Week 13
Buongiorno everyone!
I'm sorry my email titles are so lame. It's a bit embarrassing. I need
to start being more creative than three to four word alliterations,
week after week. I need an email-title-generator or something. Jacob,
maybe you could put your creative juices together and whip something
up? ;)
Well this week has been...interesting... But then again, when is
missionary work not interesting?!
To start out, last Monday was some sort of Festa nationally celebrated
in Italy. When Italians celebrate (which is often), they celebrate.
This means 99% of stores are closed and public transportation is
barely functioning.
Unfortunately, it happened that on this Monday we had to travel to
Crotone again. Sorella Muçe's companion had finished her mission, and
she was now companion-less. We had planned to spend until Thursday
(transfer day) there with her and help her prepare to transfer to
Siracusa.
In a lovely turn of events, we stopped in just about every city in
Calabria before we got to Crotone. No joke. But we made it. It was
quite a day! :)
We ended up have a great week in Crotone. There was a lot of service
to be done to help Sorella Muçe get ready (she had a foot injury they
were trying to let heal, and was told she wasn't supposed to walk as
much as possible until transfers! Makes it hard to pack and do
missionary work if you can't walk!).
I'm sorry my email titles are so lame. It's a bit embarrassing. I need
to start being more creative than three to four word alliterations,
week after week. I need an email-title-generator or something. Jacob,
maybe you could put your creative juices together and whip something
up? ;)
Well this week has been...interesting... But then again, when is
missionary work not interesting?!
To start out, last Monday was some sort of Festa nationally celebrated
in Italy. When Italians celebrate (which is often), they celebrate.
This means 99% of stores are closed and public transportation is
barely functioning.
Unfortunately, it happened that on this Monday we had to travel to
Crotone again. Sorella Muçe's companion had finished her mission, and
she was now companion-less. We had planned to spend until Thursday
(transfer day) there with her and help her prepare to transfer to
Siracusa.
In a lovely turn of events, we stopped in just about every city in
Calabria before we got to Crotone. No joke. But we made it. It was
quite a day! :)
We ended up have a great week in Crotone. There was a lot of service
to be done to help Sorella Muçe get ready (she had a foot injury they
were trying to let heal, and was told she wasn't supposed to walk as
much as possible until transfers! Makes it hard to pack and do
missionary work if you can't walk!).
 |
| Saying Good-bye to Sorella Muce |
Because we hadn't been in Cosenza for most of the week, we were
looking forward to going home and getting to work in our city.
We got in late Thursday afternoon, visited with a meno attiva sorella
(Sorella Scalera - she is so wonderful, and we just found/met her a
couple weeks ago... Hoping we can continue to build this relationship
and trust!) and then headed to the church that night because there was
a branch festa for a Sorella who had just finished her mission and was
coming to visit with her family! (Again with the festas.... Haha)
And then things were seeming really great, but...
You know that feeling when you know you're about to get a fever? Your
head feels all pressurized haha and you are so cold... Or does that
just happen to me?
I think with all the traveling to and from Crotone, the new town and
lots of hand shaking, lack of vegetables (no joke), and the cold
front/huge change in weather we had, my body just threw in the towel
and was saying, "Sorella Carver. I'm dying."
We came home that night, I took my temperature and it was a little
high, but nothing to worry too much about. We decided some medicine
and a good night's rest would do the trick, and we prayed it would be
gone the next day so we could get back to business.
It was not gone the next day. Or Saturday. :(
Having a 102 degree fever for two days is rough as it is, but now I think
it's worse as a missionary because:
1) Your angelic mother is not there to bring you yellow Gatorade
(thank you so much for doing that every time, momma!)
and
2) ALL you want to do is MISSIONARY WORK but you CANT because you
literally feel like you are going to die if you get out of bed for
more than 10 minutes.
It was lots of fun.
But in all seriousness we survived. I may not have my angel mother
here, but Heavenly Father blessed me with an amazing comp who made us
chicken soup, read the Book of Mormon to me so I could fall asleep
(haha), and had patience with the fact the we were stuck inside for
two days. She's awesome.
