his week we had two really amazing mirackes with less actives:
The first was with a woman who we've tried calling her a bunch of times, but she never responds. However, the bishop and this woman's daughter both told us to go and find her. So, being the persistent missionaries that we are, we did just that. I like to call it "guilt trip" finding. You just show up to their house tired and sweaty, and usually they'll offer you a water and a seat for a minute. So we started wandering around Messina, trying to find this woman's street. We were pretty sure we were headed in the right direction, and as we were walking up the street, Sorella Muce said we should stop into a little pasticeria to drop off some bigliettini. As usually happens, we started talking with the lady at the cassa, and started explaining who we were, and how we were trying to find this Signora. While we were talking, another man walks into the Pasticeeria, and says "Hey. I'm a Mormon." WHAT. Turns out this man was baptized years ago, but once he married a catholic woman he stopped coming. He knew almost everyone in the church by name. (Interestingly enough, his name is Adriano Celentano, who is apperently the Italian Elvis. At least this is what Sorella Muce says.). So, we asked this man where this signora lived, and he gave us the perfect directions. We bought a cornetto from him (as incentive) and then headed in the way he pointed us.
Miraculously enough, this sister was not only home, but she opened the door to us and let us in! However, it wasn't exactly the happiest of reunions. She started out by saying, "I want to be honest with you and tell you that I have been intentionally ignoring your calls, and there is absolutely no way I will ever come back to church." Wow. Rough start. But, Sorella Muce and I felt prompted to share a message about the Atonement. The spirit was so strong, and any sense of contention immediately went away. By the end of our spiritual thought, she agreed to let us continue coming over, and said she would love for us to call her every once in a while. That lesson really showed me what power the message of Jesus Christ has. It softens hardened hearst, mends friendships, and tears down barriers. His love is something that unites us. It's amazing.
The second was found by a very similar experience. There was another woman we hadn't heard from in a while, so we decided one morning to pay her a spontaneous visit. We took a bus over to the top of Messina and started searching for her house. When we finally found it, we heard lots of voices coming from inside so we rang the doorbell and waited. Nothing. So we rang again. Nothing. Then this small little italian woman pops out of nowhere, makes some strange sign language, and then just starts banging on the door until they answer. We looked awkwardly at the woman who answered, she looked awkwardly at us, and this random tiny old italian woman just walked away. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Maria lets us in, and we were able to share a brief message about the Atonement. Half way through our message, one of Maria's daughters just started crying. After a couple seconds, she told us "I know you said that you just decided to come over here randomly, but I want to tell you that this message is for me. You came here for me. Thank you." It felt so good to know that we were really being guided that day. It's rare that we ever get a firm, verbal recognition like that, and for me, it was an answer to prayer. I jnow that was Heavenly Father telling me that the work I'm doing here is effecting people. That people really are looking for Christ, and that our efforts count.
This email is getting nice and long, so I'll leave you with my testimony that Christ lives. He's our Savior, and he loves us unconditionally. If you're doubting it, go read Romans 8.
I love you guys!
Sorella Maxfield
P.S. Some Sorella Muçe quotes and other fun moments of the week:
"You americans are so impressionable"
"Well. We could pray about it. Or we could dance about it."
"In my dialect we say 'go chase a rat' if someone is making fun of you." (Va a ciapar i rat, if anyone is curious)"
*every time we eat* "buon appetito, piatto pulito"
*everytime I open the door for her* "wow. Thanks bro."
Basically she's the most adorable companion ever.
Also I ran into my MTC teacher Sorella Clark today. Tender mercies people. They're real.
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