April in Milan

Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Subject: OOoooo Italia

Ciao famiglia, amici, tutti!

Come state? Tutto bene?

Ahhh Spring time is SUCH a beautiful time of year. Everytime we walk out of our apartment in the morning I just take a big breath and smile. I really feel like I have spring time in my soul haha. Italy is just beautiful and sunny right now. The sky is blue everyday. The buildings and apartments are tall, old, and colorful, with rod-iron railings, and clothes hanging out to dry. I love to see all the Italian flags hanging in the windows and waving in the wind. I love the old ladies shaking their rugs on their porches. Milan is so diverse. I had no idea before I lived here how diverse it was. In Sardegna everyone is Italian, small, dark, so Italian looking. Milan is FULL of South Americans, Philippinos and Africans. I LOVE IT. Ahh the people are so beautiful. I love going to the older more rustic looking apartments buildings around the evening time, when all the different families are home, playing their types of music, cooking their types of food...such a good atmosphere! Mmm I am just happy to be here:)

Ok I will get into my update now. Starting from last week.

Often, after our p-day hours are up (around 5:30-6), on Wednesdays we go visit the bishops wife. She is just the cutest Ecuadorian lady with two little kids. We had such a great visit with her last week, she taught me a lot. Her husband and her moved out here for him to finish up school and work for a few years. He is from Argentina. They are the cutest couple ever. Anyways...After a few years they were just soo ready to move back hom to South America. All their family is there, they were just done with Italy and wanted to go home! She was pregnant, so they decided to have to baby here then move home soon after. Their beautiful baby was born with severe defects and she lived in the hospital with him for a whole year! A long extremely hard and lonley year she said. I can't even imagine. But with lots of prayers and blessings from our Heavenly Father, they were able to persevere, and their boy is healthy and self sufficient. So they were saving up and working and finally ready to move home a few laters when...her husband got called as Bishop! She just cried. She knew that that meant at least another 5 years away from their home and family in South America. They have two kids now, her husband is super busy with work, and then almost every night is out doing things for the ward and fulfilling his calling. Their family is amazing though. So faithful. SOO ready to do the work of the Lord. To do His will before theirs. They are just a great example to me of faith and perseverance to me.

Missionary work in Italy is interesting. We have so much travel time and contacting time on the metros and trains. We are able to meet some amazing people. It is great because I am learning how to make powerful lasting impressions in simple, speedy ways, but I still have so much room for improvement! We talk to everyone we can, bear testimony the whole time, and strive to bring the spirit to these people. It is so cool to see the people that are ready to learn. That completely light up with joy when we give them the Book of Mormon to read and explain to them the grand promise it contains. It's tricky getting appoints set to continue teaching, but amazing to see how the Lord has prepared people to learn and how they accept! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! We are teaching such amazing people right now. Valeria was BAPTIZED Saturday. OOOHH mamma MIA it was AMAZING! Seriously. This ward is out of control incredible, so many people were there and so supportive. This is a HUGE step for Valeria. She has been through SO MUCH. We have seen miraculous changes in her. It was such a spiritual service. The Italian family we are teaching is soo great. The Bolivian lady we are teaching is also amazing. Everyone is doing well and really seeing great changes in their lives thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has the power to change anyone and help EVERYONE!

Easter Sunday was so nice. I love Sunday's. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't go to Church every week, it is such a huge blessing to be spiritually refilled, refreshed, and re-energized! Easter is a special time of year, the talks we heard on Christ and the atonement and the resurrection were incredible. I am so thankful!! After church we ate delicious Peruvian food at this families house:) Mmm.

