A little longer
Cara Famiglia Mia!!
I’m so sorry that you got such a short letter last week, but I’ll try to make up for it today. I’ve been making a little list of the things that I wanted to tell you about. First off…
Paglio –also known as “Giostra dell’orso.” It’s like when we went to Siena but better because it was in Pistoia. We actually didn’t get to go to the actual event but we got to watch a parade that morning. (We traded a few of our p-day hours from Wednesday to Saturday) There were a couple of the girls from the branch who were in the parade so it was fun to see them. It’s so much smaller and better than the crowded mass of people who go to Siena. I think the main reason is because to attend the actual event here in Pistoia you have to pay to enter. In Siena it’s free and a much more historical and more publicized. They told me to come back next year to see it, so I guess I’ll have to be back in Italy on July 25th. =)
We had a great Zone conference this past week. Sorella Stephenson and I did a musical number, and it’s always great to go to Zone conference and leave with a boost to go forward and find the people who are waiting for us. After Zone conference we had a special occasion. We had a little “sister’s conference” which as it turns out was mostly just a time when sister Acerson gave us some advice on ways that we can work better with the elders. Then we had a question and answer session with President and Sister Acerson. It was so much fun and I really feel like I got to know them much better. They have had amazing lives.
This past p-day we went to Montecatini Terme and Montecatini Alto. It was so much fun. We pretty much got off the train and had no idea where we were going and just started walking. We stopped at a bookstore and asked the girl working there what we should go see. She said we should go to Montecatini Alto. It was so cute. We had to take the “funicolare” up the mountain (the Funicolare is a little cable car that gets pulled up the mountain) and then just walked around up there and enjoyed the beautiful view of Tuscany. So much fun.
There was a baptism for the Prato missionaries and we as a companionship have kind of had a monopoly on musical numbers for the past few baptisms and the people being baptized specifically asked us to do a musical number. It was a very odd couple (an Italian man and a Chinese woman) but they seem to really love each other, dispite limited communication, and are very very happy to be members of the true church. It was great. We had an investigator, Annalisa, at the baptism and she loved it. She is progressing wonderfully. If you want someone to pray for … pray that her mom’s heart will be softend. Her mom is very very very catholic and has been away from home for a couple weeks and it’s been great for us as far as teaching goes, and we’re a little worried that it will be hard to keep progressing as quickly with opposition from the mom. We’re hoping and praying that it won’t be a problem and that the mom will have respect for her daughters’ decisions. Annalisa is 24 so it’s not like needs permission but it would be nice to have the support of her family. Annalisa asks so many good questions and reads every day. It’s great!
We also are teaching a lady named Mariana. She’s the grandmother of Piera who was baptized a month ago. She loves the book of mormon and has been able to see the changes that have come into her life since she started taking the lessons. She’s going on vacation for the next two weeks but she wants to take a book of mormon to give to her daughter and she said she’s going to talk with her evangelist friends about the missionaries. She’s wonderful.
Francesca, Piera’s mom, is very very pregnant and we thought was going into labor between Sunday school and sacrament meeting, but it turns out it was a false alarm. It was all very exciting…. Sort of… okay not really… labor does not look fun. :/ Anyhow, still no baby, but it could be any day now.
Sunday at church there were about 5 young couples from different branches who all came to Pistoia. One of them had gotten married about a month ago and they were all just spending a few days together. It was such a great thing to see. Looking at them, who had been married in the temple and who were striving to stay on the path, I could just see the future of the church here in Italy, and it gave me so much hope. It was beautiful.
Other than that we’re doing a lot of finding and searching for the people who are willing to listen and accept this wonderful message. I love Italy and the people here.
I’m gonna go now so I can attach some pictures. I hope this kind of makes up for my short email last week. I’m still not great at writing super detailed and interesting letters, but you can at least get a little idea of what’s going on, right? Remember I love you and have a great week!!!
Con tanto affetto,
Sorella Leckie
0 comments:
Post a Comment