Hey famiglia! This week was really cool,we worked really hard and we taught 19 lessons! It was super sick. We are tired but really happy :)
So Monday was just chill, we hung out at the church with the anziani and played some Italian card games. We made an apple crisp for FHE and taught Francesco the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He made pasta for everyone to eat after FHE, and it was super good. Just tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. It was fun to be with some of the ward members and eat and stuff.
Tuesday we taught Joel, he is doing so well! Then we went to show a video to a less active but she wasn't there so we showed it to her nonmember daughter. We saw Francesco's mom for English lesson, then we went and saw a member, Costance. She is so solid, I love her. She is from Nigeria and she just has the best way of explaining things. We did some finding, and then we went to the villa and showed Grazie a Lui in the park. We met this couple from Bulgaria, and then we went to English course. Afterword we were going to go get pizza but we ran out of time because we ran into a woman who works at Caritas with us; her name is Lina. She invited us up to her apartment for just a minute, so we went up and chatted. She is so cute and sweet. We found out that her husband died 6 years ago and she is still having a really hard time. We shared a bit of the plan of salvation with her and we said we would come back later in the week to say hi again. We still got pizza, too, just at a different pizzeria...but the pizza here is soooooo good. It doesn't even matter where you go :)
Wednesday we saw Santina in the morning and watched a Mormon message with her, "Courage." It is about Queen Esther and 3 other women who share their stories of courage. It's really cool. Then we had district meeting, where one of the anziani shared a talk from the Ensign about how getting enough sleep helps us be more receptive to the spirit. I really liked it. One of the things I have learned on my mission is the value of getting up on time. It's crazy that I used to sleep half the day away! :P We met up with Alessandro, an English course student, and talked for a bit at a cafe. He likes to just chat with us to practice his English, he went to Oxford for two months and he got really good. He has been at the beach for like a week. Apparently the beach here is the hidden treasure of Italy, I haven't been because it takes an hour on the bus to get there and with it being summer I don't really want to go near a beach...but the Gargano is supposedly gorgeous. Then we went to see Olga, she is just so cute and wonderfully Italian, we got to see her wedding album, she told us about the woes of marriage and told us to marry a man close to our age and then said no one we find will be worthy of us. I love her! We finished out the day with more finding at the villa. It is a good place because there are people seated on benches and they won't run away! ;) #missionaryprobs
Thursday was really cool. We watched the restoration video with Joel and he had us stop it every now and then to write down things that he liked so that he could use them to practice reading. He has so much faith and real intent, which is an incredible and powerful combination. He sees so many miracles and tender mercies because of the trust he puts in God to keep His promises. It is so inspiring to hear his testimony. We made white chicken chili for lunch and I almost cried because it was like Mexican food (If I could get anything from America it would be a burrito bowl from Chipotle with like EVERYTHING on it). We gave a bunch to the anziani too :) We tried hunting down some less actives after lunch, then we went to go see a member before she leaves for Switzerland to work at the temple for two months. She has a neighbor that she talked to about the temple and she asked us to go give her a Book of Mormon, which we did. She didn't let us explain it to her or anything, but now she has it and she said she would read it, so speriamo bene:) Then we went to English course and had pizza with the anziani after, because Anziano Borden got transferred to Rome to be the new AP.
Friday was slow, we spent the whole morning looking for a less active's address, and then we found out we had passed it three times #loam (life of a missionary). Then we went out to do finding. We went and saw Santina with Sorella Strombaum (? I don't know how to spell it), and then more finding. We walked through this piazza and there was a concert going on for this guy Ottavio de Stefano and the OBS Big Band. He is from Foggia but he lives in New York, he is a jazzy Michael Buble-esque singer. I was dying. We went and got pizza at La Fasina, which is the best pizzeria in Foggia. There were fireworks across the street to ring in the holiday on Saturday ;) (We have no idea what they were from, but it was super cool for us:).
