Cagliari

Week 75

My heart is full of joy and also some sadness as I set out to type this email. Yes, it really has been 18 months already. I can't believe how fast time goes. I feel like Jacob in the Book of Mormon when he says "our lives passed as if it were a dream." 

2 years ago a decision was placed before me and I'll be eternally grateful and also eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for allowing me the opportunity to choose to serve a mission. It was not an easy choice, but I never would have imagined how much I would have changed and how much I would have learned and received. I had no idea what I was going in for, but I placed my trust in the Lord that this was where he needed me to be. (Even if I had no idea, nor say in, where the "where" would be!) 

Fast forward six months and I find myself in the beautiful and amazing country of Italy! It was a dream and quite a shock. But I didn't come here to tour a new area or see the sites or eat delicious food. I was here with a purpose that is universal to all missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints everywhere in the world.

And then the days just kept passing, some filled with the joy of seeing others come unto Christ and my own personal progression....other filled with stresses and worries and disappointments. The phrase "blood, sweat, and tears" is very, very true haha. 

But before I knew it, I woke up this morning and realized that is was my last day to be able to write home before actually going home! And I'm not sure how that makes me feel or what I can say that will adequately describe the journey.

What I came here to share has become a real part of me. I know that God exists. We can see his hand in our lives every day if we open our eyes and our hearts to his tender mercies. He is our loving Father in heaven. He knows us personally, because we are his children. As I've sat knee to knee with investigators I've felt his love for them and his desire for them to come home. I know he hears our prayers, because he has heard and answered mine. In the deepest of trials, the loneliest of days, or in the moments of great gratitude, he is there and he is listening. 

He loved us enough to send us here to grow and gain experience. He knew it would not be easy, so he provided a plan. At the center of that plan is our savior, Jesus Christ. His was and is the only way that leads to true happiness in this life and eternal life in the life to come. 

But because we are human, because we make mistakes, we forget. We rebel. We change things. Even after Christ himself came and established his perfect organization, His church, truths were lost and the power and authority he has given to his apostles was taken from the earth.

But that love that God has for each of his children hadn't changed. So when circumstances were right and His children were ready to listen again, he restored it all to the earth again. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God, just like Abraham and Moses and all the others. He was the means for restoring the lost truth on the earth and that today the Church of Jesus Christ is organized and run the same way and under the same authority as he established it. The Book of Mormon is the "prova", the proof, the trial of all of this. And I know it is true. 

It's all true.

I love this mission. I love the beautiful people of Italy and the gorgeous country. I love the gospel, and I love my Savior. My 18 months of being a full time missionary for Him will finish next week, but I'm grateful to know that the journey of discipleship never has to end. "There are no true endings...only Everlasting beginnings." 

Vi voglio bene! A presto, 

Sorella Carver 

Cagliari

Week 74

Buongiorno a tutti!

With each passing week the time goes faster and faster, the
experiences and stories become more sweet...and it gets harder andharder to write it all down!

This week, like them all, was filled with tender mercies and little miracles.
Every day it gets hotter and hotter and the number of people out gets
smaller and smaller. We can spend a lot of time going from place to
place and not see anyone to talk to...so our prayers lately have been
really focused on asking for guidance on where to be and what to do so
that we can help more people. We definitely saw answers to that prayer
this week!
Monday night after Pday we headed out to do some Finding and the
thought came to mind to pass by a sisters house who hasn't been coming
to church for a while. We'd been in contact when I first got to
Cagliari, but setting up an appointment had never worked out. I wanted
to push the thought aside, thinking "no...she won't be home and we'd
have to go out of our way..." but I voiced the thought to sorella
Fielding and she's like "No, let's give it a try, its not a bad idea!"
We went and suonato al citofono. We waited. No answer. Rang it again.
At this point I say something like "Well...guess that wasn't what that
promoting meant...." And then we hear it pick up and that beloved line
of "Chi è???" She was home...! She let us is, I finally got to meet
her, and we had a wonderful spiritual thought.
Sunday afternoon we had tried a few parks and weren't having much
luck. While I waited for sorella Fielding outside a bathroom in one
park...a mom we had met on the bus a few days before came in! We had
talked with her for a little bit about her family but didn't have a
chance to invite her to do anything before she got off. We really
wanted to be able to see her again and there she was!! We talked a
little bit and invited her and the kids to a church activity next
week.
And then Sunday evening we taught Eva again. I heard a quote this week
that says "The lesson will never go as you prepared, but it will
always go as well as you prepared." That is SO true haha! We didn't
use half the things we felt like we needed to use, BUT the lesson was
so good. She opened up to us even more and we felt the spirit bear
testimony as we shared things we had learned and studied all week.
Questions came to our minds that helped guide the discussion. It was
just really good.

