Gem Cleaning

This post was written on 2-19-14

Buon Giorno Tutti!

So on Monday we cleaned the ENTIRE apartment.  It took us from 8:00 in the morning to 5 in the evening.  We literally cleaned EVERYTHING.  But not gonna lie the apartment smells really good now and we hardly had to do any cleaning for P day this morning.  

Good news.  THERE ARE ANZIANI NOW IN SAVONA.  We have Anziano Christensen and a greenie coming to Verazza, a city close to Savona.  This is a huge blessing for us.  Sisters cannot visit single men so we are able to give tons of scedas (records of investigators) to the Elders.  We are hoping that the work will really take off soon and that the church will grow.

So Sunday we had 3 investigators and 4 inactives at church.  WOW!  We've kinda plateaued right now so that was a miracle.  We also had a couple from a cruise who spoke English and a family from California because the husband is stationed in Italy right now.  It was so weird to be greeted by someone with an American accent.  But sacrament meeting was so spiritual.  The talks were fantastic and sitting next to one of our inactives, hearing him sing the hymns... it was priceless.

So please please pray for our branch.  The members are not as involved with the work as we would like and we are struggling to grow.  But with faith and effort, we will achieve the goals we have.  

Yesterday we had an awesome appointment with one of our less actives V.  she received a 12 pound jar of Nutella from an admirer for Valentines Day.  So we made crepes and helped her eat it.  DELICIOUS!  We also shared with her the book of Enos.  She shared a beautiful experience of how prayer has helped her life.  There was a wonderful spirit there.

So we visited a less active D.  D hasn't come to church in a long time and we've stopped by the house before she's just never been there.  Well she was finally there.  Half way into the conversation, come to find out that she does martial arts... in fact she does jiu jitsu and krav... aka the ones I do.  We bonded instantly.  To have someone in the mission who shares my passion, it felt amazing.  We talked about fighting for a while and then the conversation moved on.  All of the sudden she asked us to start reading preach my gospel with her.  She used to be a ward missionary and wants to start studying it again.  The spirit truly works changes in people's hearts.  

So how's the language, well I can understand about 80% now of what people say.  My goal is to understand 100% by the end of this month.  I know I can do it.  

We had a wonderful appointment with a less active Sorella N.  A friend had recently passed away and she wanted to know where we go after death.  We were able to teach her about the spirit world, resurrection and that families can be together forever.  We committed her to start preparing to go to the temple and it was a beautiful lesson.  

Thank you to everyone for the beautiful valentines day cards.  They are so lovely!  I truly felt the love from home.  Thank you thank you thank you.  

So I had a cold all week but it has finally lifted.  I have a new appreciation for my health now.  Now it's time to start losing all the pasta, pizza and sugar pounds that have accumulated this transfer.

Love you all sooooo much!  

The scripture for this week Alma 37:6-7

The challenge for this week:  Set a goal for this week and plan out how to accomplish it.  Then ask Heavenly Father for help to do it.  I promise if you do this, you will see how he helps you everyday to accomplish that goal.

Phrase of the week:  Lui Ci Ama.  (Loo-ee Chee Ahma) God loves us.

Buon Settimana

Sorella Hatch