Ciao, famigila!!!
TWO WEEKS ALREADY HOLY COW. It's flying by. Everyone says the MTC days are long and the weeks are short....it's totally true!
This week we finally set some district goals....the big one is to speak NO ENGLISH on July 17th. YIKES. But we are going to be able to do it! Ce la facciamo!! (Yes we can!).
Biggest news: WE HAD AN APOSTLE SPEAK AT DEVOTIONAL LAST NIGHT. Elder Neil Anderson came and spoke about the power of the Holy Ghost and its role in our calling as missionaries. We had a district meeting afterword and the spirit was SO strong. It's funny because a lot of the time Sorella Argyle and I joke about how our Elders act like children, they joke and mess around with each other all the time, plus they are younger than us for the most part. But last night as we all bore testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost and shared experiences where we had felt its power, they grew twelve feet taller. I am so grateful for those young men who are willing to sacrifice all that they need to in order to serve their Lord and fulfill their priesthood duties, because they are setting the example for so many others. My heart was really full as I thought of my own little brother and how attached he gets to each of the elders that come through our ward. I am so grateful for missionaries who willingly set such good examples!
We got to celebrate the fourth of July with a special program that included music, a great talk about how true heroes are disciples of Christ, and how we can be someones hero as long as we are converted to Him, and then we got to watch 17 Miracles (they wanted to avoid letting us out to see the fireworks from Stadium of Fire while Carrie Underwood was singing). I don't know why I never watched that before now, but I loved it. I am so proud to come from such strong, faithful people. I kept thinking about how I haven't been asked to cross a plain or leave a dead child behind on the side of the road, all I have been asked to do is keep their faith and share it. How could I not?
We had a great fast and testimony meeting on Sunday. There was no priesthood or RS, but they did something called Mission Conference. The members of the MTC presidency spoke, it was kind of like an MTC-wide general conference. President Nally (MTC pres.) served his mission in New Zealand! He announced some new changes that the brethren had given to the Mission Presidents at the training seminar they had in the last week of June:
One of my favorite things Pres. Nally said was that God's goal is not baptisms. It's conversion. This is really going to change how many new members stay in the church. The other thing I've really gained a testimony of is the importance of every member being converted to Christ, and not to the church, it's programs, the missionaries, their bishop, their friends, or even the prophet. It's Christ's church, and we must be His.
We watched another talk by Elder Bednar on Sunday night, called Doctrine, Principles, Applications (I think...) PLEASE READ IT. Both his talks have changed my perspective of the type of missionary I want to be dramatically.
We finished teaching Stefano this week, and concluded by committing him to be baptized! (His name is actually Brother Duersch, he's our teacher now) It wasn't a "real" investigator, but we treated it like a real situation and so it became a wonderful teaching and learning experience for both of us. Our last lesson we had planned the day before we taught it, and we were going to teach the creation/plan of salvation. But about 30 seconds before we were supposed to walk to the classroom where we were teaching, we both had the impression to chuck the plan out the window and focus more on the plan of redemption and the Atonement. Stefano actually asked us about repentance and why it was talked about so much in the book of Mormon, because apparently the word (il pentimento) has a negative connotation for Catholics. We explained that repentance is un benedizione (a blessing), and that through Christ's sacrifice we can be made clean and happy and return to God. I had memorized the baptismal invite earlier that day, so in fairly halting Italian I asked him if he would follow the example of Christ and be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority from God. AND HE SAID YES. He had a few other questions and worries, but we reassured him that we would continue to teach him so that he would be ready! It was so cool. I am so glad to know that I am capable of teaching someone enough that they would be willing to be baptized!
