Week 36 - I Miracoli

Finding. For those of you who are unfarmiliar with the term, it basically means going around, sharing a little message with random people, and then asking them if they'll let you come over to teach (and eat a good lunch if you play your cards right). Finding in each city is a bit different. Whereas in Battipaglia we were blessed with one populated street in the whole city, here we're blessed with the metro. I love the metro. We hop on, have some gospel conversations, and then when we've reached the end of the line, we get off and our favorite gelateria is right there. Amazing. This week, while on scambio, Sorella Johnson and I decided to try a new finding technique on the metro; Metro Preaching. We walked in to a semi crowded car, and started out with a "Buongiorno tutti. Siamo missionarie per la Chiesa di Gesù Cristo dei Santi degli Ultimi Giorni. Come state?". Basically anyone who was bold enough to keep eye contact with us for the whole time qualified themselves for a one on one conversation and a free copy of the Book of Mormon. I was completely out of my comfort zone preaching in front of a bunch of random strangers, but I thought aa lot about why I had no need to feel uncomfortable. People probably thought we were crazy, some were probably annoyed we disturbed their morning Instagram scroll, and others (mostly asian tourists) probably snapped some pictures thinking we were a hired Roman metro show. But in the end, the message we're sharing is the message of Jesus Christ. It applies to everyone, even if they're unaware in this moment. The important thing is that people heard, and the ones who were ready openly accepted our invitation to talk some more. 

The most amazing miracle of this week actually started almost a year ago. Summer 2017: I'd just recieved my mission call and was feeling pretty pumped about it. Some time later my friend Louisa told me she found a man at Temple Square from Rome who wanted to learn about the Mormon church. (Louis, you're going to blow up the work in Washington. I'm so excited for you!) We started messaging on Instagram for a bit, and then once I got out on the mission I tried to set him up with the Anziani in Rome. He was traveling often and after December, we lost contact with him for a while. Flash forward 6 months, and I recieve the attatched photo from our Anziani here in Roma 3. They decided a couple days ago to go through the old email account for this area, and they found one unread email. A man had emailed the Elders to set up an appointment months ago, but no one had seen it! So they quickly emailed him back and set up an appointment. When they went to see him, he talked about how he lived in Utah and had a bunch of Mormon friend's there, and one of them was serving a mission here in Italy. It was shocking when we started putting the details together from my story and the Anziani's to see how Heavenly Father prepared this man to meet the missionaries. He knows so perfectly every one of his children, it's amazing!!  

We had an awesome gesso where all these cute little bambini came up and started helping us draw with the chalk. I love little bambini. 

The church is so true and the gospel is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that he  atoned for our sins and that His love for us is without bounds. His Atonement is infinite. He knows our pains, our joys, our trials, and our afflictions. This quote from President Hollands talk is absolutely beautiful and I want to leave it with you guys.

"The Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone. But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His feelings that divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor fails us."

Vi voglio tantissimo bene!! La grande missione italiana di Roma è il migliore missione che c'è e questo vangelo ci insegna come si vive una vita piena di felicità, gioia, e speranza. 

Sorella Maxfield

Week 35 - I'm too young to be cremated

This just about sums up the week we've been having. We had a lot of appointments fall through, which means finding! All day! Seven days a week! In the blazing hot sun! We had some really cool experiences and I really feel like I'm getting better at finding. This particular quote came from a man on our metro ride home. The metros have these SOS buttons in case of emergency. This italian man decided the extreme heat on the metro was an emergency, so he pushed the button and told the people "I'm too young to be cremated." "I didn't wear my swimsuit today but it feels like I'm at the beach". I'm still not sure what he was hoping they would do about it.

The heat really is getting ridiculous, but I'm loving the sunny days and the warm nights. Italy has the most beautiful sunsets and we always catch them right as we go home. I love it. 

