A week of miracles

This week, has been really really full of miracles. We have been doing interviews in English course to gage people's interest in the gospel, and we have been shocked to see how many people are very curious. Also I have also been surprised at how many more women are interested in learning about the gospel than men. We basically do a lesson zero with them, and it definitely gave me a great understanding of how difficult it is to be an elder.

Before English course on Tuesday this week a woman named Simona stopped me, and asked if she could learn more about the church. We did an amazing lesson zero with her, she opened up so much, and shared such a desire to learn more, and then we invited her to pray about Joseph Smith. We did our next lesson she told us that she had prayed about Joseph Smith and that she had no doubt that he was a prophet, she has accepted a soft baptismal invite already and we are hoping to set a date with her this week. It is amazing how quickly things can change.

Last week I was pretty sure I was never going to get to teach another lesson in my mission, and that I was literally going to spend the next few months chasing little tiny Sardegnians down the street trying to convince them to listen to me. She came to church on Sunday, even though she works nights and was only able to get two hours of sleep, and she really enjoyed gospel principles. Which is kind of a shock because Sorella Winegar and I taught it on prayer, and we made a really big deal out of how prayer needs to come from your heart, and then I asked a man to read Matthew 6:6 which talks about not praying to been seen by men. It is immediately followed by the Lord's prayer, which is what we spend all of our time trying to get our investigators to stop saying. So instead of just reading verse 6 he goes on to read the Lord's prayer, all while two other missionaries, one member and, I are trying frantically to figure out how to get him to stop reading it. I'm actually surprised no-one picked up on how panicked we were.

Either way, she loved gospel principles then during sacrament there was a woman sitting behind her who was making negative comments about everyone who got up to bear their testimony, and S....... was pretty angry afterwards. We had a really long talk about how the church is perfect the people are not (thanks for that pep talk growing up mom, I've used it a lot on my mission), and the importance of being a good example. She is determined to help improve the ward through her example. I'm praying desperately that the save of the branch and the attitude of the members won't defer her from what she knows is true. Just for the record, this is an amazing branch, it just is full of human beings just like, every branch, ward, stake, and mission in the church.

We are still working with Alessandro. He has a very different set of problems. His biggest struggle is comprehension. We have decided to pass him to the elders, because they formed a really great connection with him on Sunday, and we feel like they will be able to better serve him, because they can invite men to the lessons, instead of women. There is a lot of unity in this district and it is bringing a ton of miracles.

We have also formed a really great connection with a couple from English course. They did a p-day with us and invited us to a family dinner at their house. During dinner the whole family asked a lot of questions about the gospel. After dinner one of the sisters pulled me aside and told me that she isn't fully convinced by the catholic church, but that she feels a light inside of her so she knows that there is a God. We exchanged numbers and she agreed to start taking the lessons. We have decided to officially ask Manlio and Anna to take the lessons as well this week. Sorella Winegar is very nervous about it, because she doesn't want them to feel like we have been using them. I have tried to explain the importance of being bold and our purpose, but I still think she is really nervous. Which I guess is understandable because it is her first transfer. So there is a lot of work, we are excited to see how everything turns out. We are looking forward to zone conference in a few days.

Thanks for all of your prayers. I have been seeing a lot of miracles recently on my mission, and I think that comes a lot from your faith. I love you all and I hope your October is wonderful. Fall and Halloween are the things that I miss most in Italy.

Vi voglio BENE!

Valuable life lessons

Cari Amici,
Well I'm in Sassari. This is probably my last city, and I have been reflecting back on my mission, and the time right before my mission and everything in my life in general that led me up to this decision. When I was 17 I was accepted into BYU provo, and I had to kind of assess my life to decide what direction I was going in, and what I really wanted, and at that point in my life I decided to make the Savior and his gospel the center of my life. That was a huge defining moment in my life. It changed my whole life. It's the reason I went to BYU, met some of my best friends, decided to go on a mission, learned a second language, and met even more amazing people who are literally my world.

It's been three years since that happened and I have felt pretty content with where I am, but I'm having kind of a similar experience right now. It's true I am an ok person. I am serving a mission, I follow the rules, I read the scriptures every day, I try to be kind to others, but I kind of feel the way that I did when I was 17, like it's time to step up and decide where my life is going. If I stay the way that I am, I will have a good life. I will magnify callings, I will probably get married in the temple (it's never a good idea to be to sure about that one), and I will probably be happy enough, but I feel like it's time to step up again. I'm trying my hardest to take everything that I have learned ever (more specifically in my mission, but in general) and really make myself happier through it.

