Transfers and Soup kitchens...

Well another transfer is coming to a close and it feels really strange. Especially because my companion, Sorella Price is finishing her mission! It is really odd because she is starting to pack up all her stuff and say her goodbyes. She is making all her travel plans and wrapping up this huge chapter in her life. Because she is doing her final preparations to go home it sometimes feels like I am about to go home too! But then I quickly remember that I still have 13 more months in the mission!! But I am really excited for everything the next year has to offer! On Saturday I will find out who my new companion is and if I will go to a new city. (But I highly doubt it!)

Cool news!!!! 

We just got an email from President Waddoups saying that this April, Elder Bednar is coming to Rome to introduce ipads to our mission!!!!!! AND ALL the missionaries are traveling to Rome to meet him and be trained for ipads!! THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!!! 

also, work is starting again on the Rome Temple! 

Some not so cool news....

For the time being missionaries are not allowed to visit major Christian/Jewish tourist attractions (aka the Vatican) because of ISIS. (the funny thing is that we dont even watch the news so we really don't know what is going on in the world) Good thing I am not serving in Rome right now! 

As for information about Foggia work is coming but VERY SLOWLY! We finally were able to see Alessandra again. We only saw her for a second but it is really sad. Her daughters were telling us that ever since she got the job their home and family life has gone down the drain. This dang job is the bain of my existence!! Satan really knows how to destroy a family, through something that seems like a blessing! 

Also, we have been volunteering at a type of 'soup kitchen' called Caritas. It is part of a Catholic church so we are not allowed to proselyte there but it is a really great experience!! First off, let me just say.... at Caritas they make DANG GOOD food!! Fresh pasta, roasted potatoes, this good egg dish, and fresh fruit! I was always under the impression that soup kitchens were literally soup from a can! um...NO! We help cook all the food with all these old people and catholic youth! It is great! They always end up asking who we are and why we are here. Which leads to a gospel convo anyway!! So it is cool! Funny thing... we met this Catholic Priest (he was in the whole long dress get up) and he asked to come to church! We were like... YES! He didn't come (yet) but how awesome would that be!  

Well next week I will be living in Bari with the Bari sisters for a week while Sorella Price goes to Rome to 'die.' I am excited because we might get a pretty sick p day!!!! WHOOO!! 

Love you all and have a great week!!!!!!!! 

Sorella Karin

Lasagna and lessons learned...

Ciao outside world!

What a week! 

First off.... Tuesday was probably the craziest day ever. We had 6 appointments! We left the house at 10 and didn't come home until 9:30 that night! It was insane! We taught a lot of lessons, visited less actives, taught English classes, and ate amazing food! One old lady in our ward made us lunch and it was the most interesting Italian food I have ever had. Think of "granola/whole foods" version of Italian food. She made this veggie lasagna and tortellini and tons of pickled veggies. It was strange but still really good! (notice that there are not one but two pastas always served) To end the day we taught English course! Sorella Price and I teach the advanced class. There are typically only 10 people in our class. While there are about 30 in basic and 25 in intermediate. However, lots of the people in basic have started to come to our class. We have no idea why because they probably do not understand anything but they enjoy their time! It is awesome! 

On Wednesday we had another lunch appointment at an old Italian ladies house. We ate probably the BEST lasagna I have ever had in my entire life and probably will ever have in my entire life! Seriously... it was so simple .... but so perfect! The proportions of pasta, to sauce, to meat, to cheese was LIGHTS OUT GOOD! This lasagna is mission famous! Every missionary knows about "sorella Rizzi's lasagna." Seriously, I am pretty sure that this will be served in the Regno di Celeste!!  It is always comforting that even when work is really hard or slow there is AMAZING food to make things better! Ha! Also on Wednesday our good friend Paul left Foggia forever! It was really sad! He is an African man who is the coolest guy you will ever meet! He has totally dedicated his life to the gospel and loves working with us missionaries! I feel bad for him because he has no material possessions and doesnt speak a lot of Italian. But that doesn't stop him from being awesome! He totally interacts with the ward members, and he finds the best clothes in the dumpsters.. HE HAS SICK SWAG! Seriously, if he was in NYC he would totally be photographed for a top fashion blog! I told him that but he said that all he wants is to have an "I'm a Mormon" video! We love Paul! But he left Foggia... It was really sad! We all miss him! It really hit us when he wasn't at church on Sunday! The good thing is that I know he is doing good things elsewhere! Always reppin the church! What a great example! 

