Well it's been probably one of the most beautiful weeks of my life:) I am so grateful to be here!
Davide was baptized on Tuesday and it was such an incredible experience. Everything went so well and it was so spiritual. I have never seen someone so happy and clean and glowing! The very first time I met Davide he was wearing all black, smoking and didn't want to talk to us. This week I got to see him all dressed in white and make this sacred covenant and promise to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of his life! He bore his testimony afterwards and it was so powerful yet simple, he explained how he knew without a doubt this was the true church of Jesus Christ and hearing him explain how he now knows who His Savior is was the most beautiful thing. I feel so fortunate to be able to see people come unto Christ everyday, so many people are changing and it's changing me! On Saturday the investigator of the anziani, Enzo finally got baptized:) he's just such an amazing example to me, after telling his parents not too long ago that he wanted to be baptized they told him they will kick him out of the house and disown him. He struggled a lot with this because he loves his family so much and didn't want to hurt them, but he knew if he put God first, knowing that this was right, everything would be okay. We all fasted as a district Friday and he called Saturday morning and said that he wasn't going to do it, but we didn't lose our faith and we kept on fasting!!!! A couple hours later he told us he had prayed and knew that this was right. We called all the members back and headed to the sea and had the opportunity to witness a incredible baptism:) Davide came to the baptism, fasting as well, and being under the sun all day and then going to work that night until 4 am did not do him well. He fainted and went to the hospital Sunday morning around 5 am. The doctors had him hooked up to all sorts of unnecessary things and told them he would have to stay there for quite some time. He started taking off everything and told them he had to escape because he "HAD TO GET THE HOLY GHOST!" He ran all the way to church from the hospital and walked in right at the end of our sacrament meeting. Unfortunately, he will have to wait till next week to receive the Holy Ghost. He is crushed and knows that Satan is working hard on him but he is not losing faith:) This week I am just so incredibly grateful for the priesthood. I know that this authority and power is real and allows us to do the ordinances needed to be able to live with God again one day....we were able to see Gods hand and power in this work thanks to il sacerdozio! Sorella Gambardella, a less active who we have been seeing every week since I have been here (she hasn't been to church in 3 years), called us and asked us if the anziani would be able to give her sick (inactive) husband a blessing. We all went over one day and after the anziani gave him a blessing there was a completely different spirit in the home, it was so powerful. Sorella gambardella has not been coming to church for the last 3 yrs cause her husband won't give her permission. She later called us and said she spoke with him after the blessing and told him they needed to recommit themselves and go to church, and he told her she could. She came to both the baptisms this week, which is huge because she hasn't talked to any of the members in 3 years...watching all of them run up to her and hug her I couldn't help the tears welling up in my eyes! She is committed to come to church on Sunday. I have never felt so much peace and joy in my life than I do right now being a part of this work....I love my Heavenly Father and I know that I am here in Messina at this time for a reason...these people are changing me and I am so humbled to see all that these people sacrifice and their faith. I love being a missionary....I'm really happy:) and I know that's because this gospel is true and having that foundation and anchor in my life has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Happy 4th of July I love you all🇺🇸🇮🇹 Sorella Taylor
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Ciao a tutti....vi voglio troppo bene lo sapete?!?! Questa settimana è andata benissssimo!!! Vediamo la mano di Dio in ogni momento, ogni giorno nella nostra opera. Il mio cuore sarà a Messina per sempre!!!!! I am so overwhelmed with love for my mission and this chance to share my simple testimony of Jesus Christ with these Italians! There have been so many instances and experiences this last week that have filled my heart with so much gratitude and love for this work and my Savior!
