06-19-13

FAMILYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY AND FRIENDS WHO READ THE BLOG BUT PROBABLY NOBODY YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suuuuuuuuuu I finally got to email today because yesterday we didn’t have time. Because we are missionaries. And we had lessons. And we can’t shut up. It’s really a problem.

So Yes I am healthy.... "Healthy" again. I mean I live in Italy- their definition of "Healthy" is a little different but generally speaking Yes. I am Healthy. Hahaha well i had the nurse person read through the test results again and really all it says is that I don’t have Celiac- so I just went as gluten free as I could but I don’t WANT to be completely gluten-intolerant so like once a day I will have a piece a bread or something with gluten in it. Everything else is gluten free and I can totally tell the difference- I don’t ache so much I have more energy so it’s really great. Not super hard to find gluten free stuff here either surprisingly!

I totally understand that whole dying in heat thing. Its hecka hot here. Like I sleep with two fans on me and I still sweat the entire night, so you can imagine what’s it’s like running from lesson to lesson. :) Super cute. Nothing like convincing someone the Plan of Happiness is true when we are two American girls with bad accents, sweating to death telling them how happy we are....... super convincing. Lol  ya hopefully I get used to this BUT you will pleased to know i have OFFICIALLY tanned an entire shade darker. No- I still cannot find makeup to match my skin here yet BUT this morning in the shower I noticed my arm was slightly darker then my stomach. EEPPPP YAY ME!

Yeah we don’t hear about anything here. This is partially because when people tell me things i don’t actually understand. So I very well might have been told this buttttttttt I don’t know. This Thursday was our Zone Conference and we said bye to our Mission President and his wife. It was wayyyyyyyy sad. But the new president is President Dibb and Sorella Dibb and I have interviews with them innnnnnn 2 weeks I believe so we will see how they shuffle us around. It’s exciting :)

I KNOW I AM SO EXCITED FOR HER (Katelyn!)- there could not be a more perfect mission for her. Not possible. I should have called that in the first place! I was thinking Vegas- but yeah Detroit I see now hahaha She'll fit right in..... wait...... lol

OK so this week has been amazing as usual uhhh just a super cool thing that happened was we were tracting at a park with all us missionaries and my companion was holding Il Libro di Mormon and we were just kinda going around talking, not much interest in people cause it was father’s day BYTHEWAY father’s day is on a different day here..... whaaaaa how weird. We went to the store to pic out a card and we were asking the where they sold Father’s day cards- and them thinking we are idiot thought we were trying to buy fourth of July cards.... ok FIRST of all who gives cards for 4th of July? SECOND heck to the no will I pay 6 dollars for a card and then $2 for a stamp to send someone a card saying who knows what which brings me to my last concern THIRD to the person who DOES give out cards for the fourth of July.... what are saying? "Hey happy 4th! America is free! Good work".... I guess I am just confused at the whole situation.

Back to the story. So in the Philippines they DO celebrate father’s day on the same day as America so yay- we went and started talking to the big mobs of them and this man walks up to us and says "Hey are you the Mormons?" So our heads like snap around like whaaaaa English and Whaaaaa someone WANTS to talk to us?? Haha So we said "yeah we are!!" and He went on to tell us that seven years ago he had taken lessons from the missionaries and he wanted to get baptized but his job is international and he got transferred suddenly and hadn’t found missionaries since. He said he hadn’t stopped thinking about baptism since then- then he just threw in Can I Give You My Phone Number? OK HECK YES YOU CAN AND HECK YES YOU CAN GET BABTISED AND HECK YES WE CAN MEET WITH YOU AGAIN.
 Best thing ever- totally random and it was JUST because he saw the Book of Mormon. How crazy is that? We are so happy for him :)))) Right now we have baptism dates set for every week in July and unfortunately we have to drop one because he is in danger if he joins the church because he is Muslim. That is actually a pretty common problem for us. They are always willing but we can’t put them in danger of being killed... ya know???

 

NO BIG DEAL but guess what I did yesterday :) I went and saw "The Last Supper". Yup. That the actual real thing. By the one and only Leonardo DiVinci. it was incredible and yes I did cry a little bit. First of all- WAY huge, like wayyyy bigger than I thought it was and it has wayyyyy more history then I thought it did. I don’t even KNOW how we got tickets to go see it- we just went with 6 other sisters- so much fun. But Milano got bombed during World War 2 and the church that the Duke had built for himself collapsed and the one wall with this painting on it was left standing. So they have this picture of this the wall being held up by boards trying to protect the painting- it’s just awesome. So much History it’s just CRAZY. Walking where DiVinci walked I just can’t get over it. So grateful to be here and I intend on living it up as much as I possibly can since this is such an amazing opportunity.

Also- We just sent our Beloved Sorella home last week that has been living with us:( and it actually sucked wayyyyyy too much. I am pretty sure this is like a common thing in the mission but when they send someone home at the end of their mission they are "dead"..... Anyway we had someone Die last week and it just sucked all the way around. I mean it was my first transfer- and her last so I mean it was so great to see the other end, and to see how amazing she is and know that that’s what a mission does to a person. I hope I can become half the missionary she was cause really- she was amazing. Also the same thing is happening THIS transfer and I have to see ANOTHER missionary die. -___- I don’t understand. That’s not normal. BUTTTTT I get to live in Milan so I shouldn’t complain too much. so we have a new Sorella living with us and She is Italian and so she is going to teach us all of her cooking secrets. Muahahaha. Also she is helping me not suck at Italian. YAY HER.

