Felice Anno Nuovo!

Salve!

So, Christmas has passed... what? So crazy. And, next week it will be a new year. Che crazy!

Okay, a couple things I wanted to say first (I always have a couple things written down I want to remember for my emails). First, thanks Pres. Berry for the Christmas card! :) And, thanks to the YW of OP2nd for the letters! They were so so wonderful! Especially thanks to Kelly Anderson, I loved her picture :) Ha.

Next: Un uomo (guy) in our ward gave us a CD (2 transfers ago, with S.lla Eaton) called "A Nashville Tribute to the Prophet". Basically, it's a killer cd, and I love it tons. Y'all should get it, and listen to it. Songs about Joseph, Emma, Hyrum... basically, it's one of the greatest cds! I loove it!

Next - so, we have wood floor in our bedroom, but it's not super great... I was walking the other day, and I didn't lift up my foot super high, and kinda kicked the floor, and I got a splinter! In my foot! (remember that time I accidentally stepped on a toothpick, and it broke off in my foot? Ben? Haha, there's a fun video of that...). Yeah, it was like that. Well, the piece broken off in my foot was like that, but I didn't freak out as much. I dunno why. I tried to pull it out, but I couldn't get it. But, I just thought "What would mom say?", and I thought, she would just say, "Don't worry, the body will naturally push it out." So, I left it. It wasn't super bad, walking on it. But, as far as I can tell, it's still in my foot! Hahaha. This is probably the most pointless story, so I'll just finish here. But, y'all should know, I might have a piece of wood stuck in my foot for the rest of my life.

Next, this is mostly for Courtney/Elisabeth - hey, guess what? Carla's married?! Crazy! That just occurred to me the other day! That's so crazy! Give her hugs and kisses from me :) Yes, everyone can expect kisses from me when I get home, we kiss everyone here (women, of course) :) Haha

So, here's a Christmas Eve story! Not really a Christmas Eve story, but we had a lesson on Christmas Eve, with this one woman. A woman we met on the street (who we tried to see once, but she had to cancel the appointment) called us back (whoa! A miracle in itself), and we set up another appointment. Then, we had the lesson the other day (la vigilia aka Christmas Eve), and she wants to keep seeing us. She doesn't have a strong testimony of anything (prophets, bible, Christ, etc.) except for God. She knows there's a God, and knows He's her Heavenly Father, but she just has doubts about everything else. She's studied with a lot of churches, trying to find the truth, but hasn't found it. I'm excited to help her find the truth!

Oh, also, one of our investigators have a baptismal date! That's the first baptismal date I've ever set! Hello, exciting! :) She's great. We didn't have a LDM (BOM) the first time we met with her, because we were all out! But, our second lesson we brought her one, and she asked if we had anything we could bring her daughter (like, a little LDM or something!) - hello! I love her. We got a little pamphlet, she can color and draw on, we're gonna give it to them tomorrow.

Then, we went to see a bunch of people Sunday night, and we stopped by this one member - she's a convert, but none of her family is. Her husband's passed away, and her sons aren't members (but, they're not against the church or anything). Anyway, we stopped by to see her, just to say hello quickly before heading home for the night, and it was 23 Dic., so we decided to sing a Christmas song with her before heading out (we also brought cookies - we've been bringing cookies to a bunch of people, we made maybe 5-6 dozen cookies. Haha). Anyway, long story short, we sang a Christmas song, she sang with us, but she started to cry during the last verse. Make me cry, why don't you! Just kidding, I didn't cry. But, I just love her so much. She was the first member I met here at Collegno! She thanked us for coming over, and said that we were sent from Heavenly Father, and that she needed us to come by that night - that, she knew that Heavenly Father was mindful of her that night. Precious! I love her.

