Week 10 Letter from Sorella Hills

Ciao tutti! 

So, transfer calls this week... Probably going to stay in Ragusa, but who knows? Stranger things have happened!
Apparently in district meeting, we do transfer predictions with,
ugh... What's the name of them.... Do you know those chocolate egg
things with like a toy inside? Well, we do transfer predictions based
on the toy we get. I don't know how yet, but I'll let you know!

This week was a lot. We had a scambia with the Sorelle in Messina,
and my companion for the day was a native speaker. Well, she is from
South America originally, but she has been here for like 11 years, so
she is a native. Anyways, that was a lot! Italian for a day! And then
all of Sunday... Sundays are hard. They are all in Italian, and it
gives me a head ache. 

 But we found a new investigator! We went to teach a less active
yesterday, and she was at a neighbors, and the neighbor said she would
like to hear our message. So we taught the restoration, well, up to
Jesus Christ. And she said that she would like to read the Book of
Mormon! I'm not sure if she is interested or not, but it was good to
see the less active, remember and teach parts of the
restoration. It's a good opportunity to strengthen her testimony if
nothing else. 

 This Sunday was ward conference, and for some reason they invited the
missionaries to the leadership training. There, they flat out told us
to strengthen the ward first. So, we were doing a lot of work already
with less actives, but the Anziani took it hard I think. They are
trying really hard to baptize a man that has the
mentality of an 8 year old. The bishop has been putting up a fight,
just making sure that he is ready and able to make the covenants.
I don't think the ward can handle the responsibility of keeping him
active. And they don't seem to think so either. Strengthening the
ward is what we've been asked to do, so we will do it.

That's been the message of this week. Correlation, all the lessons we
ended up teaching, and then ward council. We are here to teach
repentance and baptize converts, but to also create a place to bring
those converts that will be strong and supportive. 

 Love you lots-
Sorella Hills

Week 9 Letter from Sorella Hills

Ciao tutti! 

Ok, first off, happy belated birthday to Jack!  I can not believe that there are more adults in the Hills clan than kids now!  What happened?!? It sounds like a good birthday, anyone would be happy to see a gun show, but DQ!?! Is it open again?!? What the heck, this should have been prime news! 

I don't know that Ellie will be taller... But she was growing a lot before I left, so who knows! 

And Charlie! He is making so many so many friends! Do you send him out with his collar, or does that frustrate him because he can't go all the way down and see the pigs? And are you ramping up your running with him? Future 1/2 marathon dog! 

Dad! I do like my companion a lot. I just thought that I had already answered that... Any way, she is awesome, I love her!  The apartment is, an apartment. I like it, it feels like home! It's funny, the plumbing is... So some times we walk in and it smells so bad, because fore some reason the smell traveled up from the sewer, and it's scifo! But it's great! 

So has Jack started his papers yet or not... I can't remember! Keep me posted on that!  

Ok.  This week.  Almost all of it was out of town.  Monday and Tuesday were in Catania for Zone conference and interviews.  That night, we tried to catch a bus to Syracusa to make it back in time to teach English course with the Syracusa missionaries.  But alas, we, the Sorelle missed it. So, we took one about 30 mins later.  Got there in time to join in on this FHE for misfits in the ward there.  It's was pretty fun!  Slept over, and then did a scambio with the Syracusa Sorelle.  A lot of English course publicity. Then, sandwiches... I'm going to try and send the video.  Oh my gosh. Bar nothing, best sandwiches, ever. The guy made cheese for like 60 years before this, and all the cheese was made by him.  And all the ingredients were fresh, like people were bringing in stuff as we waited for the sandwiches.  We got 3 different types, and spilt each in 4, so we all got to try each different one.  Oh. The best.  Ever.  We ate them by the beach. It was just a cool day! 

Then, we tried to catch the 5:30 bus back to Ragusa. But alas, non c'è. We missed it by like a minute after running like crazy people because we went to the wrong station.  And that of course was the last one. So, another night in Syracusa! 