Also this week was ZONE CONFERENCE! Its always really fun to go to Bari for Zone conference! It's great to see other missionaries and President and Sorella Waddoups! We learned all about EXPECT MIRACLES! Seriously a great thing to remember. Times can get super stressful and discouraging! I have to remind myself to calm down. But it is so hard when salvation is on the line! 

Speaking of which, I wanted to say some things about agency. Agency is a gift from God. The ability to choose. We have choices every day. We can be happy or sad, we can choose to live the commandments, follow commitments, or not. It is so amazing to have the freedom to do what we want. What a blessing. However, when we are working/talking with people about the gospel agency can be the most frustrating thing! Even when you know people are ready to hear the gospel, to take the lessons, to come to church, many times they use their agency and don't do what is best for them. It is beyond frustrating! I often think... "us as missionaries have the knowledge for what will make you beyond happy and you are just shutting us down! Why?" It can be very discouraging! however, it also gives  me a new perspective... how does our Heavenly Father feel when we don't obey his commandments, or keep commitments, or not pray (answer the phone). He has so much to offer all of us... just like how us as missionaries have so much to offer others... but we all choose to ignore the potential blessings! This week I want to be better at using my agency in the best possible way! Always choose light over dark... enjoy the blessings that God has waiting for all of us! I challenge you all to do the same! 

I love you lots! I feel your prayers and I am so thankful!! 

living the (foggia) dream! hahahahha!!  

xo sorella fuller

Ciao Tutti!

Ciao TUTTI!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!! This week has been really crazy but also really good! Here are some thoughts that have been circling in my mind recently....

First thing.... missionaries are REAL PEOPLE! This may seem obvious but it is true. How crazy is it that there are 88,000 kids from ages 18-about 25 all around the world just preaching the Gospel... teaching others about baptism and how to have eternal life?! It is a huge job to do! So why on earth would the Lord send teenagers to foreign countries, different states, places totally out of their comfort zone, to do such important work? Why wouldn't he just send experienced adults or better yet missionary "robots" to get the job done! I will tell you why..... because the Lord wants US! He especially calls every single missionary to a place... not because he needs a spot filled, but because he knows us perfectly. He knows our personality, our strengths, our weaknesses and where we best fit! With that in mind..we as missionaries HAVE TO use our talents AND our personalities to fulfill our role as a missionary! There is no "perfect" missionary. There is no "mold" for a missionary. You just have to be the best "YOU" you can be! Use your talents and the Lord will use you as a tool! 

This last week President Waddoups emailed me about using my talents to the fullest this transfer. I was thinking to myself.... "Well I have no idea what my talents are... I can't sing "Savior Redeemer of My Soul", I can't play some intense version of the EFY medley on the piano,  I am not fluent in Italian yet, what do I do?" Then I realized that one thing I can do is interact with our English course students! So we have taken English course to an entire new level! Instead of doing a 5 minute spiritual thought at the end of class we do a 15 minute thought. During the "English" lesson we always relate it to the gospel. We lay it on really thick! BUT WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN DOING IT!  For example, last week we talked about family home evening! They totally got a kick out of it...especially when I taught them the BINGO song... the same song we have been singing for FHE for the last 19 years of my life! (literally HAHAHA) They also really liked the importance we put on family! Which lead into a deep conversation about family! It was so awesome! For the last 15 minutes we taught them "what makes our families happy" --- the gospel! We were both super energetic and everyone had a good time! Also they keep coming back to class! So this is just so awesome!! 

Also this week has been really hard! Of course... every week is! It is REALLY EASY to get discouraged! Every day is a total trial of patience! 

 So for fast Sunday Sorella Price and I decided to fast for three things..

1) Alessandra,(our investigator/mother) would answer our phone calls! We haven't been able to talk or see her in weeks! 

2) When we saw our new investigator Flavia that she read the Book of Mormon

3) we could have one of our English course students (potentials) became a new investigator

let me tell you... FASTING WORKS! IT IS REAL AND IS LITERALLY MAGIC!! 

When we saw Flavia she told us that she had read lots of 1st Nephi and really liked it! Also she said she will come with us to church next week! 

