In which Sara is temporarily abandoned by her companion

Ciaaaooo tutti! :)
What's happening? It's all great here! Haha.

Alrighty, Sorella Willis' week in an email! Numero uno, last week (last p-day) I had to take this culture class (to remain in Italy, kinda). I dunno why, some missionaries have to take it, but a lot haven't. I've only talked to one other missionary who's had to go to it. But, I went to it last p-day. It was kinda pointless. I had to sit, and watch 5 videos, 45 minutes long, back to back (aka, 4 hours of videos). I didn't have to take a test, or anything at the end. I just had to watch them. They got my Permesso to be sure that I went to the class, but I just had to watch the films. It was... weird. Cause, Sorella Mancuso couldn't come in with me. So, I was a solo sister for a while... in a room, with 10 other guys! And, Sorella Mancuso was out on the street, in Italy, all alone! Ah! Ma, tutto ben  (all is well) :) Haha. And, after that, we found a burger place! It was pretty good. Not amazing, but very very good. Fresh. They make the buns themselves :) Ha.

Mom, I think I've already thanked you, but let me just do it again! Thanks! ...for buying those index cards for me! I can't even forget, we were out doing mission shopping, and you suggested that I buy index cards, and I was weirdly persistent about not buying any... I didn't need them. But, you snuck them in the cart, we bought them, and now I use them all the time! Hahaha, thanks! :)

So, would you all like to hear something insane? Well, let me just tell you. With the missionary age change, lots of missionaries will be coming in... and, soon! We have 28 Sorelle in the missione right now. But, we were told within the next couple of transfers, we'll have about 60 Sorelle! Aka... we'll be doubling le Sorelle. Aka, all le Sorelle in the missione right now will be training someone in 1-2 transfers! ...and, by everyone, I mean me! I haven't heard "Hey, Sorella Willis, you're gonna be training", yet, but it's kinda inevitable... so, uh... whaaat?! Ha. Crazy.

Other things. Random fact: I have never baked so often, in my life (cookies, brownies, muffins, etc.) - members, church acitivies, potentials, etc. Other random fact: I have never had so little time to bake in my life! Hahaha. Who has time to bake? Definitely not missionaries! Haha, it's a crazy life, the life of a missionary.

Also, so I've been a little stuffy lately, I might have a little cold. It's probably because of my obnoxious intake amount of nutella... aka, too much sugar = my immune system is not at it's best. But, get this, for Christmas, our Relief Society gave us 4-5 boxes/bags of food! And, in almost every single one, was a thing of nutella! So, we got about 5 jars of nutella! Silly.

Oh! And, remember that scary man who escorted us out of that palazzo? Remember that story? And, how we gave him cookies? Well, we saw him the other day! We stopped and talked for a second - he said the cookies were great, he was super nice, we were all smiles - including him! Yay! We're on friendly terms! I hope he gets baptized one day! He's great. It'll be an Ensign story.  "When I first met the missionaries, I threw them out of the appartment..." :) Hahaha. 

Then, okay, yesterday! Miracle story time! We were doing casa, after a long day of finding (we had 0 appointments), and were finishing up. Then, just before we were finished, we knocked a door, and this wonderful old man came to the door! We talked about prayer, and he said he hadn't prayed since his wife passed away (10 years +/-). We talked to him about the families being sealed together in the Temple for time and all eternity, and Sorella Mancuso had this wonderful, amazing card about the Rome Italy Temple (it's the size of our scriptures, so we can carry it, and it's lamanated, and is just super cute), and we got a return appointment! We are SO excited to teach him, and talk to him about the Piano di Salvezza! Ahhh! :)

Oh, also, so I'm doing email today... it's not Wednesday. No, I'm not apostate! Ha. We have a Conference tomorrow, so we had to change p-day.

