Transfer News!

Ciao dall'Italia!! 

Ahhh!!!! I can't believe Jocelyn's in the hospital!!! She could be having the baby right now as I'm writing! Let me know as SOON as it's happening!!! She looks so great, so beautiful, and so huge! From the size of her, I'm guessing the baby will be 8 pounds, 5 ounces. I hope she's coming presto!!

Well the biggest piece of news is that I found out about transfers!! I really didn't know what to expect this time around since both Sorella Haslem and I have been here for the same amount of time and I just got finished training her. But it turns out that I will be staying in Collegno and Sorella Haslem is getting transfered to Milano to be with her MTC companion, Sorella Holloway! Neither of us were expecting that one. I know she is going to be so great!! We started this journey together here in Collegno and I am amazed at how much she's grown and taught me! I don't know who my companion will be yet because I'll be training again! I think it might start with an "H" though, because president was about to tell me on the phone but then remembered that I wasn't supposed to find out yet. :) I am so excited to stay here, especially since we have Pietro's baptism this Saturday! He was really sad when we told him that Sorella Haslem wouldn't be there because she was getting transfered. It took a while to console him about it, but now I think he's okay. :) It's just all in the Lord's hands and a testimony that he always knows best!

Other happenings from the week... We had a first lesson with a man named Cesare on Sunday and I think it was one of the more spiritual lessons I've had on my mission. Well, they've all been spiritual, but this one was particularly so. It was reall happenstance how we met him in the first place. We were just hurrying to do our email on P-day and he stopped us on the way because I guess he had seen our name tags. He had a lot of deep questions about life, and we ended up getting his number and the number of his friend who joined him later (who we also taught and is really elect). As we were sitting with him in the park on Sunday I could recognize that he had such a tender spirit, but very deep at the same time. He was so interested in our message about the restoration and had never heard anything like it before. It just seemed like the perfect atmosphere with the perfect spirit and I felt like I was able to freely bear my testimony to him. 

We also met a lady named Rosi who is kind of a miracle because she actually had met with missionaries almost thirty years ago with her husband before he passed away, and I guess hadn't had any contact with the church until we met with her. She still has her Book of Mormon and remembers the spirit of peace that the missionaries brought into her house all the years ago. she is such a kind and tender-hearted lady! I just know that every single person we meet and talk to is not a coincedence! It's amazing how many people in Collegno have met with the missionaries once or twice before, or who just happen to have a Book of Mormon. We have definitely made our mark here, and it's not done yet! I'm so excited to still be a part of the work in this city and be an instrument in the Lord's hands. We're here to witness miracles! 

Vi voglio tantissississimo bene. I'm looking forward to being an aunt in just a few short hours!!!!

Love,

Sorella Lyman

Full Circle

Ciao Tutti!!!!!!

I don't have much time to write today because we are in a hurry to go
with one of our less actives to hike up a mountain to this beautiful
church called San Michele (it's on the border of the alps!) But I have
so many exciting things to say! I wish I could respond to you all
individually because you are all doing such exciting things!
Especially Ceci who just turned 16!!! Tanti Auguri!

First off, MOM. Guess what?! On Monday, we went back to pass by the
Bolzani family. this was a third time trying to get in contact with
them and I was really thinking about how we would be able to get in.
But we managed to get into the palazzo first of all even though the
door wasn't working properly, and we went up to the last floor where
the Bolzanis live. When I rang the doorbell an older lady asked
through the door, Chi è? I said something like "we're missionaries,
do you remember Sorella rogers?" Amazingly, she opened the door and I
explained who I was, saying I was your daughter, and she remembered!!
I thought it would the younger son who would be there, but it turned
out to be the mother and she's still living! She said she remembered
two missionaries coming over a long time ago to talk about the mormon
church. Then she invited us in and we had a nice little chat for about
20 minutes. She is such a sweet lady!! I was so thrilled to be there.
It was so cool to meet someone that you taught on your mission! She
said all the other kids have moved out, but I think they all still
live in the general area. We'll see where it goes!

Well there have been a lot of other fun things that have happened this
week. Yesterday we got to meet the Dibbs! They are so nice! I love
them! They are different from the Wolfgramms, but just as wonderful!
Sorella Haslem and I are doing great, and right now are getting
excited for a baptism we have next week with our investigator, Pietro!

I love you all so much! Sorry it's a little shorter this week. Also,
can't wait to hear about my new baby niece (and see pictures!!!) very
soon!! Vi voglio bene!!!!

Love,
Sorella Lyman

A Baptismal Date for Tino

Ciao Tutti!

Well, you wouldn't believe what just happened. I just wrote a beautiful email and was almost done with it, pressed a button, and the whole thing disappeared! I guess everything happens for a reason. I'll try to recall everything I said before...