Saturday was a big day, INDEPENDENCE DAY and TRANSFER CALLS!!!! We sang the star spangled banner and said the pledge of allegiance. Then president called he started singing God bless America over the phone. Sorella Gates has been transferred to ROME 5!!!!!!!! I am so excited for her. We have been talking about it nonstop for 48 hours. And I don't know who my new companion is because......I AM TRAINING!!!! So that will be fun. We are going to Rome on Wednesday to pick her up and bring her back to Foggia. I am really nervous and really excited all at the same time. We went to do some finding and tried to stay out of centro because of the Puglia gay pride parade that happened in Foggia, there were 4000+ people out to match through the city. Then we ended up walking through the end of the parade....oops. We went to Alessandra's shop and showed her Courage, and then we told her about how they are changing the church schedule and should come to church (she is a less active.); that's important for what happened on Sunday. We were doing a lot of finding, we went back to the villa and we ran into one of Santina's friends, Luisa. We talked to her for a long time about courage and faith, she is really sweet. Then on our way home we ran into Ada and Miracle! We haven't seen them in forever, she has been busy getting things ready so that they can leave Italy. But we got to talk to her for a bit and she said that they would come to church. I was really exhausted by the end of the day just because of transfers and being outside in the super-heat (mamma Mia this summer is so hot already) and not feeling super good, I came home and crashed. It was well needed! :)
Sunday was miraculous. Ada and Miracle came to church, Costance came, a less active family came, Joel got the priesthood, and Alessandra came after not being in church for 3 years!! We were so excited to see her there, she is so sweet. It was so nice to have sacrament meeting first, the spirit was so much stronger throughout all three hours. When we came in it was quiet and reverent, the prelude was being played, and everyone was seated in the chapel waiting for the meeting to start. It was one of the best fast and testimony meetings I have ever been in. It makes such a big difference to start with sacrament meeting because that is when we have the opportunity to re-covenant with Heavenly Father that we will do our best to follow His Son, which is so important. I am so happy that they have made changes to place more emphasis on the significance of the sacrament. After church we came home and ate lunch, did language study, and then we went to try and see Lina again. She was home and we went up, she had been having a rough day because it was the anniversary of her husband's death. She doesn't believe she will be with him after this life, and she isn't sure there even is a life after this. I wish everyone realized how important families are to Heavenly Father!! He gives us the chance to be with them forever. It is the most beautiful aspect of the plan of happiness, He doesn't just send us here to learn to love people only to never be with them again. That would be almost cruel. I don't believe in a cruel, punishing God, I believe in a loving Father in Heaven who wants us to be together with the people we love forever. There is so much purpose to our family ties! And it makes me so sad when people don't understand that. We talked to Lina about it for a long time, and I really hope she gets it :) we went and did finding in centro for the rest of the evening, we did scambios with some of the members to cover more ground. It was fun :)
So it was a long, tired, busy week...but very fulfilling alla fine. I am a little freaked out at the concept of training....but I know it will be ok (right? Haha:)
I love you guys!! Hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend!
Love,
Sorella Decker
So Monday was just chill, we hung out at the church with the anziani and played some Italian card games. We made an apple crisp for FHE and taught Francesco the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He made pasta for everyone to eat after FHE, and it was super good. Just tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. It was fun to be with some of the ward members and eat and stuff.
Tuesday we taught Joel, he is doing so well! Then we went to show a video to a less active but she wasn't there so we showed it to her nonmember daughter. We saw Francesco's mom for English lesson, then we went and saw a member, Costance. She is so solid, I love her. She is from Nigeria and she just has the best way of explaining things. We did some finding, and then we went to the villa and showed Grazie a Lui in the park. We met this couple from Bulgaria, and then we went to English course. Afterword we were going to go get pizza but we ran out of time because we ran into a woman who works at Caritas with us; her name is Lina. She invited us up to her apartment for just a minute, so we went up and chatted. She is so cute and sweet. We found out that her husband died 6 years ago and she is still having a really hard time. We shared a bit of the plan of salvation with her and we said we would come back later in the week to say hi again. We still got pizza, too, just at a different pizzeria...but the pizza here is soooooo good. It doesn't even matter where you go :)
Wednesday we saw Santina in the morning and watched a Mormon message with her, "Courage." It is about Queen Esther and 3 other women who share their stories of courage. It's really cool. Then we had district meeting, where one of the anziani shared a talk from the Ensign about how getting enough sleep helps us be more receptive to the spirit. I really liked it. One of the things I have learned on my mission is the value of getting up on time. It's crazy that I used to sleep half the day away! :P We met up with Alessandro, an English course student, and talked for a bit at a cafe. He likes to just chat with us to practice his English, he went to Oxford for two months and he got really good. He has been at the beach for like a week. Apparently the beach here is the hidden treasure of Italy, I haven't been because it takes an hour on the bus to get there and with it being summer I don't really want to go near a beach...but the Gargano is supposedly gorgeous. Then we went to see Olga, she is just so cute and wonderfully Italian, we got to see her wedding album, she told us about the woes of marriage and told us to marry a man close to our age and then said no one we find will be worthy of us. I love her! We finished out the day with more finding at the villa. It is a good place because there are people seated on benches and they won't run away! ;) #missionaryprobs
Thursday was really cool. We watched the restoration video with Joel and he had us stop it every now and then to write down things that he liked so that he could use them to practice reading. He has so much faith and real intent, which is an incredible and powerful combination. He sees so many miracles and tender mercies because of the trust he puts in God to keep His promises. It is so inspiring to hear his testimony. We made white chicken chili for lunch and I almost cried because it was like Mexican food (If I could get anything from America it would be a burrito bowl from Chipotle with like EVERYTHING on it). We gave a bunch to the anziani too :) We tried hunting down some less actives after lunch, then we went to go see a member before she leaves for Switzerland to work at the temple for two months. She has a neighbor that she talked to about the temple and she asked us to go give her a Book of Mormon, which we did. She didn't let us explain it to her or anything, but now she has it and she said she would read it, so speriamo bene:) Then we went to English course and had pizza with the anziani after, because Anziano Borden got transferred to Rome to be the new AP.
