Last email of the year!!!

CHEEYOW FAM-E-LEEUH!

I just told Sorella Walton "this is the last email of the year!" and she said "oh baby." Yep. That's my companion.

Well I feel like I don't really have anything to say to you all this email seeing as how I just got to talk to you all on the phone on Sunday! Basically everyone that I talked to before I called told me to tell you that they send their regards and say hello and all of that. We were at Giuseppe's house (the new convert with two teenage kids) and it was taking us forever to figure out how to work the dang phone card, but he was the one that finally got me connected and he was so excited to hand the phone over to me when he heard you (mom) answer and say hello! You'll be happy to know that I'm feeling much better and of course I got my voice back on Monday. Of course.

As a quick review of the week for those of you who I didn't talk to on the phone, I was sick! I had a really bad sore throat that progressed to just me being boogery and having a headache and also losing my voice. It was real cute. And, this is new news, Sor Walton saw how much fun I was having being sick that she decided she just couldn't take it any longer! So on Monday she decided to wake up with a sore throat, too. Pretty much all day yesterday we spent drinking juice, herbal tea, and warm milk with honey (ALL the Italians we talked to told us to do that) and coughing (followed typically by a moan of pain or declaration of "ow"). Surprisingly, though, being out in the cold air really helped clear up my sinuses! So, tender mercy, I guess!

Also, zone conference in Milano last Friday! I finally got to see Anz Dunshee, who was one of the missionaries in Siena when I was there last year. After I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting last year, he came up to me and said "when are you turning in your mission papers?? you're coming to Italy for sure!" And he was right. But I had no way of telling him until he saw me at zone conference! Funny, huh? A few missionaries were cast as participants in our reenactment of the nativity scene as part of our Christmas "celebration" at zone conf, and yours truly got cast as a angel! I was type-cast, I know. What can I say ;)

So a note about Alina, our new investigator! One of the things we talked about as part of our training at zone conf was inviting investigators to be baptized during the first lesson. Yeah. Really. Anyway, the goal of it is just to let people know that our purpose as missionaries is to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ, help them to gain a testimony and then help them be baptized and the idea is that if people don't understand that we want to help them be baptized then our visits and lessons with them are fine and dandy but have no purpose. Anyway, we asked Alina to read the Book of Mormon and when she decides for herself that the Book of Mormon is true if she would be baptized into our church and she said yes! She'll be gone for vacation for the next two weeks, but we made her a little bookmark with a reading chart on it so that she can keep up reading while she's gone. She is just so great and I've probably already written too much about her that people are getting bored of my email already, but I can't help it! She is so great! As I was talking with her the other day I just caught a vision of her divine potential and how much confidence and hope and happiness she will gain as she continues on this path of trying to be more like the Savior and it was just so exciting. I even dreamt last night that I was at home and Alina came over and was waiting for me to finish getting ready so that I could take her to church. Crazy!

Another crazy thing is that I've been set apart as a missionary for four months!! Four!!! Hokey Smokes! I can't believe it! Every day I think about the missionary that I want to be - what things I want to accomplish as a missionary, in terms of how I teach and contact people and what influence I have on my companions and members in the ward. There's so much that I want to do and be as a missionary and every day I just want to be better and do better and work harder. I have so much work to do to get to that point! But, as I was discussing with Sor W the other day, if I was the missionary that I want to be, the missionary I've envisioned, right now, I might as well go home because all the hard work would be done. So! Every day is just another opportunity to be who I want to be. I believe so strongly that you shouldn't just "be who you are" but that you should "be who you WANT to be". I mean, who just wants to be who they are right now for the rest of their life? How boring would that be! You've got to become!

I was thinking about the email I sent the other week about referrals, and the one thing I was thinking about that basically sums up what I wanted to say was that referrals ARE NOT investigators. Finding investigators is a missionary's job, but referrals can be anybody's job. Anyway.

I was also thinking about how part of the reason we go out as missionaries is to share with others the happiness we've found through the gospel. But really, we don't want people to find our happiness. We want them to find their own happiness! And the way you find it is through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don't want to convert them to our God, we want to convert them to THEIR God. He just happens to be the same God. But in terms of happiness, the gospel of Jesus Christ is where we can find happiness - by living our lives in such a way that we know God is pleased with us and is able to give us blessings - but the actual "happiness" is different for everyone. I mean, just because sleeping outside in a tent in the wood and eating sticks and not showering makes someone else happy does NOT mean that that is what makes me happy, but that doesn't mean that we don't both appreciate the wonder of God's creations. We just find happiness in them in different ways.

Also, quick plug for my companion (and no, I don't write this just because I know her mom has checked out my blog! While we're acknowledging this fact, though, Hi Sorella Walton's mom!!!!), Sorella Walton is so great! I've been learning so much from her as my trainer and we've really gotten to be good friends, sometimes to a fault. She dropped food on her skirt at our dinner appointment the other night at Giuseppe's house and it made us both laugh so hard I couldn't even breathe (also because I was sick and coughing). She's been good to get me thinking about what I've learned so far as a missionary and what I want to accomplish and how I can go about doing it. I just wanted to add that just so that you all know that I really am learning so much about myself and the gospel and this work. I don't really know how much I've changed in these past four months, and particularly in these past two months, but I think some things are moving around in me - becoming more secure, more solid - and just becoming a better, more focused person.

Hokay. Well. Basically I'm out of time. Merry late Christmas everyone! Oh, and shout-out to the Vashaws and Auntie Kim who sent me Christmas cards! Apparently my pleas for mail are being heard ;) Sometimes I think about how many prayers are offered in behalf of missionaries and then think about the miracles we as missionaries see each day and can't help but see the correlation between the two, even if those offering the prayers don't. It's the prayers of the faithful that keep the work going, that keep US going. Thank you. Thank you so much. We cannot do this work without you. It's your church, too.

A very very happy new year to you all!

Mucho love,
Sorella Soh

Buon Natale!

CIAO CARISSIMI!!!!

I really can't believe it's p-day again. Of course, that also means that I've been here another week. Yikes! Auntie Kim, I got your letter this past week! It took a little longer to get to me because I had to wait for someone to get it from the office in Milan, but transfers were last week and so I got it on Sunday when I saw our zone leaders at church. But yeah! Transfers! I already knew I'd be with Sorella Walton still because we're in double transfer trainings now, and the only change in our district was Anz Nielsen who went to train in Firenze. Now we have Anz Ostler as our new zone leader. And all of the sister companionships in our zone stayed the same, so that's pretty cool.