Last night Alessandra picked up her phone!! It was actually kinda funny because my comp made me call her. I guess it didn't really register that she would pick up because my Italian got all mixed up probably because I was in so much shock that she answered. But, we were able to communicate and she is going to call us back today! 

As far as our English course... we have class tomorrow.. so no current update but I am sure it will go great!! 

Ok so a funny thing that happened this week was that we watched part of the Testaments movie with Costance and she just ATE IT UP! The whole romance between the Nephites she thought was SO GOOD! We were laughing so hard because it is so CHEESY but she just kept saying it was BEAUTIFUL! HAHAHAHA! Gotta love her! 

Ok I love you all! xoxoxoxo

Sorella Fuller 

Pictures!

 This is at a little girl in the wards birthday party! It was only her family, and the sister missionaries! This family is on an entire different level of being mormon! They are SO RIGHTOUS!! for example.. they only watch movies and listen to music that is church produced! WOW! They live in the most humble appartment! We were honored to come to party! (notice that we are taking a classic italian/catholic picture standing behind a giant birthday cake) 

                                       I don't know how to rotate a picture yet! I apologize!

Ups and Downs

                 

We had a disappointing news this week. Last week I emailed you all about our wonderful investigator, Alessandra. We taught the most wonderful lesson to her, been praying and fasting for her and probably the worst thing happened. SHE GOT A JOB! 

Now that probably doesn't even sound that bad, but it is! She has to work every day, including Sunday, from 6 am to 8 pm. So basically she can't take the lessons any more and she can't come to church. It is such a tough situation because people in Italy NEED jobs. The economy is absolutely terrible and no one has jobs. Alessandra is a single mother with three children and needs the income. When we found out that we couldn't meet with her, Sorella Price and I just cried. We were distraught and depressed. Never in my life have I been so sad. It was like one day a miracle happens and another day the devil just destroys everything. What is even worse is that she wants to believe, but she simply doesn't have the time to. When we visit her house now, the only people there are her kids and her Polish mother (who only speaks polish) The Spirit is not in the home like how it was before. It is depressing. It is so hard to have your work be so exciting and wonderful and then literally 48 hours later take a total nose dive! We just keep praying and hoping and expecting a miracle to happen. It is just so hard! 

On another note, transfer calls were this week. I will be staying in Foggia AND so will my trainer.I must say that this is VERY unexpected. We were both a little disappointed. She wanted to finish her mission in a new city, and I wanted to have a new comp that is a little "younger" in the mission or a native Italian so that I could grow more in the language. It can sometimes feel like you are just waiting for your mission to start when you are with your trainer. You just feel like you are in your trainers shadow.  So I guess you could say that we were both surprised. I was pretty upset but President Waddoups emailed me today and told me that he knows and is inspired that Sorella Price and I need to be together.  That makes me feel better! I just have faith that this next transfer will be awesome! 

On another note!!!!

We had a great English lesson/gospel lesson/lunch with a street contact! The Elders gave us a referral they found on the street. Her name is Nadia. She told them she was interested in English lessons but had no desire to learn about the gospel at all! She is a devout catholic (classic). We called her and set an appointment with her and she wanted us to meet her at a gas station. Random. As we were waiting for her we just thought... this is so strange... we are meeting a stranger at a gas station. Once she got there it was a little awkward but then she invited us to her house to teach the English lesson. We ended up not even teaching English... the conversation quickly turned into a gospel conversation. Apparently she remembers a Sister missionary from 20 years ago who rang her apartment. They only talked on the intercom but this sister made a lasting impression on Nadia for being so nice! We then segwayed the conversation into teaching her the first lesson about the restoration of the Church. She enjoyed it! Then her family all came home! Her parents, sister, and friend! They loved us and invited us to eat pranzo (lunch) with them! It was delicious! We ended up staying with them for 5 hours! How awesome is that !!! The only reason why we left is because we told them we had to leave! They told us they can't wait to have us return! When we told the Elders about the success of the contact they were in shock! They told us that she really had NO interest when they talked to her! Now she is! MIRACLE! 

the last two p-days we been really exciting! Last week we went to Polignano-- a coastal town just outside of Bari! So picturesque! Today we went to Gargano-- another coastal area--- in the "spur" of the "boot" of Italy! I am exhausted! wow! 

Ok I love you all! xoxox

Sorella Fuller