11.13.13 {week 16}

Family!

So I'm just going to start off with the news that I've been bursting at the seams with since Monday night...  N is getting baptized on Saturday!!  Mamma mia, I don't even have words to express how excited I am.  So here's what happened:  Obviously last week things were a little unsettled.  She wanted to get baptized but there was this minor issue with her dad.  And then she came to church on Sunday and sang with the Young Women in Sacrament Meeting and all of this stuff and we had a lesson with her afterward.  In the lesson she told us that her mom was thinking it would be nice if her uncle baptized her in Ecuador sometime in the not-so-near future.  (Her mom was baptized when she was really young, but moved to Italy and lost contact with the church - the rest of her family in Ecuador is very much active.  She has a brother serving a mission right now and everything.)  Anyway, we heard that and we were super stressed.  Because, let me tell you, this girl is ready to be baptized.  So we had another lesson with her on Monday and her mom was there, so we were able to kind of talk about the whole situation.  Her mom said that she had been talking to N's grandpa (her dad) and that he had said that she shouldn't wait to be baptized - that she should be baptized as soon as possible!  Thank goodness for this grandfather.  He knows what's up.  So she said that the three of them would sit down that night and figure out what was going to happen.  Fast forward 6 hours.... Sorella Palumbo and I are sitting at our desks planning for Tuesday and we get a text from N - "My dad said yes!  We did it!"  Yeah.  I started crying.  SO.  Now we just have baptism on the brain and we have so much to do in order to prepare for the baptism, but we're just so excited.  :)  Basically we'll be at the church all morning on Saturday boiling pots of water for the font.  The water heater at the church does not work so well...  And we're hoping that her dad will come and feel the Spirit and be the next one in that font.  And her 9-year-old sister.  This family will be sealed in the temple someday.  I just know it.  So that's that.

Other than that, this week was good!  A man came to our house last week and tore out some tiles in the bathroom and redid all this stuff.  We've been leaving windows open a lot more, which helps with the mold.  (Don't worry, Mom!)  Also, the conference with Anziano Texeira was amazing and I got to see so many people that I love!  Also, I don't think I mentioned this before, but Sorella P and I sang at the conference!  A few weeks ago, Pres. and Sorella Dibb were at a baptism that we sang at and afterward Sorella Dibb asked if we would sing at the conference.  So we did!  It was fun.  We (as a district) are trying to plan a Thanksgiving dinner for the ward.  We'll see how that goes...  Anyway, other than that, we're just livin' the dream.  ;)  Oh!  Mom!  At the conference they brought me your postcard, the CD, the candy, and the card!  Thank you SO SO SO much!  They made my week!  I'm hoping to get the makeup at our zone training this Monday.  We'll see.  Anyway, thanks again, as usual for everything.  Pretty sure I have the most supportive family and friends in the WORLD.  Until next week!  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

SORELLA CARTER AND ME!  Together at last!

Sorella Condie, Sorella Palumbo, and me.  

(In mission terms, Sorella Condie is my sister because Sorella P trained her also.) 

11.06.13 {week 15}

Ciao ciao!

WOW.  Okay, where did the week go?  Seriously, this week wins the "Fastest Week of the Mission So Far" Award.  My mind is drawing a blank as to what I actually did this week though...

First of all, yes, our house is still moldy.  Not as bad as it was, but it's still there.  They're looking for a new house for us, but we wouldn't be moving until the end of January, so I probably won't even still be here at that point.  But on Friday and Saturday some man is going to come into our house and tear out/rebuild our bathroom wall.  Which means that we have to basically stay home all day on Friday and Saturday.  So that should be interesting.  Hopefully we won't go crazy.  Also, tomorrow we have a zone conference with Anziano Texeira of the seventy.  We're pretty stoked about that.  So the next week should be an interesting one.

Yesterday was pretty crazy.  We woke up at five in order to be out of the house at six in order to fulfill a "commandment" (as the office elders called it) from President Dibb.  So here's the thing: we live, like, 30 minutes away from La Scala.  When will I ever be able to say that in my life?  Never.  SO about a week ago, Sorella Palumbo and I decided we were going to take this matter into our own hands and try to see an opera at La Scala.  So we called President.  He thought it was a great idea and said that he was actually wanting all of the missionaries to do something like that at least once while on their missions.  So we found out that in December they're doing "La Traviata."  AND we found out that they do a special one night, under-30 thing where the tickets are only 10 euro and it's earlier in the night AND it just so happened to be on a Wednesday.  Basically, it was meant to be.  But in order to get tickets to this thing, we would have to go stand in line at 7 in the morning (by orders of the President) to put our names on a list.  So there we were, yesterday morning, standing in the Duomo piazza for literally 3 hours, hoping to get our names on this list.  We were finally getting toward the front of the line when they said, "Welp, sorry, we're done taking names."  So the 16 of us missionaries just sulked away really sad.  (But then Sorella Palumbo and I quickly got some incredible hot chocolate at this gelato place and we were happy again.)  And then we tried to do it online at noon yesterday, but still to no avail.  There aren't any other showings on Wednesdays and there aren't any that are before 8 pm, so it's kind of a bummer.  Maybe someday I'll make it to an opera at La Scala.  We'll see.

