We have arrived here in Cagliari and Wow! It is so different than Palermo. It's so beautiful. I got here and I was like, "Are we in America?" (which, like, I obviously forgot what America is like, hahaha), but it's so clean and the sidewalks and the streets are so wide and there are nice clean buildings and the bus systems work and there's a sign that says when the bus is going to come and the most common bus literally takes five minutes. It comes every five minutes. Are you kidding me??!! The first half of the week was super cutie...obviously I had to fly here so I had to drop so much stuff. I left so much stuff in Palermo and already -- shout out to Sorella S -- on her and her new companion's picture on What's App they're both wearing my clothes. And I'm like, "reap!" That's ok -- someone else can use them. Basically, long story short, I had to drop so much stuff and so I spent a lot of time with my sweetie, patient companion Sorella S, finding some way to be ok with my stress and telling me to calm down. In Palermo we didn't have a scale so I had to use the luggage scale that Robin gave me for graduation and it said that it was 23 kili so I had to drop so much stuff and then I got to the airport and they were 19 or 20 kili, and I was like, "Dang it! I could have brought more things!" I left things that I could have brought. But that's ok because I don't need things, you know.
So we planned, figured it out, and packed Monday and Tuesday. It was so cutie -- everyone was so nice, and this is something that Italians -- especially the women in Palermo -- would say all the time. Sorella Sarantino said it, and Emilia would say it -- that everybody loves me. That's literally how I felt this week. I can't even lie -- people were so, so, so sweet. We had going away appointments with people I wanted to see before I left obviously, and so we got to see the bishop's family, we got to go visit L and E and -- miracle! -- we didn't think we would have time to go see F also (we haven't seen him in a long time and he's not completely feeling better yet) and so we didn't know when he would be at work or when we would have time and logistically it was confusing. And then we were deciding to take the bus or the tram to go home. We usually took the tram but we took the bus and then right before the bus is about to leave F gets on the bus! It was such a miracle. It was SO good to see him again, you know? Just to talk to him. And he was SO sweet and said the sweetest things and thanked me and said he would miss me and we had this cute moment and he told me to be brave, and I was like, "F, you have to be brave, too!" It was just really cute. And that was a huge, huge, huge blessing and then of course we were running around doing all the things. Everyone wants to feed you when you're leaving your area, I guess! So S (from English class) wanted to take us out to pizza so we went out to pizza with him, and Sorella S and I were walking home and talking about how a year from now we're going to be home and wishing we could be in Italy having that sweet man S take us out to pizza. And then also we had a cutie meal appointment with the bishop's family (I love them!), and the next day we had a cutie appointment with another family that was like, "Come over!" and then Sorella L invited us over and said she would make pizza for us. And we had really good lessons with people, a really good lesson with the bishop's family about member missionary work, and they're totally on the grind now. They were excited about it and it was awesome because I felt like I got to use the relationship that I've been able to build with them to help the work, which is obviously the reason I'm here.
What else? Oh, cutie story from the next day! This family, Familia A, we went over to their house and they live in compagna, in the country, and so they have land and he has olive trees and a bunch of other types of trees, but he has olive trees and that's the most important to me. He makes his own olives and they are SO good. And so he makes these olives and I'm always eating them when I'm at their house and so we were there and I was eating them and I was asking him questions, like "How do you do this? I don't think these are olives but I really want to know how you do this!" And so he told me how and it was super fun. And then he asked if I had room in my bags and I said "I wish! I'm having to leave so much!" and he had asked me again, "Are you sure you don't have room in your bags?" And I asked why and he said, "Because I want to give you these olives that I made. Do you think you would have space?" and I said, "yeah! I"ll make space!" And so he pulls out this bottle of olives and prepares them for me to take, vacuum seals them, and his arm is hurt right now and so afterwards he said "I"m sorry -- I need to go rest. I've done too much" and he was doing all of this to give me these olives and he told me what I need to do to season them but it was SO sweet and I was like, "Awww!!" and then in the evening we went and saw F and E. I said in last week's e-mail that S from P3 gave me this beautiful green African fabric and so I went to F and E and asked if they could make me a dress and they said yes. So I went to go pick up my dress and they weren't quite done with it so we hung out and got to talking. The missionaries used to teach them and they are friends of the missionaries so I actually got to hear more about their story and how he's a convert from Islam and just really talked to them about that and how we love everyone and we accept everyone, we just want to help them and help everyone and give everyone the same joy that we have. It was just really cool because I've been there before. We've tried to kind of work with them but they're not really interested, but I feel like I was able to leave him with a good feeling in his heart. And the dress -- it's super cute!
