Mamma mia the weeks just start blurring together and getting better and better. I don't understand how it is all ready Monday again......well, to start off we got calls and I will be doing a full beautiful 6 months here in the land of Passo corese with Sorella Erickson and couldn't be any happier :)
Brayon is doing WONDERFUL, he has his baptism interview on Saturday! We went over to his house this last week with bishop, planning just to teach Brayon but instead we were surprised to find the whole family home! Bishop was amazing in the lesson and brought such a powerful testimony and as we were talking about temples all of a sudden the dad stops bishop and says, THAT PLACE I WORK IN IS YOUR TEMPLE? Well, turns out he has been doing construction and working inside the temple di ROMA for a good amount of time now....GOD is preparing this family like you can't even believe! I can't imagine the spirit the father has felt being on the temple grounds everyday :) Brayon came to church yesterday and also to the young men's activity last night--the members adore him and he's getting so involved with everything, it is so cool to be able to witness someone's conversion as strong as his. He told us the day before he had prayed before his soccer game and he got pretty beat up but fortunately nothing was broken, and he said it was a blessing that God allowed him to come to church yesterday even after how exhausted he was! He said he feels amazing every time he prays and reads and knows this is the truth. BELLO Okay, I just have to talk about one of the greatest moments from this week....So I had been praying that I would be able to see Elsa, I knew in the back of my head though there really wasn't much of a chance of seeing her because I'm an hour away from Rome and even if I had gotten transferred to a new area the chances of being at the train station or on the same train were VERY FEW. Well, Tuesday I get this phone call from the assistants asking if me and the other STL could go out and give a tour to all the new missionaries of Rome and take them finding on their first day in ITALIA. MAMMA mia, just the biggest tender mercy, they have never let any of the STL's come on the tour it has always just been the assistants. But because they had such a big group they wanted two other missionaries to help keep track of all the new missionaries so we were the lucky ones...thank you Heavenly Father. He knew how important it was for me to see her....Wednesday rolls around and I can't even eat because I'm so excited...we head to Rome and go in the villa, Elsa has no idea I'm there and we go wait at the door for them to come in....they open the door and Elsa was at the very front of the group and just screamed (you can only imagine her scream) and hugged me and picked me up and we couldn't let go of each other!! It was such a happy moment of my life seeing her as a missionary. She was literally glowing...we go to the colosseum and we both just look at each other and we're like "we got called to the same mission...the odds of that happening...." and it was just so special. I won't ever forget that moment, being a missionary with Elsa, walking around Italy and preaching the gospel di Gesù cristo WITH her:))))))) I am so grateful for that day...there is just something so special being around new missionaries and their sweet spirits, and seeing their faith. The next morning we had to go to the train station so I was able to accompany Elsa to her train and give her one last big hug and wished her the happiest mission.....pure joy, she is on fire and so ready to save Italy! I just want to talk a little bit about our lesson this last week with Ada....well, she is doing amazing and we go over one night with the cute marataro couple and Ada is calabrese and so is fratello marataro. So they just understand each other and immediately connected and he shared his 6 year conversion story from the Catholic Church to our church and it was INCREDIBLE and perfect for Ada and at the end fratello marataro just smiles his great smile and says, "ADA I WILL BAPTIZE YOU!" Haha, love those calabrese people....but it was just so cute because he kept telling her that when she gets baptized she has a family in the church now and an eternal family right in our ward, which was exactly what she needed to hear because she lives all alone and doesn't have any friends or anything and the Spirit was testifying so strongly about the fact that we truly are her brothers and sisters. We went over a couple days later to see how her doctors results went and we prayed with her and it was so special, she says she doesn't know what's blocking her from being baptized but God is truly humbling her and bringing her closer to Him...She has been reading the book of Mormon every day and has a baptism date for the end of this month.....pray for a Christmas miracle:)) One of my favorite things this week was we have been visiting a part member family the Manninos, and the father Baldo is not a member YET but he is so close and we have finally come to understand what's blocking him and what he needs. We had an incredible lesson with him this last week and he told us that he doesn't believe he is a child of God and wants to believe it but he has never felt any sort of confirmation. Well, we sang I am a child of God together, and surprisingly Baldo knew all of the words and was just belting them at the top of his lungs, it was the greatest. I just knew and felt so strongly that this man IS a child of God and has divine worth and a divine role as a father and grandfather for all his beautiful children and grandchildren and that God loves him perfectly even though Baldo may not recognize it. Well, he hasn't been to church in years, and Saturday night we prayed and prayed and invited the wife to pray with us and Sunday morning I look out from the piano and there's BALDO! Smiling and excitedly waving to me.....I couldn't be any happier!!!!!!!! God is blessing so many of our investigators! Sabrina also came to church yesterday, (she's a friend of a member, we've been teaching her & her two daughters) Well it was the primary program yesterday and SHE CAME! And stayed for all 3 hours and I could tell that she felt something different in relief society, SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SABBATH DAY! We met with Massimo last night, I just get so excited thinking about him because he's absolutely AMAZING! He told us yesterday that nothing in his church makes sense to him anymore but everything in our church does. He said "I AM SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH, HELP ME FIND IT." And we began to tell him all of the blessings of this beautiful gospel and it made me SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL to be a member of this church! I know it's true! I'm so happy this week is thanksgiving, I wish I was more grateful during all of the seasons of the year but I am just especially overwhelmed with gratitude right now for my mission and this gospel and the love of our Savior, and that I get to see this gospel being taken to the far corners of the earth and being restored here in Italy:) I love my mission and I love my Savior and I know He lives! And loves us! Write down all your blessings this week and think of someone who needs those blessings...and share this message with them! Sorella Taylor
