Week 4

Buongiorno!

I swear the MTC is like some kind of really fancy time warp machine. How have I been here for 4 weeks already, and still feel like it has been forever since I said goodbye to everyone?? Not fair! I didn't sign up for that. haha.. I'm sad that I only have 2 more weeks here. But so excited to get to Italy! 

Well, this week had the good moments and the bad moments. But really the bad moments are where we learn the most so they really don't end up being bad moments. Also, this e-mail might be shorter than some of my others, but there will be a lot of spiritual stuff in it. So prepare yourselves. :) 

But first off... Today, the mission presidents arrive. I guess they are really strict on the dress code while they are here, so I'll be wearing my longer dresses, with cardigans and my blouses instead of my cotton t-shirts for Italy. On Thursday and Friday, we have one of the new mission presidents coming to teach our district for an hour in English. One of the other districts gets a member of the 70, and I'm kind of jealous. But I'll get over it. Maybe he'll come visit our class too. The cafeteria has moved to the gym and no catered food yet. We have yet to decide if that was just a rumor or not. 

So, in our Italian learning this week, we learned some interesting things. Italian is a very pretty language, and if something doesn't sound pretty using normal conjugation rules or something like that, they will make up random rules like adding an h to make the g or the c have a soft sound instead of the ch or the j sound. Just randomly. Just to make it sound pretty. Like really? Oh, and there are also like more than 8 tenses that we have to learn that all have different endings. Like 3 past tenses. I still don't quite understand when to use all of them, but I think I'll get the hang of it with the gift of tongues. We'll see. Sorella Rackham was like "there are so many tenses, it's making me tense." Just a little pun for y'all.

Also, I realized that I use a lot of words in the gerund tense in English like "running" or "going". Just the ing ending, but Italians don't use that tense as much, and so I have to end up changing my sentences around so I don't use them. This last week, we also had to take a language assesment on the computer. Not really an assessment. But it was a personal results kind of thing. I need to work on my Italian. But, I didn't do that shabby for only 3.5 weeks of learning Italian. 

I finally memorized D&C 4 in Italian. I have now memorized our purpose, the first vision, the baptismal invite, and section 4. It's fun to memorize those and actually understand what you are saying using fancy words. If that makes any sense. Our Italian is very basic right now. God loves you. He gave his son Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, we can feel peace. That's pretty much how our lessons go. 

We decided that our district is the orphan district. We pretty much have all of the teachers, and then they all leave us. Sorella Anstedt left on vacation two and half weeks ago, Fratello Wortham left. And so we get stuck with the teachers who have time to sub us. It's fun getting different perspectives, but I wish we had the same teachers. I guess nobody wants us.... hahaha.. 

We get to go outside for a few moments each class. Mostly so we can walk around and so we don't fall asleep. This last week, we sat outside for 20 minutes, and I went back in and thought my legs were sunburnt from 20 minutes. But, they were just red for a little while, and then they got tan. I think they were only red because it was hot. 

The one thing I've decided that I want are report cards. I wish I knew how I am doing with the language, with teaching, with everything. Or I wish I could just be told what to work on. But, that is more like how school works. Not the MTC. 

This week in one of our lessons, we were teaching Domenica who is a less active and doesn't go to church because of headaches and she was offended once. So we decided to talk about forgiveness. Since she does have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, we were trying to decide which story to use from the BOM (Book of Mormon) that would teach her better than we could. And I remembered something we talked about in my BOM class with Moroni and Pahoran. Captain Moroni was very rude when he wrote Pahoran the epistle in Alma 60, but Pahoran responded with "I am not angry. I rejoice in the goodness of your heart." What? I would NOT have responded like Pahoran, so we shared that story with her and I think that was one of our better lessons. Kind of fun. Read Alma 60-61 and work on forgiving others. I promise it will help. :) 

Thank you mom for sending me that article about lighthouses from the Ensign. I absolutely loved it! We are actually using some of the things from it for our TRC lesson this week. Tomorrow, for TRC, we get to Skype real members from Italy. What? So nervous! But I am sure it will all go well, and better than we think it will. I'm really excited though too. :) 

This last Sunday, I was asked to give the relief society lesson. The topic was on enduring to the end. And it was really fun to prepare a lesson. I used two mormon messages. One was called After the Storm, and the other was from Joseph B. Wirthlin, Come What May and Love It. I also used D&C 123:17, Hebrews 12:1-2, and some quotes. "Stick to your task til it sticks to you. Beginners are many, but enders are few." You should recognize that one Ty. ;) I felt like it went well, and I got compliments, so hopefully I taught what some of the sisters needed to hear. 

