Our life is the best.
Still. Always.
I don't know what else to say.
We had an amazing first lesson with a lady from Colombia who is totally adorable and was very interested to know more about the Book of Mormon, we only got to meet with her briefly in Termini (the main station) though so it wasn't the most spiritual experience, but it was still pretty special. But then we said we'd see her Monday and she didn't pick up her phone. Sad. But we should still be able to see her this week.
I have been a little sick...again, today I've got a sore throat nothing serious. I've been keeping bundled up and it's actually been pretty warm, until yesterday. And I'm loosing lots of hair from my head. Which concerns me, because I am vain, and everyone knows I've got (had) great hair. But it should grow back. If not,
there are lots of places to buy wigs around here.
We advertised English Course like mad this week, and still only the usual 4 showed up, plus an extra member that came for part of it. So Slla Camp and I just talked to this guy who taught himself English before he started coming to the courses, he is way cool. He asked us what we do all day as missionaries and we explain how we get up at 6.30 and some of the workout things we do, haha, and talked about how we teach and find people who want to listen to us and do service things. Jonathon, a member who learned English on his mission in France was there too and was like, "you can listen to Enya!?" ha, our mission president is the best. We hope more people will come though, we have been inviting everyone and put up fliers everywhere.
Fabrizio, the amazing husband of one of our members is, well, we don't even know, it is crazy because he comes to church, loves it, is an amazingly loving husband, probably the best I've seen my whole mission, but he doesn't read and doesn't really pray. She says they take turns praying at dinner, but he isn't very serious about it. So we are thinking maybe he doesn't even really believe in God...it's a mystery, but we are going to crack it.
Yesterday was hilarious because his wife had tried to cook dinner and everything failed, the rice in these shrimp tomato things she made was undercooked and the potatoes were burned and it was nothing short of comical because it was just that bad. So he comes home and says that its fine and goes to taste it and then goes, "no, this is not eatable" but that he still loves her and would remarry her 100 times over (cute, right, Italians...gosh) starts cutting up tomatoes and mozzarella (the fail-proof Italian standby) and she starts frying eggs and the potatoes weren't really that burnt (we only broke a few teeth) and it all turned out okay and we tried to convince her we cook even worse but she wouldn't believe us. Man, we have been fed more here in 2 weeks than I was in all 4.5 months in Ragusa.
I love Romans. :)
Contrast that with Marco, the almost husband of another member, Alma, he...talked at us for almost 2 hours about how our church isn't any better than any other church and that we have rewritten the Bible, etc. etc.and that we "love bomb" (he was speaking english so he really did say love bomb, haha) people into joining our church but that we don't actually love people. I don't get offended all that easily, but when someone I have just met is telling me I don't love people. Well, I told him he was wrong, in a nice way I think, and that I had actually left everything I loved to come here and love people I don't even know and that I do really love them, but then he just wanted to bible bash so we are going to send the Anziani over there instead, because they are better at that kind of stuff. And their little boy, Gabriele spit in my face...twice. Feeling more and more like Paul every day ;) that same night our bus came super late and we got home late and it wasn't the greatest thing ever.
Another investigator, Maria, the next day told us our church doesn't do anything to help people and I am just thinking, do these people know anything about the Welfare Program? I just didn't say much to that. But she was kinda mad because she hired someone who was a member and she wasn't that great and now...she is blaming the whole church? I don't know. As humans we love to generalize, I guess it makes us feel good.
We had a miracle ex-investigator adventure we'll call it, on Sunday, where we looked up this lady who had met with the Sorelle a year ago but then got busy, we called her up and she said that she had more time now and she would love to meet with us so we met her, and her whole family, and all her friends.
We get on a bus, that we are not sure if its right, because she didnt repeat the instructions when I asked so it was all sort of up in the air, then we asked them if it went close to the street, they said, "not really" but okay we are used to walking, as long as it gets close. So some nice lady tells us where to get off and that we need to ask directions at the farmacia, well its Sunday so its closed, but we walk a bit past it and the street is right in front of our faces. Alright. So we get to the house, but there are several names and we don't know which was her's so we call and she doesn't pick up so we are waiting and this African walks up and asks if we are JWs and we say no and he introduces himself as "Jacob the Beloved" so we invite him to church and he says okay and walks away before we can say anything else.
Then these two guys come up and say, "its been forever since you've come to see us!" and we are like "yeah, but we are actually different sorelle" and the first one goes to kiss me and I say, "oh, we cant" and then the second one goes to kiss me and I say, "oh we can't" and he does anyway, full on kiss on the cheek which threw me off because it's been a while since that's happened and Sorella Camp is just watching, equally confused, and they tell us their mom is home so I start following them and Slla Camp is like, "wait, what's happening?" So then we are going up these stairs and I am listening and luckily hear a woman's voice, so they are not leading us away to kill us (unless she's in on it too) but it turns out to be the daughter...dressed in a pink jumpsuit...all different colors of pink, shirt tucked in, everything. She asks how old we think she is, we dont know what to say--she looks about 35 at least, but she tells us she is 22 and introduces us to her boyfriend who is 23 but looks 18. Meanwhile they invite us to sit down and the other two have long since disappeared.
Veronica comes home and invites into the kitchen where there is--just my luck--fried fish...luckily no heads, but everything else is there and chicken. But I did manage to eat it and did manage to read some scriptures while we were eating.
We realized that she had forgotten most of what she had been taught so when we go back on Friday we are going to re-explain the Restoration. But she wants all her kids to come to church with us and her daughter wants us to get her boyfriend to come to church and he was actually really interested because we showed him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he opened it up and started reading and his expression changed, like something out of a church movie, it was like he'd found a long lost friend, it was incredible. So we are bringing them a copy in Romanian this week.
Then on our way out, Veronica (the mom) ran into two of her friends and introduced us to all of them, one was in a car so we didn't talk long, but he was very interested to come to English Course and another was someone who had trained to be a priest for 8 years and was really interested, he was walking the other way but then he went to do whatever he had to do and met us back at the bus stop, we got to talk to him for a bit before the bus came and gave him a Restoration pamphlet. He was really interested to talk, but we didnt get his number before the bus came, luckily we can get it from Veronica. Oh and right before we jumped on the bus he tried to kiss Slla Camp goodbye and she sort of shoved him and ran onto the bus, haha. The rules make our lives fun.
We are trying to be braver about talking to people all the time so on the way back I started talking to people and everyone was Muslim. Which is always interesting because usually we don't teach them because they can get killed if they convert.
Meanwhile why we were eating with Veronica our mystery man called, someone who actually called because we had given him a passalong card, well, he thought we had given it to him because we liked him (we still have no idea who he is) and so I explained we were here to talk to people about Jesus and he said, "I'm already religious" and I said, maybe we could talk a little bit and then he could decide if he wants to learn more. I get off and Veronica is going off about how we can't trust people because Italian men are trouble and I go,
"Oh, actually he is Romanian" ha.
Oh and Sunday was Stake Conference!!! I got to see everyone from Ladispoli and I was convinced no one would remember me but they were like, "wait, didn't you just leave?" and it was soooooooo happy because I love them all and three of the girls are going on missions!! Ukraine, Uruguay and...Temple Square!!! So exciting. And there were some really good talks and it was great and I just love everyone! And they were like, "you can speak Italian" ha. Man, I love those people!
It was the best ever.
Monday we had district meeting and Anz. Larsen made this really good honey bacon pasta, they said mostly they always eat pasta with bacon in it, not a bad way to go. It was delicious, though at one point I made a comment about "too much bacon" that as soon as it came out I knew it wouldn't go over well. It didnt. Also, when we were in the grocery store I dropped a can of honey and that was embarassing because it broke everywhere.
Oh, and I thought I found one of those physical therapy massager things, so I bought it, but it ended up just being a vibrating pillow. We are not sure if we like it or not, but it's baby pink colored, which is fun. .
Oh! And I met our long lost uncle, his name is Ziod and he is from Syria and he sells paintings at the top of the Spanish steps. He is...fantastic. He doesnt look all that middle eastern, more like Paul Newman than anything. But he is soooo cool. I just want to be best friends with him, but he lives outside our zone. I told him I was Syrian and showed him a picture of grandma and he was like, "wow!"
Also, we met some Bristish ladies who are members while waiting for Juri they were like, "Sisters!"
I love being famous.
Love, love, love,
Sorella Laws
Still. Always.
I don't know what else to say.
We had an amazing first lesson with a lady from Colombia who is totally adorable and was very interested to know more about the Book of Mormon, we only got to meet with her briefly in Termini (the main station) though so it wasn't the most spiritual experience, but it was still pretty special. But then we said we'd see her Monday and she didn't pick up her phone. Sad. But we should still be able to see her this week.
I have been a little sick...again, today I've got a sore throat nothing serious. I've been keeping bundled up and it's actually been pretty warm, until yesterday. And I'm loosing lots of hair from my head. Which concerns me, because I am vain, and everyone knows I've got (had) great hair. But it should grow back. If not,
there are lots of places to buy wigs around here.
We advertised English Course like mad this week, and still only the usual 4 showed up, plus an extra member that came for part of it. So Slla Camp and I just talked to this guy who taught himself English before he started coming to the courses, he is way cool. He asked us what we do all day as missionaries and we explain how we get up at 6.30 and some of the workout things we do, haha, and talked about how we teach and find people who want to listen to us and do service things. Jonathon, a member who learned English on his mission in France was there too and was like, "you can listen to Enya!?" ha, our mission president is the best. We hope more people will come though, we have been inviting everyone and put up fliers everywhere.
Fabrizio, the amazing husband of one of our members is, well, we don't even know, it is crazy because he comes to church, loves it, is an amazingly loving husband, probably the best I've seen my whole mission, but he doesn't read and doesn't really pray. She says they take turns praying at dinner, but he isn't very serious about it. So we are thinking maybe he doesn't even really believe in God...it's a mystery, but we are going to crack it.
Yesterday was hilarious because his wife had tried to cook dinner and everything failed, the rice in these shrimp tomato things she made was undercooked and the potatoes were burned and it was nothing short of comical because it was just that bad. So he comes home and says that its fine and goes to taste it and then goes, "no, this is not eatable" but that he still loves her and would remarry her 100 times over (cute, right, Italians...gosh) starts cutting up tomatoes and mozzarella (the fail-proof Italian standby) and she starts frying eggs and the potatoes weren't really that burnt (we only broke a few teeth) and it all turned out okay and we tried to convince her we cook even worse but she wouldn't believe us. Man, we have been fed more here in 2 weeks than I was in all 4.5 months in Ragusa.
I love Romans. :)
Contrast that with Marco, the almost husband of another member, Alma, he...talked at us for almost 2 hours about how our church isn't any better than any other church and that we have rewritten the Bible, etc. etc.and that we "love bomb" (he was speaking english so he really did say love bomb, haha) people into joining our church but that we don't actually love people. I don't get offended all that easily, but when someone I have just met is telling me I don't love people. Well, I told him he was wrong, in a nice way I think, and that I had actually left everything I loved to come here and love people I don't even know and that I do really love them, but then he just wanted to bible bash so we are going to send the Anziani over there instead, because they are better at that kind of stuff. And their little boy, Gabriele spit in my face...twice. Feeling more and more like Paul every day ;) that same night our bus came super late and we got home late and it wasn't the greatest thing ever.
Another investigator, Maria, the next day told us our church doesn't do anything to help people and I am just thinking, do these people know anything about the Welfare Program? I just didn't say much to that. But she was kinda mad because she hired someone who was a member and she wasn't that great and now...she is blaming the whole church? I don't know. As humans we love to generalize, I guess it makes us feel good.
We had a miracle ex-investigator adventure we'll call it, on Sunday, where we looked up this lady who had met with the Sorelle a year ago but then got busy, we called her up and she said that she had more time now and she would love to meet with us so we met her, and her whole family, and all her friends.
We get on a bus, that we are not sure if its right, because she didnt repeat the instructions when I asked so it was all sort of up in the air, then we asked them if it went close to the street, they said, "not really" but okay we are used to walking, as long as it gets close. So some nice lady tells us where to get off and that we need to ask directions at the farmacia, well its Sunday so its closed, but we walk a bit past it and the street is right in front of our faces. Alright. So we get to the house, but there are several names and we don't know which was her's so we call and she doesn't pick up so we are waiting and this African walks up and asks if we are JWs and we say no and he introduces himself as "Jacob the Beloved" so we invite him to church and he says okay and walks away before we can say anything else.
