Merry Christmas!!! Pescara, Italy week 11; Mission Week 45 in Italy

Buon Natale!

This week was transfer week. I am staying in Pescara again for 7 weeks. My companion is Sorella Magness! She is also a visitor center sister that I had worked with before. I am pretty excited that we have the chance to be companions!

These past 5 days we have had quite a few appointments with people. We have also done a lot of street finding. We have been showing everyone the "Christ Child" video. It is about the Savior's birth and people really enjoy it. With Christmas its cool to see how such a Christian country really celebrates Christmas. All the cities are covered with lights that represent that city. They have Nativity scenes everywhere. There are also sooo many beautiful presents! 

Something my companion and I did this week was try a new approach for Christmas especially when we stop people to talk about Christ. We decided to ask everyone a simple question instead. "What is Christmas to you?" It was interesting to see their responses. The majority of the people said, "It is a time to drink and have a big party!" Others said, "It about giving presents and making sure you gave a better present than last year." Many of them said "It is about the big lunch and being with family!" I was super surprised that no one said the true meaning behind Christmas. 

We were able bare our testimonies about the Savior. We actually are celebrating somebody's birthday who is very important. That is the birth of Christ. His birth was a miracle and it fulfilled old testament prophecies. The most important thing we should remember is what he did in His life. He healed the sick, comforted the weak, taught about eternal life, most importantly He sacrificed Himself for each and everyone one of us. If Christ had not have done these things then His birth would have been a normal birth. Because Jesus is the Christ that is why Christmas is so important. We should look at Christmas with a different perspective and really take the time to be grateful for that historical day in which Christ did come to earth. 

The night of Christmas Eve, my companion and I got invited over to a Brazilian's house to have Christmas dinner. It was an amazing time to be able to share that with such a beautiful family. The food was so good but most importantly their testimonies and faith in the Savior was strengthing. I have learned so much more about people and the Savior in this time of Christmas. 

I hope everyone can remember the Savior in this time. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Pescara, Italy week 10

This week has been eventful! It is me and my companion's last week together. We worked very hard. We did a lot of finding and talking to people. 

   We were blessed to see a girl in a family that we have been teaching to enter into the waters of baptism! She is 10 years old! She told us that the reason for her baptism was that everytime she read the Book of Mormon she was able to feel the spirit!  She got baptized on Saturday it was so amazing. 

   Last night my district and I had the opportunity to carol in heart of Pescara. We had so many people around us listening to us sing about Christmas and about Christ. We were able to share the message of christ through songs and we talked about Christ in everything. It was such a great way to do missionary work.

Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Pescara, Italy Week 9 - Mission Week 43 in Italy

This week was full of busy things and it went by so fast.

We went up to Rome last P-day. We decided to go to the temple with our District. A district is a group of missionaries that are located within zone of your area in the country that you are preaching. We get together once a week in a council to talk about the work and how we can strengthen one another as missionaries. My district decided to take a trip up to Rome to go to the temple and to take some Christmas District pictures.

This week I also had a scambio (exchanges); that is where my companion spends 24 hours with another missionary and I spend 24 hours with a different missionary. We do this so we can strengthen each other as missionaries and learn different teaching skills. I was with one of the Sorelle that serve in Perugia, Italy. Sorella Vincent, she is from Canada! We had a very good experience together. Together we were able to meet so many new people and see a couple of miracles.

Also this week we were able to see the family that we have been teaching. We asked them if they were ready for baptism and their daughter said, "yes". This week we have been working hard to finish the remaining lessons with her and preparing her for baptism. Yesterday, at church, she was so happy. We made invites for her to invite her family and friends to the baptism. In church they announced her baptism. We found her a beautiful white baptism gown that she tried on and she was so happy! I am pretty excited to see her get baptized. She has so much faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. I am also very happy that her family is so supportive of her. It will be a great week!

We were invited to attend a wedding with our friend who did the wedding planning.  The wedding was an AFRICAN wedding.  It was very different than what we are used to.  My friend made an African type dress for me and my companion wore a skirt.  It was very interesting to see.

This week the town of Pescara has been decorating for Christmas. They have giant lit up animals downtown. They have lights everywhere and a giant tree. It looks like they put on Christmas shows at night. All the Italians are super excited with the Christmas spirit. They are a little more open to talking about Christ now! I really like the Christmas vibe.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

 Lighted Alligator

 At the African Wedding in my African Dress

Pescara, Italy Week 8 - Mission Week 42 in Italy

This week has been interesting. I have been sick for most of this past week. I had a fever that lasted for a couple of days. My companion and I basically stayed inside for most of the week. The good thing that came out of being sick was that I was able to finish reading the Book of Mormon in Italian! Now I am restarting it again in Italian.

 
The Book of Mormon is a great book. I can testify that there is so much knowledge, truth, and happiness that comes from the Book of Mormon. One thing that stood out to me is the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni. These two prophets were the only people left who believed in Christ and His gospel. They lived in a time where everyone around them was wicked and had forgotten about Jesus Christ. Mormon was instructed by God to gather all of the records of all these ancient prophets and put them together as well as write his own record. Mormon was later killed in battle in the fight defending his people. His son, Moroni, remained with the records and he hid from everyone in the known world. The people were wicked and they sought to destroy every last who believed in Christ and if the records would have fallen into the wrong hands it would have been destroyed and we would not have the Book of Mormon today. 

Moroni lived his last days alone in the wilderness. He eventually buried the records in the ground where no one would be able to find them until the Lord's own time through His authority. To me, all of these prophets in the Book of Mormon gave up their lives for Jesus Christ and did everything in their power to preserve these records which are scriptures to us that only truly testify that Christ is our Savior. This shows how much trust and faith they had in the Lord and how true this book really is. I had never had so much gratitude for something in my life until I finished reading the Book of Mormon again, in Italian, and took the time to realize the sacrifice that all these prophets of the Book of Mormon did in order to fulfill God's plan! I encourage everyone to read it. 

The beginning of this week I finally felt better and we were back to doing missionary work. We have been teaching a beautiful family of 4 about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We recently got a call from the mom saying that her children would really like to get baptized and that her husband is still thinking about it. The joy that my companion and I felt in our hearts was unfathomable. We are planning for their baptisms the following Saturday! We are going to try our hardest to prepare them to enter into the waters of baptism. 

This week we also has 6 people, who are interested in the gospel, at church this past Sunday. One of the ladies was from our English course group. She came to church and she wants to help decorate the church building for Christmas. This lady also has been organizing a trip for everyone at English course to go to the temple in Rome!!! What?! My companion and I were so amazed. This lady said she would love to see the temple and learn more about what we believe and that the other students in English course also have been curious. My companion and I were pretty shocked; so we are planning for the 28th. 

I do know that with the Lord everything is possible. God is a God of miracles and He always has been and always will be. Through our diligence and faith we will be able to see and have all the miracles that God is ready to give us!






Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