Im forever grateful for the spirit and its help in this work.
Sometimes, when I really think about it, I'm like "why would Heavenly
Father send 18, 19, 20 year old kids to a foreign country speaking a
foreign language by them selves to share the most important and
amazing message the world has ever seen?!"
And then I remember that we really have very little to do with it.
This is His work and he's at the helm of it all. It's His spirit that
guides us in all we do. It's simply our job to be obedient, work hard,
and be in tune with that spirit and act on it.

Everyday I realize more and more how wonderful a mission is and how
sweet these weeks and days are. They really are "days never to be
forgotten." The good times make me smile and laugh and the hard
moments make us stronger and more capable. A simple email really can't
even begin to describe it. :)

I love you all! Thank you for the love, prayers, and support. Hope
it's a great week. :)

Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Carver

Some Italian bellezza for y'all. ;)

Our Fourth of July DDM Pranzo party. It was wayyy good.

Sometimes our walks home are the most beautiful thing ever... I
love sunsets! And Sunday's was just senza parole.

Cagliari

Week 72

(Sent on 26 June 2017)

watermelon - coconut gelato!

View from a castle we hiked to on June 19, 2017

Hike up to Sella del Diavolo

Hike up to Sella del Diavolo

Cagliari

Week 70

Can we just take a second and talk about how fast this week went? Mamma mia! 

AND tonight is my last transfer call! Pretty sure I know what's happening.....but chissà davvero....

This week I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. 

We had the chance to go to another city in Sardegna, Oristano, for a convert baptism. This little bitty branch hasn't seen sisters in 10+ years, and even though WE went to love and support and sustain the new convert and members, I don't think we could have been more warmly welcomed and loved in that short hour we were there. These members SHONE with the light of Christ and their actions showed what they believed. 

I have a long way to go on the pathway of disciple ships, and a lot of "nets" I still need to leave behind. But one thing I'm learning now more than ever is that the gospel and the pathway of discipleship is exactly that...a pathway!! It's not a jump, a climb, a cartwheel flip thing on a trampoline that we have to do perfectly in order to get into the Kingdom of God. 

President Uchtdorf said, 

“Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us--even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.

“We [might] see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities.

To those who have left the path of discipleship for whatever reason, I invite you to start where you are and come to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Walk again in the way of the Lord. I testify that the Lord will bless your life, endow you with knowledge and joy beyond comprehension, and distill upon you the supernal gifts of the Spirit. It is always the right time to walk in His way. It is never too late.

To those who feel inadequate because they have not been members of the Church all their lives, to those who feel that they can never make up for the time they have lost, I testify that the Lord needs your specific abilities, talents, and skills.... It is always the right time to walk in His way. It is never too late."

I'm not a perfect missionary, and I'm 101% sure that I won't have it all figured out in the next six weeks. But the good thing is that this mission, this discipleship, doesn't end. Each day is a new start for each one of us! The lord is always there to help us along the way, and he is our Mediator with the Father who helps our flaws and imperfections become so much more than we could ever make of ourselves alone. He can heal us, put us back up on our feet, and will walk along with us the entire way. Ours is the responsibility to follow him, learn from his words, and seek his power daily in our life. 

As President Uchtdorf also said, 

"Brothers and sisters, we have to stay with it. We don’t acquire eternal life in a sprint—this is a race of endurance. We have to apply and reapply the divine gospel principles. Day after day we need to make them part of our normal life."

I'll be happily enjoying and booking it to the finish line for the next six weeks of the little sprint part of my endurance race over here in Italia! I'm so excited for this transfer and all the excitement, miracles, and experiences to come. 

I love you all and hope it's a good week!

