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)

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

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

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

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