Okay, so taking a step back to Wednesday
I had a dream that the testimoni di Geova came back to our house and were mad that I lied to them--hold on, did I tell you how JWs knocked on our door and that I was so taken aback that I told them to come back some other time even though we are very much not allowed to let people in our house and, um, we are full time missionaries for another church. Well I had this actually kind of scary dream I think as a result of guilt because I feel so bad I didnt just tell them we aren't interested.
Yes, missionary guilt.
Anyway, so Wednesday night I left all my clothes in the Anziani car and so Thursday I had to walk to Zone Conference in Slla LeCates clothes and some shoes I found in the closet and I managed to get my stuff and slip into the bathroom to change before too many people noticed, but it was yet another me entertaining the rest of the world moment, I meant to take a picture but didn't get around to it.
Zone Conference was amazing as usual.
President talked about how missionary life is not normal
and that there is a reason we only do it for a year or two because it is not normal but that we still have to do our best to follow all the rules and give it our all. It was just nice to hear someone acknowledge that what we do isnt easy. But then he also said that when he was set apart as mission president Pres. Eyring told him, "Your missionaries are lucky to be sent to a hard mission, because they are going to come back stronger and be prepared to lead the church."
He likened it to the early Saints,
"Utah was a bad place to grow food, but a good place to grow Saints."
I don't know why it has to be so hard for us to grow, but it is. I think about our investigators right now. Some of them are having a REALLY hard time. Example: We have one investigator who recently found out that her husband has been cheating on her...for 12 years...with her best friend... And she has always been a sweet, faithful person. And you wonder, why? Why do some people get the easy life and some people get the hard life? But we have to trust that God knows what we can become and that through the Atonement of Christ we can be HEALED not just from sin but from heartache. She is amazing by the way, we taught her the first three lessons three days in a row and she has been coming to church for a month now. She is the sweetest person I think I have ever met and I am completely in love with her. Her phone has been off but we are going to pass by her tonight with the talk:
The Atonement Covers All Pain.
We met with Rita a new convert and she is having similar problems as the rest, just feeling hopeless with all her struggles in life. She is far from her family with no work and hardly any food. We decided to stop by her after we got back from Palermo and it was perfect timing because she was feeling extra sad, but we told her we know God loves her and it will work out in the end. I believe that every time we say it to someone, but it is hard to get them to really believe it. She still loves God and her son Destiny and somehow keeps up faith even though she told us it was too hard she still ended the lesson by bearing powerful testimony that God loves her. And Destiny greeted us with his usual growly-chomping noise.
We think he is part bear.
Then there is our boy Johnny, who also has had a hard life
and wants so badly to change but just doesn't know how. We had a few out of control lessons with him asking millions of questions, switching languages every few moments, and impersonating a machine gun (which ironically a machine gun impression happened again the next day in another lesson, I promise the people we teach are normal) but just yesterday, he finally had broken down completely and was just like,
"what do I have to do to be free again?"
and we told him and we read with him from a talk
about how no one is too far gone and
we brought him 6 cartons of grapefruit juice
so that he could stop smoking and he said he would do it.
Like you said mom, sometimes, and often,
it is the people who take some time that end up being the most fully converted. These people just need patience and love and although we start out as strangers that come into their life out of nowhere they become so important to us in a matter of moments.
Corrado, wow. He told us the first time we invited him to church that he would come to church but he would never wear a tie, because he has only worn a tie two days in his whole life and he doesn't like feeling strangled. We said that was okay. But, this Sunday, he showed up in a tie. On his own. And he is reading the Book of Mormon page by page, even though he can barely read because his dad didn't let him go to much school. He called us today because his daughter had another baby.
These people just blow my mind with their incrediblness.
I feel so lucky to know them. And if anyone knows the story of Paul-->Saul. ANYONE can change and become incredible.
On the way back from Catania I talked to this awesome girl on the bus that looks like the Italian version of Babetta and was super cool and thought I was cool (which was a plus) and we talked about life, etc. We will be facebook friends someday.
In English Course we made them give us directions
to their favorite pizza places. We have tons of new fun people.
So, life is great!! I want to be a missionary forever.
I love you all.
Love,
Sorella Laws
Okay, let me explain some of these pictures.