So a funny thing - we had a lesson this past week with a man named Luigi who is the friend of a member (who also came along to our lesson). And guess what the member's name is? Yes. It's Mario. We had a lesson with Mario and Luigi. !!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that awesome?! Sorella Walton apparently never played Mario Kart growing up, so she didn't get why I was so excited about it. Haha. Luigi had a piano in his house, and lucky for him, Sor W plays the piano. So Mario asked if she would play and she said yes. She actually had some piano music in her bag because she sometimes plays the church piano while we wait for investigators to show up at the church before lessons and had been playing earlier that day. She always wants me to sing along while she plays and sometimes I oblige. Well. You know what that sneaky companion of mine did? When she sat down at the piano in Luigi's apartment and said she'd play and she roped me into singing the song she had had me sing earlier that day! And what could I do, say no? So here we were, this little companionship of sisters in Torino, in the home of a non member and it's just Mario and Luigi and then Sor W playing the piano and me singing "I know that my redeemer lives" (in English) in his living room. Definitely not a scene I ever thought I would be a part of, but there we were. And I didn't see it, but Sor W said that Luigi had tears in his eyes at the end. It really did bring a good spirit. Luigi has had a rough past couple of years since his wife died. We're hoping to stop by again before Christmas and just check up on him. He's such a great man.

So! We have an awesome new investigator!!! Her name is Alina and she is from Moldovia (Maldova? I think I'm combining languages here...), but moved to Italy when she was 8. Anyway, she's 16 and we met her as a referral from her grandmother who we met on the street. Anyway, she is so great! She is cute and smart and studying to be a dentist/dental assistant or something. Anyway, she doesn't have a ton of friends and mostly just studies all day. This past Sunday we went to her house to pick her up and accompany her to church. She really liked it! We have a ton of young women in our ward and no young men, but the young women were all so great about talking to her and stuff. She really liked them and had a good time. We're excited to get to see her again tomorrow. The bummer part about this time of the year is that everyone is leaving and going to visit family so we don't get to see them! Okay, that's a selfish thing, but I just want to see them!!!

We had another ward party last Saturday! No green jello this time, but it was still good (and we made brownies). Our new convert, Giuseppe, was asked to play Babbo Natale (aka Santa Claus) and come and give all the primary kids little gifts. He told us about it a few weeks ago and was not excited about it, but Sor W and I both know that deep down he loved every second of it! It was so cute to see him call up all of the kids and give them their little present and have them sit on his lap. We KNOW he loved it! It was fun. And of course there was food. Italian food. Made by Italians. Need I say more? OH! And guess what the AMAZING ward members did for us?? They gave us a HUGE, I mean HUGE, box full of food! Six jars of pasta sauce, six kilos of pasta, 3 Italian Christmas cakes called Pandoro (google it, they're delicious and we eat some every day now, basically), a huge bag of chocolates, 4 cans of tuna (I know, weird), a big bag of clementines, a pizza, more chocolates (gianduia - also google that because it's a special kind of chocolate made in Torino) and a bunch of other stuff I can't even remember! Aren't they so great!? The Torino 2° Ward is SO GREAT!!!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! Do you feel really old now? You probably should ;) And Happy Almost Birthday ALEX!!!!!! You should also start feeling old. A quarter of a century already, sheesh! To celebrate on Friday, I will be going to Milano! Also we have zone conference that day.

Oh, and let's talk about how Sunday is CHRISTMAS!!! I can't believe it! It can't be Christmas already!!! I only entered the MTC a few weeks ago and that was August 31st! Still trying to figure that one out. I feel like I just barely got to Italy, but apparently my first transfer is already over. Hm. Weird.

Well, I confess that I didn't make a list of things to talk about this week, so I don't really know what else to say! Things are good here. It's gotten pretty cold the past few days, but Torino is basically right by the mountains, so that's not a huge surprise. I had a really bad sore throat last night, but it's much better now and I've basically downed an entire liter of orange juice today. Also I bought a little knit hat today at a market. I would send pictures, but the only ones are on Sor W's camera. Next time!

Anyway, I love you all dearly! Have a great great great week and a buonissimo natale!!!! This is the Lord's work and His hand is ever-present in our lives!

Love, etc.

Sorella Soh

Chee-yow!!!

CIAO CARISSIMI!!!!

What a great time to be alive! I made a list of things to talk about this week to help facilitate the writing of this email.

First of all, I LOVED the "we'd like to talk about cheeses" and ghostbuster costume pictures that you and dad sent me!!! Loved them so much. I love getting letters. We usually get mail when we get home for lunch and so we read them as we eat lunch. The best part, though, is getting to read them over and over and over again throughout the week before bed. They are the best! Oh, and dad, it's okay that you didn't make the time limit for the krispy kreme challenge. I don't think I could even attempt it, although Sorella Walton and I do run around our block every morning for excercise and it's not as horrible for me as it was at the beginning! One day I might even get to like it! And thanks for telling me all about your Thanksgiving festivities! It sounds like you all had a good time.

I was thinking about where I was at this time last year, and I remembered that I had already gotten home from Siena by this point and was somewhere between Alabama, Wisconsin and Florida. Wow. I can't believe that was a year ago. Who would've thought I'd be back in Italy again - and in Torino of all places! Heavenly Father really does have a plan for each of us.

Mom, question: now that your stake has split, do you think they'll finally get a singles' ward?

I'M A COUSIN?! (again) Huzzah! Spencer is a great name. Spencer Smith has a great ring to it. And he's destined to be super cute. All those little nutheads I have for cousins are all cute. Email me a picture!

I. Have. Eaten. So. Much. The past few days. We've been fed dinner 4 nights in a row. Sat, Sun, Mon and yesterday. Oh man. Of course the food is all so good and I'll tell you why. It's because it's been made by Italian women who learned how to cook from their mothers, who were also Italian women, who learned how to cook from their mothers who were also Italian women. There's no way you can go wrong. It's all been incredible. But it's a dang good thing we're biking all over the city all day because we really can't afford to eat all these extra calories! Haha. The members are SOOOOOO great, though. Last night we went to visit Sorella Bocca, who joined the church back in 1968 or so. We didn't know she was going to feed us dinner, but she did anyway (she's Italian. Feeding people is what they do) AND she gave us Christmas presents!!!!! Can you believe it!? She is SOOO GREAT!!!!!! We decided to save the presents to open on Christmas. I still can't get over her giving us presents. I just love her so much! And she's just ONE of the tons of super duper awesome members that we have in our ward who have such SOLID testimonies and just go out of their way to make us feel loved. And boy, do we feel it!