In one of our other lessons, Slla Rackham and I decided to go off script. And guess what? We shared the wrong scriptures. But I didn't realize because I only had my italian book of mormon and I didn't know what scripture Slla Rackham was trying to share. So, we shared a scripture about wars and contentions instead of the Lord helping us do hard things. (1 Nephi 12:1-3 and 1 Nephi 16: 1-3). Whoops! 

This week, one of the main things we learned was to not worry about the language. The grammar will come, but we need to be able to teach with the spirit and if we are worrying about the language, all the time or the correct conjugation of each verb, the spirit can't really be there. They said to just use the infinitive if you don't know how to conjugate it quickly. Kind of cool to hear since I forget how to conjugate a lot of the time. And the you and you formal still really confuse me from differences in French. In Italian, you use the he/ she tense for you formal but in French, you use the You plural. Still messes me up. 

Next week, we get to clean the Provo temple. We thought we might not get to go, because it was going to be closed, but now we get to clean it. Yay! I love the temple. It might be the best part of my week. Doing my last endowment session for 18 months today. Kind of weird to think about. 

So, yesterday I had a small meltdown. small. I just felt this personal inadequacy that I can't really describe. But in one of the lessons, I just couldn't think of anything to say. So, I decided my problem was that I haven't ever had big trials in my life. I've never broken the word of wisdom, I've never broken the law of chastity, I've never stopped going to church, my family are all members of the church... and so on... So, I felt like I couldn't relate to these people through words, because I really don't know what it feels like. But, I feel like my empathy gift runs so deep that even though I haven't felt what other people feel, I have in my own way. It's very distinct, and I really do feel it. That was my problem this week, because I felt like I couldn't explain that in Italian, and I also feel like that is really my only way to help people is this gift of mine. I like to listen to people and be their friend in hard times. But, I am also a missionary, and I need to talk to them about the gospel. So I need to find the happy medium. I started to cry because of my frustration, and none of the teachers were in the room. But, when they came back in, Sorella Bucco decided that she was going to do "coaching". It's like a personal "how are you doing" check up, and she picked me. I think she had the prompting, because I definitely needed it. She talked to me about what a successful missionary is for PMG Chapter 1 and it helped a lot. I feel like the teachers have to be prepared for their students to break down crying at any moment, because this whole MTC thing is very stressful, and hard, but amazing all at the same time. So hard to explain! 

Now for some spiritual thoughts from the devotionals on Sunday and Tuesday. On Sunday, one of the Sorella's fathers was asked to speak ( he is the guy who is in charge of everybody's mission application and he is there when they assign calls). He didn't tell her he was coming and her whole family was there. Such a sweet surprise for Father's Day. I guess he knew where she was going before she did, and he just took his call home with him after they assigned it. So crazy! But, it was a really great devotional. So, a lot of people before I left said "Oh, Italy is going to be such a hard mission. You aren't going to have very many baptisms, and Europe is just a really hard continent. You might only plant seeds when you are there." But, Brother Littlefield said that "the field is white already to HARVEST ". Not plant seeds. To harvest. I will probably do both, but he said our attitude really depends on how many baptisms we have. If I go thinking I'm not going to have very much success, I won't. But if I think I will teach a lot of people and change their lives, then I will have more success than if I had a different attitude. 

Then last night, Marcus B. Nash of the seventy came to speak to us. And he spoke to us about knowing who we are. We are children of God, we've been preparing for this work for a very long time. Like since the pre-mortal life. This is our work. We are here on Earth to learn how to become godly. The people who don't know what life is about are like people who enter a 3 act play in the middle of the second act. They don't know what was before, so they don't know how to act now in order to be prepared for the future. I really liked that analogy. They live day to day because they don't know why they are here, but lucky for them, we do. :) 

Mom - How dare you do the mommy no no! I can't believe you did that, but I'm also glad that Jake had a great time on his date. Good job for listening for promptings. We'll see what comes of that. Thanks for your thoughts on sanctification and guile. I'll include my thoughts in a letter that I will send home. Thanks for the stuff from the other sorella's blog. Fun to hear. Not so great about "swatting off nasty men". But I'm glad someday, everything will seem normal. And I know how she feels about Instagram and Facebook. I don't even miss it. Please send me a manila envelope for letters. I've received so many, but I'm always grateful for them. 

Dad - I'm glad you had a good Father's day. Sorry my letter was late, but know that I love you anyways. Yay for using Preach my Gospel for home teaching. I love that book. Marnell has a face for the news, I just know it. And I'm glad you are switching up your work outs. Lifting weights is fun. :) You are my sunshine! Love you!