Me, apparently directing and/or producing something
at the same time. Don't know what that was about but I am SURE it was important. And who ever was on the phone was probably confused.
You can take the Laws out of the film program for a year and a half
but that filmmaker face still shows up now and again.
Shout out to Slla Jenkins, because there should be some people you recognize in THESE photos (namely one amazing Peruvian Italian) and guess what, we went to Palermo AGAIN. Always think of you cruising the streets, teaching the gospel, when I am there.
There is all the sorelle at Zone Conference. There are a lot of sorelle in Sicily.
We all love each other lots. As you can see.
Reunited with Anz. Avesani!! Him and Anz Perry are Zone Leaders, greatest thing ever, even if its not actually my zone. We are currently being led by Anz. Scotchi and Anz Knutson from the MTC (he's back again).
And this is the elephant that is HAUNTING us.
We first HEARD it when we were saying a prayer in the church.
"Um, was that an elephant during the closing prayer?"
"Yes, I believe it was...
remember how we aren't really in Italy but
a mix between South America and Africa?"
"Oh, yes, I remember now, jungle noises during lessons are normal."
"Good prayer though."
"Yeah, good prayer."
And then we saw it the next day...several times!
And it drove by twice during church. It is haunting us and we are afraid something bad might happen to us if we don't go to the Circus while it is in town...
Then we were surprisingly invited to Palermo on Monday even though we had just been to Zone Conference in Catania for a SUPER district meeting that was really the whole zone. But the Zone Leaders asked us if we wanted to come, it was mostly for people who hadn't had interviews and we already had, but we went anyway even though it meant 9 hours on a bus for 5 hours in Palermo, it was still pretty fun. And to link these two pictures together there is this quote,
"With Anz. Scotchi leading us and
an elephant following us we don't stand a chance."
This artsy shot of me walking down the street, look to your right, that fence is made out of bed frames. "How many beds does this guy go through?"
Palermo is a very special place, it is unfortunate we only spent a few hours there. Its very clean most of all.
And it actually just looks like Provo...
..except for the seaside.
I had a dream that the testimoni di Geova came back to our house and were mad that I lied to them--hold on, did I tell you how JWs knocked on our door and that I was so taken aback that I told them to come back some other time even though we are very much not allowed to let people in our house and, um, we are full time missionaries for another church. Well I had this actually kind of scary dream I think as a result of guilt because I feel so bad I didnt just tell them we aren't interested.
Yes, missionary guilt.
Anyway, so Wednesday night I left all my clothes in the Anziani car and so Thursday I had to walk to Zone Conference in Slla LeCates clothes and some shoes I found in the closet and I managed to get my stuff and slip into the bathroom to change before too many people noticed, but it was yet another me entertaining the rest of the world moment, I meant to take a picture but didn't get around to it.
Zone Conference was amazing as usual.
President talked about how missionary life is not normal
and that there is a reason we only do it for a year or two because it is not normal but that we still have to do our best to follow all the rules and give it our all. It was just nice to hear someone acknowledge that what we do isnt easy. But then he also said that when he was set apart as mission president Pres. Eyring told him, "Your missionaries are lucky to be sent to a hard mission, because they are going to come back stronger and be prepared to lead the church."
He likened it to the early Saints,
"Utah was a bad place to grow food, but a good place to grow Saints."
I don't know why it has to be so hard for us to grow, but it is. I think about our investigators right now. Some of them are having a REALLY hard time. Example: We have one investigator who recently found out that her husband has been cheating on her...for 12 years...with her best friend... And she has always been a sweet, faithful person. And you wonder, why? Why do some people get the easy life and some people get the hard life? But we have to trust that God knows what we can become and that through the Atonement of Christ we can be HEALED not just from sin but from heartache. She is amazing by the way, we taught her the first three lessons three days in a row and she has been coming to church for a month now. She is the sweetest person I think I have ever met and I am completely in love with her. Her phone has been off but we are going to pass by her tonight with the talk:
The Atonement Covers All Pain.
