tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524198234005607642024-03-04T23:46:07.565-08:00Sister Urban's BlogDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-67098323917418980702011-07-01T06:41:00.000-07:002011-07-01T06:43:39.585-07:00next stop: Florida!Last weeks dinner with the office couples and Sorella Kelly was enjoyable and very brief. I was sitting near Sorella Valentine and halfway through the meal I noticed that she was eating strangely..... she was eating with a knife because we hadn't given her a fork!<br /> <br />Sorella Pearson is coming up to take my place and follow-up train Sorella Hicks. I start getting jealous just thinking about it, so I'll leave it at that. Sorella Pearson is a wonderful sorella and I know that Sorella Hicks will have a blast with her. We are keeping our fingers crossed that she will be up to sleeping outside on the balcony. The only disadvantage are the bugs! Sorella Hicks repels them to me! Every morning I wake up with half a dozen spider bites on my face and a 1,000 mosquito bites from my elbows to my fingertips. It looks like I'll have to wear some foundation for my return trip home, otherwise people will think I'm a sickly missionary and that my face disease is contagious :) <br /> <br />A few Saturdays ago we went to a members house in Albano (outside of Rome, where the Pope has his summer house) and we met Giulia, an 11 y.o. friend of the members daughters. She came to church last Sunday and rather than going to Gospel Principles class, we fished her out of young womens and taught her the Resoration in a separate room. She is the most innocent and mature 11 y.o. I've ever met. She expressed confusion as to how she'll know which church to be baptized in, and she agreed to pray to know. We are going back on Saturday to follow up and to teach her. <br /> <br />Last week I wrote that Elder Texiera "implied" a challenge of getting 21 lessons in the week. Sorella Hicks and I decided we would shoot for 23- we left the apartment at 10:00 and returned at 21:00. It was a sweaty and tiring week, but we had 25 lessons and we have the most progressiving investigators we have ever had so far!!!! Missionaries really do lose the vision but He never does. I know I've been working below my privileges and this past week has been incredible. Although I know I could have always done more, I am very grateful that I feel happy about the mission. <br /> <br />We were sitting on the trenino going to Patrizia's, when all of a sudden, a noise like no other rent the air. It took me at least 20 seconds of bewilderment to figure out what it was\where it was coming from. It was a chinese man whose arm was pinned in the train door!! I didn't think anything human could make the noise he was making. Once the doors reopened, he extracted his arm and for the next 5 minutes, he did arm exercises and stretches, testing to see if anything was broken. It was tragic for him, but I was fighting laughter the entire time. I think I found it so funny because it's something that I could see happening to me. (And it's happened to Sorella Hicks and all I could do was laugh and point at her!)<br /> <br />THEN, on the trenino back from Patrizia's, we squeezed on and I realized that we'd walked into the middle of a fight between a Morrocan and a Romanian. Up till that moment I don't think I could identify swear words. That definitely isn't the case anymore! An old woman was telling them to break it up and they were in eachothers faces, challenging the other to "settle it at the next stop". The tension in the train was tangible, and I'm not sure what got into Sorella Hicks (maybe it was the fact that she couldn't understand) but she started laughing so hard that she was wheezing and I was trying to be upset with her so that she'd stop laughing, but I started giggling because the timing was so inappropriate. I pictured them turning on us, making peace between themselves, and beating us up. I don't know how we got off that train alive.<br /> <br />Speaking of the ghetto train, the other day we got off at our stop and 3 Romanian men jumped off at the last second and while we were walking home, they zig-zagged in between cars to make as if they weren't following us (they couldn't have been more obvious) so we passed our apartment and walked to the park to lose them. They kept following us so we decided that we had to talk to people so that they'd lose interest in waiting, and we approached a family on a bench and I tried starting up a conversation with her but the second she saw our tags she told us to leave them alone, and I insisted on talking to them and she tried shooing us off again. Finally, I was like "Look, can we just please talk to you? There are men following us" and the change in her was incredible. She immediately engaged us in conversation and kept a watch on the men, "wait, they are hiding behind some cars" and let us know when the coast was clear. She didn't accept any pamphlet, but who knows? Maybe she'll run into some missionaries a few years from now and listen :)<br /> <br />In the MTC, one of the teachers, Fratello Lisonbee, shared a story with us of a woman he met, Maria, who he felt he had met in the preexistence. After a few rough months, she was baptized and the morning of her confirmation, she came to church and said that she didn't want to be confirmed; her friends had told her some bad stuff about the church and she needed to rethink things. Fratello Lisonbee cried while telling us about Maria and the experiences he had in finding and teaching her, and when I arrived in Rome 3, while I was going through the area book, I found Maria's teaching record. Yesterday, we went to go find her. We walked the entire way in the middle of nowhere to find her place but she wasn't home.I wondered, "How did the Elders get to Maria's?" On our way back, we discovered that the bus that passes infront of our house goes directly to Maria's. It was a sad moment not finding Maria, but a funny moment feeling our sunburned necks and waching the bus go by.<br /> <br />We all fasted for Guido's trial.......and they put it off for next February. How is someone expected to get on with life? Poor Guido. We still haven't figured out what this means for his "baptismal" circumstances, but we are confident that things are working out the way they need to be.<br /> <br />Alina invited us over yesterday at 14:00 to meet her new friends. Turns out that she was stopped by two Jehovah witnesses in the park the other day, and she'd invited them over to her house. Alina was adorable. She had her scriptures all set out and the Restoration DVD ready to play. I tried not to be biased but I felt that I knew how it was going to go, and I was right. They just wanted to prove us wrong, so we told them that the only way they can know is through prayer, and then we said we had to go, "but could we leave with a prayer?". They politely declined and said that they could step out of the house while we prayed. I replied, "it's only a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for our blessings" and they wouldn't agree to it and left. On our way home, Sorella Hicks told me that Jehovah Witnesses aren't allowed to pray with Latter-Day Saints. <br /> <br />On Sunday, we showed up for our appt at Odile's, and she asked if we could help her do some housework. Remember, this is Odile who has a roomates, Jeisha, who hates white people. While I was leaning over the toilet bowl scrubbing it, I heard a door click open and out of the corner of my eye I was Jeisha, with her lion hair framing her face, looking at me with sleepy but peircing eyes. She told me that I didn't have to clean, and I said that I didn't mind. She then ordered me to stop cleaning and, looking at Odile, told her that she should be ashamed for taking advantage of us. She and Odile had an argument for a second and I didn't want to die from being attacked by a toilet scrubber, so I peeled off my gloves and stepped out into the kitchen. Yeekes. Jeisha is scary. I can understand Odile and how she feels in not getting along with a roommate. It's not a pleasant thing to not feel comfortable and peaceful in your own home. Odile is trying to move out this week which is sad because she will be in the Rome 2 zone, but at least she wants to continue meeting with the Sorelle. We are having a picnic with her tonight to wrap up preparation day. She is cooking us food from her county, Togo. I will let you know how that goes :)<br /> <br />Mom, do you know Veglia and Elio Franca? They insist having met us years ago a Roma 1.....<br />We went to their house for Sunday dinner. They had cavolaccio, the weed plant thing that I ate everyday in Mistretta. Sorella Hicks sure had a hard time getting it done, but as always, thank goodness they always have bread at the table. Bread can get most everything done without gagging. We also had pink pink sausage and a bag full of chocolate. The chocolate was the highlight of the meal if that wasn't obvious. Rome 4 has such good members. <br /> <br />We went to the Bishops house on Monday night- I learned SO much from just listening to Vescovo Ligas. He and his wife have moved their family back and forth between France and Italy, following the promptings of the Spirit, and usually leaving everything behind. The members here in Italy are special. It would hard being a new member, and I admire and respect each and every one of them for the trust they put in the Lord and for their willingness to "go and do". They spoke about "moments in Zion" and how we need to have spiritual experiences to prepare ourselves from having "moments in Zion" to our life of being in Zion. I was spiritually nourished and strengthened listening and learning with them. <br /> <br />eeks. Is this really my last email? I want to include a list I finished this morning that I have to turn in to Pres. Kelly tomorrow at my final interview. <br /> <br />The blessings that I have recieved during my mission (During your mission you have developed talents, characteristics, knowledge and testimony. Please make a list of thirty of these talents.)<br />1. Attitude is not the result of success; success is the result of attitude<br />2. Never let someone else define who you are, what you're doing, or where you're going.<br />3. The only way is the "go and do" in the Lord's way<br />4. Change is consistent<br />5. The secret to happiness is to count blessings and recognize the tender mercies and miracles of the Lord<br />6. I don't know everthing and it's okay. God does know everything- trust Him.<br />7. Happiness is a choice, not a consequence.<br />8. My own Christlike attributes are more valuable to me than a 100 Christlike attributes in someone else.<br />9. Power comes in the doing.<br />10. Most everything requires team effort. i need to do my best at doing my part.<br />11. The commandments are 100% for our benefit.<br />12. The value of time and the importance of using it wisely.<br />13. The importance of acting and reacting with eternal perspective.<br />14. There will always be an excuse. I cannot have both the performance habit and the excuse habit.<br />15. I have learned to recognize and appreciate the perfect organization of the Church.<br />16. God's plan of salvation is perfect (2 Nefi 31:21)<br />17. I've come to realize that patience and charity will take me at least a lifetime to develop.<br />18. The best is yet to be- faith is always pointed toward the future.<br />19. The influence of a parent. The importance of being a good example and making following Christ a top priority.<br />20. I feel better prepared to face life. I know what I need to do to get through.<br />21. You can't always get what you want, but you always get what you need.<br />22. I've learned that what matters most is what lasts longest.<br />23. I've gained a much deeper appreciation for my friends and family, especially my parents.<br />24. I have made hundreds of friends, many of which will be for the eternities.<br />25. Having companions and learning from those around me, I have developed better communication skills and feel more prepared for marriage.<br />26. I feel better prepared in recognizing the promptings of the Spirit and the process of recieving personal revelation.<br />27. We really are the Lord's hands. He will (and does) bless me through others and I must do the same.<br />28. I've seen myself stretch beyond what I thought I was capable of; I definitely have had an increase in self-confidence.<br />29. I have been given much, and therefore, much is required.<br />30. I have an increased love for others.<br /> <br />I am so happy to be me.<br /> <br />Wow. I can't believe I am wrapping up the last email I will write as Sorella Urban. This has been the most incredible time of my life. I know that God lives and that His Son, Jesus Christ, made the way possible through His Atonement. I am so grateful for the guides that He has given us today, the Spriit, the commandment, a living Prophet, the scriptures- we have exactly what we need to make it through this life victoriously and return to Him with our loved ones. His plan for each of us is perfect. I am grateful and humbled for all the things I have been able to learn and experience. I am sad that this particular experience is coming to an end, but as Elder Holland put it, "The best is yet to be". The best really is yet to be. We must always go forward, and that is what I will try my best in doing. <br />I am excited for the future and for this next chapter in life. <br />I love you all. Thank you for your prayers, support, letters, encouragement, and good example. <br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br /> <br />p.s. A reminder that Billy Hashey will be baptized in 3 days and confirmed in 4!!!Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-59975528861924423212011-06-27T23:38:00.001-07:002011-06-27T23:38:08.886-07:00tithing, tumor, and a traumatic toothy grin later...Last week I wrote that Guido got super upset over the law of tithing and told Patrizia he'd never come to church again. Patrizia called us a few days later and told us that they'd gone to the bank to check their balance. The banker informed them that their car payment this month isn't due because they'd accidentally charged them double the payment last month. Patrizia and Guido walked out marveling at this miracle and knowing that it is the Lord's doing.<br />We went to their house and asked them to retell us again what happened, and Guido said, "I changed my mind. I'm coming to church. Tithing still doesn't sit well with me but I'm seeing that it really does come from God, and I can't let something small and stupid stop my progression towards Christ". YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!<br />He has his sentencing on the 27th and we will all do a fast that things will go well (aka that he won't have to go to prison!). Guido just can't go to prison.<br /> <br />They were in church on Sunday and we walked Patrizia out (actually, we were recording a video of her because she drags her leg behind her (she has a little bump in her leg that she things is a tumor and all of a sudden it's extremily painful, etc) and when she got into the car, Guido accidentally went in reverse, crunched the car behind them (mind you, this is infront of a lot of members who are leaving church) and patrizia yelled "Guido!" and then...the car slowly drove away. We just about died. Especially because we were so lucky to get it on video!!!<br /> <br />We had dinner the other night with the Anziani at our ward mission leaders house, the Vardeu family. I felt like I was sitting with the RM family (the mom who cooks a ton). The lasagna alone had to be lifted by the two men of the family to get it to the table. And that was only first course. It was refreshing being with a family who gets along!<br /> <br />For Fathers day, we woke up early and made french toast that we doorbell-ditched at the Anziani's door. The Bishop called me and asked me if I'd speak during sacrament meeting (only missionaries would say yes to being asked the morning of!) and my topic was compassion, so I geared it toward the needs of the ward- home and visiting teaching. If everyone did their home and visiting teaching, there would be no need for us to do reactivation. It would save the missionaries so much time, and every member would be close knit and active. I want to always be a faithful visiting teacher!<br /> <br />At the training conference we had with Anziano Texiera from the Presidency, he reminded us that "The Lord never prepares someone alone". So, we went to visit Alina, a new convert, and we made it an effort to speak with a man who lives in their kitchen (this house has 3 different families who live in different rooms but share the kitchen and bathroom). His name is Marian, and yesterday we took him a Book of Mormon in Romanian with a dedica (we write on the cover and personalize it to him with our testimonies) and when we asked him if he'd read Alma 32 for homework, he said, "If I'm going to read this, I might as well start from the beginning". Marian is so neat! His family is in Romania and he is here by himself working. He is Luciano's smoking "buddy"... that will change :)<br />In the other room, lives another Romanian man with his girlfriend, Dana. Alina invited us over to watch the Restoration with them, but Dana had to shower and get ready for work, so we taught Alina instead. When Dana was stepping out the door, we saluted her and ... although she had a dress on, she was standing in the light and .... she was naked! She left for work like that!!!!!!!!!!! Ontop of that, we went to a new convert family last night and she was naked under her dress too! I guess it's the summer heat that makes people go crazy and forget basic ....social skills? (what would it even be called?!)<br /> <br />Because Sorella Hicks isn't feeling up to going sightseeing today, we invited the Burts, the Valentines (office couples) and the Kelly's to join us for dinner tonight. Sorella Kelly said she is excited to see our apartment. AGHHH. Last time we had the Burts over, Elder Burt asked me "Do you get splinters in your rear when you use the toilet?" I asked him what he meant and he said "While you were out, I inspected your bathroom (?!?! I wouldn't inspect YOUR bathroom if you invited me over!) and noticed that there's wood exposed on your toilet seat."<br />Sister Valentine doesn't like Italian, and seeing that neither does S. Hicks....she's making us all hamburgers. I feel like I'm already half in America- I heard a lawn mower this morning!<br /> <br />Sorella Hicks and I have made the goal this week to not say anything negative. Can I just tell you how hard that is?!?! I am failing miserably, especially when it comes to men. Whenever we want to say something negative, we replace it with "Bless his soul". There are alot of "bless his soul's" being said on my part! Monday was a particularly frustrating day (concerning men) and it was only noon when we were waiting to cross a street when a man turned to us and said "Oooh, look at you beautiful women". Before I knew it I said "Non si dovrebbe comportare cosi (One shouldn't behave like that)" and he looked a little surprised and asked me to repeat so I did, and then he said "Well, then what am I supposed to do when I see beautiful women like you?" I said (with a piercing stare and my arms crossed and my nose flared) "you can smile if you want, but that's it. You shouldn't say anything or do anything else. Nothing. Understood?" Poor guy. He wasn't even that bad and I just took it out on him. Maybe the world would see a difference if every woman would set a man straight every time he did whistle or say something inappropriate.<br /> <br />At zone conference, A. Texiera told us that it was possible to have 21 lessons a week. We set 23 as our goal, and on Sunday, to start our week off right, we fasted that we can reach our weekly goals. We know it's possible- and we decided to not return to our apartment for lunch or language. Just in our first day (monday) we beat the number of lessons taught in ALL of last week. Yesterday we had a pretty good day too, and we are confident that as we continue to push on, we will be able to see 23 goals by Sunday night. I even cancelled sister exchanges because I felt that all of the sister companionships should make this the goal to end the transfer strong. <br /> <br />On Monday, while I was talking to a woman on a bus about the plan of salvation, Sorella Hicks was trying to talk to her neighbor who, after a minute, stood up and went to the very back of the bus. Poor Sorella Hicks! And even when we wait for the trains, I always get the nice people who are willing to swap numbers with me and she is always rejected. It makes me feel super guilty, but...maybe rejection is helping her become stronger? Boh. She takes it really well though, and we just laugh about it.<br /> <br />We got a CD player this week and the only CD we have in the house is the soundtrack of Aladdin :)<br />Patrizia is still smoking.........................she has an appt to speak with Bishop and we think that that will really help her. We can't think of anything else that we can do that we haven't tried that will help her.<br />If Guido goes to jail, I'm moving to Italy so that I can go visit him every day and bring him treats. My heart will rip out if he has to go.<br />Maria Huarcaya is still on track for her baptism at the end of August- she is just so busy at work that we can never teach her!<br />Luciano joined us for a family prayer last night! I have found that people can't refuse you when you say, "Can we say a prayer for the health and protection of your family and friends?"<br /> <br />Oh! I can't believe I was about to forget to write about Sunday's adventure!!! After district meeting on Monday, after rebuking the man at the crosswalk, we went to go find a mother and daughter who haven't been to church in a month. The mom is 83 and her daughter, Palma, is mentally handicapped and super loving. When we arrived (without an appt), Palma let us in and the mom was in the kitchen eating lunch with her son, Mario (who's 50 and he's the one who never went to school, never has had a job, and stays in his room and listens to American music). Granny (I dont want to keep repeating "the mom") was super nervous and upset over how busy she is, that when her son said something about the pasta being too cooked, she grabbed a knife off the table and held it to his throat and S-C-R-E-A-M-E-D. I was standing right next to them and I didn't do anything because Mario didn't even break his rhythm of eating pasta- I guess it's nothing out of the ordinary for him. <br /> <br />I asked if we could share a short message with them and she picked up screaming (I really mean screaming) about how much she had to do around the house. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into her bedroom, sat down on her bed, pulled off her shoe, and stuck her foot out infront of me. "See that nail? It hurts! I can't do anything anymore. I am old. I am tired! (In my mind I was thinking, please, please don't ask me to touch it) and she breathed again and ordered, "Touch it!". I hesitated and she said, "touch it, I washed!" so I reached out a finger and felt her nail. Good thing S. Hicks was behind me. I think I would have started laughing. I asked her again if we could help her with anything, and if we could simply just say a prayer together. She raised her voice again so I raised my voice so that she could hear me and said (with righteous anger but lovingly) "There is always time for God. If you don't have time for God, repent" and she shut up and followed me into the living room and said "Make it short". So S. Hicks and I kneeled down and I said the prayer and included "Help them make time to let Christ back into their lives" and when we said amen, both Granny and Palma were sobbing. They want to come to church but it's too hard for them to come if someone doesn't give them a ride, so we are working on that.<br /> <br />Next week I want to write about the "30 lessons\talents from the mission" for my final letter. I am so excited that Billy Hashey is getting baptized in 10 days! There is SOOO much to still do. The work is going on wonderfully and I continue to see miracles day after day. I am soooo happy and grateful to be here.<br /> <br />Vi voglio bene!<br />Sorella Urban<br /> <br />p.s. Oops. How do I always forget a spiritual thought...who am I?!<br />DC 130:2 Is a verse I came across in my personal study yesterday, and I really like it.<br />"And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be couples with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy".<br /> <br />I always knew we would carry on our relationships, but it clicked better with reading this, that the friendships, relationships, and bonds we make with our friends, family, and neighbors will continue and be even more wonderful because we will be in a different state of glory. I am so grateful for all of the wonderful people that I have met and continue to meet. They have made a difference for good in my life, as have all of you. GrazieDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-28495497837470413432011-06-27T23:35:00.001-07:002011-06-27T23:35:37.181-07:00mosquitoes are backOh. How does my list get longer by the week?<br /> <br />When we were at the Magnanti's last week for our fish-blend dinner, I forgot to add that I also had one of my most awkward moments. Fratello Magnanti's non member brother was there, Mauro. He has some mental problems but he is completely able to function like any other. Well, as we were getting ready to set the table, he got my attention and beckoned me with his finger to come to him. I, being the untrusting sort that I am, asked him "why?". He said "Just come here" and started walking towards me and since I wasn't sure what he had in mind, I walked backwards as he kept coming closer. Then, I was pinned at a wall and he kept saying "stop! just stand still!" and I started making my little squeal noises and I shot out from behind the couch and ran over to Sorella Magnanti. She turned around and asked me what was going on and I squealed, "I don't know! Mauro's chasing me" and she asked him what he wanted and he came up to me and I literally felt frozen to the ground...and my breathing stopped....and I saw Sorella Hicks gaping at me from out of the corner of my eye..............(I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I was afraid he would do something inappropriate, like kissing me) and sorella Magnanti told me to stand still and Mauro got up close and raised his hand towards my face and.......stroked my hair. He just wanted to touch my hair! I was relieved, but it was still super weird to have a grown man petting my head, so I tried to laugh it off and I squirrel-scampered away from him into the kitchen. aghhhhhhhh. I could have shot myself for being so awkward! That entire evening he kept bringing up that I was scared of him and I shouldn't be- he even wanted to sit next to me to prove me that he was harmless. Poor Mauro. I hope he understood that I didn't find him scary, just the situation. ahhhh. I love awkward moments.<br /> <br />We went to the questura early on Thursday morning, waited for an hour, and then when it was our turn, found out that only Catholics who are coming for the Vatican are registered at that questura. So, Sorella Hicks has an appt for July. Although nothing came out of it, it was really fun being out and about in the city when we usually are just waking up. <br /> <br />I have sooo much to say about Odile! We see her several times a week so the following is a summary of experiences of this week in general: We were ending a lesson and she asked if we could accompany her to a friends house. We walked there and it turned out to be a 91 y.o. woman for whom she worked last year. Odile asked us if we could pray with her. So, after talking around her bed for a few minutes, we prayed and as we were walking out, Odile stopped us and asked if we could do another favor for her- unbraid her hair. She has shoulder length hair that is braided at the roots. I asked her to expound and she volunteered to show us what she meant. She got out a pair of scissors and said, "there's a knot at the root that you need to cut.......here, like this............wait, can you do it?" So, I took the scissors and while I was trying to cut the knot, I cut off some hair so I withdrew my hands and I started giggling as I looked horrified at the several chopped strands in my hand. "Odile, I'm sorry!" as I continued to giggle. She looked at me like, "what are you sorry about?" and took the scissors out of my hand and cut off her whole braid. Sorella Hicks and I gasped. <br />Apparently, they're just hair extensions, and in all reality, she's practically bald. (If you want to know what happened to that braid- I asked if I could keep it and we took it home, split it in two strands, and we've taped it into our respective journals. Sick, right?)<br /> <br />When we went back the next day for another lesson, she had gone ahead without us and cut off all her braids. I'm a little bummed that I didn't get to experience unbraiding an African's head....but at least I got a good scrabook item! <br />Initially, we were planning on meeting in the church because we want to watch the movie "The Restoration" together, but she piped up that she has a laptop and her roommates would be out, so we went to her house. BAD IDEA!<br />We entered and sat down at the edge of the kitchen as she prepared her laptop, and when it came time to put it in, I opened the case and it was empty! I've been carrying around an empty DVD for weeks, OR the adversary had it disapparate. I was stunned and horrified. Odile said she had to leave the house at noon..........so Sorella Hicks and I, determined to not let the adversary win again this time, sprinted home and back to Odile's. We had 45 minutes till noon. The movie is 20 min so were confident that we could continue with our lesson plan. Well! I will just tell you what Odile did in the 10 minutes of the film we watched. First, she wanted to make her bed before the movie, and then she was cooking polenta and meat for lunch, and kept saying, "start the movie, I'll eat and watch at the same time!" but we repeated "Odile, this movie is so special that we want you to watch it without other distractions, so we will wait until you finish eating to watch it." She ate. We started the movie. She ate some more. She washed the dishes. She transferred beans which were soaking in a pot to boiling on the stove. She chopped onions and put chicken on the stove to start grilling. She got out water and offered us some. She opened some granola bars and gave them to us. The chicken frying was making so much noise that I paused it (for the millionth time) and asked her "Odile, can you hear it? I can't!" She insisted that she could hear it ...but looked on the control panel for the volume button (I was sitting against the stove and I just wanted to turn around and blow the flame out) and she took so long that the chicken cooked and sizzled less, so we continued on with the movie. THEN. Right when I rehit the play button, she stopped and asked, "Can I just wash my mouth so that we can be more peaceful?" and she stood up and went and brushed her teeth. <br /> <br />I am learning patience.<br /> <br />It would have all been worth it had we watched the movie through, but her roommate came home (of course, while Joseph is in the sacred grove) and ordered us out of the kitchen because she needed to cook. We reset our appointment for this afternoon IN CHURCH.<br /> <br />Patrizia and Guido didn't come to church because she wasn't feeling well. She's never feeling well. I've sometimes wondered, "If you never feel well, then wouldn't you get used to it and think that the way you are feeling is "well"?" Boh. It hasn't happened to Patrizia yet. It was ward conference and the stake president, Massimo De Feo (the one who interviewed me to send me off on my mission and I made a brutta figura! (bad impression) ) gave a beautiful talk on becoming strong in our trials. <br /> <br />We went to Patrizia's on Monday to go over the stop smoking program because she is still smoking, and while we were talking, she asked us about tithing and we taught the principle and Guido got so mad at the idea of us having to pay a tenth of our earnings that he stood up, pointed his finger at Patrizia, "If you pay this, you can forget about me coming to church with you. I'm never going to give you a ride or come with you again" and stormed out of the room and sat in the kitchen the rest of the time we were there. <br /> <br />We know his heart will be softened and he didn't mean what he said...but he needs Patrizia to be a good example. She just needs to show her faith, put her trust in Him, and put Him to the test in the promise He has made about tithing. She kept saying that she doesn't have enough money to pay tithing, she has bills to pay and so on. We kept telling her, "Look, that's why you need to pay tithing! Put Him to the test" and we shared our own experiences with tithing, and she still ended with "I'll pay an offering, but I just can't allow myself to pay tithing right now". My heart ripped out. She so desperately needs the blessings of paying an honest tithing that I wanted to say, "well. We are not leaving this house till you put a tenth into this envelope, because we know that you need to do this for YOU." But it doesn't work like that. I desperately hope she does soon. How narrow our vision is sometimes.<br /> <br />Yesterday, we had a specialized training with Elder and Sister Texiera present from the Area Presidency (?) and they gave us alot of constructive advice on how we can and need to improve our efforts. Even in the small things, like putting our study desks to face eachother. That's what we did this morning...so we will be able to play footsy and have alot more distractions now....like when Sorella Hicks makes faces while reading the Old Testament and I wander off in my pondering over how our neighbors downstairs can complain about us being loud while they are out on the balcony screaming at eachother. I do ponder on alot of other things, though.<br />Anyways, conference was really good. We were given two minutes each...I cried in silence for the first minute and then squeaked out my testimony and sat back down. I didn't imagine it to play out like that but I didn't go over the time limit :)<br />On our way home, Patrizia called us and asked if we could come over. Sorella Hicks had a few new blisters, so we were going home to change her shoes, but she was ok with stopped at Patrizias first so we went and walked a good piece with Sorella Hicks courageously ignoring the pain, and then guess what? As we rounded the corner to her apartment, she and Guido passed us in their car and I yelled, "Patrizia!" to get her attention and she saw us and yelled "Ciao" and kept driving. We were stumped. We waited for 5 minutes, thinking that they would at least stop or turn around to let us know that they had a change in plans........but no one came back. Sorella Hicks limped and I walked back to the train station and we went home. Ugh. If Sorella Hicks hadn't been in pain than it wouldn't have bothered me, but Patrizia knew that we were coming over and she hadn't even bothered informing us that she was leaving. They didn't even answer their phones. Later on, she called and said that she had gone to the doctor. <br /> <br />I am trying to develop charity.