Heidi - Sorry that Rexburg is going to be hot. I actually don't mind wearing a skirt everyday. Then p-day comes and I forget how nice it is to wear jeans. I'm glad my snail mail made a rough day better. And be patient with your roommates. Good luck with classes, tests, and all of that fun stuff. I don't miss not having to do homework. Sticky notes are the best. I agree. 

Jake - Happy birthday! Buon compleanno!! :) I sent you a letter in the mail on Monday. Hopefully it gets there in time. If not, I apologize. It doesn't feel like the end of June yet, so I'm proud of myself for remembering. Um... have fun at the Rodeo, I guess. haha.. :) And I'm glad you had a good time on your date. Love hearing all the sweet juicy details. 

Also, I've heard the mail system really sucks in Italy, and you can put a sticker on for a stamp and it will still get to the US. Not sure how that works, but not sure I"m actually going to try that. Oh, and we heard about fish bricks too. Not sure how I feel about those. haha.. 

I love you all! Have a fantastic week! I get my flight plans soon, so I will let you know when I leave. Love you!

Love, 

Sorella Flansberg

Sentimana numero 3

Hello!!

I have a secret to tell all of you! The only reason my e-mails contain so much information is because of the genius invention of sticky notes. Every night, I write some things down that I want to tell all of y'all and then I bring them to the computer to type. Also, I am speedy fast at typing. But I also spend the whole hour on this one e-mail. That won't happen when I actually get to Italy since I will have to e-mail my mission president more than the one paragraph I write to my branch president here. 

Sorry for no snail mail this week. I'll try harder this week. Dad, look for something on Father's day. :) Maybe it will be there on time. I'll try to send it today. There is literally no time. Throughout the day we study and we have class and we don't get back until 9:30 at night and then I get ready for bed and write in my journal. So p-day is the only time I have to write letters, and I wrote 3 last week to other people and was sick of writing letters. Plus I didn't have anything new to tell you. Sorry! Forgive me? 

This e-mail is also going to come in later than usual. This morning we moved into our new penthouse. And guess what! This one has an elevator and a view of the stadium for stadium of fire. Woohoo! We ain't even mad about having to move. Well, maybe a little bit. But the elevator made up for being on the 4th floor again. Picture coming later. The new building is all renovated and so much nicer than our other one. So much fun. We found out we had to move on Sunday, so kind of like an emergency transfer. 

So, mom said she had questions about our "investigators." It confuses me too. Our first investigator, Francesca is Sorella Russell who is now one of our teachers. Fratello Wortham acted like investigators he taught while he was on his mission, and that one was Marco. We are now done teaching both of them. Then Sorella Preston gave us all a less-active member of the church that she taught on her mission. Again acting like them. Her name is Domenica. She is the wife of the ward mission leader and her whole family is active. She has massive headaches and that is why she doesn't come to church. Then we found out that she was offended once. So we don't really know whether it is because she was offended or whether her headaches are unbearable or a little bit of both. We'll find out more when we teach her next. 

Sorella Bucco also gave us less actives to teach. Our's is Barnaba and she doesn't go because on Sunday, she'll wake up late or sick or she just doesn't want to go. But the rest of the week, she knows she needs to go. But she reads her scriptures and says prayers, so we're good there. She just needs to partake of the sacrament. 

We also taught a real lady in TRC last Thursday. So much fun to get out of role plays. We taught her about having faith in Christ and it is supposed to be like a home teaching/visiting teaching lesson. It was so much fun and the spirit was so incredibly strong. I think we all ended up crying. We do that again tomorrow and we are talking about trials and the 3 different places trials come from (our choices, others choices, and life) and how we need to forgive others and ourselves and pray in order to get through our trials. These are such fun lessons. 

We also got a new investigator that we start teaching again tomorrow. Sorella Russell is acting like another investigator and her name is Rafaela. She is from Brazil. Lives with her boyfriend, and a friend's daughter, I think. Her whole family are members in Brazil, but she doesn't remember what they believe. 

Speaking of other countries. Italy, especially Rome has a lot of people from other countries because it is the gateway into the rest of Europe. So, there are a lot of African people we might teach and people from south america. Italy doesn't try to stop immigrants from moving in, which might be why they are like the second poorest country in Europe. 

This last week, Fratello Wortham predicted where our first areas would be. Mine was Palermo, Sicily. I have absolutely no problems with that, and I think it would be hilarious if that actually happens. Yesterday was his last day, and we are all very sad. I think he was our favorite teacher. He is off to boot camp for the air force. Something fun they say in Italy instead of Good luck is In Bocca Al Lupo. Which means In the Mouth of the Wolf. Then to reply you say Crepe? I think, which means the wolf dies. It's kind of like "break a leg." The funny thing is that Buona Fortuna is the kind of good luck that you say in a sarcastic way. 

