This is about to be kind of long, so if you don't want to read it all here is a summary (don't forget to check out the pics at the end): my area is Forlí and surrounding cities, we are whitewashing the area and replacing Anziani, the branch of Forlí has been praying for sister missionaries for years, I love my trainer, she is absolutely the perfect trainer for me, lots of riding busses and trains, lots of speaking Italian, missionary work is hard but So worth it and the church is true.
THE TRAVELING:
I sat by Anz. W on all three planes. He ended up being my first comp to teach a lesson to a non-member with! We met a woman from Nigeria who was on her way to London. She is super friendly and had a crazy strong testimony of Jesus. After a bit of chatting about ourselves, what we were going to ITALY to do, and some other stuff, Anz W asked if we could teach her one of our lessons, and she said yes, because she trusts the spirit of discernment to help her decide if what we taught was true. Besides the fact that she hates the idea of organized religion, she is basically already a member (follows the WOW and law of chastity, agrees that everything she has is from God and wants to share with the needy, loves to worship God and pray and feel the Spirit, etc.) I gave her a pass-along card of the SLC temple and she agreed to attend a sacrament meeting in London or back when she gets to Nigeria. She said she likes to worship anywhere she can feel the Spirit, so I'm sure she'll like a Mormon church service. So missionary work is fun and can be done anywhere!
FIRST DAY:
For lunch, we tried to make pupusas, because Sorella O has served with a Salavadoran sister who gave her the recipe. They were an epic failure. We ended up putting the corn meal, zucchini, and mozzarella in a frying pan, dumped on seasoning and ate that.
In the evening, we went to the ward mission leader's house. There we went through the branch records and they talked while we took notes on everyone. There are a ton (like 70% of the records) of inactives, who we will be calling or visiting in the next few days.
Arrived at noon, greeted by the Allens, mission office couple, and some Anziani. We got some delicious focaccia (delicious, salty bread), drove to the station, and were handed Book of Mormons and some pass-along cards and told to hand them out on the metro. I tried to use the approach of "Hi this is my first day in Italy and I'm trying to learn the language. Can I please practice talking to you?" The first two people said no, which was a bit discouraging, but then President found a nice old man who was willing to talk to me. He said he wanted to practice his English, so we were a good match. I talked to him about why I came to Italy and told him I had arrived barely 2 hours ago. He said he had been to our church and he really liked it and the Anziani he had met, but he works on Sundays so it's hard for him to make it. He said he would try to go again because he likes it, and then we gave him information about where to meet for church and the English class. We had to get off so I handed him my BOM and told him it was a gift. He was a sweet man, I hope the missionaries serving in his area find him, he has their number now!
Then we went to the Duomo, and met a teenage boy from Mexico who was actually very interested so we got his information and it will be sent to the missionaries for when he goes home.
So after some orientation presentation and interviews with President we ate dinner Italian style, with multiple courses that ended in gelato. At that point I had been up for like 35 hours with no sleep so the room was spinning but it was still delicious.
Then we went to the Duomo, and met a teenage boy from Mexico who was actually very interested so we got his information and it will be sent to the missionaries for when he goes home.
So after some orientation presentation and interviews with President we ate dinner Italian style, with multiple courses that ended in gelato. At that point I had been up for like 35 hours with no sleep so the room was spinning but it was still delicious.
NEXT DAY...
On Thursday, after a dramatic reveal of trainers and new areas, I found out that I will be trained by Sorella O. We will be opening and white-washing in Forlí! We had one last meal all together with the MTC missionaries and then were off. Since my trainer and I were both going to a new area, we had 7 large heavy bags between the two of us. I'll spare you the gory details but the metro and train stations were a challenge. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO HELPED. We would not have survived without the people who saw two girls struggling and just grabbed a suitcase and asked where to bring it.