Then, okay! Quickly - Christmas Eve we went to one of our less-active members' house for dinner, and her non-member family. Basically, they're some of my favorite people. They're great! So fun. I know the mom, because she comes to English class, but the dad I had only met one time, and the aunt and uncle I had never met before. They're cute. We ate for 3 hours (agh! We've been eating like that for 3 days - Christmas Eve with them, Christmas Day with another family, and today (Santo Stefano) with another family - basically, we can never eat again), but then they opened presents at midnight (we got to stay out until 1am Christmas Even, because there's an Italian thing that the missionaries can go to - Midnight Mass at the Catholic churches. I wanted to go, but we didn't have enough time). Anyway, at midnight they opened presents, and they got us something! Cute little hair clips :) I love them!

Then, Christmas day was so much fun! We made brownies (which the Italians don't know how to make...? So, they're like a delicacy here! Haha), and covered them half in nutella, half in peanut butter (another delicacy). Delish. And, we brought them to lunch at another members house for Christmas day! Ah, this family is basically my favorite family in the whole world! Okay, they were like 3 families from our ward, but somehow they're all related, and some non-member relatives. 25-ish people in a little apartment - so fun! There are some guys (sons) who just remind me of my brothers :) Big guys, and goofy and sarcastic - just like Willis boys! I'll send pictures :) It was lots of fun with them. Their dad was the Mission President for the Catania Mission some years ago - oh, Kingsley Clawson, who was your Mission President? I dunno if it was this President Caruso, or... I dunno. But, he was over Catania!

Then I called y'all on Skype... oh hey, that was just yesterday! Ha. Crazy. These last few days have been super weird - staying up and OUT past midnight, then Christmas day (they told us it was kinda a free day to enjoy Christmas), then today is p-day... it's weird, not doing the regular missionary schedule!

But, yes. This is a kinda long email. Y'all are the best, and the cutest family in the whole wide world! :) Sorry yesterday was kinda weird, with the skype, not working greatly with the video. Oh well, there's always Mother's Day! :) Haha.

But, y'all be good, have fun Capo d'Anno (New Years), and stay safe! Make some good spiritual growth goals this new year! :)

I looooove y'all! Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Willis

Christmas Eve with Vanessa, Marinella (from English Class) and their family! (I love them so much!)

Christmas Day with le famiglie Aramu, Caruso, Quaresima, e piu. I love them so so much, too!

Christmas! :)

Buon Natale a tutti! :) Merry Christmas!

So, I always want to respond to each of y'alls emails, but there's just never enough time! Sorry!

Dad, thanks for the emails, and the pictures, and the updates! Disney looked great :)

I told Courtney, but I'll just tell you, too. I dunno exactly when I'll be calling/skyping (or, which I'll be doing!), but my comp. wants to do it around 6pm our time, which is around 12pm (noon) y'alls time, I think. It's not set in stone, but that's the time frame we're looking at. So, just so y'all know :) Can't wait to talk to you guys!

Okay, stories this past week. So, we had a lesson with a guy after our English class. But, it wasn't really a lesson. It was kinda just him trying to tell us why Joseph Smith wasn't a Prophet, and trying to teach us, telling us to be open-minded... it was kinda crazy. The spirit definitely was not there. We had to leave, and we told him (because it was getting close to 9pm), and he said something along the lines of, "Oh, it's okay. I would be scared, too". Ooh, that night. Then, after the lesson, one of the members offered to give him a ride home, and our bishop asked to talk to us. He told us that this guy had met with the missionaries before, and that he ended up being a problem with the sisters... so, he asked us to stear clear of him. Not a problem, because we we hadn't planned to contact him again, anyway. He just wanted to argue. But, the crazy thing is, we got him from a street contact! We try to ask for referrals from everyone, and after someone on the street said they weren't interested, we asked for a referral, and he gave us this guys name and number... I wonder if he did that on purpose. Humph. I dunno.

Poi (then) we found this awesome girl, and we're teaching her now! She's studying with the Testimoni di Geova, but only because she's searching, and trying to find what's right. Hello! So great. She has a little daughter, and they're just great.

