One transfer gone...

I feel like i blinked and, oh hey look.. the time is literally gone. How was your first six weeks in Italy Sorella Woods? Well great, but in reality, it felt like a day if that.. but some just great news. We are staying in Sanremo for another transfer... and when i say we, SORELLA EGBERT IS STAYING WITH ME!! We get to be companions for another six weeks! No sarcasm included, i am super stoked. We literally have been seeing miracles every day. First transfer was a success. We have four baptismal dates set all for the 28 December. Three are all from the same family. We get to give Jesus the gift of more people in this wonderful and so beyond true church! It just makes me smile every time i think about it. One of them is a 19 year old boy... and oh hey, he wants to serve a misson! Thaaankkk youuuuu Heavenly Father! It is just super cool to be a missionary. I just want to stay here for the rest of my life.. Sorry mom and dad. I love you and all, but this is just too great. I told Sorella Egbert that Presidente called and said we get to stay together in Sanremo basically tell we die. The forever sister missionaries.. Okayy, that makes me sound like a nun. I don't want to be that, but all of those words put into a small short sentence is, i just really love this work. So this past week we asked this lady in our branch (sorella Panella) If she knew anyone with a violin because they want sorella Egbert and i to play in sacrament together.. At first she couldnt find one and than she found this random older woman that she knows that has one. I call her Signora Violin because i forget her names... i cant remember italian names for the life of me... anyway, so the reason she has a violin is because her husband was a violin master. He was the director of a symphony here in Italy. Well he actually passed away 20 years ago, and she has let NO ONE touch his violins in 20 years... and than i came along! Sorella Panella called her up, and asked her. She thought about it for a couple of days, and than we got the okay, This past Sunday we had lunch with the Panella family (i do not ever want to eat calamary again.. i literally thought i was going to throw up on their table) and than headed over to the house of the Signora. Basically it was the most beautiful violin i have ever played in the history of ever... but what was really beautiful was her reaction. She was actually kind of giving us the cold shoulder at first. I started playing 'A Poor Wayfaring man of Grief' and she just started crying.. after that she told Sorella Egbert that she had an amazing piano in the back room, and we could play together. I really loved playing the violin again. It was really cool to use a talent that i have had for so long to touch somebody's heart, but what was great is that allowed us into her home to bring that spirit. We finished with a message. She doesn't have faith she says..none. But we were able to tell her why we do, and the beautiful truths that we have in this gospel. She told us to come back anytime we wanted to play. We actually ran into her on the street the day after. She would have just been another Italian woman that more than likely would have blown us off if we started talking to her, but because we were able to connect with her first, she stopped and talked with us. In fact we have another appointment with her tomorrow afternoon, and she is coming to church this Sunday. She wants to hear the violin again. It is just something that doesn't happen every day.. and i get such a cool experience not only to play some masters violin (which i am totally geeking out about), but we get to bring something into her life that just gives so much light to everything. There is no shadow that the light of the gospel cannot reach. We have miracles every day. I really cannot write in an email what we experience here.. there is just too much.. I am just happy. I have sooo much that i need to improve on, but that is the great thing, we get to do that every day for the rest of our mortal lives!! Yeahhh for improvement! I got a haircut today.. i learned the word for trim... but maybe it meant cut.. because i have very short hair now.. and lots of bangs, and it cost a lot of euro. I don't think i will get my hair cut again while i am here.. but hey, like you always say mom, it looks nice and healthy... i about threw my bag at Sorella Egbert when she said that same thing after.. other random tid bits.. we teach english.. and that is hilarious.. And we are thinking about teaching them duck, duck, goose... that would be hysterical! They love anything that we do. We are making chocolate chip cookies today with some members.. They go crazy for these cookies. Thank youuu mother for the recipe! (: and some of our other members the family Cangialosi are having Thanksgiving for us this Saturday!! Ciro Cangialosi is the one that threw the rooster at us..and Francesca loves purple, and she looks so much like you mom.. it is weird. They are seriously my favorite! Ahhh! My family in Sanremo. So great.. Okaay.

All for this week!

 i LOOVVE EVERYONE; Sorella Woods (:

Hello from almost the other side of the world...

