The Blown-in Siters of Bari

Well, here we are!!! I am in Bari and the address is

Via Luigi Einaudi 25
70125 Bari

We arrived to Bari Friday night. Friday all the Zone Leaders were going back after their training with president. Sorella Kelly called and was like, "Itd be nice if you could go with them." I was listening to the conversation in the other room so when Sorella Foote came in and asked, "How are you feeling?"
I said, "Lets get out of here"
and we packed and were on our way before we knew it.

We got first class on the Eurostar train (we were first class because they really wanted to get us out of there and everything else was sold out). We had to wait a little bit for the train to come and I was like, "Well theres always McDonalds" and right after that the Crawfords came back and were like, "Do you all want McDonalds" So I have now had my first McDonalds in Italy (a hamburger with pecorino cheese).

Luckily the ZLs were with us to take all our luggage and be awesome. Anz Gurney was in the Army Intelligence and is way legit so the whole time we kept making jokes about how we were on a train with Jason Bourne (which he didnt know because his seat was a ways off).

Anyway, he has a cool story because normally people in the army cant go on missions but he knew the right people and it all worked out. And he was trained by Fratello Tate so pretty much we are all connected.

Speaking of connected Zone Conference was Tuesday and half our Zone was in the MTC the same time as me. Me and Anziano Knutson and the two Anziani in the district ahead of us and over half of the district below us. Including Sorella Stebar!!

Turns out we have a really young mission. Come July 70% of missionaries will have been in the mission a year or less. Crazy, right? But the stripling warriors were young too. So it was this big reunion but there also wasnt much time for conversing because we had some AWESOME training from our fearless leaders.

Our mission motto for the year:
"Fill the Rome Temple With God's Children"

Because we want people to have ALL the blessings of the gospel, not just baptism (though thats a good start) and the Assistants talked about "growing up now" and not waiting around because there arent going to be older missionaries to fill all the leadership positions. President talked about acting versus reacting. Because really, we are in charge of how we feel about life and what we do with it.

Funny story. So we are teaching a 7 year old who is getting baptized at the end of Feburary. Her parents wanted us to teach her all the lessons and it is good practice for us. So we were talking to her about (I dont even remember what) and she tells us about a story she read in the Liahona about a girl and she says, "Scusate, ma devo direvi, lei e un idiota...scusa, Dio" translation: "Excuse me, but I have to tell you, she was an idiot, excuse me, God." We did our best not to just bust up laughing.

Monday we met with Antonia. She is this sweet old lady who just wants to know everything. The Aniziani stole her out of our Area Book before we got her and taught her a lesson and she wants to be baptized. She cried and cried because her life is hard, her family has abandoned her and shes not in the best health but we just promised her that it would all be okay and that she could find comfort and peace in prayer and in the scriptures. Shes getting baptized in Feburary!

Its kind of weird being in the same ward with Anziani, its like an awkward double date all the time. Ha, not really, but we are always calling them because we are lost or dont know when we have meetings and then they dont trust us so they get the assistants to come pick us up for Zone Conference (who then also got lost--tangent). But we are learning to work together and I am trying to not turn everything into a competition.


We also make Chuck Norris like jokes about one of them because he has a rep for being one of the more intense missionaries
(he also doesnt know we make fun of him--Sorella Foote and I both really enjoy making fun of people,
its probably a bad thing,
but we spend a lot of time enjoying life,
which is good)

Yesterday we taught English Course. It was the best! They are all hilarious and lovable and love us and we just talk about whatever. A lot of them are musically inclined so we are going to teach them an English song on Thursday.

Bari is nice. Big. Not even that big, but bigger than Ladispoli...or Ragusa, We always say
"we're just two small town girls in a big city"

The other day we turned down a street and it was straight out of an old Italian movie, and all the sudden there were no people, it was intense and beautiful. So we have been here four days but we have the highest of hopes. And no time because the Anziani finished before us and are making faces. (Also, they are both natives(more or less),

Im going to learn Italian this transfer!!

Okay, lots and lots of love.

Dont forget to pray.

He will help us with anything...and also everything.

more love,

Sorella Laws

Sorella Laws and Foote, The Vagabond Years

Greetings from...Rome!!!

Psych. We are NOT in Bari yet.

Because going where I am supposed to go when I am supposed to go there just isnt how my mission life rolls. So Sorella Foote and I (can I just tell you she might be the greatest thing that has happened to my life here in Italy? We already love each other way too much, she is like a mix of several of my very favorite people). We spent a few days living in the other room of my (I guess its not mine anymore) Ladispoli apartment.


There arent many pictures from this week because we decided we dont know if we want to remember staying inside all day. Though it has been kind of fun being with Sorella Tutt and Askew. Sorella Tutt and I both picked up weird things from our Anziani like saying "Ciao!" with a weird American accent.

But we have bonded and laughed and then tried not to laugh because it makes my Bronchi's hurt. And Sor. Foote now calls me Bronchi.

We went out Friday night when I thought I was better and hunted down a less active. She talked to us forever and then I guess I was breathing hard because Sor. Foote thought I was dying so she goes, "Okay, well, we gotta go" and I was like, shoot, we didnt commit her to coming to church so I just go (in simple Italian) "Youre coming to church on Sunday?" And then she goes off about how she knows she should, etc. etc. And at the end I dont even know because we didnt go because I was still sick on Sunday.

So because I am still sick and Sor and Pres Kelly are worried about me and they wont let us go to Bari! It makes sense, but we are dying to go. We came to Rome yesterday for my permesso. We caught the 7:30am train and the whole morning we were like "we are busting out of here!!"

Its funny, one minute I am SO sad to leave Ladispoli and the next I am dying to get out of there.
We are pumped for Bari and have big plans for it. We made transfer goals and the first one was,
"baptize enough people for our own ward so that we dont have to share with the Anziani"


We like to dream big. ;)

So for now we are staying with the Rome Sorelle. We are real good at sleeping on floors and eating other peoples foods. We've started calling ourselves the Vagabonds and the other day Sor. Foote goes, "What are we doing? Am I a missionary?" Its killing being inside all the time, we made a rule that we could go to places that are a ten minute walk or less away when we need to. So we had kebab and pizza for lunch most of the time we were in Ladispoli and right now we are at a nearby internet point. I feel like an old asthmatic lady because I cant do anything without having my chest hurt, Im not coughing though, which is nice I guess.


Turns out there is a woman out of my same heart (okay, no idea how that saying actually goes) because the Marcuccis (a senior couple) came to pick us up for our permesso appointment and me and Sor Marcucci (and Sor Foote and Anz Marcucci) were laughing SO hard. Shes got some sort of thing with her ribs that hurts real bad when she laughs so the four of us would be joking as we drove around Rome and her and I would be clutching our chests and being like, "We are going to die!!"

We started mocking the British GPS
and they said the Italian one was way meaner and yelled at you so I said, "Cut off 50 people, that is how we drive here" and then we all start talking in British accents "Careful, make way for the queen" "You are on the wrong side of the road!!!!" etc. Which I guess is what happens when one companionship is always in the office and the other companionship has been stuck in an apartment that isnt theirs for several days.

We also laughed a ton and made best friends with a girl named Candy from Cancun (who said we should come visit after the mission and well, Cancun? sign me up!!) So she added us on facebook (with her iphone, of course) and we said we would add her in a year and she saw my pic that said see you in 2012 and laughed and then she told me I sound funny when I speak Italian and she asked if we had boyfriends and I was like,
"No, we were like Ciao"
In the aforementioned weird way of saying Ciao.

So, needless to say we kept her entertained as we waited until noon for our 10 oclock appointments. And she was way interested in the Book of Mormon and wanted to buy one and we were like, pff, call this number and theyll give you one in Spanish. Fo Free.

And we also made friends with a nice old man who bought us hot cocoa.

Life is good in Italy.

We had lunch in the mission home and Sorella Kelly made us amazing food and then President did interviews with us so he would have slightly less to do at Zone Conference in a week and he told us how he knew it seemed crazy that we were going to Bari but that he felt really strongly about it and then he said that he also had the thought of sending me back there at some point and I said, "good, because I told most of the members and investigators that I would be coming back." Ha.

President Kelly is so the best.

He is definitely supposed to be here over this mission. AND he said we can use informal form with female people our own age, yay for less awwkardness|||

I was excited to get an AMAZING packet from one Diana Lewis, your wedding reception flashmob??
So legit. and do not worry, I sent something back just as good. I also loved how many stamps where on the outside. I picked it up from the office on transfer day and people were like "wow" and I was like, "Yes, I have the coolest friends ever" The nice thing about Italy post is that if you can fit it in a mailbox you only have to stick like 3 stamps on it and itll get there. So maybe we had to stuff and shove it in the mailbox, but we got it in without too much damage to the envelope.

But, do let me know if it ever gets there, I sent it to Babzy's house.

Also, to everyone that was in that photo, um, you are the best. All of you. I definitely felt the love. I actually made an appearence in Cricketless??

