Ciao, tutti!
Come state? This week has been a little crazy. I'm still in the threesome, which is fine, but we're trying to do the work for both cities, which makes for a lot of stress. But we're getting lots of good things done and trying to get everyone visited. Neytil is still in Albania, so we moved the baptism to the 20th. He calls me almost every night to check in and tell me what he learned from the scriptures that day. He is so excited for his baptism! He went to church in Albania this week! He was walking around town, and saw the elders and went up to them and told them that he's getting baptized next week and wants to go to church. (I don't know what I would do as a missionary if some random person walked up to me and told me that!) They all went together, and Neytil loved hearing the scriptures and the hymns in his own language. He also loved that it was exactly the same as it is here in Italy. We talked about how the church is the same everywhere you go, and he loved that! I can't wait for his baptism! Monday at zone conference, somehow just about everyone in the zone had heard about Neytil and they all asked me tons of questions about him. They all want to come to his baptism! It will be my greenie's 2nd day in the field, so a good way to start her mission!Everyone else is doing well. Unfortunately, very few are progressing. I think I'm going to have to let some of them go. It's so hard to drop investigators, but when they're not ready, they're not ready. Instead of wasting everyone's time, we can go find those who are ready! People like Neytil! I know there are people out there who are prepared for us. Yes, Italy is a hard mission. I've heard plenty of the stereotypes about it just being a pretty vacation, but one with no baptisms. Or about how we're just here to plant seeds. But there are people who are ready and prepared for the Gospel now. There are families who are prepared, who can be sealed in the Temple. We're going to find them and bring them the happiness that they can only have through the Restored Gospel.Monday we had an amazing zone conference! Elder and Sister Kopischke were there doing a mission tour. He's currently the first counselor for the European Area. Sister Kopischke is adorable. She ate lunch with all the sisters. She's so energetic and expressive! She's really cute. Elder Kopischke gave amazing trainings! I learned SO much and I know every single missionary was inspired to be a much better missionary. We talked a lot about faith and making things happen by our faith. He said that we're not in the business of doing miracles, but of doing. Miracles are great, and yes, they happen every day. However, we can't just sit around and expect miracles. We have to use our faith to make them happen. Fatih is a principle of action and a principle of power, but sometimes we forget the action part. We read the scripture about how if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. We can't control whether or not Heavenly Father will work the miracle of moving the mountain. We can't determine if He will give us access to His power. But we can determine our action. So if we want to move mountains, we need to pick up a shovel and get to work. If Heavenly Father decides to help us and move the mountain Himself, fine, but if not, fine. We just keeping working until the job is done. I've learned so much about faith on my mission, and learned so many new insights from Elder Kopischke this week. I am so, so grateful for my mission. It is everything to me. In a couple days is my half way mark, and it feels so weird. I love my mission so much. I don't want it to end. There's literally no where else I'd rather be, or anything else I'd rather be doing. Vi voglio tantissimo bene! Buona settimana!Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
June 3, 2009
Ciao!
First of all...my companion is leaving me! She's only going to Florence, though, so she'll get to come back for Neytil's baptism. And I'll be training this next transfer. Yikes! I'm excited, though. Unfortunately, all the incoming missionaries got delayed 2 weeks (anyone noticing a trend here with me?) so I'll be in a trio for 2 weeks until I go to Rome to pick up my greenie!
Neytil is doing amazing! He had his baptismal interview last night and is all ready to go for his baptism! We moved it to the 13th, because he's in Albania for a week to do some visa stuff. We had a couple amazing lessons with his this week! Saturday we taught the law of chastity. Or rather, he taught us, as he usually does. We read the section of chastity in True to the Faith, and then he proceeded to tell us why chastity is important. He told us that families are central to God's plan, and keeping the law of chastity safe guards the family. And virtue is important because we are sent to earth to overcome our carnal desires and become more Christlike amidst temptation. He's seriously incredible! Monday we met with him briefly to give him a Bible and a hymn book, and he was so excited. He told us that he's been wanting to learn all the hymns so he can sing better in church, and he didn't have a Bible in Italian, so he's also excited for that.
