Week 3 in Catania

Hello my dear friends and family: 

Today has been one of the most exhausting days of my life, but the good news is that I am done with the permesso stuff.. I just have to wait 2 more weeks to actually get it. It is a pain in the butt. But we finally got the cord that connects the iPad to an sd card so hopefully you will get more pictures. I also had to get fingerprinted twice, so now my fingerprints are available in one country's database. Haha... Then we got an arancini for lunch and a granita because we didn't have one for 5 days. We were so proud of ourselves! Now we are at the church emailing where there is free wifi, cold water, and air conditioning. Whoop! I also bought 3 shirts today at Tezenis. They were like 5 euros each. One of them says Lemon Joy, but the e and n in lemon are big so it says enjoy. I saw it 2 weeks ago, almost bought it, then decided not to, and kept thinking about it... So I went back. The others are just plain white and a dark turquoise mixed with emerald green color. So fun. 

I have decided that my two favorite flavors of anything are peach or lemon. Also thinking of using those as wedding colors. My comp and I talk about weddings all the time... Like ALL THE TIME. Haha... She says I can use any colors for my wedding in whatever season I want. It doesn't have to be peach or lemonade season to have that be my colors and cupcake flavors. Haha.. This is what we talk about as we walk from appointment to appointment. No joke. We got granites with Angela last Tuesday, and the place we went to had peach. Yum! They also had pineapple which is really great too. 

Last week, we went to the Mall called Etnapolis. I bought some Italian leather shoes from Geox so they are supposed to breathe more... They are super cute. Also, mom? Could you check how much damage that did to my debit card? Like how much it took out from using that. Also, give me a balance update please. :) love you! 

Some fun experiences this week, then spiritual ones.

I like to put my water bottles in the freezer so it is nice and cold when we get back from an appointment. One time, we were gone longer than we thought we would be, so my water was frozen solid. But it melts so fast here. I would wait 10 seconds, and I would have a new gulp of freshly melted water. Another 10 seconds, another gulp. It is so hot. I think I say that a million times in each of my emails. Mom, we do have a kitchen sink, but up until a few days ago, our washing machine, sink, and other bathroom only had boiling hot water. But our anziani in Catania are our heroes and fixed it for us by turning this one simple knob. This is why girls don't live by themselves. Haha... Now we say HALLELUJAH every time we turn the water on. 

Also, you all know how you think public transportation is the best thing ever in Europe. Yeah.. About that. Nope. It is the worst quite honestly. It is either late or early, it all depends on the bus driver. For example, today the bus was to leave at 2:00. We literally ran to the station, not there.. We ask the ticket booth people, oh, it left 10 minutes ago. Even though last week we asked another worker and he said the buses never leave early. Mind you, then we decided to ride another bus, and it leaves 10 minutes early that time. What? No fair. So confusing. But, because we took the other bus, we got to walk a little farther and there were blackberry bushes on the side of the rode. Tender mercies are real. 

Saturday, I had my first 6 course meal. It was delicious, but I also felt like I would burst. We went to Kiran's house. She is from the Mauritius islands. Don't know where that is, but the first course is pasta. The amount of pasta she served was probably the size of a normal meal in the U.S. It was delicious though. It was penne pasta and olive oil and zucchini and eggplant. Eggplant is a very popular Sicilian food. The vegetables were a bit slimy because of the way they cook them, but the flavor was wonderful. Then came the vegetables, green beans and grilled peppers. Then the chicken, and the bread. Then we had fruit, and gelato, and orange soda. Oh goodness. I was literally so full. 

Yesterday, we were invited to the Sigonella Branch by the senior missionary couple. It is on the U.S Navy base, but they had Italian investigators who they referred to us, but we needed to translate for them. Well, Sorella Defranchi translated. I got to enjoy an English sacrament meeting where I could actually understand the talks. The anziani were invited too because they have the car. Haha.. It was a little piece of home. Everyone was so nice and a couple lived in Fernley for a while because the husband was stationed in Fallon. It was nice to meet someone that knew where Carson City was. They had a linger longer after church, so American food too. Seriously, a little piece of heaven. Last week, sister G gave us Oreos and peanut butter. That peanut butter has become my favorite thing... Like literally. Sister G is also from the base, but they come to Catania ward instead of the tiny branch. Also, pistachio flavored stuff is a big thing here. They have granitas and gelatos and we bought this sweet pistachio cream that they put on bread. It's all really yummy though. 