So last Sunday was our Stake Conference! We all had to travel to Alessandria, which is about an hour away from Torino, but where the Stake is centered. Anyway, we got to see all the missionaries in our zone (including Sorella Nilson!) and we got to see a TON of members! It was SO awesome to be gathered together as saints in Italy. I just felt so happy. Pure joy. And of course we're sister missionaries and not all of the cities in our mission have sisters. So. We had several members just fawn over us. They saw us from afar off and would just say "OH! SORELLE!!!!!!!" and run over and greet us with the kiss on the cheek thing. There was one woman from the Philipines who is a member of the Alessandria ward who met us as we were waiting for the bathroom and she just clung to Sorella Walton like a candy cane on a Christmas tree! She took Sor W to where her family was sitting and wanted us to meet her sons and daughters and husband and sister and the whole fam! It was so much fun to see how excited the members were to see us, even if we're just little sister missionaries in Torino and nothing particularly special. But to these members we were just like candy, it was funny. (p.s. Sorella Walton is slowly getting accustomed to my strange expressions such as "clinging to her like a candy cane on a Christmas tree" and "sweating like a sinner in church". Slowly. Slowly.)

So this week is the last week of the transfer! Aka I have been here for SIX WEEKS. Hokey smokes! I can't even believe it! We had our transfer calls last night and our district is staying the same except for one Anziano (Nielsen) who is going to Firenze to train next transfer. He was a zone leader, so we'll get a new one in a few days. I've been thinking the past few days about the end of the transfer and what I feel like I've learned. I don't think I could even begin to write down what I've learned. But I think what I've learned most is that I still have a lot to learn. I want so much to just be a good missionary and I know that there are a lot of things I need to work on to be better. It's not a discouraging kind of "I have a lot to learn", but I feel like now I have a better vision of the kind of missionary I want to be and some of the steps I need to try and take to get there. Good thing they've started this new double transfer training program because that means I still have six more weeks to learn from Sorella Walton!

I just need everyone to know how awesome Sorella Walton is. And she probably will never read this (even though she's sitting right next to me), but I just want you all to know that she is great. She is a great missionary. One of the first things my mission president told me about her is that he thinks she is one of the best sisters in the mission. Perfect! I learn so much from her every day and she has been really patient with me trying to pick up on what this missionary business is all about. I probably drive her nuts, but she is just so so great and we get along really well. I'm so blessed to have another transfer together with her!

It's almost Christmas, and I know all of you are just dying to know how to best shower me with your love. Well. Let me help you. First of all, I will refer you back to the list I made back while I was in the MTC of things that I love to get in the mail (kitkats, sharpie pens not markers, etc.). Now that I'm here in Italy, I would LOVE to get any of the following things from you: peanut butter (Sor W seconds this motion), treat mixes (brownies, cookies), jello packets (the members LOVE and are also disgusted by jello), post-it notes, lucky charms and fun American things.

OH!!! AND CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEND ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR HUNGRY, YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!!!!!! Please.

Okay. That's all I've got time for. I am so blessed. I am blessed to have all you in my life - family, friends and internet creepers. I am blessed to have a great companion. I am blessed to be in the perfect city for me to start my mission. I am blessed to be a missionary. The blessings that come from that are endless. I am blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am blessed to be loved. I am blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and I am blessed that I get to share that message with the people I meet here.

I love you all so much! The gospel is true! Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Sorella Soh

p.s. the pictures are of me by the river Po, the wall of our apartment where all the sisters have marked how tall they are, and also of our Christmas tree (which has cookies and kinder eggs hanging on it)

Note from Sorella Soh's mom: If you want to send ONLY a Christmas card, it can go directly to her apartment. Email me at nicolesoh (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll send you her address - it's only good for another six weeks though. If you are sending a package (watch out, it's wicked expensive, $45 for a medium flat rate USPS box - and be sure to check the list of restricted items to Italy on the USPS website, it's kinda hilarious) then it HAS to go to the mission home address that is posted on the left side of the blog.

And, so that the rest of you can know what she was talking about, here's the "cheeses" cartoon I sent her:

And the Ghostbusters picture of her dad and little sister from Halloween:

Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading about Katie's mission adventures!

As Sorelle in Zion...

Cheeeeyaooooooooo carissimi!

It. Is. December. Hokey smokes! DECEMBER!!! How did that happen?! I just barely left the MTC! Yikies.

Well well well, what to say this week. Last Wednesday was Sorella Walton's bday, so to celebrate we went to a little pizzeria called "Zeus" and I treated her to a birthday pizza. Twas dee-licious. And then on Thursday, our new convert, Giuseppe, had bought a little cake for her! It said "Auguri, Kimberly" on it. Haha. "Walton" is a reeeally hard name for the Italians to say, so they always ask what her first name is so they can use that instead. It's kind of hard to explain the whole sorry-we-don't-use-first-names-on-the-mission thing, but whatever. Most people are content to use "Soh" instead of "Katie", so that's been nice.

So it's funny in Italy because everyone does the little kiss on the cheek greeting thing. We are only allowed to baci (baci means kisses in Italian) women. There are lots of older ladies in our ward and we always baci them at church. The problem is that all the little old ladies at church are LITTLE! So basically I have to bend over/squat to meet their faces whilst trying not to knee them in the ribs. I'm being pretty serious! They're so little! You know those little step stools that they have at the pulpit in sacrament meeting that they pull out so that little kids can see over the pulpit? Yeah, the bishop pulls ours out so that the little old ladies can stand on it so that THEY clear the pulpit! It's so cute and totally funny. Italians are so great!!!

There is an AMAZING sister in our ward, Sorella Manoni, who is one of these little old ladies. She was sick on Sunday so she couldn't make it to church, so we went and visited her later on in the evening. She is about 90 years old and has the most fantastic story. She is so cool! Her dad was Jewish and her mother was Catholic. She was born in Torino and during WW2 had to leave Torino and take refuge in Emilia when she was 16. She told us that when they returned to Torino, so got married to a Catholic man, but didn't feel Catholic or Jewish. She was just really confused. Anyway, she told us that she didn't know why she let the Elders in when they knocked on her door, and she couldn't understand anything they said because their Italian was really bad. But, she told us that she really felt good about the Book of Mormon and was baptized in 1968. She said there were about 5 members in the ward at the time. Anyway, she's been a faithful member of the church her whole life. None of her other family members ever joined the church. I wish I could tell you all the amazing stories that she told us about growing up in Italy and how great her husband was and all of that cool stuff, but you'll just have to come find me after the mish and I'll tell you in person. The members here in Italy are so strong. Sorella Manoni is INCREDIBLE. Seriously, so so awesome. Oh, and if anyone knows a man named Greg Maumstraum (?) from SLC, tell him that Sorella Germana Manoni wants to know how he is doing - he is the Elder that baptized her all those years ago!

So Friday was a big day for the Sorelle in Torino! That reminds me, we are the ONLY sister missionaries in this city. This is the second biggest city in our mission and it's only me and Sor W holding down the fort here for sisters! There are 6 elders between the two wards, but that's it! No pressure, right? Anyway, we had a missionary exchange on Friday with the sorelle from Genova 1 - Sorelle Bowman and Nilson! And we did a blitz, which means that instead of just switching companions, both of the Genova sorelle came to Torino instead of one coming here and one of us going to Genova. Anyway, Sor Bowman was my companion for the day! She is great! It was really helpful to get to see how she does missionary work. There's no set way of doing missionary work (other than following the mission rules, mish president and the Spirit) so it was neat to see how she approached people and taught different things. She is also a trainer (she's been training Sor Nilson), so it makes her even more legit! Haha. I probably wasn't any help to her at all, but I feel that way about most missionaries - I learn a ton from them and they get not much in return, haha. In any case it was fun to be with the Genova sisters for the day.

Sorella Savoia, our RS president, invited us over to her house on Saturday and taught us how to make pasta al forno (baked pasta). The "real" pasta al forno is typically lasagna, but the one she showed us how to make was a little different, but man was it yummy! Don't worry, I wrote down how to make it! (Just more incentive for all of you to remain friends with me throughout my mission ;D )

The weather has really cleared up in the past two days, so I'm attaching pictures of the view from our balcony in clear weather! Oh, and also, there's a great fashion/myspace shot of me in my new coat! A new coat, you ask? Why, yes. You may have also noticed the other new coat from my pictures last week. Yes. So I brought my blue coat, which I love. I've also already picked up a white/black patterned coat which the sister before me (who left to go home when I arrived) left because it wouldn't fit in her suitcase. So voilà, second coat. The coat in this picture, however, is my second new coat. And where did I get said coat, you ask? Well I'll tell you. I got it from Giuseppe's wife, Angela! Yeah. I know. So we were at their house for FHE on Monday and they were freaking out about how we're still riding our bikes around (it's not that cold out yet, but whatever). So she goes to her closet and pulls out this black down coat and tells me that I should take it. Of course I didn't want to take the coat, but she was like "are you kidding? This thing is so long it doesn't fit anyone in our house!" Then she held it up to her body and showed how it goes from her shoulders to her ankles (please see previous paragraph about short people in Italy). So. I have another new coat. And it is SO warm. I am NOT going to freeze this winter! I know that is a great consolation to all of you, so now you can all rest easy.

There's a spot on the wall of our apartment where all the sisters for the past year or so have marked their heights on the wall. Sor W and I decided to add our names to the wall on Sunday. I come in as the 3rd tallest, beat out only by a Sorella Johnson and Sorella Huber (who's sister I met in the MTC - going to Russia). There is also a mark indicating the armspan of Sor Huber, which is about 2" or so above her height and says "yes, she has freakishly long arms". Well. Not to be outdone, I had Sor W mark MY armspan on the wall as well. And my arms are longer than Sor Huber's. I wrote "sorry Sorella Huber, I've got you beat". There's about a 3" difference between my height and my armspan. Awesome. Just thought I'd share that fun fact with all of you.

Thank you for your letters this week, mom and dad. I got them on Monday. I was thinking, mom, about something you said in your letter to me this week about how you've never prayed so hard before for missionaries to find people to teach. You know, I haven't either! But people really are looking, even if it's not the number one priority on their minds all the time. I was thinking about being a member of the church and how I never felt like I ever had any referrals to give the missionaries. When they came over and asked for them, I was always like "no, I don't know anyone who wants to be a Mormon" and now I realize how wrong that kind of thinking is. A referral is anyone who may possibly want to know who Mormons are and what we believe. They're not people who you think are ready to get baptized - they are just people who you think might want a clearer picture of who Mormons are. They don't have to want to join the church, and that's not our job as members to decide that. A referral is somebody who you think respects and loves you enough to want to get to know you better by learning about your church and your beliefs. Whether or not they want to hear more about the church after they meet with the missionaries doesn't matter. All that matters is that by meeting with the missioniaries, they are really showing that they want to understand YOU better, that by your example and their interactions with YOU that they are willing to take that extra step in your relationship. If they decide to continue meeting with the missionaries, great! If not, great! At least then they know a little bit more about you as a person, the real, true person that you are and what you really believe deep down - what makes you tick. THAT is what a referral is. Just make sure that the missionaries you choose to give your referrals to are GOOD missionaries - that they are keeping their covenants and living the mission rules! Anyway, just a little plug for referrals - they're like candy for missionaries! People who aren't going to (hopefully) yell at us when we talk to them! :) I wish I could just tell the entire church about missionary work for members because it is NOT the same as being a full-time missionary. I wish I would've know the difference before. Maybe then I could've been more of a help to the missionaries in our ward.

Anyway, my internet time is almost up! I really just want all of you who read this weekly email to know that I am SO grateful for your support, which is manifest in the fact that you even read any of this! THANK YOU!!! The prayers and well-wishes are of more value than I can even tell you. This really is the Lord's work. People's lives really change when they start living the gospel - change for the better! There is so much more happiness and joy in this world, and there's no reason why we shouldn't enjoy the happiness that is available to us. Happiness that lasts. God loves us so much. I know it. The Book of Mormon is true. Read it for yourself and you'll know it, too.

VI VOGLIO TANTISSISSISSIMO BENE!!!!!

LOVE,

Sorella Soh

Two posts in one!

Sorry, faithful readers of Katie's blog, I dropped the ball last week and didn't get her letter posted here. So you get a double today!

Tearin' it up in Torino Nov 23, 2011

CIAO CARISSIMI!!!

I think I'm going to stop saying what week I'm on because I've already lost track. Maybe it's my 3rd or 4th week? No idea. Anywayzzz...

