Fwd: New address

Con amore,

Sorella Flansberg

Missione Italiana di Roma

Begin forwarded message:

From: Elizabeth Flansberg

Our mission office moved, so if you send me a letter now... Use this
one.

Sorella Elizabeth Flansberg
Italy Rome Mission
Piazza Monte Gemma 9
00141 Roma
Italia

Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma

Week 62: mission hymn, chasing buses, less active finding, Italian struggles, and changing the world one person at a time

Dear family and friends:

Well, I love you all! Haha... I don't even know where to begin this
week. So I guess I'll just dive in.

I taught Sorella Gochnour the art of chasing down buses. Haha... On
Monday night, we had to take a bus out to another city and as we were
getting off another bus, it pulled up to the stop on the other side of
the street. So I just take off running for the next stop, and she had
to keep up with me. Haha... Thank goodness there was traffic, and we
made it! A lady said as we got on, "l'avete fatto", or you did it. I'm
sure we made for a grand show for everyone who was on board. And we
did it again later on in the week too.

Monday night, we went to a less active's birthday party and that was
fun. We got there a bit early, but we were able to talk to two of her
friends. As I was telling them a short run down of the restoration and
how we have a living prophet today, one of the ladies told us that she
had "brividi" or chills when I said that. We didn't talk much for the
rest of the night, but we got both of their phone numbers. Hopefully
something will come of that.

This week, one of our goals was to memorize the mission hymn because
I've been here for 14 months and still didn't know it. Yeah I know...
Shameful. But I have it down now. And I love it. I don't think I ever
actually paid attention to the words before, but it is so lovely. I
thought I'd translate my favorite lines and the chorus for you here
because I love it so much.

We declare love as the heavens have revealed
To the humble and sincere, we say it is true

Of him, we testify that he lives and reigns in heaven
To God, we give our life but then we will find it again

Italy is blooming, like it was promised long ago
The saints advance in the work that Paul performed
The discomforts and problems will vanish in the sun
We will have blessings if we look to eternity

Chorus:
With faith, we press forward doing his work
With strength, we bring souls back to the Lord
Great is the priesthood that will save the world
Faithful to the mission, we serve him with honor

That isn't all of it... It is also so much prettier and awesome in
Italian, but English will have to do.

We had the opportunity to teach a short training at district meeting
this week as a companionship. And I wanted to share it with you. We
were assigned the verse Alma 29:17. We focused on the word fruit, and
how we as missionaries grow this fruit. We talked about how our call
from a prophet of God is the seed. Our studies represent the water we
add to our seed. The spirit is the light, and the soil is the
atmosphere we create by our obedience, diligence, worthiness, and our
desire. This is a simple recipe that God has given us to grow fruit.
He promises if we follow his directions, he will bless us... And I
know that God keeps his promises. But one of the things I've been
thinking about lately is that fruit comes in all different shapes and
sizes. Not everyone can grow watermelons. And I'll be the first to
admit that I've seen more blueberries than watermelons on my mission.
But fruit is fruit. We are making a difference, and God's hand is in
this work. I know that with a surety.

A miracle! Margherita had time for us this week. We've been trying for
the past 5 weeks to meet with her but to no avail. But we went this
week, and she had time. Heavenly Father answered my prayer. Hopefully
we can help her have a greater desire to read or at least listen to
the Book of Mormon. She is really sweet, and we are starting to
develop a little relationship with her. Slowly, but surely.

Less active finding was the theme of our week. Haha.. We spent a lot
of time under the sun walking around trying to find nonexistent
addresses, ringing citofones that went unanswered, and discovering
which addresses and phone numbers were right. We always have a backup
plan finding less actives because there are so many in this ward!

One night this week, we went to see this sister in this type of
private hospital. We had never met her before, but as soon as we
walked in, a smile just came across her face. The thing I love about
Italians is that the conversation never lulls even if we don't know
them. They just keep talking and one question can lead to a whole
other conversation. Haha.. I just love Italians so much.