We live near this really pretty park called Villa Bellini. We do finding there a lot, but it is super pretty. Graffiti is all over the place in Italy, but a lot of people spray paint the sidewalks of the park with love notes. I took a picture by one, so I'll send that. Super cute, and really cheesy all at the same time. 

Also, my companion gave me a dress from a Chinese store. It is garment friendly and you don't have to wear anything under it so it is pretty much my favorite. Layers are not fun when it is so hot. 

After the Sigonella Branch, we took the sacrament to this elderly lady who is home bound with her son who takes care of her. The anziani did the sacrament but we went along. It was literally the sweetest thing. I hope that when I am that old and about to die, I still want to take the sacrament because it is so important. Agata's spirit was literally the sweetest. I wish I could have talked to her more, but my Italian is lacking. 

The language is still rough for me. I'm the perfectionist and I don't want to make mistakes... So annoying.. But I do feel like I am learning a lot. And I'm really good at writing and reading things, but speaking.... Still a little slow, and I never know how to respond to people quickly. Probably because I try to translate what they said to English, then think how I want to respond and then translate it to Italian. It takes so long... Also, one day this week, we only had one appointment and it was so hard for me to feel accomplished.. But, my comp shared an analogy with me from a "dying" missionary last transfer. 

When you tell God you are willing to serve a mission, he is excited for you because he knows what you will become when you finish. At the beginning of your mission, he places a boulder in front of you and tells you to try to push it. This boulder is twice your size, and it represents the language, the new culture, being rejected, the heat and humidity, and everything else hard that the mission throws at you. Every day, you wake up at 6:30 and you try to push. You push as hard as you can, but the boulder won't budge an inch. Sometimes you feel like giving up because nothing you do is making the boulder move, but everyday you keep trying for 18 months or 2 years. Then at the end of your mission, God removes the boulder and you fall down. He tells you to stand up, and you ask him why he did that to you. He says, but look at all the new muscles you gained! It never was about pushing or moving the boulder. It was about becoming better, stronger, more faithful, more loving, harder working, more understanding, and more trusting. 

Loved that analogy. :) 

So I had the idea before I left to become nationally certified as fluent in Italian... I don't know why, but this week I was thinking about maybe working for the church and translating general conference talks and church things into Italian. Or even just for a publisher. Harry Potter for example was translated into Italian and I'm sure other books have too. I think that would be really fun. But I would need more qualification than just serving a mission in Italy. Just an idea. 

One other thing.. My comp says I'm a silent sufferer. I sneeze silently, I choke silently, I don't scream and yell when I hit my head on my closet shelf, and I don't scream when I see weird bugs. Haha.. Kind of funny. But I did scream today when I dropped a big juicy blackberry today. Weird things that other people notice about you that you don't realize. 

A duh moment of the week. We were teaching about the priesthood and I realized that men who have the priesthood can't use it to help themselves. It is purely for the service of others which I personally think is really cool. There is this sister in the Catania ward who likes to think that if women ever did get the priesthood, she would be the first one. 

So, in case you didn't know... Italy is not Mexico in missionary work. You know those stories where someone meets the missionaries and then 2 weeks later they are baptized. Yeah, that doesn't happen here. A steadily progressing investigator who has the desire to change takes about 2 transfers or 3 months to get baptized. It's a culture thing with the "everybody and their dog smokes" and the law of chastity and the Catholic Church... But, the work of the Lord goes on. In 1 nephi 9: 6, I think.. It talks about how the work of the Lord will be accomplished because he has all power. In Jesus the Christ, I was reading about Mary learning about being the mother of Christ.. First off, I wish I could respond like her in the face of trials, but becoming pregnant by the Holy Ghost is not natural and shouldn't happen according to natural laws. But Heavenly Father works by the higher law, which means anything can happen through him. Humans do not have the capacity to understand the higher law because we always seek the why behind something happening. I think that is cool to think about. The other thing I like about that verse is the phrase, and thus it is. That is just the way it is. Don't argue with it just because you don't understand. And it is fun to say in Italian. E cosi è. :) 

