Sorella Rebekah Tiffany Acton: Week 6 New Transfer

Monday November 11, 2019

This week was pretty good, it was a week that we learned how to be more selfless. A lot of the plans that we had and the ideas we had did not go as we had planned them. It was also a transfer week; Sorella Johnson and I get to stay together here in Palermo.

Tuesday was P-day and we went bowling, to a lego store, ate lunch, went to a tide cave and then we went back to the church and played fuseball. We were all together as a District so that made everything a lot of fun. After that we had English course. After English course we had a meal appointment with two ladies from our ward that we love so much, and one of their daughters as well. It was at 8:00 at night and we were there until late. . .like 10:00. And guess what? We ate risotto, an Italian rice, with mushrooms in it-a whole plate. And then we had a whole plate of Lasagna, then salad and then they brought out dolce. It was so much food that I literally went home and weighed myself and it was 4 pounds of food inside of me. That was really fun to have a meal appointment with them they are just the cutest.
Wednesday we had play practice for the play/comedy we were doing with all of the missionaries from Palermo. It's called Il Verdino, The Greenie. Sorella Johnson and my part was to help out through out the play and then at the end to explain the Book of Mormon and to bear our testimony and to invite them to take Books of Mormon. That evening we had a gesso to spread the word about the comedy. We all met together and handed out cards for the play. I decided that I was going to have a good attitude about finding this time. So, I went with a good attitude and I actually handed out a good amount of cards and talked to a lot of people by myself, which felt really awesome. I realized that finding with a purpose is a lot easier than going out without one. I just realized that I need to be brave. And then that night we performed the play. One of the Anziani in our District, actually one of the Zone Leaders, dressed up as a woman because he was playing the mom of the "greenie" that was opening up his mission call and coming to Italy and it was hilarious! The play went really well and it was really funny and the audience loved it. There was a good amount of people that wanted to be taught after watching it, the less actives loved it, and the members loved it so it was really awesome and fun. It was a just a good way to show people that we are normal, that we know how to have fun and we are silly in our daily lives but that we also do preach the Gospel. It was super fun! The night before we had some other sister missionaries over that were needing some help. That's one of the reasons we were needing to be selfless this week because we were attending to their needs and we were able to help them and show them that we loved them. My companion is the STL (Sister Training Leader) so she gets the honor of dealing with everyone's problems. Anyways because of that situation we weren't able to get our studies in but we did do some finding and then we had correlation. Our new ward mission leader is incredible!
Thursday we woke up and had really good plans for the day but after Sorella Johnson took a shower she had me check her hair and she had LICE! So, the whole morning and afternoon we were taking care of that; washing all of our clothes and bedding and washing our hair. First we washed it with a lice shampoo and then drenched it in some hair oil and then put it up in little buns. And then we combed through our hair. It literally took us 4 and a half hours. We did our studies while waiting. After that we went and had a lesson about the Book of Mormon with one of the ladies we are teaching and it was amazing. There was a moment in the lesson where we were reading the Book of Mormon together and it just went quiet and she just read a little bit by herself and the spirit was really strong, so that was awesome. After that we went to institute with a new person we found to teach. Then afterwards as we were walking home, there was a man who we have met once or twice before who likes to walk around with his pitbull. He just watches us and one time he asked to walk us home and we told him "No" we were going to go and meet up with some other people. But this night he turned around and started to follow us, so we called the Zone Leaders and they came and walked us home. He was still on our street walking, but once he saw that they were with us he left. That was the eventful part of the week. But everything is just fine it's Italy, it happens.
Friday, God showed us that we should never lack faith. We had weekly planning and studies so we didn't get out of the house until evening time. Before we left we had a little bit of tension, we were going out to heart attack an MA but as we were walking we didn't think we had enough time before the mostra that night with our Zone. We decided to change our plans and go casa a casa on a street that we had planned to do weeks ago. On the way there I was just praying that God would forgive me for being a little gremlin and that He would bless us with a miracle. We got to the street and it was really funny because there was only one house on the whole street and it was a little tiny street. We were like "Are you serious? This is what we get." But right as we were walking away from the door a lady walked up to go inside and we had a good conversation with her. She said that she was willing to meet with us again. It just showed us that God really does turn any situation into a miracle if we just have faith and trust in Him. And even sometimes when we don't, He is just so good.
Sunday was a really good day. We got up and went to church and it was fast and testimony meeting. After church we went to the Bishop's house and it was so fun. They fed us a lot of food. We had pasta, potatoes & chicken, bread, salad and he gave us cheese. He just kept bringing stuff out from the cupboard or the fridge. It was so hilarious, he just kept feeding us. He was so excited for us to try some of his favorite things. It was exactly what I needed, it was so fun. They knew that I was new and that I didn't know Italian very well but they still payed attention to me and joked around. I was actually in a meal appointment where I had fun and was involved in the conversations. It was just what I needed that day. We found out that our Bishop is hilarious, he is so much different than he is in church. It reminded me a lot of my grandparents and it was exactly what we needed, it was so much fun. After that we went over to his sister's house. She has a cute little family and we were able to share a spiritual thought with them, they aren't members of The Church. After that we headed home and did studies.
Something that I really liked from what I studied this last week; I wanted to study more about what it meant to endure to the end. I looked up what enduring to the end meant, and it means remaining faithful to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Christ throughout our lives. Enduring to the end is not just a matter of passively tolerating life's difficult circumstances or just hanging in there. It's an active religion helping God's children along the strait and narrow path to develop their full potential during this life and return to Him one day. Enduring to the end is a process filling every moment of our life, every hour of every day from sunrise to sunrise, it is accomplished through personal discipline following the commandments of God. Enduring to the end implies patient continuance in well doing, striving to keep the commandments and do the works of righteousness. It requires sacrifice and hard work. To endure to the end we need to trust our Father in Heaven and make wise choices including paying our tithing, tithes and offerings, honoring our temple covenants, serving the Lord and one another willingly and faithfully in our church callings and responsibilities. It means strength of character, selflessness and humility, it means integrity and honesty to the Lord and our fellow men, it means making our homes and families strong and a refuge against the world. Enduring to the end is definitely not a "Do It Yourself" project. First it requires the Savior's redemptive power. Second, enduring to the end requires the Holy Ghost who will both guide and sanctify us. To endure to the end we need to be eager to please God and worship Him.
One last thing, I read a little quote about the Book of Mormon from the prophet and he said; "When I think of the Book of Mormon, I think of the word power. The truths of the Book of Mormon have the power to heal, comfort, restore, succor, strengthen, console, and cheer our souls."
I really really liked that because I've never read the Book of Mormon more than I do on my mission and I have found so much love for it and it really does do those things. It really does heal, comfort, restore, succor, strengthen, console, and cheer our souls.

Love you all,

Sorella Acton