Week 18 Letter from Sorella Hills

Ciao tutti! 

Does Jack have a job yet? That stinks about his bike, do they have cameras in the school that they could check? Like if Jack files a claim or something, I'm sure that they will be pretty serious about it. 

It has been SO windy here.  It is very humid, and very windy.  It is not as warm as it was last week, so the wind and the wet air make it pretty cold.  Not unbearable, but all the Italians feel like winter has returned! 

This week was sort of crazy! I had a promesso appointment on Monday. That was crazy. Imagination is different here.  The visa that I got is good for like 2 weeks or something. Then, I have to apply for what is called a promesso di sorgono, which allows me to stay longer.  The duration of the promesso is weird though, because it really depends on the person and the day! So, fingers crossed that is lasts for my whole mission! Otherwise, I have to come back to Ragusa at some point to get it renewed. DDM, or direct meeting. It was transfer call week, so we did transfer predictions, which took forever, then a bus to Syracusa on Tuesday for a scambio Wednesday. Bus home on Thursday morning, which took 3.5 hours. So, we didn't have a lot of time to do a lot of things! But, it was a good week.

Friday, we had an appointment with a new investigator named Sara. She is so funny! She is like a vegan, and sort a Buddhist because of her thought on meat. It will be interesting... The first lesson we had we talked about a lot of deep doctrine in the Plan of Salvation to try and establish a view of God. It will be interesting. 

My companion will be getting transferred on Thursday. She is getting blown into Crotone with a new missionary.  In other words, she doesn't know the city, and neither does her companion, because both of the sisters that where just serving in Crotone were transferred out at the same time! It is going to be crazy! Me invece, will be training the city.  This just means that I will be in charge of showing my new companion around, and setting up appointments with people until she gets the hang of things.  I'm excited! She will be an STL, or sister training leader, so we will get to do a lot of scambi! 

That's what I got. Vi voglio bene! 

Sorella Hills

Week 17 Letter from Sorella Hills

Ciao Famiglia,

First, questions. One, is Jack working at Marshals yet?!? Two, when
can he put in his papers? Three, how is Trek planning going? Four, why
didn't you bring Charlie to Maine, he and Gretchen would have had a
blast :p. Five, how is Girls Camp planning coming?

Ok, I'll probably think of more, but for know, I'm satisfied. Oh, be
prepared:  the day I can call home is Mothers Day!  I'm not sure
what day that is, but that is the day, and I feel like it is soon... 

This week was much better. Well, not work wise. We saw a total of 4
people, and they were all on Saturday and Sunday. We had so many
appointments, we were not sure what we were going to do. And then,
one by one, everyone canceled. It was crazy!

But we did see some miracles: We had
just had 2 appointments cancel basically at the door, and we couldn't
call anyone else. 

We had already walked like all the way down the
hill, so it was frustrating, but a day in the life. We tried to do
some finding, which is basically handing out English Course cards to
try and get them to come. We saw this woman with these pretty
flowers, and we asked her where she go them, which turned into a 30
min conversation. We found out that she has seen the missionaries
before, but no one has ever talked to her, she was interested in
learning more! Unfortunately, she was about to change contracts with
her phone, so we didn't get her number, but we gave her ours, and we
hope she calls! 

The second miracle:  This one goes way back. A month
ago, we did this fireside to try and get members interested in
missionary work. After, a member cam up and gave us a referral. She
was kind of weird about it, because she just gave us the general area,
and told us to go knock on some doors down there. So we tried like 3
times, but nothing. Then, on Wednesday, a lady walks in for the quit
smoking class the Anziani are doing. She was the only one who showed
up that night, so they taught her the course, and she was actually
interested in learning about the gospel, because she has a friend that
is Mormon. The Anziani invited her to institute, and she came in
Thursday. After English course, we were called in by the teacher of
the class, and we ended up talking to this woman, who gave us her
address, and number. It was the same address as the referral! And
then on Sunday, we asked this member if this was the person she wanted
us to find, and she said it was! It was crazy! So, we are going to
have an appointment with her this week! 

Nothing big happened, but a good amount of small things.

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hills

Week 16 Letter from Sorella Hills

Re: Week 16!!

Jessie Rose Hills

11:05 AM

To: marci hills

Ciao famiglia! 

Man! I'm so sad I am missing such great moments as that pine tree coming down, and All State! 

How did you get involved with this investigator? Haha, yeah, we actually, at the first lesson, we are supposed to invite people to baptism.  At first, I didn't get it, but it just sets the tone for the rest of the lessons, because they know what they are working towards.  There is a Anziano in our district that starts off with it. He says something like "at the end of this lesson, I'm going to ask you to baptized", and then sort of explains it, and the whole lesson, they think about it.  

As for clothes, those were mine, I had bought them the day before, that's what I spent so much money on, shopping! I got a skirt, a couple tshirts, and some tights.  It was great! My clothes are doing ok, and so are my shoes surprisingly.  No real problems yet.  But I got bored with my clothes, and it was P.day, so I got some new ones!

As for money, we have a card.  This card gets money put on each month, about 200€. The money rolls over each month. It is used for travel, which is reimbursable, and food, which is not.  The rest is on personal funds.  But to be honest, I don't buy much, so I'm racking in the dough here! 

Mom. Please only ever send stuff to the mission office.  I will get it eventually, I'm not worried if it will be late.  If you send it here, and I get transferred, which will probably be with transfer or the next, then I will never get the package or mail.  Just send it to the mission home, and I will get it as soon as possible. 