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I would be lying if I didn't tell you that this has been one of the best weeks of my mission. And I don't even know why!!! I feel like every week I say it's been the best week but truly every day gets better and better and I am more in love with the mission as the minutes days weeks and months go by! Just right now as I'm reflecting back on the week and all the hundreds of tender mercies and miracles and seeing Gods hand guiding and protecting us and blessing our sweet investigators makes me want to cry. And tonight we have transfer calls and I think I'm just beginning to realize how fast time truly is going and how if I do leave Rome 5 my heart will be left with so many incredible people!! And knowing that Elsa is on a plane right now on her way to Italia to come preach the gospel....... my heart could burst :)))
My testimony of the plan of salvation has really been strengthened this week..I don't know if you remember Giuseppe from a couple of months ago, Sorella Frogley and I found him and taught him quite a bit, worked in his olive orchard, got him so involved with all the members and I truly loved him, he treated us like his granddaughters. Well this last week as we were running to our appointment our neighbor told us that he had passed away and his funeral was that day. I've never had someone that close to me pass away and at first I just felt so empty. I loved Giuseppe not because we've known each other for years or we're family or something like that but because I had the opportunity to teach him the gospel and feel Gods love for him! We then went to Adas and she said the doctors had found a cancerous tumor and she was feeling so down and we had the most beautiful lesson about the Holy Ghost as our COMFORTER and a way for us to feel HIS presence daily in our lives. I've never seen Ada emotional and she just sat there and listened to us and cried, I know that trials are a way of humbling us and helping us to become more like our Heavenly Father and COME closer to the Savior and feel His love stronger in our lives than we could without these trials. As well yesterday we were meeting a member who was coming to help us with a lesson and for some reason we accidentally texted him the address of Gianni who's been in the hospital for the past 3 weeks. Well we end up still meeting at his house and we saw the light was on so we knocked and he had just returned from the hospital..seeing him made my heart brake...he received some really sad, unexpected news at the hospital and will be doing treatments for the next few months and won't be able to see us anymore. As we were talking the Spirit prompted me to tell him this quote (he used to be a sailor) "We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails" and we practically just stood there and told him how much we loved him and he thanked us for these past weeks and the peace he has found through prayer and the Book of Mormon and we said goodbye:( that night I was feeling so sad and I prayed and could not even get a word out because I just felt the most overwhelming feeling of peace come over me that there are some people here we have had the opportunity to prepare for the spirit world and I just felt so much GRATITUDE for His perfect plan. I have a strong testimony that if we trust in that plan our lives will change. Special experience:) One day Sorella Erickson and I were waiting at a bus stop for about an hour and this lady came up and looked so distraught and was frantically walking up and down the street and crying. We decided to go and talk to her and she just broke down and told us her boyfriend had just recently passed away and now she is feeling so sick and needs to get to the doctor and was afraid she was going to die. I'm not quite sure what was wrong with her but we could tell she was in so much pain. We asked her if we could say a prayer with her and she said "please!" and right there in the middle of the street we asked Heavenly Father to bless this sweet woman and help the bus to come so we could get her to the doctors. Minutes later the bus came and she made it safely there...I know that God places us in situations where He needs us to help His children so we better know where He needs us...that was the first day in months we had decided to not use the car and take the bus. So Bryan is getting baptized...soooo beautiful! He's amazing and has been ready from the very start, 4 months ago, but needed that time to develop that relationship with God and find this answer for himself of the truth!! We had the most amazing lesson with him and his sister Teuta on forgiveness and as we were bearing testimony to Him and Christ's atonement I realized I needed to hear just as much as they did, or more, everything that was coming out of my mouth. I know with my heart that God knows us perfectly and our imperfections and weaknesses and all the times we have messed up and is SO PROUD of us and loves us as we strive to be better today than we were yesterday. We talked with Bryan about the baptism interview questions and he is just so ready. Ever since he heard about the sacrament and that we can renew those covenants every Sunday in church and be forgiven and become CLEAN AND FEEL JOY it has changed him. He came to stake conference yesterday and loved it. Months ago before Sorella Erickson and I were companions we were on SCAMBIO together and met this amazing guy in Fiano Romano doing casa casa and never were able to go back and see him...well..the other night we were at the train station, same day we decided not to use the car, and we see him running to catch his train and we turned around and buy tickets and ran to get back on his train! We talked the whole ride about the gospel and it was great, and set up an appointment. He's incredible, he lives in this sweet little cottage and lived on an island by Morocco for a couple years, has an adorable little daughter, he is obsessed with the mountains and hiking and is just so earthy. But more beautiful he is PREPARED for this gospel. We've seen him twice now, He's reading the Book of Mormon and praying and set a date for baptism for December 16!!!! I am in love with the mission! I love my Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father, as I was studying this morning for our investigators I was just so overcome with His love for each of us, His children. He knows me perfectly and my struggles and imperfections and He's so sensitive to all of them and patient with me and helps me feel His love in so many ways every day. I LOVE that we can pray in any time of need and directly communicate with PADRE CELESTE. The blessings that have come into my life since living the gospel daily are infinite!!!! Pray to Heavenly Father tonight and listen to what He wants to tell you....He wants you to know He loves you and is so proud of all of us!!!! Sorella Taylor Vi voglio un mondo di bene buona settimana cari Xoxo so che questa chiesa è verissimaaa! It's been such a special week...
