06/18/14

HELLO FAMILY!!!!! :)

Man there is just nothing better than p-day. Hahahaha Okay obviously there is.... but not much. Hahaha

Sounds like everyone is getting ready for trips so that’s weird!!!! This is my second summer without Utah EVER IN MY LIFE I feel like but I suppose thanks to Stephen and Amanda I squeeze it in right at the end Hahaha YAY!!!!!! I can’t believe Tim is going to Hawaii to Dance..... You all turned into dancers just cause you miss me so much. :) Hahaha I expect you all to keep doing this dance thing when I come back- ESPECIALLY YOU TIMMY. Hahaha seriously- is there anything Tim can’t do? Watch him become a singer to and just be the best at everything -____-

Well this week was quite interesting. Yesterday I got a letter entitled "Customs Letter" which means "Letter telling you you are getting kicked out of the country" Hahahaha And THAT was crazy to get!!! Hahaha Exciting but a little surreal. The letter basically told me to keep being a missionary and to not bring home more than $800 worth of gifts home... BAHAHHAHA whosever budget is $800 is RIDICULOUS and totally Unrealistic. Lol

SPEAKING OF MONEY. I was looking back on my last three weeks- and I have seriously had THE WORST luck. My bike was destroyed... I was hit by a car... (I will explain)  AND we got a ticket yesterday on the bus.

Story one: My companion ran into me on her bike and so I had to replace the bike tire- BOOM £40 GONE. But I only got one giant bruise on my rear end so I figured it was ok.

STORY TWO: This one time I was coming home from church and as we were crossing a street there was a car coming and the lady in the passenger-side seat waved me to go, but the driver did not see me (he was texting) and so he did not stop, I did not stop... so you can imagine. The bike lane I was on was parallel with a really busy freeway so when I saw he was going to hit me, I was buckling up cause I KNEW he would bump me into the freeway and THATS where I would die- head on and from my right side- So the car comes right up to me right side and hits me- but I have got a death grip on my bike- So I bounce about two feet to my left-Still sitting upright on my bike where the car comes and meets me at a stop/2nd hit. So my right arm is on the hood of his car, my left hand still gripping my bike and I AM ALIVE. I looked over to the driver and the genius who waved me to go- and they are both convinced they were murders and I was dead meat. But Alas- The missionary power protected me and I just looked back at my companion who just saw ME- her companion" die" but magically survive and I just yelled "THE CHURCH IS TRUE! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! FREAK THE CHURCH IS TRUE" And then I rode away without a single bruise- no pain- a functioning bike- and the nearest death experience I have ever had.

    I assure you there is NO WAY I should have lived that. At all. Ya know the Scripture in D&C that says "I will be on your right and on your left, and my angels round about you to bear you up?" Well whichever angel is on my right DID GREAT- Now the angel on the left, I see room for improvement. He was slacking a little but I forgive him. lol And those angel round about me FOR sure did their job. Thank goodness.  So yeah. I got hit by a car. Twice. And I didn’t die. My Name is Sarah Holloway- and I am a Mormon.

STORY THREE: Yesterday we went to Bologna (Bow-Lone-Yah) for a Zone Conference and after the train ride- we stuffed ourselves onto a bus where we were seriously more than shoulder to shoulder in the most uncomfortable ways. Gotta love public transportation. Well it is a rule to stamp your ticket so they know you paid for you ticket- and since it was so full- none of us could get to the front to stamp our ticket. Well LO AND BEHOLD an officer got on and I and 5 other missionaries got pulled on the bus and fined. -____- he charged us ALL £65 a head - an upside was that, if you remember, my wallet got stolen in Firenze so my ID was stolen as well as Promesso di Sorgiorno aka everything that makes me legal. There was my new missionary (my companion) and another new missionary who also weren’t legal yet- and another missionaries was EXPIRED so Really we were all supposed to go to jail until someone brought them our passports and then fined an extra WHO KNOWS how much- so I was thankful anyway.... But yeah. NOT SUPER GREAT. Not to mention all the other repairs I had to pay for and the tickets and basically Italy is a money-sucker. If you even had any to begin with.

Other than that- We are teaching this AWESOME mom right now from Nigeria and she will be baptized in the next month so we are soooo happy for her. She has 5 kids and the youngest 2 come to church with her :) It’s pretty fun :) Then Last Saturday night a group from Verona came to Modena and performed a "Musical" About Joseph Smith and it was pretty cute. The church is true and I loved watching people I didn’t know share their testimonies about a 14-Year Olds vision- Its crazy how one little thing changed the whole world- Oh how lovely was that morning!!!

   I am not feeling too trunky- I can’t decide if it feels real yet Hahaha I bought toothpaste this morning and I said "This will be the last toothpaste I buy in Italy... Hum" Hahaha So Nothing Too weird is happening yet. hahaha Transfers are next week and I am 90% positive I won’t go anywhere because I am training but I suppose it could happen. I think I will stay in Modena till the end of my mission but who knows. I think my last 10 days they will sent another sister here with Sorella Kras and I and then I will leave them two here. COOOOOOLLLLLL.

    I am kinda set up for school- I had to email about 100 teachers but I got the five most important classes set up... aka Book of Mormon, modern, ballet, jazz. and Improv hahaha The rest I can sign up next P-Day I guess. My foundation classes I had to wait for new freshman... Cool. Lol

I love you so much!!!! I will see you soon!!!!!