Hello family!!!! And friends!!
Okay.. We were so close to setting a record this week, but sadly..
Only 10 lessons again. So Jake, you are probably laughing at that
number right now because it was totally different in Peru... Heidi too
for that matter.. This week, we had to watch the district for 12 weeks
which is the training program for new missionaries. We had to watch
the planning session ones, which are incredibly helpful... I won't
lie. I like watching the district.... And it is helpful, but the
planning ones were a bit disheartening because of their numbers
compared to our numbers. They would have like 17 member lessons a
week, and we are lucky if we get to 2 or 3. Italy is different.... But
still a bit disheartening... Haha.
So much happened this week! So, Tuesday... That morning, we went to
try to contact a referral that the AP's gave to us while they were
here for zone conference... So we take the bus up to the church and we
get out, and it is steaming hot again... But nevertheless, we are
smiling and walking down the hill to her apartment. We climb up all 5
flights of stairs, and knock on her door... She says Chi è? As is
normal for anybody here... It means who is it, if you didn't catch on
to that... We answer, siamo le sorelle missionarie per la chiesa di
Gesù Cristo dei santi degli ultimi giorni. No answer back. Okay? We
knock again thinking maybe if we say Anz. Borden and Puff sent us,
then maybe she would open the door. Nope... Then we hear her feet
slowly shuffling away from the door... Really? We know you are home,
and we can hear you... So, you could tell us that you just aren't
interested... But stay silent? Really? I don't understand....
I guess I sort of understand the concept of street contacting and
someone giving us their phone number to just be nice... But we really
are going to call you and try to set up an appointment with you. We
aren't just doing some campaign thing where we get as many phone
numbers as we can and then not call you... Weird.
Then that night, we had English course. The anziani couldn't come
because they were teaching Italian course at the military base in
Sigonella. The bad thing about Catania English course is that we have
serious creeper men in that class, but Slla Defranchi and I decided we
could handle it with her pepper spray if things got nasty.. Anyways,
so we tell them that we got it and we didn't need them... Then after
English course, we ran to the bus stop and nobody was there. Usually
that means that the bus has already passed... So we wait for 20
minutes, and no bus. So, we obviously assume that we missed the last
bus that night.. So we call the anziani and are like, "We missed the
bus, so could you come pick us up" because they have a car. They say
sure, and we have to admit that we really do actually need them. Then
5 minutes later, the bus shows up. So, I call them back and I say,
never mind.. We are on the bus. Then halfway to where we get off, the
bus pulls over and the engine dies.. I'm thinking to myself.. If I
have to call the anziani back and tell them we need a ride again
because the bus broke down, I am going to die... But thankfully after
a few minutes or so, it started back up and we got home safely.
Anyways, two funny stories from Tuesday. :)
It kind of hit me this week that new missionaries arrive in Italy
tomorrow... Like TOMORROW. Since when I have I been here for 6
WEEKS???? This 6 weeks went by so much quicker than the first six
weeks at the MTC. I feel like the statement, "the first week of the
MTC is the first third of your mission, the rest of the MTC is the
second third, and the field is the third." It really is so true. We
had DDM on Wednesday where we did transfer predictions... And that was
pretty fun. Not accurate at all though.. But fun nevertheless. It is a
5th week of the transfer tradition. :)
We had two really great lessons with Jennifer this week. The first one
was about prophets and how God's words never cease and we used the
talk by Jeffrey R. Holland. She was amazed at how he described the
Book of Mormon, and I agreed with her by like... "I'm amazed after
every word that comes out of that man's mouth... " Like seriously,
though. Then, she had been feeling sick for the last few days because,
ding ding ding.. She hadn't taken her "cultural medicine" for a few
days.. And so, we asked if the anziani could come and give her a
blessing next time we came. So, we had that lesson on Friday. The
blessing was amazing. I thought I had this great appreciation for the
priesthood every time I received a fathers blessing, but it really is
amazing watching and listening to 18 and 19 year old boys give
blessings. It was a miracle.. The blessing promised that if she kept
God's commandments, she would have the strength and the health needed
to take care of her boys. And she said that as soon as the blessing
was over, her headache was gone. Like completely gone. She was so
happy and on cloud nine for the rest of the night. It was just
amazing.
Back to Thursday... Normal day and then we had English course like
normal. I was teaching the advanced class with Anz. Covalt and the two
guys who are the creepers came into that class, because they were
bored of beginning even if they can't speak English that well. Yay!
