Sorella Williams: MTC Be Cray!

Buon Natale!!!!

Craziest week of my life and I don't even know where to begin. Mom wanted every detail when I got the MTC so I will try my best. After I left you guys at the car (aka hurricane of emotions) I was quickly drugged and asked to sacrifice a goat. jk it was fine. I went inside and right away got my name tag. I was teary eyed but happy. As I was getting it put on me I could here someone crying next to me. I looked over and it was Sorella Wise!!! We straight up ran to each other and hugged and cried. I was so happy to have her with me and I know she was relieved. We stayed together as we got our Italian books and ID cards and all that jazz. We found out we were not in the same district (boo) but I see her all the time. I was shown my room, dropped my suitcases off and taken to a class room. I was the last one to enter and it was SO AWKWARD because I was loud and laughing/crying and accidentally knocked into a desk and made all these books fall and it was a mess. But it was mostly awkward because my teacher was speaking to me in full Italian and I just thin grinned back and slowly backed toward the only desk left. My teacher is a sweet heart her name is Sorella Hoffman and she got back a year ago from serving in Milan as well. She's good about putting up with me that's for sure because I don't know what the crap I'm doing in Italian. I found out my companion is Sorella Seymour and she is THE BEST. I love her and we make a good team when we teach investigators. We had a meeting with all the new missionaries and sang Called To Serve. Talk about up in the feels am I right? They chose me to stand up in front of 023957803945 people and read and share my thoughts about the rules in the handbook. HAH wrong person to ask because lets just say these rules take some getting used to. But I'm glad Sorella Seymour is SO obedient and keeps me on board. Then we had dinner and tours and branch meetings, oh my gosh it was the longest day of my life and so weird to now have a companion to remain in "sight and hearing" at all times. We also taught 3 real investigators ( in English, whew) on the first day. It was crazy because they had real questions and real problems in their lives. As we taught the spirit was so strong, I knew they felt it to because each one of them in our different lessons began to cry and we bore testimony of this gospel. Ugh I'm getting teary eyed even typing this. The mission guy said that they pay these non member people $18 an hour to come to the MTC and be taught by us, but they always have to find new people because they all end up getting baptized!! and that's just by the first day newbie missionaries!! powerful. But we get along so well and I truly lucked out. That first night was rough because I couldn't sleep. I could hear sisters crying all night and it kept me up!!! But the next day went smoothly and I was just glad to get December 16th over with.

My district is great! They get my humor and they let me be me which is good because let me tell you what, 9 hours of Italian class per day makes me a little crazy. I sometimes get to a point where I either loose my mind, hysterically start laughing, become exhausted to the point of crying, get sass pants, or I just drop and roll out of the classroom...literally. My teacher loves me though she's great. I have Sorella Swenson (sister from another mister..seriously long lost sisters. love her.She's going to Rome), Deem (young cute innocent baby face little bambina. going to Milan), Hills (brilliant, happy, STRONG, classy, picture her as like a young Maggie Smith who likes to kick it sometimes and party. Rome), Seymour (bff, California beach babe who pillow talks with me every night and loves peanut butter. Milan), then there are the Anziani Tilton (USU, 20 year old QUIET funny guy. Milan) and Harris (funny, easy going, his dad served in Rome and TAUGHT THE POPE, from Brigham. Milan). They are warming up to me because I haven't really given them a choice. They are silent but deadly because if you listen closely they say the funniest stuff. They are great. A usual day is wake up at 6 (if I have service or gym then 5:40) go to class go to breakfast go to gym go to class go to lunch go to class maybe a devotional or meeting go to class go to dinner go to class go home and approximately have 30 minutes to shower, get dressed, unwind, write in journal, prepare talks or lessons sometimes, journal, companion prayers, write any letters, etc. Its crazy. If you are self conscious a mission is not for you because hashtag no makeup & no shower happens a little too frequently. There's just no time. And then it starts all over again. Sundays here are great because they are so meaningful. You have stuff all day and just go to meeting after meeting after meeting! Especially right now because its Christmas time so every devotional is so amazing. We had one called Music, The Spoken Word, Richard Heaton, a David Bednar movie (incredible-about the character of Christ), and one last night with Elder Brent Nielson of the Seventy. I could write paragraphs about every single one of them. I can't believe how much I have learned in one week. I have such a testimony of the power of prayer. That first day or really anytime I feel overwhelmed or weak I say a prayer and feel strengthened immediately. God loves his missionaries and I feel it everyday here.