Sorella Carver 

Cagliari

Week 68

Hello, Folks!

Well, it's been a crazy three weeks. Please excuse my lack of emails!
All is well and I'm loving Cagliari more than ever... I may just be a
little lazy in writing things out. 😬 I'll do my best to catch up a
little bit today though.

To keep things light, I'll start off with the dream I had last
Saturday night. I kid you not it was all about pizza......
My sister and I were living in the house I grew up in as a kid and it
was late at night and I decided we should order a pizza. I told her
all about the delicious italiane margherite and how we should get two
because si può mangiare una intera and it would only be like €6. (I
love Italy.) So we call it in and we get to waiting. A little
impatiently. I check the time and it's like 10:20pm and I start
freaking out. "Jade, its ALMOST 10:30 AND WE'LL HAVE TO GO TO BED. OUR
PIZZA WILL NEVER MAKE IT IN TIME" (#missionaryschedule). Then at like
10:27 the doorbell rings. Only it was some sad American pizza company
that had updated my order to two supreme pizzas and cheese sticks for
$37.60 and didn't have margheritas. So I shut the door very sadly and
said, "Jade, we just have to go to bed. There's no time to order
another pizza, and I CANNOT PAY $37.60 for THAT."
And then the alarm went off. And I had no clue what day it was.

La vita della missionaria. Hahahaha.

Some highlights from this week's adventures:

A cone of a delicious scoop ricotta e noci gelato (with honey drizzled
throughout) next to a scoop of Pistacchio. Mamma mia. I'd died and
gone to heaven.

We've started to Sorelle FHEs Sunday night for fun and for our
"activity" last night we did "Laughter Therapy". Vi spiego. You all
lay on your back. And start laughing. And if the laughter stops,
someone has to start laughing. Vi prego...TRY IT. It made my year and
my abs are sore this morning. If you need to smile, just do it,

Another exciting, much more spiritual experience this week was
Patrizia's (the other Sorelles investigator) baptism! It was Sunday
evening and it may have been the most beautiful baptism I've been to
on my mission. The spirit was so strong and she was so ready. After
the baptism, we sang the hymn "I Am a Child of God" as missionaries.
Watching members and investigators sing along and shed a tear or two
just reminded me of the power of that simple truth: we are ALL
children of god, with a divine potential and destiny. And when one of
his children takes that first step towards returning home to him, he
is so happy. I am so joyful for patrizia, and I am so glad I got to be
there for her special day.

Saturday morning we had a neat experience. It was another morning of
Ricerca, and we had planned to go to a neighboring town. But all
during our exercise run and getting ready that morning, something kept
nagging me that that wasn't right. I tried to just kinda push it
aside, thinking maybe It was just me not wanting or feeling one
hundred percent like going there and doing that kind of finding. But
when we sat down to plan, I brought it up and Sorella Fielding said
the same thing. MENO MALE. We change plans and headed out. For the
first couple hours it wasn't super successful. Despite being a
Saturday morning, not a whole Lot of people were out, but we did our
best to talk to the ones we knew we should. We had about thirty
minutes left before heading back home, and we needed to stop at the
grocery store to get some things. We had planned to stop by the port
for swoop of finding along lungo Mare, but i started to justify that
too thinking "naw, we can just head home, we've done enough"

But then we pushed the button and got off the bus anyways. And thank
goodness! The first girl we talked to was like "Yeah...I'm not
interested" as soon as we started talking to her.

On to the next girl by herself on a bench.

"Excuse me, have you ever seen this book?" Companion points to book Of Mormon.
"Si.....in a play in London I think"
"Davvero, what did you learn about it?"
AND then she just starts speaking into us in English (l'accento è
forte so if they speak English they just switch over hahahaha)

Her name was Cinzia and she'd lived in London for six years with her
husband. They just recently moved back to Cagliari because her husband
was getting very sick, and when they moved back here they found out he
had cancer. They past year had been hard and scary, and despite that
things are looking much better now, they have been on a roller coaster
for sure.

