After Christmas

Well, Christmas is over.

On the interesting side, Italians tend to drag out holidays longer than necessary. There was a holiday the day after Christmas, that also makes proselyting impossible. This week, we have Capo d'Anno, which is New Years. All the missionaries stay inside and do a deep cleaning of the apartment.

As far as the Skype call...yeah...the technical difficulties kind of stunk. Sometimes the headphones would mute what you guys were saying. I think what I might try next time, is to do two separate shorter calls, one to Utah, and one to Seattle.

Yesterday was dubbed  a "missionary work sunday", so all three hours of church were centered on missionary work. They asked if I would give a talk in church, and it was actually pretty fun. I had prepared some things, and then as I was up there, the Spirit was prompting me to say some other things. It's cool to think about the progress I have made as a missionary, where at the beginning it was hard to even bear a simple testimony in Italian, and now giving a talk in Italian is probably easier than in English. (Words in Italian are longer...so less words still equal more time, even when you talk fast).

Some members of the ward talked to me, and want to work with us, so I guess it worked. One woman was talking to me, and said, "Something that really stuck out to me, and that I really appreciate is that you became instant friends with us South Americans in the ward, because sometimes missionaries don't reach out to us." I made a really really really big effort to get to know people, so hopefully it is paying off.

We haven't been able to see many of our investigators this week because of the holidays. Until about the 7th of January, a lot of people are out of town. Luckily this gives us time to make mistakes, or learn about the transportation here. It was actually pretty hilarious, because yesterday we got on a bus that we thought would take us to where we needed to go...and then we ended up in a forest. Luckily, the bus eventually turned around, and we were able to get to our destination. :D

OH! I forgot! For Christmas we were able to watch two normal movies (with certain boundaries). We watched The Best Two Years (hahahaha), and Monsters University.

T'was the Week Before Christmas

I don't know if you are aware of this...but crazily, I am officially over my half-way mark. :O

Rome. is. scary...but I like it. It has been very interesting because my companion is in her third transfer, and she has been in Rome for one transfer. We get lost quite a bit, and I think it is pretty funny. Getting lost has actually taught me a lot about how different types of transportation works.

The other day, we got ourselves to a member's house outside of Rome, and it was hard to get back. Everything was lined up for us to get home on time, until a fight occurred right next to us while we were on the train. Luckily, I am pretty good at staying calm in situations like that, and I quickly got myself and my companion out of that part of the train. We didn't get home until pretty late, and I was pretty on edge after that, but we got home safely. Also, while we were out, a man from Florida started talking to us, and while my companion was on the phone talking to our district leader, I taught him the Restoration. I was still really on edge though, and my body had so much adrenaline, that I'm pretty sure that if he had made one wrong move, I would have attacked him. I kept telling my companion, "Man, if one more person does something weird, I'm just going to punch them." I have become pretty defensive lately. Hahaha. :D

Yesterday, I was pretty on edge too, and then when we were on the metro, we got to a certain stop, and we heard pounding on the windows. My first thought was, "Oh no...not again," thinking it was another riot or fight.Then all of a sudden, the doors opened, and TONS of people flooded on the metro. It was a bunch of crazy soccer fans who were celebrating a victory. Stressful, but a sigh of relief that it wasn't people fighting.

Also, friday, We got one-time permission from the mission president to sleep over at a members house, and then teach early morning seminary the next morning. It was so cool. They have about four students who come, and then the rest watch seminary through Skype. It was a really cool lesson about missionary work.

Yesterday all the Rome missionaries sang Christmas hymns at the Spanish Steps, and proselyted. I sang for awhile, and then decided to talk to people. It was cool, because there was this guy from Egypt, and he asked the perfect question, "What makes your church different from others?" I was actually able to teach the whole restoration lesson to him, and he wanted a Book of Mormon. It was weird, because now that I am in Rome, a big percent of the people speak English. I had never taught a lesson in English until yesterday, on the street with the Egyptian man. It was pretty strange actually, because I realized that I don't know the exact words that Joseph Smith uses to describe the first vision in English. I had to translate it in my mind from Italian first.

Yesterday at church, I made a big effort to meet a lot of members. I got asked what part of Italy I am from a few different times. Hahaha. This ward is pretty multi cultural, and the tourists usually come to this ward, because it is "Rome 1".

This week of Christmas is going to be pretty fun, and we have some appointments set up with members. I am kind of terrified though, because we have both a lunch and dinner appointment in the same day. In Italy, that is like tummy suicide.

Love you all! I hope Christmas is great!

Love,

Sorella Worsham

Weird Happenings

Alright, awesome news first.

Yesterday Gianni got the priesthood! For real, this ward is awesome. He is definitely a part of this ward. People have him over for family home evenings, he always sits with members at church, he has a running buddy, and he comes to institute every week. This makes this next part a little bit easier.

I got a phone call from the mission president on Friday. He told me that I am being transferred (MID TRANSFER). I leave this Wednesday, and I will be serving in...

ROME. The Rome first ward, to be exact. I am still kind of in the denial stage.

There was a sister missionary who was going to be going home at the end of the transfer, but then President decided to send everyone home before Christmas (plus I think she needed to be back before school). Long story short, a sister would be short a companion...ergo, early transfers. It was a complete shock and surprise, and I was a little bummed to be moving right before Christmas.

It's really weird though, because before my mission, I had a feeling that I would be in Rome for Christmas. Now, just a few days before, I will be there. Weird happenings.

It's cool though, because I came to Pescara about a week before we found Gianni, and then I am leaving right after he got the priesthood. That is pretty cool. It is pretty hard to leave, especially when it was so unexpected, but at least I know that he is in good hands.

It was cool, this week, we did splits, so I got to be companions with a young woman (and one of my closest friends) in the ward. It was a really good experience, and it was cool telling her about my mission, and teaching with her.

I love you all, and hope everything is awesome for Christmas and life!

Love,

Sorella Worsham

Wow. What a Week!

Dear family,

GIANNI HAS BEEN BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED!!!!

Phew.

It was awesome. It was so cool to see an investigator from first contact, not being very happy, to then having a light, and then to baptism. It is actually an amazing story.

It all started out when I arrived in Pescara. I read Alma 29, and it really touched me. Verse 9 really stuck out to me...

9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy

...and after I read that, I started to pray every day that I could be an instrument in the Lord's hand to bring someone to baptism. About a week after that is when I found Gianni's phone number and called him. Crazy, right?

The baptism was awesome. We did a musical number, Credo in Te Gesù (I believe in Christ), and it was a beautiful arrangment. It really brought the Spirit, and lots of people were crying.

After the baptism, Gianni bore his testimony, and it was beautiful. He talked about how he had met some missionaries 15 years ago, but he wasn't ready to hear their message. This next part was really touching and emotional: "Then, when the sisters called, it was a time when I was really down in life. And actually, the sister who called me is among us tonight, and I will be forever grateful for her, because I was ready then."

...Just wow. I love being a missionary. I just can't believe the Lord has let me see so many miracles.

His daughter was also there, and now she is interested in the lessons. His daughter is next!!!

All the stress that we had this week was worth it.  Actually, all three of us were sick at some point this week, but it ended well.

I LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for all of the prayers and everything. I definitely felt it this week. This week was one of the hardest, but best weeks in my mission. Thank you!

Love,

Sorella Worsham

...and so it goes...in Pescara...

Dear family,

...I have probably aged about 40 years this week. If I come home from the mission, and I look about...60, and then have a stroke or something...you'll know why.

With transfers, I received two younger companions, a whole bunch of investigators that I don't know, a new area that I don't know, the old work that we still have, and I am planning a baptism. It has been pretty stressful, and I think this transfer might be one of those refining fires. It's going to be hard, but I know that in the end it will all be for my good. I'm already starting to learn more about leadership and other great things (hopefully stress management hahahaha).

With the two younger companions, they are both I think a transfer younger than me. Let me just say, it is a lot harder to get two other people out the door on time, than it is to get one other person out the door on time. . Hahahaha I feel like I am becoming more neurotic by the day, because of not making it out the door on time to catch the right buses. I think I'm going to have to start telling little white lies about when the buses come so that we don't miss them. :)

(Also, yes there is a giant flood going on in Pescara. No I am not in Pescara....I'm in Rome again! Woo! So no worries, I am safe and sound if you hear about anything.)  

In other news, GIANNI was interviewed for baptism, and he is going to be baptized this Saturday, December 7th, 2013. It's so crazy. He and I were talking, and he asked me what day it was that I first called him. I checked back in my planner, and the day I found his record and called him was October 25, 2013. Oh man...Gianni is such a miracle.

This past Saturday, we had a combined young men/young women activity. I taught people how to make 3D snow flakes, and they absolutely loved it. It was kind of a Kick off to Christmas activity. It was so great.

Today, we went to a grocery store that we usually don't go to. When we were about to check out, a lady came up and started talking to us. Turns out she was from New York, and knew exactly who we were. She really liked talking with us, and she wants to meet with us sometime this week. She even gave us a ride home so we didn't have to carry our groceries back. It was super cool, because if we had gone to our normal grocery store, we wouldn't have met her!

Anyway, I hope everything goes well with you all! I can't believe it's already December. Happy getting ready for Christmas!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL! Hope you're not as wet as we are here!!!

Love,

Sorella Worsham