Week 42 Letter from Sorella Hills

What did Issy get on her first SAT I'm glad she is thinking BYU.  She'll go to Provo, I just know it! 

As for Jack, did you know that his picture is on the LDS tools app now as one of the missionaries serving from our ward?!! He looks so cute! His suit looks a little big on him :) And his hair is a little short... Haha, so cute! 

I am feeling better, and so is my companion, meno male!!  Finally! And yes, we get to fly to Rome again! We have to take a train back, but it will be a Freccia Rossa! So cool, you should look them up.  It's like a bullet train! 

Ahh! You guys all watched High School Musical 3 as a family?  haha! Uncle Peter is my FAVORITE!!! 

You have 16 cords of wood split and stacked!?! Why?!? Like, we only need like 5 for the winter right? You guys are so funny with your wood :) Total preppers.

I have opened all the letters you gave me that said 'OPEN WHEN...' on the front.  I loved them! You should send some to Jack, too.  If you need me to write any, I totally can! 

Ok! This week was SO crazy! 

On Monday, we went to the beach, because it was the first day we could! We aren't allowed to go to the beach from April to October, and it was the first P.Day we could go, and we took advantage of it! So fun! 

Then from Tuesday to Thursday, we were in Cosenza... Transfers! So, the entire city got blown out, so 4 new missionaries who never served in Cosenza needed someone to be there to pick them up.  So on Tuesday, we went to help clean up the house, and get it ready for he blowout.  Then, Wednesday, we put one of the sisters on the train, and went home to finish cleaning and packing.  Then Thursday was the big day! 

It started out fine.  We got the sister on the train, and we decided to go get some breakfast while we wait for the new missionaries.  The first to arrive was supposed to be a greenie, so we wanted to get him something to eat, and be at the station before he arrived. So, Italian breakfast, and all of a sudden, we realize that our Italian breakfast has taken too long, and we had 5 minutes to get back to the station! So we run!!! We make it just as the train is pulling in.  So we walk down the train, and no missionaries.  We see some in the car, and we ask them about the greenie, and they were all like, which greenie? They told us to check further down, so we do... walking a bit faster now.  The missionaries in that car don't know either.  Then, the train pulls away. No greenie! We are freaking out! 

We run inside, and we talk to the lady at the ticket office, and she says the train we are looking for hasn't passed yet, and we are to wait an hour. So, we are like, ok, all is good! We just have to wait! So we wait.  Then, about 45 minutes in, we see a missionary on the platform! We run out, and it's the greenies trainer! He starts freaking out, because he had talked to the mission, who changed the greenies ticket.  He switched at Napoli, and he called the Napoli Anziani, and the greenie made it on the train.  But that train went straight to Cosenza, and didn't stop in the station we were in, Paola.  The missionaries told him to get of at Paola no matter what... So... we didn't know where he went.  And the train he was on passed an hour before! Ahhh!!! No one knew where the greenie was! It turned into this huge thing with the trainer getting on a train to Napoli, and Napoli down to Cosenza, each searching every stop, but no one found him.  

Then, the trainer was talking to an official, and the guy was like, hey, do you know an American who speaks no Italian, and the trainer was like, YES, WHERE IS HE!? The conductor was like, I just dropped his off at Paola! At this point, we are back in Cosenza, and the trainer was a couple stops beyond Paola, and we couldn't get to him for like 2 hours! In the meantime, the Sorelle came in, and we had to go to English course... so much stress! But in the end, all was well :) we still have no idea how he made it to Paola! 

This has been quite a week! I love Crotone! It has been such a refiners fire, but it has been so good! Love you all! 

Sorella Hills

Week 41 Letter from Sorella Hills

Ciao famiglia! 

Has Issy decided she's going to BYU?  Has she decided a major yet? Did she take the SATs twice? 

Oh man! Conference was the best! I never appreciated it as much as I do out here.  Honestly, you all need to get dressed in church clothes, have a pad of paper nearby, and take action points as to what you want to change as a result of the conference.  When we had the conference with Anziano Kearon a couple of weeks ago, he gave us the advice to do "action point notes", not notes on everything that was said. This way, the conference is not just a boost that shoots you up high, and then you slowly come back down, but you continue climbing until the next conference! Constant progression :D It has made it so much more meaningful and helpful. Also, before the Kearon Conference, we had to do a lot of work, reading a lot of things.  And then he broke all our boxes and was like "you need to quadruple you prep work when you listen to an apostle!" Ah! So, we did a lot of praying, and a lot of studying, and we came with questions, and I feel so ready to go! 

Also, going off that line of thought, WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER MISSION CONFERENCE OCTOBER 20!!! We are going up to Rome again, and the visiting authorities will be President Russell M. Nelson, of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, of the Presidency of the Seventy, Bishop Gerald Causse, Presiding Bishop, and Elder Patrick Kearon, Europe Area President!!! AHHHHHH!!! So excited! 

But back to conference, SO GOOD!!! So much inspiration :) Ah! 