One night walking home we had 10-15 minutes so we walked up to the first girl we saw sitting on a bench in piazza and it turned out to be such a sweet miracle. Her name's Bridget, she's about 20 and studying at university, we immediately said a prayer with her and began to teach her the restoration. She explained how that night she was feeling so sad and alone and then we walked up. We asked her how her life would be different if she knew that this message was true and she said it would be a "beautiful thing" because there are many things about the Catholic Church that confuse her. We had her read Moroni's promise in the Book of Mormon and she began to cry. She told us she believed she could find an answer to this and had a desire to know. She said the closing prayer, we exchanged numbers and gave her a Book of Mormon and she just seemed so serene and said she would read it before our next visit, she was so ready for us to come and talk to her that night. The next day as we were walking home from an appointment we hear someone calling our name on the side of the road and it was her and we talked a bit and set up an appointment:) God is literally leading us to her and she is searching for something. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY The other day this lady named Pina texted us and told us she missed us and felt something missing from her life and so we met with her in the church. She had met with the missionaries 5 yrs ago and was progressing towards baptism but then got a job and had to work on Sunday's so the missionaries dropped her. Well, for the last year that no missionaries have met with her she has been reading the Book of Mormon EVERY NIGHT. She basically taught us the restoration and bore the most sincere testimony of Joseph Smith. We invited her to be baptized and as I was telling her that God wouldn't give us commandments that we can't follow I just felt the spirit testifying to ME of these things. She began to cry and said I know if I put Christ and his church as a priority in my life everything will fall into place. She's going to need to stop working on Sunday's so please pray for Pina because she is so ready!!!! We saw Sorella Lilia and so boldly testified (but with lots of amore) how if she stops making excuses and comes to church God will bless her and provide a way to do all the other things she needs to get done. It was awesome and so bold but the Spirit was guiding our words. She cried and said she would pray for the strength to come and grow her faith. Sunday morning I was playing the prelude music and when I saw her walk in I couldn't help but run up to her and hug her, my heart was about to burst! There were many other less actives that we have been working with for months who all came to church yesterday (including Janina, the first time she's come to church since I've been here) and as I was playing the hymn "I believe in Christ" the spirit was so strong in the room and I just looked up for a split second and our little Messina chapel was so full we had to bring some extra chairs in! Such a beautiful sight!!!!! Well Davide is getting baptized tomorrow and let's just say Satan has thrown every curveball at him you could imagine, so much as to put our district leader in a coma so Davide couldn't get his baptism interview (don't worry, Anziano McKennas fine he should be out of the ospedale tomorrow, haha it's been a crazy week) It's amazing to me what lengths Satan will go to to stop someone from doing this special ordinance because he knows the blessings waiting for him and the strength that Davides going to be for this Messina branch! The Catania zone leaders drove down and interviewed him and said he was amazing, especially after telling them he would be going on a mission and then going to the Salt Lake temple in 4 years to be married for eternity:) Tomorrow is the day! Let's pray all goes well! So funny story, we go and eat with member couple Namolie and Kushan from Srilanka (no idea how to spell that) They had prepared for us lots of curry and rice with mystery Srilankian fish and eggs and lentils! So so nice of them.....well after we say the prayer we were just kind of waiting because there weren't utensils on the table and then Kushan yells at us "EAT EAT!" Haha, and we realize we're going to eat all this saucy curry and all with our hands....that was quite the experience :) Well I am sooooooo so happy beyond words. Nino should be getting baptized this Saturday at the ocean before our ward bbq. We are praying all goes well--but with some doubts and things he is having I have just been made aware that this will all be done in the Lords timing. We can only do all that we can and leave the rest up to these peoples sweet libero arbitrio and to the Lord and His timing:) I love this gospel con tutto il mio cuore, it's true and is the most beautiful thing in my life! Buona settimana a tutti di voi, Un abbraccio Sorella Taylor Ciao a tutti WHAT AN AWESOME WEEK HERE IN MESSINA SICILIA :) I am loving the mission so much. More and more every day and I know that I am serving in the city of miracles right now!!!!!!