<br /> <br />Saturday was WHAT A DAY!<br />It is incredible the highs and lows one experiences. On Saturday morning, we had an appt with Maria Huarcaya, whom we found in the area book. It was our first meeting- she stopped taking lessons 5 years ago because she couldn't be baptized because she was living with her boyfriend and waiting on her divorce papers. We set a baptismal date with her for August 27th! She is getting married on August 12th, so it should all work out swell.<br /> <br />Then, we wanted to cross off "eat at a cute cafe" from S. Hick's bucket list, and seeing that we had some time before our train left from Termini, we scouted out the area and Sorella Hicks chose a spot to have lunch. Now, Im going to copy what I wrote about the experience in Sorella Hicks journal: (I wrote it from Sorella Hick's point of view)<br />"Cute cafe day today............So, we were standing and looking towards a cafe that I spotted, and we decided to check the meno (Sorella Urban's suggestion- boy, she is so smart!). Well, even before we got to look at the menu, the waiter-man greeted us and then ushered us to a table and pulled out a chair for me. "What a nice young man" I thought to myself. He started speaking with my companion, and since she is rude and never translates anything for me, I got bored and turned my attention to the menu. I didn't understand half the things on the menu. I looked up at Sorella Urban and she should have looked progressively flustered because that is how she was feeling inside. Alessandro, the waiter who I initially had thought was nice, turned out to be a creep., because he basically flat out told us that "Yes, I'm interested in meeting with you again....but for a date". Sick. The worst thing was that he was so persistent. Didn't he ever learn how the employee-client relationship thing goes? Couldn't he have thought to himself, "Oh, maybe I should let them enjoy their lunch and maybe after I can try to see if there is some interest on their part". No.<br />He at least gave us three minutes to blessed peace because we faked engaging in a serious conversation about Odile. I think nothing was said about her. it was just Sorella Urban ranting on about how annoying the guy way...till she realized that he spoke some english. Of course, being Sorella Urban, she didn't stop grumbling about him in english. In fact, she called the Anziani of Rome 2 to share our woes (actually, I called to pass him as a referral to them). We will see if he's really interested- he has an appointment with them tomorrow. (We called after the scheduled appt and the Elders said that they had called and he said "Look, I am not interested". ) I ordered a plate of penne with beef on the bone. It almost made Sorella Urban gag. I say "almost" because she was so concentrated on her own food- a salad which would have been better had it had lentils in it.<br />When we finished, (I left half my plate because I know what self-control is unlike Sorella Urban who basically licked her plate) we said goodbye to Alessandro and he planted a big, wet Alessandro-germed kiss on my hand and said, while looking at Sorella Urban, "Now that is how we do it here". Sorella Urban acted disgusted. I know she's just jealous".<br /> <br />Yup. That was Alessandro. He acted interested in knowing more about the church ;(. I told him to not take my rejection personally, and that he should really go through with this appointment with the Elders. When we walked away, I reminded Sorella Hicks that she needs to get a picture of a guy friend printed off and use it to ward people off. People tend to back off when they see a picture- and some want it for proof.<br /> <br />WELL. After this unenjoyable lunch, we got on a train to meet a new investigator an hour outside of Rome, (Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope lives during the summer) and there were two young men sitting in the seats opposite us. The younger one spoke up and in english said, "I want to ask you a question. Can I have one euro?". I said "No, but what do you want an euro for?" back in Italian and he told us that he needed it to buy cigarettes.We got to talking and he came and sat down beside me. His name is Aldo and he is 16. His mom had him when she was 14 and she is a drug addict and so is he. I told him about Heavenly Father and he stood up and said "I know God lives because this world couldn't come out of anything. But don't tell me that he loves me. Has your mom ever done this to you? and he pretended to grab me by the throat and hold a knife to it- and "Has your moms boyfriends ever done this?" and pretended to beat me. (Poor Sorella Hicks had no idea what was going on and only saw this homeless guy stand over me and pretend to beat me....!)<br /> <br />We talked the entire hour. When we stepped off the train and watched them walk off, I felt so useless. I wish I could have taken him in and changed his life around. He said he used to have hope, he used to believe that notwithstanding his circumstances at home, he could make something of himself. Now, he doesn't have that hope and lives in the moment. He pulled on a 50 euro bill and said, "I've sweat all week to earn this. Do you know where I am supposed to be right now? At work. I guess I just fired myself. But I don't care. Look at this 50 euro. In a few hours, it's going to be gone. I am going to go get some drugs and have fun. I don't care." <br />They didn't come to church on Sunday....... I hope that he reads the pamphlets we gave him, and that one day, something we said will be remembered and he will get a shimmer of hope from it.<br /> <br />Right before stepping into our apartment that night, we hurried over to see how Luciano and Alina were doing. We stepped into the house and the absence of the spirit was almost tangible. Davide had been crying and when we asked him what was going on, he said "Things are bad. My dad drank a beer". Davide is five years old. He shouldn't be seeing stuff like that. Alina came out of the bedroom and reprinmanded him for letting his dad drink. What?! We told Davide, "You have nothing to do with it. Your dad does what he wants to" and he just kept his head down and cried. We knelt down with him and he prayed, and we started singing "Bella Sion" (beautiful zion?) and he joined in at the very end. It is astounding how quickly hymns can invite the spirit. Soon, he was smiling and I pulled out my flashlight (for some reason we were sitting in the dark) and we started making shapes on the wall. Davide is now the proud owner of your flashlight, Dad :)<br /> <br />We also met with another woman from the area book, Daniella. She reminds me SO much of Becky Spalding!<br />agh. Time's up! Which is a good thing because my neighbor is listening to turkish music. (Tommy!)<br />If anyone finds out when I am giving my homecoming talk (the 10th?) would you let others know, like the Radmalls and Drennans, so they can make the necessary plans to miss their sunday meetings?<br />And the Piepers!<br />Va bene. Vi voglio bene!<br />Sorella Urban<br />p.s. We just recieved the conference issue of the Liahona. There's a picture of Kaitlyn P! I read "Hope" by Steven Snow. (There's an C. Scott Grow- say it outloud!) -its really good. Read it! (yes, that's my spiritual thought)<br /> <br /> p.p.s. Sorella Hicks talked to a guy on the bus and we met with him the next day- he really just wanted to meet with us to go out for a coffee and to tell us that we were wrong in believing in two Gods. What adventures.Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-89101425464540413262011-06-08T05:21:00.000-07:002011-06-08T05:24:00.644-07:00anchovies, wet beds, and an evil spirit later.........I thought I didn't like fish? Sorella Hicks can't eat it otherwise she gets outwardly sick (throws-up). We were invited for dinner at a members house. We walked into the kitchen and, asking what was for dinner, she showed us what was in the blender, "Tuna, anchovies, and...." she cracked a few eggs and added them in. We had to pour this blend over roast. I think meal appointments is the only thing that's making me excited about only having a few weeks left. Freedom of choice of what goes into my mouth!!<br /> <br />On Friday morning, we joined up with the Anziani and went to a sisters house to do service. We swept her garage, raked leaves, and took out 3 stumps. Sorella Hicks one'handedly took out 2 of them. She is SO strong- I'm almost scared of being alone in the house with her. It's a good thing she doesn't have a temper. Back to the story: I never thought taking out stumps could be so fun. One by one, we broke two shovels and a pick. I'd been a little critical because I was thinking, "This sister should have the young men do this. We don't have time to do yard work, there are people out there who need us!" and breaking all her tools was an answer to my prayers because I hoped she'd think, "I'll never invite the missionaries over again!" ... On Sunday, she approached us and invited us over to eat at her place this coming week. Inside, I was like "What?!?!? We broke your tools! THREE tools! Didn't you get upset!??! You should ban us from your property! Invite the young men who aren't so destructive!!!" but she said, "It's a good thing those tools broke. They were ancient and I've been meaning to replace them for a long time." Mizzica. We accepted the invite on condition that she invite someone over for it.<br /> <br />While we were out one day it stormed and rained a lot, and when we came home, our beds were half soaked (we still sleep outside on the balcony). We hung up the sheets and........ a few hours later when I was putting my bed back together, I couldn't find my top sheet. It had blown away! The funny thing is that when we were leaving our apt this morning, we found it tucked into the stair railing. What a nice person whoever that was :) It definitely couldn't be the same person who came and rang on our doorbell at 6:35 this morning. A woman asked us what we did in the morning because we are loud. ?! loud? For one, sorella hicks and I don't even wear shoes in the apartment, and 2, at 6:30 in the morning, we are sleepily doing stretches on blankets on the living room floor for 30 minutes. And then, we shower and get ready. It's not like we have weights in the apartment! Needless to say, I was a little peeved, and it would have gone against my Urban nature to not say anything about the situation, so I (very sweetly) asked her, "While we're talking about noise level, you guys make a racket at night!" She scoffed. Ah! I need to show her the videos I have of the noise level at night from what we hear through our apartment! She lives on the floor beneath us with her boyfriend, and they are constantly at eachothers throats. I remember one night with Sorella Hashey that we thought someone needed to alart the police. It can get pretty intense. Comunque. She scoffed and walked away. Is that a sign of a guilty conscience?<br />I don't mean to make enemies with our neighbors, BUT. <br /> <br />Hmm. It sounds like I'm trying to justify myself. Well, I guess I am. I don't feel guilty about it, though. While I'm on the subject of sin, I'll add that I've been reprimanded by Anziano Larcher because I told Sorella Hicks, infront of him, that sometimes its okay to lie. Now, let me explain myself. I don't usually lie, but sometimes I do for the benefit of the person. (Ha, I can just see you all rolling your eyes and thinking that I'm missing the whole point of honesty, but hear me out!) For example, we went to Patrizia and Guido's house the other day. At church on Sunday, I'd spotted a pack of cigarettes in the bag. We were going with the intent of getting her to confess or confronting her about it. Thankfully, she confessed to it herself before too long, and then she and Guido started having a heated argument about who does what in the housework, etc. and that Guido needs to clean up the shower after he uses it and Patrizia is lame because she found a bump in her leg (a week ago she found a bump in her leg- when she doesn't know we are watching, she walks FINE and then when we approach her, she drags her leg behind her, takes baby steps, and moans. She reminds me so much of Nonna!!!! She claims that the doctor told her she needs to be on bed rest (?!) but, since she loves us so much, she will come to church for us. "No Patrizia, you come to church because you love Heavenly Father" I correct her, but she shakes her head and says, "I come for you Urban". Great. (where was I going with this story?) Oh! So, there they were fighting, and we got them to be quiet and I told them that we wanted them to do something every night before going to bed- to hold hands and pray. (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for inspiring me!) This is where a righteous lie comes into play; "Patrizia, Guido, my family does this and it helps us feel more love for eachother, especially when we've had a disagreement". Now, that's not sinful, is it? Grandma and Grandpa are family! hehe. Well. As I'm trying to explain what I'm trying to get across, I'm realizing that I'm not explaining myself or my reasoning very well, so.......just forget it. Iìll explain why I think lying is ok during my homecoming talk. <br /> <br />Hmm. Maybe that wouldn't be the best setting or time for that.<br /> <br />Guido is awesome! We always ask him why he's not baptized yet, and he gave us a very impressive and admirable answer. "Accepting baptism means accepting God's commandments and doing my best is keeping them. Right now, I don't feel the strong desire to quit smoking or drinking coffee, so I don't want to make that commitment, expecially because I wouldn't be committed to keeping it." What a good example he is to Patrizia. He is the best non member to have present in lessons! Even though he doesn't want to be baptized, he is an active participant in church, reads the Book of Mormon every day, and is trying to collect from us every pamphlet ever made by the church. I love Guido. I would never have thought that he could make the changes he has in the time I've known him. He used to just be the "crazy brother" who sat in the kitchen and smoked in silence while we taught Patrizia. He has a sentencing at the end of June for something he did last summer while he was mentally sick, and we are really praying that he won't have go to back to jail to serve time.<br /> <br />Where to start about Odile? She is the one from Africa who we meet under her apartment because she has a roommate who doesn't like white people. <br />Well, last week, we went to teach her and she, like always, took 30 minutes just to come down. But, this time was different. She had the most blood shot eyes we've ever seen, and she was trembling and jumpy. She asked if we could just pray together because she wasn't well. We asked her what was wrong but she wouldn't tell us. We prayed and sat with her for a few minutes while she cried a little and then she asked us to leave so that she could spend some time with God. We offered that the Anziani could give her a blessing, and she said she'd think about it. <br />The next day, she called us and we met with her and the Anziani in church where they gave her a blessing. They asked her some questions to understand better what she was going through, but all she kept repeating was how she has to get better so that she can be closer to God. After the blessing, the Anziani left and we stayed and sang some hymns and ate cherries while we tried to talk with her and get her to open up because she usually is pretty open with us. We walked her home and then, half an hour later, she sent us a strange text about "maybe it would be better if we never see eachother again" and so I called her back and very-long-phone-conversation short, she explained how she always feels good when she is with us but then feels something negative afterwards. I tried explaining the Holy Ghost and the adversary but she wouldn't let me talk- she concluded that it was me who had an evil spirit and "please Urban, if we meet again, you need to purify yourself so that we can have harmony and sincerity between us". huh?<br />(maybe that's why I think it's okay to lie!) What is interesting is that Sorella Hicks and Anziano Larcher both have had the impression that her problem has something to do with drugs. Yesterday, we had an appt with her and we were prepared to go in and ask her if she's taking drugs, but she let us into her house and her roommate was there, and Odile was a completely different person. She was cheery and joking around, and she made us hot chocolate, omelet, and a tomato-onion-hot dog salad. We were a little nervous about her random lunch invite; Sorella Hicks was joking about how she was going to poison us. We got to her door and knocked, and a minute later, it creaked open and there was NO ONE behind it. Creepy. I asked if we could enter and there was no reply, so we walked in and we really thought our suspicions were confirmed.<br /> <br />Ah! I need to hurry and write the rest of my bullet points. On Wed night, while we were trying to fall asleep, there was a fire work show at the church next to our house. Sorella Hicks grew up selling fireworks and she said she has never seen or heard such big fireworks. Our balcony was trembling, and the fireworks were exploding right above the Elders apartment. We were laughing because A. Larcher ALWAYS complaing about not sleeping well because the train runs right under their house; the next day, we called them to ask how they'd slept, and he said "Like a baby!". I laughed and said, "No, really, how did you sleep?"<br />"I said, like a baby!"<br /> <br />Come to find out, the Anziani hadn't heard a thing. We had to show them the video for them to believe us. I cannot believe any human being in Rome was able to sleep through that. <br /> <br />Emiliano, the man who was baptized last year and fell away and then called me last week, came to church! It was SO nice to see him. He bore his testimony and thanked "A Sorella missionary for calling just to see how I was doing and to invite me to return to church."<br />When I found out I was being transferred here to Rome 3, I immediately thought of Emiliano and wondering if he was active. I know that he is one of the reasons I needed to serve here.<br /> <br />on Monday, we had 3 appointments that were cancelled back to back, but the miracle about it is that we met someone at every cancelled appointment. There's a reason for every change in plans, and it's fun and inspiring to figure out that reason whenever we find ourselves in that situation.<br /> <br />Last night, while we were teaching Alina, her ceiling was having a constant drip right ontop of Sorella Hicks. It was the funniest thing. I tried keeping a straight face while teaching gospel principles and waching Sorella Hicks out of the corner of my eyes as she wiped each drip from off her scriptures, arm, or head. <br /> <br />Agh! I have more to write but no time, so I will just end with this quote I like:<br /> <br />"...and so the Church moves on. It is carried on the shoulders of worthy members living ordinary lives among ordinary families, guided by the Holy Ghost and light of Christ, which is in them." Boyd K. Packer<br /> <br />It's true. It doesn't take a tag to move His work forward. We are all needed to help others find, accept, and enjoy the blessings that we have thanks to the gospel.<br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br />p.s. my glad these last few weeks is to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can. They're definitely not as good as ones in Sicily, but far better that I'll be able to find in Provo :(<br />p.p.s. Address you can write to is <br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br />Piazza Carnaro, 20<br />00141 Rome, Italy<br /> <br />speaking of letters....... we are going to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's today, so I don't think I'll be getting around to writing any today, or next week. There's just too much to do and see :) I hope today will be the last time that I set foot in the Sistine Chapel.Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-37569176154075503872011-06-08T00:01:00.000-07:002011-06-08T00:07:45.729-07:00Turkish music does not help me feel the spiritHow many people can say that they find bird poop on their bed? I can. We have been sleeping outside on the balcony for the past week---it is the best! We even have earplugs to use for tonight because tomorrow is the Italian "July 4th" and we're guessing there's going to be alot of fireworks. Our neighbors must think we are crazy sleeping outside. As we fall asleep, we people watch. It is fascinating, and sometimes, disturbing.<br /> <br />We walked a million miles on Monday. No joke. The ghetto train wasn't running (strike) so we walked to patrizia's and back (90 minutes each way) to teach Guido. He now has his own personal copy of the book of mormon and although he doesn't want to be baptized (yet), he has promised us that he will read, pray, and smoke less everyday. He is great!<br /> <br />What can I say about the talent show? Odile (our friend from Togo) arrived on time with a friend, Mine, and .........we sat for an hour and a half before it started. It was so embarassing. They had to leave after 10 minutes because it was so late. The show finished after 22:00- we left at 21:00 to be home on time. The members insisted we stay to perform our skit, but we laid down that we have rules and "maybe next time if we start on time". What a terrible impression for our investigators. Some of them have never been to church, and we promised them that church did start on time. I hope they believe us and aren't permanently scarred from Friday nights experience.<br /> <br />Emiliano Mora is a man who was baptized last fall. His story is miraculous. He met the church over the internet and was baptized 3 weeks later. He went inactive and then returned, and then went inactive again. When I arrived in Rome 3, i inquired after him and was told that he was once again inactive and had threatened to call the police if we tried to go find him at his house. I tried calling him and he didnìt answer. On Thursday, just as we were getting into bed, he called. I knew it was him before he even said anything. He was crying and we talked about the experiences he has had- he knows that he can only be happy being obedient to the commandments. He wanted to let me know that he would be in church on Sunday. It was a 22:35 miracle.<br /> <br />For English class, we made microwaveable (sp?) s'mores. The girls loved it. When we came home, we roasted the rest of the marshmallows over our oven burner and then sat on our mats out on the balcony. I feel like I'm half at Marvine!<br /> <br />Sorella Hicks wanted to eat Chinese, so we went to Termini and stopped some Chinese people to ask them where we could eat. We were directed to a place and it was really interesting- the customers go back into the kitchen and pick out little tin trays of different food. We spent a good 10 minutes trying to identify the food before making our choice. The tins were wrapped in seran ? wrap and I accidentally spilled liquid out of it and an old Chinese woman came up and yelled at me. She took the tin out of my hands and motioned that I shouldn't turn it over- sorry! It made her pretty upset. Wiping it up didn't redeem myself in her eyes.<br /> <br />We nearly got killed last Thursday. We were almost home and were crossing the street (I usually cross anywhere but this time we crossed at the crosswalk) when I heard a truck speeding up and just as I was about to turn to see if he was going to slow down or not, Sorella Hicks grabbed my arm, yelped\screamed\wailed and jumped. I seriously felt my heels touch the tires as the crazy truck driver barreled past us. He leaned out of his window and yelled at us and I turned around and yelled back at him while pointing at the crosswalk. Crazy! We stood there for a second while trying to swallow our hearts, and then just as Sorella Hicks was saying "Well, at least every day's an adventure!" she tripped over an uneven cobblestone and narrowly saved herself from splatting face-first on the street. We were pretty shaken up and giggly the rest of the walk home.<br /> <br />I finally bought stain remover (Angela's dish water left stains all down my one black skirt), soaked it, and washed it. They didn't come out :( But Sorella Hicks had misunderstood me and thought that this was the first time that I was WASHING my skirt since I've been on my mission. Can you imagine? sick. I think my skirt would be a few pounds heavier than it is now.It reminded me of Lenora..........and her only pair of jeans in high school :) Don't worry Lenora, I woudn't think of revealing here that you went our whole sophomore year without washing those jeans.<br /> <br />We made a baptismal "My family can be eternal" ("can" is the key word!) calendar for the Chilut family. Alina is a new convert and LUciano is the one we teach who is very shy and hides the fact that he likes reading the Book of Mormon. We made him a calendar and stuck it on a giant poster with a picture of the Rome Temple, Christ, and glued on a mirror (what else could we do with empty space?). We gathered the family around and asked them to take a look at the calendar, and when Luciano saw that the 25th of June was marked "Luciano's baptism" he literally ran out and closed himself in his bedroom. What did we do? We got up and followed him. He is so confusing. He has had dozens of dreams and visions that he needs to get baptized, and he has said it himself. But there is something that we can't get our finger on............. <br />He'll even get on his knees when we say the closing prayer, and then he will jump up and lay back down on his bed before the prayer starts. It's like he is half torn about everything he does. It is so strange. But we are praying and trying to figure him out and what we can do that we haven't done yet that will help him.<br /> <br />While we were there, they wanted us to eat some Romanian food. Sausage. Salami. Bacon. Meat. Alot of it.<br />I even stole a piece off my plate to send Lenora so that she can see just what goes in my mouth. (Heads up- you should be getting a DVD - can you let me know when you get it and if you are able to open it and view the contents? I won't delete anything off my card till I hear from you.p.s. enjoy the fat I sent you.)<br /> <br />Odile always says "No" to our baptismal invites, but she still keeps all our other commitments. We just need to teach her with more simplicity so that she can understand the Restoration and then need there was for it. <br /> <br />We finally were able to meet with Teresa, a woman who had a baptismal date last fall but cancelled it the day of becuase her husband threatened to leave her if she got baptized. She still desperately wants to be baptized but her husband hasn't budged. We are going to do a fast with her this weekend that his heart will be softened. He has even recognized a chance for the good in her- the issue is tradition. They are Catholic and he wants them to both stay catholic.<br /> <br />We've discovered a park near our house that has a turtle pond! We did our district meeting there last week and we forgot to take bread with us to feed them :( <br /> <br />We are going to the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain with Anziani Larcher and Schertz. Sorella Hicks needs to buy some skirts and seeing that I have reached, or gone over, my weight limit, I will just be giving my professional fashion suggestions and tips.<br /> <br />Sister exchanges are next week (that is, if I get around to organizing them) and then there's Zone Conference the week after!! <br />I might ask to be released by Pres. Kelly after all. Sorella Hashey wrote me and suggested that it would mean more to me if he were to do it, and Pres. Ball might like the chance of getting to sleep in on July 4th. <br /> <br />Oh! funny story to end. So, we were on the trenino (the ghetto train) and I was speaking with an African man, and towards the end of our conversation, I asked him:<br />"Then have you heard of Jospeh Smith?"<br />Who?<br />Do you know the story of Joseph Smith?<br />Yes, I know history.<br />No, do you know the story of Joseph Smith?<br />Yes, I know history very well.<br />(I turned to Sorella Hicks and smiled while fighting laughter)<br />"No, I want to know if you have heard of the man......"<br />I told you. I went to University in Nigeria. I know history very well.<br /> <br />I should have just started bearing testimony on the Restoration. He had to get off at that stop so I never got to tell him that I had no doubt that he knew history very well, I was just interested in knowing if he knew the story of Jospeh Smith.<br /> <br />Eeks. Time is almost up and I need to write President Kelly still. I love serving with Sorella Hicks! She says "Criky" for mizzica (like, "shoot") and something that sounds like, "dawgonit". haha. I'm learning "south" from her and hopefully she's learning something from me....... she's having a struggle finding food the likes to eat. I wish I had the creativity and the desire to cook for her, but I just don't. If only she liked lentils!<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-8840013834965753322011-06-07T23:36:00.000-07:002011-06-08T00:15:18.645-07:00post we missed.there was a mistake and I missed a few weeks, so I'm posting now the weeks we missed.<br />most of them are of May, but there is one of April and one or march.enjoy <br /><br />Maggio 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">66.6% Urban companionship</span><br />Maybe it's an after-effect of having had Lenora around, but I feel like I shouldn't even bother writing emails because I only have precious little time left and I don't want to use it at the computer. <br /> <br />Having Lenora with us for two days has been quite the adventure. We picked her up on Monday evening and headed straight to Patrizia's. Patrizia was tickled seeing Lenora and "my goodness, why is she alot skinnier than you?". Thanks Patrizia.<br />She said the closing prayer and it was a, no joke, 6 minute long prayer dedicated to Sorella Hashey- she was talking to her about how much she's going to miss her and how she needs to reply to the letters she'll write. When we said "amen" we added, "Patrizia, that was a beautiful prayer. Remember, we pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ." Oh, Patrizia. She is still smoking what she claims to be one cigaretta a day. We decided to have her baptismal interview tonight and then the Anziani will be the ones to judge whether to go forward with the baptismal plans for this Monday night, or if we need to set it back again to give her more time.<br /> <br />I have had trouble sleeping since Thursday night, so none of us slept much on Monday night and we were all a little sleepy Tuesday but it was a miracle day! We met Ozile, a referral from the Rome 2 Sorelle. We waited at a bus stop for more than an hour in the rain waiting for her, and she finally showed up. She is from ...Tongo? I need a map of Africa. We taught her about prayer and then she said the most animated and full-of-emotion prayer. THEN, on our way back home, we bumped into Mira!! She's the one we met on our second day of being here in Rome 3, the one who came to church with us our first sunday. We haven't been able to meet with her since. She is always working or things come up when we are supposed to meet. It was such a miracle. It does not happen often that you bump into people in Rome, but it did and it was with Mira! We know it was a miracle. <br /> <br />Lenora brought some american candy, like reeses peanut butter cups, and I carry some in my purse and it's perfect because it's so handy to have candy handy. Just today we were called to help accompany a member mom and her little girl home. We were on the bus and it would have been a nightmare had I not had candy with me :) Speaking of nightmares-- 3 year olds are nightmares! <br /> <br />We met a Bible basher. He joined us where we were sitting on a bus and we didn't realize he wanted to bash till towards the end. He asked us to read Hebrews 1. When we got home we did, and ... we were even more confused. We aren't sure what he was trying to get at. But the conversation with him reinforced my testimony of how perfect the gospel is. <br /> <br />We have discovered the best Chinese store and we bought hula hoops!!!! Sorella hashey wanted them so that she will have an excuse for when people will ask "How did you get so out of shape on your mission? What did you do for exercise?" and she'll chirp, "Hula hooping!". <br /> <br />On Sunday, I accompanied a Sorella member to the busstop to pick up some women who were coming to church. I greeted Alina and I was leaning to the left to kiss her, she leaned to the right (my left!) and kissed me full on the lips. I had forgotten that only the people in mistretta kiss opposite sides of how they do it here. I shot back and started laughing and Alina was unfazed and didn't even miss a blink. I can't believe she thought nothing of it. It was sooo funny for me.<br /> <br />I really enjoyed doing scambi last week with Sorella Giordano and enjoyed that we went to have lunch with Zia and Nonna. Nonna's first words were "Sei ingrassata!" I wanted to be like, "Thanks Nonna! you look rounder too!" .................. :(. <br />Then, on the way our, she shoved a bar of chocolate into my hand. Tsk tsk. Some people's kids. <br /> <br />Tomorrow is Zone Conference and Sorella Hashey will be sharing her dying testimony. We have been brain storming a list of things she needs to eat\do before her time is up. We had a rude awakening when we realized that last week was her last fast sunday in Italy. I only have one more. Agh!!! Time in the mission is the strangest thing. A day feels a week long and a week feels like a day. Or a second. <br /> <br />The Hashey's are arriving next week and we will see them a couple of times, depending on the needs of the investigator, aka Brother Hashey :) We are excited and also wishing we could slow time down, but we also know that we would never feel completely "prepared" for these lessons. We know we will be helped along, and I am excited to report next week how it all went :)!! And if Patrizia was baptized!<br /> <br />Va bono. I love you and thank you all for the uplifting letters you send. Think white thoughts!<br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br /> <br />p.s. Um... the spiritual thought this week is...I have Hebrews 11:6 written in my planner and I can't remember what it says...so read it and hopefully it's a good one! <br /> <br />oops, how did I forget to add that we saw Tommy and Debora?! We met up with them at Termini and sat on a bench while they waited for their train. It was fun to catch up and see for myself that they really are alive and breathing. Alex is so big!