I have always been very concerned with making things appear perfect, even if they aren't even close to ok. I tend to avoid contention at all cost which has turned out to be a huge weakness in my mission, because part of that entails that I avoid contention at all cost. If I don't like something that my companion, or my district leader says or does, I usually choose to just smile through it, even if I am inwardly furious. In my real life this worked ok, because if someone bothered me, I could just not talk to them and then call my mom and tell her what a jerk they were being, but it doesn't work as well in my mission, mostly because president says I can't call my mom. :( But also it has been really destructive to my relationships. It has made me resent people, even if they feel like we are really good friends. It has made me doubt the sincerity of people's kindness, because if I spend so much time in my head silently resenting everything everyone else does, what is going on in their heads? It has made people feel comfortable saying hateful, unkind things to me, because they know that I won't ever stand up for myself. This has been a huge stumbling block in my mission, specifically in my last area.

When I came to Sassari two things happened a) I decided that even if I had to be an absolute jerk, I was never going to let people treat me that way again, and b) I started training, which put me in a position where no matter how badly I didn't want to correct my companion, I had to because if you do certain things in Italy that are perfectly legal in America, we could get a hundred dollar fine. For example, the verb for leaving and giving birth are similar, and telling my companion that she just asked that member if she was going to give birth after sacrament. So I had to become ok with correcting people, and a lot of my resentment went away, I started feeling more on control of my life. I started getting better at taking criticism, and I started trusting that maybe people do care about me and want to be my friend. So my biggest lesson of being a missionary is communicate, and then forgive I guess. So even though it's hard I'm going to try to incorporate these things, and live my life at a higher level, so that I can be an even greater instrument in the hands of the Lord.

Random change of topics, I love training, I love seeing a person grow, I love seeing the type of influence that I can have on another person. We have been working on the first lesson, and we were able to teach it together (to an actual investigator!!!!) for the first time yesterday, and I loved hearing her say things that she had heard me say, and knowing that the type of missionary I am now will affect the type of mission that she will have for the next year and a half. It also makes me a better missionary. I want to be a good example, so I do everything to the best of my ability. I am more obedient than I have ever been, and I am better at talking to people on the streets, which has led to some amazing conversations.

Another random tangent, we have no work, well that's not fair, we have one investigator. His name is Alessandro His first language in Sardo, and he didn't finish school so his Italian is shaky at best. Sometimes he tries to teach me Sardo, because it would be much easier for everyone if I spoke that language, which just makes my life very complicated, because sardo is not a dialect. I can usually figure out dialects, but Sardo is a completely different language, it's not even close to Italian. But all in all Alessandro is pretty cool. He believes that all churches are true, he just is looking for the one that fits him best. He is looking for a church that isn't full of hypocrites, and he is pretty sure that our church is the one that he wants to unite himself with, because he likes the people and how much natural light there is in our church (direct quote, catholic churches are very closed so you can't see very well in them, which I guess could be annoying...) but he is having a very very hard time grasping our doctrine. He is pretty sure that Joseph Smith is a catholic saint, and we wrote him an outline for how to say a prayer and he read it verbatim out loud three times (which in all fairness is how it works in the catholic church) so it is going to be a very gradual process with him. We are considering passing him to the elders but we just kind of want to watch and see how things go for a while first.

I don't know a graceful way to finish this email, I guess I will just tell you guys all of the wonderful things in my life. I am serving with some of the most amazing people in the world. I love my companion, I love Sorella Clyde, and Sorella Sartena (the other two sisters in our district) and our elders are amazing. One of the elders has seen how much we have been struggling with work these last few weeks, and has been making sure to talk to woman on the street so that he can give us referrals (his name is Anziano Padilla) , and our district leader is amazing he's from North Italy and is doing a great job of making my companion feel important and loved. Also when he speaks english (his english is amazing) he sometimes directly translates italian into english so sometimes he starts off mass texts to the district with dear beautiful missionaries. (way normal in Italian, kind of startling in English), and everyone is so obedient and hard working, so there is no contention there, because we are all on the same page.

