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
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
