Monday, August 31, 2015
BUONGIORNO A TUTTI
Come state?
Sorry about the lameish email last
week! I have a ton to tell you guys this week.
First off a couple quick shout outs to my
trainer JESSICA MARQUIS who got engaged this week. YES. And also Beth who got
married! AH. And lasty Betty from Cagliari who I was able to teach and
got baptized last week. So many super exciting things. Life is so
cool.
This week was stellar. I didn’t get to
tell you all the things about the week before last week so let me add some of
them in really quick.
-We had pranzo with the Giorganni family! It was FANTASTIC! I love them. Their
kids are the cutest ever. It was so fun to talk about Ladispoli and to be
with them again. It kind of felt for me like hanging out with relatives
that came in from out of town. Man I’ve been so stinking blessed on my
mission. I’ll send a cute video of Aaron talking. He’s the cutest.
-Fun fact for you all. I have always
super loved our little cute Columbia River temple. It’s just the
best. This week I looked at a small picture of the temple that my Dad
gave me. I flipped it over for some reason and realized on the back it
has the information about where the granite for the temple came from. YES
FOLKS, the Columbia River Temple is ITALIAN. So my life was pretty much
complete when I figured that out. There is a little bit of Vermont
granite it there too.....but I’m sure it’s pretty much all Italian. HOW
COOL.
-An awkward story for you. So remember
how I miraculously found a purse in our apartment that was unused? I have been
using it (obviously because my other one is broken). We went to an appointment with some people
that the Sorelle have been teaching fooorever, like almost two years. And
the little girl was like, "Where did you get that purse?!?! We gave that to Sorella Johnson for Christmas!" So
Sorella Johnson had received the purse as a gift from this family and
apparently didn’t have room for it or didn’t want it. So she left it in
the apartment. I was like, "uhh......" and didn’t know what to say.
#superawkward
-Just wanted to throw in a quick testimony of
the Book of Mormon. It really is a book that comes from God. We
were talking to some people on the street the other day that we had asked for
directions. They asked us what we were doing in Italy and we started
explaining. They got this look on their faces like "dont even try to
talk to us about religion, we are super catholic." I’ve seen that
face many times on my mission, and don’t really notice it much anymore. I
just kept right on talking about our church, and started explaining the Book of
Mormon. As we explained the Book of
Mormon and testified, their facial expressions changed. They said, "You
know, why don’t you come back some time and tell us about this Book of Mormon."
It was SO SWEET. The Book of Mormon is the best tool we have.
Ok I’m caught up now. Onto some cool stories
from this week!
-We had really yummy Sri Lankan food with a
family the anziani are teaching this week. They are so cute! Like most
people here, they don’t have much, but they did everything they could to give
us the best dinner ever. They set out this cute little table outside so
we wouldn’t be too hot, and put a nice white tablecloth on it. I’m going
to miss seeing such humble people do all they can to help those around them who
they love. It’s the best thing ever. These people really love you
and do everything they can for you! It’s
been an example for me my entire mission.
-This week I had to lead the music on Sunday.
Again. Sigh. We sang this Italian song that doesn’t
exist in English. And everyone always sings this particular song like 12
different ways and different speeds. I was trying to keep everyone
together and then half of the congregation started singing the first verse
instead of the second. DAH. I was blushing and waving my arm like a crazy
woman. WE NEED A PIANIST. haha.
-We saw a sweet miracle this week with a
family in the ward! We had been praying
that we would be able to help them think of someone that we could teach that
they were friends with. We went to the appointment and gave them an
awesome spiritual thought. They said they would try and think of some people
for us to teach. THEN the hair lady showed up at the house to cut their little
boys hair. We talked to her a little bit and before we went to leave I
felt like I should ask her to cut our hair (also I knew my comp needed a haircut)
so I asked her and right afterwards Sorella Barbera was like, "You could
cut the Sorelles hair here, and then afterwards they could maybe give you a
message about Jesus Christ." The lady was like, “OF COURSE!” WHOO
HOOOOOOOOOO! So exciting. I was jumping up and down. Seriously I couldn’t even
find the car after the appointment, I was so stoked.
-Good news, Abagail came to church again! She is the best ever.
Alright last story and then I’ll end this
ridiculously long email. I hope you guys
are still reading because this story is really cool and I’ll remember it
forever.
So I’ve been having some foot issues. My
right foot has been hurting really, really bad. It started off slowly,
but this week it got so bad that every time we were at home I had to elevate it
and ice it. There was a ton of pressure and my foot didn’t feel good at
all. But the work goes on. Saturday night I called the
nurse of the mission and she said I should go in and get x-rays because my foot
was probably fractured. Thinking about dealing with the Sicilian medicine
system when all I want to do is missionary work made me want to scream.
But my foot hurt so bad I knew I had to do something. After our
appointment I decided to call the Anziani and see if I could get a priesthood
blessing from them.
For those of you who might not know, we
receive priesthood blessings from someone holding the authority of God. You can
receive blessings of comfort, or also blessings when you are injured or sick.
They also give you a blessing which we believe comes from God. It’s an
incredible thing! The Anziani met
us at the church and gave me a blessing. As soon as they started the
Spirit entered the room so strongly. Anziano Kelly said some super
awesome things in the blessing. Mid-way through the blessing Anziano
Kelly said, "Heavenly Father is so proud of the work you are doing here,
and so grateful for your missionary service. And because of that, your foot will be
healed." As he said those words, tears came to my eyes, as I
understood how much Heavenly Father loves me and each of His children
individually. He KNOWS what we are going through. He knows us
perfectly. After the blessing my foot
felt different. It was kind of like letting the air slowly out of a
balloon. Slowly the pain disappeared. By the time we got home that night there was
almost no pain left in my foot. The next day we had to walk to church and
all over the place and my foot was completely fine. It was such a
relief! I know that the Anziani and the priesthood holders in the church
hold the authority of God. I know that God blessed me to recover from
whatever my foot injury was. I am so thankful for the work I have to do
here and the great things I have experienced in Messina.
I LOVE THE MISSION.
Have a great week! I love you all.
Vi voglio bene
assai
assai
assai
Sorella Brunson
No comments:
Post a Comment