The rest of the week was spent inside... I came down with the flu along with my companion.  We were both still sick! My poor companion! She got an ear infection, an allergic reaction to Italian Tylenol, and a  cough, with congestion :) It's pretty gross :) I just had the flu/cold.  I don't know what to call it because it was like a cold, but I had a fever... I'm better now, still have some congestion and a cough, but it's not bad anymore! Finally, we are out of the house! Two weeks! We went to the beach today, and it was so beautiful! No one on the beach except us, and it felt so good to be out, and to have the wind sand and water, ah! So nice! 

I love you all! Stay awesome!
Sorella Hills

When I was sick, I drank this 'tea' made with water, apple cider vinegar, and honey.  Watch my face!

This beautiful baby!!

Week 40 Letter from Sorella Hills

Ciao famiglia! 

That's pretty intense, a combined yw/ym camp out! How did you swing that? Sounds like it might be *cough* inappropriate:).  Was the camp out to help with the Eagle project? Was Charlie a help or a hindrance? How has he been?! Have you gotten him to heel yet :)

Why did mom get a shot of cortisone? What's wrong with her shoulder? Or is it for her neck? 

As to answer your question Issy, yes, I know EXACTLY how you feel.  Except times that by 100, and add the fact that you are dealing with real people's lives, physically and spiritually.  I'm losing hair... I'll go bald before the end! Well, I won't go bald :) But, I am losing hair.

Well, this week was SO uneventful that I will have a hard time coming up with things to tell you.  Monday, we emailed most of the day. But we found this street market near our house and decided to by some fruit and veggies.  Just to know, the stuff in the stores are over priced and over ripe.  Always! In general, if you want good stuff for cheaper, you go to the specialized stores like a panificio for bread, gelateria for ice cream, and a out door fruit and veggies market for the fruits and veggies.  This one we found was huge! As we walked through, someone yelled over to us "Au! Sorelle!" We look up, and walk over to this stand, and we start talking to this vendor and his wife.  Apparently, missionaries have been going to this market for years, but none of us knew about it.  Everyone was like, "hey, where have you guys been!" That's was pretty cool, being recognized and remembered :) 

Then we had a scambio on Tuesday in Cosenza, with was so fun! My companion is like my favorite person ever! 

Thursday, everyone gave us bidone (canceled on us), Friday, we were supposed to have an apartment inspection at 2, but they didn't come until 6!!  So, we stayed in the house all day waiting.  But, when they came, they brought my companion a new mattress! Saturday, she came down with the flu that's been taking everyone out here.  And she has been sick ever since.  We left the house on Sunday to take the sacrament, and this morning to buy food for the week.  Yeah.... it's been a long one :) 

But, we have conference this week!!! We watch a session on Saturday night, then 3 on Sunday.  It'll be a marathon of conference, I'm so excited! 

Love you all! 

Week 39 Letter from Sorella Hills

Hey everyone! 

Ahhh!! I can't believe that Jack is gone! I'm going to write him next :) 

Tell mom to not puncture her toe with a safety pin! Yes, one can do bathroom surgery, but should they? That stinks about the trees... I'd love to help out, I miss the DQ trips! DID I EVER TELL DAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY?!? I can't remember... I think I did :) But I'm glad he got to use his present to do some good.  Is it really that much faster than the log splitter? Why do we even use the log splitter then? 

I want you to know how amazing it is and how much of a change comes when members and the missionaries can work together. We spend a lot of time working with members here.  One, because a lot of them are newly baptized and two, because we want to build a relationship with them.  When you have a relationship, it is so much easier to trust each other.

I'm glad you had a great dance! And it's nice that Jenna went to it.  

My Italian is really coming along.  I can communicate without too much difficulty.  Understanding, NO problem, I can understand everything.  I just let the words flow in, the ones I do not understand get sort of filtered out and I can learn their meaning from context.  There are less and less words getting filtered out at his point, so it's nice.  As for talking, I can say anything I want.  I can at least work around a word I don't know so that they'll give me the word I'm looking for :). I have a lot of work to do, but it's getting there.  Food wise, it's always good! I can make a good lasagna, melanzane, a good sugo, carbonara, and some other more simple pasta dishes.  I am not a great Italian cook, but I can make some things now :) 

Ok, for the week! 

So, surprise! We went to ROMA! We had a conference with President Kearon, and they brought everyone (except for Sicilia) up to ROMA! It was so cool, we got to fly! SO much fun, I got to see SO many people, and the conference was SO good! I got to stay the night in Ostia one night, and in Roma the other night- so much fun!  Then, we thought that we would make it down to Crotone in a timely manner.  We did not count on rain or Italian technical difficulties.  So, we missed our connecting train, and had to go to Cosenza instead, and leave at 5:00 the next morning! 3 solid days outside of our area :D SO FUN!!! 

The rest of the week was full of cancellations and no appointments-ugh.  So...the fun was the Kearon conference! It is amazing how many people you meet on the mission.  How many friendships you can make with people, Italians and English! I love it so much, I love being able to talk to people, in English and Italian, and make friends! They are just all so awesome! 

Love you all :) 

Sorella Hills

My companion made me a camel pancake for my half way mark 'hump day'.  haha!