-So you know how in America when you eat too much food and your stomach sticks out and how we call it a “food
baby” well instead here they call it :incinta dello spirito santo.
Which means: pregnant by the holy ghost—because that's what happened to
Mary. Oh Catholics...only in Italy.
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| Scambio! Sisters from Caglari! |
-Italian: “sono Sorella Knudsen della chiesa di Gesu cristo dei santi degli ultimi giorni.”
Sassanian: “Eu Soggu Suredda Knudsen ieja di Jesu crischi e di ri santi di luschimi di.”
Did
you know that Sardegna has a difference language? They all speak
Italian (thank goodness), but each city has their own language! Sardegna
has a lot of Spanish influence so their language is like a mix of Italian and Spanish. We actually get told all the time that the food we
eat here is the same as in Spain and Argentina. First I'm trying to
learn Italian, but I'm also learning a bit of Sassarese!
-Ah where has
this week gone?! These weeks are going by TOO fast and I'm not a fan.
Transfers are starting to feel like weeks. Where is all the time
going?!?! Thanks for the pictures mom! I can't believe Slla Waddoups put
those up! Tell Daniel congrats on his mission call to Jacksonville Florida! That's awesome! Looks like you guys had
a lot of fun in St. George! Ah little Hayden is SO cute! You need to
send me some pictures! Hey also...have you seen any pictures of me on
facebook lately? All my friends here in Italy tell me that they keep
tagging me in some...have you seen them?
 |
| Sassari missionaries and Andrea |
-First
off, BEST NEWS!! Remember Andrea from my last email who is awesome! But
him becoming Mormon is creating tension in his family so last Sunday he
dumped us and we were all sad. Well he went home that night
crying...then he opened up his BOM and prayed. His mom came in and
started talking to him and told him if this church makes him happy then
she will support him coming. So he came back and is getting ready for
his baptism! Then his whole family agreed to take the lessons so now the
other sisters are teaching them. MIRACLES.
 |
| girl's day lunch! |
-Anyway
this week has been awesome! We have three new investigators!! One of
them is named Angela. First off, we started this program with a couple
of members to have them pray for missionary experiences and if they do
that for 20 days then there's a promise that they will have someone to
present to the missionary. Well we did with this family named
Mastino—and they gave us a referral this week! Her name is Angela, she
is a little bit older—BUT SO PREPARED! She knows the catholic church is
wrong, doesn't like the Jehovah witnesses, and is just trying to find
peace and meaning. She heard about our church and told us she just wants
to go to a church where she can feel the spirit and feel good. We
invited her to be baptized and she said yes! Aprile 29!!! She is one of
the best investigators I have ever had—we've met with her three times
last week, she keeps all her commitments, asks great questions, wants to
learn so much, so humble, and she spent an hour on the bus to come to
all three hours of church! Angela just shows me how much God loves his
children...she's this old lady that lives alone, wants peace, and has so
many questions. God knows that she really needs the gospel so he
arranged for her to hear it. I'm so excited for her, because I know how
much the gospel is going to bless her and I can't wait for her to hear
everything.
 |
| My friend Alessia and I in old Sassari |
-Also...WE
HAVE A FAMILY! Their names are Simone and Francesca and they have three
little girls. But it's a little bit complicated because Francesca was
married with another man and had two kids, she's waiting on the divorce,
and in the meantime is with Simone. Okay can I tell you how horrible
marriage is here in Italy? Okay so the catholic church doesn't want
divorces so they make divorces into a huge deal and you have to wait at
least four years and pay thousands of dollars before the divorce goes
through. So no one wants to get divorced so no one gets married here.
Also, if you can only get married here if at least one of them is
Italian...so all these immigrants here can never get married, so sad.
Anyway Francesca was an investigator in the past, but then someone stole
her BOM so we went met her she asked for a new one. We went over there
and had a great lesson about the restaurazione. This couple was very
sincere, wanting to learn everything (even though they have a lot of
doubts about prophets). The best was when we invited them to read the
BOM, Francesca turned to Simone and was like...”will you read it?!” And
he was like “yeah I'll read it more than you!” then they started an
agreement—he has to read two pages everyday and he writes down everything he
learns and she will pray, think of a question, and then read. And we
contributed and said we'll make them brownies if they do it. Hey
whatever works to get people to read the BOM! They are awesome.
 |
| A horse. |
-In the
meantime...things are going great with our investigators! Our
investigator Antonella finally let us bring a member with us and it made
all the difference to hear someone else's conversion and testimony. But
again she wasn't feeling well enough to come to church so we need to
help her get over that fear...I think she just needs to have more
friends. We decided to postpone Lucia's date because she was not ready
for the interview this week and now she's having a lot of personal
problems and doubting so we are going to help her strengthen her
testimony this week! And a ton of other things. Well time is going by
too fast in the mission and it's scaring me, but I'm loving the mission
more and more each day! The best feeling is working your hardest and
then seeing a ton of miracles and blessings. Buona settimana! VI voglio
bene!!
Sorella Knudsen
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