<br /> <br />maggio 2011<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"> I hope I get an Oklahoman accent</span><br /><br />Eeekk. I'll begin listing the reasons why I have butterflies in my stomach.<br /> <br />1) Sorella Hashey and I have 24 hours left together. I don't want her to leave, but it'll be an awesome reunion when we do see eachother in Florida :) I'll tell you when I'll be seeing her in FL in next weeks email.<br /> <br />2) I have to report to the High Council after being released? Can I just be released and then take a flight out and disappear?<br /> <br />3) The only fun thing about being released is that it will be July 4th :) I want to do sparklers that night!<br /> <br />4) I had lentils for breakfast<br /> <br />5) Patrizia got baptized and her brother, Guido, came. She had to be dunked twice because her skirt was floating (at least she was wearing white underwear!) and when she came out the first time, she was choking and spluttering. I guess no one warned her to plug her nose. haha.I thought "Oh great, if she has a burping and coughing attack, I might just die laughing." But thankfully she didn't and was baptized completely. THEN, to make matters even funnier: We missionaries preformed a musical number (S. Hashey and I agree on this: there's NO WAY we would sing for an audience in America, but in Italy, we're considered to have good voices) and we sang hymns while Patrizia was changing. We were in the middle of a hymn when she entered and charged her way to the pulpit. The Bishop had to jump up and tell her to sit down and bear her testimony when she was invited to do so. She refused to sit down so she just stood up there with her head bowed and her arms crossed, and then when she got up to the pulpit, she shared how excited she was and her love for us "angelotti". It was so neat having Guido there. He has schizophrenia and doesn't like being with people, but he said he really enjoyed his time in church (he stayed all three hours and only had to take 1 cigarette break!) and when we went to go see Patrizia yesterday, he asked if he could join in on the lesson. Guido getting baptized will be next transfers miracle. Patrizia will be confirmed this coming Sunday- she works 2 days out of the month (sells crafts she makes at a bazaar) and sunday is one of those days. She has decided to show her faith and not work this Sunday- we know she will be blessed for it. We're praying that people will buy her stuff on Saturday- she makes the strangest things. I don't want to call them hideous...they're just...particular. She is VERY creative, let's just say that. <br />She confided to me that she was hoping Sorella Hashey would give her something to remember her by. I told S Hashey and she gave her one of her headbands that has a huge white bow on it. It so fits Patrizia; she told me "Urban, I want something from you too!". Uh.......I didn't want to tell her that I have nothing ugly that she would find darling. What do I do?! Go to a chinese store and pick out something I wouldn't be caught dead wearing?<br /> <br />6) Maria Teresa, a single mother member who lives near us, asked us to come with the Anziani to move a cabinet. We needed to push the cabinet a few inches against a heater. The Anziani pushed and we pulled on "3", and....we were so unexpectedly strong that we moved the cabinet so far that it cracked through part of the heater. We made a nice big hole in it :) (Lenora, she's the lady you met with the terrible Greta). I need to stop thinking about it because I am disturbing the public peace of this internet cafe.<br /> <br />7) Our ward is having a talent show next Friday night. Sorella Hashey graciously volunteered me and my new companion. The sister in charge approached me and asked what I was going to present. I told her "I have no talents that I can present" and she scoffed and said "Im putting you down for something!" so I said, "I can only count letters in a sentence". She wrote that down. AGH. I'm presenting that at the talent show?! <br /> <br />8) Maybe I should add something about transfer calls. 20 new missionaries arrive tomorrow from the MTC, 3 of which are Sorelle. I knew I wasn't going to train. It wasn't possible- I've already trained and there are a dozen sorelle who should be training now. Well. I'm training. I'm picking up my little greenie tomorrow at 12:00 when I drop off Sorella Hashey at Termini station. <br /> <br />9) I think number 8 is the main reason I have butterflies in my stomach.<br /> <br />10) Odile (pronounced Ozila), our African friend we've been meeting with for the last couple of weeks, came to church on Sunday! She was dressed in a colorful traditional African costume and she really enjoyed all of the meetings except for sacrament meeting (it was on sealings and baptisms for the dead). Later that evening, she asked us if we could help her with something. When we met with her at the station, I asked where we were going. "Orte" was the reply. I started to laugh- that's not even in our zone! But after a phonecall for permission, we went to Orte with her to bring back some suitcases from her old apartment. She is so great. She told us flatout "I don't want to be baptized" and we rejoiced because it goes to show that she understands exactly why we are here! She'd also told us that we couldn't teach her at her house because she rooms with someone who doesn't want white people in the house, but she had us meet this roommate and she seems really nice. <br /> <br />11) Alina is a new convert and her husband, Luciano, isn't. The Elders can't get him to respond or interact with them (he just closes himself in the bedroom) and he has been more responsive to us so we go see them a couple times a week. On Sunday, Alina told us at church that Luciano had dreamed that we were in the act of praying for him and when he awoke, he told Alina, "I know I need to be baptized". Miracle! We went over and tried talking to him about his dream (his favorite chapter is 2 Nephi 31 about Christ's baptism; he doesn't like being seen with the Book of Mormon, though. He'll be reading it and then stuff it under a couch cushion when we walk in) and he needs to get over his timidness. We feel like he's going to need some time, but we are positive he will be baptized.<br /> <br />12) Yesterday, at the end of teaching Patrizia, she literally jumped on Sorella Hashey and started attacking her with kisses. By the time I freed S. Hashey from Patrizia's lips, I was sure she was covered in hickeys. She wasn't, but oh my.<br /> <br />13) We have three Muslim girls coming to English course. We usually start and close with a prayer, but they told us that they can't participate. We asked them how they pray and they showed us the 3 positions of a prayer they have to do 5 times a day, and each time, they need to wash themselves and do specific things to prepare themselves. It was really interesting, and I really respect them for standing up for their beliefs. The oldest is 16, and her sisters are 9 and 10. They'd make great members.<br /> <br />14) Mira wouldn't be able to get rid of us even if she wanted to. We were on the trenino yesterday and she was in the carriage infront of us- she tapped the window and we got off and joined her in her carriage. She is always so busy working, but she came to church last sunday! One more Sunday till she qualifies for baptism, and we haven't even taught her the Restoration yet!<br /> <br />15) For our District meeting treat, we brought a can of lentils for each of us. The Anziani thought it was the grossest thing that we eat lentils straight out of the can. They acted like it was torture, but once they took their first bite, they confessed with a surprise "these aren't that bad!". I invite all of you to look for a can of lentils at a grocery store near you (am I sounding like a commercial?). They are amazing.<br /> <br />16) I think those are the main reasons why I feel queasy. I've sure enjoyed this transfer with Sorella Hashey. I know we were meant to be together to teach her Dad. Patrizia could have been baptized with any missionaries, but her Dad needed our particular companionship. I'm really grateful that I am getting a fresh, strong companion who'll be able to hoist me up as we walk from appointment to appointment. Sorella Hashey's body has been breaking down and I've seen it time and time again in "dying" missionaries, so I'm just expecting it will inevitably happen to me. Good thing I'm getting a fresh Sorella :) She won't be so fresh after carrying me around for 6 weeks. eheh.<br /> <br />This has been an incredible and miracle-packed transfer. I am very excited for what miracles await for the next 6 weeks. <br /> <br />Ciao!<br />Sorella Urban<br />p.s. Pray that I get Sorella Hicks.... she's from Oklahoma!!<br /><br /><br />maggio 2011, <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">transfer call week....and lots of conferences</span><br /><br />This week we have had miracle after miracle. Mira called us and asked if she could bring her brother to church. We just hope it's for the right reasons and not to get her little brother married off.<br /> <br />Patrizia passed her baptismal interview and is getting baptized this Sunday right after sacrament meeting. She and Anz Acerson made a deal and she has to stop smoking 2 days prior to her baptism......<br />When we first met her, she said prayers the right way but slowly they have transformed into dedicas to us. She says some pretty funny things in her prayers that are directed at us. We went to her house yesterday and had her write down the steps of prayer and we think she's got it down :) Prayer is a good thing to master before baptism.<br /> <br />Zone Conference went really well and it was a little disturbing having Sorella Hashey giving her departing testimony. I am sure going to miss her. It's been like a "vacation" serving with her because we are both at nearly the same point in our missions and we can talk about most anything without fearing that the other will get homesick. Ormai, we've been away from home for so long that we could go another 10 years without getting homesick :) Just kidding. It was really fun to see Mom and Lenora at stake conference on Sunday. Lenora is worse than a primary kid. I couldn't focus on what the speakers were saying! It was so neat to sit there and look over all the people and be able to either name them or recognize the majority of them. I feel so at home in the Rome stake. Why can't I give my homecoming talk here? No one will recognize me in the singles ward! (wait, maybe that's a good thing.......)<br />After conference, we sat in moms car and ate sandwiches and fruit salad. Then, we went to meet up with Sorella Hashey's parents. We have seen them everyday this week. We have been teaching Papa' Hashey and it is going well :) They are leaving for Venice and Florence on Friday, and will be back next Wednesday to pick up Sorella Hashey and return to Florida. We've eaten out more this week than in my entire mission combined. Their apartment is right above the spanish steps- Sorella Hashey and I have gone up and down those steps more than two dozen times. I don't think I'll ever return there as a tourist :) <br /> <br />They reserved a tour at the Vatican, so this morning we went to St. Peter's and watched the Pope as he rode around in his Popemobile. (It's really called that. Rumor has it that he was gifted a Ducati in 2009. Who gives an ancient Pope a ducati?!?! He sold it. haha. Smart Pope.) We did a 3 hour tour of the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and just about everything else. It was really nice having a tour guide because I actually learned something new. Like the Nile river is 16 meters deep. Don't ask me how I learned that from looking at a Roman statue.<br /> <br />What else? Michelangelo painted a picture of the angel of hell and the visage of the demon is the face of one of the Pope's who criticized his artwork alot. Isn't that hilarious? I think I would have gotten along well with Michelangelo.<br /> <br />Oh, for stake conference, we were going to meet with Patrizia halfway and go to the hotel together. We left our apartment early in the morning and got on a tram, but it kicked all the passengers off a few stops later so we were all forced to wait and take a bus. The bus was PACKED and we called Patrizia to let her know that she needed to wait at the busstop and to get on because we weren't (and couldn't) get off. She freaked out and yelled at Sorella Hashey about waiting at the busstop for more than an hour, etc,etc, and she said she was fed up and going home. She didn't answer our phonecalls for an entire 24 hours. And then she called and admitted that she never even reached the busstop. <br />The moral of the story? Don't blame people for how public transport goes. mamma mia.<br /> <br />Sorella Hashey, while walking arm-in-arm on our way home one night, said, "You make perfect boyfriend height". <br />Each, EACH of my companions has told me that. (Except for Sorella Olsen- she was taller). It was funny. And it makes me feel manly.<br /> <br />Mizzica. I wish I had something spiritually awesome to share with you, but speaking of not blaming others, it's Lenora's fault because she distracted me the entire conference!<br />Oh, and we also started english class last week. 5 people showed up. Haha. We need to advertise it more.<br /> <br />Ok, here's for the spiritual thought: When you have doubts- be patient and remember your spiritual experiences: feed your faith, starve your doubts.<br /> <br />Ciao!<br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br /><br />aprile 2011<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pasqua weekend</span><br /><br />I'm going to Ladispoli today for exchanges! I chose to stay and have Sorella Hashey go to a different zone, but President Kelly asked me to go with Sorella Giordano- she is from the North and is a new missionary. I am really excited about returning to Ladispoli and am hoping we have time to make a quick stop at Zia Cecilia's to say hello to her and Nonna. I'm assuming they won't be coming to stake conference next week, so this will be my chance to say hello and goodbye to them, seeing that I am not sticking around after I finish.<br /> <br />This proved to be an interesting Easter. We assembled candy we'd recieved in packages and put them into baskets, made a zucchini bread cake, and attempted to doorbell-ditch the Anziani at 6:45 am. They live a couple of blocks from us- we tried doing it undercover but we weren't even sure which apt building was theirs. We tried one of the doors and couldn't get it opened, so we called and said "buzz open your door. pretend this conversation never happened" and a door buzzed open but it was to the apartment complex behind us. Good thing we called! We imagined that the Anziani were at the peephole, watching for us to approach their door, so we rode the elevator to different floors and then finally slinked up to the door, pressed a finger against the peephole, left the baskets, and then slipped away. They actually didn't discover them until they were leaving their apartment to come to church. I was very impressed that they didn't try to cheat (even though A. Acerson did confess to having stood outside the door waiting for us).<br /> <br />While we were on the curb waiting for Mira to join us to walk to church together, she texted us that she wouldn't be able to make it. Patrizia couldn't come to church either. But it was good to see that the members hadn't left for the Temple trip yet- we heard uplifting talks and all the members were really excited about going to the Temple. It's really neat because it's not a stake organized activity. Rather, it's just most of Rome 3 who organized this together. They will be returning from the Swiss Temple on Saturday. The Anziani had showed up to help the members load their bags onto the bus- we can't let the members fawn too much over them. We are checking in to when they'll be returning and we want to be there to meet with with plates of freshly baked cookies. eheh. Alina Chilut is from Romania and she was baptized last year. She asked us to check in on her family once in awhile. The Elders have been teaching her brother and husband for the past year, but they aren't making progress. Adrian, her brother, is here for work and his family is still in Romania. He likes to bible bash when we are there, so we've handed him over to the Anziani. Luciano, Alina's husband, is very quiet and doesn't respond to the Anziani but, when we are there, he seems to be more receptive.The Anziani have walked in on him reading the Book of Mormon, and he quickly shuts it and sticks it under something, trying to hide that he was reading it. It's pretty strange and funny. We combined our efforts and made a "Thanksgiving" meal for them, which the Anziani delivered last night. We think that what those men need right now is just our friendship and love. Teaching them with words will come later. <br /> <br />During sacrament meeting, a really old woman with no teeth and her daughter (who we think has a disability) stood up right after the sacrament was passed out and went up to the pulpit to speak with the bishop. He tried to wave her away, trying to signal "we'll talk later!" but she didn't notice and turned around and started blowing us all kisses and waving her arms and yelling "Buona Pasqua!". She reminded me of the times when Dad would have to stand up and try to restore order in our sacrament meetings :) (Remember when Mikhail wore my slippers that had the platforms and there was a bunch of dry #2 he was dragging around while passing the sacrament?) Those were such funny experienes. Well. We didn't have any invites for Pasqua, so guess what we did? We came home, ate lunch and studied Italian for an hour, and then went to go find this adorable, crazy old woman. She has a son who is 50 and stays in his room and listens to american music. They have had to pay more than they were expecting for their light bill, so they only have pasta to get them through the rest of the month. It was inspiration to take them zucchini bread. It was really nice to see how much she loves Heavenly Father. She showed us all of her church materials and whenever she came to a picture of Christ, she would say "You know what? I love you" and kiss him a dozen times. She asked us if we would make sure that her daughter gets accompanied to and from church after she dies, because she can't be by herself. They are good examples of dedication. They leave at 7:00 am to make it to our 9:30 meeting, and they leave sacrament meeting early to make it for the bus.<br /> <br />In Gospel Principles, the lesson was on the Atonement and after the closing prayer, Sharon (from the Philippines) turned to us and asked "Sorella, what does "espiazione"mean?" We felt SOO bad that she had gone the entire lesson without knowing what the word "atonement" meant. It's something I need to work on- remembering to explain the most basic and simple things, because often, it's needed. Sorella Hashey and I were reflecting on this the other day- how being missionaries, we teach the basic things of the doctrine that we forget things we knew, like how the celestial kingdom has three levels. I think I knew that before, but it was an interesting rediscovery!<br /> <br />We have been having interesting run-ins with men on the trains. We've stopped talking with men altogether, which has helped a little. It's a little sad, because there are undoubtedly good men who are looking for the truth and who need the Gospel, but we just pray that the Anziani will bump into those ones, since we're "passing them by". Really, if it weren't for Dad and the good men I've had in my life, and having had personal relationships with, I'd become a nun just so that I wouldn't have to deal with them. I feel like Nonna :S<br /> <br />Last week, we wanted to visit Marcella, the Romanian less-active who lives in an abandoned building. We asked the Anziani to go with us because it was getting later in the day. We waited, and waited, and Marcella didn't show up for our appt. It was very strange because it wasn't like her at all- she hardly receives visits so she makes sure to be there on those rare occasions. While we were waiting, a couple drew near and the man said "Fratello, brother!" He pointed to himself and then to the Anziani and repeated "Fratello!" They're from Romania, and from what we understood, he was baptized a few years ago. It was so neat to come across another member! He and his girlfriend live on the floor above Marcella. He came back down with all of his church materials and we gave them the address to the church but he wasn't able to make it. We hope to teach his girlfriend and get him to return to being active. It was a small miracle. There was a reason why Marcella didn't show up.<br /> <br />The Burts is the senior missionary couple who work in the Rome office. We had them over for Pasquetta dinner (Pasquetta is just as big, if not bigger, a holiday than Pasqua and is always the day after).We made Mexican Chef Salad (I've been prounouncing "chef" wrong all this time!) and their visit makes me really excited to serve more missions in the future as a senior. They do so much for the mission here. There used to be 2 other couples helping them with it all, but now they are the only ones left and it's a miracle how they accomplish everything in a timely manner. I am very grateful for the Burts, and for the senior missionaries who selflishly served missions and set good examples for me. (Thank you Radmalls and Drennans! and Grandma and Grandpa Urban!)<br /> <br /> Monday was like being back in Mistretta. We had a lunch appointment with Maribel, a new convert who is amazing in giving the missionaries referrals. She had invited Marcella, and it was so good to see how she has taken one less fortunate under her wing. We had fried meat, tuna with rice, and, no joke, a plate heaping with different types of ham, salamis, and cheese. I've never had so much meat in one sitting. We had to race from their to Patrizia's to meet with another homeless Albanian member we'd met the day before, Almada. We walked to Patrizia's together and had apple pie and salami&cheese panini. We'd been planning on doing a picnic but it was overcast and drizzly. Patrizia is still working on giving up smoking ...her baptism is in less than two weeks. We told her that I am giving up apples and Sorella Hashey is giving up chocolate to help her give up cigarettes. This isn't an easy sacrifice for any of us. I love apples. I don't know what I'll do in the U.S. without my Melinda Golden.......<br />then we rolled home to host the Burts and eat with them. it's a good thing we're doing Marvine this year- I definitely need the exercise!<br /> <br />Patrizia was very kind and offered Almada to, if she doesn't find other housing, move into her vacant room with her 2 daughters. I am grateful for how united the members and investigators are here. They are from all over the world and could easily have "reason" to not intermingle, but they are very close to eachother and look out for one another.<br /> <br />Patrizia lives with her brother, Guido, who has schizophrenia. He is so nice! Sadly, he is a chain smoker and the house is always cloudy with smoke. To make my head and S. Hashey's throat worse, Patrizia lights....incense (sp?) to improve the smell of the air. Ha! We feel that we lose a few dozen brain cells every time we visit, but it's all for a good cause if she gets baptized, right? :) She has seen a change in herself since she has been meeting with the missionaries. She describes it as having more love for others that she used to not even care about the well-being of people she didn-t know. It's true- the purpose of the gospel is to help us become more like Him. We can't reach that goal on our own. We need eachother. That is why it's so important to keep that in mind- we are His hands; I have been directly blessed as a result of someone being willing to put my needs ahead of theirs. I need to make it a conscious, daily effort to make a difference for good in someone's life. <br /> <br />We are going home to write a few letters and then to the Vatican area to do some souvenir shopping for Sorella Hashey. I am really excited to serve with Sorella Giordano, even if it's just for a day. She met A. Squarcia at the Madrid MTC :) <br />A special thanks to those of you who still write me letters- we get mail maybe twice a month here, so if it takes a while to reply, that's why. We have Zone Conference on the 5th and Sorella Hashey will be giving her dying testimony. And then it'll my turn at the next conference. Oi oi. In the last transfer, the misisonary gets a "dying packet" that includes a list number to 30 that you need to write down 30 blessings of the mission. I think I'll share that in my last email. <br /> <br />Well. This is a summary of my life this past week. It's great being here. We are still in coats half the time, but the sun is shining today and I can't wait for the adventures of this coming week. I am really excited for Lenora to come join us for a couple of days and then to see Mom next week at Stake Conference. It's going to be a great week!<br /> <br />Grazie per tutto! It's May next week!!!<br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br /><br /> <br />marzo 2011,<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Italy's 150th anniversary</span><br /><br />Sorella Olsen's brother is going to Russia, Moscow West!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If it hasn't changed, then that means he's probably going to serve in Almaty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />We have spent some time guessing as to where he would be sent. Oh, and we didn't do email yesterday so that we could find out today, rather than get ulcers from wondering.<br />This morning we went running in t-shirts! It is summer here. It is beautiful. We turned off the heat. Life is so good.<br /> <br />Saturday night was the windiest night of my life. We couldn't sleep because all the windows and doors were banging. We went to church and everyone else looked as sleep deprived as we did- :)<br />Scirocco has arrived (the African wind) and I'm ok with giving up some sleep for some warmth. Yesterday, for our preparation day activity, we met up with the Anziani of Palermo 1 (Anz. Roe and McDaniel) and we went up to Gratteri to show them the house of Vincendo di Francesca, and to the cemetery. We found his grave by peering through the grate of the "Di Francesca Famiglia" grave house, but.........it said he died in 2006 or something. No one has to know though. We can triumphantly say that we have been to Vincenzo's grave. Just, not the Vincenzo.<br /> <br />Last week, we decided to do our weekly shopping at a store outside Mistretta that we had never been to. Sorella Olsen does not like driving up hill and after some groaning and hysteria, we reached the parking lot and parked. We walked into Brico Bell, took one look around, stepped back out and burst out laughing. It was a hardware store. Where was all the food? Bo. We might return to look at microwave prices- Sorella Kelly gave us her blessing in looking for one. What a luxury that would be!<br /> <br />Lucrezia is our one primary kid- Sorella Olsen had the inspirational thought of talking about the importance of not repeating vain repetitions in our prayers. I enthusiastically agreed that it'd make for a great lesson because Lucrezia says the same prayer, using the same words, all the time. <br />Sorella Olsen did a great job teaching the lesson and we asked Lucrezia lots of questions and she seemed to understand the concept of what we were trying to get her to understand. Then, we asked her to say the closing prayer. I could not help but giggle all through it because it was the exact same prayer she always says! After 50 minutes of trying to get her to change her wording..................... :)<br />She started coming to the 8 y.o. english class we teach in the elementary school basement, and we asked her to say the closing prayer at the end of yesterday's lesson. She asked "The usual one?" <br />"No Lucrezia, say something about english class. Ask Heavenly Father for help that you and your friends will be able to remember what was taught today."<br />She said the usual prayer but added that phrase in. I want a daughter like Lucrezia.<br /> <br />Every morning we go running past the cemetery out into the countryside, and we pass one farm with a few dogs in a cage that always bark the entire time we are running. We hop a fence near them that continues down towards the river, and then we turn around, hop back over the fence, pass the ferocious dogs, pass the cemetery, and run back home. Well. Last week, we were on our way back and we were about to climb back over the cow fence when we saw that a dog had escaped and was sharpening its teeth in preparation for our ankles arrival. We knelt down and said a prayer, and when we stood up, the dog was gone. Nowhere to be seen. His evil friends were still barking in the cage, but he was nowhere to be seen. Heavenly Father even cares for our ankles.<br />I used to like dogs, and I might think of having one in the distant future, but I completely understand why dogs are a missionary's worst enemy. <br /> <br />On Monday morning, we went to do some service- cleaning up a house that Beatrice and Pasquale want to move into when they get married this summer. (Pasquale is our investigator who can't get baptized because he is under Mistretta arrest, and Beatrice Purpari has 2 little girls with him and is inactive). We showed up in our sweats (so strange to be out in public in something other than a skirt!) and ...... they warned us that the woman who lived there did not throw away anything, but we didn't fully understand till we started going through the attic and filling up trash bags. She did not throw away anything. Mom, Nonna doesn't have any hold-onto-junk disease. This woman saved the wrappers of food she ate! I found half a dozen dead lizards and really wanted to send one to Lenora, but didn't. We also found some spiders on steroids that Sorella Olsen squealed over as she attacked with a stick of wood. I am proud of her- she hates spiders- but she kept at it. We spent an hour filling up the trash bags, and then pulled up the car and loaded it up and followed Vito to the dump. He is such a crazy driver! And he chose the narrowest streets. mamma mia.<br /> <br />While we were running this morning, discussing Stareishin Olsen's destination, an older, larger man on a scooter passed us and gave us a funny look- a minute later he headed back in our direction and said "run faster, run faster!" and honked as he zoomed past. <br /> <br />We have been really happy with Maria Grazia and Tiziana (the 31 y.o. women who we teach English to) because they keep the commitments we leave them and they are so nice and sincere. In our last appt we were doing some follow-up and asked them how their prayers were going (we gave them prayer rocks to remind them to pray kneeling every morning and night) and they said, "Good, good! I say Padre Nostro and ......" <br />What? Padre Nostro? No...............................<br />It's funny how we thought we had made it very clear to them that we wanted them to pray the way we taught them to pray, but apparently we weren't clear enough. We cleared it up and they agreed to pray the way we pray every morning and night. haha. We walked out of there really glad that we'd discovered this now and not later down the road. How can you find out the truth about principles of the gospel if you say a written prayer? <br /> <br />We met Isabella Purpari, Beatrices sister. She is 22 and moved out of the house more than 6 years ago because of the situation at home. It amazes us how we can feel so much love and concern for someone we barely met. We walked to the beach and sat down and talked about her life. She wants to return to church but is finding it hard to figure people for some things in the past. We are very grateful she is so open with us and wanting to make changes in her life. She has changed her mind about the Sisters. She hadn't wanted to meet with us because she didn't want to be pushed to go to church, but she said she's glad now that we are meeting with her :) On our way home, we stopped and did weekly shopping and ate half a kilo of prunes on our way home. I won't go into detail, but we are never doing that again! <br /> <br />Tonight, we are having a dinner at our house for the Relief Society anniversary. I wish Grandma were here to help! We are the ones putting it together because no one else takes the initaitive to do branch activities. Out of all the Italians who could make pasta, WE are providing the pasta. Pray that Sorella Olsen will be able to recall something she learned during her cooking internship in Siena!<br /> <br />Today is the 150 anniversary of Italia being united! It's really neat seeing all the flags from the balconies. Everyone has stuck out Sicilian flags as well; Sicilians are such proud people.<br /> <br />Mom, I gave Maria Purpari the letter you wrote her. We've been waiting for the right moment and it was the right moment last week- she confuses us because she will say things like "Ive been waiting 30 years for an answer" and then "I know the Catholic Church is right for me because I feel satisfied when I go to mass"..... ai ai . We don't know what we can do for her.<br /> <br />Francesca is going through a really tough time right now and doesn't want to see any of the members. Angela is the only one she will let into the house. I heard that Laurent, my miracle man in Florence, was offended and doesn't want anything to do with the church.<br />These are the things that make a mission tough. Seeing people make decisions without keeping in mind eternal perspective and how that will affect them and their families in the eternal sense.<br /> <br />We do not know much of what is going on in Japan, but we heard that all the missionaries are safe. What an incredible miracle. Presidente Portera spoke on Sunday about how we should not fear, but we should prepare. 2 Timothy 1:7 reads "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind".<br />I know that is why we need the Gospel in our lives. That is why we need a living Propeht, the scriptures, the commandments. So that we can have peace of mind in all the things we affront (face?) in life. <br />I am grateful for the peace and healing the Gospel brings. <br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-79950059061971695522011-05-26T00:49:00.001-07:002011-05-26T00:49:59.671-07:00dodging death at the colosseumThe best thing about being a missionary in the summer is that we get to drink water when we fast! Ok, jk. That's not the BEST thing, but one of them :)<br /> <br />The second best thing is that I always get the best of the best, and I got Sorella Hicks!!! She does have an accent, and I am trying desperately to secretly study how she says certain words so that, when Pres. Ball is interviewing me for my release, I can throw in some Oklahomian and make him think it's an awful Italian accent :)<br /> <br />I should save the best stories for last but I can't help it. Today was a blast!!!!! We went to the colosseum and met up with the Anziani in our district, Anz. Larcher and Schertz (from Idaho). We rented a little tandum-bike-cart-thing and the first mistake was letting A. Larcher drive. The second mistake was not abandoning the bike once I figured out that he couldn't drive. (He doesn't even have a drivers license!). Picture this: in the middle of Rome traffic (right at the colosseum) we started peddling, merged with traffic, and bumped our way down the hill towards Vittorio Emanuele. At the roundabout, A. Larcher didn't even think to use his arms as signals, and we somehow made if through the roundabout (with motorini, taxis, and double-decker tour buses zooming all around us) and randomly choose streets to go down. When I wasn't screaming (93% of the time) I was trying to not wet my pants. It was the most fun I've ever had on a preparation day. It also reinforced my testimony that missionaries are protected, even when they do stupid things. The Anziani were wearing normal clothes and we were in our skirts, so we were using one hand to keep ourselves modest and the other hand was used to keep us on our seats. That experience really bonded us because I have never been so open and blunt with A. Larcher. Now he knows exactly what I think of him! haha....After an hour of dodging death, we realized that A. Larchers bag was no longer in our basket. He lost his camera ;(<br /> <br />The 3rd best thing: On Sorella Hicks first day (I dropped off Sorella Hashey at the mission office and "accidentally" bumped into Sorella Hicks. We weren't supposed to meet for another couple of hours, but I said "I'm Sorella Urban!!!" and quickly took claim over her and we went to the CNA office to start her documents and home to drop off her bags). we were riding on the ghetto train and it was so full that she was standing right up against the door. What she didn't realize was how forcefully the doors open at stops, and she got pinned behind the door against the wall and for a full 3 minutes she was stuck there, saying, "Ow, this hurts. Ow, this hurts" and the only thing I could do was stand in front of her (everyone else was watching and looking like "Boy, you look stupid, but there's nothing you can do") giggle. It was so funny. When we fell out onto our platform, we had to stop and laugh and rub her arms for a minute. Poverina. Welcome to Italy!<br /> <br />Talking about "wecome to Italy"- guess how her first meal appointment went? We were invited over to a single mother member's house and she has a daughter who is 3, Greta. Maria Teresa made us pasta with creamcheese that was salmon flavored. Sorella Hicks doesn't like fish. I ate my plate in a minute, she took an hour. An HOUR. At one point, I looked at her and asked, "are you ok?" because I knew that face too well - one of struggle and pain- but she reassured me that she was ok and continued eating painfully slow. At her last bite, when I was silently thanking Heavenly Father that she FINALLY finished, she clasped her hand to her mouth and asked if she could use the restroom. I just knew she had thrown up so I started talking super loud about the lesson we were going to share with them, Poor Sorella Hicks. On our way home, she confessed that she hadn't been feeling well even before the meal. I instructed her that she does not have to eat everything on her plate. Worst case scenario is to ask if we can take the food with us. I think she'll always remember her first meal appt. I told her that my first meal appt in Florence was with a Peruvian family and there was a long, black hair in my tamale. haaaahha.<br /> <br />Oh!!! Seeing that the Hashey's are back home and the miracle has been shared with the rest of the family, I can spill the beans. A couple of weeks ago, Sorella Hashey and I taught her Dad and he accepted to be baptized on July 2nd. I will be joining them there in Florida for his baptism and confirmation, and then heading to Utah. I strongly feel that he is the reason why we served together here in Rome 3. It continues to astound me how perfect and detailed God's plan is for each of us.<br /> <br />Please don't write and handwritten letters after June 6th. I'll pick up any last mail at conference on the 14th (the sardegna and naples zones are joining us and I will be able to see Sorella Riffaldi one last time!!! She is happy that she will be able to provide me with tissues for when I give my departing testimony.) <br /> <br />Patrizia was confirmed this past Sunday and her brother, Guido, told us that he likes to come to church because, "I am intelligent. I like being with intelligent people. And intelligent people go to your church". AND, although he doesn't want to recieve the lessons, he did ask for his own personal copy of the Book of Mormon :) <br /> <br />Sorella Hicks deemed it necessary for us to have a celebration for everyday of my last and her first transfer. Tonight, we are having a campout on our balcony and roasting smores over the oven. Sorella Hicks is wonderful. She is getting Italian down quickly and it's so good to walk out of appointments and have her express how much she loves the person and how happy she is to be here and be an instrument in the Lord's hands. It is so energizing to be with her and see her enthusiasm for all the miracles we can be a part of this transfer. We have set goals that will make us reach, if not, die, this transfer :) I am happy :)<br /> <br />Something that I need to fill out and turn into the mission is a list of 30 blessings\lessons learned\talents discovered that I have recieved from the mission. As I start narrowing it down (who can pick just 30?!) I will share them in the next few emails. I am so happy to be here. I am so blessed to have Sorella Hicks- we are expecting to see many miracles, including the baptism of Luciano and Mira. YAY!!!!!!<br /> <br />Have a good last week of May! Enjoy the last few nights of mosquito-free sleep!<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-50266561643001596662011-04-20T05:58:00.001-07:002011-04-20T05:58:58.520-07:00pasqua!This will be a shorter email........so you can breathe deep and relax :)<br /> <br />It's Pasqua on Sunday!!!!<br />We had a miracle happen to us on Saturday. We live about a 10 minute walk from a trenino, a small ghettoish train that runs from the central station (Termini) out to the middle of nowhere. We were there on the platform and I started up a conversation with a woman beside me, and we continued talking after we got on the train. We exchanged numbers and she said that she was free on Sunday and we could meet up. I invited her to church and we decided to meet infront of Eurospin (grocery store) near the church to walk there together. (Its always a very nice surprise when people say they live near the church!). On Sunday, we waited infront of Eurospin and called her a few times and she didn't answer...then she called and said "I'll be there in a minute!" and she came! Her name is Mira and she is from Albania. She is AWESOME. We walked to church together and she was super involved in Relief Society (the lesson was on tithing and she talked about how important it is for parents to pay tithing to be a good example to their kids!!!) and she participated in Gospel principles and THEN she was mesmerized by the talks during sacrament meeting. They were on charity and gratitude. All of the members were super nice to her and she promised them all that she'd be back next Sunday. As we were walking her back to eurospin, she said, "I have a feeling that if I asked my Priest about this book (the Book of Mormon) that he would tell me bad things about it. I will just have to read it for myself and ask you to explain it to me." THEN she said, "I want you to meet my cousins, my sister, and a few of my friends. We need to meet up sometime this week and get a coffee and talk". <br />We went to find her house yesterday and she wasn't home, but she called us and said that she has another cousin she wants us to meet. She is great!!!! The Zone Leaders have challenged each companionship to set another baptismal date before Easter. We are still scratching away at the big pile of area book records we have, and we've only met a handful of them so far. We think Mira is our person. She is a miracle. While walking home from church, we could only marvel at how amazing that morning had been. The members are so incredible here. <br /> <br />Yesterday, while looking for Karol's house (a referral) we stopped a large man and asked him directions. He climbed into his truck and got out a map and missed the sidewalk on his way down and fell backwards. Good thing my feet are size 11. My left foot saved his life.<br /> <br />On Sunday, unbeknownest (sp?!?!?) to us, we spoke to the Pope's chef! She, Tiziana, is dating one of the members. Well, if we can't baptize the Pope just yet, we can sure baptize the chef! We are going to try setting up an appt to teach her. eheh.<br /> <br />On Friday, we were lost trying to find a member, Marcella. I looked in our phone and there was only one Marcella listed, so I called and it turned out to be someone else. She was so excited about our call that we set up an appt for the following day. We had no idea if she was a member or not. We looked up her address on the map and ....long story short, it was a miracle finding her house. Her street was like walking through the Harry Potter brick wall thing, like a hidden world. Anways, Marcella was waiting for us outside a big, abandoned building. Her first words were, "Don't be scared" and led us through the building which was full or trash and smelled terrible. She lives in one of the rooms. We sat at a makeshift table and while she talked, I couldnt help but feel overwhelmed at how blessed I am to have my life and all the things I have. She had surgery on her hand last year and it's all bent and useless because she couldnt afford to pay for the necessary physical therapy. Having had hand surgery myself, I encouraged her to just do daily hand exercises herself. Hopefully, she will be able to get some stiffness out and regain some use of her hand. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and make her life alright. She is from Romania and has been a member for 6 years, and has been here for 4. <br />When we left, she begged us to not forget about her. We assured her that, "Ormai, siamo amiche!" We're friends, how could we forget about her? I want Lenora to meet her. We are excited that Pres. Kelly gave us permission to have Lenora join us for a couple of days. We are sure going to make her wish she'd served a mission :) haha.<br /> <br />I made a ginormous pot of soup and then.......Sorella Hashey mentioned that she doesn't like eating leftovers. I have sure had a lot of soup this past week.<br /> <br />In closing, I want to share a poem I really like. <br /> <br />Where shall I work today?<br /> <br />Master, where shall I work today?<br />My love flowed warm and free.<br />He pointed out a tiny spot <br />and said, "tend that for me".<br /> <br />I answered quickly, "Oh no, no there,<br />not anyone could see<br />no matter how well my work was done, <br />not that little spot for me".<br /> <br />When He spake He was not stern, <br />but He answered me tenderly,<br />"Little one, search that heart of thine,<br />are you working for them or for me?<br />Nazareth was just a little place, <br />and so was Galilee."<br /> <br />I am so thankful for the trust the Lord has placed in each of us to be His hands and help Him uplift and help those around us. I am grateful for all of you who have helped Him help me. Thank you.<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-80927794559964668922011-04-15T00:27:00.000-07:002011-04-15T01:07:28.497-07:00First week in Rome 3!There are fried pototoes all over my keyboard. This little kid (the son of the Nepalese man who owns this place) hopped from computer to computer and I had to rub tissue over my mouse because it was too slippery from his potato-pizza-fingers!<br /> <br />Well, I am in Rome 3!!! It really is not the prettiest part of the city, but it is different and interesting. On Thursday, Sorella Olsen and I passed by many of the members and friends to say goodbye. The young girls who come to english course gave me a painting of Mistretta. I made 50 banana cupcakes to give to the crazy 8 year olds. We stood outside of Francesca's door and she didn't open till I said "I came to say goodbye". She let us in and we had a lesson and then at the end, I told her I was being transferred. She cried and that's what started my day of being an emotional wreck. We went to Angela's work and said goodbye. We had a good dinner with Nino e Sonia and as we rolled and killed our joints walking downhill towards home, I saw that it was probably a blessing that that was my last dinner appointment and my last time walking down that steep hill. Rome 3 will give me time to "rest and recuperate" so that my body's not completely worn down when I leave. <br /> <br />Friday morning was my questura appointment and it all went very smoothly. We returned to Mistretta and had our last meal of apples and provola cheese. As we were descending the giant staircase, I had Sorella Olsen go in front of me because I was going slowly, taking my suitcase from one step to the next. I was about to start telling her the story of when Mom was at the airport and lost grip of her suitcase when my suitcase missed a ledge and, because it was too heavy to hold onto, it tumbled down the stairs as I yelled "Move!". Sorella Olsen was in the doorframe when the suitcase smashed against the door. We would have been headed to the hospital rather than Catania had she been run over by it. It was a miracle. And I am glad Sorella Olsen didn't take offense by my "insensitivity" of the gravity (graveness?) of the situation because I couldn't stop laughing for having just relived mom's experience. <br /> <br />We drove to Catania and picked up the Sorelle there and went to the bus station. Sorella Olsen started sinking in the fact that she'd be training the city and starting with a new companion, and she looked like I felt when I watched my trainer board the train in Florence to leave me behind. It's a scary thing! I know Sorella Olsen will and is doing an incredible job there with Sorella Tutt.<br /> <br />My prayers were answered- there was a bathroom on the bus, and I didn't even need it! For part of the trip, a large man was sitting next to me and the more he fell alseep, the more relaxed he became and his extra weight slowly invaded my space till I was squished against the window in my seat. I wouldn't have disturbed him but I got to the point that I felt that we were having way too much physical contact, especially as a missionary, so I pretended to need something in my bag and he woke up and collected himself into a smaller area. Besides my chubby ankles, the trip didn't seem 14 hours long. I arrived Friday morning and waiting on the curb for the Assistants. They soon showed up with Sorella Hashey and they dropped us off at our apartment and left. We set down our bags and then looked at eachother and said "Now what?". <br /> <br />Our apartment is newish and we have a new shower! It's big and brown tiled and on the 3rd floor. If you send something, please use the Piazza Carnaro address.<br />We have a microwave, a big living room that we never use, and it is all very nice. Too nice for a missionary, almost.<br />Our first day, we went out and found a grocery store to buy some water and toilet paper. The Elders had left NOTHING in the house, except for, strangely, a giant bag full of women hygiene products. haha. We met up with our Anziani, Acerson and Larcher, who live a few minutes walk away (in the old sisters apartment). They gave us some towels and sheets. We forgot to ask for blankets so we slept in our hoodies that night.<br /> <br />Sorella Hashey had spent a few days in Rome with the sisters of Rome 2, and they'd bought tickets to see the play "Beauty and the Beast" so we went to go see that later on Friday. It was reallllly good, and it was so fun to see Sorella Pickett. I haven't seen her since the MTC. She caught me up on how the work is in Rome 2. It's crazy that it's only been 4 months but they are working with a completely different group of people. They haven't been able to get a hold of Nelson, and Yolanda doesn't want to leave her companion. They're not teaching Gina anymore. My source of joy is that Sandra just got a calling in Relief Society! <br /> <br />We have spent alot of time working in area book. In fact, after email, we are going to the church to meet with the Anziani to organize records and split the inactives and new converts. It is strange and fun that none of us really know what we are doing. It is like the blind leading the blind. We are amazed at how much work there is here! We have found at least half a dozen people who have had baptismal dates in the past. There's so much potential here! On Friday night, we met Patrizia. She is AWESOME. She was supposed to be baptized on Sunday, but she still smokes, so we reset her baptism for May 7th. (Lenora, would you like to come for it? I will ask President about it and let you know.) She bore her testimony on Sunday, expressing her desire to recieve "revelation" ...which we have understood to mean that she is still waiting to recieve a testimony. We went to her house that night and explained that we know she has a testimony; we explained that we postponed her baptism not because she doesnt, but because she needs to stop smoking. She seemed happier at the fact that we reassured her that she has a testimony of the church. So far, she is one of the two investigators that we have met.<br />The ward looks fantastic. Everyone is very friendly and excited to have sorelle back in the ward. We were invited for lunch and.... had ciccoria! I thought I'd escaped that when I left Mistretta :) <br /> <br />We go running in the morning down a random street to get to know the area better. There are so many supermarkets here! It is a nice change to not have cows or dogs chasing us.<br /> <br />The other day, we were having language study on our balcony and I accidentally pushed my slipper under the railing and it floated down. We went down the stairs and realized that my slipper was behind a fence, someone else's part of the apartment. We didn't even know where to ring so we were trying to climb over the fence to reach it, but we decided to go upstairs and change into pants. On our way back up, we bumped into someone and I randomly told them my situation and she told which door to knock on. What a good thing it was to have asked her! We knocked and our landlady lived there! She retrieved my shoe...can you imagine if she and her husband had looked out the window and seen us stuck on the daggers of her fence? How embarassing.<br /> <br />Yesterday, ldsmail wasn't working. We went to Villa Borghese because Sorella Kelly had free tickets for all of us in the Rome Zone. We spent a few hours looking at alot of naked statues and then Sorella Hashey and I headed out first. There were a few people on these tandum bike things and we just couldn't resist, even in skirts. We rented one (they're little cart things that you sit next to eachother and peddle, and one has a steering while and a brake handle) and roamed the park. I had to use my left hand to grip my skirt closed between my knees and sorella hashey's peddles weren't working so she was in charge of the brake. We thought "imagine if the others knew what we were doing!" and then A. Larcher called to tell us we'd forgotten S. Hashey's coat in his backpack. It was the funniest thing. Me, bent awkwardly over, trying to peddle and stay modest, and sorella hashey stretched over to reach the brake - as we peddled closer to the museum, all the missionaries heads turned and soon cameras were pulled out. What surprised us was Sorella Kelly's reaction, "Where can I rent one?!". <br /> <br />Sorella Hashey is everything but trunky, and we are having alot of fun together. I helped her discover her love for lentils and prunes. She still eats pears instead of apples but I have a feeling that will change. A. Acerson and Larcher are very nice and always willing to help us, even giving us a map that had all of the pages of this zone ripped out. (We went out and bought one of our own).<br /> <br />It's great being back in Rome- It's so good to ride buses and the tram again- there are so many options of how to talk to!<br /> <br />Vi voglio bene!<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-18271239273654095742011-04-07T03:05:00.000-07:002011-04-07T03:07:14.120-07:00Transfer 10.......!!!I guess I really have been called to the Rome Mission, seeing that I will have served more than half of my mission in Rome! To Sorella Sarah Hughes, my wonderful trainer: I am going to Rome 3!!! :) (she served there for 6 months, if I remember right). Rome 3 is known as the Sorella's Napoli(Naples), because it's the "ghetto" part of town. Yay!<br /> <br />Seeing that I have an appointment for my documents on Friday morning, I will not be leaving tonight but Friday night- taking a bus from Catania that evening and arriving in Rome on Saturday at some point. I think I will stop eating and drinking from tomorrow morning till when I get in Rome....do they have bathrooms on those buses?! Or maybe they'll do like what we experienced in Uzbekistan and they'll pull over and the men will use the left side of the bus and the women, the right. It will be a little uncomfortable being by myself (besides the Spirit, of course :) )<br />Rome 3 has been closed for the past transfer because it was broken into. The Sorelle returned home later than usual one night and they found their apartment a little messy but not much was taken- goes to show that whoever came was not there for material things but maybe expecting them to be home, which is really creepy. Becuase the Sorella are loved so much, Pres. Kelly is having the Anziani swap apartments with us. Oh, and my companion will be Sorella Hashey! She left the MTC the day I got there....so the two oldest Sorelle in the mission will be companions! It will be an awesome adventure being blown into the city (arriving into the city without recieving training from someone who's been there) and the Rome 3 Anziani will be A. Larcher, he is sort of new and from Germany, and A. Acerson, the son of my former Pres. Acerson :) We are both returning back to Utah on July 1st, and this is Sorella Hashey's last transfer.<br /> Sorella Tutt, who's in Ladispoli right now, will be coming down to take my place. I am sad about leaving Mistretta and all of these amazing people. <br /> <br />However, ...ROME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /> <br />Last preparation day we spent in Paterno'. Mom, did Mauro Trombetta ever call you? On our way to the comune, we stopped to take some pictures infront of a field of flowers and on old man stopped and walked over to us and offered to take our picture. He was so nice! He ended with "Oh, if I were younger, I'd court you longer!" <br />He pointed the way to the comune and when we arrived, another angel offered his assistance and took us to the right sportello (booth?) and they typed in different versions of names but nothing came up around the right year (it would have been easier if I had had some more info! It was embarassing when he asked basic dates, like Nonno's birth date, and I didn't know! Che figura.) Mauro Trombetta did come up and they gave us his address and the man told us to go back to our car and wait for him- he pulled up in his car and we followed him up to Mauro's apartment! There are the nicest people in Paterno'. <br />I really didn't know who this Mauro was; Mom had just said that she'd met him when she was down here,...so we rang and a man came out onto the balcony and called down to us and I introduced myself and asked if he knew an Emma Panebianco and he shook his head and was about to reenter his house when I said "Roma" and he turned around and looked at me again and then said, "Did you say Emma?!" He got the biggest smile on his face and waved us up. <br />It would have been less awkward if I'd known the story beforehand, but he told us that he'd met Mom more than 25 years ago when she was here doing genealogy work. He spoke with such admiration and respect of you, Mom. I was pretty puffed up with pride :) He and his wife, and 20 y.o. daughter, Chiara, had us stay for a lentil-soup-and-fried-egg-lunch and he shared with us some of his memories of Mom. We were short on time and when he walked us back to the car, we gave him a Book of Mormon and he gave us his word that we would read it gladly because he believes that it is our beliefs that made us into the "wonderful women" that we are and that Mom is. Yes, that's quite right :)<br /> <br />April Fools Day was uneventful, besides the fact that Sorella Olsen took forever in turning off the alarm at 6:19 and I started calling out "Sorella, ....Sorella....! SORELLA!" and for a split second I though, "Oh no, my companion is dead" but she jumped up and turned it off. What a scare!<br />No one played jokes on us.........................and after I had said my prayer and was getting into bed, I took a drink from my bedside water bottle and then ran to the bathroom and spit it out. Sorella Olsen had put salt in it. ah ah. <br /> <br />On Saturday morning during programming, I mentioned to S. Olsen that my face felt hot and funny. Later, we went to the Portera's for the Young Women broadcast and everyone welcomed me with a "What's wrong with your face?!"<br />I don't know what happened, but my face burned for a day and a half and then it turned all crusty and dry........so now I am peeling my face and my eyelids are swollen when I wake up. I was supposed to take alot of pictures these last few days.................. People have offered suggestions, "It's the sun!" but since when has the sun turned me into a shriveled raisin? We've not been in the sun!<br />We decorated notebooks with the 2 young women (our Englsih class girls couldn't make it at the last minute) and we watched a talk and a half because the signal wasn't working. We watched the Sat and Sun morning sessions of General Conference at the Portera's home with some of the members. We snacked on raisins we had brought, and the next morning, Antonio said "Sorella, the raisins you gave me yesterday had an explosive effect and I spent all morning in the bathroom!" Our response was "Well, you always tell us you're constipated by nature, so now you know what you can remedy it with". :) Oh, Antonio.<br />I had goosebumps the entire time P. Monson was talking about the Rome Temple. When he said that 85% of members live within a 200 km radius of a Temple, the members threw back their heads and sorella Portera said, "Magari!" (if only\I wish!) When the number of full time missionaries was announced, Antonio and Liria sobbed. Bless their heart. Antonio brought us pizza for breakfast again. Sorella Olsen asked me today if anyone has ever told him that the max of physical contact he can have with us is a handshake. I assured her that he has been told several times. His "handshake" just includes kissing our hands and patting our cheeks. If it were coming from anyone but Antonio, I'd reprove (?) him. <br /> <br />The mothers for the English class are upset about transfers "Who do we need to call to tell them you need to stay another month?" and they had the children present us each with a rose and a pair of pearl earrings. That day, we had discussed whether we should continue teaching the childrens course or whether we should stop. We decided to pray and figure it out that day whether it was a good use of our time or not, because we have been hoping to be invited into their families homes but nothing was coming out of it.........and Heavenly Father heard our prayers and for the first time, one of the mothers came up and asked us "When are you coming over?" (we are going tonight!) and while we were walking around the city, we spotted another one of the mom's on a balcony and we walked towards her and she invited us in and we had a really good talk with her at her kitchen table. We recieved our answer. We need to continue with the course, it just needed some patience. Now, the mom's trust us and we are starting to weasle our way into the homes. I am sure going to miss the little 8 year olds. <br /> <br />We FINALLY asked around and found a car wash. A moment in the history of the car-being-at-Mistretta. I think in the year it has been with the Sorella, this was the first time it's been washed. We promised ourselves to never park under the tree again (black berry things fall and stain the entire car) and we returned to the car the next day to find that a bird had had an antonio-raisin-experience all over the windshield and hood.<br /> <br />When we read scriptures with our investigators and members, we always say, "Let's read from this verse to this verse- one each" and we will start and read one each and then the person will start and read not just one verse but two, and then another couple, till the end of the chapter. It happens with everyone. Sorella Olsen pointed it out to me, "What do they not understand about uno a testa?" Bo. Maybe it's a Sicilian thing. Sometimes it gets a little hard for everyone else to stay focused because most everyone has bad eyesight and will strain and move the book around under the light to see the printing better and a few verses will take a good chunk of time.<br /> <br />This Saturday, we decided to do our language study at the castle fortress on the tip of Mistretta, and Sorella Olsen perched herself on a rock and started singing hymns. She wasn't singing that loud. A minute later, the phone rang and it was Daniele (the 24 y.o. member with a flirting problem). He asked if we were, by chance, at the castle. Knowing him too well, I said "Maybe" and he said that he was out on the balcony reading his scriptures when he heard someone singing hymns. We looked over the brick wall towards the city and we spotted Daniele on one of the house tops, waving his arms. How on earth he managed to hear her is a mystery. But it was really amusing that Sorella Olsen's voice was carrying over Mistretta. <br /> <br />We have found our favorite apple vendor. 4 kilos for 5 euro. We have bought 41.9 pounds of apples the past 5 days. We joked that we will prove that it is possible to gain weight off of apples. We also eat lentils for every lunch and dinner. They are delicious and even better with chick peas.<br /> <br />The white handbook says not to write General Authorities. Seeing that Elder Robert F. Orton is no longer on the Liahona fold out, is there any way of getting his address? I would enjoy writing him.<br /> <br />Angela is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy! We went to see her the other night and confronted her about the cup of coffee we'd seen on the kitchen counter. She knows she needs to stop drinking coffee because she can't expect Heavenly Father to bless her with what she is in need of if she doesn't show sacrifice and effort on her part.<br />Francesca showed up at English class and acted like nothing has happened. We went to find her the next day and we talked a little bit about Conference because we didn't know how much we could ask her about the situation. We don't want her to disappear off the planet again. Angela continues to be a supportive friend and good example to her. <br />We don't know what we can do more for Maria Purpari. She calls us her "Sorelline" and we feel like she doesn't take us seriously anymore. She likes our visits because we make her feel good and for our company, but she isn't acting. It's really sad and hard to drop someone, but we know that with her, at least she has the constant contact with her brothers who are members.<br />Salvatore Naro might get operated on this weekend, so now they have no excuse for not being able to make it to church every sunday from here on out! They are such good people. I've adopted them as my Sicilian parents.<br /> <br />It is hard leaving these people who have lives that are so broken and sad. I wish I could have done something more for them. I can only imagine what Heavenly Father feels when he sees us suffering but rejecting His outstretched hand of help and healing. <br />I am excited for Sorella Olsen to move on to her second companion and for her to be more the "senior" companion now because she will be training the city.<br />I am going to miss her and all of the experiences we have shared that have brought us very close. I packed my suitcase and had extra room so she is sending me with her sheets to take back home to her parents. I thanked her for the new bedding :) <br />I have 12 weeks left to serve the Lord full-time. I am so so so sooo excited to return to Rome and continue His work there. I am also looking forward to reading the conference talks. We are so blessed to have a living Prophet. We always ask people, "Would you want to hear what Moses had to say if he were on the earth?" That sure gets peoples attention :)<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-13726212068724889282011-04-04T10:46:00.001-07:002011-04-04T10:46:31.077-07:00here in Paterno'!We are in Paterno'!<br />Our exchanges in Siracusa have been cancelled because the Sorelle don't have the time to do them (even though we would be the ones traveling the longest distance....) So no Siracusa, which bummed us but President gave us permission to travel today because its a "good family cause". From what I've seen, the city is bigger than I imagined it to be. We are going to the comune in an hour because it closes early, and we are planning on hunting down some Panebianco parenti :) I will let you know how it goes next week.<br /> <br />Last Friday, we walked up the huge hill of Mistretta for our appointment with Vincenzo and Ignazio, two men we have been teaching for the past few months. They ride around in a fruit truck and the more we teach them, the better discounts they give us. Vincenzo can't read and Ignazio doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon to him outloud becuase he says he gets confused. (?!)