Grateful for Seminary & Book of Mormon classes - June 10, 2015

Hey guys! So glad to hear everything's going well. It's kinda funny
you mentioned the drought, that's what everyone here mentions when I
tell them I'm from California.

Anywho, the work here is going well. It's still a bit slow, we're
having a hard time finding new simps to work with, but the people we
have are really awesome! I actually haven't heard too much from people
in my old areas. One girl from Milano emailed me a few weeks ago,
that was fun, she's super cute.

So, last Thursday we did some pass bys and that night we saw Sorella
B. She's always super cute. She told us we need to eat more
and have lots of meat. She's always trying to take care of us, it's
pretty adorable. :)

Friday, we did planning in the morning and tried to get more
organized. We're trying to see all the members in the ward to set up
family mission plans, so we were trying to choose people who need to
be seen and find out who is who. Then we saw Sorella C again. She
wanted us to explain Lehi's dream, so we drew a little diagram. I've
never been so grateful for all of my seminary and Book of Mormon
classes as I have been on the mission, shout out to Mom for getting me
there ;) . Then we saw G. She's super cute but we were only
able to be there for a few minutes because she started feeling sick
and asked us to go... But we left her with a Book of Mormon and
committed her to read it.

Saturday, we did more pass bys of names on the ward list, and we found
one lady who let us in. She's a member but hasn't come to church
or been visited by the missionaries in years, so hopefully we'll be
able to start seeing her. Then there was a Saturday night session for
our stake conference! It was good.

Sunday, we had our stake conference in Firenze! It was fun, but we had
to get up and leave early to make it there in time. There were a TON
of missionaries there so it was pretty fun to see them all. Sorella
Skinner from my MTC group is now in Firenze and Sorella Pavich, also
from my group is now in Pisa. It was a really good conference even
though it was pretty hot in Firenze.

Monday, we saw A- R- again and we had a good lesson with her, but
it was really crazy,cause we teach her at her work, so she had phone
calls and people coming in the entire time.

Tuesday, we saw M again. She's this super cute lady. Her son and
daughter in law are members and Mira has a ton of the same beliefs as
the church, she just doesn't realize it yet. But it was a really good
lesson with her.  Then we had English course. This was the last week
with assigned teachers, so next week we'll have to start doing it all
ourselves, but that's how it is in most cities, so we're pretty used
to that.

Today, we went to Pisa. We met up with Sorelle Bradshaw and Pavich. It
was super fun! We saw the tower and then got some pizza and gelato
together. They are really cool so hopefully we'll do some more pdays
together in the future :)

The duomo in Pisa

This time...licking the tower shot

This pizza place was sooooo good!



Horrendous watch tan

Comparing watch tans

Well, I love you guys a ton! Thanks for the emails and the love. Hope
you all have a great week!
Love, Sorella Snow

P.S.  As I was typing this email, on a train, a man jumped through the
window of the moving train to get on, it was super dramatic.

I saw the sea! - June 3, 2015

Ciao, tutti! È stata una bella settimana!
Hello, everybody!  It was a good week!

Okay, answers! We didn't go in the tower of Pisa. It costs 18 euros to
go up and we also didn't have a ton of time. Maybe I'll go up this
transfer :) haha.  As far as I know the Medici seal is just their
crest but maybe it's super special! Sorella McMurray is super awesome
and fun! She's from Ohio but her family lives in Utah right now. I'm
super excited to work with her. Each missionary gets their own iPad to
use, cool right? For now we have to use wifi but hopefully we'll get
a data plan, it'd make life a lot easier. We haven't received
permission from Salt Lake to use them for online proselytizing yet, but
we hope soon.

So, we had transfers this week and last Thursday I got to stay in Pisa
with Sorella Bradshaw. It was super awesome and super beautiful. We
were expecting to only be there until about five or so when both of
our new comps would be arriving, but I guess there were some delays
in Milano centrale so they didn't arrive in Pisa until 9 at night. Then
Sorella McMurray and I had to hop back on the train to head home to
Livorno. We made it to the station at 9:30 and all of the buses had
stopped for the night, but luckily we were able to get in contact with
a member to give us a ride home.

Needless to say, the next day, Friday, we were pretty exhausted! We
did our weekly planning and then spent the rest of the day doing pass
bys and showing Sorella McMurray around the city .

