Helllloooooo all!
This letter arrives to you late, because yesterday we had an awesome Zone Conference in CAtania with a member of the 70, Elder Kausse (french descent, but now stationed in Frankfert).
I will go through and answer some of these questions the best that I can...
1. Ok, the food. I continue to leose weight, for many reasons.
a. We run out of money really like with 2 weeks left in the month, so we live off of oranges that members give us, dried beans, pasta, herbal tea etc.
b. There is simply not time to eat! We hardly ever SCHEDULE lunch appointments, because we like to be able to do our language study, which president wants us to be doing for one hour ever day during our lunch.
c. People eat dinner around 8:30....Too late forus to eat and be home on time.
So last time I got on the scale I was like 128 haha I am shriveling and not even trying to!! We occasionally eat on like a
Then...they bring our the MAIN course, some sort of meat. Usually like a lamb, or seafood, not tons fo beef.
Then, they will bring out cheeses. Tons of cheeses. oh, and they always eat bread with everything.
Then they do a piece of fruuit after that. Then Dolci--Dessert. Usually something like a cannolli, which are amazing. They are like this fried thing with ricotta chesse in the middle and powdered sugar on top. MMmmm. Sogood. No, people dont eat fast food here. TONS OF PIZZA TOO, there is a pizzeria on every corner, not kidding about that.
2. Our branch is a decent size. They say it is the biggest in Sicily, but we have tonnnns of inactives that we work with. The members are strong, of course there are the few original families who joined like all at the same time about 30 years ago, and they are really strong. WE have a few people who are especially good about comeing with us to work with people, and they are always at church etc... Then there is a HUGE chunk of women in the branch who are raising there family in the gospel without a husband. They are amazing, but it is really sad to see them struggle to raise a family without the foundation of the PRiesthood. It is something I have decided since I have been here. 1. I will never marry outside the temple. 2. I will NEVER go in-active. its incredible to see how people make covenants, and then still live a CAtholic lifestyle and have CAtholic attitudes. ex. church atttendance, they come when they feel like it. It is a commandment fr us to go to church every sunday, we HAVE to re-new those ordinances, its VITAL.
Sunday school lessons are good, Italians are very intense, loud, and intense. haha we have an awesome woman, sorella conforto who teaches gospel principles each week. She and her husband joined 4 years ago. He always plays the opening hymns, and it is the most intense arrangement of the hymns you have ever heard. HYSTERICAL. he is a doctor, and a super strong member. He has the most rediculous Italian voice, that sounds like some guy from the Godfather. I will never forget my reaction the first time I heard him read a scripture in Sunday school, haha they are great. So anyways, she always prepares awesome lessons, and they always stay under control. Oh, and no, members dont sing like opera stars, they have no pitch. PUNTO. its pretty bad actually, haha.
There is not a ward choir, but a group of old women that sing as peopel are congregating into Sacrament meeting, and we always sing and try to do them a favor..
3 There are many people here who are employed by an oil manufacturing company that is here on the way to Catania...for the most part though, most people here arent super educated and dont have tons fo money. Like Fratello Conforto in our ward, the one I was just talking about, he is a Dr. and our Bishop has a big company that he does really well with. But yea, I dont really know once people start talking complex business terms, we'll just say I am not FLUENT in the business world terms yet! haha A lot of women are teachers in our ward, and most mothers at least in our ward stay at home. most stay home.
4. There is not a University here in Siracusa, but there is one in CAtania, there is a Technical college here
5. My companion is really wonderful about letting me teach in lessons , and I appreciate that. She said for the first year of her mission she was with older companions, who never really let her teach, so she is very sensistive to that, and we teach with great unity. It is a lot of times frustrating, because a lot of times people think that because I am only 2 months into the mission that I cannot understand, so they just dont really try to include me in conversations, when realy, I understand everything that is going on, and I can totally put a word in to the conversation....But that is very frustrating, when people just like wont even make eye contact with me during a lesson, because they assume I cant understand or talk.
She goes home in April, and will be going back to BYUIdaho. She is trying to lose weight, and so that is something that is a constant struggle for her. We get along well and we all struggle with different things. She is awesome. We are great friends.
6. We have a hard time contacting people after about 8 oclock because everything closes at 8. Italians hate rain, and are incredribly verdramatic when it rains or is slightly cold or windy outside. They wont go to work, they wont come to church, they will cancel appointments on us etc. WE do house sometimes, but usually its not very effective. we find people with what president calls POwer Approaches. BAsically look at the 3-5 minute lesson idea at the endof each of the lessons...Like for the restoration, we will just go up to someone and teach a principle like that first paragraph at the endof the REstoration chapter (3-5 min lesson iddea) and recite that to them. The idea is 1. PRINCIPLE 2. QESTION 3. TESTIFY It is morelikely to get rejected when you teach when you find, because your not just going up and being talkative and being timid. You are going up to people you have never met, and being bold, because your not afraid they will reject you. ITs all about being humble, and recognizing that this message is not about me. Im just the instrument, in delivering the gospel of JESUS CHRIST to people. When people reject, they are rejecting Jesus christ, not me. Its so humbling to know that really, its me just being the instrument. That is probably the hardest thing on the mission. Just struggling to find the elect. When we teach when we find, that is the purpose, the elect will recognize the message.