Funny Story: On Sunday I had about 50 heart attacks. FIRST during Sunday school I was talking to an investigator and I said I was tired- and she said "ohhhh well that’s because you snuck out last night to go dancing" ok well I didn’t quite understand that..... soooooooo I thought she said something before... dancing.... and that’s all I caught. So I was like "Oh yeah! I love dancing!! Do it all the time!" Uhhhhhhh She starts laughing and the member next to her starts laughing- just busting up with laughter and i am sitting there like "no really- I love dancing... That’s what I study in the States" Which only makes them laugh harder Haha soooooooooo they finally explained it to me.. AWK.... SECOND we go to sacrament meeting and the bishop runs down from the stand and asks me where the new sorella is.. uhhhhh I don’t know!!!! But I do know her name is Sorella Sontora.... yeah.... That’s not her name. -___- So the bishop runs back up before I could correct myself and says can we have Sorella Sontora come bear a testimony GREAT so Obviously she thinks I don’t know her name and then she has to come up... correct him... then he looks at me and I have to mouth "I’m so sorry!" all the way from the back HOLY and then the new Anziani goes to bear his testimony and he translates for the English speakers in the ward... so guess who he hands the headset to? Me. yeah oh HECK NO. So i shove it in the other anzionis hands who has one more transfer then i do hahahahaha It was just a terrifying day. But really this is pretty much how every Sunday is. hahaha Its so fun.

This week we also got the Liahonas and they are so kind and gave me one in English :) and I guess I would just Echo what Holland says. My faith used to be a tiny seed but it has grown into a tree- and if you find your faith is insufficient, I invite you to lean on mine. I do know this church is true and I guess I didn’t realize what a blessing that is to know. There isn’t a doubt in my mind. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and if it is true, then I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet or he couldn’t have found nor translated the book of Mormon, and if he is a prophet then the Church of Jesus Christ in its fullness is on the earth today, and if the fullness of truth IS on the earth today, how important is it to make those things known! It’s really as simple as that. I know the Book of Mormon is true and if anyone were to take 30 minutes and actually WANTED to know if the book was true all you have to do is read it. Once you know it’s true- don’t forget you know it’s true. Someone said to me yesterday that if you want to find a reason to leave the church- you can ALWAYS find a reason to leave and to justify it. But you can ALWAYS find more reasons to stay in the church. Cause really we aren’t a religion, or a belief we really are a group of people living what is true. We live by truth. That’s it. Another thing that Holland said in his talk that I love is that we are not asked to lean on faith we DONT have, but show integrity to the things you DO know. In Alma 7:12 is says Christ suffered for our infirmities which literally means anything that is not firm. That is why we don’t see Christ face to face, it’s because we are asked to live by faith and for those things we don’t know- Christ makes up the difference for, so all we have to do is stick to the things we do know.

I am so grateful to know what I do and to be able to share it. Whoop Whoop!!!

Love you guys!!

Can’t wait to hear from you next week!!!

Sorella Holloway

EEEEEEP I LOVE WENDSDAYS!!!!!!! I think I say that every week but it is so true.  I like sit at the computer and read up and then bawl my eyes out at the pictures from everybody and then I wallow in self-pity that I am so far away.... and then I get over it and write back :) hahaha This week has been so hard!!! I know Father’s day is coming up this Sunday and I just stinking miss you guys!!!!! The Homesick monster got me this week wahhhhhhhhhh But DAD HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!! Hope its bomb-diggity even though you won’t be with mama. Make sure Jay and Ben celebrate too since they are new Daddies too: D EEEPPP!!!!

Also its stinking annoying that no one has gotten my letters. -____- I have to pay 2 STINKING DOLLARS for every stamp and so THEY BETTER GET THERE. Seriously.... 2 dollars for a stamp.... How is that a thing? Is it really putting them out of their way to carry my piece of paper over the water? Really? REALLY?!

Anyway. Olivia Huskey is leaving on her mission in 22 days so if that’s not a big deal I don’t know what is.

Also Does Kendra know if she is having a boy or girl yet? Cause I defiantly sent her a card as if she was having a girl cause by the time she gets this card her baby will probably already by 3 months old.. so I just took a guess and went with it.

ALRIGHTYYYYYY So this week was by far the coolest week I have had here in Italy YAYYYY So many miracles this week.

FIRST STORY: Last P-Day we had a goal of getting 4 new phone numbers aka 4 new Potential investigators. So we had gotten 3 throughout the day and we were like 40 feet from the apartment and we saw a man walking our way and I look at Durfee and I say ,"There he is. that’s number four. " So we walk up to him and strike up a not so casual conversation about God hahaha So of course it starts to sprinkle and I KNOW he is going to use this as an excuse to walk away so I straight up start threatening the sky in my mind just thinking "Ya know what?? YOU can wait. We are getting this guys number and as SOON as he starts giving us him number THEN you can rain. and pour. bring out the thunder and lightning I don’t care but YOU CAN WAIT a freaking five minutes" So then it stops sprinkling and I was like oh good we got lucky haha so we keep talking to this guy And we ask him if it would be possible to meet another time to talk about the Book of Mormon. He is wishy washy and then like shrugs and say "Perche non??" Haha So we pull out our planners and ask for his number and AS SOON as he says the very first number it starts to rain... and by the time he finishes his number ITS POURING so we all run away and we get 40 feet to our apartment and we hear thunder Hahahaha COOLEST THING EVER. You guys- As missionaries, you have authority to stop and control the rain. SAHHHHHWWWEEEETTTTT!!!! Hahaha So cool. haha But yeah we were soaked. Not the first time this has happened to us either.... It randomly pours here all the time. Annoying.

SECOND STORY: We met this lady on the street the other day and she wanted a Book of Mormon... Uhhh... Yeah we can do that, so she comes to the lesson and she brings her daughter too.. OH HECK YES. Those are always the BEST People when they bring other people they want to learn with. Then we finish that lesson and head to our next lesson with a new convert from the Philippines and she is on the phone and she says to us "I have two friends coming- I want you to teach them" Haha YAY! So she tricked her friends into coming and both were somewhat open with us but I started talking about McDonalds and the really closed one TOTALLY opened up... McDonalds here myyyy worddddd...... SO ridiculous.... have I told the story of McDonalds? Probably not... Basically we asked this lady on the street where the best place to eat was (I mean we are in Italy... everything is good we have high expectations) and she Says McDonalds.... OH HECK NO. We try to explain that we aren’t really fans and she then tries to convince us for the next HALF HOUR why we need to start eating there.... we finally run away and we ask TWO MORE PEOPLE and they both say McDonalds. WHAT IS THIS. Anyway..... dumb. Kebap is the only way to go. Droooolll.