This weekend Neytil went to Modena to visit his family, and one of the first things he told us when he saw us was, "I'm trying to do missionary work! I gave my mom a copy of the Book of Mormon and taught her all about the Plan of Salvation and how we can be together forever as a family through the Gospel!" Then later he said, "I haven't finished reading the Book of Mormon yet. How does it end? I really want to know what happens!" So we told him what happens at the end, and how the Lamanites are the ancestors of the American Indians, so he decided he wants to research the Indians so he can learn more. Then he told us about how he loves lds.org, because you can listen to talks that the prophet and apostles have given lately. He says every day he goes on and finds a talk that relates to a problem he's been having to see what the Prophet has to say. Then he bore an amazing testimony about the importance of living prophets. Yesterday we taught tithing, and he's really excited! He talked about how it's only thanks to Heavenly Father that we have all our blessings anyway, so it only makes sense that we give some back to help build the kingdom of God. He told us that he always tries to give part of his income to charity, and now he has a specific cause to give his money to, so he's really excited to pay tithing! He seriously is one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life!
Everyone else is doing well. Dielle is great and is slowly understanding the things the we teach. She said that she's starting to feel like this is the right path for her. She's great! We had a great dinner appointment with Mary last night. She loves coming to church and the branch parties every 2 weeks and has made tons of friends in the branch! Opeka read part of the Book of Mormon this week and felt the Spirit when she prayed! She wants to come to church this next week. She's so great and has a lot of faith!
Everyone else is doing well. I love my mission so much! I'm so excited for Neytil's baptism next week. He's really excited, too! I love you all and hope everyone's doing well!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
First of all...my companion is leaving me! She's only going to Florence, though, so she'll get to come back for Neytil's baptism. And I'll be training this next transfer. Yikes! I'm excited, though. Unfortunately, all the incoming missionaries got delayed 2 weeks (anyone noticing a trend here with me?) so I'll be in a trio for 2 weeks until I go to Rome to pick up my greenie!
Neytil is doing amazing! He had his baptismal interview last night and is all ready to go for his baptism! We moved it to the 13th, because he's in Albania for a week to do some visa stuff. We had a couple amazing lessons with his this week! Saturday we taught the law of chastity. Or rather, he taught us, as he usually does. We read the section of chastity in True to the Faith, and then he proceeded to tell us why chastity is important. He told us that families are central to God's plan, and keeping the law of chastity safe guards the family. And virtue is important because we are sent to earth to overcome our carnal desires and become more Christlike amidst temptation. He's seriously incredible! Monday we met with him briefly to give him a Bible and a hymn book, and he was so excited. He told us that he's been wanting to learn all the hymns so he can sing better in church, and he didn't have a Bible in Italian, so he's also excited for that.
This weekend Neytil went to Modena to visit his family, and one of the first things he told us when he saw us was, "I'm trying to do missionary work! I gave my mom a copy of the Book of Mormon and taught her all about the Plan of Salvation and how we can be together forever as a family through the Gospel!" Then later he said, "I haven't finished reading the Book of Mormon yet. How does it end? I really want to know what happens!" So we told him what happens at the end, and how the Lamanites are the ancestors of the American Indians, so he decided he wants to research the Indians so he can learn more. Then he told us about how he loves lds.org, because you can listen to talks that the prophet and apostles have given lately. He says every day he goes on and finds a talk that relates to a problem he's been having to see what the Prophet has to say. Then he bore an amazing testimony about the importance of living prophets. Yesterday we taught tithing, and he's really excited! He talked about how it's only thanks to Heavenly Father that we have all our blessings anyway, so it only makes sense that we give some back to help build the kingdom of God. He told us that he always tries to give part of his income to charity, and now he has a specific cause to give his money to, so he's really excited to pay tithing! He seriously is one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life!
Everyone else is doing well. Dielle is great and is slowly understanding the things the we teach. She said that she's starting to feel like this is the right path for her. She's great! We had a great dinner appointment with Mary last night. She loves coming to church and the branch parties every 2 weeks and has made tons of friends in the branch! Opeka read part of the Book of Mormon this week and felt the Spirit when she prayed! She wants to come to church this next week. She's so great and has a lot of faith!