First I just want to talk about Bryan and Teuta--we have seen such huge progress with them and Bryan has that real desire to follow Christ, it's been such a miracle! We were able to teach just him and his Sorella Teuta this week and one lesson we had was just extra wonderful. They told us they wanted to read with us and they had just left off reading in 2 nephi 31 and we decided to continue reading with them, and it was exactly what they both needed to hear. They both told us after what they had learned. Teuta explained how being baptized is beautiful because you are being washed clean and can feel stronger the presence of Christ. And then Bryan comes in and says how wonderful it is that Christ has laid out everything we need to do to receive eternal life, we just read about it in the scriptures and follow his example. They talked about how peaceful they feel when we come over and we knelt in prayer at the end to ask if this is the truth, it was really special. Well then Bryan came to church yesterday and was all dressed up. During gospel principles our teacher asked him what we need to do to prepare for the second coming and he said purify ourselves, be baptized and take the sacrament every Sunday in church! He's really coming to understand it now and it's beautiful, and he told us after church that he's been praying and he BELIEVES this is the church of Christ and he said he wants to be baptized! 26 novembre IT IS :) Next huge blessing this week was Alessandro, 21 years old. Well Sorella Frogley and I had met him our very first week together in Passo Corese and then he escaped to London to go to university! Well, we felt the other night we should call him and turns out he had just broken his leg playing soccer and had to come back to Italy. We met with him on Friday and had the most beautiful lesson! Turns out when he was taught two years ago he had read the entire Book of Mormon, prayed and was preparing to be baptized but he felt he hadn't received that sure confirmation yet. He said for those past years he continued to pray and felt he should go to the Pentecostal church so he has. But then he told us the day he met me and Sorella Frogley he felt something different and it scared him knowing that what he's been believing his whole life wasn't true. He felt peace getting away from us and going to London but guess who immediately found him in London? The missionaries:) and he was taught. We were able to talk about how maybe God allowed him to have this time to search for answers and grow and now He has lead him to the truth and Alessandro explained how much serenity he felt. He's been so humbled with his broken leg, he's READY! Okay update on the beautiful family that the Garcia family referred us to...they came to our earthquake preparedness activity up in the mountains this last week and it was AWESOME and the members just reached out to them and loved them. Well then we decided it was time for us to go over to their home and teach them and when we did the cute mom told us she had been making dough all day for us to make pizza with her. So, we ate with their family and had an amazing experience and that night the father, Nicola called Fratello Garcia and told him on the phone that he felt a "spirit" and a sensation that he's never had before when we were together in their home. José García said he just kept saying how contento contento contento he is! And then the mom got a hold of the family and said I want those girls coming over more, my husband needs to develop a closer relationship with God:) Fratello Garcia shared this story in testimony meeting yesterday and just cried! It was so sweet to see how happy this work is making the members, and how much more we appreciate the gospel when we share it with the ones we love. We will see this family in the tempio di Roma one day :) Funny story of the week, last night we were out finding and it started pouring buckets of rain and this sweet old man took us under his umbrella and into a cafe and we began to teach him about the family and I pulled out a picture of our fam and even after putting on his huge thick glasses he pointed to dad and asked me if it was me! He wasn't joking.....hahahaha! I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard, not sure if those tears were of joy Had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with Leticia and Marcello this week...wow do I love them so much. It's funny because I've actually only been with them twice in person but I feel like they are my family-they took us to lunch and then we shared a message with them in the car cause it was all rainy outside. I felt the only way for me to show them how much I love them was for us to write our testimonies in a Book of Mormon for them. Before ending she told us she wants to read a verse with Marcello every day together. I am so happy. Nicola, the special needs member in our ward was just made the assistant to our ward missionary leader and I have never found so much joy in doing missionary work than I have with him! He literally is a ball of light and checks up on us almost every hour of the day and makes sure we are talking with everyone about the gospel. He also makes sure we have a meal appointment every day ayyyyy.....well this last week our ward mission leader was praying and asked God to move forward the missionary work in the Ward and the answer he received was "I'm helping you with the Earthquakes." I KNOW it is true-some people are really beginning to think about their purpose in life and the beautiful infinite atonement of Christ and the pure joy he brings to us quotidianamente :) I LOVE IT! I love being a missionary here in Italy and learning from them because of their grande faith in Christ. I know this church is true! Sorella Taylor BUON HALLOWEEN! Wow this week has been incredible!!! I don't even know where to begin....have to sort through all the miracles and amazing people we met and were able to share the gospel with :) Yes the earthquakes, there were two this week and the one yesterday was pretty forte...it was weird watching our whole house shake and the ground moving underneath me. We just had one hour of sacrament meeting for church and it was pretty neat because all the talks were centered around preparing ourselves to return to God and keeping that close relationship with our Heavenly Father! Something I won't ever forget.