Another fun thing that happens when you spend your days wandering around Rome, you get pick pocketed! We were all crammed on another metro, and I felt my bag getting jostled around so I put my hand down on it and had a baby bear moment; somebody else's hand was already in my bag! The culprit got off the metro right after that, but luckily she didn't manage to grab anything out of my bag. Partially because I caught her and partially because you'd really have to fish around my bag before you find anything of value. Who knows, maybe she grabbed a pass-a-long card and we'll be seeing her in church this week. 

I wish I had some more updates to give from this week, but really it's been a week of finding and living the missionary life. The most important thing I want to share with you guys is how much my testimony had grown this week. The mission is the best thing I've ever done with my life, but it's hard. This week was hard. But I needed it. This week, because of the difficulties, I've realized the literal nature of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His Atonement isn't just some idea that seems nice that maybe one day we'll be able to understand. No, His Atonement is a real, sustantive thing that cleanses, purifies, and uplifts our soul. It's something you can feel in a very tangible way. Because he suffered for us, He can uplift your spirit in a way nothing else can. I felt His support here in Italy more than I ever have in my life, and I promise you all that you can find the same. I'm so grateful for my Savior, and i feel incredibly blessed to have this time to share that message.

I love you all!

Sorella Maxfield

Week 34 - Church, Church, Church

Yes, our investigator finally came to church!! It was absolutely amazing. We figured out a solution with her, and the second we figured that out she was completely ready to come. She even insisted on meeting us 30 minutes early so we wouldn't be late. The meeting was a perfect first meetingnfor her. It was testimony meeting, which carries lots of risks, (especially here in Italy. I've heard testimonies from dreams about outer darkness to dreams about sharks running around on land attacking people, all from the pulpit.) But this meeting was beautiful. We had testimonies about family history, missionary work, and our divine nature. She really liked it. I'm hoping we'll be able to talk more about it this week. 

We ate peppa soup again this week and to spare you the details, I'll leave it at the fact that I watched our investigator eat the spine of the fish, and we were expected to do the same. 

As summer is arriving, I'm realizing there is no rule as to hoe many buttons must be buttoned on a man's shirt. The other day I saw a man on the metro with two buttons buttoned. Only two. I don't blame him, everytime I leave the house I feel like I'm melting.

Also for those of you who have been faithfully reading my emails, you may remember that our water heater was finally fixed after 3 weeks of cold showers. Or maybe I didn't write that. Basically all you need to know is that it broke again after 4 days of hot water. 

The other great experience of this week was Zone Conference. I love Zone Conference. It's like a mini reunion where you can actually dress nice and not worry about looking destroyed by noon. The instruction we recieved at this Zone Conference was amazing. Here are some of my favorite parts:

1. "Be relentless in protecting your faith." We read the talk "Faith is not by Chance, but by Choice" and I would recommend it to everyone. We talked about how stagnant faith doesn't exist; you're either progressing and growing or you're regressing. It is so important that we are actively working to grow our faith, becauss how can we help others grow their faith if we can't maintain our own?

2. Christ is the center of this church, my mission, our families, and our lives. And we can't ever forget that. We read from the Bible the story of Christ's Atonement. This is a gift I will never be able to pay back and I will never stop being grateful for. I want to leave you with these three quotes that I have been reflecting on a lot this week:

 “Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. … You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.” Lewis goes on, “Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means” - C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) [Sharon G. Larson Oct. 1999]

 “Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.’” - C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) [Elder Neil L. Anderson April 2017]

"The ultimate offering was that offered by the Savior Himself in giving His very life. It causes each of us to wonder, How many drops of blood were shed for me? I witness that Jesus is the Christ, the holy Son of God, the healer of our souls, our Savior and Redeemer of mankind." - James E. Faust [Opening the Windows of Heaven Oct. 1998)

I love you all so much, and I am so beyond grateful for our savior Jesus Christ.

Sorella Maxfield

Week 33 - My own bus strike

The public transportation in this city works actively against me. ACTIVELY. Which has lead me to believe that the devil organized the Italian bus system. Just as a small example, yesterday we went to visit our investigator who lives about an hour away, by bus. Everytime we go there, we arrive late, so we leave earlier and earlier everytime. This time, we left our house three hours early. And just as it always is, we arrived late. An hour late. Because we sat waiting at a bus stop for 2 hours. I don't knwo why I expect anything else at this point. But, to make it all better, when we got to our investigators house, they were barbequeing ribs, sausage, and steak. And it was divine.

