Happy New Year!
I can't believe it's already almost 2010. It has been so wonderful to spend the whole year of 2009 serving a mission! We had a beautiful Christmas day here in Cagliari. We hung out at the church with the Elders and watched movies and called our families.
Christmas morning, Maurizio (one of our investigators) called us. He said that most years, Christmas is depressing and is a really hard day for him. But this year, because of the Gospel, he has peace and happiness in his life. It was such a beautiful thing to hear!
Also on Christmas morning, on our way to the church, we ran into a man named Jeff. Jeff and his family are from New Hampshire. He is here for a year as a visiting professor. We met Jeff and his son at the grocery store a few months ago. Then about a month later we saw him and his whole family at the bus stop. The wife knew who we were, so apparently he had been talking about us. Then a few weeks later, Christmas day, we ran into Jeff. He said that he and his wife want to have us over for dinner. Sunday we ran into Jeff and his daughter Isabelle, and she whispered into his year "Dad, did you invite them over?" Hopefully we'll be able to meet with them this week. They are a beautiful family, and we can't wait to share the Gospel with them!
We haven't been able to meet with too many people lately because of the holidays. Saturday all of us missionaries had lunch with a family in the branch, who is in the branch presidency. We ate all sorts of fun things, including cow feet and shark. After lunch we made a bunch of cakes to drop off to less-active families. It was a really good experience. We were able to visit a lot of people, and some of them even came to church the next day.
Life here is great! I love my mission! I've been studying about the Savior lately, since it is Christmas, and I recently re-read some of my favorite verses about Him. In Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5, it says:
"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased, behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified, Wherefore, Father, spare these my bretheren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."
Jesus Christ truly is our Mediator with the Father in the true sense of the word. He suffered for US so that He can plead our case before the Father, so that we might gain eternal life. He is our Savior and our Redeemer. I love Him so much.
I hope you all have a great week, and a happy new year! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
December 23, 2009
Buon Natale a tutti!
I'm sorry that I didn't have time to send everyone their own individual Christmas card. Turns out we don't have much free time on the mission. But know that I'm thinking of you and love you all and hope you have a great holiday season!
Another great week on the island. We had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation with Luisa and she loved it. She just kept smiling the whole time. As usual, she analyzed everything and understood it all. She's so great. We're focusing on helping her recognize the Spirit. She's friends with a member in the branch so hopefully he and his family can help us out.
We had a lesson with Marisa and Sara. They're so fun! We sang Christmas carols around the fire, and then Marisa recounted the Christmas story. Well...kind of. I don't know if she's actually ever read the Bible, so there were definitely some made-up characters in her version. And she even had names for all of the hotels that Joseph tried to find room in. (like The Grey Bear Hotel) It was great! But she got the main idea of the story, so it was okay.
About a week and a half ago we talked to a man on the bus about english class. We talked just for a few seconds about the Church, but mostly we just talked about random things. Two days later he showed up for church! He loved it and came again this last week, too. He started meeting with the Elders and is soaking up the Gospel. It really made me realize that you never know who is ready for the Gospel and how much of an impact you can have. This man didn't seem to have any interest at all about spiritual things, and now he's been to church 2 weeks in a row.
Another little experience...there is an inactive family in the branch who we had never met. One day, about 6 weeks ago, we decided to call them just to say hi. As soon as the husband answered the phone and we told him who we were, he started talking about how they haven't been to church in a long time and how he really needs to start coming back. I didn't even say a word, and he said "Thanks for the call. I really needed that. I'll see you at church on Sunday." He and his 2 kids have been to church every week since! It's so amazing how the smallest little things can have such a huge influence on someone else. Often times we don't even recognize the influence that we can have.
Monday night we had dinner with the District President and his family, who are amazing! They taught us some phrases in Sard (the dialect here on the island). Then one of the elders did impressions of all of us missionaries. Turns out I'm pretty bossy! Who knew? :)
Yesterday we had a little birthday party for less-active Susan. We asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate, and she wanted to watch Joy to the World. Caterina was able to come this time and they both loved it. They both really recognize the true meaning of Christmas.
We also had a great lesson with Isabella yesterday. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. She's so cute! She understands well. She has a hard time recognizing the Spirit, so we're going to help her more with that. We also need to help her wake up on time for church! She's a typical 21-year old so you can't blame her too much.
Life is great! Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I'm so grateful to be a missionary this holiday season. We watched the First Presideny Christmas Devotion a few weeks ago, and I loved with President Eyring said:
"We can choose this Christmas and every day to create a small part of the Christmas story in our own lives. We can accept the invitation of living prophets to help those who are lost along the pathway, and have wandered, to come back to it. We can offer the gospel, which is the only way home, to all we meet along the way. We can lift up those who are tired and hungry and lonely, as the Savior did and now invites us to do with Him. As we do, they can feel how much the Savior loves them and wants to lead them on the way to the God He loves.
In the stories of Christ’s birth, we can see and feel who He was and who He is. That lightens our load along the way. And it will lead us to forget ourselves and to lighten the load for others. That can make every day feel like the best of our Christmases past."
It is through service to others that we feel the Spirit of Christmas. And we can feel that same way every day of our lives, as we strive to serve each and every day. I know this Gospel is true. It is the only way. I love my Savior and my Redeemer.
Buon Natale! Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
I'm sorry that I didn't have time to send everyone their own individual Christmas card. Turns out we don't have much free time on the mission. But know that I'm thinking of you and love you all and hope you have a great holiday season!
Another great week on the island. We had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation with Luisa and she loved it. She just kept smiling the whole time. As usual, she analyzed everything and understood it all. She's so great. We're focusing on helping her recognize the Spirit. She's friends with a member in the branch so hopefully he and his family can help us out.
We had a lesson with Marisa and Sara. They're so fun! We sang Christmas carols around the fire, and then Marisa recounted the Christmas story. Well...kind of. I don't know if she's actually ever read the Bible, so there were definitely some made-up characters in her version. And she even had names for all of the hotels that Joseph tried to find room in. (like The Grey Bear Hotel) It was great! But she got the main idea of the story, so it was okay.
About a week and a half ago we talked to a man on the bus about english class. We talked just for a few seconds about the Church, but mostly we just talked about random things. Two days later he showed up for church! He loved it and came again this last week, too. He started meeting with the Elders and is soaking up the Gospel. It really made me realize that you never know who is ready for the Gospel and how much of an impact you can have. This man didn't seem to have any interest at all about spiritual things, and now he's been to church 2 weeks in a row.
Another little experience...there is an inactive family in the branch who we had never met. One day, about 6 weeks ago, we decided to call them just to say hi. As soon as the husband answered the phone and we told him who we were, he started talking about how they haven't been to church in a long time and how he really needs to start coming back. I didn't even say a word, and he said "Thanks for the call. I really needed that. I'll see you at church on Sunday." He and his 2 kids have been to church every week since! It's so amazing how the smallest little things can have such a huge influence on someone else. Often times we don't even recognize the influence that we can have.
Monday night we had dinner with the District President and his family, who are amazing! They taught us some phrases in Sard (the dialect here on the island). Then one of the elders did impressions of all of us missionaries. Turns out I'm pretty bossy! Who knew? :)
Yesterday we had a little birthday party for less-active Susan. We asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate, and she wanted to watch Joy to the World. Caterina was able to come this time and they both loved it. They both really recognize the true meaning of Christmas.
We also had a great lesson with Isabella yesterday. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. She's so cute! She understands well. She has a hard time recognizing the Spirit, so we're going to help her more with that. We also need to help her wake up on time for church! She's a typical 21-year old so you can't blame her too much.
Life is great! Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I'm so grateful to be a missionary this holiday season. We watched the First Presideny Christmas Devotion a few weeks ago, and I loved with President Eyring said:
"We can choose this Christmas and every day to create a small part of the Christmas story in our own lives. We can accept the invitation of living prophets to help those who are lost along the pathway, and have wandered, to come back to it. We can offer the gospel, which is the only way home, to all we meet along the way. We can lift up those who are tired and hungry and lonely, as the Savior did and now invites us to do with Him. As we do, they can feel how much the Savior loves them and wants to lead them on the way to the God He loves.
In the stories of Christ’s birth, we can see and feel who He was and who He is. That lightens our load along the way. And it will lead us to forget ourselves and to lighten the load for others. That can make every day feel like the best of our Christmases past."
It is through service to others that we feel the Spirit of Christmas. And we can feel that same way every day of our lives, as we strive to serve each and every day. I know this Gospel is true. It is the only way. I love my Savior and my Redeemer.
Buon Natale! Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
December 16, 2009
Ciao a tutti!
Thanks for everyone who sent questions- it makes my letter-writing life much easier! If you think of anything else you want to know, just let me know. I’ll start off with answers this week.
The most surprising discovery I’ve made on my mission is what I can do with the Lord’s help. With Him, truly nothing is impossible. And without Him, everything is more difficult. The mission is definitely a humbling experience full of learning opportunities.
My favorite new story from the Book of Mormon? I’ve actually learned a lot from the war chapters in Alma. There are so many parallels between the physical war that the people fight, and the spiritual wars we have in our lives. When we follow the prophet, rely on our spiritual armor and trust in the Lord, we will always ultimately prevail.
Christmas décor in Italy... Everyone here has a Nativity set! But it’s not quite like the Nativity sets in the states. They go all out here and include villages of people and everything. It’s fun. Lots of people also have these really ugly Santas that hang from their balcony like they’re hanging on a rope. They’re not my favorite. As for Christmas treats- everyone eats either Panetone or Pandora. They’re the traditional Christmas cakes here. Pandora is pretty good. Yes, the kids visit Santa. He was in town the other day taking pictures with the kids by some horses and Santa’s sleigh. It was cute.
Who has had the biggest impact on me on my mission here? I have learned so much from so many wonderful people, so that’s a tough one. I would probably have to say Nertil, though. He is so amazing! Before he even knew about the Gospel, he lived all of the commandments and he has such a sincere, pure faith. He is one of the most amazing examples of living in the world but not of the world. He cares way more about spiritual things than temporal things. He’s so amazing!
So, as for news here in Cagliari, Susan’s getting married!!!! She officially has all the documents she needs and is getting married January 1! We’re SO excited! Because then she’s getting baptized the 3rd! She’s really excited, too. She can’t wait to get baptized. She’s finished all of the lessons and her testimony just keeps growing every day. She is going to be such a great member. We’re going to have a wedding party for her.
We started meeting with Odion last week. She got baptized two weeks ago. She was taught by the elders and now we’re teaching her the new member lessons. She’s incredible! She is only 24, and she really wants to go on a mission! Her blessing when she got confirmed was all about missionary work and getting married in the temple. It was so beautiful! She is wonderful. She only has one day off a week, and she wants to spend it helping us do missionary work!
Ilaria and Alfredo are doing fantastic! They want to stop smoking! We’re going to start the stop smoking program with them next time we see them. And they even mentioned that they want to get married. They love the Gospel. Alfredo even prayed last week during our lesson! He normally refuses to pray out loud in front of people, but this time he did it. It was a huge step for him. It was so cute, because Ilaria helped him. At the end, he just said Amen when he was done, and she whispered in his ear "You have to say, In the name of Jesus Christ, and THEN amen." It was super cute! We talked about baptism yesterday with them. They are working towards it and we hope to set a firm date with them soon. We are all going to fast together this week to help them find work. They are so great how seriously they are taking their fast. Afterwards, we’re going to bake a cake together to celebrate their first time fasting. We love them!
Less-active Susan is doing very well. She comes to church every week now and loves the lessons. Unfortunately, Caterina hasn’t been able to come with her. They both live at a place run by nuns, and when the nuns found out that Caterina was meeting with us, they said she either had to stop or they would kick her out, leaving her homeless. It breaks my heart. She needs a lot of prayers right now that we can find a solution. She is making so much progress!
We met Roberta again this week. She’s so cute! I don’t know if I mentioned her last week or not. She’s 14. She’s the daughter of an ex-communicated member, and the two of them come to church every week, but Roberta’s never been baptized. She took the lessons awhile ago, then lost interest, but has been meeting with us again recently. She’s so adorable! Her mom’s not in the picture, and she adores Sister Nelson and I and soaks up any ounce of affection we give her. Every time she’s near us, she won’t let us go. She is praying to know if she should get baptized. She has a lot of doubts, which we don’t blame her because of her family life situation. But she’s a great girl!
The work is going well here in Cagliari. I can’t believe Christmas is almost here! I am so grateful to spend another Christmas season as a missionary. I know my mom doesn’t like it, but it’s the best way to celebrate Christmas! I love my Savior Jesus Christ so much! One of the best parts of being a missionary during the holidays is how much we get to focus on the Savior. I love the little film on the lds.org page. I encourage you all to watch it and think of how you can better remember the true meaning of this season.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Thanks for everyone who sent questions- it makes my letter-writing life much easier! If you think of anything else you want to know, just let me know. I’ll start off with answers this week.
The most surprising discovery I’ve made on my mission is what I can do with the Lord’s help. With Him, truly nothing is impossible. And without Him, everything is more difficult. The mission is definitely a humbling experience full of learning opportunities.
My favorite new story from the Book of Mormon? I’ve actually learned a lot from the war chapters in Alma. There are so many parallels between the physical war that the people fight, and the spiritual wars we have in our lives. When we follow the prophet, rely on our spiritual armor and trust in the Lord, we will always ultimately prevail.
Christmas décor in Italy... Everyone here has a Nativity set! But it’s not quite like the Nativity sets in the states. They go all out here and include villages of people and everything. It’s fun. Lots of people also have these really ugly Santas that hang from their balcony like they’re hanging on a rope. They’re not my favorite. As for Christmas treats- everyone eats either Panetone or Pandora. They’re the traditional Christmas cakes here. Pandora is pretty good. Yes, the kids visit Santa. He was in town the other day taking pictures with the kids by some horses and Santa’s sleigh. It was cute.
Who has had the biggest impact on me on my mission here? I have learned so much from so many wonderful people, so that’s a tough one. I would probably have to say Nertil, though. He is so amazing! Before he even knew about the Gospel, he lived all of the commandments and he has such a sincere, pure faith. He is one of the most amazing examples of living in the world but not of the world. He cares way more about spiritual things than temporal things. He’s so amazing!
So, as for news here in Cagliari, Susan’s getting married!!!! She officially has all the documents she needs and is getting married January 1! We’re SO excited! Because then she’s getting baptized the 3rd! She’s really excited, too. She can’t wait to get baptized. She’s finished all of the lessons and her testimony just keeps growing every day. She is going to be such a great member. We’re going to have a wedding party for her.
We started meeting with Odion last week. She got baptized two weeks ago. She was taught by the elders and now we’re teaching her the new member lessons. She’s incredible! She is only 24, and she really wants to go on a mission! Her blessing when she got confirmed was all about missionary work and getting married in the temple. It was so beautiful! She is wonderful. She only has one day off a week, and she wants to spend it helping us do missionary work!
Ilaria and Alfredo are doing fantastic! They want to stop smoking! We’re going to start the stop smoking program with them next time we see them. And they even mentioned that they want to get married. They love the Gospel. Alfredo even prayed last week during our lesson! He normally refuses to pray out loud in front of people, but this time he did it. It was a huge step for him. It was so cute, because Ilaria helped him. At the end, he just said Amen when he was done, and she whispered in his ear "You have to say, In the name of Jesus Christ, and THEN amen." It was super cute! We talked about baptism yesterday with them. They are working towards it and we hope to set a firm date with them soon. We are all going to fast together this week to help them find work. They are so great how seriously they are taking their fast. Afterwards, we’re going to bake a cake together to celebrate their first time fasting. We love them!
Less-active Susan is doing very well. She comes to church every week now and loves the lessons. Unfortunately, Caterina hasn’t been able to come with her. They both live at a place run by nuns, and when the nuns found out that Caterina was meeting with us, they said she either had to stop or they would kick her out, leaving her homeless. It breaks my heart. She needs a lot of prayers right now that we can find a solution. She is making so much progress!
We met Roberta again this week. She’s so cute! I don’t know if I mentioned her last week or not. She’s 14. She’s the daughter of an ex-communicated member, and the two of them come to church every week, but Roberta’s never been baptized. She took the lessons awhile ago, then lost interest, but has been meeting with us again recently. She’s so adorable! Her mom’s not in the picture, and she adores Sister Nelson and I and soaks up any ounce of affection we give her. Every time she’s near us, she won’t let us go. She is praying to know if she should get baptized. She has a lot of doubts, which we don’t blame her because of her family life situation. But she’s a great girl!
The work is going well here in Cagliari. I can’t believe Christmas is almost here! I am so grateful to spend another Christmas season as a missionary. I know my mom doesn’t like it, but it’s the best way to celebrate Christmas! I love my Savior Jesus Christ so much! One of the best parts of being a missionary during the holidays is how much we get to focus on the Savior. I love the little film on the lds.org page. I encourage you all to watch it and think of how you can better remember the true meaning of this season.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
December 9, 2009
Ciao!
First of all, I’m running out of things to say in my letters. I feel like every week is the same. Sorry! Seriously, though, send me questions to answer, everybody!
Saturday night we had an appointment at a little tiny town about 45 minutes away. We got there, and the lady wasn’t even home. We were a little bit frustrated, especially because the bus only comes every 40 minutes or so. So we waited at the bus stop the 40 minutes, and as soon as we were getting on the bus, I realized that my companion’s name tag wasn’t on her jacket. We missed the bus looking for it. We retraced our steps and looked everywhere we could possibly think to look with no luck. We went back to the bus stop to wait again, and a man was there. He saw us and asked if we were the Mormons. We ended up having an amazing talk with him. He has amazing faith and wants to learn more about the Gospel! We exchanged phone numbers, and are meeting with him and the elders this week. Then we got on the bus, still tag-less, but we realized that meeting him was completely worth losing a nametag. Then my companion looked in her bag, and her nametag has somehow gotten into her pencil pouch in her bag! The Lord works so many little miracles every day.