THIRD STORY: So our mission president asked us all to start teaching more meno-ativas so we asked Vescivo for some names and he gave us a list and we chose to go see this lady named Angel. So we go find this lady and what do you know, she had moved and her phone number had expired. Fabulous. So we wanted to reach our goal of 6 lesson in one day so I look at my companion and I say " ya wanna get another lesson?" and she says "Heck yeah" So I start doing some Casa (uhh tracking I think? like for apartments so you have to push the buttons to get buzzed in?) and my companion buzzes like the eighth one and the buzzer goes "chi é?" And she starts the whole "Ciao! Siamo Missionari per la Chiesa di Gesu Cristo dei Santi degli Ultimi Giorni!" Now usually this is where people cut ya off and say " NON INTRESANTE!!!" But this lady goes "SI SI SI SI!!!!" She buzzes us in hahaha So we are like ok well this is the first time this has every happened in the history of mankind hahaha So we get up like the million stairs and she is standing there with the door opened inviting us in. COOL. She was smoking and had about 8 cats and 4 dog. MMMmm. Just my type uh' Lady. So using our super good judgment we walk right in like nobody’s business and she goes on to tell us that She had been baptized 4 years ago, but stopped going cause she felt unworthy cause she got addicted to smoking again and the missionaries that taught her had gone home. Guess what her name was? ANGEL. now NOTTT the Angel we had come to see, but a different meno-ativa angel. Coolest thing ever. We are now seeing her once a week and helping her quit. Yeahhhhh we called the mission president for that one cause it was so cool cause we had been praying ALL day to be able to find this Meno-ativa named Angel and we did!!! But he was just sneaky about it. Moral of the story: Use first AND last names when praying.....

FOURTH STORY: Best one yet. We set three baptismal dates in one day. WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!! That’s not normal by ANY means for Milano. Like ever. So NOW we have six people getting ready for baptism and we started with none :) So 1 is from Canada (Female, 22), 1 is from Egypt (Male, 45ish), 1 is from the Philippines(Male, 35ish), 1 is from Peru (Female, 45ish) and 2 are from West Africa (in their 20s) :) So it looks like we will have a baptism here every week in July, so PRAY THEY ALL PULL THROUGH!!!!!!!!! Also we have a baptism this Saturday for an ex-communicated member that we have been working with so we are SUPER happy for her for getting ready and making the huge jump back to the church.

On a less awesome note- I got sick this week so I have been apartment bound for three days BUT today I walked all the way to the church to do email (Aint Nothin stoppin me from email) and we did grocery shopping. YAY ME! But for the past two days I have not been able to put my face on and put clothes on so I am working my way back to health again. Uhhhhh I should also mention I am Gluten free again.... I tried just taking in easy on the pasta and stuff but yeahhhhhhhh that’s not working out too well for me. So I give up. Gluten Free it is. BUTTTTTTT I got some test results back from the MTC and they say I DO NOT have celiac disease! hahaha Not super surprising but the doctor  there was convinced I did. Boom I don’t. So I am meeting with the nurse sometime this week and getting the rest of the results and they have a Doctor in Germany that will explain the rest to me. YAY!!! But yeah.... no more Gluten. It’s killing me. -___-

Also transfers are today and I am staying in MILANO!!!!!! Holy Joy to the World. I have no idea what that conference thing is that you are talking about..... but if there really isn’t church that day Italy missed the memo. ORRRRR My companion and I just missed the memo. I don’t know if you remember this part but we don’t actually speak Italian all that great.... we just smile and nod during announcements....... But PLEASE do inform me when you do find out. That kind of sounds like a big deal.

Yeah mom I was thinking for Father’s day you should give every Father a life size statue of themselves, really make em feel all special, but OF COURSE still have homemade cinnamon rolls.... -____- Sees candy Chocolate bar. BASTA.

 

That mouse story is straight up NASTY. I can’t believe he just caught one with his bare hand. Sciffo. bleck. That’s not sanitary EWWWWWWWWWW

but very kind of him I suppose....

Thanks for keeping me updated with everyone- Love you guys tons! Especially while I am sick I just kinda look at pictures of yall and wallow in self-pity... :( WAH ohhhhh cute story: My companion is the best and bought me popcorn and I like ate all three bags in 2 second flat. :( Wahhh.

ok I almost forgot my funny story for this week hahahaha Ok I KNOWWWW I said I would stop telling you my kissing stories but this one was just too awkward. Hahaha Ok So one of our baptismal dates came to meet with us and he comes in to give me a handshake and I KNOW this is where I am supposed to give him the stiff arm.... so I brace myself and go to shake his hand and he start pulling me in so I straighten my arm to avoid the cheek kiss thing and so I straighten my arm THUS straight out punch him in the side AND WE STILL BACI. I am the world’s most awkward person. -___- So I Baci-ed a West African and then to just top it off he goes to my companion who has MASTERED the stiff arm and tells him we don’t baci. cool..... -___- Worlds most awkward award goes to me. Pray for me. Lol

Love yall.

Peace and Blessings.

yayyyyyyyyyyy

Sorella Holloway :)

 

 

I LOVE MY FAMILY.