First I just want to talk about my amazing comp....so her grandpa and his wife served in this ward here in Roma 5 years ago, and blessed the lives of SO MANY. Well, on Tuesday morning my collega received really sad news that her grandpa was killed in a car accident. I just have to say there's no other place my companion could be than here in this area at this time....immediately all these people and members were coming over and telling her of all the lives he changed, gave her blessings, food, and just so much PURE LOVE. That day she was feeling so down and I just prayed and prayed that we would have the opportunity to share the plan of salvation with someone. Well later in the day this missionary who served here a little ago called me and told me that Silvana, a new converts wife had just lost her brother and wanted to meet with us and talk about the plan of happiness. So we went to her pizzeria that night and it was so sweet and really special for my companion. I know that in the temple the family can be sealed together for eternity! It's amazing because I have felt so strongly Gods love for my comp this week..He gave us sooooo many opportunities to teach the plan of happiness this week it was incredible. One night this week we headed to English course and sadly none of our students showed up, and then immediately after Vasilika called us and said come over right now! HUGE miracle because they have just been so swamped with school, sports and work and haven't been able to make time to see us. Right as we're walking out of the church Alessandra (member who just got back from mission) shows up and tells us she wants to come to the lesson with us. So we went and ate dinner with them, the whole entire family, they immediately took Alessandra in and were hugging and kissing her. I have never seen a family full of more love for everyone and anyone. Alessandra was able to bear the most beautiful testimony of how she came to know this church was true. At the end the father, who's heart has been soooo softened since the first time meeting with them told us how every time we come over its almost as if they can feel Christ in their home. I never expected those words to come out of his mouth but it was the most beautiful thing...considering our first encounter with him months ago. We got to meet with one of the people from our area book this last week....wow it was amazing. She is the sister of Franca (Franca was baptized a year ago) and get this her name is VERA. (True) Well we found her, she lives in this tiny little cottage and when she opened the door my heart was about to explode I just felt so much love for her!!! She's 70, her husband passed away 8 years ago and she now lives with her boyfriend and when we taught her the restoration and the keys of the priesthood that have been restored that we can use to seal our families for eternity, I can't even describe the SPIRIT and joy I felt for Vera! Okay I am so scatter brained today. And so happy. A quick update on our amazing investigators....sweet Louisa came to church yesterday! She decided she was going to go to the Catholic Church for a month and see how she feels and she couldn't even last a month...she gave in and came yesterday:) I love her so much. We taught Danilo the plan of salvation the day slla Ericksons grandpa died, it was super special. I just have a strong testimony of when suffering ourselves if we turn outward instead of turning inward and focusing on our own problems we experience true joy and I saw that with sweet my sweet Sorella. Unfortunately Danilo has looked everything up on the internet and Satan is doing all he can to confuse him but in some way I'm super grateful that he's being tested...because in the end he's going to be so much stronger. I know he will come around!!. We taught Teuta and Bryan yesterday and my heart melted a little bit after them telling us the first thing they did when they woke up was read the Book of Mormon together. Teuta wants to be baptized so so so badly (she's one of the top runners in Italy) and trying to make time between sports and church is a big obstacle right now. But we will work through it with her :) sempre nel tempo di dio! We taught Ada yesterday, she was really shook up after the earthquake, and I think it has really humbled her and helped her to think more about Gods plan for her:):) piano piano Last experience of the week was last night...one of my favoriteeee families, the Garcia family from Argentina called us up and told us they had a family they wanted us to meet. SI. Well last night we go over and WOW such a beautiful family, the wife is from Honduras (we bonded over that a bit:)) the dad is Italian and they have two beautiful girls and immediately the wife was like WHY are you guys so nice? You don't even know us yet at the same time I feel like we've known each other forever. Well, as we're eating the Garcias start talking about the Rome temple and eternal families and it just segued beautifully into what we had prepared that the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses the family. Then the sweet dad, Nicola got all emotional and talked about how his brother died and then again there comes my sweet collega and she just testified so strongly with the spirit about eternal families and Jesus Christ and his atonement for us. So beautiful. I love eternal families. Favorite quote from this week :)) Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people...stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Love the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hinckley Vi voglio un mondo di bene, Sorella Taylor This week was GREAT as usual, full of all sorts of little miracles and tender mercies!
First of all, I just have to say the mission conference with anziano Nelson was one of the coolest moments of my life! As soon as he walked in the room all of us missionaries stood up and the spirit was just flooding the room. We got to shake his hand (you can only imagine how sweaty my hands were) along with the rest of the general authorities and all I can say that I felt in that moment was LIGHT. Anziano Nelson was just this glowing ray of LIGHT! I felt so strongly as he walked past us that he truly is an apostle of Jesus Christ and that he has been called of God. What was so beautiful is that when he got up to speak he just completely spoke from his heart and expounded on the scriptures, and talked about the 12 tribes and gathering of Israel. It was so powerful and something different than I've ever experienced to be in the presence of an apostle right there in the mission field and engaged in the hastening of this work and gathering of Israel. This week my testimony of prayer has just been strengthened so much. We had so many experiences that tied back into prayer...first off was with sweet Danilo! Well, awesome member Alessandra just got back from her mission in Spain and is on fire and wants to help us every second of the day. One day she prayed to have a missionary opportunity and later that day was standing at the bus stop in the pouring rain and this guy asked her why her Italian accent was so weird and Spanishy so she got to tell him about her mission and she said immediately he started asking so many questions and was interested. Turns out later in the week she invited him to the Ward Conference with elder Nelson and HE CAME! Haha first time going to church and he meets an apostle of the Lord, well we meet with him and teach the restoration and it was beautiful, hes been raised Catholic his whole entire life, he's 24 years old and I don't think I have ever seen anyone in my entire life with more intent than he has. I see Joseph smith through him! He literally asked "what church is true and how am I supposed to know it?" I just sat there in awe...it's just a treat to see people so prepared for this gospel:):) Well that night he went home and read the chapter in the Book of Mormon we gave him and then he called us and excitedly talked about how he prayed after reading and these were his words....always more beautiful in Italian...but he said "sorelle I prayed and I felt....light....I felt a peace inside of me....no I felt like there were hands on my shoulders telling me that I am on the right path." It was so neat....all it took for him to feel that way was a simple heartfelt prayer....also forgot to say that was the first time he prayed directly to God...not through some saint or the Madonna. So cool to watch people develop that solid relationship with God :) it sure does bring us light and peace. And, I just want to say that every single one of us can receive those same confirmations every time we just kneel down and ask...no matter how many times we've done it before. He loves us enough to tell us again and again and to strengthen that answer. We've just got to show our faith first and do our part. Next experience was in tiny town of Scandriglia where everyone is past the age of 90 and is missing their teeth! It's so great we have so many amici there. One day we decided to pray and go knock some doors with a less active. He told us to knock on this house and we did...the wife came out and excitedly told us to come back in 10 minutes. We did and we were able to meet her husband and 2 children....beautiful Italian family, we asked if we could come inside and share a message, the husband said no but then the wife put her hand over his mouth and said we had to! We were able to teach a small restoration lesson and the wife wouldn't break her eye contact with us, she was so receptive and the spirit was just so strong. Unfortunately, they live in Rome and were just visiting for the weekend but she took the Book of Mormon and promised she would read it all before contacting the missionaries there. It's just so neat to see how quick God is to help us find His children who are ready and in need when we humble ourselves and realize we can't do this work on our own...and rely on Him. I'm just so grateful that we can have that one on one dialogue with Padre Celeste in any moment of the day and ANYWHERE! It's been such a blessing on the mission to learn the importance of solid sincere prayers and allowing God to speak back to us. He hears us and loves us and is waiting to hear from us daily.... One day this week I told my sweet collega how awesome it would be if one day we could sit down and call every single number in the area book because there's lots of people in the past missionaries have seen who could be ready now. Well the very next day she was VERY ill in bed and we stayed home for a good couple days haha! Most I've ever stayed home in my mission--I thought I was going to go crazy.....but we were able to call almost every single number in that book...and we're seeing 4 new potentials this week who want to meet with us again :) and a FAMILY. I absolutely love being a missionary per la chiesa di Gesù cristo dei santi degli ultimi giorni!! So con una certezza che questa chiesa è verissima!!!!! I know this is true....I wouldn't be going around every day for a year and a half telling people that it is. I know it is true because I asked Heavenly Father and He answered me....you can do the same :) I love you all! MUAH un abbraccio Buona settimana cari vi voglio bene Sorella Taylor Wowwww this week has been absolutely incredible.
One thing that has really just hit me this last week is how NO EFFORT is wasted!!! It says in pmg "when people choose not to investigate the restored gospel, your work is not wasted. Your consistent efforts in serving and teaching as many people as you can is one way God prepares His children to eventually receive His servants. He often reaches out to His children through you. Even when people do not accept the opportunity to learn the gospel, your service and words are evidence of God’s love for them and may plant seeds that future missionaries and members of the Church will harvest" I have such a strong testimony of this!!! Yesterday at conferenza di zona they showed a slideshow with some pictures of baptisms that have happened in the last month. Well, rewind many many months ago to when Sorella Nelson and I were in Bari looking for some less actives in the pouring rain and we got off the bus, not even knowing where we were and then decided to talk to the first person that we saw to ask her for directions. We began to talk to her about who we were and it turned out that sweet girls mother was a member from Peru. After I left Bari the sisters continued to teach that family. Yesterday I saw the picture of the daughter who just got baptized this last month! You never know what can happen when you open your mouth and help others to feel the Spirit, and it was just so sweet to see all the little seeds every missionary helped to plant in that sweet new converts life!!! Along with that sweet Nino from Messina was baptized on Saturday! That all just started with a smile on the bus and offering to help him with his groceries! Don't ever underestimate what a small smile, service, words or act of love can do for someone!!!! One night Sorella Erickson and I headed to go drop off some brownies at investigator Veronica's house! Well, she didn't answer the door but her mother in law Concetta who lives right next to her excitedly invited us in and we ended up teaching her and it was such a beautiful experience! There is something so special about not only testifying of Gods love to someone, the same moment you meet them, but truly FEELING that love for them and a desire to help them come to feel the truth of this restored gospel. We had not known about her situation but both began to testify of God's plan of happiness and how we can be united with our families for eternity, when immediately she began to talk about how she lost both her husbands and has felt so alone, lost, and sad. There was such a powerful spirit in her home and she told us she wants to start developing her faith in Christ again. I promise that there is no sadness or trial or pain or sin or loss that can't be fixed through the atonement of Christ and that because He lives we will live again with all the people we LOVE so dearly! He has broken the bands of death!!!!! She is excited to read the Book of Mormon to develop that faith and excited to meet with us again...such a special moment! As far as with other investigators things are only going uphill with everyone, we're just being very patient in Gods timing with all of them and meanwhile trying to find more people who are ready NOW. Sweet Gianni has finally come to really understand the restoration, we had an amazing lesson with him and he is preparing for baptism for November! Che bello! In my interview with president on Sunday the first thing he asked me when I sat down is if I have ever been happier in my entire life! And I truly haven't! This is the greatest joy I have ever felt, of course the mission has tested me in every way possible but because of the experiences had here I have come to develop a relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ that I didn't even know was possible! And it brings me PURE JOY!! That night we got home late from Rome and only had about an hour left so we prayed to know what we should do and immediately a name of a less active man in our ward came up. We drove up to the tiny teeny town of Scandriglia