Oh dear...At least it wasnt behind the scenes footage of me and jennie passed out on the couch after staying up all night hot gluing styrofoam to the walls... But seriously, I saw the picture and I was like, Ah! So many awesome people in one photo and even Jeff Parkin. At least the film program hasnt completely fallen apart without me ,)

Speaking of mail, I decided that about 22 people I know and care about would get married while I was gone and from what Ive heard/the wedding announcements we are over halfway there, good work everybody.

Can you believe Ive been out 5 months as of yesterday?
Time fliiiiies. P.s. there are a certain two people who I know read this blog who should update me on the fact that they are FINALLY getting married. Good grief. I even sent you a birthday letter.
Also, how is that webseries going?

p.s. you can email me lauren.laws@myldsmail.net, I just cant email back. And I can print them out and pretend like you bothered enough to handwrite a letter. ;) jokes.

Anyway, Auguris all around, you crazy lovebird friends of mine.

Okay, we are getting kicked out because places around here just close whenever they want.

So...I love you all. Stay strong. Pray that I get to Bari soon so we can get to work, because we are going to kill there (not kill, but bring the good news of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ).

Oh, and I do think I am getting better, but it does act up when
I choreograph dance routines to Saturdays Warriors.
Which I have not seen and probably never should. Sounds awful.


LOVE YOU

Sorella Laws

Well, this week was intense to say the least,

I included that picture so that you know that I have in fact been resting and taking care of myself.

Saturday we finally got out and went to the Armelleis to make a flier for English course. Giacomo got super distracted using FONTWORKS and trying to make it look really cool so people would come. "You can’t just say "English Course" We need to say Class of English Lessons USA (or however it would translate, I’m not really sure) So he got all into it and we watched and it was fun.

Then we go to the church to have a lesson with Toni. While we were waiting Sorella Jenkins answers the phone. It was about transfers. We had previously made guesses about who my new companion would be. Well, the call comes and I overhear that Sorella Askew and Sorella Tutt are coming to Ladispoli. For a second I thought, 3? But I remembered that there is a severe shortage on Sorelle so I then think, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Ladispoli is getting white'washed and both Sorella Jenkins and I are leaving.

And I cried.

Like, real crying.

Someone should have filmed me it was so good. Luckily Toni didn’t end up coming because I cried for about an hour. I just started thinking about all the people I had to leave. The members. Our less’ active members. The investigators. The people we had just found. All these names and faces were going through my head and I felt my heart break into tiny little pieces. Sor Jenkins said that in a way it was good I was so sad, because it means I’ve been giving my all to this city.

But the Lord asks that we come to him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. So, I am at least halfway there.

And when we got home there was a letter from SAMMI with a CD in it with wonderful, wonderful songs that we have been listening to nonstop. Since we still aren’t working full days with my sickness.

THANK YOU, SAMMI!!!

Sometimes we fall asleep to Inception.

It was hard to tell people though. Elena, who I love to death, was sad. She told us yesterday that she started reading the Book of Mormon everyday again and that she would come to church on Sunday!! Eugenia (she’s our age) was like, "maybe you should tell president to pray again about this one". All the members were sad, but they just love us missionaries in general, so they’ll be okay.

The day before the call I had made a plan for my mission (cioe, where I would go and how long I’d be there, I said I’d do 4 in Ladispoli...Not so much, though)

So, are you just dying to know where I am headed??

...BARI.

With Sorella Foote, Sor. Jenkins last companion sort of ironically. We are staying in Ladispoli until Tuesday however because I have to do fingerprinting for my permesso on Monday. So I get a little chance to show the new Sorelle around. Or to rest up and get 100% better.

MY NEW ADDRESS:

Via Luigi Einaudi 25

70125 Bari

Luckily I’ll still be here for a little bit, so if you’ve already sent stuff to Ladispoli it should get here while I’m still here, but from now on, send it to Bari.

Bari actually is on most maps, unlike Ladispoli if you want to look for it. I hear there is good food there and warmer weather.

Our last district meeting we had sandwiches and were our normal awesome selves. You are all right to say they send the best looking (and best in general) to Italy (as we like to say, we're the best).

I don’t even know how to explain how hilarious we are.

The picture of Sor J and I we are practicing making a face Anz. Cardiff always makes that he got from an old Italian man, I believe.

It is going to be sad to move on from such an awesome district.

Sor J and Anz Cardiff are dying and I’m headed to Bari.