We have a few new investigators this week. First we have Sara, a friend of another investigator, Marisa. We met with them on Saturday and had lunch together. They are so crazy and so fun! Marisa is in her 70s and is so funny. She loves to sing and dance and is absolutely hilarious! She loves to tell stories. Then Sara is 50 and a lot more reserved but still a lot of fun. They are quite the pair. We had a delicious lunch (of course- I’m in Italy!) and then we gathered basil leaves from her herb garden and made fresh pesto. It was so fun. They are so cute. Marisa is pretty Catholic, but Sara has a lot of interest.
Sunday the Susans both came to church and made up from their little cat fight they had a couple weeks ago. I’m glad the Susans are now friends. Investigator Susan has two little kids who are adorable. Rachel is 8 months and is one of the best babies ever, and then there’s Alessio. He brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "terrible two’s." I spent most of sacrament meeting chasing him around so that Susan could pay attention to the talks. The branch mission leader and I took turns guarding the doors of the chapel so he couldn’t escape. At one point he somehow escaped, though, and bolted out of the chapel. I went running after him, but then he ran into the men’s bathroom! He’s a smart little stinker. He finally came back to the chapel and found some toys to play with. Susan loved sacrament meeting, though, so it was all worth it.
Our other new investigator for the week is Luisa. She’s amazing! She is an ex-investigator from awhile back. She is a lawyer, and is incredibly intelligent. I’m completely intimidated by her, but love her all the same. She took notes on what we taught her, and then summed everything up that we taught. She has a lot of faith and can’t wait to meet with us again. We’re also very excited for her!
Yesterday we had lunch and a lesson with Carla. She was grumpy because she wanted to eat lunch first, but her mom said that we had to have the lesson first, so she hated our lesson. She kept giving us her cute little glares. She has a pretty good stink eye. We made an advent calendar with her to countdown to Christmas, and every day there’s something that they can do to do service or to think about Jesus. She didn’t like it at first, but once we ate lunch she loved it.
Everything is going well here. I can’t believe another Christmas is almost here! I’m so grateful to be serving the Lord full-time again this Christmas season.
I’ve been reading the conference talks from this past conference. I love them all! But one especially stuck out to me the other day as I read it. It is "Preserving the Heart’s Might Change," by Elder Renlund. He talked about a mighty change of heart and the conversion that we all experience. But it’s not enough to just have that change of heart once. We need to do things every day to keep up the state of our hearts. He talked about the people in the Book of Mormon taught by Ammon and how they were converted and then never turned away. Elder Renlund, talking about them, said, "They must have frequently assessed the condition of their spiritually changed hearts. They did not simply assume that all was well. By figuratively examining their changed hearts, they could identify any early hardening or rejection and treat it. Alma the Younger poses a series of questions to contemporaries of the people of Ammon that figuratively biopsy spiritually changed hearts. Alma asks, ‘If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?’ He further asks if they have been sufficiently humble, free of pride and envy, and kind toward their fellowman. By honestly answering questions like these, we can correct early deviations from the strait and narrow path and keep our covenants with exactness."
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
First of all, I’m running out of things to say in my letters. I feel like every week is the same. Sorry! Seriously, though, send me questions to answer, everybody!
Saturday night we had an appointment at a little tiny town about 45 minutes away. We got there, and the lady wasn’t even home. We were a little bit frustrated, especially because the bus only comes every 40 minutes or so. So we waited at the bus stop the 40 minutes, and as soon as we were getting on the bus, I realized that my companion’s name tag wasn’t on her jacket. We missed the bus looking for it. We retraced our steps and looked everywhere we could possibly think to look with no luck. We went back to the bus stop to wait again, and a man was there. He saw us and asked if we were the Mormons. We ended up having an amazing talk with him. He has amazing faith and wants to learn more about the Gospel! We exchanged phone numbers, and are meeting with him and the elders this week. Then we got on the bus, still tag-less, but we realized that meeting him was completely worth losing a nametag. Then my companion looked in her bag, and her nametag has somehow gotten into her pencil pouch in her bag! The Lord works so many little miracles every day.
We have a few new investigators this week. First we have Sara, a friend of another investigator, Marisa. We met with them on Saturday and had lunch together. They are so crazy and so fun! Marisa is in her 70s and is so funny. She loves to sing and dance and is absolutely hilarious! She loves to tell stories. Then Sara is 50 and a lot more reserved but still a lot of fun. They are quite the pair. We had a delicious lunch (of course- I’m in Italy!) and then we gathered basil leaves from her herb garden and made fresh pesto. It was so fun. They are so cute. Marisa is pretty Catholic, but Sara has a lot of interest.
Sunday the Susans both came to church and made up from their little cat fight they had a couple weeks ago. I’m glad the Susans are now friends. Investigator Susan has two little kids who are adorable. Rachel is 8 months and is one of the best babies ever, and then there’s Alessio. He brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "terrible two’s." I spent most of sacrament meeting chasing him around so that Susan could pay attention to the talks. The branch mission leader and I took turns guarding the doors of the chapel so he couldn’t escape. At one point he somehow escaped, though, and bolted out of the chapel. I went running after him, but then he ran into the men’s bathroom! He’s a smart little stinker. He finally came back to the chapel and found some toys to play with. Susan loved sacrament meeting, though, so it was all worth it.
Our other new investigator for the week is Luisa. She’s amazing! She is an ex-investigator from awhile back. She is a lawyer, and is incredibly intelligent. I’m completely intimidated by her, but love her all the same. She took notes on what we taught her, and then summed everything up that we taught. She has a lot of faith and can’t wait to meet with us again. We’re also very excited for her!
Yesterday we had lunch and a lesson with Carla. She was grumpy because she wanted to eat lunch first, but her mom said that we had to have the lesson first, so she hated our lesson. She kept giving us her cute little glares. She has a pretty good stink eye. We made an advent calendar with her to countdown to Christmas, and every day there’s something that they can do to do service or to think about Jesus. She didn’t like it at first, but once we ate lunch she loved it.
Everything is going well here. I can’t believe another Christmas is almost here! I’m so grateful to be serving the Lord full-time again this Christmas season.
I’ve been reading the conference talks from this past conference. I love them all! But one especially stuck out to me the other day as I read it. It is "Preserving the Heart’s Might Change," by Elder Renlund. He talked about a mighty change of heart and the conversion that we all experience. But it’s not enough to just have that change of heart once. We need to do things every day to keep up the state of our hearts. He talked about the people in the Book of Mormon taught by Ammon and how they were converted and then never turned away. Elder Renlund, talking about them, said, "They must have frequently assessed the condition of their spiritually changed hearts. They did not simply assume that all was well. By figuratively examining their changed hearts, they could identify any early hardening or rejection and treat it. Alma the Younger poses a series of questions to contemporaries of the people of Ammon that figuratively biopsy spiritually changed hearts. Alma asks, ‘If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?’ He further asks if they have been sufficiently humble, free of pride and envy, and kind toward their fellowman. By honestly answering questions like these, we can correct early deviations from the strait and narrow path and keep our covenants with exactness."
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Thursday, December 3, 2009
December 3, 2009
Ciao!
We had a great Thanksgiving here on the island, with much to be thankful for. Our investigators are doing great and we had a baptism in the branch on Sunday!
This week we met with Caterina (well, both Caterinas. We have two of them, as well as two Susans. It gets highly confusing!) She is so sweet! She's an older lady who has had so many trials in her life. She wants to believe, but has a really hard time having faith. She is so sweet, though, and loves taking care of us. This week she did finally tell us that she has some sort of a desire to change for the better. We're excited to see how things work out with her.
The other Caterina came to church with less-active Susan on Sunday. She hated church. But then they came to the baptism, and I don't really know what happened, but she then met with us the next day and was really into the Gospel and the message we shared, and she wants to come to church again next week. She is great, as is Susan. They are such a funny pair of friends- complete opposites- but they're so good for each other. Neither of them have any family or friends here and now they're helping each other in the Gospel.
Ilaria, Alfredo and Maurizio are so amazing! They came to church again this week and as usual fully participated and asked great questions. They were a little late because of the bus, but they kept apologizing and promising that they'd be on time next week. They're so cute! We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation, which they loved. We're going to give them a baptismal invite this week. We're so excited!
We had another lesson with Isabella this week. She is amazing! She's only 21 (we thought she was way older) and is so prepared for the Gospel. We taught her the restoration. She also asks great questions and promised to come to church this next week. She has such a sincere desire to know the truthfulness of this message.
Yesterday we had a great zone conference that was mostly about the Savior. We watched a clip from the movie The Nativity where the wise men and the shepherds come to see the Christ child. They are all staring at Him in awe, and Mary says something to the effect of "He is for all mankind. He is a gift for us all." Jesus Christ truly did come to the world for US. He did it because of His immense love for us. His atoning sacrifice is a gift for each and every one of us. It is only through Him that we can have salvation. I love this holiday season so much! There's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now than testifying of Him every day. I am forever in debt to my Savior, but I am trying to do my little part each day to show my gratitude by bringing souls unto Him.
Have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
PS My companion started running out of things to say in her emails, so she asked everyone to send her questions to answer. She's received some really good ones, so I thought I'd send the same invite to you all- send me questions so I have more to say in my emails!
We had a great Thanksgiving here on the island, with much to be thankful for. Our investigators are doing great and we had a baptism in the branch on Sunday!
This week we met with Caterina (well, both Caterinas. We have two of them, as well as two Susans. It gets highly confusing!) She is so sweet! She's an older lady who has had so many trials in her life. She wants to believe, but has a really hard time having faith. She is so sweet, though, and loves taking care of us. This week she did finally tell us that she has some sort of a desire to change for the better. We're excited to see how things work out with her.
The other Caterina came to church with less-active Susan on Sunday. She hated church. But then they came to the baptism, and I don't really know what happened, but she then met with us the next day and was really into the Gospel and the message we shared, and she wants to come to church again next week. She is great, as is Susan. They are such a funny pair of friends- complete opposites- but they're so good for each other. Neither of them have any family or friends here and now they're helping each other in the Gospel.
Ilaria, Alfredo and Maurizio are so amazing! They came to church again this week and as usual fully participated and asked great questions. They were a little late because of the bus, but they kept apologizing and promising that they'd be on time next week. They're so cute! We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation, which they loved. We're going to give them a baptismal invite this week. We're so excited!
We had another lesson with Isabella this week. She is amazing! She's only 21 (we thought she was way older) and is so prepared for the Gospel. We taught her the restoration. She also asks great questions and promised to come to church this next week. She has such a sincere desire to know the truthfulness of this message.
Yesterday we had a great zone conference that was mostly about the Savior. We watched a clip from the movie The Nativity where the wise men and the shepherds come to see the Christ child. They are all staring at Him in awe, and Mary says something to the effect of "He is for all mankind. He is a gift for us all." Jesus Christ truly did come to the world for US. He did it because of His immense love for us. His atoning sacrifice is a gift for each and every one of us. It is only through Him that we can have salvation. I love this holiday season so much! There's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now than testifying of Him every day. I am forever in debt to my Savior, but I am trying to do my little part each day to show my gratitude by bringing souls unto Him.
Have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
PS My companion started running out of things to say in her emails, so she asked everyone to send her questions to answer. She's received some really good ones, so I thought I'd send the same invite to you all- send me questions so I have more to say in my emails!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
November 25, 2009
Hi everyone,
Happy Thanksgiving! Tomorrow we're celebrating with a lunch together as a district, along with an older couple in the branch. This Thanksgiving I definitely have much to be thankful for as I am here in this beautiful country serving the Lord. I love every minute of it!
Wednesday night we had an amazing lesson with Ilaria and Alfredo! They ask such great questions, and give equally great responses to our questions. They understand well and truly want to learn. They are so prepared for the Gospel! They asked us if they could borrow The Restoration DVD so that they could show her brother, Maurizio. They came to Church again this week, and brought Maurizio with them! They are such good little missionaries, and they don't even know it! All three loved Church. We had an amazing talk between Sunday School and Sacrament meeting (while they were taking a smoke break. Don't worry, we're teaching the Word of Wisdom soon!) All three are coming to a baptism in the branch on Sunday, and we're then going to invite them to be baptized! They are wondeful.
Saturday we met with Carla. She invited a friend from the branch, an awesome guy named Giacomo. He's so sweet to her. We talked about Jesus, and watch Finding Faith in Christ. After the movie, we were having a great discussion with Rita (Carla's mom) and Giacomo. She apparently got bored, because in the middle of the conversation stood up and said, "Ok, we leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Now I'll go get the food." We love Carla!
The Susans are doing well. Investigator Susan has been really sick, so we didn't meet with her last week. But she came to Church with her kids, as usual. I introduced the Susans to each other on Sunday. Apparently they already know each other and don't like each other, so it ended up turning into a bit of a cat fight. Nigerians are very vocal and passionate about their opinions. It was actually pretty funny. Less-active Susan brought a friend with her to our appointment yesterday! She always introduces us to her friends and invites them to learn more about the Gospel. She's also such a great little missionary.
Caterina, the friend that Susan brought, is now a new investigator. She's from nearby and they live together. She is really quiet and timid, but asked some good questions and seems to have interest. We have another new investigator, Isabella. She is an ex-investigator from several years ago. We stopped by her house yesterday and she immediately invited us in and started asking us questions. She's really cute. (Side note: her room is covered in pictures of Michael Jackson!) We had a really good talk about the Gospel and how it brings us answers to our questions. She mentioned that the sisters in the past said that they had their own personal testimonies of the Gospel, and she asked us if we, too, had personal testimonies. We bore our testimonies to her and she said that she wants to know for herself. We're really excited to meet with her again next week.
I've been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants lately, and a few verses have already really stuck out to me. In section 6, verses 33-37, it says:
"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven."
I love these verses so much. There are so many beautiful things in so many small verses. But one thing that I especially love is the end. Christ invites us all to look unto Him in every though. Then the next words he says are "Doubt not, fear not." When we are continually focused on our Savior, we have no room for doubt and fear.With Him, all things are possible. He helps us overcome our doubts and fears. He suffered and died for usso that we can return to live with Him again. He is our Savior and our Friend. I am so grateful for Him.
Vi voglio tanto bene! Buon giorno di ringraziamento!
Sorella Hawkey
Happy Thanksgiving! Tomorrow we're celebrating with a lunch together as a district, along with an older couple in the branch. This Thanksgiving I definitely have much to be thankful for as I am here in this beautiful country serving the Lord. I love every minute of it!
Wednesday night we had an amazing lesson with Ilaria and Alfredo! They ask such great questions, and give equally great responses to our questions. They understand well and truly want to learn. They are so prepared for the Gospel! They asked us if they could borrow The Restoration DVD so that they could show her brother, Maurizio. They came to Church again this week, and brought Maurizio with them! They are such good little missionaries, and they don't even know it! All three loved Church. We had an amazing talk between Sunday School and Sacrament meeting (while they were taking a smoke break. Don't worry, we're teaching the Word of Wisdom soon!) All three are coming to a baptism in the branch on Sunday, and we're then going to invite them to be baptized! They are wondeful.
Saturday we met with Carla. She invited a friend from the branch, an awesome guy named Giacomo. He's so sweet to her. We talked about Jesus, and watch Finding Faith in Christ. After the movie, we were having a great discussion with Rita (Carla's mom) and Giacomo. She apparently got bored, because in the middle of the conversation stood up and said, "Ok, we leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Now I'll go get the food." We love Carla!
The Susans are doing well. Investigator Susan has been really sick, so we didn't meet with her last week. But she came to Church with her kids, as usual. I introduced the Susans to each other on Sunday. Apparently they already know each other and don't like each other, so it ended up turning into a bit of a cat fight. Nigerians are very vocal and passionate about their opinions. It was actually pretty funny. Less-active Susan brought a friend with her to our appointment yesterday! She always introduces us to her friends and invites them to learn more about the Gospel. She's also such a great little missionary.
Caterina, the friend that Susan brought, is now a new investigator. She's from nearby and they live together. She is really quiet and timid, but asked some good questions and seems to have interest. We have another new investigator, Isabella. She is an ex-investigator from several years ago. We stopped by her house yesterday and she immediately invited us in and started asking us questions. She's really cute. (Side note: her room is covered in pictures of Michael Jackson!) We had a really good talk about the Gospel and how it brings us answers to our questions. She mentioned that the sisters in the past said that they had their own personal testimonies of the Gospel, and she asked us if we, too, had personal testimonies. We bore our testimonies to her and she said that she wants to know for herself. We're really excited to meet with her again next week.
I've been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants lately, and a few verses have already really stuck out to me. In section 6, verses 33-37, it says:
"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven."
I love these verses so much. There are so many beautiful things in so many small verses. But one thing that I especially love is the end. Christ invites us all to look unto Him in every though. Then the next words he says are "Doubt not, fear not." When we are continually focused on our Savior, we have no room for doubt and fear.With Him, all things are possible. He helps us overcome our doubts and fears. He suffered and died for usso that we can return to live with Him again. He is our Savior and our Friend. I am so grateful for Him.
Vi voglio tanto bene! Buon giorno di ringraziamento!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
November 18, 2009
Ciao!
Transfer calls came last night, and I'm staying with Sister Nelson in Cagliari! Yay! We're excited. So last week we had a Mexican lunch with the Vincedomini family. They are so much fun! They have 3 boys, ages 10, 9 and 4, who are SO cute! I hung out a lot with the youngest one, Gabrielle. We read lots of books together and drew pictures.
Thursday we taught Odian, one of the elder's investigators. They had to go out of town, so we taught her. She's so great! She's getting baptized next week and is so ready. She's from Nigeria. She asked us tons of questions about the mission and said that she wants to go someday. She's only 24, and would be a GREAT missionary!
Thursday we also met with a new investigator, Catherina, for the first time. She's an older lady who has lost almost all of her hope and faith in this life. She has had a lot of trying times and wonders if God really exists. Despite all of her doubts, she listened intently and really wants to believe. We're excited to continue working with her.
