Transfers!

I got just what I wanted . . . ;)

So last Wednesday we had run out of ideas of things to do and then we remembered a family we had met doing house earlier that week. Their names were Agata, Elizabetta, and Santa. They were so nice when we first met them and let us in immediately. This last time we went Santa was there and opened the door immediately and begged us to sit down. I was kind of shocked because I had thought she had less interest than the rest of the family but she was so warm and welcoming it was obvious that I was wrong. Her mom, Santa, then came into the room and we started talking about their family and shared the Proclamation to the Family with them. As Santa read the part about Husbands and Wives she started to cry and then we learned more about her family situation with her son and the father. It is really sad. But they felt the spirit and wanted us to come back. We will :)

Again on giovedì mattina we were not sure what to do because all of our plans fell through so last minute we decided to go see a couple other contacts we had met a few days earlier. We first stopped by Margherita Benessere and a man came to the door and told us she did not live there. We knew that was a lie because when we had met her she had pointed to that very door and told us she lived there. We told the man that we knew she lived there and he still denied it. Oh well, we then went to go see her friend, Giovanna, who we had met at the same time as her. And wow. I just love Giovanna! The moment we rang her apartment she opened the door, called down to us to come up and gave us huge hugs. After the opening prayer we looked up and she was bawling because we had prayed for her to receive the help she needs. She then told us about her life and how she does not have work, her daughter does not speak with her, and she is trying to find peace in her life. She did not have a lot of time to talk to us so we briefly explained that God always gives us help in our lives and one of these is a prophet. We told her we have a prophet today and thanks to that we have the Book of Mormon. We read with her from Mosiah 24 and she loved it and said she would read the whole chapter that night. She said we are welcome to come over whenever we would like. That afternoon we stopped by Shermi, a woman we had met who is from Sri Lanka. That was an interesting lesson haha. We taught it in English but she still does not speak perfectly and she is hard to understand. But that was not what made it interesting :) She told us everything she believes and we have pretty much summed up that she believes in anti-materialism. She kept telling us the "touch Shermi" and then she would tell us that we were only touching her body. She says we must give up everything and leave our bodies behind to reach our potential. So after a half hour of that she says "Okay, go!" and then we explained to her a little of what we believed. We would have liked to explain more clearly, but we really had to go to another appointment so we cut it short. But she was still really nice, offered us her number, and told us to come back the next week. After that we went back to Margherita's house and she was there. While we were talking with her, a friend came in the door and smiled at us. She asked if we remembered her and of course we did! Her name is Adrianna and we had met her our first day of finding here in Catania, but she is impossible to make an appointment with because she always has things to do. But here she was, in the kitchen of Margherita and she sat down and we taught the Plan of Salvation. It went alright. I don't know how much real interest they both have, but we will see. But the best part was at the end of the lesson. The same son, the one we had met earlier that day who had told us Margherita did not live there, walked into the kitchen while we were leaving. He grinned sheepishly at us as his mom introduced us. We said "Oh yes, we met this morning . . . so she does not live here huh?" He then had this huge smile on his face and said, "She doesn't! Who are you woman?!" Haha, at least he laughed about it right? After that we went to stop by another family we had met close to the church named. The parents' names are Lucia and Giovanni. That again was interesting. We are pretty sure he was drunk of boxed wine and gave a very energetic prayer at the end. But to leave a lasting spirit we sang another song before leaving and he started to cry. So even if he was intoxicated, at least he sensed the Holy Ghost in the room. We then went with the Anziani to meet the family Celso. Sorella Askew's uncle served here in Catania 20 years ago and he baptized Giuseppe Celso. But no one in the ward knows who he is because he and his family have not been active for several years. So Sorella Askew called and told him that her uncle was Anziano Denning and he said we could come over. And wow! What a beautiful family! Seriously! They have three girls, Jessica, Denise, and . . . I don't remember. But they were so cute. They just swamped me at the end and were playing with my hair and asking me about all my favorite things. When the little one asked if we would come back I said "Yes, of course! But we are also in church every single Sunday! You should come!" We will see if that worked :) Sorella Askew also left a really nice spiritual thought and mentioned the temple at the end and Giuseppe teared up and explained to his wife that she was talking about temple marriages for Eternity. We really hope the spirit touched him strongly enough to motivate him to come back! If not, we will just have to go back :)