Then, we caught the 8:00 bus the next morning. Hoping to get to Ragusa in time to go see some people.  A bus ride that should have been 1 1/2 hours took 3 1/2.  I don't know why.  It was ridiculous.  So, that was a bust of a day.  

Back to work on Friday the though!  The last couple of days were pretty normal.  

This week, we have another scambio with the Messina Sorelle, and I will spend the day with an actual Italian, no English... That will be an adventure! 

That's about all... You can email me though out the week, I can read them when ever.  I'll only respond on Monday though.  

Vi voglio tanto bene! 

Sorella Hills

Week 8 Letter from Sorella Hills

Hey! 

Yes, I got my package, and I am still eating many of the sweets sent. I just ate a Kind bar today actually, they come in handy. Zone conference is tomorrow, so I am in Catania right now for a fun pday with the Sorelle of the Catania zone.  After that, we have an exchange in Syracusa, so we won't be home until Wednesday night! 

We have not had any earthquakes since last Monday, so I think all is well.  We are right next to Etna right now, so I hope so! 

I sort of had to bare my testimony in church... The bishop sent the deacon down to tell me that I had to... But it was good, I'll do it a lot. 

I'm glad to hear that all is well with Lucille.  How is Ellie holding up? 

Haha, it's finally a burn pile day!  I knew it would come eventually! 

Cleaning is kind of do it as you go kind of thing. It works.

Ok, so this week was a week! We went to Comiso twice, and Iblea once.  We have an investigator who lives in Comiso, and then we had 2 meal appointments with less actives there.  I love Comiso it is beautiful! I had my first propio lasagna, and it was the best!!! I can not even describe it, but it was the best. 

I did laundry, which is fun because there is no dryer. So everything hang dries. It's kind of great, but one load takes 3 hours just to wash, and then the whole day to dry because it is so humid.  It's fun. 

We taught an English course. We have corso d'Inglese on Tuesday and Thursday.  We are going to miss Tuesday's course because we are going to be in Syracusa, but it is a lot of fun.  I learn a lot of Italian speaking English. 

It was a pretty great week overall. 

All is well, look forward to hearing from you all! Keep me posted! 

Sorella Hills

First Pday in Ragusa (aka Week 7)

Ok, here is the lo down. 

We got in on Tuesday morning, so tired, so gross, and just sick of everything. But, life goes on. We met the Italian missionaries, which there are actually 9, while we English are only 8. And there are more sisters then elders, so that is also really different! This was a special group. From the airport, we stopped by the temple sight. There is so much left to be done on it!  So, we did some touristy stuff, like seeing the coliseum and a roman forum. So cool!!! Then the next day, we had some training, and got our iPads.  So useful! 

That night, we got our Golden Envelopes, which give us out first city assignment.  Mine was Ragusa, which is in Sicily.  So Friday, up at 4, left at 5 for the train station which was a good 1/2 mile walk... With luggage... That was intense.  Then, 15 hours to Catania, Sicily, and 2 hour bus ride to Ragusa. It was a long day. But I made it!

So, Ragusa is on a hill, about the size of Unconoonuc.  It's is quite a hike, I have not done the whole thing yet.  It's so pretty though, look up some pictures, because I don't have any of the city itself yet.

We are close to Etna, so when I started this letter we had our second earthquake! The first was Sunday night. I wonder if I'll get to see an eruption when I'm here!

We had pronzo, or lunch, at a member's house on Sunday.  It was so good! It was not Italian food from Olive Garden.  It was like these chards with bean purée and olive oil, that you mix together and put on top of these rice cakes.  I loved it.  Oh, and Gela, which is part of our district, is said to be the place gelato started, so we had gelato. Ahhh. Love.

It's warm here, but everyone is bundled up like its -20!  

We have one investigator.  We had two, but we dropped one on Friday.  I haven't met the other yet, but we'll see.  So, one lesson with an investigator, and we had one with a member family, the Campos.  It's a mom and a daughter, the daughter is leaving soon to serve a mission in Leeds England! She is so cute! 

