Thursday, January 22, 2015

Ciao Tutti! (Hello Everyone!) - January 21, 2015

Ciao, Tutti! 

Okay, so answers! The simp who came to the baptism and to church and who speaks Spanish, and who a member brought to church the first week, are all one and the same! Her name is M--. She's also the simp that Sorella Carter mentioned, but we didn't meet her on a bus, we just helped her get home on a bus once. She's super awesome and I'll mentioned her again a little later! :)

So, last P-day, we went to the Duomo once again! We've gone a lot this transfer because the Duomo has three different zones going out from it, so if we go there, we can meet up with missionaries from all these different zones and hang with them. So that was fun! That night we went and saw a less active family. They're all girls and super fun, so we always love to se them. 

Thursday, our appointments canceled, so we ended up getting a little bit of organzing done! We cleaned out our storage closet and found like 50 copies of the Book of Mormon in random languages, such as Chinese, Swahili, and so on. It's because so many people immigrate here to Italy. A lot of Africans, South Americans, Filipinos and other random countries, so during the mission, everyone ends up teaching a super random assortment of people. Then that night we had English course! 

Friday, we saw M again! She is just so awesome and ready to have the gospel in her life! We finally were able to teach her the entire first lesson and it was really good! We had Spanish resto pamphlets and since I took Spanish for so long, I was able to read from them to her pretty easily! We're trying to throw in any Spanish we know when we teach her because it really helps her a lot in understanding! We also tried to set a bap date with her, but she said she wants to wait until March when her son will be here. She said she wants him to get baptized with her (hopefully, he'll want to as well!).  But, she's super brava! Then right after that lesson, we caught a train to Muggiò to do a scambio with them! I was with Sorella Carducci, who is in her first transfer! She's super cool! We came back to Milano and I was with her until Saturday night. 

Saturday morning we went and passed by a less active member, H, who I hadn't seen this entire transfer. We'd been trying to call her but she hadn't answered. So we went by and she was super happy to see us and promised to come to church the next day (which she did!) and I was just really happy to be able to see that everything's okay and that she's been doing all right. She's a really awesome lady and I know she sees the Lord in her life, she just needs to come to church! 

That afternoon we got transfer calls (you're right, this week is transfer week). My new collega's name is Sorella Nedelkov (think that's how it's spelled). She was Sorella Carter's last comp in Trieste. She'll be coming Friday. Sorella Carter takes off Thrusday :( and I'll be here in Lampugnano for a day with a different Sorella named Sorella Salmon until my new collega can come on Friday. 

Sunday, we went to our ward mission leader's home for lunch and then to another less active member's house for dinner! Both were really fun, and of course it was good eating! But man, two Italian meals in a day, I was so full! 

Monday night we saw a member family, P and W. They are South American and seriously amazing! They have super forte testimonies and I just admire them! They're coming to Utah in April for a week if you all want to go speak Spanish with them :) JK! 
Enjoying some great South American food

Tuesday, we had family home evening and Sorella Carter's last appointment with M. We started off the Plan of Salvation and she seems to like what we're saying so far. We'll get to the rest of it next Friday when we see her again! She's really amazing, and I just love seeing her! I'm really grateful that I took Spanish in high school, because it's helping in the lessons. But we really need to use the members in the ward who speak Spanish, because they'll be a huge asset in making sure she understands! 

Anywho, that was our week! We're planning on taking it kinda easy today, because the next couple of days are going to be pretty hectic for both Sorella Carter and I! 

I love you all so much and I'm excited for another transfer of serving here! Have an awesome week! Ci sentiamo! 
Love, 
Sorella Snow 

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Little miracles everyday - January 14, 2015

Ciao!

So, questions! The Sorella that got hit by a car  was actually new, it was only like her 3rd week here! She was on her bike and I think she got hit while crossing in an intersection. Poor thing, but she was still super positive!

Meeting some other sorelle at the Duomo
 So it's been another crazy week here! Last P-day we met up with a few Sorelle in Milano and it was super fun! Afterwards, I went with Sorella Welch to Bergamo for a scambio! (I asked Sorella Welch what the name of that little city is, the one up in the mountains that I went to on my last scambio in Bergamo, and it's called Selvino,so there you go, Mom :)) That night we met with a lady from their ward and she was super brava. She had these two grandsons that were adorable, the older one really wanted to make us hot chocolate, so I told him he could, but it exploded three times in the microwave before he actually got me a cup, it was pretty funny. The next day I spent most of it in Bergamo and then we switched back and I returned to Milan.

