Dear family and friends:
This week started out on a really good note. Fresh milk. We went to
this stand, kind of like a vending machine of sorts that lets you buy
a bottle and then fill it with fresh cold milk. I was in heaven the
whole week whenever I ate breakfast. It tasted like America. Then I
was wondering why I had never seen this thing before, because I would
have bought my milk there every single week I've been here in
Ladispoli. It also came in a cute little glass bottle like the olden
days.
On Tuesday, after DDM, we went to Fratelli la Bufala for pizza at
Porta di Roma. Overlooking the side of the mall, you can see the
temple under construction so we had to take pictures. And it was just
the motivation I needed to remind myself why I'm here and what our
goal is as missionaries. We want to fill the temple! :) The pizza was
pretty good, and the history of the brothers who created the
restaurant have a history in both Italy and Japan, so of course that
made me smile.
Tuesday night at English course, we had a nice surprise waiting for
us. We had a new student, Serena. She said that she was just walking
down the street when she saw the sign for free English course outside
the church. She talked to Sorella Hunter a little bit before class
started and said that she wanted to find her faith. She doesn't
believe in the Catholic Church and has traveled all the way around the
world and has talked to different religious leaders about all of her
questions. And boy, does she have a lot of questions. Our first lesson
was almost 2 hours long, and got off topic really quick. Classic
Italians. When we asked her a few days later what she thinks of the
Book of Mormon, she said, " I'm thinking about it." We haven't had a
chance to figure out what that means yet. But hopefully good news. She
is pretty much fluent in English, and would rather us teach her in
that... But it is so hard for me. Italian is just easier at times,
weird as it is saying that.
We've been finding a lot of people who would rather us teach in
English. Nice for Sorella Hunter, but I'm like, "can I please speak to
you in Italian?" Plus if we speak in Italian, they will understand
more like 90% of the restoration instead of like 50%.
This week we actually had a full planner of lots of appointments which
was nice until they all started to fall through at the end of the
week. Then we just did a lot of finding and added to our growing list
of potentials. We've been struggling this week turning the potentials
we talk to into investigators. Maybe we'll have more luck this next
week.
Wednesday morning, we went to lungomare which is just the street along
the beach. And we put up a ton of English course posters even though
we aren't supposed to call it English course anymore. Now it is
English discussion group and instead of students, they are
participants. It's a hard habit to break. Anyways, I was determined
not to let anyone pass by me without at least a "buongiorno." We got
the usual people who ignore us and keep walking, the people who say a
courteous good morning back, and then we have the old men, and maybe
some younger ones too, who say "ciao belle". Haha.. It was good to
just let our lights shine and smile at people even if they didn't want
to talk to us. Who knows? (Chissà ?) We might have even made someone's
day without even knowing it.
This week for language study I've been listening to conference talks
in Italian.. And I've been having fun playing the game, "which member
is it?" Haha.. The church translating center is here in Ladispoli, and
so most of the members work there. I've gotten pretty good at voice
recognition. :)
We were also able to meet with Giovanni this week, once from an
appointment, and a second time as we were finding. We shared the
restoration with him and challenged him to read the Book of Mormon. He
is a person who doesn't really like a lot of rules, and for right now
he sees a lot of rules in our religion, especially as missionaries.
But he'll come around, I'm sure of it. He said during the lesson that,
"it is hard to explain how a person feels about God in words. It is
impossible to describe feelings of the heart or what we feel inside
with accuracy. You have to experience it for yourself." And we were
like, Bingo! That is exactly what we are doing as missionaries. We
aren't here to convince someone that our religion is right and we
aren't here to talk their ears off. We are here to invite them to
experience God and religion the way we experience it, to put the Book
of Mormon to the test and find out for themselves if what we are
saying is true. We also invited him to come to church, but according
to him, "morning doesn't start until 12:00." We texted him before
church anyways the next morning, and he texted back at 10:30, "what a
beautiful Sunday morning. Prince and I just woke up. Time for a double
shot of coffee." We'll work with him a bit more on that one, haha.. :)
We also went to help Sorella Van Zwet with her garden this week. Her
wiener dog, the one who loves us, kept laying on our feet while we
swept up leaves. Makes it a bit hard to work, but it sure was cute.
Then she invited us over for burritos on Sunday night. It was more
like chili with a tortilla, but it tasted good nevertheless. I just
think it is interesting how much more available a person becomes when
you finally meet them. 3 times in 10 days since we met her. Haha.. We
were able to read Alma 32 with her, and it was perfect since she likes
gardening. It was easier for her to relate with. She also got a kick
out of how we call dachshunds, Weiner dogs in America. She was
literally laughing so hard. Haha.. We also asked how to say "how are
you?" in Dutch, and it sounded like gibberish with lots of guttural
noises. Haha..
I also mentioned last week how we met this lady and her daughter in
law and grandson last week. Well, we keep seeing Teresa all over the
place. She said she was going to come to church on Sunday, and one day
when we saw her, we walked with her to the church so she would know
where it was. We decided to show her around inside and give her a
little tour. And we were so glad she did. I was a bit worried that she
wouldn't like it since it is completely different and not gaudy like a
Catholic Church, but she LOVED it. As we walked outside, she kept
saying how she felt heat inside her and how she could feel the
presence of Jesus, and how it felt like coming home. She also
mentioned how she hates how focused the Catholic Church is on
commercialism. The spirit inside the sacrament room was so sweet and
so real. It was amazing.
It has been pretty hot the past few days. We can actually feel the
humidity now, and I just have this silent prayer in my heart that I'll
be able to survive another summer here. I'm hoping my next area has
air conditioning. That would be a dream. Speaking of which, transfer
calls are this Saturday. If it seemed short to you, it was. Only 5
weeks this time around. I'm sure y'all will guess where you think I'm
going in the next weeks emails. I think I'm going to Cosenza. :)
We also had the opportunity to meet this very very practicing Catholic
man one night this week. We were counting our blessings that it was
almost 9:00, because this guy was so intent on convincing us that we
weren't going to be saved and that our religion is man made. It was so
hard not to argue with him. But we bore our testimonies, and I asked a
few questions. But to no avail. A lot of the things he said didn't
make any sense, and then another thing he said just made me laugh.
Mostly the way he said it, because it should be a sacred thing, but he
said, "mangiamo Gesù ogni giorno." (We eat Jesus every day.) haha..
Then Sorella Van Zwet said that we were going to make tortillas from
scratch and I guess she thinks all Americans know how to do that. So I
practiced on Sunday before we went, and it actually turned out really
yummy. I had to use vanilla flavored baking powder, so I put Nutella
on it. Yum! :) Now I know how for when I'm a poor college student.
Today, we went to the Vatican! We climbed all 551 steps up to the
cupola of the basilica. My calves are only somewhat killing me now.
But I didn't have to stop and take a break. It was beautiful, Italy is
beautiful, and I'm the luckiest person ever!
Well, I love you all! We're looking forward to seeing more miracles
this week. :) I know my savior lives and that he loves me and cares
about me. He loves all of us so much, and he wants us all to find the
truth. I'm so grateful I get to be one of the instruments he uses to
help his children find it.
Love,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma
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