Everyone else is doing well. I love my mission so much! I'm so excited for Neytil's baptism next week. He's really excited, too! I love you all and hope everyone's doing well!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Monday, June 1, 2009
June 1, 2009
1 June 2009
RE: Sister Breanna Leigh Hawkey
Dear Brother and Sister Hawkey,
During the last transfer your missionary was assigned to be a "New Missionary Trainer". In this assignment Sister Hawkey will be the companion of a newly arrived missionary. This is a very important assignment. As a trainer, not only will she have the responsibility to carry the missionary work forward, but she will also have the opportunity to help the new missionary have a good start in our mission and help her grow as a missionary. I am confident that Sister Hawkey will do an excellent job in this important assignment.
We are grateful for your sustaining influence.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey Acerson
President
Italy Rome Mission
RE: Sister Breanna Leigh Hawkey
Dear Brother and Sister Hawkey,
During the last transfer your missionary was assigned to be a "New Missionary Trainer". In this assignment Sister Hawkey will be the companion of a newly arrived missionary. This is a very important assignment. As a trainer, not only will she have the responsibility to carry the missionary work forward, but she will also have the opportunity to help the new missionary have a good start in our mission and help her grow as a missionary. I am confident that Sister Hawkey will do an excellent job in this important assignment.
We are grateful for your sustaining influence.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey Acerson
President
Italy Rome Mission
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
May 27, 2009
Ciao!
Another great week in Prato! Neytil's doing great. He's getting so excited for his baptism! He loves learning, and always asks tons of questions. We had a great lesson with him Saturday and anytime he talks about the church he says “our church.” He told us the other day that he knows that commandments are for our own good. God doesn't just give us commandments to be strict, but as a way to help us become more like Him. He's read all of True to the Faith and loves it! He is seriously amazing. Dielle is doing good. She is understanding a lot more now. Mary is also doing well. We had a great first lesson with her last week! She understands it and is sincerely interested. She came to branch night on Friday and made tons of friends. We have 5 new investigators from the past week! 3 of them are former investigators. One is Diletta. She's 10, and she took the lessons when she was 8. Her grandma is a member, and her mom is a less-active member. She's so cute! Her brother was there, too, who's 8. They are such cute kids! Diletta wants to take the lessons again to know whether she should get baptized. We're also going to start teaching the kids english.Sabrina is also a former investigator. She's in her early 40s and lived in NYC for a few years, and England for a few years, so she is fluent in english. She is adorable! She's a very energetic, slightly eccentric woman with a bunch of cats. We're really excited for her.Elsa is also a former investigator. She's 84 years old, but Italian old people age very well. She seems like she's in her 60s! She came to church on Sunday and really liked it and is very sincere in her desire to take the lesson again. She made lots of friends at church and even asked us if we could bring one of the member with us to our next lesson!Angela is a really cute girl that we met last week when we did district singing in centro. She's American and is here doing research for her thesis. She's getting ready to graduate from Duke. She used to go to our church when she was little with her mom, but then they moved and she hadn't been since. But she came to branch night on Friday and church on Sunday and we have another appointment with her tomorrow. She's so cute!Opeka is a girl from Sri Lanka that we met a couple weeks ago doing house. She takes care of an old lady. She was raised Buddhist but went to the Catholic church when she moved here and felt really strongly that Jesus is the Christ. She has a strong testimony of Christ and wants to find the truth. We gave her a Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago when we met her, and she has already read most of 1 Nephi. She's awesome! She asked some amazing questions and is very sincere.Yesterday we had lunch with Franco, the man who works for the Catholic church who gave us the rosary beads. We gave him a Book of Mormon, which he LOVED! He asked us tons of questions about our church, and he loved that we worship a living Christ instead of using the cross. He also loved that we don't get baptized until we're at least 8. We're hoping to make him an investigator soon. He has a lot of faith and will be a great member!I love you all and hope you're all doing well!Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Another great week in Prato! Neytil's doing great. He's getting so excited for his baptism! He loves learning, and always asks tons of questions. We had a great lesson with him Saturday and anytime he talks about the church he says “our church.” He told us the other day that he knows that commandments are for our own good. God doesn't just give us commandments to be strict, but as a way to help us become more like Him. He's read all of True to the Faith and loves it! He is seriously amazing. Dielle is doing good. She is understanding a lot more now. Mary is also doing well. We had a great first lesson with her last week! She understands it and is sincerely interested. She came to branch night on Friday and made tons of friends. We have 5 new investigators from the past week! 3 of them are former investigators. One is Diletta. She's 10, and she took the lessons when she was 8. Her grandma is a member, and her mom is a less-active member. She's so cute! Her brother was there, too, who's 8. They are such cute kids! Diletta wants to take the lessons again to know whether she should get baptized. We're also going to start teaching the kids english.Sabrina is also a former investigator. She's in her early 40s and lived in NYC for a few years, and England for a few years, so she is fluent in english. She is adorable! She's a very energetic, slightly eccentric woman with a bunch of cats. We're really excited for her.Elsa is also a former investigator. She's 84 years old, but Italian old people age very well. She seems like she's in her 60s! She came to church on Sunday and really liked it and is very sincere in her desire to take the lesson again. She made lots of friends at church and even asked us if we could bring one of the member with us to our next lesson!Angela is a really cute girl that we met last week when we did district singing in centro. She's American and is here doing research for her thesis. She's getting ready to graduate from Duke. She used to go to our church when she was little with her mom, but then they moved and she hadn't been since. But she came to branch night on Friday and church on Sunday and we have another appointment with her tomorrow. She's so cute!Opeka is a girl from Sri Lanka that we met a couple weeks ago doing house. She takes care of an old lady. She was raised Buddhist but went to the Catholic church when she moved here and felt really strongly that Jesus is the Christ. She has a strong testimony of Christ and wants to find the truth. We gave her a Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago when we met her, and she has already read most of 1 Nephi. She's awesome! She asked some amazing questions and is very sincere.Yesterday we had lunch with Franco, the man who works for the Catholic church who gave us the rosary beads. We gave him a Book of Mormon, which he LOVED! He asked us tons of questions about our church, and he loved that we worship a living Christ instead of using the cross. He also loved that we don't get baptized until we're at least 8. We're hoping to make him an investigator soon. He has a lot of faith and will be a great member!I love you all and hope you're all doing well!Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
May 20, 2009
Ciao tutti!
First of all, and most importantly, NEYTIL'S GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We set the date for June 11th. He's SO excited, as are we! Saturday we taught him the 3rd lesson, and he told us he knows this is the true Church and is ready to get baptized. We also taught the word of wisdom. We started out saying that we don't drink alcohol or smoke, and before we got the chance to say anything else, he cut in and said that all of those things are bad for our bodies, as is caffeine and any other harmful substances. He then told us that he's always thought that our bodies are temples (yes, he actually used that word) and that they house our spirits, and so more than just avoiding harmful substances, we also need to eat healthy things like fruits, vegetables and grains. So once again he taught us instead of vice versa. He's incredible! Last night we had an appointment about obedience, reading the scriptures and daily prayer. We asked him how he knew the Church was true, and he bore an amazing testimony! He's getting super excited for his baptism. He went to visit his family Sunday night to take them the Plan of Salvation pamphlet that we gave him and teach them about the Gospel! They're thinking about moving down to Prato, and we're all praying really hard that they do. It would be so great for them to be together and for Neytil to help them investigate the Church, so they can get sealed together as a family!Mary came to church on Sunday! Thursday night she came with us to the Bagni family's house for dinner, and they quickly became friends. The Bagni's are an amazing couple, who are great missionaries. They constantly invite missionaries and their investigators over for dinner. They bore a powerful testimony and it helped Mary a lot. She loved church, and we have another appointment with her tomorrow. She's so sweet!We've met with Dielle a few times lately, but the girls always get really fussy as soon as we try to start teaching a lesson. We've tried to go visit in the morning while the girls are at school, but Dielle has been busy during the mornings, so it's really hard to teach a real lesson. She keeps coming to church every week, though! And we were at her house the other day when Sara took her first steps!!!! It was SO cute! Her girls are so beautiful! She's more or less part of the branch by now and loves coming to church! Last Monday we taught her how to have family prayer every night. Chiara has been having a lot of behavior problems both at school and at home. Friday we went over, and Dielle told us that they've had family prayer every night, and Chiara hadn't thrown a fit all week and had been obedient! Dielle even realized that it was because of family prayer that she has been good.We weren't able to meet with Ghita last week, and we finally had an appointment with Rita, but she doesn't understand anything we teach. She only speaks pigeon english, and just a little bit of english and a little bit of Italian, so we're struggling with helping her. We're going to bring a Nigerian member to the next appointment with us so that he