Friday after planning we went to go see Mary, our little African friend! She was watching a movie when we got there and was, unfortunately, more interesting in continuing the movie than really listening to our message of the Plan of Salvation, but that is alright. There was a customer in the store who was listening and took a pass-along card and a pamphlet. Who knows? We then apssed by some contacts who were too busy to see us, had to go to Western Union so that Sorella Askew could get some money her dad had wired her, we tried another contact who again . . . was not home when she said she would be. And then I went to practice the piano for the baptism the next day. After we stopped past more contacts but they were all busy. I then attempted to make honey butter and then spilled it (probably 2 cups worth) all over Sorella Askew's things . . . Preach my gospel, planner . . . I felt terrible! But I told her that 10 years from now, when she isn't frustrated anymore she will always remember me every time she looks at it :)

Saturday morning, again, none of our contacts were home so we did a bunch of house and met some really cool people. Then we went to the church for the baptism of Samuel and Rose. They are refugees from Libya. They are so great! I did not play the piano perfectly, but thankfully I did not ruin the spirit haha! Samuel also brought a ton of his friends with him! The church had more refugees than members! But the anziani were able to do a short little tour of the building and some had interest at the end. After the baptism we went and had a short lesson with another woman we had met and we taught her the first vision. At the end she told us, "I believe it, because I saw the Madonna when I was sick in the hospital." I have no idea what to think about these experiences. We hear them a lot. So we just smiled, nodded, told her that was nice and then we had to go. The Anziani then picked us up so that we could go to the Soccer game between Catania and Napoli! That was pretty sweet! And Catania won :) Unfortunately I had left the phone in the Anziani's car so when we got back we had 6 missed calls from President Kelly for transfers. But when I called back guess what!? I am serving with Sorella Giordano! It is exactly what I wanted! It is also the only thing I have ever asked President and I asked it twice. I even found out she had asked to serve with me too! So this next transfer, or even a couple, will be really fun and I will also have a great opportunity to learn the language better. But she really is so great, she is a convert of only 2 years, has quite the personality, and I just love her :) The new companion of Anziano Anderson is also Italian so we will be speaking a lot of Italian in the months to come. But we're not complaining!

Before Sacrament meeting started on Sunday we got attacked by a Sorella who wants Sorella Askew's skirt before she leaves to go home. She had told her yes, but now Sorella Askew wants to keep it and I am afraid that this sister in the ward will kill me this Sunday when I tell her that Sorella Askew took the skirt with her . . . vediamo. I also got asked last minute to lead the music without a pianist and no one knew the song. I did, but I can only sing so loud in front of more than 100 Italians. Then Maurizio Aci (who had asked me to do it) ran up to my safety, sang the first line and waited there until the first verse was song, patted me on the back, and then left. It made me laugh. Oh the humility you learn as a missionary haha. In the American Branch we had the confirmation of Rose and Samuel which of course could not have been better. It was also branch conference so we had several Italian church leaders there and there families. I got to go to primary with the kids and translate for them. I actually really liked it. If I could, I would do translating for a job, but I am not sure how practical that really is . . . Then we had a linger longer! But everyone brought different types of meat and then dessert, so I ate more or less desserts. I know, so healthy. But they were American desserts! Those are in limited supply here! Then that night we went back to see Giovanna. She again, poked her head over the balcony, yelled down happily down to us and let us in. She kissed us on the cheeks and had us sit down. She then told us she has been reading the Book of Mormon and is in Alma. Sure enough, she was! I was shocked! She then told us how she feels when she reads, that she just has this hunger to learn more and can't put the book down. She also told us she gets really annoyed by other missionaries (Evangelists, Jehovah's Witness . . . ) and she usually tells them to go away, but she can't tell us no because she feels so at peace when we are with her and she loves having us there. That was a nice little icing on the cake isn't it? Then we went and had a short little training from a missionary couple named the Adams. They shared a talk with us and the different things we can always improve upon as missionaries. Number one was EXPECTING miracles to happen. This is the work of the Lord and we need to expect his irreplaceable help.

Monday morning we went to go see Melina, our friend who only speaks Siciliano. We brought with us Sorella Sanfilippo and they seemd to like each other alright. We taught the first two principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith and repentence). Sorella Askew used many examples and most were based off of scripture reading. In the middle of one, Melina stopped her and said "Okay, I get it! I need to read the Book of Mormon, stop making me feel guilty!" The best part is that was not even Sorella Askew's intent, but if she felt guilty for not reading it just means she knows she needs to and maybe now she will actually do it! We then had Consiglio di distretto and we had a great training from Anziano Andersen about the power and authority of our call and we talked about what we want to say we have accomplished before we go home and the changes we want others to see in us. That was weird to think about, especially because Sorella Askew IS done with her mission and everyday my mission is disappearing. But I was happy to notice that many of the things I wanted to learn and overcome in the mission I have. And luckily I still have time to continue to grow :) We then went to have lunch with one of the families that had visited in the American Branch the day before. They are from Torino and took us out to lunch. Anziano Andersen ordered Squid Ink Pasta and it looked pretty nasty. It even dyed his whole mouth black. Perfect for Halloween! That afternoon we went to go and see some people but none of them were available so we did finding all night and actually found a lot of success! The first person we stopped was a girl named Cristiana and she is fifteen. She was with her mom and grandpa but they did not speak Italian because they are from Albania. Cristiana spoke well so she asked her mom if we could go to their house and they happily said yes. We then sat down and explained the Joseph Smith story to her and she loved it and they all wanted us to come back the next day! Certo! They really were SO incredible! I am really excited about this family! The next apartment building we got into we found quite a surprise on the other side of the first door. We asked the man if we could sing and he said "You're Mormons right?" We said yes and he said his mom is a member and also his sister. But as we talked a little more I asked if he was a member. He then said he was baptized but hasn't come to church for a long time. Not because he does not want to, but because his wife is not a member. He still believes it is the true church but I don't think he knows HOW to come back. We took his number and even though he said no to us singing at the beginning, we asked again before we left. He said yes and we sang "I am a Child of God." He had tears in his eyes at the end and I think it was the first time he had felt the spirit in a really long time. When we check the ward list that night for his name, Giuseppe Liotta, sure enough he was there. Perfect! Another funny little story is we asked a woman at the speaker if we could sing her a song. She said yes, and she would even bring us candy. We were really confused because we had forgotten it was Halloween. Turns out she was surprised too because she had thought we were just playing a joke on her. She ended up listening to our song and really liked it too. And because it was the second to last day of proselyting for Sorella Askew she made some . . . sneaky videos of our door approaches that night too. Some were pretty funny, and one we even sang and got a number of this really great family! I felt kind of guilty filming them, but it is still kind of cool at the same time!

Yesterday morning we went to go see Lidia. She was doing much better, much more happy. We had her reteach US the Plan of Salvation. She remembered a lot, but it still surprises me how much people don't know about the things that are just a part of me now as a member of the church. We then went home for lunch and then went to go see Cristiana and her family again! This time her brother and her dad were there. Her dad is super catholic but he told us were are welcome in there home at ANYTIME. It is always open to us. We taught the whole restoration this time and it was so funny because of the Grandpa. He is GREAT! He just kind of mutters things at me in Albanian throughout the whole lesson and Cristiana and her brother would laugh and translate it for me. He kept asking to see my pictures from home but I kept telling him after. Then he got a phone call from his daughter who lives in Rome and talked to her for a little while but of course I didn't understand anything. Then he gives me the phone and wanted me to talk to her. I talked to her for a couple of minutes and she said if I ever return back to Rome she would really like to meet me. Random right? Well at the end when I pulled out my pictures the grandpa was signaling to me if he could take one of my pictures with him. When I said no he asked if I had one of just me. I was confused but said no. Then Cristiana laughed and said he wants me to marry her uncle and he wants a photo to show him. hahahahaha! Too funny! Don't worry, Cristiana and her brother have sincere interest in the gospel but that was just a highlight to the night! Before the end the Grandpa grabbed me in this really tight bear hug and pinched my cheek. And when he saw my look of shock written across my face he just laughed and pinched my cheek again. Hahaha, he's great :D We then had a really nice lesson with Angelo! We FINALLY asked him to be baptized! It started out where he explained what he had been reading from the Book of Mormon and Sorella Askew asked him what he THOUGHT about it all. He then started recounting everything again so she cut him off and said "What do you THINK about it though?!" He then told us all of the points of doctrine that have really touched his heart like the Plan of Salvation and the eternal nature of the soul. We then taught him about baptism and asked if he would like to be baptized. When he said yes we asked why. He then mentioned all of the things he had said at the beginning and that the only obstacle MIGHT be his parents, but they will come around. He then helped us pick a baptismal date and said he would pray about it to know if it was right! He is so great! I know, everything is GREAT! But it's the truth! I love being a missionary! But anyways. We then had English course but almost no one was there because it was a holiday, the day of the Dead. So it was just Angelo and Micheleangelo for advanced and intermediate so I taught the class with the anziani. It turned into just a really random conversation but those are always the best. At the end we got a lot of pictures taken of all of us and then we went and got pizza with the Anziani and ate it in our stairwell and then went to bed. It was GREAT! Haha.

So yeah, the work is going right along and I am so happy to be a part of it! Love you all so much! You are all in my prayers!
Muah!
Sorella LeCates