Hello family and friends:
Here I am in the beautiful city of Taranto... Well, most people say
the ugly city.. But I think it is quaint. This last week was a bit
crazy with transfers and saying goodbye to everyone in Ladispoli, but
this city transfer was a lot easier than my last one.
On Monday night, we went to see Sorella Silva. Just a few weeks before
I arrived in Ladispoli, she wanted nothing to do with us as sister
missionaries, but by the time I left she loved us and invited us over
twice in 5 days. She is just one of my favorite people. I always loved
going to see her and the spirit is always so strong. We shared how we
all have potential as children of God and we all receive privileges,
but how we can also have more privileges and more blessings when we
follow his commandments and serve him. We shouldn't cut ourselves
short. We all have the potential to be gods and goddesses one day.
What are we going to do with it?
Tuesday we had district meeting in Rome. We rode the train out there
and a little before we were going to get off the train to switch to
the metro, the anziani called us to say that the metro was closed
because of a strike. It was like an organized strike that ended at
12:30, so we took a bus from the main train station up to the church.
An organized strike doesn't really make sense to me, but whatever
floats your boat. I guess public transportation strikes work well here
since everyone uses the metro to get around.
On Tuesday, we also had a lesson with Enriqueta and Elena. We were
running around like crazy on Tuesday seeing everyone so we packed sack
lunches, but it was a successful day. Elena said that she learns
something from every missionary that comes to Ladispoli. I feel like I
got really close to the less actives in this city and it was hard to
leave. But hopefully they will be able to remember the spirit they
felt and come back to church one day.
Dayana. It was so hard to say goodbye. I just love her so much, and
she has been the sunshine in my life since I came to Ladispoli. She
just welcomed me with open arms and made me feel loved. We already
have plans to talk after the mission about all the books I read
including the ones by the Brontë sisters. She is funny, quirky, and
cute and she has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I'm so glad
that she was able to bless my life.
It is now June. I can't believe it is already a new month. I really do
say this every time the month changes. Time really does fly when
you're working hard and having fun. Happy summer to everybody! Haha..
Wednesday afternoon, I finished packing and finished stuffing
everything into my suitcases. And in case anybody was worried, it all
fit. And without the expander on my bags. Miracles! We left with my
bags to say goodbye to Sorella Van Zwet. Haha... 2 American girls
hauling 3 heavy suitcases along the beach front and all anybody did
was stare at us. Nobody offered to help us even if they had open
hands. Needless to say Sorella Van Zwet thought we were crazy to take
all my suitcases to her house, but we didn't have time to run to the
church first.
We left Wednesday night to go to Rome because my train left at 6:26 in
the morning on Thursday. But there were so many tender mercies that
happened that night to make sure we got to Rome safely with all my
stuff in one piece. We had to get 3 heavy bags on/off trains, metros,
buses and up/down escalators in skirts. Add in a creepy man and some
rain, and we were just really grateful to arrive. Tender mercy #1, we
remembered to buy train tickets. #2, the anziani helped us take our
stuff to the station, #3, we chased away a creepy man who followed us
on the metro, #4, the anziani of Rome 6 were on the bus we had to take
to the Rome 6 apartment. For dinner that night, we went up to the
senior couples house to make sandwiches. And.... They had cheddar
cheese. Who knew that was something you could miss so much?
Thursday was interesting. They made me travel by myself. So what did I
do after not being alone for a year of my life and then being alone
for 7+ hours? I went crazy! I kept singing the song "all by myself".
Haha.. But it was nice because the people who were sitting next to me
all got off at Napoli and then I could spread out. By the time the
train arrived in Taranto, I was the only one in the entire car, so I
was really alone. I was just praying that someone would be there to
pick me up when I got here.
As much as I've seen of Taranto, it is cute so far. Some of the first
things Sorella Hess told me as well as the senior couple was:
Don't drink the water.