Oh! And, okay, one night we made the decision to go running in the morning to the train station, to check out train times... so, we wake up, get ready, and my colega says to look outside. SNOW! So cute! We ended up running, anyway! Haha, it wasn't that bad. I made a snowball, and threw it at a pole... and hit the pole, dead center! I felt accomplished :) Ha. Ma, then we had another Scambio/Blitz this week! We did 2 this transfer, so fun :) Except this time we switched, and my comp. was with the other Sr. comp (Lofley), and I was with Sorella Hoppe - I was in the MTC with her! She's so fun, I love her :) She's probably the happiest person in the world, and has no fear. And, she's already killing the Italian language. She's from Germany, speaks English, lived a year in Spain, and speaks all those languages (maybe French, too?), so she's got experince with language learning. I love her. She came with me to our ward Christmas party, and that was so fun! I loooove this ward in Collegno so much. I'm gonna be so sad when I leave. The dinner was a Christmas dinner/farewell for one of our guys, who's going to Australia for his mission! It was so fun, there were games, delish food... ah, wonderful.

Um, okay! I'm running out of time! Agh :/

Okay, so this week is "senior week",  where the Jr. comp takes charge of all teaching situations... but, my comp. is making me in charge of everything. It's kinda great, kinda super frustrating. But, I'm learning! Ha. We went to teach this one guy, and he's basically my favorite person in the world. We were outside one day, and this guy kept looking back at us. So, we started walking after him, and when we reached up to him we started talking. He's from Gana, he doesn't speak a lot of Italian, doesn't have a job, he's living with his uncle, his uncle makes him go to church with his family (7th Day Adv.), and he's just super sad with life right now. Although, you couldn't tell, because he just smiles and keeps pushing forward. He's amazing! We had a lesson with him, and he basically taught us (minus the Restoration/LDM). He's so sweet, so prepared, and accepted a soft bapt. invite! He practically invited himself to church, but he said, "I wish I could come visit your church, but my uncle wouldn't like that.", and he doesn't want to be disrespectful to his uncle. We just gotta pray that he can get a job, so he can move out! There's so much to his story, I could go on forever. But, he's just a miracle, for me.

Then, yesterday was Zone Conference! Soooo great! Christmas :) We got our little presents (that I explained in the other picture email), we did some singing, with some Nativity stuff. We sang Rudolph, and I was Rudolph. It was really terribly embarassing. Haha. Oh, I just have to say. There's this one Elder, Anziano Johnson, who was a transfer behind me in the MTC. He is the funniest person in the whole wide world (almost). I figured it out, he is a mixture between all of my brothers + Will Ferrell. Basically, every word that comes out of his mouth makes everyone laugh - kinda how Luke is making witty/funny remarks all the time, but along with all the funny/goofy/silly things that all the Willis boys do, all thrown into one. It's great. Whenever I see him, though, he reminds me of Kaleb. I dunno why. Ha.

Um, I gotta go! But, I love y'all bunches! Merry Christmas to everyone! :) I'll talk to y'all less than a week! :) :)
Ciao ciao! Ci sentiamo, presto! :)

Sorella Willis

Rude Boys Torino. I have no idea why this got popular, but there's a door in our apartment, where every copia (companionship) has taken a picture at that wall, and put it on the door. So, we did it! (we forgot to do it with Sorella Eaton, but I'm gonna do something creative to make it/make up for it)

So, every year Mission President gets all the Anziani matching ties, and the Sorelle matching scarves. These are our scarves - so cute! But this year, they talked with the Rome Mission, and now every missionary in Italy (Milan and Rome) has the same ties and scarves! So cool! :)

Training day in Torino! :)

Read the scriptures. Every day! Will you do it? :)

Salve! Grazie per the email with the Krasno pictures! So cute! :) And, grazie per the package/letter in route! :)

Okay, alcune cose di dire (some things to say.) Happy 12-12-12! Crazy, huh? We missed 12:12 pm, though. Managia.

