Famiglia!!!!!!!!!

Vi voglio bene!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mi mancate!

This week has been crazy! Crazy hard! So I got my new companion! She is nice and full of energy, like me. She also has a bunch of faith for Mistretta, which we will be needing this Transfer. I know you all know this, but man I love to be in charge, I am such a bossy lady and I love it! The contrast of being a shadow as a greenie versus the one who knows the city sun and the people is   big. I like being in the sun. I learned so much from Sorella Johnson and now I get to use it! 

I have been exhausted this week, I have never talked so much in my life! Plus it was in another language. My Italian is blooming, the gift of tongues is real! I have been praying so much for help in understanding these crazy sicilians and having them understand me and Heavenly Father is helping me so much. I am by no means perfect, I am now get excited to speak instead of afraid, I am now happy to mess up with the grammaticals so that I can learn the right way to say it. 

I had my first bidone (it means dumpster, but it means to get stood up). The other day. Our miracle girl Valentina, the one we met that had the friend whose mom killed herself, we set up an appointment to meet with her at the lungo mare, by the beach. Well, we got there and didn't see her so we called her. She answered, but pretended that it wasn't her than she and her friends in the background started laughing, then she hung up. My goodness, I was so sad, I was heart broken. At first I felt bad for myself, that I got stood up and then made fun of after wards. But as I said my prayers that evening to help me to feel better they started to change. Instead I felt like I should pray for that sweet Valentina, for the spirit helped me to realize that I am here to help her and that, unfortunately, she gave up a great chance to learn about the gospel that day. I then started praying that she will have the opportunity again and will not let it slip away or will not push it away. I felt this incredible love for her and I truly hope we can see her again and that her heart will be softened to feel the spirit and how this gospel can truly help her. 

We have been doing a lot of finding lately. Sometimes people are so mean! It was so discouraging at first. They think that missionaries are religious crazies, but we are normal! I feel pretty normal at least. I am just living my life in a way that I can combine my physical experience on the earth with my spirituality. Hopefully that makes sense, hey maybe I am not normal, but I am happy happy happy!

So Pasquale, our investigator, is awesome! He is so funny! Last night we were reading about the dream of Lehi and he was reading a verse then started making up his own story to it. Like, And it came to pass that they saw Sorella Comollo running away from the guy with the hatchet. It sounds weird, but it was so funny and we couldn't stop laughing! I am glad that he is learning to apply the scriptures to his life:) We were talking about the mists of darkness, which signify the temptations of the devil and how a mist is just air and it can be easily blown away. We think Satan is so powerful, it he is just smoke that can be easily wisped away. We have so much more power than we think! We can totally overcome addictions and temptations, especially when we include the Lord, for we can wave away the smoke, but he can blast it away if we ask him to!

I love the dream of Lehi. In Italian it says that the people who are steadfastly holding to the iron rod do not pay any attention to the people making fun of them in the building. Boy, did I need to read that! We have gotten made fun of so much this passed week. I just gotta keep pressing forward!

I love talking to people and finding their interests and applying the gospel to their lives!!!!!!!! When I was in Catania on Thursday we were on the bus and I started talking to this kid. He did not really want to talk to me, but I kept asking him questions, finally we got to the topic of cooking! He brightened up like a light bulb. We chit chatted about pasta and ragu, he gave me a few pointers on a suogo recipe and then I told him about a recipe for life, the gospel! He took the pass a long card gladly! When before he did not even want to talk to me.

This is the hardest work ever, not gonna lie. I am getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. I have to pray everyday for help to break out of my comfort zone, but when I do there is nothing better!

I love you all so much! 

Thanks for your great examples!

Talk to you soon and write you next week!

Love,

Sorella Comollo

Ciao!

Cari!

So lots of changes this week! Sorella Johnson is being transferred to Rome, she is leaving me, ah! We are going to Catania today to drop her off and pick up my new companion. Her name is Sorella Sobeck, she is from California and has been her only two transfers more than me. 

It is crazy to think Sorella Johnson is leaving! She has been such a great trainer and has taught me so much about how to be a missionary and about life. She will do great things in Roma 3, I know it! I am a little nervous thinking about doing everything without Sorella Johnson, but I know that this challenge will help me to put more of my trust in the Lord. Because I have been just leaning on her for help lately. 

We had the most wonderful experience last night with Giuseppe. Before we said the prayer he said that he wanted to tell us of an experience he had afterward. We were both thinking, it is either going to be a bad one or an amazing one. It was an amazing one! He told us about how he dreamed about asking a man were a street was and it was like he was asking through prayer and then he saw a light, he said like Joseph Smith did, and the man said that the way is with the missionaries and the gospel they are teaching and you need to keep going down that street. He said he woke up with the most exquisite feeling of peace and happiness and was even more excited to see us! It was a awesome, because we had spent a lot of time thinking about him this week and planning his lesson. We ended up deciding to keep it simple and do the third which is about the gospel of Chirst and give him a homework assignment of sorts. We wanted him to read 2 Nephi 31 and write some notes on the question, how can you follow Chirst more? Well, it was perfect, for it fit in perfectly with his dream and following the way of the gospel! We were so happy for him.

It was also incredible to see how he is changing. When we first met with him he was impatient and wanted to learn everything at once and was just looking for facts, he did not really listen intently to what we were saying, but now he is tranquilo, he listens intently and asks pertinant questions to the topic we are on. He is going to Milano for a conference for work and he asked us to help him find a church close to where he is staying. We found it on the google map (the church has the coolest website to find meeting houses!) and he called the bishop! He said that he wants to bring his collegue that he is going with. 

The companion of one of our investigators had a baby! She is the cutest thing in the world, only 2 kilos. Her mom, who is in active, is softening so much because of the sweet spirit that baby brings. I love babies and it makes me want to see Lena and Jimmy so bad!

I heard this story from Sorella Johnson. Sorella Johnson's brother's friend, while serving in Brazil, was walking across the street when a bus hit him. He hardly had a chance to live he had so much damage done to his body. Well, he is alive and progressing so rapidly that the doctors are amazed. A couple days before general conference they thought he was going to be completely paralyzed, but in just those few days he started to move a little more and then when in conference everyone sustained the prophet, he suprised everyone by raising his right arm to sustain him too. Now he is starting to learn to walk again. When I think of this I am just so filled with the spirit, inspiring me to keep going and working hard. This young man, instead of being depressed and sad and lamenting, why did this happen to me, I was on a mission, I was being good, why would God do this to me. He is showing great faith in accepting the trials that come to him and being an example that no matter what we go through we can be positive and go on.

Lots of people here have lost hope or are losing hope. We are working so hard to help them to understand faith. I know with all my heart that if we have faith in Jesus Christ we will be happy, happier than we ever thought possible in this world, no matter what.

Love you all and I hope you have a good week!

Love,

Sorella Comollo

Ciao!

Famiglia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week has sure been full of miracles! On Thursday last week we went to Sant'Agata to have a lesson with a contact there, she said that she would be there at a certain time, but then called us to say she needed more time to do some things. So we decided to do some finding around the area where she lived. We did some house and a girl, about 17 years old, let us in. We are doing a survey type of finding. So we asked her some questions and told her about who we are. She was so interested that we got talking more about what we believe. She paused for a moment in our conversation and told us that the mother of her friend from school commited suicide that morning and that it is interesting that missionaries came to her today. We taught her about the plan of salvation and she said she would read the material we gave her. She is excited to have us come on Saturday. This truly was a miracle. The Lord led us to that girl on the very day, in the very moment that she need support. Everything happens for a reason, our contact made our appointment for a later time than we had planned, we did finding at that palazzo instead of another one. I love God!