By Sunday morning I was once again functioning (not really breathing
haha...but functioning none the less!). We had a wonderful Sabbath day
at church and spent the afternoon doing some finding (missionary terms
for talking to people on the street, sharing messages, and finding
people who used to be taking the missionary lessons - which is what we
were doing in this case).
Finding was interesting because it decided to rain all day Sunday!! I
read a quote today by Elder Uchtdorf about choosing happiness, and it
described perfectly my disposition on Sunday. We walked ALL over
Cosenza in the cloudy, stormy weather, trying to find people who we
had never met and were all either not at home or didn't let us in.
HOWEVER, it was one of my favorite Sunday's in the mission so far
because I got to work hard, be outside doing the Lord's work instead
of in bed, and sing/hum "You Are My Sunshine" the whole afternoon
while we walked in the rain (It's become my habit haha). It was so so
good.
Funny Thoughts for the week:
We have a neighbor (who we've never actually met, thankfully...
because I don't think I could keep a straight face!!) that likes to
sing Bruno Mars and Train late at night (and late as in 10:30, when
Sorelle must sleep ;)) It makes me laugh because I've come to expect
this nightly serenade of an Italian voice singing old, familiar
American songs. I'm actually laughing right now as I type, it's so so
funny.
And then the other is something I've just started noticing this week,
but has been going on all the time. When we see someone we know on the
street that stops to talk to us, or if we make a phone call to see how
someone is doing, or anything like that... no matter what, we are
asked, "Have you eaten today? What have you eaten today?" It's a more
normal question that, "What have you done today?"
We called a less active member yesterday to see how she was doing (who
is all the way in Sicilia right now)...and she still asked us, just to
make sure we had eaten today.... **insert Italian hand symbol that
translates into "Really...?!?"**
Spiritual Thought for the week:
Looking back, this week has been a huge lesson on faith for me! It
reminded me of a talk I love love love by president Thomas S. Monson
called, "Be of Good Cheer." In it he says,
"I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure.
Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down
upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly
Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to
our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will
be nothing in this world that can defeat us."
I'm 86% sure I've already emailed that quote out BUT I want to do it
again. Because I know it's true. Life is full of challenges... Jumbled
train schedules, injured feet, fevers, and storms to name a few... But
there is no reason to be discouraged!! We have faith. And we have
faith because we have the gospel, the commandments to lead us safely
home to our Heavenly Father, and most importantly, our Savior, who has
promised that he will go before us, "he will be on [our] right hand
and on [our] left, and [His] Spirit shall be in your hearts, and [His]
angels round about [us], to bear [us] up." (D&C 84:88)
Faith is an action word - it leads us to act on the desire we have to
become more like the Savior, to keep His commandments, and to study
his words in the scriptures. And these are the things that allow our
Heavenly Father to bless us more abundantly, and allow us to recognize
his hand in every aspect of our lives. THIS allows us to be of good
cheer.
President Monson summed it up perfectly at the end of his talk,
"My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The
future is as bright as your faith."
I know this is true, and I pray that you all with be a good cheer,
because the future really is bright! I hope y'all will have a
wonderful week.
...And if you are lucky enough to see my mother this week before one
of the greatest festas of the year, please give her a huge hug and
tell her thank you for being the person she is for me. And then go do
the same to your momma. :)
Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Love you all!
Sorella Carver
looking forward to going home and getting to work in our city.
We got in late Thursday afternoon, visited with a meno attiva sorella
(Sorella Scalera - she is so wonderful, and we just found/met her a
couple weeks ago... Hoping we can continue to build this relationship
and trust!) and then headed to the church that night because there was
a branch festa for a Sorella who had just finished her mission and was
coming to visit with her family! (Again with the festas.... Haha)
And then things were seeming really great, but...
You know that feeling when you know you're about to get a fever? Your
head feels all pressurized haha and you are so cold... Or does that
just happen to me?
I think with all the traveling to and from Crotone, the new town and
lots of hand shaking, lack of vegetables (no joke), and the cold
front/huge change in weather we had, my body just threw in the towel
and was saying, "Sorella Carver. I'm dying."