We met with Rita a new convert and she is having similar problems as the rest, just feeling hopeless with all her struggles in life. She is far from her family with no work and hardly any food. We decided to stop by her after we got back from Palermo and it was perfect timing because she was feeling extra sad, but we told her we know God loves her and it will work out in the end. I believe that every time we say it to someone, but it is hard to get them to really believe it. She still loves God and her son Destiny and somehow keeps up faith even though she told us it was too hard she still ended the lesson by bearing powerful testimony that God loves her. And Destiny greeted us with his usual growly-chomping noise.
We think he is part bear.
Then there is our boy Johnny, who also has had a hard life
and wants so badly to change but just doesn't know how. We had a few out of control lessons with him asking millions of questions, switching languages every few moments, and impersonating a machine gun (which ironically a machine gun impression happened again the next day in another lesson, I promise the people we teach are normal) but just yesterday, he finally had broken down completely and was just like,
"what do I have to do to be free again?"
and we told him and we read with him from a talk
about how no one is too far gone and
we brought him 6 cartons of grapefruit juice
so that he could stop smoking and he said he would do it.
Like you said mom, sometimes, and often,
it is the people who take some time that end up being the most fully converted. These people just need patience and love and although we start out as strangers that come into their life out of nowhere they become so important to us in a matter of moments.
Corrado, wow. He told us the first time we invited him to church that he would come to church but he would never wear a tie, because he has only worn a tie two days in his whole life and he doesn't like feeling strangled. We said that was okay. But, this Sunday, he showed up in a tie. On his own. And he is reading the Book of Mormon page by page, even though he can barely read because his dad didn't let him go to much school. He called us today because his daughter had another baby.
These people just blow my mind with their incrediblness.
I feel so lucky to know them. And if anyone knows the story of Paul-->Saul. ANYONE can change and become incredible.
On the way back from Catania I talked to this awesome girl on the bus that looks like the Italian version of Babetta and was super cool and thought I was cool (which was a plus) and we talked about life, etc. We will be facebook friends someday.
In English Course we made them give us directions
to their favorite pizza places. We have tons of new fun people.
So, life is great!! I want to be a missionary forever.
I love you all.
Love,
Sorella Laws
Okay, let me explain some of these pictures.
Me, apparently directing and/or producing somethingat the same time. Don't know what that was about but I am SURE it was important. And who ever was on the phone was probably confused.
You can take the Laws out of the film program for a year and a half
but that filmmaker face still shows up now and again.
Shout out to Slla Jenkins, because there should be some people you recognize in THESE photos (namely one amazing Peruvian Italian) and guess what, we went to Palermo AGAIN. Always think of you cruising the streets, teaching the gospel, when I am there.
There is all the sorelle at Zone Conference. There are a lot of sorelle in Sicily.We all love each other lots. As you can see.
Reunited with Anz. Avesani!! Him and Anz Perry are Zone Leaders, greatest thing ever, even if its not actually my zone. We are currently being led by Anz. Scotchi and Anz Knutson from the MTC (he's back again).
And this is the elephant that is HAUNTING us.We first HEARD it when we were saying a prayer in the church.
"Um, was that an elephant during the closing prayer?"
"Yes, I believe it was...
remember how we aren't really in Italy but
a mix between South America and Africa?"
"Oh, yes, I remember now, jungle noises during lessons are normal."
"Good prayer though."
"Yeah, good prayer."
And then we saw it the next day...several times!
And it drove by twice during church. It is haunting us and we are afraid something bad might happen to us if we don't go to the Circus while it is in town...
Then we were surprisingly invited to Palermo on Monday even though we had just been to Zone Conference in Catania for a SUPER district meeting that was really the whole zone. But the Zone Leaders asked us if we wanted to come, it was mostly for people who hadn't had interviews and we already had, but we went anyway even though it meant 9 hours on a bus for 5 hours in Palermo, it was still pretty fun. And to link these two pictures together there is this quote,
"With Anz. Scotchi leading us and
an elephant following us we don't stand a chance."
This artsy shot of me walking down the street, look to your right, that fence is made out of bed frames. "How many beds does this guy go through?"
Palermo is a very special place, it is unfortunate we only spent a few hours there. Its very clean most of all.
And it actually just looks like Provo...
..except for the seaside.
1 comment:
(Lauren's mom, can you pass this along to her for me? :) Thanks!) Okay, crazy stuff, but in that picture of y'all at zone conference, the girl standing right next to you on your right (Sister Buma) is my cousin! Go figure.
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