So as we pulled into the Forli train station, I saw two Anziani waiting for us on the platform. That was a beautiful sight, people to help carry stuff, drive us, and speak English. So after playing Tetris with four people and lots of luggage in a tiny European car, we drove to the apartment (which has been previously inhabited by Elders and the Zone leaders had worked all morning and afternoon to clean). The Zone leaders are Anziano A and M. They are seriously the greatest. After unloading we went to the church and then got gelato. I am 98% sure that it was cold nutella in a cone, or just some super thick, rich gelato. Delicious.
We were then told that we have an English class to teach at 7:30 that night and then we were left by ourselves in a new town.
The English class had 3 students, I taught the 2 more advanced "students" aka talked to them slowly in English, making sure my grammar and pronunciation were correct. It was a super neat experience and a great way to serve people. One student was Mila, a convert and returned missionary from Rome who is trying to get better at speaking English. She is awesome at it but kept thinking she was messing up. English is a hard language! The other is a grandpa who is Catholic because his family has always been Catholic but he has a Book of Mormon that he reads and enjoys and he prays a lot.
We had no time to go grocery shopping, and when Mila heard that she brought us over to her house and gave us food to cook. We were so grateful for her generosity but were too exhausted to cook so we put it in our fridge and went to bed.
My trainer is amazing. She speaks Italian wonderfully and just knows how to be a missionary. I am so pumped! I know we can do some awesome work here. Sorella O is a hard worker and great at talking to people. She's super helpful but encourages me to be as independent as possible, like ordering food and talking to members on my own. My trainer is so patient, and when I think about how she has a person following her around everywhere who has no idea what is going on ever and always asking her questions, i just love her even more. She is so much fun, too, and she really helps me with the language. Sorella O has been out for one year and is from SLC.
So as we pulled into the Forli train station, I saw two Anziani waiting for us on the platform. That was a beautiful sight, people to help carry stuff, drive us, and speak English. So after playing Tetris with four people and lots of luggage in a tiny European car, we drove to the apartment (which has been previously inhabited by Elders and the Zone leaders had worked all morning and afternoon to clean). The Zone leaders are Anziano A and M. They are seriously the greatest. After unloading we went to the church and then got gelato. I am 98% sure that it was cold nutella in a cone, or just some super thick, rich gelato. Delicious.
We were then told that we have an English class to teach at 7:30 that night and then we were left by ourselves in a new town.
The English class had 3 students, I taught the 2 more advanced "students" aka talked to them slowly in English, making sure my grammar and pronunciation were correct. It was a super neat experience and a great way to serve people. One student was Mila, a convert and returned missionary from Rome who is trying to get better at speaking English. She is awesome at it but kept thinking she was messing up. English is a hard language! The other is a grandpa who is Catholic because his family has always been Catholic but he has a Book of Mormon that he reads and enjoys and he prays a lot.
We had no time to go grocery shopping, and when Mila heard that she brought us over to her house and gave us food to cook. We were so grateful for her generosity but were too exhausted to cook so we put it in our fridge and went to bed.
My trainer is amazing. She speaks Italian wonderfully and just knows how to be a missionary. I am so pumped! I know we can do some awesome work here. Sorella O is a hard worker and great at talking to people. She's super helpful but encourages me to be as independent as possible, like ordering food and talking to members on my own. My trainer is so patient, and when I think about how she has a person following her around everywhere who has no idea what is going on ever and always asking her questions, i just love her even more. She is so much fun, too, and she really helps me with the language. Sorella O has been out for one year and is from SLC.
We spent most of Friday cleaning up, trying to make our apartment somewhat inhabitable. Then we went grocery shopping.
Saturday: First lesson with an investigator! We found him by calling contacts in the phone since we weren't left with much information. We rode the train to Faenza and met up with Fernando in the Piazza. We taught him on the steps of an ancient building. He's a super nice old man who is very interested in finding the true church. He told us the Catholic church is the church of the devil, which we don't agree with but that was not expected to come out of the mouth of an Italian! He had learned about the restoration and plan of Salvation. He said as soon as he gets an answer from God, he will call up to fill up the "tub" so he can get baptized. He reads the BOM occasionally, and prays every day. When we told him that this was only like my 3rd day in Italy he said that the Spirit would help us understand each other. When I bore my testimony I could feel the Spirit immensely. I love Fernando! He has such strong Faith!
SUNDAY:
We went to church with our branch of about 25-30 members. The members of the Forlí branch are so strong! They were so loving and told us that they had been praying for Sorelle missionaries. There is a former Sorella who served here years ago who came back and married one of the members. She is so nice and has a tiny baby. She said that we are already booked for lunch every Monday at her house.
After the 3 hours of meetings, we had branch council. Since the branch is so small, pretty much everyone has a calling that requires them to be there. It was an awesome meeting, all about how they can work with the missionaries to find more investigators to grow their branch. It's good to know how much they care about our work and how willing they are to help! For lunch, we tried to make pupusas, because Sorella O has served with a Salavadoran sister who gave her the recipe. They were an epic failure. We ended up putting the corn meal, zucchini, and mozzarella in a frying pan, dumped on seasoning and ate that.
In the evening, we went to the ward mission leader's house. There we went through the branch records and they talked while we took notes on everyone. There are a ton (like 70% of the records) of inactives, who we will be calling or visiting in the next few days.
MONDAY:
We spent a portion of Monday entering the information from the ward records into a Maps app so we have everyone pinned. We went to the Garcia's (branch pres and wife from Ecuador) for FHE. Italian is a second language for all of us, but Spitalian is easier to understand than I had expected. We had sandwiches for dinner. I guess they assumed that since we were Americans we loved peanut butter...on everything. So for dinner we had peanut butter, ham, tomato, and lettuce sandwiches. The PB covered up the taste of the ham, I was very grateful for that.
TUESDAY:
We had combined district meeting in Rimini. It was great to meet and talk to other missionaries again. After that we went and ate piedine and got to know our zone. It is the smallest and most Southern zone in the mission. I love them all!
We rode a bus to Ravenna to help the Elders there teach the English class. English classes here are very good finding techniques. After that we went and had Kebabs. Since there is no bus that could get us back to Forlí on time, we had to stay in Ravenna. Since the area was closed for Sorelle a few transfers back, there is an empty apartment that the mission still has, so we would stay in that (and take their bikes to Forlí because we need them). When we got to the apartment we felt like we were in a nice summer home. It was so clean and organized, they had left candy and some other food in the pantry, everything we could need in the bathroom, and so on. My comp and I were in heaven. After the apartment we came to last week, this was a huge blessing, and we get to stay here every Tuesday night and it's all ours (until we get more Sorelle in the mission). However, we were told this place is cursed, the sisters who live here usually end up going home early!
Wednesday: P-DAY!
We went to San Marino with the zone missionaries. San Marino is a tiny country inside of Italy, like the whole country's borders are in a mountain. The bus ride up there was nauseating, but it was awesome once we got there. Lots of old castle buildings, and a wonderful view! At the top I ate pizza with French fries on it. San Marino has its own national soccer team so I bought a jersey. And 2 pocket knives. The missionaries in my zone are so cool and I loved getting to know them all better. Now back to a week of missionary work!
Allora... missionary work is great and I discovered that the best way through the hard times is to focus on the positive, because there definitely is plenty of that! For example, getting bikes from Ravenna to Rimini to Forlì by way of train...that was quite the adventure. I love the country, I love the work, and I love this gospel!
I love all of you, thanks for reading, and I love getting your emails & letters! Wi-Fi is hard to come by here so if I didn't get to respond to you today I still love you!
Ciao ciao,
Sorella Riley
Pictures:
Where I am!
Meeting my trainer & with the Allens (day 2)
Arriving in Forlì with the zone leaders and gelato!!!
Kebabs with the district in Ravenna
Talented painter of San Marino / Failed pupusas for lunch
My French fry pizza!
Taken by Sis O on our way to Forlì after the crazy thing called connecting trains with tons of luggage and zero sleep
Proud me and my first Italian meal. It was delicious
Abbey of San Mercuriale in Forli / with the zone
Transfers
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