Also, I was reading 1 Nephi 10. I liked verses 6 and 17-19. What does it mean to rely on that redeemer and how do we seek him diligently? Why does diligence unlock the mysteries of heaven? Just something for you to ponder this week. :)

On Friday, we had 3 amazing lessons. We had been in our apartment all morning because of our weekly planning session, pranzo, language study, and 12 weeks. Then when we left, it started to rain. It was so nice because that was our longest walk (it takes an hour) and it was going to be so hot, tender mercies... Again. Then we went to the F family....this couple is so sweet and even though they are less-active, the spirit is so strong in their home. Sis F wouldn't get married until she got married in the temple. She finally met the right guy, but now it is too late for them to have children. This is a hard challenge for her and she is tired and spiritually exhausted all the time. But she knows the gospel is true. And I know God is well aware of her challenges, and he knows that she can handle it. They are literally the cutest. Then we went to Jennifer's and her boys were sleepy this time. Both lessons this week, they were more reverent than they usually are. We might try some of those ideas mom, but those boys sit in a car all day at work with their mom and they finally get to run around for awhile when they get home. That is why they are so crazy. So on Friday, we said the blessings were pouring out of heaven in two forms. Rain and amazing lessons. 

The last thing I learned was from a talk this last conference. The responsibility of the gospel or something like that... It talked about the two responsibilities of baptism: to seek your own salvation and to seek the salvation of others by being a disciple of Jesus Christ. :) 

Love you all! 

Love, 

Sorella Flansberg

Week 2

Hello! 

This week seemed so long! And boy do I walk a lot! It's insane! I also fell in love with Italy, but I also miss America. We don't get fed very often here by members which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing because most meals with them take 2-3 hours and we don't have time for that in our schedule. Bad thing, because we don't want to buy too much food, not eat it, and so we eat fruit most nights. I can see how most missionaries lose weight the first few weeks of being here. But, it's okay. My trainer is pretty good at cooking, and I don't mind doing dishes although we are still doing those in the bathroom sink which isn't the best predicament. We mostly make pasta, and contrary to popular belief, we have had rice a few times. It isn't all pasta and pizza. 

Yesterday, we had our first meal with a member family. They are literally the cutest. Sorella Defranchi tried to scare me by saying it is usually a five course meal and they make you eat until the food is gone. But that didn't happen for some reason yesterday. The parents told me their love story which is pretty funny. I'll tell the quick version of it. So the father was dating another girl, but she was leaving on her mission. So this girl asked her best friend to look after her boyfriend while she was gone. She wasn't worried because this friend was 10 years older than him and bigger. But, they ended up spending so much time together that they fell in love. And then they got married. The story is still funnier because the girl who went on a mission is in the same ward with this family now. They have one biological son who is 14 and he has autism. And then they adopted three of the mothers sisters children because they didn't have a good home. But after they told us their love story, they asked me if I had left someone special at home. By the time I am done here in Catania, everyone will know I have a boyfriend. Everybody asks! Hahaha

Quick run down on the people we are teaching. 

There is Jennifer who I talked to you about last week. It is still hard to teach her because her boys run around like chickens with their heads cut off. If anybody has any suggestions on how to teach small children (2 and 4) let me know. We need to find a way to teach them and teach their mom at the same time. 

Then we have Angela. She is 22 and just graduated from the university here in political science. They have to give a speech thing during the graduation for a grade, so we went to that for a little bit to support her and she got the best score. Actually 110/110. She is a genius! Haha.. She is super sweet and absolutely gorgeous. She is the closest one to baptism other than Jennifer. On our way to the graduation we got lost, so we stopped at the university headquarters and a security guard helped us find our way. Later, we went back and thanked him and asked if he would be interested in hearing our message. He said he is usually pretty busy with work, but he said we could stop by whenever we wanted. He was super sweet. He seemed genuinely interested in the church, has a steady job, and has a desire to help people. Unlike most Sicilian men. He seems like a very good potential. His name is Angelo. 

