Adventures in Cosenza

Holy smokes it is hot in Cosenza. This week is the start of a very hot summer. I am wondering what August is going to be like. Aw well. I might just be sweating gelato for the next few months.

I get to give a referral to Oklahoma this week because the guy who was sitting next to me on the plane ride to Italy and he emailed me saying he would be interested in having a Book of Mormon. :) Wooo!

This week we had lunch with one of our English course students, Mila. She also invited two friends. When her two friends saw us, they kept telling us how beautiful we were and that we had the glory of God with us. Then Mila, said that having us over was like having Jesus over for lunch. It was a bit of an exaggeration. Then a really funny ironic thing happened. Lenora, (one of the friends) was talking to Sorella Greco, and then she said, "You don't talk much, do you?...I'm going to talk to her," and she started talking to me. Hahahaha. If only she knew. Then she was raving to me about my blonde hair, and asked a bunch of questions, like how to say "blonde" in English. It was crazy. The rest of the lunch was really funny gossip by the three Italian ladies. We gave a spiritual thought about "The Ten Rules of Happiness" by David O. Mckay. Look it up!!!! It's good. They loved it. Then, somehow the topic changed to temples, and they had all heard crazy things about it. They kept saying things like, "Yeah, I heard they have great huge parties in there!" Hahaha. We had to set them straight that is is more sacred. Long story short, lunch with them was REALLY entertaining.

Later that night, we had a fireside. We were supposed to invite investigators and other people, because it was supposed to be about the Book of Mormon. It turned out to be SUPER deep ideas about the book of mormon...that weren't actual doctrines. Sigh. It was really confusing, and luckily not a lot of investigators came. I think Heavenly Father knew that certain people wouldn't be able to handle it, so they couldn't come. Phew.

On Monday, we had a lunch with one of the members who lives kind of far away, so we have to take a Pulman. I talked to some people on the bus, and one named Francesca was interested. She wanted to give me her number, so she called our number, and since Sorella Greco had the phone, I didn't know that the call didn't go through. So we don't have her number. Most people we see more than once though, so I'm sure she will either call us, or we will run into her on the bus or streets. :)

Yesterday was really cool. For English course, we did an activity that was like Speed Dating, to practice conversation skills. They had one or two minutes to have a conversation with someone, and then the timer went off, and they had to switch. The students really liked that activity. Then, originally we were going to do a spiritual thought about how the gospel has blessed us. However, one of our students asked a question, which led us to talk about the restoration. We basically did a Restoration lesson at English Course. It was so cool. I felt like one of the missionaries in the Book of Mormon, testifying to the people of the truthfulness of this gospel.

After English Course was over, I talked to my good old pal Claudio (the one who teaches the self defense class, and tells me little Italian language tips). I really want to start teaching him and his girlfriend Illaria (the one who was teaching us Italian disney songs) the lessons. Last night I talked to him to see where he was at. He has a Book of Mormon, that he reads sometimes. I asked him what he thought about it, and he said, that there was something he disagreed with in our spiritual thought. I asked about it, and he said that he thinks that there isn't just one right way to God, or one true religion because God is infinite. He told me that he is searching for truth, but he isn't sure if God exists. After he said that he didn't think there was one "right" religion, the Holy Ghost took over, and I knew exactly what to do and say.

I went to the chalkboard, and wrote the names of a bunch of different churches. Then we talked about what each church believed. I then pointed out that all of these churches have not only different beliefs, but opposite, contradicting beliefs about God. The conclusion after that is that they can't all be right if they say things that disagree with each other. He sat for a minute in silence, looking at the board, and then the lightbulb came and he said, "Whoa...you are so right. I had never thought about that before." We had a great discussion, and he said that Anziano Burley (the one who just left) would give him Book of Mormon chapters to read, and then he would write down  questions. He asked if I could help him answer his questions. I of course, agreed.  Then I told him to read some of my favorite Book of Mormon chapters, and he agreed.

This week was just so cool. I love being a missionary!!! :D

Oh, here is one more funny story. Sorella Greco and I got asked out by a guy on the street while we were doing finding. It was SUPER random. Hahaha.