So, I've decided that I like having scheduled gym time because that means I actually work out. They have some great facilities here. They have a track where 10 times around is a mile. And they have weight machines. And machine bikes and ellipticals. So much to do. Plus outside sports. Somedays we play sand volleyball. Kind of like a pedicure with exfoliation on your feet. We usually lift weights. I promise I'm not starting to get addicted to getting "big". It's just nice to feel more muscle in your arms and legs since you wear gonna's and vestito's all day. (skirts and dresses) I ran a mile yesterday and I need to start working on my time. I think I need to use my long legs to my advantage and take larger steps instead of mini steps like I do now. 

We are also pretty lucky to be at the MTC right now. Next week all the general authorities are coming to train the new mission presidents so we might be lucky enough to see a few of them. So much fun. The spirit here will be amazing!!! Hoping I'll get to see Elder Uchtdorf, well any of them would be really fun. :) 

This last week, Elder Wooley (FHE husband) got a case of Virgil's rootbeer from his parents and he was kind enough to share with me and my companion. I didn't care for it in terms of rootbeer because it tasted like black licorice a lot. But, since I like weird flavored soda like Inca Kola, I liked it. Just not as rootbeer. It was also in bottles, and so everyone was staring at us as we took it into the cafeteria. Oops. Then this elderly teacher came up to us and was like, "I thought the bar didn't open until 5:00. We replied that the bar is open all day for pretty girls like us. 

This week I've learned that I need to speak up if I ever want to learn Italian. Staying quiet because you're afraid to make a mistake doesn't help. I've been better. I made a goal to be more confident because I know more Italian than I think I do. We've tried going on English fasts so days where we don't speak any English, but it doesn't usually last very long. Oops. I think if we ever did do it for a whole day, we would be a whole lot quieter. 

I saw Elder Frogget here at the MTC. He left this morning for the Tulsa Oklahoma Mission. Cool that he is going there, huh Heidi? :) It is fun to see people I know. I also saw Julia Blackham at the devotional on Sunday. She was one of the technical people. I love seeing familiar faces. 

This week, we had several interesting meals at the cafeteria. I feel like some days we play the mystery meat game. One day there were pork chops. Nasty. You couldn't even stick your fork in it, it was so tough. And then they said they were hamburgers one day, but they were sausage burgers. Quite nasty if you ask me. They have this chocolate cake here once a week though that has heath bar pieces on top of it. My favorite dessert of all time. Love it. And they have good sausage biscuits and gravy and breakfast burritos some mornings. The food isn't that bad, but I am getting tired of some of the options. Sorry Ty that you have to eat it for 9 weeks. 

One other activity we did this week was we went outside and stopped people to bear our testimonies in Italian. We stopped portuguese speaking missionaries and they said that is was the closest thing to Portuguese that they had heard. Kind of cool. Maybe Emily Magleby will understand me and I'll understand her when we get back from our missions. It would probably be better to just speak English though. 

Thank for all the dear elders. I get plenty of mail, but I love it all. And I love hearing about the "outside world". We talked this week how the MTC is kind of like a zoo. We feel like the outside world is peering in on us. haha.. 

Now for a few spiritual things. 

In class we were talking about why we decided to serve missions. And also how we are really the only religion that has missionaries other than Jehovah Witness. And the service missionaries of other religions for only a few months. I mean, who would want to leave their home for 18 months to 2 years without having a tv, a phone, no music, new language, no movies and have to pay to leave? Like really? But, this is the best decision I have ever made. I do it, because I know that this gospel is true and because I love my Savior. People may think we are crazy, but it says something that the church has 80,000 missionaries out doing this. 

Another thing. Fratello Wortham talked to us about the refiner's fire. He asked us what our refiner's fire is. And why we thought God gave us that challenge. He said the worst type of missionary is the one who is too scared to face the fire. The mission is hard... What do I do?.... Get over it. The Lord has great things in store for you. Let him weld you into who he wants you to be. Do God a favor by not giving up. Endure to the end. Abandon your will and start living God's. 

The other thing I really liked is that as missionaries we have the power and authority to be God's hands on the earth. This week, we wanted to promise Barnaba that her headaches would become bearable if she attended church, but we were worried that our promise wouldn't work. Then Sorella Bucco told us that since we have power and authority, and if we are obedient and hard working missionaries and we aren't promising things that aren't too out there, God will back us up. He knows what we promise to the people we are teaching and he will give them a witness of the truth. It is better to promise specific blessings than not specific ones. 

Last night at the devotional, Elder David F. Evans spoke. He is the member of the seventy over all of the missionary work. Really cool that he got to speak to us. He said, "Step forward with confidence. He will do what He does once we show our faith." 

I also want to know everyone's thoughts on the words sanctify/ sanctification and guile. I'll let you know all of my thoughts next week. 

Dad - Happy Father's Day, a little bit early. Hopefully you get your letter on time.  Enjoy Father's Day dinner! And know that I love you more than anything! Also, you'll be fantastic at Redeemer after 18 months. You are awesome! And I love you Babbo. :) 

Mom- Thanks for the letters. Also, thanks for raising me in Nevada. I didn't have to go to the consolate to get a visa. Yes for Nevada state laws, I think... I don't really know why I didn't have to go. 

Heidi - I'm glad you can hear my voice in my letters.You are great! Love you bunches!

Jake- Sorry to hear about your sunburn. Sounds painful. And, Heidi said you haven't been doing a gratitude journal. Pick it up! It really is helpful. Glad you are enjoying sunday school, institute and the beach day with the branch. 

I love you all! 

PS. Our room smelled like skunk this last week. We think a skunk might have crawled into the air vent. Gross! Another reason we are glad we had to move. Now we are in 17 M instead of 3 M. 

Love you!

Love, 

Sorella Flansberg

Week 2

Buongiorno la mia familia!

This week has been so great! On Friday, we got out of class to go watch Elder L. Tom Perry's funeral live. Such a good experience. I guess President Burgess had to get super special permission to let us do that. Before I go any further, I apologize for any typos or uncapitalized letters in this e-mail. All the keyboards here are terribile. That's italian, not a typo. haha... I think Elder Perry is my new standard for optimism. He always seemed to be in a good mood and so happy. I want to be like that, and I am working on having the mindset of never having a bad day. 

Francesca, our investigator also became one of our teachers this week. Fratello Wortham is leaving in a week and a half for boot camp (air force) and Sorella Anstedt is gone for 2 weeks on vacation, so we have different teachers everyday. I will miss Fratello Wortham. He is hilarious! He is our new investigator. Well, actually he is pretending to be actual people he taught in Italy. We have Marco. He is 55 years old, his mother has Alzheimer's so he helps her a lot, believes in God, and said "Why not ?" to our baptism invite. So far so good. Although, Sorella Rackham and I need to work on our lesson transitions. We went from asking about his hobbies, to saying an opening prayer, to asking him why we are on earth. That escalated quickly. ;) 

We also learned why we challenge people to baptism on our first lesson. It isn't because we want them to be baptized right away. It is to explain to them what our purpose is and what we want the end goal to be. If we don't invite them to baptism, and spring that on them in the seventh lesson, they think we are just their friend who is teaching them about Christ. But, if we tell them what our goal is for them and what we want them to do, it starts out the lessons right and they know that we are there to bring them closer to Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. 

On Sunday, we went on the temple walk. I love getting out of the walls of the MTC where we can actually see the mountains. We took some pictures and hopefully I will be able to get them attached. The computers here are locked up really tight. On Sunday night, we had a devotional with Pres and Sis Tanner. They are the new presidents of BYU-Hawaii. They had a great message and it was fun being with them. On Sunday night, we watched a film. It was a devotional by Elder Bednar called The Character of Christ. It was soo good. Ty, you need to watch it when you come. It is a life changer! He talked about how the natural man tends to turn in when things don't go his way. We tend to think about ourselves. But he said the character of Christ is to turn out in charity when the natural man would turn in with selfishness. He also gave several examples from the scriptures when he did this. He said, "This mission is not about you. Get over yourself and get out of the way. You only change when you focus on others and lose yourself in the work. If you go looking for yourself, you won't find it." He also said that there is a difference between having a testimony and being converted. Conversion is consistently doing what you know is right. Conversion is turning away from the natural man and getting rid of the cookie monster inside of us. 'I want cookie now'. 

I got a package from Heidi this week. She sent me a gratitude journal which I write in every night. and some candy.  Starbursts and smarties. Some of my favorites. 

Tomorrow, we are teaching 4 different lessons all in Italian. They don't waste any time getting you teaching in your new language. 2 are to members of the church who speak Italian. So it is kind of like the real deal. It will be nice to get out of the role plays for a little bit. We are also teaching Marco and a less active that Sorella Bucco taught on her mission. Her name is Barnaba. That's a lot of lessons and not very much time to figure out what we are going to teach, write it in English, and translate it to Italian. But i have faith that the spirit will help me and put words in my mouth. Hopefully those words are in Italian, gramatically correct, and actually make sense coming out of my mouth. 

