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
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
June 10, 2009
Ciao, tutti!
Come state? This week has been a little crazy. I'm still in the threesome, which is fine, but we're trying to do the work for both cities, which makes for a lot of stress. But we're getting lots of good things done and trying to get everyone visited. Neytil is still in Albania, so we moved the baptism to the 20th. He calls me almost every night to check in and tell me what he learned from the scriptures that day. He is so excited for his baptism! He went to church in Albania this week! He was walking around town, and saw the elders and went up to them and told them that he's getting baptized next week and wants to go to church. (I don't know what I would do as a missionary if some random person walked up to me and told me that!) They all went together, and Neytil loved hearing the scriptures and the hymns in his own language. He also loved that it was exactly the same as it is here in Italy. We talked about how the church is the same everywhere you go, and he loved that! I can't wait for his baptism! Monday at zone conference, somehow just about everyone in the zone had heard about Neytil and they all asked me tons of questions about him. They all want to come to his baptism! It will be my greenie's 2nd day in the field, so a good way to start her mission!Everyone else is doing well. Unfortunately, very few are progressing. I think I'm going to have to let some of them go. It's so hard to drop investigators, but when they're not ready, they're not ready. Instead of wasting everyone's time, we can go find those who are ready! People like Neytil! I know there are people out there who are prepared for us. Yes, Italy is a hard mission. I've heard plenty of the stereotypes about it just being a pretty vacation, but one with no baptisms. Or about how we're just here to plant seeds. But there are people who are ready and prepared for the Gospel now. There are families who are prepared, who can be sealed in the Temple. We're going to find them and bring them the happiness that they can only have through the Restored Gospel.Monday we had an amazing zone conference! Elder and Sister Kopischke were there doing a mission tour. He's currently the first counselor for the European Area. Sister Kopischke is adorable. She ate lunch with all the sisters. She's so energetic and expressive! She's really cute. Elder Kopischke gave amazing trainings! I learned SO much and I know every single missionary was inspired to be a much better missionary. We talked a lot about faith and making things happen by our faith. He said that we're not in the business of doing miracles, but of doing. Miracles are great, and yes, they happen every day. However, we can't just sit around and expect miracles. We have to use our faith to make them happen. Fatih is a principle of action and a principle of power, but sometimes we forget the action part. We read the scripture about how if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. We can't control whether or not Heavenly Father will work the miracle of moving the mountain. We can't determine if He will give us access to His power. But we can determine our action. So if we want to move mountains, we need to pick up a shovel and get to work. If Heavenly Father decides to help us and move the mountain Himself, fine, but if not, fine. We just keeping working until the job is done. I've learned so much about faith on my mission, and learned so many new insights from Elder Kopischke this week. I am so, so grateful for my mission. It is everything to me. In a couple days is my half way mark, and it feels so weird. I love my mission so much. I don't want it to end. There's literally no where else I'd rather be, or anything else I'd rather be doing. Vi voglio tantissimo bene! Buona settimana!Sorella Hawkey
Come state? This week has been a little crazy. I'm still in the threesome, which is fine, but we're trying to do the work for both cities, which makes for a lot of stress. But we're getting lots of good things done and trying to get everyone visited. Neytil is still in Albania, so we moved the baptism to the 20th. He calls me almost every night to check in and tell me what he learned from the scriptures that day. He is so excited for his baptism! He went to church in Albania this week! He was walking around town, and saw the elders and went up to them and told them that he's getting baptized next week and wants to go to church. (I don't know what I would do as a missionary if some random person walked up to me and told me that!) They all went together, and Neytil loved hearing the scriptures and the hymns in his own language. He also loved that it was exactly the same as it is here in Italy. We talked about how the church is the same everywhere you go, and he loved that! I can't wait for his baptism! Monday at zone conference, somehow just about everyone in the zone had heard about Neytil and they all asked me tons of questions about him. They all want to come to his baptism! It will be my greenie's 2nd day in the field, so a good way to start her mission!Everyone else is doing well. Unfortunately, very few are progressing. I think I'm going to have to let some of them go. It's so hard to drop investigators, but when they're not ready, they're not ready. Instead of wasting everyone's time, we can go find those who are ready! People like Neytil! I know there are