Friday was the sad day that we passed Pierpaolo off to the elders. We really do think he'll work better with the elders, but it was still sad that we won't be teaching him any longer. We taught about the Restoration along with the elders. It was a great lesson! He is so in tune with the Spirit. He craves to have the Spirit in his life and learn more about his Savior. Whenever we read any verse of scripture with him, he analyzes it and gives great insights. He came to Church on Sunday and loved it! Pierpaolo is amazing and so ready for the Gospel!
Ilaria came to Church on Sunday, and brought her boyfriend! It was the first time we met him, and before they came, Ilaria had explained to him the Restoration and the baptism that she came to. They both asked great questions during Gospel Principles and loved Church! They can't wait to come back next week. We have a lesson with them tonight. They are so cute!
Monday mornings we have a district meeting and talk about our work. The elders told us about their investigator who they haven't been able to find for a few weeks now. He's a 14 year old boy from Romania who doesn't have a phone, so they had no way of getting ahold of him. They described what he looks like, and told us that if we see him to talk to him and get his dad's phone number. So Monday afternoon we were at a store buying something for an investigator, and we decided to take a random street that we had never been on before to get to where we needed to go. We were just walking along our way, and saw a young boy who looked Romanian on the other side of the street. We looked at each other and said, "I bet that's Saimir!" He saw us right after that and came running over to us and said, pointing to our nametags, "I know your friends!" We talked to him for awhile, along with his cousin. We called the elders so that they could talk and set up an appointment, and we got the dad's phone number. The Lord truly always looks out for each one of us.
This Gospel is amazing! A few days ago I read Joseph Smith history, and one part really stuck out to me. Joseph Smith said, referring to all of the opposition he faced, "It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me?"
I love that he was determined to be "a disturber and an annoyer" of Satan's kingdom. He didn't just passively sit by and let things happen. He took an active stance to fight the bad and help the cause of God. It's not enough for us to just believe in the Gospel but then do nothing about it. There are far too many bad things in the world, and we need to take a stand to be a disturber and an annoyer of all of those things. It is only then that righteousness will prevail.
I hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Transfer calls came last night, and I'm staying with Sister Nelson in Cagliari! Yay! We're excited. So last week we had a Mexican lunch with the Vincedomini family. They are so much fun! They have 3 boys, ages 10, 9 and 4, who are SO cute! I hung out a lot with the youngest one, Gabrielle. We read lots of books together and drew pictures.
Thursday we taught Odian, one of the elder's investigators. They had to go out of town, so we taught her. She's so great! She's getting baptized next week and is so ready. She's from Nigeria. She asked us tons of questions about the mission and said that she wants to go someday. She's only 24, and would be a GREAT missionary!
Thursday we also met with a new investigator, Catherina, for the first time. She's an older lady who has lost almost all of her hope and faith in this life. She has had a lot of trying times and wonders if God really exists. Despite all of her doubts, she listened intently and really wants to believe. We're excited to continue working with her.
Friday was the sad day that we passed Pierpaolo off to the elders. We really do think he'll work better with the elders, but it was still sad that we won't be teaching him any longer. We taught about the Restoration along with the elders. It was a great lesson! He is so in tune with the Spirit. He craves to have the Spirit in his life and learn more about his Savior. Whenever we read any verse of scripture with him, he analyzes it and gives great insights. He came to Church on Sunday and loved it! Pierpaolo is amazing and so ready for the Gospel!
Ilaria came to Church on Sunday, and brought her boyfriend! It was the first time we met him, and before they came, Ilaria had explained to him the Restoration and the baptism that she came to. They both asked great questions during Gospel Principles and loved Church! They can't wait to come back next week. We have a lesson with them tonight. They are so cute!
Monday mornings we have a district meeting and talk about our work. The elders told us about their investigator who they haven't been able to find for a few weeks now. He's a 14 year old boy from Romania who doesn't have a phone, so they had no way of getting ahold of him. They described what he looks like, and told us that if we see him to talk to him and get his dad's phone number. So Monday afternoon we were at a store buying something for an investigator, and we decided to take a random street that we had never been on before to get to where we needed to go. We were just walking along our way, and saw a young boy who looked Romanian on the other side of the street. We looked at each other and said, "I bet that's Saimir!" He saw us right after that and came running over to us and said, pointing to our nametags, "I know your friends!" We talked to him for awhile, along with his cousin. We called the elders so that they could talk and set up an appointment, and we got the dad's phone number. The Lord truly always looks out for each one of us.
This Gospel is amazing! A few days ago I read Joseph Smith history, and one part really stuck out to me. Joseph Smith said, referring to all of the opposition he faced, "It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me?"
I love that he was determined to be "a disturber and an annoyer" of Satan's kingdom. He didn't just passively sit by and let things happen. He took an active stance to fight the bad and help the cause of God. It's not enough for us to just believe in the Gospel but then do nothing about it. There are far too many bad things in the world, and we need to take a stand to be a disturber and an annoyer of all of those things. It is only then that righteousness will prevail.
I hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Thursday, November 12, 2009
November 11, 2009
Ciao!
I hope you're all doing well. Last week I celebrated my one year in Italy anniversary! We celebrated Italian-style by playing soccer and eating gelato with a bunch of our investigators and contacts. My team won, by the way. I, of course, was the lone American girl on a team of all Italian men, but still. We had a lot of fun.
Thursday we were trying to meet a member, but there was a ton of confusion as to where we were meeting. (Mostly due to the Catholic's worship of the Madonna. You may be wondering how that relates to us getting lost, but trust me, it does. Long story) Anyways, as we were lost, we ended up missing a bus that would take us to our correct destination. It was frustrating because we were already late. But we got on the next bus that came, and there was Ilaria! She was having a really bad day and was so happy to see us! She seemed to realize that it wasn't coincidence that we ran into each other. It seems like every time I either miss a bus or the bus just doesn't come, I end up running into someone who really needs to see us. So then we got to what we thought was the correct desination, but once again, we got lost. So waiting at the bus stop to get on a different bus, we met an amazing woman named Lidia! She's from Romania and is so cute! She came to english class last night and wants to meet with us sometime to talk more! I love how the Lord is always in charge and always knows what He's doing, even when we don't.
Saturday we met with Carla again. She's so cute! We had a lesson on families and made friendship bracelets with her. Well, we made bracelets while she watched us. She gets cranky if there's not food, and her mom said we couldn't eat until the bracelets were done, so she sat there and glared at us for awhile. But then she forgave us as soon as food was on the table and we were all friends again, complete with matching bracelets!
Both Susans came to church on Sunday! Investigator Susan even wore a skirt for the first time! He kids get better behaved every time they come to Church. They are learning a lot in Primary and love it. We are trying to get her "husband" interested, but it's a work in progress. They are doing all the paperwork to get married soon! We're so excited! We want to plan her wedding for her. So as soon as she gets married, she will get baptized!
Less active Susan is also doing great. She asks such great questions during the lessons and truly wants to start living the Gospel again. She has such a beautiful smile that just brightens up everything around her. We love her!
Yesterday we went over to help Sister Espis, the branch president's wife. They are such an amazing family! The poor thing just had surgery last week and can hardly get out of bed. So we went over for a few hours to clean her house, do laundry and make lunch. We also made her a birthdya cake, since it was also her birthday. It was so fun! She sat in bed and told us stories from her mission for awhile.
Well, those are the week's highlights. Today we're going with the elders to a member family's house out in the country for lunch. They're cooking Mexican food. I'm very intrigued as to the Italian version of Mexican food, so we'll see how it goes.
A couple scriptures that I read this week: Isaiah 41:10 says "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
Isaiah 43:1 "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."
When we are on the Lord's side, we have no reason to fear. He gives us the strength that we need to face whatever life brings. He is with us always, right by our side. He knows us by name, for we are His children. He loves us with a perfect love. With Him, we will always succeed.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
I hope you're all doing well. Last week I celebrated my one year in Italy anniversary! We celebrated Italian-style by playing soccer and eating gelato with a bunch of our investigators and contacts. My team won, by the way. I, of course, was the lone American girl on a team of all Italian men, but still. We had a lot of fun.
Thursday we were trying to meet a member, but there was a ton of confusion as to where we were meeting. (Mostly due to the Catholic's worship of the Madonna. You may be wondering how that relates to us getting lost, but trust me, it does. Long story) Anyways, as we were lost, we ended up missing a bus that would take us to our correct destination. It was frustrating because we were already late. But we got on the next bus that came, and there was Ilaria! She was having a really bad day and was so happy to see us! She seemed to realize that it wasn't coincidence that we ran into each other. It seems like every time I either miss a bus or the bus just doesn't come, I end up running into someone who really needs to see us. So then we got to what we thought was the correct desination, but once again, we got lost. So waiting at the bus stop to get on a different bus, we met an amazing woman named Lidia! She's from Romania and is so cute! She came to english class last night and wants to meet with us sometime to talk more! I love how the Lord is always in charge and always knows what He's doing, even when we don't.
Saturday we met with Carla again. She's so cute! We had a lesson on families and made friendship bracelets with her. Well, we made bracelets while she watched us. She gets cranky if there's not food, and her mom said we couldn't eat until the bracelets were done, so she sat there and glared at us for awhile. But then she forgave us as soon as food was on the table and we were all friends again, complete with matching bracelets!
Both Susans came to church on Sunday! Investigator Susan even wore a skirt for the first time! He kids get better behaved every time they come to Church. They are learning a lot in Primary and love it. We are trying to get her "husband" interested, but it's a work in progress. They are doing all the paperwork to get married soon! We're so excited! We want to plan her wedding for her. So as soon as she gets married, she will get baptized!
Less active Susan is also doing great. She asks such great questions during the lessons and truly wants to start living the Gospel again. She has such a beautiful smile that just brightens up everything around her. We love her!
Yesterday we went over to help Sister Espis, the branch president's wife. They are such an amazing family! The poor thing just had surgery last week and can hardly get out of bed. So we went over for a few hours to clean her house, do laundry and make lunch. We also made her a birthdya cake, since it was also her birthday. It was so fun! She sat in bed and told us stories from her mission for awhile.
Well, those are the week's highlights. Today we're going with the elders to a member family's house out in the country for lunch. They're cooking Mexican food. I'm very intrigued as to the Italian version of Mexican food, so we'll see how it goes.
A couple scriptures that I read this week: Isaiah 41:10 says "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
Isaiah 43:1 "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."
When we are on the Lord's side, we have no reason to fear. He gives us the strength that we need to face whatever life brings. He is with us always, right by our side. He knows us by name, for we are His children. He loves us with a perfect love. With Him, we will always succeed.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
November 4, 2009
Hello!
I'm trying to mix up how I start my letters every week, because it always ends up being the same thing. Sorry! Life truly is good. We have 2 new investigators from last week! One is Pierpaolo. He comes to english class. A few weeks ago, Sister Nelson gave the spiritual thought at the end of class, and she invited everyone to write down questions of the soul that they have and bring the list next week. Pierpaolo is the only one who actually followed through with that. He gave us a letter and asked if he could meet with us. He watched the movie Finding Faith in Christ with him, and he loved it! At the end of the lesson, we asked him to pick who would pray, and he volunteered. Halfway through, he started crying. After the prayer, which was beautiful, we talked about the Spirit and he recognized that that is what he felt. He came to the branch Halloween party on Friday and out of nowhere asked me what one has to do to become a member of the church. He loved that everyone in the branch is a normal person. He especially loved that the branch president was in the middle of the room jump roping with all the primary kids. I talked to him about baptism and the importance of being baptized by authority. He said, "So my baptism into the Catholic church isn't valid, then?" I said no, and he was totally cool with it. We had another lesson last night about the Plan of Salvation, which he completely accepted and loved! Pierpaolo is in his mid 40s, recently divorced and has 2 sons. He is so prepared for the Gospel and just soaks everything in!
Our other new investigator is Carla. She's 24 but mentally handicapped and has the capacity of an 8 year old. She's the daughter of 2 active members in the branch but has never been baptized. She stopped coming to church once she was in Young Womens, because she didn't like who people treated her like a small child. She knows the Gospel well, though and loves singing hymns! We visited with her Saturday and taught her how to make brownies. She had a blast! She loves to cook. Then we had a great lesson, which she pretty much taught herself. She's so sweet and so cute!
Friday we had the branch Halloween party. In Italy, no one ever has the calling of the activities committee, so the missionaries end up being the party planners. Which is fun for me! It ended up being a lot of fun for everyone! The elders made a haunted house type thing. Everyone loved it! (Except for the 4 little kids that they made cry) Most of the people went in there at least 2 or 3 times. A ton of investigators came, and a lot of inactive members! It was great.
Walter is doing great! He taught us one of the lessons last week and did a great job. He has a strong testimony and a deep knowledge of the Gospel. He loves doing missionary work! He especially loves coming to lessons with us to help us teach. He's great! We're trying to find him a wife.
Both of the Susans are doing well. Investigator Susan is still waiting to get married, but accepts everything we teach her and comes to church. She loves the Gospel! Less-active Susan came to the Halloween party and brought 7 friends with her! We've had a few more lessons with her, and she really does want to come back to Church.
The work continues to move forward. I've been studying in Moses lately. One story I love is when Enoch gets called. In Moses 6:31-32, it says, "And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good." Enoch had doubts. He knew his faults and that his capabilities were limited. But the Lord is in charge, and he makes more of our capabilities than we can do alone.
Only one chapter later, in verse 13 says "And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him." Enoch was nervous about his calling because he was slow of speech. But when he trusted in God, his speech was so powerful that the earth trembled! I love at the end of the verse that it says that "so powerful was the language which GOD had given him." It doesn't say that Enoch took a speech class, or practiced public speaking. It doesn't say that he did anything of himself to become better. Instead, he trusted in the Lord and was willing to be an instrument, and God gave him the abilities that were necessary to fulfill his calling.
Buona settimana! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
I'm trying to mix up how I start my letters every week, because it always ends up being the same thing. Sorry! Life truly is good. We have 2 new investigators from last week! One is Pierpaolo. He comes to english class. A few weeks ago, Sister Nelson gave the spiritual thought at the end of class, and she invited everyone to write down questions of the soul that they have and bring the list next week. Pierpaolo is the only one who actually followed through with that. He gave us a letter and asked if he could meet with us. He watched the movie Finding Faith in Christ with him, and he loved it! At the end of the lesson, we asked him to pick who would pray, and he volunteered. Halfway through, he started crying. After the prayer, which was beautiful, we talked about the Spirit and he recognized that that is what he felt. He came to the branch Halloween party on Friday and out of nowhere asked me what one has to do to become a member of the church. He loved that everyone in the branch is a normal person. He especially loved that the branch president was in the middle of the room jump roping with all the primary kids. I talked to him about baptism and the importance of being baptized by authority. He said, "So my baptism into the Catholic church isn't valid, then?" I said no, and he was totally cool with it. We had another lesson last night about the Plan of Salvation, which he completely accepted and loved! Pierpaolo is in his mid 40s, recently divorced and has 2 sons. He is so prepared for the Gospel and just soaks everything in!
Our other new investigator is Carla. She's 24 but mentally handicapped and has the capacity of an 8 year old. She's the daughter of 2 active members in the branch but has never been baptized. She stopped coming to church once she was in Young Womens, because she didn't like who people treated her like a small child. She knows the Gospel well, though and loves singing hymns! We visited with her Saturday and taught her how to make brownies. She had a blast! She loves to cook. Then we had a great lesson, which she pretty much taught herself. She's so sweet and so cute!
Friday we had the branch Halloween party. In Italy, no one ever has the calling of the activities committee, so the missionaries end up being the party planners. Which is fun for me! It ended up being a lot of fun for everyone! The elders made a haunted house type thing. Everyone loved it! (Except for the 4 little kids that they made cry) Most of the people went in there at least 2 or 3 times. A ton of investigators came, and a lot of inactive members! It was great.
Walter is doing great! He taught us one of the lessons last week and did a great job. He has a strong testimony and a deep knowledge of the Gospel. He loves doing missionary work! He especially loves coming to lessons with us to help us teach. He's great! We're trying to find him a wife.
Both of the Susans are doing well. Investigator Susan is still waiting to get married, but accepts everything we teach her and comes to church. She loves the Gospel! Less-active Susan came to the Halloween party and brought 7 friends with her! We've had a few more lessons with her, and she really does want to come back to Church.
The work continues to move forward. I've been studying in Moses lately. One story I love is when Enoch gets called. In Moses 6:31-32, it says, "And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good." Enoch had doubts. He knew his faults and that his capabilities were limited. But the Lord is in charge, and he makes more of our capabilities than we can do alone.
Only one chapter later, in verse 13 says "And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him." Enoch was nervous about his calling because he was slow of speech. But when he trusted in God, his speech was so powerful that the earth trembled! I love at the end of the verse that it says that "so powerful was the language which GOD had given him." It doesn't say that Enoch took a speech class, or practiced public speaking. It doesn't say that he did anything of himself to become better. Instead, he trusted in the Lord and was willing to be an instrument, and God gave him the abilities that were necessary to fulfill his calling.
Buona settimana! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
October 28, 2009
Ciao!
Another week of adventures! Last week during PDay we were walking around centro. I was looking at a little shop and Sister Nelson was waiting for me. She stood over by a lady and started talking to her. Eventually Sister Nelson asked this lady if she had ever met missionaries before. This lady, Susan, said no. Then I came up, and we started talking to her about the purpose of life and why we’re here. We asked her if we could meet sometime to explain the answers to the questions she has. She said yes, and then asked if we could meet at our church and then gave us the address to the church. We were wondering how she knew the address, when 5 minutes ago she said she had never met missionaries, so we asked her. She said that she is actually a member and was baptized 3 years ago! We had an appointment with her yesterday. She wants to come back to church and start living the Gospel again! She’s such a sweet lady. I seriously am always so amazed at how the Lord puts His children where they need him. What are the odds of us running into this lady in a huge city? The Lord’s hand is always in our lives. He can works miracles when we’re willing to be the instrument.
Susan is doing so much better! We finally were able to have a lesson with her. She readily accepts all commandments and knows that they’re for our good. I love the faith Nigerians have! They love God so much and will do anything to obey Him! Since we talked about her needing to be married, she set an appointment to get the proper documents, since she’s not an Italian citizen, and is planning on getting married in the next few weeks. She’s great! I’m excited to see her baptism soon.