I haven't said a whole lot yet, people talk too fast, and I don't understand their accents yet.  The older people speak Siciliano as well as Italian so they like to mess with us, and switch to Siciliano... It's a struggle. 

But I bore my testimony on Sunday! 

I can't believe Lucille! I cried.  Poor Ellie. But she is in such a good place, I know it. 

And Issy! Finally! The play! Let me know how it goes! 

How is Jack, still going to graduate? Has he done anything with BYUI? How about mission papers? 

I love it here! I am doing great! I'll see ya all soon, on Mother's Day!!!

 Vi voglio tanto bene! 

Sorella Hills

P.s. No one can pronounce my name, so I might get a new name tag... Sorella Colline, which is the same thing, just Italian.  A lot of missionaries do it out here, English is hard to say.

Week 6 Letter From Sorella Hills

I'm coming out, so you better get this party started (aka, Week 6)‏

Lol, couldn't resist.  

Nothing really happened this week.  I am getting over a cold, so that is fun.  Travel plans, so that's the best. 

UMMMM.... I've taken up biking.  I can do 7 miles before I get bored.  It was good to use when I had a cold because it was enough of a workout that I felt good, but not too much that I felt like I couldn't breath.  #cardioforthesick.  An I am not sure if I have told you this, but I am the queen of 4 square!  Like, wow, hidden talent!  And so much fun!

What else... I got my hair trimmed today, so that's good.  However, it is too short... Like way to short... I am sort of devastated, but at the same time, I'm sure it will grow out.  My companions say it looks ok, but I am not sold yet. 

I missed your email this week!!! Send me a dear elder when you can, I want to hear about what is going on at home!!

Cindy is still trying to convert me :)  Let her know that I am considering her offer, and that she should consider mine!  Read the Book of Mormon, it will change your life ;P

I hope all is well, I will talk to you all on monday!!!

Vi voglio tanto bene!

Sorella Hills

Week 5 Letter from Sorella Hills

I am going to start off with, no, I do not have my flight plans!!!!!!!!!!   I am getting so frustrated!!!!!!! But I guess no news is good news.... I am starting to get upset.  But none of the Italians have them, so it'll come soon.  

This week was quite a week.  My companion had her birthday on Friday, so we all got her some presents.  She is 21 now!  It was the funniest!  So I ended up getting her a bag of Doritos and a scripture reference thing, where it has like any topic you could ever have to give a lesson on and scriptures that go with it. Some of the others got creative.  Like pepto bismal, a t-shirt that says "Mormon, know it live it love it" (if you knew her, you would realize that this was kind of a sarcastic t-shirt for her), and a bag of supper hot Cheetos.  The cards though... I got her one that says "Hey there peanut, you've got an amazing life ahead, congratulations", in reference to her peanut, a Romanian orphan she just loved.  Another sister got one that is like a love poem that you would sent a long time boy friend.  Another got one that was a poem to a grandma.  And one somehow found one that had bada*** in it. Only not * out.  Remember that these were purchased in the MTC book store. But they were all a reference to something.  One was because we all love her, one was the fact that she is the eldest of our district, and one was to the fact that she is her own person, and that she would get a kick out of the fact that we could find such an inappropriate card in the book store.  

