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!