Dear family and friends:
Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I had such a great day,
but you'll have to wait until the end to read more about it. :)
Okay, on Monday this last week, Sorella Decker and I splurged and went
to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Well, sort of fancy. We aren't that
rich... Haha, the first thing they bring us is two glasses of wine...
Haha, we looked at each other and were like uh....we didn't drink it
in case anyone was wondering. Anyways, it was really delicious. I
ordered the pistachio, bacon penne pasta and it was absolutely
delicious! I took my first bite and almost melted into my seat. The
restaurant was really cute, but the company wasn't that great. Well,
Sorella Decker was great, but there was a table of really rambunctious
English people across the room who made it not as enjoyable. I've
gotten to be really good at the game, "Guess where the tourist is
from." :)
Then Tuesday, our week began to go downhill. I think it was the worst
day of my mission so far, but it is far easier to have days like that
when you have a friend like Sorella Decker. So we started the morning
out with a bidone, or a cancelled appointment, so we decided to make
fudge for our recently released ward mission leader because he did so
much for us and we wanted to thank him. But it never hardened. Oh
well, we put it in the freezer and now it is like chocolate ice cream.
Back to Tuesday, then we walked the mile and a half to our next
appointment. She cancelled because she was sick, and our backup plan
fell through too. So, we decided to go to the church to make English
course posters to hang up. We do English course as a service to the
community, but it also makes for a great finding technique, however
right now... We just have a bunch of creeps who come so it helps the
sisters.. Aka us.. Squat. But as we are walking back to our house..
Sorella Decker gets pooped on by a pigeon right in her hair. She
decided to take a shower when we got back, and then we left for the
church. Before we sit down to wait for the bus, I had the thought.
"Hey, you should go buy a ticket." So I get my wallet out and walk up
to the booth, but it was closed. So I was like, oh well. It's their
fault if I don't have a ticket, because I am not going to walk all
over town to find a tabacheria. Plus, nobody EVER checks on this bus
anyways. But, at the first stop, guess who gets on? Ticket checkers!
So, they asked for my ID and I received a €60 fine. Sorella Decker got
one too, and we both resolved to never ride "naked" again... I was
really frustrated, because I am pretty sure it is a game that the bus
company plays to be able to fine more people. Oh well. At least it is
only 20 euros out of pocket because if we go pay it within 15 days, we
get a month pass that is worth 40 and we can get that reimbursed. That
was my first run in with the law. Oops! I'm pretty sure it was the
spirit reminding me to buy a ticket, but it didn't help with the
ticket booth being closed.
At the end of Tuesday, I felt like I needed to get a comfort blessing.
I had felt like I should get one 2 weeks ago, but I didn't... Because
I didn't feel like anything was wrong. I still didn't feel like it
wasn't anything I couldn't handle on Tuesday, but then Sorella Decker
said that maybe it isn't because something is wrong, but maybe
Heavenly Father has something to tell you. So, I resolved Wednesday
after DDM to ask for one so I didn't inconvenience anybody. Then
Wednesday morning, I had so much anxiety. I didn't want to eat, I
couldn't concentrate during studies, and I just felt sick to my
stomach. I decided Heavenly Father was just giving me a reason to have
to ask for a blessing, because maybe he knew that I wouldn't. I'm a
bit stubborn. But the comfort blessing was totally worth it. I felt so
much better. :)
On Thursday, Sorella Decker and I did a calculation of how many
miles I have walked since I arrived in Catania. We guesstimated that
we walk about 4 miles a day. 7 days a week for 18 weeks, and that is
about 530 miles. Obviously, I don't think I have walked that much, but
I know that I have at least walked 300. That is like walking to Reno
and back 5 times. Ha.. I'm pretty sure my body is going to be so beat
up from walking this much, and it is also the only thing that is
keeping me thin. Pros and cons. Everything has an opposite. Lehi was
right about that. :) And a lot of other things too.
Friday was a really great day. We finally got to meet with Gabriella
after 3 bidones this week. It is so hard to teach it public places
though and we teach her at a hospital. The spirit is still there, but
I find it harder to recognize. However, she is willingly reading the
Book of Mormon and she said she was going to come to church on
Sunday.. Which she didn't, but that is a different story. Later that
evening, we went to the areas around the church to hang up English
course posters, and as we were waiting for the bus, the anziani come
by and offered us a ride home. One of the elders in our district went
home this week, so the anziani are in a threesome, and we love it
because we get rides now. At least, for a week. We are sad that
someone went home, but it was his decision. That night we did weekly
planning while eating pizza. One of my favorites is a pesto potato
pizza. It is so good. :)
Saturday... TRANSFER CALLS! And... Drum roll please.... I'm staying!
Anziano Borden talked to Sorella Decker first and she handed the phone
to me.. And he asked me if I have ever committed a crime.. I was like,
no. Then he said that there is a first time for everything because I'm
murdering Sorella Decker. :) We were so excited, we might have
screamed in his ear. Oops! Ha... Now I get to worry about what is
going to happen next transfer. I'll either be in this lovely mad house
forever, or we will get blown out. I think we will probably be blown
out. This transfer is only 4 weeks long for the holidays, so I think
President kept it all the same for this time, but next time...
Everything is going to change before the 8 week transfer so all the
missionaries have a renewed sense of energy. We'll see. Vediamo. :)
Saturday morning, we had a lesson with a less active, and we had
planned this lesson for her about a week ago.. But we get there and we
start the lesson, and she told us that she had been thinking about the
exact thing that morning. Inspired lesson plans from the Lord. We used
a talk by Neil L. Anderson called, "what thinks Christ of me?" It
basically talked about our personal discipleship and how this is going
to be the only question that matters at the day of judgement. It
doesn't matter how great of a disciple other people think you are.
Only Christ. I think this is a really great concept to remember.
Riding the bus to this lesson, this lady saw our name tags, and from
that the entire bus started to talk about baptism. 4 pass along cards
later... Haha.. That was probably one of the coolest things that has
ever happened. It is also amazing to see how many people disagree with
infant baptism, but yet they are still Catholic because of the family
traditionalism.. Really?
Saturday night, the anziani had a baptism for this really sweet lady.
It was a part member family, the husband was inactive, and he is the
grandson of one of the really active members of the ward, Fratello
P. (Perciò quindi guy...) Sorry, that note is for me for future
memories. :) Anyways, the baptism went really great. The husband
baptized his wife. We were waiting behind the font with the towels, so
we didn't get to see it, but we heard the water swish, and then the
spirit just swished right over us. It was so cool. Baptisms literally
make every rejection so much more worth it. :)
Then, Sunday was my birthday!! I am now two decades old as Heidi so
lovingly pointed out. Thank you... :p I don't feel any different..
Just like any other birthday, but I had a really great day. Mom and
dad, thank you for the surprise you sneaky people... :) After church,
we went to Kiran's house for pranzo... And then we had a lesson with
the Fichera's and then we went to Sorella Catania's house for dinner
(cena). I figured I would just list all the delicious food I ate
yesterday... Chick peas, cous cous, fried rice, fried potatoes, fried
ham and cheese crepes, birthday cake, sponge cake, brownies, pancakes,
homemade lasagna, polpette, and tiramisu. I pretty much died. Or my
stomach almost burst. But, it was so so so dang good. The lasagna was
to die for. Also, I won't be eating for the next few days. What
surprised me about this birthday was my outlook on it. Before the
mission, I was all about the me, me, me aspect of my birthday.. But
this year, I was like, "yeah, it's my birthday today, but I am here on
the Lord's errand as a missionary, and it isn't about me today." It
was really fantastic.
Sorella Decker shared a talk with me this week. It is called becoming
a consecrated missionary by Elder Callister. It was so good, and made
me think about some things that I need to get better at. You should
try to find it. It is from an MTC devotional, so it isn't on gospel
library, but maybe you could find it online.
Anywho, in conclusion, this week was rough at the start, but because
we handled it well, we received blessings from on high. :)
I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
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