Wow! I'm in Italy! Still! Missionary life is finally starting to settle in with me, and I feel like I'm kinda getting the hang of things. I'm still not ready to stand on my own feet yet, but that's okay because Sorella Walton is stuck with me until January! (You might want to pray REALLY hard for her...poor thing). But my district is awesome! There is a set of Anziani in our ward - Anz McMahon and Anz Nielsen. They are also our zone leaders and they are really great. And then the only other missionaries in our district are the Anz from a little city called Collegno - Anz Herrington and Anz Higgs, the latter being our district leader. They really are all FANTASTIC missionaries. It's pretty humbling to be with all of them because they are all so great and I am still just kinda an okay missionary so I get to learn from them, which is really really great. (My pool of adjectives has apparently evaporated since being in Italy because everything is either "cool", "great", "fantastic" or "awesome". I'll work on that.)

So cool event of the week is that we had a multi-zone training in Milano last Friday! We somehow got left out of the loop and didn't find out about it until Wednesday, so that added to the fun. It was really great to get together with a bunch of missionaries from the mission, especially since I didn't know anyone! I finally had the chance to get to talk to some of them. I was really excited especially because I got to see Sor Nilson (blog: ktinitaly.blogspot.com)!!!! We were at the MTC together for three weeks (she's one transfer ahead of me) and we get along really well. She's in Genova, so we're in the same zone, so we might get to do exchanges with each other! Or, at least with each others' companion. But still! It was so great to get to talk to her about her experience so far and was just really comforting for both of us to have the chance to chat about things! Love her!

Since I was the only new missionary at that training (as in Anz Moh and Hatch weren't there), I was the only lucky one who got to do a mini teaching drill in front of EVERYONE. So every day we are assigned a topic from Preach My Gospel that we study and then do a "2 minute drill", which means in 2 min or less, we try to teach that PMG principle with a brief statement of truth, a scripture, and a question - all in Italian. The goal is to do four 2 min drills a day. And yeah. I got to do it in front of all 50 or so missionaries. I was so nervous! The topic that day was "pray to know the truth of the gospel" which I think is the last point in lesson 1, chapter 3. Anyway, I got up there and did that two minute drill and tried my best to make my trainer proud! It was pretty good, but I am still working on being better - as always!

As part of our training, President Wolfgramm had us all watch that new movie "17 Miracles". I saw posters for it in Utah, but didn't really know anything about it. Well, we watched it! It's about a handcart company and the miracles that they saw. It was really cool. It made me really grateful for all of the hard times I've had on my mission so far because they are nowhere near as hard as all the crazy things the pioneers had to do. Way cool.

Also way cool was what our investigator, Rosa, told me the other day. She is one of the Italian women getting baptized on Sunday!!!!! Anyway, her Italian is EXCELLENT. I mean, she obviously speaks Italian, but even in English there are people that speak with better grammar than others. She has excellent Italian grammar. Anyway, we were talking the other day about speaking and she told us about how she's noticed that I don't talk much, but that "I'm always listening and thinking" which is funny that she noticed because it's true. Anyway, then she said, about me speaking Italian, "ma tu hai un accento quasi perfetto" which translates to "but you have an almost perfect accent"!!!!!!!!!!! I was so impressed! Everyone I talk to always says "tu parli bene l'italiano / you speak Italian well", but I think it's just because my Italian accent is pretty good. I've been working on it! Those two years weren't for nothing! In any case, it was just very comforting to know that even though the language is still getting stuck in my brain, people can understand me and they think I have a really good, clear, Italian accent! That's a huge accomplishment for me! WOO!

Wow, I am way out of time. We went to the Mole today (google it) and went to the little cinema museum inside. And then Sor W got her hair cut and now we're behind on our schedule. BUT! You are all fantastic. A HUGE shout-out to Aubry who sent me a letter this week. You are DA BOMB.

Well, gotta run, but I love you all! Your support and prayers and felt and appreciated! God speed the right!

TANTO AMORE,

Sorella Soh

The Last Day in November?!?! November 30, 2011

Ciao famiglia, amici e stranieri!!!

I can't believe another week has already gone by! Mamma mia. Our Thanksgiving was pretty low key (seeing as how people here pretty much have no idea what Thanksgiving is besides what they have seen in movies and stuff), but we did have turkey! Granted, it was turkey lunch meat, but it was turkey nonetheless. Woo! And today is Sorella Walton's birthday! The big 2-3! We're celebrating by going out to get pizza for lunch and then making a cookie/ice cream thing later on tonight. Party!

So what happened this last week... oh, we had a ward party last Friday night - an international dinner! We have several Peruvians in our ward, so basically we had Peruvian and really REALLY good Italian food at this party. And of course being Americans, we had to bring something American! SO! We made brownies (from scratch!) and they were pretty good. Not quite the same as in the states, but still good. The funny thing is that Italians LOVE brownies. THEY LOVE BROWNIES. I can't even tell you how much they love brownies. It's just so funny! We had a ton of ward members ask us before the party if we were going to bring brownies. They said "Sorelle...brownies???" and had this kind of desperate longing in their eyes. Haha. They love them! AND, we brought a special treat. A special American treat. A special Mormon treat. A special Mormon delicacy. Can you guess what we brought? .... GREEN JELLO!!!! Ha ha! There's an American woman in our ward who happened to have a box of green jello that her parents had brought from Texas when the came to visit her last and she gave it to us to bring to the ward party. It was SO funny to see the Italians look at it jiggle and then see the look of utter disgust on their faces. Some of them refused to eat it, most of them, actually. Haha. But the people who did try it liked it! They WHACKED that jello! There was none left! So funny.

Italians are such interesting people. On the one hand, they are so private. We are always smiling at people and saying "buon giorno" to them. Most of them don't even look up at us when we do. And then there are some who look at us and give us a funny look and ask if we know each other. When we say no, they say "oh" and then walk away. They are so not into talking to strangers (which makes contacting work a little bit tricky). But then on the other hand they are SO OPEN. Once you can get someone to talk to you, they will basically tell you their life story. When you ask someone "how are you", they don't always say "good" like we do in the states. They'll tell you exactly what's going on in their life, the good, the bad and the ugly! It's amazing what some people have told us even after just barely meeting them. You gotta love them for it. It's also interesting because the people here really struggle. They really just have no hope, and it's so sad. We were teaching a woman in her home the other day and she told us that she has no hope and doesn't believe there is any happiness in her life. It was so sad! And then we talked to a kid at the bus stop the other day and we asked him what he wanted to do with his life and he said "uhhh, go to work and hang out with my friends" and that was it! He didn't have any dreams or goals or anything! I just want all these people to hear about the gospel and know that there IS hope and happiness and joy in this life! Adam fell that men might be and that men are that they might have JOY!!!!! For such a passionate people, the Italians are really depressed. All they do is work and work and work and don't have (make) time for anything else. I'm excited for the Christmas season so that we can get people thinking more about hope and joy and just rock their socks with the gospel and Christ's love for us!!! That's what keeps us going every day - we've got to cheer these people up! Remind them of the happiness that is in this life - happiness that lasts and is real! We're still working on it :)

A cool thing happened the other day. We were teaching this woman, Anastasia, on the street. She is from Romania (I think) but speaks Russian. (I'm glad I learned all those Russian words at the MTC!) Anyway, she read the Restoration pamplet and really liked it, so we wanted to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon. We gave her a copy in Romanian because we didn't know she spoke Russian (she still understands Romanian and we'll give her a Russian copy the next time we see her). Anyway, we were flipping through the pages are talking to her a bit about what the BoM is and all that. Well then the book was just open to a random page and then she decided to read, out loud, in Romanian, the first verse on the page. So she read it and then said "I really like that!" and then pulled out a little pencil from her purse and circled the verse number. Sor W and I were a little bit concerned because we had no idea what verse she had read and didn't know if she just liked the verse because it sounded cool or because she actually liked the message. So I nervously pulled out an Italian copy of the BoM and read the verse she had just read - Alma 37:35: (O remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.) I think my mouth actually opened in surprise. That is a FANTASTIC verse! I really couldn't believe it! I mean, I have that verse highlighted in my English scriptures even! It was so so cool. We're hoping to be able to meet with her again on Friday, but she works random hours doing whatever job she can find, so it's been hard to meet with her. But she is so great and I'm confident that she will love the Book of Mormon.

Oh, Mom, you'll appreciate this - I had to go to this place called the Questura yesterday to apply for the little card that says I'm allowed to live in Italy legally (after my visa expires). Yep, more red tape. BUT! It went off without a hitch! I had to get fingerprinted and stuff, but we didn't have to wait that long and no one even yelled at me. I was actually really surprised, and the fact that everything went so well does concern me a bit. But it was great and I should have my "permesso di soggiorno" in a few weeks. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Pretty miraculous, if I do say so myself! Very cool.

Quick shout-out to Auntie Bethy who sent me a letter! It took a while to get to me because I had to get it from the office in Milan, but I finally got it! You are great!

I'm attaching some pictures - the first one is from our awesome baptism on Sunday! Rosa and Isabella finally had the chance to get baptised and it was so cool. It's pretty rare that Italians get baptized here, if you can believe it. But they were so happy and excited and Rosa bore her testimony after her baptism and cried and said that she never felt at home in the other churches she went to, but that when she came to church with us she finally felt at home. It was so cool. And Isabella was a practicing Catholic before, which is surprising because 1) there are hardly any practicing Catholics in Italy (people always say "sono cattolico, ma non practicante" / "I'm catholic, but I don't practice it" and 2) she got baptized and she's so happy! Sor W always tells me aobut how much happier and friendly she's gotten in these past few weeks. Anway, the first picture is from the baptism: Sor W, Isabella, F.llo Mazzolari (who baptized them), Rosa and me.

The next picture is of the sunrise from the balcony of our apartment at about 7 am this morning and the last picture is of Corso Agnelli, right outside our apartment. Tons of trees! You can see our bikes in the foreground :)

Well, that's all I've got time for this week! I love you all so much! The prayers and love are felt and mutual!!!

VI VOGLIO TANTISSIMO BENE!!!

Love,

Sorella Soh

Week 2 in Italy!

Ciao cara familgia!

Wow. Okay! I've made it through two weeks in Italy! The biggest blessing this week is that it hasn't rained! Huzzah! It's been cold - around 10°C lately (whatever that means in American) but just at the beginning of this week it's been around 2°C. BUT! It's okay because biking keeps us warm! I'm starting to find my way around Torino. I still just follow Sor. Walton around on the bike, but I have a better idea of where she's taking us now! I'll figure it all out eventually I guess.

Well, people are probably wondering how I'm liking being a missionary, so I'll answer - it's hard work! I feel pretty cliché, actually. We really do ride around on bikes with helmets in skirts and talk to strangers and we really do go door to door asking people if we can talk to them about Jesus and the Church and people really do close the door in our faces and sometimes get mad at us and think we're dumb. I don't know if I was really expecting that, but that's really what we do! I'm starting to get the hang of it. It's really hard for me to just talk to strangers, especially in Italian, but Sor Walton is a CHAMP. She's so good at it and so I just try and follow her lead. I'm glad she's my trainer! I really want to just do the work the Lord's way, and so I just pray for the courage to be able to do what I know the Lord wants me to do, even if I don't like it! (like talking to strangers in Italian!) But that's exactly what I want to do. There's no way you can grow if you don't put yourself outside your comfort zone. I've always known that, and now it's time for me to practice what I preach (and I mean that literally and figuratively)!!!

We finally had the chance to go over to some of the members' houses, and let me just say I LOVE THEM!!! Members are so great because 1) they already like us 2) they don't stand us up on appointments and 3) they feed us and give us treats! I love members!!! There is a family in our ward that just got baptized a few weeks before I got to Torino. We usually go over on Monday nights and have FHE with them. And they feed us. It's funny because sometimes they also speak to us in English and I can hardly understand them. But they are great and want to do what's right. The dad's name is Giuseppe (maybe I talked about them last week?) and Dad, I think you'd really like him. He's just a funny guy and luckily I've been able to sneak in a few jokes with my limited conversational skills. Anyway, they feed us dinner before FHE and it's so good. I've been eating a TON. I just want to eat and eat all the time - I feel like a teenager! But I'm hoping it's because we're biking all the time and that eventually by body will get used to all the changes I've made - I can't afford to eat this much all the time, and I mean that very literally!

So a funny story, the other day we met a man and his two sons in the stairwell of his apartment complex. The sons were aged 11 and 5 and were getting super bored waiting for their dad to finish talking to Sor Walton. To give my companion some more time talking with this man, I pulled out a pass-along card and made a paper airplane out of it and started playing with the boys a bit. Then the younger boy came up to me and wanted me to make a plane for him, so I did. The first thing he said to me was, in italian, "What language is she speaking??" referring to Sor Walton. Haha. So I told him "Italian. But she has an english accent, no?" It was just funny because he really couldn't understand what she was saying. I told Sor Walton about it after and she just laughed. I don't talk much in lessons, which is partially due to the fact that I'm just trying to keep up in terms of conversation, but whenever I do talk to someone, they always say "you speak Italian really well!" It helps SO much to have taken Italian before, and I feel like my Italian accent is pretty good, so that's nice. I feel like people can pretty much understand most, if not all, of what I'm saying. Poor Sor Walton, haha.

We spend a lot of time trying to find people to teach. All of the people we've talked to lately don't want to hear what we have to say. We've been working on trying to come up with new approaches and ways to start up conversations with people, so if any of you returned missionaries out there have any good ideas, hook me up! You can write me a snail mail at the address:

Sorella Katie Soh

Corso Agnelli, 87

10134 Torino

Italia

[Note from Katie's mom: this address is ONLY for letters, packages must go via the mission home, the address is on the sidebar.]

...and if you want to write me just to write me I'm okay with that, too :)

Oh, so I saw the mountains for the first time the other day. We can't see them from our house, but we were down a little bit out of the main part of the city and I could see them. It was pretty cool. It felt kinda like Utah.

Anyway, I hope this email is sufficiently long enough for you this week! I love you all and can TESTIFY that your prayers are keeping me going. Thank you so much!

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Sorella Soh

I'm attaching some pictures from my camera!

me and Sor Teichert

me and Sor Miles

me and Sor Ivory

Anz Moh and Anz Hatch on the phones at the airport talking to their families

me in front of the first door I rang and talked to someone!

all soggy after a day of biking around Torino in the rain

my nametag all soggy when I got home

SONO QUI!!!

CIAO A TUTTI!!!!!

This is Sorella Soh, live from.... TORINO!!!! Yep, Torino (Turin) is my first city! And before you even ask, yes, they had the winter olympics here a few years ago and the stadium is by our apartment and YES I saw the box containing the infamous "shroud of turin" today!!!! It's great!

It's been two weeks since my last p-day and I can't even begin to tell you all what has happened in the meantime. The MTC is fine, great, blah blah blah but now I'M IN ITALY! As we were flying from Frankfurt to Milan, we flew over the Alps and I couldn't help but think of how crazy it is that I'm here and that I even made it to this point. I mean, I'm really in Italy again! It's strange, but it's amazing. I've been waiting a long time for this day and now it's finally here!

I was happy to hear that Sorella Teichert had sent you a little note. How sneaky! She didn't even tell me! Of course, she did sneak a bunch of pictures she had taken of us on her camera into my suitcase with little notes written on the back. I love that girl!!!

Anz Hatch, Anz Moh and I all made it to Milan on time and the mission president, his wife, and the assistants to the president came and picked us up. We went straight to the mission office where we were debriefed on things we need to do to be legal in the country and how to take care of bikes and cell phones and stuff. During this time we were all interviewed by the president. President Wolfgramm is great! He and his wife are so nice, and just awesome in general. Then after that we went out with the other missionaries to the Duomo in Milan where we did street contacting. Basically that consists of striking up a conversation with a stranger. Really. It's that terrifying! But I talked to a couple of people and even gave away a Book of Mormon. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to stopping people on the street to talk to them about Jesus, but I suppose it'll come. Anyway, we got some food and a gelato before heading back to the mission home to have dinner. I was SO tired! We hadn't slept much on the plane, and we landed in Italy in the morning so we had to stay up the whole day. I almost fell asleep at the dinner table, but luckily I held it together. The new missionaries stayed the night at a hotel by the mission home that first night, so I was by myself. It was okay though because I basically just slept! Then the next morning we went to the church in Milan and had some meetings and then I met my trainer - Sorella Walton! She's from Boise and has been in Italy for about 7 months. She's great! She's been really patient with me and has been showing me the ropes. Anyway, after we had lunch that day Sor Walton took me back to Torino and showed me our apartment and took me grocery shopping. I'm her first trainee! I'm trying my hardest to remember everything she does and says - we'll be together for 12 weeks while she trains me and then she'll likely get transferred somewhere else and then I'll be in charge! We're the only sister missionaries in all of Torino! So I have 12 weeks to figure this city and this missionary thing out. The goal of my training is to prepare me enough that I could be a trainer at the end of the 12 weeks, and knowing me and knowing President Wolfgramm, I wouldn't put it past him to make me a trainer in 12 weeks. He'd be crazy, but we'll see how prepared I am at the end of all of this.

So! The work is going great here! Just a few weeks ago they baptized a whole family! Giuseppe is his name, and his wife, son (19) and daughter (12) were all baptized. They are great! We had FHE with them on monday night and ate dinner with them - Giuseppe made pizza! I feel like I have big shoes to fill because the sorella that was here before me, sorella alexander, was just great. She actually just went home so I'm really taking her place! They also had two baptisms lined up for last Sunday for two Italian women - Rosa and Isabella. They are best friends and have a small ironing business that they just opened together just down the street from our house. Unfortunately they had to cancel the baptism because there has been some MAJOR rainfall here lately and they were afraid that the streets would be unsafe to get to the other chapel across town that has a baptismal font. So they won't be baptised until at least the 16th (maybe the 27th), but they are so great and we met with them yesterday and they are both really confident in getting baptized and wanting to follow Jesus Christ. SO COOL! Whoever said the work wasn't going forward in Italy is a big fat liar and you can tell them I said that! So great.

Torino is a biking city for the sisters. Yep. I have a bike. Unfortunately, it has rained EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. That I've been here so far except today. So you know what that means! Sorella Soh gets to ride her bike in a foreign city in a skirt in the rain in the cold at night. CALLED TO SERVE, baby!!!! It seems so cliche to be "that" missionary, but here I am! I can't help but laugh as I think about how bizzare I must look and how, mom, if you knew what I was doing you would just make that face and say "you're nuts". I know! I am! But there's no other place I could possibly be than drenched in Sunday clothes on a bike in Torino! Luckily it's been kinda chilly out so when I ride my bike I don't get too sweaty. We went to a market today where I bought some cheapy (probably fake) leather gloves that will hopefully keep my hands protected while I ride.