Just a quick update on the investigators..... -jasmine Lorenzo, her boyfriend Antonio, Nino and davide all came to church yesterday! And davide will be getting baptized next Tuesday and we all just can't wait! He is doing so awesome, he fasted for the first time yesterday about questions regarding a mission and he said he felt a sensation he's never felt in his life before. he texted us one night his whole testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and all of a sudden all these huge fireworks just started going off right by our house. Illegal but I felt like everyone was just celebrating for Davide! Awesome moment:) -Antonio & jasmine are so great, they will need some more time because they're living together but hey we might just be seeing a wedding in a short amount of time!!!! -Ninos birthday was last week and no one knew or did anything for him that day so when we found out we threw him a party and brought balloons and watched the restoration movie...it was pretty awesome :) We went to pranzo at his house last week and when we opened the fridge all the wine was GONE! He has completely stopped. He says the most heartfelt prayers, when he prays you know he knows God is listening to Him and aware of his situation and it's been such a good example for me. -We haven't been seeing Irma in a couple of weeks because she wasn't keeping her commitments but we felt we should one day and we went and she told us she had prayed to know if this church is true!!! The first time in 5 months! She said she knows with her heart the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was the biggest miracle, I know if we too ask God for the truth He will tell us. We will be praying for a miracle that she can change her job and come to church. -We pranzoed with Fabiana, her new convert sister and less active mom in Capo Dorlando last week and it was amazing to be with this part member family and teach them all at the same time:) They are the only members out there, about 2 hours away from the church but Stefania wakes up every Sunday morning at 5 and makes the two hours to church, 30 € every Sunday. Such an amazing example per tutti! Unfortunately, Fabianas really struggling with smoking but we will just keep loving encouraging and praying for her! God is on our side :) -Cetti called us this last week, turns out her son has been sick so she has been in the hospital and guess who the doctor is taking care of them? BISHOP. We will be seeing them and teaching them as soon as he's out of the hospital:) Again, there were a million other miracles we saw this week but I really just want to write about one experience. Yesterday we ate lunch with Bishop, his wife and the Stake presidency who was in town. It was such an incredible experience and they all are such amazing examples, some only converts of a couple years and since their conversion have all completely devoted their lives to serving Christ and helping the people here in Sicily to find Him. At the end we shared a spiritual thought with them on missionary work and as we were talking I felt prompted to share the experience when I prayed to know if Pres. Pickard, the knew president coming in was inspired to be serving and leading us in this mission. At the same time I again prayed to know if God had called me here to serve the people in Italy and if I really was supposed to be here in Sicily right now and I receive such a strong and clear confirmation that God needs me here and all these leaders during this time! And that there are so many people around us who are searching for Christ and are ready for this gospel, we testified of the miracles we have been seeing and Bishop just broke down and started crying. He works so hard and I don't think people realize or maybe appreciate all that he does but he has really devoted his life to Christ and it was just such a beautiful moment! I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude to be serving with these amazing faithful and humble people, these people are changing my life! This gospel is changing people's lives here in Messina! The atonement is real and Christ is changing people's hearts, grazie a lui. I love this work! I love my Heavenly Father for sending me here and I know that there are people all around us searching for the truth so let's go out and FIND THEM!!! Sorella Taylor Okay....I'm really sorry but I have about NO time today. We went hiking for Pday today in what looked like the redwood forest it was so beautiful, didn't realize how much I missed the mountains and a breath of fresh air till I was there today:)