We also read the Book of Mormon with Cristina. A verse came up about
Joseph who was sold to Egypt. And I had to explain basically the whole
story, and that was a test of my language skills. So, jokes up. Nobody
is actually fluent when they go home from their mission. Haha.. :)

Friday morning, we did weekly planning. And everything was fine and
dandy until the zone leaders called and asked us to do 101 scambios
with all the sisters this week when they come for zone conference. I
love doing scambios, but it was only slightly stressful double
planning for everything. Basically a double first plan, and a double
back up plan so 4 plans for each hour. Haha.. It is all okay though.
Everything will work out and Heavenly Father is just giving us more
time to go out and find his elect.

We sang hymns with Sorella Parabita when we went over to see her this
week. Her eyes started watering, and it was the sweetest thing. Hymns
bring the spirit into any situation and can comfort us when times are
hard. I just love this lady with all my heart. She is such a great
example of enduring to the end with patience. Pazienza pazienza is a
phrase commonly repeated by Italians. And I'll be saying it for the
rest of my life. :)

Then we did some finding in centro while Sorella Gochnour played her
violin. We call it a mostra, and we did it with the anziani. And I
learned that I still have a hard time walking up to people on the
street. Haha... I was denied every time I tried to talk to someone.
Well, all of us were denied. But Sorella Gochnour made some little
girls really happy. They loved to watch her play. And the gelato we
ate afterwards made everything a bit better. I had mint, dark
chocolate, and vanilla. It tasted like a peppermint patty. So good!

Lucia finally came back to Taranto from her trip to northern Italy. We
had a lesson with her and Sorella Mazzolari on Saturday. And she came
to church on Sunday! Sorella Mazzolari knows how to be a member
missionary. She did so great in the lesson and we were so grateful for
her help. We wrote her a thank you note that night, and we had to
write it in lei form which is not one of my strong points. Haha.. But
now I know two things I can do to strengthen my language. Summarize
bible stories and use lei form. 😂

Vescovo (bishop) Casti gave a really great 5 minute talk at the end of
sacrament meeting this week. He talked about how we can only change
the world by changing ourselves. After we change ourselves, we slowly
make a change in the people around us through our example.

President Pickerd asked us to do two things before we have zone
conference tomorrow. He asked us to find 10 scriptures in the Book of
Mormon that talk about turning, changing, or repentance. And then he
also asked us to ponder what it means to walk with God. My favorite
repentance scripture in the Book of Mormon is when it talks about
Moses and the brass serpent. When we turn and choose to trust in the
Lord to heal us, we become whole. The way is prepared and all we have
to do is walk in the way. When we walk in the way, God will walk with
us.

The other good thing about Sunday was we finally got a ward mission
leader! It's a miracle! He is awesome and is really excited to get
into missionary work again. We met with him on Sunday night and his
wife and her mother. We shared the first vision with them and then
asked how this vision has changed their lives. It was really cool to
listen to their conversion stories and hear their testimonies about
Joseph Smith.

Training update: something that touched me this week is the power of
simple testimonies. It just brings the spirit so much stronger when
the words they do say are thought about and are said with such
conviction. And Sorella Gochnour is so awesome! She just continues to
blow me off my feet. I love her so much and she is such a great
example to me.

This week, this guy stopped by our apartment and asked to check our
water levels. He couldn't come in, so he left us the paper and told us
to take it in to their office when we finished checking it. Well, we
had to turn it in yesterday morning, but we got halfway to the office
and I realized I didn't have the paper. So we got off the bus we were
on, crossed the street, and waited for another bus. We started talking
to this sweet lady named Elisabetta, and after we awkwardly found out
her husband had died, we were able to testify about the plan of
salvation to her and invite her to learn more. We didn't get a phone
number, or a return appointment, but I felt good about her and about
the experience. We got home, got the paper, walked out as the bus was
pulling away. There wasn't a way to catch it at that point, so we
waited for another. Dropped the paper off which took 2 seconds, and
waited for another bus home. I typically would have thought of that as
a waste of time, but Elisabetta made up for that. There was a reason
why I forgot the paper that was sitting on top of my desk right in
front of me as I was putting stuff in my bag.

Well, that is it for this week. Life is good. I'm happy. God loves us.
Until next week.

Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma

Week 60: training, pizza, castles, beaches, transfers, and progressing investigators

Cara famiglia e cari amici,

Hello! How are you all doing? This week started out crazy and got even
crazier as we went, but my greenie has arrived and I will tell you all
more a little bit about her later on.

On Monday night, we had planned to do a family home evening with Tanya
and her family, but her family left shortly after we got there, so we
ended up reading Mosiah 2 with Tanya. It went really great, and I also
feel like I learn more from her than she learns from us. She is truly
amazing, and will be such a great missionary someday.

Tuesday, we were out all day. We left at 10 to go to district meeting
and then didn't come home until after English course. We were a bit
tired, but we were busy doing good things. We went out to district
lunch after our meeting and taking pictures, and it was like pulling
teeth to make them go with us. How hard is it to eat a pizza? They
finally came, and I thought we had a good time. :)

Then we rode a bus out to see Fia, our Samoan less active. We had
called that morning to confirm and she said we could come. But when we
arrived in Lama, she wasn't home. So we were stranded in this small
little city for an hour before our next appointment where nobody was
out because it was still pranzo or they were all at the beach. So we
went to the beach to do language study. And we were able to tan our
knees (mine are white because they never see the sun) and we also
sweated like pigs while we watched everyone else swim. It looked so
nice out there!

Then we went to see the Delle Foglie's. We had a nice little
visit/lesson with them and then we booked it to the bus stop because
the bus was supposed to pass at 5:30. At 5:45, the bus still hadn't
come and we were slightly worried because we had an appointment at
6:15 with Iole before English course started... So we said a prayer.
And God answered it. I told Sorella Hess that if the bus didn't come
before 5:50, we would need to call Iole, but at promptly 5:49, the bus
showed up and we arrived at the church right on time. Che miracolo!

Iole, on the other hand completely blew us off our feet when she said
she had read 11 chapters of the Book of Mormon, plus all of the
introduction. We were able to talk about what she read, and what
exactly she wants to get out of meeting with us. We invited her to
church, and right now we need to help her have a desire to know if the
Book of Mormon is true. She told us that she likes to read spiritual
books, but isn't sure that knowing Joseph Smith is a prophet is
important. As long as we can help her feel the spirit when she prays
and reads, then I think she will slowly begin to have a desire.

Tuesday morning, Anziano Toronto, one of the AP's called us and asked
if we would be willing to travel to Bari on Wednesday morning. We
obviously said we would love to, and then he told us the training we
had to be at started at 8 but we would need to be there at 7:30. So if
you do the math that to get to Bari is an hour and a half train
ride... We had to leave Taranto on a train at 5:25 which means we had
to wake up at 3. Haha... So we had a fun little escapade to Bari. We
had a wonderful trainers training that was based on D&C 121 39-46. We
talked about how we should praise in public, and correct in private.
If correction needs to be made, always do it with love. And how we
should make our companionship, a forever friendship. I hope the
comments I made were intelligible. Because looking back now, I don't
even know what I said. 😂 haha...

We got back to Taranto later than we thought, because the trains
didn't come as often as we thought. We went to see Tanya for Sorella
Hess to say goodbye. And then she finished packing and we cleaned the
house up for my greenie. We made a cute banner welcoming her to
Taranto, and I finished mentally preparing myself for her to come.

Then we had a lesson with Cristina. We read the Book of Mormon, and
were able to help her understand the story line better. We don't
really think about it since we've read the Book of Mormon so many
times, but there are so many characters. Then we asked her to pray
about a baptism date. She is so amazing, and said again how much she
wants to be baptized and how she'll do it if that is what God tells
her to do. She also fasted for the first time and we haven't even
taught her about that yet. She has been so prepared!

Thursday morning, we had to drop all the missionaries off at their
specified times at either the train or bus station. Sorella Hess was
the first to leave so I had the privilege of spending the morning with
the Lahaderne's until my greenie arrived. We spent a lot of time
waiting because Sorella Hess left at 8, Anziano Pineau left at 9, and
Anziano Battaglia left at 10. Then we went to the Lahaderne's house to
make pizza rustica which is basically this omelette on top of pizza
crust. And Anziano Lahaderne taught me how to do Italian indexing and
told me all about his family history. Something really cool was that
they couldn't find his grandmother anywhere because she moved from
Italy to America and there wasn't any information on her. But one day
when he typed her name into family search, it popped up because
somebody had indexed it. What a testimony about how important indexing
is!!

