Cosenza

Week 15

Hello, carissimi!

An appropriate summary for this week would be "April flowers bring may
showers..." I think Cosenza may be more weather moody than Gulf
Breeze! The sun has finally come out today though, and we are hoping
for it to staying that way for the rest of this week!

Twirling with Marlysa

On Tuesday we headed to Taranto again for another Zone Conference.
Conference was WONDERFUL! Learned so much about being an effective
missionary and had a great time with the other missionaries. (Also!
For those who know Sister Brooke Bertaldo... Her brother just got
transferred into my area! So I got to meet him and that was cool.)

Thursday morning we were back in Cosenza and bright and early we
headed to the Questura (police station/government building) for my
Permesso Di Soggiorno appointment. It was NUTS. I thought the DMV was
bad at home...we waited at the Questura for 3 HOURS. But several
fingerprints and a few signatures later, we made it through, and I'm
officially legally allowed to stay here in Italy. We have to go back
later to pick up my actual ID card (I've been carrying around a folder
of "receipts" and photocopies of my passport for the past two months!)
but it was a relief to be all through with that!

Other news for this week: I made my first phone call in Italian! That was fun.

This Sunday we taught a lesson in Sunday School on the importance of
work. As missionaries, we are responsible for the time given to us
everyday to do this work. We must work with diligence and we need to not
just "fill the time" but "dominate the day." This is one of the things
we talked a lot about at Zone Conference that I really loved.

President David O. McKay said, “Let us realize that the privilege to
work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that the love of
work is success.”

When I think of an example of a hard worker, I think of my daddy.
Whenever we were doing chores, yard work, or any other kind of task as
kids and we were struggling with it, he would often say, "Gotta put
some elbow grease in it!" (One of my favorite memories of this is when
I was learning how to change my car oil for the first time... Grease.
Literally. Everywhere. That saying took on a whole new meaning that
day haha)

Diligence and hard work are important things in this life. Without
them, we accomplish nothing. With them, we can overcome anything. The
way we use our time, gifts, and talents during our life is one of the
many ways we can show love to our Heavenly Father.

But like President McKay said, it's not just work...but the love of
work that brings success. Our attitude and disposition play a huge
role in our end happiness and the results of our work. When I thought
about this on Sunday, I thought about this past week and the work I
had done. While as missionaries things rarely pan out as planned, we
have to keep a happy and cheerful disposition. We have to work as hard
as we can. And we have to enjoy the journey.

In D&C 123 we read:

"Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to
light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and
they are truly manifest from heaven...
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things
that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost
assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be
revealed."

Now obviously this applies to other forms of work than just missionary
work!! School work, jobs, service, church callings, family
responsibilities...the list could go on and on. My commitment to
myself this week (and to all of you as well!) is to remember to rub
some elbow grease in all the tough things I have to do, to look for
the good in every situation, and to "cheerfully do all things that lie
in my power"!

I'm grateful that everyday for this short period of my life I get to
do missionary work. I know that as I "invite others to come unto
Christ," I'm helping Him accomplish His work. He knows each and every
one of us. He is aware of our situations and the work we are doing and
stands ready to help us. As a representative of Jesus Christ and His
church, I bear testimony that He lives, He is our Savior, and He loves
us.

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sending lots of love,
Sorella Carver