can explain things to her in pigeon english. Hopefully that will help. We had lunch yesterday with Silvana, Gianluca and the elders, and it went pretty well. They don't really get along well at all, so it was kind of akward to be there because they fight all the time. It was fun, though, and I've seen a difference in the way they interact since they've started praying together every night. Monday night we went to mass with our friend who's a priest. He's going to come to church with us next week. It was really interesting. He gave us glow-in-the-dark rosary beads, too! The more I learn about other religions, the more I realize how true and how amazing our church is. It's such a blessing to have the pure, uncorrupted Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be led by a living prophet. My mission is amazing! There's no where else I'd rather be. The Church is true. I realize more and more every day how much our Heavenly Father truly loves His children. He loves us so much!I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Sorella Hawkey
First of all, and most importantly, NEYTIL'S GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We set the date for June 11th. He's SO excited, as are we! Saturday we taught him the 3rd lesson, and he told us he knows this is the true Church and is ready to get baptized. We also taught the word of wisdom. We started out saying that we don't drink alcohol or smoke, and before we got the chance to say anything else, he cut in and said that all of those things are bad for our bodies, as is caffeine and any other harmful substances. He then told us that he's always thought that our bodies are temples (yes, he actually used that word) and that they house our spirits, and so more than just avoiding harmful substances, we also need to eat healthy things like fruits, vegetables and grains. So once again he taught us instead of vice versa. He's incredible! Last night we had an appointment about obedience, reading the scriptures and daily prayer. We asked him how he knew the Church was true, and he bore an amazing testimony! He's getting super excited for his baptism. He went to visit his family Sunday night to take them the Plan of Salvation pamphlet that we gave him and teach them about the Gospel! They're thinking about moving down to Prato, and we're all praying really hard that they do. It would be so great for them to be together and for Neytil to help them investigate the Church, so they can get sealed together as a family!Mary came to church on Sunday! Thursday night she came with us to the Bagni family's house for dinner, and they quickly became friends. The Bagni's are an amazing couple, who are great missionaries. They constantly invite missionaries and their investigators over for dinner. They bore a powerful testimony and it helped Mary a lot. She loved church, and we have another appointment with her tomorrow. She's so sweet!We've met with Dielle a few times lately, but the girls always get really fussy as soon as we try to start teaching a lesson. We've tried to go visit in the morning while the girls are at school, but Dielle has been busy during the mornings, so it's really hard to teach a real lesson. She keeps coming to church every week, though! And we were at her house the other day when Sara took her first steps!!!! It was SO cute! Her girls are so beautiful! She's more or less part of the branch by now and loves coming to church! Last Monday we taught her how to have family prayer every night. Chiara has been having a lot of behavior problems both at school and at home. Friday we went over, and Dielle told us that they've had family prayer every night, and Chiara hadn't thrown a fit all week and had been obedient! Dielle even realized that it was because of family prayer that she has been good.We weren't able to meet with Ghita last week, and we finally had an appointment with Rita, but she doesn't understand anything we teach. She only speaks pigeon english, and just a little bit of english and a little bit of Italian, so we're struggling with helping her. We're going to bring a Nigerian member to the next appointment with us so that he can explain things to her in pigeon english. Hopefully that will help. We had lunch yesterday with Silvana, Gianluca and the elders, and it went pretty well. They don't really get along well at all, so it was kind of akward to be there because they fight all the time. It was fun, though, and I've seen a difference in the way they interact since they've started praying together every night. Monday night we went to mass with our friend who's a priest. He's going to come to church with us next week. It was really interesting. He gave us glow-in-the-dark rosary beads, too! The more I learn about other religions, the more I realize how true and how amazing our church is. It's such a blessing to have the pure, uncorrupted Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be led by a living prophet. My mission is amazing! There's no where else I'd rather be. The Church is true. I realize more and more every day how much our Heavenly Father truly loves His children. He loves us so much!I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
May 13, 2009
Ciao tutti!
Another great week in Prato! We had to give 3 of our investigators to the elders this week because we don't have time to meet with everyone! One set of elders just got blown in, which means neither of them had served here before, and the other set of elders stole the investigators of both elders, so the new ones don't have a lot of work right now. It was kind of sad to not be teaching them anymore, but at least they're still taking the lessons from the elders.
