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
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