in the mountains and found him sick at home with bronchitis and were able to sing "I know that my Redeemer lives" and he joined right in even though he barely had a voice, it was such a beautiful moment and the truth that came from those words as they came out of our mouths was just SO FORTE!!! I know that my Redeemer lives what comfort this sweet sentence gives HE LIVES!!!! At conference yesterday a missionary said that when the pioneers were crossing the plains, we as angels were right by their sides guiding them and pushing them along. And now they, those angels, are right by our sides lifting us up and guiding us in this beautiful work to help others come to know our Savior and Redeemer! D&C 84:88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. I love my mission! I love this gospel and I love these Italian people! I love how much they love Christ and I love that we can help aid them and help them find the restored gospel! Have a beautiful week :) VI VOGLIO TANTO BENE! Sorella Taylor Wow what a busy week I can't believe it's all ready Monday!!! We've been able to see SO many of our investigators and meet so many new people, and I heard the great news that NINO in Messina is getting baptized on Saturday❤️THIS WORK IS MARVELOUS! Anyways, here its been great, sent off my dear Sorella Frogley to the beautiful land of Sicily and am following up training Sorella Nelsons last greenie who is amazing and so hard working. Awesome cause we've all ready been able to do scambios and I all ready have a lot of love for her! And were staying in the great Passo Corese and couldn't be any happier. I know the Lord needs us here and we're going to see even greater things happening! Just want to send a little shoutout to Sorella Ferre who came out and joined the mission field this week, ti voglio bene carissima!! Hope to give you a big abbraccio soon :)
Wow, we really saw Gods hand every moment this week it was bellissima......On Monday Sorella Frogley wanted to say goodbye to our investigator Anna Rosa who we unfortunately had only been able to see a couple times because she has been working so much. So we went over and passed by her house and turns out it was her birthday so she had all of her family over! She excitedly let us in and sat the whole family down and started telling all the grand kids about how we pray and about the Book of Mormon. It was so powerful watching our investigator teaching her family the things we believe. Even better we were able to teach the whole famiglia the restoration! Okay Friday was such a beautiful day:) That morning we had a leadership conference in Rome and our GPS Tom Tom decided to take us for a big giro in the pouring rain around Italy where all the kids were going on strike from school and flooding the streets and blocking all traffic.....I thought I was going to have a heart attack because we were going to be late and just kept pregando and all of a sudden in all the midst of traffic and chaos there was the TEMPIO right next to us! What a beautiful sight:) The spirit was so strong just being so close to the temple grounds....God works in mysterious ways, was able to bring me so much comfort and we ended up being exactly on time to the conference. (Even after waiting for sorelle and hauling them to the conference in the pouring rain!) After the conference sweet Francesca canceled on us because she is having some serious family issues (please keep her in your prayers) so we headed to Poggio Mirteto, this little city on top of the hill where God has been preparing so many of His children! Mamma mia we had some beautiful experiences and it was neat seeing how God changed our plans that day to find some of His other sheep who are ready for this beautiful gospel. We parked the car and walked maybe 20 feet and stopped the first woman we saw and turns out she was a religion teacher for the awesome Guidara family children in our ward years ago and lost contact with them but she had been to all their children's baptisms, church, and read the whole Book of Mormon. We talked to Sorella Guidara in church yesterday and she about died because she was so excited and we're having dinner together this week! We then walk maybe 5 feet after talking with her and there's this cute girl on her bike, Caterina, and long story short we end up teaching her the whole restoration and she accepted baptism and she has 5 brothers and sisters!!! Another eternal family!!!! As we were teaching her this woman just came up and started listening to us...we asked her if she wanted to sit down or listen and she really didn't say anything just stood there and stared. So we continued teaching and at the end she sat down with us and asked us so many questions and read the whole restoration pamphlet with us on the bench and wants us to meet her family! God knows where His children are and is sending them to us! I don't know if you remember about Ada but she is probably the most Christlike person I have ever met. The Sorelle met her about a year ago and we have had difficulties meeting with her because she works every single day until late at night, it just wasn't the right time. Well, because Sorella Frogley was leaving she was able to organize her schedule and see us and we showed her Anziano Uchtdorfs talk "fourth floor last door" and it was esattamente what she needed to hear...she was so touched and told us that God has sent those words to her and that she needed to completely put her foot all the way in the door and show 100% her faith in praying, reading the Book of Mormon and doing all she can to come to church. So she talked to her boss and was able to work out Sunday's and SHE CAME TO CHURCH for the first time yesterday!!! We've been able to use a lot of members in our lessons which was such a huge blessing because seeing them run up to her and hug her and love her was so sweet, especially because she lives alone and doesn't have a lot of friends you could tell she just felt so loved. Sorella Marataro sat by her in sacrament meeting and just held her hand the entire meeting it was the sweetest thing. Every member a MISSIONARY! We were able to eat dinner with Vasilika and the whole entire family last night it was sooo special I love them so much. Vasilika has been looking for work ever since we started teaching her and has been praying and guess what...she got a job last week at a restaurant in Rome and she told us she knows it's because she's been putting the things we've been teaching her into practice and that God is showering her with blessings..... Bryan told us that he's been praying and really feels in his heart this gospel to be true. The most beautiful thing when we were talking about the Sabbath day he said "when I go to your church I feel like I am home and with my family." We hope and pray for this baptism the end of this month! Sorry this is a novel....I could go on and on about how happy this work makes us!!! And, how marvelous and real it is and true this beautiful gospel is. It is a message of happiness!!!! And when we share it with others we realize how precious it really is and appreciate it that much more. And we realize all the blessings and happiness it has brought us. So go try it and share this beautiful message with everyone!!!:) Buona settimana Sorella Taylor Words can't even do this week justice.....too beautiful to even express :) I AM SO GRATEFUL to be a missionary in this dispensation! I love the pure simple gospel and the immense joy it brings that we can't find anywhere else! Some exciting things happening here...and we're preparing for Anziano Russell M. Nelson who is coming to visit in a couple weeks! We're soooo spoiled!