The first day Sorella McMurray was here, we went out to the docks to see the water.

Saturday, we did more pass bys of less active or inactive members and
today, someone let us in! Her name is Gabriella and she's a super cute
little old lady. She hasn't had any missionaries visit her in along
time and she said we could come back to see her again so we're super
excited to start working with her.

Sunday, it was Sorella McMurray's first day in church and it was kinda
funny, cause I was wearing glasses that day, so a few of the members
didn't recognize me and thought that I was the new sorella and came up no
said benvenuta. That afternoon we did a lot of calls and organizing
lessons for the rest of the week, so we're excited and hope we'll see a ton of people this week.

Monday, we had district meeting and saw a member named Sorella C.
She's preparing to get her patriarchal blessing so she wanted us the
help her get ready and help her read the scriptures and understand
more. Then we did some pass bys afterwards and met some people on the
street along the way. It was a super busy day. We also passed by
Stella who we hadn't seen for a little while.

Tuesday was the Independence Day for Italy, so a lot of the people
we'd made appointments with that day canceled on us. It's funny,
Italians take their fiestas realllly seriously, so we weren't able to
see anybody that day, everything fell through. Kind of a bummer, but
andiamo avanti. English class that night and only the most dedicated
students showed up since it was a festa, so it was pretty fun. They
are all awesome at English.

Today, we went to Lungo Mare the pier out by the sea, and it was super
beautiful. Livorno is pretty amazing!

This is Sorella McMurray

Well, it's been a really good week and I'm super excited for this
transfer, I think that Sorella McMurray and I are going to get a lot
done! I love you guys and I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love, Kim

Sent from my iPad - May 27, 2015

Hey everyone! Hope you all had an awesome week!

Okay, answers to questions! We can go anywhere in the zone for pdays,
it can just be rough with travel time, cause you can end up losing
half of your time on traveling. I think Siena is a part of the
Florence stake and yeah it's the lowest point of our mission. There's
apparently a TON to do in Siena but we didn't really get the chance to
do much. But it is a major tourist spot because of how beautiful it
is. We took the train down there and the scenery was seriously
gorgeous. Yeah it's a part of Tuscany, so if you picture the
stereotypical Tuscan countryside, that's what we were driving past.

Wow, so it has once again been an insane week! Last Thursday, we were
supposed to go to Prato to do a scambio with our STL there, but on
the way there, the train driver announced that our train couldn't make
it past Firenze because there was a gas leak on the tracks or
something, so we had to turn around and make our way home. That ended
up taking us most of the day, so it was kinda frustrating.

Friday, we spent most of the day preparing for our talent show that
was taking place that night. We also did weekly planning and a lot of
calls. The talent show that night was pretty awesome! One of the
anziani in our district is going to be a rockstar when he gets home,
so he performed some of his original songs for us and they were
reeeeally good. We sang a song from Mulan (Sorella Kras and I) and a
ton of the little kids in the ward performed so it was really fun!

Saturday,we saw Stella again. We talked about the My Family booklets
and how families can be forever. It was a really good lesson. We also
got transfer calls that day. Sorella Kras is being transferred to
Lugano in Switzerland and I'm staying here in Livorno and Sorella
McMurray will be coming. I'm sad Sorella Kras has to go but I'm really
excited to stay here in Livorno.

Sunday we had church and we tried to see the people Sorella Kras
wanted to meet before she goes to Lugano.

Monday, we saw our simp Anna Rita and it was a good lesson. She has a
ton of faith and is really open to discussing with us. Sorella Kras
also had to start packing and we starting getting the apartment ready
for transfers.

"Our district.  I missed the memo that we weren't supposed to smile."

Yesterday, we saw Azzura and Giacomo. We went and got a gelato with
them and did a lesson while we ate. They are seriously really
awesome people. Honestly so nice and generous.

With Giacomo and Azzura

Then we saw the P family that night. They're new converts who are preparing to go to the
temple. They have one daughter who is five and another who is sixteen
and didn't get baptized with her parents. They are seriously amazing
and they were really sad to have to say goodbye to Sorella Kras. But
it was a awesome appointment.

Today, so far we've just cleaned the house and did spesa. Sorella Kras
still has to pack a little, so we'll see if we have time to do
anything else later today.

Well, I think that's about all for me this week. I love you all lots
and I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love, Sorella Snow

Sent from my iPad

We got...iPads!- May20, 2015

Ciao, tutti!

Hey, everyone! 

So answers to questions. Doing Area book is when we update the schedas (the records of what we've taught our people) and go through lists of ex simps and call them or just all around organize the ward list/try and track down less active people we don't know. Just a lot of paperwork that needs to be done, but often missionaries forget or don't do it, so you often have to go back and update old info that hasn't been kept up. Spesa is just our grocery shopping for the week, that's the Italian word and that's just what we always call it :). What impressed me from the Bednar conference is how he kept on talking about how we are agents. We make every single choice and we can't be forced into anything because we are not just objects to be acted upon. 

So, last p day we went to Pisa finally! It was absolutely gorgeous! You always see pictures of the leaning tower, but it's totally different to get there and walk around the corner and see it. It really leans! I promise!

This is the outside of the baptistery at Pisa.

This is inside from the top looking down at the font.

The Medici seal

"I had to do the holding the tower shot!"

That night we went to church for FHE but it was apparently canceled and we weren't told, so that was kinda frustrating, because we were all waiting for people to show up and they didn't. Ahh, well. We go on. 

Thursday, we saw Sorella B and it was a good lesson with her, she's such a sweetheart! We also had district meeting because we were unable to do it last Monday, so that was fun! We have a really awesome district, so I love DM.

Friday, we saw Sorella N....o, a member. She's super awesome. Really funny! She was telling us a ton of stories. She has a beautiful testimony and will get to go the temple soon, so she's really excited for that! That afternoon we saw the N....a family. They have four super cute kids! It was so much fun! Their daughter was just baptized a while ago, so we are giving her the after baptism lessons. The youngest girl was doing a fashion show of her princess dresses and her little brother wanted to show off his superman costume, so they were just basically adorable! 

Saturday we saw Stella and she told us she would come to church, so we were psyched, but she unfortunately hurt herself pretty badly that night, so she was unable to come. But she's doing better so we hope for next week! 

Sunday we saw A and had a good lesson with her. Church was really good also. I love the members in the ward here! They are seriously all amazing! 

Monday, we had Zone Training and we talked about a ton of stuff, such as Sabbath observance. The stakes here are going to do a huge push in the next month or so for Sabbath observance, because it's a bit of a problem here. I'm excited for that, because it's really important! We also got some rules for the iPads! And the actual iPads! We're pretty excited! We can't do much yet, we still have to do some trainings for them, but we're finally starting the process, so we're super happy.

Our zone

"New iPads!"

Piazza di Palio (I think)

Yesterday, we saw S again and had a good lesson with her about the priestdhood. We shared an awesome talk from the April 2014 conference called the Keys and Authority of the Priesthood. Then we saw Sorella B and talked with her about genealogy (aren't you proud mom?!?) Then we had to run home because our senior couple was coming to fix/replace our broken beds (it used to be an anziano apartment...men :)) Then we had English Course. I had to teach cause the teacher was gone. It was intense. They were asking in depth questions about the diffferent form of the future tense. I had no clue.... I just speak it.

Today, we went to Siena and it was AMAZING! The duomo there was honestly the prettiest  I've seen so far (at least the inside). It's a long trip though, so we got back kinda late and I don't have a ton of email time. So I'll send pics next week (also of Pisa!) I promise!
 



The streets of Siena

The duomo of Siena.  "I just don't know how to describe the beauty of this duomo!"

 

The steps up to the duomo

The signs of the different villages of Sienna.

Add caption

"There were images like this EVERYWHERE on the floors."

The ceiling of the library room

Library inside the duomo

"That's a big book!"

Anyways, sorry, this was kinda hurried. I love you guys so much and I'm so happy that I get to be here and share the gospel! Vi voglio tantissimo bene! 

Love, Sorella snow 

Some exciting news - May 13, 2015

Ciao, tutti!

Wow, it was super awesome getting to see you all last Sunday! I'm glad everything's going well! 

So, last Thursday, we had correlation with our WML (ward mission leader) and that night we taught his son again. It was fun, they are a really cool family. They taught me how to do the cup song, so now I'm basically a pro! 

"Allesandro, the little boy we're teaching, he kinda reminds me of Mas..."