Friday was slow, we spent the whole morning looking for a less active's address, and then we found out we had passed it three times #loam (life of a missionary). Then we went out to do finding. We went and saw Santina with Sorella Strombaum (? I don't know how to spell it), and then more finding. We walked through this piazza and there was a concert going on for this guy Ottavio de Stefano and the OBS Big Band. He is from Foggia but he lives in New York, he is a jazzy Michael Buble-esque singer. I was dying. We went and got pizza at La Fasina, which is the best pizzeria in Foggia. There were fireworks across the street to ring in the holiday on Saturday ;) (We have no idea what they were from, but it was super cool for us:).
Saturday was a big day, INDEPENDENCE DAY and TRANSFER CALLS!!!! We sang the star spangled banner and said the pledge of allegiance. Then president called he started singing God bless America over the phone. Sorella Gates has been transferred to ROME 5!!!!!!!! I am so excited for her. We have been talking about it nonstop for 48 hours. And I don't know who my new companion is because......I AM TRAINING!!!! So that will be fun. We are going to Rome on Wednesday to pick her up and bring her back to Foggia. I am really nervous and really excited all at the same time. We went to do some finding and tried to stay out of centro because of the Puglia gay pride parade that happened in Foggia, there were 4000+ people out to match through the city. Then we ended up walking through the end of the parade....oops. We went to Alessandra's shop and showed her Courage, and then we told her about how they are changing the church schedule and should come to church (she is a less active.); that's important for what happened on Sunday. We were doing a lot of finding, we went back to the villa and we ran into one of Santina's friends, Luisa. We talked to her for a long time about courage and faith, she is really sweet. Then on our way home we ran into Ada and Miracle! We haven't seen them in forever, she has been busy getting things ready so that they can leave Italy. But we got to talk to her for a bit and she said that they would come to church. I was really exhausted by the end of the day just because of transfers and being outside in the super-heat (mamma Mia this summer is so hot already) and not feeling super good, I came home and crashed. It was well needed! :)
Sunday was miraculous. Ada and Miracle came to church, Costance came, a less active family came, Joel got the priesthood, and Alessandra came after not being in church for 3 years!! We were so excited to see her there, she is so sweet. It was so nice to have sacrament meeting first, the spirit was so much stronger throughout all three hours. When we came in it was quiet and reverent, the prelude was being played, and everyone was seated in the chapel waiting for the meeting to start. It was one of the best fast and testimony meetings I have ever been in. It makes such a big difference to start with sacrament meeting because that is when we have the opportunity to re-covenant with Heavenly Father that we will do our best to follow His Son, which is so important. I am so happy that they have made changes to place more emphasis on the significance of the sacrament. After church we came home and ate lunch, did language study, and then we went to try and see Lina again. She was home and we went up, she had been having a rough day because it was the anniversary of her husband's death. She doesn't believe she will be with him after this life, and she isn't sure there even is a life after this. I wish everyone realized how important families are to Heavenly Father!! He gives us the chance to be with them forever. It is the most beautiful aspect of the plan of happiness, He doesn't just send us here to learn to love people only to never be with them again. That would be almost cruel. I don't believe in a cruel, punishing God, I believe in a loving Father in Heaven who wants us to be together with the people we love forever. There is so much purpose to our family ties! And it makes me so sad when people don't understand that. We talked to Lina about it for a long time, and I really hope she gets it :) we went and did finding in centro for the rest of the evening, we did scambios with some of the members to cover more ground. It was fun :)
So it was a long, tired, busy week...but very fulfilling alla fine. I am a little freaked out at the concept of training....but I know it will be ok (right? Haha:)
I love you guys!! Hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend!
Love,
Sorella Decker
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