It has been such a BEAUTIFUL WEEK. I am so grateful to be here!!!!! The miracles are incredible and unforgettable and are changing my life. I read this scripture this morning and it just really hit me!!! "Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them--even so am I in the midst of you." I know that we are not alone in this work, I have felt the Savior by my side all though out my mission but especially these last couple of weeks here in Messina, He is so aware of us and everything that we are doing and is doing all He can to help us look for His sheep and help others to come unto Him and experience pure joy :) We had a beautiful lesson with Nino this last week, we taught him the plan of salvation and never have I felt the spirit so strong telling this cute 82 year old man who is heartbroken and misses his wife so dearly that He will be able to see her again and live with her for all time and all eternity. He kneeled down at the end of the lesson and said a prayer and cried and thanked Heavenly Father for the beautiful things he learned and heard. We threw a talent show for the branch and after about 5 talents everyone decided instead they just wanted to have a big dance party....oh my goodness it was such a huge turnout and SUCH A BLAST! Haha, it just turned into a huge dance festa with all our contacts and my big Italian family....not to mention my ward mission leader and his wife dancing the whole night away. I love these people so much. I did a scambio with Sorella Mckenzie this week in Messina and we went over to cute Cettis house, a woman we met on the bus the last week and we taught her, her 5 children and her friends the restoration and invited them to baptism and they accepted! Even though it was our first time teaching together we were able to teach in such perfect unity and the spirit was so STRONG! It was incredible!!! All of our investigators are still progressing and doing wonderful!!! It's so beautiful to see! I love you all so much thank you for all the support and love!!! This gospel is so true and has brought me so much peace and happiness!!! I am so happy!!!!! :) Sorella Taylor Well, just have to start out by saying that there is nothing better than hearing that your best friend is coming to join you in this work here in ITALY!!! auguri Elsa I could not be any happier :) This week has been really beautiful, despite the amount of mosquito bites & sweat haha...it's all about the experience right! I'll share just two or three experiences.
This week we had an incredible lesson with the one and only Nino. We had been praying all day that we would have the gift of tongues and be able to teach in such a way that could touch Nino because we just feel and can see that he has so much potential. Well, we walk into our lesson and Nino offers to say the opening prayer & says one of the most beautiful and heartfelt prayers I have ever heard. He prayed that he would be able to know for himself that this message is true, that he would continue to feel the happiness he has felt since meeting with us. We then taught the restoration for the third time and it was one of the craziest feelings, we were all able to understand each other perfectly and I felt the spirit guiding me and my companion in everything we said, it was tangible in that room. At the end Nino told us he has abandoned the Jehovah's Witness church and asked what he needs to do to prepare himself for baptism! He began to tell us, with tears in his eyes that he knows there is a reason we met on the bus that day, and that he has known since the second he met us that the message we were sharing was true. He told us he didn't know how to describe the happiness he has felt in his heart. July 2 he is preparing to enter the waters of baptism! With Davide and his new job I felt a little bit discouraged because of working so late he has struggles coming to church. Sorella Crandell and I realized we need to put more trust in Gods timing and I really came to understand how this is not our work!!! Well we go and have a lesson with him one day and both felt prompted to ask him if he could talk to his boss to get Saturday nights off so he could come to church. He started laughing and said SORELLE! I all ready talked to him and told him I was getting baptized, I asked him when I will be able to get Saturday's off so I can go to church, and in fact I shared with him a Book of Mormon and this beautiful message that has come into my life and I told him that I would be leaving for 2 years to go share this message with others one day! Well.....:) we just sat there kind of dumbfounded, hahaha I couldn't stop smiling! He is so prepared. Sunday morning comes and we have the European conference broadcast with Elder Christofferson and for the first time in my mission we had 6 investigators come to church! Patrizia and her daughter Giada; Jasmine and her boyfriend Antonio; Nino, and last but not least DAVIDE! Davide had gotten home from work at 5 am, and didn't want to go to bed cause he knew he wouldn't wake up so he started reading the Book of Mormon until it was time to make the 1 hour bike ride to the church :) With Fabiana living 2 hours away from us it has been difficult meeting with her to prepare her for baptism next week but she is still doing wonderful! She asked for a priesthood blessing to help her overcome her smoking addiction and so we met with the anziani last week and anziano McKenna gave her a really beautiful blessing. Afterwards she couldn't stop smiling and told us she has never experienced a joy like she feels right now. I am beyond grateful for the priesthood and the power that we have seen working in Fabiana :) Alma 