 

Friday, we saw Stella again and it was a good lesson. We also got some gelato afterwards because she lives  close to a gelateria that's pretty good. It's called La Mela Stregata. 

Saturday, we had to do a lot of area book work, and since we were at home for that, we made a lasagna! Not quite as good as yours mom, but we're just beginners :) We'll just have to keep practicing! 

"We made lasagna!"

"More lasagna!  Don't worry, I didn't actually eat that whole piece!"

"My comp stole my camera!"

Sunday, we had church and a member invited us to go to a little Mother's Day lunch she was having with her family afterwards. She has some kids who aren't really active, so she wanted us to meet them. They were all really cool and sweet. It was a really fun time! We hope we'll be able to see them all again real soon. Then we got to do skype! It was super awesome and I'm really glad we all got to see each other. The anziani said that after meeting you guys for 2 minutes, they could tell that we're all from the same family, they thought you were all hilarious. 

Monday, we got to see Mira, her son's a member and lives in America so she knows some of the members in the ward here and they sent us to find her. She was super sweet. She has a super strong testimony in the Lord and is willing to meet with us again, so, we're really excited to start working with her. 

Tuesday, we went to see Stella again and it was a really good appointment, she has a lot of faith. That night we also had the English course and 2 nonmembers who we had invited showed up! So we were really excited about that! 

"So they have lots of odd shaped past here, so this one reminds me of Pleakly, the alien from Lilo and Stitch"

Today, we haven't done much yet, just spesa and cleaning, but we hope to go to Pisa this afternoon! 

Well, I love you guys and I'm so grateful for your support! I hope you have an amazing week! Love, Kim

 

P.S. Email

 

...some exciting news! We got the email today telling us we'll receive ipads next Monday! We're pretty stoked to use them in the work! 

 

I love you guys! Thanks for all of the email, love and support. Have a great week! 

MOTHER'S DAY SKYPE - May 10, 2015

We added Zach on to the Skype

 

Mason and Kim putting their arms around each other Skype style

I kinda got hit by a moped... - May 6, 2015

Buonasera! 

Hey, everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic week! Mine was pretty good!

So, last Wednesday, we had a ward FHE at 7 and it was pretty fun. We made an obstacle course out of the chairs and we had one girl try to navigate it blindfolded with all of us shouting misdirections, except for one person, who was the Holy Ghost and trying to actually lead her. It was a fun object lesson. 



Emails sent back and forth between Kim and Carrie
Kim:  "We found a random clock in the park, I tried to convince Sorella Kras to let us take it home,
 but she wasn't going for it."
Carrie:  "I love the clock!  Was it working?'
Kim:  "Actually, yeah it was.  I thought it was super pretty.  It was gone the next day :(

Thursday, we had lunch with members from the ward. That's so fun that they sent the picture to you! They are super awesome and we loved talking with them.

Some member from the Livorno ward sent this picture and a nice email to the Snow family

We had correlation with our WML (ward mission leader) also that day and then went to his house that night to teach his son the pre baptism lessons. It was really fun, they're an awesome family.

Friday, we got the chance to do some yard work for a sister in our ward who recently had a surgery. (I guess we were all gardening this week!) It was really fun and she and her sons are so sweet. We also brought them some brownies. 

Sunday, we had church, and it was a pretty crazy day. We had a lot of the less active people we're working with come, so we were really happy for that. We also had a lesson with our new convert, Azzura. She's super sweet.

Monday, we saw a referral in the morning, named Anna Rita. She's super cool. She was a simp in the past and she's super open to start meeting with us again. We have another appointment set with her and I can't wait to see how it goes! We also saw Azzura again and it was another good lesson.

Yesterday, we saw Sorella B. She's seriously super adorable, she always wants to offer us little treats and she just loves missionaries. We also had English class that night, which is fun. There are some really cool people who come to the English class. It's acutally big enough here that we have four different classes. 

Today, we had a lot of chore stuff that we had to do, so we still haven't gone anywhere super cool for p-day, but we hope next week! Also, on the way to do grocery shopping, I kinda got hit by a moped! But no worries I'm okay! It was kinda scary, but I just got right back on my bike and kept going! I remembered Dad telling me about how he got hit by a bus or something on his mission. 

Anyways, it's been a crazy week! I'm super excited to skype this Sunday! I love you all and hope you have a fabulous week! 

Love, Sorella Snow