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

February 17, 2010

Hi everyone!

So much has happened since I wrote last, and that was just last week! Here are some of the highlights:

Half of the elders left and we got two new family members, including a greenie from Sicily, making him my 6th mission child. We put a blue ribbon on the elder’s apartment door to welcome the new missionary and congratulate his trainer. Everyone in Italy puts ribbons on the door when they have a baby. Their neighbors congratulated them for having a new baby boy. Oops! J
It snowed in Cagliari! The first time in 25 years. We didn’t get to take a snow day, though
We got to see the Carnevale parade through the streets of Cagliari. Carnevale is a huge party here. Look for pictures online to see what it’s all about.
We went to Oristano to celebrate Carnevale at the Sartiglia. It was SO fun! Check it out online, too. www.sartiglia.info. I obviously haven’t been on the website, so I don’t know if it’s good, but I hear it’s also in English.
We celebrated Valentines Day by going to a catholic funeral. Not the best Valentines Day I ever had. Sister Nelson and I did have pink pancakes for lunch, though.

Susan got the Holy Ghost on Sunday! She’s doing really well. I still can’t believe she actually is baptized. We’re trying to work more with Massimo, but he is so silly sometimes. One day he tells us that he wants to get baptized, and the next day he doesn’t want anything to do with the Church. We have hope for him, though. We also hope that Alessio, their son, will stop biting, hitting, and spitting on us.

Susan Imafidon, the no-longer inactive member, is doing great! She has been doing a lot of family history and got a bunch of names ready for the Temple! She can’t wait to go to the Temple one day, which hopefully is soon. She has such a strong testimony and has been so incredibly blessed since she started coming back to Church.

Odion is also doing really well. We’re having her teach us the lessons and she’s doing a great job. She’s so excited for the possibility of going on a mission some day. We love Odion!

Other than that, our work is kind of slow right now. Unfortunately a lot of investigators don’t answer the phone anymore. Dennis is having a really hard time right now, and could use a lot of prayers! We’re spending a lot of time finding people lately and are excited to find those who are ready for the Gospel.

The work is going well and I love being a part of it! This Gospel is so incredible! My mission has changed my life forever.

Buona settimana. Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey

February 10, 2010

Hi!
I'll be finishing my last transfer of the mission here in Cagliari, still with Sister Nelson! I'm excited. We're either going to love it or kill each other by the end of our fourth transfer together. Only time will tell.So, what a great week here on the island! First of all, and most importantly, Susan got baptized!!!!! It was so beautiful! I still feel like it was a dream, because of all the obstacles that we had to overcome to get her baptized. I didn't know if the day would ever come. But everything went well and she bore a beautiful testimony at the baptism. It was so beautiful! The branch helped out a lot and gave her tons of support. We asked a guy in the branch, Giacomo, if he would give a talk at the service. I told him it only had to be about 5 minutes. He called me back less than 2 hours later and said, "Ok, I finished my talk. It's 6 minutes and 10 seconds. Is that ok?" Apparently in those two hours, he had not only written a talk, but also timed himself practicing it. I love this branch!Last week for P-Day, it was the first beautiful day we've had in a while, so we celebrated by having a Gilligan island-themed picnic with the elders. It was a lot of fun. The elders left early, so Sister Nelson and I stayed for a while enjoying the beach, and I ended up meeting an amazing man named Domenico. We talked for about an hour about the gospel and about life while Sister Nelson played with his dog. It was a great conversation, and a good reminder that even during our every-day routines, we can still be an instrument in God's hands. You never know when you'll find someone who is ready for the Gospel.We met with Marisa this week. We do a little bit of service for her, along with teaching her. We help her clean her house, which is the most chaotic place I've ever seen in my life! As my companion says, it looks like a dollar store threw up all over the house. Literally every single space in the house is just a huge pile of junk almost up to the ceiling. There are just little path ways carved out of the junk to get from room to room. We are trying to help her find some semblance of order. It's a work in progress. She's great, though. She calls herself our grandma and takes good care of us. Susan Imafidon (the member, not the one who got baptized on Sunday) is doing really well. She is completely active now and is doing great! Last week she asked us about how she can do family history to get names ready for the Temple, so yesterday we went to the family history center together and helped her fill out some family group sheets. We're going back with her later in the week to put everything in the computer. Susan is so wonderful. She has such a beautiful spirit about her and is always so happy. Lately I've been reading in Mormon in the Book of Mormon. I am always so touched by the end of the Book of Mormon. Moroni was literally the only righteous one. He witnessed the entire destruction of his people, which was a brutal and awful ending. And yet he gives such a beautiful testimony of hope. Moroni didn't have hope for the Nephites or Lamanites who were alive at that time. The Nephite population was extinct and the Lamanites were killing each other. Moroni had hope for us! His reason to hope and his reason to do what he did was for us. He knew that the Book of Mormon would come forth in these last days, and that gave him hope. He knew that in these last days, we would be surrounded by wickedness, but through the teachings of the Book of Mormon we too have reason to hope. I love the Book of Mormon. It changes lives. I've seen it change lives of my investigators, and it's changed my own life. It truly brings souls to Christ.
Have a great week, everyone!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey

February 3, 2010

Hi Everyone-
I have a new email address. It's breanna.hawkey@myldsmail.net. Use that one from now on.Anyways, Susan is getting baptized on Sunday!! Miracles do in fact happen. She is doing great and is so ready and so excited!!! Massimo is excited and expressed some desire to also get baptized someday. We're going to continue working with him. They're such a cute little mis-matched family.Last week we had a Relief Society activity at the bakery of some members in the branch. We learned how to make all sorts of goodies. It was a lot of fun. I love the food here! And the members are amazing. Odion is doing really well. She has such a strong testimony and a huge desire to serve a mission. She studies hard and is starting to save money. She is an amazing example to me. She works a lot and can't come to a lot of appointments with us, but she loves to help us by making phone calls to investigators, inviting people to church and sitting by investigators in church. We love Odion!We've been meeting with Rita and Antonio lately. They've been investigators for a long time but have been out of town for several months. They're so sweet! They take us in like we're their kids and love us. We had lunch with them yesterday. When we left they gave us a huge sack full of food to take home with us. They're like our parents away from home.Ilaria and Alfredo have been really busy, but we have met a few times with Maurizio. He's doing really well. We read Alma 36 with him last week and Walter came with us. It was a really good lesson. He loves the Book of Mormon and really internalizes what we read. We're working on getting him to church more frequently. Next week we're just going to show up at his house and walk with him the few blocks to church so he has no excuse.Roberta is also doing well, overall. She knows deep down what she needs to do but is to scared to do it. We read a conference talk with her this week and I think she was really touched by it. Now we just need to help her have the courage to get baptized. I have been reading Doctrine and Covenants lately, and the other day section 68 verse 6 really stuck out to me. It says:"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you." It also made me think of a favorite hymn, Be Still, My Soul. The hymn says:
Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.Leave to thy God to order and provide;In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly FriendThru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertakeTo guide the future as he has the past.Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;All now mysterious shall be bright at last.Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still knowHis voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning onWhen we shall be forever with the Lord,When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.We have nothing to fear, for the Lord is with us and will also stand by us. He leads our path. He is our best Friend and will always be there for us. I know that He's always been with me when I need His guidance. Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey

January 27, 2010

Ciao!
Another adventurous week in the life of a missionary! It’s never a dull moment around here. We started a new service opportunity- teaching English to a super cute girl named Genni. She’s great! She’s the friend of a member in the branch. We’re hoping to also start talking to her about the Gospel soon.
We brought Bruce to a couple of appointments this week. Bruce is a recent convert from Nigeria. He has such a crazy story. He’s been in Italy for about a year and a half and is here as a refugee. He comes from a mainly Muslim part of Nigeria where they are very violent towards Christians. Bruce’s house was burned down and his life was threatened many times and was forced to leave his wife and baby to come to Italy to protect his life and that of his family. He took a raft to get here, along with some other refugees. And yet, he has such an incredible faith in his Heavenly Father. He never once even considered denouncing his faith, even in the face of serious danger. He knows God is in control and he never doubts that. He is such an amazing example to me.
Church here is always an adventure. Between chasing Susan’s kids around the chapel, trying to convince stubborn investigators to turn their cell phones on silent during sacrament meeting, Susan making all sorts of baptismal plans with our knowledge and then telling all the members, Area Authorities visiting and all sorts of interesting debates in Sunday School, Church is guaranteed to never be boring here.
Dennis is doing so well! He is as enthusiastic as ever! He is excited about his "baptisment" as he calls it. He had some doubts about the Book of Mormon, as a lot of Nigerians do. He was talking to us about it, and before we could really say anything, he said, "But I’ve prayed about the Church and I know it’s true. I know The Book of Mormon is true, so I just need to trust the answer that God gave me." He’s amazing. We also found out that Dennis is married and has two kids in Nigeria. He’s hoping to reunite with them soon. We taught him the law of chastity last time, and he loved it. He started talking about in the Bible where it says that if your eye offends you, you need to pluck it out, etc. and how the law of chastity starts with your thoughts and intents of your heart. Then he said that if he ever had a problem with looking at other women besides his wife, he would literally pluck his eye out. He goes all out when it comes to obeying the commandments. We love Dennis!
Susan is doing fine. We’re not sure exactly when her baptism will be. She’s been standing us up a lot lately and doesn’t listen to anything we say in either of the languages that we both speak. I’m pretty sure Gizmo listens better than Susan does. We’re hoping that working also with her husband will help a lot. Other than that, we’re running out of ideas to help her. You gotta love free-agency though, right?
Nothing else too noteworthy around here. Monday all of us missionaries did service for one of our favourite family’s in the branch who own a bakery. Each year they have their annual spring cleaning and the missionaries always help for a few hours. It was actually a lot of fun. And of course, we never leave their place empty-handed. They made us pizza for lunch and we left with a huge sack full of delicious bread! I’m definitely going to miss Italian food.
I’ve recently been reading again through the talks from the most recent conference. One thing that really stuck out to me was Elder Bednar’s talk. He talks about things that we can do in our families to be "more diligent and concerned at home." But what really stuck out to me was how he talked so much about putting into practice that which we already know. He said, two times, the exact same thing:
"What we know is not always reflected in what we do…As disciples of the Savior, we are not merely striving to know more; rather, we need to consistently do more of what we know is right and become better."
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the difference between knowing and doing. It’s not enough just to know. We have to constantly put into practice the things that we know we need to do.
I’m so grateful to be serving a mission. I love my Savior so much. I know His Atonement is so real, so personal, and so powerful. He loves us so much. He lives and is always when we need Him.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey

January 20, 2010

Ciao a tutti!
Another great week in Cagliari full of lots of appointments! Dennis is doing so well! He’s getting baptized February 7! He is so excited, as are we! We talked to him about it last week and he said, "Ok sisters, I was thinking about it. And February is cold! So here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m going to buy some of those pouches you fill with hot water to keep you warm, and after I get baptized, I’ll put them in my shirt." We explained to him that we have a font in church and he doesn’t have to get baptized in the freezing cold ocean. At first he was relieved, but then he thought about it and said, "Well Jesus didn’t get baptized in a font!" We then explained that a living prophet has said that it’s perfectly acceptable to get baptized in a font, and he said, "If the prophet says it’s ok, then that’s good enough for me." He’s amazing! Before the appointment with him we told him that if there’s not another woman there, we can’t enter his house. So he went out and found a woman to bring to the appointment! He’s so great! He is so enthusiastic and happy all the time. He saw the elders the other day and told him that he’s getting baptized and he’s taking the baptism class with the sisters. (He calls the lessons his "baptism class")
In another appointment with Dennis, we showed him all the pictures from the new Gospel Art book. He soaks up everything we have to teach him and LOVES it all! He told us that he prays for us every night and that we’ll find caring husbands. He’s so fun. He really wants to go to general conference someday so he can see Church Headquarters. He already calls it "our" church and wants to see his prophet in person!
We had a great lesson with Luisa this week about how to feel and recognize the Spirit. She loved it! She is really hard to meet with because she’s so busy, but she is doing well and is progressing. We had a lesson also with Odion. She taught us the Plan of Salvation and did a great job! She really wants to serve a mission, and will be great!
We were finally able to see Ilaria and Alfredo several times this week! We love them so much! We talked about the Word of Wisdom and are going to help them stop smoking. They recognized how much more difficult their lives have been since they haven’t been to church in a few weeks, and mentioned over and over how much better their day is when they read the Book of Mormon and pray. Yesterday we saw Ilaria again with her brother Maurizio. We taught him about the Restoration and Ilaria taught almost all of it by herself! She understands it so well and has such a great testimony. We talked to all of them about baptism and they’re praying to pick a date!
Speaking of baptisms, Susan will be getting baptized the 31st of this month. She is doing much better and can’t wait. We had a lesson last week with her and her husband Massimo! Massimo is great. He’s so laid-back and just about when we think he’s not paying any attention, he makes a great comment or asks a great questions. We’re so excited to be working with the entire family!
Life is great! I can’t believe I only have 2 months left. At zone conference last week I got my going home packet. I saw it in the missionary mail and couldn’t believe it’s already here. I tried to give it back to President, but he just laughed and said, "Oh sister. You’re so cute." I think he thought I was joking.
For our district meeting this week I had the opportunity to give the training and I found so many wonderful things in my studies. My assigned topic was finding people. I love the talk from April 2008 by President Eyring called "Man Down." I highly recommend it to everyone. It talks about soldiers and how they will risk anything to save their fellow soldiers. As missionaries, and any member of the Church of Jesus Christ, we also need to be willing to risk anything to spiritually save our brothers and sisters. There are so many people in the world who don’t have the Gospel and are in darkness. It’s our job to find them and bring them the healing that comes with the Gospel.
Each person in the world has the potential to become like their Heavenly Father. Their souls are precious in His sight. And I have the wonderful privilege of helping people see that every day! I read a wonderful conference talk by Elder Ballard that talks about the value of each soul. He says:
"Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement is the word one. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others. If we truly understood the Atonement and the eternal value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other wayward child of God. We would help them to know of the love Christ has for them. We would do all that we can to help prepare them to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel."
Have a great week, everyone! Vi voglio bene!
Sister Hawkey

January 13, 2010

Hi Everyone!
Susan got married on Saturday! It was a cute little ceremony at the court house. The guests included me and my companion, and a couple in the branch. Sunday after church we all went over for lunch to celebrate. We had an interesting lunch of cow liver and pig legs. I gagged it all down somehow. But it was all worth it, because we had a great talk with Massimo (Susan’s husband) and he asked lots of great gospel questions and wants to come to church this week! Susan’s baptism got moved to a later date. We’re really excited to be teaching the whole family, though.
We have a new investigator named Dennis. We went last week to visit a less-active member and Dennis was there. We taught him about the Restoration and he loved it! He was literally on the edge of his seat at the beginning. Then he got off the seat and sat in front of the coffee table that was directly in front of Sister Nelson and me. Then he sat ON the table. He was just so excited about everything he learned that he couldn’t even get close enough! He kept saying "This is the first time I’ve even heard this! This is incredible!" He also wants to get baptized! We’re going to set a date next time we see him. We asked him what he thinks he needs to do to prepare for baptism. He thought about it for a second and said, "I need to read this book (pointing to the Book of Mormon), pray, repent of my sins, go to church with you and walk in holiness before God." At the end of the evening as we were saying goodbye he said, "I feel like I just won a billion dollars. I’m going to sleep like a newborn baby tonight, I’m so happy!" He came to church on Sunday and LOVED it! He’s amazing and we’re excited to work more with him.
Roberta is also preparing for baptism. She’s so cute! She is really confused, which considering the family environment she has isn’t surprising. She’s praying to pick a baptismal date. She’s so close to being ready but is so scared. We love her and coddle her with affection, and she just soaks it up.
Less-active Susan is doing really well. I don’t really think she’s even less-active anymore. We’re working on strengthening her testimony. She’s great! Everyone else is doing pretty well. No big news.
Monday we had lunch with an adorable older couple in the branch. They are so fun! They have a huge piece of property outside of Cagliari and grow all their own fruits and vegetables. So lunch was delicious! We talked a lot about the Temple and what a beautiful opportunity it is to go to the Temple. They asked us how close the nearest Temple is to my house. They were so jealous that it is only 2 ½ hours away. Before the Madrid Temple was built, they had to go all the way to Germany to go to the Temple. They had take a 16 hour boat ride, then drive 10 hours to get there. Even now it’s a huge sacrifice for the Saints of Italy to go to the Temple, but they faithfully give up almost all of their vacation time each year to serve for weeks at a time at the Temple. More than 70% of the Temple work at the Temple in Switzerland is done by the Italian Saints. They are such good examples of sacrifice. Sacrifice isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s so easy to find excuses when we want to, but really, what else is more important than the Gospel and this great work? When we make sacrifices to serve our Heavenly Father, He blesses us so much that it really isn’t a sacrifice at all.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey

January 6, 2010

Hi everyone-
Happy New Year, and happy day of The Befana. We rang in the new year by having an early curfew and then spending all day the 1st deep-cleaning our apartment. Good times. It's been a bit of a crazy week here in Cagliari, but overall it's been good.
Wednesday we went with the elders to a city in our branch about an hour away for a "business trip." A member in Rome gave us a bunch of referrals. She had been talking to some friends online about the Church, and for Christmas wanted to send them the missionaries. We went to visit all these people with letters from the member in Rome and a copy of the Book of Mormon and we sang them Christmas songs. We had great success! It was a great day. It really made me realize even more how important members are in missionary work. If we had tried to talk to these people by ourselves, we probably would have been turned away. In fact, many of them mentioned that they had turned away previous missionaries. But because we were sent by a member who they trusted, we were warmly received. It was a great day. The elders are going to visit them later this week and try to teach them more!
Susan is getting ready for her wedding on Saturday!!! She asked us to be their witnesses. Then we got un-invited, then invited again, the re-un-invited. So as of now, we're not the witnesses for the wedding, but she did tell us we can come and bring gifts. She also tried to tell us that it's the witnesses' responsibility to buy the wedding rings. We tried to explain that that is in fact the husband's job to provide the ring, so we'll see how that goes. Once she gets an idea in her head, it's hard to convince her otherwise. We love her despite her craziness and are super excited for both her wedding and her baptism next week!
People are still out of town for the holidays. The holiday season here lasts until today, so hopefully our investigators will be returning soon so that we can meet with them. We do have a lesson planned tomorrow with the three muskateers (Ilaria, Alfredo and Maurizio). They are so wonderful! They've been super busy but are doing well.
This week we had a huge miracle! We were able to meet with Caterina! She hadn't been able to meet with us because the nuns where she lives told us that if she meet us, they would kick her out and leave her homeless. But apparently they had a change of heart and she is now free to meet with us! It was a fun surprise when Susan brought her to the appointment. She is doing well. She is really shy when it comes to talking about spiritual things, but she is warming up.
I just finished the war chapters in Alma in the Book of Mormon. I love those chapters! They are so applicable to the spiritual "wars" we have in our own lives. One of my favorite stories in the war chapters is the letters between Pahoran and Moroni. Moroni writes a somewhat mean letter to Pahoran accusing him of some wrongdoings that he didn't do. Pahoran's reply is full of love and kindness. He explained the situation and admired Moroni for his passion in his cause. It is such a beautiful example of forgiveness.
I also read a talk by President Faust about forgiveness, called "The Healing Power of Forgiveness." He quotes Dr. Sidney Simon, who said:
"Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves."
How beautiful is the opportunity to forgive and love others as Christ love us. It is a hard task, but with His help, anything is possible.
Have a great week! Vi voglio bene!

December 29, 2009

Happy New Year!
I can't believe it's already almost 2010. It has been so wonderful to spend the whole year of 2009 serving a mission! We had a beautiful Christmas day here in Cagliari. We hung out at the church with the Elders and watched movies and called our families.
Christmas morning, Maurizio (one of our investigators) called us. He said that most years, Christmas is depressing and is a really hard day for him. But this year, because of the Gospel, he has peace and happiness in his life. It was such a beautiful thing to hear!
Also on Christmas morning, on our way to the church, we ran into a man named Jeff. Jeff and his family are from New Hampshire. He is here for a year as a visiting professor. We met Jeff and his son at the grocery store a few months ago. Then about a month later we saw him and his whole family at the bus stop. The wife knew who we were, so apparently he had been talking about us. Then a few weeks later, Christmas day, we ran into Jeff. He said that he and his wife want to have us over for dinner. Sunday we ran into Jeff and his daughter Isabelle, and she whispered into his year "Dad, did you invite them over?" Hopefully we'll be able to meet with them this week. They are a beautiful family, and we can't wait to share the Gospel with them!
We haven't been able to meet with too many people lately because of the holidays. Saturday all of us missionaries had lunch with a family in the branch, who is in the branch presidency. We ate all sorts of fun things, including cow feet and shark. After lunch we made a bunch of cakes to drop off to less-active families. It was a really good experience. We were able to visit a lot of people, and some of them even came to church the next day.
Life here is great! I love my mission! I've been studying about the Savior lately, since it is Christmas, and I recently re-read some of my favorite verses about Him. In Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5, it says:
"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased, behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified, Wherefore, Father, spare these my bretheren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."
Jesus Christ truly is our Mediator with the Father in the true sense of the word. He suffered for US so that He can plead our case before the Father, so that we might gain eternal life. He is our Savior and our Redeemer. I love Him so much.
I hope you all have a great week, and a happy new year! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey

December 23, 2009

Buon Natale a tutti!
I'm sorry that I didn't have time to send everyone their own individual Christmas card. Turns out we don't have much free time on the mission. But know that I'm thinking of you and love you all and hope you have a great holiday season!
Another great week on the island. We had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation with Luisa and she loved it. She just kept smiling the whole time. As usual, she analyzed everything and understood it all. She's so great. We're focusing on helping her recognize the Spirit. She's friends with a member in the branch so hopefully he and his family can help us out.
We had a lesson with Marisa and Sara. They're so fun! We sang Christmas carols around the fire, and then Marisa recounted the Christmas story. Well...kind of. I don't know if she's actually ever read the Bible, so there were definitely some made-up characters in her version. And she even had names for all of the hotels that Joseph tried to find room in. (like The Grey Bear Hotel) It was great! But she got the main idea of the story, so it was okay.
About a week and a half ago we talked to a man on the bus about english class. We talked just for a few seconds about the Church, but mostly we just talked about random things. Two days later he showed up for church! He loved it and came again this last week, too. He started meeting with the Elders and is soaking up the Gospel. It really made me realize that you never know who is ready for the Gospel and how much of an impact you can have. This man didn't seem to have any interest at all about spiritual things, and now he's been to church 2 weeks in a row.
Another little experience...there is an inactive family in the branch who we had never met. One day, about 6 weeks ago, we decided to call them just to say hi. As soon as the husband answered the phone and we told him who we were, he started talking about how they haven't been to church in a long time and how he really needs to start coming back. I didn't even say a word, and he said "Thanks for the call. I really needed that. I'll see you at church on Sunday." He and his 2 kids have been to church every week since! It's so amazing how the smallest little things can have such a huge influence on someone else. Often times we don't even recognize the influence that we can have.
Monday night we had dinner with the District President and his family, who are amazing! They taught us some phrases in Sard (the dialect here on the island). Then one of the elders did impressions of all of us missionaries. Turns out I'm pretty bossy! Who knew? :)
Yesterday we had a little birthday party for less-active Susan. We asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate, and she wanted to watch Joy to the World. Caterina was able to come this time and they both loved it. They both really recognize the true meaning of Christmas.
We also had a great lesson with Isabella yesterday. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. She's so cute! She understands well. She has a hard time recognizing the Spirit, so we're going to help her more with that. We also need to help her wake up on time for church! She's a typical 21-year old so you can't blame her too much.
Life is great! Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I'm so grateful to be a missionary this holiday season. We watched the First Presideny Christmas Devotion a few weeks ago, and I loved with President Eyring said:
"We can choose this Christmas and every day to create a small part of the Christmas story in our own lives. We can accept the invitation of living prophets to help those who are lost along the pathway, and have wandered, to come back to it. We can offer the gospel, which is the only way home, to all we meet along the way. We can lift up those who are tired and hungry and lonely, as the Savior did and now invites us to do with Him. As we do, they can feel how much the Savior loves them and wants to lead them on the way to the God He loves.
In the stories of Christ’s birth, we can see and feel who He was and who He is. That lightens our load along the way. And it will lead us to forget ourselves and to lighten the load for others. That can make every day feel like the best of our Christmases past."
It is through service to others that we feel the Spirit of Christmas. And we can feel that same way every day of our lives, as we strive to serve each and every day. I know this Gospel is true. It is the only way. I love my Savior and my Redeemer.
Buon Natale! Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey

December 16, 2009

Ciao a tutti!
Thanks for everyone who sent questions- it makes my letter-writing life much easier! If you think of anything else you want to know, just let me know. I’ll start off with answers this week.
The most surprising discovery I’ve made on my mission is what I can do with the Lord’s help. With Him, truly nothing is impossible. And without Him, everything is more difficult. The mission is definitely a humbling experience full of learning opportunities.
My favorite new story from the Book of Mormon? I’ve actually learned a lot from the war chapters in Alma. There are so many parallels between the physical war that the people fight, and the spiritual wars we have in our lives. When we follow the prophet, rely on our spiritual armor and trust in the Lord, we will always ultimately prevail.
Christmas décor in Italy... Everyone here has a Nativity set! But it’s not quite like the Nativity sets in the states. They go all out here and include villages of people and everything. It’s fun. Lots of people also have these really ugly Santas that hang from their balcony like they’re hanging on a rope. They’re not my favorite. As for Christmas treats- everyone eats either Panetone or Pandora. They’re the traditional Christmas cakes here. Pandora is pretty good. Yes, the kids visit Santa. He was in town the other day taking pictures with the kids by some horses and Santa’s sleigh. It was cute.