Well, it's been a great week! First off we set a baptismal date with our investigator, Tino! I told you all about him, right? He's so great! After our first lesson in the park, we decided it would be best to walk with him to the church where there would be a better atmosphere and where we could teach better with the spirit. When we got there there were tons of people there for a youth activity they were doing (washing cars, playing games), so he got to meet lots of our ward and see how nice they are! Then we were able to have a lesson where we watched the restoration film and the spirit was so strong! That movie never fails to bring in the spirit. I love it and trust it so much! I just love all the films of the church. :) After the film he had no problem accepting the invite and it was all thanks to the spirit that was there. 

Saturday was another great day. Sorella Haslem got the idea to go to an area I hadn't been thinking of, so we went and ended up meeting so many nice people who were very interested in our message! It was definitely meant to be. That whole day I sort of felt like I was on a spiritual high. It was probably because we had zone conference the day before and that never fails to give me a spiritual boost. A mission is definitely up and down and there a lot of unique challenges that I wasn't really expecting! 

We've also been able to see some beautiful sights this week, and will be seeing more today when we go with our ward mission leader, his wife, and another member, to a pretty little castle on a hill in Torino! Yesterday we went to teach a less active who lives in the mountains outside of Torino and it was so beautiful!!! I had never been that far west in our zone (our zone is huge-goes all the way to the border of France!) That lesson was also so beautiful. I know the spirit accompanies us in our work and that it guides us in what we need to plan for those we teach and in what we say! 

I love you all so much!! You are so amazing and I know you're doing amazing things! Never cease to notice the miracles around you and the never-ending opportunities to reach out in love! Moroni 7:42-47 (I think... where it talks about charity :)  )

Pillar of Light

Buon giorno a tutti!!!

Sorry this email is coming a day late. We had to move our p-day back a day because Sorella Halsem had to go get her permesso from torino yesterday. Ma tutto bene!

So we've started back on week one on the transfer making a total of seven weeks for me here in Collegno! We have seen a lot of beautiful miracles this week. We've found that people are warming up to us right along with the weather, and that the park is a perfect place to talk to some really elect people. Yesterday we taught a first lesson, the restoration, to a man named Tino who is from southern Italy. We met him in the park a few days ago and he gladly agreed to meet with us again mainly because he was really interested in the Book of Mormon. He loved the message about the restoration, and that just saw a "pillar of light" because he said he also "saw a light" when he was just three years old, and so he has always known that God exists. It was such a great, spiritual lesson!

Right after we taught him, we talked to another beautiful family, a mother, daughter, and grandmother, who were all really interested in our message an agreed that there are a lot of attacks on the family right now. Then we went down to the next bench and talked to another lady who we soon discovered was definitely not having the best day. I felt like she was almost scorching me with her gaze as I was talking to her, but at the same time I knew that her heart was really being touched. I know she was in need of an uplifting message at that specific time. Neither of those people gave us there numbers, yet they are some of the most elect people I have talked to. It's interesting because I feel like the elect are almost harder to find and talk to than others. But I know that we did everything we could for those people and that they felt the spirit!

So yeah, we've been doing a lot of finding work this week. But we've also got one new investigator! The most important thing to remember is to just keep going every single day and to never think it is too hard. I was sort of thinking that yesterday, especially because the heat was really getting to me, but as soon as we started talking to people in the park, my tiredness and selfishness went away. It's amazing what happens when you just focus on doing the Lord's work!

I love you all so much and wish you all the best of luck in the things that you're doing. Especially Cecilia and James on trek this week! I remember how hard that was... it was also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done! I guess this probably won't get to them before they leave. If it does though, wish them luck!! Vi voglio tanto tanto bene!

Love,

Sorella Lyman :)

Transfer Two with Sorella Haslem

Buon giorno!!

It has been a great week! First of all, we are coming to the end of another transfer, which means transfer news is in! I will be staying here with Sorella Haslem for another six weeks! I am so happy because I love Collegno so much and would have been so sad to leave after so short a time. I've never felt so at home in any other place! The ward really feels like my family. I've also grown so close to Sorella Haslem and am so excited to spend another six weeks with her! She has been the best trainee ever and I have learned so much from her.

Other news... well, today is my half-way mark in the mission! It's hard to believe it's all gone by so fast. I look back on all the experiences I've had and realize how much I have grown from when I first got here. Most importantly, my testimony has grown so much and I know without any doubt that the gospel has been restored to the earth and that this is the true church of God. Yesterday we had a really beautiful lesson about the plan of salvation with one of our investigators, Danila. It really is the most precious knowledge we could ever have. My understanding of it has grown so much and I feel so much happiness and peace whenever I think about it. What gives me the most hope is to know that Christ came here, and made it possible for us to live again, forever, with God! What an amazing incomprehensible gift. And even more beautiful is that we are his children and have the ability to become like him and experience all the joy that he has. I love the plan of salvation, and I love sharing it with others and seeing them understand what it means for them.