We've been seeing people like crazy, trying to find reasons to fill up that font.  We're still praying that everything works out for N. to be baptized in a week and a half.  She is the most prepared 13-year-old I've ever met.  She is just smart and knows that this is true.  She is seriously incredible.  The only hiccup is her dad.  He's Catholic and has actually technically given the permission for her to be baptized but he kind of wants her to wait a few months to see if she still feels the same way.  She doesn't want to wait at all, but doesn't want to disobey her dad and all of these things.  It's a hard situation.  But we're praying for his heart to be softened so that she can feel fully supported by him.  She is incredible.  We do a less-active member search thing every other Sunday with members from the ward.  Usually only a couple of members show up and we go on splits and everything.  This Sunday, N. came.  Yeah.  I'm telling you, she is incredible.  Please pray for her.

Anyway, other than that, things are just great!  Italian is sounding less and less foreign to me every day, although speaking it naturally is still a chore.  (But then I have to remind myself that I've only been in this country for two months.)  It's coming.  I've started listening to Christmas music, much to Sorella Palumbo's dismay.  ;)  She secretly loves it.  And whenever I choose the song we sing for companionship study, it's a Christmas song.  She rolls her eyes, but she was totally singing a Christmas song in the shower this morning, so I know where her heart truly lies.  ;)  We have the April 2008 General Conference on DVD at our house, so sometimes I watch it specifically looking for mom in the choir.  Whenever I see her, it makes my day.  We've attempted making brownies from scratch a couple of times, but our oven is weird and the top keeps burning.  Also, we might just be bad cooks...  If anyone wants to send me a yummy brownie recipe I would not complain!  We spent our P-day today with a couple of sisters from Monza.  One of them is in her first transfer and hadn't seen the Duomo, so we went there and did the usual stop inside, looked at the dead people, went to Luini's for panzerotti, went across the street for gelato, walked down the street to La Scala and dreamt of going inside, and THEN we did something we've never done!  We went to a castle!  It was pretty neat.  We also went to the museum inside.  Good times.  And now here we are doing emails and, alas, P-day is almost over!  But it's all good.  Oh and tonight we'll have two sisters staying at our house in order to be able to be at the conference tomorrow.  Slumber party!  Anyway, all is well!  Thanks for all of your love and support, as usual.  :)  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

Castle!

10.30.13 {week 14}

Well, hello everyone!

It seems like last P-Day was only a couple of days ago!  This week was a busy, but good, one.  To be honest, last Wednesday was pretty rough for me, so I'm sorry if the email seemed down.  But this week was full of lessons and brownies and good times.  

We've been seeing tons of people and trying to help people understand why they should want eternal life.  ;)  Some lessons are harder than others.  And some people understand better than others.  The girl I talked about a few weeks ago that we had set a baptismal date with decided she doesn't want to get baptized until next August because it's near her birthday and it's also the month when she was baptized into the Catholic church years ago.  ...Yeah.  That's a hard one.  We tried to explain that God really doesn't care when she was baptized into the Catholic church, but...there's only so much you can do.  So we're working on that.  But there's also a thirteen year old girl who is incredible and SO ready to be baptized.  Her baptismal date is in about three weeks, so we're excited for that.  And we set another one this week with another lady.  Yay for baptisms!  The trick is getting from the baptismal date to the actual baptism, but we have faith that it will happen!

Something strange happened this week.  I know that The Book of Mormon is true and that the people really existed and that the events actually happened, but one morning this week during personal study I just had so much sympathy for Moroni.  The end of The Book of Mormon is kind of sad.  He's just all alone and if he goes to the Lamanites he'll be killed because he believes in Christ.  And all of his people are gone and he has no friends.  He's just all alone.  I seriously got strangely emotional about it.  And we don't know what happened to him!  We know what happened to everyone else because it's recorded in the book, but he hides the plates...and then what?  Man, I have so much respect for him.  I love The Book of Mormon so much.  Every time I read it, I feel so much peace and comfort.  I regret all those days in the past when I didn't read it.  If you're not reading it every day, DO IT.  :)  I promise that you will gain more strength and happiness in every facet of your life if you do.

