That has been the theme of my life this week. The Lord has been teaching me tons of patience and it is amazing.
So I realize I haven't written very much in my emails so I'll fill in more details.
My companion and I have started running in the mornings finally. It feels soooo good and running along the sea watching an Italian sunrise... priceless. Hopefully the running will start to counteract the effects of the constant pasta and sweets.
We taught our English class yesterday and it is amazing. The people really want to learn English and we have so much fun every week doing it. We're starting to get more people interested in the church through English class and hopefully some of them can turn into investigators.
We're working with a part member family and we shared the "Forget me not" lk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf with V. (we can't put names in our emails of our investigators so I will refer to them by their first initial.). It was a wonderful lesson and my testimony was strengthened that we are all truly children of God and he loves us sooo much. We visited the mom N. and shared a thought with her. She gave us these cookies that were sooo good. It was basically a sugar cookie that was hard and crunchy coated with sugar and cinnamon on the top. Apparently they are only sold over Carnivale. YUM!the talk in Italian is notiscordartime
So I finally got to meet my zone this week. We went to Genova for training and it was awesome to meet such wonderful people. There are tons of missionaries here in Italy. Also we are going to get some Anziani in Savona in a couple weeks. We are sooo excited because we have some single male investigators that we will be able to give to the Anziani so they can teach more effectively. Anyway at the training we had interviews with President Dibb. Well leading up to this conference I had been going through a really hard time. I was tired and old injuries were acting up. I was really discouraged and frustrated because I couldn't speak the language and I couldn't understand what the people are saying... still can't quite catch everything. I felt really alone and like I was a burden to others around me because my trainer has to help me with a lot of things and translate for me. I had so much stress and was starting to get really depressed. So when I went in for my interview the President simply asked, "So how are you doing Sorella Hatch?" I bawled for 5 minutes before I could even talk. But he gave me some amazing advice.
1) He asked my trainer and I to start running every morning. that has already helped so much. Exercise is a huge stress reliever.
2) I needed to cut myself some slack. I wasn't going to be able to speak the language or understand right away. and it was ok. Also I needed to be patient with myself and others so that I didn't freak out at every little thing. It's a simple principle but I thought cutting myself slack meant not reaching my full potential. In reality, cutting ourselves some slack is a step to reach our potential because it helps us integrate patience into the process.
I'm so grateful for that advice. Now things are tons better and I'm learning the language faster. I'm understanding more and feel more comfortable. Also, we had these massive PB and J's at the conference on these huge massive slices of wheat bread. I have a new appreciation for that simple snack now.
When we got home from the conference I was tired and emotional. We went out doing strada and it was cold and I was done. We tried a different approach and when it didn't work I finally snapped. I begged my companion to let us go home and make calls. When we have given up and are completely relying on the Lord that's when the miracles come. We saw A. outside our apartment as we walked. Sorella Bennett shared a scripture about how faith is things we can't see but know are true. Well that lesson was a miracle for me. It helped me see that I needed to have faith in the approaches, in myself that I can do these approaches and faith that the people will feel the spirit. Sometimes when we teach a lesson it is for us to learn from as well.
So we saw the cutest old church a couple days ago. It honestly looked like it was from the 1400's. I love Europe.
So we had this pasta dish where it was literally tomatoes, garlic, onions, and mozzarella cheese on pasta.... delicious.
So we committed one of our investigators A. to baptism. That was a beautiful lesson. He is progressing so quickly and we felt the spirit so strong. He has a few things to do to prepare but once he does it will be amazing. I learned a lot in that lesson.
We have an investigator named J. and that was the highlight lesson for me. We shared a scripture with him and set another appointment. I got to bear my testimony to him and the spirit was so strong. It was a gorgeous sunny day which is rare right now because it just rains all the time during winter. I will never forget what he said, "Quando C'e Sole, Tutto E bello." when there is sun everything beautiful.
So I'm doing much better. I'm starting to actually get used to only 8 hours of sleep and running will help. I'm starting to understand more of the language and start using more words and tenses. Language study really helps. Sorella Bennett and I are becoming better friends and I don't feel so alone anymore. The people are so patient and help me learn to speak better. This last week was one of the hardest emotionally but I also saw more miracles this week than in a long time and feel really close to my Heavenly Father.
So I'm going to try to include a new word/phrase, scripture and challenge in all my emails. So the phrase for this week is Ti or Vi Voglio Bene. So in English we only have one sentence to say, | love you. in Italian Ti or Vi Voglio Bene means I love you but not in the romantic way. It's I love you for family and friends. The difference is Ti is for one person and Vi means you all.
The scripture this week is D:C 4:7.
The challenge this week is to have more patience.
Vi Voglio Bene! That is pronounced Vee- Voleeo- bene
Sorella Hatch
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