Oh, and, so we taught one of my favorite investigators (/one of our only investigators, who hasn't dropped us) the other day. He's been meeting with the missionaries for 1+ year, and we talk about baptism almost every lezione. Well, we talked about it this time, and he said he just isn't sure with school and all (he'll be going out of town - aka, out towards Rome, or something - for study, soon. So, he doesn't want to plan his baptism, and then have to change it last minute (he won't know when he leaves until last minute). BUT, he said he DOES want to get baptized (because, we asked him if he wanted to be), and he said he will do it in March! Also, because his birthday is in March (March 14, Kelsey Lyn Ross!) :) I'm just sad that I won't be there for it, probably. I don't care about the number, I just want to be there to witness it! Ahh. But, who knows where I'll be in March, and if I'll be able to come back. But, anyway. I gotta go. I love y'all!

Oh, read Hebrews 12:7. It's just a great little verse, I love it! :)
Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Willis

So, all of Italy his this genius invention of having a drying rack over the kitchen sink... since, we're building a new kitchen right now, I figured, it would be nice to show y'all this! Incase, we wanna try it out? Who knows, I just think it's a great idea :)

I have never been so messy in my life! hello, life of the missionary.

In which Sara holds a python :)

Dad, you're a boss! :) Thanks for everything! For the story, especially, that was wonderful! It actually helped me out different than how you probably intended. Cause, it's kinda rough, here. Don't get me wrong, it's great :) and I love it, but it's hard to see people (really hard, like, number of lessons are super low), and I've been here at Collegno for 2+ transfers, and we still haven't had a baptism. But, with your story, you helped me remember, what I do right now, the little things every day, there is a reason for it. Maybe I won't see the fruits of my labors right now, that's not important. Just as long as I'm working, and putting forth the effort :)

But, that's awesome! Y'all are going on a cruise? Che divertente (how fun)! I've never been on a cruise, either! Y'all gotta take pictures, and let me know how it is! :) Give everyone my love and hugs and kisses (yes, kisses), and tell Uncle Telford to brush up on some good Italian cooking... and then I'll learn some here, too! :) Haha.

Okay, lets see, a couple things I wanted to say this week.
Elisabeth and Luke, and whoever else watched it... remember Lazy Town? Yeah, we have an investigator, with a 2 year old daughter, and she was watching it the other day. Lazy Town in Italian! Hahaha.

Oh, tell the Hines I said hi, and I love them! (Sherrryyyy!) I dunno, I was just thinking about them the other day :)

Oh! Thanks Pa Echols and the Orrocks for the Christmas cards! I'll write y'all back soon, but holy cannoli, Amanda a) you're adorable! b) McKay and Eliza are SO big! Jeez!

Some food things... I love bell peppers, now! I could just eat them forever and ever. We cook them with chicken/beef sometimes, or we'll just snack on them raw. Who knew I liked bell peppers?! Hahaha. Also, Italians eat eggs for lunch and dinner, and think it's funny that we eat them for breakfast. It's silly :)

Also also, Kaycie Foster (EFY!), so your friend from dance (? Sorella Forbes) is now in my Zone! She showed me a cute picture of y'all the other day! Small world, eh? :)

Also also... so, I've been wanting to cut my hair, as of late. A lot! Like, super short. Like, a pixie or something, short. But, I'm way too much of a chicken to do it. But, I just keep seeing a bunch of people with cute hair cuts, and I love it! It's just a hassle, hair. It just gets everywhere... scarves make it static-y. But, I probably won't cut it... yet. We'll see what happens in the summer time... apparently, it gets deathly hot! Haha.

Miracle for the week! So, we've been trying to see a riferimento for a long time, but we couldn't see him, cause he lives so far away, and no one from our ward was ever available (we need a woman). After 3-4 weeks of trying, we finally got an appointment set up, with a member! Then, when we got there, turns out, the member knows our riferimento! He went to school with her son for years, and she's friends with his mom. It was a miracle, having her at the lezione, she was just what he needed. Also, he accepted a soft bapt. invite! :)

Also, so if y'all go to PMG, chapter 11, in the back at the personal study part, there's a part that says "Have your family write letters of their testimonies on certain subjects (i.e. word of wisdom, BOM, Joseph Smith, prayer, etc.) - could y'all do that for me?! That would be wonderful! (INCLUDING JACOB, LUKE, KALEB, BEN & JESS!) Like, a FHE or something, that would be wonderful :) Thanks!
I think that's all for now, y'all are great :) Y'all are boss. Love you guys!

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Willis

We had pranzo (lunch) with a member the other day, and... they have snakes! They have 7 snakes - I think the one I was holding was a python :)

Also, we found this adorable Disney carousel at Torino the other day!

Capo d'Anno

Salve!

So... so cute! Thanks for the pictures (of the Willis/Davis reunion, and the Krasno Christmas card!) - just tons of amounts of happiness from those pictures :)

Okay, so the random things to say today:
Luke has a twin in the Conference Liahona/Ensign (pg. 8) - except that kid has a bigger head than Luke. But still, the EXACT same rosy red cheeks :) Haha.

Also, I never, in my life, been shocked before... until now! Where was shocked twice in one week! I dunno what it is... but, Italian sockets just hate me, now. Haha. But, I'm all good:)

Oh, okay, and if anyone's wondering, the splinter is okay. I think it rubbed away, or something, because it's gone. Yay! :)

Also, dad/anyone, can you email me Mikal Fulp's home address? She emailed me, and I can't email her back, but I wanna write them! :)

Also also, so y'all should (next Christmas) eat pandoro/panetone in remembrance of me. It's kinda a Christmas staple, here. It's delish. I love it.

Harker's Island sounds wonderful! I forgot y'all were going! Che felice :) I sure hope you gave all my islanders my love, hugs and kisses from me! :)

Oh, John Frey.... remember how you gave me those pages of advice that someone gave to you (Keys To Staying Sane)? Well, the first thing they wrote was "2nd Nephi 2:33-36", and how it's super uplifting... the thing is, that scripture doesn' exist! I would love to know this super uplifting scripture, whatever they're referencing! Haha.

So, let me just tell you a bit of what's gone on, lately.

Oh, dad! So, there was this little carnival-ish thing in a nearby town that we were in, and there was a little stand that said, "Churros"! So, I was like, "oooh, everyone always talks about them, and I've never eaten them...", so I was looking around it, trying to figure out if I wanted to go over, then I saw a flag... an Argentine flag! So, basically, we totally went. We talked to the guy there for a bit - he was Italian, but his boss was from Argentina. But, we just talked a bit, and he might come to our English Class, but I just wanted to tell you about Argentina showing up in my mission :) It was fun.

Also, okay, so New Years Eve... Capo d'Anno, we had to be in our apartment by 7:00pm. ...and we couldn't leave the house New Years Day until 6pm! Almost indoors for 24 hours! Che crazy! Haha, but it's all good, we did some good cleaning/studying that day :) Then, we went outside, and there was no one outside... it was nothing for a good while. Then, it was about 8:00pm, and no one was out on the street, and doing casa made people angry, so we were deciding if we wanted to go back and do area book/phone calls, or stay out and try to find people. We decided to stay out, although there was no one on the street... then, after a good while of no success, we were on our way headed back to our apartment, after not finding anyone, we stopped and talked to a man, for a good 20 minutes! He has a family (loro sono in 4), and we got a return appointment! We were so surprised, because a) we were headed home, and then... miracle! b) It was really easy getting a return appointment with him, he was really open, and just said yes. Super miracle!

Also, the other day we were headed over to this park - we weren't sure why, cause a) it's cold outside, and no one's at the park, and b) because it was almost dark outside, which means really no one would be at the park! But, we just felt like we needed to go there. Then, when we were just at the crosswalk to get to the park, we were getting ready to cross, but a man and his son were crossing the street headed towards us, so, we kinda awkwardly waited for them to come to us... and we talked to them, and they're so cute! They were so nice, his son is 9 years old, and is the cutest kid in the world! And, we got a return appointment with them, also! I'm SO excited to teach them! They were so happy, and knew so many things that were right. He said something that made me SO happy, he said: "We need to thank God for everything, everything that we have is from him! And, we even have to thank him for the hard times, and the difficulties, because they help us grow." I wanted to hug him when he said that! Because, ALL of the Italian's say, "If there was a God, he wouldn' t allow so much suffering...". I'm so excited! :)

But, I gotta go!
Vi voglio bene! Love you all, be good!

Sorella Willis