Slow Down

Written on 3-5-14

 

That's what I've done this week.  Slow down and go back to the basics.

Thomas:  I have an investigator that told me to wish you happy birthday.  I forgot to write it in my email last week.  AUGURI.  (Ow-goo-ree)

This week I learned a few words.  First of all, the word spaghetti literally means multiple noodles.  If you have one noodle it is spaghetto.  Also, in the states we use the word lasagna.  Lasagna actually means only one of the lasagna noodles.  The proper word for a pan of lasagna is Lasagne (la-zawn-yay) because it becomes plural when you add the E.  Also Halloween is a new holiday in Italy, only about 5 years old.  I was in English class and asked if the phrase trick or treat existed.  It does.  "dolcetto scherzetto." (Dole-che-toe-scare-set-toe) Fun right?  I love learning new Italian fun phrases.  

This week I also learned never ever again to eat torte verde (a pastry filled with spinach that is extremely rich), Focaccia formaggio (focaccia aka white bread drowned in olive oil with formaggio cheese aka super creamy fatty cheese inside) and focaccia with cheese and ham inside it all in one setting.  My companion and I were so sick for hours.  Yet it is all deliciously worth it in a weird way.  

So we lost all of our baptism dates.  None of them are coming to church or progressing.  But the work moves forward.  We've been doing tons of passbys, and other lessons.  But one of our less actives finally came to church.  During testimony meeting she bore her testimony and asked the elders in the middle of her testimony to come teach her son.  It was a funny moment but it was also a blessing for us and the branch.  

So apparently there was a chocolate festival in Savona and Sorella Bennett and I thought we would attend it today for P day.  Yeah it ended last Sunday.  We were pretty bummed but now that is on my bucket list.  And luckily there's never an end of chocolate here.  

We had a scambio where we switched companions with our sister training leaders.  I went with the beautiful Sorella McCan back to Genova and Sorella Bennett stayed with Sorella Lyman in Savona.  What a blessing that was.  Sorella McCan and I taught an incredible lesson to A.  Apparently A. wasn't interested in the church at all but we taught her the restoration and she accepted everything on the spot.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said the closing prayer at the end of the lesson.  The spirit was so strong and Sorella McCan and I taught as smooth as butter (and belive me, I'm in Italy.  I know butter.)  I'm sad I won't be able to teach her again but so grateful for that lesson.  But that day I got to see J. again.  Last time we scambioed I taught J. with Sorella Durfee.  It was so awesome to see him again and help him learn a little bit of English.  The Lord works in awesome mysterious ways.  At the end of the day we got the best dessert I've ever had in my life.  We got gelato but:  They filled the cone with warm nutella and then chocolate and strawberry gelato on top.  Let's just say I was in dessert heaven for an hour as I savored every last bit of it.  Nutella makes the world go round.  When we got back to the apartment I witnessed how we can be angels for others.  So (without too much detail) this transfer has been extremely rough for me.  There's been a lot of trials and extremely hard situations.  When I got to the sisters I laid there on the bed bawling my eyes out as one of the sisters gave me a shoulder massage, we listened to uplifting church music and all of them gave me words of encouragement and strenght.  I will be eternally grateful to these sisters.  I was able to vent to Sorella McCan and she helped me think of more solutions to handle everything.  I've made some changes and everything is sooo much better.   

We taught P. again and met her husband A.  They are both extremely strong catholic but that lesson was one of the most spiritual this week.  They are amazing.  We taught the restoration and they understood all of it.  We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to begin reading it.  It's amazing to see the look on an investigators face when they feel the spirit for the first time.  This peaceful look comes on their face and you can tell they are surprised and relaxed for probably the first time in a long time.  

Family and friends thank you sooooo much for your letters.  I got the package mom and thank you thank you.  Sydney, your announcement is sooooo sooooooo cute and you are gorgeous.  

We taught V again.  I love her soooo much.  We talked about how we are children of God and reminded her how she is a daughter of God.  I could tell that she didn't know that for herself.  But I felt the most overwhelming love for her from our Heavenly Father that He knows her and loves her.  That experience helped strengthen my testimony of that.  I can say that I know with all my heart that we are children of a Heavenly being.  Heavenly Father knows our every aspect of our hearts and minds better than we do.  His son Jesus Christ knows what we love, what our frustrations are and the little things that bug us.  He also has an infinite amount of solutions for our trials.  All we have to do is ask.  He literally walks by our side with His hand stretched out.  Asking is hard and can be uncomfortable.  But when we sincerely ask for strength, love, friendship, the Savior will give it to us.

Also this week the small miracle was nutella.  I had decided to buy nutella today because I've craved it for an entire transfer.  So V. received a 12 pound jar of nutella... yes such things do exist.  It's bigger than my head.  She literally gave us half the jar in a container.  We have about six months of nutella now... if it's eaten sparingly.  I hadn't been praying my guts out for it, but that was a small miracle to me because it showed me that Heavenly Father knows exactly my wants and needs every moment.  He knew that I wanted Nutella but was hesitant to spend money on it.  

Wow I guess this week revolves around miracles and nutella.

Anyways love you all sooo sooooooo much!  

Scripture for the week:  Helaman 14:8

Words of the week:  Lasagne, Spaghetto, Dolcetto Scherzetto

Challenge for the week:  Pray to be an angel in someone's life.