Agnese is doing well. She was super busy last week, so we didn’t get to see her. But we talk to her every day and she is doing ok. She’s still praying to know about November 15th as her baptismal date!
Friday we had an amazing zone conference, where I finally got to see Elder Holland’s conference talk. (Here in Italy we don’t get to watch the Sunday evening session of conference) I also got to see Sister Millis, who’s also here on the island! We talked a lot about the condition of our hearts and how it affects everything else. We also talked about the condition of our minds and how much what we think about affects everything. Elder Reschke an example of his dad, who recently ran a marathon. After awhile, his dad started getting really tired and had a cramp in his leg. He was starting to get discouraged and wonder if he could even make it. After awhile of this, he realized that that mentality was getting him nowhere. So then he started thinking about his family and the people on the sidelines cheering him on. He went through what each member of his family might say to him if they were beside him. His conditions didn’t change at all, but the condition of his mind did, and that made all the difference.
Hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Another week of adventures! Last week during PDay we were walking around centro. I was looking at a little shop and Sister Nelson was waiting for me. She stood over by a lady and started talking to her. Eventually Sister Nelson asked this lady if she had ever met missionaries before. This lady, Susan, said no. Then I came up, and we started talking to her about the purpose of life and why we’re here. We asked her if we could meet sometime to explain the answers to the questions she has. She said yes, and then asked if we could meet at our church and then gave us the address to the church. We were wondering how she knew the address, when 5 minutes ago she said she had never met missionaries, so we asked her. She said that she is actually a member and was baptized 3 years ago! We had an appointment with her yesterday. She wants to come back to church and start living the Gospel again! She’s such a sweet lady. I seriously am always so amazed at how the Lord puts His children where they need him. What are the odds of us running into this lady in a huge city? The Lord’s hand is always in our lives. He can works miracles when we’re willing to be the instrument.
Susan is doing so much better! We finally were able to have a lesson with her. She readily accepts all commandments and knows that they’re for our good. I love the faith Nigerians have! They love God so much and will do anything to obey Him! Since we talked about her needing to be married, she set an appointment to get the proper documents, since she’s not an Italian citizen, and is planning on getting married in the next few weeks. She’s great! I’m excited to see her baptism soon.
Agnese is doing well. She was super busy last week, so we didn’t get to see her. But we talk to her every day and she is doing ok. She’s still praying to know about November 15th as her baptismal date!
Friday we had an amazing zone conference, where I finally got to see Elder Holland’s conference talk. (Here in Italy we don’t get to watch the Sunday evening session of conference) I also got to see Sister Millis, who’s also here on the island! We talked a lot about the condition of our hearts and how it affects everything else. We also talked about the condition of our minds and how much what we think about affects everything. Elder Reschke an example of his dad, who recently ran a marathon. After awhile, his dad started getting really tired and had a cramp in his leg. He was starting to get discouraged and wonder if he could even make it. After awhile of this, he realized that that mentality was getting him nowhere. So then he started thinking about his family and the people on the sidelines cheering him on. He went through what each member of his family might say to him if they were beside him. His conditions didn’t change at all, but the condition of his mind did, and that made all the difference.
Hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 21, 2009
Hello!
Winter has suddenly fallen upon the island. When I got here it was summer, and one morning we woke up, and it's suddenly winter! We had a great week, though, full of amazing appointments! And some crazy adventurous appointments.
We went to Susan's on Thursday to talk about how she needs to be married. About 5 minutes after we got there, her "husband" got home for lunch, and they got into a HUGE fight right in front of us!It was so akward. We just sat there pretending like we couldn't hear and played with the baby. Unfortunately, we couldn't even leave because Susan has to unlock the door with the keys that were in her pocket. It was really akward. Needless to say, we didn't get to actually teach a lesson. We tried again yesterday, but another fight errupted, so we left right as they were starting to avoid another situation.
Sunday we had an amazing lesson with a new investigator Ilaria. She's 31 and super cute! We taught the Restoration, and she cried during the whole thing because she loved it so much. Right after the lesson, there was a baptism. She came to it and loved it! We have another lesson with her tonight and can't wait to talk to her more about baptism!
Walter is doing well. He comes to district finding activities, english class, and just about everything else we do. He loves participating in missionary work. He has a strong testimony and loves coming to appointments with us. We love Walter. He's hilarious, and between him and my companion, I spend most of my day laughing.
We have another new investigator, Agnese. She took the lessons a few years back. We called up some people in our phone, not knowing who they were, to invite them to the baptism on Sunday, and she came! She had an amazing spiritual experience and asked us if she could start meeting with us again. Yesterday we had a great lesson with her. She has been thinking a lot in the past few months about life and what she wants, and she realized she wanted to meet with us again. We invited her to be baptized last night and she is ready! She's praying about November 15th!
Anyways, I'm running about of time....it's been a great week! Monday at our district meeting, Elder Polelli (who I served with in Prato) told a story about a time in Prato when he was on the bus. He had a strong feeling that he should go talk to a certain man. He went to go talk to him, but was quickly rejected. Elder Polelli gave this man a pass-along card and they parted ways. He wondered why he had that prompting when nothing came of it. About a month later, the elders were on splits with the other companionship of elders, and Elder Noda took Elder Polelli to go see a new investigator that he had. Elder Polelli walked in, and the new investigator was this man he had talked to! This man, Giuseppe, told Elder Polelli that ever since they met, he couldn't stop thinking about the missionaries and what message they had. He kept looking at the picture of Christ on the pass-along card. He felt strongly that he needed to find the missionaries and talk to them. The next week, the other set of elders ran into Giuseppe, and he gladly accepted them. Giuseppe and his wife Lili are now baptized and strong members of the branch in Prato! I've learned a lot about the promptings of the Holy Ghost .A lot of times we don't understand them. Some things just don't make sense to us. At times, we have the opportunity to understand why we had certain promptings, like Elder Polelli did. But a lot of times, we might never understand the reasons behind things. But as we follow those promptings, we are always, always blessed.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Winter has suddenly fallen upon the island. When I got here it was summer, and one morning we woke up, and it's suddenly winter! We had a great week, though, full of amazing appointments! And some crazy adventurous appointments.
We went to Susan's on Thursday to talk about how she needs to be married. About 5 minutes after we got there, her "husband" got home for lunch, and they got into a HUGE fight right in front of us!It was so akward. We just sat there pretending like we couldn't hear and played with the baby. Unfortunately, we couldn't even leave because Susan has to unlock the door with the keys that were in her pocket. It was really akward. Needless to say, we didn't get to actually teach a lesson. We tried again yesterday, but another fight errupted, so we left right as they were starting to avoid another situation.
Sunday we had an amazing lesson with a new investigator Ilaria. She's 31 and super cute! We taught the Restoration, and she cried during the whole thing because she loved it so much. Right after the lesson, there was a baptism. She came to it and loved it! We have another lesson with her tonight and can't wait to talk to her more about baptism!
Walter is doing well. He comes to district finding activities, english class, and just about everything else we do. He loves participating in missionary work. He has a strong testimony and loves coming to appointments with us. We love Walter. He's hilarious, and between him and my companion, I spend most of my day laughing.
We have another new investigator, Agnese. She took the lessons a few years back. We called up some people in our phone, not knowing who they were, to invite them to the baptism on Sunday, and she came! She had an amazing spiritual experience and asked us if she could start meeting with us again. Yesterday we had a great lesson with her. She has been thinking a lot in the past few months about life and what she wants, and she realized she wanted to meet with us again. We invited her to be baptized last night and she is ready! She's praying about November 15th!
Anyways, I'm running about of time....it's been a great week! Monday at our district meeting, Elder Polelli (who I served with in Prato) told a story about a time in Prato when he was on the bus. He had a strong feeling that he should go talk to a certain man. He went to go talk to him, but was quickly rejected. Elder Polelli gave this man a pass-along card and they parted ways. He wondered why he had that prompting when nothing came of it. About a month later, the elders were on splits with the other companionship of elders, and Elder Noda took Elder Polelli to go see a new investigator that he had. Elder Polelli walked in, and the new investigator was this man he had talked to! This man, Giuseppe, told Elder Polelli that ever since they met, he couldn't stop thinking about the missionaries and what message they had. He kept looking at the picture of Christ on the pass-along card. He felt strongly that he needed to find the missionaries and talk to them. The next week, the other set of elders ran into Giuseppe, and he gladly accepted them. Giuseppe and his wife Lili are now baptized and strong members of the branch in Prato! I've learned a lot about the promptings of the Holy Ghost .A lot of times we don't understand them. Some things just don't make sense to us. At times, we have the opportunity to understand why we had certain promptings, like Elder Polelli did. But a lot of times, we might never understand the reasons behind things. But as we follow those promptings, we are always, always blessed.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
New Mailing Address
Breanna Hawkey
Vico 3 Riva Villasanta 2
09100 Pirra (Cagliari)
Italia
(letters only)
Packages must be sent to the mission home.
Vico 3 Riva Villasanta 2
09100 Pirra (Cagliari)
Italia
(letters only)
Packages must be sent to the mission home.
October 14, 2009
Ciao!
After 29 hours of travel, including 5 trains and a huge ship, I finally made it to Cagliari! It's gorgeous. We live about 15 minutes from the ocean. It's a beautiful city. The branch is great. It's really big. We actually have a church building here. It's really nice. And the work is going well.
Last Wednesday, which seems like forever ago, I spent saying goodbye to all the people in Prato. It was so hard to leave everyone! Especially Nertil. I got a beautiful letter from him thanking me for everything. I also got a letter from his sister thanking me for teaching Nertil, who in turned taught her. I was just the instrument. It wasn't me at all, but I am forever grateful to have been the instrument to help Nertil and his sister find the restored Gospel.
Thursday and Friday I spent travelling, but it was actually really fun. At the station in Rome, I saw a bunch of missionaries that I haven't seen in a long time, so it was fun to catch up. My district here in Cagliari is great! I'm with Anziano Polelli again (we served together for 6 months in Prato) and Anziano Reschke (from my MTC district).
Sunday church was great! The branch here is great. I met my ex-companion's family (Sister Mura, my second companion, is from Cagliari). They are so sweet! Sunday afternoon we had an appointment with Walter. He is a recent convert that the sisters taught. He's awesome. He's hilarious! And yes, he is Italian, despite having an english name. We taught him about missionary work, and then afterwards he came with us to do finding with the elders in centro. He's great.
I've only met a couple of our investigators. Susan is from Nigeria and has a baptismal date. However, yesterday we discovered that her "husband" and her are not actually legally married, so we're going to have to address that issue next time. She's really cute, though and so excited to get baptized. She took the lessons about 3 years ago, and a few months ago called the sisters and said that she's been thinking about it and wants to get baptized into the true Church of Jesus Christ. She's so ready for baptism, as soon as we work out the whole not married to the father of her children issue.
We also met with Rita, a lady in her late 50s or early 60s who is so sweet! She believes the Church is true but is scared to do anything about it. I can see that deep down she wants to, though.
Anyways, time is running out. I'm so grateful to be here on my mission! I'm so grateful that the Church has been restored and that we have the Priesthood authority on the earth again. What an amazing blessing!
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
After 29 hours of travel, including 5 trains and a huge ship, I finally made it to Cagliari! It's gorgeous. We live about 15 minutes from the ocean. It's a beautiful city. The branch is great. It's really big. We actually have a church building here. It's really nice. And the work is going well.
Last Wednesday, which seems like forever ago, I spent saying goodbye to all the people in Prato. It was so hard to leave everyone! Especially Nertil. I got a beautiful letter from him thanking me for everything. I also got a letter from his sister thanking me for teaching Nertil, who in turned taught her. I was just the instrument. It wasn't me at all, but I am forever grateful to have been the instrument to help Nertil and his sister find the restored Gospel.
Thursday and Friday I spent travelling, but it was actually really fun. At the station in Rome, I saw a bunch of missionaries that I haven't seen in a long time, so it was fun to catch up. My district here in Cagliari is great! I'm with Anziano Polelli again (we served together for 6 months in Prato) and Anziano Reschke (from my MTC district).
Sunday church was great! The branch here is great. I met my ex-companion's family (Sister Mura, my second companion, is from Cagliari). They are so sweet! Sunday afternoon we had an appointment with Walter. He is a recent convert that the sisters taught. He's awesome. He's hilarious! And yes, he is Italian, despite having an english name. We taught him about missionary work, and then afterwards he came with us to do finding with the elders in centro. He's great.
I've only met a couple of our investigators. Susan is from Nigeria and has a baptismal date. However, yesterday we discovered that her "husband" and her are not actually legally married, so we're going to have to address that issue next time. She's really cute, though and so excited to get baptized. She took the lessons about 3 years ago, and a few months ago called the sisters and said that she's been thinking about it and wants to get baptized into the true Church of Jesus Christ. She's so ready for baptism, as soon as we work out the whole not married to the father of her children issue.
We also met with Rita, a lady in her late 50s or early 60s who is so sweet! She believes the Church is true but is scared to do anything about it. I can see that deep down she wants to, though.
Anyways, time is running out. I'm so grateful to be here on my mission! I'm so grateful that the Church has been restored and that we have the Priesthood authority on the earth again. What an amazing blessing!
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009
Ciao a tutti!
I'm getting transfered to Cagliari, on the island of Sardegna. I'm really excited. It will be great to be on the ocean again! I'll be with Sister Nelson who I met once for about 10 seconds. She seemed great, though and I've heard great things about her.
The work here is going well. I'll miss everyone here so much. I love these people more than I can even say. Kelly is getting baptized this next Sunday. I'm excited to see pictures of it. He's doing well and getting integrated in the branch. We went with him to dinner last week at a family's house. I love the branch here. Even though they don't speak english, and Kelly doesn't really speak Italian, they love him and accepted him into their home.
Aseneth came to conference and loved it. We're trying to help her see the role of a prophet and the importance of a modern prophet. Nataliya and her husband are finally back from Ukraine, and they also came and loved it! They are so cute!
Conference was amazing, as always. It is such a wonderful blessing to have a living Prophet on the earth today. I am so grateful that the Gospel has been restored and that the Priesthood authority is on the earth again. I love this Gospel so much and wish everyone would accept it. It truly is the only way to happiness.
Sorry this is so short, but things are a little crazy today trying to pack and get ready to leave. I love you all and you're in my prayers.
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
I'm getting transfered to Cagliari, on the island of Sardegna. I'm really excited. It will be great to be on the ocean again! I'll be with Sister Nelson who I met once for about 10 seconds. She seemed great, though and I've heard great things about her.
The work here is going well. I'll miss everyone here so much. I love these people more than I can even say. Kelly is getting baptized this next Sunday. I'm excited to see pictures of it. He's doing well and getting integrated in the branch. We went with him to dinner last week at a family's house. I love the branch here. Even though they don't speak english, and Kelly doesn't really speak Italian, they love him and accepted him into their home.
Aseneth came to conference and loved it. We're trying to help her see the role of a prophet and the importance of a modern prophet. Nataliya and her husband are finally back from Ukraine, and they also came and loved it! They are so cute!
Conference was amazing, as always. It is such a wonderful blessing to have a living Prophet on the earth today. I am so grateful that the Gospel has been restored and that the Priesthood authority is on the earth again. I love this Gospel so much and wish everyone would accept it. It truly is the only way to happiness.
Sorry this is so short, but things are a little crazy today trying to pack and get ready to leave. I love you all and you're in my prayers.
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
September 30, 2009
Ciao!
Another busy week here in Prato. Kelly is doing great! He's really excited for his baptism, which will more than likely be October 10th. He has finished all the lessons and had his interview and is ready to go! He has so much faith and truly recognizes the importance of the commandments. We're really excited for him. We were going to have the baptism this past Sunday, but some things came up and we weren't able to do it at the last minute. So most of our week was spent planning a baptism that didn't happen yet. But he's doing well and is really excited for everything.
We're teaching a really cute girl named Xiomara right now. I don't know if I mentioned her before or not, so sorry if I repeat myself! Her grandmother is a member who just moved to Prato. They're all from Peru. Xiomara is 14 and we teach her both english and the lessons. She's super cute! Yesterday we had a great lesson, and she got an answer that the Book of Mormon is true! She wants to come to Conference this weekend with her grandma! She's so cute.
Veronica is also making progress. She's SUPER Catholic! But the other day we were really straightforward with her about what we do as missionaries and how we want to teach her about our church and help her know that it's true. She is willing to learn more and ask Heavenly Father. We're still working on teaching her that we pray to Him and not Mary or any of the saints. It's a work in progress. Last week she told us that Jesus was offended because we don't pray to His mother. So we've had a lot of lessons on how to pray. Slowly, though, we are seeing changes in her. I have a lot of hope for her.
We also visited Franco this week, the man who works for the Catholic church. We had given him a Book of Mormon a few months back, and he mentioned to us that his mom had read a little of it. Last week he told us that his mom finished the whole Book of Mormon and tells him every day that it saved her life and she wants to meet the angels who gave him this book. So we'll be visiting her soon. Franco is coming to General Conference. We're really excited for that. I know that once he sees the Prophet, he'll realize the difference between him and other church's leaders and the authority that comes with that calling.
Anyways, those are the main highlights from the week. We're super busy with all of our investigators. Life is great! I can't wait for General Conference this next weekend. We are so blessed to have a living Prophet on the earth. He literally has the same calling that all of the ancient prophets did. He is a man called of God to lead His church. We will never be led astray as we follow the Prophet.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Another busy week here in Prato. Kelly is doing great! He's really excited for his baptism, which will more than likely be October 10th. He has finished all the lessons and had his interview and is ready to go! He has so much faith and truly recognizes the importance of the commandments. We're really excited for him. We were going to have the baptism this past Sunday, but some things came up and we weren't able to do it at the last minute. So most of our week was spent planning a baptism that didn't happen yet. But he's doing well and is really excited for everything.