<br />We read them a few paragraphs of the family proclamation and then we invited them to pray to find out for themselves if they can be with their wives and children for eternity. Ignazio was too self-conscious to say the prayer, and so we turned to Vincenzo and asked him. We went throught the steps but he kept saying he didn't know how to pray, so I helped him through a prayer and then we said amen and bought some fruit (at a very good price! :) )<br /> <br />We set up a return appointment and then each of us started munching on an apple as we walked back down the huge hill. Suddenly, we heard a mans voice from heaven saying "Caro Padre Celeste" (dear Heavenly Father) and I was confused for a split second and then we turned around and saw them in their truck- Ignazio was laughing and Vincenzo had the microphone at his mouth; there was a line of cars behind them because they drive really slowly. Vincenzo then continued to pray over the microphone as they waved and passed us. <br />It was one of the funniest moments of my mission. Vincenzo praying for all of Mistretta to hear. When I managed to stop laughing, I almost wanted to start crying because little things like this is what I am really going to miss. Being a missonary is wonderful. Obviously Vincenzo now gets the pattern of prayer :)<br /> <br />When we were creating our transfer vision (things we want to see happen by the end of the transfer), one of the things we desired was to see Rita and Salvatore Naro in church. They were baptized 2 years ago and were active for about 6 months. They haven't been to church since. Since I have been here, they have not been able to come because Salvatore has some health issues; he is uncomfortable dressed in a suit. One of the reasons they haven't come is because they feel a sense of abandonment on the members part. We see them about once a week because they live in Sant Agata. Out of the blue, President Portera called us on Friday morning that they were in Mistretta for Rita to have same-day surgery to remove something benign. <br />We changed our program and headed straight to the hospital- it was incredible to see how the members took them under their wing. We stopped in to see them 4 times that day- we brought them lunch and dinner, and every time we stopped in, a member was there visiting with them. Rita said what we've been waiting to hear, "If the man with the tractor doesn't come to our farm on Sunday, we will definitely be in church". <br /> <br />We went to see them on Saturday, and they still didn't know if the tractor man would come or not, but then they decided that the tractor man could show up without them, they'd come to church. It was so neat to see them take those steps to change their plans to put the Lord first in their lives. <br /> <br />On Sunday, there were 7 of us- the Naros picked up Isabella Purpari on their way to church. She hasn't been to church for a good 2 years. It was so good to see them there. We were few, but the Spirit was present and we all supported eachother with our presence. It hit me that it was the last Sunday of the transfer, because of Conference this weekend. The Naros came to church this transfer. I am continually amazed at the miracles Heavenly Father allows me to be a part of and to grow from. I have learned so much from these people. I am so proud of them and for everything they do to help eachother. Sorella Olsen and I have talks in church on the importance of strengthening our testimony daily. We split points to cover and I talked about the importance of daily scripture study and service. (before going to see Isabella for an appt, I was reading and came across a scripture that I felt I needed to share with her. It's Jacob 2:8; I shared it with Isabella and she flipped to it and had it highlighted. It fits her perfectly and I am grateful for the guidance of the Spirit in helping us find and learn things that would help the people we interact with.<br /> <br />It is hard knowing that this is most likely my last week in Mistretta. I've even grown to love the rambunctious 8 year olds. Transfer calls come on Saturday- Sorella Olsen thinks I'm going to Ragusa. I would love to remain in Sicilia, but Ladispoli would be neat too :) Jk. I would be happy even going to Puglia where the air smells like dead fish.<br />I have enjoyed sharing with the members that I am part Siciliana- they really get a kick out of having a missionary among them who's "one of them". <br /> <br />Yesterday started with a good laugh. When we go running, I take our house key off the key ring and run with it in my hand, and then when we get back to the apartment, I stick it on my desk and join it to the keyring right before personal study. I was drying my hair when the electricity went out, so we went outside, around the house to the basement, and flipped the switch back on. When I pulled out the keys is when I realized that it was 2 floors above us, sitting on my desk. I started laughing and told Sorella Olsen- she was dressed but in slipper, and my hair was all liony because it was half blow-dried and I was half dressed with my coat over. Our options were to either go to Pres Portera's house and get the spare key, or to climb. We put our brains together and found a ladder (6 ft) in the basement, and S. Olsen used it as a footstool and then somehow climbed the rest of the way to the second floor and pulled herself throught the bathroom window. We only had two women hanging out their windows watching us, calling out suggestions.<br /> <br />Since Sorella Olsen is in the process of writing her family about my cold heart, I feel I need to put in a word of defense.<br />We passed by Nino's one night to remind him of an evening that we are going out to do missionary work together, and he invited (invitations are more "you better or else") us to join them for dinner. He cut us each a big peice of homemade pizza and while I, who suffers from eating at night and not being able to sleep well, diligently chewed away and finished my pizza, S. Olsen cut off her crust, ate it, and then snuck the rest of the pizza onto the plate beside her. Injustice! I may have brought their attention to the fact, but they didn't stuff it down her throat like I was hoping.<br />So, I am completely justified in what I did yesterday at Maria Purpari's. She made us pasta al forno (you throw pasta with sauce and anything else you want into the oven to bake) and she served us up a heaping bowl of it. While she had her back turned, I quickly scraped some of mine onto S. Olsen's plate. She protested and called it to Maria's attention, but I got it off my plate and that's what matters. After the meal, S. Olsen told me she had had bad thoughts about me all during lunch. I think we are even now. <br /> <br />I am so excited for General Conference. There are four young women who come to English class, and we invited them to watch the Young Womens session with us and they want to come! So are the Naros and Isabella.... and the other night, we bumped into Luca Purpari (Isabellas brother) who is inactive and we just walked a block with him and parted and appartently that was enough for him to want to come back to church. He called P. Portera to let him know that he is reactivating himself and will be watching general conference with all of us this sunday. Good for him!<br />I received a package from Grandma Spalding and when I opened it up, I felt like I'd just had a shopping spree at Macey's. What colorful candy! I shared some with our English students and they are hooked on reeses.<br />I recieved an appointment to renew my permesso di soggiorno on the day it expired (phew!) and it is for next friday, which means that I will not be transferred when everyone else is. We might be in a threesome for a couple of days (unless I get to stay!).<br /> <br />The drive this morning was incredible, and blinding. What I don't understand is why I hadn't heard anything about Sicilia until I came here. It is heaven on earth. We stopped by the side of the road to press some poppies (I'm not sure if that is spelled correctly and I apologize if it's not) and hope to make bookmarks out of them.<br />We will be calling home in about a month- if Pres. Kelly does like P. Acerson did, then I will be able to call both Mom and Dad separately. <br /> <br />Angela is doing incredibly well. She is hooked on the Book of Mormon and reading it a wonderful pace. We did catch her drinking some coffee with her sister, and when confronted she said that she knows she shouldn't. In speaking with her we can see that she understands exactly what is expected of her, and she is taking the right steps. She expressed the desire to serve a mission at the Swiss Temple in the next year or two. I recieved a package of letters from Sorella Miller for the members here, and they all loved hearing from her. I hope I can keep in touch with them as much as I would like to. It is important to stay in touch and share our testimony with those who we have been blessed by having in our lives.<br /> <br />I never feel ready to leave a city when the time comes for it. Mistretta, as is Firenze and Roma 2, will always be a special place. I am thankful for the people I have met here, for their examples, and for the things I have taken from them. I'm also grateful for having served with Sorelle Miller, Riffaldi again, Jones, Squarcia, and Sorella Olsen. I have had more companions here than in my entire mission :) They are wonderful Sorelle and I have learned much from their examples. I am so thankful to be a missionary and to have the blessing of the peace the gospel brings. I am excited that it is warming up and that summer is coming, even though it means less layers and more shaving :)<br /> <br />Sorella Urban Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-1377531462972545642011-03-24T06:31:00.001-07:002011-03-24T06:31:59.138-07:001 year mark in Italy! 100 days left......Today marks a year from the day that I arrived and got all my stuff stolen :)<br /> <br /> We spent all morning with the two girls we teach English to- Maria Grazia and Tiziana. We went to Tiziana's house and learned how to make arancini- fried rice balls stuffed with meat, ham, mozzarella, cheese, etc. I am so glad I know how to make them now! They are super unhealthy but I am really excited to make them at home to show off my Sicilian skills. I managed to get out of there having only eaten two. Sorella Olsen ate 5. Poor soul.<br /> While they were in the deep fryer, we went out and had a little tour of Mistretta. We went to the only museum and looked at tools and pictures of how shepherds lived and how ricotta and provola cheese is made. We also stopped into Adorazione prepetua, a small church where the ostia (sacrament) is believed to be the actual flesh of Christ, and people take turns sitting near the ostia every hour of every day. It smelled strange in there, probably because there's someone always there. Mistretta is a beautiful city. Apart from the uneven stone streets, I could live here. I don't know how Sorella Miller served 6 months here without a knee or ankle replacement. I consider it a blessing that I only have two weeks left here (oi, that's so sad!) just for the sake of my joints.<br /> On Thursday we had a dinner to celebrate the anniversary of Relief Society. Only three women showed up: Liria, Sonia Purpari, and Angela. I'm proud of how well our pasta turned out! Liria brought a ginormous bowl of rice alla seafood, and we asked her how she'd made it and she put her finger to her mouth and whispered that it was a secret, but "It's so good, isn't it?" <br />She was really proud of her cooking, and it was fun to keep complimenting it and seeing how much it pleased her. Sorella Olsen and I even had seconds (remember, I very much dislike seafood), and because everyone else had things come up at the last minute, we were left with our huge pot of pasta, Liria's gigantic bowl of rice, and Angela's one kilo of fresh bread. It was a strange meal, but we all had a good laugh because Angela didn't want to eat the rice but she ate it to not offend Liria, and Liria was crooning over how good it was and how good of a cook she is, and she kept reaching over and petting Angela's face. (Something I love about Sicilians is that they are very proud of their abilities, and if it was coming from anyone but them, it'd come across as being very egoistic and prideful. When we say things like, "We are here to help others" the usual response is "Oh, Sorella, you have no idea how much I do for others", etc.) During the dinner, Daniele Purpari kept calling and I kept hanging up on him till the thought crossed my mind that maybe it was something urgent. I called him back and he said, "ohh....well.....I was just wondering if there were any leftover brownies". Not now, Daniele!<br /> The next day, we went to Liria's house and we were talking about how good the rice was and Liria got that huge grin on her face again, and then her mom said, "Wasn't the rice that Liria made good? She bought it already made at the store and brought it home to add to the rice". It took all my selfcontrol to keep from laughing. I couldn't look at Liria's face for a full minute.<br /> We have not seen Francesca for two weeks. She made a mistake and Pres. Portera told her what she needed to do to repent, and she didn't want to accept it, so she has refused any visits or phonecalls from the members. We spent a few evenings at her door knocking and trying to get her to let us in, but then it was decided that we best not try anything more for now. She has decided she wants to be excommunicated; we are confused how things could change from night to day with her. The only person she is in contact with is Angela, and Angela has told us that she found a job caring for an elderly man, but she got fired on her first day at work because she fainted from the exertion of changing him. She has put on weight, but she definitely is not strong enough for that kind of job. Carla sent me a letter a few weeks ago to give her, but she won't accept anything from us. All we can do is pray for her.<br /> Sunday morning rolled around and Angela didn't respond to our 8:00 am wakeup call, so we quickly left the house and went to knock on her door. She has one of the loudest dogs in Mistretta. If Sorella Olsen had a giant mouse trap.........<br />After fracturing our knuckles on her front door, she finally opened up. We had woken her up and we told her that she had 10 minutes to be ready for church. As she dressed we made her breakfast. I was in the kitchen warming up her milk, frantically trying to remember how Sorella Miller had made her breakfast last time.... I started spooning in the sugar into the milk and asked Angela how much sugar she puts in. She replied "one". Oops. I had just put in my 3rd heaping spoon. I mixed extra well to dissolve it :)<br />As I was bustling around the kitchen, I passed the door and caught a glance of Angela on the toilet with the door wide open! She saw me and I jerked around and went straigth to Sorella Olsen and squeezed her arm as I wheezed to her what I had just seen; we started giggling and then Angela walked in holding a pair of gigantic underwear and sat down at the kitchen table. I thought to myself "That can't possibly be underwear that she is not yet wearing; she's just going to fold it and put away" and then she bent over and struggled getting her legs into the underwear holes because it kept getting stuck on her heels (yes, she was fully dressed, except for her underwear, apparently :)! ) so I bent down and helped her thread her legs through. Once again, I used all my self control to keep myself from laughing because the words came to mind "You do everything to help an investigator come to church"- yes, including helping them with their underclothing! I hope that means she wasn't disturbed at the fact that I'd seen her in the bathroom.<br /> At church, we have started doing sacrament meeting the first hour because the Portera's (the branch president, his wife, and three daughters) used to leave halfway through to make it back to Mistretta for President's work, and the members complained that all the commotion was very distracting. It's nice having sacrament meeting first, but there's only one speaker and the whole meeting lasts 30 minutes, so we find ourselves with alot of time for primary. Poor Lucrezia :) With young women's finishing early because the Portera's leave, we decided to join in with the Relief Society. Liria was giving a lesson on charity out of the gospel principles manual. (Liria and Antonio are two of the most sensitive people I have ever met. Sorella Olsen and I trade off playing the piano and leading for sacrament meeting, and when I lead, I usually just stare, amazed,at Liria because she usually starts crying when the first note is hit. Bless her heart.) So, Liria was telling the story of the Good Samaritan and she had to stop every 5 seconds to sob and regain composure, and I had my head bowed so that I wouldn't put myself at risk of laughing. Sonia had the same idea but a giggle escaped and Liria misinterpreted it and scolded her for not loving to read the scriptures. It had nothing to do with it, and Sonia tried explaining but Liria wouldn't hear it. She continued talking about charity and loving your enemies as she shot dark glances at Sonia the rest of the lesson. Maria Battista's cell phone rang and we all waited to reassume once peace was restored, but rather than quickly turning it off or silencing it, she answered it and had an unhurried conversation with her sister-in-law before hanging up and allowing us to continue. I love the members here! Some things they do still take me by surprise.<br /> After church, we hurried home to change into our sweats and then went to Angela's house and cleaned for a few hours. She said she couldn't come to church because she had to clean, so we had this deal that we would all go to church together and then help her clean. She is in Reitano all week working, and so she is forced to come up over the weekend to clean up after her slob, I mean, son, Calogero. He is 19 and isn't capable of neanche doing the dishes. Argh. I probably should change the subject because her son is a touchy subject. He's the one who tried getting into our house when it was really late and Sorella Olsen was already asleep, and then lied about it. All I'll say is- parents, teach your kids to work. Kids, stop lamenting.<br /> President Kelly doesn't want us to make two round trips to Catania for Sorella exchanges, so I've decided that Sorella Olsen and I are going to Siracusa (Syracuse) for a day, doing splits with the sisters there, and then coming back. Our absence will make the members appreciate us even more :)<br />We want to do Paterno next preparation day, because I'll probably be packing my bags the wednesday after. Where in Sicilia will Sorella Urban go? Bo. Maybe Ladispoli with Sorella Askew!<br /> I've complimented Vito on his hiking boots.........and one morning he rang at the door and gave us each a pair of hiking boots he'd bought for us. Meee. (something everyone says here, rather than saying "wow", etc, you say "meeeeee" and drag out the "e" for as long as you want). It's short for mizzica, like managgia (doppio g?) We really don't want to accept them because the money could be used for so many other necessities, but he won't accept mine back. Sorella Olsen used the excuse of them being too small, so he returned them and got a bigger size, and then she said she doesn't have enough space in her luggage, so he grudgingly took them back. I have one suitcase...what am I going to do with my pair of hiking boots? Maybe I'll wear them on my flight back. It wouldn't look too strange, right?<br /> We have the kids english course in a little bit so I need to wrap this up. Does anyone have ideas as to what we can teach a group of 8 year olds?! Something that would keep them attentive...like a song, that doesn't have more than 20 different words....? We are stumped. I never thought I'd resort to it, but last week we taught the Barney "I love you, you love me" song. <br /> We did house-to-house for the first time together and Sorella Olsen had some pretty funny experiences getting the door shut on us. <br /> I am so excited for General Conference!!!!!!!! We are going to the Portera's house to watch it because they have a BYU channel. For FHE, we went to the Portera's and talked about reverence. We almost don't want to bring investigators to church because the girls are so noisy and rowdy. We took it from the angle, "We need your help doing missionary work" and I had to be more honest than I wanted to be, but in the end, Pres. Portera established the rule that they 1) can't bring food to church and 2) they can't walk around during sacrament meeting. Just these two steps will help tremendously in inviting the Spirit.<br /> I've saved this for last because I'm still not sure how much into detail I can go about it; we are being watched by the police. I won't put any names for the time being, but one of our investigators, who lives with a member family, returned to his old ways and landed himself in jail again. We heard through the grapevine that the police are asking about us and what we do here, because they know we have alot of contact with that family. We've been warned that our phones are probably tapped and we are being watched, so we are limiting our contact with them till things cool off a bit.<br /> Va bene. Thank you to all of you who write letters. We found Christmas behind our door yesterday; Lenora, thanks for the pictures! I got another postal notice so I can pick it up tomorrow :) I apologize for the end to hand written letters. We just haven't found the time to stay in and write. Maybe next transfer?<br /> <br />And, in closing, I just wanted to share something I read in personal study this morning. I finished the Book of Mormon and decided to read the Pearl of Great Price. In Moses 1:13 and the following verses, I really liked "Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God........calling upon God, he recieved strength...........For lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days..."<br /> <br />I really like how Moses knew how he was and what that meant to him. He understood the power and potential he had being a son of God. Let us try to remember and act with the confidence and comfort that knowledge brings- knowing that we are sons and daughters of God. We have in us the potential of doing great things and becoming like Him. Moses recieved strength calling upon God, and we not only have access, but He has asked us to communicate with Him through humble and sincere prayer, so that He can help us through our daily troubles and triumphs.<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-31404387603840058082011-03-24T06:29:00.001-07:002011-03-24T06:29:09.978-07:00Italy's 150th anniversarySorella Olsen's brother is going to Russia, Moscow West!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If it hasn't changed, then that means he's probably going to serve in Almaty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />We have spent some time guessing as to where he would be sent. Oh, and we didn't do email yesterday so that we could find out today, rather than get ulcers from wondering.<br />This morning we went running in t-shirts! It is summer here. It is beautiful. We turned off the heat. Life is so good.<br /> <br />Saturday night was the windiest night of my life. We couldn't sleep because all the windows and doors were banging. We went to church and everyone else looked as sleep deprived as we did- :)<br />Scirocco has arrived (the African wind) and I'm ok with giving up some sleep for some warmth. Yesterday, for our preparation day activity, we met up with the Anziani of Palermo 1 (Anz. Roe and McDaniel) and we went up to Gratteri to show them the house of Vincendo di Francesca, and to the cemetery. We found his grave by peering through the grate of the "Di Francesca Famiglia" grave house, but.........it said he died in 2006 or something. No one has to know though. We can triumphantly say that we have been to Vincenzo's grave. Just, not the Vincenzo.<br /> <br />Last week, we decided to do our weekly shopping at a store outside Mistretta that we had never been to. Sorella Olsen does not like driving up hill and after some groaning and hysteria, we reached the parking lot and parked. We walked into Brico Bell, took one look around, stepped back out and burst out laughing. It was a hardware store. Where was all the food? Bo. We might return to look at microwave prices- Sorella Kelly gave us her blessing in looking for one. What a luxury that would be!<br /> <br />Lucrezia is our one primary kid- Sorella Olsen had the inspirational thought of talking about the importance of not repeating vain repetitions in our prayers. I enthusiastically agreed that it'd make for a great lesson because Lucrezia says the same prayer, using the same words, all the time. <br />Sorella Olsen did a great job teaching the lesson and we asked Lucrezia lots of questions and she seemed to understand the concept of what we were trying to get her to understand. Then, we asked her to say the closing prayer. I could not help but giggle all through it because it was the exact same prayer she always says! After 50 minutes of trying to get her to change her wording..................... :)<br />She started coming to the 8 y.o. english class we teach in the elementary school basement, and we asked her to say the closing prayer at the end of yesterday's lesson. She asked "The usual one?"<br />"No Lucrezia, say something about english class. Ask Heavenly Father for help that you and your friends will be able to remember what was taught today."<br />She said the usual prayer but added that phrase in. I want a daughter like Lucrezia.<br /> <br />Every morning we go running past the cemetery out into the countryside, and we pass one farm with a few dogs in a cage that always bark the entire time we are running. We hop a fence near them that continues down towards the river, and then we turn around, hop back over the fence, pass the ferocious dogs, pass the cemetery, and run back home. Well. Last week, we were on our way back and we were about to climb back over the cow fence when we saw that a dog had escaped and was sharpening its teeth in preparation for our ankles arrival. We knelt down and said a prayer, and when we stood up, the dog was gone. Nowhere to be seen. His evil friends were still barking in the cage, but he was nowhere to be seen. Heavenly Father even cares for our ankles.<br />I used to like dogs, and I might think of having one in the distant future, but I completely understand why dogs are a missionary's worst enemy.<br /> <br />On Monday morning, we went to do some service- cleaning up a house that Beatrice and Pasquale want to move into when they get married this summer. (Pasquale is our investigator who can't get baptized because he is under Mistretta arrest, and Beatrice Purpari has 2 little girls with him and is inactive). We showed up in our sweats (so strange to be out in public in something other than a skirt!) and ...... they warned us that the woman who lived there did not throw away anything, but we didn't fully understand till we started going through the attic and filling up trash bags. She did not throw away anything. Mom, Nonna doesn't have any hold-onto-junk disease. This woman saved the wrappers of food she ate! I found half a dozen dead lizards and really wanted to send one to Lenora, but didn't. We also found some spiders on steroids that Sorella Olsen squealed over as she attacked with a stick of wood. I am proud of her- she hates spiders- but she kept at it. We spent an hour filling up the trash bags, and then pulled up the car and loaded it up and followed Vito to the dump. He is such a crazy driver! And he chose the narrowest streets. mamma mia.<br /> <br />While we were running this morning, discussing Stareishin Olsen's destination, an older, larger man on a scooter passed us and gave us a funny look- a minute later he headed back in our direction and said "run faster, run faster!" and honked as he zoomed past. <br /> <br />We have been really happy with Maria Grazia and Tiziana (the 31 y.o. women who we teach English to) because they keep the commitments we leave them and they are so nice and sincere. In our last appt we were doing some follow-up and asked them how their prayers were going (we gave them prayer rocks to remind them to pray kneeling every morning and night) and they said, "Good, good! I say Padre Nostro and ......" <br />What? Padre Nostro? No...............................<br />It's funny how we thought we had made it very clear to them that we wanted them to pray the way we taught them to pray, but apparently we weren't clear enough. We cleared it up and they agreed to pray the way we pray every morning and night. haha. We walked out of there really glad that we'd discovered this now and not later down the road. How can you find out the truth about principles of the gospel if you say a written prayer?<br /> <br />We met Isabella Purpari, Beatrices sister. She is 22 and moved out of the house more than 6 years ago because of the situation at home. It amazes us how we can feel so much love and concern for someone we barely met. We walked to the beach and sat down and talked about her life. She wants to return to church but is finding it hard to figure people for some things in the past. We are very grateful she is so open with us and wanting to make changes in her life. She has changed her mind about the Sisters. She hadn't wanted to meet with us because she didn't want to be pushed to go to church, but she said she's glad now that we are meeting with her :) On our way home, we stopped and did weekly shopping and ate half a kilo of prunes on our way home. I won't go into detail, but we are never doing that again! <br /> <br />Tonight, we are having a dinner at our house for the Relief Society anniversary. I wish Grandma were here to help! We are the ones putting it together because no one else takes the initaitive to do branch activities. Out of all the Italians who could make pasta, WE are providing the pasta. Pray that Sorella Olsen will be able to recall something she learned during her cooking internship in Siena!<br /> <br />Today is the 150 anniversary of Italia being united! It's really neat seeing all the flags from the balconies. Everyone has stuck out Sicilian flags as well; Sicilians are such proud people.<br /> <br />Mom, I gave Maria Purpari the letter you wrote her. We've been waiting for the right moment and it was the right moment last week- she confuses us because she will say things like "Ive been waiting 30 years for an answer" and then "I know the Catholic Church is right for me because I feel satisfied when I go to mass"..... ai ai . We don't know what we can do for her.<br /> <br />Francesca is going through a really tough time right now and doesn't want to see any of the members. Angela is the only one she will let into the house. I heard that Laurent, my miracle man in Florence, was offended and doesn't want anything to do with the church.<br />These are the things that make a mission tough. Seeing people make decisions without keeping in mind eternal perspective and how that will affect them and their families in the eternal sense.<br /> <br />We do not know much of what is going on in Japan, but we heard that all the missionaries are safe. What an incredible miracle. Presidente Portera spoke on Sunday about how we should not fear, but we should prepare. 2 Timothy 1:7 reads "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind".<br />I know that is why we need the Gospel in our lives. That is why we need a living Propeht, the scriptures, the commandments. So that we can have peace of mind in all the things we affront (face?) in life.<br />I am grateful for the peace and healing the Gospel brings. <br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-2249862585176931022011-03-11T02:13:00.001-08:002011-03-11T02:13:20.228-08:00Taormina preparation dayA few days ago, we were walking from an appointment to another, and we looked ahead of us and saw 8 adorable piglets roaming around on one side of the grassy hill. I whipped out my camera and started videoing "Lenora...we found you in Mistretta! Ooohh, look how cute they are!" and then as I turn to my left, "Ooh! Hi mamma! .....Wait, arent mammas jealous of their babies?" and the second I said this, the huge pig lowered her head, gave a grunt, and pawed the ground- Sorella Olsen made a strange noise and took off in the opposite direction. I think I didn't even have time for my life to flash before my eyes. I was just wondering what we could protect ourselves with- running around a car? Pigs are dangerous! Maybe it was sorella Olsens terrified reaction, but the monster changed her mind about charging us and just returned to her piglets. I am so glad I have it on video. I will use it to blackmail Sorella Olsen one day.<br /> <br />We have heat! It got to the point where we couldn't stand it any longer and we took action ourselves to getting it fixed. We were so grateful for a tecnico to come that we shared some brownies with him. We can now program without hiding our faces underneath a blanket. It snowed yesterday morning as we were headed out to Catania for Zone Conference. When is spring coming? At Zone Conference, we went over the rules of the mission because the merging of the Catania and Rome missions has brought some confusion. We are now no longer able to recieve emails from anyone but family, and we can't write anyone but family- I'm sorry that this will take more effort for some of you (Amber!) but you'll be blessed for it and I really appreciate your sacrifices and efforts in helping me be obedient.<br />I am being transferred at the beginning of April, so I will get to serve my last 2 in a new city. I do not want to leave Mistretta but I am excited for the chance to meet, learn from, and help new people. I will be able to leave with a peaceful heart knowing that Sorella Olsen will continue to do much good here as she is doing.<br /> <br />Mom, next week we would like to go to Paternò for preparation day- if you are able to, could you send me info of Nonnos birth, parents or relatives, so that we can go to the comune and look someone up and possibly go find them?<br /> <br />We held a ward fast for missionary work- we asked all of the memebers to pray and write down names of their friends and family. Then, we had a break-the-fast at our house after church. We laughed that we managed to get all of them to come, but most of them arrived with store-bought pastries. We are getting them involved in missionary work, but got them all to shop on the sabbath! We might have an idea as to what to teach next sunday................ :)<br />It was a really good branch activity. We set up the table and when everyone walked in, the first thing they asked was "Where's the tablecloth?!" We told them we didn't have any, and we thought of doing buffet style. They wouldn't have it. They put towels underneath their plates and all sat around the table. Rather than going around the table and dishing up, they all sat down and each person passed their plate and they ate in rounds. It was the strangest and most laborious meal I've ever been a part of. I am proud to be 25% Siciliana. I am also very proud to be American- I'm getting the best of both worlds. I have to agree with the Americans on their eating habits though- my patriotism for America has finally started to bloom. Americans are really smart and use good reason in doing most things. <br /> <br />Neither of us have recieved mail for a few weeks. We feel like the missionaries in the Best 2 Years- we are thinking about going to the post office and just demanding to be given someone's mail, just any mail. Now that we can't recieve emails outside of family, either the letters will stop completely, or they will pick up. We are hoping for the latter :) BUT I am very aware that once a missionary hits a year mark in the mission, they are almost "dead" so the mentality is "oh, it's no use writing, they'll be back soon anyways". Don't let this way of thinking affect yours. Remember, I'm keeping a careful record of who deserves my full and undivided attention when I get back.