How 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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.............
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.
While we were there, they wanted us to eat some Romanian food. Sausage. Salami. Bacon. Meat. Alot of it.
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.)
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.
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.
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 :(
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.
Sister exchanges are next week (that is, if I get around to organizing them) and then there's Zone Conference the week after!!
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.
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:
"Then have you heard of Jospeh Smith?"
Who?
Do you know the story of Joseph Smith?
Yes, I know history.
No, do you know the story of Joseph Smith?
Yes, I know history very well.
(I turned to Sorella Hicks and smiled while fighting laughter)
"No, I want to know if you have heard of the man......"
I told you. I went to University in Nigeria. I know history very well.
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.
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!
Sorella Urban
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
post we missed.
there was a mistake and I missed a few weeks, so I'm posting now the weeks we missed.
most of them are of May, but there is one of April and one or march.enjoy
Maggio 2011
66.6% Urban companionship
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!".
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.
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!" .................. :(.
Then, on the way our, she shoved a bar of chocolate into my hand. Tsk tsk. Some people's kids.
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.
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!
Va bono. I love you and thank you all for the uplifting letters you send. Think white thoughts!
Sorella Urban
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!
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!
maggio 2011
I hope I get an Oklahoman accent
Eeekk. I'll begin listing the reasons why I have butterflies in my stomach.
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.
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?
3) The only fun thing about being released is that it will be July 4th :) I want to do sparklers that night!
4) I had lentils for breakfast
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.
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?
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.
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?!
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.
9) I think number 8 is the main reason I have butterflies in my stomach.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
This has been an incredible and miracle-packed transfer. I am very excited for what miracles await for the next 6 weeks.
Ciao!
Sorella Urban
p.s. Pray that I get Sorella Hicks.... she's from Oklahoma!!
maggio 2011,
transfer call week....and lots of conferences
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.
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......
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.
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.......)
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
The moral of the story? Don't blame people for how public transport goes. mamma mia.
Sorella Hashey, while walking arm-in-arm on our way home one night, said, "You make perfect boyfriend height".
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.
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!
Oh, and we also started english class last week. 5 people showed up. Haha. We need to advertise it more.
Ok, here's for the spiritual thought: When you have doubts- be patient and remember your spiritual experiences: feed your faith, starve your doubts.
Ciao!
Sorella Urban
aprile 2011
Pasqua weekend
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!)
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.......
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!
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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!
Grazie per tutto! It's May next week!!!
Sorella Urban
marzo 2011,
Italy's 150th anniversary
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
This morning we went running in t-shirts! It is summer here. It is beautiful. We turned off the heat. Life is so good.
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- :)
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.
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!
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.
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..................... :)
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?"
"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."
She said the usual prayer but added that phrase in. I want a daughter like Lucrezia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ......"
What? Padre Nostro? No...............................
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?
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
I am grateful for the peace and healing the Gospel brings.
Sorella Urban
most of them are of May, but there is one of April and one or march.enjoy
Maggio 2011
66.6% Urban companionship
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!".
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.
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!" .................. :(.
Then, on the way our, she shoved a bar of chocolate into my hand. Tsk tsk. Some people's kids.
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.
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!
Va bono. I love you and thank you all for the uplifting letters you send. Think white thoughts!
Sorella Urban
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!
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!
maggio 2011
I hope I get an Oklahoman accent
Eeekk. I'll begin listing the reasons why I have butterflies in my stomach.
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.
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?
3) The only fun thing about being released is that it will be July 4th :) I want to do sparklers that night!
4) I had lentils for breakfast
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.
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?
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.
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?!
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.
9) I think number 8 is the main reason I have butterflies in my stomach.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
This has been an incredible and miracle-packed transfer. I am very excited for what miracles await for the next 6 weeks.
Ciao!
Sorella Urban
p.s. Pray that I get Sorella Hicks.... she's from Oklahoma!!
maggio 2011,
transfer call week....and lots of conferences
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.
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......
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.
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.......)
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
The moral of the story? Don't blame people for how public transport goes. mamma mia.
Sorella Hashey, while walking arm-in-arm on our way home one night, said, "You make perfect boyfriend height".
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.
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!
Oh, and we also started english class last week. 5 people showed up. Haha. We need to advertise it more.
Ok, here's for the spiritual thought: When you have doubts- be patient and remember your spiritual experiences: feed your faith, starve your doubts.
Ciao!
Sorella Urban
aprile 2011
Pasqua weekend
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!)
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.......
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!
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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!
Grazie per tutto! It's May next week!!!
Sorella Urban
marzo 2011,
Italy's 150th anniversary
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
This morning we went running in t-shirts! It is summer here. It is beautiful. We turned off the heat. Life is so good.
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- :)
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.
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!
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.
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..................... :)
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?"
"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."
She said the usual prayer but added that phrase in. I want a daughter like Lucrezia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ......"
What? Padre Nostro? No...............................
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?
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
I am grateful for the peace and healing the Gospel brings.
Sorella Urban
Thursday, May 26, 2011
dodging death at the colosseum
The 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 :)
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 :)
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 ;(
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!
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.
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.
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.)
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 :)
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 :)
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!!!!!!
Have a good last week of May! Enjoy the last few nights of mosquito-free sleep!
Sorella Urban
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 :)
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 ;(
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!
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.
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.
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.)
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 :)
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 :)
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!!!!!!
Have a good last week of May! Enjoy the last few nights of mosquito-free sleep!
Sorella Urban
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
pasqua!
This will be a shorter email........so you can breathe deep and relax :)
It's Pasqua on Sunday!!!!
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In closing, I want to share a poem I really like.
Where shall I work today?
Master, where shall I work today?
My love flowed warm and free.
He pointed out a tiny spot
and said, "tend that for me".
I answered quickly, "Oh no, no there,
not anyone could see
no matter how well my work was done,
not that little spot for me".
When He spake He was not stern,
but He answered me tenderly,
"Little one, search that heart of thine,
are you working for them or for me?
Nazareth was just a little place,
and so was Galilee."
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.
Sorella Urban
It's Pasqua on Sunday!!!!
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In closing, I want to share a poem I really like.
Where shall I work today?
Master, where shall I work today?
My love flowed warm and free.
He pointed out a tiny spot
and said, "tend that for me".
I answered quickly, "Oh no, no there,
not anyone could see
no matter how well my work was done,
not that little spot for me".
When He spake He was not stern,
but He answered me tenderly,
"Little one, search that heart of thine,
are you working for them or for me?
Nazareth was just a little place,
and so was Galilee."
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.
Sorella Urban
Friday, April 15, 2011
First 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!
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.
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.
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.
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?".
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.
We have a microwave, a big living room that we never use, and it is all very nice. Too nice for a missionary, almost.
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.
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!
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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?!".
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).
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!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Urban
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.
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.
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.
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?".
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.
We have a microwave, a big living room that we never use, and it is all very nice. Too nice for a missionary, almost.
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.
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!
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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?!".
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).
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!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Urban
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Transfer 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!
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 :) )
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.
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.
However, ...ROME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!"
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'.
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.
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 :)
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!
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.
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?!"
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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 :)
Sorella Urban
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 :) )
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.
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.
However, ...ROME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!"
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'.
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.
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 :)
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!
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.
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?!"
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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 :)
Sorella Urban
Monday, April 4, 2011
here in Paterno'!
We are in Paterno'!
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.
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. (?!)
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! :) )
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.
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 :)
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!).
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
Sorella Urban
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.
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. (?!)
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! :) )
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.
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 :)
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!).
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
Sorella Urban
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