A busy week and a transfer.

I can't possibly in depth explain everything that happened this week so I'm going to write it in list form.

-I taught a lesson to a man who had never heard of Christ.
-I ate mexican and Phillipino food at two back to back meal appointments.
-I sang at an Italian\Sri Lanken wedding performed by a German minister.
-I sang at a funeral.
-I gave a talk at that same funeral.
-I got five minutes notice before giving that talk.
-I learned Italian hand motions.
-I ate blackberries off a vine by our house.
-I found out that I have been telling people for almost a year now, that I have a dear friend serving in Turkey speaking turquoise (I have no idea why no one corrected me)
-We left a card with someone and they actually called us.
-I found out I'm being transferred to Taranto.
-I spoke in church.
-I got five minutes notice before speaking in church.

The second photo is of one of the English course students in this area named Mario.

This week was heavy.

This week was heavy. It was great, I felt the spirit, I grew a lot, but it was really heavy.

Our investigator Veronica who was planning on getting baptized this week had her baptisimal interview with our district leader on Saturday. During the interview she and Anziano Carr decided that she should probably wait a little bit to get baptized, it's definately for the best and she is still working towards getting baptized but it kind of ruined the sword fish lunch we had afterwards.

Sorella Marquis had to go to the hospital for stomach pains that ended up being a nerve inflamation on her ribs. That was stressful.

Other heavy things happened, but I am having a hard time sorting through them in my head right now. On a plus side my beautiful moment this week was named Lamin (yep like Nephi's brother , I kind of feel like I have the power to change the whole story line of the book of Mormon). He is from Gambia, and comes from a muslim background. We told him there was a life after this one and that he could live with his mom for ever, and he said "Woah, this is very important. I have never heard that thing before." I told him we had a book that could help explain it a little better, and we are meeting on Thursday to give it to him. I hope he responds well to sharing a name with the protagonist of the whole book.

I was able to go to Siracusa on an exchange, which was awesome. It was amazing to see the ward again, and I was companions with Sorella Williams for a little over 24 hours. The best part was just having a little bit of a break. I am sure that there are problems in Siracusa, but they aren't my problems and it was pure bliss. As soon as I got back to Catania, I felt the weight or responsibility hit me again.

I have come to realize that rest as viewed by Latter-day Saints is a little bit different than how the rest of the world sees it. I am able to go to bed almost every night knowing that I am doing what the Savior expects of me, but I also know that there is a lot more to go, and I'm tired, and I didn't wash my hair this morning, but I would so much rather have the sense of peace that comes from following the gospel than clean hair.

Pictures!!

I found some pictures of Madyline on the mission blog!

Learning to be kinder to others

This week was zone conference, and stake conference which I thought was going to be a nice relaxing break, but it was actually super exhausting. I passed out super early last night with all the lights on and no ear plugs, and I was dozing off all morning during personal study, however we did have some really great missionary moments.

During the last lesson with our "monopoly game" less active he asked us if we had any experienced (the word he used was Anziano which means elderly) American men specifically from Utah that he could talk to. His hope was that talking to someone that had lived in and experienced the church in it's purest form (aka according to him, that found in Utah) would be able to clear up all of his questions. We explained to him , that only he and Heavenly Father would honestly be able to resolve his concerns, but we told him that we would look for someone. President happened to be coming to Catania for zone conference so we decided to ask him.

It just so happens that President was the missionary that taught him right after his baptism, so they talked for a little while and Fratello Sciacca prayed to find his faith. He also told me on the phone that he is looking for all the older less actives in Catania (those from the 70's) and hopes to bring them back to the church. I told him that Sorella Marquis and I would be happy to call them, and he asked me "Don't you think that it would mean so much more coming from one of their friends?", so it sounds like he is beginning to heal himself.

Read more about this part of her letter on the mission blog!

Our golden investigator is working towards baptism this month. She asked me the requirements to serve a mission, and is ecstatic that she will be able to serve her Heavenly Father. I still can't believe that we met her only three weeks ago.

