March 24, 2010

Hi!

Well, it's my last letter from Italy. Time has gone by so quickly. I can't believe it's over. What a wonderful experience it's been. The work continues to move forward. Giorgio and Francesca are doing so well! Francesca brings all of her stop smoking supplies with her everywhere she goes. And Giorgio has gone from smoking 2 packs a day to 5 or 6 cigarettes a day! He says he'll never stop smoking, but we'll see about that. Last week we had dinner with them, a member in the branch, and the Elders. It was so much fun! Giorgio is hilarious. He is from Napoli, and it's obvious. He spent the whole evening telling stories and singing at the dinner table. He's so fun! We've had several lessons with them this week and they're doing really well. They are quickly gaining testimonies of the Gospel and are keeping their committments. Yesterday we talked about baptism. They didn't want to set a date yet, but I think they'll get baptized soon!

Luisa is doing well. We've had a few lessons with her this week. Monday we had lunch with her at her house on the ocean, which is gorgeous! She's progressing, even if it's slowly. Roberta is also doing well. We started working on Personal Progress with her. We're going to do the program together with her. She is so precious. It was really hard to say goodbye to her. Ilaria and the baby are doing well. She's not on bed rest anymore, as of this morning! She's so cute. So now hopefully they'll start coming back to church.

Sunday for our district meeting I gave the training about being instruments in God's hands. I learned a lot from preparing for the training. There are so many ways that we can be instruments in God's hands to bless His children. President Faust gave a beautiful talk about this. In part of it, he said: "You can be powerful instruments in the hands of God to help bring about this great work...You can do something for another person that no one else ever born can do." There are countless ways that we can help those around us. I especially love what President Ucthdorf said:

"In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair; let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers."

I'm so grateful that I've been able to serve the Lord here in Italy. I've loved it so much. My mission has meant everything to me, and I'll be forever grateful for this sacred, beautiful experience.

Vi voglio bene! See you soon!

Sorella Hawkey

March 16, 2010

Hi everyone,

What a great week! I know I say that every week, but we saw SO many miracles this week, I still can't even believe all that's happened! It started out last P-Day. Actually, the very beginning of the story starts about 3 months ago. Ever since I've been in Cagliari, Sister Nelson and I have been working on contacting ex-investigators. Several months ago we stopped by a certain house. No one was home, but we felt like we should leave a pamphlet with a little note on the back. So, fast forward to Wednesday. We were having a delightful P-Day activity in the city of Nora with the Elders and we got a phone call from a girl named Francesca. She said that her dad gave her a pamphlet and that she has a Book of Mormon and she wants to take the lessons and stop smoking. We were blown away! Lately we've been trying to get people to meet with us with little success, and now someone is calling us to ask when is the soonest time we can meet!

So Saturday we went over to meet Francesca. It turns out that the house where we left the pamphlet is her parents' house. She is now married and doesn't live there anymore. She took the lessons about 5 years ago and knew the Book of Mormon is true. She smoked heavily and wanted help stopping. As soon as they opened the door to their apartment, an overwhelming scent of smoke came flowing into the hallway. Her and her husband Giorgio were both depressed and down. We started the stop smoking program with her and right then and there she destroyed all of her cigarettes! We taught her how to pray and we taught her the hymn "I am a Child of God" so that when she feels like she wants to smoke, she can sing, pray and read the scriptures instead.

Sunday they came to church, all dressed up in their Sunday best! They were so excited for church that they were the first ones to arrive! They loved it! After church, Francesca asked us if Giorgio can also take the lessons with us. Of course, we happily agreed. Last night we had a beautiful appointment with them about the Restoration! Last night was so much different than Saturday, though. Their home didn't smell like smoke. It was bright and happy. Both Francesca and Giorgio were smiling and peaceful. I can't even describe the transformation that took place over 48 hours. They had been praying together and reading the Book of Mormon together as a family. They have testimonies of the Book of Mormon and want to work towards and eternal family. The Spirit has already blessed their lives so much, and they are excited to seeing what else is in store for them through the Gospel.