Thursday we met with Ghita. She's still really defensive and likes to bash a lot. It's really hard to feel the spirit in that environment. We try bearing our testimony a lot, but then she just tells us that we're being deceived by Satan. I don't really know what else to do with her. We're going to try meeting her one more time to see if we can get anywhere. We're praying a lot that her heart will be softened.
Dielle on the other hand is an angel! She's so incredibly sweet! I feel like she's part of my family. She came to church again on Sunday and is pretty much part of the branch. Everyone loves her! The sisters in the branch invite her over during the week for lunch at their houses, they give her rides and they help out with her girls. The members have been a huge help! The members here are absolutely amazing. When someone needs help, they all step in and help, even though it's inconvenient. I've learned so much from them. They always invite investigators over for family home evening or dinner with their families, they give people rides, they ask us if they can come to lessons. They're amazing.
Friday nights we have branch night, with a spiritual thought and dinner and some games. It's a lot of fun! We had 3 investigators there this week. Neytil came, and loved it! He's also more or less part of the branch already. Everyone loves him, and is so excited for him to be taking the lessons! They're going to be so excited once we set a baptismal date!!!!
Saturday night we took Neytil to a baptism in Florence. It was so beautiful! He told us that he feels like he's found the right church. He also told us how important it is to read the scriptures every day to feel the Spirit. He has such amazing insights. He knows the Bible front and back, and is quickly learning the Book of Mormon. He was walking around the church building looking at the pictures, and his face just lit up talking about Jesus Christ! He saw a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, and pointed to angel Moroni and asked us who it was. We said his name is Moroni, and before we got the chance to explain any more, he said, "Oh, the son of Mormon, right? And the one who appeared to Joseph Smith?" He is amazing! Sister Millis and I are convinced he's going to be an apostle someday. At church Sunday they made an announcement for institute and the CES fireside by Elder Bednar. Before we even had the chance to invite him, he told us he was coming because he loves studying the scriptures and wants to hear an apostle speak! We also overheard him tell the institute teacher that he wants to go on a mission someday because he thinks it's so wonderful that we go around and help people find the true church.
Monday we had interviews with President. He is so wonderful! His son, Scott, just got his mission call to the Catania mission! He's really excited! They will have 3 kids on a mission, and someone from their family in every mission in Italy. Me and my companion were last for interviews, and we took a bus from the church to a members house. President was on his way to the train station and took the same bus as us. We were talking to some people on the bus, and the whole time President was standing right above us looking over our shoulder! It was probably the most intimidating bus ride ever!
I've been studying a lot lately about grace and the power of our Heavenly Father. I love the scripture in Jacob 4:6-7 (I think) that talks about how Jacob is able to work miracles only through the grace of God. Nephi tells us in 2 Nephi 25:23 that it is by the grace of God that we are saved, after all we can do. I love the definition True to the Faith gives of grace. We not only need grace to eventually be saved and have eternal life, but we need the grace of God every single day of our lives. It is only through his power and strength that we have power and strength.
I also love the story in 1 Nephi 18 that talks about Nephi building the boat. Heavenly Father could easily have built the boat himself. He doesn't need Nephi to build it. But he allowed Nephi the opportunity to build a ship so that Nephi could learn to trust in the Lord. It's the same with missionary work. He doesn't need us. He has all power, and he could easily do this work without our help. But He allows us to be here to learn to trust Him, to help us learn to turn our lives over to our Heavenly Father. He makes so much more of us than we could ever make on our own. An elder I worked with took the story in 1 Nephi 18, and applied it to missionary work. Nephi talks about how he didn't build the ship after the manner of men, but of God. In the same way, God builds His missionaries and His children everywhere after His manner, not the manner of the world. There's a scripture in Psalms that talks about us as clay and Heavenly Father as the potter. I am striving to turn my life over to Him, to let him mold me and build me into what He needs to be. I am trying to let go of myself and be what He would have me be.
Buona settimana! Vi voglio tantissimo bene!!!
Sorella Hawkey
Another great week in Prato! We had to give 3 of our investigators to the elders this week because we don't have time to meet with everyone! One set of elders just got blown in, which means neither of them had served here before, and the other set of elders stole the investigators of both elders, so the new ones don't have a lot of work right now. It was kind of sad to not be teaching them anymore, but at least they're still taking the lessons from the elders.