<br />I am completely joking about the mail part. As long as you are safe and happy, so am I. Write Sorella Olsen, though.<br /> <br />We went to Taormina this morning- it is such a beautiful drive. Sorella Olsen and I can't get over how lucky we are to serve here. It is heaven on earth. We could see mainland Italy, the tip of the boot, and we went to a Greek amphitheater and took alot of pictures with the sorella from Siracusa, Sorelle Jones and Salyer. Yesterday, Pres. Kelly gave us permission to take one day of the transfer to dedicate to sight seeing- to take trips that are long distance. We definitely want to go to Siracusa and Paternò, and Mt. Etna might have to wait for a later life because there is still alot of snow on it.<br /> <br />Angela and Francesca are doing so well. Angela has finally made scripture study a daily habit and, much to my surprise, loves the Isaiah chapters. We see her every few days, and it is one of the best parts of the week. Our last appt, she got excited over something and hugged and kissed us both, but while she was kissing Sorella Olsen, something or someone went wrong and they basically kissed on the lips. It was the funniest thing. I told Sorella Olsen to get used to it- it happens. I am convinced that's why we can't side-kiss men. Too many would "accidentally" miss. Ew.<br /> <br />Well. Time is up because a bunch of rowdy 8 year olds are waiting for us to teach them the song "I like to eat apples and bananas".<br /> <br />Buona settimana!<br /> <br />I realize I didn't end this letter on the best note. Um........ In Alma 29:1, Alma describes the wish of his heart. He was always so powerful in calling people to repentance because he had it happen to him- he gained his testimony through an angel calling him to repentance. I realize how important it is to figure out the strong points in our testimonies and develop a stronger testimony on principles we don't have much of a testimony of. We've been invited to do so as missionaries, and I think it can apply to us all.<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-69449199459498639062011-03-11T02:09:00.001-08:002011-03-11T02:09:33.205-08:00Palermo PdayWhat a week full of experiences! Where do I start?<br /><br />While we were at Giuseppina Oddos house weeks ago, Sorella Olsen had commented on one of her house decorations and Giuseppina gave it to her. It was a glass orb with flowers inside, and Pina said she didn't really want to keep it because one day it will break and the water inside would stink up the house.<br /><br />We had it on our desk for a couple of weeks and then we finally decided to just throw it away. We usually put the trash in the car and then stop at the dumpster on our way out of Mistretta. While I was swinging the trash bag into the bin, the bag dropped and the orb broke and splashed water all over Sorella Olsens legs. The smelliest water. We wailed and groaned as we drove to Palermo because it smelled so bad. It was sooo funny.<br /><br />We drove to Palermo for DDM this past Monday, and since we had always seen parking space infront of the church, we asked the Elders if we could pick them up and they show us the way to the church. We did so but when we got to church, we circled the block a few times and couldn't find anything. The Anziani got out and we took off again to look for something. A minute later, they called us and said "Hurry back, we found a spot!" So we came back around and as I crossed the busy intersection, I couldn't see any spot for the car but the Anziani kept beckoning us forward...so we went forward...and blocked both lanes of traffic..."You need to parallel park!". Thanks Anziani, that came a little late. So somehow I managed to double park and we waited for a woman to come outside the pharmacy to take her spot. We waited and waited, and then she finally came out and while she was backing out into the street, she hit a car and that car hit a car which hit another car. I wish I had taken a picture. It was one of the most stressful and funny moments I have had yet. The four Anziani on the curb were all gaping. I guess in Palermo it's a normal thing to hit cars, because no one got out to assess the damage or anything. We finally parked, cheered, (a fruit vendor helped us and then joined in the moment of triumph) and we had DDM. I think that's the last time we are driving all the way to the church.<br /><br />On our way out of Palermo, we stopped to buy some fruit and Sorella Olsen almost lost her skirt. She must have forgotten to zip it after using the restroom :)<br /><br />As for losing skirts at fruit stands: yesterday morning we were buying some fruit and all of a sudden I felt my skirt walking away and I jerked around and there was a kid with his hand wrapped around the hem of my skirt and he was trying to walk away with it! His Dad was standing next to him and not looking nearly as alarmed as I was feeling. I literally had to fight the kid off of my skirt! What was the Dad thinking?! What was he not thinking? I turned to see Sorella Olsens reaction and she had missed the whole thing! Too bad she was the only one- everyone else was staring at me and giggling. Sorella Olsen and I are wearing leggings under our skirt from now on.<br /><br />Sorella Olsen has been having strange dreams about me and Lenora. One was of me smoking and then drinking egg yolk through the cigaretta as a delicious finale. She dreamed that Lenora and Andrew got sealed at the Temple...why does she have good dreams about L and not about me?<br /><br />On Friday, we were invited to Francesca's for dinner. She doesn't really know how to cook but she managed well. Because she doesn't have a stove, she and Pietro (her husband that is almost an ex) came over and dropped off the lasagna for us to put in the oven. Pietro gave us a kilo of ricotta, so we made a lot of cannoli this week and delivered them to all the members and contacts :) They said they'd be back in 30 min. An hour passed. We sat in the kitchen and stared at the lasagna and were sooo tempted to just go ahead and have the dinner party without them. They finally showed up and all of us went together to Francesca's. Daniele came, too. (Daniele is a Purpari, he's the 24 y.o. who is a little messed up from drugs but now he's on the right path) ...Daniele doesn't like Francesca, he actually goes through terrible phases of being flirty with us. He is in one of those phases right now and it really tries my patience because it's remarkably easy to be annoyed with someone. BUT I try to keep in mind how much he has been through and it makes looking at him more bearable. Anyways, where was I? Oh, so Francesca is going through a divorce with Pietro, even though he is still obviously very much in love with her and she says that he is not and that she has forgiven him for some mistakes he has made in the past, etc. She has a crush on Daniele and that dinner was her talking and flirting with him the entire hour infront of her ex husband. We felt terrible for Pietro. We had been meaning to speak with Francesca concerning the matter for a long time, so we went to see her a few days later and talked about it. It is so sad and it breaks my heart. Pietro did make dumb mistakes but he has repented and wants to be a better person, and he would give everything to Francesca if she needed it, and she doesn't recognize how much sacrifice he puts in to caring for her! We told her a story of Sorella Olsen's friend who didn't appreciate her boyfriend until he was gone, and then she regretted what she had had but lost. It makes me think of they many wonderful people who are at my side that I don't appreciate as much as I should. I'm learning alot from Francesca- we want to help her have direction in life, but she is set on not doing anything until God tells her what she needs to do and to "show" her who she has to marry. He doesn't work like that, Francesca! He will never deprive us of our free agency. Ay. <br />Well, we ate a huge dinner that Friday night and then, while Sorella Olsen was saying the closing prayer;<br />"Thank you for Francesca, Daniele, and Peitro.........." and Pietro said "and you too!" so she added, "and for us" and then she said "Thank you that Francesca found a house" and Francesca, really loudly, said "GRAZIE PADRE!!" Sorella Olsen remained quiet and then started let out a stifled snort\laugh, regained her composure, and managed to finish the prayer. <br />It's something that takes a little getting used to, having people chime into a prayer you're saying. <br /> <br />She offered us something she'd been eating for dinner and I, wisely, declined, but Sorella Olsen asked "What is it?" and got as a response "Eat it and then I'll tell you" which is immediately a red flag, but Sorella Olsen took a bite and I inspected it closely and said "Liver?" to which she nodded. Sorella Olsen said it tasted ok till I said that. Sorry! <br />But who eats something with that kind of response "Eat it and then I'll tell you"?!<br />Sorella Olsen has learned her lesson :)<br /> <br />It snowed a little bit here in Mistretta, so the city shut down and we had church at our house. Maria Purpari came to church, and even though he was really late, so did Pasquale! He is under Mistretta arrest, so that was the first time he'd been to church. Vito Purpari gave the talk, and the entire time I was trying really hard to focus on what he was saying but it was really hard to follow....<br />and then later that afternoon we went back to Maria's house and she said she enjoyed church, "but what in the world was Vito trying to say?!"<br />We started laughing because we were wondering if it was just us that thought his talk had had no point to it. Cute Vito.<br />Maria Purpari has been our miracle of the week. Ever since her son got stuck up north and the church helped him return to Mistretta, she has been very humble and open towards us. We have been planning to do a "frank lesson" with her for a very long time, but each time we went it seemed like the wrong timing, etc. but then we finally recognized that it was the adversary who didn't want her to have this lesson, so we headed over to her house even though we were on a time crunch, prayed on her doorstep for His help, and then we went in and Sorella Olsen sang, we said a prayer, and the first thing that came out of her mouth was "I hope one day to feel ready and worthy enough to join your church." It was such a huge help to us that she was the one to bring up the subject of baptism, and it led right into a great discussion with her. She didn't want to set a baptismal date, but she is praying, reading, and keeping the commitments we leave with her. We feel like she will be baptized this month. She's known the missionaries for years and had a baptismal date in 1966- it's time.<br /> <br />Sorella Olsen recieved a package from home with socks in it for us. Neither of us wanted to choose and after some loving arguing as to which socks I wanted, Sorella Olsen stuck them behind her back and had me choose a hand.<br />"Right".<br />My right or your right?<br />Greaaattt. Um, my right.<br /> <br />She showed me the socks she had in her left hand and then said "Oh, darn it!" because she did have a preference even though she said she didn't! These are the types of arguments we deal with together :)<br /> <br />Back to Giuseppina Oddo- she is the one we found in the area book and she had had a bap date with the Anziani a few years ago, and then the set a bap date with us the first appt we had together but then called it all off, saying her husband didn't want us to come over and talk about religion.<br />Well, we have been getting mixed messages from her and we don't believe that the husband is the problem, so we went over and chatted a minute and then we asked when we could come back and she mouthed something about her husband being upset, so we asked her if we could speak directly to him to clear things up. He was staring out the window and only responding "I'm not here!" so we turned back to Giuseppina and told her that until we heard a definite "No, you can't come" come out of his mouth, we would still be coming over. We started sharing our testimonies as to how the gospel has blessed our family and how we know that it can only benefit theirs; she started crying and he walked out, and then out came the real underlying problem. They've always struggled financially and have always recieved help, but they're not willing to put in the effort to improve their situation. Pres. Portera gave us some food to take to them and we did, and Giuseppina's main concern was if we had been seen coming in. She really worries about what the neighbors might say about them. As much as we can understand that it might be a little embarassing on one's part to have to recieve help from others, we are sorry that she is so preoccupied with what others think that it really is a stumbling block. Her oldest kids could do odds and ends to earn money and help the family, but they don't want to and neither does Giusppina want to have to get a job that seems menial. :(. It is sad.<br /> <br />We also taught the plan of Salvation to the Scarito family, and the mom wasn't very excited about getting the chance to spend eternity with her family.<br />It is hard to see the narrow mindedness of some of the people here. We are so lucky to have the gospel in our lives, for the perspective that it gives us, and for the hope that we have in being able to be forgiven and enjoying the gift of eternity with our loved ones. <br /> <br />I'm sorry this is such a scattered email. <br />We are going to spend Pday in Palermo today. The Anziani thought they would be funny and played a prank on us last week, so we are going to brain storm on our way over there and see if we can get them back. We know where they live now. eheh. <br />oh! I forgot to add that when Maria Purpari returned home after church, she found her ex husband on her roof, ready to break the glass because he hadnt seen her around, thought that she had falled down the stairs, and was dead. haha! She has a pretty decent ex husband for checking up on her!<br />Next Tuesday we are going to Catania for zone conference. My Sorella Riffaldi is in Sardegna now so I won't get to see her.<br />Va bono. Have a wonferful week, and appreciate those around you! And don't be too prideful!<br />(How's that for my spiritual thought?)<br />p.s. Our english classes for the elementary students is slowly improving. Sorella Olsen and I still want to have kids of our own, so that's a plus.<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-58081376797942148062011-02-23T05:17:00.001-08:002011-02-23T05:17:42.084-08:00Transfer 9Best news comes first: Sorella Olsen and I are staying together for another transfer! That means that my happiness is set till the 2nd of April. :) I sort of feel guitly spending another transfer with her, like I'm hogging her. Some other Sorella should get to serve with her. Oh well, there time will come. I'm just grateful.<br /> <br />Oh, I guess even better news than that is ...Angela was confirmed! She rang our doorbell on Saturday night to stop by and ask, "Do I have to be at church tomorrow because there is a funeral......?." and then she took one good look at our faces and said, "Nevermind, I'll be in church tomorrow." eheh. Another thing I take for granted are facial expressions. Two people could carry on a whole conversation without saying a word.<br />Angela seems alot happier when we see her than she has been the past couple of months. She still hasn't told her parents, though. <br /> <br />Something I forgot to mention last week was that we heart attacked members doors the eve of Valentine's Day. It was Sorella Olsen's idea- we cut up lots of hearts and taped them to the door with a handful of candy. It was so much fun- especially doing Liria and Antonios door. We didn't know how we could get to their door without ringing the bell, so we rang and went in to see her for a minute, and then she watched us as we walked out of the apartment building but we didn't shut the door all the way. We heart her turn off the light and we snuck back up the stairs. The door wasn't shut and we could hear her right behind it, frying eggs on the heater, and once we heard her approach the door and look through the peephole- we held our breath and smiled, but she didn't see us. It was fun but I do NOT like the feeling I get in my stomach when there's the risk of being caught. <br /> <br />Scambi went well. Sorella Zeller and I took a bus for a couple of hours to Ragusa, and the next day, we spent most of the day knocking on doors. An old member couple invited us to their house for lunch and as we eat, the couple argued about the wife's weight and how she needed to go on a diet, because, as the husband repeatedly informed us, "She just eats too much. You should see the portions she eats for every meal. At least TWICE the amount I eat. That's why she's fat." <br />It was not the most inspiring lunch appointment.<br />On Friday morning, we got soaked from head to two as we walked to the bus station. Did you know that umbrellas don't hold up well under torrential rains?<br />Sorella Olsen successfully drove in Catania! We were separated for just a little more than a day, but it felt much longer. It was indescribably luxury to return home and sleep in my own bed. Even the frigid air was a nice welcome- in Ragusa, the heater was blowing above my face all night and I actually missed being half frozen.<br /> <br />As of yesterday, though, we have heat! The church had to authorize something, gasolio came and filled up our tank, and we are happy campers. When the truck arrived, we opened our window and took some pictures and had a little celebration as they filled up the tank.<br />I stupidly turned off the comp as I was trying to send pictures, so now I don't have much time left. Dad, if you get pics from Sorella Olsen, would you fwd them?<br />For DDM on Monday, we went to Palermo and Sorella Olsen made a layered cake out of crepes, bananas and ricotta cream for A. Roe's 20th bday. It wasn't bad- we want to make a lasagna out of crepes. I have written on my planner to write Alma 37:6-7. Read it and imagine what I would have said about it :) Sorry.<br /> <br />Sorella UrbanDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-47518737925829749932011-02-16T05:28:00.001-08:002011-02-16T05:28:04.031-08:00valentines day :)Today's Pday finds me wet and frizzy-haired in Catania, surrounded by all the Sorelle here in Sicilia (there's 8 of us) because I finally got around to organizing exchanges- I am headed to Ragusa later today with Sorella Zeller, and her companion, Sorella Ashman, is going back to Mistretta with Sorella Olsen tonight. They knew eachother before the mission, so this will be a fun experience for them. And I discovered how the apostrophe works on this computer, so Grandma can read this without cringing. We will meet back here on Friday and return to our beloved cities. It is strange how unpleasant it was to leave Mistretta. I won't feel quite like me until I am back.<br /> <br />We left early this morning, and right as we were leaving the city, we passed a poor hitchhiker. We commented on how sorry we were that we couldn't offer him a ride, because it was windy, raining, and freezing. We passed and to our suprise and horror, it was Daniele, our 24 y.o. Purpari member who always gives us oranges or flowers (last weeks flowers was a bunch of dandelions that later got old and we didnt get them out of our room on time- our floor was covered with white dandelion seeds for a while :) ) Our hearts broke as we passed, so we called our District Leader and explained the situation (that we would be judged one day for passing and not offering help) and we went back and picked him up and gave him an hour ride to the next city.<br /> <br />Mom, we passed Paterno on the way here and we are going to stop there on our way to next zone conference so that we can look around Nonnos city- do we have any relatives there or someone that we can find?<br /> <br />I have no idea how the other sorella are already done with email but I need to wrap this up. What?!<br />Ok. So Angela got baptized. I wish I could write it in detail, but ....in short, it was a miracle. And she droze to death, but she got baptized :) And Sunday shell be a member 100%. It was the best Valentines Day surprise.<br />We will have her "baptismal program" on Sunday because the baptismal ceremony was a little scattered........poor Sorella Olsen sang a song that I hadn't been aware that I would be accompanying and ...I sort of butchered it for her. Oops.<br />Transfer calls come Saturday and we are still pretty sure we are staying together. Pray for it! I don't want to leave Sorella Olsen! Her stomachs been bothering her a little bit...and I have bubbles on the back of my throat, but only on one side. Mistretta gives us weird diseases!<br />Danielle said they picked up a rabbit that had just been run over by a car, and that Nino is cooking it now. Um..... Its a good thing I wont be here for his birthday party tomorrow. Auguri Sorella Olsen! evil cackle. eheh.<br /> <br />Buona settimana!!!<br />oops. Sorella Olsen just told me that her dads family used to cook roadkill. I dont mean to make it seem that its not something normal to do!<br />im going to fwd some pics that sorella olsen is attaching. enjoy!Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-27370384124982028992011-02-14T11:43:00.001-08:002011-02-14T11:43:19.319-08:00:)I guess I cant make Sorella Olsen write the weeks adventures all the time....<br /> <br />Pday has been fun so far :) We spent the morning teaching English to some women, and then we went to the hospital to talk to some parents who are organizing a class where we will teach 9 year olds some English. We are hoping that this turns into a great opportunity to have the kids fall in love with us and that will be the golden ticket into their homes, teach them the gospel, and have them baptized and sealed in the Temple. Sounds like a good plan, eh?<br /> <br />Sonia had her birthday this past week, and she and her dad, Nino, invited us for a birthday lunch. We ate. And ate. And included in all that labor, was baby pig. The piece on my plate had HAIR. I cut around it but I felt like I was chewing on a mans chin. I wouldnt have survived it if there hadnt been bread on the table. The unfortunate thing is that I filled myself up to much with bread to get that meat down, that I started to feel really sick and we had to hurry home and I threw up. It reminded me of when Dad ate the slab of pig fat in Armenia and laid sick in bed for a few hours and groaned :)<br /> <br />Vito Purprai gave us a sculpture of a horse made out of cheese. We were going to eat it for a special occasion, but last nights absence of dinner qualified for a special occasion so we ate it. <br /> <br />We are teaching the man we buy fruit from, Vincenzo. We taught him the restoration last Friday- we stood around his fruit truck and talked. He said he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon, along with his assitant friend, Ignazo. We stopped by this morning to remind them of our next appt, and we asked them how the reading was going and if theyd prayed. He told us, "I have a problem. I cant read", so we asked Ignazo if he could read outloud to Vincenzo. He said, "I cant read outloud. I get confused". So, we have Vincenzo who cant read and Ignazo who cant read outloud. Teaching them will be interesting :) They DID say that on Sunday, theyd been selling fruit and a group of Jehovahs witnesses came up to them and started talking to them and asked if theyd be able to read and pray with them. Vincenzo pulled out the Book of Mormon and said, "Thats ok with me as long as then we can read some of this book and pray my way (the way we taught him to pray)". They turned around and walked away. Vincenzo is awesome! He said "I know the Book of Mormon is true, because you wouldnt lie to me, would you?" Its very touching how willing he is to believe us, but we told him that he doesnt have to take our word for it, and we dont want him to take our word for it, but that he can pray to know the truth for himself. We are also relieved that he is interested in the message and not just the messengers. We jokingly decided that we wouldnt wear makeup to the first appt to see if hed agree to set up a follow up appt.<br /> <br />Francesca is still in the mental hospital and has to stay here for an undetermined stay becuase they are changing her meds. She suffers imbalances since her childhood, so we went on Sunday night to go visit her with a member, Maria, and Francesca SCREAMED when she saw us walking up to her and she jumped up from the cafeteria table and jumped on me. I couldnt unwrap myself for a full ten minutes, and the only reason she let go of me was because there was Maria and Sorella Olsen to hug. Their entanglment lasted 10 minutes, too. Francesca is going to convert the whole phsych ward. She is such a good missionary and friend to everyone there. She called us this morning and asked if we would bring lots and lots of books of mormon the next time we came :)<br /> <br />Guess what? Sorella Olsens next door neighbor with Hans Howell (sp?), the guy I went on my first date with from EFY with Lenora and Alejandro!<br /> <br />We went to the questura to do Sorella Olsens permesso di soggiorno which allows her to be here legally. The man who helped us looked her over carefully as he was filling in her information, and then he stood up and pulled her to stand underneath the light and he said she had green eyes. We both looked at eachother and then back at him and told him she has blue eyes. He insisted that they were green and took her back under the light, and acted like we didnt know what we were talking about. A few mins later, he was still bothered by the fact that we didnt agree with his professional diagnosis, so he put her under a different light and, voila! her eyes were blue and still are blue. <br /> <br />Vito Purpari told us that someone once commented that he looks like Richard G. Scott. Since the moment he told us that, we cant NOT marvel at how much he looks like Elder Scott. We feel like we are in his presence everytime we are with Vito. PLUS, he showed us a picture of him when he was younger and he looked so much like Elvis Presley!<br />We are trying to help him feel encouraged and uplifted. He has a very tough situation at home and we have made it a point to stop there a couple of times a week to read the scriptures together around the table. Usually, its just the three of us, but sometimes his wife will stay in the same room. Its so sad to see how miserable and unhappy they are for no good reason. I mean, they do have reason to be sad, but not reason to remain sad. Thats why the Gospel is so important. Because it teaches us principles that if we just applied, we can face every problem and trial better prepared because we know exactly who we can turn to for help and guidance.<br /> <br />We are eating lots of bananas and apples. I had no idea that banana bread is SO easy to make!<br /> <br />Giuseppina Oddo, aka Pina, the woman with the baptismal date who cancelled it the day after and said that we couldnt talk about religious things in her house bc her husband was against it and we didnt believe this was really the excuse and this is seriously a run on sentence and I aplogozie profusely,<br />WELL- we went to her house and miraculously, in the presence of her husband, sang, prayed, and taught about the plan of salvation, sang, and then prayed again---without the husband ever getting mad or throwing us out of the house. We are trying to figure out what Pinas underlying problem is, because her husband is just an excuse to cover something up.<br /> <br />We decided that if Angela was going to be in church on sunday, we had to see her saturday night. We went to her parents house where she is staying, and we read the scriptures with her and she said that shed be ready for church when Antonio passed by to pick her up. <br />Sunday morning, she didnt answer to our 8:00 squillo (we wake her up on sundays). We jumped into the car and drove down to Reitano and knocked on the door. Presently, Angela answered and her hair was wet and it looked like she was getting ready for church! Not. She said "Oggi, non scendo". Today, Im not coming down. Preach my gospel tells us to be devastated when someone doesnt keep a commitment. It was very easy to be devastated. We started talking and she invited us into the living room where we sat down. We spent nearly an hour speaking with her. She admitted that we were right in everything we said. Im just going to sum up what happened in a conversation so I can avoid saying "we said, she said":<br />"Angela, why arent you coming to church?"<br />" I had a really bad night because I have diarrhea"<br />Theres a really nice bathroom at church.<br />No, I cant come. I dont want to see someone who comes to Relief Society.<br />Angela, why do we go to church?<br />For God. To feel good.<br />Exactly. If we went to church for others, I dont think anyone would go to church. But we go to church because Heavenly Father knows we need it, and we take the sacrament. (we listed off some of her blessings, like being a mom, and then asked her if she was grateful and she said she was and thanks God every day for her children)<br />Angela, you show God you are grateful for your blessings and that you love him by obeying him and going to church!<br />I know. I swear that I will come next week.<br />Nothing will change Angela. THat sister will still be there next week. It will just get harder for you to come next week if you dont come today. This is a test of your faith. Heavenly Father is testing you right now to see if you will do what he has asked you to do, or if you will give Satan retta.<br />(she said "I know" to everything we said) We then explained that "I know" needs to be followed by action, otherwise it is worthless.<br /> <br />We promised her that the second we would leave the house, shed regret her decision.<br /> <br />Well. She progressively looked more and more upset. We were already late to church so we told Angela that we had to leave with a prayer. She wanted me to say it but I refused to and said that she had to pray and tell Heavenly Father why she wasnt coming to church. (I guess Im getting good at taking people on guilt trips- agh!) We kneeled down and she didnt want to say it. We stayed on our knees for a good 15 minutes and remained silent while she started to sniffle and avoid our stare. If Ive ever seen someone getting beat up by the Spirit and by their guilty conscience, it was Angela right then. We were getting to be really late to church so we said "We are ready. Pray" and bowed our heads and she finally prayed. She really struggled through it.<br /> <br />We left and went to church, and I had the strangest sense of satisfaction to see how upset she was. I knew she was really turning things over in her head.<br />That night, we went with Pres. Portera (the branch president) to see her. She told President what had happened, "The Sisters told me Id regret it, and I sure did. Ive never felt so bad in my life. I was debating whether to go or not to go. Sorella Urban told me I had to pray and that I couldnt avoid God. I didnt want to but they made me and I knew that Heavenly Father was disappointed in my choice. I felt like nothing more than dirt for a long time after theyd left. Ive promised myself that I never want to miss church again beacuse I know its what we need to do on Sundays.<br /> <br />Very good, Angela :) She said "I took a step forward from that experience, and I dont want to tell you what Ive decided to do, because Im too excited." We asked, "Baptism?" and she laughed and said it wasnt that yet, but that she does still want to be baptized because she knows that this is the only true church with Gods authority on the earth.<br /> <br />We are happy for Angela and that it was a good experience for us all. It fortified my testimony on the importance of being obedient. DC 130:20-21 reads, "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated- And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to taht law upon which it is predicated". <br /> <br />Its so true! I know that I cannot expect Heavenly Father to bless me with what I stand in need of if I do not put myself in position to recieve those blessings. <br /> <br />For Valentines Day, we are planning a branch FHE and we will talk about the love of God. We are also going to heart attack everyones doors the night before. Ive never done it before and I know that everyone will love it because its something different. Turido, Angelas dad, has leukemia and doesnt even know becuase they dont want him to know about it. He was a very stern and strict father, and the first time I met him, I believed all the stories Angela told about her childhood. But, over the past month, his heart has been softened and he even cooked sunday lunch for us once, and when we go see Angela he always asks if we can stay for dinner. We had to turn him down once and he was so upset. I love Turido! He loves teaching us Siciliano. <br /> <br />Renzo stopped coming to institute and english class so we called him to see what was up and he said that he was done with the church and didnt want anything more to do with anyone. We have been praying for him and he came to institute yesterday and to english class, and asked if we had any banana bread to give him :) Renzos back!!! We are so happy, esp because he is who we think needs to be prepared to be the next branch president.<br /> <br />Liria ........ is still on a "mormon break" and we are the only ones she lets into her house. Pride is so damaging. The interesting thing is that it is just us who it hurts when we take offense. We are the ones who lose when we hold grudges or anger towards someone.<br /> <br />Va bono. Our heater doesnt work anymore but 1) Im used to it, ormai and 2) Sorella Olsen is quickly getting used to it. Thank goodness for Lenoras BYU hoodie!<br />We also feel ancient. Every missionary supposedly falls apart towards the end of their mission. I still have a while left so Im getting a little worried, it cant be happening to me right now! But whats Sorella Olsens excuse? The downhills of Mistretta, thats what. I have calluses on the tips of 8 toes. The tips! We fear that our shoes will split at the front :) Its pretty funny. When we go running in the morning, we take turns moaning and groaning with every stride. I think the peanut butter mom sent is whats keeping us together.<br /> <br />The Elders of Palermo want to go to find the Francesca family next Pday, so maybe we will write in the evening again.......<br /> <br />Thanks for your letters, prayers, love, and support. I am so happy to be here in Sicilia. I am daily reminded of how blessed I am. Today, for example, I am grateful that I can read and write. I take so many things for granted. ay ay ay.<br /> <br />Sorella UrbananaDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-4123452868983053562011-02-07T01:25:00.001-08:002011-02-07T01:25:16.091-08:00why can I never think of a good subject line?The owners of this internet cafe are engrossed in a wrestling match on t.v. 1) we arent supposed to watch t.v. so its a little distracting trying to write and block out the noise and 2) there are half naked men all over the screen. eheh. (this is how Italians laugh).