winds that started
ranging close to hurricane status, black cats, and bats. It was a fun
time. Let's just say that I was really grateful for a nice warm shower
when we got home. :)
I saved the biggest miracle for last. This week, we received a phone
call from the Reggio Anziani. They said they had a lady who is a
convert of like 2 years who just moved to Catania. She is from the
Mauritius islands and only speaks French and Creole. They also told us
that she was requesting a blessing of comfort. We asked people in the
ward if they knew of a priesthood holder who speaks French, but nobody
knew of anyone. We thought the best we would be able to do was to have
the blessing done in Italian and then have Kiran translate it. Then,
Sunday comes, and we had gotten her a ride to come to church. As we
are waiting for her to arrive, we see a couple walking up the walkway
to church. They come in and Anziano Pope says he hears them speaking
French. We thought he was joking, but when we asked where they were
from they said they were from Paris. So we ask the husband if he would
be willing to give Marianne a blessing, and he said he would. This
couple was on their honeymoon and they were in the province of Messina
which is about an hour and a half away from Catania, but before
catching their flight back to France on Sunday afternoon, they decided
to come to church. The church is far away from the airport and it was
really out of their way to come, but they felt like they needed to.
When Marianne arrives, she sits down in sacrament meeting and the guy
who gave her a ride starts to translate for her. Haha.. What? I guess
Angelo Longo speaks French too.. Along with all the other languages he
speaks, but I am not sure he would have been comfortable enough to
give her a blessing. Anyways, during fast and testimony, the wife
stands up to bear her testimony in French so Marianne could understand
her even though she didn't know anyone in the ward. And then after
sacrament, Sam gave her a blessing, and it was a beautiful thing. I
had tears in my eyes, because it was in that moment that I knew that
God knows about each and every one of us individually. He knows what
we need, and he knows exactly how to help us. He knows the people to
send to be angels for his children in their moment of need. I felt so
blessed to watch this miracle unfold. Watching and observing the
miracles that God brings to pass in my life and in the lives of the
people I am serving makes everything worth it. Also, if I was a
newlywed bride, how comforting would it be to know that my new groom
is a worthy priesthood holder who can be called upon at any time to
give a blessing. As much as this was a blessing for us and for
Marianne, I can't imagine the blessing it was for them to help us out.
I hope this is a story that continues on to their kids. I love
miracles.
Something I was reading this week in Matthew was that when Christ
walked on the water and calmed the sea, he didn't come out until the
4th watch of the night. His disciples were toiling all night in the
middle of this storm, and after hours and hours of struggling, Christ
comes and helps. Sometimes, miracles come during the 4th watch, and we
just need to be patient. :)
Sunday afternoon, we went to a pranzo appointment. And the Sorella
made us pasta with homemade pesto that was literally to die for. I
almost cried taking my first bite. Literally. Italian food is the
best. Then, I think I might have eaten horse meat. Now that I think
about it, it probably wasn't my first time.
Other than that, the only thing I want to happen is for the rain to
not exist anymore... But unfortunately, it is just getting started.
Woohoo! The rain here is crazy, and it would be a lot more efficient
if Italy had created a place for the water to go when it does rain.
Another civil engineering project for someone.
Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Don't forget to look for
miracles, and know that I love all of you. :)
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
P.S. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! :)
Last week ended up being a pretty great week. Miracles happened. Those
two words pretty much sum it up. But since I know those two words
aren't enough for all y'all... I'll expound a bit.
So on p-day, Sorella Decker and I had a blast (we are both history
geeks). And we went to see this Ancient Greek theater and a monastery
that turned to a university building. The theater is the oldest one
that has ever been discovered, I think. So that made it cool. There
was a sign that said we couldn't take pictures, but everyone was
ignoring it... So I ignored it too. Shhh, don't tell anybody that. ;)
Also, there was a house built over the theater that existed during
World War II, and the replica was beautiful. Sorella Decker and I came
up with a historical fiction plot that travels back into two separate
periods of history. If I ever find the time in my life after mission,
I might try to write a book. How cool would that be? The monastery was
also beautiful. I just think I scored the jackpot for missions. Italy
is so dang cool. I mean, other missions are cool too... But not as
much. ;)
Okay. 5 months down happened this past week. And it's freaking me out.
When you think about serving a mission, it is always 18 months.. And
now it's less. And I don't like that. I also don't know where time
goes. It disappears faster than you can snap your fingers.
This week, we had scambios. I was with the lovely Sorella Fransden.
