Stuff to Do

Not much to say this week. Sorry mom.  It was basically a week full of meetings and conferences and lots of good things for missionaries but not lots to write home about.  Also I think in all of your letters to me this week you talked about me leaving Rome and it's like the transfer just started this week! 

I STILL HAVE TIME.  

At least that's what I tell myself when it feels like I don't. BUT I DO.  So I'm training myself to not think about it. 

The Forum

But really it was a good week.  Monday we went to the Coloseo (the Colosseum) and Il Foro Romano (the Roman Forum) because Sorella Wiltbank hadn't seen the inside and it was really a perfect day and I took my FILM camera so I hope the photos turn out good. 

Third Companion
Then we had an FHE with Carol and the Salerno family which was fun, and we taught the Law of Tithing.  I keep getting scared that Carol is going to not agree with something, but every time we teach her she teaches ME something. 

Like about tithing she said, "It makes sense.  Why would I take the little extra money that I have when I could give it to the Lord and he would do so much more with it?".. 

Everyone thinks that she is our third companion and we have to explain that she isn't even a member.. yet.  

But she will be NEXT WEEK!  We are so excited for her baptism on the 1st and I sometimes dream about it. And we are already making plans for me to visit her in Brazil.. don't be mad.. I HAVE TO GO.

Zoned
Tuesday we had ZONE CONFERENCE.. which I love.  I always get sad giving addestramentos because I study for DAYS and I feel like I have so much to say and I only get to share 10 minutes worth.   

I learned a lot from Zone Conference and it taught me a lot about the things that I need to do to improve my work and how I can continue to push myself in these last 7 months of my mission.. or at least these next 5 weeks in Rome.  

Biggest Miracle
We also met with Luca and we taught the Plan of Salvation and we invited him to be baptized!  We have been teaching him with the anziani because, sadly, we have to pass him off to them (because he is a single 17-year-old guy).  

But Sorella Wiltbank and I love him so much and we have seen him change SO much since he started meeting with us.  He is probably one of the biggest miracles on my mission so far...We committed him to read the Book of Mormon and he is thinking about baptism, so we are so happy with the progress he is making.

Biggest Blessing
We got a new washer!  Sorella Wiltbank was laughing at me because she would just catch me in the bathroom, staring at the new washer because its beautiful and it makes our clothes CLEAN. it's been so long.  

new washer

gross shower

Also we tried to make Mexican food but we had to use parmesan cheese.. so yeah you can imagine how that turned out.

Capis
Then Thursday we had Capi conference, which is my favorite thing because all my favorite people come to Rome.  We got to stay at the villa Thursday night and then have a meeting with all the STLs and Zone leaders at the church. It really helped me to establish new goals for this transfer and see how I can better help the girls that I do scambis with.

TGFB - "Thank Goodness for Bangladeshians"
ALSO, I ALMOST GOT ROBBED. By a pregnant Gypsie. on the metro.  

As I was putting my phone back in my bag, I CAUGHT HER HAND IN MY PURSE.  

Normally I'm really good about keeping my bag in front of me, and I've never had a problem.  But we were traveling and I had my little suitcase and lots of things that I was dealing with, so I wasn't watching my bag as closely.  

Luckily this little Bangladeshian man warned me who it was right after I caught her,  so she got off at the next stop.  Then all the Italians were like, "YEAH, I SAW HER TOO"

 and the Bangladeshian said, "WELL THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?"  

This Italian girl said, "Yeah, I got robbed the other day and NO ONE said anything to me."  

So today I'm thankful for Bangladeshians..

Reading Ahead
In other news.. we met again with Luca on Friday and he says, "Yeah, so I had a question about something I was reading in the Book of Mormon... in Chapter 5." 

 I'm thinking, "HE READ FIVE WHOLE CHAPTERS SINCE TUESDAY?" 

and then he turns to 2 Nefi Chapter 5 and I'm trying to correct him because obviously he is confused because there are 2 books of Nefi right next to each other and there is no way he read THAT much..

and he is like, "No it's in this chapter... "  

Turns out he was in the right place.  He read 77 pages since we had met on Tuesday. MIRACLE.  

Seriously he is the best.  I'm so sad we had to pass him to the anziani.  But it's okay because every time he prays, he thanks Heavenly Father for the sisters and he even ASKED to pray in the last lesson. AND he came to church.  

AND since we have to pass our male single investigators, it means that we get the elders single girl investigators.  And they get a lot because all the girls think that Anziano Kasper is cute, which is funny because he is deathly afraid of girls.  

Like a Melody
But they found a girl this week names Shadi... pronounced "Shawty"... so now all my high school rap songs get stuck in my head when we talk about teaching her.  

"Shawty's like a melody in my head."

To top the week off, we went to pranzo with the Celestini family yesterday because we are teaching a little boy at their house.  They had a family from Scotland there because their son is serving in Scotland and this family was in Rome to visit.  So we got to translate during lunch for this little old Scottish couple.  

Sorella Celestini speaks English because she served in England, but it was SUPER hard to understand with the accent.  It was funny because we could understand both sides, but they couldn't really understand each other.  

So we were talking to the Italians at the table and they were like, "HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND ANYTHING THEY ARE SAYING?" because to them it's like German. Funny.

Good week. Lots of new motivation and next week we get to prepare all the BAPTISMS happening soon. 

Sending lots of prayers and love your way. Thanks for everything.

With love from Rome,

Sorella O'Connor 

(Email Sent - January 20, 2014)