Proviamo, dai

 Sorella Johnson and I have a new catch phrase/life motto, I don't even know. But we've been saying the word "dai" a lot this week (pronounced "die" and means "come on" or something like that...) at the end of every word and sentence it's a blast. 10/10 would recommend. Provate, dai.

Sorella Johnson and Carley

Zone conference was definitely the most memorable by far, mainly because the Taranto church building has no heat, well I think it has heat, but no one knows how to work it! So we shivered and huddled under our coats for several hours, but seriously. I left zone conference feeling so empowered, spiritually strengthened, and ready to take on Statte! Our new emphasis is on The Restoration, bringing it up early in conversations and always referring to it. As we've put that into practice this week, we've seen so many blessings and I just love testifying right off the bat. They say your testimony grows by sharing it- they're not lying. 

I took the 'driving test' this week too! The senior couple in our zone hopped in our car and I had to drive in Italy for the first time ever......woah it's scary not going to lie! Luckily it was during pranzo so not too many cars out. Also I had to parallel park for the first time in 5 years......I won't say how that went, but I'm excited to start driving and learning my way around as soon as my international license comes in the mail!

Taranto Castle

We did some house to house this week and met a man named Tonino, he was outside his house and as we immediately started talking about the Restoration with him, he asked for a copy of The Book of Mormon! We told him we'd be back in a few days to talk about what he'd read. :)

We got to see Antonella this week, we felt like we needed to stop by one day even though we didn't call her to set up an appointment or anything. The second we walked in the door she said: "Ciao, sisters! You know, I was just sitting here thinking to myself: I wonder when they'll come see me again. Probably not today, but I wish today!" And then we knocked on her door. That was a really cool miracle! We were able to sit down and the Joseph Smith story together, straight from Joseph Smith History and the spirit was so strong as we did so. She is definitely taking things slowly, but progress!

On Friday, we fufilled Giuseppe's lifelong dream of eating pancakes and maple syrup. He and Elvira invited us to cook in their big, fancy panificio kitchen! We had a blast and we showed them the "Grazie a Lui" video which really impacted them. Afterwards, Elvira said: "You guys are so much like us (catholics) but it seems like the only difference is that you live a much fuller life". Yep, she gets it. Our only struggle right now is getting them to come to church because they work crazy long hours all week and Sunday is their only day off. 

We saw Nunzia again this week and got to talk about the Plan of Salvation! She really opened up, talking about how she wants to go to the Celestial kingdom, we explained that baptism was the first step towards that! She is holding back a little because she feels like she has to be perfect before baptism, so of course we explained that was definitely not the case. Piano, piano!

We got a new investigator this week, Carmella, a self-referral! She called us and told us how she used to meet with missionaries tanti anni fa so we asked if she'd be interested in meeting up again: yes. We are excited to see where things go with her too!

And lastly, I'd like to share a really cool experience we had yesterday, we ended up having to teach Gospel Principles, the lesson was on charity. I'll start by saying that the ward and the members here are so amazing. One of the sewing course students came to church yesterday because she's also part of the choir who sang during sacrament meeting. Her name is Cleo. And at the very end of the lesson we showed the video "Dayton's Legs" she was in tears after 5 seconds, bearing testimony after the video was over was a neat experience and the spirit was tangible. I'm so thankful I get to share the gospel and my testimony with literally everyone I see, every day :)

I know most of you probably heard, but with the passing of my grandma this week I'd like to bear my testimony that I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will be able to see our loved ones again after this life. I know with certainty that this life isn't the end, we will have eternity with the ones we love, and for that I am extremely grateful! I know I have a new angel looking out for me from above! I love my grandma and am so thankful for the example she was to me of hard work and Christ-like love. 

Buona settimana a tutti! Love y'all!!

XOXO

Sorella Carley Neuberger

Those weren't raisins in the bread
they were olives.

Taranto District missionaries 

Statte has my heart

Mamma mia I love Statte and I never want to leave! It really is a magical area. I'm having a little bit of culture shock right now and I think I'll have it again if/when I leave this city just because it's so different from the rest of the mission, especially in terms of missionary work. Not a day goes by that I don't say, "I think we're in South America!" Simply because we go from one lesson to the next all day-- it's beautiful! The Lord's work really is hastening and the field in Statte is white and ready to harvest, I'm just lucky to be a part of it. Sorella Johnson is an amazing missionary and companion so basically I've got the best of all worlds going on right here. We work so well together and motivate each other, I'm learning and growing exponentially every day. There is nothing to complain about at all!!! But there is one thing I'd like to throw out there for those of you who weren't aware:

The Panificio (bakery), giant mixer.
Giuseppe in the background

Italians. Are. Stubborn. The whole "italian stubborness" may be a stereotype but it's also a reality. Adesso vi spiego.  We have 2 investigators, Giuseppe and Elvira, they are Sicilian and own a panificio (bakery) in Crispiano! We met them by doing english course finding where we take a small stack of english course cards, drop them off by the cash register, and then stop by again to refill the stack! We've seen a lot of success with this finding strategy, not so much with the people that are taking the cards, but with the people working at the bar, or in this case, the panificio. So we've talked with Giuseppe and Elvida about the gospel, given them a copy of the Book of Mormon, and when we stopped by to visit them this week, they invited us to their house for pranzo on Sunday! Naturally we were pumped because, word on the street is that Sicilian food is the best food and we'd get to teach them the full-blown restoration :). Yesterday we drove out to their house in campagnia (like an actual house!). After being stuffed with enough food to feed all of Statte, we got right down to it and started explaining our beliefs. Well, sicilians love to talk so saying we got cut off a few times and lost control of the conversation would be an understatement. But there was an amazing spirit in the room when we read Moroni 10:3-5 together and testified that sincere prayer will lead to real answers. They calmed down and Giuseppe admitted: "I've been searching. I've been asking God to help me decide which religion to follow and for Him to show me a sign. And now I'm starting to think that maybe you guys are the sign he is sending me" WOW!!!!! It was so beautiful to hear him say that! And Elvida, although she claims to be catholic, defended us wholeheartedly when the topic of the word of wisdom came up. And she too, by the end admitted: "I never invite people over to our house. When I told my son you were coming over he was suprised and wondered why I had invited you. But for some reason, I felt inspired to have you over today. Something inside me told me it was right". The spirit was so strong and I am so excited to hopefully go back and teach them more!! This family is amazing. Stubborn, but amazing.

We met with another investigator this week, Anna! She was taught by the Anziani about 5 years ago but the sorelle met her on the street and started teaching her! In our meeting with her this week, I just decided to be super bold with her (apparently I'm good at being bold but maybe just because it's in Italian?) and I asked her: Have you prayed to know if this church and the things you've been taught are true? "Yes." Then I asked: Did you get an answer? "Yes." Then I said, Anna what are you missing? She knew right away: baptism. So I grabbed the calendar off her wall and said: right here, right now, we are picking a date. A goal, something for you to work for! Because, although you don't feel ready right now, you will. So we picked March 10th. And we wrote it on a piece of paper in big letters so she can put it on her mirror where she sees it every morning :) Anna is so awesome! And her husband has been participating in some of the lessons too. She also wants her son to get baptized so she's setting a great example for them.

Since this bold questioning worked so well, we decided to try it later in the week with another one of our investigators, Nunzia. Her husband is a member and they come to church every week with their 2 children :) And we have a running appointment with them so we see them every week at the same time! After talking about the restoration, we made the same proposal to Nunzia as we did to Anna: follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized! She didn't say yes right away, so we will have to keep asking :) Nunzia has such an amazing faith and we just really connected right off the bat. At the end of our lesson we asked her to say the closing prayer, it was her first time praying out loud, but it was beautiful. And after, she said "I feel cold, like chills!" And we testified that was the spirit confirming to her the truthfulness of our message.

Panoramic view from our apartment

Another one of our investigators, Maria, I met for the first time this week. We immediately clicked, I think it's probably the fact that she's really into hair and nails and fitness and she's just the cutest thing, probably in her 40s with this blue curly hair!! We got to talk about the plan of salvation and she accepted all of it without hesitation. She then even asked how do I get to the celestial kingdom? Can I get baptized? Sorella Johnson and I were trying to tone down our smiles so we didn't blind her but ahhhhh! We didn't pick a date quite yet, but coming soon!!

