Pescara, Italy, Week 6&7 - Mission Week 40-41 in Italy

I had my first birthday on the mission on November 13 and it was very good. I had district council and the Anziani (elders) gave me a cake and some little presents. 

That week we met with a member and talked about missionary work. The member, right afterwards, started knocking on the doors in her apartment complex and now we have an appointment tonight!

We also taught a family about Jesus Christ and just focused on Him. We extended the invitation for baptism to 3 people that are members of that family and they felt like they should be baptized like Jesus Christ was and by the proper authority of the Priesthood. They said that they will work towards that goal. 

Last Sunday night we drew a question on a white board (out in the town square) asking people who Christ is to them. We had so many people come around us and listen to us teach about Jesus Christ and His life. One man came up to us after that and asked for a Book of Mormon it was so cool!
We have had a very good miraculous week.

This most recent week went by very fast.  We had mission tour.  That is when all of the missionaries assigned to this mission get together and we hear a general authority speak.

We were in Rome for this. The ride up to Rome is usually 2 hours by the bus. My companion and I went with our district.( A district is where just a few missionaries in a mission zone are assigned to get together once a week to help strengthen each other in the work.)
We went up with them around 6:00 in the morning. It was a long ride but it was fun being able to talk to them. One missionary was very, very sick and he was super miserable so we all prayed for him and felt bad for him. 

The tour was good. I was able to see all my fellow missionary colleagues. The general authority (Elder Sabin) talked about our purpose as missionaries which is to bring others unto Christ. He also talked about that sometimes our life may seem like we have a part that is dark because of certain trials but we can know that it is for our benefit and it can be like the chocolate chip in a cookie. 

This week was also my companion's birthday. I had made a scavenger hunt in our apartment that led to a present. Then for lunch she wanted to go to Toast Amore! They make sandwiches and toast the bread and its so big. We went there and she invited a person that we are teaching to come. This person came and we had a great time talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Later that night we taught English. I now teach a class by myself which is the basic English. My companion teaches intermediate and the Anziani (elders) teach advanced. I enjoy it a lot because I also am learning from my students. 

On Friday we usually do Family Home Evening with the ward. Sorella Cluff wanted to do a birthday party. We invited a lot of people from church and our people who we are teaching. A member baked Sorella Cluff a very beautiful cake that was chocolate. We were very surprised when we saw how many people came for her. We watched the Book of Mormon video and then we watched the new Light the World video.  We bore our testimonies of Christ. Afterwards we ate cake with everyone. It was fun. 

This week we also went to a different part of our area, a different town, because a member family invited us over for lunch. It took about an hour to get there by train.

 

Popoli Vitorio! 

It was a cute little city that reminded me of my first area Sabina. It had older houses but everything was clean and the people were actually in their houses! We knocked on a lot of doors and were pretty impressed of how many people actually opened their doors. We got to speak with so many people and invite them to come unto Christ. For lunch with the family that invited us; they made a really good rice with cheese (I do not know how to describe it) it was great. At the end we were able to share a spiritual thought with them and we chose to speak about repentance. Repentance is a big deal for each and everyone of us. Some people think that repentance is a negative thing but actually it is something super positive and beneficial for our lives. Repentance means to change. Due to the sacrifice that Jesus Christ did for us we are actually able to have this gift of repentance. Try to imagine a world where we could not repent of our sins. We would be cast out of the presence of God not only in our mortal life but after our life here on the earth. Without repentance we would be nothing and we would be miserable for all eternity. There would be no purpose to even be on this earth. Thankfully we have a Savior who was chosen in the beginning to do this Ultimate sacrifice in order for us to be forgiven of our sins and come closer to God the Father. The whole sacrifice of Jesus Christ is practically for all of us. It wasn't for God and it wasn't for Him. They didn't need it, but it was for us because He loves us and wants us to return to Him. We should all really take the time to realize what Jesus Christ has done for all of us through an eternal perspective. We must repent of our sins because He has already paid for them. We do not know nor do we comprehend how difficult the agony and pain was for the Savior in order to give us this opportunity to change. We should cherish this gift and thank our Heavenly Father everyday. We should repent everyday because we are all imperfect. 

