At least here's something

Every companionship is getting a moped so we can be more effective! YAY!

 I always hoped this would happen!!

There's a story behind this:

In short:
A crazy man came into the church. He was a
drunk and was demanding to see the pope of the church... i guess
that's how you would say it. And he was just not leaving and in the
end he broke an umbrella on the ground. It was just a little freaky
because we were the only ones at the church. It's not like anyone
lives close or even has a car so at the least it would take someone 20
minutes to get there if something were to happen. But he left after he
broke the umbrella thankfully. But we stayed strong.

 

Consiglio

Finding with the new missionaries last PDay.

So so so sorry

_{Here's to another weekly highlight email. We seriously have zero time because today we went and helped out with the new missionaries proselyting at the Duomo. They were pretty cute and they did well. It was fun to meet them and help out!} 

1. _{Gaia told us that she will get baptized!! We are so excited for her! The big day is June 10th and she just seems so happy. It's been amazing to see the change in her. I seriously love this girl and I'm excited for you all to meet her when she comes to go to school.} 
2. _{My companion was told she was possessed by a creature.... classic. Long story behind that and we were dying laughing inside.}  
3. _{We watched a pet bunny for Aydee. I'm not kidding you when I say how much she loves this bunny. She told us that she cried after we left with it. We were pretty popular with the 10 year olds on the street. Haha we carried it in this little purse and everything. When we took it back she gave her a bath and blow dried her. This bunny is seriously pampered and so so fat.}  
4. _{Fernando found a job near Paris. We are super excited for them because this is going to be something so good for their little family to become independent so they can start pursuing the things they want. We had a pizza party with them and they ordered from dominoes! You wouldn't believe it but it's their favorite pizza place! Grace started crawling too. Ah! So Fernando will leave and get a house ready and then Eglayda will go when everything is figured out.}  
5. _{We had a serious miracle in church. Elena hadn't come to church for a few weeks so we decided to text her Saturday night but she never responded. We saw her on Sunday morning in church and an ex missionary happened to be visiting in our area that spoke Chinese. We finally were able to teach her the restoration with his help translating. It went super well and I was so so grateful.}  
6. _{We were able to see the Lastra family! Ah! I love them so much! They are the best and their little girls have me wrapped around their fingers haha. It was nice being able to talk to them since it had been awhile.} 

_{We got the transfer news. Sorella Williams and I will be staying together for another! Yay! We are so happy because at this point we are practically flesh and blood. Also, the entire district will be staying the same for Cimiano which is great because we rock.}  

_{It's been such a crazy week I'm typing this up with the tiny tiny bit of time that we have but I hope you all have an amazing week. I know we have had a crazy but very exciting week!} 

_{I love you all!}

Finding with the new missionaries at the Duomo

Sorella Suffardi! They had this concert at the old folks place. 

It was so great to watch all the cute old people dancing!

Her name is Arafa but it's more like araFAT

"We're the three best friends that anyone could have.."

What a Beachy Day

Just another great week! It's been a little short though. So I think I will just write down the highlights for you. It's easier that way.

1. Today we had a zone Pday and played beach volleyball. It was so much fun and my team killed it! It was a great time with all the missionaries right before transfers since some are going home and we do not know where everyone else could go.
2. We played soccer on Saturday and then had a picnic with Gaia. Good thing she likes peanut butter just as much as we do because we made her first peanut butter and banana sandwich! It was a super good opportunity to talk. We talked so much that Sorella Williams and I came away looking like lobsters. We got pretty sunburnt. It was funny because for the rest of the day we couldn't look at one another without laughing.
3.  We ate with the Gomez family this week. It was the first time we had been over there and, man, I love them! There are two teenage girls and they are awesome examples for everyone around them. One was even asked by her teacher to stand up in her class and give a presentation about our religion. She did it, even though everyone has their remarks. The mom also worked in neonatology and so it was cool to talk to her about that.
4.   We went to see the Scotto family again this week while I was on scambio. You have to love those surprise dinner appointments. I ate rabbit for the first time and it was way good! The kids were a lot more open and actually recognized our presence so that was awesome. Emanuel, who is 5, was even calling for us from the bathroom haha. Thankfully the mom responded and said we couldn't come.

Okay those are the things that come right off the top of my head. It's been such a great week. I seriously have been loving the mission and the progression we have been able to see with the work here.

So I've been thinking a lot about what I could possibly share with you all from my studies this week. Of course, there are endless stories and experiences that I have loved and I wish I could share them all with you. This week I've been thinking about what our prophet has asked us to do last conference: he has asked us to read the Book of Mormon every day. EVERY day. Even if it is just a verse. But that got me to thinking about why the Book of Mormon and why not just scriptures in general. The Bible is the word of God too, isn't it? Well, it comes down to that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. I have met a lot of people who say that our church is a lot like the other churches. In one sense, that is true. We believe in Christ and lots of other things in common. But the Book of Mormon is one things that makes us different. If we have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God as well, then we can be sure that Joseph Smith was indeed called as a prophet of God.

But what I really wanted to do is point out the promises we have if we do as the Lord has asked (D&C 1:38) and read it every day.