>> HII! I am just so great. I hope everyone is too wherever you are. So what i

> have been thinking this week is about how much trust Heavenly Father has
> put in two 20 and 21 year old girls. He literally has given us a whole
> city, and everything around it to bring the gospel too.. For all anyone
> knows we sleep in tell 10 every day, and just wander around Sanremo! (not
> really...i think the guilt would kill me) but seriously. That is just huge.
> I am so grateful though that he has that trust. That we are here for a
> specific reason, and he has given us thousands of people to teach...
> Sanremo just continues to make me love it more, and more every day. I am so
> attached to this place.. transfers week is coming up though, and it makes
> me want to puke. I know that wherever i am sent is where Heavenly Father
> needs me, but i seriously LOVE these people. They have just made their way
> into my heart. It is going to be like saying bye to my family all over
> again.. But, until the day i leave here, we continue to work. Last week we
> were challenged by our area President to teach 21 lessons in one week...
> and for the first time in what we know of in Sanremo history, we Sorelle
> accomplished it! That was a nice time call to Presidente.. Scary thing of
> the week.. i am senior companion.. that means i have the phone, and keys.
> Those two things are basically our lives in the palm of my hands.. And the
> fact that i have been the one setting up appointments with people is
> actually somewhat of a horrifying fact too. There is a lot of oh,, si, oh
> capito... si. Haa, it is just a whole bunch of fun. I really am just loving
> it here. Just being able to see people start to change and accept this
> message. I am chaning too with them. I learn more and more about Christ and
> his atonement daily. I am learning how to listen to the spirit, and be
> guided. I see people in a different way now. I just really want them all to
> listen, and accept. I want them to know how much they are loved by me, and
> by Christ, and by heavenly father.. just everyone! Maybe we can just stand
> on the side of the street, and have cards with a, take one please, sign
> because we love you.. and than automatic BAPTISIM! Talk about easy life..
> Sorella Egbert, (or Eggbird as she likes to be called) can chase them
> down.. We have gotten real good at running... and in skirts for that
> matter... our bus or train is usually about 2 minutes away from leaving
> when we are still 5 minutes away. We basically get all the exercise we need
> trying to get to the thing that will take us to our next destination... we
> could probably just continue to run, and make it there quicker than the bus
> would. But all is great. We went to this members house, the Cangialosi. Two
> of my favorite people ever! They are like my parents. They live in the
> mountains, and Ciro the husband threw a rooster at us, and he brought his
> pet goat in the house before we had lunch. They just remind me soo much of
> you mom and dad. Beside the fact they are Italian and have pet goats... so
> what i am getting at here is my coming home present is a goat! I told
> Sorella Egbert i wanted a pet goat. In fact, a caught  a baby lizard last
> night in the church! I asked her if we could keep it... but the white bible
> says no pets, so we let it free.. and i dont think she really loved the
> thing as much as i did. We have two baptisim dates, and more to come this
> week. We love Sanremo, and our family here. Heavenly Father is in
> everything we do. I am just so thrilled to be doing this work every day. I
> love being able to testify every single day about what i believe, and what
> i know. And every time, my own personal testimony grows. I love this
> gospel. I love who i am becoming, and who these people here are becoming.
> Heavenly Father has such a great plan for these people, and we get to be a
> part of it! I am soo lucky. Lucky and my heart is just soo happy. Until
> next week.. I have not been arrested our chased by anyone yet. That will be
> a fun email. LOVE YOU ALL!! (:
> Sorella Woods

One month in Italy...say whattt?