We're teaching a really cute girl named Xiomara right now. I don't know if I mentioned her before or not, so sorry if I repeat myself! Her grandmother is a member who just moved to Prato. They're all from Peru. Xiomara is 14 and we teach her both english and the lessons. She's super cute! Yesterday we had a great lesson, and she got an answer that the Book of Mormon is true! She wants to come to Conference this weekend with her grandma! She's so cute.
Veronica is also making progress. She's SUPER Catholic! But the other day we were really straightforward with her about what we do as missionaries and how we want to teach her about our church and help her know that it's true. She is willing to learn more and ask Heavenly Father. We're still working on teaching her that we pray to Him and not Mary or any of the saints. It's a work in progress. Last week she told us that Jesus was offended because we don't pray to His mother. So we've had a lot of lessons on how to pray. Slowly, though, we are seeing changes in her. I have a lot of hope for her.
We also visited Franco this week, the man who works for the Catholic church. We had given him a Book of Mormon a few months back, and he mentioned to us that his mom had read a little of it. Last week he told us that his mom finished the whole Book of Mormon and tells him every day that it saved her life and she wants to meet the angels who gave him this book. So we'll be visiting her soon. Franco is coming to General Conference. We're really excited for that. I know that once he sees the Prophet, he'll realize the difference between him and other church's leaders and the authority that comes with that calling.
Anyways, those are the main highlights from the week. We're super busy with all of our investigators. Life is great! I can't wait for General Conference this next weekend. We are so blessed to have a living Prophet on the earth. He literally has the same calling that all of the ancient prophets did. He is a man called of God to lead His church. We will never be led astray as we follow the Prophet.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
September 23, 2009
Hi, everyone!
Everyone in Prato is doing well. Kelly is all ready for baptism! He accepts all the commandments with no problem and has so much faith! He's so excited to get baptized. He talks all the time about how much he loves the Church and all the members here. I'm so excited for him!
We have another new investigator, named Aseneth. She's from Ecuador. She is an ex-investigator from awhile back. She's so cute. She loves our church and reads the Book of Mormon almost every day! We're working on helping her see the difference between our church and her church (she's Evangelist). She thinks they're pretty much one and the same, so it's a little bit tricky. She's so cute, though and I love her! She's making us lasagna tomorrow night for dinner!
We also started working with a girl named Xiomara, from Peru. Her grandma is a member who just moved to Prato a couple weeks ago. The elders went over to teach the grandpa and met Xiomara and so we started working with her. She's 14 and super cute. She's really bubbly and energetic. We teach her english and also about the Gospel. We were a little worried that she only agreed to hear the Gospel in order to get english lessons, but we had a great lesson with her. She's very sincere and has read quite a bit from the Book of Mormon.
Mary has finally returned from being away all summer! We had a great lesson with her last night. She is excited to start coming to church again and see everyone. We're hoping to get a baptism date for her soon.
Nertil continues to amaze us. He's such a great missionary and talks about the Church wherever he goes. He got called this past Sunday as the first counselor in the Young Men's presidency. He's really excited for that. He's going to do such a fantastic job, and he'll work well with the youth and be a great example for them.
Those are the main highlights from the week. Everyone is great. I love Prato so much! Transfers are coming up soon, and I'm nervous that I might have to leave. I know eventually they'll make me leave, but I would be just fine finishing my mission here.
I've been reading in the New Testament lately, and I am always so amazing by Paul's story. From a missionary's standpoint, if I met a man like Paul, he is probably the last one I would have thought would accept the Gospel. I would probably think he would never be interested, and probably avoid him. But Heavenly Father doesn't see us the way we are. He sees the potential we have within us. He knew that Paul had the potential to change and to become a powerful missionary. He knew that Paul's heart would change. Each of us has so much potential to do good. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sees that within each of us and gives us the opportunities to rise to what we can become with His help. I am grateful that He sees what we don't always see. He sees the big picture, while we only see right here and right now.
Hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Everyone in Prato is doing well. Kelly is all ready for baptism! He accepts all the commandments with no problem and has so much faith! He's so excited to get baptized. He talks all the time about how much he loves the Church and all the members here. I'm so excited for him!
We have another new investigator, named Aseneth. She's from Ecuador. She is an ex-investigator from awhile back. She's so cute. She loves our church and reads the Book of Mormon almost every day! We're working on helping her see the difference between our church and her church (she's Evangelist). She thinks they're pretty much one and the same, so it's a little bit tricky. She's so cute, though and I love her! She's making us lasagna tomorrow night for dinner!
We also started working with a girl named Xiomara, from Peru. Her grandma is a member who just moved to Prato a couple weeks ago. The elders went over to teach the grandpa and met Xiomara and so we started working with her. She's 14 and super cute. She's really bubbly and energetic. We teach her english and also about the Gospel. We were a little worried that she only agreed to hear the Gospel in order to get english lessons, but we had a great lesson with her. She's very sincere and has read quite a bit from the Book of Mormon.
Mary has finally returned from being away all summer! We had a great lesson with her last night. She is excited to start coming to church again and see everyone. We're hoping to get a baptism date for her soon.
Nertil continues to amaze us. He's such a great missionary and talks about the Church wherever he goes. He got called this past Sunday as the first counselor in the Young Men's presidency. He's really excited for that. He's going to do such a fantastic job, and he'll work well with the youth and be a great example for them.
Those are the main highlights from the week. Everyone is great. I love Prato so much! Transfers are coming up soon, and I'm nervous that I might have to leave. I know eventually they'll make me leave, but I would be just fine finishing my mission here.
I've been reading in the New Testament lately, and I am always so amazing by Paul's story. From a missionary's standpoint, if I met a man like Paul, he is probably the last one I would have thought would accept the Gospel. I would probably think he would never be interested, and probably avoid him. But Heavenly Father doesn't see us the way we are. He sees the potential we have within us. He knew that Paul had the potential to change and to become a powerful missionary. He knew that Paul's heart would change. Each of us has so much potential to do good. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sees that within each of us and gives us the opportunities to rise to what we can become with His help. I am grateful that He sees what we don't always see. He sees the big picture, while we only see right here and right now.
Hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
September 16, 2009
Ciao!
Things are going great here in Prato. We had a great appointment with Diletta, and talked to her about how she can be an example for her mom and brother. She wants to come to church with us! She's so cute. She made me this really cute little origami paper cut out thing. Her grandma, who is a member in our branch, is amazing. She has a huge garden. The other day we were at their house, and she gave us fresh grape juice that she made by herself from grapes straight off the vines in her backyard. It was so good!
Vera is doing well. We watched Together Forever with her the other day and she loved it. She really wants an eternal family. She still hasn't received an answer to her prayers, but we're trying to help her recognize how answers come. She's such a great mom and is so sweet. Their family will be such a blessing to our branch here.
Sister Lombardo is making a lot of progress. We had a really good talk with her last week about what she wants in life. We asked her if she's happy with the choices she's making. We talked about how she felt when she used to come to church and when she first got baptized. I don't know what exactly happened, but during that conversation something changed for her. She broke down that wall that she's been putting up and realized that she's not happy anymore. She wants to feel the Spirit and wants to do what's right. We told her we want to help her do that, so now we're starting to go over several times a week and give her the lessons. I love Sister Lombardo so much! She's out of control crazy, but so sweet and so fun!
Kelly is doing well. We've had a couple really good lessons with him. He loved the Plan of Salvation and accepted the Word of Wisdom without problem. I love the faith the Nigerians have. They willingly accept commandments from God and realize the importance of obedience, even when it's not always fun or convenient. He has been receiving opposition from his decision to be baptized. His old pastor called him and told him all sorts of things about the Church, which really hurt him. He is strong, though and still wants to get baptized. We're praying a lot for him that he will have the strength to do what he needs to do.
Saturday we met a woman named Veronica, and now she's a new investigator. It's actually really neat how we met her. We went to drop of a birthday card for a lady in the branch. We just wanted to put it in her mailbox, which was inside the apartment building. So we rang a random doorbell of the apartment building, to ask if they would let us in the main door so we could drop this note off. A really sweet lady came to the door and asked us what we wanted. We explained to her that we wanted to drop off this note. She then asked us who we are and we explained that we're missionaries and what we do here. She told us a little about her life and how she wants to find answers. We told her a little about the Plan of Salvation and that she can be with her husband, who passed away 15 years ago, forever someday. She teared up and said that we were angels sent to her from God and that she wants to meet us again and learn more. We went back the next day and had a great talk with her. She's so prepared! She's 54 years old and from Romania. All 7 of her kids are still in Romania and she's here working to send money back for them. We're really excited to work with her.
Everyone else is doing well. The last few days I've been reading stories from old Ensigns about the Pioneer Saints. I am so inspired by their stories and their examples. I am especially touched by the handcart pioneers. One of my favorite stories is of a man who years after the experience heard some other members criticizing the Church leaders for letting the pioneers go west so late in the season. This man stood up and said (sorry, I don't have the story here with me, so I don't have the exact words!) that he never once regretted coming by handcart. He told these men about how difficult is was, how we would see a point in the distance and know that he could make it only that far, and no further. Once he would reach that point, the cart started pushing itself and he knew then that angels of God were watching over him. He was grateful for this opportunity, despite all the hardships, because he became acquainted with God in his infirmities. We all have difficult experiences. We're not freezing on the plains or crossing the country with a handcart, but we all have trials. It is through these trials that we become acquainted with our Heavenly Father, that we learn to rely on Him and trust in Him. We learn to rely on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and the healing power that it entails. We learn more about the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I am grateful Heavenly Father loves us enough to let us have trials, so that we grow and become closer to Him.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Things are going great here in Prato. We had a great appointment with Diletta, and talked to her about how she can be an example for her mom and brother. She wants to come to church with us! She's so cute. She made me this really cute little origami paper cut out thing. Her grandma, who is a member in our branch, is amazing. She has a huge garden. The other day we were at their house, and she gave us fresh grape juice that she made by herself from grapes straight off the vines in her backyard. It was so good!
Vera is doing well. We watched Together Forever with her the other day and she loved it. She really wants an eternal family. She still hasn't received an answer to her prayers, but we're trying to help her recognize how answers come. She's such a great mom and is so sweet. Their family will be such a blessing to our branch here.
Sister Lombardo is making a lot of progress. We had a really good talk with her last week about what she wants in life. We asked her if she's happy with the choices she's making. We talked about how she felt when she used to come to church and when she first got baptized. I don't know what exactly happened, but during that conversation something changed for her. She broke down that wall that she's been putting up and realized that she's not happy anymore. She wants to feel the Spirit and wants to do what's right. We told her we want to help her do that, so now we're starting to go over several times a week and give her the lessons. I love Sister Lombardo so much! She's out of control crazy, but so sweet and so fun!
Kelly is doing well. We've had a couple really good lessons with him. He loved the Plan of Salvation and accepted the Word of Wisdom without problem. I love the faith the Nigerians have. They willingly accept commandments from God and realize the importance of obedience, even when it's not always fun or convenient. He has been receiving opposition from his decision to be baptized. His old pastor called him and told him all sorts of things about the Church, which really hurt him. He is strong, though and still wants to get baptized. We're praying a lot for him that he will have the strength to do what he needs to do.
Saturday we met a woman named Veronica, and now she's a new investigator. It's actually really neat how we met her. We went to drop of a birthday card for a lady in the branch. We just wanted to put it in her mailbox, which was inside the apartment building. So we rang a random doorbell of the apartment building, to ask if they would let us in the main door so we could drop this note off. A really sweet lady came to the door and asked us what we wanted. We explained to her that we wanted to drop off this note. She then asked us who we are and we explained that we're missionaries and what we do here. She told us a little about her life and how she wants to find answers. We told her a little about the Plan of Salvation and that she can be with her husband, who passed away 15 years ago, forever someday. She teared up and said that we were angels sent to her from God and that she wants to meet us again and learn more. We went back the next day and had a great talk with her. She's so prepared! She's 54 years old and from Romania. All 7 of her kids are still in Romania and she's here working to send money back for them. We're really excited to work with her.
Everyone else is doing well. The last few days I've been reading stories from old Ensigns about the Pioneer Saints. I am so inspired by their stories and their examples. I am especially touched by the handcart pioneers. One of my favorite stories is of a man who years after the experience heard some other members criticizing the Church leaders for letting the pioneers go west so late in the season. This man stood up and said (sorry, I don't have the story here with me, so I don't have the exact words!) that he never once regretted coming by handcart. He told these men about how difficult is was, how we would see a point in the distance and know that he could make it only that far, and no further. Once he would reach that point, the cart started pushing itself and he knew then that angels of God were watching over him. He was grateful for this opportunity, despite all the hardships, because he became acquainted with God in his infirmities. We all have difficult experiences. We're not freezing on the plains or crossing the country with a handcart, but we all have trials. It is through these trials that we become acquainted with our Heavenly Father, that we learn to rely on Him and trust in Him. We learn to rely on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and the healing power that it entails. We learn more about the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I am grateful Heavenly Father loves us enough to let us have trials, so that we grow and become closer to Him.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
September 9, 2009
Ciao a tutti!
This past week I celebrated a year as a missionary! I can't believe how fast it goes. I'm not ready for it to end. I love these people so much and Italy feels like home to me. The people here are and forever will be part of my family.
Nertil continues to be amazing. Sunday we watched Legacy with him and a family in the branch. He loved it. He loves the stories of the Pioneers and the sacrifices they made. We ordered a triple combination for him, and he is so excited to start reading Doctrine and Covenants. He continues to do missionary work everywhere he goes and is just plain wonderful.
Kelly is doing great. His work schedule has been crazy this week, so we haven't really met with him very much, but he still wants to get baptized! He comes to every appointment with a list of questions for us based on what he's read. He's great.
Everyone else is doing well. They're all really busy lately, so it's been hard to meet with them, but this week looks like it will be better. Monday we had an amazing zone conference. The zone leaders gave a great training on 3 small things that make a huge difference, not only for missionaries and investigators, but for everyone. Those things are prayer, scripture study and going to church. Those three things are so simple, yet so important. But it needs to be more than just going through the motions. We need to make every prayer, every time we read the scriptures and every time we go to church a spiritual experience. Prayer is such an amazing gift we've been given. We can actually communicate with Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe. And He wants to hear from us! Instead of just rushing through our prayers, we need to take the time to truly communicate with our Father in Heaven. I've learned a lot about that on my mission. I love to think of prayer as a communication, because it's not just us giving Heavenly Father a list of things we want, but it's also listening to the things He tells us and hearing and feeling His response. Also, I have a firm testimony that the more specific we are in our prayers, the more specific He is in His responses. For example, there was one verb tense that I was having the hardest time using in Italian. I pray every day for the gift of tongues, but one day decided to pray specifically for help with that verb tense. I had been struggling to learn this tense for about 6 months, but once I asked for specific help, I learned it within that same day. And ever since I can use it without problem.
Scripture study is also so important. But more than skimming, we need to feast upon the words of Christ. We need to visualize what is happening, apply the things in our lives and truly learn the words of the scriptures. There is such great power in the scriptures! Church is also essential. I know that as I go to church every week and try to have a spiritual experience, I always do. It's such a great opportunity to go to church every week, to partake of the sacrament and to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for this wonderful work that I have the privilege to play a part in.
Buona settimana!
Sorella Hawkey
This past week I celebrated a year as a missionary! I can't believe how fast it goes. I'm not ready for it to end. I love these people so much and Italy feels like home to me. The people here are and forever will be part of my family.
Nertil continues to be amazing. Sunday we watched Legacy with him and a family in the branch. He loved it. He loves the stories of the Pioneers and the sacrifices they made. We ordered a triple combination for him, and he is so excited to start reading Doctrine and Covenants. He continues to do missionary work everywhere he goes and is just plain wonderful.
Kelly is doing great. His work schedule has been crazy this week, so we haven't really met with him very much, but he still wants to get baptized! He comes to every appointment with a list of questions for us based on what he's read. He's great.
Everyone else is doing well. They're all really busy lately, so it's been hard to meet with them, but this week looks like it will be better. Monday we had an amazing zone conference. The zone leaders gave a great training on 3 small things that make a huge difference, not only for missionaries and investigators, but for everyone. Those things are prayer, scripture study and going to church. Those three things are so simple, yet so important. But it needs to be more than just going through the motions. We need to make every prayer, every time we read the scriptures and every time we go to church a spiritual experience. Prayer is such an amazing gift we've been given. We can actually communicate with Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe. And He wants to hear from us! Instead of just rushing through our prayers, we need to take the time to truly communicate with our Father in Heaven. I've learned a lot about that on my mission. I love to think of prayer as a communication, because it's not just us giving Heavenly Father a list of things we want, but it's also listening to the things He tells us and hearing and feeling His response. Also, I have a firm testimony that the more specific we are in our prayers, the more specific He is in His responses. For example, there was one verb tense that I was having the hardest time using in Italian. I pray every day for the gift of tongues, but one day decided to pray specifically for help with that verb tense. I had been struggling to learn this tense for about 6 months, but once I asked for specific help, I learned it within that same day. And ever since I can use it without problem.
Scripture study is also so important. But more than skimming, we need to feast upon the words of Christ. We need to visualize what is happening, apply the things in our lives and truly learn the words of the scriptures. There is such great power in the scriptures! Church is also essential. I know that as I go to church every week and try to have a spiritual experience, I always do. It's such a great opportunity to go to church every week, to partake of the sacrament and to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for this wonderful work that I have the privilege to play a part in.
Buona settimana!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
September 2, 2009
Hey everyone,
Another beautiful week in Prato. The weather is starting to cool down, which is very exciting! And Kelly has a baptismal date! It's the 19th, which is coming up really soon. We had another couple amazing lessons with him. He has a strong desire to do what God wants him to do. He comes to every lesson with a list of questions from what he's read and studied, along with reference he found in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He sets aside time every night to study. He's great! We're really excited for him.