Then these two guys come up and say, "its been forever since you've come to see us!" and we are like "yeah, but we are actually different sorelle" and the first one goes to kiss me and I say, "oh, we cant" and then the second one goes to kiss me and I say, "oh we can't" and he does anyway, full on kiss on the cheek which threw me off because it's been a while since that's happened and Sorella Camp is just watching, equally confused, and they tell us their mom is home so I start following them and Slla Camp is like, "wait, what's happening?" So then we are going up these stairs and I am listening and luckily hear a woman's voice, so they are not leading us away to kill us (unless she's in on it too) but it turns out to be the daughter...dressed in a pink jumpsuit...all different colors of pink, shirt tucked in, everything. She asks how old we think she is, we dont know what to say--she looks about 35 at least, but she tells us she is 22 and introduces us to her boyfriend who is 23 but looks 18. Meanwhile they invite us to sit down and the other two have long since disappeared.
Veronica comes home and invites into the kitchen where there is--just my luck--fried fish...luckily no heads, but everything else is there and chicken. But I did manage to eat it and did manage to read some scriptures while we were eating.
We realized that she had forgotten most of what she had been taught so when we go back on Friday we are going to re-explain the Restoration. But she wants all her kids to come to church with us and her daughter wants us to get her boyfriend to come to church and he was actually really interested because we showed him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he opened it up and started reading and his expression changed, like something out of a church movie, it was like he'd found a long lost friend, it was incredible. So we are bringing them a copy in Romanian this week.
Then on our way out, Veronica (the mom) ran into two of her friends and introduced us to all of them, one was in a car so we didn't talk long, but he was very interested to come to English Course and another was someone who had trained to be a priest for 8 years and was really interested, he was walking the other way but then he went to do whatever he had to do and met us back at the bus stop, we got to talk to him for a bit before the bus came and gave him a Restoration pamphlet. He was really interested to talk, but we didnt get his number before the bus came, luckily we can get it from Veronica. Oh and right before we jumped on the bus he tried to kiss Slla Camp goodbye and she sort of shoved him and ran onto the bus, haha. The rules make our lives fun.
We are trying to be braver about talking to people all the time so on the way back I started talking to people and everyone was Muslim. Which is always interesting because usually we don't teach them because they can get killed if they convert.
Meanwhile why we were eating with Veronica our mystery man called, someone who actually called because we had given him a passalong card, well, he thought we had given it to him because we liked him (we still have no idea who he is) and so I explained we were here to talk to people about Jesus and he said, "I'm already religious" and I said, maybe we could talk a little bit and then he could decide if he wants to learn more. I get off and Veronica is going off about how we can't trust people because Italian men are trouble and I go,
"Oh, actually he is Romanian" ha.
Oh and Sunday was Stake Conference!!! I got to see everyone from Ladispoli and I was convinced no one would remember me but they were like, "wait, didn't you just leave?" and it was soooooooo happy because I love them all and three of the girls are going on missions!! Ukraine, Uruguay and...Temple Square!!! So exciting. And there were some really good talks and it was great and I just love everyone! And they were like, "you can speak Italian" ha. Man, I love those people!
It was the best ever.
Monday we had district meeting and Anz. Larsen made this really good honey bacon pasta, they said mostly they always eat pasta with bacon in it, not a bad way to go. It was delicious, though at one point I made a comment about "too much bacon" that as soon as it came out I knew it wouldn't go over well. It didnt. Also, when we were in the grocery store I dropped a can of honey and that was embarassing because it broke everywhere.
Oh, and I thought I found one of those physical therapy massager things, so I bought it, but it ended up just being a vibrating pillow. We are not sure if we like it or not, but it's baby pink colored, which is fun. .
Oh! And I met our long lost uncle, his name is Ziod and he is from Syria and he sells paintings at the top of the Spanish steps. He is...fantastic. He doesnt look all that middle eastern, more like Paul Newman than anything. But he is soooo cool. I just want to be best friends with him, but he lives outside our zone. I told him I was Syrian and showed him a picture of grandma and he was like, "wow!"
Also, we met some Bristish ladies who are members while waiting for Juri they were like, "Sisters!"
I love being famous.
Love, love, love,
Sorella Laws
No comments:
Post a Comment