One month down, and my first transfer almost over... That is beyond crazy. I really only have like 15 months left, and 11 transfers! I thought time flew at home, but here it seems like our days are hours, and our hours days at times. When we have a full schedule though i am just oh so happy. (: Miracle this week is that we were teaching this mom. Only her and i kind of thought she fell off the side of the planet because we hadn't heard from her, and she didn't come to church. Anyway, we ended up setting up an appointment at her house. We go over expecting to just teach her, and than her son and daughter walk in the room, sit, and listened! We got three new investigators in one day! Set a baptismal date with the mom, and with her oldest son who is 19. This family is soo elect. They are from Ecuador, and i am just so thrilled to be teaching them. I in all honesty love this work. It is hard when i think of home, or start thinking about what i would be doing otherwise, but when i work there comes this happiness that i cannot explain. Basically when we are not happy, or loving the day, we talk. And talking makes everything great. We get to share this amazing message with SOO many people every day. I was telling Sorella Egbert last night that i don't even really need a PDAY because i am just so content with what we do every day. I am not going to lie, i wake up some mornings when the alarm goes off, and the last thing i want to do is get up, exercise, and get ready for the day, but than i just realize the opportunity that i have to be able to get up, and talk to people about why i am so dang happy all the time. I just love it here. I miss home, but i wouldn't miss this experience for anything. In Sanremo it is basically spring year round so it is mid November and i am wearing a short sleeved shirt. Its reallll nice. Sanremo is just like how you imagine Italy to be. Old, and just beautiful. We started teaching English this past week in church.. I do the conversation class, and only one woman can really have a conversation in english so i talked to her. She is actually very curious as to why us missionaries look so happy. She said that it is in all our faces. She has never seen a mormon sad.. and we have a look of peace that no one else has..and than she asked if she could come to church! She is waaay catholic, but they wont let her divorce her husband, so she doesn't like that because she says God knows her heart. And He does! She is just so great. We wont have a baptism this transfer but we are hoping on at least four this next. We have the best branch here. I realized the difference in our wards (branches) here than at home. They are a family here. There is a unity between them that i have seen nowhere else. It is amazing. And they are my family here. They feed us every day, and basically take care of us like their kids. Sorella Egbert continues to teach me with her wiseness every day.. she is like a pretty girl version of Yoda... Haaaha, but it is really so true. A thing that i do miss all the time is the temple. As we walk around i see people in the perspective of if they were all in white in the temple. When i see them that way, it just really changes what you think which is probably fairly judgmental, and it turns into how Christ sees them. I am just so very grateful and happy to be here. I have changed so much in such a great way. And it has only been three months or whatever it is now.. Sorella Egbert always makes fun of me with my weird OCD's that i have, and in return she gets made fun of.. We attempt at Yoga sometimes, but it usually just ends up with us on the floor in crumpled messes laughing. I forgot that i am a Sorella missionary the other day and i totally smacked her in the arm.. she looked at me like i had just professed that i was a JW. We also have problems with going over to members houses and they make enough food to feed 6 people instead of 2.. and the prize word is, Manga, manga..!! and we always follow the command of an Italian woman, who at any moment could eat me alive.. At least i do. Sorella Egbert has learned how to say no after eating for an hour strait. I have yet to learn how to say.. no, i am going to be very sick and throw up on on floor if you feed me more, but i am very grateful.. Ohh, man. There is just too much. I will never be able to explain in words or these emails how it is here. Heavenly Fathers hand is in everything.. In fact, Sorella Egbert said, that we are his hands.. and as crazy as that is, it is true. We are messengers that were called by a literal Prophet of God. I told that woman from english class that that is how i am here, and she just stared... i do not know whether it was in wow, that is amazing.. or this 20 year old girl is patzzo, but none the less, it is true. I love this gospel. I love this work. And the people are just amazing. Amazing in faith, and in love. They really have the love of Christ in them.. i learn from them every day. Thank you for all the fun things, and emails, and love, and just everything!! Ohhh, so very much appreciated. (:(:(: but really. 

And i was thinking about eternity... (the brilliant and amazing thoughts of a missionary.. haa) picture this. A time where we are all together. Our family, and just those moments where we are so happy just being together ( the ones that make me miss home) and than picture that but x's it by like 100000. That is eternity with Heavenly Father and Gesu!

Love SORELLA WOODSSSSS! 

.. and Sorella calls me strange..

Coming to you from the equator so it is never cold here!!!

So that is how it is supposed to be here, but i have actually had to put on a jacket! We were walking closer to the ocean yesterday, and it had been raining allll day, and i thought i was going to die it was so cold. So this past Thursday, we had an earthquake.. Soo that is cool, but i acually slept right through it. And from what our members say, it was a pretty good shake. Our apartment could probably start burning, and i would sleep right through it. Good thing i have Sorella Egbert. I am the security freak that makes sure everything is locked twice, and she makes sure everything else is in order. We make it by pretty well though. The reason pday is today and not tomorrow is because Anziano Texeira (i think that is how it is spelled.... i cannot spell english or read it anymore.. my brain is becoming a mix of Italian and mush) is doing a mission tour. We have to get on a train after my questura appointment tomorrow, and head to Milano. We have acutally had some fairly amazing miracles on the train though. This past week we were heading to Savona again, and we talked to this woman who acually looked a little rough. I would have never thought she would listen, but she acutally ended up becoming one of our new simpatizzanti! We are going to go see her this Friday in fact. (: We were than walking down different cars, and we saw a man sitting by himself. So we sat down and asked him what he was looking for in life. He responded, and said Gesù Cristo. SAY WHAT? GOLDEN. We started with a prayer, and we opened our eyes to find him crying! We taught him the restaurazione, and come to find, he has been taught by the Anziani before like three years ago! He said he wasnt ready than, but he is now.. We invited him to be baptized, and gave him il libro di mormon. He prayed at the end. It was seriously AMAZING!! I love Italy! I love Italians! I should probably just claim i am Italian.. I could be close enough.. it is like a melting pot over here. Anywho, everything is great here. We get fed every week buy our amazing memebers who loooooveee missionary work. I do not think i have ever seen members of the church like this. They are seriously the strongest most genuine people i have ever met. When they say they they are a member of this church, they are really a member. They show that they are in every way. They love eachother, and care for everyone. New people show up, and the first thing they do is sit next to them and start sharing their lives. Seriously some of the most amazing people i have every met... and even though i just met them, i know i knew them before. It is actually the strangest feeling. We had new missionary training this past week in Milano.. That was acually awesome because i got to see my whole Zone from the MTC. I miss them a lot, but i actually could not wait to get back here to Sanremo. We have been doing a lot of casa.. and someone actually let us in. She is this english woman acutally so we got to teach in english. She actually did not believe a word we said, and said we were wasting our time here because everyone is just very catholic and blah blah blah. I did listen, but i cannot remember exactly what she said..but hey, we got into a house! Very exciting when most say, how did you get in here??? (Because we are supposed to be buzzed in) And than they close the door on us.. but hey. They dont want to listen now.. that is just great. We did the best we could do at this point. Sorella Egbert continues to teach me daily.. I am grateful for her, and her amazing example. We work together well which makes me SO happy. We literaly have been talking to everyone. We count points in our district. Every person is a point, and whatever copia has the most at the end of the week wins. We talked to 110 people. 110 who may just change their lives!! Our goal this week 222 people!! We are going to do it! So one more story... This wonderful lady that we have been teaching... the kind of crazy one..? YEah, well she came to the baptisim for Uche which is great. We had just got done with talking to her about i am not sure what mixed with the restauration.. She handed Sorella Egbert and i some candy. I had started fasting already (This was Saturday afternoon) so i put mine in my bag.. Uche forgot to bring flip flops so we had to run down to the store under us.. (our church is above a grocery store conad) We are walking down the isle, and i hear, ugghhh! I look over and Sorella Egbert looks at me with her mouth opened and its black. she than mumbles alcohol! I start laughing and tell her to spit it out.. We than run back upstairs and i had some candy that tasted like chriistmas and a pyne tree going down your throat.. i gave her a couple to try to get rid of the alcohol breath.. Funny thing is is she had to translate for Sorella Dibb with what i call alchyne breath.. HAaaha, so great. Luckily for me i was fasting and didnt get to taste the wonderful candy our crazy but very sweet kind of very catholic investigator gave us. She is great though.. We had a Halloween party because they are opsessed with what we do for Halloween.. when they say Italians know how to party.. they really do. and they totally danced to thriller which made my day. And they sang karaoke.. everyone including our branch president.. he actually sang the most.. and than everyone yelled ZUMBA,, and they all started doing zumba.i cant even explain. Funniest day here yet. I love everything. My mission is like the MTC for the rest of etenrity..(i cant spell in english anymore..sad) I feel so may things here that i have have never felt before. I fell everything x by ten..I love these people with my whole heart. Challenge this week is truly be a member missionary. Dont just be another mormon that goes to church on Sundays and every other day just lives. Spread this work beacause that is where the greatest joys come from. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am finding joy in the work. It is hard, but i am happy.

The work is working (:

Love you all oh so much!

Love Sorella Woods