Don't look in parked cars especially by the church because you might
see something you don't want to see.
And Taranto has some really ugly buildings. Sorella Hess says it is
the place where all of the architects practice their crazy designs and
they ended up not working. Haha.. But our apartment here is nice and
it is a literal 2 minute walk to the church. It has 2 bathrooms again,
so I just keep lucking out in that aspect. It also has an air
conditioner which is heavenly. Heavenly Father answered my prayer. It
is just different because all our furniture is in the room with the
air conditioner, so it acts as a bedroom, living room, and study room.
And we don't really use the rest of the house, haha..
Sorella Hess is so cute. She is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. She is the
oldest of 5 siblings, and we have quite a bit in common. She graduated
in 2015 and went to BYU for 2 semesters, and we always have something
to talk about. She is a really great missionary and always
participates in lessons and seems way more on the ball than I was
fresh out of my greenie stages. She also thinks I look like Shaylene
Woodley.
My first night here, we saw a snake outside of the church.
We have the cutest senior couple here, the Lahadearne's... Their
daughter Sabrina is here after just graduating from BYU Idaho, and
they have already done so much for us... Like rescuing us last night
when a bus never came to take us home to Taranto. The first thing that
Sorella Lahadearne said to me was that I look like a mermaid. Probably
just because of the braid in my hair and my pencil skirt. Haha.. They
are from Montana and Anziano Lahadearne served his mission here and
met his wife who is actually from Taranto.
Saturday morning, there was a beautiful wedding in the church for a
couple from the ward. I'm so glad that we don't have to do a civil
ceremony and then the sealing in the temple in America. It's like
planning two separate weddings and that seems like a lot of work.
We also went to see this teenage girl, Tanya, who is from Sri Lanka.
She joined the church 2 years ago, and she speaks fluent English and
Italian. She's really cute and is the best member missionary ever. She
introduced us to her first floor neighbors and we ended up teaching
them the restoration and having 2 new investigators on the first
lesson Sorella Hess and I taught together. How cool is that? Tanya
also shared the Joseph Smith story to this family like a seasoned
missionary. She did so well. :)
The reason why I love the south is because everybody wants to give you
food. And food is good especially here in Italy. It is pretty much
southern hospitality but the Italian version. At least I'll be down
here in the summer where I sweat so much and walk a lot. I'm already
hoping my metabolism will be able to keep up, because the food has
just begun. Supposedly we have like 3 meal appointments a week.
Sunday evening, we went to Talsano which is a small town outside of
Taranto. Some of our investigators live out there, so we went to see
them. Alessia is like 17 and lives at the school she goes to, so she's
only ever home on the weekends. We were able to have a really great
lesson with them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Alessia straight up
said that she didn't like my shirt, but she said my eyes were pretty.
Haha.. They were also both enthralled by our hair color. Hopefully we
can help them understand the importance of coming to church and being
baptized. The mom has had a baptism date a few times, but never comes
to church.
Then we found the house of an inactive member, but only her non member
daughter was home. Which was fine until she told us that she doesn't
need Jesus Christ in her life and how she doesn't worry about the life
to come because she's a good person. She was really sweet, but this
was all after she politely watched the video we showed her. Haha.. It
just made it a bit awkward. But we can't be shy about bearing our
testimonies and it is the person's decision to accept it or not. We
did our part.
On Sunday, we had a broadcasted Stake conference for all of the stakes
in Western Europe. It was a bit odd hearing voices from Ladispoli
translating the conference though. It was good. A lot of the talks
talked about living the gospel and being ready to go to the temple.
All things that members here in Europe need. :)
I've been able to meet a few of the members here and they are so solid
in this city. I am excited to work with them. The bishop is like 31
years old, so he is super young. But Taranto reminds me a lot of
Catania. The size of the city, the ward, everything. Plus it is in the
south, and the accent is easier for me to understand down here.
Well, I love you all! Have a wonderful week! :)
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma
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