lavoro missionario alla milanese

Salve a tutti!

Well it's week two of my second transfer in Milano! The past week has been a bit crazy because we had zone conference really early this transfer - on Friday! The sisters in Pordenone had to come to Milano for a doctor's appt, and so they stayed the night with us on Thursday and then we all went to zone conference on Friday. It was the Milano and Como zones, so I got to see Sorella Bush for the first time in several months (who is currently serving in Varese). It's still weird to think that she knows the Allens...that's what you get for being a Wisconsinite! I was excited for zone conference because I thought we would finally get our Liahonas from the office, and we did! Except we got the June Liahona, not May!!! That means that I'm STILL without the general conference Liahona!! And I never got to watch the last session of conference!! 

Dad, I didn't get a letter from you last week. Instead, I got two letters from you this week! The letter that you sent from work on the 10th got here yesterday...and the letter you sent on the 16th got here Monday. Oh Italian post... But I can tell that you're really excited about your jalapenos because you've written to me about your cream cheese and pork stuffed peppers about every other week. They must be really yummy!

Shout out this week to the former Sorella Thurston who I met as she was casually traipsing about Milano with her parents this past week. And the next time you see Sorella Swenson, tell her that I say hello and I am excited for her to be a mamma!

At zone conference we were asked to pick a new finding strategy (from a list which they presented) and then put it into practice when we got back to our area. We choose to do "whiteboard". Basically what you do is get a portable dry-erase board, write a yes or no question on it, and then carry it around with you and ask people to vote. Of course you then follow up with "why?". It's crazy! It feels kinda weird at first, but we talked to more people in our hour of finding than we would have doing anything else. The first time we did it our question was "Can families be together for eternity?" and most people said yes. Then the second time we did it our question was "Are there miracles today?" and there were 18 people that said yes (or "I hope so") and 24 that said no. It's such an interesting way to find people to talk to, and kinda sad to see that people don't believe that there are miracles. So the next time you see some nutheads walking around with a dry-erase board, who knows, it could be missionaries! 

A cool thing happened while we were on the train to go see Karla this week. Sor S was making some phone calls, so I decided to talk to the woman sitting across from me. She was wearing a wooden crucifix, so I said "I like your necklace, is it handmade?" and she responded by saying (in italian) "uh, I don't speak italian very well". So I asked her where she was from and she said she was from Russia. So I said the only Russian I know: "ochen harashov" which means...um...I don't remember. It means "really good" or something like that. I learned it from the Russian missionaries in the MTC. But it was so funny because she was like "wow, you speak Russian really well!" and all I could think was, "um, I don't speak Russian at all!!!". But after I said "ochen harashov" a few times, a huge smile spread across her face. And then I remembered that I had put a Russian Restoration pamphlet in my bag a few days before, so I pulled it out and showed it to her. She saw it and said "I understand this!" and was so happy and excited. I didn't get to talk to her for very long because our stop came up, but she kept saying "mi hai fatto tanto piacere / you've made me really happy" and couldn't stop smiling. And when we were off the train and on the platform, I turned around to look back at the train and she was waving at me. Her name is Giulia, and I know that God loves her. Loves her enough to make me remember two words in Russian so that I could make her smile.

Well, that's all I've got time for this week, folks. I'm attaching two pictures, the first is of me and Karla. She is getting baptized after church THIS SUNDAY!!! She is really excited, and we're excited for her. The second picture is the four generation training picture! Sor Lofley, Sor Bunker, me, and Sor Walton. I have such a cute mission family!!!

Have a wonderful week! I love you all!

Love,

Sorella Soh

Transfer 7!!

Buongiorno a tutti!

You'll all be happy to know that it's cooled off to the mid-80s here, so I won't have to interject every few lines of this email to say "dang it's so hot!". At least for this week...I make no promises for next week.

Shout out this week to the FORMER Sorelle Walton and Smith!!! Please know that I may never be able to call you by your first names. Please also know that I was SO SO excited about getting your emails today! It was fun to hear both of you talk about the rooming situation in the hotel your last night in Italy...I'm the only one who got to hear the story from both perspectives! You are so cute, both a' yous! Also a shout out to Grammy and Grampa Soh who have finally discovered my blog! Don't mind the 12 hour difference between here and Hawaii!