Okay, so if y'all want to look up some yummy italian foods, look up arancini. They're southern Italy, but they eat them up here, too. They're super yummy. I'll have to learn how to make them :)

Okay, so you know how I love to work with children, yeah? Yeah. I miss that. A lot. I just wish I could pick up a kid! Ha. But, the other day (more like a couple weeks ago, but I haven't been able to write about it, until now!) we were teaching an investigator, and she has a son who's, now, a year old. Super cute! And, he always screams, cries, or does baby things like that while we're trying to teach. Well, we were watching 'The Restoration', and I was up out of my seat, because I put the DVD in, and something ended up happening to where I was sitting on the floor, playing with her son to keep him quiet. It was so fun! And, it was kinda a miracle. He was quiet the whole time during the movie! And, I just had a blast, sitting on the floor, playing away. Haha. Just a little tidbit I wanted to share. Tender mercies: the Lord allowing me to work a little with kids, while on the mission :)

Other crazy stories; we were doing casa one day, and we knocked a door, and no one answered, so we went to the next door. Then after we had already knocked the other door, the previous door we knocked opened up, and standing there was a man, in nothing with underwear... not even boxers, or qualcosa (something), underwear. Agh! I don't even know what do say about that. Just ugh. And, everyone says I need to get used to it, because everyone is like that in the summer time. ...ma, dai (but, come on). Haha. Oh well.

So, we meet people who speak Spanish all the time - like, they're not Italian, they're Peruvian, or qualcosa altro (something else). But, every time we meet them, I feel so happy! Reminds me of home :) Haha. Sad thing: I can't remember a lick of Spanish! It's just confusing thinking about Spanish. Only Italian makes sense now. Haha. But, I miss the Spanish. Maybe I'll try to learn it again when I get home. Also, random, we stopped a guy the other night, and, because we have accents, everyone guesses where we're from, but last night this guy said, "Ma, Portuguese?"... haha, no I'm not from Portugal. Ma, grazie. It was funny.

Also, the other day we stopped a guy, and the first thing he said was, "No parlo italiano, solo inglese...", Hey us too! Haha. But, he was from Germany. So fun. It was crazy weird speaking in English. Well, outside of the apartment. I can speak English fine in the apartment. But, it's weird outside. Haha. But, he was great. He had been in Italy for 1 day when we talked to him! Crazy! For work. He didn't want to learn about the gospel... yet, but we gave him a card with our number on it, so maybe if he has trouble with the language, he'll remember us, and call us! ...hahaha, okay maybe not. But still. He was great.

Oh! Also also, so we were kinda lost one night, not in our town, so we went into this little shop, to get a map/ask directions. Well, we walked in, and there was an old man leaving, and we talked to both of them for a second, but then out of no where, the old man grabs my hand, and starts singing to me. I didn't understand any of it, except for one word: "sposarsi" (like, to get married). Hahaha. It was kinda weird, but mostly funny. Like, something you see in movies; a little old Italian man, singing a little old Italian song. Cute. Haha. Then the guy at the shop said, "1 more minute and he would have asked you to marry him!", hahaha.

So, my comp. keeps telling me that I'm going to train next transfer. Ah! That would be crazy. I don't think so, but she's finishing training me, and she had just finished 2 transfers when we started. So... who knows what will happen next transfer. Ha.

Well, we have a ward Christmas party coming up, and one of the families - who is adorable - wants to sing a song with us! Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And they want to sing it in Italian, then have us sing it in English. We haven't heard anything set in stone, if we're singing or not, but I'll let you know/try to get pictures/video if it happens! Ha.