Yesterday was so amazing! Class was absolutely crazy filled with the Spirit, and the devotional last night was really great too. Linda K. Burton came to speak to us with her husband. (General RS President). They talked about picking apart the scripture 3 Nephi 5:13. She especially pointed out "I Am ". It is only talking about who you are and what you are supposed to be doing. I am a missionary. I am a disciple of Christ. I will shout the gospel from the rooftops to all who will hear. 

In class, we literally dissected 3 Nephi 17. In our classroom, there is a picture of Christ healing the sick. And I didn't notice it until Friday this last week. But it becomes a lot more meaningful when I pretend that I am the sick and lame man. That I need Christ to heal me and through my faith, I can become whole. But then we dug in deeper. We can look at it like we are the sick and we need to be healed. We can also look at it like we are the healthy. In verse 7, it says to bring the sick hither and he will heal them. These sick people have probably been sick their entire lives. These people were the Nephites friends and family. They've probably been to see every doctor in Zarahemla and they still couldn't be healed. But then Christ said to bring them hither, and he will heal them. The people who are healthy need to have the faith that these people will be healed. It probably seemed like an impossible task to them. Also, Christ didn't just snap his fingers and heal all of them at once. I heard once that the gospel is very personal. And Christ likes to do things one by one to make us feel important and special. All covenants that we make are personal, individual promises that we make. Sorry, got off topic. As the healthy people, we just need to bring others to Christ. We as missionaries might not think that Barnaba will ever stop smoking or that the homeless man will ever change his addictions or that Gloria will never come to church. But it isn't our job to heal them. Our job is to bring them to Christ. He will do the rest. Christ gives us power beyond our own means. And along with this.. Sorella Bucco asked why we are here? I am here because I want to share the gospel with everybody I come in contact with either through example or words. I need to remember to talk to everybody even if I think they will never change. If I wasn't a member of the church, and I had an addiction to nicotine, I wouldn't want to be missed just because somebody else thought I would never be able to change. Only Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, know our capability of change. As missionaries, we are to invite all people to come unto Christ. Even if one person in my family line hadn't been invited to read the book of Mormon or invited to change, I might not be a missionary right now. We never know what will come of the invitations we offer to others. 

In verse 14-21 of Chapter 17 it also says that Christ groaned within himself because of the wickedness of the people, but then he had a fullness of joy when the people were righteous. He loves us so much. Our faith makes him full of joy. I will be so happy when my investigators show faith, but even my happiness is nothing compared to what he feels for me and for everyone else on the planet when we choose the right. Being a member of the church is a privilege, not a right.

All is well here. I can't think of another time when I have been so tired, but yet so happy to be doing what I am doing. The MTC is full of the spirit all the time. The food might not be so great, but I only have 4 more weeks of that. Then gelato and pasta! Woohoo! :) 

Thanks for all the letters and support. I love you all! Letters make my day. And I absolutely LOVE dear elders. Unit 57, people. Send me some! :) 

Mom, Thanks for the package and the yummy thin mints.  It is fun to see people I know here. I saw Adam, my accounting buddy. He's a teacher here, and today Mallory Moss, one of my coworkers arrives. So fun. I love missionary work. 

Jacob,  So exciting about the Provo City Center Temple. I hadn't heard that yet. So exciting! Obedience is a topic that never ends here at the MTC. It is important though, I agree.  Also, super exciting for Aaron Woodbury and his mission call. Super exciting for their family. We have one of the worst classrooms here. So small, and so squishy with 11 people in it all the time. I found new food at the cafeteria, but it still isn't all that great. Not everybody has p-day on Wednesdays. It just so happened Adam has it on wednesday too. 

Heidi, Thank you for the package. And for the pictures of the royal children. So cute! I'm also glad that registration went well. I know that you will do awesome!  Love you! Looking forward to your letter. You better send me one. 

Dad, We learned that Babbo is Daddy in Italian well in Tuscany. Not anywhere else. Elsewhere it means Father Christmas or idiot. So don't put it in google translate. Just know that you're my daddy and I love you more!

Tell Grandpa thanks for his sweet letter. That rainstorm sounded crazy. And he is a blessing in my life. :) 

Well, gotta go. One hour goes too fast. Love you!!

Sorella Flansberg

First week!

Ciao la mia famiglia! And Ty (:) ),

Wow! What a week! So much has happened! Wednesday when I got here, I arrived about an hour and a half early, so we met with a group of other elders and sisters and introduced ourselves going quite deep into our life stories. Thankfully, we ran out of time for the last two people which included me so I only had like 1 minute to introduce myself. I saw Adam in the first hour, and we've seen each other a few more times. We hope to get a picture before he leaves. Then, we went to get our room key and we were taken to our classroom. As soon as I got there, my teacher (Sorella Anstedt) was speaking Italian, and I had no idea what she was saying. Lovely, huh? 