Well, transfers are over! Even though we weren't at the transfer circle at the train station, I still got to see my dear former companions, Sorelle Walton and Bunker! They all had to be at our church meetinghouse, and I couldn't not go and see them. I hugged Sor W I don't know how many times. Probably not enough. I also got to meet Sor Bunker's trainee, Sor Lofley! We took a picture with the four of us together - trainers and trainees! A four-generation picture! The family history geek inside of me was very pleased.

Mom! Thanks for the family reunion collage! I LOVE IT!!!! When I first saw the picture of Nana and Opa with all the cousins, my first thought was "who is that tall, brown girl on the end with the long hair?" I about had a heart attack when I realized "AHH!!! THAT'S MY SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I couldn't believe it!!! And then the picture of her at the beach - that can't be her! She can't possibly the same girl I said goodbye to in Alabama last summer! And mamma mia, the picture of her looking at the beach - HOLY GUACAMOLE! She looks like a model! She is TALL!!! She is beautiful! What are you feeding her?!?!?! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! You're right, Dad! I probably WON'T recognize her come next March! Ack! All of the cousins are getting big! Kate is getting monstrously tall. And in the cousins picture, I was like "who is that sassy thing in the front with her hands on her hips?" and yeah. It's Sammi. She's huge. And the picture of Anna and Chad? MAMMA MIA ANNA IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! Whaaaaaat! And the pic of Alex and Spencer (I assume) is so cute. But I still can't get over how brown and tall and beautiful Squeaky is. Unbelievable. Yikies.

Well, the continued miracle here in Milano is that I still understand Spanish. I just understand it. I don't even know how that happened. I understand like 80%, maybe more. That's about how I felt when I first got to Italy with Italian. If I were to get transferred to a Spanish speaking mission right now, I would be okay. It's absolutely insane. Interpretation of tongues: REAL. Mostly we only use Spanish with Karla (who can't get baptized on the 28th, but maybe the 29th), at least she is the only one Sor Silva speaks Spanish to. Karla is so funny. She keeps asking "when is my baptism??" and the other day she asked if she had to wear a swimsuit to get baptized. Sor S just laughed. And then when we told her we have white dresses, she said "oh, do they have one in my size?? Be sure to check! Do I need to buy one?" and it was just so cute and funny. And then when we were with her yesterday, she was wearing a shirt that said "Paris" on it, except apparently she didn't understand what it meant and said "oh, I thought it said 'poopy'". Keep in mind that "poopy" is not a word in Italian...but it's English meaning just made me laugh when she said it. She's so funny.

I officially am not okay with the fact that Italians decide to take the entire month of August off so that they can go on vacation, mostly because they always round up and take half of July off, too. First Alicia and Nathaly peaced out to go to Ecuador, and then on Sunday we found out that our other progressing investigator, Flavia, will be going home to Napoli for the next month. They all said they'd read the BoM while they're gone (pray that they will!), and if they keep up with their reading, they will likely all get baptized shorty after coming back to Milano. They're so ready!

The only compensation for this darn month of vacation is that all the stores have huge sales! So today I have organized another Sorelle p-day field trip to go window shopping on Corso Buenos Aires, which is near our house and packed with stores! We probably won't really buy anything, but I'm excited to get together with the other Milano Sorelle and have a p-day together. The Milano Anziani always get together and play sports on p-day...so it's only natural that we go shopping, haha.

Well, time's up. Love you all buckets and buckets! STATEMI BENE!!!

AMOREEEEEE,

Sorella Soh!

Note from Nicole:  Here is the collage of photos from our family reunion that she refers to in this letter.  

Halfway point in Italy!

Buongiorno carissimi miei!