Also, so I was just thinking, if there's anyone who knows Italian/wants to practice Italian (Josue, Kingsley, and anyone else!), I would LOVE to get letters in Italian! It would help me with my reading/writing in Italian. Just a thought :)

So, we taught a family the other day, and I love them so much! The dad is less active, and the rest of the family aren't members. But, I just love them. They don't have a desire to come to church/come back to church, at all (kinda bitter feelings towards God), but they might come to the Christmas party! They were just cute. The dad reminded me of you, dad, and then there was a little brother, that made me think of Kaleb (not at all like Kaleb, but just because he was the little brother. Haha). They had a cute house, with a little Christmas tree... it just felt like... I dunno, I just felt super comfortable with them. But, I gotta go! English class tonight! :)

Oh, so for Christmas, we can either call or Skype! Let me know when/which y'all want to do it! Can someone make me a skype account, and then send me the username and password, so that I can skype (if that's what y'all want to do) - grazie!

Vi voglio bene, tantissimo! But, I gotta go!
I looove you all! So much! Be good. Read the scriptures. Every day!
Will you do it? :)
Ciao!

Sorella Willis

PS: I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something. Oh well. I'll try to
remember next week!

Our Christmas tree! Me and Sorella Mancuso

Scambio! Me with Sorella Loffley at Torino.

We talked to a lady the other day, outside her flower shop and she said we could call her in January (cause she's super busy with work/the holidays) and she gave us each a white rose! Ah, so cute!

We almost lit our house on fire!

Ciao! Okay, I really don't have a lot of time today. a) because we have English class in an hour, and we gotta get prepped for that. b) because, we came to a different place for email today, and we don't have as much time. So, it'll be short today. But, I'll make up for it next week, I promise! Maybe with some pictures, or qualcosa (something)! Haha.

Okay, alcune (some) things I want to say.

First, grazie for all the pictures! Mamma mia, y'all took a bunch and sent a bunch. Thanks so much, they were great :) Dad, I'm not sure about the USB thing, I'll check it out. Y'all can just do the cd's if you want, you can't go wrong with that. Okay, also, I don't really need this, but if you feel so inclined. A mini PMG (in english is good). I feel dumb, I could have bought one in the MTC, but I didn't think I would need it. And, I really don't, except for at District Meetings, zone meetings, trainings, etc. So, if y'all can find a mini PMG, that would be great, but don't worry too much about it. It would just be easier to carry around.

Okay, other things to say. I don't talk a lot about my investigators in my emails, cause we've been asked not to (cause, these emails get up on the internet, and everyone can read about it), so if y'all want to hear about my investigators, do you just want me to include it in a PS, that y'all just don't put on the blog? I dunno. Ha.

Other things. I have a bruise on my leg. From where my purse hits it every time I walk. It's going away, but I really do need to buy a backpack. Haha. I'll probably do that, soon.

Um, we almost lit our house on fire this past week. Ha! We were cooking lunch, and the oil in the pan went crazy, and the open flame stove went crazy too, and the pan just went crazy. Ha. It was fun. Also, for some reason I keep talking to strange people. A creepy man who was hiding behind a pole, watching kids. A man, who I didn't realize was a man, because he was dressed like a woman, with a purse and earrings and all. Just crazy.

Also also, we did casa (door to door) this week, and we did this one building, and we went up to the top floor, and a man was there waiting for us, and told us it was too late, and we had to leave (I might have told y'all this already). Si, this past week we wetn back to that building, and avoided the floor we met him on. So, we did the floor 2 beneath him. And the second door we knocked... was his! I'm pretty sure I looked like a scared puppy or something as soon as he opened the door. I couldn't speak. I didn't speak, actually. My comp. did. Ha, but he was nice, just said he wasn't interested, and let us go. Ah! Crazy.

There's other things I wanna say, but I really gotta get going. I'll finish up next week! And, I'll reply to some emails next week, too!

I'm sorry, today is short and kinda pointless! Ha.

But, I gotta go. Be good! Luke and Jacob, write me! :) Also, Ben and Jess :)

Vi voglio bene!

 

Sorella Willis