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;)

Prepasqua

_{On Wednesday we went and relaxed in the park with the Muggiò Sorelle. It was super nice but that was why I didn't have a lot of time to write an email. It didn't help that there was a strike for the metro. But it all worked out so I guess it's okay.}

_{On Thursday we were able to finally contact a referral we had gotten. She wasn't very interested but she's a super nice lady. But we met King on the way there. He heard us speaking English and stopped to talk to us. He's been living in Italy for about two years and has been searching for a church. We got his number and invited him and his friend to soccer on Saturday. And then we had scambio with the Savona Sorelle. I was with Sorella Carter. We went to try to pass by Blessing but she wasn't home so we ended up doing some finding even though it didn't work very well. Blessing lives in a little town and there were zero people haha.}

_{On Friday we saw Marilena. Well you could say we had an awkward moment when Sorella Carter and I found out that her name is Marilin not Marilena. She just thought we couldn't pronounce her name so she didn't say anything about it. I felt awful! We talked her about the Word of Wisdom and it went really well! She's so cute and she's still getting ready for her baptism. After that we had to run to the station so that the Sorelle from Savona could catch their train. That night we did a pass by but instead we met Michael. He was just a normal 25 year old who didn't speak Italian. We were able to help him get to the station. He was pretty worried because he is here in Italy with nothing. No family, no support system, and not any sense of security. We found out that he is a refugee and he had to leave everything. We were able to help him a bit but as for now we just hope that he is okay.}

_{Saturday was game day! We moved the soccer game from the Lampugnano church to an actual field close to Cimiano. Man, it got serious! Haha everyone stepped up their game haha. It was a lot of fun though! King and his friend were seriously so good! It was cool because some new people came and we were able to get to know them too. Gaia came too but didn't play because she still has a bad knee from rugby. Then after that we had to come home and shower because we were pretty gross and dirty. After that we spent the evening with Fernando and Eglayda. We went on a picnic with them. It had been awhile since we had seen them. Grace has already grown so much! She's getting so big!}

_{Sunday was a crazy day at church. Gaia wouldn't have been able to play in her rugby America so at the last minute she decided to come to church instead. We were stoked to see her. After that we had a gathering at Sister Tina's house. It included good food, good people, and good karaoke. Her friend George is hilarious and he brought a karaoke microphone. I would be lying if I didn't say I was tempted to buy one. At any given point in the day, you can bet your bottom dollar that he has some form of karaoke microphone on him. I love it!}

_{Monday we were on scambio with le sorelle from Lodi, Sorella Rosano and Carly. It's the last transfer of Sorella Rosano! I can't believe it! I was with Sorella Carly and she is the cutest ever! We had a lot of fun doing some different pass bys and were able to invite some people to soccer this Saturday. Then we headed straight from that to an art class that Anziano Simkins started to start trying a new way of finding. It was really fun actually. It turned out just the missionaries and Gaia but we had a grand old time learning how to draw Emma Watson and Ryan Gosling. It was good because we got to see Gaia before she left on her cruise with her family!}

_{Tuesday we visited Sorella Acevado to show her some peace videos that the church has made for Pasqua. They are so good! There are videos on principles of peace for every day of the week before Easter.Then we use had the usual missionary meeting and FHE.}

_{This week has been so amazing and it has just flown by. I'm so excited for this upcoming Easter. There's just something about holidays that are centered on Christ that make them special. There's a new video about the peace we can receive through Christ and I love it. I know personally that I am the type of person who likes to plan and the unknown can be a bit scary. The world these days can be scary. I'm grateful that we can find peace in Christ and the peace that I have found through Him.}

_{John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."}

_{You all should go watch this new video. It's such a powerful video about Christ.}

_{https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc}

_{Ok last but not least, I want to bear my personal testimony about our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am not a writer but I had a firm testimony that He Lives. This song is my testimony. At many different points in my life I have felt every one of these feelings and I know that because He lives our lives are changed.} 

_{1. I know that my Redeemer lives.}

_{What comfort this sweet sentence gives!}

_{He lives, he lives, who once was dead.}

_{He lives, my ever-living Head.}

_{He lives to bless me with his love.}

_{He lives to plead for me above.}

_{He lives my hungry soul to feed.}

_{He lives to bless in time of need.}

_{2. He lives to grant me rich supply.}

_{He lives to guide me with his eye.}

_{He lives to comfort me when faint.}

_{He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.}

_{He lives to silence all my fears.}

_{He lives to wipe away my tears.}

_{He lives to calm my troubled heart.}

_{He lives all blessings to impart.}

_{3. He lives, my kind, wise heav’nly Friend.}

_{He lives and loves me to the end.}

_{He lives, and while he lives, I’ll sing.}

_{He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.}

_{He lives and grants me daily breath.}

_{He lives, and I shall conquer death.}

_{He lives my mansion to prepare.}

_{He lives to bring me safely there.}

_{4. He lives! All glory to his name!}

_{He lives, my Savior, still the same.}

_{Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:}

_{“I know that my Redeemer lives!”}

_{He lives! All glory to his name!}

_{He lives, my Savior, still the same.}

_{Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:}

_{“I know that my Redeemer lives!”}

_{I love you all! Have a wonderful Easter, but don't forget to take a few moments, yes even if you are busy with children, to think about how your life has personally been affected by the fact that Christ lives.} 

_{Love, Sorella Anderson}

   

Art Class 

 This store had the best mozzarella that was seriously 

made a half hour before we ate it. We were in heaven.

 

Treat yo self 

Little Short on Time

_{Sorry guys I am pretty short on time so I am just going to do some of the highlights of the week!}

_{1. We set a baptismal date for Marilena. April 29th. We are really excited for her and she was really excited. It was a very spiritual lesson we had with her because she was ready and this is something that she has been searching for.} 

_{2. We had an amazing lesson with Gaia. She really opened up to us and I honestly don't know if I have loved anyone so much. She is a great girl who has been through a lot. She is just looking for a new start.} 

_{3. Soccer this week with Gaia and some of the members was awesome. Gaia was able to play this week and we killed it! We were on the same team and we could even call it a dream team. Awkward though because there was a funeral going on inside the church. But we talked to the bishop and he told us to play. So we did. Everything turned out great even though I felt super awkward in the beginning.} 

_{4. General Conference was really good. Elena came. She is from China and doesn't speak Italian or English so we had silent conversations with her through google translate haha. We watched the women's session with her in Chinese. Gift of tongues is real! I understood everything! Just kidding. It sounded just like a bunch of random sounds BUT I was happy to be there with Elena.} 

_{5. We were able to go back to see Rita and her family. We actually ate dinner with them and I love this family. They are such good people. She was actually going to become a nun when she was younger and so we were able to talk to her about that.} 

_{6. I got to do a scambio with Sorella Orr! It was so good to be with her again! Man I love them!} 

_{7. A gelato lady got mad at us because we took too long to choose our flavors because she has too much work to do... uh okay... whatever. But then she continues to complain about us to her friend who came in to see her in Italian. Lady, I just spoke to you in Italian. I understand LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU ARE SAYING. Of course we held our peace and her friend felt bad for us and proceeded to ask us who we are. Then they left us in the gelateria alone to get a coffee. Life is funny sometimes.} 

_{I hope you all loved conference and were able to get some answers because I know I sure did!} 

_{I love you all!}

 

 Pday in the Park with Muggio Sorelle