....

I dont understand why they make us title our emails...makes no sense. So i want to tell you about Francesco. One of the coolest guys i have met on the street!!. We were walking home last night and this guy was trying to pass us three of a road block... that little voice that i hear so frequently in the back of my head just basically said, dont be stupid and talk to him.. So we did! ... and Heavenly Father blesses us with miracles when we open our mouths when we are told to do so! I really cant explain everything, but Heavenly Father prepares these people for the gospel. Here we are talking to this toolish looking hipster guy, and he turns out to be sooo cool. In all reality the whole time we were talking to him, i couldnt help but think of Connor. He just had a light to him. A passion and love for this life.. they even look alike...and i couldnt help but smile like an idiot the whole time.. My heart was just soo full! . Last night while we were talking to Francesco, he said he doesnt necessairly believe that there is a God, but he knows there is something. He has felt something, and he knows that there is a help there. He gave us his number and said he would LOVE to hear more.. These are the small moments that happen so frequently where i just think i LOVE my mission. These are the times that i will probably remember the most and that bring the most happiness. I am finally realizing that we are simply here to share what we have.. Just a simple but special message that changes lives 360 degrees. I have just been a sponge this week and all i want is to learn more. To know more about Christ and his life... about church history.. I am learning more about me and how much i need to grow..its just great!... and i get to do all this... in Italy. That includes Sorella VanAlfen getting kissed on the head by a man painted all in white while he comes for me next and Sorella Seare is just staring at him. Standing in the rain with an umbrella that doesnt do its job and with leaking boots.. All this and whatever else happens really is making up the best part of my life. 

I love all your faces!

Love Sorella Woods!

Fastest transfer of my life..

and the verdict is, i am still in Sanremo. I love it here and i LOVE
LOVE LOVE the people, but i have no idea what Heavenly Father wants me to
do here. And that makes it hard to be here for another six weeks. I cant
believe that i have been here for almost five months...its like a time warp
because it feels like it has only been a day, and than it feels like 2
years. Sorella Gillette is leaving to be sister training leader in Milan
with my trainer Egbert! Now that is crazy. I thought i was leaving for sure
because i had been here the longest, and we were in three. We asked him to
stay in three and he said that was impossible....

but wouldnt you know it... Sorella Van Alfen is staying here WITH me, and
we have ANOTHER... one more time, ANOTHER sorella coming! We are in three
again!! That is crazy.. It think pres knows that i am probably the crazy
apostate one and i need babysitters...scherzo..but seriously. Two
threesomes in a row?? That just doesnt happen!
anywho.. Im happy. I just need to find out what Heavenly Father wants me to
do next because appearantly he is the planner in all of this. I love
everyone and thank you for just being you.

Have a great week!

This is Sorella Woods signing out from a not so sunny Sanremo...Because it
will never stop raining... i hate the rain. I used to love it, when i didnt
wear a skirt and shoes that just get soaking wet.

PANTSSSS!!!

after five very short months in only skirts, i get to wear pants.. many of you dont understand the happiness that comes from pants. Dont get me wrong, i love skirts, but its like when Areil turned into a human after being a mermaid. I HAVE TWO LEGS AGAIN! Oh blessed day. So i would like to make a list of events this past week:

1. It has been raining so bad (and italians are afraid of the rain) that the city has been on an alert.

2. The day before 'alert day' we were teaching some of my favorite people in their shop.. and what do you know.. My zebra umbrella was stolen.. i wouldnt of cared if it was a normal umbrella, but you just cant go to the nearest shop and buy another zebra umbrella. 

3. One of my companions (wont say whooo.. but starts with 'G' haaaha) was plugging in the DVD player to listen to music.. and POP, big blue spark... our power was gone... 

4. Taking a shower with pots of hot water in the dark... and no hot water means no heater... and yes, it may be Sanremo, but it is the middle of winter... and then what do you know.. the fridge doesnt work and the food starts rotting.

5. Getting kicked off a train because one of us forgot to stamp our ticket...

and the moral of this list of things that probably just sounds like i am being a complainer is that i am the happiest i have ever been in my whole entire 20 short years of life... I love being a missionary. All things happen for a reason.. The earth needs water so Heavenly Father is blessing us with water! After my umbrella was stolen, a little indian man asked me to buy one of his on our way home running through the rain. I apologized and said i had no money, but next time i would... He than handed me an umbrella and said no charge. My heart nearly melted. Getting my awesome zebra umbrella stolen allowed Heavenly Father to show me the good of a random stranger on the street.. Having no power for a time allowed me the opprotunity to think of those without the luxry of running hot water, or a working heater... it allowed me to see some of the little blessings that i take for granted... A lot of people in this world dont have food, and even though our food was going bad, we still had food to eat! And lastly, being kicked off a train.. It allowed the man who kicked one of us off and we had to be together so that meant all of us had to get off to soften his heart, and let us all back on. Basically this week i have seen Heavenly Father in every little thing when i look back at it and i realized that i have really reached that point of the fact i could do this forever.. I am a 100% here and i can never imagine going home. I am so blessed that this is my life. That Heavenly Father has given me this amazing opprotunity. When we think things are just bad, take a step back and look at what you are really being blessed with. Everything our Father in Heaven gives us is a blessing..even the tiniest little things!

Love you allll... 

Love Sorella Woods

BAPTISM!!!

Is my FAVORITE WORD IN THE WORLD!!!! Well not literally... maybe unicorn is or something dumb like that.... but what the word baptism entails is probably one of my favorite things. Our new convert has an aunt that we just so happened to run into on the street... Long story short, we taught her there, and now we have set a bap date with her! She has smoked her whole life and she when from smoking a pack a day to smoking one cigarette in a day... You cannot tell me that the power of this gospel is not real... It is so evident in the lives of these people that i interact with daily!! My mind is continually blown by these miracles. My heart cannot handle the love i have for these people. She literally is a miracle. The day we gave her the Book of Mormon, she stopped drinking coffee. She comes to church every week wearing church clothes! (that may not sound that significant...but here it is a miracle if our members wear church clothes) SO GREAT! The power we have in three is amazing.. We have been able to see our lesson count more than double here. I dont know what one extra person adds... but its changed everything. Our branch has a goal of being a ward in three years. I think they can really do it sooner. It is all about the members and who they invite.. They invite their friends, and we teach them... Members are so essential in missionary work. I never realized that before my mission... I don't think i could have even called myself a member missionary... it sounds cheesy but its totally true!!! I see the HUGE difference that it has made in our work here... I have a goal that i have to accomplish on my mission. I want to get into at least one house by our own efforts, (hoping it is a whole family that lives there) Teach them, and baptize them.. After running up and down five flights of stairs, you begin to think it is impossible... But than hey, we have all heard the miracle stories of it was the last door knocked on who let the missionaries in.. thats when i hear in my head I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!... it has yet to happen, but i refuse to leave this country without accomplishing that... and when it does happen i am pulling the sister act movie and singing OH HAPPPY DAY.. But every day is happy day here in good ol' Sanremo with Vanny and Gillette... We're on the hunt for the elect and prepared! (: LOVE YOU ALL!

and sorry i dont write you people back.... NOT enough time! (british accent)

Love Sorella WOODS