Buongiorno tutti!
This week, I titled my email the 7 surprises of the Italy Rome
Mission. Play on words off the 7 wonders of the world. As I continue,
you will begin to see just how crazy our week was.
On Monday night, Sorella Condé wanted to go on an exchange and so we
met up in Rome after p-day with Sorella Roberts and Sorella Ensign. I
took Sorella Ensign back to Ladispoli with me, and we had such a fun
time. We walked on the beach in the morning, and had a great lesson
with Dayana and a ward family. Sorella Ensign is a greenie, so I did a
majority of the lesson and she bore her testimony. But she is so
great, because she hopped in right when I needed her to. The next
morning, we switched back companions right before our DDM.
DDM this last week was so good. Anziano Fagerburg shared a diagram
with us about how we all have human needs. These needs are:
- to live
- To love/be loved
- To feel important
- Variety
He said that we then have beliefs in a belief window. These are the
things that we all believe and they are influenced by our human needs.
Then we create rules for our beliefs. If I believe that dogs are
scary, then every time I see a dog, I will run away. Our
behavior/actions are based on these rules. Then after the process is
over, we can see results. Our results are based on our beliefs. If the
results aren't meeting our human needs, then we have a bad belief in
our belief window. So, if I believe that I can't speak Italian, then I
won't speak it as my rule. If I don't speak Italian, I will never
learn, and then the results don't satisfy my needs to live in Italy.
If I can't speak Italian, then I won't survive here. If we find that
the results of something we are doing are not fulfilling our human
needs, then we need to change our beliefs, and not our behaviors. This
entire idea just lit a lightbulb in my head, and will probably
continue to influence my whole mission.
After DDM, President Waddoups said that he wanted to talk to me and
Sorella Condé. We had a nice little follow up interview, and he told
me that he was emergency transferring Sorella Condé to Rome 2 for the
week. SURPRISE #1. He then said that I would be companions with
Sorella Bray. She was supposed to go home last week, but her parents
had already bought tickets to pick her up when they changed release
dates, so she stayed an extra week in the mission. So basically I was
companions with a zombie all week since she was already a "dead"
missionary. SURPRISE #2. It was really fun to be with her. I learned a
lot, and now I am companion less and in a trio in Rome.
Before moving on with the rest of the week, I just have to say that we
got a new phone. When I first came in the mission, everyone had these
little Samsung smart phones, then when those started to stop working,
everybody got these silver flip phones. And then since we lost that
one, we got downgraded again. This phone is probably the worst phone I
have ever seen, but I am grateful for a phone. I really am. But it is
literally a toy... Haha...
Also, in Catania, I made the goal to walk up the stairs instead of
taking the elevator, but then when I came here, Sorella Condé told me
no since we live on the 5th floor. But then this last week, Sorella
Bray wanted to do it with me and by the end of the week, I was only
huffing and puffing on the last floor. It is a really good additional
workout, I promise you. :)
I also tried to make this recipe I got from Angela, the new convert in
Catania, for panettone. I was really excited to make it and eat it.
But, it started baking in the oven, and I didn't watch it close
enough, so it burnt the top when the inside was still liquid. I'll
have to work on my baking skills before someone will marry me. Haha...
Good thing I still have time to practice. I'm blaming it on the oven
and the weird Italian measurements.
SURPRISE #3. Transfer calls. I was completely caught off guard by
these... So get excited. We are going to be in a trio! And we are
going to change the history of trio missionary work. It gets a bad rep
all the time, and even though they aren't my favorite thing, I know
that this is what is supposed to happen. We are going to be one
terrific trio.
SURPRISE #4. I'm adopting a child. Her name is Sorella Hunter and she
is in her 2nd transfer. I'll finish training her with 12 weeks, and
then she will be all set to go. I'm excited to train... And I'm sure
it will be a little overwhelming, but I know Heavenly Father will help
me. I'm her 3rd mom and Ladispoli will be her 3rd city. Can you
imagine that?
SURPRISE #5. My other companion is Sorella Tellez. She is from Peru,
but she only speaks Spanish and Italian. She lived in Italy for a few
years before the mission, so at least she is fluent in it. I'm sure I
will get a lot of practice in acting as the translator for everything.
Haha... We've talked on the phone twice now, and she speaks slow
enough so I can understand. I told Heavenly Father last week that I
was starting to feel like I was in a rut with the language. Haha.. He
has a sense of humor, let me tell you. She's 2.5 months younger than
me in the mission, so I have my work cut out for me. I don't feel like
I'm old enough to be doing this, but Heavenly Father has confidence in
me. My group has some of the oldest sister missionaries in the mission
now. Crazy!
Sorella Condé is going to Foggia. I totally guessed it, and she is
very excited!
SURPRISE #6. I'm a mother to another son. Anziano Fagerburg is
training, and since I'm the oldest sister in the district/city, I am
technically his mom in mission lingo.
Well, enough mission lingo for now. This transfer will be so much fun!
SURPRISE #7. On Sunday, we travelled to Rome and we attended a baptism
of the assistants. They asked us to help them with a musical number,
so we did. We sang the youth theme, come unto Christ, and according to
them we saved the day. Sorella Bray and I thought we'd just be singing
all the girl parts together, but here's where the surprise is... We
sang SOLOS! And it went okay. I haven't sung in public since primary,
so that was a fun experience. Sorella Waddoups came up to me afterward
and told me that I shouldn't hide talents. Haha.. Oops! I guess I'm
always the one on the piano.
Also, as an added dose of happy today, Cinzia came to church
yesterday. Che miracolo! She enjoyed it, and the fast and testimony
meeting we had was wonderful. The ward in Ladispoli is wonderful.
Also, she was the first investigator who came to church for me in the
last 18-21 weeks of my mission. If you do the math, that is about half
of the time I've been out here. If you couldn't tell, I was on cloud
9, and I still am. Such a blessing! We are going to have some baptisms
this next transfer. I can feel it, and I have the faith that it can
happen.
I'm just going to share my testimony really quick. I am so grateful
for my savior, Jesus Christ. He has changed my life, and as the new
Easter video said, I have found new life in Him. He is there whenever
we need him. All we need to do is reach out and call out for help. And
I know that he will come. He loves us. Each and everyone of us. I know
that he died for us, that he suffered for us, that he lived for us to
show us an example, and I know that he lives today. He is only as far
away as we make him. Through him, we can find peace. True peace. The
kind of peace that the world doesn't know. His love is there. He gives
us miracles everyday, in attempts that we will recognize his hand in
our lives. My challenge for you all is to pray. Pray to feel his love
and his peace. Then wait and listen. Pay attention to how you feel.
And I know you will feel it. We can all come closer to him.
That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the seven wonders of my week.
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
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