There was traffic as we headed back to the station and we thought we
might be late, but we arrived right on time. I had butterflies in my
stomach the whole time because I didn't know who my next companion
would be.

And there she was: Sorella Gochnour with her violin on her back and
only 2 suitcases. She is adorable and is just taking everything with
so much patience and such a good attitude. She is so courageous and
willing to do anything and everything. She took jet lag like a champ
and just kept plowing ahead. And her language is a lot better than
mine was when I was a greenie. She is from Holladay, Utah and she went
to UVU before the mission. She is the second youngest in her family
and pretty much the cutest thing ever. I think we'll have fun
together.

We also have new anziani here in Taranto and they are just taking
everything in stride with so much optimism. One of them is also a
greenie, so the older elder is making a big emphasis on how we are all
a family. Now I have 2 sons and 2 daughters on the mission, so I have
a lot of offspring. Haha... 😂 We've been helping them find their way
around the city and getting to know the ward.. Well I'm mostly helping
with that. None of them can get over the fact that I go home in 4
months, and I am constantly surrounded by them saying how I'm deader
than a door nail. How nice, right? I'm not even trunky and those are
the comments I get.

We also had to go to the post office to start Sorella Gochnour's
permesso process so she can be legal in Italy. We'll have to go to the
questura in a few days to finish that process up.

Training has been interesting for the past few days. I think I forget
how many mission terms have become part of my normal vocabulary until
she asks me what everything means. I have been teaching her everything
I know (how to plan, how to find, all the mission rules, how to speak
Italian, how to get around Taranto, how to teach, how to decorate
planners, how to study...etc...) It can get a bit exhausting, but I'm
also learning so so much from her.

We had a cold weather streak this past weekend. It was a tender mercy
from God if I can simply put it that way. It was almost actually cold,
and I had to get a blanket last night because I got chilly. I think I
will die in the cold weather when I get home because a Nevada/Utah
winter is a lot different from the winter weather here.

It was Mexican week at LiDL which is the grocery store here where we
shop or do our spesa. So, obviously we had to buy taco seasoning and
they actually had salsa. Dreams do come true. I'm just like my mom,
and my college diet is coming back into style. Chips and salsa for
every meal. Haha.. Just kidding.

The new missionaries bore their testimonies in church, and they did so
great! It was like a "proud mama" moment. Haha... And she did so great
fending for herself as I played the piano. I think that will be my new
responsibility now that Sorella Hess isn't here.

After church, we had a 2 hour lesson with Elena, and I really think
she believes it. She just doesn't want to admit that it is the only
true church because she thinks that statement means all other churches
are wrong. She said the most beautiful prayer at the end of the
lesson. She uses physics to explain why she believes what she believes
, but today... She also gave a reason why she could never be a part of
all the other world religions, but then said that she could be Mormon.
She is making so much progress.

We also had some really cool other little tender mercies this week,
like a really nice looking lady who learned English in Germany
stopping us in the grocery store and asking about English course. Or
randomly meeting a less active member on a bus who asks for your copy
of the Book of Mormon. Another mother and son walked all the way
around the church to the other door to ask about English course as
well after our lesson with Elena. Things are happening, and I'm
crediting it all to my spunky greenie. :) haha..

We also had to list 3 things that our companionship does for the zone
leaders this week.. And these were ours.
In our companionship, we:
1. Are exactly obedient
2. Work together to invite souls to Christ
3. Go to bed TIRED.

Well, I love you all! Today for p-day, we went to see this awesome
castle that I've been looking at for my entire 6 weeks here in
Taranto. And it was so COOL! I'm sure we'll have some fun p-days as a
district here for the next 2 transfers. Have a wonderful week and
don't forget that God loves you!

Also, p-day next week will be on Tuesday in order to accommodate for
zone conference.

Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma

Week 59: year mark in Italy, Italian food, ringing citofones, space mountain, transfer calls, and 2 days of plenty

Dear family and friends:

This week, I hit a year of living in Italy. I never thought I'd be
lucky enough to live in a beautiful country like this one. It really
is crazy how time flies! But as always, this week had its ups and
downs and I decided the mission is kind of like riding a roller
coaster with your eyes closed, or basically space mountain. And
everybody in my family knows that space mountain is NOT my favorite
ride at Disneyland. You never know when you are going to drop a
million feet and you never know when things are going to start going
up. You just have to be prepared for anything.

On Monday, we went over to the Lahaderne's and they had prepared for a
huge Fourth of July barbecue/festa with games and activities like
water balloons, and a video scavenger hunt, and a lot of good food.
Stuff like hamburgers and hotdogs and chicken wings and potato salad
and jello salad...things I haven't eaten in a long time. It was so
much fun! Plus the water balloons were well needed in the heat.
Sorella Hess got me real good and I wasn't even mad.

That night, our streak continued that started last Friday. The streak
of nobody answering our phone calls or their doors. Monday night, we
tried to see some less actives, and since they weren't home, we did
some English course finding and finally went home to work on updating
the ward list.

Tuesday, we had district meeting. We talked about teaching people and
not lessons. We did a kind of role play, but it was actually a real
lesson. We were supposed to teach one of the missionary lessons to
someone who already knows all the doctrine meaning our comp was acting
as themselves. It was actually really challenging and made you think
of how you can make it applicable in their lives without repeating the
known information again and again. We also did transfer predictions
and everyone thought Sorella Hess was leaving and I was getting a
greenie.

We left the house after lunch and language study and we were ready to
conquer the day, but at 5:00... We felt like we were the ones who were
conquered. Not exactly a good way to feel 2 hours before English
course started. But, we found an address for a less active and we were
able to contact a member to ask if she could come to a lesson we had
scheduled for Wednesday and she said yes.

When we got to English course, we talked with a woman who had cried in
the last English course spiritual thought. She actually asked us a
question first. "What are you referring to when you talk about
scriptures?" So, we were able to tell her that we read both the bible
and the Book of Mormon and how we would love to explain to her more
about the Book of Mormon after corso. She had to leave right after,
but we set up an appointment on Thursday. And she came! It was a
really great short lesson. I think we taught the restoration in 20
minutes, and she said she would read it. We set up a return
appointment for Tuesday and we are excited. Her name is Iole.

But back to Wednesday, we were back up to our eyeballs with
frustration. Everyone we tried to visit was either too busy or not
home. We were able to visit 2 older less active ladies. They were
really nice, but we spent 2 hours with one who couldn't stop talking
about all the people who once offended her in church. I don't think we
got 5 words in. But we were glad they let us in and that we could
share a short... Very short... message about Christ with them. While
we were in that lesson, Cristina called and cancelled her lesson
because of a storm which meant we had to cancel on the member and she
wasn't able to come the next day. When we told her, she was so sad and
told us that she had already mentally prepared for the lesson and was
ready to leave her house. So frustrating!

Thursday, we weren't told that they cancelled correlation... And then
we waited at a bus stop to go out to bishop's house for lunch... But
two busses passed and when we stuck our arm out for it to stop, the
driver just shook his head and kept driving. We could not figure out
for the life of us why... At this point... After 7 days of feeling
like we weren't doing anything, all we could do was laugh because of
how pathetic it was. And if we didn't laugh, we would have started
crying. Not to mention in all these days, we had gotten so many cat
calls and whistles and car horns from creepy men even though we were
nothing but a puddle of sweat. But we walked up the street a mile to
the other bus stop and finally caught one there. Meno male!

But after the drought... There was rain, and when it rains, it
pours... At least for 2 days. Thursday and Friday were so great. We
had a great lunch appointment with vescovo. Their house literally
looks like it is out of a magazine. Plus his wife didn't make us any
hot food because in this weather, it is hardly appetizing.

Then we had a wonderful lesson with Cristina about the plan of
salvation and we had Sorella Lahaderne come to that. It was a great
lesson and I'm so glad Sorella Lahaderne was there to answer the
questions that I could have answered but not as clearly. She was
awesome, and Cristina just continues to progress. She is amazing! We
also had the lesson with Iole, so Thursday was a really great day
after the whole bus episode.

Friday, we called a member to see if we could come see her. And 1) she
answered the phone and 2) she was available. Anyone who does that
becomes my favorite person for the day. Haha.. Her less active
granddaughter actually moved back in with her after living up north.
Her name is Debora(h) and she was so cute. She loved seeing sister
missionaries again. We shared the Mormon message courage and we talked
about how sometimes our plan isn't the same as the Lord's, but we have
to continue to go forward and accept his plan even if it takes
courage. We are excited to continue visiting her.

Saturday, we got transfer calls! And everyone predicted right! Sorella
Hess is headed off to Caserta. And I'm staying in Taranto with a
greenie. It is slightly weird not knowing who my companion is going to
be. But I'm excited, and I'm also excited to have more normal
circumstances when I train this time. Transfers this time are crazy
though. President Pickerd talked to us about how we need to accept
change and change isn't always a bad thing at his meet the president
conference. And now we understand. 72/75 companionships are changing
this transfer and there are blow ins and blow outs like crazy.

Saturday, we did weekly planning in the morning and had a hard time
concentrating because of transfer calls. We were the first call
Sorella Pickerd made so it was nice to know early, but then we
couldn't concentrate. We also walked 6.2 miles and nobody was home.
Saturday's though....

Sunday, we ate lunch with a member family. It was only the mom and her
two little girls, both who are the cutest things ever. She made us
lasagna, sausage, salad, and brownies. We talked about missions and
looked at her mission pictures. She served in temple square and so our
conversation switched back and forth from English to Italian halfway
through sentences. It was a fun meal.

I read Helaman 8 this week for personal study, and it was an answer to
a prayer. Unlike the people who became angry at Nephi for preaching
hard things to them, we should be finding joy in Christ. Then I read a
talk by Henry B. Eyring and it talked about how we come unto him when
we serve him, and he draws near unto us when we draw near unto him.
That is one of my favorite scriptures as of late. The mission is
crazy. Sometimes it is hard to really feel like he is there or that
you are doing anything when all your plans fall through, but I know he
is there and that he still loves me, and that I am doing something. I
know that as I draw near unto him by doing my best in the things I
have control over, he will be there for me. It may not be easy, but it
will be worth it.

Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma

Week 58: 4th of July, focaccia, Bari, President Pickerd, scambio, and parmigiana

Dear family and friends:

Happy Fourth of July! :) We are going to the senior couples house
today to have a barbecue and a party for America. It will be a shorter
email today because this week was only 5 days long. Haha..

But to star off... Wednesday night we went and we learned how to make
Focaccia with the Primary President. And may I just say that it was
probably one of the best nights of my mission? It was so fun and
Sorella D'Amuri is an angel. She had us make the dough by hand so we
would know what the consistency needs to be to make it again. It was
actually quite the workout. Haha.. We learned that the recipe is the
same one they use for everything here in Italy. Less yeast to make
pizza dough, but it is basically the same. So now I'm going to be the
famous young women's leader who can teach everyone how to make real
pizza and real pasta. ;) haha..

She also showed us this gigantic cross stitch she did of Christ. And
it was beautiful. My jaw was on the floor. It was amazing! Haha.. It
took like 4 years for her to do. It is probably one of my new favorite
things.

Thursday morning, we all woke up early and rode a train to Bari! We
were actually authorized to leave our area. :) As we were getting off
the train, I saw so many people I love! And I was so conflicted about
who to hug first. There was Sorella Hunter, and Sorella Embley,
Sorella Ensign, and Sorella Adamson... And plus all the other Sorelle
I haven't met yet. So much love!