All our friends at the rest home are doing well. They're still hangin in there. Silvana is still as spunky as ever. I want to be like her when I get old. I have a new friend, Dante. He's such a sweetheart. He is really quiet, and just likes to sit and observe. He kind of reminds me of Grandpa Earl. I was talking to him last week, and asking about his life. He told me that he's never been married, but he hasn't given up hope yet (he's 82 years old). Then he motioned toward the rest of the people in the room, all of which were women, and said, "I have a lot of options here. I still have time to get married." It was so cute!
Vera and her beautiful little family are doing well. We had a great Plan of Salvation lesson the other day with them and Nertil. Nertil is such a great teacher, and already a great missionary! They are sincerely praying to know if these things are true.
Our branch had another baptism Saturday, a man named Angelo. He's great. It's the 8th baptism our branch has had in 10 weeks! The work is going so well here. I think a huge part of it is the way the members help in the work here in Prato. They are such great member missionaries! The second an investigator walks in the door, everyone greets them and invites them to sit by them. They explain the meetings, the way the Church works, and by the end of church, it's almost guaranteed that at least one family in the branch has invited them over for a dinner and family home evening. The branch is amazing! It's so true that the work goes SO much better when the members get involved and help us missionaries.
We have 3 new investigators from last week. One is Pasquale. He's Italian and is in his mid 30s. The Pistoia sisters met him the other day on their way to the train station. We went over to visit him Sunday night and talked with him about the Restoration. He wants to come to church with us! We have another appointment next Sunday. We might have the elders start working with him, though, but he's great. Victor is another new investigator. He's from Nigeria and has been here 4 months. We met him on the bus last week. We had a great lesson with him yesterday. Our other new investigator is named Blessing (he's a man). Monday night when we had our lesson with Kelly, we asked a member named Danny to come with us. Danny brought Blessing, too, so out of one appointment we got a new investigator and a baptismal date! Blessing loved the lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and even turned to Kelly during the lesson and said, "I think this means we need to get baptized into this Church."
I love my mission so much! I feel like I say that every week. In fact, I'm pretty sure I do, but it's true. I celebrate my year mark tomorrow! This Gospel is so amazing. I love you all and hope you're all doing well.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Another beautiful week in Prato. The weather is starting to cool down, which is very exciting! And Kelly has a baptismal date! It's the 19th, which is coming up really soon. We had another couple amazing lessons with him. He has a strong desire to do what God wants him to do. He comes to every lesson with a list of questions from what he's read and studied, along with reference he found in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He sets aside time every night to study. He's great! We're really excited for him.
All our friends at the rest home are doing well. They're still hangin in there. Silvana is still as spunky as ever. I want to be like her when I get old. I have a new friend, Dante. He's such a sweetheart. He is really quiet, and just likes to sit and observe. He kind of reminds me of Grandpa Earl. I was talking to him last week, and asking about his life. He told me that he's never been married, but he hasn't given up hope yet (he's 82 years old). Then he motioned toward the rest of the people in the room, all of which were women, and said, "I have a lot of options here. I still have time to get married." It was so cute!
Vera and her beautiful little family are doing well. We had a great Plan of Salvation lesson the other day with them and Nertil. Nertil is such a great teacher, and already a great missionary! They are sincerely praying to know if these things are true.
Our branch had another baptism Saturday, a man named Angelo. He's great. It's the 8th baptism our branch has had in 10 weeks! The work is going so well here. I think a huge part of it is the way the members help in the work here in Prato. They are such great member missionaries! The second an investigator walks in the door, everyone greets them and invites them to sit by them. They explain the meetings, the way the Church works, and by the end of church, it's almost guaranteed that at least one family in the branch has invited them over for a dinner and family home evening. The branch is amazing! It's so true that the work goes SO much better when the members get involved and help us missionaries.
We have 3 new investigators from last week. One is Pasquale. He's Italian and is in his mid 30s. The Pistoia sisters met him the other day on their way to the train station. We went over to visit him Sunday night and talked with him about the Restoration. He wants to come to church with us! We have another appointment next Sunday. We might have the elders start working with him, though, but he's great. Victor is another new investigator. He's from Nigeria and has been here 4 months. We met him on the bus last week. We had a great lesson with him yesterday. Our other new investigator is named Blessing (he's a man). Monday night when we had our lesson with Kelly, we asked a member named Danny to come with us. Danny brought Blessing, too, so out of one appointment we got a new investigator and a baptismal date! Blessing loved the lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and even turned to Kelly during the lesson and said, "I think this means we need to get baptized into this Church."
I love my mission so much! I feel like I say that every week. In fact, I'm pretty sure I do, but it's true. I celebrate my year mark tomorrow! This Gospel is so amazing. I love you all and hope you're all doing well.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
August 26, 2009
Ciao, from Prato!
I'm so excited to still be here! Things are going great. Last week we started doing service at a rest home. It was a blast! We got sent up to the "crazy ward" where the people truly are not completely there. But it was so fun. We helped them eat their afternoon snack, and then just spent a couple hours visiting with the residents. My favorite is named Silvana. She's super old, and in a wheelchair, but she was all dressed up and decked out in tons of necklaces and bracelets. She's super spunky and really cute! We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back tomorrow.
Nertil's sister got baptized on Saturday!!!!! He told us all about it. He said it was way more beautiful than he even imagined it could be. Even though Drina (the sister) just moved to Genova about 2 weeks ago, everyone in the ward came to the baptism and was really supportive and sweet. She's going to come down to visit Nertil next month, and I can't wait to meet her.
We had another baptism in the branch on Saturday. His name is Frank. It was a beautiful service, and he too is preparing to go on a mission. He's from Nigeria and is wonderful. Speaking of Nigeria, Moses finally gave us our Nigerian names! I'm Ewanta. He made me practice saying it for the longest time, so I could get it right. It means truth.
Our investigators are doing well. Vera's family is great! The baby is so cute and is growing so fast already! We dropped Dielle, which breaks my heart, but we both felt really strongly that that's what we needed to do. I love her so much and hope she has another chance to hear the Gospel in the future. Nataliya is returning from Ukraine next week, so we're really excited about that. And Kelly has been reading the Book of Mormon and said that he has a list of questions for us to answer at our appointment tonight!
The work is going well. This Gospel is so amazing. I've been thinking a lot about consecration lately, and how even though we don't live the law of consecration, we need to be willing to give everything to buildling up the Kingdom of God on earth. This year and a half I am giving up everything to serve Him, but I am so blessed for it in return. There's no where else I'd rather be, and nothing else I'd rather be doing.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey (aka Ewanta)
I'm so excited to still be here! Things are going great. Last week we started doing service at a rest home. It was a blast! We got sent up to the "crazy ward" where the people truly are not completely there. But it was so fun. We helped them eat their afternoon snack, and then just spent a couple hours visiting with the residents. My favorite is named Silvana. She's super old, and in a wheelchair, but she was all dressed up and decked out in tons of necklaces and bracelets. She's super spunky and really cute! We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back tomorrow.
Nertil's sister got baptized on Saturday!!!!! He told us all about it. He said it was way more beautiful than he even imagined it could be. Even though Drina (the sister) just moved to Genova about 2 weeks ago, everyone in the ward came to the baptism and was really supportive and sweet. She's going to come down to visit Nertil next month, and I can't wait to meet her.
We had another baptism in the branch on Saturday. His name is Frank. It was a beautiful service, and he too is preparing to go on a mission. He's from Nigeria and is wonderful. Speaking of Nigeria, Moses finally gave us our Nigerian names! I'm Ewanta. He made me practice saying it for the longest time, so I could get it right. It means truth.
Our investigators are doing well. Vera's family is great! The baby is so cute and is growing so fast already! We dropped Dielle, which breaks my heart, but we both felt really strongly that that's what we needed to do. I love her so much and hope she has another chance to hear the Gospel in the future. Nataliya is returning from Ukraine next week, so we're really excited about that. And Kelly has been reading the Book of Mormon and said that he has a list of questions for us to answer at our appointment tonight!
The work is going well. This Gospel is so amazing. I've been thinking a lot about consecration lately, and how even though we don't live the law of consecration, we need to be willing to give everything to buildling up the Kingdom of God on earth. This year and a half I am giving up everything to serve Him, but I am so blessed for it in return. There's no where else I'd rather be, and nothing else I'd rather be doing.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey (aka Ewanta)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
August 19, 2009
Buon giorno!
Another fantastic week! Dielle is doing much better. She has been really sick lately, so Thursday we set aside a couple hours to just go over and help her with whatever she needs help with. We cleaned her house, ironed a bunch of clothes and played with the girls. It was a lot of fun, and it really helped her to see that we truly love her, even if she doesn't want to get baptized. She saw that we're not trying to make her change. It made a huge difference. It's amazing what love does to people.
Saturday was festa di lavoro. August 15th is a huge holiday here, so all the missionaries stay home all day and do deep cleaning in the apartment. It was actually a lot of fun. And even though we cleaned for about 10 hours straight, it was one of the most relaxing days I've had on my mission. It was fun.
Sunday we had another baptism in the branch! His name is Dritan. He's from Albania and he's great. Nertil gave an amazing talk. Also, Nertil's sister is getting baptized on Saturday!!!! And he's doing the baptism!!! After the baptism on Sunday, the elders taught Nertil how to baptize someone, and they were practicing in the hallway. It's really cute. Nertil is so worried that he's going to mess something up.
Vera had her baby last Wednesday! He's so cute! His name's Valter. They're doing well, and we hope to have an appointment with them tomorrow.
We have another new investigator from this week. It's amazing how much the Lord helps us in this work. August is a month in Italy where everyone goes out of town. It's like a ghost town here. But President challenged each companionship to find a new investigator every week, and we just an email from the Assistants saying that so far this transfer, as a mission, we've reached that goal. It's so wonderful how much the Lord always helps us, as long as we're doing our part.
Anyways, our investigator is Kelly. He's from Nigeria and is wonderful. He stopped us on the street last week and asked if he could come to church with us. A lot of Nigerians say that, but never show up. But he showed up on time and everything! He even participated in Sunday School. We had a great lesson with him last night, with Moses, another Nigerian in the branch presidency. It was a fantastic lesson! Kelly asked great questions, and listened so intently. And Moses bore an amazing testimony as he told his conversion story.
Well, I'm about out of time. I hope you all are doing well. The work here continues to move forward. The Gospel is true. It's not just some story or some theory that our Church has, but it is completely, totally true. It provides all the answers in life and gives us peace and direction.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Another fantastic week! Dielle is doing much better. She has been really sick lately, so Thursday we set aside a couple hours to just go over and help her with whatever she needs help with. We cleaned her house, ironed a bunch of clothes and played with the girls. It was a lot of fun, and it really helped her to see that we truly love her, even if she doesn't want to get baptized. She saw that we're not trying to make her change. It made a huge difference. It's amazing what love does to people.
Saturday was festa di lavoro. August 15th is a huge holiday here, so all the missionaries stay home all day and do deep cleaning in the apartment. It was actually a lot of fun. And even though we cleaned for about 10 hours straight, it was one of the most relaxing days I've had on my mission. It was fun.
Sunday we had another baptism in the branch! His name is Dritan. He's from Albania and he's great. Nertil gave an amazing talk. Also, Nertil's sister is getting baptized on Saturday!!!! And he's doing the baptism!!! After the baptism on Sunday, the elders taught Nertil how to baptize someone, and they were practicing in the hallway. It's really cute. Nertil is so worried that he's going to mess something up.
Vera had her baby last Wednesday! He's so cute! His name's Valter. They're doing well, and we hope to have an appointment with them tomorrow.
We have another new investigator from this week. It's amazing how much the Lord helps us in this work. August is a month in Italy where everyone goes out of town. It's like a ghost town here. But President challenged each companionship to find a new investigator every week, and we just an email from the Assistants saying that so far this transfer, as a mission, we've reached that goal. It's so wonderful how much the Lord always helps us, as long as we're doing our part.
Anyways, our investigator is Kelly. He's from Nigeria and is wonderful. He stopped us on the street last week and asked if he could come to church with us. A lot of Nigerians say that, but never show up. But he showed up on time and everything! He even participated in Sunday School. We had a great lesson with him last night, with Moses, another Nigerian in the branch presidency. It was a fantastic lesson! Kelly asked great questions, and listened so intently. And Moses bore an amazing testimony as he told his conversion story.
Well, I'm about out of time. I hope you all are doing well. The work here continues to move forward. The Gospel is true. It's not just some story or some theory that our Church has, but it is completely, totally true. It provides all the answers in life and gives us peace and direction.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
August 12, 2009
Hi everyone-
I'm in La Spezia for the day! I finally got to pick up my permesso di sogiorno (my identity card to reside in Italy). It's fun to be back. We're going to 2 of the Cinque Terre today. There's a hike between the two towns called the Via del'Amore that we're going on. Then we're stopping in Lucca for a little while on our way home.
Another week full of adventures. Wednesday the sisters that live with us met a lady at the park who lives in Prato. She had met with sisters a few years ago, and told them that she wants us to come back. The sisters got all her contact information, so we set up an appointment. We got there and she only had a minute or two to talk, so we just got to know each other a little bit and set up a return appointment. Before we were going to leave, we asked if we could share a scripture with her. She asked, "Is it about religion?" We said yes, and she said that she is Muslim and doesn't want to hear about any other religion. So then we were wondering why she wanted us to come over. As we were leaving she asked us if we wanted to see her clothes. We thought that maybe she's just a lonely little housewife and wanted to show her clothes to some girls, so we said yes. She emptied her entire closet and showed us everything! She was talking about how high quality it all is, and how she stitches it all by hand, and how this model comes in 4 different colors, and this model is only 20 euro, this one only 10....Apparently the sisters in the past bought a bunch of clothes from her, and she was hoping we'd do the same. It was kind of akward slash really funny.
We have another new investigator named Elijah! We met him at the Nigerian wedding we went to a while back, and hadn't been able to meet with him for awhile because he was out of town. He came to church on Sunday and really like it, and we're meeting with him again later this week. He's great! We're really excited about him. I love Nigerians!
In Sunday School this week, we talked about missionary work and how everyone can be a missionary even if it's not full time. The teacher asked a question, I don't remember the exact question, and Nertil raised his hand and gave an amazing response and talked about Jacob 5. He talked about what everything in the allegory represents and how it applies to missionary work. He already understands the Book of Mormon better than I do!
Monday we had an appointment with Dielle. We talked about baptism, and it didn't go over well at all. She got really mad and refuses to even consider it. She wants to talk to her priest and see what he says. I can pretty much guess what he'll say, and I don't think it will be good! We asked her to pray to know that our church is true, and she said she already knows it is. I don't think she realizes yet that we're not Catholic, though, no matter how many times we flat out say that we're different. Then we asked her to pray to know if Heavenly Father wants her to be baptized. She said she's too scared to pray about that, and won't do it. She needs a lot of prayers right now. I know that deep down she knows our church is different and that it's the true church, but she refuses to do anything about it. Of course, it gives me a lot of hope that my companion had a very similar conversion experience, and now look where she is!
Right after Dielle, we had a beautiful appointment with Vera, and her husband was there, too! We read from the Book of Mormon together. They both asked great questions and made great comments, and sincerely want to know if these things are true. They are such a beautiful little family! Valeria, their 2 year old girl, always hides under the table when we come over. And she's about to pop any day! I'm so excited to see their little boy soon. We gave her a bunch of baby name ideas, but she still hasn't picked one out.
Nataliya is in Ukraine for a month, but took her Book of Mormon with her to read on the trip! I just hope I'm still here when she gets back. We have a lot of great contacts right now that we're working on meeting and making into investigators. The work is going great! I love my mission!
Vi voglio tanto bene! Buona settimana!
Sorella Hawkey
I'm in La Spezia for the day! I finally got to pick up my permesso di sogiorno (my identity card to reside in Italy). It's fun to be back. We're going to 2 of the Cinque Terre today. There's a hike between the two towns called the Via del'Amore that we're going on. Then we're stopping in Lucca for a little while on our way home.
Another week full of adventures. Wednesday the sisters that live with us met a lady at the park who lives in Prato. She had met with sisters a few years ago, and told them that she wants us to come back. The sisters got all her contact information, so we set up an appointment. We got there and she only had a minute or two to talk, so we just got to know each other a little bit and set up a return appointment. Before we were going to leave, we asked if we could share a scripture with her. She asked, "Is it about religion?" We said yes, and she said that she is Muslim and doesn't want to hear about any other religion. So then we were wondering why she wanted us to come over. As we were leaving she asked us if we wanted to see her clothes. We thought that maybe she's just a lonely little housewife and wanted to show her clothes to some girls, so we said yes. She emptied her entire closet and showed us everything! She was talking about how high quality it all is, and how she stitches it all by hand, and how this model comes in 4 different colors, and this model is only 20 euro, this one only 10....Apparently the sisters in the past bought a bunch of clothes from her, and she was hoping we'd do the same. It was kind of akward slash really funny.
We have another new investigator named Elijah! We met him at the Nigerian wedding we went to a while back, and hadn't been able to meet with him for awhile because he was out of town. He came to church on Sunday and really like it, and we're meeting with him again later this week. He's great! We're really excited about him. I love Nigerians!
In Sunday School this week, we talked about missionary work and how everyone can be a missionary even if it's not full time. The teacher asked a question, I don't remember the exact question, and Nertil raised his hand and gave an amazing response and talked about Jacob 5. He talked about what everything in the allegory represents and how it applies to missionary work. He already understands the Book of Mormon better than I do!
Monday we had an appointment with Dielle. We talked about baptism, and it didn't go over well at all. She got really mad and refuses to even consider it. She wants to talk to her priest and see what he says. I can pretty much guess what he'll say, and I don't think it will be good! We asked her to pray to know that our church is true, and she said she already knows it is. I don't think she realizes yet that we're not Catholic, though, no matter how many times we flat out say that we're different. Then we asked her to pray to know if Heavenly Father wants her to be baptized. She said she's too scared to pray about that, and won't do it. She needs a lot of prayers right now. I know that deep down she knows our church is different and that it's the true church, but she refuses to do anything about it. Of course, it gives me a lot of hope that my companion had a very similar conversion experience, and now look where she is!