We were able to bear sweet and simple testimonies of Christ and his
healing power. We testified of the power of the book Of Mormon and its
role as we try to draw nearer unto Him. She gladly accepted the copy,
and promised she would read it. She didn't want to give us contact
information, but I made her promise that if she liked what she read
and wanted to know more, she would call us.
As we said goodbyes she goes "Thanks for sharing this joy...and enjoy
the sun today, okay?!" Haha made me smile.
As we walked away, we turned around to glance back and she had already
started reading. :)

Sharing simple, eternal truths with our fellow brothers and sisters
here in this life really is one of the most joyful things I've ever
felt.
We shared a scripture with Cinzia found in Alma 7:11-13
""11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and
temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled
which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his
people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of
death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their
infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to
the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his
people according to their infirmities.
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God
suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins
of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according
to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony
which is in me.""

We are all so different in this crazy world (16 months with 8
different colleghe has made me sure of that haha!). We had different
worries, dreams, talents, and trials. But the savior and redeemer of
the world came so that he could completely understand, completely
heal, and know us perfectly. So whether it's a struggling missionary
or a young wife on a park bench, He KNOWS what we are feeling and
facing and he stands ready to succor with open arms. It is up to us to
turn to him and apply his teaching and power in our lives, but it is
universal and available to all. I know that with all my heart.
I'm grateful to be an instrument in his hands to serve in whatever
shape or form that may be, and I know that the call to discipleship is
a life long calling. I love this work with all my heart.
AND I love y'all! I hope it is a fantastic week! A dopo!

XOXO
Sorella Carver

Cagliari

Weeks 66 & 67

Pictures sent on May 15th and 22nd, 2017

Cagliari

Week 65

Hellooo from the beautiful island of Sardegnaaaaa! I'm in Cagliari!!

It has been a crazy week, and I still can't believe all that has happened.

Monday night was transfer calls! Cagliari with Sorella Fielding!!

Sorella Erickson and I both left Palermo, while our comps stayed. We

ran all over the place for the next few days trying to say good bye to

people. Six months gave me plenty of time to make some really sweet

friendships, and it was hard to say so many goodbyes at once! I love

Palermo and the people there!

Then Wednesday night I got to packing after a dinner appointment. I DO

NOT suggest trying to meet weight requirements for a flight in the

last few months of your mission. It was quite the feat but I'm pretty

sure the guy at the baggage weigh in thing turned an eye...I might

have been a kilo or two over... 😏

Then bright and early Thursday morning, the Garretts took me to the

airport. And THAT was a hard goodbye! Mamma mia.

Flying was weird...especially by myself without a phone. I hope I

never have to do that again haha.

Thursday afternoon I landed in the beautiful city of Cagliari and met

up with Sorella Fielding! I'm so excited to serve with her! She's in

her fourth transfer and as sweet as sweet can be. We share the city

with two sets of elders and another set of sisters, none other than

the lovely sorella Frogley and Leathern (MY MTC COMP!!) Its just too

fun.

Cagliari is beautiful! It's very clean and very...almost American?

Haha basically the complete opposite of Palermo. The members here seem

great and can't wait to get to know them.

I'm excited for the work and the experiences we'll have here. It's

weird to be starting over again after being in Palermo for so long,

but I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve in this wonderful city!

I think it was last week I mentioned using the BOM to answer

questions. Sorella Fielding and I decided to search for some answers

that people could give us to a question we sometimes ask: "What brings

you happiness in this life?" We decided that if they answered "Family"

we would share Alma 5:38 and talk about the family of god, and how he

wants us all back home.

On Sunday, we went out for some Finding and met a sweet woman named

Alessandra. Her family is going through a bit of a hard time right now

and she's looking for peace and answers as she tries to help them as

best she can. It was amazing to see how what we prepared fit to her

needs exactly, even though we hadn't even met her! We should be seeing

her tomorrow again and I'm hopeful she will be receptive to learning

more. :)

I know the scriptures have the answers to life's questions and they

allow us to hear the lords voice and feel his love. I know that the

truth we find in the book Of Mormon and the Bible bring our families

more peace, joy, and happiness than we can possibly imagine.

I'm excited to begin this next chapter in Cagliari! I love and miss

you all and hope it's a great week!

XOXO,

Sorella Carver

with Cynthia

with la famiglia Albanese

with la famiglia Pulvirenti

with Zina

with Sorella Oehler

with Veronica

le sorelle di Cagliari

with Sorella Fielding