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