My Italian is getting better and better. Sometimes I get SO annoyed that I'm not catching on or at the level others are. And then I say I have been here 7 days, calm your pants. Me e me collega taught Francesca 4 Italian lessons already! The first lesson was the third day I was here!! How crazy is that? The gift of tongues is real people because when I focused too hard on what she was saying or what I would respond with I couldn't understand her, but when I focused on the spirit and what she needed to hear I knew exactly what she was saying. So many miracles have happened in our short lessons with her. Or sometimes I look like an idiot running around the room basically playing charades so she can understand us haha. I was trying to explain the devil a couple days ago and ended up putting my two fingers as horns and growling at her. We all laughed it was so awful. But I love when me and Seymour can teach together, MAGIC PEOPLE. She agreed to be baptized last lesson and it was the most incredible feeling!! I felt Christ's love for her and began to tear up to see the spirit touch her hear. I love being a teacher and I am proven everyday over and over again exactly why I am here. This places is becoming normal to me (even the crapy food) and I am so happy to feel at home here with these missionaries. You can't help but be humbled as you look around at the hundreds of happy missionaries realizing that each one of them sacrificed so much to be here (some learned English just to be here at the Provo MTC from different countries) and each one of them were prayerfully assigned as to where they would serve. There is no place in the world like the MTC. It's prison but it's a happy prison you just don't get visitors hahaha. The MTC president said the only place more holy than the MTC is the temple. So even when you grab breakfast, even on a P day, you have to be in church clothes.

The Italians, Germans, and Romanian missionaries are very close here. They stick together and I guess they have since the beginning of time. The Germans were the ones who helped us and gave us tours those first couple of days because "the Italians and Germans stick together" haha. All of Europe is pretty much on the third floor so there are multiple languages being talked back and forth and bathroom time is like girly chaos of talking about your mission. It's fun to be Italian here! Its kind of like high school, its very clique but only by what country/state you're going to which you don't really have a choice because of your companion and everything but still. Everyone sticks together and when you're in the cafeteria you can clearly see the Argentina table, the Italian table, the French table, the Canada table, etc. Its pretty funny.

I can't thank you enough for so many letters and packages!!! Nothing better than walking to class when your district pres. comes running after you with a letter in his hand. Dear Elder is fantastic because they come same day and I can to read them immediately whereas if you send a hand written one (which I still love) I have to wait until the night. Your letters made me laugh so hard and I shared some with my buddies here who are now understanding where I get my humor based on all your letters haha. They were like "oh, makes sense now". Funny how excited we get for devotionals and things like that. It is seriously like Disneyland when someone tells you that there is a devotional which means this will be the BEST WEEK EVER because Christmas equals four million devotionals. I joined the MTC choir to get out of class, but it ended up being the BEST decision ever. The choir teacher is the best person I have ever met and it so smart and funny. He makes it so fun and you end up learning a lot about Christ you didn't even know about. We sang He Sent His Son yesterday for a devotional and the room was just RADIATING the spirit. I love being apart of it...as does the rest of the MTC so there's like no one in the audience because we have 700 missionaries in the choir hahahaha. no joke 700. So there's just a couple old people in the audience and our teachers hahahahaa. We are singing Noel on Christmas day and I can't wait. I am thankful for so many things. But I want to participate in the family tradition of Christ's gift for Christmas with you guys. My gift to Christ this year is learning patience and trust through him. He will make weak things become strong unto them. And that is the game plan people. I love my savior and trust in him that in 6 weeks I will be ready for Italy and the people waiting for me.

It still hasn't hit me that I'm a missionary but I see little changes in myself now and then that make my smile and say a prayer of thanks. I am changing for the better. Despite missing friends and family I don't want to be anywhere else but here. I went to SLC Monday to get my visa and it was weird seeing Draper and Orem and SLC from the train without jumping out to see my friends. I saw dads office (sad) and Jessica's (sad too). It was weird but the visa stuff went well and now I'm official!! it was a fun field trip, aka prison break you know what I'm sayin?

Miss you all so much and hope all is well. Buon Natale!!!!!! Please look at your life and think of ways your can grow closer to Him this Christmas. He is your advocate and your fighter. He is your light and your biggest cheerleader. D&C 45:3-5. read it and weep people....because I literally did. Merry Christmas. I write in my journal every night I CAN DO HARD THINGS. I'm proving myself right every single day here. I love you all so much and have NO time to write everyone back so I'm sorry but I promise I will get better at this Pday thing.

love Sorella Williams

p.s volleyball for Mormons is not a hobby it is a way of life. scary stuff. xoxoxxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxox