Hello!! I hope that you guys passed a good week!
Monday was a pretty chill day. We went to the beach that day, did a gesso (finding method with chalk and a sheet,) and received our transfer calls. My entire district is staying the same! The only change is that the Cosenza sisters were blown out so the Cosenza elders were added to our district so we are now in 8.
Wednesday was on interesting day.. When we got home for lunch and found that our water was off, our power went out, and our door handle also broke off. Haha the life of a missionary. We were able to fix the latter two but our water stayed off all day long. We had to use our store bought drinking water for cooking and dishes. Luckily it came back on when we got home that night though!
There was also a soccer game on Wednesday which means that they close down all of the major streets around our house so we have to walk all the way around to get anywhere and everyone would rather watch the game than see us. We had 3 people cancel on us after we'd already gone to their houses to see them because they were watch the soccer game and didn't want to turn it off.. so that was a little rough because we walked around the city trying doing some finding but there weren't very many people out. After the match everyone was pretty sad because Crotone lost 2-0 against Juventus (the best team in Italy.) its actually pretty cool because our little town Crotone is in the A series which is the best series in Italy so they play against a bunch of huge cities like Rome and Palermo. They keep losing but at least they're in the A series! I'm pretty sure that this is the first year that they've been in this series so the whole town is all decorated in A's and everyone's really proud of it.
Thursday started off really cool because we finally got to teach this woman named Vittoria. Ever since I got here we have been passing by her house in hopes that she would let us in, but she never did. She's a very depressed woman and just says that she doesn't feel like it. My companion insisted that we keep trying so we have. We passed by Wednesday morning for one final try. She told us no once again, but as we continued to talk with her we asked if we could just teach her a little part of our message right there on the doorstep. So we stood there and taught and testified and helped her to feel the spirit so that she would have the desire to let us in the next time. We'll see where it goes from there, but I know that she felt the something with us and I hope that she agrees to let us continue to teach her.
On Saturday we had an investigator take us out to lunch. I wasn't expecting anything huge but when We showed up to the restaurant and was really nice. It was definitely the nicest place I've ever eaten. We had clams, pumpkin shrimp risotto, and salmon with peppers. It was so good and such a cool experience. That's the first time I've ever felt underdressed as a missionary because I was sitting there in a 5 star restaurant in my proselyting skirt and shirt. We were told they the menu changes every day because everything is made fresh according to what they go out and find that day. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.
We also had a great lesson with Rina on Saturday. We taught her about tithing, fasting and tithe and fast offerings. We were a little worried because their financial situation is pretty tough but she accepted everything so easily. She assured us that she was coming to church the next day so we organized a ride for her and were so excited to see her there, but in the end, she didn't come. That was really hard for us.
This was definitely a week of working hard and not seeing the immediate results due to the agency of others. I've been thinking a lot about what makes a successful missionary with regards to the comment that Elder Bednar made in the recent worldwide missionary conference about success being given rather than earned. He said something on the lines of "Success isn't something's earned ma it's given to you. When you see success in your mission (i.e. Baptisms) it's a success of the Lord. The true measure of your success is if you will do the little things every day whether or not the Lord chooses to give you success." I feel like sometimes we do everything that we can then we look back and wonder why we're not getting those investigators in church or those baptisms or whatever it may be, while it seems like everyone around us is. In the end I've decided that it all comes down to two things, the agency of the people with whom we are working, and the timing of the Lord. Neither of these things are in our control. And that is why in the end, our biggest success story is our own. We become the greatest convert of our mission because we decide to do the little things every day especially in the moments when we are not given that success that everyone seeks.
We saw this with many people this week, but above all, Rina. We had everything perfectly planned for her to be in church yesterday, and she didn't come. Our member even went to pick her up, but when she wasn't waiting in the previously designated meeting spot. We had no way to get ahold of her because her husband took her phone with him to Reggio Calabria. We don't know what happened in the end, and hope to be able to contact her soon to understand why. It was really disappointing for us because she assured us that she would be there. This means that we will need to push back her baptismal date so that she will be able to attend the required amount of Sunday's before she is baptized.
In the end, we don't get up every morning at 6:30 and stay out until 9, talk to everyone we see on the streets, or exhort people to repent and change so that we get a baptism every transfer, we do it because we love God. Our personal obedience to these things may not correlate to the number of souls we bring into the waters of baptism, but it has a direct correlation to our personal, and lasting conversion.
I am doing well though! I'm happy to stay here in Crotone with Sorella Taylor and continue to see what I can offer to this city and branch. I have been feeling so much desire this week to "cambiare (change) Crotone." I want to help to change the attitude and mindset of this branch by strengthening it from within, so that when we bring others into it, they will feel welcomed and loved. I want to work harder to help these members have the spirit of missionary work because I know that it will help this branch a lot.
Sunday was actually pretty relaxing compared to the past 6 weeks in this branch because we didn't have investigators in church and none of the Africans came so I didn't have to translate. I was able to sit and enjoy the lessons for one and I loved this quote by President Hinkley that was used in the Relief Society lesson, it was exactly what I needed that day after this crazy week:
"Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out."
-President Hinkley
I love you! Keep believing and loving and and laughing and living.
Love always,
Sorella Bonzo
We matched (not on purpose) so we had to take a photo (you can't tell in the pic but her tights are the same color as my cardigan & socks)
Another transfer together! (The number of transfer that we are in)
Fancy restaurant food
Look I found a street sign with my name on it! (Haha)
Sorella Taylor and I went for a hike today. It was great weather for a hike. We brought my speaker and listened to our favorite efy songs the whole way up then got to see this beautiful view of the city.
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