On a more spiritual note, we had so many devotionals this week.  Sunday, Tuesday, and yesterday we had the chance to hear a world wide broadcast to all the missionaries.  It was amazing!!! Oh, back off the spiritual line, our district hosted the international missionaries that came in early yesterday.  I had a sister who was from South Korea, and was going to Germany!  This was her first time in the states, and she had so much stuff to do before she was ready for orientation and such.  Like, she forgot shampoo and conditioner, and needed clothes that would be fit for the cold.  But most importantly was the TB test, which is sort of the point of the story.  We were able to do the skin test here, but we had to go to the BYU health clinic to get a chest x ray.  We had a shuttle over, but we decided to walk back, because the day was pretty warm and sunny.  But as soon as we go outside, it was actually like a blizzard.  Honestly, a downpour of snow.  But we had already told the front desk that we didn't need the shuttle, so we trudged back.  This was the first time she had been in snow, so I felt so bad.  We ended up walking backwards because the snow was so bad!  I was like, "welcome to the MTC! You are going to love it!".  I don't think she was impressed... She must have been so overwhelmed!  She spoke so little English, though she was good at using the English she did know to convey more complex subject matter. But now she had to learn German through English. That would be so hard!  Any way, so we watched a delayed session, and it was amazing!!!

I honestly started crying about Ann! I hope she can find peace, and I know the gospel is a sure place that she can find lasting peace.  Don't give up on her.  Part of the broadcast was about how to find new investigators through members.  Which the number of baptisms is SIGNIFICANTLY larger for investigators with a member friend.  But one of the questions that we are supposed to ask members is if they know anyone who has recently had a baby, who would benefit from our message. So I was going to bring it up, when I got your letter!  I was crying in the lunchroom reading it.  I know that this gospel can give us what we need.

As for trek, I loved so much.  But mostly that it was an adventure.  It was something that would look like a disaster if you looked at it in any other way.  But because I personally was able to accept the trials and look at it as an adventure that was going to be hard, it was a great time.  So, my advice would be to make sure it is an adventure.  Not just a spiritual one, which we can sometimes get too wrapped up in trying to make it spiritual.  But instead make it a physical adventure, and the spiritual one will naturally fallow.  Make it hard. It will be great :)

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hills    

Week 4 Letter from Sorella Hills

This week was intense.  I am gad I got my laundry bag, because a lot of sweating was done, so a lot of laundry was necessary.  TMI, but truth.  

So much has been going on this week! On Tuesday, we had a devotional by Elder Anderson.  It was amazing, we sung Joseph Smiths first prayer, which was such an amazing rendition.  He talked about how we should always testify of Christ in all that we do.  Have His name on our lips, and His words in our minds.  It was sooo good.  

I had the chance to host yesterday the new missionaries.  I am glad that you did not come out with me.  Some families.... Just wow.  They all seemed to feel as if the missionary was walking off to their death of something.  It was strange.  So, I am glad that I have family and friends who see this as an opportunity instead of a death sentence :).  There was a lot of sisters coming in, and not a lot of sister hosts.  So, we ended up having to double or triple up a few times.  Lots of luggage had to be moved from the point where I dropped them off to get their books and such, to the point that I had to pick them up with all their books and such. 

What else.  Oh, haha.  Ok, so I am trying to get rid of the 5 pounds that I gained prior to the realization that I did not have to eat the prepared almost food for every meal.  So, I am doing planks, sit ups, push ups, and squats.  This started on Tuesday.  I must have done something wrong, because the next day, I COULD NOT move my legs.  So hosting with a smile was a trial... Even today, when I had to kneel down to pray was impossible.  It reminds me of the tine that I skied the whole day, and I could not support my weight!  I don't know if you remember that, but I vividly remember trying to come down the stairs, and having to scoot down on my bum.  Not an option here!  So, I'm putting squats on hold for now, and lesson learned.  Do not do more than you are able.

I have news for Dad! No visa.  I think that I have it, but the MTC is holding it for me.  I get my flight plans next week I think, so I'll know for sure then. And, I got a dear elder from Brother Collette... Come on guys!  But he said that you made a TON of money off of pick up my tree.  That's awesome!  And that Jack may have a fire pit job in his future.  Tell him that I was grateful for the letter, but have no way of responding to it, so I am going through you all. 

Trust in the Lord, and lean not unto thy own understandings, and He will direct thy path.  I know this is true.  I am nothing without Christ.  As a missionary of Christ, without Him, this is pointless.  Because I see how much I have grown, and because truth grows, I know that this must be His work.  

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hills