16 16 And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming-- 17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God. I read these scriptures this week and was just so overwhelmed with all the people's hearts that Heavenly Father is preparing to hear this message and to receive it with JOY! I am so happy to be here!!! I love you all :) Sorella Taylor It's been a really beautiful week:) We spent four days out of our area, two in Catania for zone conference, one in Reggio for their baptism, and one yesterday on the other side of the island in Palermofor Stake Conference. All such uplifting and incredible experiences that I won't forget. Elder Adonay Vindas from the Seventy came to the conference yesterday and bore a beautiful testimony about running and finishing the race with Christ, there was such a strong spirit in the room and it was really powerful being united with all these faithful members here in Sicilia:)
One of the biggest miracles from this week is when we went to go visit Jasmine & her son Lorenzo for the first time. She is from the Carribean, she married an Italian and he's passed away so now she lives with her boyfriend and 18 yr old son! We taught them about the Restoration, and about halfway through the boyfriend walked in and wasn't too happy that Jasmine was meeting with us, he started yelling at her and said a lot of rude things and then stormed out of the house. She began to cry and we bore testimony of Gods love for her and her worth as a daughter of God, and how he has a plan for her. The spirit was so strong and we proceeded to invite them to be baptized. Lorenzo immediately turned to his mother all excited and said "mom can I?" She said, of course, and told us she wants to be baptized as well. They came to Stake Conference (along with the boyfriend) and absolutely loved it. Three of the four talks were on strengthening the family, and the boyfriend told us how much he enjoyed it! It was all very inspired. We had a lesson with Nino and cute Fratello Impollonia this last week, I'm telling you they are best buds! We have had a harder time trying to communicate with Nino, not just because he only has a couple teeth but more because he speaks more Siciliano than he does Italiano! Well, in our lesson last week Nino still wasn't quite understanding the restoration so all of a sudden Fratello Impollonia started using all these metaphors and comparing the restored gospel to different gelato flavors, pasta, and panini. And CLICK! It's like this light just went on in Ninos head, I'm telling you the way to an Italians heart is always through food:) When we invited him to be baptized he told us he's too old and doesn't swim. I had to keep myself from laughing, this was by far the most interesting lesson I've ever had haha. I love him though and he's praying for an answer to know if the church is true. Who knew a simple bus convo would turn into something so great:) We had a lot of incredible experiences this week, but I just want to really focus on one:) We had one of the most beautiful moments the other day with Sorella Muscolino. She's in her 50s, her husband passed away a few years ago and she suffers from cancer. She now lives with her boyfriend and feels like she's too far from Heavenly Father to come back to church. (she hasn't come in 6 years.) Well last week we decided to make the trek up in the mountains even though she hadn't been answering our calls and I'm so grateful that we followed that prompting. When she first saw us I don't know how happy she was that we were there, she seemed very tired, and was just quietly folding her laundry and didn't really want to talk. She eventually came over to the table and sat down with us and said a prayer, and we had one of the most spiritual lessons I think I've had on my whole mission. She explained how she knows Heavenly Father has always been there for her but she hasn't always been there for Him. She began to cry and told us she wanted to return. Immediately the Spirit just flooded my whole body there was no way in that moment I could deny what I was feeling and the love of Heavenly Father for this Sorella! I have never felt so strongly the love of god for his children. I began to tell her the parable of the lost sheep and told her that it doesn't matter how far we have strayed from our shepherd or how lost we feel. He is constantly searching for us and when he finds us he rejoices! The spirit was so strong and I was able to see Sorella Muscolino in a different light than I have ever seen her. I referred to Pres Uchtdorfs talk from this last conference and explained that if we only lift up our hearts to the Savior he will find us, rescue us, lift us up and place us on his shoulders and carry us home. And REJOICE! I felt I was in just as much need to hear what the spirit was teaching just as much as her:) “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? “And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” Sorella Taylor WOW it has been such an awesome week Messina is on fire right now!!! I don't even know where to begin. Sorella Crandell and I have been trying to strengthen our faith that the Lord is preparing people here in Messina ready for this restored gospel and we have seen some beautiful miracles! In pmg (Preach My Gospel) it says, "He will lead you to them or He will lead them to you" and this last week he has led so many people ready for the gospel to us!!!!!:)
