Preparing for Ferragosto

Ciao tutti!!

Well we have reached the month of August, which means everyone's gone on vacation and gearing up for Ferragosto! (August 15th) It's basically just a glorified Italian lunch from what I can tell. All the markets and grocery stores were packed this morning. I guess you could call it an Italian version of Thanksgiving.

We've just been bustling around this week, getting everything in order with Sorella Hoffman's permesso, and trying to get a new phone because I lost ours! This week has been particularly spacey for me, unfortunately. :( But we just keep pressing along and have seen a lot of miracles despite it all!

First miracle- I don't know if I talked about this last week, but on our ward list we found a man who had been inactive for a very long time and I had been wanting to go visit him. But I couldn't find his address anywhere on the map. One day a couple of weeks ago I was looking at the map just happenstance and I happened to spot his street. We decided immediately to go and pass by. He wasn't there when we rang the citofono, but his mom was and let us right in! Two minutes into the conversation with her she started crying and pouring out her heart to us. I sat there wondering how on earth people would feel comfortable doing that with random strangers if it weren't for the fact that we are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were able to bear our testimonies to her, lift her up and get an appointment to come back the next week. All because we decided to pass by that less active on the ward list! I have such a testimony of bringing ALL the lost sheep back into the fold, because you never know where you are going to find people that are ready and waiting to hear our message. It turns out the less active son was so happy we came to pass by his mom and wants to come back to church as well. Bellissimo! Next part of the story is that this past week we invited her to church with a member, and miracle of miracles, she came! She fits in so well with the ward and they all love her. Practically a member already!

Another nice little miracle was yesterday on the bus as we were going to take care of Sorella Hoffman's permesso. There was only one other woman on the bus and I decided to give her a little "Buon giorno!" She said hi right back and we were able to start a conversation. She was from Romania and was feeling very weighed down about life. At first I wasn't sure quite how to respond. It's hard to know what to say when someone feels so dejected like that. But we started talking about the plan of salvation and how our trials in this life are just a part of God's plan. Then we gave her a pamphlet and got her number. As we were getting off the bus she sincerely thanked us with a smile on her face and kissed us both goodbye. How many times does that kind of thing happen, if not on a mission? Those are the kinds of experiences that I will always treasure as a missionary. Sharing the gospel is the best!

Well, I love you all. Go look for opportunities to cheer someone up, and always make the situation you are in better than you found it. :)

Alla prossima! Vi voglio bene!

Love,
DaNece

Teaching About the Atonement

Cara famiglia e amici,

Come state?! Com'é andata la vostra settimana?

It's been such an amazing week! We've seen a lot of miracles. After Pietro's baptism we hit kind of a slump, but to make up for it we found five new investigators! We actually found all of them in the span of two days and there was a lot that lead up to it. But first we had a lesson with a man in the park who we had met the week before on the bus and actually called us a few days later. It was such a spiritual lesson and we invited him to baptism with a date! Later in the evening we went to a member's house in Rivoli to meet with another lady who has actually met with a lot of other missionaries in the past. She is now starting up again after about a nine month break. The next day we decided to pass by a man who we had met on the bus a few weeks before who we weren't able to get a hold of by phone, and we were able to teach a lesson to him, his wife, and his grand-daughter. She was especially interested and practically snatched the Book of Mormon right out of our hands. It was definitely 24 hours packed with miracles. Now we just have to maintain them all and help them progress!

It's amazing how the Lord is in this work. Especially with the man we taught in the park. We feel that he really needs the gospel in his life right now. When we presented him with a baptismal date, he flipped it around by asking why we talked to him on the bus in the first place. Sorella Hoffman simply said that it was because we felt like he needed to hear this message. I think it really rang true with him.

Something I've noticed in my mission is that my mind will focus on specific things about the gospel that I feel really strongly are exactly what all of the people we teach need to hear. Right now I feel like it's the atonement. Before it's been the Book of Mormon, or the three pillars of reading, praying, coming to church, or having Christ as our foundation, but right now I feel like the atonement is what everyone really needs to hear about. It's the glue that holds it all together. It's the reason we do everything in the church and the reason we have for continuing with good cheer in this life. We have such a precious knowledge of this gift which enables us to live, learn, progress, and have a family here and in the eternities! As President Wolfgramm said at a zone conference once, everyone with this knowledge needs to fall on their knees and thank God that they have it. And then we need to accept and apply it in our lives! What a blessing to know and believe that Christ is our savior!

Along with the beauty of the gospel, we've also seen some beautiful sights this week in our cute little town of Rivoli! Collegno is full of so many hidden gems, besides having the best ward ever! I love it here so much!

You're all beautiful, and baby Carolyn is so precious in her cute little blessing dress. Sounds like it was a big party in Rexburg this past week with southern style barbecue and all! (the REAL kind of barbecue!) :p Vi voglio tutti tantissimo bene.

Con tantotantotanto amore,

Sorella Lyman

P.S. here's a good little passage I read this week: Alma 31:31-38

Some more pictures from last week!

 This is Chiusa di San Michele, the really old castle in the alps from the 900s! 

This picture is from when Dad came to visit! We went to a little restaurant in Collegno and had a great time together! 

Another picture of the castle (Chiusa di San Michele)

 And another picture from the castle. You can see the alps in the background of the picture!

  

 This is me at the cute little restaurant (La Filanda) in Bardonecchia

Pietro's Baptism

Ciao!!!!!

Baby Carolyn is SOOO CUTE!!!!!! I am so happy that everything went well and that Carolyn is happy and healthy. Someone hold her a good long time, just for me. :)

Biggest news from this week- I got a new companion!! Her name is Sorella Hoffman and she's from Dallas, Texas. This is her first transfer, which means I'm training again! We actually found out when we first met last Thursday that we're distantly related because her Grandma's a Lyman traced back to Amasa Lyman! Can someone tell me how we're related to him again? Anyway, Sorella Hoffman is amazing and already has a much better idea what she's doing than I definitely did in my first transfer! She's already taught me so much.

The other big highlight from the week is that we had a baptism!!!! Hooray!!!! It was the best baptism ever. The ward loves Pietro, and he loves them right back. As the bishop was doing the welcome to the ward after the ceremony he actually walked off the podium to give Pietro a huge hug (which Italians don't normally do) and then went back up to finish what he had to say. Pietro also prepared a little talk to give and it was so heartfelt and beautiful. I absolutely loved seeing him coming out of the water completely spiritually reborn. It's the best feeling ever!

Our focus right now is that we're really trying to find new people to teach. We're running a little low at the moment and so we're really trying to fill up our investigator pool. It's amazing still, how many miracles we've seen. It always seems like the greatest miracles come with the very last ounce of effort that we have. For the past few days we've been talking to lots of people and have not had lots of success, but both on Sunday and Monday at the very end of the day before we got to our apartment was when we were actually able to receive the numbers of people who were interested! I guess that's the miracle fence (a mission term)- when you've worked so hard for such a long amount of time and the real miracle doesn't come until you think you've given your all. That's when you need to give even more!

We're about to enter the month of August when most everyone will be going on vacation to escape the heat, but that won't stop us from going out and doing the Lord's work!

Vi voglio tantISSSIMO bene. Tanti tanti auguri to Tom and Jocelyn! Have an amazing week!!

Love,

Sorella Lyman

A picture of Pietro's baptism. Pietro is in the middle.

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 :)  )