You guys are the best. :)

Ok so first thing is first- Jenna-called you.... because there is no such thing as face-calling someone... so for future reference Hahaha

Second- I am worried for the reputation I am getting back home THUS no more kissing stories haha Basically everyday someone goes in to kiss my face and then you do the awkward  I DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO FIRST SO WE FOR REALS ALMOST JUST KISSED panic moment but I am learning the technique and am learning how to "stiff-arm" people. Cause you shake people hands and then they pull ya in for the face-shot BUT if you make your arm straight and stiff they can’t reach your face! It’s amazing!!! I get to practice a lot so I will learn. Haha Yeah tell Paul I can’t get used to kissing girls all the time, and I don’t think I had that big of a bubble to start with sooooo I don’t know how other missionaries do it.

I can’t wait to come home and see Kate and Mini Jaydra babies. I know babies look like their parents but to have babies look like my siblings is straight up CRAYCRAY. So excited. Hahaha But from what i can tell Kate is looking a TON like Ben!!!! Hahaha

Uhhh Shopping here is impossible for me. I either find things, like shoes, for $99 a pair or $10 a pair.... soooo I went with the cheap ones and just got three pairs and just rotate every day. They will hold up for like... 3 more transfers. But I still think its worth it. More shoes. Dur. Clothes are decent priced but I haven’t needed anything yet. It’s getting HECKA HOTTT which is just lovely because within 18 months, I might actually turn a shade of white to MAYBE a cream normal human being color... but that’s just a hope. Pray for me. I mean with all the cigarette smoke I breath a day, it probably amounts to AT LEAST 2 cigs a day- so if I am gunna get lung cancer, Why not throw skin cancer in there to? Meh. DON’T EVEN CUR.

OK This week was the usual AWESOME.

During Parko (aka tracking.. at a park... thus the PARKo...) we contacted 2 prostitutes... that was fun. They weren’t interested. Can’t  imagine why. OHOHOHOH Last week we got 3 new Simpatizzanti EEP! We haven’t gotten a single new person the whole time I have been here so it’s a huge deal. Tomorrow we have four lessons planned ALL with new potentials so tomorrow we are hoping for FOUR new simpatizzanti!!! SO COOL!!! I don’t know what happened butttttttt this is super crazy. Pray they all follow through!!! We also had a Zone ... something. Io non so MA I got to see President e Sorella Wolfgramm which is always SUPER awesome. I GOT TO SEE WINKY AND ERVIN. Aka my ladies in my MTC district- so that was fantastico. We had a Scambia and a Blitz... and I don’t know what either of those are in English so just pretend like ya know and smile and nod hahaha basically we switched comps for a day. VERY full week.

Ok so this morning we went to a TAI CHI class because on our scabia last week we contacted this man who said he taught class so he handed us a flyer... and then I gave him a pass-along card hahah so we did an awkward switch but we knew we had to go find him so all four of us went to this class and we got 2 numbers from there so that’s great! Haha So our whole day is basically Chinese themed- got some Tai Chi lessons then went and got some Chinese town food and shopping done... btw..... at this place they had duck tongue, pig tongue, pig ear, jelly fish, octopus, ... uh... yeah all nastiness. I stuck with classy chicken- ok that’s a lie I tried some unidentifiable meat that we guessed was duck... that’s normal right? all we know is it wasn’t chicken, cow, or pork... yikes now that I am writing about it I am slowing realizing that’s pretty sketchy..

FUNNY STORY OF THE WEEK: uhhhh Ok so on our Blitz I was with another Sorella and we are going along this street just talking to whomever and this lady in a blue sweater in her 50s grabs my arm and asks "Do you take donations?" (Obviously in Italian. She thought we were nuns asking for donations for God) so I said "Non non non! Siamo missionare per La Chiesa di Gesu Cristo dei Santi Degli Ultimi Giorni! Conosce Mormoni?..." She cuts me off and start walking away after putting her hand in my face and says " Nonononononon intresata Jahova witnesses" so my companion just yells after her and says "We are JWS! We are the Mormons!!!!" So she looks back at us, thinking maybe we WERE catholic, and then sees the tag again and just walks away. So we just go along our merry way and she is 7 or 8 feet in front of us (Remember we were the ones walking- she stopped ME) and she starts talking to us over her shoulder.. well neither of us can understand cause she is too far ahead so we try to catch up and she just starts YELLING like "these people are following me!! They won’t leave me alone!!!" Then as if that wasn’t awkward enough she starts stopping GROUPS of people in front of us and telling them we are crazy and are basically verbally abusing her! So then we have the joy to walk past these people all checking us out up and down judging us - it was great. So obviously we just stop in our tracts and wait for her to walk further away... the thing is she keeps stopping people and telling them we are following her soooooo yeah. We got SUPER shunned hahaha we took a different route and we get some gelato cause we feel sorry for ourselves and let’s be honest, Gelato fixes everything, and we continue on our merry way. Guess what Happens next. SHE POPS OUT FROM NOWHERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! So we basically run away so maybe SOMEONE will listen to us today and we ended up taking AT LEAST a 10 mile hike home cause the street we ran down ended up bringing us to Wonderland. Basically GLORIOUS. Ahhhhh I will remember that lady in the blue sweater. I don’t think I have ever been so afraid of a woman in her late 50s..... Strange

Anyway that’s my life! Always busy, always fun, always random things happening hahaha Thank you everybody for keeping me updated- I LOVE email time :))))) Letters always good too:) Lots of love from Italy!!!!

Also I have been reading in 3 Nephi... Dudes... Have you read that lately? Probably not cause its after Alma and nobody knows what after Alma. Yall should read in 3 Nephi. Incredible. It says in the intro to the BOM its the crowning event in Libro di Mormon but we all know the story of Nephi way better..... PERCHE???

LOVE YOU GUYS!

Ps. I am sending Stephen a Wife from Italy. Because she is Awesome. I must email him immediately. 

Sorella Holloway

 

One more thing- I think dad will appreciate this... Gas here is 1.60 EURO for 1 liter.... yikes..... That’s supa bad. Thus the mini cars. That rumor about Italy is 100% accurate bytheway. I would feel confident in saying if I got hit by a car here it would probably do more damage to the car then me...

YAYYYYYYYYY EMAIL!!! I LOVE EMAILING SO MUCH hahaha

Sorry this email is holy late- we tried email at a differant time tonight.... never again.... now we have less time. stupid.

Ok so That makes me really sad that the boys are all leaving and mom and I don't get our usual Date time... whats up with that? I didn't realize how much I went to the movies and then I am here and I am like HOLY STINK I haven't seen a movie in a hundred years.. -___- and no I don't count Italian films/ clips I watch because I have to focus like no ones business to catch every third word. DUMB. And hello- eat twice as much popcorn cause I am on SERIOUS withdrawls. pity me.... I have no popcorn.... I to survive off of Italian goodness...poor me.. Lol

Hope the boys don't kill themselves together- its always a legit concern of mine. If everyone could just put off death for 16 more months that would be great. Also no more babies. AND NO MORE GETTING MARRIED. HOLY I AM SO EXCITED FOR BECCA!!!!!!! Congrats to her!! I need pictures IMMEDIATLY. I need to judge the adorablness of her babies. Holy stink if I miss Becca's baby too I am gunna be pretty mad. Becca: NO GETTING PREGO. WAIT 16 MORE MONTHS!!!!

I am healthy!! I haven't wanted to die quite yet Hahaha I have some things here that kinda make me wanna die but... overall I am healthy! Speaking of Food. Holy mama I eat good here- but surprisingly it's not the Italian food here that's good... in fact that's my least favorite! Today we got Turkish Kabop.. Drool- amazing. Although its pretty sketch cause you walk in and there is this... thing of meat. and then, come to find out it is a lamb.... awk. Ok imagine Costco- where they sell their chicken and you see them all twirling on the little pole thing- yeah like that. Except it's not covered by anything and its vertical and like 2 feet tall. A Lamb!!! I don't know how else to describe it!!! Hahaha Anyway so this lamb is just twirling there- I don't have any idea what it's for- so we order and the guy walks over to the lamb and takes a razor thing and just starts shaving of strips of meat...... WHA.... ok that's fine, a little weird but then he just starts stuffing it into my food. Bizzare. That cannot be santiary. But I am not kidding you it was one of the best things that I have ever eaten hahahaha Creepy morbid lamb story but sheeeeeshhhh it was amazing.

My other favorite food here is form this Philipeino Lady in out ward and its this grilled banana wrap thing. Incredible. I will make TANTO TANTO when I get home. Uhhhh Brazlian food. Amazeballs. Cake, chocolate whatever, it's awesome. I can't even tell you what it is cause they tell me in porteguese and then my brain explodes soooooo yeah. I am trying to learn Italian. Stop messing me up. Lol

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO Glad Jessica knows Olivia- it's is the most random amazing thing that has happened in all of mission history. I am pretty sure. Haha But yeah that video was at  my first babtism qui in Italia and it was INCREDIBLE. When she (not jessica) got out of the water she was trying to explain to us how she felt but you could just see it in her face and her entire countenance had changed. Literally- it's a very spiritual thing but it changes you on the outside too, in a very visable way! So amazing. We have two more next month and then.... we are asking someone tomorrow if she will get babtised so hopefully 3 next month. EEEP.

A lot happened this week I feel like! I have been super blessed as a missionary because people come up to me ALL the time and ask me what my tag means hahaha They don't know what they just got themselves into muahaha. Just kidding but it is super helpful to me because I sometimes I will get focused on a map or talking to my companion that we stop talking to people for a minute and that's when they start talking to us. Its great. YES we will tell you more. Hahaha

This past Sunday we had Mostra with the ward which is way fun- basically some members come to a park with the missionaries and we go tracting with them! Way fun. They hand out flyers and pamphlets and it was a way cool experience. We talked to this man who had just lost his baby and MAN- he was so ready to hear the gosple it was incredible. I love our ward WAYYYYY too much- they all are super loving.

Ok On Lunedi my companion and I have like maybe 3 lessons so we had another 4 hours to do some strata errrr tracking I mean and so why not at the DUOMO hahaha So for 4 hours we did some tracting at the Duomo. My life is super cool. Haha And me being the awesome and super intelligent person that I am decided to wear these supeerrrr sturdy 5 dollar shoes from H&M... Ok well the ground at the Duomo is the world's stupidest and they put cement on the ground and then they stuck rocks in it... done. What is the point of that?? Any way my feet are destroyed and are the size of loafs of bread. Super cute. OW OW but yeah it was super effective and we taught a tonnnn that day. YAY.

 

Funny Story of the Week: That 14 year old from last week? Remember him? Yup. Saw him today. He tried hugging me as I ran away. So THAT was awkward.

But thats not the story- ok At the Mostra with the members- I was with my companion, and two other members from the ward, (one being Jessica who was in that video singing as Donald duck?? Recorde??) And I was standing between the two members talking to this man and my companion is on the other side of Jessica. Both of the members are around our same age and both of those members served missions so they decided to wear old their tags haha So we end the lesson, all four of us standing there, all four of us with tags, and here you don't really shake hands, you kiss each others cheeks. It's just what you do. So OBVIOUSLY girl missionaries do not Bocci men. but he goes in at the end of the lesson to bocci the member to my left and since she isn't a real missionary anymore she just acts all normal and does the normal two bocci and then he comes to me FULL FLEGED PANIC ATTACK no idea how to say STOP in Italian to this man who is not a member who just had a first lesson.. and what do I say? I can't? The other "missionary" just did. -___- So it happened and I tried to act all chill and then Jessica bocci him and then he gets to my companion hahahaha And she is all like " Oh Sister missionaries don't bocci males, I'm sorry" So then I look behind her and there are like 7 members all laughing cause they saw my panic attack and then looked like an IDIOTTTT hahahaha man. So awkward and he was SOOO confused why the first three missionaries didn't say anything. well.... TWO of them are fakes and then theres ME and I am just a idiot WHOO!!!! Hahaha Good times.