I honestly kind of struggle with doing street, because it is really hard to just talk to people about RELIGION. Im not shy when it comes to just making small talk with people, but bein gbold, and really being a MISSIONARY, is hard. Its so hard. But every day is another chance to improve. Every day I rely on the Lord to help me overcome all of my struggles. Every day I just ave to remin myself its not about me, its not about me. I have 13 months left to devote all to the Lord, and the rest of my life to think back on what I could have done better.
7. English course started up last Thursday. I taught advanced last week, to the class of only 5 students. They all just speak in English, and your basically just there to let them practice speaking English with you. It was fun, but not really that fun. Sorella Morgan was teaching the Basic leverl, and it really stresses her out teaching to a lot of peopel like that, so I volunteered to teach basic, and I love it! I really like teaching BAsic, because there are like 25 people there of all ages, and im able to teach. People have a lot of fun, and love learnign English, so its fun. We do the last 10 minutes as a principle from PMG.
8. Every monday we do Distric Meeting with the Elders at the Church. We got a new Elder at transfers who is a convert from PEru. Hes pretty different, and is going by Preach My Gospel to a "T", which is awesome. WE are implementing a lot now with the ward mission plan, which they had not really referred to in a few years (not good), and doing more with calling ward missionaries, because we only have two, and they are now a couple who is serving a mission in the catania office. haha He is really good, Ilike him, hes our new Dist Leader and is stepping it up, its good, im all for it. Yea, the other Elder is Anziano Pesci, hes awesome. He looks like Derald's twin, and has such a similar personality to Derald. Haha, we get along really wekk, and he speaks Italian sooooo well because his first 2 and only two companions have been italian. (even though this new anziano is from peru, hes lived in rome the last 3 years, so he speaks perfect italian).
9. We walk everywhere. It depends where we are going, our different places we go to range from a 5 minute walk, to a 30 minute walk. Siracusa is the perfect size city because we can get to everywhere on foot, but there ARE busses. We just dont really use them, because the main reason missionaries take busses is so you can teach people, but there are only weirdos on the busses, sooo yea.
WE always take a train or bus toCAtania, for ezempio we took a bus to catania yesterday with the Anziani to Zone Conf. IT was madness, you should have seen the bus from the church where we had conference, back to the train station....Wow. It was packed full of freshly motivated missionaries (probably 12 of us) and then like 15 other people on the bus. Sorella Morgan and i taught 6 lessons yesterday!!! I wish we lived in a big city and could do bus more often!
You can always mail to the mission home, it just takes longer because the mission couple who serves in the office brings that once a week when they come church, but sometimes they forget....
Our heater in our house is brokken. I am constantly freezing. It is my new nightly routine to sit and blow the hairdryer on me for like 45 minutes as a write in my journal at night haha it is a trick a member told me to do, and now i am so greatful for a hair dryer!!!
Last week they called us SAturday night and told us we were giving talks on sunday! haha I was freaking out of course, because I am not the type that writes my talk Sunday morning before church, so I had a little breakdown, somehow got a talk ready, and then we got to church and they told us not to worry about is because a member of the stake presidency was there to speak. False alarm. solid. oh well. it was a good talk anyways haha.
So I met an Elder at Zone Conference yesterday who told me that Dad, you baptized his FAther, DAve Kinzie, and his Grandparents! WOW! What a small world! that is so cool dad, I saw a missionary in my mission, who is here baptizing people, because YOU served a mission! That is so cool. Not goign to lie, sometimes it is a bit discouraging. I get letters from friends in other places who tell me they had like 18 people in church, theyre teaching 36 investigators, and last week they had 4 baptizms...haha. And we are struggling to get anyone in church, and we have 3 investigators. Giussi is still actually progressing really well. It has been beautiful to see how much she loves the Bok of mormon, that is what is truly converting her.
Paola is such a sad story. She has a testimony, but until she is willing to give up EVERYTHING (smoking, and vùcertain other commandments) she just cant have the joy that the Lord promises us. This dawned on me as I read Alma 22:18 this week. LAmoni was willing to give up everything to have the joy that Ammon promised him, andhe did! We have to live the commandments and do all we can, before we can become converted, truly having no more even DESIRE To sin. Its really sad, I just want her to have the blessings that come when we truly LIVE the gospel, and make covenants with God.
Well, I am doing well. OF course every day is a struggle, but luckily we have the Atonement, and we always have the chance to improve, and let the LOrd help us overcome our weaknesses. The gospel is true. I know it more and more every day. IT makes too much sense to be not true. I feel the spirit so much when I testify of Joseph Smith, especially watching the Restoration video. That film is amazing. I love you all so much. We are so luck to have such a close family. WE are all active and strong mmbers of the church. The gospel is the most important thing in life. Megan got married last week, and her wedding announcement was gorgeous!!!!! Wow, she looks so happy. I hope everyone is welll!
Love, -Sorella Miller
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