Lastly we went finding last night on the coast and we had three really awesome experiences. We have been using a survey that my friend Jacob serving in Michigan sent me, and we have been having a ton of success. (thank you Elder Cob!) and we used it to talk to three people. The first woman we talked to had studied with the elders 30 or so years ago, and at the end of our conversation she said. "I am NOT interested in joining your church, but I would be happy to come to your English course and this is my number. I want you to call me if you ever need anything, because you are doing a good thing." I hope to see exactly how her story turns out one day.

The second man was a scientologist who was more curious about out religion than anything else but agreed to meet with us again. He tries to speak in English but the only pronouns he knows are we, and I. So when he asks questions about us , he says things like "We are from America, yes?" It should be a party.

The last couple we met stopped us because we were both wearing red skirts which they thought was hilarious. (my favorite finding tools so far are ; sit on bench and wait for people to come to you, and wear matching clothes.) They were a 60 year old Sicilian (speaking primarily in Sicilian) couple, and we talked for a little bit and then invited them to take our survey. The husband told us, " I gave up on religion. The trinity doesn't make sense. How can God, and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost all be one person?" So we explained that they aren't actually one person but three separate, and he blew kisses at us (Italians do that sometimes when they like what you say.) He took our survey and sort of read one question for about 15 minutes while talking to us the whole time, and the n he said "I'm probably not going to read this, but I see here that there is a spot for my number, and you can come to my house, and explain to me what it says. My wife will cook for you, and you can meet all of our children, and grandchildren." I think we might have a hard time getting him to keep commitments but oh I love Sicilians.

I have really realized recently how important it is to be kind. Living in close quarters with so many missionaries makes it clear how destructive people can be to each other. I have realized that we are all incredibly incredibly human, and that we all do really stupid imperfect things, but that everyone is a child of God. Most of all I have realized that everyone needs more love. The things that I regret most about my mission and my life, are the moments in which I wasn't kind enough. I have never taken satisfaction in being right after the fact, but I have always regretted not being kinder.

I love you all, and you are all super wonderful. Pray for the Sicilians for me!

Con Amore
Sorella Madyline Spencer

The Work is Picking up!

The last two emails I got from Mady were not for the blog, but she has been doing really well. I did get something for the blog today with a couple of pictures. Isn't she beautiful?!?!?!

The work has really picked up here. We have three main investigators. One is a long term inactive member and his daughter. His name is Fratello Sciacca and he is a huge talker. Teaching lessons with him is kind of playing a game of monopoly that you lose in the first five minutes, and you spend the rest of the game just wanting to flip the board over. He can completely derail the lesson, and I literally spend the rest of the lesson imagining which of his things I can throw out the window, but his daughter is making huge progress, so we keep going, and they always end the lesson with gelato, so at least they are good winners. Then we have an investigator named Vanessa who looked us up on mormon.org, and she says that she feels like she has heard everything we are teaching her before, and we are picking a baptism date this next week.

Then we met a man in the park the other day named Silvio who wants to be baptized on July 5th. We are really worried though because we think he might be homeless. He carries a backpack around and everything inside of it is wrapped in plastic bags, and every time we call him you can hear cars passing outside, even at 8 or 9 at night.

Sorry I just skimmed that, and it's super boring. Sorella Marquis and I are just really pumped, because this is Italy, the heart of Catholisim and that never happens. I added two pictures that made me laugh. The one of the mattress was a tender mercy of the Lord. We were dead tired and talking about how badly we wanted to lay down and we found a mattress on the side of the road. We didn't sleep on it, but I feel like the Lord has a good sense of humor sometimes. The other one is a picture of graffiti that translates to "Burn the Bible". It's a really unflattering angle of me, but I thought it was really funny.

I have really gained a testimony about working in unity. The spirit literally cannot exist in contention and so that is the first line that Satan attacks. All of my mission I have felt this need to be respected by other people, and to make sure things get done in the most efficient ways, and all of those things are important, but this transfer I have just really focused on making sure that my companion knows that I love her, and that I think she is a good missionary, and all of a sudden we are seeing all sorts of miracles. Miracles that don't happen in Sicilia. I really think it might be because Heavenly Father feels like he can trust us. Also maybe I have leprosy... I just will let you think about that.