Then we have Andrea. He works at our favorite granita place. My favorite flavors there are cantaloupe and lemon. And they are usually 2 euros for all who have been asking. They are particularly addicting because it is extremely hot outside and it is cold and watery rather than cold and creamy. Yum! We had 5 of them in 9 days. Think I might have a slight addiction. Anyways, back to Andrea. He is another male. He is younger so we have to be more careful with teaching him than Angelo. But he seems genuine too. 

Then we have Valentina. She is interested in the gospel, but she doesn't want to be baptized because she doesn't like the ward and there aren't enough young people. She is 21 and is also studying at the university. We might have to drop her because she is not progressing... Sad. We are hoping going over the restoration again and watching a movie on Joseph Smith will help her see that she shouldn't wait to be baptized. 

We also have Anna. We had one lesson with her, she seemed really interested in the Book of Mormon, but we haven't heard back from her in over a week. We also think she might have blocked our phone number. We'll see about her this next week though. 

We also have these twins named Denise and Morena. They are 17, but one of them has a child, so they grew up faster than maybe they should have. They always have these dreams about needing to get baptized, but they don't take the actions to get them to that point. Right now, they need to stop smoking. We are going to give them a few more chances. 

We also teach several less active families. There is Kiran. She speaks French and Italian and is literally the sweetest. She might be from the Marshalese islands. I don't know. But her husband isn't a member and she hasn't been to church in 10 years because she usually works on Sundays. She is making us dinner on Saturday and we are going to teach her husband on Saturday. Pretty excited about that. Also, she became my new favorite person because she said I'm beautiful and that my cheeks are skinnier than in the pictures I brought. Yay, because I thought my cheeks would be fat forever. Maybe it was after effects of the wisdom teeth. Non lo so. 

We have some others, but we don't have as much time to email today because we are going to the mall because this week is the last week of sales. Last p-day, I bought a super cute pencil skirt for 8 euros and a pair of jeans that are long enough for 15 euros. Yay for sale season! 

Other experiences from this week... We had a member come to one of our lessons. It was the best, and one of our other lessons fell through that day, so the fact that we had a member lesson was like an extra bonus. Air conditioning has become my new favorite thing. I probably won't take it for granted when I get home. Haha.. Also, Catania is still hot even though it is by the sea. We do get a nice breeze most of the time though which is heavenly. The water bottles here, we don't very around with us so most people we teach give us water to drink. The water bottles are 2 liters so they are kind of funny to drink out of. 

I will have Italian fast food today. It is supposedly better than American fast food. And I like the potatoes here better, so I'm excited for the French fries. Last p-day, we went to the cathedral of St. Agatha. You might be able to find her story on the Internet. She is absolutely crazy, but her cathedral is pretty and quite apostasy like. I made a joke about going into one of the confession stalls and teaching the first lesson through the thing to the priest. Like in Blue Bloods. I've been trying to get a cord that connects from an iPad to an sd card so I can send pictures, but they are always out of them when we go. Hopefully this week. 

We also teach this lady who only speaks Sicilian. I was like, Sorella Defranchi, this isn't the language they taught me at the MTC. Eek! I still didn't have a voice for most of the week. Frustrating. I sounded like a Sicilian smoker. ;) 

I found a coke bottle this week that said Bella on it. It's a good thing I didn't drink it outside though, because it also said #daiunbacio which is give a kiss. I think some men here would have thought I was asking for one. The cat calls here continue to be ridiculous! 

It was 100 degrees the past few days, so hot! Also, I noticed this week that the word ambulance is backwards on the front of ambulance. Is it that way in America? Because I don't think I knew that. The things you see when you walk everywhere. 

Someone also told me I have athletic shoulders. Haha. They don't keep comments like that to themselves. They are very blunt, it was a compliment, but still.. Hahaha

Well, I love you all. Next week, we will try to write more. The bus system made it so we can't write as much. 

Sorella Flansberg

Hello from Catania... Although you already knew that.

Hello hello hello! I have so much to tell you all and guess what?
President doesn't limit e-mail time so prepare yourselves for a long
e-mail.

