Post-Babel Has Its Good Points

Buon giorno a tutti! 

Another week come and gone. We just keep plugging away, going out and talking to new people every day, striving to maintain and help all our investigators progress, and help the work move forward here in Verona. You know, one thing I just love is how many people I am able to meet each day. We're doing a lot of finding work right now, hence we meet people from all over the spectrum. And it just always amazes me that there are new people everywhere you go with different experiences and different ways you can relate to them. It definitely keeps the days interesting. 

One thing we're really trying to do is help our investigators progress. We're kind of seeing a cycle where we teach them the first lesson and have a wonderful experience on the first meeting, but then the return appointment usually ends up falling through. One way we are trying to counter this is by simply passing by at random times, hoping and praying that they are at home so that we can teach them! It's actually worked out pretty well this past week. We were able to see two of our investigators from Romania who it turns out both read the pamphlet we left them with and are still really excited about coming to church! It was actually miracle because we were about to give up on them but decided to try one more time this past Sunday night and they were at home! Next time we're definitely going to try and get a member to come with us who can speak spanish because they're Italian is a little limited but they actually lived in Spain for about five years! By the way, another thing that amazes me is how many Romanians I have met in Verona. They are all so elect and prepared for the gospel! 

We were also able to pass by our Indian family this past Monday, and they are doing well. We were a little bummed on Friday when our appointment with them fell through, but thankfully they are still just as willing to learn as they were when we met them for the first time! The wife really wants a copy of the Book of Mormon in Hindi so that she can understand what we are talking about. If only we could all just speak the same language! Although I have to say, all these different languages are pretty cool- I don't know if I could pick just one for everyone to speak! 

Well, that's about it for this week. I guess my little thought for you all is just to pray- and more importantly to pray specifically. It shows your faith and that's when you are really able to see the blessings and the answers to your prayers, which will surely come! 

Vi voglio un sacco di bene... buone settimana!

Love,

Sorella Lyman

Lights in Tunnels

Ciaoooo tutti!!!

Wow, che settimana! We saw so much success this past week, we're basically on cloud 9 right now! The biggest thing is that we got six new investigators!!! Four of them are a beautiful family we found doing casa who are from INDIA and they are so cute!! There's actually five of them, but the dad wasn't able to be there the entire time. It was a miracle right from the start. We knocked on their door, the wife opened up who doesn't speak any Italian, so we started talking to the dad who basically invited us in right away. Everyone in the family came into the living room to listen to us and we had such a great lesson with them! It turns out that they actually already had a Book of Mormon in Hindi because the dad had met the missionaries before! They are very interested in Christianity and learning more about our message! They have three kids, all boys, ages about 10 to 24ish. I'm so excited to keep teaching them! Let me just say, I want to learn about three different languages right now- Hindi, Romanian, Spanish- I just want to be able to communicate with all these people! 

The other major success/miracle story happened this past Sunday in church. Do you all remember the story of the guy who we met by knocking on his door and he told us he had basically been waiting for us to show up and he had goosebumps all over his arms? Well, he's been coming to church for the past two weeks (he's being taught by the anziani) and this past week he brought his cousin who just got here from Romania a week ago. She is 23, just like me, and left her family (a husband and a four year old daughter) to come here to find work. It was a miracle to see her in church, after just a week of being in a foreign country, and even more of a miracle to see how all the members reached out to her and helped her feel welcome and happy. In fact, right after church, we got an invite from one of our members to have her, her cousin, and us over at their house for lunch and a lesson. Perfetto! The very next day we went to go see her again and had one of the most beautiful lessons I've had on my mission. It was so natural to just sit there with her and talk about the gospel, get to know her better, and promise amazing blessings specifically to her needs. We actually were even able to set a baptismal date with her for the 16th of February! Sorella Willis and I both love her so much- she was an answer to both of our prayers and I am so excited to see her progress towards baptism! 

I am loving the work right now in Verona. Well, I love it all the time, but right now it really just seems to be hopping. I'm so grateful that God has blessed me with all these beautiful people to teach. It's truly a wonder to think of all the people you meet and talk to in a year and a half span of time as a missionary. It never ceases to amaze me the blessings and people God has in store for each one of us! Just one other thing- don't forget that when you're facing a lot of opposition, having a bad day, whatever it is, that is when God is about to bless you the most if you remain faithful and keep doing what you're supposed to do. I've seen it too many times to count in the past year and a half. We can overcome anything when God is on our side! 

Ti voglio un sacco di bene, e buona settimana a tutti!

Love,

Sorella Lyman

(The pictures are from Castelvecchio, a beautiful castle/bridge in the center of Verona.)

Frozen Verona!

My two babies, Sorella Haslem and Sorella Hoffmann!

Buongiorno tutti!!

Well, the cold has finally hit in Verona. It's actually been pretty nice up until about two days ago when it rained and the temperature plummeted pretty dramatically. I'm just wondering if it will manage to snow this year- the last time I saw snow was last year in Milano! What I can't believe is that I am now in my 11th transfer, which means next transfer is my last. I'm not really sure what to think about that. Isn't it weird how time passes so quickly? I really realized that I'm an old missionary this week when I had both of my babies (my trainees... I call them my babies ) in Verona with me at the same time!! Sorella Hoffman had to come here because Sorella Acerson had to come back to Verona to get her permesso. I didn't even know they were coming until the day of! What really blows my mind is that Sorella Hoffman is in her 5th transfer! That was the transfer when I trained Sorella Haslem!! Mamma mia, my babies are all grown up. :o

This week we were able to see two people that we've been bending over backwards to try and see since before the holidays! It was truly a miracle. The first was a less active family who we went to see on Monday. The parents are members and they have two sons who are not. One of them was there to sit in on the lesson along with a family friend who is usually there when we go to see them. Both of them, the son and their friend are really trying to find the truth in their lives! There are just a couple of things that are inhibiting them. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was actually the first time in a while that I've taught that lesson. One of the things I like the most about the Plan of Salvation is that God gave us the choice to accept the plan, and everyone who is here on the earth made that choice. That means that everyone has the capacity to accept the gospel and return to God one day because they've already made the choice once before! I love agency! It gives so much more purpose to this life to think that we chose to come here and that we didn't just pop onto the earth happenstance. And I love it when I'm teaching and I can see that the message is resonating in the person through the way they listen and the look they have in their eyes. What made me so happy about this lesson is that at the end we asked them what they thought they could do more to return to God. We then talked about church and why we go, and they gave us a solid commitment that they would come in two weeks! Success! I don't think it would've happened if they hadn't have felt the spirit so strongly in the lesson.

We were also able to see an investigator yesterday who right now is taking her time to decide to get baptized. It was a miracle that we were able to finally see her and we were able to talk with her heart to heart about everything. She really reminds me of myself in a lot of ways
because she really wants a testimony but just doesn't want to make any moves until she's received a sure answer and has a true desire. Hmm, that sounds a lot like me deciding to go on a mission! But we also talked to her a lot about the plan of salvation, bascially just bearing our testimonies and telling her how much we love her. The relationships you have with people as a missionary aren't quite like anything else. There is a certain trust and a certain power that enables you reach out specifically to them in the way that they need. It's a feeling that I'll treasure forever!

I hope you all have a wonderful wonderful week. Remember who you are, where you came from, and the potential that you have! (to return to Heavenly Father and become like him!)

Love,

Sorella Lyman