Right after Dielle, we had a beautiful appointment with Vera, and her husband was there, too! We read from the Book of Mormon together. They both asked great questions and made great comments, and sincerely want to know if these things are true. They are such a beautiful little family! Valeria, their 2 year old girl, always hides under the table when we come over. And she's about to pop any day! I'm so excited to see their little boy soon. We gave her a bunch of baby name ideas, but she still hasn't picked one out.
Nataliya is in Ukraine for a month, but took her Book of Mormon with her to read on the trip! I just hope I'm still here when she gets back. We have a lot of great contacts right now that we're working on meeting and making into investigators. The work is going great! I love my mission!
Vi voglio tanto bene! Buona settimana!
Sorella Hawkey
August 5, 2009
Ciao!
Another week come and gone. It goes by so fast! I'm almost at my year mark! Last Wednesday, we went to go do email, but the server was down, so we decided to go into centro and come back to do email later. Then we went to wait for the bus, but no bus passed! 3 busses were supposed to have passed in the time we were waiting, but none did. So then we decided to walk. A few minutes into our walk, we ran into Dielle! She was having a really hard day, and just the few minutes that we talked with her really helped her. Then we were in a store looking around, and we ran into Sabrina, an investigator who stopped progressing but now wants to meet with us again! It's always so amazing how the Lord always puts us where he wants us. If the email had been working, we wouldn't have seen either Dielle or Sabrina.
We have another new investigator, who is amazing! Her name's Nataliya. She's from Ukraine. She's 27 and has been married a little over a month. She comes to english class, and a few weeks ago during the spiritual thought, she raised her hand and asked where she could get a copy of the Book of Mormon, which was where our thought was from. We gave her a copy in Italian and a copy of the Joseph Smith pamphlet in Russian, and set up an appointment. By the time we had an appointment the next morning, she had read 2 chapters from the Book of Mormon and the entire Joseph Smith pamphlet. We brought her a Book of Mormon in Russian, which she was really excited about. We had another appointment yesterday. She had read the first 7 chapters of 1 Nephi and had great questions for us! She brings the Book of Mormon on the bus with her around town and reads it every day! She believes that these things are true and really wants to come to church. Unfortunately, she's going out of town for 3 weeks with her husband, but is taking the Book of Mormon with her to read on the trip!
Saturday we had another baptism in the branch! It's the 4th and 5th we've had in 6 weeks! It's a beautiful couple, Giuseppe and Lili. Lili is Chinese and hardly speaks Italian, but is so cute! It was also the 2nd anniversary of Sorella Bucholtz's baptism.
Our other investigators are doing well. Dielle came to church Sunday! She hasn't been for awhile, because the girls have been really sick lately, but she came and really enjoyed it. I think she's realizing how much better her week goes when she comes to church. Vera is about ready to have her baby, and is doing great. We're still trying to think of baby names. We haven't had a lesson with her husband there yet, but hopefully soon. The work is going great. This Gospel is so amazing!
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Another week come and gone. It goes by so fast! I'm almost at my year mark! Last Wednesday, we went to go do email, but the server was down, so we decided to go into centro and come back to do email later. Then we went to wait for the bus, but no bus passed! 3 busses were supposed to have passed in the time we were waiting, but none did. So then we decided to walk. A few minutes into our walk, we ran into Dielle! She was having a really hard day, and just the few minutes that we talked with her really helped her. Then we were in a store looking around, and we ran into Sabrina, an investigator who stopped progressing but now wants to meet with us again! It's always so amazing how the Lord always puts us where he wants us. If the email had been working, we wouldn't have seen either Dielle or Sabrina.
We have another new investigator, who is amazing! Her name's Nataliya. She's from Ukraine. She's 27 and has been married a little over a month. She comes to english class, and a few weeks ago during the spiritual thought, she raised her hand and asked where she could get a copy of the Book of Mormon, which was where our thought was from. We gave her a copy in Italian and a copy of the Joseph Smith pamphlet in Russian, and set up an appointment. By the time we had an appointment the next morning, she had read 2 chapters from the Book of Mormon and the entire Joseph Smith pamphlet. We brought her a Book of Mormon in Russian, which she was really excited about. We had another appointment yesterday. She had read the first 7 chapters of 1 Nephi and had great questions for us! She brings the Book of Mormon on the bus with her around town and reads it every day! She believes that these things are true and really wants to come to church. Unfortunately, she's going out of town for 3 weeks with her husband, but is taking the Book of Mormon with her to read on the trip!
Saturday we had another baptism in the branch! It's the 4th and 5th we've had in 6 weeks! It's a beautiful couple, Giuseppe and Lili. Lili is Chinese and hardly speaks Italian, but is so cute! It was also the 2nd anniversary of Sorella Bucholtz's baptism.
Our other investigators are doing well. Dielle came to church Sunday! She hasn't been for awhile, because the girls have been really sick lately, but she came and really enjoyed it. I think she's realizing how much better her week goes when she comes to church. Vera is about ready to have her baby, and is doing great. We're still trying to think of baby names. We haven't had a lesson with her husband there yet, but hopefully soon. The work is going great. This Gospel is so amazing!
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Saturday, August 1, 2009
July 29, 2009
Ciao a tutti!Another week of hard work and great moments. Thursday we took brownies to our friend Franco, who works for the Catholic church. He had been having a horrible day, and was really grateful for the reminder that his Heavenly Father loves him. I love being able to be an instrument in His hands to bless His children! But the best part of the visit was when he told us that his mom had found the Book of Mormon that we had given him and is reading it and loves it! Every night when Franco gets home from mass, she tells him what she read that day and how great the book is. She's out of town for a couple weeks, but Franco wants us to go visit her when she gets back! Vera is doing great! We had a beautiful first lesson with her. She is very sincere in her desire to know the truthfulness of these things. We met her husband on Sunday, and he completely accepts us. We're hoping to have an appointment with him there too this week. She's about ready to pop with her baby. At the end of the appointment we asked if there's anything we can do for her. She said, "Just think of baby names. I can't decide on anything, so you guys pick some out for me." So now we're trying to think of baby names. It's pretty fun! It's a boy, if anyone has any suggestions. Our friend, Austin, is from Nigeria and is an investigator of the elders who is working towards baptism. He's awesome! I love the Nigerians so much! A while back the elders were teaching him the law of chastity. In the middle of the lesson, he pulled out his phone and started calling someone. The elders were so confused and wondered if that was him trying to get the elders to leave or something. He was calling his girlfriend, and he broke up with her right then and there during the lesson and told her that he was going to keep the law of chastity for the rest of his life, so they couldn't be together anymore. The Nigerians are so full of faith, and are so willing to be obedient. They are such amazing examples. Sunday we were doing some finding work downtown with the elders, and Nertil came to visit us. I talked to him for a long time, and he told me how the day he met me and Sister Millis was the worst day of his life. He was depressed and wondering if he would ever find God in his life. He bore his testimony to me that it wasn't a coincidence that we were both on the bus at the same time. He knew that Heavenly Father led us together so that we could teach him the Restored Gospel. He thanked us for talking to him that day on the bus, and said "My life has never been the same since that day." Yesterday in zone conference, the assistants talked about how in the preexistance, we were given the opportunity to come to earth and have the gospel in our lives. But our best friends didn't have that privilege, so we promised them that we would go find them. I'm here finding my best friends and bringing the gospel to them. It's such a privilege. Just as Nertil's life has never been the same, my life will never be the same because of my mission. It's changed my life forever. I love you all. Thanks for your prayers! Have a great week!Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
July 22, 2009
Ciao, tutti!
Everything's going great here in Prato. I'm really excited to be here another transfer. We met with Dielle this week, and she is very sincere about her desire to want to learn more and commit herself. We're really excited. We're working on getting her moving towards baptism. We made a baptismal calendar for her, with all the lessons we need to teach and when we need to teach them. We have a date picked out for her. She doesn't know it yet, but she will soon!Saturday we went to a Nigerian wedding! It was the sister of some members in the branch. It was awesome! Most of the stories definitely won't be as good over email as they will be in person, so I'll have to tell you all when I get back, but needless to say, I spent most of the time crying because I was laughing so hard. We also got Nigerian tribal bracelets from our friend Austin, and investigator of the Elders. And Moses, a member in the branch is going to give us Nigerian tribal names on Friday. So basically, we're more or less Nigerian. Saturday we had a great lesson with Nertil, and he told us that his sister wants to get baptized!!!! She's been meeting with the sisters up in Modena since he took her to church a couple weeks ago, and she knows this Church is true and is ready to get baptized! Nertil got the Priesthood Sunday, so he'll be able to perform the baptism. It will be such a beautiful experience. Last night Nertil taught us the Plan of Salvation and did a fantastic job. We invited him to invite his aunt and uncle to come to church. As we probably could have guessed, he said that he had already invited them. He keeps committments before we even extend them! He then told us how he does missionary work whenever he can. He told all his colleagues at work about the Church and how happy it's made him. He has told all his cousins and aunts and uncles and invited them all to church. He talks to random people on the train and bus. He's such a great missionary!So we haven't been able to find our investigator Nicola for about 2 weeks. We go to the park where we met him frequently, and he's never been there. Sunday we were at the bus stop waiting to go visit someone, and I had a distinct impression that we should go visit a contact on the other side of town. It didn't make any sense, but we went anyways. No one was home, so then it really didn't make sense. We only had a little bit of time before we had to meet the elders, so we decided to do some house in the area. Again, no one answered the door, so I was starting to wonder what we were doing in this area. Just then, a man was riding towards us on his bike, and he stopped and said hi. It was Nicola! We got his number and were able to set up an appointment with him. I love seeing the Lord's hand in this work. He always guides us where we need to be. It's just up to us to listen to those promptings. We have a great new investigator named Vera! She's an ex-investigator and is super cute! She is from Albania, like most of our investigators here. She has an adorable little boy who's 2 and she's pregnant with another boy. Her husband isn't super interested right now, but we're working on that. We have another appointment with her tomorrow, which we're really excited about. I love this work so much. It truly is the Lord's work. I am just grateful that he lets us be part of it. He is always there for us, ready to guide us. We just have to choose to listen.
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Everything's going great here in Prato. I'm really excited to be here another transfer. We met with Dielle this week, and she is very sincere about her desire to want to learn more and commit herself. We're really excited. We're working on getting her moving towards baptism. We made a baptismal calendar for her, with all the lessons we need to teach and when we need to teach them. We have a date picked out for her. She doesn't know it yet, but she will soon!Saturday we went to a Nigerian wedding! It was the sister of some members in the branch. It was awesome! Most of the stories definitely won't be as good over email as they will be in person, so I'll have to tell you all when I get back, but needless to say, I spent most of the time crying because I was laughing so hard. We also got Nigerian tribal bracelets from our friend Austin, and investigator of the Elders. And Moses, a member in the branch is going to give us Nigerian tribal names on Friday. So basically, we're more or less Nigerian. Saturday we had a great lesson with Nertil, and he told us that his sister wants to get baptized!!!! She's been meeting with the sisters up in Modena since he took her to church a couple weeks ago, and she knows this Church is true and is ready to get baptized! Nertil got the Priesthood Sunday, so he'll be able to perform the baptism. It will be such a beautiful experience. Last night Nertil taught us the Plan of Salvation and did a fantastic job. We invited him to invite his aunt and uncle to come to church. As we probably could have guessed, he said that he had already invited them. He keeps committments before we even extend them! He then told us how he does missionary work whenever he can. He told all his colleagues at work about the Church and how happy it's made him. He has told all his cousins and aunts and uncles and invited them all to church. He talks to random people on the train and bus. He's such a great missionary!So we haven't been able to find our investigator Nicola for about 2 weeks. We go to the park where we met him frequently, and he's never been there. Sunday we were at the bus stop waiting to go visit someone, and I had a distinct impression that we should go visit a contact on the other side of town. It didn't make any sense, but we went anyways. No one was home, so then it really didn't make sense. We only had a little bit of time before we had to meet the elders, so we decided to do some house in the area. Again, no one answered the door, so I was starting to wonder what we were doing in this area. Just then, a man was riding towards us on his bike, and he stopped and said hi. It was Nicola! We got his number and were able to set up an appointment with him. I love seeing the Lord's hand in this work. He always guides us where we need to be. It's just up to us to listen to those promptings. We have a great new investigator named Vera! She's an ex-investigator and is super cute! She is from Albania, like most of our investigators here. She has an adorable little boy who's 2 and she's pregnant with another boy. Her husband isn't super interested right now, but we're working on that. We have another appointment with her tomorrow, which we're really excited about. I love this work so much. It truly is the Lord's work. I am just grateful that he lets us be part of it. He is always there for us, ready to guide us. We just have to choose to listen.
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
July 15, 2009
Ciao, tutti!
I'm staying another transfer in Prato! I'm really excited! I love it here, and I'm not ready to leave. The branch is amazing, and I love the people we're working with. We've been doing a lot of finding work lately and have some really good contacts! On lady let us in right as the Jehovah's Witness' were leaving, and she asked us great questions and wants us to come back when here husband and kids are home! She's really sweet, and we're excited for her. Sorella Lombardo is doing well. We're working on getting her ready to go to the Temple. She expressed a desire a few weeks ago to go one day, so everything we teach her is centered on the Temple. Every time we go over to clean her house, she spends almost the whole 2 or 3 hours reading the Book of Mormon! She says she reads every day. She's been so much happier as she is keeping the commandments and doing what she's supposed to.Saturday we had Nertil teach us the first lesson. It was SO good! He used tons of scriptures and taught so well. His sister has been reading the Book of Mormon since she went to church 2 weeks ago and is asking Nertil lots of questions. He's so excited to be doing missionary work! Last night we had an appointment with him, and as we were starting, he had this really guilty look on his face. He said, “Sisters, I'm sorry, but I ripped a page out of my Book of Mormon.” We asked what happened, and he said that a few nights before, he was at the station waiting for his train and reading the Book of Mormon. There was a man sitting next to him, so he started teaching this man about the Church. He was inviting him to church right as his train pulled up, and he didn't have anything to write down the address or phone number of the missionaries, so he didn't know what to do. Then he realized that on the blank page at the very front of the Book of Mormon was a sticker with our phone number and the church's address, so he ripped it out and gave it to him as he was getting on the train. He said he felt really bad about ripping the Book of Mormon, but we assured him that it was to do missionary work and that everything was ok. The elders had a baptism this weekend, which was wonderful. I love baptisms so much! Nertil gave an amazing talk! He was so nervous to speak, but he did an amazing job. He's going to be such a great missionary. He's been asking tons of questions about missions lately, and you can tell he's thinking about it. We haven't really been able to figure out what to do with Dielle. Over the last few weeks, we've had 4 different appointments set up, but she hasn't been at either of them. She isn't really progressing, and it's really hard to know how to help her. We decided to drop her for the time being, but wrote her a letter explaining our purpose as missionaries and that we know she's having a hard time in her life, but the restored Gospel will help her more than anything else possibly can. We told her that we want to help her, but she has to be willing to do her part, to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, and to come to church with the intent to learn. Then we told her to call us when she was ready to make these committments. About a week later, we got a phone call from her! She thanked us for the letter and asked if we could set up an appointment! We're going over tomorrow morning, so we're hoping things go well. I love Dielle so much and don't want to lose her!I hope everyone is doing well. I have a huge favor to ask all of you. I was wondering if you could write me and tell me what the Gospel means to you and how it has blessed your life. We're working on a little project, and that would be awesome if you guys get a couple minutes to write! Sorellahawkey@myldsmail.net.
Thanks!!!!
Vi voglio tanto bene!Sorella Hawkey
I'm staying another transfer in Prato! I'm really excited! I love it here, and I'm not ready to leave. The branch is amazing, and I love the people we're working with. We've been doing a lot of finding work lately and have some really good contacts! On lady let us in right as the Jehovah's Witness' were leaving, and she asked us great questions and wants us to come back when here husband and kids are home! She's really sweet, and we're excited for her. Sorella Lombardo is doing well. We're working on getting her ready to go to the Temple. She expressed a desire a few weeks ago to go one day, so everything we teach her is centered on the Temple. Every time we go over to clean her house, she spends almost the whole 2 or 3 hours reading the Book of Mormon! She says she reads every day. She's been so much happier as she is keeping the commandments and doing what she's supposed to.Saturday we had Nertil teach us the first lesson. It was SO good! He used tons of scriptures and taught so well. His sister has been reading the Book of Mormon since she went to church 2 weeks ago and is asking Nertil lots of questions. He's so excited to be doing missionary work! Last night we had an appointment with him, and as we were starting, he had this really guilty look on his face. He said, “Sisters, I'm sorry, but I ripped a page out of my Book of Mormon.” We asked what happened, and he said that a few nights before, he was at the station waiting for his train and reading the Book of Mormon. There was a man sitting next to him, so he started teaching this man about the Church. He was inviting him to church right as his train pulled up, and he didn't have anything to write down the address or phone number of the missionaries, so he didn't know what to do. Then he realized that on the blank page at the very front of the Book of Mormon was a sticker with our phone number and the church's address, so he ripped it out and gave it to him as he was getting on the train. He said he felt really bad about ripping the Book of Mormon, but we assured him that it was to do missionary work and that everything was ok. The elders had a baptism this weekend, which was wonderful. I love baptisms so much! Nertil gave an amazing talk! He was so nervous to speak, but he did an amazing job. He's going to be such a great missionary. He's been asking tons of questions about missions lately, and you can tell he's thinking about it. We haven't really been able to figure out what to do with Dielle. Over the last few weeks, we've had 4 different appointments set up, but she hasn't been at either of them. She isn't really progressing, and it's really hard to know how to help her. We decided to drop her for the time being, but wrote her a letter explaining our purpose as missionaries and that we know she's having a hard time in her life, but the restored Gospel will help her more than anything else possibly can. We told her that we want to help her, but she has to be willing to do her part, to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, and to come to church with the intent to learn. Then we told her to call us when she was ready to make these committments. About a week later, we got a phone call from her! She thanked us for the letter and asked if we could set up an appointment! We're going over tomorrow morning, so we're hoping things go well. I love Dielle so much and don't want to lose her!I hope everyone is doing well. I have a huge favor to ask all of you. I was wondering if you could write me and tell me what the Gospel means to you and how it has blessed your life. We're working on a little project, and that would be awesome if you guys get a couple minutes to write! Sorellahawkey@myldsmail.net.