To add to the cliche missionary picture, I've been doing what we call "casa in casa" which just means that we go door to door trying to find people to talk to us about the church. Mostly people don't open the door, or pretend like they're not home. Most doors have peepholes, but on the inside they have little covers for the peepholes and we can hear and sometimes see when the covers get scooted aside as people look through to see who we are. Sor Walton took a picture of me by the first door I "knocked" (in reality we just ring the bell) where I actually talked to someone. They weren't interested and didn't open the door. Yeah! And I wouldn't necessarily say we've had the door "slammed" in our faces, but we've had a few closed pretty firmly as we've stood there. We did have a peephole cover slammed on us, if you can imagine that, though. Fun times! Everyone lives in apartment, so basically we go to the little telephone thing by the door and buzz different people until someone lets us in. Then we take the elevator to the top floor and ring every door before we go down to the next level and do the same thing until we get to the bottom floor. We haven't found anyone yet who wants us to come back and give them a lesson, but like Opa always tells me "everyone's got to have the chance to hear our message, whether or not they want to hear it". But, we're praying for people to teach and even fasted last Sunday to find people. I had the thought in the MTC last week that even though building a temple in Rome is totally awesome, we shouldn't be content to only have ONE temple in all of Italy! Are you kidding me?! We need to create a demand! I'm trying hard not to be scared talking to people, even though it's hard for me a lot of the time to understand what people are saying. It'll just take time I guess!

Well, I guess I better go. I love you all! The church is true! God speed the right!

Love,

Sorella Soh

Call from the Mission President

Why oh why must people ALWAYS call during the 30 minutes every afternoon that I pick Katie's brother up from work??

This time it was the Mission President, calling to let us know that Katie arrived safely in Milan. Her first city will be Torino, her companion is Sorella Walton, and her p-day will still be Wednesday. Which hopefully means I'll have a report in her own words to post here in just a few more days.

Phone call home!

Hi blog friends, this is Sorella Soh's mom. I got to talk to her on the phone yesterday for a bit from the SLC airport. She had told me earlier she wasn't going to call, because she is trying so hard to keep the mission rules, but her branch president told her that not only is it okay, it's encouraged for them to call. So yay!

It was funny, though, because we've communicated so well via email and snail mail that there wasn't a whole lot to say. You'd think after nine weeks we'd run out of time, but we actually ran out of stuff to talk about. Still, it was great to hear her voice and the enthusiasm she has for her mission.

She said she left Provo at like 6 am and would arrive in Milan Wednesday morning about 10 - that's a LONG flight! She's traveling with two of the elders from the MTC. From what she's been told they'll pick them up at the airport and then take them into Milan for some sightseeing and to start talking to real Italians! I hope to get an email or something from the Mission President letting me know she's arrived safely and if/when I do I'll post it here.

But - she's in Italy!! Thanks to everyone for the prayers!

Some final words from America

CIAO A TUTTI!!!

Okay. Guess what? I LEAVE FOR ITALY IN SIX DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe that I've been here for 8 weeks already. Eight weeks! Mamma mia! Oh man oh man oh man I'm a missionary and I'm going to Italy. Cray-zee.

It's been a pretty good week! We got our flight plans on Friday, so it's all becoming pretty real. We're all getting really excited and all we want to do is just work super hard so that we can learn as much as we can before we hit the streets of Italia! My district is full of some pretty stellar missionaries, so they better get ready!

First of all, a HUGE thank you to Penny Wadham, Auntie Liesl and Nana and Mom and Dad for the packages this week! Thank you so much! The watch is PERFECT :) And the alarm clock is super cute. I feel so loved! You all are the best!

Oh, and I also need to thank Nana and Bethy. Bethy, thank you for leaving your Hanson brothers tshirt at Nana's house and thank you Nana for letting me take said shirt and keep it and love it. I brought that Hanson shirt on my mission and wear it to bed at night. Let's just say that I'm probably the most popular sister on our floor because when I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, someone will always comment on my shirt. It usually goes something like "Oh my gosh is that a Hanson tshirt?!?!?!?!?!" and I just revel in the glory of it all.

So big news of the week is that our investigator, Salvatore, IS GETTING BAPTIZED TODAY!!!!!!!!! MY FIRST BAPTISM!!! We've been teaching Salvatore since our second or third week here. Salvatore is a real person who lives on Sardenia who F.llo Mortenson helped teach while he was on his mission. I don't know how clear this explanation is, but basically at the MTC for practice we teach our teachers who pretend to be people they taught on their missions. Does that make sense? It's kinda weird to teach F.llo M as an older man named Salvatore, but Salvatore is a real person! Anyway, we've been teaching him for a while and he finally is getting baptized. He is so great! Dad, you would love Salvatore! He talks A LOT and really fast, but he loves fishing and is a really fun, affable kind of man. SO excited for him! It's been really neat to learn how to teach with him as our investigator. Sor Sobeck is doing great with the language (...giftoftonguesisreal...), as are Sor Ivory and Teichert. Sor Sobeck has come a long way in her teaching, too, and is good to not let me talk the whole time and answer every question. She is so great at just bearing her testimony of what she knows is true and it's such a blessing to have in our lessons because her testimony just brings the Spirit. Sor S and I have to pretend to be investigators every other day so that Sor I and T can teach us. It's so cool to get to see how they teach and what they feel inspired to do and talk about. Sor Teichert's eyes just light up when she teaches and it's so powerful that as an investigator I can't help but want to do what she says because she has such a great love for my investigator self. Sor Ivory has such a passion for the church and for the Gospel that she just grins from ear to ear while she's teaching, even when she doesn't know if what she is saying in Italian makes any sense. It's just so great! They are all going to make great, super, awesome, fantastic missionaries! I love my Sorelle!

It's weird to think that we'll be splitting up next week! I'll be getting a new companion - my trainer! Ah! So cool. Oh, and it's really against the rules to try to come up and find me at the airport in SLC, so while I appreciate the sentiment, please don't come. I really want to be exactly obedient as a missionary for the sake of my investigators, fellow missionaries and also for the Lord. But know that I still love you! It's typically a tradition to call your family while at the SLC airport, but I'm not sure if that is against the rules or not. Everyone does it, but like I said, I want to be exactly obedient to the rules, so please please please please PLEASE don't have hurt feelings if I don't call. But if President Brown says it's ok, I'll call you on Tuesday! I have to report to the travel office at 6am (the Roma missionaries leave at 8am. Luckies.) and my flight leaves SLC at about 10:43am. I'll fly from SLC to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Milan! I get to Milan at 9:55am on Wednesday morning, Italy time. It's getting so close!

Ack! I'm out of time already - I've hardly written anything! As a side note, if you want to send me a snail-mail letter, you need to mail it by tomorrow or else I won't get it before I leave. And if you write a DE after Sunday, I won't get it. Just send it on over to Italy! Woo!!!

I love you all, thank you for showing interest in my efforts and reading my emails/blog! As always, your love and support is accepted with gratitude. Your prayers on behalf of all the missionaries do not go unanswered, I can assure you. I hope to do you all proud as a missionary. Hurrah for Israel!!! Italy here I come!

Lots and lots of love! Vi voglio bene!

Love,
Sorella Soh