And we had a really good time. We laughed harder than I ever have, and
I actually had fun finding for the first time. That morning, we went
to dolce America for American sweets with Angela for her birthday. We
got this really good cake, that was perfect in lightness and flavor,
and it was delicious. Also, America needs to adopt the pistachio
additions to their desserts. :)
This week, I received 3 birthday cards all on the same day, and then I
got one other one the next day. Strangely enough, they all say I can't
open them until November 8th. My family knows me too well. ;) They are
now sitting, and taunting me on my desk. I'm excited to open them. :)
Twice this week, we had people smile and wave at us that I've never
seen before. One of them on the bus home from English course. So we
turned around and asked her what her name was. She said Mary. And we
asked her if she knew the missionaries, and she said no. She just said
hi. We invited her to come to English course, and then she pointed at
the name of the church and said she wanted to learn more about that
too. We then saw her again the next day.. And she said she would come
to English course the next night, but she didn't. We are hoping she
comes this next week. She was really cute. We also met this lady from
Germany who lived in Ireland for 12 years who heard us speaking in
English on the bus. She was pretty excited to speak English with us.
We invited her to come to church too, so maybe something will come out
of that. Those were two of the miracles that happened.
We threw a Halloween party for English course on Thursday. And it was
really fun. A lot of people showed up, and brought treats to share and
we taught them words that are Halloween related. We also played a cake
walk type game and the game where they stick their hand in something
gross that they can't see.. And the things feel like various body
parts. They thought we Americans were nuts. :) Halloween here is
celebrated more with the dead and scary things. Then they have a day
in February to dress up like princesses and cartoon characters. But
their version of trick or treat is dolcetto o scherzetto? :)
This week, I started reading 1971 conference talks. Holy cow are those
things bold?!! But the world during the 70's had started to go crazy
with the hippies. So, I can imagine how important it was to emphasize
the law of chastity and word of wisdom. They are really fun to read.
It's funny to not recognize any of the general authorities though..
Well, I recognize their names, but not how they write their talks. It
is really fun.
This week, we also went over to the members house and her less active
daughter was there. She asked us for scriptures that talk about prayer
because she has been trying lately to make her prayers more
meaningful. We were more than happy to help. She was super sweet, and
we asked her if she would like us to come and visit more often, and
she agreed. :) She also has the cutest little boy who literally has a
smile on his face all the time. Not being able to play with kids is
the hardest thing ever.
On Saturday, the ward put on a Halloween party for the youth and the
singles, and so we went to the church to help them set up. We ended up
blowing up balloons. I think I blew up like 20 balloons. I figured out
how to tie them though. Haha, the things you learn on your mission. ;)
After blowing up that many balloons, you start to get a bit
lightheaded. My hands smelled like latex for the next two days. Haha..
Then it started to pour down rain, and we had to walk to the bus stop
and ride the bus home. We sat in the pouring down rain for 30 minutes
waiting for the bus in which we experienced a very genuine Halloween
storm. There was the rain, thunder, lightening, winds that started
ranging close to hurricane status, black cats, and bats. It was a fun
time. Let's just say that I was really grateful for a nice warm shower
when we got home. :)
I saved the biggest miracle for last. This week, we received a phone
call from the Reggio Anziani. They said they had a lady who is a
convert of like 2 years who just moved to Catania. She is from the
Mauritius islands and only speaks French and Creole. They also told us
that she was requesting a blessing of comfort. We asked people in the
ward if they knew of a priesthood holder who speaks French, but nobody
knew of anyone. We thought the best we would be able to do was to have
the blessing done in Italian and then have Kiran translate it. Then,
Sunday comes, and we had gotten her a ride to come to church. As we
are waiting for her to arrive, we see a couple walking up the walkway
to church. They come in and Anziano Pope says he hears them speaking
French. We thought he was joking, but when we asked where they were
from they said they were from Paris. So we ask the husband if he would
be willing to give Marianne a blessing, and he said he would. This
couple was on their honeymoon and they were in the province of Messina
which is about an hour and a half away from Catania, but before
catching their flight back to France on Sunday afternoon, they decided
to come to church. The church is far away from the airport and it was
really out of their way to come, but they felt like they needed to.
When Marianne arrives, she sits down in sacrament meeting and the guy
who gave her a ride starts to translate for her. Haha.. What? I guess
Angelo Longo speaks French too.. Along with all the other languages he
speaks, but I am not sure he would have been comfortable enough to
give her a blessing. Anyways, during fast and testimony, the wife
stands up to bear her testimony in French so Marianne could understand
her even though she didn't know anyone in the ward. And then after
sacrament, Sam gave her a blessing, and it was a beautiful thing. I
had tears in my eyes, because it was in that moment that I knew that
God knows about each and every one of us individually. He knows what
we need, and he knows exactly how to help us. He knows the people to
send to be angels for his children in their moment of need. I felt so
blessed to watch this miracle unfold. Watching and observing the
miracles that God brings to pass in my life and in the lives of the
people I am serving makes everything worth it. Also, if I was a
newlywed bride, how comforting would it be to know that my new groom
is a worthy priesthood holder who can be called upon at any time to
give a blessing. As much as this was a blessing for us and for
Marianne, I can't imagine the blessing it was for them to help us out.
I hope this is a story that continues on to their kids. I love
miracles.
Something I was reading this week in Matthew was that when Christ
walked on the water and calmed the sea, he didn't come out until the
4th watch of the night. His disciples were toiling all night in the
middle of this storm, and after hours and hours of struggling, Christ
comes and helps. Sometimes, miracles come during the 4th watch, and we
just need to be patient. :)
Sunday afternoon, we went to a pranzo appointment. And the Sorella
made us pasta with homemade pesto that was literally to die for. I
almost cried taking my first bite. Literally. Italian food is the
best. Then, I think I might have eaten horse meat. Now that I think
about it, it probably wasn't my first time.
Other than that, the only thing I want to happen is for the rain to
not exist anymore... But unfortunately, it is just getting started.
Woohoo! The rain here is crazy, and it would be a lot more efficient
if Italy had created a place for the water to go when it does rain.
Another civil engineering project for someone.
Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Don't forget to look for
miracles, and know that I love all of you. :)
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
P.S. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! :)
Monday, October 26, 2015
Week 22: A Muslim, a Catholic, a Buddhist, and two Mormon missionaries walk into a cafe. :)
Hello!
Did I make you all curious by my title? You should be.. But you will
have to wait until I write about Friday. ;)
So, this week, we had DDM. DDM is the best, because I think the
Catania area just gets the weirdest personalities for missionaries,
including myself. It's kind of funny. But this week, Sister G,
the American one in the ward gave us peanut butter and a batch of
chocolate cupcake mix. We were so excited, and so we go to the store
to buy eggs and make the muffins when we get home for lunch. As I am
mixing the cupcake batter, I think I realized that I have been seeing
too much dog poop around the city, because they almost didn't look
appetizing anymore. Dad, that is in return for all of your waste
remarks. ;) It would be an icky civil engineering project to determine
how much energy could be made by all the waste in the streets of
Catania. Anyone want to figure it out?
This week, I also realized that the princess Lizzie who wouldn't ever
touch or walk in something gross is not the same person anymore. It is
a daily occurrence here that I would rather not think about, but it
doesn't horrify me anymore. I'm writing this as a pigeon is circling
around my feet.
This week, I made a goal to do something scary or something out of my
comfort zone every single day. My goal kind of failed, but that is
what I am trying to do to exercise my faith this transfer. Maybe it
will become a twice a week thing, haha. On Thursday, I decided to
approach a girl on the bus and try to talk to her. I really hate
approaching strangers and just jumping into a topic about the gospel,
so I complimented her clothing, which was actually really cute. Then,
we were getting off the bus, and we figured out that we live on the
same street, and then she said she was a university student studying
physics and how she doesn't really know what to believe about God
anymore. We gave her a pass along card and invited her to English
course. Her name was Maria Rita and I was really glad that I decided
to talk to her even if nothing comes of it.
I also finally finished Jesus the Christ this week. 800 pages of pure
goodness. At the end, it kind of starts to talk about the Catholic
Church and the apostasy, but my companion and I decided that if
anything came out of our mission... Is that we know and we will always
know that the apostasy is a real thing and that the restoration was
completely necessary. Because I finished Jesus the Christ, I decided
to start the New Testament and that is what my spiritual thought will
come out of at the end of my letter. :)
After English course, we have to take a bus home, and the last few
times, it has been really super late. There is also this guy who waits
with us, and his super patient wife. Everytime it is late, he starts
raging in Sicilian about how the bus system is horrible here and that
nobody should pay for tickets because they don't deserve the money.
And then one time, he was explaining to someone that he always sees
the missionaries waiting for buses and how we don't show our
frustration about the bus being late. And he didn't understand. But it
is kind of cool that he noticed how we don't show our frustration even
though inside.. We are really frustrated. One day this week, we waited
for buses for a total of 2 hrs and 20 minutes one day. We could have
had 2 more lessons! It really does get ridiculous, but I can't imagine
Christ becoming upset about the bus system, so I won't either.
On Wednesday this week, there was a crazy storm. I was pretty sure
that it was the 36 hour storm spoken about last week, but that came a
week later. I woke up at 4:30 from the rain, and it continued to rain
all morning and all afternoon. It stopped for about an hour and then
started to rain again. All 4 of our appointments cancelled and we
decided that if the uphill part of Catania was flooding, we were
probably best off if we stayed inside. I was going crazy about halfway
through the day. It was frustrating, because I would much rather to be
outside than inside all day. Also, Anziano Bellini's iPad got ruined
because of the rain. And the water was said to be knee deep. That is
crazy!
Daylight savings was also Saturday night. That was an absolutely
wonderful day as I actually feel rested when I wake up now. It also
helps that it is lighter outside when we wake up. The extra hour of
sleep was heavenly. :)
We received some bad news from Destiny this week. She said that she
was having a hard time at work and that she started college classes
and she felt overwhelmed. And then she dropped us. That was the first
time that I have been dropped, and it was the most heartbreaking thing
ever. I hope the missionaries here in Catania will keep in contact
with her, because someday she will accept the gospel.