Friday, was amazing! We met a potential for the first time on Friday afternoon! She was so sweet! She speaks almost all Spanish, so there's a bit of a language barrier, but the gift of tongues is real and we were able to at least communicate! But, this woman is so prepared and ready to hear the gospel, she really loved what we were teaching and we read a passage from the Book of Mormon and she said it makes more sense to her than the Bible. We are so excited to work with her! 

Saturday, the Anziani and Sorelle from Busto came over to our chapel because they had three baptisms! It was really cool to see! Our new simp actually came to watch! She said the baptisms were beautiful and met with us for  a little bit after so we could explain the scriptures that the bishop had read during the program. 
Picture taken in reflecting mirror of the baptism font
Sunday, our new simp came to church again! We had met her in church last week because her member friend had brought her, but this week she came alone! After we had all gone home, she called us to ask if we could meet earlier during the week also (we have an appointment for Friday), and Sorella Carter joked that we won't have to worry about making daily contact with her because she's doing it for us! 

Monday, I had another scmabio in Bergamo, this time with Sorella Gluck. It was cool, Bergamo is so beautiful and the work is really exploding there! We got to meet with one of their new converts that was just baptized last Saturday and it was amazing, to see how happy she was. I was in Bergamo until Tuesday when we switched back. I'm so grateful that I get these experiences to see the other cities and other sorelle.

It's been a really good week! It's impossible to explain all of the little miracles that we see every day! I'm just so happy to be here and to have the chance to get the know these people. It also helps that I can actually kinda understand them now :) 

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! 

Love, Sorella Snow 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

I love the people here! - January 7, 2015

Hey, everyone! 

So, first off, Happy Birthday Mom! It sounds like it was an awesome day! I love you! 

Wow, that was a crazy story about Andrew! I'm glad everything is okay! It's amazing, seeing the power of prayer in our lives, I'm fortunate enough to get to see it very often here!

Wow, this has been a seriously insane week! The Sorelle from Muggio ended up staying the night last P-day to finish out our scambio since it had been interrupted by P-day and we ended up having an awesome time! First of all, Italy has no rules or laws about fireworks. Literally, none. Anyone can buy them in the store. So we saw people in our apartment complex shooting fireworks out of their living room window on New Years Eve. Also, for almost a week before and a week after New Year's, people have been shooting off fireworks every night still to celebrate, so that's been crazy. So, Sorella Carter and I had bought some sparklers and what we thought were little poppers to celebrate, but the sparklers didn't work and the poppers were actually firecrackers. The Muggio Sorelle lit some of them and it was pretty fun. It was a great night! 

The next day we went to a little lunch party at a member's house, and it was pretty fun! They're Filipino and had invited some other Filipino and South American friends, so there were four different languages being spoken, English, Tagalog, Spanish, and Italian. 

Friday, Sorella Carter had consiglio for the STL's and Zone Leaders, so I had another scambio with Sorella Hawks! It's pretty funny, we thought we would never see each other again after the MTC, but at least for now, we see each other all the time. We also had another Sorella with us who had been hit with a car the day before (she's fine!) and needed to rest her leg, because it was a little hurt. So, it was a pretty chill day and we just did Area Book and studies and waited for the land lord to come and fix our washing machine (which means I had to talk to him in Italian about our washing machine. Believe me it was an experience!) Anywho, it was cool to see Sorella Hawks again! That night we went to a member's house and she ended up feeding us. It was really good food, but was enough for 3 people to be full. And we had to eat it all. We were hurting. 

Saturday night, we saw an American sister who lives in our ward and her mom, they're super awesome and it was fun to talk in English :). She has a cuper cute baby and we were jealous that we weren't allowed to hold her. At the end, I had to give a prayer in English and it was really hard. I almost morphed into Italian 10 different times. We're encouraged to give all of our prayers in Italian, even our personal ones, so I only ever pray in English now with members or investigators who speak it better than Italian. 