I invite all of you unto repentance. That each of us may actually take the time to ponder about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can better use it in our lives and our eternal progression. I invite you to read about Christ's life in Matthew and take the time to really get to know who Christ is and what He means to you. I invite you every Sunday to partake of the sacrament and hear the words of the prayer and what it means about being the body and the blood of Christ, renew your baptismal covenants and be grateful. 

I promise you all that if you do these things you will be able to see the hand of God much clearer in your lives. You will be able to live happily knowing that you have a chance everyday to change and be more like Jesus Christ. You will prosper in your endeavors.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Pescara, Italy Week 4 - Mission Week 39 in Italy

We started the week off right this week!

A Brazilian lady found out I was half Brazilian and she randomly invited us over Monday night to eat Brazilian food! 

We had the opportunity to eat amazing food that night and we shared what the Book of Mormon is. She was very interested in it and asked if she could have one. We were prepared before hand and had with us a Book of Mormon in Portuguese for her. She was so happy and said that she would read it. 

We had a person we were teaching come for a lesson at church (she didn't want to have the lesson at her home) and we taught her the Restoration. It was the first time she fully accepted the lessons from the missionaries and she has been reading the Book of Mormon.

Also, we had a Thanksgiving Dinner with our English course group that we teach. It was a huge success. We had about 30 people there and everyone brought so much food. We went around and said what we grateful for in English. It was very good. 

Randomly,this week, a lady that we helped to be reactivated in church came to our Book of Mormon Family Home Evening and  brought a cake that she baked for me for my birthday. Even though it wasn't my birthday last Friday it was fun. She knew my birthday is this week but was not going to be able to give me the cake on my birthday.

We had a simple week. But we read in the scriptures that it is through small and simple things that great things are brought to pass!



Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Pescara, Italy Week 4 - Mission Week 38 in Italy

This week has been a good and successful week. My companion and I have been working very hard and diligently.
Everyday we've had appointments, one after the other. Some days we would walk for a long distance to get to a member's house and while walking we would stop and talk to people on the streets all the time and tell them why we are here.
One day, my companion and I went a blind date  , I will explain... 

There is a member of the church in our ward in Pescara who is blind and he invited us to go with him and his wife (who is also blind) to eat lunch with them and share with them a message about Jesus Christ. My companion and I enjoyed being able to help this couple by being their eyes for them, being their guide. We were also very amazed at how intelligent and talented they are to be able to be mostly independent by using their other senses to help them in everyday life. It made me think about the Savior's love towards them. Heavenly Father has given them talents and increased their senses so that they can live normal lives. I asked the husband about how he felt about losing his vision at a young age. He said to me that it was very hard for him but he had so much trust in the Lord that he was not afraid. He said that he knows the Plan of Happiness and knows that this life is temporary and that this is for his growing experience. I think this man taught us more than we taught him. He is facing a hard trial in his life and he still trusts in the Lord. He knows the gospel so well that he does not have fear and knows that this is temporary. 

Another day we got invited over by our neighbors who live in an apartment across from us to have dinner with them. We have been helping the mom with her English and basically have been tutoring her and helping her understand her homework from her English class at university. She cooked amazing food for us, real Italian things that I can not remember the name of. It was so good. Her family was very cute and asked us questions about what we do as missionaries and who we are. They believe in Christ and that is just about all that they believe in. They do not go to church nor do they know much about other religions. We basically taught them the Restoration of the Gospel in little pieces and offered them a Book of Mormon. They accepted to have it and we shared a small scripture with them. We had such a great time with this family it almost felt like we were home.

We also went to a inactive member's house because she invited us over. She had had a dream that she was in the dark with her family and she was scared. When she looked up at the sky she saw Christ and he told her that she needs to start looking for Him again because if not now it will be too late. We then went to her house and we were supposed to get there in 30 mins but we got lost. The Relief Society president was driving us to her house but refused to follow the map. The person lives far from the city, we have been to her house before using the map but that day the map wasn't followed.  We got to their house an hour later. We shared with them the story of Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because some of Luisa's family members are not members of the church.

The week ended up very nicely. We had 4 new people in church this past Sunday and 2 inactive members also showed up. We then taught these 5 together the Plan of Salvation and they were all so happy! It has been a great week! 

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."  2 Nephi 25:26

Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