This week was the first week that we actually had a real companionship
inventory. And it was really nice to finally have one where it didn't
end in being upset with each other. To answer everyone's questions, I
would love to "kill" (stay with her until her mission ends) Sorella Decker
even if I have to stay in Catania
longer, however if that happens, I want us to be blown out and then I
won't have to be here for 7.5 months. Everybody's birth cities are
hard to break out of as everyone continues to see you as a greenie
even when you start to learn the language better. Catania will always
have a piece of my heart though.
Okay, so I can't remember what I told you about Mo and Ida. But that
is what the title of my thing has to do with. I loved both girls
Angela brought with her to our lesson. They are both super sweet and
they just reminded me that Heavenly Father has children everywhere in
the whole entire world even in Vietnam and in Iran. We ran into Ida on
Saturday and we got a gelato and we had a lovely conversation with
her. We decided that she would totally accept the gospel if we could
teach her. However, we aren't allowed to teach Muslims because they
can be killed for changing their religions if they ever go back to
their home country. It is a sad situation. But all the great people
from those countries that would have accepted the gospel if they had
the chance will still get to live in Heavenly Father's presence.
And my last thought for this email is from Matthew Chapter 3. I've
been reading the institute manual along with the New Testament and I
found something cool. It said that when Christ was being tempted, his
answers were immediate. He was tempted and he automatically said, no.
I'm not going to do that and here is the reason why. I really liked
this idea of immediate obedience. I really think that when we choose
ourselves to be obedient and that we are willing to be obedient, we
can have those automatic answers too. The hesitation comes when we are
being obedient for someone else or when we aren't entirely committed
to doing it ourself. Joseph B. Wirthlin then said something along the
lines of, "Willing obedience is what provides lasting protection from
the alluring and tempting traps of the adversary."
Well, I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Did I make you all curious by my title? You should be.. But you will
have to wait until I write about Friday. ;)
So, this week, we had DDM. DDM is the best, because I think the
Catania area just gets the weirdest personalities for missionaries,
including myself. It's kind of funny. But this week, Sister G,
the American one in the ward gave us peanut butter and a batch of
chocolate cupcake mix. We were so excited, and so we go to the store
to buy eggs and make the muffins when we get home for lunch. As I am
mixing the cupcake batter, I think I realized that I have been seeing
too much dog poop around the city, because they almost didn't look
appetizing anymore. Dad, that is in return for all of your waste
remarks. ;) It would be an icky civil engineering project to determine
how much energy could be made by all the waste in the streets of
Catania. Anyone want to figure it out?
This week, I also realized that the princess Lizzie who wouldn't ever
touch or walk in something gross is not the same person anymore. It is
a daily occurrence here that I would rather not think about, but it
doesn't horrify me anymore. I'm writing this as a pigeon is circling
around my feet.
This week, I made a goal to do something scary or something out of my
comfort zone every single day. My goal kind of failed, but that is
what I am trying to do to exercise my faith this transfer. Maybe it
will become a twice a week thing, haha. On Thursday, I decided to
approach a girl on the bus and try to talk to her. I really hate
approaching strangers and just jumping into a topic about the gospel,
so I complimented her clothing, which was actually really cute. Then,
we were getting off the bus, and we figured out that we live on the
same street, and then she said she was a university student studying
physics and how she doesn't really know what to believe about God
anymore. We gave her a pass along card and invited her to English
course. Her name was Maria Rita and I was really glad that I decided
to talk to her even if nothing comes of it.
I also finally finished Jesus the Christ this week. 800 pages of pure
goodness. At the end, it kind of starts to talk about the Catholic
Church and the apostasy, but my companion and I decided that if
anything came out of our mission... Is that we know and we will always
know that the apostasy is a real thing and that the restoration was
completely necessary. Because I finished Jesus the Christ, I decided
to start the New Testament and that is what my spiritual thought will
come out of at the end of my letter. :)
After English course, we have to take a bus home, and the last few
times, it has been really super late. There is also this guy who waits
with us, and his super patient wife. Everytime it is late, he starts
raging in Sicilian about how the bus system is horrible here and that
nobody should pay for tickets because they don't deserve the money.
And then one time, he was explaining to someone that he always sees
the missionaries waiting for buses and how we don't show our
frustration about the bus being late. And he didn't understand. But it
is kind of cool that he noticed how we don't show our frustration even
though inside.. We are really frustrated. One day this week, we waited
for buses for a total of 2 hrs and 20 minutes one day. We could have
had 2 more lessons! It really does get ridiculous, but I can't imagine
Christ becoming upset about the bus system, so I won't either.
On Wednesday this week, there was a crazy storm. I was pretty sure
that it was the 36 hour storm spoken about last week, but that came a
week later. I woke up at 4:30 from the rain, and it continued to rain
all morning and all afternoon. It stopped for about an hour and then
started to rain again. All 4 of our appointments cancelled and we
decided that if the uphill part of Catania was flooding, we were
probably best off if we stayed inside. I was going crazy about halfway
through the day. It was frustrating, because I would much rather to be
outside than inside all day. Also, Anziano Bellini's iPad got ruined
because of the rain. And the water was said to be knee deep. That is
crazy!