Love you all- Hope  you have an amazing week, I am sending love from Italy!!!

 

Ya know what I love? PDAYS. Emails are just the best. I mean I am happy most of the time anyway, but hearing from everyone just puts me in a I-cant-stop-singing mood.... but I guess thats pretty normal too. Haha

Mom- That is so fun you got to have lunch with Michelle and Tammy!! And I can't believe Sam and Jess are gone!!! MADNESS but I must say it is nice to feel like I am not the only one. Cody aka Elder Ridd is out on his mission too!! So I don't feel like the only one gone anymore!! I think I just got stuck in the position where I was the first one to get the boot... but now everyone!! hahaha I am also SUPER glad I am not there for that whole.... sewer issue. Nasty. Also pulling down trees and yelling doesn't seem like my scene either so I am quite happy I missed that little event. I would LOVE to see pictures of everyone else suffering though:) just kidding! haha Glad no one died. its actually quite a miricle everyone in our family is alive... and has both hands. I think Sorella Ervins mom put the pictures on her blog but I am not sure. I don't even know how to charge my camera let alone put pictures on the computer.... lol Sorry for lack of knowledge.Hand me an iPhone and I can figure it out but I cant figure out this Camera. -____- Stupid.

Alrighty so this week was awesome as usual- and its my 2 Month Mark? That seems a little weird but great! Why am I not fluent in Italian yet....... Haha Just kidding... kinda.... -___- Seriously what's my problem. Actually I finally stopped looking like a deer in the headlights when people say something to me. I usually just make up something or smile and nod... maybe throw in a few "si"s in there. Fake it till you make it right? Either that or I just start teaching about the Book of Mormon... or recite the first vision... Lol Anything to stop the awkward silence hahaha

This week we have a Babtism!! EEEPPPPP We have been teaching her about three times a week and she is just SOLID. Everything we ask her to do she does. She is 17 years old and is hilarious, super cute, super genuine, just all together awesome. She is Brazilian so she has this crazy gorgeous hair and AHH! I am just so excited for her. So yeah this Saturday that is what I will be doing! AND my companion and I get to sing with another member who is super awesome as well!!! Bytheway... I can't give out names so hopefully this doesn't seem super confusing due to the lack of names. But yeah- yay babtisms.

We also have another lady who is in her 40's who has accepted a babtisimal date for June 29! YAY!  It was super fun when she accepted- I almost burst out clapping or into the Halelujah Chorus hahaha I am so happy for her. She is so ready for it- she has accepted everything full-heartedly it's so awesome that she isn't letting anything get in her way. YAY HER!

It is amazing that people are so willing to change their lives for the truth. Because that's really what it is. I am not trying to get people to come to church, my goal is to help people figure out the truth of this life in general and once they figure it out- that we aren't a "church"- but we are a group of people living the way we should be, then it seems the commitments aren't hard anymore. There is a great quote in Preach my Gosple under the Apostasy section where it explains the lack of preisthood power and authority/ TRUTH on the earth as a condition. Like a sickness. So as members of the church we aren't different really... we are "normal" and those who have not found the truth or who don't accept/recognize the truth are in a condition. Ok so that was very poorly explained but hopefully you get the general idea Hahaha

 

Funny Story: I am trying to always throw in something humourous so I don't turn too dull. For example- my companion the other day said "Why did they missionary cross the road.............. to talk to the person on the other side" and I swear I almost died laughing. So I am worried for my well-being. Lol Also Last night Sorella Bunker and Sorella MacNamara (I have no idea how to spell her name) sang at the top of our lungs "The Prayer" by Celiene Dion because half of it is it Italian HOLLA  and we died laughing just doing interprative dance to Celiene Dion. Yikes what have I become hahahaha

Anyway tha'ts not my funny story- While on the bus this week, my companion and I sat in front of these two people and we start talking to them and a little about the Book of Mormon when this little boy who claims to be 14 (NO WAY could he be older then 12) come up to me and puts his arm around me and straight out kisses me on the cheek. So obviously I am like " Uhhhh Cio?" And I just start busting up laughing cause he said he was 14 and there was NO WAY he was so I start laughing and he gets all embarassed so he stands up a little taller and asks for a kiss... WHAT? What is  up with Italy???? So I told him I don't speak Italian.... NOT ENTIRELY a lie. So he keeps going and I said I was American and he thought my First name was Sorella (sister) and anyway it was crazy. He tryed talking to me in English and then his little friends came over and it was all downhill from there. Strangest Buss ride EVER. Moral of the Story- sit by the window so 14 year old boys don't try to kiss you OR the moral might be I look like a 14  year old myself..... yikes. Both very likely.

Well those are my stories this week! I love you all and I love hearing from you!!! Love from Italy! -Sorella Holloway

I CANT BELIEVE JENNA ALREADY HAS HER BELLE DRESS I NEED PICTURE IMMEDIANTLY!!!!!!!! Hahahahahaha That Totally just made my day ohhh mannnn if there a video of when  you told her??? Anything???? EEEPP

Jenna- I will DEFINATLY plan on coming to utah every Halloween from now on because I need more chances to wear the dress. MANNNNN You have to wear it at Kates first brithday and then I will be there for birthday number 2. BOOM. Poor Kate.... she has no choice but to love princesses... she aint got a chance.

 Its so fun to hear about Mothers day weekend- sooo wish I could be there those weekends where everyone was around are the best. Glad to hear that Sams farewell went good!! Ya he will be an awesome missionary- how weird that everyone is going on missions... I think its weird to hear about because usually I would be the one saying I wanna go to their farewell but now... I am serving a mission... SO WEIRD. Rewind 6 months ago and I was still set on Disney. Madness. whaaaa. Anyway I love hearing where/ when everyone is going- and I am super glad you got to see Olivia. She is the coolest person in the entire world Haha

Ok!!! A Brief review of kinda what I already told you guys over skype but just for records sake I will re-live some things hahaha Hopefully I appreciate them later. maybe... probably not... Ok so last friday was kind of a downer day because our investigators were dropping us like nobodies business... literally we went from 8 to 3...... -___- Dumb. But we were still really busy with rushing to appointments since we teach A LOT of meno-active and A TON of new converts.. so we were running around like crazy people and as we are heading to the subway I look up at a balcony on the socond floor and this man is leaning over the edge just glaring at us. He saw the tags we were wearing and was completely digusted by us. So obviously we just keep walking and right as we walk under him, he ever so nicely spits on me. And like a good-luck spit like in movies, but a nice from the throat-loogie spit. Joy. Landed right on my shirt slid all the way down until I preceeded to flick it off. Holy Nasty. I could'nt even do anything becasue we were late so I just kept walking with my companion and waited for her to get off the phone so I could be disgusted with her.. So she finally gets off the phone and I explain what happened and she saw NOTHING: GAAAA hahaha So we head down into the subway  and I am standing there still in awe at what just happened and suddenly my skirt get very loose. very very loose. So I grab it and I tell Sorella DUrfee on no! I this one of my saftey pins snapped! Now- this skirt was big to begin with so I had like 4 saftey pins to take it in an extra inch or two- so I start taking the saftery pins out and all 4 were there so I am super super confused and now the skirt is like SUPER big and I can't figure it out! So I reach back to the zipper and IT WAS COMPLETELY DOWN. Now this is not a zipper that can come undone by itself.... but in fact someone had come and unzipped all 8 inches of my zipper in the middle of the mezzi. So OF COURSE at this exact moment when I discover this the mezzi comes and I am forced to get on the train with a SWARM of people holding my skirt up with one hand. I finally zip it up in the back in a panic but the skirt is still too big cause I took the saftey pins out so I trying to NOT get my bag stolen and trying to NOT have my skirt fall off AHHHHHHH It was a disaster. hahaha.

So THAT was fun. Not really. Alma 26: 16ishhhh maybe..... There is a perfect scripture for that... talks about getting spit on. Havent found a realatable scripture for the skirt thing yet though.... Let me know if you find one.

On the bright side!!!! We were at a bus stop on Monday trying to talk to anyone who would listen and this lady came up to us and asked "Do you speak English?" EEEP!! Most beautiful thing someone has ever said to me. OH HECK YES I SPEAK ENGLISH. Haha I was a little excited. So She was talking to us about her life in general and then she ASKED US if she could meet  with us again... ummmmm YES. So she gave us her phone number and SHE called US today and asked us when church was and how she could get a Book of Mormon.... WHAT?? So cool and we have two lessons set up with her this week. SO COOL! We also have two babtisms coming up that we are really excited for :)))) One is this month and the second is next month and actually we are asking three other people this week if they are wanting to get babtised... and by that I mean we ask them if they will be babtized on a spacific date hahaha so hopefully those all follow through.

Yesterday we had a new misisonary training and I got to see four other people from my MTC District!!!! So I saw Haslem (my MTC Companion), Ervin, Winky/Bowlwinkle, and Lemmo!!!! WAY too much fun, I am not gunna lie I almost cried when I saw them Hahaha I miss them so much cause we really got super close in the MTC.. well duh cause we were with each other 24-7.... But anyway I REALLY am praying I get to see them all again really soon. EEP.

Uhhh this morning for breakfast I had pizza...... I dont know if thats ok hahaha but we are poor and were out of food so we had leftovers..... and by "out of food" I really mean we were out of Nutella.... Hahaha totally kidding. We don't eat with members hardly ever so we go through a lot of food.

Also this monday was my first time having Gelato. All the rumors are true. Its amazing.  Will DEFINATLY not be buying that for myself cause I would just eat the whole thing with a spoon in 5 seconds flat.

I hope everybody has a great week!!!  I miss America but being a missionary is pretty awesome everyday. ALSO can I get pictures of my Cinderella dress with Jenna pictures? Ok great. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! Miss you way too much.

 

Alright- Buckle up cause here is that email that is just explodinnggggg with too much information. Hahaha And also I realize my spelling is horrible but keyboards here are different so just suck it up. I wasn't good at spelling to begin with!

 

Ok so I am in Italy.. Kinda a big deal. I have a killer apartment that looks like it was cut out of a iKea magazine including ever single appliance. I live there with 3 other Sorelle including my companion and two sister training leaders. CRAYCRAY. It's awesome. My companion is sent from heaven. Her name is Sorella Durfee and she is the most genuine, kind, patient person I have ever met haha I LOVE HER and we have a lot of fun attempting to understand Italian.. Luckily she is good at it!

Ok So the first day I got here... welll I guess first off, the flight was ridiculous. I mean I was awake for a solid 48 hours- and I know you are thinking I should have slept on the plane but ECCO I sat next to people who were not LDS and they asked about my tag and lo and behold I  talked about religion for  the next 8 hours.... and the next 2 flights as well. Out of the 24 missionaries going to Milan, Itlay- I was the one of the like... 4 missionaries that was sitting by non-missionaries haha

the first flight was cool, I sat next to this super nice lady who grew up in Utah and she was SUPER anti-lds. So a little awkward that she was sitting next to a representative of the church? Yes. But she started talking about why and I just apologized on behalf of the church and said the people are not the church and that it was the people that caused her frustration not the church. Then all of a sudden she did a total 180 degree turn and was like oh yeah its a great church, sure there are a ton of great things about it!!! -___- ok what? Haha So then I told her she should go to church sometime and gave her a pass along card and she was all sad cause she thought she could'nt go to church with tattoos and I said she could- man you should have seen her face hahah She was like I CAN???? Hahaha Sooooooooo which ever missionaries snatch her up will have fun explaining THAT one. Although I must say the full size tattoo of her children on her back was quite the sight, I just might have to do that for my future babies.... -___-

Then on the next flight I sat next to this German Man who wanted to talk literally for 8 hours about beliefs which was very cool. Much less success with him but he did agree with almost everything we believed in. He was way nice and said he was thankful for the "enlightenment"... yikes. If he was enlighttend by a 19 year old girl- shoot. somebudy gotta get dat man a Book er Mormon.