We have a new investigator and a less-active member that we are teaching this week (side note: all the lessons we teach are to our teachers. They are all members already.). "Giovanni's girlfriend” is a member and she asked if he would be willing to take the lessons. That was the hardest lesson we've taught so far, because He didn't seem interested at all. He did a good job of acting like he was just there because she wanted him to be, so our goal now is to figure out what doctrine he needs to know that will show him that he needs the gospel in his life. Our other investigator is Samantha, she's an inactive RM who hasn't been to church in about a year because she's made some mistakes and she is afraid of what people will say at church to her. I am so grateful for how well Sorella Argyle knows her scriptures, she is able to recall chapters that we can commit those we are teaching to read so that they can study the doctrines and principles we feel that we need to teach. She has such a great command of the book of Mormon and she is teaching me so much, I am so lucky! We committed Samantha to read Mosiah 4, and we talked to her about how repentance is a blessing, not something we should be afraid of. We had her pray at the end of the lesson, and she didn't want to at first because it had been so long and I just looked at her and said, "Samantha, adesso e il tempo (now is the time).” And she agreed and said the prayer and I know she felt the spirit! It was a great experience for 3 of us. We are teaching her again on Saturday.
We got to go to the Italian consulate in Salt Lake yesterday! WE ESCAPED THE COMPOUND! Haha it was great to get off-campus for a bit. We took trax/frontrunner from Provo to Salt Lake in a group or about 10, but there was a group that came up about an hour after us. We got to talk to some people on the train and on the street, and I gave the extra pb&j and banana in my lunch to a panhandler who asked us for money. We had a good time, got our visa applications notarized, and sent the applications off to get processed. There was a senior couple who came with us who served as president of the Greece mission in 2000ish and they are now headed to Rome!
As of Saturday I have exactly ONE MONTH until I leave the MTC for Rome. I am so excited, and I know that this is where I am supposed to be.
I love you all so much, thank you for your continued love, prayers and support. I love hearing from you all! Dear Elders reach me the fastest, I get to read them same-day and it's free. So feel free to drop me a line!
All my love,
Sorella Decker
TWO WEEKS ALREADY HOLY COW. It's flying by. Everyone says the MTC days are long and the weeks are short....it's totally true!
This week we finally set some district goals....the big one is to speak NO ENGLISH on July 17th. YIKES. But we are going to be able to do it! Ce la facciamo!! (Yes we can!).
Biggest news: WE HAD AN APOSTLE SPEAK AT DEVOTIONAL LAST NIGHT. Elder Neil Anderson came and spoke about the power of the Holy Ghost and its role in our calling as missionaries. We had a district meeting afterword and the spirit was SO strong. It's funny because a lot of the time Sorella Argyle and I joke about how our Elders act like children, they joke and mess around with each other all the time, plus they are younger than us for the most part. But last night as we all bore testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost and shared experiences where we had felt its power, they grew twelve feet taller. I am so grateful for those young men who are willing to sacrifice all that they need to in order to serve their Lord and fulfill their priesthood duties, because they are setting the example for so many others. My heart was really full as I thought of my own little brother and how attached he gets to each of the elders that come through our ward. I am so grateful for missionaries who willingly set such good examples!
We got to celebrate the fourth of July with a special program that included music, a great talk about how true heroes are disciples of Christ, and how we can be someones hero as long as we are converted to Him, and then we got to watch 17 Miracles (they wanted to avoid letting us out to see the fireworks from Stadium of Fire while Carrie Underwood was singing). I don't know why I never watched that before now, but I loved it. I am so proud to come from such strong, faithful people. I kept thinking about how I haven't been asked to cross a plain or leave a dead child behind on the side of the road, all I have been asked to do is keep their faith and share it. How could I not?