Well, it's that time of the transfer again! And...we're staying the same! And this time I mean it! Sor Silva and I are in for another transfer together here in Milano. BUT. Big news. I'm going to be a grandma!!!!! Translation: Sorella Bunker is TRAINING!!!!! That poor thing, I'm sure she's freaking out right now, but she's gonna do great! It also means that Sorella Walton is going to be a great-grandma! Yikes! There is only one sister coming in this transfer, so Sor S and I are going to go meet up with all the new missionaries at the Duomo today so we can do contacting with this new sister, otherwise she'll be all alone with a bunch of Elders! Non va bene. I'm actually the one that called the zone leaders (who then called the Assistants to the President) and asked what they were going to do, if they were going to leave this poor new sister all alone or make her do contacting with the Anziani. Apparently the AP was like "oh, we didn't even think about that. Good thinking, Sorella Soh!" Haha. So we're going to go do that later on today.

Shout out this week to the Storz family in Germany who sent me a postcard this week! Thanks! Love you!

There's a thing in Italy called "Ferragosto". Basically it means that the month of August is vacation time, and pretty much everyone leaves the cities and goes on vacation to the beach and stuff. For the whole month. It also means that two of our progressing investigators, Alicia and Nathaly, (mom and daughter) are going on a month and a half long vacation home to Ecuador. Dangit! We met with them for the last time yesterday. They will get baptized. And if they go to church in Ecuador (like they said they would), they'll be able to get baptized pretty much right after they get back from vacation, so pray that they'll keep reading the BoM and go to church in Ecuador!

So remember how in the MTC all I could talk about was the gift of tongues and how it was so cool that all my missionary friends were learning Italian so well? Well I'm here to testify to you all today that just as real as the gift of tongues is the interpretation of tongues. Our ward here is primarily consisted of South Americans. Even my companion is South American. We have a miracle investigator, Karla, who is from Peru. We met her two Sundays ago when she just showed up in church. She took the lessons from the Elders in Peru, was about to get baptized, but then moved to Italy. And she just showed up in church and told Sor S that she wants to get baptized. Yeah. What? Miracle. Anyway, she's only been in Italy for about two months. Which means she speaks hardly any Italian. When we teach her, we teach in Spanish! Well...at least Sor S and Karla speak Spanish to each other. I've attempted to slap together a few sentances in Spanish - "Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y nosotros somos sus hijos" - but I hardly remember anything (which makes me wonder, what on earth was I doing all those three years when I took Spanish in high school?!?). But the gift of interpretation of tongues is real. SO REAL. When I speak in Italian to Karla, she understands me, at least the majority of what I say (Sor S does have to translate a few words here and there), and when Karla speaks to me, I understand her completely. Maybe not necessarily all the words she says, but I understand what she's saying (if that makes sense). It's bizarre and wonderful. Oh, and she's getting baptized on July 28th, so happy birthday Squeaky!

Last Sunday we had 6 investigators in church! That's a lot! I've never had that many investigators in church before, and that's not even counting the number of investigators the Anziani had in church. Super exciting! In fact, the church is growing so much here in Milano that in September they are splitting the Stake!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!?!? I'm so excited that there has been enough growth here to merit a new Stake. And down in Rome they are creating another ward - the Rome 5th ward! We're just outgrowin' our britches!

I've been reading in "Jesus the Christ" lately, and I was recently blown away by the comparison made between the Word of Wisdom and the Fall of Adam and Eve. We know that commandments are eternal, but people always seem to ask "well, didn't Jesus drink wine?". But think about it. Has there ever been another time when God has commanded man to NOT partake of a particular substance? Oh right. The forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Hm. Weird. Funny how the transgression of that commandment brought an irreparable change upon the bodies of man thenceforth, how breaking that commandment was what brought about the Fall. I'd never, ever thought about it that way before.

Anyway, out of time this week. I love you all buckets and buckets! Here's to the next 6 transfers of my mission!

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Sorella Soh

Happy Fourth of July!!

(Sorry this week's blog post is so late - we were on vacation and I couldn't figure out how to post the pictures from my iPad, so I just decided to wait and do the whole thing late! ~Nicole)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY EVERYONE!!!

Wooo! I love America!!!!! Since today is Pday, our zone leaders decided to have a cookout for all the missionaries in our zone, so after we finish our internet time and do our grocery shopping we're gonna go to the Milano 1st Ward building and eat hamburgers and stuff. I don't think Sor Silva is particularly enthralled by the idea, but if we're still together next transfer I'll make sure we do something special for their Independence day (which is the 28th of July, she said...she explained it to me but I still don't really understand, haha).