Every day was amazing and full of so much good this past week GOD IS SO GOOD to us. Yesterday, because we didn't have to watch the conference until late Sunday evening we had all Sunday morning to go out and do some good finding, which was great because so many families were at home:) We knocked and knocked and knocked and just as we were about to head back home this woman came out on her porch and smiled at us. We talked to her and she smiled even bigger and ran inside to get her daughter...this little girl then explained to us that they're from Albania and the mom still doesn't speak Italian. Well, I had just downloaded a video about Christ in Albanian for Vasilika and her family, so we asked her if we could share a message and the little son came out as well. We watched it with the family and lo spirito was SO strong and just flooded the little alleyway we were standing in!! We then began to bear our testimonies and it was incredible, even though we knew she didn't understand Italian we KNEW she understood what we were saying. The Spirit was taking everything we were saying and taking it to her heart and bearing testimony to her. This sweet woman (her name in Italian is luminosa, "one who emits light"...it's not a coincidence that is her name, she was glowing.) just began to cry and hugged us and said "GRAZIE" over and over and over again. It was such a special moment I will never forget, and she asked the daughter to ask us to come over as soon as possible. I am praying that we get a Sorella missionaria from Albania down here, transfer calls are tonight so we will see ;) I hope you all enjoyed general conference as much as I did!!! Last night Bryan came to conference all by himself! He's absolutely incredible and I know he's the key to getting his whole family to accept the gospel as well. One of my favorite moments was when we all stood and sang "sono un figlio di Dio" and then Bryan telling us afterwards that he doesn't remember everything that was said in the conference but he does remember how he felt and loves that everyone emphasized how no matter where we have been or who we are or how far we may think we are from coming back we can ALWAYS repent and be cleansed through Jesus Christ!!! We are seeing so much change in him and he told us again how important he knows this decision is and the prayer and study and thought he is putting into his decision to be baptized! He seems so much happier than the first time we met him, I love seeing so much light coming into people's lives after them hearing the gospel for the first time. This gospel is the only way to true HAPPINESS. We haven't been able to see Gianni for quite some time because his health just won't allow it but when we called him and asked him if he wanted a priesthood blessing he was more than happy. We went over last night with the Anziani and before the blessing Gianni put his huge Dalmatian outside because it was so loud. During the blessing it kept barking and whining and I was just praying and praying that it might stay quiet or at least Gianni would be able to feel the Spirit!! It continued to be loud for a while but then all of a sudden it went completely silent and the anziano giving him the blessing just simply started talking about our Heavenly Fathers love for Him and how Padre Celeste can't wait to embrace Gianni in His arms again one day and I can't even describe the feelings of peace and love that came over me for Gianni as a child of God!!! After the blessing Gianni was so calm and peaceful and couldn't stop thanking us it was such a beautiful thing and I know he felt those strong feelings of love that His Padre has for him. I am so grateful for this restored priesthood authority that allows us to see and feel the power of God in our lives and the lives of others every single day. One thing that stood out to me so much during la conferenza was just understanding our Saviors and Heavenly Fathers love for us and filling ourselves with that PURE love. This week we went over to a members house and taught her friend Sabrina who lives next to her about Gods love. All the little kids were running around everywhere, screaming, spitting and throwing everything and at first I thought there's no way this is going to go well or she's going to feel the Spirit. But as soon as we starting testifying of the simple truths that she is His daughter and He loves her, her eyes just locked with ours and like it says in dottrina e alleanze "he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together" and it's true we all just felt SO happy amidst all the chaos around us. As we bear testimony of these things our own testimonies become more firm and we experience and taste a happiness sharing this knowledge with HIS children that we can't find anywhere else. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior and I know they love each and every one of us!!!!! "We love Him because He FIRST LOVED US." Sorella Taylor It's sure been an awesome week up here in the beautiful land of ROMA :) A week full of lots of prayers, pasta, and Gods children being placed in our path to hear this bellissimo messaggio!
Francesca is one of the greatest things that has happened to us all week! So the sorelle had taught her about a year ago & we read about how amazing and ready she was on her scheda but haven't been able to get a hold of her for months. Well we decided to give her a try this last week and we finally got a hold of her sister who gave us Francesca's new number yay! Well, we went over and taught her and I don't think I have ever taught someone so prepared on my entire mission. She is 16 years old, she knows the church is true and has a spot in her room where she keeps her libro di mormon, personal progress, family history, liahonas, she's been studying ever since but because of some family issues hasn't been able to meet us. She's BRAVA, and we had a beautiful lesson with her. It was so sweet because she told us she feels alone because she feels she's the only one in her school who doesn't drink, smoke, party, and she doesn't do those things because she has a "grande amore per Dio." We just testified of Gods plan for her as His daughter and she began to cry and then said sorelle these aren't tears of sadness these are tears of JOY! As of now she is waiting to receive permission from her parents to be baptized so we will keep praying with grande fede! One of my favorite parts of the week was that the First Presidency asked all the members in Italia to fast for the temple this past Sunday to show our gratitude to Heavenly Father. It was the first time they had been asked to do this and I think it was so eye opening for everyone that we needed to replace our doubts and impatience for the construction of this temple with pure gratitude! During the testimony meeting I just was so overwhelmed listening to everyone's humble and sweet testimonies and desire to follow God. These people truly are preparing so much and are truly becoming so humble and patient in HIS timing and it has touched my heart. I thought about truly how beautiful the day will be when these people I love will be dressed in white, being sealed to their family for the first time for all eternità, and doing these ordinances that will change their lives! I am so full of gratitude that I have this knowledge I can be sealed in the beautiful temple to my family. Afterwards we missionaries headed to the Mentana Rodeo and went around asking all families if