So first things first, I have to start with the last few days at the
MTC. On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to clean the Provo temple.
The sisters were in charge of cleaning the chandeliers in the sealing
rooms along with the sconces. This required us to take apart the
entire thing, clean each individual crystal, and then reassemble it
without breaking any crystals. Just a bit stressful. There were 10
sisters there and it took 4 hours to clean one room. 4 sconces and a
big chandelier. Crazy! The sealing rooms are beautiful and there is
such peace found in those rooms. I absolutely loved it.

Then on Thursday, we skyped for TRC again. This time we talked to
Sorella "Mama" Gigante. She was super sweet and our thirty minute
lesson turned into a 40 minute lesson because she told us a story and
it kept going and going and going. Typical Italians, but I absolutely
love them!

On Friday we had in-field orientation which took all stinking day at
the MTC. It was good, but I felt like it was much longer than it
needed to be. I did learn the importance of member missionary work
though. Story coming up about that. Although the members of the
Catania ward need to learn this concept. We'll work on that.

Sad to hear about Pres. Boyd K. Packer...but kind of good news too. We
learned Friday night from a sister in our district.

Then it was 4th of July. It just kind of reminded me of how much I
sacrificed to be able to serve a mission. I was reminded of family,
yummy barbecue, friends, stadium of fire (although I was grateful I
didn't have to work), and fireworks. So much red white and blue at the
MTC though. They also attempted to let us watch fireworks and we had a
freedom devotional which was really great. The fireworks were blocked
by the trees, so it was hard to see them. It's the thought that
counts.

I've decided that the MTC is evil. They put you with people who aren't
even going to the same mission and then you spend 6 weeks together and
then it's like... See you later. Lame, I will miss my Romanians and
Milanos.

On Sunday, the anziani in our district gave everyone blessings and
that was a super cool experience. The spirit was so strong.

Then on Monday morning, we rode the bus to the front runner station,
got to the airport, and got on our flight to Atlanta. The pay phones
were all ripped out of the walls in Atlanta because it is 2015... You
should all have cell phones according to the worker. Well, I
voluntarily gave that up for the next 18 months of my life. Then from
Atlanta, we began time traveling. It was a 10 hour flight and it would
have been way better if we could have watched movies. But that is okay
too. Sacrifices. What do we sacrifice today for God? Then Rome.

First experience. I'm happy because I'm in Rome and I'm carrying my
suitcases and I'm leaving the airport and feeling all the humidity,
and I still have a smile on my face, so I saw a guy and I smiled, and
boom! Kissy face. Oops. Can't smile at men here....

I've decided that I don't like mirrors anymore. I am a hot sweaty mess
like all the time. And I don't like to see that so no more mirrors for
me. Also, you don't know the definition of hot or toasty or humid
until you are in Italy during the summer. This also means hardly
anyone wears clothes. Or I guess they wear barely any clothes.

I love my mission president and wife. They are literally the cutest!
All the elders wore their suit jackets on the plane to make a good
first impression. 2 minutes after we get there, Pres. Waddoups
says,"okay, take your suit coats off. First impressions are over." The
look of relief on all their faces was priceless. Then we go to the
temple site, by the way.... It is gorgeous. Still not very much
progress, but it is still beautiful. And we tried to take a selfie and
then he says, " Do you want to use my selfie stick?" What?? Haha.. So
funny.

On our way to the temple, we got our first taste of Italian behaviors.
Our bus driver was on the freeway and he just stops in the middle of
the lane, gets out to talk to the other bus driver, lights up a
cigarette, smokes, gets back in the car and we are off again. Weird, I
tell you. Oh, and everybody here smokes. There aren't laws about where
and when you can smoke or bring pets. Cigarette butts are all over and
the streets are disgusting. But, just look up and you can see all the
beautiful ness of Italy. Just look up. :)

I just love Italians. They are people just like Americans, but they
speak Italian. I just love them.

The first thing we did was go to the mission home. It is absolutely
gorgeous and was built by Monticello? I think. Does that sound right?
Anyways, I loved it. Then they took us to the street market. Mom, you
would go crazy. They also have tables where they sell fish kind of
like the sisterhood of the traveling pants. I'm thinking in my head,
your fish is cooking right now. Like literally cooking. It is so hot!