Who has had the biggest impact on me on my mission here? I have learned so much from so many wonderful people, so that’s a tough one. I would probably have to say Nertil, though. He is so amazing! Before he even knew about the Gospel, he lived all of the commandments and he has such a sincere, pure faith. He is one of the most amazing examples of living in the world but not of the world. He cares way more about spiritual things than temporal things. He’s so amazing!
So, as for news here in Cagliari, Susan’s getting married!!!! She officially has all the documents she needs and is getting married January 1! We’re SO excited! Because then she’s getting baptized the 3rd! She’s really excited, too. She can’t wait to get baptized. She’s finished all of the lessons and her testimony just keeps growing every day. She is going to be such a great member. We’re going to have a wedding party for her.
We started meeting with Odion last week. She got baptized two weeks ago. She was taught by the elders and now we’re teaching her the new member lessons. She’s incredible! She is only 24, and she really wants to go on a mission! Her blessing when she got confirmed was all about missionary work and getting married in the temple. It was so beautiful! She is wonderful. She only has one day off a week, and she wants to spend it helping us do missionary work!
Ilaria and Alfredo are doing fantastic! They want to stop smoking! We’re going to start the stop smoking program with them next time we see them. And they even mentioned that they want to get married. They love the Gospel. Alfredo even prayed last week during our lesson! He normally refuses to pray out loud in front of people, but this time he did it. It was a huge step for him. It was so cute, because Ilaria helped him. At the end, he just said Amen when he was done, and she whispered in his ear "You have to say, In the name of Jesus Christ, and THEN amen." It was super cute! We talked about baptism yesterday with them. They are working towards it and we hope to set a firm date with them soon. We are all going to fast together this week to help them find work. They are so great how seriously they are taking their fast. Afterwards, we’re going to bake a cake together to celebrate their first time fasting. We love them!
Less-active Susan is doing very well. She comes to church every week now and loves the lessons. Unfortunately, Caterina hasn’t been able to come with her. They both live at a place run by nuns, and when the nuns found out that Caterina was meeting with us, they said she either had to stop or they would kick her out, leaving her homeless. It breaks my heart. She needs a lot of prayers right now that we can find a solution. She is making so much progress!
We met Roberta again this week. She’s so cute! I don’t know if I mentioned her last week or not. She’s 14. She’s the daughter of an ex-communicated member, and the two of them come to church every week, but Roberta’s never been baptized. She took the lessons awhile ago, then lost interest, but has been meeting with us again recently. She’s so adorable! Her mom’s not in the picture, and she adores Sister Nelson and I and soaks up any ounce of affection we give her. Every time she’s near us, she won’t let us go. She is praying to know if she should get baptized. She has a lot of doubts, which we don’t blame her because of her family life situation. But she’s a great girl!
The work is going well here in Cagliari. I can’t believe Christmas is almost here! I am so grateful to spend another Christmas season as a missionary. I know my mom doesn’t like it, but it’s the best way to celebrate Christmas! I love my Savior Jesus Christ so much! One of the best parts of being a missionary during the holidays is how much we get to focus on the Savior. I love the little film on the lds.org page. I encourage you all to watch it and think of how you can better remember the true meaning of this season.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey

December 9, 2009

Ciao!

First of all, I’m running out of things to say in my letters. I feel like every week is the same. Sorry! Seriously, though, send me questions to answer, everybody!
Saturday night we had an appointment at a little tiny town about 45 minutes away. We got there, and the lady wasn’t even home. We were a little bit frustrated, especially because the bus only comes every 40 minutes or so. So we waited at the bus stop the 40 minutes, and as soon as we were getting on the bus, I realized that my companion’s name tag wasn’t on her jacket. We missed the bus looking for it. We retraced our steps and looked everywhere we could possibly think to look with no luck. We went back to the bus stop to wait again, and a man was there. He saw us and asked if we were the Mormons. We ended up having an amazing talk with him. He has amazing faith and wants to learn more about the Gospel! We exchanged phone numbers, and are meeting with him and the elders this week. Then we got on the bus, still tag-less, but we realized that meeting him was completely worth losing a nametag. Then my companion looked in her bag, and her nametag has somehow gotten into her pencil pouch in her bag! The Lord works so many little miracles every day.
We have a few new investigators this week. First we have Sara, a friend of another investigator, Marisa. We met with them on Saturday and had lunch together. They are so crazy and so fun! Marisa is in her 70s and is so funny. She loves to sing and dance and is absolutely hilarious! She loves to tell stories. Then Sara is 50 and a lot more reserved but still a lot of fun. They are quite the pair. We had a delicious lunch (of course- I’m in Italy!) and then we gathered basil leaves from her herb garden and made fresh pesto. It was so fun. They are so cute. Marisa is pretty Catholic, but Sara has a lot of interest.
Sunday the Susans both came to church and made up from their little cat fight they had a couple weeks ago. I’m glad the Susans are now friends. Investigator Susan has two little kids who are adorable. Rachel is 8 months and is one of the best babies ever, and then there’s Alessio. He brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "terrible two’s." I spent most of sacrament meeting chasing him around so that Susan could pay attention to the talks. The branch mission leader and I took turns guarding the doors of the chapel so he couldn’t escape. At one point he somehow escaped, though, and bolted out of the chapel. I went running after him, but then he ran into the men’s bathroom! He’s a smart little stinker. He finally came back to the chapel and found some toys to play with. Susan loved sacrament meeting, though, so it was all worth it.
Our other new investigator for the week is Luisa. She’s amazing! She is an ex-investigator from awhile back. She is a lawyer, and is incredibly intelligent. I’m completely intimidated by her, but love her all the same. She took notes on what we taught her, and then summed everything up that we taught. She has a lot of faith and can’t wait to meet with us again. We’re also very excited for her!
Yesterday we had lunch and a lesson with Carla. She was grumpy because she wanted to eat lunch first, but her mom said that we had to have the lesson first, so she hated our lesson. She kept giving us her cute little glares. She has a pretty good stink eye. We made an advent calendar with her to countdown to Christmas, and every day there’s something that they can do to do service or to think about Jesus. She didn’t like it at first, but once we ate lunch she loved it.
Everything is going well here. I can’t believe another Christmas is almost here! I’m so grateful to be serving the Lord full-time again this Christmas season.
I’ve been reading the conference talks from this past conference. I love them all! But one especially stuck out to me the other day as I read it. It is "Preserving the Heart’s Might Change," by Elder Renlund. He talked about a mighty change of heart and the conversion that we all experience. But it’s not enough to just have that change of heart once. We need to do things every day to keep up the state of our hearts. He talked about the people in the Book of Mormon taught by Ammon and how they were converted and then never turned away. Elder Renlund, talking about them, said, "They must have frequently assessed the condition of their spiritually changed hearts. They did not simply assume that all was well. By figuratively examining their changed hearts, they could identify any early hardening or rejection and treat it. Alma the Younger poses a series of questions to contemporaries of the people of Ammon that figuratively biopsy spiritually changed hearts. Alma asks, ‘If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?’ He further asks if they have been sufficiently humble, free of pride and envy, and kind toward their fellowman. By honestly answering questions like these, we can correct early deviations from the strait and narrow path and keep our covenants with exactness."

Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey

December 3, 2009

Ciao!

We had a great Thanksgiving here on the island, with much to be thankful for. Our investigators are doing great and we had a baptism in the branch on Sunday!
This week we met with Caterina (well, both Caterinas. We have two of them, as well as two Susans. It gets highly confusing!) She is so sweet! She's an older lady who has had so many trials in her life. She wants to believe, but has a really hard time having faith. She is so sweet, though, and loves taking care of us. This week she did finally tell us that she has some sort of a desire to change for the better. We're excited to see how things work out with her.
The other Caterina came to church with less-active Susan on Sunday. She hated church. But then they came to the baptism, and I don't really know what happened, but she then met with us the next day and was really into the Gospel and the message we shared, and she wants to come to church again next week. She is great, as is Susan. They are such a funny pair of friends- complete opposites- but they're so good for each other. Neither of them have any family or friends here and now they're helping each other in the Gospel.
Ilaria, Alfredo and Maurizio are so amazing! They came to church again this week and as usual fully participated and asked great questions. They were a little late because of the bus, but they kept apologizing and promising that they'd be on time next week. They're so cute! We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation, which they loved. We're going to give them a baptismal invite this week. We're so excited!
We had another lesson with Isabella this week. She is amazing! She's only 21 (we thought she was way older) and is so prepared for the Gospel. We taught her the restoration. She also asks great questions and promised to come to church this next week. She has such a sincere desire to know the truthfulness of this message.
Yesterday we had a great zone conference that was mostly about the Savior. We watched a clip from the movie The Nativity where the wise men and the shepherds come to see the Christ child. They are all staring at Him in awe, and Mary says something to the effect of "He is for all mankind. He is a gift for us all." Jesus Christ truly did come to the world for US. He did it because of His immense love for us. His atoning sacrifice is a gift for each and every one of us. It is only through Him that we can have salvation. I love this holiday season so much! There's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now than testifying of Him every day. I am forever in debt to my Savior, but I am trying to do my little part each day to show my gratitude by bringing souls unto Him.

Have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey

PS My companion started running out of things to say in her emails, so she asked everyone to send her questions to answer. She's received some really good ones, so I thought I'd send the same invite to you all- send me questions so I have more to say in my emails!

November 25, 2009

Hi everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving! Tomorrow we're celebrating with a lunch together as a district, along with an older couple in the branch. This Thanksgiving I definitely have much to be thankful for as I am here in this beautiful country serving the Lord. I love every minute of it!
Wednesday night we had an amazing lesson with Ilaria and Alfredo! They ask such great questions, and give equally great responses to our questions. They understand well and truly want to learn. They are so prepared for the Gospel! They asked us if they could borrow The Restoration DVD so that they could show her brother, Maurizio. They came to Church again this week, and brought Maurizio with them! They are such good little missionaries, and they don't even know it! All three loved Church. We had an amazing talk between Sunday School and Sacrament meeting (while they were taking a smoke break. Don't worry, we're teaching the Word of Wisdom soon!) All three are coming to a baptism in the branch on Sunday, and we're then going to invite them to be baptized! They are wondeful.
Saturday we met with Carla. She invited a friend from the branch, an awesome guy named Giacomo. He's so sweet to her. We talked about Jesus, and watch Finding Faith in Christ. After the movie, we were having a great discussion with Rita (Carla's mom) and Giacomo. She apparently got bored, because in the middle of the conversation stood up and said, "Ok, we leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Now I'll go get the food." We love Carla!
The Susans are doing well. Investigator Susan has been really sick, so we didn't meet with her last week. But she came to Church with her kids, as usual. I introduced the Susans to each other on Sunday. Apparently they already know each other and don't like each other, so it ended up turning into a bit of a cat fight. Nigerians are very vocal and passionate about their opinions. It was actually pretty funny. Less-active Susan brought a friend with her to our appointment yesterday! She always introduces us to her friends and invites them to learn more about the Gospel. She's also such a great little missionary.
Caterina, the friend that Susan brought, is now a new investigator. She's from nearby and they live together. She is really quiet and timid, but asked some good questions and seems to have interest. We have another new investigator, Isabella. She is an ex-investigator from several years ago. We stopped by her house yesterday and she immediately invited us in and started asking us questions. She's really cute. (Side note: her room is covered in pictures of Michael Jackson!) We had a really good talk about the Gospel and how it brings us answers to our questions. She mentioned that the sisters in the past said that they had their own personal testimonies of the Gospel, and she asked us if we, too, had personal testimonies. We bore our testimonies to her and she said that she wants to know for herself. We're really excited to meet with her again next week.
I've been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants lately, and a few verses have already really stuck out to me. In section 6, verses 33-37, it says:
"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven."
I love these verses so much. There are so many beautiful things in so many small verses. But one thing that I especially love is the end. Christ invites us all to look unto Him in every though. Then the next words he says are "Doubt not, fear not." When we are continually focused on our Savior, we have no room for doubt and fear.With Him, all things are possible. He helps us overcome our doubts and fears. He suffered and died for usso that we can return to live with Him again. He is our Savior and our Friend. I am so grateful for Him.

Vi voglio tanto bene! Buon giorno di ringraziamento!
Sorella Hawkey

November 18, 2009

Ciao!

