"Come What May and Love It"

Dear family and friends,
This week has been crazy, so much happened which forced us to actually
remain outside of Crotone most of Tuesday, and Wednesday-Saturday
afternoon. At the end of the day the overlying principle that I have
learned on my mission was really tested and put into practice. That
being, "Come what may, and love it." -Joseph B. Wirthlin

First example of this: the whole first part of my email was very
beautifully written but somehow got deleted. I just quickly filled in
the blanks but I'm sorry... bear with my lack of time.

Monday:
For FHE Juliet made us fufu so that Sorella Walch and Anziano
lamoureux could try it. Let's just say after I downed it like an
African they deemed me apart of an African tribe in Nigeria. After
weekly African meals for 7 months, I'm the whitest African you've ever
seen my friends.
Tuesday:
We went up to Cosenza for district meeting and afterwards had the best
American lunch with hamburgers and hot dogs. We finished it off with a
homemade apple pie they Sorella Walch and I prepared topped with
vaniglia gelato.

Wednesday:
The Statte Sorelle were supposed to be in Crotone for a scambio but
things went wrong with picking up one of their green cards so we ended
up having to go up to Cosenza all day then travel to Taranto.

Thursday:
The Taranto district had an activity on Tuesday which caused them to
do district meeting Thursday morning so we got to participate in their
district meeting as well. Their district is very different than ours
being that the only elders in it are the zone leaders who also double
as the district leaders. Their district is also very old in the
mission whereas most of the missionaries in ours are relatively young.
It was enjoyable to get to spend some time with their district and get
to know all of them a little bit better. The training given by one of
the zone leaders was wonderful. He said that he had prepared his
training, but then that morning he realized that he would have all 4
of the finishing missionaries in the zone listening to his training,
so he did it on something that would be useful both during, and after
the mission. We talked about goal setting and how not only our
successes, but also our setbacks can propel us forward and give us
more drive if we are working towards a specific goal and have a plan
of action. One thing that he said that really touched me was this,
"you don't have to regret wasted time if you learn from it." This
applies, I think, to all of our regrets. Regret is an inevitable part
of life. We as imperfect mortals mess up every single day, and the
fact that we have regrets, is a sign that we recognize our weaknesses
and are striving to do better. The beautiful thing is that we also
have the opportunity to change through Christ's atonement. If we learn
from our mistakes, and do better the next time, then we are repenting,
and becoming better, and that's all that God asks of us. We don't have
to carry around a burden of regrets as long as we learn from our past
mistakes, and use them to become better.

Thursday & Friday:
That afternoon and the next morning I got to do an exchange with
Sorella Calió. She is from Pavia, Italy and will be finishing her
mission with me. We had a lot of fun together, reflecting on all of
the things that we have learned throughout our missions. One thing
that I learned from her during this exchange was the importance of
being very personable and loving to everyone, especially here in the
south of Italy. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we're trying to
accomplish that we're too formal, and forget that these are real
people that we are working with who will trust us more as we be
ourselves and show them that we care about them.

Friday:
Friday afternoon we were supposed to take our usual bus that we always
take to get from Taranto to Crotone that leaves at 4:50 and has since
I got to this area 7 months ago... So we arrived at the bus station at
4:30, having plenty of time to buy our tickets and catch the bus. But
when we went to buy the tickets the lady said, "that bus left 10
minutes ago." It turns out that they decided to change the times so
that now, the bus leaves at 4:20! That is the only bus that goes from
Taranto to Crotone every day so we ran to the train station to see if
we could catch a train back. To our misfortune there were no more
trains going back for the rest of the night either. The best we could
do was take one the next morning at 9:00 meaning that we'd be spending
another day outside of our area.

We made the best of it though and met up with the missionaries in
Taranto and they drove us to a park where we all went finding. Sorella
Walch and I stopped to talk to some people sitting on a bench and had
the opportunity to teach the entire restoration with an opening and
closing prayer which was a tender mercy for us. I always feel so happy
when I share my testimony of the message of the restoration, that must
mean it's true I guess¿

Afterwards we went to the Taranto ward's relief society activity that
they put on as a surprise to say goodbye to one of their sisters who
will be moving to the north this week. They did a funny skit in
pugliese dialect (we had no idea what was going on,) said lots of kind
words, and of course had tons of good pigliano food to eat. It was
good to be with tons of happy, loving sisters and remember what a
beautiful and unique friendship that we can have in our wards and
branches as members of the church.

Saturday morning we finally made if back to Crotone. We left at 9 and
got to the church at 4 so you could say we were pretty hungry..
luckily we have the best anziani in the world because they had lunch
waiting for us when we got there. Then we did tons of member work
because we met with our branch president and he wants us visiting all
of them.

Today:
We finally got to visit the beautiful mountain range in Calabria
called Sila. It was amazing to be out in the fresh air without the
crazy sounds and smells of the Italian cities that I've been living in
for a year and a half.

I don't have tons of time to finish this well, but all I've got to say
is that positivity through adversity is key. When things don't go our
way, we just have to make the best with what we have, which I think
that we successfully did thanks to my amazing companion and the
perspective that she has.

Love you guys,
Sorella Bonzo

American pranzo

Taranto district

Sila

In the woods

Zone Conference was Lit

Hey guys! 

Monday:
I had my finishing interview with President Pickerd. It was super weird, especially because I still have 3 weeks left, but in the end I really appreciated it. It made me feel comforted and calmed the anxieties that I have of going home. I just love President Pickerd so much. He is the most Christlike man I have ever met.
I will miss Sorella Pickerd and him so much. They are both amazing, and are people that I will definitely look up to for the rest of my life.

Tuesday:
My last zone conference was definitely one to remember. We have one of the smallest zones in the mission which I absolutely love because we all become great friends really quickly even with the constant change in missionaries.
This transfer President Pickerd is focusing on overcoming plateaus as a mission, companionship, and individually in order to reach new heights.
I got to give a training with the zone leaders about how we felt that our zone could do this. We talked about how love is the great motivator. We shared the story of Christ when he asks Peter 3 times if he loved him and I came to the conclusion that our call as missionaries is very similar to that of Peter's, this is to love Christmas and demonstrate that love through selfless service. He has asked us to leave everything behind for this period of time, and serve loyally until the end of ministry.
I want to share with you the final quote that we shared from my most favorite general conference talk:
 "...My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: "Did you love me?" I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all--"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." And if at such a moment we can stammer out, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee," then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty." (The First Great Commandment, Holland Oct. 2012)
I also got to bear my finishing testimony along with 3 other missionaries who are leaving with me. The spirit was strong and the testimonies were edifying. Then as we sang the Inno di Roma for the last time, we started to smell a strange odor. After the closing prayer we continued to smell something burning. Someone proceeded to open the curtain of the big chapel window and as we looked outside we saw the entire field across the street from church was up in flames. By the end it had spread all the way around the perimeter of the church. We quickly contacted the fire department as well as local leaders then grabbed the buckets, filled them with water, and started throwing it on the fire to protect the church's bushes. We continued to help the fire department until it was all out. It caught a few more times after that but by then we had a system down and it was all under control. It was actually a huge miracle that we had 16 missionaries there in the church in that specific moment because otherwise things could have gotten a lot worse. And on top of that, the bishop of the Taranto ward was able to talk to the firemen who were so impressed with our desire to help and they set up an appointment with the head fireman to learn more about our church!

I did an exchange with Sorella Bishop this week in Taranto. She is amazing. I was impressed at how well she already knows the area being blown-in only 2 weeks ago. We went out to a smaller town by Taranto to find some people that they have out there and saw a miracle with a less active letting us in and within 20 minutes of talking, she had already opened up and told us her problems. Everything comes with a price though haha. Her nasty dog had been distracting us the entire time and wouldn't leave me alone so as she began to open up to us in order to keep the dog calm I sacrificed my arm and was almost clawed to death by the end of it, but it was worth it! I was really impressed with Sorella Bishop when she used some verses in the Book of Mormon that she had read in her personal study that morning as a way to teach to this woman's needs.

Not being in our area for most of the week, I don't have a lot to report about our work. We did a lot of less active work in these last few days while we were here in Crotone. I've been working with these people for a while now and we're finally slowly seeing the fruits of our labors.

On Friday as we were walking to the church for a meeting, I realized that we had about a half an hour of time that we could still use. It was not long enough for us to go finding so I considered just going to the church and trying to find something to do like make phone calls, but then the thought came to my mind to pass by a less active lady who never lets us in. I was a little worried about the time if we did get in, but thought, "might as well." We got to the bottom door to the apartment building adn suprisingly, it was open! We went up and rang her door and she let us in! We talked in our lesson about the importance of studying the Book of Mormon daily. During the lesson she had made little comments about praying and worshiping at home but then In the middle of us reading the introduction to the Book of Mormon she interupted and said, "I want to come back to church, I really do, I just can't ever seem to get myself to go on Sunday morning." We promised her that if she will read The Book of Mormon daily, and pray to have the strength and desire on Sunday morning, then she will be able to do it. This was a break-through lesson with her. I'm  really grateful that we listened to that prompting to see her!

We got to see my cute nonnina this week. When she realized that I would be finishing my mission at the end of this month she gave me some of the sweetest advice I've ever recieve. It is especially close to my heart because it came from the cutest little 86 year old woman who is passionate about her love for God and gives everything she has to him. That was the highlight of this little advice session: "Love God for the rest of your life and give everything to him because he has given everything to you." 

Saturday we went out to a town called Isola with the Elders to have lunch and teach our new convert Precious and her boyfriend Bob. We helped them prepare some sick african lunch. Bob made peanut butter, tomato sauce, and chicken over rice. I know, it seems like a strange combination, but it's actually really good! Precious doesn't like peanut butter so she made some fufu soup and had us try some over our rice. It was...not as good. As we ate we asked, "so, what's in this?" It was full of spinach, spices, and...cow skin! As we looked closer and began to eat the skin chunks, we realized that some of the bigger ones were actually covered in cow hair.... it was... interesting... I love africans so much though. They're seriously the greatest. 

Yesterday was my last fast and testimony meeting with my cute little Crotone branch. As I got up to bear my testimony for the 7th consecutive month (we always bear our testimonies as missionaries because there aren't enough members to take up the time), I realized just how much these people have come to mean to me. It's true what they say about loving those you serve. Our branch president bore a power testimony at the beginning of the meeting, one that I will never forget. This branch is going through a lot right now. I am so amazed at how he is so calmly and faithfully enduring through these difficult moments. 

It was his birthday Saturday so we made him banana bread and we all went over to his house Sunday to visit his family and wish him a happy birthday and let him know how much we appreciate him. He's such a good man. 

I appreciate you guys! Have a great week!

love always,

Sorella Bonzo

Fire squad

African pranzo

The zone 

Calabrian travels