And last, but most definitely not least, Antonella. Our investigator that is an ex-nun as of summer 2017. She's in her 40s now but became a nun when she was like 19! She is so spiritual, has amazing faith, and knows the Bible really well. She also asks us really good questions. This week she asked us if we did any recitations or manifestations during church. We told her that everything we do and say in our church is from the heart! We talked about the sacrament and how it's a beautiful opportunity to remember Jesus Christ and she said "I really want to come and see how things work in your church!" Unfortunately her mom is in the hospital and Antonella is working trying to help her family out and works on Sundays too. Piano piano!! Little by little. 

We have a running pranzo appointment with one of the families in the ward, the Castaldo family, every Thursday and they are so awesome! I was getting to know them a little and then they were telling us about the trip they took to the United States over the summer! Hahhaha this led to a great conversation, as you can probably imagine. I asked if they ate at any cool restaurants "Chuck-a-rama" was the only one they could name......that's kinda sad haha. They said the best restaurant they ate at was this italian restaurant in Salt Lake owned by sicilians which made me laugh because they can eat that here......but good to know for when I'm living in Utah!! They also found it hilarious how Americans "use the same tomato sauce on pasta as they do on pizza." "Americans don't use tablecloths or placemats very often, their tables are bare" (Italians never leave their tables without a tablecloth). They were also really surprised that Americans just eat everything in one plate in the sense that pasta by itself is a meal! Italians have to have pasta, followed by meat, followed by potatoes, followed by etc. etc. 

As far as english course here......well technically we have one but no one comes. I really want to change that because there were so many baptisms in Sassari that have come from english course. So this week, we decided to take the successful idea from Sassari and make a huge "inglese gratis" sign and walk around with it! But since there is very little foot traffic in Statte, we went to the school when it got out and handed out cards to all the parents, it was pretty successful and fun! 

One of the members here does a genealogy course on Thursdays which is awesome and then another member is doing a sewing course! She even has the sewing students practicing and learning hymns to be sung in church. So there's some actual evidence that the members here are incredible, in case you didn't take my word for it last week.

I came across this scripture during personal study this week: 1 Nephi 17:13, "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." I know that Jesus Christ is our light in the wilderness and that He will lead us along if we are obedient in keeping His commandments. I've see this every day as a missionary, as we pray to be led throughout the day, the Lord really does go before us and light the way!!

Vi voglio bene! Have a great week!

XOXO

 

At the bakery

Bacon anyone?

Sorella Carley Neuberger
Sorelle Missionarie
Corso Vittorio Emanuele III, 206
Statte, TA 74010
Italia

I like Statte a latte

Gift came to put me on the train and say goodbye.
The hardest goodbye ever!  

Where do I even begin?? I guess I'll start by saying that leaving Sassari was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It literally feels as if I've left a piece of my heart in that city and I know that I have. I got up to give a departing testimony at english course before leaving and I thought I was going to make it through without crying but right at the end I lost it! Saying goodbye to the people and city I love so much was really difficult but I am so excited to love my new city even more: STATTE

A full day of travel and I'm here! It's really small, and by really small I mean that I told the Sassari english course I was going to Statte and they'd never heard of it hahaha. So I'm near the city of Taranto right in the heel of the boot of Italy! It just Sorella Johnson and I in our area which includes the cities of Statte, Massafra, Martina Franca, and Crispiano. So a huge area! That being said.....we have a car! We are like 1 of the 2 sister areas in the mission with a car. It's really really weird......but also super normal feeling at the same time (except for the fact that we can't listen to music in the car.)! Everything is really spread out so we use it a lot. I don't really even know how to describe Statte, you see I'm trying, but basically it's not your stereotypical Italian city. We are out in the countryside and it is so tranquil and so beautiful I absolutely love it. 

View from our apartment.

My new companion is Sorella Johnson she is just the greatest and we work so well together I am excited for everything to come! I have already learned so much from her. She's from Seattle area, went to BYU before the mission (lived in heritage building 28 #3106, I lived in building 28 #3107......) but she went a year after me. She was trained by Sorella Barnes (from my MTC district) and Sorella Barnes is now in our district in Taranto and is our STL! So basically it's a real small world. Sorella Johnson and I are at about the same point in the mission so I can already tell I'm going to learn tons of Italian this transfer and tons about how to improve myself as a missionary! We really are loving every minute.

The church building in Statte, Italy.

