Three words: I LOVE IT HERE! I don't even know where to begin. I guess at the beginning. My companion's name is Sorella Salyer and she's from California. In my district there are six other elders:
Anziano Blaga: From Romania/going to Milan
He has quite the personality and makes us all laugh. We ask him all the time how he learned English (which he speaks perfectly) and he always tells us he doesn't know. I wish that was how it would be for with learning Italian lol
Anziano Hutchinson: From Salt Lake/going to Milan
He's kind of a goofball but you know he has a testimony and wants to share the gospel. He's always very respectful and friendly to me and the other Sorelle.
Anziano Miller: From Salt Lake/going to Rome
He was really quiet the first couple of days but has really opened up. He teases us a lot and says I blink too much when I talk but he claims it isn't a bad thing haha.
Anziano Luke: From Virginia/going to Rome
He's been called as our district leader. He really tries to take charge and keep us on task. Sometimes I feel bad though because our district gets carried away but he tries his hardest. He's set really good goals for us this week and I hope we can all succeed in completing them.
Anziano Wilkinson: From England/going to Milan
Haha, he's silly. He's always cracking jokes about America and how we have an awful accent but we're always catching him using American words like soccer, snap, whatever . . . the other Anziani harass him a lot.
Anziano Anderson: From Salt Lake/going to Rome
He tries to balance the fun with the work and does pretty well. Most of the other Anziani are either one extreme or the other but I think he's got it pretty well figured out.
They're all so funny, definitely 19 year old boys. Sometimes my companion and I need to keep them in line, but we all really like each other so it shoud be a good 9 weeks :) I love my teachers. There names are Fratello Stubbs and Fratello Silva. The spirit is always so strong in class because of the way they teach and their own testimonies. I'll admit it is a little bit scary realizing just how little I know the language but our teachers are constantly impressing upon us that we are here to learn the language of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. They say they have never met a single missionary who has completed their mission who was unable to speak the language, but they have met far too many who were unable to teach by the Spirit. I guess I just need to remember that my priorities should lie on increasing my own testimony and remaining obedient and the rest will follow. My first TRC experience was yesterday. Mama Mia! I was stressing over it a lot before hand but I think it went alright. We did awful on the language portion where we had to greet an investigator in Italian, get to know them, ask to share our message, testify, and ask if they would like to learn more. Yeah, not too succesful. But the lesson portion of it went rather well I think. It wasn't perfect but we're not the teachers, the spirit is, and it's only our first week. It will get better. No worries Mom, I'm on a very good schedule. The first couple of nights I had a hard time falling asleep (usually not until 1:00 AM) but I have yet to wake up late. In fact I usually wake up at 5:00 AM to get my personal study done. It's hard to study by myself in our district classroom cause there's so many distractions so it's best for me to do it in the early morning when it's quiet. My knees doing just fine. I've been running a couple miles on the eliptical and then a mile on the track everyday. I've been smart and refraining from playing volleyball of foursquare :) The language is going well I guess. We haven't really been focusing on it until yesterday. Our teachers have been teaching us how to love our investigators and to seek to understand them and their needs. They are constantly telling us "Teach people, not lessons." As we've practiced in class and through other activities we've all learned that that is very true. You can't go into a person's home with preconceived ideas because you will almost always be wrong. It's actually pretty crazy. Usually a couple of times a day we will watch a short clip of a person being surveyed by a project called "One in 6 Billion". They pause the video throughout and ask for our opinion of who this person is and what they may need. We always think we know who they are and why they are that way. So far we have been wrong every single time. Not only that, but by the time that individual's interview is through I can feel the love the Savior has for them and I have such a strong desire to bring His gospel to them. This is why we are all out here serving missions. Not for ourselves or our families, but for our fellow brother's and sisters. Of course I get scared and doubt my abilities, but God called me to Italy for a reason and he won't let me fail.
Love you all SO much! But don't miss me too much :) There is absolutely nothing better I could be doing with my time! Hope to hear from you soon!
Love,
Sorella LeCates
Hello:
Ciao
Buongiorno
Buon Pomeriggio
Salve . . . etc.
Goodbye:
Ci Vediamo
Arrivaderci[la]
A Pronto
Ciao . . . etc.