SHOUT OUTS THIS WEEK: Well, first of all, mom, shout outs last week did, in fact, include people who sent me cards to Milano, so I'll try not to be miffed that you'd think I'd shout out to the Savona people and not to the Milano people. However, I did forget two people last week - Beth Hatz and Linda Boyer! So thank you! Also a shout out to Sor Williams (again) because basically everyone in the ward initially thinks that I'm you! They always tell me "I thought you were Sor Williams for a minute, but then I was confused because you're taller with darker hair". And everyone RAVES about your cinnamon rolls...Fllo Martinez showed me a pic of them on his phone, haha. Oh, I just love you!

I have yet to find someone in this country with a ukulele. The Hawaiian sister in our ward has been out of town this week, but I told her that when she gets back we would like to stop by and see her and I'll be sure to ask if she's got one. And tell Squeaky that learning the Lord's Prayer is a really good idea. None of my companions have known it from memory. Maybe Sor S, but I haven't asked. Anyway, tell her also that I learned it because of volleyball. We would always say the Lord's Prayer in our huddle before coming out onto the court for games. Oh, and also, can you tell me how tall Squeaky is in (centi)meters? Everyone ALWAYS asks me how tall I am. I always say I'm 1.80m tall, which is stretching it a little because I'm not quite that tall, but even then no one ever believes me. They always say "no way! You're way taller than that! At lest 1.85, 1.90!" 

Speaking of height, on Monday and Tuesday we had a scambio (exchange) with the sisters in Milano 3rd Ward - Sorelle Hanks and Bishop. I was with Sor Bishop, who, if you recall, is my counterpart in height in the mission. We were quite an interesting sight to be seen, I'm sure! But boy was their apartment way cooler than ours! They live more south in Milano, and there was a nice, cool breeze at their apartment. We live in the city, really close to the historic center. In terms of shopping it's really convenient, but it also means that things are more expensive and that it gets SO HOT. I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing me say this, but it is so dang hot. 90/91°F in our study room all week. It was so hot on Sunday that they cancelled the second hour of church. We usually have AC in the church, but it wasn't working on Sunday. So instead of having Sunday School. we went straight to Sacrament Meeting (we do RS/EQ first). We had all the windows open, but dang was it hot. It was so hot.

The side effect of all this heat is that I'm losing weight. Remember those jeans that didn't fit me anymore in Torino? Well They almost fit in Savona because we weren't biking so much (and I wasn't eating so much) and then I tried them on again last night and they zipped up and everything! They were still tight, but that's more than I could do in Torino! My life is a constant state of endless change in every aspect - emotionally, physically and spiritually! At this rate, I'll be unrecognizable when I get  home!

Okay, so surprise! I HAVE PICTURES! I put my SD card into Sor Silva's camera and uploaded them that way.

1. the view from the train window as we were going to an appointment in Savona

2. STANLEY!!!! on his baptism day!

3. me sitting on a wall at the Priamar fortress in Savona, with the sea in the background. Yeah, that place is real.

4. a cruise ship at the harbor by the internet point in Savona 

5. me with birthday letters!

6. me, sor Padula and Sor Jacobson eating gelato! (they are in the Milano 1st ward)

7. Sorelle Silva, Bishop, Padula, me and Hanks at the Duomo in Milano 

8. Sorelle Hanks, Silva and me eating panzerotti for lunch. YUM! 

Alrighty, out of time. I'm sorry if I've forgotten anything important. Have fun all you Smiths at the OBX! Thanks for finally having a family reunion...the one year I CAN'T come! But no, I hope you are all having tons of fun and taking lots of pictures and loving all of my cute cousins. Transfers are next week! I personally think that Sor S and I will stay together, but Sor S thinks she's leaving, so we'll see. This is her 3rd transfer in Milano, so you never know! If she does get transferred, though, it means that I'll be able to see Sor Walton at the transfer circle before she goes home! I love you all buckets and buckets!

LOVE,

Sorella Soh