I love preaching the gospel and gaining new knowledge every day! It's amazing how much your mind expands when your focus is always in the gospel. It's really the truest source of knowledge!

Collegno is just blossoming with activity. I'm so excited for this next transfer with Sorella Haslem. I know we are going to see so many exciting, beautiful miracles as long as we are looking for them!

Vi voglio un mondo di bene!

Un abbracio,

Sorella Lyman

Prayer

Ciao bella famiglia!!

It sounds like you're all having a blast... watching Jurassic Park and Dr. Who, going to Cook-out, making root beer, all those fun summer things. Guess what? I got to drink root beer on Sunday!! They don't have it here in Italy and I was really starting to miss it, but then on Sunday a member gave us two cans that they had gotten from Switzerland! It was sooo good.

It's been an exciting week! First off, guess what Mom? I printed out the contacts you gave me for Torino and found out that two of them are actually in our zone in Collegno! Last Saturday I think it was, we went to pass by two of them (they're both within a block of each other), and one of their names was still on the citofono!! It was the Bolzoni family. It was so unreal! They weren't home at the time, but we will definitely pass by again! Haven't had luck with the other ones. On Thursday I got to go search for another one in Torino because we did a scambio with the sorelle there. I think it was the Puci family. It's so cool to be in some of the same places that you were!

Well, things are really looking up here in Collegno, thanks a lot to the weather which is finally warming up! We got a wonderful new investigator this week who we met on the street, and set up an appointment with the following Sunday! He is an older man, and is just happy about life! He is very firendly and accepts basically everything we say. Starting about last thursday everyone just started becoming a lot nicer and more receptive to us as missionaries. We've still gotten a lot of rejections, especially tracting, but we've also found so many promising people! It's amazing how the work has turned around in such a short amount of time.

I've been thinking a lot about prayer this week. I know that the power of prayer is real. Yesterday right before starting to look through the area book, Sorella Haslem said a prayer that she would be able to find someone who would be interested. She was looking in particular for a young person. Almost immediately after, she flipped to a page of a young man who definitely still seemed interested. she called him on the phone, he picked up, and we set up an appointment! the power of prayer is real! I have noticed a lot in the book of mormon that unless people pray when they are depths of captivity and destruction, they will not receive divine aid. We can't notice the hand of the Lord in our life unless we acknowledge him through prayer. When we humble ourselves enough to pray we see miracles and our desires are more in line with His.

Vi voglio tanto tanto bene!! Be happy and have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sorella Lyman

P.S. Did I tell you that this is the Wolfgramm's last transfer in the mission? I will miss them so much!! I will half my mission with them as mission president and the next half with the Dibbs! 

With Real Intent

Buooon Giornoooo!!!

Thank you so much for all the emails!! I love reading about what's going on in all of your lives. I am so excited for baby Carolyn!!! Are the three youngest gearing up for NC? Are Ceci and Sophie going to girls camp again? It sounds like another packed summer for everyone!

Things are going great in Collegno! We really feel like our prayers are being answered to find new people to teach. This week we have more appointments with new investigators than we've ever had before! Collegno has different challenges than Milano, being a smaller city, but we have seen so many miracles and run into so many elect people. Last Sunday walking home from a lunch appointment with a member, we walked past a nice looking Peruvian lady who seemed very friendly and smiled at us as we walked past. A little ways down the road we heard someone yelling after us and it was the same Peruvian lady that we saw. Apparently she has been inactive for about 15 years from the time she left Peru and when she saw us walking past, she recognized us and knew she had to talk to us. Yesterday we met up with her again in that same area and when she saw us she ran up and gave us a huge bacio (kiss) and hug. She is so eager to regain her spiritual life and to come back to church! She told us that her soul was hungry for something. I'm so glad that we ran into her!

This past week at zone conference, President Wolfgramm talked a lot about real intent. I feel like that's one of the most important things we can teach investigators, and also something we can put into practice ourselves. He used the example of Billy Peck, a veteran who had lost his left arm and leg in the war. Despite this loss, he was determined to live a happy, successful life and because he had overcome that experience he knew that he could accomplish any task he was given in life. He was determined, even if the task seemed silly at the time to follow through on his word. It is a perfect example of real intent. When we truly desire something we will do anything and everything we can to acheive it and we will never give up! It was the same real intent that Joseph Smith had when he decided to pray to God to obtain the wisdom that he was lacking. He knew he would receive an answer because he had read the promise in the bible. He went to God in prayer with a surety that it would be answered and it was in the most miraculous way! We can all believe in miracles if we have this same real intent and put our will in line with the will of God's. I have such a strong testimony of that!

Well, time's about up. I hope you all enjoy reading these emails. I sure enjoy all of yours! Siete tutti bravissimi! Vi vogli bene!

Love,

Sorella Lyman