Daylight savings was also Saturday night. That was an absolutely
wonderful day as I actually feel rested when I wake up now. It also
helps that it is lighter outside when we wake up. The extra hour of
sleep was heavenly. :)
We received some bad news from Destiny this week. She said that she
was having a hard time at work and that she started college classes
and she felt overwhelmed. And then she dropped us. That was the first
time that I have been dropped, and it was the most heartbreaking thing
ever. I hope the missionaries here in Catania will keep in contact
with her, because someday she will accept the gospel.
This week was the first week that we actually had a real companionship
inventory. And it was really nice to finally have one where it didn't
end in being upset with each other. To answer everyone's questions, I
would love to "kill" (stay with her until her mission ends) Sorella Decker
even if I have to stay in Catania
longer, however if that happens, I want us to be blown out and then I
won't have to be here for 7.5 months. Everybody's birth cities are
hard to break out of as everyone continues to see you as a greenie
even when you start to learn the language better. Catania will always
have a piece of my heart though.
Okay, so I can't remember what I told you about Mo and Ida. But that
is what the title of my thing has to do with. I loved both girls
Angela brought with her to our lesson. They are both super sweet and
they just reminded me that Heavenly Father has children everywhere in
the whole entire world even in Vietnam and in Iran. We ran into Ida on
Saturday and we got a gelato and we had a lovely conversation with
her. We decided that she would totally accept the gospel if we could
teach her. However, we aren't allowed to teach Muslims because they
can be killed for changing their religions if they ever go back to
their home country. It is a sad situation. But all the great people
from those countries that would have accepted the gospel if they had
the chance will still get to live in Heavenly Father's presence.
And my last thought for this email is from Matthew Chapter 3. I've
been reading the institute manual along with the New Testament and I
found something cool. It said that when Christ was being tempted, his
answers were immediate. He was tempted and he automatically said, no.
I'm not going to do that and here is the reason why. I really liked
this idea of immediate obedience. I really think that when we choose
ourselves to be obedient and that we are willing to be obedient, we
can have those automatic answers too. The hesitation comes when we are
being obedient for someone else or when we aren't entirely committed
to doing it ourself. Joseph B. Wirthlin then said something along the
lines of, "Willing obedience is what provides lasting protection from
the alluring and tempting traps of the adversary."
Well, I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Friday surprise!
Hello!
Quick email to say how much I love all of you. Today, we took our half
pday that president granted us and we went sightseeing because some of
the things we wanted to see are closed on Monday. Well, actually.. All
we did was go up to this dome thing on top of a church and it gives
you a 360 view of the city. Say what? Italy is so cool!! We went with
Angela, our investigator, and two of her friends that we met today.
They are so super sweet. Angela is in the masters program for global
politics and all of the course is in English. Her friends are from
Iran and from Vietnam and they were literally the sweetest. But, the
view was absolutely breathtaking. I didn't want to go down, and I took
a billion pictures. I was sad that I didn't have my good camera, but
that will be for when we visit again. If somebody goes to Catania
without seeing this view, they are absolutely crazy. It is the best
thing I have done so far. And worth way more than 3 euro. Oh, and I
have the most beautiful birth city (first area served on her mission) ever. And the clouds were so cool
today. :)
Well, enough of that. This week is going by so fast, and it is already
almost Monday. I also can't believe this transfer is half over. I am
having too much fun with Sorella Decker. :)
Hope you all are having a fantastic week! Love you all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Quick email to say how much I love all of you. Today, we took our half
pday that president granted us and we went sightseeing because some of
the things we wanted to see are closed on Monday. Well, actually.. All
we did was go up to this dome thing on top of a church and it gives
you a 360 view of the city. Say what? Italy is so cool!! We went with
Angela, our investigator, and two of her friends that we met today.
They are so super sweet. Angela is in the masters program for global
politics and all of the course is in English. Her friends are from
Iran and from Vietnam and they were literally the sweetest. But, the
view was absolutely breathtaking. I didn't want to go down, and I took
a billion pictures. I was sad that I didn't have my good camera, but
that will be for when we visit again. If somebody goes to Catania
without seeing this view, they are absolutely crazy. It is the best
thing I have done so far. And worth way more than 3 euro. Oh, and I
have the most beautiful birth city (first area served on her mission) ever. And the clouds were so cool
today. :)
Well, enough of that. This week is going by so fast, and it is already
almost Monday. I also can't believe this transfer is half over. I am
having too much fun with Sorella Decker. :)
Hope you all are having a fantastic week! Love you all!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Week 21!