“My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives. I so testify with all my heart in the name of Jesus Christ, amen”. (Pres. Thomas S. Monson - April 2017 General Conference)

Okay, well there ya have it folks. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It has the power to answer questions and to strengthen faith in Christ. I know that I had found my answers to my prayers in this book and if I didn't know if it was true I wouldn't be serving a mission for a year and a half. But I know that it is THAT important and that is why I have chosen to do this. The blessings we will receive are just too important to skip out on. I can't name one of those four promised blessings that I would be willing to give up.

I love you all and I hope you have a good week!

 

Zone  Pday - Beach Volleyball

Diarrheas Since Easters!

Happy Easter! I hope you all had an amazing Easter because I know that we did! The night before was probably the funniest of all. We went through straight panic as we realized that it was 8 o'clock so all of the bakeries and pastry shops were closed. We were seriously running down the street, with our little trolley, dying to find something open. Well, thank goodness we found something because all we had talked about was having fresh bread and pastries for Easter. Other than that, for Easter we didn't have a meal appointment but that was totally fine by us because neither did the anziani. So, we made a district feast after lunch and exchanged little Easter gifts. There was so much food. We all had our own little plate to bring to share. Well, someone made deviled eggs... and a lot of them. One poor, unfortunate elder by his own free will consumed 12 deviled eggs. Needless to say that when we all went to the Castle Park to do finding he beelined it to the port a potty and was there for a good chunk of time. He's "had diarrheas since easters". 😂 we finished off the day with handing out pictures of Christ around the Duomo and Castle. It was so much fun! I think I was a little bit too happy. My face literally hurt from smiling. Not a bad thing.

The Monday after Easter is what we call Pasquetta. Aka. 2nd Easter. No one has to work and it is a holiday too! So for that day we went and played soccer with some people from the ward. Sorella Williams and I killed it. I don't think anyone will be asking us to "ma voi giocate calcio???" (You guys play soccer??). We killed it. Also we were finally able to meet the entire Kone family and they are so funny. We met the sister of Gaia and her brother too. I was so happy to see Gaia after she had gotten back from her cruise... a total of 3 days. Still too long. She thought of us and brought us back little bracelets.

We went to an old folks home with Aydee after we ate with them. I'm getting concerned because every time we eat with them, I eat faster and faster. Maybe it's a coping method for getting it all down haha. The old folks home was really nice! It was a bumpin place for the classic Italian generation. We randomly met a South American worker there that was a member but had moved to Italy and forgotten about the church.

The Guastella family gave us chocolate eggs from Easter. These eggs are so cool. It's an Italian tradition. They are giant hollow chocolate eggs that you have to break open to get a surprise toy. Rachele has been coming to soccer too and she makes it so much fun. I love that girl. Gian Luca had his 14th birthday on Sunday and that same day he was able to receive the priesthood. I know it was such a good experience for that family. 

Life in Cimiano is going really good. We had our Zone Conference and it went really well. It was fun to see some of my old companions. Sorella Rosano, Sorella Nielsen, and Sorella Orr. It was good to talk about different ideas that we can add to our missionary work. It was also cool because President Allen said he would like us ideally to do 4 or 5 hours of community service a week. But to close off every zone conference missionaries who are going home at the end of the transfer bear their testimonies. Sorella Rosano bore hers and she will still be living in Milano but her testimony really touched my heart. I can't believe she's going home. She is such an amazing missionary and I know she always will be.

Yesterday we did Zone Conference round 2 for the Genova and Torino zones because we had to do a role play about how to invite members to use social media. Man, it was a tough crowd. Sorella Williams and I did a chest bump and we got a couple of chuckles. But it went well anyways and we made the role play pretty fun. Of course the car ride home with the Allens and the assistants was so entertaining. 

We used our Pday to the fullest seeing "The Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci today. It's actually so much bigger than I thought it was!

Oh and I forgot probably my miracle of the week. So I'm not kidding when I was SO HAPPY all day Sunday and Monday. Well, I think I drained myself because on Tuesday I was so mellow and just drained in every sense of the word. When in FHE, my jaw dropped to the ground. The elders walked in with Alex from Muggiò English class behind them. I'm pretty sure my jaw unhinged and he was equally surprised. Well then I was so happy to see him again and to catch up with him. The elders will be helping him out to find some answers.

I've been reading all the conference talks and I think I’ve decided my favorite. It's called "Overcoming the World" by Elder Andersen. Here's the link to full talk:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/overcoming-the-world?lang=eng

It's so good. You all should go read it. But in short I will share with you my favorite part. "Overcoming the world is not a global invasion but a private, personal battle, requiring hand-to-hand combat with our own internal foes.

Overcoming the world means treasuring the greatest commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”

The Christian writer C. S. Lewis described it this way: “Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.’”

Heavenly Father only wants us. He wants our hearts and he wants us to overcome our internal foes. I know that He is on our side if we will choose to battle our natural selves, with Him, we can win. Little by little. One battle at a time.

I love you all so much! Hope you have had an amazing week!

"The Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci

 

We had Easter lunch and exchanged our little Easter gifts. 

Giant chocolate eggs that have a surprise inside.

It's Italian tradition. 

There was a gnashing of teeth. 

 When we went to have a picnic with Fernando, Eglayda and of course Grace!

 This is the Castle Sforzesco Park. The water is only that gross 

looking because it's hundreds of years old;)