Also I have been reading Jesus the Christ along with the Bible recently (when you don't have investigators you get more freedom in what you study) and I have decided that even from a completely unchristian unbiased view the bible is a beautiful work of literature. Because Christ had to be more candid while talking to the Jews, a lot of doctrinal truths are buried in parables, and passing comments that he made to the apostles. By reading it along with Jesus the Christ I have been able to see just how much foreshadowing, and allusions there are in every few pages, and not just regarding the atonement. Even Lazarus being raised from the dead is foreshadowed. So even if you have zero belief in God, the bible is a beautiful literary work. I love you all miss you like crazy. I love this country, I love these people, I love the language, I love the food. I ate a pig brain the other day, that I did not love. Also I was on the radio. They asked me to do a broadcast about english course. uuummmmm.... I think that's about it.

Rough transitions = tears for mom

I'm having a really really really really rough week. This transfer was super hard on me. There is 0 work here. I have been yelled at by so many crazy angry people. We have had like three or four lessons here, and they have all gone terribly. We have had some really scary experiences this week. My companion is super full of energy which is awesome, but I am really struggling to keep up with her, and sometimes I have to call her out on stuff which is really hard on me. I hate correcting people. I miss Taranto a lot. With explaining Italian to a new missionary, I have lost a lot of my ability to speak. I just want to cry right now. I don't know what to do!!!!!! I don't feel any of the love that I should for this city. I have no idea what we are supposed to be doing and I just want to crawl up in a ball in my bed and hide from everything and everybody.

(All that being said, the following weeks have gotten much better)

Training

So they say that the type of trainer you are is a direct reflection of what type of parent you will be, and what type of companion you are is a direct reflection on what type of spouse you will be. If so I am pretty confident in my parenting skills and really nervous about my marriage. I have had a really hard time communicating with my companions because I HATE contention, which has caused a lot of problems in my companionships. I remember that I was ok with telling you things that I didn't like so I'm hoping that it will be a problem that resolves itself in long term situations. (I meant that kind of as a joke, but also kind of to reassure myself.

Also random funny story we went to correlation last night and I told everyone where I was from Georgia, and he told me that he had only heard ugly things about georgia. It was kind of awkward and I didn't know what to say so I told him that I was from Georgia, so I know that there are some beautiful things from there. I meant it as we have great peaches and beautiful lakes and I know because I have seen them, but everyone took it to mean that I was the beautiful thing. They all laughed and it made me look much more confident than I really am, so I didn't correct them)

My hardest thing about being trained was feeling like I was just being bossed around and treated like a child all the time, so I'm trying not to do that. I let Sorella Wineger do everything that she feels comfortable doing, and try to offer way more encouragement than correction. I don't know how good of an idea it is. I definitely made fewer mistakes because Sorella Baker was so quick to offer constructive criticism, but Sorella Winegar seems happy, so I think I will keep doing it my way. I remember you said that there was a greenie in our ward when I left and that you felt like he really grew when his companion let him take the lead, so that's what I'm trying to do. We will see how it turns out. She is really great.

The Book of Mormon truly invites the spirit into our lives

It's officially August but the work is still going shockingly well in Taranto. In Italy most people leave their cities for a full month and go to the beach. Thanks to the fact that we have a beach in town most of our members and investigators will still be here. Thursday and Friday are going to be fairly dry but I think we are planning on dedicating those days to putting the area book back in order.

Things are going really well for the Ernest family. All three of them were in church on Sunday. I went to primary with Michael Angelo so that his mother could concentrate on Relief Society, and he had an amazing experience. They learned about family home evening, and he and I talked to Sorella Ernest (he needed help explaining the basics because he is four) about making it a part of their daily week, and she is more than willing to do so. Her family is hands down the most important thing to her in the world.

Also I love going to primary so much. It is such a tender mercy that the Lord has allowed me to work with children this much on my mission. My two favorite memories of my mission will forever be when Sebastian in Rome was telling me secrets in his sweet little mix of Italian and Spanish, while eating yogurt, and he ended up getting yogurt all over my hair and face, and when Michael Angelo taught me how to beat box. I have worked with kids for years now, and I have found so much joy in teaching them the gospel, and telling them that they are special to Jesus. I frankly just love children so I go to primary whenever I can find an excuse.

Also we had a really amazing miracle this week. We challenged the Bonvisuto family to start praying for missionary opportunities when I was with Sorella Knight, and I'm assuming that they did (Our appointment to follow up is on Wednesday) because when I got back from my scambi (exchanges) their niece was in church.

