A
guy playing the harmonica and tambourine on the metro begging for
money said
this to me. It wasn't enough for me to give him money. :)
Welp, cari miei, this week was another week. Lots of ups and downs, but I had some really incredible ups :) Thursday I had my interview with my mission president and it was awesome! Some people give him a hard time because they were offended once or they don't like how he does things, but he's a great mission president. Yes, sometimes he struggles with names, but if you give him the chance to get to know you, he will. I really love him and we had a wonderful interview. I always used to be afraid of him, which makes me laugh now haha.
Then right after we set a bap date with our seventeen year old investigator!! We set it for the second of January so she has time to make the necessary changes in her life. She's so cute and always gets so excited whenever we call. Then we saw our gelato friends, the ones that let us take pictures behind their counter and serve ourselves gelato, and they were so happy! I love them so dang much! They laughed about the fact that Elders are called Anziani, because unlike how in English we don't really used elder to describe an old person, anziano is used very frequently. So they got a kick out of that. It's really fun going to see them and answer their questions.
Friday and Saturday we did a scambio with the Sorelle in Lugano and I was with an Italian Sorella, Sorella Distante. It was amazing! I felt like I was a greenie again! In the sense of how I looked at missionary work. It's interesting to see how with time, you start making assumptions because you get a feel of who's going to accept you and who's not. But she's a wonderful example of just literally talking to everyone. In fact, we met this AMAZING couple who has a daughter in Utah right now living with an LDS family. They told us that if it wasn't for that they wouldn't have talked to us. They had so many questions and although they told us that they didn't believe in God, you could tell that they felt the Spirit. It was definitely one of the greatest miracles I've experienced in my mission so far. Timing was perfect and everything was so perfect. The only problem is that they asked for my email address, which I gave to them, then when I asked for their info, they just said, " we have your email, we'll write you." So they wouldn't give me any info. Grrrrr. I'm just waiting for that email!
To celebrate Halloween we just bought way too much delicious Italian chocolate and other assorted nummies. There were some regrets, but it was so worth it. I'll lose those kili when I get home. :) We did another scambio in Como and oh my gosh, Como is so beautiful! Especially in the fall! I was so grateful I got to go. And the church there had a Madonna. It used to be owned by a Catholic Cardinal.
Well, this week has been a week of reflecting. We talked about our purpose as missionaries in district meetings and we read some examples of men being called to missionary work in the scriptures, and it made me think.... We read about Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:1-2,7-10 and how he came to see that he was nothing and he was humbled and felt a thorn in the flesh. He saw and felt with great sorrow his weaknesses. Then there was Isaiah, when an angel pressed a burning hot coal to his lips. That sounds painful to me! And he talks about how we are but the dust of the earth. Then I thought about Nephi. It's cool in the first two books of Nephi seeing the change in him, as he matures and grows in
faith and knowledge of the Gospel. And then you see chapter four of 2 Nephi and he talks about all his weaknesses and you feel his sorrow, but then he rejoices in all that Christ does for him. Well, as a missionary, I have definitely come to see a lot of my weaknesses in a burning bright light, and it sure does hurt. It's interesting that as we come closer to Christ and we are completely in the service of Him, it initially hurts. We are humbled because we see our weaknesses and realize that we truly are nothing. We are stripped of pride, and being stripped of pride is not walk in the park. But then we find strength and joy in the Lord. He comforts us. That pain we initially feel does not last long because God doesn't want it to last long. It is not meant to last long. He wants us to be happy and rejoice and who we CAN be in the Lord. So although at times we feel weak and useless, don't worry. Find strength in the Lord and He will help make you into the strong person He sees you to be. But it is only through Him, only if we give all that we have and all that we are, to Him.
