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