Hello everyone!!!!
Can you believe it's the last pday before Christmas??? I'm so excited I could throw up! I can't believe that I'm coming up on another Christmas in my mission. For some reason the other day the thought came into my head about how long I've been in the mission and how little time left I have and I though I was going to have a heart attack. I've thought about it before, but this was the first time it's ever given me anxiety to think about it! We're in week 5 of this transfer and I've only got two left after this. SCARY!!!!
Oh. My. Heavens. I am SOOOO excited to hear about Lauren Hafen's mission call!!! That is so awesome! And so spur of the moment! Super awesome. Also, it means that I will graduate from BYU before she does, and that gives me great comfort...for a while there I was thinking I wouldn't, and that's not good! :)
Well, I'm sure everyone is dying to know about how the live nativity went. To tell the truth, it was pretty good! Luckily Slla N and I both have some background experience in acting, however limited that may be, and since we were the main characters it ended up being pretty believable. And I'm sure it strengthened our companionship...I mean, it is a tender moment to pur your arm around your pregnant wife and guide her through the streets of Bethlehem. And most surprising of all is that I was actually a very convincing looking man! Slla N used some black eyeliner to thicken my eyebrows and draw a beard and mustache on me, and then I tried to hold my jaw differently. It was funny because the next day in church one of the sisters in the ward brought in pictures that she had printed of us and showed them to everyone. The people who weren't all the nativity all pointed to me as Giuseppe and were like "who is HE? Have I seen this guy before?" and there were pretty shocked when I raised me hand and was like "um, that would be me." Haha. I sent some of the pictures of it in a separate email (they were forwarded to me by Slla N), so hopefully you'll get a kick out of those. After we finished taking all the pictures, I looked at Slla N and said "Maria! Fammi un panino! Ho fame! / Mary! Make me a sandwich! I'm hungry!" and everyone laughed really hard. Of course in response Slla N fake slapped me in the face...
Monday was our Christmas Zone Conference! (aka the anniversary of our friendship, Slla Baker!) Fortunately, neither Slla N nor I was asked for an encore performance in the nativity we did, even though I was cast as an angel last year. Personally I think it's worth NOT being in the nativity just to see President Wolfgramm sing and dance as we sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Last year the Wolfgramms gave everyone in the mission a tie (boys) or a scarf (girls). This year they gave us new ties and scarves, but they definitely beat last year's ties and scarves because - get this - they got the Kellys (the mission President in Rome and his wife) to give the SAME EXACT ties and scarves to all of their missionaries. The Wolfgramms give them to us to unite us, and now we are united with all of the Rome missionaries. I feel like I don't ever want to wear any other scarf. I don't know if it's happened in any other country in the entire world, but ITALY MISSIONARIES ARE UNITED. We're all working for the same cause, the same people, the same purpose. So very awesome.
I'm sad that I can't come with you to Hawaii for Christmas this year. I suppose I could say that I'd rather be here in Siena than in any other place in the world, but let's be real, who WOULDN'T want to spend Christmas with their entire family in Hawaii?? It's hard to beat. I will say, though, that if I can't be with the people I love the most for Christmas, being here in Siena is definitely where I would rather be. I love serving in Siena. I love being able to put on that black nametag every morning. Sometimes I look in the mirror and see my tag and I think "how in the heck did THAT get there?! And what is MY name doing on it???" and I can't believe anyone ever thought it was a good idea to let ME be a missionary. I love my companion! There really aren't words to describe how I feel about Sorella Nilson. We're like sisters in every way and I love her to death! I even told her "I can't wait to talk to your family on Christmas!" haha. I love being her companion. I love this city. It really is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I love that I now speak English with Italian grammar. I love this branch. I love that they ask us to do crazy things like be Mary and Joseph in their nativity and that they know that we'll actually do it. I love being able to serve the Lord. I love being able to get to the end of an entire street of 100% rejection and know that I'm doing exactly what the Lord wants, and do it without any kind of gratification. I love that I know that I am in the exact right place at the exact right time in my life. I love the gospel. I love that it's true and perfect. I love that no one can ever change that or take it from me. And also, I love YOU!!!!!!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Dio vi benedica!!!!
Love, and lots of it, from
SORELLA SOH
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