Then we went to Aqua sacro... It's this place that supposedly has
sacred water. On the streets of Rome, they have these fountains on
most corners called big nose fountains that you can drink out of. They
are on all the time. I'll take a picture someday. Then we got to play
tourist for a bit. The mission president was trying to keep us up all
day, but at the same time tire us out. So we went to see the colosseum
at 1:00. The hottest part of the day. How lovely? But really. It was
so cool! We also saw the senate building. Hopefully pictures next
week. We rode the metro there. It is absolutely disgusting. But you
walk out of the metro, and the colosseum is right in front of you. It
can't be described in words. Just wow!

Then we went back, had dinner at this Greek place and got kebabs. They
are like wraps, with this meat thing that ... I don't know. You'll
have to visit and we will go. Hahaha. Then we had interviews, and went
to bed.

The next day, we went to the church building, had iPad training, and a
tour of the mission office. That was about it until dinner and golden
envelopes! I tried so much new food this last week. I had mozzarella
di buffalo which is mozzarella cheese from a water buffalo. Mozzarella
is stored in water, so it has a gross soggy texture. Not my favorite.
I also tried a tomato. I tried so hard to eat my salad, but it was
just not happening. Then we opened our envelopes which is pretty much
a mission call inside a mission call. 3 Sorelle were going to Sicily,
out of 10. I did and I didn't want to go to Sicily. Because it
requires an extra long train ride. But, Catania. And actually, it
didn't say Sicily on the card, so I had no idea where it was, but I
was just happy. I had to wake up at 3:30 the next morning to get on
the lovely train. The Rome train station is the worst. That's all I
have to say about that. The train ride was 11 hours long and the train
reminded me of Harry Potter. 6 people in a compartment. Also, the ac
was sketchy and would turn off for hours at a time. Can you say
roasting? To get from mainland Italy to Sicily, you take a ferry and
they break the cars apart and put the train cars on the ferry. Kind of
cool. New experiences all over the place.

Then I got to Catania and met my trainer. She is the best. Sorelle
Defranchi is from Southwest France, but she lived in America for 3
years. So she is fluent in 3 languages. She wants to be a wedding
planner after her mission so we talk a lot about weddings and wedding
dresses which you can see in store windows. Our apartment has like 5
bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. Way too big for 2 missionaries, hahaha but
one bathroom and the kitchen sink, and washing machine only have hot
boiling water currently. Also, we had cockroaches. I saw one my first
night there. It crawled out from the door when I was getting ready for
bed, and it was huge. I didn't want to step on it because it would
make a yucky crunching sound, so before I got the nerve up to do it,
it scuttled back to the door frame. I said a prayer, and prayed that I
wouldn't see anymore.. And guess what? God answers even the silliest
prayers so he must answer the big ones too.

We cover the whole city of Catania which is huge. We also walk
everywhere. Sometimes it takes an hour to get from our apartment to
another investigators apartment. There are also two anziani who are in
Catania with a car. On Friday, we walked about a mile and a half to
this lady's house and she wasn't there. If I am going to walk that far
after a long day, you better be there...but since I'm a missionary, I
forgave and forgot. Her name is Jennifer and she is from Nigeria so
her lessons are in English, and she has the two cutest little boys. I
absolutely love them! She wakes up at 4 everyday to cook the food she
sells throughout the day and then she works all day, so when we got
there, we had extra time and we did some dishes for her and let her
spend time with her boys. It's sad because the lifestyle they live
right now is horrible, but it is still better than what she had in
Africa. She also came to church. Woohoo! She has a baptismal date but
we have to wait for president to come interview her.

We had to do permesso stuff which is a pain in the butt, but I want to
stay in Italy.... So we got it done on Friday morning so we could
concentrate on missionary work.

I also ate an arancino and a granita. Delicious! I'm running out of
time, but I love it in Italy. I haven't had a voice and I had a cough
for the last few days, but I'm getting over it. Bugs also love my
legs, and I drink tons of water. More next week.

Love you all!

Sorella Flansberg

Week 5

Ciao!

