Sorella Rebekah Tiffany Acton: Week 9 in Palermo

Monday December 2, 2019

Monday was p-day and both my companion and I woke up feeling pretty sick. There's a lot of people around us that have a cold and it got us. We had a lazy start for our p-day but eventually we got up and ate some breakfast, did a little bit of cleaning, and went grocery shopping. We also did some studies and sent some emails and then we went to the church to play fuse ball with the Anziani (Elders). I think it is becoming our new tradition. It is a lot of fun, however it is definitely a game that gets quite competitive. Then we went to McDonalds because the church's wifi isn't working and that is the only place that we can find free wifi without having to ask for it. We talked to our families and then afterwards we went and bought a Christmas tree for our apartment and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medicine for our colds. We finished the day with some contacting and preparations for the work this week.
On Tuesdays we have District Council and Sorella Johnson and I had made some pumpkin bread in the morning because two of the Anziani had birthdays coming up this week. We went to the doctors so my companion could have some blood tests and then we went to District Council, which is always really good and inspiring. We ended the meeting with making snowflakes and talking about how we are all different, mainly because Sorella Johnson and I wanted some snowflakes to decorate our apartment. Unfortunately, the pumpkin bread did not turn out the way we wanted it to. It was still very gooey in the middle, but we just got some spoons and ate it with spoons. After that we had pranzo and studies and then went to a less active's house and helped her clean. That night we had English Course. When we get home in the evenings we are suppose to contact our District Leader and let him know that we made it safely. Sorella Johnson and I have been trying to learn how to rap better so we made a rap and sent it to our District Leader to let him know we made it to our apartment safely. Then that turned into some rap battles.
Wednesday woke up, had to take another test to the doctor and then we went and did some finding. It was really fun because we had three people tell us that they would like for us to come back and teach them. We are planning to do that this week sometime. Also one guy we were having a conversation with said he would come to church because he has been looking for something more and he liked the things we had shared with him. So, we'll see if he ever comes. After that we got on the train and went to Agrigento which is about a 2 hour train ride from our area. We missed the first train so, of course, we had to stop by the McDonald's and get an ice cream and do some contacting while we waited for the next rain. Once we were on the train and in Agrigento, I went on a scambio with Sorella Malingo which she is in her third transfer so she just got done with training. We went around and dropped off flyers for English Course at different stores and then went to do service at a place that serves dinner every evening to those who don't have food. All 15 of them were men, so of course that's always an adventure here in Italy. But it was nice to help there. We helped make the food, serve it, and then cleaned up at the end. After that we had a lesson with a man from Africa which was a lot of fun. He was really nice and we had a good lesson about family with him. We then went home and of course when you are having a scambio with two other Sorelli you have to have a night where you just stay up and talk. So we talked for a while and go to know each other a little more and that is always fun to spend time with some other girls.
Thursday we finished up with our scambio. Sorella Malingo and I did some finding. It was thanksgiving so we walked around and told people that it was Thanksgiving in America and asked them what they were grateful for and what makes them happy. We had a lot of fun with that because both of us are still trying to get the language down and it made us feel independent for a while. We just did our best and we had some good conversations. We had lunch and then we went back home. We met with a couple of members and had a lesson then left and called family for Thanksgiving. After that we went to English Course, which is always a lot of fun. The Anziani had made hats for everyone; either a pilgrim, Indian, or turkey. We talked about Thanksgiving and we had everyone write what they were thankful for on the board and then we went and had pizza with a couple of the people from English Course.
Friday we woke up and did some studies and then headed to a lady who we have been teaching for a while. At one point she was on date for baptism but her family is not supportive of her decision and is keeping her from progressing. She made us home made ravioli and it was so yummy! We had a lesson with her and talked with her for about one and a half to two hours. And then her husband came home and we ate the homemade ravioli for pranzo. It reminded me a lot of being home which was nice. After that we came home and did weekly planning and then Sorella Johnson and I had a dance party to break things up a bit.
