Dear Family and Friends,
Wow! What a crazy few days I've had! I started working in Cuneo (which means wedge in Italian, maybe I already explained that last week), and now I'm back in Verona for my permesso di sogiorno... which means the little card that I have to have to be legal. I got one last year, but I had to start renewing it before the end of the year. We spent all afternoon on the train yesterday, and slept on the spare mattresses in the other room of my old apartment. Today we went to my appointment, and then planned for the rest of the week. We're taking a little pday time because we have zone conference tomorrow, so starting Wednesday we will have lost 2 full days of work in Cuneo.
Sorella Oakes is WONDERFUL! She's such a sweetheart, and we have seen SO many miracles already in just 3 days! We're a little bummed to not be in our city finding right now, but we know that we'll be blessed if we continue to be obedient. We met a few really cool people in the bus the other night, and one of them came to church the next morning! He's almost too good to be true! He actually had said that he couldn't come before, but after reading Alma 32, he called us to ask what time church was... The Book of Mormon works miracles for us! We run to the 'edge of the wedge' every morning and shout, 'We made it to the edge of the wedge!!!' It's a tradition to encourage us to keep working all the way to the end.
Another fun thing that happened was that I got to see Anziano Andersen from my MTC district at the transfer circle! My dear Elders from my district became such good friends, and I hadn't seen him since April. We only got to exchange a few words and a handshake, but it was good to see him happy and healthy. I also saw Anziano Winward, who I haven't seen for a couple of months. The only one from my original district (of Milano missionaries) that I didn't see was Anziano Osborn. I'll be excited to see the other elders and sisters I knew from the MTC who are in Rome too. It's amazing how close we got in just 9 weeks. Serving together on a mission really creates strong friendships. I was thinking about all of my former companions, and I really am so grateful for each one of them. Each has taught me so much!
I can't believe Christmas is this week! It's always been my favorite holiday, and I have never seen it creep up so quickly. Today we were trying to plan for lessons, and we said, "OK, let's schedule this on Saturday, that on Sunday, etc, etc." But then we realized it was Christmas and said, "Oh no!!! It's Christmas Eve and Christmas!" Then we had a good laugh. :) Bah Humbug! I guess Christmas will be coming just the same. No, I'm actually very excited for Christmas here in Italy! Slla Oakes loves to sing, so we've decided we'll be doing a lot of caroling to find activities.
Right now we're working a lot with our branch here in Cuneo. We've made Alma 32 our chapter for the transfer. We're trying to help the members strengthen or nourish themselves so that they can get the missionary spirit and desire to share and strengthen others. We drew a little picture of a tree with strong roots. It shows the roots of the tree connecting to a smaller tree, which in turn makes both trees stronger. The branch here is WONDERFUL! This Friday we're having a Christmas concert where there will be over 30 non'members attending. WOW! It will be fun. I don't actually know if I have a part in the program... which feels kind of ironic. But I'll probably end up getting to sing with some group or another. One of the members teaches a bunch of violin students, and they're doing a little orchestra thingy. No cellos. Oh well. :)
I miss my cello still, but I wouldn't trade this experience for any Stradavarius. It was fun to watch the 1st Presidency Devotional. I LOVED every second of it! It was so fun to see so many friends and hear my favorite music sung and played by my favorite group, accompanied by 3 of my all-time favorite speakers! I miss you all!!!!
Well, we're about to go do a 'blitz' with the Verona sisters. I'm going to team up with Sorella Laratro (my former companion from Modena who replaced me in Verona) and my companion Sorella Oakes will be with my dear Sorella Hanks. We plan to find tons of people tonight.
Thank you all for your absolutely wonderful friendship, and for the support and prayers! I know that this season is beautiful because of what and Who it truly represents, but the only way to truly enjoy the season is to follow His example and turn outward to people as He did, rather than worry about things. It's the people you spend time with that will really make the difference in the joy and peace of the season. Speaking of people, I love all you people!
Have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas, and I'll be writing you all at least once more before the new year!
Love always,
-Sorella Willey
Sorella Willey
Sorella Elizabeth Willey
Missione Italiana di Milano
Via Gramsci, 13/4
20090 Opera MI
ITALIA
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento