Gesù & Gelato: Buongiorno da Sassari!!

Buongiorno da Sassari!!

Plane ride to Sassari

That's right, I'm back in Sassari for the day to pick up my permesso card. Still feels surreal that I'm here.... it's like a dream but I just love this city with my whole heart and miss it lots!! And maybe it's just in my head but I swear it's cooler here and there's a nice breeze coming off the coast. Che bello!

I didn't get to see Gift, she was busy, but I did get to talk to her on the phone and she is just so happy!! ❤ She's super active in the ward and the sorelle even told me one of the families in the ward is going to try and adopt her!!!! Did get to see Pietro and he's doing great, still coming to church lots! Due to lots of travel and time spent at the Questura, this one might be shorter I'll try to remember what I can from this week!!

Gioia, our cute 16 year old investigator, got back from her vacation and was dying to see us! She even texted to ask when we were meeting up! We had quite the adventure getting out to her house (she lives kind of far) and the metro was momentarily shut down (right at the moment we needed it!) So after about 4 buses, and a lot more time than we were expecting, we made it! We asked her if she'd been reading The Book of Mormon to which she responded by opening her copy and pulling her bookmark out to tell us about the 4 chapters she'd read!! We brought the restoration DVD and watched it on their TV and then afterwards got to testify of the importance of the modern-day restoration of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. Her dad was there too and we gifted him a copy of The Book of Mormon!!

We did some metro finding this week and I had one of the coolest experiences of my mission! When the metro pulls up usually I just get on at the doors that open in front of me (kind of like spinning the wheel of fortune hahaha.. which doors will open in front of me today and who's gonna be the lucky winner on that car?) Well this particular day when the metro was pulling up I saw the back of a girls head and just felt like I needed to get on her car. So I walked down a ways, sat down right next to her, and struck up a conversation. That being said, there's definitely an art to public transport finding that I have yet to master which is: start the convo in a way that seems normal to them, make friends, talk about the gospel + establish missionary purpose. All in a really short amount of time. No pressure! I sat down next to this girl, her name is Gioia, she spoke perfect English (even did an exchange in Kentucky!), is from Rome, and is just really really awesome. The best part was that we became friends AND I pretty much taught the whole restoration (luckily Sorella Yanacallo was close by because I was not getting off until she got off, so we completely missed our stop 😂). It was really really incredible, I don't know what else to say. Gioia is really awesome and I just have a great feeling about it all! We have messaged some on whatsapp and hopefully will be able to set something up for this week! Anyways this was a big step in helping me overcome my public transport finding fears... piano piano!

And speaking of public transport, well, going along with my goal of opening my mouth when we find ourselves using them, we met a girl named Rachele on the bus! We didn't talk for long before she got off, but she asked for our number! Plot twist! Hopefully an update to come on that!

with Flavia

We had a lesson with Flavia this week too!!!! She is so cute and so so spiritually strong. She told us about her experiences at FSY and we bonded over that (you'll understand if you understand my love for EFY) and she shared a really powerful testimony with us!

Highlight of my week was getting to do a scambio with Sorella Oveson, wow she is one incredible missionary.. I learned so much from her. We did some casa in casa in this huge neighborhood zone kind of near the temple! We were on our way our of an apartment building after knocking the whole thing and ran into a girl named Ilaria on the way out! We talked with her and got to exchange phone numbers!!

We had another cool experience this week.. after getting lost on the scambio and not being able to find the bus stop to get back for English group (still learning this city!)...... so we just started walking to the only bus stop we new in the area. We started talking to a couple of the people waiting at the stop... the lady I spoke with was from....Equador!! I couldn't believe it!! I started talking with her about the Book of Mormon and the crazier part is that before we left the apartment that afternoon Sorella Oveson asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon to bring with her but then she saw the spanish one on the table right by the door and said, eh I'll just bring this one. We laughed about it then, but when we met Susanna, we knew that was no coincidence. It was really special getting to leave her with a copy in Spanish! Can't wait for her to meet Sorella Yanacallo!

Okay second highlight of the week (actually, tie for first) Lina!!!!! I don't know if I mentioned Lina in a past email but I met her at the bus stop a couple weeks ago and we just became best friends, she reminds me SO much of my grandma and she is just so cute. We have been calling her every couple days to catch up, see how she's doing, this week we finally got to meet up! We met at the church and you could just tell when she walked into the chapel that she could feel the spirit, feel something different. Sorella Yanacallo and I had a power lesson on the Restoration, it was really spiritual and Lina was feeling it too. It's moments like these that make all the rejection worth it! Finding someone who will listen and then getting to look them in the eyes and bear testimony, it's powerful and really special. We gifted Lina The Book of Mormon at the end and you could tell she just felt really honored and excited to read it. Sorella Yanacallo said something to Lina that day that's been on constant replay in my mind since. She said "Lina, you can read this book and that's great. Or you can read this book prayerfully and it will change your life." It kind of made me reflect on my study of The Book of Mormon, am I studying prayerfully? I am so thankful for The Book of Mormon in my life, I know that it is another testament of Jesus Christ and an infinite source of peace!! Oh and Lina took us to her favorite gelateria afterwards, it totally reminded me of grandma, we walked in and all the workers knew her, she knew their names, it was great.

gelato with Lina

I read a talk this week by President Monson called "Yellow Canaries with Grey on Their Wings" from April 1973 and it is very touching! If you get a minute I'd recommend reading the whole thing, but as for now I'll share with you my favorite part:

"Can we not appreciate that our very business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves? To break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by our todays, to bear our trials more beautifully than we ever dreamed we could, to give as we have never given, to do our work with more force and a finer finish than ever—this is the true idea: to get ahead of ourselves." I know I was definitely in need of this reminder this week. We're here on this earth to learn, grow, and better OURSELVES. That's what this life is all about! We tend to get caught up in outdoing the people around us that we forget about breaking our own personal records and doing our personal best. There is so much peace in knowing that we are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us and recognizes our efforts! He knows we are doing our best and giving our all, and that's all He asks. I am so thankful for Him and His infinite mercy and grace! I hope that this week y'all will make an effort to PR. Get ahead of yourself. Love yall!!

Transfer calls tonight,

XOXO