Transfer calls came last night, and I'm staying with Sister Nelson in Cagliari! Yay! We're excited. So last week we had a Mexican lunch with the Vincedomini family. They are so much fun! They have 3 boys, ages 10, 9 and 4, who are SO cute! I hung out a lot with the youngest one, Gabrielle. We read lots of books together and drew pictures.
Thursday we taught Odian, one of the elder's investigators. They had to go out of town, so we taught her. She's so great! She's getting baptized next week and is so ready. She's from Nigeria. She asked us tons of questions about the mission and said that she wants to go someday. She's only 24, and would be a GREAT missionary!
Thursday we also met with a new investigator, Catherina, for the first time. She's an older lady who has lost almost all of her hope and faith in this life. She has had a lot of trying times and wonders if God really exists. Despite all of her doubts, she listened intently and really wants to believe. We're excited to continue working with her.
Friday was the sad day that we passed Pierpaolo off to the elders. We really do think he'll work better with the elders, but it was still sad that we won't be teaching him any longer. We taught about the Restoration along with the elders. It was a great lesson! He is so in tune with the Spirit. He craves to have the Spirit in his life and learn more about his Savior. Whenever we read any verse of scripture with him, he analyzes it and gives great insights. He came to Church on Sunday and loved it! Pierpaolo is amazing and so ready for the Gospel!
Ilaria came to Church on Sunday, and brought her boyfriend! It was the first time we met him, and before they came, Ilaria had explained to him the Restoration and the baptism that she came to. They both asked great questions during Gospel Principles and loved Church! They can't wait to come back next week. We have a lesson with them tonight. They are so cute!
Monday mornings we have a district meeting and talk about our work. The elders told us about their investigator who they haven't been able to find for a few weeks now. He's a 14 year old boy from Romania who doesn't have a phone, so they had no way of getting ahold of him. They described what he looks like, and told us that if we see him to talk to him and get his dad's phone number. So Monday afternoon we were at a store buying something for an investigator, and we decided to take a random street that we had never been on before to get to where we needed to go. We were just walking along our way, and saw a young boy who looked Romanian on the other side of the street. We looked at each other and said, "I bet that's Saimir!" He saw us right after that and came running over to us and said, pointing to our nametags, "I know your friends!" We talked to him for awhile, along with his cousin. We called the elders so that they could talk and set up an appointment, and we got the dad's phone number. The Lord truly always looks out for each one of us.
This Gospel is amazing! A few days ago I read Joseph Smith history, and one part really stuck out to me. Joseph Smith said, referring to all of the opposition he faced, "It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me?"
I love that he was determined to be "a disturber and an annoyer" of Satan's kingdom. He didn't just passively sit by and let things happen. He took an active stance to fight the bad and help the cause of God. It's not enough for us to just believe in the Gospel but then do nothing about it. There are far too many bad things in the world, and we need to take a stand to be a disturber and an annoyer of all of those things. It is only then that righteousness will prevail.

I hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey

November 11, 2009

Ciao!

I hope you're all doing well. Last week I celebrated my one year in Italy anniversary! We celebrated Italian-style by playing soccer and eating gelato with a bunch of our investigators and contacts. My team won, by the way. I, of course, was the lone American girl on a team of all Italian men, but still. We had a lot of fun.
Thursday we were trying to meet a member, but there was a ton of confusion as to where we were meeting. (Mostly due to the Catholic's worship of the Madonna. You may be wondering how that relates to us getting lost, but trust me, it does. Long story) Anyways, as we were lost, we ended up missing a bus that would take us to our correct destination. It was frustrating because we were already late. But we got on the next bus that came, and there was Ilaria! She was having a really bad day and was so happy to see us! She seemed to realize that it wasn't coincidence that we ran into each other. It seems like every time I either miss a bus or the bus just doesn't come, I end up running into someone who really needs to see us. So then we got to what we thought was the correct desination, but once again, we got lost. So waiting at the bus stop to get on a different bus, we met an amazing woman named Lidia! She's from Romania and is so cute! She came to english class last night and wants to meet with us sometime to talk more! I love how the Lord is always in charge and always knows what He's doing, even when we don't.
Saturday we met with Carla again. She's so cute! We had a lesson on families and made friendship bracelets with her. Well, we made bracelets while she watched us. She gets cranky if there's not food, and her mom said we couldn't eat until the bracelets were done, so she sat there and glared at us for awhile. But then she forgave us as soon as food was on the table and we were all friends again, complete with matching bracelets!
Both Susans came to church on Sunday! Investigator Susan even wore a skirt for the first time! He kids get better behaved every time they come to Church. They are learning a lot in Primary and love it. We are trying to get her "husband" interested, but it's a work in progress. They are doing all the paperwork to get married soon! We're so excited! We want to plan her wedding for her. So as soon as she gets married, she will get baptized!
Less active Susan is also doing great. She asks such great questions during the lessons and truly wants to start living the Gospel again. She has such a beautiful smile that just brightens up everything around her. We love her!
Yesterday we went over to help Sister Espis, the branch president's wife. They are such an amazing family! The poor thing just had surgery last week and can hardly get out of bed. So we went over for a few hours to clean her house, do laundry and make lunch. We also made her a birthdya cake, since it was also her birthday. It was so fun! She sat in bed and told us stories from her mission for awhile.
Well, those are the week's highlights. Today we're going with the elders to a member family's house out in the country for lunch. They're cooking Mexican food. I'm very intrigued as to the Italian version of Mexican food, so we'll see how it goes.
A couple scriptures that I read this week: Isaiah 41:10 says "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
Isaiah 43:1 "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."
When we are on the Lord's side, we have no reason to fear. He gives us the strength that we need to face whatever life brings. He is with us always, right by our side. He knows us by name, for we are His children. He loves us with a perfect love. With Him, we will always succeed.

Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey