Mission week 70 in Italy

This past week was my second to last week in the mission field. I have been trying to work my hardest I want to finish out My mission strong.

This week my companion and I taught 20 lessons! We have been really working hard to strengthen the members in our ward and trying to build them up spiritually. The topic of this week that we taught them was about charity and love. We read Luke chapter 10 about the parable of the good Samaritan and how the Samaritan showed charity. We taught them how to use this principle in their daily lives. We invited each of them to show charity and love to one of their neighbors.


We also had the great opportunity to teach some of the people we are teaching. Our Brazilian friend has finished all the lessons for baptism. Now we have been doing Book of Mormon studies and showing her how it can answer most all of our questions. She is really is gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon.


This week for our mission conference I shared my last testimony on the mission in front of the entire mission through zoom. That is what missionaries do that are going home and they are asked to give advice. I don't remember everything I said but I did remember telling them they I have learned how to rely on the Savior and that He is the person that is always there for us in times on need. He will guide us in this Work because it is His. 

I love my mission and all the teaching opportunities I have had through technology. The quarantine has been a blessing. We have gotten closer to the members than ever and have been able to share the message of peace.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Mission Week 68 in Italy;

Hello! This week was a slow week but filled with so many things that I cannot even remember too much of what we did.  The quarantine rules have loosened up a lot but we still have some restrictions.

We started out the week grocery shopping. My companion and I have been eating a lot healthier since we are on a "diet" except on Sundays we did not have to buy too much! We bought a lot of meat and salad and vegetables and fruits.
We have been running every morning and night for at least 45 mins and we end with an ab workout. We do not eat breakfast except for a fruit or something super duper light and we eat a healthy lunch. Then after, if we are hungry, we eat a fruit or salad. This has actually worked... lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks! What a record


We also had the opportunity to finish the lessons with the Brazilian lady that we have been teaching that lives in Italy. To our surprise she lives closer to Pescara! The place where I did my outbound transfer last year! So, we go in contact with some of the members that I knew there to help with meeting Vania and getting to know her. It has been a blessing.


This week on our Facebook page that was Sunday Night Live...we changed it to Pace in Cristo which translates to Peace in Christ.. I put up an ad in Italian focused on our area asking questions about where we came from before this life and where we will go after... and so many people sent us messages asking us to learn more! We are having so much success.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

President and Sister Smith with us in our apartment

Mission Week 67 in Italy,; Rome week 11 in Quarantine

These past two weeks have been eventful. 

Last week the Milan and Rome Italy mission both had an amazing opportunity to have Elder Holland speak to us on a zoom call. 

Elder Jeffery R. Holland is an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called by God and given the authority of the priesthood to be an Apostle just like the apostles of old.
We were very blessed because he was live and only did it for our 2 missions here in Italy. Obviously, my companion and I took a screenshot of us and him because, why not? 

He said incredible things especially about why we are all still here in Italy during this hard time especially when tons of missionaries had to go home.
He told us that we were chosen to be on these missions way before we were born and that God knew all of this would happen. The Area Presidency for Europe received revelation that we were not supposed to go home and we were supposed to continue our missions through technology and that it would bring success. We are the pilot team for doing missionary work only online. He also told us that sometimes through certain circumstances is the only way we can learn principles that Heavenly Father wants us to learn. All of his words comforted me and let me know that My mission is important and that we have been called here at this time for a special purpose and to help others to come unto Christ. It was a very special occasion for all of us.


This week we have seen so much success. We have received 2 referrals from people and we got at least 3 new people to teach online. 

My companion and I have a total of 10 people we are teaching. All either English, Portuguese or Italian speakers.

I'm having the amazing opportunity to teach some of my friends from home. This week I retaught one of my good friends from home combined with the local missionaries in Cape Girardeau, all through technology....she absolutely loved the lesson of the Plan of Salvation and even thanked us for it and we have another appointment with her this week!


We also had the opportunity to teach a Brazilian girl who actually has been my friend for a very long time and a childhood friend I would play with when I was in Brazil. She had shared one of our Sunday Night Live videos and I got in contact with her about her interests in it. Long story short, she wanted to know more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and we taught her the Restoration. She then said she would really like to have the Book of Mormon. That was amazing!!!


This week I also got a little sick and I think it was from food poisoning. Literally, on Wednesday, I felt super nauseated. I got so bad that I ended up vomiting. First time doing that in the mission. My house mates were very kind and ran to the pharmacy for me and got something equivalent to Alka Seltzer. Thursday I was still nauseated in the morning but in the evening I ended up getting better


As I am going home in 3 weeks I had the opportunity to speak with my dear mission president this past week.  All departing missionaries usually have last interviews with their mission presidents. He watches over all the missionaries in my mission, the Italy Rome Mission. He loves and cares for us and to me he is like another dad. He is always concerned for our safety. Provides fun things for us to do on our free days in quarantine and makes sure that we know he loves us.

 

My last interview with him was a tender moment for me. He told me that he is very proud of all the work I have done. He also told me that after my mission I should stay firm to the Doctrines of Christ and always serve the Lord with all of my heart. He also told me that he and his wife are claiming me as one of their own and that they want to always know how I am and that I will always be their missionary.

I absolutely love them and I love my mission. I only have 3 weeks left but I plan to finish it out working as hard as I can.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Mission Week 65 in Italy; ROME week 9 in Quarantine

This week was an amazing week!

My companion and I have been seeing success through teaching online.

We received 2 referrals this week. The first one is a Brazilian lady who lives in Italy near our area. She contacted the temple visitor center a couple months back because she had been curious about the church due to an experience she had. One day she was locked outside of her own house and she didn't have her phone or anything since it was in the house. She went over to her neighbors house that she had never met. They were american and they were members of the church. They tried to communicate with her the best they could and they welcomed her into their house and let her use their phone. She said that they treated her so well and she felt like she had been part of the family for so long because how much loved they had showed her and she was a stranger to them. She found out they were members of the church and her desire to learn about the church fluttered in her heart. She had planned to go to the visitor center to check out some things but then the quarantine started. Finally she reached a sister missionary here who referred her to my companion and I since we are both Portuguese speakers if is easier for us to communicate with her and teach her. This lady is so prepared. She had told us that she has visited many churches and is trying to find the true one and that she can see corruption everywhere but she had a strong desire to know about our church and about the temple. My comp and I were so surprised and we started with first lesson and talked about the Book of Mormon. The lady was so eager to start reading it... so we sent her the PDF online since we can't physically deliver it to her. She loved the lesson so much that she has scheduled to have us teach her everyday at 5:00 pm. She is so amazing. This is Miracle number 1


Referral number 2: an Italian member in our ward randomly called us at 10:00 at night and so we answered because it was strange to receive a call at that hour. He then told us that he has a friend that lives in Brazil and wants to know more about the church and wants a copy of the Book of Mormon. He then said that he remembered that we were a Brazilian companionship and he told her that we would get in contact with her. Anyway we were super surprised that an Italian member gave us another person to teach from Brazil! Before we knew it this lady contacted us eager to know more. The next day we had the opportunity to video chat her and teach her the Restoration. She said that she used to walk by our church all the time to get to work and she always had the desire to go in. As well as she had seen the missionaries multiple times and was just waiting for them to stop her but they never did. She then told us that she is very interested in learning more and she really enjoyed talking with us!


3rd Miracle: My companion and I have been teaching the gospel of the Restoration to one of my cousins in Brazil. Last Monday she randomly called us saying that she wanted to get baptized on Sunday May 3rd! We were super shocked and surprised about her decision. We hurriedly, during the week, finished the lessons with her and prepared her for baptism. Yesterday, 5/3/20, we had the baptism; she is in Brazil and that is where the baptism was held. My companion and I had the opportunity to watch the baptism online. It was amazing!

One of the reasons that this was such an amazing baptism, besides the fact that she is my cousin, is that another cousin of mine was able to perform the baptismal ordinance and the confirmation.  He is currently a missionary.  He was called to serve in Juarez, Mexico and spent 1 year and 4 months in Mexico until he was sent back to Brazil because of the COVID pandemic.  He is at home but is still a missionary waiting to be reassigned to a mission in Brazil so that he can finish his 2 year mission.

Such a tender moment to see my family during this baptism. It was awesome to see her Uncle, who is also my cousin.  We have been teaching him the gospel and he went to the baptism! Also amazing is that the lady in miracle #1, from Brazil that lives in Italy, joined us on the call so she could see how the baptism worked. It was very very special and heart warming to see my cousin follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by the proper authority of the priesthood.

Most of all this was practically the first baptism during quarantine and we had taught her from Italy while she is in Brazil through technology. What a blessing! What a miracle. Seriously the Lord's work still prevails in any circumstances.


My house mates and I did a "family photo shoot" as well it was super fun. We took some funny pictures and individual photo shoots.


Overall this week was full of miracles and we could definitely see Gods hand in our lives.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

EASTER - Mission Week 62, 63 and 64 in Italy; ROME Covid quarantine Weeks 6, 7 and 8

Week 64 in Italy

The days go by fast but the months go by super slow. We are still in April, but that's okay.
This week we had a couple of member appointments...we discussed Joy and Peace to the members. We thought it was a great idea considering the circumstances that we are in right now. It's always good to look to the positive side of things even during rough times. 

I had a miracle this week. On my Facebook story I had posted a picture of temples and asked in both Italian and English if anyone knew what it was. To my surprise there were a couple of Italians that didn't know and I had a childhood friend who also didn't know. We went to Elementary school together for 3 years and then I moved away. Some how this person and I had been Facebook friends and then through this question we reconnected. It was so strange because this person remembered me and I knew it was the Spirit bringing this person back to my memory. I had made such an impact on this person as a little 7 year old that this person still remembered me. I then proceeded to talk about the temple and this person was very interested. I then asked if they would like to know more about our message of Christ and to my surprise this person accepted. It is so cool how Heavenly Father uses us as instruments in His hands where ever we are and at whatever age to fulfill His purposes.


We continued to teach my cousins in Brazil. They are progressing well and enjoying reading the Book of Mormon.


This week during my personal studies I have been reading the Old Testament and I absolutely love it. There are so many good stories and also some very weird ones which are also good. I always marvel at how the Israelites had seen soooo many miracles and had been freed out of bondage so many times and yet they chose to worship a handmade false god. It is so sad to see that they only remember the one true God during their times of difficulty and trial.... they barely remember Him when they are having success. It is incredible how much love God shows to them...He is always helping them even when they abandon Him. I will never understand why some people think the Old Testament is bad and that God is mean in it when I can clearly see, of course, He would be disappointed or upset when the dumb Israelites disobeyed Him or forgot Him but at the same time He showed Love and Mercy unto them. God continued to call prophets to guide the Israelites and He freed them many times. If this doesn't prove how much Love God has for us then I don't know what else can other than having His only Begotten Son die for us.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

EASTER! Week 62 in Italy

This week was a very good week. It was the Holy week and preparation for Easter Sunday!

I downloaded the new update for the Gospel Library App and I was so excited that everyday this week there was a certain study and an activity to do to develop some Christ like attribute in remembrance of what Christ did for us on the cross.

It was short but very well put together. I loved it. My favorite one was about forgiveness and how we should always forgive others because Christ forgives us and he paid for us.

This week we had a lot of lessons online with members and people we are teaching. It was very good because we really focused on the message of the atonement and why Christ is so essential. It really grew my testimony about the Savior. Coming to know Christ through the scriptures and our actions is the best way to come unto Christ.

This week we had a scambio (exchanges) I was with Sorella Williams who is a new missionary and her companionship lives with us in our apartment. We spent the day together and we learned how each of us does missionary work and what we can learn from each other. It was very fun. We studied Preach My Gospel in Italian and prepared for one of the lessons we were going to have. I was excited for S. Williams because she is new and she was so excited to try a new way of teaching and Facebook finding. I had a blast.

For lunch this week my roommates and I have been playing Monopoly. Not just any Monopoly but Italian kind of cheat monopoly that my dad sent me. We have been playing it for a whole week so we do it on our free time and still do our missionary work on our regular times. We have learned so much Italian from that game since it's all in Italian and we have learned new words that we haven't even heard of and now we are reading the cards and the game is a lot faster now.

Our Easter was great! My companion made a Brazilian dish called Panquecas and I made rice to accompany it and then we drank Guarana (Brazilian drink that dad sent me) and our roommates made homemade cinnamon rolls. It was a big feast. We all had matching pj gowns with our companions so we used it after we had church online. We then ate together and laughed and opened up our Kinder Easter eggs which had little toy things inside. Haha and at the end of the night we did our Sunday Live about the atonement and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was very good. I cannot remember much of the week but I know it was a good one.



Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Mission Week 60 & 61 in Italy - COVID Quarantine Week 3 & 4 - ROME, Italy

Week 61

Another slow week! It was a good week!
My companion and I had some successes doing Facebook finding.
How we do this is we join groups in our areas that we are assigned too. We then looked at the members in the group and we pray about them and we choose a person and we start messaging them and trying to see if they have interest in the gospel.
Yes at first it can be a little weird and I'm pretty sure the people think we are weirdos. But no matter if we are stopping people on the streets, knocking on their doors, or messaging them through Facebook we are always weird to people. I had one random lady ask me who I was and why I was in Italy. I began to explain I was a missionary and about the new temple and to my surprise she said she would like to visit it one day.


I am also currently teaching 2 of my Brazilian cousins online. One them is absolutely in love with the Book of Mormon. Honestly, I haven't seen anyone with such a love and desire to read the Book of Mormon out of all the people I have taught. She reads it everyday and it is actually more than most members do. She has told us that she feels happiness every time she reads the Book of Mormon and she can defiantly see Gods hand in her life. Before General conference we did a video lesson call with her and the missionaries in Brazil. We explained about the priesthood authority and about prophets. We told her about General conference and invited her to watch it. Guess what she did? She watched General Conference! Wow she is amazing. We had also invited her to be baptized on the 17th of April. We told her to pray about it and feel for herself if it is right.


As you all know every Sunday we do a Facebook live about what we believe about Christ. This week one of my house mates was scrolling on a quote site for our church and she saw that 3 people had shared a watch party of my live video from my Facebook on to the page. Thousands of people have seen it and liked it and actually commented. I was so surprised there were so many people commenting on where they were watching from. We had one girl from the Philippines comment "I want to be just like you guys!" And that was very very touching. It is amazing how many people are actually watching our Sunday Night Lives and are feeling the love that Christ has for them.


Last but not least... GENERAL CONFERENCE! Oh my flipping goodness it was amazing!!!
The prophets and apostles did a fantastic job of bearing their testimonies about the savior Jesus Christ and really has prepared us well for Easter in memory of the resurrected Christ. I was very very pleased with this conference because anyone who wants to really know about what we believe from the mouth of our prophets and apostles should definitely take the time to watch the General Conference that was presented.
There was soooo many great talks but I will recommend just a few for everyone to re-watch or to watch especially if you would like to know more about our church.
From the Saturday afternoon session..
President Eyring (last speaker)
From the Saturday evening session...
President Nelson's talk (the last speaker I believe)
From the Sunday Morning session:
Elder Bednar's talk (4th speaker.. about temples)
President Nelson's talk (last speaker about the restoration)


I know that the Lord does call prophets and that He speaks to them in order for us to know His will. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet who RESTORED Christ's church here on the earth 200 years ago. I know the Book of Mormon to be another testament of Jesus Christ and when we abide by its principles we can feel closer to Christ!


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹


Week 60

This week is hard to remember. The days mash up together. On Wednesday we had district council over the phone and we talked about the work in my area.

Everyday at 11:00 we have been teaching a member of our ward English. She is sooo sweet. She is one of the best students I have had to learn English. She does all of the homework assignments and she practices so much at home. She is actually improving. She is speaking pretty well and learning a lot. I get so proud for her. 

Earlier this week we went grocery shopping near by our apartment. It was probably the longest wait I have had yet... we waited for 2 hours! Man it really hit the day. At least the grocery store still had a lot of food and we were able to get food for the week. 

This week my companion and I have worked hard trying to have lessons with people on the internet. All in all we managed to have 13 lessons in one week! I have never had that before. Technology is such a blessing. 

This last Sunday we had a world wide fast for the Corona-virus and for the people who are affected by it. It is cool to be in unity with the members in the entire world for the same cause. We had church through the zoom call and it was very good. We were able to bare our testimonies of Jesus Christ and strengthen one another. I also took the time and energy to make a really good lasagna (mainly American style) I personally do not like the lasagna here in Italy because all they use is tomato sauce and the lasagna noodles and a little bit of cheese and in my opinion it does not taste nearly as good as ours. I made a lasagna for the 4 of us in our house. My roommate made homemade bread and we had fancy grape juice. We had the best Sunday lunch ever. We were all so happy hahaha. 

We ended our Sunday by doing our Facebook Live about the Plan of Salvation. It is by far my favorite lesson and doctrine of Jesus Christ because we can really see how much God loves us that he provided a way for us to grow and become like Him one day. It truly is a plan of happiness.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Mission Week 59 & 60 in Italy - COVID Quarantine Week 1 & 2 - ROME, Italy

Week 59

Coronavirus has gotten Italy!!!

This week has not been eventful really. The corona-virus is really getting the Italians. The government has shut all of Italy down. We are in an official quarantine. 

We can not go outside. None of the stores and shops are open; only grocery stores and pharmacies are open.

More than half of our mission got sent home. The rest of our mission all got moved up to Rome to be closer to president. We can not do regular missionary work outside but we can use technology.
We have been testing and brainstorming different ways we can contact members and people we are teaching through technology.

There has been an upside to all of this. I was able to finish the Book of Mormon in Italian for a second time in 5 days since we have a lot of time.
I was able to study the gospel more thoroughly and has been able to have the opportunity to teach some of my Brazilian cousins online about the gospel.


I am doing well and the people are doing well.
Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Week 60

This week has been very long. It was better than last week. We did some different things this week.
We have been using technology a lot. This week my companion and I did a Facebook live and it was a success. Our ward mission leader loved the idea so much that he encouraged us to set up just a time for the Italians. 

We made a page called Sunday Night Live. To our surprise a lot of people around the world are enjoying it. We have some missionaries around the world that loved the idea so now we have missionaries serving in other countries are making videos in the language they are called to preach and sending them to us so we can post it on our page. It is really cool. I'm very grateful for those missionaries around the world who are helping us spread the gospel to all the world.


Sunday was a very good day. It actually felt like a different day. Our ward decided to do church via Zoom. It was so cool. Everyone in my apartment dressed up for church and we sat on the couch and had the opportunity to participate for sacrament meeting. After the call my roommates and I gathered together and we did "Come Follow Me" together. We read Jacob 5. It was really cool to do it just the four of us. It felt like a family hahaha. 

Afterward, my companion and I decided to make a very good Sunday lunch. We made fried chicken and potatoes. It was very good!!!

Shortly after I had the opportunity to teach another Brazilian cousin about the Book of Mormon and she was super excited because just before our call she had met with the missionaries in her area and they gave her a Book of Mormon. We went over the introduction and the testimonies. We invited her to read the first chapter and she said she would. She was very happy and excited to start reading the Book of Mormon. 

After that my companion and I did our Sunday Night Live. We taught the restoration online. For those of you that would like to know more about how we received the Book of Mormon I encourage you to watch it through our Facebook page 'Sunday Night Live'


This week my companion and I had to go grocery shopping again. It is always weird to go outside especially when it looks like there are no humans in the world. 

We were in a line for probably about 35 minutes and my companion and I had to act that we did not even know each other. We had scarves around our faces and our hands in our pockets. We had all of our documents ready to present to one of the police officers if they were to ask us. Police surround the grocery stores and they also drive by the apartments. It is so weird, feels like we are in a war and all of our rights have been taken away from us. 

It is okay. We are finding a lot of things to do in the house and we are still doing missionary work through technology.


Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

Quarantine life - scarf use for protection

Line up 6 feet apart to go into the store and can only go in one at a time

Staying busy in quarantine

Sunday Night Live!!