Fabiana! So a little bit about her, she's 24, her sister Stefania is a new convert as of February and their mother was baptized 40 years ago and is inactive. Well Fabiana came to church again yesterday and we had one of the most beautiful lessons with her and Stefania last night!!! She explained how after taking the lessons with the sisters she began to smoke again and was so discouraged and told us she felt so lost and empty and far from God. She expressed how she had been praying for the strength to overcome her smoking addiction the past little while and felt she needed to come to church again. Now she wants to continue meeting with us and she accepted to prepare for baptism for June 18th! Stefania started crying (it was her birthday yesterday & explained later how this was the best birthday she's ever had). We are going to get this family to the temple to be sealed together for all time and eternity! Today as we were walking around in Catania this lady named Jasmine calls us, and tell us that a year ago her 18 year old son was preparing for baptism and got nervous, felt like he wasn't ready and told the missionaries he wanted some time. Well his mother called us and told us she and her son BOTH have interest in meeting with us again! It was the biggest miracle, I can't wait to meet them! They are from the Carribean but have been living in Italia for years :) We did a huge party for corso d'inglese (English course), and watched Meet the Mormons together and ate so much good food. It went soooo well, we had a such a great turnout:) Well we had to escape before the movie finished so we could be home on time and after walking for about 15 minutes this cute couple (corso students) pull over on the side of the road & asked if they could give us a ride. They began to explain how much they loved the movie, and how it's so beautiful that we actually live what we believe! They especially loved the story about the bishop, and how the family was central in his life. (whereas here in Italy the priests can't be married.) We asked them if they would have interest in hearing more about our message and they said "OF COURSE! In fact we were wanting to ask you!" We will be meeting with them this week:) this is truly the hastening of the work!!!! Nino came to church again yesterday and absolutely loved it!!! We also had pranzo with him and his neighbors and taught them the Restoration!!!!:) Fratello Impollonia, the 2nd counselor in the bishopric has become best buds with Nino and it's so awesome to see Nino so happy. His wife died about 15 years ago and he has been so lonely ever since. He is a Jehovah's Witness but explained to us how the members there don't always live what they believe and he has felt a peace and sense of direction in his life since he met with us and coming to our church! He asked us if he could take a hymn book home with him so he could play them on the piano (he writes music). This week we will do a lesson with him and fllo Impollonia and invite him to come unto Christ and be baptized! I can't wait:) Davide is still doing wonderful, unfortunately with this new job he works Saturday nights till 3-4 am and hasn't made it to church-he is heartbroken that he hasn't come and asked us to pray for him, he is still doing awesome and is still preparing for baptism whether that be in a few weeks or no! We will not let Satan discourage him or us, we just got to keep that FAITH in him and help him continue on this path!!!! Well funny story, a year ago when I was skating with friends my tooth chipped out! Well it was a beautiful morning over here in Sicily and I took a bite into a yum peach and there goes my tooth! Let's just say I never want to go to a dentist outside of America ever again:) Besides that hahaha all has been beautiful here in Messina! I love the mission. It's one of the only times in my life we will have this divine power and I have never felt so close to God, our Savior and the Spirit ever in my life!! I have never been able to see other people in a small sense of how Heavenly Father sees His children like I have in the mission. I have never experienced the joy of seeing someone completely change their life around in order to come to know their Savior Jesus Christ like I have here. I have never found so much meaning and light and beauty in my life like I have in the mission serving others. All the hard times, the sad moments don't even matter in contrast with all these sweet moments and tender mercies!! I LOVE YOU ALL VI VOGLIO BENE SORELLA Taylor Ciao a tutti
