Wednesday, April 30, 2014

**4/30/14**

Blah Blah

Last pday we went to Trieste and saw the most beautiful castle that I have ever seen. My scambio with Sorella Bollwinkel was great, then I just had one with Sorella Haslum who came to me from Verona. I feel like I am the one getting trained and learning the most from these Sorelle. I feel like a sponge! 
I read the best thing ever today. A man's vision about the spirit world from 1920 and I dare say it changed my testimony. I felt like I was there and the feelings brought me back to the temple. It felt very sacred and real. Everyone should read it. 
My favorite senior couple is going home tomorrow, so sad I didn't call them beforehand so they could've come visit me! Stupid. But saying 'see you later' was so strange. 
In Trieste I talked to a young teenager who was kind of less active, especially about seminary. I know I took it for granted, but he was complaining about the hour. I told him, my Dad woke me up every morning and drove me 20 minutes at 5 in the morning to Seminary and he wasn't even active. So I wanted to publically declare my gratitude to my Dad. Happy Birthday! 
And to mom too, but we can do that for Mother's Day.
Well Mestre so far might be the refiner's fire round 2 for me haha. Very different, time is flying and I feel like I haven't done anything. Not much has happened. But I am grateful for the daily small miracles and that we are planting seeds for when it will be the booming city. (hopefully fra alcuni transferimenti haha). 
Read conference talks! You only take your knowledge with ya, ya know.
love love.
Sorella Gillette

**4/23/14**

Notizie strane!

So, the folks are moving to St. Geezy? Weird world clash. Very indifferent to this idea. But I guess by next week they will send pictures of the new place. That's 2 moves in 2 states since I have been gone! #nomads.

I am writing from Trieste! Always wanted to see this city, we are going to a castle by the ocean today. That's now 2 different oceans in Italy! 

Gang, Venice blew my mind. I cannot comprehend how it was built. We got to visit the Jewish Ghetto, where people were forced to live in WWII. It was very hollowed ground. We ate sandwiches sitting on steps of the water by a tiny bridge there, I couldn't help thinking how nazi soldiers had stood where I ate. Everything was written in Hebrew and there were authentic traditional Jewish people with yamacas and sweet curls. Lovedddd it! Can't wait to go back. 

It is truly a magical place. Couldn't stop smiling like a 5 year old at Disney World. And the masks! Ahh I want one so bad! 

Pasqua was great, ate lunch with a really cool member and he told us his conversion story and testimony and we watched that new amazingggg video about Christ on lds.org. It hit me yet again that that is something I want to do for a living. Make videos like that. 

This week I felt the spirit super strongly on a solid daily basis. Had some great scambi, one with Sorella Quinton, who I guess is friends with Fish and Lyd! small world!! Then I went to Pordenone with Sorella Burkman. Man the sorelle are awesome. Next I am going to scambi with Sorella Bollwinkle in Trieste tonight and tomorrow. 

The thing I have noticed here is going back to teaching to very specific needs. There are some amazing people, and I am pretty positive they won't be baptized while I am a missionary, but I know they will be and when they are, they will be phenomenal members that will change the world here. 

Yesterday we taught a family how to dye eggs for Easter. I love them! The girls are sooo cute! The mom and oldest girl come to our English course. We also hung out with dear Laura and a girl that came in from Denmark. Since we are in Venice, we are missionaries/tour guides/ insta friends to foreign members. Pretty cool. 

Con un sacco di amore e cuccioli, 
Sorella Gillette

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

4/15/14

Gocapio. Next stop, speaking Venetian.

So. I got to go last week to Venice to visit a less active on the island she lives on. No big deal. Today we are going for pday so I can see the real Venice Venice, I haven't visited centro yet or anything. I. Am. Stoked. Not to mention Montag told me there's a cool Jewish neighborhood that was established in WWII. ya'll know I love that kind of stuff!

Man there are a lot of Americans out here. When tourists come to church, we translate. And I am not a fan of translating haha my brain can't switch quick enough, I end up speaking Italian at people. But it was cool bearing a quick testimony on my first Sunday because all the tourists came up to me, I forgot what it's like being around American members...weird! 

Side note. Still obsessed with conference. 

Time is going fast and there's so much to do still. Mestre reminds me a lot of Bergamo in the sense of the work pace. I always said I wanted to open and even go back to Bergamo to do a redo, looks like this is Heavenly Father's way of answering my wishes. Also including Venice. Can't complain.
We met some people from Chicago yesterday here for a volleyball tourny, a lady we were talking to knew about the church and things and was like 'you guys scored Venice?! GET ON YOUR KNEES AND THANK GOD!' She kept telling us to get on our knees and pray hhahaha so funny.

Also yesterday, I asked a lady on the tram where she was from and she yelled at me and said 'I'm from here! What a stupid question!!' hahahaha i couldn't stop laughing when we got off the tram lol. 

Then after a lunch appt with some cute little older ladies, we were walking on a side street and a little old man with a cane asked if he could walk in between us for good luck....hahahaha. 

So this week is starting of right. I'm really trying to exercize my faith more with talking to people in giro. Because I know that if I am just trying, we will be finding miracles in various places, even the ones we don't expect. Well we have 3 new investigators, one of which is the boyfriend of a less active, who I guess never would sit in on lessons before. Miracle! 

It's a lot more pressure being the STL for numbers and all that jazz. But it's a good push. I'ts cool being with Slla Montagnoli again, we have lived such different missions that have brought us together again. 

My spiritual insight as of lately is this: we are nothing. I don't understand the patience God has. I fall so short all the time, I barely put forth effort and instantly see the fruit. It's like he has to baby us. 'it's okay, you sucked most of the day but here's a lolipop.' haha but of course a lot more loving than that. 

Read Mosiah 3 and 4, it's where I'm at in Italian and kind of along these lines. 
With a sack of love to the moon and back,
Sorella Gillette

p.s. last miracle. We hopped on a bus after leaving the church with the anziani and a member, Anziano Thompson starts peer pressuring me to go talk to this African girl who is far away on the semi-packed bus sitting on the inside seat next to another man. He was like 'she looked at you, go talk to her, here's a book of mormon.' hahaha. and mannnn i was so pansy about it! but I went, awkwardly squeezing past people up to her and the italian man...like a scared little kid I asked, 'Have you ever seen this book before?' He said no and I could tell she was about to nod. He was like 'I'm not interested.' So I was like okay, so have YOU seen this book? She said yes! Then I asked her if she spoke English. Bam she has been to church in Nigeria, She is from my favorite tribe, so I asked her how she was in that language haha and she is good friends/neighbors with a super elect member. oh ya, she has read parts of the book of mormon. got her digits. 
So what do we learn from this? A. humble slap. B. being a pansy does nothing and there are miracles waiting. C. Dang diddly anziano was right. 

:)

4/9/14

Hello world

Wells. I am in Mestre, haven't had a solid day to do missionary work here tho. General Conference and two zone trainings back to back. It was cool being one to do half of a zone training. We got to go to Padova for the Bologna zone and I saw some dear mission buddies ;) 
Then ours was in Pordenone, which has the American chapel that is gorgeous! And I didn't really know anyone! So many younger missionaries that I have never served near. It's funny how we all revolve around the same areas of people.

Sadly today we said goodbye to a young greenie that got the call that he is going home for medical issues, so sad! I only got to know him for a week but I sure feel like I have been here longer. Usually time moves fast, here it's slowing down a bit. Meno male. However, still haven't gone to Venezia!! Everytime we are supposed to go something comes up. But I think we have a lesson there tomorrow so, there's hope! 

I have only met a few members but they are really great. I love the bishop and his family. I really am hoping that I will stay here till the end. We are the old people now, double digit transfers, so strange! 

The work here is way different than Milano, kind of reminds me of Bergamo. I still need to adjust a bit. 

Conference was amazing! I decided one of our themes should be, we only have 4 minutes to save the world! (mixed a bit with that JT song...)

Yesterday we visited the bishop and his family, watched the Resto vid, after Montagnoli bore her testimony she threw me under the bus to share my conversion story haha it was sweet, as I did she cried. Then later on she talked about how my story and the fact that I will go to the temple with my family brings her to tears and how she will be there with me. It was a really tender moment haha. 

Another story. We visit an inactive woman who is handicapped with a mental disease. It broke my heart. There was a different spirit there in the sense that she is just so sad and lost in her own state. I teared up while we were there with her and cried when we left. Really tugged on my heart strings. So I just have realized yet again how incredibly blessed we all are. 

Today we have to do a favor for a member so our pday is kind of botched. haha. Hopefully next week I will do a pday in venezia! 

Love you all! The church is true and the book is blue.
Sorella Gillette

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

** 4/2/14 **

Well waddya know, it's transfers!

 
AND I AM GETTING TRANSFERED AGAIN!!
I'm sick of this one and done business. My little heart can't take it! Especially because getting to know all the people of Milano that I wanted to in 6 weeks is a joke. I insta cried when I got the call Monday morning. The first thing I thought of was the baptism we have in a week and a half, my fav fam!

Here's the bittersweetness, I am going to Mestre to be a Sister Training Leader there too! For those that don't know, Mestre = Venezia. Which is Venice. And that has been my DREAM place to go for yearrrssss! I was wanting to go over there since the beginning but then I just kind of gave up on that thought. AHHH VENEZIA!!
But it gets weirder...
MY NEW COMP.
is Sorella Montagnoli! cioè my MTC comp haha. Tomorrow when I see her it will be a year to the day from the last time we saw each other lol.

THE BAPTISM of Sanndy was BEAUTIFUL. So many people came and showed their support, she brought about 10 of her friends! Me, Egbert, an anziano and a couple filipino members were going to sing Anima Mia during the program, which is Be Still My Soul, then they invited whoever wanted to participate to go up, so several other members joined, and I was pretty much singing to Sanndy. She started crying. I almost cried. The spirit was so strong! Especially when Eggy and I had a whole verse solo. It was so great.

I said goodbye to a bunch of people yesterday at english class and fhe. I cried after of course. Sharmaine, a new convert here that I loveee made me the coolest drawing ever. (There's photos) and I just can't believe how much I love people in 6 weeks. If I could describe the pain of leaving a city, it would be like getting dumped after a year long engagement, I imagine at least haha.

HORCRUX YOUR HEARTS! There's a fatty chunk of my heart in Milano Navigli.
Onto the next one!
Sorella Gillette