The week in a little recap

This week went by so fast!

We started it off by doing a scambio in Genova, a more common name is home of focaccia and pesto. There are two companionships of sorelle in Genova so we went to Genova for one companionship and then the other companionship in Genova came here to Milano to help us out. They went really well! For the one that I was in Genova it was pretty great. I got to know Sorella Clark and she's such a good missionary. We did some finding, pass bys, and we were able to meet with one of their investigators. I was happy because I was just praying in my heart that we would meet someone on the bus who was willing to exchange numbers and right before we went home from Genova we met a lady on the bus and we were able to exchange numbers.

For the other scambio I was with Sorella Harris and she's so awesome. She is from a big family too so we had fun talking about that. Her companion is Sorella McCormick from my MTC group so it was fun to get to see her too. On that scambio we went to go see Mama, or Sorella Repoyo, and we watched a bit of the Youth Face to Face event with her. It was so good and I was sad I did not get to watch it all.

On Saturday it was Carnivale so we went to the Duomo to hand out a few Books of Mormon. We were able to hand out 3 despite the fact that it was raining and there weren't many people there. I still really enjoyed handing them out! Carnivale is just a holiday 40 days before Easter. Different regions in Italy sometimes have different days that they do Carnivale. People just dress up and throw confetti everywhere. It's pretty cool but it was not super big this year because of the rain.

Marilena is doing well. We asked if she would be baptized and she really wants to! She just isn't following all of the commandments that she needs to. She is in a really hard situation at this point and so right now we are trying to help her strengthen her faith so that she can take the steps of faith that she needs to. I know that if she does then Heavenly Father will be able to do His part.

Rachele was baptized!!! It was such a beautiful baptism. There were lots of tears and it was a beautiful service. I'm grateful for all the members who played the piano, gave talks, and put together the program for her. This family as gone through a huge change. The mom of Rachele bore her testimony and it was so beautiful. This is one family whose lives truly have been blessed by this gospel. They were ready for a change and I'm grateful that I got to be here to see that change.

On Sunday I ate a baby duck from the egg. Yep. I almost puked. But we went to eat at the house of Sister Tina. She's from the Philippines and she has been telling us for weeks that she was going to make Balut for us. When we went to lunch with her after church and we ate normally with her. But then she pulled out the eggs and we went into a panic. Haha.

On Monday we met with the family Castro and ate Papusas with them. They invited their non-member friend and so it was fun to laugh, talk, and share a little message with them.

This week has been a really good one. I can't remember when we were talking about it but at some point I heard someone say “A lot of people ask what my best day on the mission has been, but I tell them I don't know because I haven't had it yet.” It made me think about how that every day in life is a blessing. Every day is amazing. But I'm grateful for a life where I know that there will be something better. Our lives aren't meant to peak. We aren't meant to plateau. We can continually progress, grow, and learn.

Well, I love you all and I miss you a bunch! Right now we are headed off to go to some museums for free because women's day. Only women get in for free so I'm pretty stoked.

The Title of This Week

Thursday we had our scambio. We did it with Sorella Rosano and Carly. I did my scambio with Sorella Rosano. It was so good to be with her again. She has such amazing questions. Always. I know it's so hard for her to be so close to home right now but she just makes the best out of it. It was honestly so nice to be with her again. I felt like a young missionary again and it was so nice. I just have so much fun talking to her.

On Friday the Pisa sorelle came into Milan for the visa renewal and Sorella Williams had to go with them. We were able to talk all about Pisa and I was able to send my love for the Pisa members there.

On Saturday we had our usual lessons with Fanny and Aydee and the Guastella family. We were planning the last little things before Rachele's baptism. We got to see the Scotto family.

On Sunday we went to go visit Yoselin... or Jocelyn is how you say it. We got to see her and read the Book of Mormon for a bit. It was cool because it was the first time she realized that Christ went to visit the Americas too. But then we went to a members house Rachele and she showed us how to make las paspusas. They were so so good! Hey Jimmy… I ate literally 6.... I guess I can’t give you anymore crap. It was really fun to talk with them. Also a couple friends came over who were not members so we got to talk to them a little bit more about who we are and what we do as missionaries. Oh yeah and MARILENA came to church! It was so good! Everyone was so welcoming to her and it was a great experience for her. She really liked it. I think she was a bit surprised about how the ward is a big family and how involved everyone is. It was a bit overwhelming for her at first but she really liked coming she told us.

On Monday we got to see the Verduga family and they are just good people who have a lot of trials. We had a good lesson with them. It was just the parents and Dafne the 20 year old daughter. But after that we went to see Fernando and Eglyda. They made us the best carbonara ever. And in return we made them French toast. Eglyda is seriously crazy about maple syrup. I really think she could drink it. But we had a good lesson with them about the spirit world. It was really comforting to Eglyda to know that we still live on after this life, that we are awake, and that we are with our loved ones. Her dad died when she was really young so it was something that was really special to hear that because the whole time when she was growing up she was told other things. I loved that lesson with them.

Zone Conference was on Tuesday and it was really good. Sorella Williams and I had to give a training and it was a success. We added a game into it and people got really into it. It was fun. Then other than that we learned a lot about faith and how faith is a power. But it's not just faith that gives us power. It's faith in Jesus Christ. He is the one that gives us power to overcome weaknesses, to be healed, to return to our Heavenly Father. This week I found this quote I really liked from a talk called Life Is Eternal.

No other single influence has had so great an impact on this earth as the life of Jesus the Christ. We cannot conceive of our lives without his teachings. Without him we would be lost in a mirage of beliefs and worships, born in fear and darkness where the sensual and materialistic hold sway. We are far short of the goal he set for us, but we must never lose sight of it; nor must we forget that our great climb toward the light, toward perfection, would not be possible except for his teachings, his life, his death, and his resurrection.

I am so grateful for the special time I have here to serve a mission. I'm grateful for everything that Christ has done for me. It's amazing to see not only the impact He has had in my life and how He has given me the opportunity to change but also see how He has been able to help the people we meet with and these members here.

I love you all! Have a great week!

The duomo is actually in our proselyting area and I love it more at night 

because we can see the stain glass windows from the outside.

The Pisa Sorelle

These are real bones from a cemetery that the church was built on in the 1270s

There was a model with lots of photographers outside of the Prada fashion show. 

It was crazy as we were walking by. P.S. I have no idea who this even is.

The Cooking Crew

The Milano East Zone

Fashion Week!

After PDay this week we went straight into our Scambio. I did my scambio with Sorella  Smedley! It was so fun to do it with her. We taught English together, did a pass by, and some finding together. It was so fun getting to catch up with her. I can't believe the MTC was almost a year ago! I love her because she is always searching to serve those around her in any way possible.

Then on Thursday we turned up the beat going to see Mama Repoya because it was her birthday. I love Mama. She's a Filippino and has two daughters, one 17 and one 16. They are so funny. We had fun singing karaoke together. Mama loves ABBA and the song "Girl Crush".

We tried to teach Italian this week. It's super funny. So a couple of Chinese come and then someone who speaks Spanish. Well we don't speak Spanish so trying to teach Italian can be a bit difficult when there's no language in common. But I realized how much Spanish I have forgotten.

Friday was a miracle day because we got to see the family Castro. Ah! They came in at perfect timing, our plans had cancelled and so we called them and went over to their house. (With brownies of course because Fratello Castro is obsessed with brownies.) They had papusas (if that's how you spell it) and our favorite type of juice. It was just a really good time with them! Then we also got to see Milagros who take care of an old lady and for the first time ever this old lady was aware. Usually she's pretty out of it. But she was there and I loved seeing this cute little old lady laugh for the first time in ever.

Saturday was a great day. We saw people at the last minutes notice but that was nice that they were willing to work with us. We went to a party at the church for a one year old and it was fun! We got... well I got to know the members a bit more and they are so fun! That night I also got to see a couple of young women from Muggiò so that was fun! Then we got to see the family Lastra and I love seeing that family. The kids are just absolutely adorable and so good!

We taught the Guastella family this week of course! They are getting so excited for Rachele’s baptism and so are we! They are even inviting family from out of town and Gian Luca might be getting the priesthood too. It's going to be such a beautiful time for their family! You wouldn't believe the change they've gone through. They have overcome such big barriers to get to where they are now.

We also met a family named the Scotto family. Not too much to say besides the fact that we sang hymns accompanied by a guitar and their little boy just couldn't handle the temptation of sugar and was straight up caught eating the sugar by the spoonful. It was so funny.

Monday we met with our new investigator Marilena. She's from Honduras and we were planning to teach her the plan of salvation. Turns out that was the perfect lesson for her at that time because someone in her family just went into a coma. Just even the fact that we called her was a tiny miracle in itself because she had wanted to talk to us when she found out but didn't call us because she didn't want to bother us.

Then yesterday I finally met Fernando and Eglyda. They have the cutest baby ever. Eglyda is from Brazil and Fernando is Italian. They are so ready to get baptized they just have to get some things sorted out first. We had a party for FHE that night too. It was a lot of fun! We usually play games and eat food and it's always a lot of fun. Except if you lose the game more than twice you either have to dance in the middle or you play statue and people get to move you however they want.

Today's PDay was seriously so funny. Sorella Williams and I have been waddling around Milan because we started a new work out program in the morning. We went to go see the Monumentale cemetery which is incredible! And we happened to just walk into fashion week. They had a little presentation building that we got to walk into and see some of the things and get free magazines. Haha it was so funny to see people look at us with our worn out shoes looking like polygamists. It was seriously just such a fun day! Oh and to top it all off, we went to the Chinatown here in Milan.

It's been such a good week. I'm so grateful for the people here and their willingness to open their heart. I love how we can laugh and cry together. I love how willing they are to put Christ in their life first. They sure do know how to love.

I love you all!

Also P.S. We made good friends with a guy from Napoli because he owns a burger place! We went to this place for two days straight!

(Someone needs to teach these Italians how to eat a burger. In the restaurant, eating our burger, everyone was staring at us like we were crazy. Then we realized everyone else was eating their hamburger with a fork and knife. They probably thought we were barbarians. You could tell who had been to America though because there were a few Italian people eating it with their hands.)

Milano! 

Monumentale Cemetery 

 This cemetery is so crazy!

 

 This is Rachele Guastella. 

She will be getting baptized in a little under two weeks!

Fernando and Eglyda 

 FHE - I have no idea why he chose the statue option