they believed they could be with their families forever, and taught about what they could do to make Gesù Cristo the center of their family....it was pretty beautiful because Italians sure love their families and we had some amazing conversations!!! It was such a powerful and spirit filled Sunday :) I got to do exchanges with Sorella Carver up in Roma and we had such a good ol time! As we were walking around this park we ran into this sweet British couple who were on vacation...it didn't cross my mind to really talk to them because we were looking for people in the area but then we ran into them a couple more times and by the 3rd time it finally hit me that we NEEDED to talk to them, so we did and we had such a beautiful conversation about the gospel. The wife began to get a little teary eyed and said, "I don't know how to explain it but you two have an aura around you." We exchanged our information and praying they will meet with the missionaries there. She just grabbed us and hugged us right as we were leaving and it just hit me so strongly how we can feel such a strong love for people just seconds after meeting them if we look as them as God sees them. These people do so much for me than I can do for them! One of my favorite experiences this week was going to the sweet Marataros house last night....they are living in a difficult situation right now and don't have any electricity in their house up in the mountains but are some of the happiest people I have ever met. We had a candlelit dinner with them last night and read one of my favorite talks "lascia che le cose accadano e poi amale" I think that translates to come what may and love it and talked about learning to laugh. As they were reading that part of the talk they couldn't even get through it because they were laughing so hard!!! I would not have even noticed how dark their house was because SO much light was being radiated from them and their sweet spirits, they just bore testimonies to us at the end of how much happiness the gospel has brought them and it just touched my cuore so much. It doesn't matter what we're going through, or the world we live in, we are blessed with so much and have such a beautiful knowledge! I can't help but just smile! I love this gospel! I love that God has a perfect plan for all us imperfect people! I love sharing this with everyone! Have a beautiful week tutti! Sorella Taylor I don't even know how to put into words or express how beautiful and spirit filled this whole week has been! We've had some unforgettable experiences and moments that have changed my mission and VITA:)
The mission conference with Presidente Kearon and anziano Sabin and his wife was amaaaazing! It was something I will definitely never forget and I will treasure all the things that I learned for the rest of my life! One thing they really focused on is how we need not only teach the message but we need to BE THE MESSAGE in everything we do! And one thing he said that hasn't left my mind since is how when we leave a house they should know and feel that two angels have just left! He talked about when he met the missionaries in London for the first time it was like he walked into a wall of light, he didn't remember one thing they said but he did remember the way they made him feel. So we have just been trying our best to BE that message and truly show people how happy and peaceful this gospel makes us!!! And we have seen such a huge difference in the way people are responding to us! An experience we had with that this week was with adorable Mimo and Silvana! Mimo is a new convert and his wife took the lessons in the last year but really struggled quitting smoking. Well one day we were in the area and my sweet Sorella felt so prompted to go pass by their pizzeria so we did and we found Silvana feeling so down and nervous. Her brother had just gone into a coma a few days before and she hadn't slept at all the night before. We sat down with her and just tried our best to bring a little light into her day, get this situation off her mind and bring her happiness! For the first time since I've been here in Passo she was so open and started talking about how much she loves the gospel and everything we believe in. By the end we were testifying of Gods plan for her brother and by the end she lifted her head up from her hands and said "you two have completely changed how I feel today and how I feel about my brother. HE IS IN GOOD HANDS" Next experience was with Gianni...he's been VERY sick the last little while and unfortunately can't leave his house very much, so we've just been leaving notes in his mailbox and passages to read in the Book of Mormon:) We were able to get him out for 30 minutes the other day and all the light he had in his eyes before was completely gone, I have never seen him so sad or empty! He started talking to us about how young he is and how angry he is with God because he should have so much more life to live and immediately this love just came over me that I have never felt for anyone in my life! I can't explain how I felt except this: I wanted so badly for Him to know that God loves Him and wants Him to be happy during this time and that's why he sent Gianni to us so he could hear this message. There's nothing more beautiful than telling someone they are a child of God un figlio di un RE and feeling the spirit confirm those words to me and to Gianni just brought tears to my eyes!!!! Our sweet hermana Luisa came to church again on Sunday for all three hours and absolutely loved it! During gospel principles we were talking about the family and all of a sudden she stood up and bore her beautiful testimony of her role as a mother and the family and afterwards she told us she had felt a hand push her out of her chair to share those feelings:) We went to her house Sunday afternoon as well and taught her about receiving answers and how God didn't send us here to be confused and alone. He will always respond, and we just testified of how pure and HAPPY we felt at our baptism and she just began to cry and said she is looking for that happiness and doesn't know where to find it. At the end we all knelt down and in her beautiful Spanish prayer she asked God so sincerely to know if this church is true and if she should be baptized and if this will bring her HAPPINESS. The joy we all felt in that moment was indescribable! One of my favorite things mentioned from the conference was when elder Sabin said " the thing that will surprise us most when we pass through the veil is how well we know HIM." What was the first word that Heavenly Father spoke in this dispensation? "Joseph." He knew him by name and He knows everyone of us by name and He LOVES us no matter where we've been or who we were yesterday. None of that matters, it's where we are going:) WE ARE his children HE IS OUR PADRE! and it doesn't matter what anyone or what the world thinks about us what matters is what HE thinks about us and he LOVES us! I testify to that with all my cuore! Let's go BE the message, show people how happy this knowledge makes us! I think the happiest thing I heard from this week is my dear Samantha from Messina turned in her mission papers!!!!! I can't stop smiling!!! This work is HASTENING!!!!!! Have a belllllisssima week! Sorella Taylor |
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January 2017
Crystal's current area is Passo Corese, Italy.
Her address is: Via Giacomo Matteotti, 187 02032 Passo Corese RI Italy |