Oh ciao...FROM FIRENZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sitting at an internet point that's within sight of the bus station where I first arrived my first time ever in Firenze. It's the most insane thing ever. Yeah. I'm really in Firenze.
I don't even know where to begin. Last Wednesday night our ward mission leader organized an FHE at the church for all the members to come say goodbye to me and Anz Scheurn who also got transferred (to Ravenna). Giovanna came with her two sons. She cried. It was the first time I'd ever seen her cry. She doesn't cry. It was crazy. I love her so much! Flavia came, too! She had been back home in the south and was coming back on Wednesday, so she got off the train, went straight home, threw her stuff down and got herself together and then came straight to the church to say goodbye. It was so good to be able to see her! It was kinda weird to see how the members and other people responded to me getting transferred because they all seemed like they liked me and would miss me. I didn't even know if they would remember my name without the nametag! But I don't know, maybe they will actually remember me. Hm.
Well, on Thursday I rode the train down to Firenze with my new companion Slla Nilson (!) and with two anziani - Anz Mendel, who I had never met before, and Anz Moh!!! He will be in my district once we get to Siena! I love Anz Moh! My old MTC district leader. It was really fun to get to talk to them a bit and also to see how much Anz Moh has grown as a missionary since we were in the MTC last year. The train ride took almost 4 hours. There were two other people in our train car and near the end of the ride (when they weren't sleeping) they started talking to us. At some point the whole "hey, you're hawaiian?!" thing came up and I just so happened to have my ukulele with me in the car...so...I played the mission hymn for these two people on the train. Of course they really liked it. Hopefully good things will come of it, even if the woman we talked to lives in Rome.
We're living in an apartment that the sisters used to live in. There haven't been sisters in Firenze in a few transfers, so we're the only sister missionaries in all of Tuscany (I know...everyone wants to be us). They are selling this apartment after we leave, though, so that they can find a new apartment for sisters that is closer to the newly built meetinghouse that they have here. So I think that means that they'll put sisters back in Firenze in a few months. Siena is the farthest city south in the mission, and the closest to Rome, which means that I'm so close to my MTC sisters it's like I can feel them near me!
I wrote a list of things to write about, but it's in my planner. Which I left at home. Like a knucklehead.
Oh! Mom! Before I forget, I meant to say this last week but I forgot, last week I sent a package home. It's not anything special, sorry, just a bunch of old letters and a coat I never wear and also my red shoes that I never wear. I thought about sending home gifts, but I was strapped for time and I know that you can just buy your own stuff when we come back to Italy together. It cost me 45 euro, but hopefully customs won't be that bad because it's all old, used stuff.
Last transfer President had traveling assistants that basically just went around and did companionship exchanges every day with the Elders in the mission. I had suggested to Anz Herrington (who is a NOT traveling assistant, but a regular assistant) that they should have traveling sisters. Well, this is about the closest we'll ever get! Slla Nilson and I have no idea what to do! We don't know the area, we don't know the ward and we don't really need to know. Basically all day we walk around contacting people. We've gotten some new investigators who we'll have to give away to the Anziani when we leave, but it's really hard to know what to do when we know that we basically have no time here. Somehow, though, we have 5 appointments scheduled for Saturday! Tonight we are taking the train to Rimini to go do an exchange with the sisters there (slla Bunker! and slla Pearce, who is new) and then tomorrow night we are headed to Reggio to do an exchange with the sisters in Reggio (Slla Sloan and Lofley). It's been nutz! We leave here at about 6:40pm tonight and won't get back until about 9:30pm Friday night. We are so tired. We are like zombies. I have never been so tired in my mission. Mostly because we don't have bikes, we don't know the city or the buses, and even then there aren't any buses that go from our house to where we want to go. We used the scale on the map the other day - basically every single day we have walked at least 10 miles. EVERY DAY. It's ridiculous. The only way to get to the new church building is on foot, and that's two miles away, so going to the church and back is already 4 miles of walking. I've never had such a hard time waking up in the morning. And of course our hunger level has also skyrocketed. Geez.
It's so fun to be companions with Slla Nilson! I think the one thing that puts our companionship over the edge is that we have the same first name. What?! We were in the MTC together, we both studied abroad in Siena in 2010, we were even in the same Italian 202 class for a while, we're opening Siena together...and we have the same first name. It just doesn't get much more ridiculous than that. I love it. We have had a lot of long chats about the mission and things we've learned and what we still want to learn and do and all kinds of things. It's been really fun to be companions with someone who I was already friends with - my other companions I didn't even know until I was companions with them!
Today we've planned to take this city by storm! We only have a few hours to do everything! Luckily we've both already been here, so we don't have to go in and see everything, but there's still so much we want to do. And more importantly, there's still so much we want to EAT. Yeah! Pizza, gelato, panini...it's time to start putting back on the weight I lost in Milano! (because clearly walking 10 miles every day has no effect...) I brought my camera with me and will do my best to remember to take pictures while also not looking like a tourist. Slla Nilson and I have secretly hoped that we'll run into some American members who are here as tourists so that they can buy us gelato. They always want to take us out to lunch/dinner and stuff, but I would gladly settle for a gelato. We'll see!
Well, I don't really know what else to say! I would talk more about the work, but we're mostly just doing a lot of finding work (tracting, I guess they call it in English) and walking a lot. I can't believe it's already October! Oh! Conference!!!! It was awesome!!!! Mom, you might have to just send me a copy of the conf ensign as soon as you get it...I don't know how long it'll take the office this time around, if they ever get us a copy! Maybe you can just snail mail them straight to our house (aka not in a package). We were freaking out about the announcement that you can serve a mission at 18 for boys and 19 for girls!!! Slla Nilson's dad is her stake president in Alpine, and she said that he told her that he's just been slammed with interview requests. UN'OPERA MERAVIGLIOSA!!!! Can't wait to see how much the church is going to grow because of this announcement! We are very excited!
We talked to the Anziani who are currently in Siena and they said that the branch doesn't know that they're leaving OR that we're coming. It's gonna be a huge surprise! They'll probably figure it out eventually, but it's just crazy that it's all actually happening. And I'm happy that I'll get to meet Nana and Opa's friend. Is the the program director?
I've already been out 13 months. I can't even believe it. I hope I've made a difference in my own life and in the lives of others. If not, I've got 5 months left to make something happen! Here's to five months in Siena!!!!
TANTO AMORE PER TUTTI VOI!!!
Sorella Soh
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