Sunday, a member brought a friend to church with her, and Sorella Carter was able to sit next to her and make an appointment to see her this week, so we're super excited and hope it'll work out! Also, on Sunday, we had to fill up the baptismal font for the Busto missionaries because they had a baptism for an excommunicated member who was being rebaptized. So, I saw Sorella Hawks again! 

Monday, We had Zone Training so we got to see our entire zone (so Sorella Hawks once again :)). It was good to see everyone. That night we saw a less active family and they were just so amazing! I'd never met them before, but I could see how great they were. Their home just felt like the home of an LDS family and their little kids knew how to pray, so we hope we'll be able to help them become fully active in the church. 

Tuesday, we saw Lydia and Romeo again! They are just such amazing people! Lydia had SpiderMan 3 on when we came in and she wasn't understanding the plot so she asked if we'd ever seen it so I explained what it was about to her. She made the best little comments when I explained something she didn't like, she would just shout BUT I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY. She's really funny.

It was just an amazing week! I love the people here and I'm excited to start a new year! I'm so happy to be serving my Lord. 

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week! 

Love, Sorella Snow 

It SNOWED! - December 31, 2014

Hello!

So, Happy New Year! I hope Christmas break is going well! I was so happy to see you guys for skype! I love you all! 

So, last P-day was a shortened one because it was Christmas Eve and we had two different appointments. One with a woman named Antuanet, who is super brava and awesome and another with two women named Gaia and Giovanna and their nonmember friend. It was pretty fun and we were really getting into the holiday spirit.

Christmas Eve party hats


Pokémon stocking from Sister Carter
Then for Christmas, we watched the Lego movie in the morning with the anziani. We pushed all of the couches in the church together and set up the projectors and watched it like that. It was so much fun. We had a Christmas lunch with the ward mission leader, and like I said, I was literally in pain afterwards becuase they made us eat so much. But his wife had invited all of her relatives from down south who aren't members, so it was a good experience. 

Friday, we saw another family who are from the Philippines and it was fun. They have a karaoke machine and thousands of songs, so we rocked with them for a little while. Then the next day, It SNOWED!! It was so beautiful and unexpected and fun.



Sorella Carter enjoying the snow
We saw Lydia and Romeo, who are also from the Phillipines. They are so sweet and awesome. Lydia told me off for not dressing properly for the snow, and actually I've had to start putting on extra layers, even if I'm not cold, because all of the people are getting upset and telling me I'm going to catch a cold and die. Ah, well. Anywho, Lydia made me wear her scarf and hat when we left because she was worried about me.

"Filipino families always send us home with super good food!"
Also, Saturday night, both sets of Anziani had a baptism. One was a kid from a less active family that one set had been helping and teaching. The other was a man who the other anziani had been working with for awhile, so it was super cool to see. 

Monday, we went to a member's house and she had a friend over who has a really intense story. This man was an investigator a year ago and had actually had a baptisimal date, but he was born Muslim and once he started getting serious about the church, he started being threatened if he left his religion. He ended up not being able to get baptized because it was too dangerous. Unfortuantely, that's a fairly common thing to happen here, and the church tells people to not be baptized if their lives are in danger. But we saw this man and he still has so much faith and hope. We gave a little spiritual thought and he seemed so bravo. I hope one day he'll get the chance to be baptized, but even if he doesn't in this life, I know that Heavenly Father knows his heart and mind and his desire to follow the Savior. This former investigator is just so amazing. 

Anyways, yesterday, we did a scambio all day with the sorelle from Mugio, and they are so awesome. They both came to Milano and we had a ton of fun and a day packed with lessons. Also, I got my package yesterday! Thanks so much mom! I love everything and my collega and I think the Frozen pajamas are pretty awesome. Thanks! It was a lot of fun to open!

The Christmas presents were a little late, but still appreciated.
Also, the Mugio Sorelle got to stay the night and stay with us for P-day, so we went and did a little shopping and I bought a new scarf and some boots for myself for Christmas! Today, we have to be inside by 5 because Italy can get a little crazy at New Year's, but we're going to have a fun night and celebrate missionary style! 

Well, I think that's it for now! I hope you have fun in Utah and have an awesome New Year's. I love you all so much and am so grateful for your support and love! Vi voglio bene! 
Love, Sorella Snow