Thursday we met with Ghita. She's still really defensive and likes to bash a lot. It's really hard to feel the spirit in that environment. We try bearing our testimony a lot, but then she just tells us that we're being deceived by Satan. I don't really know what else to do with her. We're going to try meeting her one more time to see if we can get anywhere. We're praying a lot that her heart will be softened.
Dielle on the other hand is an angel! She's so incredibly sweet! I feel like she's part of my family. She came to church again on Sunday and is pretty much part of the branch. Everyone loves her! The sisters in the branch invite her over during the week for lunch at their houses, they give her rides and they help out with her girls. The members have been a huge help! The members here are absolutely amazing. When someone needs help, they all step in and help, even though it's inconvenient. I've learned so much from them. They always invite investigators over for family home evening or dinner with their families, they give people rides, they ask us if they can come to lessons. They're amazing.
Friday nights we have branch night, with a spiritual thought and dinner and some games. It's a lot of fun! We had 3 investigators there this week. Neytil came, and loved it! He's also more or less part of the branch already. Everyone loves him, and is so excited for him to be taking the lessons! They're going to be so excited once we set a baptismal date!!!!
Saturday night we took Neytil to a baptism in Florence. It was so beautiful! He told us that he feels like he's found the right church. He also told us how important it is to read the scriptures every day to feel the Spirit. He has such amazing insights. He knows the Bible front and back, and is quickly learning the Book of Mormon. He was walking around the church building looking at the pictures, and his face just lit up talking about Jesus Christ! He saw a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, and pointed to angel Moroni and asked us who it was. We said his name is Moroni, and before we got the chance to explain any more, he said, "Oh, the son of Mormon, right? And the one who appeared to Joseph Smith?" He is amazing! Sister Millis and I are convinced he's going to be an apostle someday. At church Sunday they made an announcement for institute and the CES fireside by Elder Bednar. Before we even had the chance to invite him, he told us he was coming because he loves studying the scriptures and wants to hear an apostle speak! We also overheard him tell the institute teacher that he wants to go on a mission someday because he thinks it's so wonderful that we go around and help people find the true church.
Monday we had interviews with President. He is so wonderful! His son, Scott, just got his mission call to the Catania mission! He's really excited! They will have 3 kids on a mission, and someone from their family in every mission in Italy. Me and my companion were last for interviews, and we took a bus from the church to a members house. President was on his way to the train station and took the same bus as us. We were talking to some people on the bus, and the whole time President was standing right above us looking over our shoulder! It was probably the most intimidating bus ride ever!
I've been studying a lot lately about grace and the power of our Heavenly Father. I love the scripture in Jacob 4:6-7 (I think) that talks about how Jacob is able to work miracles only through the grace of God. Nephi tells us in 2 Nephi 25:23 that it is by the grace of God that we are saved, after all we can do. I love the definition True to the Faith gives of grace. We not only need grace to eventually be saved and have eternal life, but we need the grace of God every single day of our lives. It is only through his power and strength that we have power and strength.
I also love the story in 1 Nephi 18 that talks about Nephi building the boat. Heavenly Father could easily have built the boat himself. He doesn't need Nephi to build it. But he allowed Nephi the opportunity to build a ship so that Nephi could learn to trust in the Lord. It's the same with missionary work. He doesn't need us. He has all power, and he could easily do this work without our help. But He allows us to be here to learn to trust Him, to help us learn to turn our lives over to our Heavenly Father. He makes so much more of us than we could ever make on our own. An elder I worked with took the story in 1 Nephi 18, and applied it to missionary work. Nephi talks about how he didn't build the ship after the manner of men, but of God. In the same way, God builds His missionaries and His children everywhere after His manner, not the manner of the world. There's a scripture in Psalms that talks about us as clay and Heavenly Father as the potter. I am striving to turn my life over to Him, to let him mold me and build me into what He needs to be. I am trying to let go of myself and be what He would have me be.
Buona settimana! Vi voglio tantissimo bene!!!
Sorella Hawkey
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
May 6, 2009
Ciao tutti!
This week has been amazing!!! We have 2 new investigators, and our other ones are doing great! Wednesday we went with Neytil to Florence. We saw the Boboli Garden at Palazzo Pitti, and Piazza della Signoria. We walked by the Duomo in Florence, and Neytil talked about how even though the Catholic churches are beautiful, he doesn't like them because you can't feel the Spirit. He said that religion should be more personal and churches shouldn't be more worried about the art and the traditions than the gospel itself. He's amazing!
We finally were able to teach Dielle the first lesson. She loved it! She's so wonderful. All the sisters in the branch have been a huge help with her! They've all taken her in as their sister and have been wonderful. She had talked to the sisters and had a ride arranged for church before we even had the chance to invite her to come!
Our new investigators are Dickson and Ghita. Dickson is from Nigeria and is hilarious! He has so much faith. I love working with Nigerians. They never doubt God, even during the hard times. They always look for the best in every situation. He's great! Ghita is from Romania. She's recently divorced and has an adorable little boy who's almost 2 named Davide. She's really depressed right now, and we're trying to help her see how the Gospel will help her find hope. She studied with Jehovah's witnesses before, and is very confrontational about a lot of things that we teach. We're working on helping her feel the Spirit.
We had an amazing lesson with Neytil! He had researched baptism this past week! Once again he more or less taught himself the lesson. He asked some amazing questions. He never doubted anything we taught, but kept saying things like "wow! I never knew that!" and "This plan makes so much sense!" He's going to make an amazing missionary!
Sorella Lombardo, the less active woman we do service for, came to church this week! When we first started meeting with her, she said she wanted nothing to do with the church, so we asked if we could do service for her and help her clean her house. At first she was really grumpy to us and wouldn't even talk to us. Now she loves us! She came to church last week, and to the branch family home evening! It's amazing how service can soften hearts.
Everyone else is doing good! Monday we had a wonderful zone conference! We talked about how we can help build the temple here in Italy by finding, teaching and baptizing families. The assistants interviewed 3 different families who were recently baptized, and made it into a video. It was so beautiful! This Gospel truly blesses families. It's the only way we can be together with our families forever. I'm so grateful for my own family and that we are sealed together. I'm especially grateful this season for my mother, and all the mothers in my life who are amazing examples to me. Happy Mother's Day!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
This week has been amazing!!! We have 2 new investigators, and our other ones are doing great! Wednesday we went with Neytil to Florence. We saw the Boboli Garden at Palazzo Pitti, and Piazza della Signoria. We walked by the Duomo in Florence, and Neytil talked about how even though the Catholic churches are beautiful, he doesn't like them because you can't feel the Spirit. He said that religion should be more personal and churches shouldn't be more worried about the art and the traditions than the gospel itself. He's amazing!
We finally were able to teach Dielle the first lesson. She loved it! She's so wonderful. All the sisters in the branch have been a huge help with her! They've all taken her in as their sister and have been wonderful. She had talked to the sisters and had a ride arranged for church before we even had the chance to invite her to come!
Our new investigators are Dickson and Ghita. Dickson is from Nigeria and is hilarious! He has so much faith. I love working with Nigerians. They never doubt God, even during the hard times. They always look for the best in every situation. He's great! Ghita is from Romania. She's recently divorced and has an adorable little boy who's almost 2 named Davide. She's really depressed right now, and we're trying to help her see how the Gospel will help her find hope. She studied with Jehovah's witnesses before, and is very confrontational about a lot of things that we teach. We're working on helping her feel the Spirit.
We had an amazing lesson with Neytil! He had researched baptism this past week! Once again he more or less taught himself the lesson. He asked some amazing questions. He never doubted anything we taught, but kept saying things like "wow! I never knew that!" and "This plan makes so much sense!" He's going to make an amazing missionary!
Sorella Lombardo, the less active woman we do service for, came to church this week! When we first started meeting with her, she said she wanted nothing to do with the church, so we asked if we could do service for her and help her clean her house. At first she was really grumpy to us and wouldn't even talk to us. Now she loves us! She came to church last week, and to the branch family home evening! It's amazing how service can soften hearts.
Everyone else is doing good! Monday we had a wonderful zone conference! We talked about how we can help build the temple here in Italy by finding, teaching and baptizing families. The assistants interviewed 3 different families who were recently baptized, and made it into a video. It was so beautiful! This Gospel truly blesses families. It's the only way we can be together with our families forever. I'm so grateful for my own family and that we are sealed together. I'm especially grateful this season for my mother, and all the mothers in my life who are amazing examples to me. Happy Mother's Day!
Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey
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