Thursday was the longest day ever. We were in our classroom for like 10 hours, and I seriously thought my behind was going to be flat from sitting for so long. Our desks are tiny and there are 10 people in my district. Too many people to fit into one teeny sized classroom. 

So, let me introduce my district. 

Sorella Rackham is my companion. She is 23 and is from South Jersey. According to her, South Jersey and North Jersey are two separate states. She is 4'11", so there is a foot difference between us and everyone thinks that is so funny. She said my name Flahnsburg and then she realized that she was saying it wrong, but she still says it wrong anyways. Just because. We are very different, but it compliments our companionship, I guess. She took Italian in high school, so she has a little bit of a background in the language which is good, because I don't. 

Then there is Sorella Anderson. She is from Idaho Falls (Ammon), and she took Italian in high school as well. There are like 3 people from Ammon going to Italy. Crazy. She also plays the violin.

Sorella McKenzie is her companion. She is from Mountain Home, Idaho which is near Boise, I guess. Sorella McKenzie is super sweet and quiet kind of like me. 

The four of us share a room with 6 beds and 4 closets. I'm glad there are only 4 of us. :) 

Then there is Anziano Topacio. He is from LA, is Filipino, has a girlfriend at home, and is super funny. He is also one of the zone leaders.

Anziano Cannon is his companion. He is from Eugene, OR and he went to BYU for a year before his mission. He likes to run. 

Then there is Anziano Penfold. He is from Colorado Springs, CO, and kind of geeky. He also went to BYU and he has called me a stick twice. Once when I was saying I don't think I can handle a hamburger another day (that is like all they have for lunch). He thought I meant my weight, and I just meant that I was sick of eating hamburgers everyday. Kind of awkward. haha

His companion is Anziano Osborne. He arrived on Friday, because he was sick. They don't want you to be sick when you arrive at the MTC. He's pretty cool. He's from Draper, and he picked up on the Italian pretty fast for arriving late. 

Last but not least, Anziano Brockbank is from San Diego, CA. He has red hair and is our District Leader. He is responsible for picking our mail up everyday. 

His companion is Anziano Lancaster from Kansas. He likes to study Italian, a lot. He knows German already, so he wishes he was speaking German. 

Our two teachers. Sorella Anstedt is very nice. She speaks in Italian first and if we still look super lost and confused, she says it in English. Fratello Wortham (Vortam - how they say it in Italy) is awesome! He is hilarious and I think his jokes are super funny. Probably funnier since they are all in Italian. He has spoken one word of english this whole week. Kind of weird, because I follow his wife on Instagram. I know more about him than he thinks I do. haha... His wife waited for him on his mission, and used the #missionarygirlfriend which I stalked quite a bit. Don't judge me. 

On Thursday, we learned that we had to teach a lesson to an investigator/role player on Friday, all in Italian. Like what? I only know 3 simple sentences. We also met our Branch Presidency on Thursday night. The branch president's wife is from Italy, and so she gives us hints all the time. She is super sweet. I guess the mafia likes to protect missionaries. Maybe that will give them some leeway in heaven. She also said that Italians like you when you try to learn their language, so even if it is extremely pathetic, they'll love us. So reassuring! Our branch includes all the people going to Romania on their mission as well, so all of our meetings are in English. I also like how our districts are made up of people going to the same place as us. Italian isn't spoken really anywhere but Italy, unlike Spanish which has people going everywhere. There are like 35 people going to Italy! Everybody is so different here, but we all have the same purpose and motivation which makes the spirit here so strong and amazing. 

Friday was probably the worst day here. Our lesson did not go very well. It was hard to comprehend what she was saying. And I couldn't even form sentences. Not so great. haha. I felt like we were fed to the sharks and we had to learn how to swim real quick. And we had to teach another lesson on Saturday. So many lessons in Italian!! On Saturday, we had planned to teach Francesca the Restoration, but when we got in there, she asked us a question about the Plan of Salvation. Uh.... We don't know any of that vocabulary. Help! Our Italian phrases book was a serious lifesaver. Fratello Wortham said I have good pronunciation, so at least people will know what I am saying when I read. haha.. I've also gotten pretty good at comprehending what people are saying, but if you ask me to say something back.. I'm like... uh... uh... uh... haha. But I know all the comprehension help comes from prayer. lots and lots of prayer.

Sunday was the best day here. We had a great relief society lesson on the atonement, and the spirit was so strong. We also had sacrament meeting and a devotional. Janice Kapp Perry spoke at the devotional. She wrote several of the children's songbook songs, so we sang a medley of them in the middle of her talk. Her husband was there as well, and so she told us the story of how they met. Bro. Perry ignored her pretty much all semester at school, and then one day, he said, "Those lips look like they are made for something better than playing the clarinet." At the devotional, he stood up and kissed her in front of all of us. So cute. They are like 80 years old and it was so sweet. I want that someday, but mission first. They kept bringing up marriage, and dating and we were like, "It's our first week in the MTC". 

It's true what people say. If you can get to Sunday, you are golden. So true. It has gotten so much better. I don't feel as overwhelmed. My companion knows several children songs in Italian, so she made the mistake of teaching one of them to our anziani. It says, Mi scapa la pipi, papa. Which means... I'm gonna lose my pee, papa. The anziana like to sing it. And they wrote it on the board the day our teacher's boss came in. Thankfully, he doesn't speak Italian, so he didn't know what it meant. 

Yesterday, we learned how to conjugate the verbs volere and dovere which is to want and to must. One of the forms of dovere is dobbiamo, and so Anziano Topacio said, "Dobby is free!" That is all I can think of now when I conjugate that verb. Mom, you'll have to get to Harry Potter # 2 if you want to understand that joke. 

Also, D. Todd Christofferson came to the devotional last night. It was amazing. My favorite thing is said is "Quitting won't make you feel any better. Stopping won't help. Just keep going." Such a good reminder, because quitting really won't make you feel any better. 

I wrote my testimony in Italian yesterday, and I wanted to share it with y'all. 

Io so che questa chiesa contiene la pienezza del vangelo di Gesu Cristo. Io so che il mio Salvatore ha pagato per i miei peccati, e per le mie debolezze. Io so che lui e morto per me e che lui vive di nuovo. Io so che il libro di Mormon e vero, e io so che Joseph Smith tradusse il libro di Mormon con il potere di Dio. Io so che Padres Celeste mi ama. Io sono sua figlia, e lui risponde alle mie preghiere. Io so che Thomas S. Monson e un profeta, e che la mia famiglia e eterna. 

Pretty impressive, huh? haha..

My favorite thing during scripture study this week was in Hebrews 12: 1. It says something along the lines of "let go of the burdens you carry, and walk your path with patience." I might have made that up. I don't have my scriptures with me. Ah! Missionary flaw!! haha.. I always have them with me!! And then verse 2 is one that Ty and I have talked to. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Love it. Also the last verse, I think is awesome too. We took a test that analyzed our christlike attributes... and it said I need to work on patience and charity. haha.. I guess those are my weaknesses.

The first hour I was at the MTC, my bag broke. Convenient, right? So I bought a new one. It's waterproof and is bigger than my other one. It also looks a little manly, but it works. And that is what counts. It was also only 24 dollars which really isn't so bad compared to some of the ones we found online. I also had to buy a filter water bottle because I did. haha. And that was like 22.. so I am kind of out of all the cash I brought to the MTC. Oops. 

It sounds like you all had a great time at the Stake Conference this weekend (minus Heidi and Ty) and that you made so great goals. I approve of you writing to me every sunday. P-day is Wednesday in the MTC, so Tuesday is okay too. It also sounds like you had an amazing time at the temple on Saturday! I so wish I could have been there, but it was fun reading about it too. I guess. :p 

I loved getting all of y'all dear elders. Dad, I was wondering what spunky meant. I don't usually use that word to describe myself. And nice work using google translate. :) I knew what it said without it!

I'm already getting sick of the food. Everyday for lunch, they have some sort of burger with meat on it. They get creative with the meats. One day, it was a turkey burger. and some days it's pulled pork. They have curly fries though and that is always good!!

Heidi- I'm excited to get my package. Hopefully I told you enough about my companion. And I wish you luck with registration! I also saw Sis. House. She ran up and gave me a big hug in the airport. 

Jacob- I approve of your new goals. And I do actually like the MTC. It isn't anything like what Bro. Majors said it was. Yes, the food is boring and it's hard work and you are stuck in a classroom all day. But it is amazing! The spirit is so strong. And I feel happy like all the time. Even when I'm cleaning bathrooms for service. Grossest thing ever! I also enjoyed the story about the middle east. 

Mom- I'm glad the italian tomato plant has a front row seat. And that you started your college course. Read Harry Potter! :) Go ahead and give them a copy of my talk if you can find it. And now you know when p-day is so you don't have to watch your e-mail like a mother hawk. Thank you for remembering the ipod cord. I was going to ask you for that. Also, my camera doesn't like my 16 gb memory cards, so could you send me some 8 gb ones?

I love you all! 

Love,

Sorella Flansberg

P.S. Please send this to Sis. Peterson and post it on the blog. Love you!