#CiSaràSempre

Happy spring a tutti!

Gift and Sorella DeMann

Even though it's still pretty wintery in Statte haha hopefully spring is coming, we are ready for sun and warm weather!  So this week included a very exciting trip to......SASSARI! Can you believe it? I got to go back to the beautiful island of Sardegna for a few days last week, I had an appointment for my identification card. I flew into Cagliari and got to take the train up to Sassari with the one. the only. Sorella DeMann!!!!!!!!!!! Oh wow it was great to see her. Seriously I've been so blessed with some of the best comps I could ever ask for! She is so so awesome and it was great getting to spend a few days together and revisiting the city where we were companions! That's rare in this misison. 

Being back in Sassari was incredible, especially because I got to see my favorite person ever: GIFT! And guess what?!?! She's preparing to go on a mission herself! She is learning from Kiri how to read and write so that she can go on a mission. That's the best news I could've ever gotten. :) 

Also, let it be known that this week I ate the best gelato thus far on my mission. Yeah, I've become a gelato critic. At Intenso gelateria in Cagliari. (just recording this so I can remember forever). The cone was filled with warm nutella. Do I need to say more?  Oh, and while we're on the subject of food, we ate lamb at our pranzo with the Castaldo family this week. Lamb. That was a first! It was buono.

Intenso Gelateria

We had the time change this week.....we were all sitting listening to the talks during church yesterday when an older sister walks into the chapel: "BUONGIORNO! Oh woah, why did you guys start early this week?" Hahahah it took everything in me not to die laughing. I love these crazy italians. 

On Thursday morning we went to follow up with one of our investigators, Tonino. He wasn't home, but his wife, Enza, was and she invited us in to share a message! It was really sweet and we are excited to go back this week to talk with them together!!

We met with Anna this week and got talking about her baptism. Her husband is having a hard time finding work here right now and so he is leaving in 2 weeks to go work in Germany until September. But he has a break in June, so we moved her baptism to June 23rd because it is really important to her (and us) that he's there for it! We'll continue working with her but that's the update! It was really cool when we met with her last night, she pulled out this wedding invite (she pulls it out like once a week) from an Anziano that served here in like 2012 that she loved. We got the idea to look him up on facebook and then we sent him a message from Anna's account! She called us this morning to tell us that they had an hour-long video chat last night and he still speaks italian perfectly. Technology helping us out in the work! Little miracles. 

And now for the big miracles! aka Giuseppe.  Dino came in to the panificio this week and asked Giuseppe "I think I want to quit smoking, can you help me?" yesssssss. Giuseppe couldn't come to ch urch yesterday because he had something with work, but his son Enrico came! The ward just fellowships like crazy no matter who comes, they are incredible. Also, per my dad's advice, we had the bishop invite Giuseppe to start briging the bread for sacrament meeting! He was so excited to tell us that he's going to be bringing the bread for the sacrament on Sundays, it was really special. 

We had a great lesson with Giuseppe and Elvira last night, Fratello D'apuzzo and his wife (from the Taranto ward) came too! We talked a little bit about the plan of salvation, had Brother and Sister D'apuzzo share their conversion stories, and then we bore our testimonies. The spirit in that room was so powerful. Sorella Geertsen and I started crying, Giuseppe too. Then Fratello D'apuzzo said "The reason they're crying is because when they were in the premortal life, they knew you. They knew they would come here on the earth to find you. And here we are". Whew it took everything I had not to bawl my eyes out but I LOVE this family and I love this work. It is so good and so beautiful to watch conversion and see the gospel work miracles in peoples lives. 

OH and Frederica!!!! We stopped by the panificio one night this week and we met her! 17 years old, she was an exchange student in Michigan for 5 months and speaks perfect english and wow we just all clicked and are best friends. The best part? She asked about our beliefs and was really curious because she's Christian but knows the catholic church isn't super correct. So we were more than happy to introduce the Book of Mormon, give her a copy, and exchange phone numbers!! 