<br /> <br />What a week!<br />I hit and passed my year mark on the 20th of January. Its been an incredible year. I have grown in both senses of the word :)<br />I have come to understand at a deeper level how perfect Heavenly Fathers plan is for our salvation and happiness. Ive met so many good people and learned from their failures and triumphs. I am also learning (I was just about to say patience, but then this man stuck his phonecall with his little girl on speaker phone and it is getting on my nerves, so Ill just say that patience is something that Im going to have to constantly work at) that happiness is a choice and not a consequence. The simple, basic things of the gospel are what protects us and our families. <br />Most of all, I understand better who I am and who Heavenly Father is, and what that means to me personally. I definitely have a better idea as to what I need to work on, what I want in an eternal companion, and what I need to learn and apply to raise a happy family. I know that reading scriptures as a family, having family home evening, and praying together are simple but so important. And, above all, I have come to appreciate and love my family more. I have been so blessed for the life Ive had so far, for having the Gospel, and I have hope in a brighter future.<br /> <br />I want to share a little experience that I really appreciate. On Monday, we were having personal study and the light started to flicker and went out. We had already gone through the hall and the classroom light to replace the lightbulb in our bedroom, so our next option would be taking the kitchen or bathroom light out. We were too engrossed in the our studies that we didnt get up till study was over; the washer machine was running but the fridge wasnt. It was all a little strange so we went outside into the basement and checked the fuse- nothing was wrong with it. We decided to wait a few hours before calling someone to come look at it. We started companionship study with a prayer and while I was praying I thought to myself "Why not?" so I asked Heavenly Father if He would fix the light so that we could avoid bothering Pres. Portera whos already busy as it is. Right after we finished singing a hymn, the light flickered on and stayed on. We both looked up and said "Grazie!" :) It was something trivial that could have been fixed with a small amount of effort, but He knew it was something that would make us happy, and He fixed the light for us. I love how much He watches out for us, and sometimes, we just need to ask for help. It can be something small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but its important to Him because its important to us. It gives me so much comfort and security knowing that we are not alone, and that we are being watched over by someone who loves us, and who is more than willing to help us out.<br /> <br />We return to our appartment usually from 13:30-16:30 to study the language and to have lunch. We ate a big lunch and just as we were getting settled in to study, I thought of calling Nino, who we had an appt to have dinner with that night. His first words were "Where are you?". <br />He thought we were coming over for lunch....and I didnt feel like telling him that it was actually dinner that we had been invited to, I said "We are on our way!" and I scrambled around and called to Sorella Olsen, "We are going to Ninos for lunch!". We booked it to Ninos while trying to keep our lunch down, ate crepes stuffed with the weed vegetable that everyone seems to feed us, and we had to eat quickly because Sonia, his daughter, wanted to take a nap. We were about to explode.<br /> <br />Angela, our investigator who we now want to set her 8th baptismal date for Feb 14th, has found a job in Reitano, a city (450 inhabitants) 20 min from Mistretta, so since we cant go to her place, we have now started stalking her at her parents place. I had met her parents once before and her father was the one Sorella Jones and I had spent at least 20 minutes kneeling on the floor, encouraging him to pray. Alot has changed in 3 visits. He still wont pray because he is upset with God, that bad things happen to good people. We somehow wormed our way into his heart and he invited us for Sunday lunch. Angela called us to make sure we were coming, because her Dad was so excited about it that hed be crushed if we didnt show up. We assured her we were looking forward to it too, and we even skippe breakfast because we knew what we would be facing. <br />He made us pasta alla carbonara- he took, no joke, 500 grams of butter and melted it with 500 grams of parmiggiano cheese and a bunch of stripped bacon and fried it all together. Then he added the cooked spaghetti and cracked a couple eggs over it and thankfully he cooked it a little more before serving us. I have to admit, it was really good, but all the grease sort of put a damper to it. I could feel my heart start to pump harder to get blood through my clogging veins. Then we ate some fried meat--- <br />He is adorable. He reminds me of a gnome even though hes not too short. Maybe its his ears that stick out. And he has the brightest blue eyes that get all wide when I hiccup while talking, or Sorella Olsens stomach will growl (her stomach makes noise ALL THE TIME! It has now become our biggest disruption during lessons because we will try to ignore it but then start giggling as it goes on and on and everyone else starts to comment and look around. It is HILARIOUS.)<br />Anyways, Sorella Urban will stop thinking about how in love she is with the man and get on with the moral of the story.<br />I love Salvatore. He even gets a kick out of only speaking Sicilian and then testing my comprehension. As sad as I am that Im really never getting and good Italian practice (Firenze, I learned Spanish, in Rome, I learned Tagalog and Romanian) I am pleased that Im not as lost as I once was when the conversation is only in siciliano. Yo saccio picca picca! (I know a little bit)<br />Little by little, his heart is getting a little softer. We read Mosiah 24 with him last night; I love the Book of Mormon. There is no coincidence as to which stories are in it.<br /> <br />There is the Purpari family- alot can be said about them. Vito, the dad (in his late 50s) has been really down this week because of the situation at home with his kids and wife. We went to the Villa (he is the head gardener here and hopes to be able to work on the Temple grounds in Rome) and he expressed concerns for his family and the desires of his heart. What I would have given to just wrap my arms around him and cry with him. So much pain and suffering in that family. The worst part is that there doesnt need to be- they could be so much happier. We asked them to read the BoM as a family every night, and Vito has been, even when its just him who sits at the table and reads outloud because no one wants to join with him. He said, "We all find ourselves in love with something at some point, and right now, Im in love with the Book of Mormon. Heavenly Father has given me answers in something that Ive read every day this past week. I dont have the strength to go on, but I have found something in reading that has helped me get through the days." <br /> <br />Maria Purpari, Vitos sister, has known the church for a very long time. We decided to start teaching her son, Renzo, a less active, at her house so that we could "kill two birds with one stone" type of thing. We were really excited to find a copy of How Rare a Possession and to watch it with them. Sorella Olsen and I were all worked up at how great the lesson and spirit were going to be, and we got halfway through the movie and then- heard a deep, steady breathing. Maria was fast asleep.<br />Renzo woke her up and she watched the rest of it, but struggled through it all. Oh well. The great thing is that Renzo, at the end, turned to us and said "Ive never prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true. That is what I need to do tonight." <br />I took care to not blink in the split second where Mom is in the pharmacy :)<br /> <br />We are going to the town where Vincenzo di Francesca was born to hunt out his living relatives for todays Pday activity. We got permission to take Liria with us- she is Antonios sister (the one who adores sorelle) and we are super happy she can come with us because shes really depressed and stays inside the house taking care of their dying mom. Zone conference got pushed back a week so we will hike Mt. Etna next week if it stops erupting.<br /> <br />(Its harder than I thought to write spiritual experiences when there are men in the background grunting and fighting!)<br /> <br />Oh! Two nights ago, when we had just left Maria and Renzo Purparis house, we were walking past the Mistretta jail and I looked up just in time to see an old woman get hit by a car. We dropped our umbrella and ran to her- within a minute there were quite a few people around us. It was dark and rainy and the poor driver woman couldnt be blamed. They wanted to move her and I advised against it but they wanted to another woman and I lifted her up and carried her to a nearby church and set her on the stairs. The only thing the poor grandma was worried about was her purse. In my mind I was thinking "And youre not worried about your skirt being up around your waist and a 14 y.o. boy carrying your legs?"<br />haha, just jk. She seemed ok and since there were so many people there, we slipped away and continued on our way to go find a lovely family from the area book, la famiglia Oddo. Mamma Oddo has a testimony about the BoM but wasnt baptized because she didnt want to be different from the rest of her family. <br />Two of her kids, ages 13 and 17, came to church on sunday :) There is much to do with them!<br /> <br />Ok, times up. So many stories to share still! Oh well. No old woman died this week :)<br /> <br />VVB,<br />Sorella Urban<br />p.s. Lenora, while I was licking an envelope closed yesterday, I got a cut on my lip!Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-68737397555933637962011-02-07T01:20:00.001-08:002011-02-07T01:20:26.822-08:00read sorella olsens email because mines terrible!Now, the question is, where does email time go?!?!<br /> <br />Last Pday, we went to Gratteri and found relatives of Vincenzo Di Francesca! They showed us his house and we took some pictures that hopefully we will be able to send when Sorella Olsen gets her camera cord. Oh dear, I really dont know what to write having such little time left! Im having Sorella Olsen forward me her letter that she is writing home and Im just going to send that to all of you, ok? Im sorry!!<br /> <br />We had zone conference yesterday- it rained all the way there but miraculously we made it on time. Sorella Olsen sang a solo and I accompanied her and she was nervous because shes never sung a solo before, and her nervousness was contagious and I got all nervous and my arms went all funny and I somehow made it through the hymn and my respect and admiration for S.Olsen sky rocketed. She has such a beautiful voice, and the neatest thing is that, to overcome her fear, shes been singing for our investigators and members. They love it and so do I.<br /> <br />A few days ago, we had just left the house and were walking past a woman that we said "Buon giorno, come sta?" and she smiled and revealed...two teeth? and we slowed down and stopped next to her and I asked if she needed help carrying her bag and she waddled over to me, stuck her hands out, and started tickling me while making this weird noise. It took me by surprise and I grabbed her hands and held them and somehow said "have a good day!" and we laughed the entire next block. Thats a first for me. Getting tickled by a toothless woman. (I recorded it as the miracle of the day).<br /> <br />Bythe way, this is something Ive been doing that I really like and want to continue with my own family. I have a calendar, and every night before going to bed, I think about the day and write down something that was really neat or strange, or ...just different. Its so much fun, and its a good way to reflect on how the Lord has showed his love for me that day. I think its something fun that we could all do- a miracle calendar. We saw Liria this week and shes been very depressed and not responding to anyones phonecalls- we are the only ones she lets in. We talked about Heavenly Fathers love for us, and we asked her to tell us some things shes been blessed with, and she said "Nothing. Ive been blessed with nothing".<br />Her words made my heart ache. How can anyone say that? That is so sad. I know that we need to look up, as Peter did, towards Christ to find the joy and peace that we are all in need of. Only when Peter looked around him and saw the tempest did he begin to sink. All of us are surrounded by the tempests of life, but by keeping our faces toward Jesus Christ, we can and will stay afloat.<br />I know Heavenly Father blesses us every day. Its sad that we sometimes dont aknowledge or appreciate the little things. I am making it a focus to be more grateful, and to be more positive in everything I do. Happiness really is a choice.<br /> <br />Yesterday, we learned the importance of being actors and not reactors. It goes along perfectly with what S. Olsen and Ive decided to be our months theme-<br />"Therefore, strengthen your brethern in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings" DC 108:7.<br />Theres alot more I want to add but no time! Thank goodness S.Olsen uses her email time wisely and I can pinch off of her email!<br /> <br />We decided not to stay to hike Mt. Etna because it was pouring and we would most likely be 100% frozen, so we left at 17:30 and somehow ended up on the road taking us through Messina, so it took us 4.5 hours to get home rather than the usual 3. Maybe it was a blessing because we avoided the curved roads of Nicosia. It was raining so hard in Catania that I was afraid water would pour in if I opened the door. It was really cool, and giving me good driving experience :) BUT, I also recognize how protected we have been. Having the car is such a blessing! Before the car, missionaries would have to stay and get a hotel for the night when theyd go to different cities.<br /> <br />Pres. Kelly said we can expect to be together another transfer. I am so happy. Its been so fun to watch Sorella Olsen bloom. She used to say very little during lessons, and she was just too nice, but now she is learning that we can be very open and blunt with people. Now, when Angela goes way off topic for more than 3 minutes, Sorella Olsen speaks up and gets it back on topic. I dont want to say shes learning to be rude, but... thats sort of how it is. Not rude, but....? Its a good sort of rude. Its a necessary talent here :) And I have an overabundance of the talent, so its a good thing shes picking up on it, otherwise everyone would think that Im just the mean one. hehe. Oh, she said that her parents have found my blog. gag me. I used to want to meet them, but Im not so sure anymore. My writing is so random and scattered! If they do read this: Dear Mamma e Papa Olsen; Dont fear for your daughter. She is in good hands, despite what my emails must make me seem :) p.s. Sorella Olsen always talks about your cooking (in particular, your birthday cakes)- my birthday is July 16th, and I love cake, and I love icecream. hint hint. HAHA, just Jk.<br />oohh so much to write, so little time!<br />we went and hunted down angela at her parents house- her dad got visibly mad that we said we couldnt stay for dinner, so we did. To save the rest of the family from his wrath. I love him. We ate sausage with LUMPS, BALLS of white fat. I swallowed mine whole and S. Olsen used alot of bread to get hers down. I love it when we suffer together, it seriously is bonding. <br />Ok. I really need to peel myself off this computer. Enjoy Sorella Olsens email :)!<br /> <br />Love, Sorella Urban.<br /><br />Dear, Dear Family,<br /><br />First of all, Happy Birthday Diana!!!! I hope it's a wonderful day. I love you! It's weird to think that today would have been the day that I entered the MTC...weird. I'm so glad I'm here! I love it!<br /><br />Yesterday I attended my very first Zone Conference. It was great! I loved getting to see President and Sorella Kelly. They are absolutely amazing. They are just so sweet and kind, I love them! Here's something that might come as a bit of a surprise to you: I sang a solo at Zone Conference. Yes. It was SO scary! I never sing in front of people. Our zone leader called us last week and said he had received "revelation from on high" that the Mistretta sisters were supposed to provide the musical number at zone conference. I thought it would be disrespectful to ask my zone leader to pray again. Sorella Urban and I just laughed, but then we realized that he was serious and that we really had to do it. She said there was no way she could ever sing. I said, "Me neither!" Unfortunately I sing in the car all the time and she knows that I enjoy singing. I said there was no way in the world I could ever sing a solo in front of people, but it seemed that that was our only option. We were trying to think of a song, then I remembered that I have a copy of "I Know that My Savior Loves Me" in Italian. I love that song so much. I figured that if I was singing a song that meant a lot to me, maybe I could do it. So I told Sorella Urban I'd try singing in sacrament meeting on Sunday and if I could do it without totally croaking then we'd be okay. I did it on Sunday, my very first solo. I also sang it in every lesson we taught on Sunday and Monday. Even though I'd gotten comfortable singing it in lessons and with the Mistretta members, I was beyond nervous to sing it in front of all the missionaries. It went okay. I was shaking so bad. So yeah, that was a new experience for me. Then, as soon as I sat down, I had to get back up again and introduce myself and bear my testimony since I'm new. It was a very full five minutes for me. Sorella Urban and I had had to wake up extra early to get there on time because it's a 3 hour drive. It rained the entire day. We were going to stay in Catania for the night and hike Mount Etna today with other missionaries, but since the roads looked like rivers (no exaggeration), we decided that it would be a dumb thing to try. It's in our plans for next transfer! After everything ended at about 5, we decided to just drive home to Mistretta. It was SO rainy! There was so much water in the roads. Luckily Sorella Urban is a fearless driver, she was completely calm. <br /><br />Okay so last week I said that we were going to find the relatives of Vincenzo di Francesca, I need to tell you the story. We drove to Gratteri, which is even smaller than Mistretta on top of an even higher mountain. It has the most spectacular view I've ever seen! So we brought Liria with us. Liria is about 45, she hasn't been coming to church and she rarely leaves the house. She is always very depressed. Her brother Antonio gave us the idea, and he stayed home with the mamma while we went. She was so excited about our afternoon together. Usually when we got there she's wearing sweats and hasn't really done her hair or anything. She was wearing all sorts of makeup and jewelry, she even had a fur scarf on. She really needed this outing. <br /><br />We asked at the gas station as we entered Gratteri where the famiglia Di Francesca lives. He said there were several Di Francesca families there, and Liria chimed in "Il Mormone! Vincenzo il Mormone!"...the man was even more confused, so we had to explain to him that Vincenzo had lived there many years ago. He directed us to the nearest Di Francesca's. We had no idea if this was the right family or not. Sorella Urban was nominated to speak into the doorbell when they asked who was there. She said that we were looking for the family of Vincenzo di Francesca. There was some hesitation on the other end, then Sorella Urban said, "Siamo mormoni" ("We are mormons"). The person on the other end just laughed and said she'd be down shortly.<br /><br />Apparently quite a few people have come ever since the movie was made. Liria started crying as soon as we were in the house and the woman was kind of thrown off by that. She asked us if Vincenzo di Francesca was a saint in our religion, haha. Her mother came down and spoke with us, then she took us to Vincenzo's house which was just around the corner. She showed us the window that he used to always sit by to study and think. He also used to sing all the time, and you could hear him singing through the open window. We didn't get to go inside because the woman we were with doesn't have a key. Her sister-in-law does, and she is a little "particolare" as our new friend put it. We learned what she meant when the sister-in-law came out and yelled at us. She was the oldest, smallest woman I've ever seen! <br /><br />It was such a neat experience! We met Vincenzo's nephew, and his nephew's wife and daughter. The woman that yelled at us is his niece. The nephew and his family were so nice! They are catholic, unfortunately no one else in Vincenzo's family ever joined the church. They had a copy of the movie, so they sort of knew the story. They said they'd read a little bit about our church online when the movie came out because they were curious. We asked them if they already had a copy of the Book of Mormon and they said no. We were really surprised, but pleased because we had lots of extra copies in our car. We asked if they'd like a copy of the book that Vincenzo had found and that had changed his life. They said they would. Sorella Urban and I ran to the car and wrote a little note with a little explanation and our testimonies on the inside of the front cover, then we gave it to them! We really hope that they will read it. How neat would that be if they read it and were able to find the same answers that he was able to find!<br /><br />After we returned home from Gratteri, we had an appointment with a family in Mistretta. We dropped sweet Liria off and headed there. I was so glad we had been able to bring her. Our simple little invitation meant so much to her, I didn't realized how much until we saw all of the effort she had put into getting ready. She was wearing blue and pink eye shadow and lots of sparkly jewelry. We all had a lovely time together.Our lesson went well. So well, in fact, that at the end we set a baptismal date with the mom! I was in shock. She had been taught by the missionaries about 4 years ago, but stopped having them come because her family is all catholic and she didn't want to be the only one to change. She told us she knew the church was true and the Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was true. Sorella Urban and I just looked at each other and then asked her if she'd be baptized. Sorella Urban shared a wonderful scripture about baptism with her and then she let me ask her to set a date for her baptism. We were so happy as we walked home. Less than 24 hours later, however, Giuseppina (the mom) called us and said that she didn't want to get baptized anymore. She said she didn't want to cause problems in her family. She said we can come over and chat, but we're not allowed to sing or pray with her. We tried talking to her to try to figure out what caused this change, but she wouldn't say much. We took some banana bread over later that night. She told us it was her husband that told her she couldn't be baptized, but we're not sure that's really it. Her husband is so nice and he just kind of sits there pleasantly while we're there. He made it very clear at the beginning that he wasn't interested, but he's fine with us being there.That was a bit perplexing. We are praying for her and hope that things will change. We stop by from time to time because we are teaching another family in the same complex.<br /><br />So I have to tell a quick funny story. When I first met Sorella Urban, she was telling me something about her blog and how her companions' families and other random people always seem to find it and she's kind of embarrassed/worried because she's very open in her emails home. I assured her that my family wouldn't find it because we're not really bloggers. This Thursday I got a letter from mom and from Erin Mecklenburg. I about died laughing when I read about her blog in both of them. We had a good laugh about it and she asked me to read what both had said about it twice. She is wonderful. Really, I couldn't have asked for a better trainer. <br /><br />Also, I decided that in each email home I will share a scripture from my week of scripture study. Sorella Urban and I have picked this verse as the theme for Mistretta for the next couple weeks. I love this verse, I used to have it taped to my wall at the Glenwood, and it's perfect for Mistretta. It's D&C 108:7. It says:<br /><br />"Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings"<br /><br />Mistretta has a big problem with gossip. Italians, bless their hearts, are very honest and blunt. I can't tell you how many times already that I've heard something like, "Oh I know him, he's the tall man with the fat wife", or, "Oh yeah, the short man that looks like a dwarf..." One of the reasons that Liria isn't coming to church is because Nino told Francesca that Liria is crazy and Liria found out. So we are sharing this scripture with people and talking about following the Savior's example and having charity, the pure love of Christ, in our hearts. It's something we all need to work on. I like how this verse talks about not only the way we talk, but also our prayers. When you pray for someone, it helps you to love them more. It helps you to see them the way that our Heavenly Father sees them. So yes, that is my challenge to you, dear family. I am also working on it. So just think about this verse and keep on your minds this week. <br /><br />I love you all so much. I am seeing more and more every day how blessed I am to have such a loving, supportive, functional family. I love being a missionary. I'm learning a lot. I get frustrated some days, but reading the Book of Mormon always helps. I love the gospel. I love my Savior. <br /><br />I love you!<br /><br />Love,<br /><br />Sorella OlsenDerabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-11606176857348748972011-01-19T06:31:00.000-08:002011-01-19T06:31:13.271-08:00happy mamma
<p><strong>Pointing at me, "Youre Italian and (pointing at S. Olsen) Youre the American one". Thats everyones reaction now. I love it!</strong></p><strong><p>
Sorella Olsen arrived safely in my arms on Thursday at 17:27 in the train station of Catania. She is blond and 6 feet tall. She studied Italian at BYU and is just perfect for mamma Urban.</p><p>
We spent the night there with the Sorelle, and then we took off after our morning studies. We listened to primary Cds with kids singing and it was better than I thought itd be. Hearing Sara once in awhile helped me get through :) It is so cool and strange having to quicken my stride to keep up with my companion.</p><p>
About an hour from home, we stopped by a huge prickly pear plant becuase S. Olsen had never tasted them. I warned her not to touch them and got my gerber out and sliced some off into a bag, and since they didnt look too pokey, she took one off with her bare hands. She spent the rest of the trip with tweezers :(</p><p>
After picking her up from the station, we went to the church to pick up Sorelle to give them a ride to the station because they needed to make it back to their city, Ragusa, that night. That experience of driving has made me dread returning to the U.S. with a valid driving permit. I have to say, Im a pretty good terrible driver. It doesnt make any sense at all, but I am :) Im like a Roberto driver, just not so crazy. Im afraid my excuse "but, but...I just came from driving in Sicily!" wont be accepted by a Utahn policeman.</p><p>
On Sunday, we went with the Purparis into campagnia (countryside) and while we were there, we picked some oranges. We picked happily away until we looked down at our bag and realized that we had more than 20 kilos of oranges. We dragged the bag to the car, hefted it in (it almost felt like we were discarding a body) and somehow we got it upstairs into our kitchen. Oranges are amazing. Since we have so many, we took some to some inactives because they are sick with the flu- "Ciao! We just wanted to drop by and see how youre doing and we brought some..." and as I held up the bag of oranges, our eyes fell upon a mound of oranges on their kitchen counter. Oh well. Its the thought that counts, right?</p><p>
On Friday evening, we stopped by to see if Angela was home. Only her 19 y.o. son, Calogero, was. We said wed stop by later and left. That night, it was about 22:00 and S. Olsen was already almost asleep. The doorbell rang and I thought I heard Francescas and Danieles voice- I thought theyd stopped to salutarci because theyd just pulled in from a trip to Messina. As I neared the door, I got this feeling that I shouldnt open it. I called out to see who it was, even though I was almost positive it was Francesca and Daniele. It was Calogero. We really have never spoken with him before- I asked what he wanted and he just said that he wanted to come in or that I come out. He sounded out of it- I told him that I wasnt opening and to go home.</p><p>
I camped out at the window to watch if hed pass to go home, but he didnt. He stayed at our door for a goodwhile. It was a little creepy. But Im super grateful for the prompting I had to not open the door. Who knows what could have happened; in the past he has beat Angela up bad enough that she has had to be hospitalized.</p><p>
We went to go see the mom of some members (Antonio, the one who loves the sorelle and brings us food). We walked into her bedroom and Liria woke her up to tell her that we were there, and she lifted herself up a little and then wiped her hand ALL AROUND her mouth, clearing off all the drool, and then made as if she wanted to kiss us. I thought Id die watching Sorella Olsens face as she neared the bed, bent down and kissed her. I had to do the same, but Im at least used to it. Welcome to the mission, Sorella Olsen. Mamma B even has a pokey beard!</p><p>
We have two new investigators, Tina and Franco Battista. On our way there, Slla Squarcia and I were talking about how strange it is that everyone claims to have visions of either Christ or angels, and thats how most of the members here have recieved a testimony of the church.</p><p>
We arrived and had the lesson and we were teaching how they can recieve a testimony for themselves about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and I thought to myself "Maria Battistia is someone I can count on to not stray off topic or say something weird," so I said, "You probably wont have a vision like Joseph Smith had, where he was visited by God and Jesus Christ, but through the Holy Ghost, we can know for ourselves. (to stress this point, I turned to Maria and asked)</p><p>
Maria, did you see Jesus Christ?</p><p>
To my horror and incredulity, she responded "Yes!"</p><p>
You saw Christ?</p><p>
Yes, not once, but twice. He came to me, and told me that I was doing the right thing.</p><p>
I saw S. Squarcia in the corner trying to bite her tongue and I somehow managed to keep a straight face. It was tragic. We had just been talking about it and how it seems that everyone has visions here and it just cant be real! And then there goes Maria. No wonder its hard to baptize here- the members tell our investigators that they need to be 100% sure before they are baptized- Angela is still putting off baptism because she thinks that somethings wrong with her because she still hasnt had a vision. oi oi oi.</p><p>
Somehow, we managed to explain how not everyone, at least I nor Sorella Squarcia have ever been visited by heavenly hosts, but we know the Church is true because of the Spirit. phew!</p><p>
Maria Purpari has known the church for tons of years and most of her brothers, nephews, and nieces are baptized. She had a bap date in 1966 but has never been able to go through with it because she feels that she would be a traitor to how she was raised and to the catholic church. Anyways, we had picked oranges with her and then some wild plants- she invited us to her house the next day to eat the weeds we had picked.</p><p>
We arrived, excited to see what awaited. The food was really good- she made an omelet out of (Lenora, remember those plants all over Kazakhstan with the poppy things that we would squish?) this one plant with yellow flowers, and then she served cicoria. Im not sure what cicoria is in english, but it looks like something thats not edible by humans. We both were served big helpings and Sorella Olsen looked like she was struggling to swallow it, so for her last bite I reached over and playfully stole it because it was "oh, so good". She squeezed my leg under the table to thank me. </p><p>
We are teaching the familgia Scarito. They live here in Mistretta and have 3 kids. Does anyone know of a legal way to knock out a kid?</p><p>
Besides Luca, they are wonderful :) Mario, the father, said the closing prayer last night. Its so good to see a family together, kneeling, and learning how to pray. Its on of the most rewarding things.</p><p>
Seeing that we teach Primary and Young Womens, we are getting started on the personal progress program. I wish Id been more involved in it when I was in Young womens. It really is a great program. </p><p>
We now have heating but we have had to turn it off, maybe because we are used to being half numb.</p><p>
We go running in campagnia at 6:30 am and came across several puddles of blood, and then in a tree nearby, we spotted a thing with hooves.....?</p><p>
Va bono. Last week for pday, we drovo to Capo dOrlando and ........... looked around and then at eachother and asked "What were all the great things we heard about this place?" stopped for a minute at the beach to touch the sand, and then drove back.</p><p>
Today, we are going to stick our faces in all the 24 churches of Mistretta. It will be fun :)</p><p>
Zone Conference is next Tuesday and we are hoping to stay in Catania and hike Mt. Etna for Pday so I dont know if Ill be writing next wed or not. it all depends on if Mt. Etna erupts again.</p><p>
Vi voglio bene!</p><p>
Sorella Urban</p><p>
p.s. Slla Jenkins died last week and was here last night on a giro with her parents. It was good to meet her but also slightly unpleasant seeing her with her parents and realizing that that day will come for me too, like it or not.</p><p>
p.s. Angela finally got a job!</p><p>
p.s.s. we spent all morning doing S. Olsens document stuff- she should be legal now!</p></strong><p></p>Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-67200654434851245552011-01-13T11:48:00.001-08:002011-01-13T11:48:29.760-08:00weird things in pocketsFantastic news- Sorella Squarcia struggled to fit into her jeans this morning. I think she no longer wonders why every missionary gains an average of 10 kilos.<br /> <br />For the past week, we had a wretched smell in the car. Every time we got into the car, we would yelp and roll down the window, even if it meant freezing. We checked under the seats, in the trunk, EVERYWHERE and we couldnt find anything that had crawled in and died. Then, suddenly, the smell vanished. Makes me wonder if we had roadkill stuck to a tire or something. Bo. (Or like the story Lenora shared with me, maybe a cat had been clung to the car for so long that it died and finally one of the potholes we went over shook it off.)<br /> <br />I made TONS of choc chip cookies this past week. The first batch turned out great, and then the dozen batches that followed - the cookies were transparent and flat as a sheet of paper. What? Is? wrong? with? our? oven? Or is it just the baker?<br />We delivered them in little baggies with the Christmas candy Id recieved- we stopped at the bishops house and no one was home. I noticed a window open, so perched the plate of cookies on the windowsill, and the peeked into the room and saw a shower curtain. <br />What a nice surprise for them to find cookies in their bathroom.<br /> <br />We recieved the new visiting teaching assignments- out of the 7 companionships, we make up four of those. It continues to amaze me that some have the idea what we are here to just have fun and make memories with the members. No! No! No! Sorelle missionaries have the same call and purpose as Elders do- to find, teach, and baptize! We also walk through puddles, cry after meal appointments, freeze, get doors closed in our faces, etc! But, I am happy we can be of help. I know visiting teaching and home teaching are extremely important. Print this email out and tape it to my forehead if I ever miss a month in the future.<br /> <br />For la Befana (Jan 6th, when a witch delivers candy, like santa clause) we had english class and Francesca told me she was going to bring "modern coal". I thought she was joking when she said shed bring a heater. Francesca showed up with a space heater in her arms- about twice her size. I could just see her walking through Mistretta. Everyone knows she just joined the church. They have good reason to think Mormons are strange :)<br /> <br />Speaking of Francesca: she dreams everything. She told us this past week that she was told in a dream that she is to serve a mission, modify her medication, and that leaving her husband was the right thing to do because she is to marry Daniele Purpari one day. It is astonishing how many people dream responses, dream Christ, dream everything. I almost feel a disagio admitting that Ive never been visited by a heavenly host!<br /> <br />I consider it a tender mercy that Angela doesnt invite us over to eat. Her son just killed two boars (everyone tells us horror stories of how they get chased now and then by these giant, wild pigs. And even the cows are blood thirsty! Our car has dents from when cows have attacked it in the past. I love it!!!) and she had a pan of intestines that she was cleaning out to restuff and fry. ugh.<br /> <br />We went to Nino Purparis house for dinner last night- our appt was at 8:00 which is when English finishes, so we booked it there and enjoyed a quick meal of meatballs, pasta, bread, vanilla pudding, and vegetables (steamed weeds). Nino opened a bottle of what he called "grape juice" but "Sorelle, I think it stayed out a day longer than it should have so Im not going to offer you any because the taste is a little strong." Uh...Nino, wouldnt that be considered wine then? <br />Ninos been known to give wine to the sisters in the past. Sorella Miller, "Nino, isnt this wine?"<br />"No Sorelle, I made it yesterday- drink up!"<br />Sorella Miller did so and "Nino, this doesnt taste like juice. Are you sure?"<br />Nino lowered his head and said "Sorelle, I didnt even make it myself. my friend brought it to me."<br /> <br />So. We didnt taste his grape juice.<br /> <br />During english class, I have Renzo read outloud and I correct his pronounciation. I was fiddling with my turtle neck and sometimes slipping it over my nose to warm it up, and he stopped and said timidly, "Are you doing that because my breath smells?"<br />Hes the same one that said he would stop coming to class because he didnt like the fact that Carmello looked at his lips while he read.<br />I love Renzo.<br /> <br />After class, I offered everyone some american hot chocolate. Antonio commented on how runny it was (Italian hot choc is super dense and can be eaten with a spoon) and guess what? The next morning while we were doing personal study, he rang the doorbell and delivered two cups of "this is Italian hot choc, the way it should be, the way its good". So. I think american hot choc just got snubbed.<br /> <br />Angela was talking and said "13 months of the year I spent there...". No other place would I feel the need to interrupt and clarify how many months are in a year. Im relieved to report that Sicilians are aware that there are just 12 months in a year.<br /> <br />We got a tour of a park here in Mistretta by the member whos in charge of it, Vito Purpari, and he gave us some seeds of this one amazing plant. Id forgotten Id put them in my coat pocket and while I was bearing testimony in a lesson with Angela yesterday, I pulled my hand out of my coat pocked and out fell a poop turd on the table. For a split second I thought "What is poop doing in my pocket?!" and then I realized that it was just a seed thing from Vito. Phew.<br /> <br />We spent ALL day on saturday in the countryside with Eleonora Messina and her family. Shes inactive and lives with her boyfriend and she has 3 kids. We ate ALL day and wanted to do some service for her........ they have alot of cows and we cleaned out their water hole with sticks. It had a bunch of weed and moss in it. It was SO much fun. <br /> <br />We had an amazing lesson with an inactive family, the famiglia Naro. We talked about Alma 32 and how we can gain a testimony on any principle of the gospel.<br /> <br />The church might be moved up to Mistretta. I dont know how I feel about that. Itd be good for everyone here, but I feel like theres so much potential moving the church away. oi io oi.<br /> <br />Its time to wrap up and head out. Tomorrow, we will be going to Catania and picking up my greenie. I mean, verdina. Oops, I meant, new missionary. <br />Then, I think Carla will fly out Friday morning, and then my new sorella and I will drive back on Friday. Im praying that she can handle adventure.<br /> <br />p.s. We have 2 new investigators- Franco and Tina Battista. Francos sister, Maria, is an amazing member. Yay for new investigators! Tina said she felt really good while we were talking, and we helped her by identifying that it was the Holy Ghost. We promised her that if she did everything we taught her and kept the commitments, that she would find happiness. She said shes willing to try it out.<br /> <br />I think Carla and I are headed to Capo d Orlando or Cefalu to have a picnic on the rocky beach or something. Ill try to figure out how to send pics next week. <br />VVB!<br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br />p.s. Happy Anniversary Mom and DAD!Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-74737963149526952572011-01-12T02:36:00.001-08:002011-01-12T02:36:23.569-08:00not worm cheese, but macedoniaFor starters- could someone procure Lias address\email for me so that I can write her? Would she be entering the MTC right about now?<br /> <br />Yes, I am with Sorella Carla Squarcia :) Pres. called us late on Monday night and surprised us with "Youll be picking her up tomorrow morning in Catania" so ...... we did :) I was sorry to see S. Riffaldi go but happy that we got to serve together again. I dont know how I managed but I even know my way around Catania. We picked up Slla Jones from the church, went to the airport and parked in a BUS area (I actually thought I was right outside of the bus area, but appartenly not) because when we walked back out, there was the longest line of cars, honking and blaring, and we looked to see what was causing the mess and I heard someone say something to the effect of "..people parked where the bus is supposed to pull in so it cant pull in" and it was exactly just that. A bus couldnt pull in so had to block traffic as people piled out and unloaded luggage. We were too embarassed to claim one of the cars causing the blockup so we stood off to the side (while I, of course, giggled all the while while S. Jones frantically searched for her camera) till the bus took off, people cooled down, and we got into the car and drove off, quickly ;)<br /> <br />Sorella Squaricas experience so far in Mistretta? Well. We got back to Mistretta at 3:00 and she was hungry, so while she boiled pasta she danced around the kitchen to create some body heat. I didnt think not having heating was that bad because we had a space heater, but that too has decided to take a vacation, so we now fight over who gets to do dishes. Doing dishes means warming up (in the slightest) so its a little strange trying to dirty as many dishes as we can. Making pancakes this morning managed to dirty even all the kitchen surfaces which required some scrubbing...I may have purposely (is that spelled wrong?) dripped on the floor too so that I had to bend down and wipe it!<br /> <br />I took her to meet a few of the members and Francesca, we taught English ......... We teach English every TU and THUR at 7:00 for an hour. I teach advanced, which is usually just Carmello, a non member, and Renzo. Renzo Purpari was an inactive till a month ago, and now we are hoping to help prepare him to be the next branch president. Anyways, he always comes to english class, so when he didnt come twice in a row and didnt come to church that sunday either, we were alarmed and fasted for him. It was all resolved in yesterdays phonecall- he decided to stop coming to English because "when I read, Carmello looks at my mouth. I dont like it." Mi sta antipatico. <br />I told him he shouldnt NOT learn English because some other man likes looking at his lips while he reads, so he came to English last night and I taught them separately. What funny people here.<br /> <br />Slla Squarcia was terrified to teach English but she did very well- they just went over the months of the year. Afterwards, she said that she now understood why I told her she shoudnt get worked up- I think our English lessons are the most laidback and family-like lessons in the mission.<br />We ended with a lesson on Mosiah 24 and then once the clock struck 20:00, we ordered everyone out because we had to run to an appt. We literally had to carry their stuff to the door so that they got out and didnt remain to chat inside. We booked it up Mistretta to Nino and Sonias house (father and daughter, whos wife is american but left them almost 3 years ago) and we had a wonderful dinner of soup and sausage and fresh ricotta. Ive added ricotta to my list of "Things Im discovering I dont like". The minestra was amazing though. I could happily live off of potatoes, peas, cabbage and carrots. While we ate fruit salad for dessert, S Squarcia kept glancing at me and I didnt even think twice about it as I happily munched away on pieces of pear and orange -<br />right before getting into bed last night, she said "Im sorry to say this S Urban, but halfway through dessert, I noticed that it was full of worms. I tried to warn you but you ate so quickly that I couldnt do anything. I managed to set four worms to the side of my bowl while I was eating, but when I got to the end, I could only find one worm left in the juice". <br /> <br />I dont know if Ive ever laughed so much in my life over eating worms. Just the whole concept of helping Slla Squarcia prepare for her mission in a couple of months, her freezing to death here ("Why didnt you tell me it snowed here?! Id have brought more warm clothes!"), and finding worms in her first meal here. Oh well. Mistretta is known for its mystery meat. This time, it just wasnt a mystery.<br /> <br />We found a beer bottle in our kitchen cabinet that we opened and discovered really good pasta sugo inside. Who was it from? Bo.<br /> <br />Antonio is still delivering bananas. Seriously, if he did think I had diarrhea, how long does he think I could have it?!<br /> <br />We are just about doing emails and then we will go back home and write a few letters and I get to read the conference talks!! Dad, THANK YOU. I think I may have slept with the Ensign under my pillow last night. None of the missionaries have recieved that months issue yet so I consider myself super blessed. Thank you everyone for the things you sent me. None of its labeled....except, Andrea, thanks for the pillow case! Its too cute to use :S<br />Lenora- the tights are AWESOME. Im wearing two pairs and the leggings right now. yay!!<br />The candy has been opened and enjoyed by our english students and I just dont know how to divy (sp?) up the cookie mixes. I would make them myself and deliver them BUT I know theyd get burned.<br /> <br />For New Years Eve, we bought a bottle of apricot juice because there wasnt any apple, and we had a romantic dinner of pasta. We left out the candles this time bc we were too cold to go hunt for them in the death closet. We set the alarm at 11:55 and when it woke us up, we were too toasy in bed to step out for a toast, so SR just counted down "10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1! Happy New Year!" and turned her head and fell back asleep. That was our celebration.<br />The next morning, we got up and spent the whole day cleaning. We were fast workers and got most of it done by 15:00 so we were able to read and catch up on things for the rest of the day. Amber asked me if its true that they throw toilets out of windows- only in Naples :)<br /> <br />Is it true juice is supposed to be consumed entro 4 days of opening?<br />Ive been drinking grape juice a sip at a time when I pass the fridge...since Slla Jones was here. I guess its never been enough to intoxicate me. But Carla poured it down the sink today and it sure wasnt juice anymore!!!<br /> <br />Sorella Urban<br /> <br />p.s. Oops, P.S.. Angela didnt get baptized. Still the law of chastity problem.<br />And how do I manage to write a whole email without adding something spiritual? Im a terrible missionary. <br />Read, pray, and go to church!<br /> <br />:)Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-83216865377449861762010-12-30T13:56:00.000-08:002010-12-30T13:56:01.026-08:00Christmas week
<p>Ciao!</p><p>
Seeing that its alot easier writing in bullet points....:</p><p>
Last Wed night, we had the primary program at our house. It went well despite it being just the 8 of us, and I think each of them were at some point or other in our kitchen. Meee. (strange sound that Sicilians make that Im getting to like). Pres. Porteras family brought a pandoro (italian christmas cake) and they gave it to me to prepare- under the watchful eye of their youngest daughter, Lucrezia (Im making a list of names I definitely DO NOT want to use for my children, and Lucrezias at the top of the list!) I tore open the plastic bag around the pandoro and out fell a packet of powdered sugar. Ooops. Lucrezia was sweet enough to point out that I shouldnt have tore the bag and now "How will you put the sugar on?" Ah ha. Thats when the dormant part of my brain kicked in (Mom, "I like to use both sides of my brain" :) ) and I managed to avoid breaking the cake as I put it into a cardboard box, poured the sugar into it, and then shook it. It worked! But the best part was proving to Lucrezia that I can redeem at least some of the stupid things I do. I could just tell from her expression, "Oh, Americans arent that stupid."</p><p>
Friday, Christmas Eve. We drove to the train station and seeing we had a few minutes before the Elders arrived, we walked to the beach and somehow I cut my finger open, so SR told me to wash it off in the water....I carefully approached the water and bent down, waiting for a little wave to roll back towards me, but a giant wave came instead and washed me up to my ankles. I stood there and laughed, and SR apparently got it all on video. Now I have salt marks on my new pair of shoes, so I switched to my old pair because Ive been too lazy to shine them, and ... I have mold marks. haha.</p><p>
The Anziani from Trapani (one of the three points of Sicily) arrived, went to Angelas and interviewed her, ate Mexican Chef Salad burritos (Liria, Antonios sister (the man who always feeds le sorelle) was there with us and she kept suggesting what I needed to do for the salad. Like adding salt into the meat. I love how blunt I can be with people here. I was able to flat out tell her that Id made it before and knew how to make it and she didnt have to tell me how to make it (of course, in a nice way) and she understood and shut up. I think I was made to live among Sicilians. Theres really nothing I could say that would offend someone, just if I didnt eat what they give me.</p><p>
When we walked into Angelas house, Liria said "I have to talk with Anz Rolland!" and pulled him into a different room. A few minutes later they emerged, and Anz R asked if he could speak with me. Liria had told him ALL of Angelas problems and said that she wasnt ready for baptism. He went ahead and interviewed her and the baptism is... still on? ... for tomorrow, but Angela needs to live the law of chastity! So maybe its not going to happen tomorrow. We dont know, and we have been trying to meet with her but she went to a different city for Christmas and yesterday when we were supposed to meet, she had to go to the emergency room for ...........drumroll..........her toe. A toenail had fallen off.</p><p>
SR and I made stockings for eachother; shed always used tights because "they can fit more!" so we did. It was alot of fun carrying our stockings to our bed and taking turns opening them. We just got alot of junk food for eachother. And I bought her a thing of shaving cream so now she has no excuse. Now I just need to lock her into the bathroom or strap her into the tub. She thinks we have bed bugs (which the sister prior to us did :S) bc she feels something biting her legs- I told her to save her lamenting till AFTER the shaves to see if the bed bugs stop biting. I know its just her hairy legs. </p><p>
We went to bed and I started to not feel so well..........</p><p>
and Christmas was spent in our bedroom. It was killing me the thought of having just one christmas in the mission and spending it under 10 blankets, but the thought of going out wasnt appealing. We did have a lunch invite with the Purparis to eat pig head pasta, which might have played a role in my decision to not go.......</p><p>
We talked with our families and then SR dressed up in a Santa outfit and sang hymns for me while tring to keep the moustache on her face. </p><p>
A couple members stopped by the wish us a merry christmas and they found out I wasnt feeling too well, so on the way to church the next morning, this is how the conversation went;</p><p>
Antonio (we ride with him and Liria) : "Sorella Urban, if I may be so intrusive to say... you know what you have to do for your diarrhea? Eat white rice or bananas. Actually, I dont think you should be upset over having diarrhea. I consider it a blessing when I have it because I usually have a hard time going" and this whole time is looking in the rearview mirror at me, and Lirias next to him, nodding. Who said I had diarrhea? SR hadnt said anything about why I wasnt feeling well! But that wasnt the best part.</p><p>
Guess what was said over the pulpit?</p><p>
"Thank you all for coming today. We are happy to see Sorella Urban with us, and hope that she can get over her upset stomach soon and that she can soon eat food without it giving her problems. (then turns and looks at me) You know what you should eat? White rice or bananas. Theyll help you get over the diarrhea. We will now sing hymn number.........." </p><p>
yes. It really happened. </p><p>
And I had to then stand up and go play the keyboard.</p><p>
And then Daniele and Renzo and Nino, (why all men?!) each asked me a dozen times how I was doing.</p><p>
Guess what Antonio handed me during English class last night? A bag of bananas. Really? Why did everyone jump to that conclusion? Oh well. And everyone has been asking me how Ive been and all I have to say is "SR made me white rice" and they all nod their head approvingly. Its easier just to go along with it. The moral of the story? Be grateful your bowel movements havent been announced from the pulpit during sacrament meeting.</p><p>
After church, since we unfortunately missed out on eating pig head, we went to the Purparis and ate pig thigh lasanga. Luckily, since everyone knew quite well about my upset stomach, they didnt force me to eat anything. We then drove to their piece of land in the countryside and Vito showed us his plans of what he will do with the land. He and his wife, Lina, and their son Daniele (who brought us a bag of a green plant that looks alot like dandelions but they boil, fry, and then eat them- the last bag he brought, I boiled them and made an omelet. I cant help but feel like a cow most of the time) disappeared for a second and SR and I peed behind a rock. One of the most liberating moments of our lives. I almost felt back at Marvine, except for being in a skirt. </p><p>
On Sunday night there was a little bit of drama with Francesca- she moved out of Ninos house and is now back with her "husband". Theyre still techinically married but hes under police watch becuase of the things Francesca filed against him. He had a dream that he had to go save her from her current situation, and Francesca believes him and has moved into a different house where he comes each night in the dark and in secret, to deliver some food for her.</p><p>
Last night, Pres. Portera wanted to see where she lived so we went with him to her place and then she wanted to "confess" and Pres begged us not to leave him alone, so we sat on the stairs and tried to not eavesdrop while they talked. She needs to gain 4 more kilos and then shell not be considered anorexic. Whenever we are with her, we bring cookies or something and make her eat it. I love Francesca- she has the faith and humility of a child. </p><p>
While we were at the track running (we found a "track" here in Mistretta that we have started going to during our lunch hour, seeing that SR is incapable of functioning at 6:30 am) we met a Mario who has met with Elders in the past and invited us to come over to meet his family. YAY! We found his record in the area book last night, and we are really excited. </p><p>
Yesterday, we stopped at Lirias and she said that she and Antonio can give us rides, but now refuses to give a ride to Angela because "shes so big and heavy that she broke the motor". ?!</p><p>
It makes me think---------what are some stupid things I do or say that limits me? </p><p>
Now we have to find Angela a ride to church. Sonia could, but she doesnt want to come bc of Francesca. </p><p>
No one else has a car.</p><p>
.... MIstretta has alot of problems, but I am loving it here. </p><p>
I am so excited that I have one more week with SR and then, on the 5th, Ill pick up Carla in Catania and get to serve till the end of Feb with her. A whole transfer and more!!! Im excited to spend the coldest winter months with her. hehe. What precious memories we will make here together. If I had a blast in London and that was just 10 days, I cant imagine being companions with her for 7 weeks. </p><p>
On Monday, we got a delivery. THe postman pulled out a box that I thought was a new fridge- it was a package from the Riffaldis. We now have matching pjs- mines flaming orange. I feel like a mandarino in it. </p><p>
Last night as I was in bed writing in my journal, I looked down and saw a giant, black spider crawling up me. I wailed and think I tossed it to SRs bed and she came out of the bathroom and we TURNED THE ROOM OVER looking for it. We couldnt find it so we moved our beds. bahaha. It reminded me of sitting on the lawn at Grandpas house with Carla and Lenora and they suddenly looked at my neck, jumped up, started screaming, and pelted off. I do not like spiders on me.</p><p>
We were speaking with someone and somehow we got on the topic of names and I asked "Nerina, do you like the name Nerina?" and she got this face and shook her head. haha. Then SR said "Do you like the name Noemi?, its better, isnt it?" and they both nodded. Why grazie :)</p><p>
Ok. We need to run off and go....home. I think we are going to go pack a picnic lunch, come back to santo stefano and eat lunch on the beach, and then go to Sant Agata to look for shoes for SR. Her mom sent her the UGLIST shoes. We both were horrified as we pulled them out of the box. To make her feel better, I put on brown tights with my black skirt and shoes. Thank goodness we dont run the risk of bumping into Pres Kelly here.</p><p>
Vi voglio bene. Happy new year!</p><p>
Sorella Urban</p>Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252419823400560764.post-42543988168967255062010-12-28T07:35:00.000-08:002010-12-28T07:35:22.363-08:00how is it gia natale?!?!
<p></p><p>
I can kick myself for forgetting my plannner- Id made a list of things I HAD to include in todays email. Ill do my best without it.</p><p>
This morning we woke up early and ... put on JEANS!... walked to Ninos house and went together to his land patch. We cleared out pokey weeds and I "mowed" the lawn with a scythe. I loved it. Reminded me of Kazakhstan. Ill try attaching some pics at the end. Its been a good morning. Its my first time wearing jeans in the mission, and its quite comforting that I can still fit into them.</p><p>
I had a disturbing dream that I was with Lenora and she kept complaining about her weight and I remember getting really annoyed because she didnt seem to notice that I should have been the one complaining. Haha. Apparently Lenoras been having crabby dreams about me, and Im starting to have dreams about her where I get upset. Lenora, Lenora </p><p>
I cant believe I dont have my planner! I cant remember what I did yesterday, how am I supposed to remember whats happened since last Wed?! </p><p>
Ok. Last Wed, we left Catania and Sorella Riffaldi and I headed back to Mistretta. Luckily, ALOT of the snow has melted and is almost gone, so we dont risk breaking our necks every time we leave the house.</p><p>
Its great being back with SR. She loves Mistretta and Im starting to fear because she might convince President to take my spot and I get kicked down to her spot in Siracusa ;) The members love seeing an Italian sorella. </p><p>
Guess what? Angela is getting baptized the 30th!!!! This is her 6th baptismal date but she really is going through with it this time. We really feel it. She feels it, too. I asked her why she thinks shes going to go thru with it this time, and she said that while she was sitting there, listing to us teaching her parents last week, it hit her that she cant keep putting it off. Shes taken steps to observing the law of chastity so she should be ready for her 3rd interview on Friday. She has been out of work for more than a year, and the past few days she ran out of wood; the members are WONDERFUL. They got together and pooled some money and bought lots of groceries for her and went to the forest and cut wood. Angela was in tears when they delivered it all last night. Sorella Riffaldi and I were at the point where we were clearing out our own kitchen shelves to donate to the cause but the members wouldnt have it. I love them, they are so incredibly generous and humble.</p><p>
At church, we Sorelle teach young womens (the daughter of Pres. Portera) and then we teach primary (the other 2 daughters of Pres. Portera). They are putting on a Christmas program tonight at our house. I decided to make brownies for it last night, seeing that we thought wed be spending all of PDAY doing yard work, ... our oven doesnt have degrees on it. I have no idea how Sorella Miller baked banana bread, but something weird happened to the brownies and smoked our house out. So, I think even the wall paper has a permanent smell of charcoal. Maybe if I continually burn food, the members will get sick of it and decide to stop using our house for activities....now, thats an idea :) This past Sunday, as church finished and I was walking out towards the car, Francesa pulled me aside and told me my slip was showing. Slla Jones then says, "Oh yeah, I noticed when you got up to play for sacrament but I forgot to tell you". I had my skirt tucked up and my slip showing for ALL of church. All of it. Nevermind that we had a member of the stake there. Nevermind that I get up 2 during church to go to the piano. mamma mia. che figura.</p><p>
Monday stands out in my mind for some reason. We decided to take the train from Santo Stefano (half hour from our house, where church is) to Palermo to have a district meeting with the Anziani and Zone Leaders. Thank goodness we left early: </p><p>
9:00 am: leave house </p><p>
9:05 fill up on gas</p><p>
9:07 left gas station</p><p>
9:07.15 heard strange noise</p><p>
9:07.20 pulled to the side of the autostrada</p><p>
9:08 our front tire was propio flat</p><p>
9:09 finished laughing and very slowlyyyy drove the car to a gravel road </p><p>
9:15 realized that neither of us knew how to change a tire. Decided to pray to get revelation in hopes of being enlightened on how to change a tire. </p><p>
9:18 no vision on how car mechanics worked...so we called up Antonio and he came over and fixed the tire :) We love Antonio. He loves us.</p><p>
10:00 left gravel road.</p><p>
10:02 Got pulled over by police. Handed over my UT license. They looked at it, whispered to eachother, and handed it back. </p><p>
10:07 I started breathing again</p><p>
10:08 not more than 200 meters later, I got pulled over again by 2 other policeman. This time, they asked me to point out where my name was on the license and DOB. </p><p>
10:15 Sorella Riffaldi snapped a picture of me talking to the policeman</p><p>
10:16 One officer told us we needed to teach about Christ to the other. </p><p>
10:17 Took off again. SR and I were soo tempted to just turn back and head home and lock ourselves in for the day. We feared what else was in store for us.</p><p>
We got to the station and the next train to Palermo wasnt leaving for another 2 hours. The Anziani asked us to drive there. We did, and I have to say this. I thought driving in Armenia was bad. There is NOTHING that compares to how Sicilians drive. I dont think I should be allowed to drive for at least a year once I get back to the U.S. I dont think any officer would take my excuse of having served here as being an excuse for my bad driving.</p><p>
Somehow, we missed the toll highway and we took the street that got us home at 18:30. DDM ended up being a 9-6 trip. The waste of time was painful. Im pushing towards doing DDM twice a month, not every week. We can do it over the phone if we really needed to. Otherwise, its not worth the time or the cost.</p><p>
Yesterday, we had an appointment to go meet and teach for the first time a man that Sorella Miller and I had met doing house about an hour from Mistretta, in Sant Agata. We finally made it to the right street after parking the car and making it on foot, and then I called him up and asked him where he was, and he said he was at 171 on Via Nazionale. I told him we were there, and he said he was there too. He wasnt, so I jokingly said "Well, there are two streets with the same name. How are we going to find you?" </p><p>
Turns out we were on the right street at the right number, just in the wrong city.</p><p>
We got back in the car and drove about 20 min to the right city, and this time, he was at 171. He was the only one home so we stood at the door and taught him a few principles and we want to go back with a member, Renzo.</p><p>
Renzo has been inactive for a super long time but in the time Ive been here, hes been to church every sunday and he comes to institute and Sorella Miller and I felt really good about him being the possible next branch president. Guess what? Pres Portera pulled us aside last night and said that he feels like Renzo is being prepared to the next church leader here. YAY!!!</p><p>
English class is fun. Daniele, (24 y.o. young man who served a mission in Milano for 2 months and then returned to Mistretta, the nephew of Antonino and the brother of Beatrice, the 18 y.o. with 2 kids) insisted and insisted that we eat the pringles hed brought. I finally ate one to silence him but he kept at it so I had to be a little "firm" with him and then ....... he left our house and came back with a huge poinsetta for us. It is strange and something I need to get used to having people in our house. We came home and were putting our shopping away while institute was going and we were in the kitchen trying to eat something and Daniele KEPT knocking on the door and poking his head in to ask the most random questions. Finally, I had to tell him to stop asking questions and to leave us alone till English class started in an hour. He seemed to understand until there came a knock at the door no more than two minutes later.</p><p>
I have to try a little harder to love Daniele than I have to with Angela :)</p><p>
I just love it here. Its awesome. And times running out so I need to attach some pics.</p><p>
I really had thought Id have time to write everyone Christmas letters and find a place to develop pics to send, but somehow Natale has snuck up on me. Oh well. Know that I love you all and that Im thankful for all of you and your examples.</p><p>
Carla cant come down till the first week of January, so I have to call Pres today and ask him if SR can remain till after Angelas baptism on the 30th, then we will drive to Catania and spend New Years there. From what Ive heard, they launch fireworks from every balcony. Im excited to not get a wink of sleep that night! And then.... Slla Squarcia a few days later, so I think Ill just be in a threesome with the Catania Sorelle.</p><p>
Now we are going to head home and get out of our muddy jeans and get the house ready for tonights program. We dont have a christmas tree, but thats ok- Sorella Riffaldi and I are going to have stockings :) maybe we will end up having to use our tights, but thats ok- theyre longer and stretchier- even better. Too bad Dad wont be around to fill them with oranges :)</p><p>
I have to be honest- Im really not that excited about Christmas phone calls because Im really not sure what to say.......so please be the ones to talk or ask questions if you want to hear about anything in particular. I can just see it as being the same phonecall I made from the airport where I had just too much to say that I couldnt say anything.</p><p>
I love you all. Buon Natale. Isnt it wonderful having faith in Jesus Christ- knowing that he was born to die so that we might live with our families for eternity? Heavenly Fathers plan is so detailed and perfect. It continues to astound me. Im so grateful for the people He has put in my path- Im learning alot.</p><p>
2010 has been an incredible year. 2011 can be even better. Lets all set goals that will make us stretch and grow.</p><p>
</p><p>
Sorella Urban</p><p>
p.s. can someone fwd this to amanda miller?</p>Derabejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483524313140381678noreply@blogger.com0