We had a sweet dinner with the Sicardi family the other night. Frat. Sicardi told us all what we should do with our lives, that Sor J shouldn’t be a history teacher she should be an archeologist and that I should be a documentary filmmaker for National Geographic and also make a movie with his sons in it (one of whom was in an Italian TV series when he was 11 or so, so I might actually need to use him someday.) And that we could go on adventures and leave our husbands home with the kids.

We also had a little miracle on Sunday when the Marchettis invited us over; we found out that Alessandro, a guy we have been trying to track down with no luck would be there. Yay! Such a good coincidence.

CARMELA SET A BAPTISIMAL DATE yesterday!!

We went and blew her mind and she said the middle of April and we said what about February and she said okay. It was so sweet. Neither of us will see it, but it was still so awesome and we are praying like crazy that she will come to church and do the things she needs to really commit.

Then we met with Toni and got him to go to institute for a little bit. I think he is in love with Sorella Jenkins and made fun of her for it, haha.

So I have accepted that it is okay that I am leaving all these wonderful people and am excited to see what these new changes bring.

Yay for unpredictable mission life!!!

This email is sort of sporadic because we don’t have much time. I slept all morning and now we are going to teach the branch presidents mother-in-law and convince her it’s the perfect time to change her life and receive the blessings of baptism.

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH.

Writing you from Ladispoli for the last time

(except I am also praying to get transferred back up her one day)

Sorella Laws

More Pictures and Words

Okay,

so we invented an orange throwing game while make Sorbetto, of course.

And ice skating, the first one is my favorite,


but I include the second one for Sor. sake.

And then we had a lesson with Carla our most favorite ward missionary ever, who actually got transferred down South to be a real(ish/mini) missionary for a while so we will miss her.

And after that? I started running a temperature and we havent left the house until yesterday when we went out for medicine and pizza. I am going to go on as if there is nothing strange about that sentence, because there isnt. Pizza is important.



Sorella Jenkins for keeping her indoors probably wants to kill me. There were points when I would have been okay with that..No, it wasnt bad. She made me soup and biscuits and cleaned the whole kitchen. I was getting better each day and my fever broke after (Im only adding these details for mom's sake) a couple days. So I was getting better each day, but then it felt like it was all gathering in my chest and I made some joke earlier about pneumonia so I probably have it. I called Sorella Kelly who called the mission doctor who told me to take Amoxicilin. (500mg, 3 times a day, 10 days). Does that sound okay, mom? If not feel free to call/email the mission home and demand a recount. But I am down for whatever. And recognizing that this might just been a mission-long theme but that the Lord will provide.

Italy is the best, because you can buy antibiotics just by asking and they ask if you talked to a doctor, and you say yes. and they say give me 3 euro and you say, okay.

Also the people at the farmacia are always having a party and laughing about something. We want to be friends with them. And the lady who runs the pizza place is sweet too. And her husband always waves to us from the back. So, even being sick can bring new friends.

And He does, because since we missed church on Sunday the whole branch is praying for me and Sis. Green called and asked if we needed groceries. I called the Anziani on day five and said, look will you come to Ladispoli to which Anz. Cardiff replied with a Napoleon Dynamite-esqe sigh and then, "yes, of course!"

Even in a foreign country miles away I am in good hands,
so dont you worry about me.

Then the Anziani hung around for a while, which was nice because we had been cut off from civilization and when they go to leave Anz. Carli goes, "Man, we could have watched Toy Story 3 in that time" Again, this is why missionaries cant watch movies.

Since we have been stuck in doors we have listened to a lot of Enya and the two CDs you sent me, I have had crazy dreams involving jaguars in our house and the important need to get rid of them before we went to church.

Happy New Years, by the way, it sounded like bombs going off all night, Sor. J recorded some of the fireworks, I couldnt get out of bed myself. They are fun because there are a lot more all at once instead of how we kind of space them out and try to make them last. They are also A LOT louder.

General blog shout-out: If anyone has photos of me on film sets looking cool (there are probably about five out there) and would send them to me, that would be awesome, because people will think I am even more cool here and I need to live that up before I come back to BYU where everyone knows how only slightly cool I am. K, thanks.

I LOVE YOU ALL. Seriously. I will be honest a lot of my love is going to Italians and South American-Italians and Italian missionaries and Philipini-Italians and Indian-Italians okay, basta.

More love. Forever and ever.

Sorella Laws

Also, when Anz. Cardiff gave me a blessing he said something about "creating eternal frienships and really getting to know people personally" I thought that was a neat idea, even if we come in contact with 50.000 people a day, we can still take time to get to know people, it doesnt take too long.