Advice to Jack in preparing for his mission.  Do not be ignorant.  There are a lot of Anziani out here who are fresh out of high school, and they are so... YOUNG. They are hard to deal with.  Don't be loud, don't be stupid, just be a normal person, and people will like you more. And if you go foreign speaking, speak the language outside as much as possible.  The locals appreciate it when they can understand you. But more than that, always speak the language at church.  No one likes it when a group of people are talking in a language they can not understand and they immediately think you are talking about them. Offer to help people on the street.  Things like groceries, lifting things, that sort of stuff.  Talk to everyone, no matter how they look.  Work off of similarities instead of differences in lessons.  If you can't speak, smile, and learn how to bare your testimony.  The spirit works without words and it flows through truth.  Love your trainer no matter what they do.  They want the best for you.  That's a good start!  If you have specific questions, let me know! 

This week was long.  We had a lot of weird days.  We did do a cool trip to Vittoria on Saturday.  This less active, well, inactive, member invited us over for pranzo, so we of course we're like, yes! Then, she invited her friends to come and listen to the lesson! It seemed so cool...  We got there and and the people did not speak Italian. Oh, they are Italians, but they are Siciliano. Like, they only speak dialect.  Oh boy.  Then, I tried to bear my testimony, and the words did not come out right. The member turned to her friend, and was like, "Italian is obviously still coming". I was devastated.  I can understand Italian, but I am still having a really hard time speaking it.  It was hard.  I cried a lot. It was kind of a big pile that all at once collapsed.  But, life goes on... I'll get it at some point, it is just hard right now, as it should be! 

That was più meno my week.  Not bad, but not good. Hope is strong though! This week should be amazing! Can't wait to hear back from you all! Love you tons, keep me posted on Jack's mission and also Fernando's! 

Sorella Hills

Week 15 Letter from Sorella Hills

Caio famiglia! 

Ok, so general conference in Italy! It was SO good, all of the talks answered my questions! We can't watch all the sessions in real time.  So, the woman's session we watched on Saturday before the morning session.  The morning session we watch in real time, at 6 in the evening! Then Sunday, they watch the priesthood session at like 1:30. Then we as missionaries watched the Saturday afternoon session before the Sunday morning session started at 6.  We have yet to watch the Sunday afternoon session, but will most likely watch it tonight or tomorrow.  

But what I have seen has been amazing! I never appreciated conference this much, that is for sure! I truly felt the Lord speaking to me through the speakers.  It was amazing.  I loved the woman's session.  We do have refugees here.  A lot.  Most are from Africa.  Italy has a very lax immigration process, so it is easy to get in the country and then get resettled.  There is a big problem with immigrants and missionaries, though.  We can not teach or baptize them, because they do not have a permanent residence, and they get shipped off everywhere without the support system to keep them active, and no one can keep track of them. It is difficult because the people are so ready to accept the gospel.  There are Africans who walk from the camps every Sunday to be in church, dressed in their good Sunday clothes, even though they can not be baptized.  

There is a huge racism problem here in Italy.  Italians, especially the older ones, are not very kind to those of different races.  There was a sister who's husband died, leaving her with her 6 year old son, and a few weeks later, she found out that she was pregnant with her husband's child.  And the ward did nothing! Like absolutely nothing! They are like "which one was it, I can't tell those blacks apart". Those words exactly. Honestly. There used to be a good group of Africans who were settled here and everything, but now none of them come, and they have set up this apostate church in the basement of one of their houses.  It's so bad.  And the members are completely oblivious, just so indignant that they started their own church. Well, no wonder, they don't feel welcome here! Ah, so frustrating, but I hope that conference got through to someone! 

Oh, pasquetta! It is a holiday here, and I am not totally sure what it is celebrating, but something to do with Easter.  Pasqua is Easter, and pasquetta is the Monday after. It was a good pranzo though, we made pretzels and this blood orange salad, and the Anziani of Ragusa made this like pasta stuff with pana and pancetta, and the Anziani of Gela made this like eggplant with ragu. It was good stuff! We then ate some more on Tuesday after district meeting! 

Ok, now this week was sort of all member appointments. The investigator situation is poor. We dropped our only true investigator on Thursday. She has been taught for 6 months and has never come to church, and is still living with her companio. It was hard, but before we could really say anything, she was like, "I think you need to spend your time looking for others, because I am already converted. I just need some time to sort out my life, otherwise, I would be baptized next Sunday". It was a great moment. We dropped her, but I really believe her. I think she knows that it is true. She wants her family to come too, and marriage is VERY expensive, the certificate alone costs like 2,000 dollars. But. One day, she'll be ready, and she will be a very strong addition to the Ragusa ward. 

So, we are investigator hunting. No one really yet... But. Ok, today is P.Day, and we wanted to do a drawing P.Day down in Iblea. So, we stopped by our ward mission leaders cartaria shop,  but it said that "be back soon". We waited, and waited. For like an hour. Then, we see this girl with a wiener dog combing down the road, and we are like, no way! It was the same girl we showed the video to! She didn't say anything about that, or English course, but we got to talk to her again, and I think that she will be like, huh, coincidence? I would be thinking that! 

That's my week! Let me know how the wisdom teeth go, and also the Marshalls application, and Allstate, just keep me posted! Vi voglio tanto bene!!,

Sorella Hills