people out there who are prepared for us. Yes, Italy is a hard mission. I've heard plenty of the stereotypes about it just being a pretty vacation, but one with no baptisms. Or about how we're just here to plant seeds. But there are people who are ready and prepared for the Gospel now. There are families who are prepared, who can be sealed in the Temple. We're going to find them and bring them the happiness that they can only have through the Restored Gospel.Monday we had an amazing zone conference! Elder and Sister Kopischke were there doing a mission tour. He's currently the first counselor for the European Area. Sister Kopischke is adorable. She ate lunch with all the sisters. She's so energetic and expressive! She's really cute. Elder Kopischke gave amazing trainings! I learned SO much and I know every single missionary was inspired to be a much better missionary. We talked a lot about faith and making things happen by our faith. He said that we're not in the business of doing miracles, but of doing. Miracles are great, and yes, they happen every day. However, we can't just sit around and expect miracles. We have to use our faith to make them happen. Fatih is a principle of action and a principle of power, but sometimes we forget the action part. We read the scripture about how if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. We can't control whether or not Heavenly Father will work the miracle of moving the mountain. We can't determine if He will give us access to His power. But we can determine our action. So if we want to move mountains, we need to pick up a shovel and get to work. If Heavenly Father decides to help us and move the mountain Himself, fine, but if not, fine. We just keeping working until the job is done. I've learned so much about faith on my mission, and learned so many new insights from Elder Kopischke this week. I am so, so grateful for my mission. It is everything to me. In a couple days is my half way mark, and it feels so weird. I love my mission so much. I don't want it to end. There's literally no where else I'd rather be, or anything else I'd rather be doing. Vi voglio tantissimo bene! Buona settimana!Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
June 3, 2009
Ciao!
First of all...my companion is leaving me! She's only going to Florence, though, so she'll get to come back for Neytil's baptism. And I'll be training this next transfer. Yikes! I'm excited, though. Unfortunately, all the incoming missionaries got delayed 2 weeks (anyone noticing a trend here with me?) so I'll be in a trio for 2 weeks until I go to Rome to pick up my greenie!
Neytil is doing amazing! He had his baptismal interview last night and is all ready to go for his baptism! We moved it to the 13th, because he's in Albania for a week to do some visa stuff. We had a couple amazing lessons with his this week! Saturday we taught the law of chastity. Or rather, he taught us, as he usually does. We read the section of chastity in True to the Faith, and then he proceeded to tell us why chastity is important. He told us that families are central to God's plan, and keeping the law of chastity safe guards the family. And virtue is important because we are sent to earth to overcome our carnal desires and become more Christlike amidst temptation. He's seriously incredible! Monday we met with him briefly to give him a Bible and a hymn book, and he was so excited. He told us that he's been wanting to learn all the hymns so he can sing better in church, and he didn't have a Bible in Italian, so he's also excited for that.
This weekend Neytil went to Modena to visit his family, and one of the first things he told us when he saw us was, "I'm trying to do missionary work! I gave my mom a copy of the Book of Mormon and taught her all about the Plan of Salvation and how we can be together forever as a family through the Gospel!" Then later he said, "I haven't finished reading the Book of Mormon yet. How does it end? I really want to know what happens!" So we told him what happens at the end, and how the Lamanites are the ancestors of the American Indians, so he decided he wants to research the Indians so he can learn more. Then he told us about how he loves lds.org, because you can listen to talks that the prophet and apostles have given lately. He says every day he goes on and finds a talk that relates to a problem he's been having to see what the Prophet has to say. Then he bore an amazing testimony about the importance of living prophets. Yesterday we taught tithing, and he's really excited! He talked about how it's only thanks to Heavenly Father that we have all our blessings anyway, so it only makes sense that we give some back to help build the kingdom of God. He told us that he always tries to give part of his income to charity, and now he has a specific cause to give his money to, so he's really excited to pay tithing! He seriously is one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life!
Everyone else is doing well. Dielle is great and is slowly understanding the things the we teach. She said that she's starting to feel like this is the right path for her. She's great! We had a great dinner appointment with Mary last night. She loves coming to church and the branch parties every 2 weeks and has made tons of friends in the branch! Opeka read part of the Book of Mormon this week and felt the Spirit when she prayed! She wants to come to church this next week. She's so great and has a lot of faith!