Funny story that happened last night:  Every Tuesday night we have English classes at the church and this week it was our turn to teach the advanced English class.  This basically means that for an hour we just converse in English with these people.  So we had four people there (only one of whom was a member) and we decided we would play this game - two truths and a lie.  So we did and it was fun, but at the end we needed to connect it to some sort of gospel principle and share a scripture or something.  (Because, hi, we're missionaries.  That's what we do.)  I thought we were just going to talk about how we shouldn't lie or something, but Sorella Palumbo pulls out her scriptures and starts reading about secret combinations and about how someday all of these awful secrets will be told.  I wasn't quite sure what to do and then all of a sudden she says, "Like, you know, someday we'll know who killed who..."  In the moment it was just very awkward and I think they were a little afraid so I said, "The moral of the story is, we shouldn't lie UNLESS it's Tuesday night at English class and we're playing two truths and a lie."  And then the tension eased.  But on the way home, Sorella Palumbo brought up how weird it was that she had said that and how it made sense in her mind, but to them it probably sounded so weird.  We were cracking up about it.  Good ol' Sorella Palumbo.  Never a dull moment.

Anyway, the language is coming along.  Very slowly.  But I have faith that it will get better.  And I'm doing my best to act on that faith.  I love this city and this country.  But most of all, I love this gospel!  I feel so lucky to have it in my life every day!  And I'm so thankful for all of you!  Happy Halloween tomorrow!  (I can't believe it's Halloween!  They don't really celebrate it here. They're not really big celebrators here...)  And Happy Birthday to Caleb this week!!  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

10.23.13 {week 13}

Ciao Family!

It was so good to hear from so many of you this week!  Thank you so much for all of the emails and support (as always).  It really does make such a difference.  :)

In all honesty, this week has been pretty hard.  It's definitely different living in a house of two instead of a house of four.  And we've also taken on a much bigger load, which is AWESOME.  But hard.  ;)  We had two lessons this week with investigators (one we were meeting with for the first time and one we've met with a couple of times before) who literally just quoted Alma 32 and didn't even know it.  They both started talking about how faith is like a seed that needs to be nourished and then it will grow and all this stuff.  So we opened up to Alma 32 and we were basically just like, "Hey, meet this guy."  And then the one we were meeting with for the first time said, "Yeah, I just don't understand why there's only one God but so many churches..."  And we were like, "Hey, meet this guy named Joseph Smith."  It was awesome.  And such a testament to me that there really are people who are prepared to hear this gospel.

So I don't know if you've heard, but it's humid here in Milano.  How humid, you ask?  Well, the other day I needed an envelope.  But when I went to my stack of envelopes I realized that they were all sealed shut.  Yep.  THAT humid.  Mamma mia.  Also, the mold problem has worsened, so they're going to start looking for a new apartment for us.  Basically in our free time, we just get out bleach and kill mold (and probably some brain cells...).  It's fun stuff.  ;)

Anyway, that's it for this week.  Hopefully I'll have more exciting news next week for you all.  :)  Thanks again for everything!  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

My first district in the field.  :)

10.16.13 {week 12}

Greetings from Milano!

How is everyone doing?  Sounds like autumn is treating you well.  I'm only a little bit jealous.  ;)  So, we found out about transfers on Monday night and (drumroll please) I'm staying here!  I was not surprised about that at all.  I basically knew that Sorella Palumbo and I would stay.  BUT we found out that both Sorella Carlock and Sorella Bucco are leaving.  I'm seriously so heartbroken about this.  Not only that, but their companionship is being closed, so Sorella Palumbo and I are taking over ALL of their investigators, less-actives, everything...  It should be interesting.  There's a ton of work to do, but I'm excited about it.  But they're leaving!  I'm so sad!  I should really start getting used to this.  I was telling Sorella Palumbo on Monday night how sad I am - "They make me leave my family.  Then they send me to the MTC where I get a new family and I adore all of them.  And then they separate us.  And then they put me with these sorelle who I fall in love with and then they take them away!"  She first asked me who "they" was referring to and then I realized that it's Heavenly Father and I should really stop being so bitter.  ;)  At least I've met so many people who are incredible and make it so hard to be separated from them!  Better to be sad that these two sorelle are leaving because I adore them rather than be happy they're leaving because I don't like them or something.  So.  That's the big news from this transfer.  I'm really sad.  It's going to be a huge adjustment.  Living in four was awesome.  But I know it's all for the best!  And I know these sorelle are going where they're supposed to be going and I know we're staying here for a reason.  It'll be great!

It was a weird week.  It involved a surprise trip to the dentist (for Sorella Palumbo, not me), a long morning/afternoon at the Questura to get my Permesso, and long days.  But that's okay.  We're still working with our investigators and less-actives and just gearing up to double our load for the next six weeks!  Nothing too exciting to report.  :)

BUT this morning was exciting!  We went to see the Cenacolo (Leonardo DaVinci's "Last Supper").  That was pretty awesome.  We had to get the tickets, like, a week ago.  And then they only let you stay in the room for, like, ten minutes.  But it was huge and awesome to see.  We even took some scriptures in there and read about the actual last supper while looking at The Last Supper.  It was pretty great.  After that, we went shopping for boots (and I finally got some!  Success!).  Then we had gelato and then a good old-fashioned American lunch at Burger King!  (Yes, in that order.  Don't judge.)  Man, I've missed burgers...  So it was an eventful morning!  I love Italy, guys.

 OH I FORGOT. I have a funny story!  So on Monday morning we were doing a deep cleaning of our house and I was going through some pictures and getting ready to put some new ones in my album, so I had the one of me with Mom and Dad in front of the Provo temple sitting on my desk.  And Sorella Carlock comes in my room and starts FREAKING OUT.  She goes, "THAT'S YOUR DAD?  THAT IS NOT YOUR DAD.  IS THAT YOUR DAD? NO WAY."  I SWEAR she had seen a picture of you guys before but I guess she hadn't.  Anyway, it turns out she was in Dad's last Isaiah class at LDSBC and she seriously adored the class.  She was freaking out for the next half hour about how awesome Dad is, how awesome the class was, how funny he was, about how she gave her book from the class to her Mom because she learned so many things and yeah.  Anyway, make sure Dad reads this.  She said he probably wouldn't recognize/remember her but she was seriously so excited.  It made my day!  Dad is awesome. 

Anyway, I think that's about it for this week.  OH AND WE HAVE HEAT IN OUR HOUSE.  Best day ever.  Now our house is nice and toasty and we don't have to do planning and studying in hats and gloves.  :)  Also, I've decided I'm going to be a Tiramisu-making machine when I come home.  Because everyone makes it here and it's incredible.  Basically my new favorite thing.  So get excited for that.  ;)  I love you all!  Send me updates about your lives.  Please and thank you.  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

A sign on the street near the church where The Last Supper is.  I guess it means there's a work of Leonardo DaVinci nearby?  Kind of funny.

The church of the Cenacolo.

outside the church.  my sisters!

Inside the church.  I really like to take pictures of pretty ceilings.

10.09.13 {week 11}

Ciao Everyone!

First of all, I can't believe Grandma is gone!  (as in moved) I got surprisingly emotional about it while reading everyone's letters about it today.  Sweet Grandma.  That must have been hard for her.  But I'm glad she's somewhere where there are lots of people to love and take care of her!

Second, Andrew has been blessed!  It sounds like the baby blessing went wonderfully.  I'm so glad to hear it.  Just wish it could have been put off for about...16 months.  ;)  Thanks for the pictures, Mom!  Also, SNOW!  And colorful mountains!  I'm a little bit bitter about the fact that I missed fall in Salt Lake last year AND this year AND next year.  But I'm sure it will make it that much better for two years from now.  Oh man, I love autumn.  Speaking of the weather, it is COLD here.  We go to sleep cold and we wake up cold and we walk around cold and it's just cold.  Didja get that?  COLD.  Part of the problem is that it's a wet cold, so it's just...worse.  Also, the heat in our house isn't on yet.  Nor is the heat in the church.  My towel never dries throughout the day.  I hang it up after I shower and then at night when I wash my face it's still wet and cold.  This is a problem.  So, like I said, we're just always cold.  We do our best to fix that though.  Sunday afternoon found the four of us in the kitchen around the table with our language study materials, taking turns holding the blow dryer and rotating it around the room.  It actually worked pretty well after we closed the kitchen door so that no heat could escape.  And then when we realized how desperate we had become we started laughing pretty hard.  I seriously love these sisters I live with.  Transfers are next week (yep, my first transfer is almost over) and I really hope that no one leaves.  But I'm sure whatever happens is supposed to happen.  I doubt Sorella Palumbo and I will be leaving, but you never know.  Also, before we get off the subject of our house, it's so humid that we have a mold problem on my wall.  Yep, just on the half of the wall where my desk is.  We clean it and it comes back, like, two days later.  They might have to open up the wall and see what's going on.  (Sound familiar, Bep and James?)  What an adventure.

General Conference was THE BEST.  Holy cow, I loved it.  We still haven't seen the Sunday afternoon session.  We'll probably just have to wait until they're in the Ensign.  I suppose I could get on lds.org and print them off but...money.  Anyway, the other three sessions that we got to watch were just incredible.  They blew me away.  And there were so many moments that were meant just for me and other moments that were meant just for our investigators.  It was PERFECT.  Two of my favorite talks?  Elder Uchtdorf on Saturday - "Doubt your doubt before you doubt your faith."  YES.  So many people don't understand this!  And also Elder Scott's on...Saturday? Sunday?  Can't remember.  But about keeping covenants.  Also, so many talks about missionary work!  (coughmembermissionariescough)  Seriously though, so many perfect moments.  I love this gospel so much.  And, yes, we got to watch it in English.  There were a ton of missionaries who came to our chapel to watch it, so the room was pretty full.  (Also, there are actually 8 missionaries just in our ward, which is pretty unheard of.)  Anyway, it was wonderful.  I love conference.  I cannot wait to get the Ensign with all of the talks and read them over and over again.  Also, the past two days I have just been so happy.  I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this whole "being a missionary" thing.  And I'm starting to really love it.  I still don't understand everyone.  And I'm still far from speaking fluently.  But I can definitely see progress in my comprehension.  It's really nice.  And I can see a huge boost in my happiness when I'm giving my all to the missionary work.  It's hard.  Ha!  That is the understatement of the century.  But I already know that it is so worth it.  :)  I literally see miracles every day.  There have been multiple times already that we've met people but haven't been able to get their number or they haven't been responding to our calls/texts or something and then we just randomly run into them on the street or on the metro!  I don't believe in coincidences.  The Lord is so involved in missionary work because it is His work.  Man oh man, I love it.  And I'm in ITALY.  Sometimes I forget.  But then I remember and I want to skip down the cobblestone streets!  I love this country!

Anyway, all is well here in Milano!  I love you all!  I pray for you multiple times a day and constantly thank Heavenly Father for you and your support.  :)  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

I LOVE ITALY.  :)

Remember how I said it's really cold?  This is me this morning as I was waiting for everyone else to get ready to go do fun p-day stuff.  SO COLD.

Also, Sorella Palumbo and me this afternoon making the trek up to the top of the Duomo!

10.02.13 {week 10}

Ciao, Family!

How is everything in America?  Man, sometimes I miss that place.  What does that even mean?  I have no idea.  There's someone smoking outside of this internet place.  Like, right by the door and it's giving me a headache and making me write weird stuff.  Okay, moving on.

Hey, Bethany had her baby!  How exciting!  Little Andrew Edward is adorable. I can't wait to meet him when he's just a little over a year old!  Okay, that seems like forever away.  But I'm sure the time will just fly!

I don't have a ton of exciting news from this week.  I had to go to the police station this last week to work on getting my permesso, so that I can be legal and everything, and they had to take my fingerprints.  It was so exciting!  I kind of felt like a criminal, but I'm not.  Don't worry.  We also went to this lady's house this last week who is...kinda crazy.  She legitimately thinks we can resurrect her husband for her.  She became a member about 30 years ago, but has been inactive for about 20 and the one part that she remembers really well about the Book of Mormon is...the three Nephites.  So she just doesn't understand why we can't all just be like the three Nephites and never die.  Oh, she also said that she met Jesus once and that his new name is Roberto.  It was an interesting hour and a half, to say the least.  We might just keep going back and visiting her just so she has people to talk to.  We're going to count it as service.  She's a nice old lady, but a little confused.  Good times.

So, something exciting that happened this week:  We set a baptismal date!  I was pretty excited about it.  She's about my age and her sister is a member of the church.  We're meeting with her tonight to give her a baptismal calendar and everything so that she can really start preparing herself.  :)  Cross your fingers!

Also, General Conference this weekend!  Mamma mia, words cannot express how excited I am for General Conference!  Prophet!  Apostles!  Spiritual enlightenment!  English!  I am SO excited.  :)  I've never been more excited for General Conference in my life.  Anyway, all is well here.  I had my first real Italian pizza today for lunch.  It kind of changed my life, it was so good.  I'll send pictures.  :)  Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well!  Enjoy Conference!  I know I will!  AMORE!

Sorella Gunnerson

Sometimes Sorella Carlock and I look the exact same on accident.  (This was taken last P-Day.)  I just love her!

PIZZA!  (I realize that most of my pictures are of food.  I'm really sorry about that, but those are literally the only pictures I've taken these last two weeks.  I blame Mitch.)

The Kebab we had last week and the gelato we had today!!