I don't have much time to write this week, as our Pday was packed! We walked to the top of St. Peter's dome, then walked around the basilica, then helped at the Friendship Center. But, i wanted to leave you all with a spiritual thought about the family. 

This comes from The Family: A Proclomation to the World

"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation."

Families are divine. They are a gift from God that we get to keep for eternity. If that doesn't emphasize it's importance, I don't know what else to say. It's our job to protect and build our own families in our own individual roles. We invited our investigator this week to start praying and reading the scriptures everyday as a family, and I want to invite you all to do the same. This will found your family in the most important things of this life, and by growing spiritually together, you will grow closer together.

You're all amazing, Im so sorry for the lack of time! But i love you!

Sorella Maxfield

Week 32 - Helping investigators

That's so fun! Where are you guys camping this year? Send me lots of pictures, that sounds great. I'm glad to hear the school year ended well and that summers already off to a good start.

Summer here is already kicking my butt. I've completely stopped wearing makeup because it feels like the mascara is melting off my face. (We were told several times in the MTC that makeup makes sisters look prettier and more awake, but obviously these people have never seen an Italian summer) luckily our house has AC, so we keep it nice and cool so we can sleep and focus when we study.

Our investigator Lucia is progressing really really well. She accepts every doctrine completely, and reads up to 40 chapters of the book of Mormon a week. The only problem we're having still is the fact that she thinks she can t leave her new puppy at home for long enough to come to church. We've been trying so hard to think of solutions, and the best I've come up with is to lock the dog in the primary room. Any suggestions better than that?

I didn't want to write about this in my group email, because it's slightly sensitive material, but I wanted to tell you about our new Chinese investigator Lolia. She has an incredibly strong faith. When We met her she told us her whole story. She grew up being taught in school that the idea of a God was impossible, explained through science. She said she always felt there was a God, and finally found some people who explained Christianity to her. She said it felt so right. Unexplainably right. So She joined the Christian community. But THEY had to meet in secret because the police were actively persecuting Christians and their families. All of her internet usage and phone usage was monitored by the government. One day She heard that two of her Christian friends were taken in by the police, so she picked up and moved to another village. Within two months, the police were there again looking not only for christians, but asking the villagers to turn in anyone new to the town for questioning. Luckily her landlady warned her in time, and she packed up to leave again. As She left, she was chased by a police man, and somehow made it on a train without being caught. She made friends with someone who agreed to help her escape to Italy under the radar, and now she's here. Her family doesn't know. She can t communicate with them or the government will find out and persecute them. She said She has fear to tell any Chinese people why she is here, so she tells everyone a different story as to why she's in Italy. She's absolutely amazing. She's endured and suffered so much for her faith. I hope we have the opportunity to continue teaching her, cause I have so much left I want to learn from her.

One other thing I wanted to ask. So We have this new program here called the Friendship Center. It's completely in religious center to help refugees. We have to wear p day clothes but we can't talk about religion at all unless we're asked. I Love it so much, it's been such a fun experience. Sorella Nelson and I have been assigned to go to every women's day. So All the refugee women come and we talk about women's health, and do fun things together and it's amazing. The only catch is that we're assigned to go every pday, for two hours. To me, not even a bad sacrifice, it's a great way to relax and have fun on pday. But my question for you, if you can, is I was wondering if you could send me a list of fun things to do in Rome, or close by, that we can do in the mornings from 9-2. I have a hard time planning pdays on top of everything else, but I figure now with the womens day every pday, we'll need to be especially out together for the morning. I figure you have all the travel resources to help us come up with a decent sized list (we've already done most of the big stuff. Colosseo, trevi, Moses statue, Roman forum, etc.) Anyway, if you have time, it would be much appreciated. 

I love you!!

Sorella Maxfield