Crepi il lupo!: The dog days are over

Hi.

Um. I'm training.

Yeah. It's okay to be confused. Yes, I am currently in my last week of training as in Sorella Walton is my trainer and I am being trained. But that is not what I mean.

I'm training.

As in, I will be training a new missionary. Next transfer. Aka tomorrow when we have transfers, I'll swap out my trainer for a trainee.

Yeah. Whew.

Anyway, that's the big news of transfers this week! President called us on Monday and told me that I'm going to be a trainer! So that means that I will be in Torino for the next two transfers, so I'll let you take a quick break right now and toddle out to your mailbox to put all those letters you've written to me in the mail because I know you were all just concerned that they wouldn't get to me in Torino because I might be gone. Don't forget to lick the stamp. (***note from Nicole - I will post her direct LETTERS ONLY address in the next post)

...

Break's over. Okay. So yeah, I'm still kinda freaking out about being a trainer, but I am mostly just super excited. And also freaking out, but also excited. As for Sor W, she will be going to Varese! It is a little city by Como, and there is a small branch there of about 35 members. She will be opening and whitewashing Varese, which means that she and her new companion (Sor Oakes, who we'll hear more about later in this email) will be replacing the Anziani that are currently there, and will be the only missionaries in that city. Wow! She is just gonna light that city on fire because she is awesome and that's the kind of thing she does! I am really excited for her, even if it does mean that our cute little companionship is splitting up! The good news is, though, that she will be in the Como Zone (I'm in the Torino Zone, go figure) and we are usually together for Zone Conferences and I will likely get to see her when we go to Milano for conferences.

So! That was Monday! Crazy! We were just in Milano on Thursday to hear from Elder Caussé! It was a good meeting. We talked a lot about inviting people to baptism during the first lesson. Yikies, right? But it all makes a lot of sense as we've learned about the reasoning behind everything and stuff. In the morning he also talked a lot about how to be a good missionary, what that means, and how to improve ourselves as missionaries and as people. It was a really great morning and I feel like I still don't know exactly what I learned. I still have to think about it!

I also got your packages, mom! We have thoroughly enjoyed the pumpkin spice cocoa and the calendar is so cute! Dad, Giuseppe LOVEDLOVEDLOVED the airborne stuff you sent!!!!!! LOVED IT!!!!!! He was totally grinning from ear to ear and was so excited. He kept saying stuff about how awesome you are. He kept using the word "meraviglia" to describe what you had done for him in sending him those patches. He LOVED, and I mean LOVED, the 101st pin you sent. Loved it. We also made jello for them on Monday and they loved that, too. They were really excited about it. Giuseppe kept asking us how we made it and all we could do is just laugh and say "it's a secret!!!"

So the end of last week was a little bit nuts because we had pday and then we went to Milano to hear from Elder Caussé and then on Friday morning we had a scambio (aka an exchange) with the sorelle from Cuneo, which is about an hour and a half from Torino. We blitzed again, so both sisters were in Torino, as opposed to one of us going to Cuneo and one of them coming here. So both Sor Willey and Sor Oakes were in Torino. Funny story, Sor Willey (who was with Sor Walton on the scambio) has a brother at BYU and he was my Physics 107 TA during spring 2010. Isn't that crazy?! Sor Oakes was with me on the scambio, which was fun because we were also in the MTC together! She is one transfer ahead of me, so I knew her already. This is the same Sor Oakes who is going to be Sor Walton's new companion in Varese.

Fun fact about Torino, this is the home of Fiat! The character Guido from the movie Cars is a Fiat 500, I think. Anyway, there are lots of tiny little cars here and everyone drives like a maniac. There are also lots of Smart cars - you know, the super tiny ones - and they are the funniest because not only do they parallel park, oh no. They perpendicular park. Yeah. Try and figure out that one. So the length of a smart car is about equivalent to the width of a normal car. So what do these people do? Well, if there's not enough space to fit in lengthwise, they just pull right up perpendicular to the curb and park. Yeah. Really. It's totally normal to see a row of cars parallel parked along the street and then see a Smart car's front sticking out a little bit because it's perpendicularly parked.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference between tender mercies, miracles and blessings. I mean, they're all gifts from God, but I feel like each word is used in a different way. So I made a flow chart. I call it the miracle flow chart. So in thinking about a spiritual experience or event or something from the Lord or whatever, you first have to decide if it is a long term event or a short term event. If it is long term, it's a blessing. If it's short term, it is either a miracle or a tender mercy, from which you have to decide the scale of the event/involvement of the Spirit. If the Spirit is heavily involved, it's a miracle. If the event is just a small scale, it's a tender mercy. Let me give you some examples. 1) Having a loving family. I would classify this as a blessing. Why? Because it's something that is long term, as in once I received it, I've had it ever since. 2) Losing your job but still being able to pay the bills/tithing for the month. I would classify this as a miracle because it's a one time thing, but it's a HUGE deal aka the Spirit is there big time. 3) Going to lunch at Subway and getting there right as the pull the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. TENDER MERCY. It's a one time thing and it's not a big deal because you probably would've been perfectly content with a cookie at room temperature, but it was just that extra bit of awesome that made the experience special. Not particularly because you exercised faith in going to Subway at that particular time, but it just happened. Anyway, maybe I'll draw a picture of the flow chart and then send it in a letter and mom, you can scan and upload it or something. Okay, I'm kidding, but only kind of.

Well, time's about up. I can't believe my training is over. And even harder to believe is the fact that I'm training! (oh, Sor Willey is training, too - the one who did the scambio with Sor Walton last Friday). It's weird to think that I won't be companions with Sor Walton anymore! We're together 24/7 and she's all I know! I'm really sad to be splitting from her, but I know she is going to do great things because that's just how she is. I have learned so much from her. More than I even know, I think. Anyway, I love you all! Thank you all for your continued love and support and prayers - I'm gonna need them BIG TIME as a trainer (which also means I'll be senior companion! ACK!). The Gospel is true. Christ lives. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is true. Just read it and find out.

LOVE FROM TORINO,
Sorella Soh

p.s. Still waiting to hear about my challenge to ask the missionaries in your ward to recite to you the missionary purpose!!!! I haven't forgotten!

p.p.s. Shout out this week to Penny Wadham who sent me a super legit package that I just got this week!!! (Yeah...it took a while) But you'll be happy to hear, I hope, that I shared several of the little mini candy canes you sent with lots of other missionaries while we were still in Milano and they all love you and think you're great!

p.p.p.s. the pictures are from Sor W's camera 1) our power ranger sweater day - we randomly ended up wearing power ranger girl colors. The funny part is that Sor W's first name is Kimberly and I, of course, am taller and part Asian. Boo-yah. Didn't even plan it.