We came home that night, I took my temperature and it was a little
high, but nothing to worry too much about. We decided some medicine
and a good night's rest would do the trick, and we prayed it would be
gone the next day so we could get back to business.
It was not gone the next day. Or Saturday. :(
Having a 102 degree fever for two days is rough as it is, but now I think
it's worse as a missionary because:
1) Your angelic mother is not there to bring you yellow Gatorade
(thank you so much for doing that every time, momma!)
and
2) ALL you want to do is MISSIONARY WORK but you CANT because you
literally feel like you are going to die if you get out of bed for
more than 10 minutes.
It was lots of fun.
But in all seriousness we survived. I may not have my angel mother
here, but Heavenly Father blessed me with an amazing comp who made us
chicken soup, read the Book of Mormon to me so I could fall asleep
(haha), and had patience with the fact the we were stuck inside for
two days. She's awesome.
By Sunday morning I was once again functioning (not really breathing
haha...but functioning none the less!). We had a wonderful Sabbath day
at church and spent the afternoon doing some finding (missionary terms
for talking to people on the street, sharing messages, and finding
people who used to be taking the missionary lessons - which is what we
were doing in this case).
Finding was interesting because it decided to rain all day Sunday!! I
read a quote today by Elder Uchtdorf about choosing happiness, and it
described perfectly my disposition on Sunday. We walked ALL over
Cosenza in the cloudy, stormy weather, trying to find people who we
had never met and were all either not at home or didn't let us in.
HOWEVER, it was one of my favorite Sunday's in the mission so far
because I got to work hard, be outside doing the Lord's work instead
of in bed, and sing/hum "You Are My Sunshine" the whole afternoon
while we walked in the rain (It's become my habit haha). It was so so
good.
Funny Thoughts for the week:
We have a neighbor (who we've never actually met, thankfully...
because I don't think I could keep a straight face!!) that likes to
sing Bruno Mars and Train late at night (and late as in 10:30, when
Sorelle must sleep ;)) It makes me laugh because I've come to expect
this nightly serenade of an Italian voice singing old, familiar
American songs. I'm actually laughing right now as I type, it's so so
funny.
And then the other is something I've just started noticing this week,
but has been going on all the time. When we see someone we know on the
street that stops to talk to us, or if we make a phone call to see how
someone is doing, or anything like that... no matter what, we are
asked, "Have you eaten today? What have you eaten today?" It's a more
normal question that, "What have you done today?"
We called a less active member yesterday to see how she was doing (who
is all the way in Sicilia right now)...and she still asked us, just to
make sure we had eaten today.... **insert Italian hand symbol that
translates into "Really...?!?"**
Spiritual Thought for the week:
Looking back, this week has been a huge lesson on faith for me! It
reminded me of a talk I love love love by president Thomas S. Monson
called, "Be of Good Cheer." In it he says,
"I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure.
Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down
upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly
Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to
our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will
be nothing in this world that can defeat us."
I'm 86% sure I've already emailed that quote out BUT I want to do it
again. Because I know it's true. Life is full of challenges... Jumbled
train schedules, injured feet, fevers, and storms to name a few... But
there is no reason to be discouraged!! We have faith. And we have
faith because we have the gospel, the commandments to lead us safely
home to our Heavenly Father, and most importantly, our Savior, who has
promised that he will go before us, "he will be on [our] right hand
and on [our] left, and [His] Spirit shall be in your hearts, and [His]
angels round about [us], to bear [us] up." (D&C 84:88)
Faith is an action word - it leads us to act on the desire we have to
become more like the Savior, to keep His commandments, and to study
his words in the scriptures. And these are the things that allow our
Heavenly Father to bless us more abundantly, and allow us to recognize
his hand in every aspect of our lives. THIS allows us to be of good
cheer.
President Monson summed it up perfectly at the end of his talk,
"My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The
future is as bright as your faith."
I know this is true, and I pray that you all with be a good cheer,
because the future really is bright! I hope y'all will have a
wonderful week.
...And if you are lucky enough to see my mother this week before one
of the greatest festas of the year, please give her a huge hug and
tell her thank you for being the person she is for me. And then go do
the same to your momma. :)
Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Love you all!
Sorella Carver
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