Thanks!!!!
Vi voglio tanto bene!Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
July 8, 2009
Siena
Ciao!
Another great week in Prato! We have a new investigator named Nicola. He's from Albania and has been in Italy for 12 years. His wife is still in Albania. We met him a couple days ago at the park. He's Muslim, but has never been practicing. He's having a really hard time in his life right now, which has really humbled him and prepared him to learn more about the Gospel. We've only met with him once, but are excited to keep working with him.
Nertil is doing great, as usual! He went up to northern Italy last weekend, where his family lives, to take his sister a Book of Mormon and take her to Church! She loved church and talked to the sister missionaries there for a long time. We taught him about Temples last week, and he got super excited when he found out that he can do genealogy and do work for his ancestors! He really wants to get baptized for his grandpa. He's amazing! He teaches me way more than I teach him and I am inspired by his example.
The work is going well. The Gospel is amazing! I'm so grateful to be here.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Ciao!
Another great week in Prato! We have a new investigator named Nicola. He's from Albania and has been in Italy for 12 years. His wife is still in Albania. We met him a couple days ago at the park. He's Muslim, but has never been practicing. He's having a really hard time in his life right now, which has really humbled him and prepared him to learn more about the Gospel. We've only met with him once, but are excited to keep working with him.
Nertil is doing great, as usual! He went up to northern Italy last weekend, where his family lives, to take his sister a Book of Mormon and take her to Church! She loved church and talked to the sister missionaries there for a long time. We taught him about Temples last week, and he got super excited when he found out that he can do genealogy and do work for his ancestors! He really wants to get baptized for his grandpa. He's amazing! He teaches me way more than I teach him and I am inspired by his example.
The work is going well. The Gospel is amazing! I'm so grateful to be here.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
July 1, 20009
Ciao!
Happy Canada Day, from my companion! There was a Canadian sister that served here a while back, and we found Canada balloons in the apartment, so Sorella Bucholtz is having fun celebrating. The adventures are continuing this week. Last week for P-Day we went to Florence and saw a man get arrested and saw a dead homeless man. Then, yesterday we were on the bus on the way to an appointment. I motioned to Sorella Bucholtz that we would be getting off at the next stop. She was right behind me when I got off, so I thought. It turned out there was a little kid there and she would have literally had to step on her to get off, so she didn't make it off. So I watched my greenie drive away on the bus! Luckily the next stop wasn't too far, so we weren't split up for too long. Nertil is doing great! He got confirmed on Sunday, and the branch president asked him to bear his testimony in sacrament meeting. It was so beautiful! He has an amazing testimony! It is one of the highlights of my life to hear him bear it. We had a great lesson with him a few days ago about the priesthood. He's super excited for that! The elders have been taking him to tons of appointments with their investigators, and they love him! He will be such an incredible missionary. Saturday night the Gill family invited us over for dinner. They're members from Pakistan. Fratello Gill was the first member in Pakistan and the first missionary to ever leave from Pakistan. He has the most amazing story! He speaks english, and his brother lives in America. His brother had a friend start writing to Fratello Gill as pen pals. This friend happened to be a member, and through letters started teaching him about the Church. Fratello Gill got a copy of the Book of Mormon, also through mail, and prayed about it and decided to be baptized. However, the Church wasn't there at all at the time. So they had to write to the First Presidency, meet with a bunch of different general authorities, and the nearest mission president, who was in Hong Kong. Fratello Gill did most of the work to get permission to have a Church building in Pakistan. There were no missionaries there, though, so he also did missionary work! He brought the gospel to and baptized over 150 people! Then he went on a mission to England, and in the meantime, the brother got baptized. Now he's here with his beautiful little family, and he is a great help in the branch. Monday we decided to go visit a member, Sorella Toccafondi. We had planned days ago to visit her Monday at a certain time. When we got there, she was having a really hard time, and she kept saying, “How did you know to come see me?” We didn't, but Heavenly Father did. It never ceases to amaze me how well He knows His children and looks out for each one of them. When we did our weekly planning on Friday, we had no idea that Sorella Toccafondi would need us right then. But Heavenly Father did, and He made sure that we were there for her. I am so grateful that He allows me to be an instrument to do His work. It's so humbling to think that He doesn't really need us to build His kingdom. He created the whole universe, and He could easily do it without us. But He allows us to do it because of what it does to us. He lets us take part in this work so that we can learn to trust Him, to rely on Him and to become more like Him. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be an instrument full time right now, and look forward to serving in whatever ways I can for the rest of my life.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Buona settimana!
Sorella Hawkey
Happy Canada Day, from my companion! There was a Canadian sister that served here a while back, and we found Canada balloons in the apartment, so Sorella Bucholtz is having fun celebrating. The adventures are continuing this week. Last week for P-Day we went to Florence and saw a man get arrested and saw a dead homeless man. Then, yesterday we were on the bus on the way to an appointment. I motioned to Sorella Bucholtz that we would be getting off at the next stop. She was right behind me when I got off, so I thought. It turned out there was a little kid there and she would have literally had to step on her to get off, so she didn't make it off. So I watched my greenie drive away on the bus! Luckily the next stop wasn't too far, so we weren't split up for too long. Nertil is doing great! He got confirmed on Sunday, and the branch president asked him to bear his testimony in sacrament meeting. It was so beautiful! He has an amazing testimony! It is one of the highlights of my life to hear him bear it. We had a great lesson with him a few days ago about the priesthood. He's super excited for that! The elders have been taking him to tons of appointments with their investigators, and they love him! He will be such an incredible missionary. Saturday night the Gill family invited us over for dinner. They're members from Pakistan. Fratello Gill was the first member in Pakistan and the first missionary to ever leave from Pakistan. He has the most amazing story! He speaks english, and his brother lives in America. His brother had a friend start writing to Fratello Gill as pen pals. This friend happened to be a member, and through letters started teaching him about the Church. Fratello Gill got a copy of the Book of Mormon, also through mail, and prayed about it and decided to be baptized. However, the Church wasn't there at all at the time. So they had to write to the First Presidency, meet with a bunch of different general authorities, and the nearest mission president, who was in Hong Kong. Fratello Gill did most of the work to get permission to have a Church building in Pakistan. There were no missionaries there, though, so he also did missionary work! He brought the gospel to and baptized over 150 people! Then he went on a mission to England, and in the meantime, the brother got baptized. Now he's here with his beautiful little family, and he is a great help in the branch. Monday we decided to go visit a member, Sorella Toccafondi. We had planned days ago to visit her Monday at a certain time. When we got there, she was having a really hard time, and she kept saying, “How did you know to come see me?” We didn't, but Heavenly Father did. It never ceases to amaze me how well He knows His children and looks out for each one of them. When we did our weekly planning on Friday, we had no idea that Sorella Toccafondi would need us right then. But Heavenly Father did, and He made sure that we were there for her. I am so grateful that He allows me to be an instrument to do His work. It's so humbling to think that He doesn't really need us to build His kingdom. He created the whole universe, and He could easily do it without us. But He allows us to do it because of what it does to us. He lets us take part in this work so that we can learn to trust Him, to rely on Him and to become more like Him. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be an instrument full time right now, and look forward to serving in whatever ways I can for the rest of my life.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Buona settimana!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
June 24, 2009
Ciao!
Nertil got baptized on Sunday!!!!! It was so beautiful! He bore his testimony during the service, and it's one of the highlights of my life to hear him bear his testimony! He talked about how people go through life trying to find happiness in so many different places, but the only place we'll ever find true happiness is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He then thanked me and Sister Millis for helping him find his Heavenly Father. It was a day that I will forever treasure. After the service we were talking to him, and he kept saying over and over again that he feels like he's floating on air. He had the biggest smile on his face all day long, and yesterday when we saw him again, he still had the same smile on his face.
Thursday I went down to Rome to pick up my trainee! Her name is Sister Bucholtz, and she's awesome. She's from Canada, near Toronto. She's been a member almost 2 years and is the only member in her family. Before she joined the Church, she was studying to be a minister. We're having a great time together and working hard. She's great- she's not afraid to go talk to people anywhere we are and she just jumps in and gets the job done.
This week we've done lots of finding work. Silvana called to tell us she doesn't want to take the lessons anymore, and we dropped Elsa and Sabrina, so we're working on contacting more ex-investigators. We've also had all sorts of adventures this week. I got proposed to last night by a man from Nigeria who asked me to marry him so we can show the world that racism needs to stop. He gave a very passionate speech about racism, and then said "So? Will you marry me so we can show the world how it should be?" It took all I had not to bust out laughing. I also got pooped on by a pigeon right in my hair! It was gross. Then, during the baptismal service, the elders had accidentally left the hose that was filling the font running, so by the time we all walked out of the chapel into the room where the font was, it was overflowing and water was leaking all over the floor and down the stairs into the basement. Saturday morning we did house for a little bit, the first time for Sister Bucholtz, and the first door we rang, a man answered in only his tighty whities. It makes for a memorable first time doing house experience. Good times on the mission!
Anyways, life is great! I love my mission so much! This Gospel has become so much more real to me. The Atonement especially has become so much more real. Recently I read a talk by President Eyring from October 2002 conference called Rise to Your Call. It's a great talk! He talks about 3 things that we all need to know for any calling. The first is that we are called by God. Every calling we have is by revelation and we are always called where Heavenly Father needs us to be. The second is that we will be lead by revelation on how to fulfill our calling. That is so true and so necessary on a mission. None of us can represent our Savior without His help on how to do His work. The third thing is that Heavenly Father will magnify our efforts. That is also so true, for which I am so grateful! President Eyring talks about how we sometimes feel like we can't do it alone, and the reality is that we can't! We need the help of our Heavenly Father. We need to give all we can, and then Him make up the rest. I am so grateful for Him and His Gospel, and this sacred opportunity to take it to His children.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Nertil got baptized on Sunday!!!!! It was so beautiful! He bore his testimony during the service, and it's one of the highlights of my life to hear him bear his testimony! He talked about how people go through life trying to find happiness in so many different places, but the only place we'll ever find true happiness is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He then thanked me and Sister Millis for helping him find his Heavenly Father. It was a day that I will forever treasure. After the service we were talking to him, and he kept saying over and over again that he feels like he's floating on air. He had the biggest smile on his face all day long, and yesterday when we saw him again, he still had the same smile on his face.
Thursday I went down to Rome to pick up my trainee! Her name is Sister Bucholtz, and she's awesome. She's from Canada, near Toronto. She's been a member almost 2 years and is the only member in her family. Before she joined the Church, she was studying to be a minister. We're having a great time together and working hard. She's great- she's not afraid to go talk to people anywhere we are and she just jumps in and gets the job done.
This week we've done lots of finding work. Silvana called to tell us she doesn't want to take the lessons anymore, and we dropped Elsa and Sabrina, so we're working on contacting more ex-investigators. We've also had all sorts of adventures this week. I got proposed to last night by a man from Nigeria who asked me to marry him so we can show the world that racism needs to stop. He gave a very passionate speech about racism, and then said "So? Will you marry me so we can show the world how it should be?" It took all I had not to bust out laughing. I also got pooped on by a pigeon right in my hair! It was gross. Then, during the baptismal service, the elders had accidentally left the hose that was filling the font running, so by the time we all walked out of the chapel into the room where the font was, it was overflowing and water was leaking all over the floor and down the stairs into the basement. Saturday morning we did house for a little bit, the first time for Sister Bucholtz, and the first door we rang, a man answered in only his tighty whities. It makes for a memorable first time doing house experience. Good times on the mission!
Anyways, life is great! I love my mission so much! This Gospel has become so much more real to me. The Atonement especially has become so much more real. Recently I read a talk by President Eyring from October 2002 conference called Rise to Your Call. It's a great talk! He talks about 3 things that we all need to know for any calling. The first is that we are called by God. Every calling we have is by revelation and we are always called where Heavenly Father needs us to be. The second is that we will be lead by revelation on how to fulfill our calling. That is so true and so necessary on a mission. None of us can represent our Savior without His help on how to do His work. The third thing is that Heavenly Father will magnify our efforts. That is also so true, for which I am so grateful! President Eyring talks about how we sometimes feel like we can't do it alone, and the reality is that we can't! We need the help of our Heavenly Father. We need to give all we can, and then Him make up the rest. I am so grateful for Him and His Gospel, and this sacred opportunity to take it to His children.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
June 17, 2009
Hi everyone!
How are you all? This week has been another crazy one, since we are still in a trio and trying to work in 2 cities. But tomorrow I pick up my greenie, so I'll finally be back to just Prato. I'm so excited to be training. Though you all might want to pray for her that I don't screw her up too bad. She doesn't even know what's coming with me as her trainer!
Neytil is doing great. He got back in Italy yesterday and is SO excited for his baptism! He called me as soon as he got back and asked when we can meet for another lesson. He's incredible. He is so excited to be an official member of the Church, and to get the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood.
Opeka is doing great. We had an amazing lesson with her about the Plan of Salvation. She loved it. She asked great questions. Being raised Buddhist, she had a lot of questions about whether resurrection and reincarnation were similar. We explained it to her, and she understands well, and even mentioned that it makes way more sense this way. She is coming to the baptism Sunday and will hopefully be able to come to Church.
Dielle continues to come to Church and is more or less part of the branch, but we have the hardest time helping her understand the things we teach. No matter how plainly we put it, she doesn't see that our Church is not the same as the Catholic church. She did finally understand the importance of authority, though. We had a good lesson about prophets and authority this week, and after about 7 visual aids and analogies, she finally understands. She does not, however, understand that the Catholic church does not have authority. However, progress is progress, so I can't complain.
We had a really good lesson about the Restoration with Diletta and her brother and mom. Her mom is an inactive member. After the lesson, we asked her why she doesn't come to church. She expressed very clearly that she has no desire to come back to church, and it's a choice she made not to go and she doesn't want to talk about it. Her mom is an active member, and in talking to her, we learned that she had been offended by some members. So I made a copy of the talk by Elder Bednar about choosing not to get offended, and left it for her to read. I highlighted the part about how if you don't come to church, you are choosing to forfeit the blessings, you are choosing to lose the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and you are choosing to negatively affect your posterity for generations to come. It's really bold, so hopefully she reads it and doesn't hate me for leaving it for her! We'll see how it goes.
Sunday was my halfway mark. I seriously can't believe it's halfway over. My first couple transfers, a year and a half seemed like an eternity. But now it goes by so fast. I don't want it to end! We are working really hard to find families to bring into the Gospel, so that they can live the Gospel together and be sealed in the Temple. The Assistants made a beautiful video a couple transfers ago to show at zone conference. They interviewed 3 families, all of which are recent converts here in our mission, about their conversion story and what they would say to the missionaries if they could give us some advice. I watched it again yesterday, and it's so beautiful! These families now have hope of being together forever. They have Gospel principles in their home, that bring them peace and happiness. They pray together, read the scriptures together, and are preparing for the Temple together. The Gospel is so amazing, and I'm so grateful to be a part of this Church! I want to share this message with all the families I see, and help them experience the blessings in their family that I have experienced in mine.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
How are you all? This week has been another crazy one, since we are still in a trio and trying to work in 2 cities. But tomorrow I pick up my greenie, so I'll finally be back to just Prato. I'm so excited to be training. Though you all might want to pray for her that I don't screw her up too bad. She doesn't even know what's coming with me as her trainer!
Neytil is doing great. He got back in Italy yesterday and is SO excited for his baptism! He called me as soon as he got back and asked when we can meet for another lesson. He's incredible. He is so excited to be an official member of the Church, and to get the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood.
Opeka is doing great. We had an amazing lesson with her about the Plan of Salvation. She loved it. She asked great questions. Being raised Buddhist, she had a lot of questions about whether resurrection and reincarnation were similar. We explained it to her, and she understands well, and even mentioned that it makes way more sense this way. She is coming to the baptism Sunday and will hopefully be able to come to Church.
Dielle continues to come to Church and is more or less part of the branch, but we have the hardest time helping her understand the things we teach. No matter how plainly we put it, she doesn't see that our Church is not the same as the Catholic church. She did finally understand the importance of authority, though. We had a good lesson about prophets and authority this week, and after about 7 visual aids and analogies, she finally understands. She does not, however, understand that the Catholic church does not have authority. However, progress is progress, so I can't complain.
We had a really good lesson about the Restoration with Diletta and her brother and mom. Her mom is an inactive member. After the lesson, we asked her why she doesn't come to church. She expressed very clearly that she has no desire to come back to church, and it's a choice she made not to go and she doesn't want to talk about it. Her mom is an active member, and in talking to her, we learned that she had been offended by some members. So I made a copy of the talk by Elder Bednar about choosing not to get offended, and left it for her to read. I highlighted the part about how if you don't come to church, you are choosing to forfeit the blessings, you are choosing to lose the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and you are choosing to negatively affect your posterity for generations to come. It's really bold, so hopefully she reads it and doesn't hate me for leaving it for her! We'll see how it goes.
Sunday was my halfway mark. I seriously can't believe it's halfway over. My first couple transfers, a year and a half seemed like an eternity. But now it goes by so fast. I don't want it to end! We are working really hard to find families to bring into the Gospel, so that they can live the Gospel together and be sealed in the Temple. The Assistants made a beautiful video a couple transfers ago to show at zone conference. They interviewed 3 families, all of which are recent converts here in our mission, about their conversion story and what they would say to the missionaries if they could give us some advice. I watched it again yesterday, and it's so beautiful! These families now have hope of being together forever. They have Gospel principles in their home, that bring them peace and happiness. They pray together, read the scriptures together, and are preparing for the Temple together. The Gospel is so amazing, and I'm so grateful to be a part of this Church! I want to share this message with all the families I see, and help them experience the blessings in their family that I have experienced in mine.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
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