Email from Sara 5/27/09

Quick one

Sorry today will be pretty short.. only about ten minutes to write. It was a slow computer and I got a late start.

Anyhow... it has been a great week. Another really fast one. I can't believe how fast this transfer has flown by. Next monday are transfer calls. I expect to stay here, but I guess ya never know.
We are staying really really busy and I have to be honest with ya, I'm exhausted!! I guess its a good exhaustion though.

We are teaching quite a few people and it's great to see their understanding of the gospel increase.

The people here are wonderful and I just love them!

Pistoia continues to remind me of home. It's so green and pretty humid. The past few days have been ridiculously hot. At least 90's or so. Or whatever 37-38 degrees celsius is. I'm really learning to appreciate air conditioning. We definately do not have air conditioning at our house and it's usually about 85 degrees when we get home at around 9 pm. But the mornings are usually quite perfect. We do have a fan though, so it's not too too too terrible. :)

I really don't have much time, so I'm going to wrap this up. Know that your prayers are appreciated and that I am very happy! I love you all and love hearing how everyone is doing!
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!
Love, Sorella Leckie

Only time for two pictures today. The first one is where we had a little picnic lunch today.. it's so green!!
The other is me learning how to make pasta with Antionetta. So much fun!

Email from Sara 5/20/09

Buongiorno!!

Ciao caro famiglia mia!

Alrighty, this might be short-ish today because we are going on a field trip to Lucca. We're going with the other sisters and it's going to be a blast. We don't actually know what there is to see in Lucca but we've been told by many many sources that it's beautiful, so we'll see.

This week has been great. We had some great appointments and hopefully will be able to see some people who are willing to take some bigger steps of faith.
I had a wonderful birthday. My companion and the other sisters made me crepes for breakfast and they were YUMMY!

Then, that morning we went and met with a less active sister (of over 20 years inactive) and it's a beautiful walk out to her house. It seriously reminds me of home... like walking down in the woods. I love it!! There were azalias around her house and it's just beautiful. It's like a little piece of the upstate right here in Pistoia. It's great. In the past she hasn't been entirely receptive to having missionaries at her house, but she was very welcoming and wants us to come back. I'll keep ya posted.

After that we went to the park to have a picnic with some of the young people from the branch. We had three new members, three non members (one who is a new investigator and another who is going to be a new invesitgator, and another who comes to english class). Then there were 2 young men from the branch, the branch president's daughter, who is amazing, one of the youth from the Pisa branch, and then four missionaires. It was really really fun and a great opportunity for the non members to mingle and interact with the members. BEAUTIFUL!

Then we had an appointment with the Itala family. They are the ones who have to wait to get baptized, but are practically members already. We went not knowing exactly who of their family was going to be there, but we ended up having a really fun girls night with Francescia (the mom) Piera (the daughter) Consuella (Francescia's sister) and Graziella (Consuella's daughter). We had a great lesson on faith. And Consuella and Graziella (who are not investigators) want to have dinner sometime with all of us again. Yay!! Hopefully we can share some more with them. And the Itala family is a great example. When they found out it was my birthday they all hugged and kissed me, and their 9 year old son, Michael gave me his Tazmanian devil stuffed animal, it was so cute. They are such a great family!

When I got home, sorella Hawkey and Millis surprised me with a banner, balloons, and a cake-ish dessert (it was DELICIOUS). A really really fun and great day!
There have been other great things too, and life is great!

Gotta go so I can catch my train, but I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that you can do lots of good things!
Love you all!
Sorella leckie

Oh yeah... I found honeysuckles the other day and I was so so so excited!!! It was just like home!

**********************************************************
(Later)

So we had a little bit of time left over after we got back today from Lucca so we came to the library to send some pictures.

This one is me and Sorella Stephenson in Lucca. The main part of the city is within some really high walls. This is taken from on top of one of the walls. Pretty, huh?


This is a ridiculously cute piazza. I can't remember the name of it right now, but it was really really cute.



This is typical of the trains that we take to and from Pistoia every morning and every evening. Sometimes they are a little newer, but this is pretty typical.



Me on my birthday. I look really really really rough. It had been a hot day with lots of walking and I'd had issues with my contacts and had had to take them out during the day and go half blind after much rubbing of the eyes. It was pretty windy and theres lots of stuff in the wind. A strange kind of cottony weed blows around a lot and I suspect that didn't help.



This is me with all the sisters in my apartment on my birthday. Apparently I missed the memo to wear a white button down shirt. They surprised me good.


This was just a really really cute ally in Lucca. I liked it.

Email from Sara 5/13/09

Short one

Alrighty la mia famiglia...