Another beautiful miracle: This one also starts a few months ago. Before Christmas even, we met a lady named Dolores on the bus and gave her a Book of Mormon. She said she wasn't ready to give us her phone number, so we gave her ours. About a week later, we ran into her again. We asked her if she had read any of the Book of Mormon. She said yes, and we asked which part. She said that she had read all of it! Unfortunately, she had to get off the bus right as she said that. We asked if we could meet sometime, and as the bus doors were closing she told us what street she lived on. We didn't hear the name of the street, but we heard which neighborhood. Ever since then we've been doing house in that neighborhood, always hoping to find Dolores. Yesterday we had an appointment with Susan. She asked if we could meet at a different place than we normally meet, and she was late, which never happens. So we're standing at this random bus stop waiting for Susan, who is never late, and Dolores walks by! She immediately recognized us and stopped to talk with us. She said that she has been thinking a lot lately and is ready to meet with us now. We finally got her phone number and have plans to see her later this week!

Next huge miracle of the week: Ilaria is doing so well! Normally she's really nervous and is always anxious and always has to be moving. She is never at peace. But ever since she got pregnant, things are going so well. She's having a few complications with the pregnancy which leave her on bed rest. The good part about that is that during the day while Alfredo is working, she has been praying a lot and reading the scriptures! Saturday we had a beautiful lesson with her. She looked so peaceful. She wasn't jittery or anxious. She was finally at peace. It was so beautiful!

Final huge miracle: Roberta! The whole time I've been here, and even way before I was here, she has been so scared of baptism and committing herself in the Gospel. Sunday night we were able to have a lesson with her. We read about Lehi's vision together and invited her to get baptized April 11th. Instead of freaking out at us like she usually does when we bring up baptism, she calmly said, "I'll pray about it. But I think that sounds good." Later that evening, all 3 of us met up with the Elders and she even talked to them about it! Then she turned to me and said, "You won't be here for my baptism. I'll email you pictures." Yay!

The work is going so well right now. I love every minute of it. I love how Joseph Smith shares his excitement about this work:

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad....How glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!" (D&C 128:22-23)

Life is hard and we encounter many challenges, but we need to always move forward with courage. God is in charge and is in control. The Gospel is true. And whatever we are called to bear in this life, we have the opportunity for eternal life and salvation in the next life. Everything will work out in the end.

Buona settimana. Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hawkey

March 10, 2010

Hi!

This week has flown by! We had a couple day “vacation” in Sassari this week. Of course it wasn’t really a vacation, but we did have a sleep-over with the Sisters there. We had a great zone conference with Elder and Sister Paya. We learned a lot about what success really is. Sister Paya told several stories about missionaries who never saw the fruits of their labors, but are successful because of the influence they had on the people they served.

One of the elders in our zone, who is from Albania, told his story. He met the missionaries four years ago. The first elders who taught their family left thinking that this family had no interest in the Gospel. A little while later, the family met another set of elders, and circumstances were right for them to accept the Gospel. This boy is now on a mission. When he was at the MTC, he ran into the elder who first taught him. This former elder who once thought that he had no success with this beautiful family was able to see this boy as a missionary. We truly never know the effect our efforts can have on someone.

Our work is picking up a little bit. We’ve been able to see Ilaria a few times. She’s pregnant! We consider her our daughter, so we’re going to be grandmas! We’re really excited, because her being pregnant is helping her stop smoking, and it’s also helping her and Alfredo realize that they need to take the steps to get married. She came to church on Sunday and had a beautiful experience. She’s praying to pick a baptismal date! We’re so excited!!

Roberta is also doing well. She is still really scared, but she’s slowly making progress. Susan Imafidon is so great! She’s getting ready to go to the Temple, hopefully in April. She’s so excited!

I’m currently preparing a talk for this next Sunday and I read “The Love of God” by President Uchtdorf this morning. It is so beautiful! One thing that really stuck out to me was when he said:

“Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you. God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked. What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us.”

This is so true! Our Heavenly Father has such an incredible love for us. It’s not because we’re perfect, or even close. It’s because He is perfect and loves us perfectly. He loves us, even with all of our flaws. He sees us in terms of eternity and according to our potential. I am so grateful for His love and the knowledge that we are His children.

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hawkey

March 3, 2010

Hi everyone!

Another busy week in mission land. Unfortunately right now most of our time is spent trying to find people instead of teaching people, since most of our investigators have either decided to stop answering the phone or to be mad at us. But we’re working hard and doing our best.

Luisa is doing well! We had a great lesson with her and she’s coming to church this week. She is such a great woman and is so sincere. The Susans are still doing great, even if they do hate each other a little bit.

