Culinary: So we promised our investigator family that we would make them tiramisu (without coffee of course, thank goodness for Orzo). We started making it Friday night and everything was going great. We got the cream made without any casualties and the cookies were all ready to be dipped. Then we realized we had no pan for the tiramisu. It was too late to go buy one, we already had the cream made, and we were already committed. So we did what any thrifty missionary would do; we lined a spare shoe box with tin foil. Voila. Tiramishoe.
Meal appointments are destroying me. I'm getting the sense that for Italians the state of being "full" is literal. Your stomach should be 100% full and then some. We had a meal appointment yesterday where our sweet hostess said "oh dear! We only have two hours to eat. That's okay, all we're having is pasta, then sausage and ribs, then vegetables, then fruit, then salame and cheese, then walnuts, and then of course dessert."
Physical: Sorella Oveson is amazing. Our personalities are incredibly similar, we have similar tastes, and even did the same second grade play about bugs fighting for their rights. The one thing that we don't have in common is that she is wayyyyy more fit than I am. She pops out of bed right at 6:00 AM ready to run. I've made a personal goal to work out as hard as she does, but it's turning out to be the hardest part of my new lifestyle. But hey. If it means more pizza, I'll do it.
Vocal: We sang in a Catholic Choir yesterday with our ward. I use the word Catholic very loosely. I've been to mass before and it seems to be relatively mellow. Not this mass. Under direction of the choir leader, we were swaying and singing and clapping, all while the church goers were taking the communion. We would also chime in with some random sung "alleulias" throughout the meeting. For a Roman Catholic Mass, it felt very Alabama Baptist.
Spiritual: One thing I've noticed is that even when we seem to be in the lowest of lows, God blesses with the best of miracles. This week we had a true miracle with our new investigator. She's a cute 18 year old girl who lives in Battipaglia and speaks perfect English. She had met the sisters here a couple months ago but was only interested in English course. Then a week ago, we ran into her at the train station and she said she would love to meet with us! So we were trying to find a time to fit in a lesson with her, but we were in a different city and nothing seemed to be working out. Some how, thanks to our Heavenly Father, we were able to make it back to meet with her. WIthin two minutes of talking with her, she asked us how our baptism worked. The lesson that followed was amazing. She asked all the questions we had prepared to talk about and just kept saying "all that you're teaching makes a lot of sense." It was amazing.
This week I've tried to really focus on my prayers. Before the mission, and even sometimes now, I forget what it really means to pray. Sometimes i don't put my whole mental effort into my prayers and sometimes my mind wanders. But as I've been studying prayer I'm more and more amazed as to what a blessing it is. We have a means to have direct communication with our Heavenly Father. We can express our gratitude, ask for guidance, and ask for help. I've seen so many miracles already through prayer and I hope to be able to strengthen my faith and prays as I continued to study.
I love and miss you all
Sorella Maxfield
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| Splits in Caserta |
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