And then in the morning we finished packing and finished packing more that night and in the morning Sorella H and I flew out. In the airport I ate my first ??? which is a weird cake thing and it was good. It was really sweet. I won't eat another one. But I finally ate my first one after being there for six months! Then I got to Cagliari and we went to English course with 10 missionaries (we have 8 missionaries here in this city -- it's crazy but it's so awesome!). Sorella N (my companion) is the cutiest cutie. It's funny because we're very, very similar and so we're trying to figure it out because we have a lot of the same weaknesses and sometimes I'm like, "wow, this is what I'm like" and it's super awesome because we understand each other very well. I'm super excited. Super excited! My goal for this transfer -- low key goals -- is that I want to become more positive because my mind is a little negative, and I want to stop comparing myself to other people because that does you no good ever and it just destroys you and why do I do it?? I don't know! Because I'm very competitive. So I'm trying to rid myself of that this transfer. Stay tuned! I'm super excited because I feel like sometimes you're put in situations and the situation is uncomfortable, kind of, with a companion maybe that you can't be 100% who you want to be, who you are, you have to learn from the situation and learn to adapt. But I feel like here with Sorella N I feel like I can be 100% who I am because we're already friends. I got the call that we were going to be companions and I was so excited! And being able to be myself and choose the ways I want to progress and progress instead of the situation make me progress, if that makes sense. So that's good.
General Conference was this weekend, and I went finding for the first time in a long time because in Palermo we really didn't go finding because we had a lot to do all the time. So we've done a little bit of finding because there's a new set of sisters that also came in -- Sorella H and her greenie -- and so we divided the work up and so we've got to fill that work. So that's fun and I forgot how much I love it. Then conference this weekend -- it was really so good. It was SO good! It's crazy because all of the questions that I had going in to conference I feel like I got some degree of answers for all of them in the very first session. And it's so interesting because all of the things Sorella N and I have been talking about in our comp studies and when we're walking around, were things that they also talked about. It was crazy. It was so incredible! I'm excited to go back and study, because on Sunday we literally watched eight hours of conference because the timing is different. And so I was a little bit dead by the end, so I'm excited to go back and read some of those talks. My takeaways from conference -- joy. They talked so much about joy and how there's so much joy in progression. And definitely broke my boxes because one of my questions was how can I keep progressing? Even after my mission, what are things that I need to get rid of, what are things I need to do in order to maintain the progression that I've had and make sure that I continue to progress and have the Spirit always with me. It just broke my boxes and it was, like, just get over the world. Elder Holland's talk about focusing yourself on Christ...then the third talk in that session was, like, fix your priorities -- your priorities shouldn't be on the world. And then President Nelson invited us to read D&C 25 and I read that today in my personal study and it's just forget the things of the world and look for better, you know? And that is something that I'm going to be thinking and pondering a lot about and how I can implement that in my life. I make it so stupid because I'm just dumb sometimes and I made it so complicated. And here's the thing -- it's not complicated! It's very simple, what we're asked to do. And I think we hold on to the things of the world and we hold on to the things that are in our comfort zone instead of actually doing what's asked of us. Why? That's not where we have joy, that's not where we have happiness, that's not where we have growth, that's not where we feel safety. And so that's something that I'm excited -- for the general conference talks to come out -- so I can study a lot. But I don't think my mission got extended to two years....I was ready! I was hyped for it! But Mom is probably happy about that!
Here's what we did for P-Day -- we went to the beach!! We went to the beach early, early in the morning but it was freezing cold but it was so fun. We couldn't go between sessions of conference but we could go after and we built a sandcastle and played beach soccer and we tried to play frisbee but we were all cold and tired by then. But it was super fun.
This is already pretty long so I don't think I'll answer questions this week. You kind of got the answers in a roundabout way. I love you all! I'm super excited and Cagliari is lit, and I'm super excited about the work we do have an the ward is super big and I'm excited to work with them. And I'm just so grateful!
Ciao, ciao, ciao!
With E -- She is a less active that I've worked with a lot and she came back to church while I have been here. She has a shop on via Roma and we WILL go visit her!
The bishop's family's pet bunny
With the bishop's family
English class
With S.
With P.
With F and E -- they made my new African dress for me with the gorgeous fabric from S.
With L and S
I and also F. This is the family whose Dad gave me the olives
I with her cute baby
Cassata -- it's a Palermo thing.
On the beach in Cagliari for P-Day
It was cold!
Our sandcastle
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