Awesome week as usual here with Sorella Crandell, we are loving Messina! God is so good to us. Have to go to a funeral in just a bit we don't have much time so this might be a little scattered....scusami Davide is doing so well! He prayed last week to find work, and a couple days later he got a job washing dishes at a restaurant-he has been without a job for almost a year! He was so happy and was so touched that God was so aware of him. He hasn't smoked in over 3 weeks now and told us he has no desire to ever smoke again! During one of our lessons this last week, we asked him "who is Jesus Christ to you" and he told us that Christ is his Savior. He talked about the past 7 years of his life he didn't know who Christ was and how lost and empty he felt! and then told us that thanks to our Savior Jesus Christ he has now found a new life, and he has never been so happy or ever felt this much peace. The Spirit was so powerful in the room! The Davide I met 2 months ago is a completely different person now-it's so beautiful watching the reality of Christ and His atonement changing people. The other day we were on the bus and this cute old man got out of his seat so I could sit down! We started to talk and exchanged numbers to meet one day to share our message. Well, we called him on Saturday and invited him to church (he doesn't have a car and lives about an hour away) and he said he wouldn't be able to because his daughter was coming into town. Well right as sacrament meeting was about to start yesterday in walks cute Nino all dressed up and excited to see us! Then in walks Fabiana!!!! Biggest miracle of the week-we taught her a couple months ago and she was doing wonderful but started smoking again and it made her discouraged and she told us she didn't want to meet anymore. Well she came to church yesterday and told us she wants to start meeting again! They both loved church, Nino (86 yrs old) especially loved singing the hymns it was so great:) One night we went with all the ysas downtown and did a huge gesso, with surveys, English course, & Mormon messages it was so much fun and such a huge success! At the end of the night this older man came up to me and explained how he had met with the missionaries 15 years ago and read the Book of Mormon, but eventually the missionaries lost contact with him and he hasn't met with them since. We set up an appointment with him and met last night, the lesson went so well, he explained for the past 15 years how hard his life has been and some trials he has gone through, & expressed his love for the Savior during this time. We both felt prompted to invite him to baptism for June 18 and he asked us if he could be baptized sooner! Haha that's definitely not the answer we were expecting but we couldn't be happier for him:) I feel like it's getting harder and harder to write every week! It's hard to put into words all the countless miracles we see every day and the Lords hand in guiding us in His work...but what I can say is this is the greatest experience I have ever taken part in:) like Davide I have never been happier or felt so much peace in my life like I do now, sharing the gospel! I know it is true! We got to do scambios with the sorelle in Siracusa last week and had the opportunity to share the gospel where Paul preached the gospel....it was incredible! I will never forget these experiences! Have a settimana meravigliosa! 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; Sorella Taylor Hello all! Don't have too much time today but just wanted to wish all you mothers a buona festa della mama🌸especially my beautiful mother! One of my favorite talks is behold thy mother from Elder Holland:
"No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child." Thanks to my beautiful mother and her selfless love! I LOVE you mom! I especially loved this Mother's Day not just because I got to talk with mom but also because we went downtown that night and talked to all these families and shared a message about mothers and how grateful Heavenly Father is for their divine love and service-it was really cool and so beautiful to talk to so many families. Saturday night our plans fell through so we thought we would go stop by Leonas apartment because she hadn't answered our phone calls and texts all week. We went over and she said she hadn't left her house all week because she was sad with Mother's Day coming up because her children haven't talked to her in a very long time and she misses them and her husband. She just sat there and cried, it was so sad but we had the opportunity to talk about Christ and His perfect atonement! And immediately a peace just came over us and Leona. I love being a missionary because I love seeing the reality of the atonement and how we can be lifted through His sacrifice. She walked with us to church the next morning and there was just such a beautiful spirit, I'm grateful she was able to come and feel the Saviors perfect love for her during the sacrament. This week has been really amazing, I love this work so much. Sorella Crandell & I fasted on Sunday for a way to help all our investigators progress more towards baptism and for their hearts to be softened and accept the dates we had prayed for. Well, Monday night Davide called us and told us he had received an answer to his prayers and wants to be baptized! We are so happy for him, we might need to push his date back until June