Dammi cuore

Familigia,

Thank you for your emails! They really are so uplifting. Mom, I got the camera chord…but…it doesn’t fit the camera.  So I’m really sorry there aren’t pictures.  I was so sad that it didn’t work because I was so so excited.  I’m debating just buying a whole new camera because I’m so frustrated with it. But I don’t know if I can afford a whole new camera. It takes forever for stuff to get here and I’m afraid I’ll be transferred and never get any pictures of Verona. I’ll figure it out..

Things to report from the week:

You wonder what we do p-days? It’s really quite bad.  We shop.  See, we’re in Italy.  It’s SALDI TIME. Which means everything is on sale. Centro shopping is fun.  The people watching is the best. The clothing is beautiful. I just bought cheap tshirts because I sweat everything out in this humidity (and because of the prices. that dress used to be 200 euro now it’s 100? what a deal 😉 Today we’re going to see the family history archives and I’m quite excited about it.

Last pday Sorella Acerson’s wallet was stolen. So we’ve been trying to figure that all out. It’s been slightly complicated, because her permesso di soggiorno (residency permit) was in there.  I am trying to get mine figured out as well, and there have been some interesting things taking place with the government…anyways. Slightly stressed that we’ll both get kicked out of the country but va bene 🙂 (I’m being slightly sarcastic I’m sure it will all turn out fine.)

Church was wonderful!  We had some vistors from Salt Lake that we got to translate for (one sister we figured out is in the General primary presidency.)  They just were crying with us and thanking us.   It was so kind and it felt so good to understand what people were saying to me at church 🙂

TRACTING!!! Yay for tracting.  Lots of doorbells were rang this week. We saw some very interesting people, got a lot of doors slammed, and taught zero lessons from it.  But, it was an adventure really. We just laugh at it all now and try not to dwell on the frustration. (Something I’ve been wondering… people must really not wear clothes when they’re at home…and why answer the door…anyways…hahaha.)

We found TWO INVESTIGATORS! Halleluljah.  They’re both single men…so the anziani will be getting some new investigators this week… but we found them! One man is a communist who wears super short shorts and is afraid of his mother and is 52 years old.  Quite the character.  But he is interested, we think!

Yesterday while we were reporting the stolen wallet I talked with someone, about the gospel.  It was so casual.  He was probably Dad’s age, an Italian businessman.  He doesn’t believe in God, but we were able to have a really respectful conversation about it.  I testified about the Book of Mormon.  I was pretty bold and blunt (that’s all you can really do when you don’t speak the language fluently.)  He left abruptly to report his stolen stuff, so I didn’t get to give him the book.  So instead, I asked a woman in line if she would please give it to him when he came out.  As we were unlocking our bikes he walked out the the questura, Book of Mormon in hand.  I told him to call us if he was interested.  He said he would read.  Although I doubt we’ll ever meet again, it was a confidence building experience for me.  There are people who will listen to you and respect you, even if you don’t agree.

Lots of miracles happen every day! Our district motto for this transfer is “Dammi cuore.”  It’s not grammatically correct I don’t think, but it means “Give me heart.”  I love it.  (When you give someone a high five you say dammi cinque! now we’re saying dammi cuore!)  Sorella Acerson and I are striving to give our whole hearts to the Lord by being much more strictly obedient, speaking Italian outside of the house, and seeing the positive in every situation.  We give the Lord our hearts as we give our hearts to this work and to these people.  We love them no matter how much they slam their doors in our faces. As we love each other as companions, we feel closer to the Lord.

I love my companion, and I’m so happy I get to be with her for another transfer.  She has taught me so much. I am discovering my biggest weaknesses, and she is helping me turn them into strengths, slowly 🙂 We help each other.   She truly gives her whole heart to this work, and I am so grateful for that.

Give everything your whole heart 🙂 Always give Him your whole heart, and He will take care of you. (Come thou fount lyrics, anyone? Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.)

Vi voglio bene,

Sorella Strong