When It Rains...It Pours!

Dear family,

This week was crazy!!! (Also, is it strange to anyone else that I have been away from home for 8 months? Time is such a weird thing on the mission.)

On Tuesday, it rained. No wait...that is an understatement. IT RAINED. I have never seen so much rain, except on the news, in places with tropical storms and hurricanes. My first thought was, "Oh shoot! I gotta preach repentance!" hahaha. Most of the buses shut down, and at points, there were times  when the water was up to our knees. I attached a picture. The boots I have held up as nicely as they could have, until they were immersed in water, and the water went above the top of the boots. Then they were soaked.

The day this happened was the same day as English Course. I thought for sure no one would come, because that's just how Italians (and probably most people in this situation) are. Weirdly enough, one person came. As soon as he arrived though, we got an urgent call from one of the less active sisters in the ward, who needed help getting water out of our house.

We went to help this woman, and we basically swam there. It was pretty far, with wading through water up to our knees. It was actually a pretty cool experience. Then we got there, and filled buckets with water to get it out of her house. It was so insane. This week was definitely filled with more physical service.

In other news...remember that investigator named Gianni that I found through our records (of over ten years ago), and he said it was maybe a sign from God that we found him? We have been seeing him at least twice a week since and...

...He agreed to be baptized! The date he is preparing for is December 7th.

I am so excited. He came to church yesterday, and the members just flocked to him. They love him! He was talking for a long time after church with a bunch of them, even though he had to pick up his daughter from something (oops. But also awesome.) It turns out, he went to school with one of the members, and one of our members is his cousin. It was just so perfect. One of the talks during sacrament meeting was about missionary work, and the speaker said something about how "we need to help the missionaries, by giving them people to teach, because all the other finding methods aren't as effective". Gianni sort of looked over at us, and Sorella Paulson said, "It's true," and he said, "I'll help you." (So funny, because the speaker was talking to members. I guess Gianni is going to be member soon, so he might as well start missionary work as soon as possible. Hahaha.)

The result of this story is that after church he asked if he could bring a friend to our next lesson. :O

I have a lot of faith and hope in him. Please please please pray for him. He is really great, and I know with some work and faith he can definitely be baptized December 7th.

I love you all!

Have a great week everyone! I love you!

Love,

Sorella Worsham

Pescara/Rome

Dear family,

This week will mark a year since I opened my mission call. I opened it on November 14, 2012.

This week was insane. First, we went to Roma for zone conference. Then there was some crazy stuff in between here in Pescara, and then it was back to Roma for stake conference. Crazy. While in Rome, I saw the Colosseum and the Trevi fountain. :)

Zone conference was great, as always. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, and how we should use it. Then, they talked about English Course, and asked for some volunteers. They said they were going to do a practice course, and they needed "students". I volunteered, and one of the elders that I know pretty well was "teaching" it. He said, "Alright, today, we are going to learn German!" and all of our faces basically dropped. He taught us a course in German so that we could see how our students feel when we teach English. It was hard. So happy that I speak Italian....Sorry Matt. Ich ben freulich. (Not sure about the spelling on that...but that is what I learned.)

Something crazy happened in Pescara this week. I was getting ready for the day, and when I got out of the shower, my companion said, "Hey, do you know these people? They called and said that they know you, and they are here in Pescara, and that you would know what to do." She told me the names, and it was one of  the recent convert couples I was teaching from Cosenza. I called my old companion in Cosenza, asking what the story was, and she said that they wanted to move, but they didn't know where to move. She said that their decision process was, "Well...Sorella Worsham is in Pescara...let's go there!" It was kind of strange, and in the end it actually didn't work out for them to move here...but I guess it was flattering that they wanted to move here because I was here.

Stake Conference was awesome. I was able to see my MTC teacher's mom (she is Italian). We talked to each other, and then we realized that we had met at the  MTC. When she remembered that she gave me the BIGGEST hug. It was great.

Random side note: When I talk to people, I get asked if I am Italian quite a bit here. There are a lot more blonde Italians here, so it's not unlikely. I just think it's kind of cool that at least some people don't peg me as being American right off the bat (also a language compliment!)  :)

Anyway, I hope everything is great for you!

BYE FAMILY! Love you!

When In Rome?

Alright family. I have officially past the day that I have been in this country for six months. I thought this deserved some celebration...so we are going to Rome.

Actually, we have zone conference in Rome tomorrow...so we are going to see some things today for P day before zone conference tomorrow. Woot. Hopefully we will be seeing the Colosseum and the Trevi fountain. Fingers crossed.

This week was so great. Miracles have been happening!

Remember that activity we had last week? Well, the day before, I found some records that were on my desk, that had been under some other things like binders. I thought to myself, "Hey, why not?" so I called them to invite them to the activity. There was this one man who I talked to, and he asked how I got his number. I looked on his record, and it said that he had met some missionaries...over ten years ago. I told him this and we both got a good laugh about it. He wasn't actually able to come, but he thought it was so strange that we were calling, because he is going through some hard things in his life. He said, "Maybe it's a sign from God that you found my number and called." Woot!

So, we called him again, and we asked to have an appointment. He agreed, and we went over with one of the ward members. We talked about the Book of Mormon, and it was really powerful. Some missionaries in the past gave him a piece of paper about how to pray, and he had kept it all these years. He told us that he wanted to change his life, and that he was ready to do what we tell him. We assigned him to read 3 Nefi 11, and pray. Also, the ward member who was with us invited him to come to institute this next week, and he said he wants to come!

Saturday, I called him to check up on him. He read the chapter and prayed!!! Then I asked what he thought. He told me that there are things that he needs to change about his life. Then I invited him to church, and yesterday HE CAME!!!!!

It was such a miracle that his record just so happened to be on my desk the day that we were calling people to invite them to the activity.

Also, the investigator who we gave the baptism date of the 23rd came to church yesterday too! Woot! (In this mission, they have to come to church at least 3 times before they can be baptized)

Anyway, I am really excited about zone conference and all.

I love you all!

Love,

Sorella Worsham