President and Sorella Waddoups asked all of the missionaries to pray
to know if President and Sorella Pickerd were called of God to preside
over the mission. I knew that my answer probably wouldn't come until I
met them, but not even 30 seconds after they started talking to us, I
knew. They met us all as companion ships, and they told us they
studied our names and pictures... So we had them guess our names. I
guess I look nothing like my mission picture, but they knew who I was
after I said I was from Nevada. Haha.. They are so awesome! And I'm
excited for all the things that I will be able to learn from them.
When President Pickerd shook my hand, he held it for a good long while
and stared into my soul, or at least that is what it felt like. They
have 3 kids and all of them are accountants. Talk about following
after their dad's footsteps. Sorella Pickerd has a masters in business
administration. Maybe they'll help me figure out if I'm supposed to
study business too. We'll see. :) They both served in the Italy Rome
Mission at the same time although they met after the mission at BYU.
At that time, the mission was only Napoli to a little north of Rome,
so going to Bari or Taranto or Sicily will be a complete new
experience for them. They refer to the mission as The Great Italy Rome
Mission.

They gave a great training at the conference thing we had with them,
and it was really great. He talked about Enoch and talked about how we
need to walk with God. I guess there are like 90 scriptures that talk
about walking with God. He asked us to look them all up and then to
find 10 scriptures that we can use everyday about repentance in the
Book of Mormon. He said his goal is to engrave a testimony of Jesus
Christ on the marrow of our bones. Another thing he said:

"Who did God call upon to be the mother of Israel?
A 90 year old woman. Everyone knows that a 90 year old woman can't have a baby.
Who did God call to be the mother of the son of God?
A virgin. Everyone knows that a virgin can't have a baby.
Who did God call to restore his kingdom to the earth?
A 14 year old boy. Everyone knows that this would be a crazy idea.
Who did God call to serve in the great Italy Rome mission?
He called you. God can fulfill even impossible things. "

-One of the apostles through President Pickerd to us. :) With the
addition at the end.

We rode the train back to Taranto (only 1 hour and 20 minutes) and we
started our scambio. I was with Sorella Roberts, she goes home in a
week, and we had fun talking about how much the mission has changed us
and just how the mission is overall. We had a wonderful lesson with
Cristina and we taught her half the plan of salvation because we
talked a lot. Well, we listened a lot. But it went really well.
Sorella Hess is awesome and pulls her weight in the lessons, but it
was nice not having to worry about responding to every single question
she asked. The next morning, we had the opportunity to do a little
finding, so we talked to some cute people including a native
fisherman. There was also this adorable 5 year old who began talking
to us on the bus. She was so proud that she knew her numbers in
English.

Saturday was about the same as last week. Haha... But maybe worse.
Actually just the same. But we called probably the whole ward and
NOBODY answered. So we made a list of about 15 less actives who all
lived relatively close to each other. And I prayed before we left that
we would be able to find at least one of these people. And guess what?
God answered my prayer in a very exact manner. We found one person. It
was like my test of gratitude for the day since I've been working on
that. One person out of 15. Come to find out later that not only was
everybody at the beach on Saturday, but it was also pay day and there
was also a soccer game between Italy and Germany. Hence why nobody was
home....

Sunday, Cristina came to all 3 hours of church. The bishop and ex
bishop gave her a blessing after sacrament meeting and she had a hard
time concentrating on Sunday school because of how she felt. I love
watching people describe how they feel when they feel the spirit. The
light and sparkle in their eyes is indescribable. :)

We had pranzo with the Mazzolari family on Sunday. And I don't think
I've ever seen so much food. Meno male that they weren't forceful
about us eating everything. The funny thing was when I was putting
Parmesan cheese on my pasta... It was in a container where you spin
the bottom and cheese sprinkles out. Next thing you know, I had pulled
an uncle Kevin with pepper and I had cheese all over my pasta, all
over the table, and all over my skirt and lap. Needless to say I was
the joke of the entire meal. But I took it like a champ and even joked
about my pasta being un po' formaggioso. (A little cheesy)... Haha..
:)

That was my week. Love you all! :)

Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma

Pictures!

Missione Italiana di RomaHeadbands that Sorella Lahaderne made us wear! :)

Selfies for days. :)

I got to see my daughter in the mission again! :)

4th of July barbecue! :)

Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg