The week started off pretty crazy, a little stressful. We woke up on p-day and thought it was just going to be a normal day but step by step it turned into a pretty crazy day. Our good friends and Zone Leaders here in the Palermo I area, made some choices that they shouldn't have and they had to get transferred up to Rome and one of them had to go home. So Monday we had to deal with that news, it was a bit of a hard day and a shock to us. Later that day, we met up with some of the other Anziani (Elders) in our district and we spent some time with them. That was fun and helped to take our minds off of the other Anziani that had to leave.
Tuesday, we had interviews with President and Sorella Smith today. In the morning we went and met the new Zone leaders that came in and then they and my companion worked on a powerpoint that they needed to do for Zone Conference the next day. After that we headed to the church building in the Palermo II area, which is about an hour from us. We waited there for our interviews and then had our interviews. I had an interview with Sorella Smith first. We just talked about the area and my new companion. And then she asked how I was doing and if I was having any struggles. I just told her that the only one I was having was not knowing my standing with Heavenly Father. And how I really just wanted to know that, and for some reason I just was having a hard time knowing exactly how He feels towards me. She said things back to me that I really needed to hear. She told me that I needed to forgive myself and that I needed to believe the things I was teaching and the things I would tell someone else in a similar position as me, I often needed to tell myself. She said that I had a special light about me and she has seen it ever since we first met and it has only grown since then. And that she can tell I have potential and that everything from my past is forgiven and that I just need to move on from that. It was a really sweet moment with her. Then I went in for my interview with my Mission President. It was great to be able to talk with him and to discuss things with him and hear his point of view on some of the situations here. I just really love my Mission President and his wife, they are a real blessing here. It was a blessing for me to have those interviews with them.
Wednesday, we woke up at 5:50 and got ready and headed to the Palermo II church again to practice a musical number that we were going to do with the Sister from Agrigento. Then at 9:30 Zone Conference started. My companion and the Zone Leaders gave their presentation on the area book and then President and Sorella Smith spoke to us. President talked about the process of building the temple and how the lot used to be a farm. It use to be farmland and there was a little farmhouse that was on the lot as well and the missionaries stayed in the rooms there. On this farm there were olive trees and when they finally started to build the temple they took out those olive trees from that land and they preserved them. All except for six of those olive trees survived and they are now planted on the temple grounds. He told us that the Mission President before the announcement of the Rome Italy temple would take missionaries there when they first got to Italy. He would take them to the colosseum and to the pantheon and all the sites in Rome and then he would take them to this farmland. And would tell the missionaries that one day this will be a temple. Then a couple years later the announcement came in General Conference that there would be a temple built there. And how amazing that would have been for those missionaries. Something else that President said at Zone Conference that I really liked was "the best time to plant a tree was twenty years a go. The second best time is now. And how we need to be planting our trees." The missionaries back then were "planting trees" among the people so they would be ready when the temple would be built. That was a really spiritual moment for us. Then Sorella Smith got up and talked to us about the spirit of Elijah and turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and how the temple needs to be filled with Italian saints. After that the family history senior couple spoke to us about family history and Italian indexing. They talked about how we are going to be doing that a lot more and focusing a lot more on family history. We are going to learn how to index for Italian names and then teach the members here how to do that as well. They told us that only 8% of Italian records have been indexed. Those need to be done so that it will be easier for people to do their family history. They talked about how family history is going to be the hinge point and we are going to be using it a lot more in our work. That got me very excited! The spirit was very strong throughout that whole talk. It makes me so excited because I have a lot of family here that needs work done. I'm excited that I get to be a part of this new change. Afterwards, I went up and talked to the family history lady about finding my ancestors here and how I could go about that. She told me that she would help and that there are a couple more ladies up in Rome at the family history center there that love helping people find their family names. She said I could send her all my information and that they would help me find people. I am very, very excited about that. It was an amazing spiritual day!! Another thing I really liked from Zone Conference was they said there are three things we will take with us when we die; our relationships, our knowledge, and our character. Wednesday night my companion left back to Messina, which is on the other side of Sicily to do her permesso travel so I was in a trio with the Sorelli from the Palermo II area.
Thursday I woke up and was with them most of the day. It was a lot of fun to spend the day with them and get to know them better. It was nice to see how they went about doing the work, there was some fun things that I learned from them. That evening I went and picked up my companion from the train station and then we headed straight to English Course. We were told at Zone Conference that our English Course would also be changing. It is going to be more closely connected with English Connect and we are going to have a more structured outline for them. Also, we will have a longer spiritual thought for those that would like to stay for it. And after the first and second course they can do a third course and if they pass it they can go straight into Pathways. So we are opening the doors for them with that as well, which is really exciting.
Friday we went to Casa de Nina, and of course I just love going there and sharing my love with them and feeling of their light and love. After that we did some contacting and studies and then we went out and stopped by Anaze's. She was not feeling well so we had made her a card and brought her some oranges. That night we spent time with Catia, Arlinda, and Ana (Catia's daughter). I love spending time with them, they are incredible. We had a fun time there but by the end of the evening I was feeling very sick. Luckily, they live right below us so I was able to just come right home and get ready for bed.
Saturday, it started out a little slow because I was still feeling pretty sick. I started to feel a bit better after studies so we headed out to visit one of the girls we are teaching. Unfortunately, she told us that she didn't want to go too deep into learning about our religion because it confused her. But she loved the Book of Mormon and she wanted to talk with us and continue to read and study with us. So that is a step in the right direction even though I was sad to hear that she didn't want to learn much more right now. Also on Saturday I opened an email from my mom and saw that there were some troubles with my GranPapa, so that made the day a little bit harder. But it does help to be out here on my mission teaching about the Plan of Salvation and about the doctrine of Christ. It helps to know that I will see him again someday and that he's going to a better place. And that everything will be okay, so that gives me comfort. Saturday night was really awesome because the Palermo II Sorelli were having a baptism and we were able to go. About three or four weeks ago this man had a baptism day all set up and everyone had come but he was overwhelmed and didn't follow through with it at that time. But this Saturday, he did. He was baptized, it was a spiritual experience to be there and witness his special day.
Sunday was a really good day. We had correlation and church, my companion gave a talk. Unfortunately, the people we had invited to come to church didn't show up but it was still a really good Sunday. In Sunday school we were able to watch some of the Book of Mormon videos as we were discussing the Book of Mormon, that was a lot of fun. I love those videos and they help me feel closer to that story and relate it back to myself. Afterwards, a lady from our ward came up to us and asked if we would come over to her house for lunch because the Temple President and his wife from Madrid Spain were here and they did not speak Italian. She wanted to have them over because she has done some work in the temple and knew them and wanted to have them come over for pronzo. She was wanting us to come over and translate. We had lunch with them and then after the Temple President and his wife had to leave but we stayed and helped her wash the dishes and clean up. We talked with her as we cleaned and she shared with us how she was one of the first people to be baptized here in Palermo. It was so neat for us to hear her story. She has had a pretty hard life so she was a bit emotional. She was really needing us to be there, we were so glad that we had followed the spirit to say "yes" and to go over there for lunch and help her feel the spirit. We were about to leave and then I had a prompting to take initiative and ask if we could share a spiritual thought with her. I shared 2 Nephi 24:26 and I inserted her name in that scripture. Then I told her that I know Heavenly Father loves us and that He loves her so much. She is special to Him and he knows her and the things that she goes through in her life. And that we love her as well and that I knew Heavenly Father was so grateful for her. That was a big spiritual experience for me because it was the first time since I've been on the mission that I took initiative to share a spiritual thought and, of course, did it in Italian. I felt the spirit very strongly and I could tell that she felt the spirit strongly as well. We were both on the verge of tears, it was such a wonderful experience for me. It helped me realize that I do just need to open my mouth and then Heavenly Father will help me with the language.
Ciao Ciao
Sorella Acton
Zone Conference Pictures
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