And even though it's only been a few days, we've seen miracles! The biggest one being our neighbor right across the hall, Ida. She is about 85 years old so we went to her house one morning to help her clean in places it was hard for her to do herself. We got to talk with her about the Restoration and The Book of Mormon (although it's hard for her to read since she only went to school through 3rd grade). We invited her to church but, not going to lie, I was pretty doubtful seeing her physical condition, she has some health restrictions and I'm not sure how often she even leaves her house since we live on the 3rd floor and there's not an elevator. But, nonetheless, we got a ride lined up for her and knocked on her door on Sunday morning. Expecting her to still be asleep and in her pajamas, we found her standing right by the door in her church clothes, pearl necklace, and lipstick with heels and everything. I wanted to cry!! It was so amazing she was so excited to go to church! We helped her get down the stairs, but we left out the fact that church lasted for 3 hours and that once we got there, the chapel was upstairs...whoops. I think she really enjoyed it! The members were all so nice to her and inviting her to more activities it was beautiful to see. She told us after it was over that 3 hours is too much church for her...can't disagree, but we are praying for her and know she'll keep coming :) she can't escape us, she's our neighbor! heheh. Kidding. Anyways we love Ida!! 

The ward here in Statte is amazing!!!!! It's a lot smaller than the ward in Sassari, only about 30 people but they are so loving and I'm so excited to get to know them! Also I'm the new ward pianist yay :) And the relief society president and her husband own a pizzeria in Statte, so you know what that means! Before we even dropped my suitcases off at our house we went to the pizzeria. Regular pizza, nutella pizza, yum. 

Okay well I'm trying to think of what else I want to say in this email, sorry it's so short.... I know other stuff has happened but I'm drawing a complete blank. But we have lots of people we are working with and I am excited to start getting to know them this week! 

Thought for the week: 

Matthew 6:33 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." 

Doctrine and Covenants 90:24 "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good." If we seek, search, pray, and believe everything will work out :) I don't know anything that brings more peace than that knowledge and the fact that we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to learn, grow, and progress but we can't do that if we don't ask and pray first! I know that as we strive to do all we can, the Lord will multiply our efforts and we will see miracles daily. I've witnessed it as a missionary and I love being here in Italy sharing this message of happiness with everyone we see!

Buona settimana! Vi voglio bene❤

XOXO

Sorella Carley Neuberger

One more hug from Gift.

dog food in Italy,  Aka pasta.

A few left over pictures from last week on P-day in Alghero.

A couple of left over pics from the clothing drive.

The week of gifting The Book of Mormon

Ciao cari miei!

Buona Befana! That's the Italian holiday on January 6th. The witch comes over night and leaves candy! 

P-day in Alghero!

Biggest news of the week:

The Sassari Branch is now.......(drum roll) the Sassari WARD! Whaaaaat?! The stake presidency flew in from Rome to make the announcement, it was so exciting and all of the members are so happy :) Now we've got to keep growing this thing. I'm pumped to see the Lord's work continue to unfold in this beautiful little city.

Biggest success of the week:

Our gesso on Saturday night. It was the best gesso since I've been in Sassari (although we were fighting street musicians for space..). I should've taken a picture, but we're for sure going to do it again. We decided to make the subject The Book of Mormon. We laid out the sheet and brought every language of the Book of Mormon we had between our aparment and the Anziani apartment and put them all around the border. It ended up being more than 20 languages including Turkish and Navajo....! In the middle in big letters we wrote: "What is this book??" And, holding an Italian Book of Mormon, stopped everyone that walked down the street to ask them if they'd ever seen this book! It was so much fun and we had a lot of success. (funny moment was when the first person I stopped I said with 100% confidence, in english, "have you ever seen this book?" yup, the response was a weird look. hahahah the whole speaking Italian thing is a real struggle sometimes). 

Between the 4 of us, we probably gifted more than 10 copies of The Book of Mormon!! I got to give away 3 copies: 1 in Italian, 1 in English, and 1 in Romanian. I gave the English one to a cute lady from Uganda! She walked by and I didn't even have to try to stop her, she just said "I'm really curious about the Mormons and this Book of Mormon, what is it?" (btw this never happens.) Once I recovered from momentary shock, I gave her the rundown explaining how in the Bible, Christ said he would visit his 'other sheep' and the Book of Mormon is the written record of the 'other sheep'! She said "I know the Bible really well and that makes perfect sense!"  Another miracle from the gesso was when I was bombarded with hugs from Naomi, Rebecca, all our little Romanian friends from a couple months ago that we had been looking for and trying to contact! Well, their whole family was in giro and I gave the mom, Esther, a copy of the Book of Mormon in Romanian :)

Lunch with Sorella Palmer

Sorella Palmer came in this week from Rome, she served here before I got here and she had to do fingerprints for her permesso di soggiorno. So that was pretty much our day Tuesday, dealing with the Italian government and all that that entails and then Pietro's family had us over for a big pranzo mamma mia.. ravioli, baked chicken, cheese, bread, salad, potatoes, dessert. It was a miracle I could stand up and walk after eating all of that! When Sorella Palmer was here she wanted to stop in this little Sard Ring shop here in Sassari, Sardinia has these famous rings and they are something else. Well, I had gone in the shop several times with Sorella DeMann but they have so many it's impossible to choose! The shop owner knows us and must think we're crazy... "oh hey! The indecisive girls with nametags are back!" So this time, along with Sorella Palmer, I got a sard ring!!!! It's pretty dang cool. 

We had the wonderful opportunity to go on a scambio this week, we went to Cagliari it was a blast. The sorelle there are amazing and just killing it in every way, it was great to work with them and learn from them!! One morning, Sorella Greer and I did casa in casa for a couple hours and we had so much success! One lady, Itria, when she opened the door and saw us she said "entrate" (enter) and so we did......then taught her the restoration, explained the Book of Mormon which she was so interested to read!! At another door, a girl about our age opened and she and her mom invited us in to show the Sii Una Luce video!! So we did, sitting around their kitchen table, and then we got to bear testimony. I looked at them and said "We left everything at home, put our lives on hold for 18 months because we know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is our Savior, and He loves us. And that's why we are here, to share this message with others" and I looked at the mom who was just in tears, which also brought me to tears. It was hands down one of the most testimony-strengthening experiences of my mission to know the things I testify of are true and to see the spirit confirming that to Alessandra and Ludavica. It was so so beautiful, I don't know how else to explain it. Also a very foreign concept to us being let into a house to teach gospel principles without knowing the people beforehand! So naturally, we have been trying to emphasize casa in casa here in Sassari, and the other things we learned on the scambio! We haven't had quite as much success....yet! But I know that with hard work and lots of prayer, the Lord will bless our efforts, and I find immense peace in that!

Volunteers at the Mensa Caritas

Big miracle at the Mensa Caritas this week! One of the directors, Miriam, asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon because she's curious and wants to read it!! We are praying for her to read it with a heart open to the spirit so she can know it's true :)

Transfer calls are tonight, I do not know what will happen bit I do know that I do not want to leave Sassari. I tried to take lots of pictures with the members yesterday just in case... the annoying part about getting the calls Monday night is not knowing if I'll see these beautiful people again!! 

I was really sad to hear about President Monson, but the Lord has a plan! It really is a blessing to have modern day prophets and apostles. Except it'll make that part of missionary work a little awkward for the next couple months........ especially because that's one of the points I refer to a lot, having a living prophet on the earth today. Anyways, I am super grateful for the leaders of the church and for their guidance!

For those of you that haven't read it yet, the January 2018 Ensign is so good!! There was a quote I read that I really liked: "If you are too busy to serve the Lord, you are too busy." It's that simple. Sometimes we get so caught up in everyday life that we lose our sense of purpose or forget the direction we are supposed to be headed in. Service is so so important because when we serve others, we are serving the Lord. As Richard L. Evans said, “We can’t do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere.” Doesn't have to be anything big or earth-shattering. I'm so thankful for my opportunity to serve! Full-time! I'm so blessed to be able to serve the amazing people here in Sassari and to serve Heavenly Father as a representative of His son, Jesus Christ. The gospel is true! I love getting to say that every single day through everything I do. I am so thankful for YOU! Thank you for all of your support, prayers, and love. 

Spero che abbiate una bellissima settimana :) 

Transfer calls are tonight (may the odds be ever in your favor),

XOXO Sorella N

 

Pietro and family

Gabriella

Franca

Gift

Ilaria

Mario Moro - Italian Grandpa

Matija Pavesi

Libera Moro

Miriam