When In Rome....

                                                                                                                      Monday, January 19, 2015

Hello everyone!

So it turns out to get blog views all I have to do is find some really gross stuff in my apartment eh?  Sweet.  This week I found......A HUGE NEST OF MICE.  I’m just kidding.

Ok, so I knew you would want all the details about this apartment stuff but first… A REALLY COOL THING.

I’m getting transferred!!! AHHHHHHHH. 

I’m going to Cagliari on the island of Sardegna.  Please look up how to pronounce it on google.  Because it’s really, really hard for Americans to pronounce correctly.  Whoop whooooooop!  I’m super stoked.  On Thursday I take a plane ride with Anziano Nomelini from my MTC district.  We are both going there. It’s only an hour long.  Then I will be on an ISLAND.  My new companion will be Sorella Mozzerla....best name I’ve ever heard haha. She is going into her 3rd transfer....and I’m going into my 4th...so it should be kind of interesting.  She is from Georgia and isn’t Italian, even though her last name is Mozzerla.  Aka my new companion is SISTER CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m excited. 

Alrighty.  Now to the news about the house. 
Maggots are really, really really small.  It’s really hard to see them moving anywhere.  They have this little shell and white body inside of the shell.  They take their white body and jump up the wall a little, and then pull the shell up with it.  But they move really really really really slow.  And they aren’t always moving.  They aren’t like ants or anything like that.  So yeah, they are just really hard to see.  They moved all day while we were outside of the apartment.  We had some stuff in front of the chimney so we never noticed that there were a lot of maggots congregating around the chimney area until I vacuumed up all the maggots on the ceiling and that’s when we noticed there were a bunch around the chimney.  They were the same color as the chimney area so they blended in and were really hard to see unless you were looking for them.

They only fumigated the bedroom, not the entire apartment.  They sanitized it and then I bleached the entire thing while wearing gloves and a mask.  We moved back in two days ago.  We are safe.  The exterminators said the only way maggots are harmful is if they touch your skin so we should all be good. But who knows, maybe next week I’ll turn into a maggot or something.  

You asked about the smell.  Yes, when they opened the chimney it smelled terrible for a long time.  But we aired it out forever and they sanitized it and then after I bleached the whole room and it smelled a lot better.  That’s when we moved back in.  Yes the stink was from the birds, not mold.  The mold isn’t actually mold they don’t think.  The guy in charge of the mission apartments came to look at it.  It’s something rotting from the apartment above us. Which brings me to the great news....

WE ARE MOVING!!! haha. 

At transfers the Aniziani (Elders) got blown out, and no new ones are coming in.  Which means that for the next transfer the Sorelle (Sisters) are going to live in the Anziani’s house while they look for a new house for the Sorelle.  There won’t be any Anziani in Ladispoli.  So this week we gotta do some moving and stuff which will be crazy haha.  Maybe someday the mission life will slow down but as for now, I’m not sure.  hahahah. I LOVE IT. 

Ok, enough of this crazy stuff.  Let me tell you something cool.  It’s a miracle!!!!  On Sunday I was feeling a little bit sad because it’s always hard to leave your first city.  I love the people here!!  I was also hoping that I had done all I could to make a difference in Ladipoli.  After Relief Society, I walked out into the hallway and guess who I saw... DRUMROLL PLEASE.... ELENA NUSCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

ok I know that means like nothing to you haha. Let me explain.

Sorella Marquis and I visited Elena during my first two transfers.  She hasn’t been to church in a loooong time, but she said we could come visit her if we wanted.  We visited her but felt like nothing really would come of it. 

But SHE CAME TO CHURCH.  My heart literally dropped in my chest when I saw her face.  Like seriously AHHHHHHHHH.  I freaked out.  My face got all red, of course hahahhaa.  So yay, it was really exciting.  Once we gave her a lesson and the spirit was super strong but it was like a month ago so I figured that nothing really came of it.  But she came to church! YIPPIE.

Another cool thing.

Saturday we went to lunch at my favorite members, the Giorgianni family.  It was sooo yummy.  Sorella Giorgianni is from Cagliari so she was super excited I’m getting transferred there.  We were sitting at lunch and just talking up a storm and joking about something silly when all the sudden Fratello Giorganni turned to me and was like, "I just was looking at your face right now, and I really think you are going to teach my wife’s family in Cagliari (none of them are members of the church).  We are going to give you all of their addresses.  We want you to teach them."

How coool!!!!!!!!  So hopefully I have the opportunity to teach some of her family!!

So this email is soooo long and we gotta go because it’s Sorella Henson’s last pday.  I have to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to EVERYONE who has sent me things for Christmas.  I have received so many letters, pictures, and packages.  It’s overwhelming.  I am working on thank you letters but with all the craziness they are going to take a second.  So just know EVERYONE I am soooooo thankful and I am working my best to get letters written back. I got Allison’s package. It’s the cutest thing I have EVER SEEN!!!!!!! hahaha I’m excited to open all the letters.  Plus like MIKE AND IKES AHHHH!!!! Everyone in DDM freaked out about how adorable that Christmas card was. Literally the Sorelle freaked out hahaha. I also got the Mickelsen’s package and Becca’s and loved them as well!! Everyone will get thank you letters soon!

I haven’t spent my Christmas money yet. I’m just going to save it and use it as I go.  BUT I do have a request.  I want you to use some of my Christmas money as your "send people cookies fund."  I’d love it if you would be willing to bake and send people cookies. I want Sorella Henson and Anziano Kunz, who are both going home, to get some cookies.  I will send you their addresses next week.

Thanks for the sending the talk from President Monson about the Italy Temple.  I’m glad that you saw on the President’s mission blog that we are having a temple fast.  I really don’t know any more information than you guys about the temple.  They hope it will be done by the end of this year but they don’t really know.  It would be great to have you guys fast with us on the 25th!!!  I’m not allowed to ask you to fast with me...it’s against the white handbook haha but I was secretly hoping that you would hahahaha.  

So just a few random things:

YESYESYESYESYEES! Go Seahawks!  There is an assistant here who helps us with our house problems. hahah He TOTALLY says, "go Patriots" every time I have called to talk about the house.  I am SO EXCITED. GO HAWKS!!

Congrats to Elaina on her marriage.  She looks beautiful!!  I’d love to get her email address.

That was a beautiful picture of Amanda.  And I noticed… MY DRESS. and MY JACKET. heavens to bettsy.

I’m really, really sorry about the passing of Nathan McBride.  How sad!!!!!!  I will be praying for the family.  Oh how sad!!!!  I’m so glad we know families are forever.  But that still doesn’t make it super easy.  I will be praying really hard for them!!!

  

Congratulations to Grandma and Grandpa Ottley on their mission call to DENMARK!!!!!  I wish I could have been there! I am so so so so excited for them. 

WOW. I’m really behind on Birthday wishes:

Jan 6th, Sam Scogin. 

Jan 9th, Jason Hart.  Best swim coach EVER

Jan 14th, Anders Ottley

Jan 16h, Jimmy

Jan 20th, Abbie Cannon

Jan 21st, Nathan Ottley

Jan 21st, Grandpa Brunson

Jan 23rd, Kim Ottley

Happy birthday everyone! You are all very, very, very great.

Ok, I’m going to end this ridiculously long letter.  I can’t believe how much I love the people in Ladispoli.  I can’t imagine that if I wouldn’t have come on a mission, I wouldn’t have met them.  I love these people.  They seem like they have always been a part of my life.  I know it sounds cheesy but it’s totally, totally true.  I am thankful to have served here and for the hard, hard, hard work it’s been.  I’ve learned a lot.  Mostly I just understand that Heavenly Father loves us all a ton.

. 

Have a great great great week!

Next week pictures from the beautiful Island of Sardegna! ahhhh!!!!

Lots of love,
Sorella Brunson.