CIAO CARA FAMIGLIA!!!!
I've been waiting all week to write this email because my P-day is on Wednesday. I'm only allowed to write letters and emails on p-day. But. I AM AT THE MTC!!!!! I AM A MISSIONARY FOR REAL! I have a nametag and everything! Woohoo!
We went to the temple this morning and let me just say that it was a great way to complete my first full week at the MTC. My schedule is really full every day, but that's probably a good thing because I've been too busy to think about other things that aren't important. I'll start at the beginning!
My companion's name is Sorella Sobeck. She's from CA and she is going to Roma. Seven Italian sisters entered the MTC last week and I'm the only one going to Milan. Sor. Sobeck and I are roommates with Sorella Ivory (from SLC) and Sorella Teichert (from WY). If either of their last names sound familiar, it's because Sor. Ivory's dad is the Ivory of Ivory Homes and Sor. Teichert's great-grandmother is Minvera Teichert, the artist. I like them all a lot. Every night before companionship prayer we have a mini devotional where one of us picks a scripture and shares it with the rest of us. I started the trend our second night here and I think it has really helped us all to bond and feel better about being here. (Sor. Ivory and Teichert are both going to Roma).
Oh man oh man I have so many things to write and so little time! I made a little list of the things I wanted to tell you, so forgive me if this email sounds like a laundry list. First of all, I'm sure you've heard about my visa troubles. Apparently I'll be going to Miami next week to go apply and I hope and pray that this time everything will work out. Sor. Teichert actually just got back from Chicago yesterday because she had to go in person to pick up her visa from the consulate there.
No one else in my district speaks Italian. Some of them have taken classes, but I'm much farther ahead of all of them. Sometimes I think it really discourages everyone when I can totally understand what is going on, but other times I think they like having me around as a kind of "instant dictionary". We have an investigator (actor, but it feels so real) named Luigi and he is really great. I can get my point across for the most part, but poor Sor. Sobeck doesn't speak a lick of Italian and really struggles. Mostly at our appointments with Luigi she just sits there and will pray and bear her testimony with the Italian that she knows. Which reminds me. THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS SO REAL. It is SOOO real. The other missionaries can't see it very well, but it is so clear to me that the gift of tongues is working in them. It really is incredible to hear them speak and pray and bear testimony in Italian when just a week ago they didn't know any. I keep telling them how amazing it is, but they are still discouraged. But. The gift of tongues is real and I see it in action. Our classroom is on the same floor as the Russian missionaries, so I always tell my Sorelle (sisters) and Anziani (Elders) that it could be worse! They could be trying to learn Russian!
There are only 22 Italian missionaries in the MTC, 10 sisters and 12 elders. That is pretty crazy, especially for the MTC where the boys outnumber the girls a bazillion to one. All our Anziani are great, though. Our district leader's name is Anziano Moh. MOH! It was funny, the first time I saw him he didn't have his nametag on yet, but I had mine. He saw "Sorella Soh" and said "Soh?!" then pointed to himself and said "Moh!!!'. I was really confused because he didn't have his nametag and I had no idea what the heck he was talking about. Haha. It's kinda neat, though, because we have Moh, Soh and Sobeck. All the Italians are really great, and the Anziani take the Sorelle's trays at mealtimes (we all sit together). I really think that's something unique to our district. There are some really, really great missionaries going to Italy. Called to serve, baby!
OH!!! I SAW ELDER HAFEN!!!! It really was a tender mercy that I got to see him because he was on a different meal schedule than me so I never saw him then. But Sunday was Fast Sunday and so our branch got to go to dinner earlier than usual. I had barely walked in when, lo and behold, there he was sitting at the table! I'm pretty sure he had no idea who I was, but I knew who he was and that's all that really mattered to me. We didn't get a picture together because no cameras are allowed in the cafeteria, but I really did see him. And then he played a cello duet at the MTC devotional that night and was amazing! I kept saying "THAT'S MY COUSIN!!!" to anyone around me who would listen. Haha.
So I had to go to the travel office here at the MTC to talk with the lady there to help figure out my visa troubles (I was really relieved, mom, to know that my new BFF Katy had called and talked to you so that I wouldn't have to spend all week worrying about you not knowing about it). So anyway, on the counter at the office they had this little wooden outhouse looking thing. I didn't really know what it was, but it looked like a little outhouse (you know, with the crescent moon cutout over the door), but it had a hinged door with a wooden dowel as a handle. So I was just kind of messing around with this random outhouse on the desk and I pulled the door open. Big mistake. It exploded! The door was attached to a mousetrap, so when I opened the door, the roof flew off and the walls sprang out. I was so shocked! I just stood there holding the door handle of the now collapsed house with my mouth open. After a few seconds, though, I just started laughing. Everyone in the office was laughing and Sorella Sobeck was REALLY laughing. It was totally funny. It was also a nice way to relieve the stress of my visa disaster. Haha.
ACK! Only 1:30 min left of email time! Okay. I love you! I miss you, too, but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I'll try and write real letters to you later on.
Vi voglio un sacco di bene!!!!
Love,
Sorella Soh
p.s. WRITE TO ME. And tell all my lame friends to write to me, too. I don't have anyone's address so I can't write to them. Love you all. WRITE ME!!!
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