I love you all soooo much. Thank you for everything! For your love and support. This transfer wasn't the easiest, but you guys helped a ton, just by sending your love. It meant much more than you thought :)
Con tanto amore,
La Sorella Hawks :)
Welp, cari miei, this week was another week. Lots of ups and downs, but I had some really incredible ups :) Thursday I had my interview with my mission president and it was awesome! Some people give him a hard time because they were offended once or they don't like how he does things, but he's a great mission president. Yes, sometimes he struggles with names, but if you give him the chance to get to know you, he will. I really love him and we had a wonderful interview. I always used to be afraid of him, which makes me laugh now haha.
Then right after we set a bap date with our seventeen year old investigator!! We set it for the second of January so she has time to make the necessary changes in her life. She's so cute and always gets so excited whenever we call. Then we saw our gelato friends, the ones that let us take pictures behind their counter and serve ourselves gelato, and they were so happy! I love them so dang much! They laughed about the fact that Elders are called Anziani, because unlike how in English we don't really used elder to describe an old person, anziano is used very frequently. So they got a kick out of that. It's really fun going to see them and answer their questions.
Friday and Saturday we did a scambio with the Sorelle in Lugano and I was with an Italian Sorella, Sorella Distante. It was amazing! I felt like I was a greenie again! In the sense of how I looked at missionary work. It's interesting to see how with time, you start making assumptions because you get a feel of who's going to accept you and who's not. But she's a wonderful example of just literally talking to everyone. In fact, we met this AMAZING couple who has a daughter in Utah right now living with an LDS family. They told us that if it wasn't for that they wouldn't have talked to us. They had so many questions and although they told us that they didn't believe in God, you could tell that they felt the Spirit. It was definitely one of the greatest miracles I've experienced in my mission so far. Timing was perfect and everything was so perfect. The only problem is that they asked for my email address, which I gave to them, then when I asked for their info, they just said, " we have your email, we'll write you." So they wouldn't give me any info. Grrrrr. I'm just waiting for that email!
To celebrate Halloween we just bought way too much delicious Italian chocolate and other assorted nummies. There were some regrets, but it was so worth it. I'll lose those kili when I get home. :) We did another scambio in Como and oh my gosh, Como is so beautiful! Especially in the fall! I was so grateful I got to go. And the church there had a Madonna. It used to be owned by a Catholic Cardinal.
Well, this week has been a week of reflecting. We talked about our purpose as missionaries in district meetings and we read some examples of men being called to missionary work in the scriptures, and it made me think.... We read about Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:1-2,7-10 and how he came to see that he was nothing and he was humbled and felt a thorn in the flesh. He saw and felt with great sorrow his weaknesses. Then there was Isaiah, when an angel pressed a burning hot coal to his lips. That sounds painful to me! And he talks about how we are but the dust of the earth. Then I thought about Nephi. It's cool in the first two books of Nephi seeing the change in him, as he matures and grows in
faith and knowledge of the Gospel. And then you see chapter four of 2 Nephi and he talks about all his weaknesses and you feel his sorrow, but then he rejoices in all that Christ does for him. Well, as a missionary, I have definitely come to see a lot of my weaknesses in a burning bright light, and it sure does hurt. It's interesting that as we come closer to Christ and we are completely in the service of Him, it initially hurts. We are humbled because we see our weaknesses and realize that we truly are nothing. We are stripped of pride, and being stripped of pride is not walk in the park. But then we find strength and joy in the Lord. He comforts us. That pain we initially feel does not last long because God doesn't want it to last long. It is not meant to last long. He wants us to be happy and rejoice and who we CAN be in the Lord. So although at times we feel weak and useless, don't worry. Find strength in the Lord and He will help make you into the strong person He sees you to be. But it is only through Him, only if we give all that we have and all that we are, to Him.
I love you all soooo much. Thank you for everything! For your love and support. This transfer wasn't the easiest, but you guys helped a ton, just by sending your love. It meant much more than you thought :)
Con tanto amore,
La Sorella Hawks :)
Last week Pday with the Muggio Sorelle!!Last week Pday with the Muggio Sorelle!!
The Catholic Madonna in the Como church :)
There was not a good Spirit here. It was scary....
COMO!!!!!
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