La mia famiglia e cari amici:
This week was bound to be a really good one as we are teaching so many
people right now who have a lot of potential. Along with all our less
actives/new converts, we barely found time to fit all our appointments
in including our time of travel, which is actually a lot. Speaking of
travel, I have become really grateful for walking. Because I walk so
much, I can also eat a lot. And the food here is so so good. I am also
grateful that Sorella Decker enjoys food as much as I do. But I also
hate walking because it takes forever, and a lot of our time is taken
up by it. But anyways, we were a bit stressed during weekly planning
last week because we had zone conference this week. And as amazing as
zone conference is, it takes up pretty much an entire day. But we
found the time to plan everything out, and it was going to be a really
good week. I just wish everyone else's schedules would work out the
way we plan. Haha.. :)
Zone conference. I am sure you all saw pictures already, but the
pictures don't do any justice for how good it was. I love zone
conferences. They always motivate me to be a better missionary. This
time we talked about good role plays and inspired questions. The best
thing I learned is that it isn't always the words in a question that
make the question inspired, but it is also the way the person asks the
question. When we ask questions with charity and love and with the
spirit, they become inspired.
On Wednesday, we were cooking lunch and our power went out. I guess we
had too many things on at once. And since that has never happened
before, we didn't know how to go about turning it back on. So we
called the anziani and thank goodness they knew or we would still be
living in the dark. Haha.. We are geniuses, and I now have the
knowledge how to turn it back on. :)
We were warned on Wednesday that there was going to be a 36 hour storm
starting at midnight that night, and it was supposedly a code red
storm.. But literally it rained for like 2 hours the next morning and
then nothing else. Although the sky looked absolutely sick. Sick as in
really cool. :) We were really grateful that it didn't rain that much
though because we already were squishing appointments together real
tight. Just more proof that weather reports here are not ideal.
We had a lesson with Gabriella on Thursday morning, and we were able
to finish teaching the restoration without a hitch. She also read like
all of the introduction pages to the Book of Mormon. That seriously
never happens. Then we invited her to be baptized, and she became all
excited and said yes. I love moments like that. The spirit is always
the strongest in those moments, and especially here in Italy.. It
becomes super surreal when they respond positively.
In English course, we talked about clothing and because we teach the
advanced class, we ended up talking about the nit-picky types of
clothing. Like all the types of shirt collars/lines. Then, one of the
men who stares at me a bit creepily asked what the tank tops are that
men wear around the house. In English, they are called wife beaters,
but we weren't about to tell him that. So, we just told him they are
called tank tops. Someday he will probably figure out that we lied.
Oops.
Also, that night while I was looking for a spiritual thought to share
with English course, I found something really cool on lds.org. It was
an article by family search called 52 questions for 52 weeks. So, they
put together 52 questions to ask yourself and then you are supposed to
write your answers down once a week until you have written out an
entire history about you after a year. I thought that was a super cool
idea, and it is something that I am sure grandchildren and great
grandchildren and great great grandchildren would love to read
someday. So hint hint... Look it up. And then do it. I will do it when
I get home, and then update it every so often since the questions
change over time. ;)
On Friday morning, we were really excited because we were going to
have a member present lesson. One of the 19 year old girls in the ward
here finally decided to serve a mission, so she asked if she could
help us out with a few of our lessons. We were like, "absolutely!!"
So, we called her Thursday night, she was miraculously available, and
Samuele and Teresa actually agreed to meet us at the church. It was
literally a miracle. Anyways, then Friday morning came, our bus was
late, Samuele and Teresa ran into a detour on the road and arrived
there like 5 minutes before they had to leave again, and so it ended
up failing big time, but at least we tried. We were a bit disappointed
that it all didn't work out, but then they told us that they have been
following the calendar for reading the Book of Mormon that we gave
them. And Sorella Decker and I *exaggeratedly* fell to the ground and
gave thanks to the Lord. But really.
Then, this week was the beginning of pranzos with members. The anziani
had the idea of meeting with more ward members so the ward mission
leader is trying to coordinate more meals for us. It is super nice,
because now we get to eat more delicious food. And get to know the
members better. Win win situation.
I also started to read conference talks in Italian for language study
with Sorella Decker since she actually wants to help me with learning
the language. It is really cool to read them, plus it helps me with
speaking Italian since we read them out loud. I just love conference
talks even from a few years ago. I can't wait to get to the super old
ones, but that will take awhile since I am going backwards.
Jennifer's new job offer did not go so well. Then things got hairy
scary last week with her. I won't go into details, but please pray for
her. She is still coming to church so it has nothing to do with that.
I am just really grateful that the ward members are taking care of
her. Because at this point, we are unable to get involved because we
are representatives of Christ and of the church.
We also had a lesson with Iole and Gesualdo. I can tell that my
Italian is progressing, because I was actually able to understand
almost all of the intellectual conversation that was taking place. I
understood the jokes.. And ahh. I was so happy. I just need to work on
expressing myself now that I understand most everything.