Other than that, our week was full of casa in casa sharing the new easter video, #CiSaraSempre or in english I think it's called Always There. I love this Easter season and getting to share the message with everyone that He lives! Our Savior died for us but He lives and because He lives we are here today :) 

The Sorellas from the Taranto Zone

We read 1 Nephi 17 with Giuseppe this week and there was a verse that really stood out to me, verse 13: "I will be your light in the wilderness, and I will prepare the way before you". Jesus Christ is our light in the wilderness! He is the light of my life and the light of each of our lives. I know that He truly has prepared the way for each of us to return to live with Him, our Father and our families forever. 

Love yall!

Ciao ciao ciao ciao ciaooo.

XOXO

Rome Temple grounds (Includes  Temple, Visitors Center, Stake Center
and living quarters/hotel like place for those traveling to the temple)

Taranto Zone

St. Patrick's Day + No Smoking

This emails starts right where the last one left off: last Monday night we had a huge success and miracle. The Taranto ward was invited to present The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a Catholic church in Taranto! So their bishop gave a few remarks, one member talked about the restoration, they answered questions that people had, and the Taranto sorelle invited us to join! We (the four of us) got to sing several different hymns for like 100+ people that were there at the church that night. It was so much fun and really cool to see the spirit touching these people! They clapped after each song we sang so that was also kind of funny hahaha. The best part was that at the end, after they had talked about the Book of Mormon, they said whoever wants a copy of this book can have one, for free. Right when it ended, everyone started mobbing us grabbing for a copy!! Oh my it was absolute insanity and SO beautiful!!!!! I don't think the Taranto sorelle realized that everyone would want a copy of the Book of Mormon, we gave away a whole box in a matter of minutes AH it was incredible. Then we were just trying to hand out everything else we had, pamphlets, pass along cards, it was a great night.

a real Sicilian cannola, thanks Giuseppe

And now for the real question, as I'm sure you're dying to know, has Giuseppe stopped smoking? Giuseppe has stopped smoking cigarettes! He's given them up completely. Unfortunately he is smoking cigars but not very frequently. Little by little he is getting it!! And just after 1 week he is seeing all sorts of miracles as a result. The main one being that he is sleeping better at night than he ever has in his life!! He said he sleeps the whole night through and can actually breath. And he doesn't cough any more either!! This is a man who lost his dad (66 years old) to cancer as a result of cigarettes. This is a man who has 0 teeth because of cigarettes. But this man, Giuseppe has such great faith and he knows that God is his strength through overcoming this! We know it too. As I say every week, watching his conversion just keeps getting better and better.

We had stake conference yesterday down in Taranto and some members picked up Giuseppe and brought him!! He really enjoyed it, especially the part when the 2nd speaker was a lady from Bari who was raised in Palermo (where he's from!!) So of course he made a beeline for her once the conference ended. It is so funny to see him walk into the church and tell every single person on his way in (whether he knows them or not....) "hey it's been 2 days without smoking because I'm quitting!" He's so proud and so are we. The best part was when we got to introduce Giuseppe to President Pickerd who was there for stake conference!!! It was so sweet to see. President is amazing. And he told him "okay Giuseppe, now it's time to bring your family. This is a church for families". Couldn't have said it better myself.

We went over to their house last night for a lesson and Giuseppe said those exact words to Elvira!! "It's time for you to come to church Elvira!" Oh my we are praying so hard. We had a great lesson, on The Gosepel of Jesus Christ, we drew out a ladder and explained the passes: faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, ... Then we asked what he thought the last step was "well, you need to keep having faith and repenting!" Exactly, Giuseppe. Endure to the end! He gets it. He just gets it. We concluded the lesson reading part of 3 Nephi 11 when Christ comes to the Americas and invites the people there to repent and be baptized. We asked him if he was there with Christ would he accept that invite? He said yes. Then we told him that as authorized representatives of Jesus Christ we are now inviting him to be baptized. He said he just needs a little bit of time. So right now we are all praying together for him to pick a Sunday in May for his baptism! Coming soon.

The Statte sorelle celebrated St. Patrick's Day by making tons of sugar cookies and green frosting and cutting out green clovers and "clover attacking" and delivering cookies! We took some to Rosa and also a less active in the ward, plus a few others. It was a blast. Plus we have expert chef/baker Sorella Geertsen who made some bomb cookies. She tripled the frosting recipe for me😊

We had a lesson with Antonella this week, she is just really going through a lot right now with her family and work so we're doing our best to be there for her and help her realize that the gospel eases our burdens and makes them lighter!

And we have been trying nonstop to get a hold of Anna this week, without success. :(

We had zone conference this week which was really awesome. President Pickerd had us come prepared to share a Book of Mormon scripture that's changed our life. I shared Helaman 5:12 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." I know that as we center our lives on Christ we will not fall! He is our shelter during the storms and will be there for us always, no matter what. This week I invite you to think about a Book of Mormon scripture that changed your life! Let me know, I can't wait to hear.

I love you all and I love being a missionary here in Statte and getting to represent Jesus Christ every day❤

Alla prossima!
XOXO

Roll Tide

Love the food

Carley and Sorella Geertsen

Sorella Lee

Transfer photo from last transfer

Giuseppe's missionary moment!

Okay I'm going to get the bad news out of the way because so many good things happened this week!!!!! I'm going to try and hit all the highlights but first you must know that our investigator, Rosa, broke up with us. She called us this week and told us that she's too busy and she can't meet anymore so we are heartbroken over that, but not dwelling on it because we have seen so many miracles in the last few days!!

Grandma Castaldo

Last Monday night, right after pday was over, our phone rang. We answered. The call was from an unknown number and turned out to be Valentina, a less-active in the ward that has said repeatedly in the past that she does not want to be visited by the missionaries. Sorella Johnson and I met her at a meal appointment a couple weeks ago with her in-laws (the Castaldo's that we eat with every Thursday) and she is so cute and so fun to talk to. We found out a couple days after that meal appointment that she had asked the members for our phone number but she never called. Until Monday. We couldn't believe it. I was in shock. She said "Ciao sorelle, if you guys aren't busy right now can you come over and visit with me?" We were like hmmmm let's check our schedule.... hahah just kidding we dropped everything we were doing and went straight to her house. We visited for a little bit and got to know each other and got to meet her husband (also less-active) and their cute little baby. We shared with her the One By One music video which she really enjoyed. 

The best part was on Thursday when we went to the Castaldo's house for pranzo and we got to break the news to them, it was met with immediate tears. They said that just yesterday they were talking about their son and Valentina! They couldn't believe she called us and invited us over... Valentina also said that we can come back whenever we want. Then for the spiritual thought after our pranzo with the Castaldo family, we shared again the One By One music video they started crying again and told us we should share this video with Valentina! To which we responded: this is exactly what we showed her when we went by on Monday. It was a really special, tender, and spiritual moment that we got to share with them. My heart felt so full and we all just sat around the table crying. So beautiful. The things that you get to witness as a missionary are just so incredibly special and undescribable. Mamma mia.

Our one student came to English court again on Tuesday! (he can't come on Thursdays but we're enjoying teaching English at least once a week). Since no one showed up on Thursday, we got to go to genealogy course and for the spiritual thought we showed the Grazie A Lui video on the big projector that they set up for the course-- it was amazing. Afterwards, all the students started clapping and saying "che bello" (how beautiful). I couldn't agree more.

We saw Antonella once this week read The Book of Mormon with her, helped her out with some things around her house, and just got to visit with her. We aren't really sure where to go or what to do with her because she's found work... and until it's over she probably won't be able to come to church.

We also visited Anna this week and read the Book of Mormon with her too! She didn't come to church either... that's a really tough situation and again we're not sure what to do. So if you have any suggestions please let us know! After our lesson with Anna we got to go up to the roof of her apartment building and watch the sun set over Crispiano-- it was beautiful. 

Sunset over Crispiano

Okay now time for the real miracles of this week. Prepare yourself.

Remember the lady Tina I mentioned in my email last week? We met her on the street while showing the Grazie A Lui video. Well, we met up with her on Saturday night and.... you'll have to listen to the voice messages I attach to find out what happened with her!!!!!!!!!  (Editors note: voice message tells how they taught Tina the restoration and how she brought a friend with her to hear the message also. Two very happy missionaries!)

Okay now for the really good stuff.

Giuseppe.

Again, if you really want to know the details, listen to the voice message, I promise it's worth it. 

Giuseppe teaching Enzo about the Book of Mormon

He came to church again yesterday!!!!! We fasted together for 24 hours and he gave up cigarettes for 24 hours. He was telling all the ward members, they are great and were so happy for him. And then after church, Fratello D'apuzzo, a member from Taranto who does an anti-smoking course, came to Giuseppe's house to start the program with him. I was floored. He had Giuseppe sign a contract that he'd never smoke again, and Giuseppe has to follow these like 15 steps for the next 7 days. Fratello D'apuzzo promised him that if he does this, he will never smoke again for the rest of his life. Please keep him in your prayers!!!!! I know he can do it. Geez, I've never prayed harder in my life, but I'm ready to see God work miracles in Giuseppe's life and the lives of his family members. (Editors note: voice message explains how Giuseppe is sharing the gospel with his friends. He has a friend at the bakery he is showing/explaining the Book of Mormon and how it makes him feel so good, and sets up an appointment so the missionaries can teach his friend what "we believe".  Giuseppe saying the word "we".  Two very, very, happy missionaries!)

Scripture of the week: Jacob 6:3 "Blessed are they who have labored diligently in His vineyard." This scripture doesn't say blessed are they who have "hung out" or "relaxed" in His vineyard, but LABORED DILIGENTLY. Each one of us has a part to play in the vineyard of the Lord. Are you laboring diligently? I love giving cento per cento every day to this work and to these Italians. I love them with my whole heart and I love my Savior Jesus Christ.

This work is so so good! I love you all!! 

 

Elvira

Sara Esposito and Sorella Geertsen

The countryside

P-day in Alberobello.  Alberobello is a small town in Puglia in Southern Italy, famous for its trulli: white, cone-roofed houses. 

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

Let it snow?

Let it snow!!

Snow in Statte? Yep, that happened on Tuesday! It was a lot of fun just walking around in it, but I definitely couldn't do that every day. Also just really funny because Italians don't go out/do anything when it rains....so you can only imagine what they're like when it snows. 

"Can we come visit you?"

"No. It's snowing"

"You don't have to leave your house though..........".....

I think we are having March showers instead of April showers because it's been raining almost nonstop since Sorella Geertsen got here!

Another highlight of this week: we had someone come to english course!! That's really a miracle because no one came to english course at all last transfer. But we went to the market and walked around with our english course sign and got 1 person to come! Hey, it's progress. 

This email is a little shorter considering the amount of you that responded "Yes!" last week hahahahaaha. no hard feelings pero.

And now I'm going to be completely honest in saying that this week was a rough one. We got cancelled on more times than I can count and none of our investigators came to church, partially due to the fact that they didn't have rides.  And rock bottom was when we went to visit Antonella and she opened the door and hurriedly said "I don't have time today or tomorrow, only Tuesday and Wednesdays. I have work." I responded "does that mean you can't come to church on Sunday?" "Si"

"Ci dispiace molto". That really displeases us.  "Me too, I have to go now."

*insert Sorella Geertsen and I walking away and crying* That's the mission for ya, folks!! It's a roller coaster, some days are up and some are not so up, but moments like this are outnumbered by and give me a greater appreciation for the moments of complete joy.

We met with Anna a couple times this week, she was going through some hard family things and Bishop Loberto even went over to her house to help and visit with them! He's great. But he told her the same thing we've been trying to emphasize the past 7+ weeks.....come to church!!!!! So she recommitted, we rescheduled her baptism for April 21st and she promised us to come to church. 

(now's the part where you refer to a few paragraphs ago when I said "none of our investigators came to church".) 

Enjoying hot chocolate on a cold day

Giuseppe didn't read the Book of Mormon this week, so that one was really hard to swallow, too. So we read with him :) One night we stopped by the panificio to show them the mormon message "The Hope of God's Light" Giuseppe wasn't there but we showed it to Elvira and Enrico, they loved it. The whole time we were watching it I was thinking, this video is so perfect for Giuseppe (if you haven't seen it, go watch it). And once it ended, Elvira said "You guys MUST show this video to Giuseppe, this is exactly what he needs" yessss, she's basically the 3rd member of our companionship. 

Anyways, we wanted to officially teach the Word of Wisdom to Giuseppe (we've read D&C 89 before and talked all about it) so we had a really solid lesson planned out and we walked in to lay it down for him, but then I turned to Sorella Geertsen and for some reason it just didn't feel right. So we read a couple chapter in the Book of Mormon, confused about why we couldn't continue with the lesson we had so carefully prepared. But the Lord really does have a plan for every single thing and following spiritual promptings led to.....Saturday night. The Word of Wisdom lesson was amazing. Giuseppe completely opened up to us about his addiction (he smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day) and Elvira talked to just about the reality of it. He's been smoking since he was like 10 years old. It was just so raw, so real and then we decided it was time to show "The Hope of God's Light" mamma mia it couldn't have been more perfect. By the end Giuseppe said, I think I want to do one of those fasts. We told him that we would fast for him too, we could do it together and then he just started crying. This big sicilian man, crying because he was just so overcome with the spirit. Naturally Sorella Geertsen and I were in tears too-- it was so beautiful.  So hopefully this week we can organize ourselves for the fast, and for Giuseppe to have the desire to quit smoking. Oh my I've never prayed harder in my life. 

In other news, we had tacos twice this week. They were deece. Don't take mexican food for granted, I miss that stuff. 

Taco time

Ward conference was yesterday and the bishopric got rearranged! Kind of funny because the same thing happened at ward conference in Sassari! So we have a new bishop now, Bishop Castaldo. 

We did some street contacting in Massafra this week and had some fun successes! We got to show the "Grazie a Lui" video to a lady named Tina and it was weird but cool, talking with her there was something different. I was looking into her eyes and saying with my own "You know this is true!!" After we were done talking she said "I don't really know why I'm giving you my phone number but yeah here it is!" And she saved ours in her phone! 

Carmella is doing well, we met up with her and read the first two chapters of The Book of Mormon together and extended her the sfida! I told her we'd call during the week to see how it's going and she said "well, you have agency so you can do what you want" hahahhah I love her :)

Last night Sorella Geertsen made some brownies (mamma mia her brownies are incredible............) and we felt like we should take some to Sara, a less active member here! She is so cute and we usually visit her Sunday nights. Well last night we surprised her with these brownies to the which she said "O-M-G" (in english hahah we were dying) yep, they were really good. And we showed her the music video for the song "One by One" by Paul Cardall and Elder Bednar, we were all in tears by the end of it. It was beautiful reminder that Jesus Christ atoned for each of us, individually, one by one. I am so thankful for my Savior!

I read a quote in the institute manual this week that I love: "Some people are like rocks thrown into a sea of problems. They are drowned by them. Be a cork. When submerged in a problem, fight to be free to bob up to serve again with happiness." This week I invite y'all to BE A CORK! Don't let the hard times get ya down, I'll be trying to do the same :)

Buona settimana a tutti! Love yall!

XOXO

 

More snow pics

Every day is gelato day

Castle in Statte

Popcorn night

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