Week 44 - "This is an insult to Italian Culture"

Apologies first; this email will be a bit shorter because the app that controls everything on our tablets decided that today we would not be allowed to have any apps. So all the apps on our tablets were deleted, including the notes app where I started typing out my group email. But, I'll try to get the main points across.

This week was the week of Ferragosto. From what I gathered, this is a holiday that could have something to do with the Madonna, but it's really just another excuse to not work. So on this day we had mission wide deep cleaning. Everything was going great; we dusted, swept, disinfected, decluttered, and washed all our sheets and blankets. The only thing left to do was mopping, so I offered to do that while Sorella Muce took a quick shower. I filled the mop bucket up with scalding hot water and soap then put the mop inside, before realizing that we had nothing to ring out the mop with. Then the thought came to me: the colander! So I put that on the bucket, and it worked like a charm! I kept mopping, feeling pretty good about my ingenuity. Then Sorella Muce came to the front room. She looked at the colander on the bucket and immediately said "What are you doing with that?" I explained to her the situation, and rather than praising me for this amazing idea she sat down on her bed and said, "I can't believe you did this. What made you think of this idea? Everything was going so well, but now how am I supposed to make pasta? This is an insult to Italian culture." As of now, Sorella Muce hasn't made pasta in four days even though I've insisted the colander is completely clean.

We had a lot of finding this week, because Italians just say "no" to life in august, and they all leave for the beach. So we couldn't meet with anyone, and the finding was a little sparse. But, the Lord will always send us miracles, and this week it came through someone we're teaching. We hadn't heard from her all week, and we were starting worry that she had dropped us. Then this last night we recieved the following messages from her.

"I'm sorry for how late it is, but I couldn't sleep. I just wanted to tell you that I've missed you guys. I feel the need to see you guys because I feel better when I'm around you. Maybe we establish a day and time to meet each other every week? This morning I thought about coming to church, but when I saw the time I realized that I already missed it. This sunday I will figure out a way for me to come."

Heavenly Father knows how to bless us, and in that moment, I think he knew we needed to recieve some encouragement. I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven who is aware of our personal needs and situations. 

This week I was touched by a verse in Helaman 13. It says "But if you will repent and return unto the Lord your God I will turn away my anger." It made me reflect a lot on how many chances the Lord gives us to change. We ALWAYS have the chance to change, even when we don't deserve it. Especially when we don't deserve it. There's a quote from Elder Holland that says something along the lines of "The first great commandment is to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strenght. But the first great and eternal truth is that God loves us with all his heart, might, mind, and strength."

I promise each of you that you have a Heavenly Father who loves you, and is doing everything He can to help you return back to Him.

I love you all!
Sorella Maxfield