Errand of Angels

How she writes it...

(photo cred:  Dylan Ross Lamb)

Crazy

I don't even know where to begin with this week.  Seriously it's been so crazy.  Mostly crazy good, but also some just weird crazy. 

So Thursday we started our first real work day without Sorella Cojan, which was just weird.  But the Sassari Sorelle came down because they were here to pick up their new greenie from the airport. (They are doing what we did last transfer: being in a threesome with the trainer leaving the next transfer).  

Four Sorelle

It was really great to have them here because Sorella Winward served in Cagliari for three transfers before I got here.  She helped a ton, explaining certain people in the area book and giving us a whole list of people that she wasn't able to contact but that we could potentially go see and try to teach. 

Then they came back that night and said the new missionaries hadn't come and they were staying an extra day... and then the next day they came back from the airport again without the new missionaries.. and then they did the same thing again for the next day... seriously. 

for Three Days

Three days in a row the assistants had been so busy and all over the place getting transfers figured out (and getting the Kellys ready to leave and the new mission president ready to come) that they forgot to call us. 

THREE DAYS in a row they didn't tell us that there were problems and that they had to take a different flight.  Luckly they were able to come in Saturday night, but we literally spent Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday morning trying to figure out things to do and people to see with the Sassari sisters.  I felt bad because I could have planned a more productive workload for us if I had known we would be working with four all week.  But hey... we figured it out.

Strike Out

Also Friday we had a bus strike day which made us 20 min late to the ONLY appointment that we had scheduled for the week (a referral from the anziani) and she never answered her phone when we called to tell her we'd be late.  

So I was feeling prettttty awful when she wasn't there when we showed up.  AND I got a blister the size of Mount Everest having to run/walk there when we found out there were no buses.  

Bold

But it was still a good day because we had a lesson in the street on our way home.  I dont know what has happened to me, but I've become a lot more bold on my mission.  Like forcing people to pray with me in public kind of bold. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Saturday was a long day of finding.  We walked the entire perimeter of Quartu... LONG day.  On Saturdays and Sundays there is usually no one outside, so we just tried to find some ex-investigators and less actives and we ran into this girl named Anna.  

Finding Miracles

Finding her was pratically a miracle because she was the only one in the street where we were.  I stopped her to give her an English course pamphlet and she started telling us how she had met with the missionaries in the past and invited us over to her parents' house Tuesday morning!

Sunday we ran into a guy at the bus stop who is good friends with the Relief Society president in our ward, and he said that he was really interested in the things that Sorella Safina had been telling him. So that was ANOTHER potential we found in the middle of no where. 

Sunday night a member called and asked us to come to the Genealogy Center in the church.  There were two non-members there, and we were able to have a mini lesson with them (with a member there!) about genealogy and the importance of temples.

THEN... Monday DDM was canceled because our District Leader had to fly to Messina for permesso stuff, so we had a WHOLE day of finding to do. We decided to do a little park giro and we walked up to two women on a bench.  

Change of Countenance
As soon as we walked up, the older one groaned and rolled her eyes... until she heard "Facciamo un cordo d'inglese gratuito." which means, "Hey we do a free English course.  Then their faces lit up and they got all excited.  

Then they started asking who we were, and one thing led to another and they walked away with two copies of the Book of Mormon.  We walked away with a return appointment and two new investigators! 

Sorella Nef and I were Walking on Sunshine.  We literally had lost all investigators and we were starting from scratch with no trainer, and then out of the blue we had two new investigators! 

Then later that day a man who owns a jewlery shop in Quartu gave us his number and said to call him because he wanted to meet with us!  

Then we were looking for some ex-investigators to see if they had any interest in meeting with the missionaries again, and we met this cute old lady named Adele.  She was SO excited to see us.  She said missionaries hadn't come for 4 years and she had missed them.  

Errand of Angels

We think she is just really lonely, but she was really nice and kept calling us "angels."  Her sister called and she said, "I can't talk right now because I have two angels in my house."  

We had a little lesson with her about faith in Jesus Christ and she kept saying funny things like "Poverino, Gesu" which means "Poor Jesus..." and "I just want to go around and kiss every place where Jesus has walked, I just love him so much"...it was really entertaining.

THEN Yesterday we got TWO MORE investigators!  One is a woman from our English course. We met with her once in the past and talked about the Restoration and she really didn't seem like she had any interest.  I thought she was just meeting with us because she liked us as people and as her EC Teachers.  

Invitation Only

But Sorella Nef and I have been going through the 12-week program and checking our progress to see which of the points we weren't doing very well on. The one thing that I had never done on my mission was to extend the baptism invitation on the first or second lesson... I've actually never done it, ever.  So we made a goal to start being exactly obedient on every point.  

When we realized that, it meant we had to extend the baptism invitation to Rosella in our next lesson.  We were freaked out, haha, but we prepped ourselves and we prayed a WHOLE lot. The lesson was on the Plan of Salvation, and it couldn't have gone any more perfectly.  

It was so cool to feel the way that the Holy Ghost was guiding us to say what we were saying and inspiring her to share some really personal feelings with us.  When the time came for us to extend the baptismal commitment, it felt really natural.  Of course she was really hesitant and didn't say yes...but she didn't say no either.  

Changing

I just realized what exactly we are asking people to do and all the changes we are asking people to make as we meet with them.  Here, even if you aren't practicing your religion or even if you don't believe that church is right, it's still a cultural aspect that these people have had their whole lives.  A lot of people we talk to don't even know there are other options.  A lot of people know about Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses and that's it. 

Rosella asked me "So if I get baptized, does that mean I have to stop being (the religion I was raised in) and I have to be Mormon?" and I just said "Yes".  

Yes, that's what it means... you have to change your WHOLE life and everything you've known for 70 years.  BUT we promise blessings.  We testify that we know that our message is true.  We testify of the love Heavenly Father has for these people and how he wants them to have this eternal joy that is made possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the fullness of that gospel is only found in this Church. 

Important

Missionary work is so hard. We ask people to do really hard things.  But when you realize the importance of the gospel... when you realize that it's the only chance people have at eternal joy... when you know the peace that comes from the Gift of the Holy Ghost in your life... and when you love people enough to want them to have those same gifts that you enjoy, you realize that you have to ask them to do hard things.  

When you realize the real purpose of life and why we are here and where we are going, change and repentance are the most important things we are asked to do and the most important things we ask others to do.  So Rosella is still meeting with us and officially became an investigator, and I'm honestly just glad she didn't kick us out, haha.

Later that night we went to try to visit some people and no one was home and we still had an hour of work to do, so I thought of this man that Sorella Cojan and I had gone to see about a million times and he was ALWAYS busy.  I thought we should try him (mostly because he lives kind of far and we could take up the rest of the time with that.. bad, I know).  

What do we do now?

Then when we showed up, he let us in!  I was so shocked, I turned to Sorella Nef and said "Now what do we do?"  Turns out he has been reading the Book of Mormon we left and he is at Lehi's dream!  

WHAT?!  I had no IDEA where to begin, so I folllowed the advice of Elder Holland when he said "If you don't know what to talk about, talk about the Restoration."  So we did and we have a return appointment and I am still just shocked.

Fears Become Reality

Four investigators in two days.  I told Sorella Cojan before she left, "I'm not afraid to handle the rejection.  I've been dealing with that for 12 weeks.  I'm just afraid I won't know what to do if someone lets us in!".... Fears become reality over here in Cagliari..  Luckily they are good fears.  

We are growing a lot.  We are being incredibly blessed.  Thank you for all the prayers at home.  It really gives me comfort to know that I have so much support.  

Boy do I need it--Especially since the Pope announced he is coming to Cagliari in September and everyone is just beside themselves with excitement.  Wahoo.  

Anyway, my time ALWAYS goes too fast.  I'm just very grateful for the help of the Lord in this work.  My weaknesses have never been so apparent, but the guidance of the Lord has never been so strong either.

With Love from Cagliari,

Sorella O'Connor

(Email Sent - June 19, 2013)