Not. Comunque, in the advanced class we just usually pick a topic and
we talk about it for the hour. The topic usually changes and its fun.
We just get to talk.. But, Giacommo would not stop staring at me.
After English course was over, I said to Slla Defranchi that "Penso
che Giacommo mi guarda come sono il cibo". (I think Giaccomo looks at
me like I'm food.) Anz. Pope heard, and he almost died from choking.
Haha.. But really. It is just disturbing how the men in Sicily stare
at you. It literally cuts you to the bone and makes you feel so
uncomfortable and horrible. I am so grateful that I can feel
respected, loved, and beautiful when Ty looks at me.
Friday was a great day... Like really great. All Friday's are great
here. So I look forward to them. We had a lesson with this guy named
Giovanni who approached us in Villa Bellini a week ago while we were
eating a granita before going to Jennifer's. We did a short lesson
then and then had another one. He is curious about religion and he is
trying to find God. He is 26 and is looking into the Evangelical
church right now.. Which by the way is the other big church here... (
there are the Catholics, the evangelists, the Mormons, and the TJ's or
JW's, whatever you want to call them). It was a good lesson when
halfway through, 2 other guys approach us too, and ask us some
questions. We agree to meet them too, but we will probably pass them
off to the anziani. Then as we were leaving the park for Jennifer's,
we saw the cutest puppy ever, so we ask the lady if we can pet her..
And then the lady recognizes our name tags and says that she talked to
the elders last week. Different elders because of zone conference, but
we exchanged numbers with her and went back to teach her Saturday
night. We are really excited. :) Her name is Christina. I'm just glad
it wasn't Angela. We are now teaching 3 different Angela's.. Really?
Could you get more creative with your names??
On Saturday was FerAgosto.. Don't think I spelled that right.. But it
is a big holiday in Italy.. Anyways, we did deep cleaning of our
apartments, since we weren't allowed to leave the apartments until 6.
So it was basically another p-day except we were stuck inside.. I did
get to wear sweatpants and a shirt all day and it was the best..
Wearing a skirt everyday gets old real quick. It was fun and it was
nice to have a clean apartment. :) It's still clean, so that is good.
:) We also had transfer calls, and I wonder why in the world I am so
gullible... The AP's were like, you are getting transferred to Rome 1
with Sorella Defranchi.. And I believed them! Grr.. But it was a
scherzo (joke). I am staying here in Catania, and nothing is changing
in our district other than we are getting a new companionship of
elders. Which includes a new greenie. :) whoop!
Then, we had our lesson with Christina... And it seemed to go really
great. Some of the things she told us about her life seemed a bit
strange, but we were like, "eh..its Catania..everyone is a bit
strange".. So we continue with the lesson, we do the restoration, and
it goes great. We invited her to church and set up an appointment with
her for Sunday to teach the plan of salvation, and asked her to read
alma 42. She agreed to all of it. Then we got on the topic of baptism,
and she was like, " I would like to get baptized." We were like WHAT?
Haha... But that is where it goes downhill. On Sunday morning, we
called her to make sure she was all good to get to the bus stop and
she said she wouldn't be able to come to church, but that we were
still on for 4.. Okay, then 30 minutes later, she calls back and says
that they are actually going camping and so she cancelled the lesson.
Then that evening, she called and said she read Alma 42, but she
didn't understand why we wanted her to read it and she didn't like it,
so she wants to give the BOM back to us.. We were like, uh... Ci
sentiamo which means kind of like we'll talk later about future
plans.. But there is no way we are taking the BOM back. So, yeah..
I kind of feel like it is a game. Like hey, I know you are
missionaries, and I know what you want, so I'm going to pretend to be
a golden investigator for one lesson and then drop you like a sack of
potatoes after I get your hopes all up.. It's not the first time this
has happened, and it is so frustrating.. We aren't focused on numbers
and we just want you to have salvation because your Heavenly Father
loves you and wants you to become like him, and we love you because
you are a child of God, and we sincerely want to help you. Why can't
people see that? I know that it most likely isn't a game, but
sometimes it sure feels like one.
Comunque, back to Sunday... We went to church to find no electricity..
No air conditioning, no keyboard for the chapel.. (Which doesn't make
sense because there are 3 real pianos elsewhere in the church
building, why not in the chapel?), and no lights.. And the temple trip
bus was leaving this morning so nobody was at church either.. But, the
electricity turned back on right as sacrament meeting started.. Yay!
Then we went to the Bruno's( the ward mission leaders house for
pranzo), it was mostly delicious.. And of course, I ate more than I
needed to. Then we went to Kiran's and had a great lesson with her..
We left after our lesson, start walking down the street, Kiran calls
us and says her husband actually made food for us and was too
embarrassed to tell us that as we were leaving, so she told us to come
back and eat... But, "Kiran, my stomach is about to explode." We
didn't say that, but we did go back and eat some more. It was
delicious, but nevertheless, I don't think I will eat for a few days..
Also, I started reading he Book of Mormon in Italian, and I read 1
Nephi chapter 1 in less than 15 minutes without looking up that many
words and also saying all the words in Italian. So, pretty much.. I'm
pro. Haha.. Just kidding. But I was pleased with myself. Although, it
does help that I have read that chapter only about a thousand times...
Also, I hate pigeons with every bone in my body. They are everywhere
and they are the most disgusting creatures I have ever seen. We saw
one in the middle of the bus station parking lot thing... And it just
sat down in the middle, not worried about getting hit by a bus or
anything, and me and Slla Defranchi were trying to figure out what it
was doing. We decided that it was one of the pigeons we saw eating
rice earlier, and it was going to die, because the rice would expand
and then make their stomach explode. I guess that is what happens when
they eat rice. Who knew? I took a picture, so I will send that to you.
It was really strange. But yes, I hate pigeons.
So, some things I really liked from studies this week... :) I got an
e-mail from Emily Magleby on Tuesday.. ( by the way... I can read
e-mails throughout the week, I just can't respond, so if you want to
tell me something before you forget or if you feel like e-mailing me..
I can read it and then I will respond on Monday.) Anyways, I really
liked something she said in her e-mail.. She said, "Ultimately, we
will all be asked what we did with our opportunities on the earth. It
may not be so much the bad that we did, but the good that we missed."
Profound, huh? Makes you think about all the opportunities you might
have missed in the recent past.
Then, I was thinking about something that dad said in my last e-mail
about how I have an ally in Christ. And I was thinking about the word
ally and what it means. So, obviously in times of war, it means
somebody who is fighting for the same cause that you are fighting for.
Well, we are in a war against Satan right now, and Christ is fighting
against him just the same as we are. Then I read in the BOM the same
day I thought about all this and it said in 2 Nephi 10: 16.. "For they
who are not for me are against me, saith our God". Then because I am a
history geek, I likened that to Switzerland during world war 2. It
stayed neutral during the whole war, because it didn't want to pick a
side. But staying neutral can sometimes be just as bad as the enemy in
some cases. When we choose not to fight for something that is right,
we are just sitting on the fence which is just as bad as fighting for
something wrong because you aren't acting. We are beings created to
act, not to be acted upon. I'm not saying Switzerland was wrong, but
kind of interesting to think about. Also, I read in 2 Nephi 6:17.."for
thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with
thee." I really like that along with the word ally to describe what
our relationship can be with the savior if we choose to fight for what
is right.
Then my coolest one yet.. Think about where you have heard the words
"return and report" before... Then read.. Haha.. Okay, so we could
view it as okay, we are on earth, when we die, we are to return and
report on everything we did. But if you make it one step smaller into
the mission... When I'm done with my mission, I'll return and report
what I did to the high council and in my homecoming talk. But then I
took it one step further.. Every day. Every day, we leave the
apartment as missionaries, we do missionary work, and then we return
and we report through prayer what we did with our day to our Heavenly
Father. Sorella Defranchi and I then made a saying, "RETURN with
honor, REPORT with confidence." I love this. When we report about our
day, we should be confident. We don't want to be ashamed or
embarrassed by how we used the time that he has given to us.
Obviously, this can apply to normal life too. You can ask yourself,
did I serve my neighbor today, did I lift others burdens, did I do my
best? If not.. Do better the next day so you can report to Heavenly
Father with confidence. The atonement allows us to take the things we
aren't that great at and slowly but surely turn them into strengths as
we have faith in Christ.
Goodness, I write super long emails... Ha. Since I had a lot of
questions, my zone is the east half of Sicily and then there is the
Palermo Zone. Also, I'm glad you tried the granita recipe and that it
worked and that it tasted good. I haven't had one in a few days...
Pretty proud of myself, but it has taken us like 2.5 weeks to get
through a jar of Nutella. A big one, which is also made out of
glass... In my opinion, the glass container is better than the plastic
ones. Well, arrivederci! Vi voglio bene! We are going to Taormina
today for p-day, so I will send you some good pictures next week. :)
With all my love,
Sorella Flansberg
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