We had a great fast and testimony meeting on Sunday. There was no priesthood or RS, but they did something called Mission Conference. The members of the MTC presidency spoke, it was kind of like an MTC-wide general conference. President Nally (MTC pres.) served his mission in New Zealand! He announced some new changes that the brethren had given to the Mission Presidents at the training seminar they had in the last week of June:
- Missionaries are to teach lesson 5 from PMG prior to baptism
- We are to re-teach all 5 lessons following baptism
- Missionaries are to work closely with the new member for 3-4 months following baptism, remain in close contact for at least 1 year, and ensure that the new member has at least 1 good friend in their ward
- Missionaries are to work more closely with ward counsels and local priesthood leadership
One of my favorite things Pres. Nally said was that God's goal is not baptisms. It's conversion. This is really going to change how many new members stay in the church. The other thing I've really gained a testimony of is the importance of every member being converted to Christ, and not to the church, it's programs, the missionaries, their bishop, their friends, or even the prophet. It's Christ's church, and we must be His.
We watched another talk by Elder Bednar on Sunday night, called Doctrine, Principles, Applications (I think...) PLEASE READ IT. Both his talks have changed my perspective of the type of missionary I want to be dramatically.
We finished teaching Stefano this week, and concluded by committing him to be baptized! (His name is actually Brother Duersch, he's our teacher now) It wasn't a "real" investigator, but we treated it like a real situation and so it became a wonderful teaching and learning experience for both of us. Our last lesson we had planned the day before we taught it, and we were going to teach the creation/plan of salvation. But about 30 seconds before we were supposed to walk to the classroom where we were teaching, we both had the impression to chuck the plan out the window and focus more on the plan of redemption and the Atonement. Stefano actually asked us about repentance and why it was talked about so much in the book of Mormon, because apparently the word (il pentimento) has a negative connotation for Catholics. We explained that repentance is un benedizione (a blessing), and that through Christ's sacrifice we can be made clean and happy and return to God. I had memorized the baptismal invite earlier that day, so in fairly halting Italian I asked him if he would follow the example of Christ and be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority from God. AND HE SAID YES. He had a few other questions and worries, but we reassured him that we would continue to teach him so that he would be ready! It was so cool. I am so glad to know that I am capable of teaching someone enough that they would be willing to be baptized!
We have a new investigator and a less-active member that we are teaching this week (side note: all the lessons we teach are to our teachers. They are all members already.). "Giovanni's girlfriend” is a member and she asked if he would be willing to take the lessons. That was the hardest lesson we've taught so far, because He didn't seem interested at all. He did a good job of acting like he was just there because she wanted him to be, so our goal now is to figure out what doctrine he needs to know that will show him that he needs the gospel in his life. Our other investigator is Samantha, she's an inactive RM who hasn't been to church in about a year because she's made some mistakes and she is afraid of what people will say at church to her. I am so grateful for how well Sorella Argyle knows her scriptures, she is able to recall chapters that we can commit those we are teaching to read so that they can study the doctrines and principles we feel that we need to teach. She has such a great command of the book of Mormon and she is teaching me so much, I am so lucky! We committed Samantha to read Mosiah 4, and we talked to her about how repentance is a blessing, not something we should be afraid of. We had her pray at the end of the lesson, and she didn't want to at first because it had been so long and I just looked at her and said, "Samantha, adesso e il tempo (now is the time).” And she agreed and said the prayer and I know she felt the spirit! It was a great experience for 3 of us. We are teaching her again on Saturday.
We got to go to the Italian consulate in Salt Lake yesterday! WE ESCAPED THE COMPOUND! Haha it was great to get off-campus for a bit. We took trax/frontrunner from Provo to Salt Lake in a group or about 10, but there was a group that came up about an hour after us. We got to talk to some people on the train and on the street, and I gave the extra pb&j and banana in my lunch to a panhandler who asked us for money. We had a good time, got our visa applications notarized, and sent the applications off to get processed. There was a senior couple who came with us who served as president of the Greece mission in 2000ish and they are now headed to Rome!
As of Saturday I have exactly ONE MONTH until I leave the MTC for Rome. I am so excited, and I know that this is where I am supposed to be.
I love you all so much, thank you for your continued love, prayers and support. I love hearing from you all! Dear Elders reach me the fastest, I get to read them same-day and it's free. So feel free to drop me a line!
All my love,
Sorella Decker
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