Angela came to church yesterday. We were so happy to see her and we
got to finally talk about what her parents said. She still wants to be
baptized and we are working towards that, but she needs to take time
to explain it all to her parents bit by bit. Slow and steady wins the
race. At least we are out of the "I don't know" stage. She came to
zone conference because the Clarks invited her, and all of the anziani
were staring at her with their jaws to the floor. But they had good
reason, I suppose. She is the Italian version of Rapunzel and she is
gorgeous. :)
Sorella Clark referred to me as her secret weapon this week. And I
guess I know my scriptures really well, at least from the Book of
Mormon. All I know is that in lessons, I try to use the scriptures
often because they teach better than I can and it is a great medium
for inviting the spirit in. And also, I listen to the promptings of
the spirit which is obviously easier to do when I teach in English.
I'm glad she thinks I am a good missionary though. I am doing my best.
So, you know how we all want some super human abilities someday? Well,
I read in Jesus the Christ that after the Resurrection, we will all be
super heroes. Haha.. We can be invisible, defy gravity or fly, and
walk through walls with our resurrected bodies. How cool is that? ;)
Alma 31 reminded me a lot about the Catholic Church at least with the
recited prayers and the going to church once a week. Although here, I
have also met the most people who are active Catholics but also the
most people who say they are Catholic, but don't know anything about
it. I just wish everyone would want to join the church, because there
is a lot missing from all the years of the dark ages.
Alma 41:8 was a scripture that touched me this week. It talks about
how Christ's plan is already set up, and already completed. All we
need to do is accept it and turn to Christ. The decrees of God are
unalterable and all we need is to walk in the path. The thing that hit
me, or (mi ho colpito) the most was that it doesn't matter where we
have been or what we have done, there is a path for us to get back on.
That path is always there. It doesn't disappear when we do something
really bad. It is always there. It is unalterable. The atonement is
truly for everyone.
Covenants have also been on my mind a lot. I'm getting into the Isaiah
chapters of the Book of Mormon in Italian, and I just love the
emphasis Isaiah puts on covenants. That God will never forget his
covenant people. He keeps his side of the promises we make if we keep
ours. For we will not be ashamed if we are with those who wait for
him. I am so grateful for the covenants I have made with my Heavenly
Father. I know that he loves me, and I know that he will help me along
the path back home. He gave me a savior to help me out, and I will
forever be a disciple of him who took upon him the sins of the world.
I know that he lives and that he truly is the light and life of the
world. And I will proclaim it to the ends of the world until the day I
die, and most likely even after that in the spirit world. ;)
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
This week was bound to be a really good one as we are teaching so many
people right now who have a lot of potential. Along with all our less
actives/new converts, we barely found time to fit all our appointments
in including our time of travel, which is actually a lot. Speaking of
travel, I have become really grateful for walking. Because I walk so
much, I can also eat a lot. And the food here is so so good. I am also
grateful that Sorella Decker enjoys food as much as I do. But I also
hate walking because it takes forever, and a lot of our time is taken
up by it. But anyways, we were a bit stressed during weekly planning
last week because we had zone conference this week. And as amazing as
zone conference is, it takes up pretty much an entire day. But we
found the time to plan everything out, and it was going to be a really
good week. I just wish everyone else's schedules would work out the
way we plan. Haha.. :)
Zone conference. I am sure you all saw pictures already, but the
pictures don't do any justice for how good it was. I love zone
conferences. They always motivate me to be a better missionary. This
time we talked about good role plays and inspired questions. The best
thing I learned is that it isn't always the words in a question that
make the question inspired, but it is also the way the person asks the
question. When we ask questions with charity and love and with the
spirit, they become inspired.
On Wednesday, we were cooking lunch and our power went out. I guess we
had too many things on at once. And since that has never happened
before, we didn't know how to go about turning it back on. So we
called the anziani and thank goodness they knew or we would still be
living in the dark. Haha.. We are geniuses, and I now have the
knowledge how to turn it back on. :)
We were warned on Wednesday that there was going to be a 36 hour storm
starting at midnight that night, and it was supposedly a code red
storm.. But literally it rained for like 2 hours the next morning and
then nothing else. Although the sky looked absolutely sick. Sick as in
really cool. :) We were really grateful that it didn't rain that much
though because we already were squishing appointments together real
tight. Just more proof that weather reports here are not ideal.
We had a lesson with Gabriella on Thursday morning, and we were able
to finish teaching the restoration without a hitch. She also read like
all of the introduction pages to the Book of Mormon. That seriously
never happens. Then we invited her to be baptized, and she became all
excited and said yes. I love moments like that. The spirit is always
the strongest in those moments, and especially here in Italy.. It
becomes super surreal when they respond positively.
In English course, we talked about clothing and because we teach the
advanced class, we ended up talking about the nit-picky types of
clothing. Like all the types of shirt collars/lines. Then, one of the
men who stares at me a bit creepily asked what the tank tops are that
men wear around the house. In English, they are called wife beaters,
but we weren't about to tell him that. So, we just told him they are
called tank tops. Someday he will probably figure out that we lied.
Oops.