Everyone else is doing well. I love my mission so much! I'm so excited for Neytil's baptism next week. He's really excited, too! I love you all and hope everyone's doing well!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
First of all...my companion is leaving me! She's only going to Florence, though, so she'll get to come back for Neytil's baptism. And I'll be training this next transfer. Yikes! I'm excited, though. Unfortunately, all the incoming missionaries got delayed 2 weeks (anyone noticing a trend here with me?) so I'll be in a trio for 2 weeks until I go to Rome to pick up my greenie!
Neytil is doing amazing! He had his baptismal interview last night and is all ready to go for his baptism! We moved it to the 13th, because he's in Albania for a week to do some visa stuff. We had a couple amazing lessons with his this week! Saturday we taught the law of chastity. Or rather, he taught us, as he usually does. We read the section of chastity in True to the Faith, and then he proceeded to tell us why chastity is important. He told us that families are central to God's plan, and keeping the law of chastity safe guards the family. And virtue is important because we are sent to earth to overcome our carnal desires and become more Christlike amidst temptation. He's seriously incredible! Monday we met with him briefly to give him a Bible and a hymn book, and he was so excited. He told us that he's been wanting to learn all the hymns so he can sing better in church, and he didn't have a Bible in Italian, so he's also excited for that.
This weekend Neytil went to Modena to visit his family, and one of the first things he told us when he saw us was, "I'm trying to do missionary work! I gave my mom a copy of the Book of Mormon and taught her all about the Plan of Salvation and how we can be together forever as a family through the Gospel!" Then later he said, "I haven't finished reading the Book of Mormon yet. How does it end? I really want to know what happens!" So we told him what happens at the end, and how the Lamanites are the ancestors of the American Indians, so he decided he wants to research the Indians so he can learn more. Then he told us about how he loves lds.org, because you can listen to talks that the prophet and apostles have given lately. He says every day he goes on and finds a talk that relates to a problem he's been having to see what the Prophet has to say. Then he bore an amazing testimony about the importance of living prophets. Yesterday we taught tithing, and he's really excited! He talked about how it's only thanks to Heavenly Father that we have all our blessings anyway, so it only makes sense that we give some back to help build the kingdom of God. He told us that he always tries to give part of his income to charity, and now he has a specific cause to give his money to, so he's really excited to pay tithing! He seriously is one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life!
Everyone else is doing well. Dielle is great and is slowly understanding the things the we teach. She said that she's starting to feel like this is the right path for her. She's great! We had a great dinner appointment with Mary last night. She loves coming to church and the branch parties every 2 weeks and has made tons of friends in the branch! Opeka read part of the Book of Mormon this week and felt the Spirit when she prayed! She wants to come to church this next week. She's so great and has a lot of faith!
Everyone else is doing well. I love my mission so much! I'm so excited for Neytil's baptism next week. He's really excited, too! I love you all and hope everyone's doing well!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Monday, June 1, 2009
June 1, 2009
1 June 2009
RE: Sister Breanna Leigh Hawkey
Dear Brother and Sister Hawkey,
During the last transfer your missionary was assigned to be a "New Missionary Trainer". In this assignment Sister Hawkey will be the companion of a newly arrived missionary. This is a very important assignment. As a trainer, not only will she have the responsibility to carry the missionary work forward, but she will also have the opportunity to help the new missionary have a good start in our mission and help her grow as a missionary. I am confident that Sister Hawkey will do an excellent job in this important assignment.
We are grateful for your sustaining influence.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey Acerson
President
Italy Rome Mission
RE: Sister Breanna Leigh Hawkey
Dear Brother and Sister Hawkey,
During the last transfer your missionary was assigned to be a "New Missionary Trainer". In this assignment Sister Hawkey will be the companion of a newly arrived missionary. This is a very important assignment. As a trainer, not only will she have the responsibility to carry the missionary work forward, but she will also have the opportunity to help the new missionary have a good start in our mission and help her grow as a missionary. I am confident that Sister Hawkey will do an excellent job in this important assignment.
We are grateful for your sustaining influence.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey Acerson
President
Italy Rome Mission
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