This one is going to be a little bit on the short side, obviously for the same reasons that all of your emails were a little on the short side :)

We had a great monday and tuesday. It's amazing how we plan so many things and then we end up doing something completely different. There are so many small miracles everyday- its amazing really.

We had an appointment last night with an amazing family. I think I've mentioned them before, but they are waiting to be baptized- there's a few legal complexities becuase she was married before and still has to get a divorce so they can get married, etc. But they are great. I just love the dad becuase he loves the gospel so much. I love seeing people like that and having a reaffirmation that people can change. He was telling us how he stoppped smoking after he had smoked about 2 packs every day for the past 14 years. Its great to see the hand of the Lord in their lives. There is the mom, dad, a 15 year old daughter, a 9 year old son, and they are expecting a daughter. A few gaps in the ages there, but a truly wonderful family. I'm so excited for them to be able to enjoy all the blessings of the gospel.

Aside from that, Monday we had interviews and while in the past it's always been more of a casual "how are things going..." kind of deal, this time around it was more direct and specific "tell me about your investigators... are you teaching any families... are you working with less actives..." It was good to be able to answer his questions positively. We have been working really hard and I hope we can keep it up. I know we can with the Lord's help. I don't know if I've ever been so exhausted in my life, though :).

Anyhow, life is good. I'm happy, healthy, and doing great. Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Con affeto
Sorella Leckie

p.s.- Thanks for the birthday wishes. It's going to be a great day, like all the others :) No sign of any packages yet, but it just means I get to have another birthday later. Because today is the P-day before my birthday we got to do whatever I wanted, which meant not doing anything in a hurry :) I took a nap, we got groceries, all at a very relaxed pace and it is wonderful!

We went and did service at someone's house the other day and this is their view. Not too shabby, huh?

At least once a week we do a Mostra, or a display to publicize our english class. We put a sheet on the ground and then use chalk to write sentances, or draw pictures, etc. It's a really good way to talk to and meet people becuase we ask them questions as they walk past.

We use a table for our mostra and the elders have to carry it to and from their house :) It's kind of humerous and we get a lot of funny looks. More than usual, at least.


Another beautiful spot. We were on the way to visit a family who lives on a mountain. It is absolutely beautiful. Pistoia as a city is actually pretty small, but there are lots of little tiny cities all around it in the mountains that are so cute and beautiful.

Email from Sara 5/6/09

Happy mothers day and counting

Ciao tutti!

This will probably be pretty short today if I want to get any pictures sent. We are the Library in Pistoia. It's free, but we are limited to exactly an hour so... I have to be prompt and I have 20 minutes exactly right now.

This week flew by. It's been good- we are working with a quite a few inactives and we have a few contacts and investigators. Right now we are trying to get everything (area book) in order and straighten that up.

Sunday was my first day in the branch. Funny thing, both the opening and closing prayer were offered by non-members. There were over 20 people there, but of the 20 only 11 were baptized members of the branch. (I excluded the 2 kids and 4 missionaries when counting the baptized members) but they are great. We're trying to help some of the less active members remember their testimonies and finding those who are prepared to receive the gospel.

I met and have seen on the bus the past three days, the sweetest lady from Synagal. (no idea how to spell that) I met her while we were doing a mostra (street display) for our english class. She is so so so nice and I really hope that she's not only interested in teh english class, but that we can also teach her the gospel. It is really really strange for me to see the same person three days in a row, so to me, that's not just a coincendece. (spelled wrong, I know)

I seem to be losing all ability to speak... not only in English. It's amazingly humbling to have a companion who has only been in italy for less than two months and she speaks better than I do. She did have an italian trainer for a month, but I have no excuse. Anyhow, jsut something else for me to work on. Part of the reason she's so good with the language is because she likes and I mean LIKES to study. Its not the funnest part of my day, but I do it because I'm supposed to. I need to learn to have more desire to study, then it will be fun.

We had a great zone conference on monday. The Zone leaders gave a great addestramento (training) on overcoing obstacles- how often times we draw an imaginary line in the sand and we have to decide if we will take the time to prepare to step over the line or if we will let it stop us. The line can be anything from talking to someone on the bus, or giving a talk, anything really that presents a challenge. The ultimate part of the training was that our Savior is on the other side of that line with His hand outstreached to help us over, we just have to use it. I think sometimes I forget that even for the simple things (like talking to someone at the train station) the Savior is waiting and willing to help us overcome ever weakness and trail (Alma 7:11-13) This has become one of my favorite scriptures on teh mission. I just have to be reminded sometimes that I know that the things written there are true.

Alrighty, gonna go so I can get ya at least a picture or two. Hope everyone is doing well. Send my love to Karen and her family.

Vi voglio un saco di bene!!!
Sorella Leckie

[Sara couldn't get her usb to work, so there are no pictures]