 

OK so when I finally got off the plane 100 year later we grabbed all of our stuff looking like idiots 1) we all look dead 2) we keep getting distracted by all the italian writing 3) we have three bags of luggage EACH- it was just s disaster in general. Hahaha But We walked out the glass doors and met our mission president and his wife and they are both SO AWESOME. Sorella Wolfgramm is A TON like Mom so I felt right at home, unfortuantly her hugs are no comparison, nor her laugh... and she doesnt make popcorn.... :) man I miss popcorn. ANYWAY then they took us to the mission home and we basically had class for a while and learned some rules that changed and suddenly we were on a bus again. Haha We got onto the... subway? idk whatever that is in english I am gunna call it a Subway and as soon as we got off we walked up the stairs and there was the DUOMO. HOLY COW ITS AMAZING. I had seen pictures but pictures don't even touch the size of that thing. INCREDIBLE. You would think we would go inside right? I mean we just flew for howevr long and had been up since 2am on tuesday and its wednesday now and still no sleep BUT NO!! They hand us a Book of Mormon and tell us to go talk to someone about  the church THAT'S FUNNY cause I DONT SPEAK ITALIAN. GA. Whatever- me and my collega did it and then we got to go to the Duomo. We literally just stopped someone and talked to them. I have the weirdest job in the world.

 

The rest of the week is pretty steriotypical missionary work except 100 times cooler cause I am in Italy... suuuuuuuuuuu no big deal. We wake up in the mornings and go running in Italy cause I live in Itlay and then we go talk to some Italians and eat Italian food and then come home to our Italian apartment acting all Italian--ish and eating a jar of nutella like nobodies business. Haha

 

Ya know what else is great? The ward. Its awesome. Ya know that sound the TV makes when you fast forward something?.... ya. Just imagine 3 hours of that... Haha  Kidding I actually understand way more then I thought I would. The members just LOVE talking to me so I can respond in my horribly broken Italian hahaha and then during sacrament meeting which is the last hour, the bishop was suddenly saying my name.... uh panic- its hard to recognize my name here cause the letter h doesn't have a sound and the w sounds like a v- so he calls for Sorella Ollovay and I look right at him and want to DIE hahaha so the two training sisters who are BOTH in their LAST transfer aka are bomb-diggity at Italian go up and give this beautifully elequent testimony and then I go up.... awkward. I basically said "I Sorella Ollovay. This day 4 day me in Italia and talk in Italian. Me love Italia. Me love being here. Me love this ward. I know God has a plan for us. I know Jesus Christ Lives. I am thankful to a missionary for him. in the name of Jesus Christ Amen". Hahaha AWESOME first impression....  But then after everyone was like- wow that was great and pretended like I was just so great and had been speaking for years so at least they were nice about it haha Then after church this family that owns a bakery gave us this HUGE bag of bread just cause. Ummmm HEACK YEAH I'll eat that!!! then they did it again Tuesday night!! WHAT IS THIS??? Its incredible.

We teach about 3 lessons a day but not really to investigators, a lot of our time is to inactives there are a ton here and a lot of problems with smoking and such. We plan on getting that number up as soon as possible haha we are trying to get 6 lessons a day and still have time for tracking and stuff. The hard part is that my first area is in Milano... I dont know if I mentioned that... I AM IN MILANO AND ITS INCREDIBLE. I am in the New York of Italy hahaha AWESOME.  But because we are in the city there is a lot of travel time. I ride the Bus and the Subway at least 4 times a day. And you know how much I looovvvveeee public transportation... joy. Totally worth it. 100 percent.

I actually haven't been able to talk to many true Italians here. The Italians we do talk to usually talk to us about politics especially those over the age of 50.. but we talk a lot with peolpe from the Phillipins, Egypt, and a lot of Nigirians. uhhh Yeah. oh and a lot from Brazil. In fact we have a Brazialian investigator from Brazil who is getting babtised in 3 weeks HOLLA! She is 17 and is awesome through and through!

Hey remember that one time I sent a million things home and then forgot to send my straightener...and how my adaptors dont work.... and then I now have to throw my straightener and my adaptors away -____- COOL.

Overall I love life and I love being a misionary. In fact today is Day 50! YAY!!! Happy 50 day aniversary to me. I have nothing to complain about cause all is well!!!! Hope everyone is doing good over there in the good ol USA- I miss errrybody! I also miss walking out in Public and people not running away... haha I swear when people see the tag- they want to die, it has some kind of replelling force. we have to like find ways to hide it and then slyly uncover it mid conversation so we are already talking and they realize we aren't bible-bashers like all of the Jahovah Witnesses here -___- OR we catch people staring at the tag and we awkwardly catch them and be like Oh! Have you seen this before??? Lets Talk. hahaha Also I can't write anymore so its back to email for everybody- sorry for all the whiplash.

LOELOVELOVELOVELOVE ALL YALL

 

Sorella Holloway

 

Mom: HEYOOO!!!!!!!  Haha- no packages :( they gave us a good lecture about how Amazon.com/uk is the only way to actually get something or money on a card so it is now OFFICIALLY impossible to send/ recieve stuff

Tim: I am so sorry for your mouth- I had to have the Darth Vader rubber bands too they are beyond stupid. ALMOST DONE!!!! Cant wait to see pictures!!!! Yo Tim go hunt Katelyn down and give her a hug for me. It was her birthday and I couldn't email her suuuu lykeeeee do that. Or facebook her for me. ok? Ok great. ALSO Michelle. Her birthday is the 21st, go say hapy birthday to her for me  :( Per Favore!!!! GRAZIE! How is IB treating you? 1 more month and then FREEEDOOMMMMM summer time HOLLAA