So first things first. We got our travel plans. I leave on Monday, July 6, and I have to be at the travel office at 3:30 a.m. So, really... I feel like I'm leaving on July 5. haha.. My flight leaves Salt Lake at 8:30 a.m. and I will arrive in Atlanta Georgia at 2:20 p.m. Then I leave Georgia at 3:44 p.m. and arrive in Rome at 7:30 am on July 7. Yay for long flights. There is a 6 hour time difference between Atlanta and Rome, so the flight is not as long as it seems, but still pretty long. Since I only have an hour layover in Georgia, I will be calling you from Salt Lake, which means it might be pretty early in the morning. But, you'll wake up for me, right? :) It will probably be around 5:30 or 6:00 your time. I am assuming.... But go to bed with your phone volume all the way up dad, and I'll call you. Also, Heidi... if you would like a short phone call, dear elder me your phone number and I will do my best. They haven't given us any instructions on it or any rules about how long it can be or even if I can call two different people. If I am unable to call you Heidi, I'll tell mom and dad and jake when I talk to them. I can't believe I have 5 days until ROME! Cosa? hahaha. I'm sort of sad that I am leaving the MTC. But more excited than sad. I can't wait!!!

So, this week was very eventful. Which makes for a fun e-mail. Last Wednesday was my last time doing a session in the temple for a very long time. It was really amazing, and the spirit and peace I felt was so strong. I really love the temple. Although, I feel really lucky today, because we get to go clean it for 3 hours. It will be such a great experience, and our district is the only group who gets to out of our whole zone. Yay! Everyone is very jealous... :) But they get extra time to pack which is not always a bad thing. 

This last weekend was the week the mission president's were here and all the general authorities (cool stories with that part...coming up). But to the point. They moved the cafeteria to the gym and the first meal was dinner. They fed us a grilled chicken breast and a roll. No side dish or anything. We thought that prisons eat better food than us... ahha.. and then everyone was excited that we were having catered food, but it really wasn't all that great. The breakfasts were horrible, the lunches we had were taco bell, costa vida (I actually ate lettuce that they put on my salad), we had subway for dinner with all the lovely goodies that I don't like which also made the bread soggy, and chick fil-a chicken sandwiches which were extremely greasy. Needless to say, and I never thought I would say this, I was grateful when the cafeteria opened back up. Yes, I really did say that. 

Also, on Thursday, we were sitting in our classroom, and the intercom piped up and said that all the sisters need to come to a meeting in 19 M. So, we went and we tried to figure out why were there... hoping that we would get a general authority speaking to us or something.... and then come to find out. We had to move again. The new building was home to some squatters.. namely endangered bats. So, we had 2 hours to move all our stuff, eat dinner, and move it up to the 3rd floor in a building that is worse than the first one we lived in. Oh well.. I'll try not to be too bitter. Who else can say that they lived in 3 different buildings at the MTC? So, now I live in 5M with no elevator... Lugging my suitcases up all those stairs was a great workout. 

I guess one apartment of girls woke up and a sister had a bat on her shoulder. I am so glad that wasn't me or else everybody would be able to hear me screaming throughout Provo. 

We also had the opportunity to have the mission presidents come teach us a lesson on Thursday and Friday. I absolutely loved the ones who came to our class. Their names were President and Sister Heder, and they are the new mission presidents for the Athens, Greece mission. The one I had a dream about... They were incredibly awesome and so cute.. and very young. One of their daughters is doing 3 years of high school in Greece. I don't even feel bad for her. hahaha... I guess Pres. Heder served in New York City speaking Greek and he is one of the first ones to actually go to Greece. So exciting! They were absolutely awesome, and the spirit was so strong, and they had really great insights on the importance of prayer and the Book of Mormon in conversion. I would tell you what they are, but I don't have my notes with me. You'll have to wait for your snail mail. 

On Friday, Sorella Rackham's name was on the board to go to the information desk. 1 M is closed for the president's seminar so we walked around to the front where we are supposed to go in. She was talking to the lady at the desk, and Elder Russell M. Nelson walks right by me... 5 ft away.. No joke. My jaw dropped, I stared, he smiled and waved, I waved back and he was gone. What? Bad part of the story is that Sorella Rackham's passport was missing in action. She had to go to the Philadelphia consolate to get her visa and the lady has something against the church and so she still hasn't approved it. It is "still in process". And "they are aware of her July departure date". Sassy much? She might have to spend a transfer in the states, which is sad... but she has come to terms with it. 

P.S. Thanks for raising me in Nevada so I didn't have to go to the consolate. I don't know why, but Nevada is special for some reason. I hope my visa is here... they don't tell us anything....

Oh, Elder Rasband walked by too... 

Sunday was the next eventful day. We went on our temple walk, but important people (namely Pres. Thomas S. Monson was arriving at the MTC or someone else super important.... so they made us wait before we could leave the MTC... On our way back, they were leaving. We saw Pres. Uchtdorf and his wife. They rolled down the window and waved, and then we saw Pres Thomas S. Monson leaving too. So special. You could feel the love they have for each and every one of us. 

I also volunteered to play the piano in sacrament meeting.. We had a smaller room this week, and it only had a keyboard. Sad day. I don't like keyboards. Anyways... I thought that maybe since I was playing the piano, I'd get a break from being one of the random speakers... and I was glad because I didn't bring my scriptures or preach my gospel with me so I was not prepared at all to speak... but guess what? Heavenly Father seems to have a sense of humor when it comes to these things, so lucky me... I was asked to speak. Really? It actually didn't go as bad as I thought it did.. and I don't really remember what I said either.

That night, they played the Testaments in Italian. The movie had english subtitles with it, which kind of bugged me.. But I understood more than I thought I would. It was really great to listen to it in Italian... I wish the subtitles were in Italian though.... Oh well. 

Funny things that we did in class this week, or learned about Italian. The word six-pack in Italian is la tartaruga. Which is also a turtle. And turtles have six packs if you flip them over on their shell... pretty funny. Also, the word left like a direction is sinestra. So, if you choose the left, it's like sinister.. Always choose the right... :) And "I don't care" is said in a nicer way in Italian. You say, "per me fa lo stesso" . Which translates to, to me, they are all the same" . We also learned commands this week, so we played Simone Dice. "Simon says". 

We got new german elders this last week. They are all elders and there are probably 25 new ones. I guess they haven't had sisters for the last 3 transfers. Weird. They are all super fun and we enjoy calling them "tedesci" I think... which is Germans in italian.  and the brother of Erik Mika is in one of the districts. Erik Mika is in the Rome mission, and his brother is going to Berlin. Kind of fun. Erik Mika is also a BYU basketball player. His girlfriend is also in the Rome mission. Don't ask me how that happened. 

We've been trying to speak in only Italian all week to prepare us for Monday, but we haven't been successful as of yet. Maybe someday.... hahah... I'm actually hoping my trainer is a native Italian. Then, I'll learn the language quicker... but it would definitely be a rough adjustment. 

Oh, Thursday... we got to skype with a real italian.... We knew of the lady who posts on the facebook group about that... and we were a little worried when we saw her name on the Skype call... But, it turned out fine.. Speaking of that.. mom! I want to know what your conversation was about with her. You can't mention that and then not tell me what she said or what you said. I want to know if she said how badly we are at Italian and anything else. Please dear elder it to me... I want to know! 

We have one more service on Saturday, and I'm sad... I actually enjoy the service part. It gives us something else to do than sit in our classroom all day. On Saturday, we had to clean the windows, and in the stairwells, they have these giant windows that are like 7 ft tall... so I am the only one who can reach all the way to the top. Yay for being tall... 

Yesterday, we went to the small gym ( la palestra piccolo) and we stretched and did ab stuff and then we saw that they have rowing machines..So I rowed 1500 meters on that. I had calluses on my hand when we finished. And my shoulders are a little bit sore today. 

Thanks for the package mom. I will enjoy the cashews and I like the skirts... Thank you! It switched up my outfits a bit. 

Also, if you want to dear elder me.. do it before Friday at noon. Or else I won't get it. They don't come on Saturdays and I think noon is when they print them off and I'll be on a plane on Monday. 

Also, I will respond to you individually in my snail mail that I am sending out. I will send my package tomorrow. I think... And I am glad Jacob and Heidi both had great birthdays. and my letters did their job if they almost made you cry. :) 

I love you all. Thanks for all the support and love. I love this gospel and missionary work! 

Love, 

Sorella Flansberg