because he is doing the smoking program and we want him to be as prepared as possible, but he feels at peace and believes this is the true church of Jesus Christ. One of the most beautiful things is seeing him pray for the first time in 7 years and developing that relationship with Heavenly Father again. I'll never forget the first lesson we had with him and how sad and lost he seemed and now seeing him and the joy and light that radiates from him! God is working some pretty great miracles here in Messina :) We taught Anna and her husband Giovanni the restoration last week at their shoe shop! They are devoted Catholics, some of the first I have met here in Italy who go to church every Sunday and pray and read the bible every day! We gave them a Book of Mormon and they have been reading it together! Tonight we will invite them to baptism, we have faith that if they keep reading the Book of Mormon with open hearts they will receive an answer and make this change that will change their lives! I can't wait. Have a happy week tutti! I am so happy to be here and see Gods hand in my life every day. He is so good to us, don't ever forget He is there! Sorella Taylor What's upppp! This week has been AMAZING. First off my greenie is Sorella Crandell from Utah she is so great, her mom is from Peru so she speaks Spanish and because of that her Italian is all ready sooooooo good:) #hasteningofthework She also lived in Spain for a year as a foreign exchange student! Anyways, I'm super grateful, she has taught me so much all ready and helped me to remember my purpose and have the faith and courage needed to be the best missionary I can be! As we were planning for our lessons the other day the first thing she asked me was how can we make Jesus Christ the center of our lesson? It just really hit me, she does all she can to make Christ the center of everything we do and it has been such a blessing and good reminder for me. We have seen SO MANY MIRACLES Our very first day together we went and taught Irma, the cute bedante at the rest home that we've been teaching for awhile, and unfortunately she hasn't been able to come to church cause she works every Sunday! Well, as we were planning for her lesson we both were strongly prompted that we needed to ask her to pray for the help to change her work hours or to even change her jobs so she will be able to come to church on Sunday! At first I was a little bit nervous to do this, she is a single mother with 3 children and is all ready working 2 jobs to try and pay the bills....but we knew that that's what Heavenly Father wanted. We went in and taught her about prayer and at the end the Spirit was so strong and I invited her to pray and ask for the help needed to change her work schedule and she told us that she would. It was incredible, I know the Spirit was testifying to her of the truth of what we were saying. She texted us during the week and told us she is still waiting for her answer....pray for Irma:) Sorella Crandell and I made it a goal to ask all of our investigators to be baptized this week with a specific date, so we prayed and selected dates for all of them that we felt they could prepare for! One night we went over and taught Zahaitu and Davide the restoration again and at the end invited them to be baptized and Zahaitu explained some of her doubts and challenges but accepted the invite to pray which is such a huge miracle! Davide on the other hand accepted and said he will pray to know if he can prepare himself for the 28th of MAY! He realizes the importance of this decision and how it will change his life and it's just so beautiful to see how much intent he has and how he wants to be sure this is right for him. It was so cool to see. We taught Patrizia and Giada last night the plan of salvation and it was one of the most incredible experiences....a little while back Sorella Cueva explained how they had been thinking about dropping her because she has been taught for so long but is having a hard time progressing. Well, we kept teaching her and meno male because the GREENIE just completely changed everything. Sorella Crandell had experienced some very difficult family situations right before coming out on the mission and during the lesson yesterday she started sharing this particular experience and Patrizia just broke down and said "that's exactly how I feel!" We finally figured out what has been blocking her from progressing and being baptized thanks to my companion following the Spirit!!! We invited her to pray for the help to make some changes in her life and invited her to be baptized and to partake of the JOY of the gospel and promised her she can be happy again! She told us she would pray about it and I know that God is preparing her and she is getting so close to making these covenants with Heavenly Father! I love this work and am so grateful! Thanks for all the prayers, support and love I feel so blessed! This church is true :) There's nothing else that could possibly bring me this joy or the miracles that I see every single giorno! Have a happy week Ciao 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 |