We saw Martin this week and we had a really interesting experience. I have been teaching him (my companionship) for over a month now, and in that time, he has changed so much. When I first met him he did so much to lash out for attention (he has had a really rough life). He would say things that were mean, or strange just to get us to react, and then he started reading the Book of Mormon. He finished the whole thing in one month, and during that month he changed so much. He wanted to be around the missionaries all the time. He was constantly researching the church online. He stopped being hateful and started being kind. He stopped doing and saying things for attention. He radiated with the light of Christ. When we saw him this week, all of that was gone. He had completely regressed back to his old self. After we talked for a little bit, we brought up the Book of Mormon, and he said that "when he read it he was so happy, and he felt addicted to the church, and as soon as he finished it he wanted to read it again and again, but he didn't and all of those feelings went away, and that God didn't answer his prayers anymore" so we talked about how important reading the scriptures were and read a few verses together, and by the time we were done he was more calm, and peaceful. It was a huge example of how important it is to read the Book of Mormon, how it truly invites the spirit into our lives.

This week has been a little tougher

This week has been a little tougher. It's really hard killing a missionary (this means being a companion with a missionary who is finishing their mission and getting ready to go home), because it makes you think a lot about home. By the time that I got to Bari, I was completely unmotivated to do anything at all. Except eat focacia, Bari makes some really good pizza. I figured out for me the personal remedy is speaking in Italian outside of the house. When I speak in Italian it turns off the Madyline in my head and turns on the Sorella Spencer, which makes it easier to concentrate on finding, teaching and being a better representative of Christ. I am with Sorella Knight right now, and she is very willing to syl with me which is a great help, and we have seen a lot of huge miracles come from syling.

Within the first hour that we were together a less active stopped us on the street, and invited us to come see him and his wife. Then later in the evening, on the way back from an appointment with the Ernest family we stopped to talk to a father and his son about coming to church, and he asked us if we were from Canada. We explained that we were American and that we taught an English course. He seemed very interested and as we were talking his wife and three other children came and joined him. All six of them are planning on coming to English course, and we are going to go meet them at a nearby grocery store, so that they can find the church for the first time, because our church is on a really small unknown street that no one knows where is, which means that any time anyone comes the first time, they get super lost, and I spend all sacrament meeting on the phone with them helping them find the church. So we will walk with them the first time. There was a really good feeling about them, and I have a lot of great hopes. So in summary syling brings miracles. It makes me feel more at ease when inviting people to come unto Christ. I really hope that Sorella Pancheri feels the same. (syl means speak your language)


Tanya and Tushom came to church on Sunday, and had a wonderful experience at church. Bishop asked Tanya to share her testimony, and it was really beautiful. The ward is completely and utterly in love with her, and she fits in seamlessly with the other youth. She has a huge desire to serve a mission, and I honestly can't believe how much I love her. I'm a little more worried about Tushom. He is best friends with one of our more rowdy deaons, Robert. It's a little ironic but Tushom is turning out to be a great example for Robert. Hopefully they will both be able to help each other in the long run. Also after church Sorella Knight ended up beat-boxing with Robert and Tushom so they adore her. They are trying to teach me, but really I am just not cool enough.

We are really worried about Martin, he and his mother got in a huge fight, where she broke his phone in half and told him he wasn't allowed to have any reaction with the church ever again. He slid a note under the elders door letting them know what happened, but we haven't heard from him since. We are praying for him, and truly hope that his mothers heart will be softened. Other than that I don't know what we can do other than wait. Since I wrote this Martin called us from a secret number. We are seeing him at five-thirty tonight. We could use a lot of prayers. This kid is amazing and he deserves the gospel in his life.

The work here is really moving. With all the progress Tanya and Tushom are making the ward is really getting excited about missionary work. My goal here was to see a member referral baptized, and Tanya and Tushom are already moving in that direction. I hope to see a lot more member referrals, because I truly think missionary work is the best way to strengthen a ward. I really do love Taranto.

Also I have been able to spend the week with Sorella Knight, who is an amazing friend. I am really disappointed she isn't my companion. It's so easy for me to work with her. Our teaching is really fluid, and we make really good decisions together. I guess if it were that easy, it wouldn't bring growth. Che peccato. I love you all a ton, It's always great hearing from you. Have a great week! :)

So many miracles!

I have been so excited to write this email for days now. We have seen so many miracles this week, and there are many more to come.