Also, that night while I was looking for a spiritual thought to share
with English course, I found something really cool on lds.org. It was
an article by family search called 52 questions for 52 weeks. So, they
put together 52 questions to ask yourself and then you are supposed to
write your answers down once a week until you have written out an
entire history about you after a year. I thought that was a super cool
idea, and it is something that I am sure grandchildren and great
grandchildren and great great grandchildren would love to read
someday. So hint hint... Look it up. And then do it. I will do it when
I get home, and then update it every so often since the questions
change over time. ;)
On Friday morning, we were really excited because we were going to
have a member present lesson. One of the 19 year old girls in the ward
here finally decided to serve a mission, so she asked if she could
help us out with a few of our lessons. We were like, "absolutely!!"
So, we called her Thursday night, she was miraculously available, and
Samuele and Teresa actually agreed to meet us at the church. It was
literally a miracle. Anyways, then Friday morning came, our bus was
late, Samuele and Teresa ran into a detour on the road and arrived
there like 5 minutes before they had to leave again, and so it ended
up failing big time, but at least we tried. We were a bit disappointed
that it all didn't work out, but then they told us that they have been
following the calendar for reading the Book of Mormon that we gave
them. And Sorella Decker and I *exaggeratedly* fell to the ground and
gave thanks to the Lord. But really.
Then, this week was the beginning of pranzos with members. The anziani
had the idea of meeting with more ward members so the ward mission
leader is trying to coordinate more meals for us. It is super nice,
because now we get to eat more delicious food. And get to know the
members better. Win win situation.
I also started to read conference talks in Italian for language study
with Sorella Decker since she actually wants to help me with learning
the language. It is really cool to read them, plus it helps me with
speaking Italian since we read them out loud. I just love conference
talks even from a few years ago. I can't wait to get to the super old
ones, but that will take awhile since I am going backwards.
Jennifer's new job offer did not go so well. Then things got hairy
scary last week with her. I won't go into details, but please pray for
her. She is still coming to church so it has nothing to do with that.
I am just really grateful that the ward members are taking care of
her. Because at this point, we are unable to get involved because we
are representatives of Christ and of the church.
We also had a lesson with Iole and Gesualdo. I can tell that my
Italian is progressing, because I was actually able to understand
almost all of the intellectual conversation that was taking place. I
understood the jokes.. And ahh. I was so happy. I just need to work on
expressing myself now that I understand most everything.
Angela came to church yesterday. We were so happy to see her and we
got to finally talk about what her parents said. She still wants to be
baptized and we are working towards that, but she needs to take time
to explain it all to her parents bit by bit. Slow and steady wins the
race. At least we are out of the "I don't know" stage. She came to
zone conference because the Clarks invited her, and all of the anziani
were staring at her with their jaws to the floor. But they had good
reason, I suppose. She is the Italian version of Rapunzel and she is
gorgeous. :)
Sorella Clark referred to me as her secret weapon this week. And I
guess I know my scriptures really well, at least from the Book of
Mormon. All I know is that in lessons, I try to use the scriptures
often because they teach better than I can and it is a great medium
for inviting the spirit in. And also, I listen to the promptings of
the spirit which is obviously easier to do when I teach in English.
I'm glad she thinks I am a good missionary though. I am doing my best.
So, you know how we all want some super human abilities someday? Well,
I read in Jesus the Christ that after the Resurrection, we will all be
super heroes. Haha.. We can be invisible, defy gravity or fly, and
walk through walls with our resurrected bodies. How cool is that? ;)
Alma 31 reminded me a lot about the Catholic Church at least with the
recited prayers and the going to church once a week. Although here, I
have also met the most people who are active Catholics but also the
most people who say they are Catholic, but don't know anything about
it. I just wish everyone would want to join the church, because there
is a lot missing from all the years of the dark ages.
Alma 41:8 was a scripture that touched me this week. It talks about
how Christ's plan is already set up, and already completed. All we
need to do is accept it and turn to Christ. The decrees of God are
unalterable and all we need is to walk in the path. The thing that hit
me, or (mi ho colpito) the most was that it doesn't matter where we
have been or what we have done, there is a path for us to get back on.
That path is always there. It doesn't disappear when we do something
really bad. It is always there. It is unalterable. The atonement is
truly for everyone.
Covenants have also been on my mind a lot. I'm getting into the Isaiah
chapters of the Book of Mormon in Italian, and I just love the
emphasis Isaiah puts on covenants. That God will never forget his
covenant people. He keeps his side of the promises we make if we keep
ours. For we will not be ashamed if we are with those who wait for
him. I am so grateful for the covenants I have made with my Heavenly
Father. I know that he loves me, and I know that he will help me along
the path back home. He gave me a savior to help me out, and I will
forever be a disciple of him who took upon him the sins of the world.
I know that he lives and that he truly is the light and life of the
world. And I will proclaim it to the ends of the world until the day I
die, and most likely even after that in the spirit world. ;)
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
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