call me Sorella Ganzo

I'll admit that the first week of the MTC was difficult, but now that I've hit my two week mark, I'm getting into a groove and have continued to enjoy every day here! I think it's also because I am surrounded by so many wonderful people! Seriously, my companion is the greatest. And I love my roommates, district, zone, teachers, and branch presidency! I couldn't have asked to be surrounded by better people! I'm so blessed!!

I HAVE TO TELL  YOU ALL SOME AMAZING NEWS! I am not alone in this world!! My companion AND another sister in my zone both have toe thumbs too!! Both of them only have one while I have two, but STILL!! We took pictures of our toe-thumb group but they're on Sorella Hess's camera so I'll send one when she sends it to me. 

Also an exciting fact, over half the MTC is filled with SISTERS!! Isn't that crazy?! And in my zone we have a 2 to 1 ratio. 14 Sorelle and 7 Anziani. I think it's because most of the Elders go in the summer now but still! All of the older people are amazed because they say that there used to be barley any sisters in the MTC at one time. 

We did choir again which was awesome! We sang for our Tuesday night devotional which was broadcast to all of the other MTCs around the world and my companion and I made it on the big screen!! haha We were so excited. It was broadcasted because Elder Rasband came to speak to us!! He did such a great job! He spoke on his talk that he gave when he was in the 70 about how missionaries recieve their calls. He was so personable!! He walked around the room with a microphone asking and answering questions. We could really feel the love he had for all of us. 

Also something crazy, so our "investigator" Michela, ended up being one of our teachers! We were preparing to teach her a lesson last Friday and then she came into class and was like "I'm your teacher!" So now we have some new investigators, Fratello Sloan (our main teacher) is our investigator Simone, and Sorella Preston (Michela) is our investigator Lucia. We teach them on alternating days. It's really cool because they model their characters after real investigators that they had. Simone is a 14 year old boy who has been going to a bunch of different churches every week trying to find one that feels right to him, talk about a Joseph Smith story. 

Last week (i can't remember the day) an MTC worker came into our classroom while we were studying and asked my comp and I to come teach this guy just on the spot! We didn't have any time to prepare and didn't know anything about him, luckily we were able to teach in english. We ended it up teaching the restoration, it was a crazy experience! But I'm so grateful fro it because it reconfirmed my belief that we can do this because we did it so well! and as we continue to grow in the language we'll be able to do that in Italian!

We also taught 2 TRCs yesterday, which are basically 2 20 minute member lesson, in italian of course. It was hard because we prepared a lesson but we really wanted to teach to their needs. so with the 1st lady our message matched perfectly but the 2nd guy we taught, he really wanted to know about The Book of Mormon. it was dificult to deviate from our lesson because we obviously aren't fluent in italian yet, but as we testified of The Book of Mormon, I could feel the spirit enter the room and it brought a whole new meaning to "teach people, not lessons" into my mind.

I'll end with a funny story. We have been asking our teacher Fratello (brother) Sloan to teach us slang from the beginning but he refused. He was out of town this weekend, he was actually in St. George crazily enough! He's not from there but that's where his family lives now so he was visiting them. Anyway, we asked all of our subs to teach us slang AND THEY DID! Sorella Francom even taught us some hilarious gestures that they actually use like all the time! Some of the things we learn: "ci sto" = I'm down, "ganzo" = cool (that's why my companion now calls me Sorella Ganzo (it's pronounced Gonzo)), and my personal favorite, "che cavolo" = what the heck, but it literally translates to "What the cabbage?" hahaha I love the Italian people already! And the gestures kill me. I wish there was some way I could show you guys them. We got all of our subs and teachers to show us the areas they served in and talk about their missions and now I cannot wait to go! So back to my story, when Fratello Sloan got back on Tuesday we started using our slang words on him and he was beside himself!! He's like "which one of them taught this to you?!" hahahah He tries to be so professional but with us he's kind of given up on that act. 

I love you guys, thanks for all of the support! 

Love, Sorella Ganzo.

1- the sorelle in my district- sorella rushton (my companion), arnt, and poletz

2- our temple walk our 1st Sunday

3- my roommates (we were wearing our cute valentines outfits but it was snowing so they're covered up)

4- last Tuesday when we got to go to the consulate! we were in front of a vesva but it's so small you can't see it

x

Sunday IS the best day!!

Hello everyone!! 

This week has been the longest of my life but now I'm 1 week down, and only 5 to go! The new missionaries got here yesterday so we're not the youngest anymore!

I have something amazing to tell all of you about! It's called DEAR ELDER. It's a website where you go on and type a letter to a missionary in the mtc and if you send it before noon the mtc will print it out and deliver it to us that day! and the best part is, ITS FREE! So you can send letters without having to pay for stamps! You just go onto dearelder.com and make an account. Then you type in your missionary's info and send your letters! You can send as many as you want! My companion gets like 3 a day haha but what a great thing! So if you do want to send me one I wouldn't mind.. 

We are still teaching our "investigator" Michela (pronounced Mikayla) and yes, we can only speak Italian to her. It's difficult (especially when we don't know what she's saying most of the time) but it has helped me become better with my language skills. We really are blessed with the gift of tounges here it's unreal. Like I mentioned, our teacher, Fratello (Brother) Sloan only speaks to us in Italian. The first few days i had no idea what was going on the entire time but now I am able to pick up more and more things and even communicate back to him using some Italian! Don't get me wrong, it doesn't just magically happen, but with much study and even more prayer, I am finally starting to pick it up a little! 

So back to Michela, we've taught her almost every day since Friday and yesterday she committed to baptism! She's not a real investigator of the church, just a volunteer who is acting like one but still! It's a big deal! 

Okay, let's talk about Sundays here at the MTC. On my first day here all I heard was "WELCOME TO THE MTC!" and "Just make it to Sunday" from literally every person I passed. I just thought, okay, Sunday is great..Whatever. BUT NO! NOT WHATEVER! I have never in my life felt the spirit so much and so strong in one day. It was one meeting after another that helped me feel the spiritual power here and understand my purpose. 

And guess what?! I joined the choir! I know what you're thinking, "Jamie can't sing!" But it's okay because basically everyone else can so you can't even hear me! We sang "Be Still My Soul" for the Tuesday night devotional and that is now one of my favorite songs. It really is perfect for everything we're going through here in the MTC. 

So I have some exciting news..We broke out of the MTC on Tuesday! Haha now really but that's what we kept saying. All of the missionaries in my zone who are from Utah had to go and meet with the Italian Consulate in Salt Lake so we rode the Frontrunner up and got to eat real food at a restaurant after! (btw mtc food is not that bad, it just gets old sometimes) Our little trip was so much fun and exactly what we needed! We got back in the middle of the day so we did some study time, ate dinner, then went to choir practice and the devotional that night! Jenny Oaks Baker was the speaker. She did a great job. Along with her talk she implemented musical performances and her whole family was involved! Her kids were young, ranging in ages 14-7. They were on the Violin, piano, cello, and guitar, while she played her violin. it was incredible.  

All in all, this has been the most physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually draining week of my life but for some reason (aka the spirit of this place) I AM SO HAPPY! It may also have to do with the fact that I love my companion Sorella Rushton and my whole zone! Half of them will be heading to Milan and I am already so sad about it. The MTC is such a special place. I love you all! 

Love, Sorella Bonzo

We have to email our Branch President every week and answer some questions, this is what I wrote this week:

We started teaching our first investigator on Friday (our 2nd full day here.) We could only speak Italian to her so I have been relying a lot on the spirit to help me find the words to say to her. We read scriptures to help bring the spirit and if we don't understand exactly what she's saying or we have a hard time communicating a principle, we bare testimony to her, because we know that the spirit teaches better than us. My testimony of my savior has grown this past week. I know that he knows me, and knows what's best for me. He has confidence in my abilities as a missionary so so should I. 

Ciao!

Ciao everyone!!

My regular P-days are Thursday but because yesterday was our first full day, we won't have one until next week. BUT, because I have a wonderful Branch President (President Taylor,) he is allowing us to email our families today! But the rest of my time in the MTC, YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME ON THURSDAY. WELL, I GUESS THE REST OF MY EMAIL WILL HAVE TO BE IN CAPS LOCK BECAUSE THESE KEYBOARDS AREN'T VERY GOOD AND IT WON'T TURN OFF. I apologize for that. Oh! Jk! It turned off by itself! Yay! Okay!! So much to tell and I've only spent 2 1/2 days here! 

 My district is made up of 2 sets of Sorelle and a trio of Anziani. Sorella Pauletz is from France, and amazingly enough, her companion, Sorella Arnt has studied French for 6 years! They are able to communicate very well and it also helps them pick Italian up very quickly. Then there's Anziano Pulombo, Younce, and Kim. Anz. Kim is from St. George, but lived in Little Valley so we hadn't met until now. My companion is Sorella Rushton! I love her! She is from Marietta, CA. She studied Italian in high school so she's able to help me a lot. I have such a testimony that this is the Lord's work, and his hand is in every part of it, for instance, companionships. It seems that everyone's companions fit perfectly together. It's true what they say about jumping right in. The first day I walked into my class and my teacher, Fratello Sloan, did not speak one word of English (he still hasn't!) I did not know what was going on at all, and frankly, still don't. But somehow, I learn a little more each day. It's a miracle I know how to say anything, and it's also a miracle that I have Sorella Rushton to help me. 

My parents will be glad to hear that I'm staying very fit and healthy. Sorella Rushton is very athletic so we always eat healthy and did an awesome workout during our gym time today. We even going to start going to an early morning exercise class every morning at 6AM. Hopefully I'll be able to finally get some sleep tonight..I've had such a hard time with that! It was so nice to be able to go to the gym and move around.

We met our branch presidency last night. They are all wonderful people. Sorella Rushton was assigned to be a Sister Training Leader. She will be amazing at that! All of the Italian missionaries enter and leave at the same time so they have to assign all of the ZL's DL's and STL's from our group (only one day after they got here!)

We taught our first investigator today..IN ITALIAN!! Like just barley.. It was so crazy and difficult. We had everything we would say planned out but of course the lesson took different turns as she responded to our questions. I had a really hard time understanding her, I just don't know enough Italian words! And it was super frustrating to not be able to express what I wanted to say, but don't worry, I'll get there! 

I room with 5 other missionaries, we're all going to Rome. Oh and I forgot to mention that our entire district (besides Sorella Rushton and I) are going to the Milan mission. Our zone is made up of 3 districts/classes.

Okay sorry that this email is super speratic! I don't have much time. 

Oh, the food really isn't that bad, I mean my mom's cooking is SOO much better, but it's better than school lunch! 

Okay, love you all! 

Ciao!

Love, Sorella Bonzo

PS: We weren't able to connect our cameras today but I'll send pictures next week.