Saturday was a pretty cool day. We did studies in the morning and then we said a prayer that we would be able to accomplish some of our goals for November. We needed to find one more new person to teach and there were two less active members we needed to contact. We prayed that we would be able to find a family to teach. We left for the day and had an appointment with our friend, Angela, and we had met her and had a lesson with her before. She wasn't super interested but she said we could meet with her again. So, we went to her mom's house and they made us a super yummy carbonara. It was a very intense pranzo, she made us a mountain of pasta to eat and then she had a meat course, which was a breaded meat-either like chicken or beef and then they bread it and fry it. And she gave us each a whole loaf of bread, it was a skinny loaf of bread but it was still a lot. And then we had salad and fruit. Everything was really yummy but we were so full. After pranzo we showed her the video for Christmas; "The First Gift." She said she was interested to learn more and wanted to have us over again. So, guess what? Our goal was accomplished, we got a new person to teach. After that we went and visited Giovanna and her husband and to invite them to church and then we went to leave a note at a less active's house. On our way back from there we met a really cool and really sweet family who said we could exchange numbers so that was awesome. We talked about our church and she really liked everything that we shared. That was a miracle. It was crazy that we had prayed for certain things in the morning and had said these are the things we really hope to have happen but if not, well then we will continue on in faith. And then the Lord made those things happen for us. It was amazing to see. Then we went home and the lady that lives below us in our apartment building, she is a member, had locked her keys inside her house and our landlord was gone. She was going to be locked out of her house for a day and a half and she was really worried about it. She came up and asked if there was anything that we could do. We found a key that was similar to the one that unlocks her door and went down to see if it would work. We eventually got her door unlocked and she was so cute and so grateful. She was jumping up and down and thanking the Lord and hugging us. That was a miracle for her. After that we went and had a gesso, which these are always hard for me because I get overwhelmed with finding in such big groups of people, but it went alright. It was really amazing to see all of the incredible miracles that happened today.
Sunday was Fast Sunday, I always love Fast Sundays. After church we went to Catia's house, she's a member, with Arlinda and Ricardo. He brought homemade arancini from his Grandma and it was so delicious! And then we ate pasta with shrimp, tomatoes, zucchini and pana (cream) which was also yummy. And then we had some breaded chicken that was made with lemon, rosemary, and olive oil and then we had salad. It was a lot of fun and really nice to spend time with them. Arlinda likes to call us her children, she is the sweetest little lady. After that we headed out to a lesson with a family and we were teaching them about Lehi's vision. We tried to establish what they want from meeting with us and if they were interested in continuing to meet with us. They like having us over and talking about the gospel so we are still going to visit with them once in a while. I'm still trying to get over my cold.
The spiritual thought that I would like to include with my weekly this week is a talk from Elder Holland that was so perfect for me this week it is entitled "Be Ye Therefore Perfect, Eventually." He says "if we persevere then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete. Yet surely the Lord would never give us a commandment he knew we could not keep. As children of God we should not demean or vilify ourselves. As if beating up on ourselves is somehow going to make us the person God wants us to become." I love this because as a missionary there is a lot of times where you do kind of beat on yourself and feel like you're not doing enough. Or that you don't have as much worth, but it says that's not going to help us become what God wants us to become. So we need to stop it. He continues to say "to put this issue in context may I remind all of us that we live in a fallen world and for now we are a fallen people. We are in the telestial kingdom, that is spelled with a "t" not a "c". As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, here in mortality perfection is still pending." I really love that! I actually made it into a little quote and put it on my wall where I do my studies. It was a really good reminder that we are told to become perfect as Christ, but it's not going to happen in this life. We need to do our best but we need to not put ourselves down when we aren't reaching that, because perfection is still pending. Then there was this really cool quote that I liked that was relatable to us as missionaries as well. In this story there was a priest that was being persecuted because he wasn't living the things he taught perfectly. And the people were saying why should you be a priest teaching these things when you don't even live them perfectly yourself. Then he said "Attack me if you wish, I do this myself, but don't attack the path I follow. If I know the way home but am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way simply because I am staggering from side to side. Do not gleefully shout 'Look at him, there he is crawling into a bog.' No, do not gloat but give your help to anyone trying to walk the road back to God." I love that because sometimes as people in leadership positions in the church or us, as missionaries, or even just as Latter-day Saints. Or even just people trying to live a good life, sometimes we get persecuted for not being perfect. Especially if we are teaching these things. So, I really liked this quote because we teach the gospel because we know it is true and it's going to make us happy and it's going to help us get closer to God. But we're not perfect and we are never going to be perfect in this life so it is just a good reminder that we need to keep in mind that even the prophet, though he seems dang near perfect to us, he still isn't perfect and that's just because we are still in a fallen world. So, we need to help everyone who is on the path back to God and to not judge those who still struggle.

Love you!
Sorella Acton