We’ve been doing a lot of service this week! The church building here is getting remodelled completely, so we spent a lot of time at the church packing literally everything so that the workers can tear everything apart. The next few months we’re having church at a hotel right on the ocean. We’re excited! Then today we spent all day helping a family in the branch (the same ones that own the bakery that we helped clean a few weeks ago) at their house. They are installing a bunch of pipes and we helped with that. Or rather, the elders helped while we tried to be helpful, but no one would let us do anything! I usually LOVE being a sister missionary, but sometimes when it comes to service the men don’t even let us help. Finally we talked Brother Vicedomini into letting us do the gardening and cleaning the house. We had a lot of fun.

Monday we visited with a beautiful family in the branch. The mom is a member and they have a beautiful little girl who just turned 8 named Mara. She’s SO cute! Every time she sees us she pushes past everyone else to run and give us a hug. Anyways, she’s scared to get baptized so her mom asked if we could come teach her a few of the discussions. We had a great lesson with them and we had a blast playing dress-up with her for a little bit.

Yesterday we were at the park talking to people and there were peacocks all over! They are so beautiful. They were just walking around in huge packs in the middle of all the people. You just never know what you’re going to find here in Italy.

I recently read a quote by Susan W. Tanner about miracles. She said:

"I delight in the examples of those in the scriptures who walk by faith on their earthly journey. Each time I walk with Abraham and Isaac on the road to Mount Moriah, I weep, knowing that Abraham does not know that there will be an angel and a ram in the thicket at the end of that journey. We are each in the middle of our earthly path, and we don't know the rest of our own stories. But we, as Abraham, are blessed with miracles."

Life is hard. We each have our own trials. At times it seems like there’s no way to keep going. But miracles happen. We don’t know when or how, but they do. God is in control. And even when he doesn’t take our trials away from us, He gives us the strength to carry on. That in itself is a beautiful miracle.

I love my mission. I love this Gospel. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is my Redeemer and my Friend.

Vi voglio tanto bene!

Sorella Hawkey

February 24, 2010

Hi!

Another great week in Cagliari. Only one month to go. Yikes! We have a new investigator named Vera. She’s from Nigeria and is a referral from Dennis (who still isn’t doing too well, by the way). Vera is great. She has a beautiful little boy named Benny who is so cute.

No-longer-inactive Susan is doing so well! We’re helping her get ready to go to the Temple to do the work for all of her ancestors. She is living the commandments and has the Spirit with her so strongly now. She’s so happy!

Saturday we did a finding activity with the Elders in centro. Sister Nelson and I were at one spot but felt like we should go to a different one. We ended up talking to a lot of people at the new spot! No one gave us their phone number, but most of them accepted pamphlets that we gave them. This whole time there was a tour bus parked near where we were. After awhile of us working there, a Chinese lady came off the tour bus and asked us what we were doing. We ended up having a wonderful talk! She accepted a Book of Mormon and gave us her contact information, which we sent to the missionaries where she lives!

Maurizio is doing pretty well. We’ve been able to see him a few times lately. He thinks very deeply about the things we talk about and asks great questions. He is scared to commit himself, but we’re helping him see that he’s way more ready than he thinks he is. He’s great! We’re meeting with Ilaria and Alfredo, the other two of the 3 musketeers, tonight.

Roberta is also doing much better lately. She has missed a couple weeks of church, but we had a great lesson with her on Monday evening and she said that she feels really empty because she didn’t go to church and hadn’t been praying for awhile. She also has a lot of fears but is so ready for baptism. After our lesson, we stayed with her for awhile and helped her with English class homework. She loves any ounce of affection we give her and is so adorable!

Other than that, we’re still busy trying to find new investigators. It’s a lot of work sometimes, but we know there are people out there who are ready for the Gospel.

I recently read the end of Moroni. This is part of a letter from Mormon to his son. In this letter, Mormon writes about the destruction of his people, their wickedness and their hatred. It’s a depressing message. But he ends saying this:

Moroni 9:25 “My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.”

Life can be hard and depressing. There are a lot of things that happen that aren’t always fun. But through Christ, we can be lifted up. Because He suffered and died for us, we have hope. That’s the entire message of this Gospel. It’s so beautiful!

Have a good week, everyone. Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hawkey