First and foremost Buon Anniversario a miei carissimi genitori! Venticinque anni e forte ancora! I'm so blessed to have great parents who are so kind and loyal to each other and loved their kids enough to raise us in such a loving God centered home. I am truly so blessed!!
We taught Paul who was very nervous because the next day he was going to Rome to basically see if the government would give him the paper work required to stay in Italy. Paul is so faith driven and told me "I have faith God will let me stay in this country because he knows if he does, others will ask me how this was possible for me to get my papers and I will tell everyone by the grace of God". Paul said if he stays the next time he sees us he's bringing 7 friends to listen to the missionaries. What a guy.
We helped Nicoletta translate her resume into English so she can hopefully get a job in England when she graduates college. She is so sweet and really loves the missionaries. She said she would be ok with us teaching her about our church, as long as we keep teaching her English too. So it's a deal.
Jennifer is in the hospital for her son Emmanuel. We found out the only reason she moved here from Nigeria years ago was for cheaper medical care for Emmanuel because he has major heart issues. When I went to the hospital I seriously could not believe it. We are very blessed in America that's all I can say. It's such a miserable situation for her there. The way hospitals work here is you basically have to wait with the person in the hospital until they are better 24/7 or else they will lose their spot/bed. Other sick people are in the small rooms as well with them. The last time Emmanuel was in the hospital he stayed for a couple months and Jennifer was there in his bed with him every minute of every day. Luckily they feed her a little bit too. It's awful so we've tried to visit her a couple times to keep her company.
Frotello Rotelli called us and told us we got permission to do a Mostra where he lives in Torrita di Siena (the most beautiful Tuscan city outside Siena)! A Mostra is pretty much a public display or show to get people interested in talking to you. Anytime we've tried to do one in Siena the cops threaten to arrest us haha. So we were excited. It was part of an old vintage book fair in the city, so we set up our booth with Book of Mormons because hey it's a vintage book, we aren't breaking any rules. It was pretty cool and Frotello Rotelli set up a big family history booth as well and talked to a lot of people about it! We only handed out a couple books, but had some pretty good conversations with people. We did that all day Saturday and then went back right after church Sunday until night. It was Sorella Rowe's birthday on Sunday! The Rotellis fed us lunch before the Mostra Sunday for her bday and it was sooooo good. I'm still getting used to the four course meals. Italians do not mess around.
Monday we went to Florence for Zone training! It was good to see other missionaries again. Sorella Rowe gave her dying testimony and both her and I are in denial that she's almost done here. Other than that the training was great and I learned a lot. Best part was they fed us TACOSSSSS. I HAVENT HAD A TORTILLA IN YEARS PEOPLE.
On the train home we sat by this New York couple on vacation and it was such a party. I loved them they were hilarious. They explained to me all about how Italians work in New York and how they all are from Brooklyn and then move to either Long Island or Staten Island. I quoted all my favorite New Yorker-Italian stereotypes from movies and they were dying. We talked about our church and what we are doing here as missionaries. They thought it was really cool and took information to learn more.
We passed by Ketusha's apartment because she never answers her phone and hasn't been to church in forever. She wasn't home but her cute roommate was and she let us in and we ended up talking for an hour! They are having us over for dinner next week. I'm glad to be building friendships with people instead of just jumping down their throats with gospel stuff, I think it's important to show you care about them more than only being there to share our message, which isn't hard because I really do love the people we teach.
I t can be frustrating not progressing as fast as I would like to be with some of our investigators. But the circumstances are hard here. Everyone works on Sunday, buses don't run Sunday mornings, trains are expensive, and no one has a car to just come to church or meet with the missionaries. On top of that, the only missionaries here are me and Rowe and it's hard. It's like all odds are against us sometimes and I can feel so discouraged wondering if I'm actually helping these people. I don't understand how the truth can be right in front of them and they can't recognize it!! But I am reminded that God has only asked me to do one thing, to preach his gospel. And if I did nothing than that for my entire mission than I guess I fulfilled my job. I have faith that these people can recognize, change, and pray for the answers I know they have in their hearts. Please pray for the Sienese people!
I hope you all have a great week! Vi voglio bene
Sorella Williams
Firenze (Florence) Zone Conference
Siena Duomo
Duomo of Siena
Mostra in Torrita di Siena with Frotello Rotelli
Sorella Rowe & Williams at their booth in the old village book fair
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