Dear friends and family:
It's past the middle of January, and I feel like the new year just
started. I just have this feeling that the year is going to show me
just how fast it can go. But I won't be impressed with it's record
speed times! Ahh! Slow down just a bit?
Well, winter has hit Sicily. Snow on Mt. Etna, rain and cold humid
wind down in the city. I love the rain, and it is a nice difference
from the sweltering heat of summer... But wearing layers and trying to
convince myself to go outside and be a dedicated missionary is not my
favorite. But I do it anyways. Still counting my blessings that I'm
not in the middle of Russia. Also, I've been hit in the face by
umbrellas a few too many times this week. That's what happens when you
are tall and your face is at everybody else's umbrella level. :p
This week, we traveled down to Siracusa again for scambios. I was with
Sorella Harmon this time. She is from Grants Pass, Oregon.. And I was
like, "hey, I know where that is." It was really great. We made some
good memories such as getting lost and walking in circles and Italians
not giving good instructions. We also walked around the city with a
sign that said "free English course" and people were stopping their
cars and driving backwards down bus lanes to avoid getting hit by a
bus just to get the information about it. And we also laughed at
ourselves a bit while doing it. Nobody should walk around a city
holding a whiteboard. But.. Missionaries do, because we fear no man.
;)
That night, I was talking to her about how sometimes I get frustrated
doing service on the mission. Not because I don't like doing the
service (because I love doing that), but because everything we do has
to be turned into a finding opportunity. For example, English course.
If your English course isn't churning out new investigators, you're
doing something wrong. And I just feel like we should do service for
the sake of doing service regardless of whether you get new
investigators. Sorella Harmon shared with me a really cute story by
Stephen R. Covey about him, I think, as a mission president in
Ireland. It talks about how the missionaries just went around houses
at Christmas time and asked if they could help decorate or clean or
cook. They didn't ask for numbers or names or referrals. It was purely
based on service. It then talked about how Christ didn't serve only
for the outside motives. He didn't serve to find new followers. He
served and as a result, people drew to him. And the article went on to
say that there is a time for service and a time for teaching.
Sometimes it is helpful to mix the two, but we shouldn't combine them
all the time. I really liked it!
Friday, we had a lesson with our cute new investigator, Sarena. She is
9 and the niece of Angela Bordonali (who was baptized a year ago). We
taught her the beginning of the restoration, and she was so good! For
a 9 year old, she was very mature in her answers and she said she
wants to know for herself. But she likes the idea of grandpa baptizing
her. And by grandpa, I think great grandpa. We are really excited to
continue teaching her, but holy cow! It is so hard teaching kids!
Friday was also the 15th of January which is the day I opened my
mission call a year ago. I don't know how it has already been a year.
I remember how jittery I was to open it, and Italy seemed like such a
dream. And believe me, it is a dream. How lucky I am to live in such a
beautiful place for a short time giving all my time and energy to the
Lord. Is it harder than I thought? For sure, but the blessings are
around one hundredfold more than the hard times. My testimony has
flown through the roof, and I've learned so much! However, I still
can't believe it's been a year since I got that big white envelope in
the mail. :)
Saturday, we were supposed to go with the Bruno's to see a less
active. But, they texted us that morning and said maybe this next week
because of the cattivo tempo outside. Bad weather... Which was
actually just sprinkling rain. We were only a little frustrated,
because we still get to go outside when the weather is like that, and
our plans just fell through. I think Italians watched the Wizard of Oz
too many times when they were younger, because they all think water
will kill them. Or like, Mrs. Schuette would say... "You aren't made
of sugar, and therefore you won't melt." Oh well.. We were given the
opportunity to go find less actives. And we found one and she let us
in. Hoorah! :)
On Sunday, we had church and it was ward conference. It was really
good, and sacrament meeting talked all about how we can have stronger,
more united families. The bishop, stake president, relief society
presidentessa, and the elders quorum president spoke. Then after
church, we had a pranzo with the ward council members. And the pasta
was still warming up in the oven and I was hungry, so I ate a banana
and some bread. Then Fratello Battezato (the older one) got all hyped
up that I mixed the order of the courses. I just blamed it on the fact
that I'm American and that is how we eat. We don't have a specific
order.. We just put all of it on the table at once and then you take
what you want and eat it all on the same plate. They think that is
crazy too!
After the pranzo, we stayed for about an hour of ward council and it
never turned over to the missionaries. It was like a stake leadership
training... So we left because we had an appointment, and we walk
outside and it is literally freezing! As we were walking towards the
bus stop, we lifted our faces to the sky and were like, "Heavenly
Father, could the bus please come soon after we get to the bus stop?"
And as we were crossing the street to the bus stop, there comes the
bus... Chugging around the corner. Che literal miracolo. I think you
can figure that one out. ;)
This week, I read a really great young adult devotional from 2011 from
D. Todd Christofferson. He talks about how sometimes we need to rely
on the Lord to provide us with daily bread. He compared it to the
Israelites after they escaped from Egypt. He said the Lord helped them
build faith and trust in him by making them rely on him to give them
manna each day. He said that sometimes, we just need to take things
one day at a time or even one hour at a time. We can do anything for a
little while. Heavenly Father helps us do the things that are required
of us, and will give us enough daily bread to satisfy our needs. I
think a mission is one of the day by day things. It's hard sometimes,
and it forces you to do things out of your comfort zone, but as we
take it one day at a time.. We'll make it to the end. I've been trying
to think less about how much I have left to go and only thinking about
what I need to do today. It's helped me to stay more optimistic about
doing the hard things.
He talked about navy seal training and how one of the senior officers
told them this before it all started. "First of all," he said, "I do
not want you to give in to the pressure of the moment. Whenever you're
hurting bad, just hang in there. Finish the day. Then, if you're still
feeling bad, think about it long and hard before you decide to quit.
Second, take it one day at a time. One [phase] at a time. Don't let
your thoughts run away with you, don't start planning to bail out
because you're worried about the future and how much you can take.
Don't look ahead to the pain. Just get through the day, and there's a
wonderful career ahead of you." It also reminded me of something
someone said in the MTC. You can do anything for 30 seconds.. And it
is true. (We can adjust the time if needed.) He also said it applies
to becoming Christlike. We must take that one day at a time, repenting
each day, and trying again the next.
I hope you all have a wonderful day, week, 3-day weekend. I love you all!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
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