Hello family and friends:
This week definitely ended better than it started. But I can't tell you the miracle without all the opposition. :) So be patient. And don't skip ahead.
On Monday night, we had planned to go see Fia after p-day ended. She kind of lives in the middle of nowhere and we soon discovered how dark it was out there without lights. And we ran into a few wild dogs. But no harm done. They ran away from us. We had a great lesson with her about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and how we come closer to Christ as we read it. She also made us dinner and it was this really good chicken and potato dish. And then we had to wait out in the pitch dark for a bus to come. It kind of felt like Harry Potter #3 with the thought of wild dogs and everything. As we were waiting for the second bus to get home, we met this really cute 18 year old girl named Sara who definitely surprised us because she speaks perfect English. We invited her to come to English course and sure enough.. her English teacher is one of our students. Haha.. the cool thing is that she taught herself English through listening to Michael Jackson songs. She is really cute and we hope to meet up with her sometime and maybe teach her about the gospel. :)
Tuesday, we had district meeting in the morning. We got to know all of the new missionaries and then each companionship did a training using a section from Chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel. It was really good and just reminded me of the importance of setting goals and then working towards those goals with honest effort and then getting help from the Lord. We all have areas in which we can improve on, and the Savior is always willing to help us. After DDM, we went out to lunch at a Chinese buffet. I don't think I've ever seen people eat so much sushi. I didn't eat any... but news as far as that... I ate two cocktail shrimp! And it wasn't even that bad.
Tuesday afternoon, I called a bunch of people to set up appointments for the week. And everyone either said to call back or try again next week. So frustrating! Because of that, we had a lot of open time in our week to do some finding.
That night, we went to see Nicola though and had a good lesson with him. He was feeling a bit down because of family stress and other trials he has in his life right now, and we were able to testify about how the plan of salvation helps us to have an eternal perspective in life, and how even when things don't go how we want them to, we can look forward with an eye of faith.
Wednesday morning, we did some house to house (casa a casa). And I can honestly say it is probably my least favorite thing to do ever. So unnatural... haha. But we had a conversation with an agnostic about how the Book of Mormon is the proof that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We talked with an atheist for a while but he was not budging on his opinion. And a chubby teenager opened the door in a skimpy boxer... and that is it. I think he was more embarrassed than we were. 😂
That afternoon, we went to centro to walk around a bit and talk to people. We were denied a few times and then we talked to a guy named Abraham from Syria who seemed interested in English course. And we talked to another guy named Luigi who we talked to with for 30 minutes. He gave us his phone number and address and he lives in Bari so we gave them a referral. Good thing he doesn't live here, because he texted us the next day and said he was in love with us. Haha.. then it was cold... and we just happened to pass by a chocolate shop/bar. So we decided to get some chocolate and some hot chocolate. I love Italian hot chocolate. It is thicker and is more like pudding. Mine was chocolate with berry flavoring. So good!
That night, we went to the church to finish area book iPad training, but we had forgotten that there was an activity that night with a lot of people who weren't members of the church. Some kind of presentation about communication and how we can become successful. My favorite part was an analogy used about the Chartres Labyrinth found in some church in France. Look it up and then maybe you will understand my thoughts. :)
We come close to where we want to be. Then we must move away from our goal, and again we come close again. Again and again, this process happens until we reach our goal. The closer we get to the goal, the more complicated it gets.
Thursday morning, we did less active finding. Both of them didn't live there. And I was excited because I found a leather shop, but it wasn't actually that exciting. I guess I'm kind of picky about my leather. That afternoon, we went chiropractor finding because Sorella Keglovitz needs one, but after talking to a ton of people, we think one doesn't exist here in Taranto. Haha.. then we went to English course. Which is always a tender mercy for those weeks where appointments aren't aplenty.
Friday morning, we did weekly planning. And that was really good except for Cristina calling us to say that she was sick and we couldn't come anymore. Golden, right? Haha... but we did some more finding. More specifically video finding on lungomare, basically a big sidewalk next to the sea... I guess like a boardwalk? Haha.. and bus finding on the way out there. We also talked to quite a few people, but nothing ever went anywhere. At least for now.... who knows what seeds we planted for the future?
The coolest thing that happened that night was going to see Sorella Parabita in the hospital. There was one other lady in the room with her and her caretaker. And they wanted to watch the video we showed Sorella Parabita too. The caretaker had actually come in contact with the missionaries before. And we were able to sing "I am a Child of God." It was just a super cool experience. Missionary work in the hospital! :)
We had an appointment with Elena on Saturday, but then she called and said she needed to run an errand for her brother but that we could meet later. So we just moved our finding plans up a bit. We went to a park and talked to all of these old people. And then another park where we met these really cool teenagers who were interested in English course. Sorella Keglovitz is awesome and will just walk up to anyone and start talking to them without hesitating. I'm definitely learning that from her. What is the worst they can do to you? Say no.
We ended up telling Elena that we would take a break because even though she continues to say she wants to be baptized, she refuses to accept any of the other basic doctrines of our church other than Joseph Smith and even that, she doesn't understand it all the way. I began to understand that she likes us to come over and talk about religion, but she doesn't want to change her ideas because of all the research she has done in the past. Sad for us because we love her and only want the best for her, but hopefully one day, her research will lead her back to the Book of Mormon and the priesthood authority that opens the doors of heaven.
Saturday night, we went and saw a less active. I think we waited for the bus to get out there for an hour and a half.... but we had a nice visit with her. We think we figured out one of the reasons why she is less active. So now we will be able to help her more. And she gave us yummy gelato. The bus came in time to get us home in time, so we ended up having a good night.
Sunday, we had the primary program. And that always makes my heart melt. I love hearing little kids speak Italian. We sang Army of Helaman with the kids and most of the parents were crying. I imagine they were just fast forwarding through the years of when their kids would be like us. :)
Are you ready for it now? So we were invited over to a member's house for lunch. And in the car on the way there, they told us that they had invited a friend of the husband over and his family for lunch too, and that they knew we were coming as missionaries and they wanted to know more about the church. So during lunch, the members did a great job with testifying of the blessings they have received from the church and afterwards, we were able to teach the restoration. It was a powerful lesson and they were so open. We didn't have a Book of Mormon with us, but that actually worked to our advantage to get a return appointment. So we will meet with them again and the member family on Friday when we get back from Rome. And we were able to have 3 new investigators and a future eternal family to teach (Mom, Dad, and daughter). So exciting!
It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father knows us. He knew how hard it was sometimes to go out and talk to people after days and days of getting rejected. But he blessed us for our diligence and obedience even when it was hard. We are looking forward to teaching them more. :)
Other cool things: every night about a month ago, missionaries in the Italy Rome Mission say a mission prayer at 10 o'clock. Sorella Keglovitz and I started to sing the mission hymn before we pray and it has been a really cool way to end our night. We are to pray for the faith for every companionship to have one baptism per transfer. It is a pretty cool idea/tradition.
Well, I love you all! I hope you had and that you will have an absolutely wonderful week!
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma
Con amore,
Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma
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