A 7-Course Meal and Sacrifices for High Fashion

Ciao carissimi!!

Come state? As for me, I am feeling quite full as we have had two HUGE meals this past week which will basically last me until Saturday. Yep, everyone just loves us here. It's so great!

So speaking of huge meals on Monday we went over to our baptismal date's house first for lunch and then with her to one of our member's houses for them to give her a blessing before her baptism. First she served us salami and a tomato salad, then a whole plateful of ravioli with ragu sauce, some beef stew and bread, and then three whole servings of fruit- two bunches of grapes and a whole apple, and THEN a huge bowl of chocolate\cherry pudding! I was just willing my stomach to expand. Everything was BUONISSIMO, by the way. She just loves us so much and shows it by feeding us like her own daughters. :) I have so many moms here in Italy. She also told us about how she is so happy with the gospel now in her life. There are so many precious truths that we have that so many people haven't heard anything about before. It was a joy to teach her about things like the temple and geneology and tell her that she could do the work for her relatives and give them the opportunity to accept the gospel as well. She truly appreciates and understands everything. She told us that her whole life she had thrived on the word of God, but never did she feel like it was quite enough until she met us. Now all the puzzle pieces are connected and she has the power to cope with life's challenges. We notice it, she notices it, and her friends definitely notice it too. It is all the work and blessings of God! Che meraviglia, as she would say. We are expecting big turn out on Saturday for her baptism!

I would also like to talk about a funny little story that happened this Sunday. Our new convert who got baptized about two months ago now was finally scheduled to receive the Aaronic priesthood. So in honor of the event he went to a nice, Italian store, the rinascente, and got a beautiful tailored suit. After they had fit it to size he asked them how much it cost. "300 euro," they said. And he responded, "COME??!?!!" (Italian for "WHAT?!!) Knowing our dear new convert, he bit the bullet and payed the bill and needless to say he looked very snappy in his new suit on Sunday. The funniest part of the story is that he said the word "come" with almost a New York accent, and it makes me wonder where that accent actually comes from... I just love Italians.

Well those are just some highlights from this week. We are still working hard and trying to maintain the high number of lessons we've gotten for the past few weeks. This week has had a few more challenges that we couldn't really foresee- whereas the week when we got thirteen lessons with members everything just worked out perfectly with no kinks and miracles on the side. But we just keep plugging away and are just so excited for the baptism on Saturday. This is the work of the Lord and nothing can stop it from moving forward! I'm going to cry buckets when I have to leave Collegno. It is a city of miracles and a city of love.

Vi voglio TANTO bene e sono fiera di tutte le cose che fate. Siete bravissimi. Siate sempre allegri!

Love,

Sorella Lyman

P.S. Who's excited for CONFERENCE in just 10 days?!?!!!! 

Families Coming Together

Buon giorno tutti!

The miracles never cease in Collegno, or in Italy for that matter. I can't believe it's been an entire year and that we are already getting close to the holiday season. The time goes too fast! Like i say all the time P-day always just sneaks up on me and here I am writing my email home once again. i also can't believe that I've been in Collegno for almost four transfers. That's six months! Thinking back to my very first day with Sorella Haslem seems like forever ago- a whole lifetime ago. But that's just how the mission is. The MTC seemed like a lifetime, my time in Milano seemed like a lifetime, and now here in Collegno seems like a lifetime, yet it's all gone by so fast. I've grown here in different ways than I did in Milano. It's hard to explain how, I just know that Collegno will always have a very special place in my heart because of all the amazing relationships I have made with people and the experiences I've had. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

One of those relationships that I love and treasure is that of our investigator who we met at the beginning of last transfer who is now getting ready to be baptized on the 28th of September. The miracles that we have seen with her and her family have been unbelievable. She is such a great example for me of her unwavering faith in God and especially the power of prayer. We basically just teach her like she's a member because she has been so prepared to receive this message her whole life,  and now is just the right time. Along with helping her come into the gospel we have also helped to reactivate her son who now lives in Torino and has been less active since he joined the church back in the 90s. Ever since he moved out of his mom's house to Torino he always asked her if there was anyone from the church who had come looking for him since he wasn't able to go to church anymore. It wasn't until we rang her citofono 2 months ago that he finally got back in contact with the church after years of waiting for someone to come along. There really are lost sheep out there that we need to gather back into the fold! That is why this work is so important because we never know when our influence and effort is going to have an impact. Now he is coming back to church, his brother is beginning to open his heart to the gospel, and the mother is getting ready to be baptized. E bellissimo!

Besides that, we are still having a surge of lessons and people to teach. Last night we actually ran into one of our investigators who we hadn't seen in about a month because he had gone to Salerno to be with family for a while. Well yesterday we ran into him and his brother while walking back with one of our members from an appointment we had just had and we ended up having a lesson and being able to explain more about the gospel to his brother who is genuinely interested and open. It was such a blessing because this investigator is so enthusiastic about sharing the gospel and we wanted so badly that his family know about it to. And then we just happened to run into him and his brother with one of our awesome members. The miracles never cease!

We are just busy little bees here in Collegno and we are determined to keep it that way and hopefully get some anziani here in the next transfer. There is nothing better than being axiously engaged in a good cause! D&C 58:26-28.

Vi voglio un mondo di bene. Tanti tanti bacci e abbracci :) (hugs and kisses)

con tanto amore,

Sorella Lyman

Happy News from Milano

CIAO!!!!

Ok, I don't even know where to start this week. There have been so many amazing, mind-blowing things that have happened, it's gonna be hard fit it all into one email. First let me say that I love you all and I'm happy for all the wonderful things you all are doing with your lives.

Let me start by saying that just barely today, I found out that one of my dear investivators in Milano made the decision to be baptized after many many years of thinking about it. It was the most amazing news I have ever received in my mission. I love that family so much and to think of them now, all baptized and members of the church makes my heart "overflow with joy" and brings tears to my eyes. I have never felt so happy about anyone or anything. It is kind of indescribable how I feel right now. Let me just quote Ammon: 

"Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." Alma 26:16

That basically sums it up. Apart from that, we have seen so many amazing things in Collegno this week. Remember how in the month of August everyone goes away on vacation and everything just shuts down? Well, because of that we had a lot of people waiting on the back burner who would all be coming back in September. Now with the start of this month we are really seeing the fruits of our labors. The past two weeks we have gotten sixteen lessons and this week we're on track for twenty! Along with that we have gotten 14 new investigators this transfer and we're hopeful of getting more this week. It is amazing to see how the work has picked up in Collegno! Like Sorella Hoffman said at the beginning of the transfer, "Collegno is on fire!" I am so excited to stay here with her for the transfer to come!

It is amazing to see how the wave of new missionaries has affected the entire mission. Everywhere people are seeing success and the fire that is within these new missionaries is unquenchable. It is truly a force to be reckoned with! I'm so excited to be a part of it. There is nothing more exciting, exhilariting, and fulfilling that being a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ and being so intricately involved in his work! And what is so beautiful is that the things I learn on my mission I will be able to keep with me for the rest of my life to help me remember where true happiness lies. It is in serving others, having true charity, and forgetting yourself! 

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!! Continuate con fede!!

Love,

Sorella Lyman