Cosenza

Week 12

Ciao everybody! 

I hope y'all have had a fantastic week! This weeks been kinda crazy for us. We were in Crotone on Tuesday and Wednesday for a meeting and to do some work with the sisters there. It was a really good time and we got a lot done! 

Thursday we were back in Cosenza and had a great rest of the week. Between three days, we hadfour meal/pizza appointments, so that was rough, but we survived and had a pretty good time doing it :) 

My favorite was the Pranzo we had with Sorella Spadafora. She is a widow in our ward who LOVES to cook. We had planned to just go over and share a little message with her and see how she was doing, but when we showed up, she had already started to make food and told us we had to stay so she could teach us! It was really sweet. She dressed us up in cute aprons and made sure to walk us through each step and share her kitchen wisdom with us. 

Cooking with Sorella Spadafora

Thursday we also had corso d'inglese again, and it was nice to see all of the students we had missed on Tuesday! 

Saturday a Sister in the ward invited some members over for pizza and invited the missionaries as well. Our ward is tiny and a little bit crazy, but they are all really awesome. I had a really fun time just being with them! We played Jenga with the Anziani and Michele, ate way too much food, and continued to build some really awesome friendships. The apartment was pretty small and there were about 15 of us there...everybody was talking really loud (normal for Italians ;)) and with all the food on the table, it reminded me of one of our large family craw fish boils or something in Alabama with the Carver fam! Fun times... :) 

Best news of the week: Transfer Calls!!! (Every six weeks we get a call from the mission president telling us whether we will stay in our area for another transfer or if we are moving to a new location.) Both Sorella Pinnegar and I are staying!!! It was kinda a given for me, but seeing how Sorella P has been here for 7 months already we were skeptical she would stay! But we're both really happy to be finishing my training together in the beautiful city of Cosenza! 

(By the end of this transfer though...she will have spent half of her mission in Cosenza!!!! 😳) 

And right now we're on a train (...going right along the beautiful oceanside 😍😍❤️ Italy is so so beautiful...) to Crotone once again! One of the Sorelle's companions finished her mission this transfer, so she is comp-less right now and we will be spending the week with her there until transfer day on Thursday. Once again, it's going to be a crazy week!! 

On the train to Crotone

Funny for the week: If there are two things Italians have a hard time saying, it's "Carver" and "Florida". I might not even be able to say my name right by the end of my mission. ;) "CaaaaaaveRR" Hahaha. And when someone asks where I'm from, and I say Florida, they're reaction is ALWAYS, "Florida?!?...Miami!!!!!" I've learned not to explain that my hometown is actually as far away from Miami as you can get, but just to agree and say, "Yes, I live close to Miami...." ;) 

Spiritual thought for the week:

This week I was reading in Mosiah Chapter 2 of the Book of Mormon. In this chapter there is a king, King Benjamin, who is very old and about to pass away wants to leave his people with a final message. 

Verse 30 says:

"For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God doth support me, and hath suffered me that I should speak unto you"

This reminded me of President Monson at the past couple of general conferences, who despite failing health and has still spoken and testified of the the Savior and the importance of His message. What's really cool, however, is the similarities in the messages of both King Benjamin and President Monson. Both speak of choices and keeping the commandments. 

In verse 22 of that chapter, King Benjamin says:

"And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you."

President Monson's past talk is titled "Choices." In it he says, "The choices we make determine our destiny." How simple yet profoundly true?! 

He goes on to say, 

"May we choose to build up within ourselves a great and powerful faith which will be our most effective defense against the designs of the adversary--a real faith, the kind of faith which will sustain us and will bolster our desire to choose the right. Without such faith, we go nowhere. With it, we can accomplish our goals."

"Although it is imperative that we choose wisely, there are times when we will make foolish choices. The gift of repentance, provided by our Savior, enables us to correct our course settings, that we might return to the path which will lead us to that celestial glory we seek.

May we maintain the courage to defy the consensus. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.

As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day--whether to make this choice or that choice--if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice."

The chapter about King Benjamin ends with this:

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I am so grateful for the words of the prophets, modern and ancient. I know that these things are true. As we strive everyday to make correct choices, we will receive blessings, we will be happy, and we will have peace. It is not only avoiding the bad decisions, but making the good ones: to take time each day to study the scriptures and communicate with our Heavenly Father through pray, to serve one another, and to strengthen our families. It is the simple, seemingly small choices we make daily that determine our destiny. Like President Monson said, may we choose the (sometimes) harder right instead of the easier wrong. 

I know the Savior lives. He loves us, and has provided a path for us to follow in this life. By following his example and keeping his commandments, we can have peace during our life on earth and return to live with our Father in Heaven one day. 

Love and miss you all! Thank you for your love and support!

Love, 

Sorella Carver