Miracle number one is named Martin Manole He is our 16 year old investigator from Hungary who wants desperately to be baptized, but his mother is very very opposed to the gospel. Because Sorella Bair and Anziano Kasper are leaving, she invited us to her home this Sunday for lunch. We were warned before hand not to pray or talk about the gospel by Martin,  but before lunch, she invited us to pray, and allowed us to do a brief spiritual thought on gratitude, and leave her home with a prayer. Before we left she told us that her home was open to the missionaries, and that we were free to meet with Martin, whenever we wanted. She still hasn't given him permission to be baptized, but we are heading in that direction. I think she is just afraid of losing her son, I think when she understands that she won't lose her son, but rather have a richer relationship with him after baptism, her attitude will change.


Miracle number two sarebbe la famiglia Ernest. They are our beautiful sri lankan family. The oldest daughter Tanya came to church on Sunday, and she blended seamlessly with the girls. We went with her to young women's to help her feel more comfortable, but she ditched us during the second hour. We have been spending a lot of time with teenagers recently, and I have started to realize that I am a lot older and less cool than I had thought. This is a direct quote of a conversation Tanya had with the other young women.

young woman 1: Imagine a lama, with a horn like a unicorn that shoots unicorn horns out of it's mouth.

everyone but me laughs

Me to Tanya: What are they talking about, is this a new thing on youtube?

Tanya: No it's just a mix of animals.

Young woman number 2: A panda t-rex mix with a unicorn horn.

Young woman number 1 pretends to be said panda t-rex unicorn mix.

Everyone but me laughs really hard:

Me:I'm really confused how do you all know about this, is it on the internet? Is this the new thing,like gangam style.

Tanya: to me: No it's just funny.

At this point I stopped talking because I wouldn't embarrass Tanya


We went to the Ernest home for dinner on Sunday night, and they all agreed to be baptized! We will work on setting a date with them and make sure that they are fully prepared this transfer.


Miracle number three is named Nicky Spagna He is an english course student, who has been reading the Book of Mormon, and he came to church on Sunday. Sorella Bair and I discussed it, and we decided that if there isn't a significant reason to hold onto a male investigator (like in Martin's case where he does not connect very well with men) we will pass them to the elders, so the elders will be teaching him, but we have formed a great friendship with him, and I hope that the sister's can continue to be a support to him, as he progresses towards baptism.


Miracle number four, we went to Stigliano yesterday! Nicky Spagna, and another english course student went with us to do genealogy and finding yesterday. It was a huge day for missionary work in two folds.

A) we were able to find living members of Sorella Bair's family, who are planning on helping her continue her family history work in December and

B) we also passed through and stopped in Nicky's home town, which is connected to Stigliano. The city is beautiful, and Nicki comes from an old influential family in that area (that continues to be influential, they asked him to be mayor) , so we were able to meet a handful of people in both cities, because he introduced them to us. It was a really wonderful experience, and it gave the church a very nice image. I'm sure that for the next few weeks Stigliano, and Acetura will be talking about the American Mormons who are parenti of the di bello family, and friends with the Spagna family. I could see missionary work being very successful in both cities (they overlap completely) especially with the help of Nicky and Sorella Bair coming back in December to do genealogy. I wanted to see if Nicky would be cooperative, so I mentioned to him that I was going to tell president about Acetura and Stigliano, and suggest that he put missionaries there. I told him, that it might not happen, and even if it did happen it may not happen for years, but he was very excited, which is amazing for two reasons.

1) Nicky is excited about doing missionary work, and every person I have seen get baptized on my mission has shared a desire to serve a mission, or share the gospel with their friends right as they start to make the most progress. so it demonstrated that Nicky really is starting his conversion process. 2) If Acetura\ Stigliano area were opened, I think that Nicky would be a huge help with referrals, and getting things started.

Also Sorella Knight will be coming to Taranto from Friday to Tuesday so that Taranto has sister missionaries, and our investigators don't get neglected. I'm really excited because Sorella Knight is very musically talented and Martin's mother is very passionate about music, and I'm hoping that we can go visit her at least once while Sorella Knight is here. Let Sorella Knight play the piano, invite the spirit into her home, and hopefully hopefully leave her with a prayer and a spiritual thought. Also Sorella Knight is one of my best friends in the whole mission, and I have missed her so much, so it will be really great to have a week with her as my companion. I love what I am doing so much. I can't imagine a life where missionary work isn't the heart of everything I do. I love you all but I may never come back. Just kidding. I miss my dog too much.