We had the best lesson with Giuseppe last night! We really got to get into the scriptures and talked about having a testimony and faith. He is so great. He came to church on Sunday and he told us how he loves it. How the people there are not perfect, but they are sincere and talk about how spiritual things can help us, with their heart. 

A member from our ward here in Mistretta sent a postcard or letter to you. His name is Antonio and he is so awesome. He needs some nice words and love, so if you want you can write him back! And it is cool since you speak Italian, so he can understand what you write:)

I am glad to hear you had a nice Easter! We spent it with the family of an investigator, Pasquale. We had lamb pasta and then lamb and potatos, yummy! The family was so nice to invite us. We also met Pasquale's son from his exwife. He is so cute, he is nine years old and loves the sister missionaries. We had a mini lesson with him about the tree of life and he wants to read the childrens book of mormon! We also went to Antonio's house. His sister made pasta with boiled egg, suonds wierd, but it was good. The best part about Easter was church. It was all centered around the resurection, of course. The branch President had people come up and share their favorite scriptures on this topic and bare their testimonies. I choose Mosia 16:8, it is good, you should read it:)

We had our interviews with President Kelly this yesterday a Paleramo. He is so nice! It was good to get some of my questions answered on how I can improve myself as a missionary.

I love you all so much!!!!

Have a good week and will talk to you next week!

Love,

Sorella Comollo

My Talk on Charity

Cara Famiglia,
Here is my talk on charity. Sorry about the spelling and if it is a
little unorganized, I get too many thoughts and then I cannot pin them
down fast enough or into something cohesive.
 I hope you like it anyway.
Love you tons!!!!!
Sorella Comollo

        Becoming A Saint
By Sorella Comollo

        If you were to go up to an average Joe in Italy, I guess he would be
called an average Giuseppe, and ask him what does is mean to be a
saint, he would probably say something like this, a pretty much
perfect person who lived a good life in the service of others. If you
asked this average  Giuseppe if he thought he could become a saint,
unfortunately, he would probably say no. Moving away from the apostate
doctrine that saints can save us and that one must be inessence
perfect in order to be considered a saint, we learn from the doctrine
of the restored gospel that each of us has the potential to become a
saint by putting off the natural man.
        In Mosiah 3:19 it gives us the best advice on overcoming the natural
man and becoming a saint, it says, “For the natural man is an enemy to
God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and
ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and
putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement
of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble,
patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord
seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his
father.”. It lists that the atonement will help us overcome the
natural man and then it goes in to other attributes that can help us
overcome. All of these aspects mentioned encompass charity.
        We learn more about charity in Moroni 7:45, which describes exactly
what charity consists of, it says,  “And charity suffereth long, and
is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own,
is not easitly provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in
iniqiuty but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”.
        When I was pondering over these attributes of charity I realized that
one can only experience true charity when faced with opposition. For
example, if there was nothing to suffer how can one develope
long-suffering? This concept is well explained by the scriptures in 2
Nephi 2:16, it explains, “Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that
he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself
save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.”. We
are to act for ourselves to develope charity, we are to act for
ourselves if we would like to become a saint.
        I thought by coming on a mission I would automatically become a
better Latter-Day Saint. My view of a mission was that it would act
upon me to make me become a better person. This is not so. I am
learning the only way to grow and become a sanctified disciple of
Christ is for me to act rightously against the oppostion. I realize
now the only way to develope this discipleship, especially on a
misson, is to develope charity.
        The scriptures give us the key on how we need to act to increase
charity, that is to overcome what the natural man would do and start
doing what the saint would do. We can be long suffering with a less
active family, even when they do not come to church week after week
for we can have patience and pray for them, asking for assistence from
the Lord in how to help them week after week. We can think kindly of
the older woman who will not even let us finish our sentence before
she slams the door in our faces, instead of getting angry. Instead of
envying a companion's grasp of the Italian language, we can ask
him/her for help to improve. We can endure doing finding and not get
discouraged even after a man yells at us to leave him alone. When a
lesson goes really well instead of being prideful and attributing the
success to our own abilities, we can realize with humility that it was
the Holy Ghost helping us along. We can hope with all our heart that
an investigator will feel the spirit and have the desire to start
reading the Book of Mormon, instead of thinking that she will never
change. We can bear all things, bearing rejection after rejection,
praying that someday these people will have a change of heart. We can
believe that God keeps his promises, that he blesses us as we obey and
that his blessings come in divinly inspired ways and not as the world
would expect. By working on developing these attributes of charity,
and aspects of missionary work and life, how can we not develope love,
pure love, the love that Christ has?
        The other condition, in overcoming the natural man and  becoming a
saint, that we learn from Mosiah 3:19, is that it occurs through the
atonement. Out of all of the examples I could give of Christ showing
charity to others this would be the ultimate one. President Joseph F.
Smith described, “the great atoning sacrifice...” as, “love made
manifest”.
        We cannot only become a saint --holy, free from blemish-- with our
actions to develope charity alone, the only way and the most important
way is through the sacrifice that Christ made. As we use the atonement
in our lives our developing the attributes of charity will become more
attainable. As we use the atonement in our lives even the average
Giuseppe can become a saint.

Ciao!

Ciao Tutti!

This week has been interesting. I have was super sick still for a couple days last week to the point where we couldn't go out. We had to stay inside for a couple of days so that I could overcome this crazy persistent cold. I was getting really frustrated with myself, I was mad that I did not take care of this problem sooner, like at the MTC, because I have had a stuffy nose since I was there, so that I did not have to waste so much time inside when I could have been out teaching our investigators. I had these concerns, but my mind set changed on Monday because I got a blessing. Anziano Perry offered it. It was perfect. It was so wonderful because he said exactly what I needed to hear and he did not even know my frustrations, that blessing really was from the Lord! In the blessing he said how even though I have not been able to go out and work I wasn't wasting time for my testimony was growing stronger through study and a prayer. It is true because I have my testimony has grown stonger in these days of my tribulation. 

Things are really picking up here. We have a new investigator, he was taking the lessons last year, but stopped because he just was not interested, but know he is wanting more than ever to learn about the gospel and he said that he wants to get baptized. It will be hard to set a date with him because he has some legal problems. He is still married but lives with another woman and has kids with her, plus he is on house arrest until The first week of April. I have tons of hope for him, just in the time I have been here I have seen a huge change, he went from avoiding us completely to being the one in his family to really contribute to the lessons.

We were given an assignment to write a short paper on charity from our mission president. I will send it to you today after I finish it. I love charity!:)

Yesterday I was the happiest I have ever been. I know why it was too, it was because I focused my all my study and thoughts on the people here and how I can help them instead of worrying about myself. I am starting to understand what president Hinkley meant when he said forget yourself and go to work. We had a lesson with Rosa again, finally (we wrote her number down wrong, so it took forever to re contact her). She was so nice, she made us risotto and talked to us about doing service for others. We were in the middle of doing the first lesson about the restoration when both Sorella Johnson and I felt that we should instead talk about something else with her. It is interesting how the spirit prompts us to teach things that we did not plan for. Rosa left for a second to get the phone, so Sorella Johnson and I had some time to talk, it was amazing because we both said she needs something else, we opened our scriptures, I turned to Alma 32 and she turned to Ether 12, we saw each others scriptures and smiled, because without even saying it we knew we needed to talk about faith. Those chapters are about faith and different aspects of it.

I love you all so much, I hope you have the best conference weekend (we are going to the branch president's house to watch just the morning sessions, since it is too late to watch the other ones).  We are so blessed to have a prophet, he knows from the Lord how to help us, so listen up:)

Love you tons!

Love,

Sorella Comollo

Ciao!

Ciao Tutti!!!! (please do not mind my spelling, for some reason (Italian) it is going away!)

We went to Agrigento for P day today. It was cool, we got to see These old Greek temples and the Turkish stairs. It was fun. At the same time I was not as interested in the turist sights as I usually am. I think it is because I know my purpose here, to invite others to come unto Christ. Seeing those thing is amazing, but I kind of like being a missionary more than a turist.

I had the most incredible week with the Book of Mormon! That truly is the most incredible book in the world! I finished if for the first time on my mission and I prayed about its truth and I received an answer, in the most interesting way. I asked heavenly father in faith if I could receive a big miracle answer regaurding it, so I could testify with more power about it. Well, I prayed and I didn't really feel anything, I sat and thought for a little and all of the sudden I had the thought come to my mind that I needed to go and get my patriarchal blessing, I have no idea why,  I have not really thought about it for a while. So I went and got it. I found in that cutsie clothe envolope that it is kept in something that I have been searching for for weeks! That is when I started to feel those rushing feelings of happiness that are hard to describe that are the spirit! My prayer about the book of mormom was the answer to another pray to find the thing that I had lost! It was amazing! Then the next day I read in an old Ensign the talk that Anziano Holland gave about the book of mormon, Everybody should read that this week!!! It is called Safety for the soul. Oh that just built my testimony even more! The Book of Mormon is the proof of the gospel, we can hold it, read it and ponder it! It is the proof not only that this church is true, it is God's, but that there is a God, that There is a Savior and that we can receive revelation through a profet and that we can receive personal revelation for us and our families! I love the book of mormon so much, I all of you should make it a top priority to read everyday, for if there is time for physical food there is time for spiritual food. 

With my new found testimony of the Book of Mormon my teaching has improved, it is so cool to see. I am no longer content with just letting my companion do most of the lesson and me give my testimony (Because I was afraid to speak), now I am a big part of the lessons and I always try to say all that we teach centrato in Cristo and on the Book of Mormon. This week we found a woman named Lina and usually we talk about the Family for our introduction, but we started instead about the Book of Mormon and bearing testimony and that has been our most powerful and spiritual first introduction lesson yet.

I read the Lehi's dream this week and I was thinking about the rod of Iron and how it means the word of God, cioe' the scriptures. This is such a beautiful analogy. Iron is a strong metal and if we hold fast to it it will keep us up. The scriptures are stong and when we apply the principles they teach us they will keep us up. Help us to overcome all of our trials.

I am so excited, our branch here is having a ward activity for the first time in months. This is a miracle because this branch has a lot of issues. We are going to invite everyone we can all our less actives and investigators. There is something wonderful about the church commuinity. Even if there may be individuals within the communitiy that are not following the standards, we can still feel the spirit of love from those that do and that is what is important, not the people who are not doing right, for truly they are outliers and people should not base their opinions of the church on them. The ward in Mistretta has this problem, with certain individuals not living up to there covenants, but that should not place a burden on the rest of the community to progress and add more people to the fold.

I love you all so much! I am so grateful for your prayers and the love I feel! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Sorella Comollo

Another Week Has Flown By

CIAO!!!!!

So I have been feeling like my emails lately have been weak sauce, so I have decided to add some beef:) Are you ready for it?:)

First off, eveyone needs to read this talk this week, it is called The atonement all for all by Bruce C Hafen. It is incredible and life changing! We truly are so blessed in to have the knowledge of the Savior that we do. The people that we teach here are christian but they do not understand how Christ can help them to feel the burden of sin lifted or feel comfort when we think all is lost. 

Last wednesday I slept all day, after we got home from the internet point I felt so sick. I have this sinus infection you see, it is so grose-o! I was taking antibiotics for it, but they did not really help so I went to one of the members doctor. He said that it was persistant and I need to take five different kinds of medications in various ways to get rid of it. So I have to Take two kinds of aerosal things, I have to wear a mask for 10 minutes and breath in this stuff, I sound and look like darth vadar with it on. My companion just laughs at me the whole time:) Then I have to drink this thick stuff take a pill and last but not least I have to pour these vaseline drops in my nose 3 times a day. It is like shoving a cough drop up my nose and down my throut, yummy. No worries though, I am grateful,  because it is finally going away! Hurray!

I wanted to tell you to how grateful I am for the knowledge and I have of prayer. All of the people we teach say that they pray and we ask them about it. They say that they do the cross before they go to bed and sometimes say the Padre Nosrto o Ave Maria. They just say a memorized prayer... I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have a father in Heaven that loves me, knows me by name and listens to me. I can pray to him, talk to him, all of the sentiments of my heart and he will answer. This is so wonderful. We are working hard to help people understand this concept and how much of a difference it makes in the life.

My companion's birthday was a week ago. We went to a Marcellaria and were buying some cheese. We were talking about her birthday and Franco, the man who sales the cheese, said that for her birthday we wanted to give her his heart, so he gave us a free chunk of cow heart, sweet no? We had a stew with it, it was pretty good and hearty, he he he, punny:)

So I learned some thing wonderful from proverbs the other day about knowledge, that it is more precious than gold or silver. This is great! For the knowledge we obtain in this life is the only thing that we will keep. So keep searching for more knowledge and if you do you will never be bored and always be rich!

On Fridays we have a weekly planning session in the mornings. This is were we go through the week and plan when will we have lessons for investigators, what will we teach them and so on. When we got to the part in preach my gospel where it says plan for your recent converts and less actives. Sorella Johnson and I started to chuckle, because our recent converts are our less actives:) Lots of work to be done, but we are making progress. This less active of ours was ready to come to church on sunday, yay! But she missed the carpool down, no! Next week for sure!

We have an hour of language study a day. During language study I was working on vocabulary. Sorella Johnson sneezed so I looked up the word for sneeze, it is starnutto. Well, in church our primary girl sneezed and we both said oh that is a starnudo, oops;)

We have an investigator named Cataldo. He is this little old man with a voice that cracks like an adolecent, he is so cute! When we walk in the door he is already getting his book of Mormon out and his poems. He loves to give us poems that he has written, about his mom, about his wife, about his life. He likes so read them to us too! He is so cute! 

I gave a talk on sunday about the blessing that come with temple attendance, quite the topic for a first talk in a different language, lets just say I used a lot of quotes:)

 We had a miracle happen this week!!!!! So during lunch one day we got a call from Angela, a less active/recent convert, she was trembling on the phone and frantically explaining that she ran out of her medication for some problem she has, she asked us for help, if we could go and get it. We had a lesson planned with an investigator at 3 and said that we would help, but it would have to be quick. It wasn't. We had to go down to Reitano, a town about 15 minutes away to her mom's house, get the money to buy the medicine, but while there the mom wanted to chit chat for a bit, so we finally got away, but had to go back to her house to get the perscription and than go to the farmacia for her, but we took the wrong street to the farmacia so we had to walk all the way back and it took for ever and then go back to her house to give her the meds and then she talked to us for a little, by the time we got to our appointment it was 4:30. Nicoletta our investigator was fine with us being late, even thought we were kind of frustrated with the whole situation. Well about five minutes after we got there Nicoletta's mom comes in and we got to have the first lesson about Joseph Smith with her too and she loved it and she wants us to come back! The mom said that it is best if we come around 4:30 because that is when she can come over! AMAZING! If we did not go through all of that shananagan with Angela we would have never met the mom of Nicoletta at 4:30 because our appointment was originally at 3 and now she is a new investigator! This is truly a testimony that we have to be grateful for even the things in life that seem frustrating, because you never know what will come of it.

Last part to me boss email. We were with a member, Antonio the other night and we had a former investigator pass us in a hurry. After she saluted us Antonio whispers to us, she is going to go and do the worst form of Idolatry. Sorella Johnson and I Froze and looked at each other, shocked. For both of us thought that Antonio said Adultary. I just want to say that idolatry is not adultary.

 

I love you all so much! Thanks for your emails and support! 

Have a lovely week and I shall talk to you next week!

Love,

Sorella Comollo