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
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