Monday (Pasquetta, still a holiday) the ward had a big activity in the park. It was super fun. We had almost all our investigators come, it was amazing, they just fit right in with the ward, everyone was chatting eating having a grand time. Haha I will try to describe this activity, it is just soo classic Italian\South American life. Everyone just brings SOO MUCH FOOD. ALL kinds of Pastas, salads, rices, MEATSS soo much meat so many different kindsss, all kinds of desserts...they bring their blankets, lay them all out with pillows and stuff, set up their grills, and just eat all day. Meat after meat, they just throw it on the grill, and eat and eat. Everyone is just talking and laughing, laying down and relaxing, tons are right by playing a never ending game of soccer, you just go play when you want, then come back and eat when you want. If you are tired, you just lay back in the sun and take a short nap. Wake up, and eat more! The ward members and their friends got there around 10:30 and didn't get home until 7 or 8 in the night. That is just how they FIESTA here! Nothing else matters, when you are with friends and family, you take your dear sweet time. It is beautiful I loveee it. MMmm the food was so good, and the peruvians made this way yummy treat I don't remember what it is called..like piccantos or something?? Fried dough with honey ha. They just made it, right there in the park haha. I got to play soccer!! I was wearing my skirt, and borrowd some converse shoes from one of the young woman and jumped in the game!! aaahh I loved it. So fun. I already stand out, being white, american, wearing a skirt, and a name tag...so I am used to looking ridiculous, which I am sure I did playing soccer in a skirt. ohhh weelll hahah it was a blast. But...we had work to do, so my companion left and went on our way for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Good times:)

Yesterday we has some amazing spiritual lessons with our investigators. Ahhh this is the LIFE.

I have been really pondering my patriarchial blessing yesterday and today. I encourage everyone to get theirs out and do some studying between the lines. It is soo important for us to strive to live our lives...every minute of everyday...in a manner in which the Spirit can talk to us. So it can direct us. Our potential is infinate. God's plan for each of us is glorious and eternal. He has such great promised blessings in store for us..just waiting for us and our families to obtain them. We need to be in tune with the spirit to do so though.

WHELP! That is all for this week.

I love you all so very much.

Love

Sorella Seemie-keens

PS

I can only email family as you all may know. But I can get emails from everyone! So please email me and tell me how you are because I haven't heard from several of you! (Malorie, Kara, Melissa F and M, Kenz, Jen...and many more...I just want to know if you are alive ok!!!!)

Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 3:23 AM

Subject: Ciao America BUON GIORNO FRATELLI SORELLE!

How is everyone doing? Anything exciting happening over there?

Things are amazing here. Last Saturday was Patrizia's baptism and it was amazing. It was such a beautiful service. The ward has been so amazing and supporting, they had already assigned her visiting teachers who were able to talk at her baptism. They gave such beautiful spiritual talks. Patrizia was just GLOWING. She bore her testimony after and had the whole room in tears!! It was so powerful. She is so faithful and strong. She is incredible, I am so thankful I have had the chance to be here for her on of her spiritual journey! Such a huge blessing. We had an Italian family that we just started teaching that came to the baptism as well. OOOOhh I love them so much. The daughter, who is 14, just came up to me after and is like I have some questions! She is like I notice you baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. That means they are three different people right? I have ALWAYS believed them to be three different people, I know that is true! Then she is like..what does it mean that she will get the gift of the Holy Ghost? AHH! She just kept asking all these amazing questions that I was able to explain to her and she really just lit up. I just makes sense. We were ALL taught the Gospel and Plan of Salvation and EVERYTHING before we came to earth. We just forget! So as a missionary, it is just my pleasure to REMIND God's children of the truth! We are teaching some incredible people right now that is for SURE! We have Valeria getting baptized in a few days as well, she is awesome as well and just ready to start new in life. It is SO AMAZING that these people have the opportunity to be Baptized and confermed and be completely cleansed from all the guilt, sins, and burdons...and then keep being cleaned week after week by talking the sacrament. What a GREAT blessing from our Heavenly Father!!! I LOVE to see the change in these peoples life as they discover the blessings and happiness and LOVE from our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I am blessed and honored to be able to witness these miracles happen! Ahhhh. Anyways moving right along...Monday was crazy. Like...NOTHING went as planned. Nothing. Most our lessons canceled, then the other half we missed because of Metro and Tram problems! It was a CASINO which means a MESS. We got home and were just laughing though! We did all we could, and even though the day went soo off, we just were happy. We were able to talk to a lot of new random people, and share some Books of Mormons...so who knows. I guess our day needed to be that weird. Then...Tuesday was a miracle! It always happens like this. You have an "off" day or "off" week..where it seems like none of your plans come to past...then the next day/week is just full of miracles. Like yesterday. We went tracting early in the morning and found a great lady that let us come in and talk to her. We then went to the park. We met Reyna and were able to teach her and pray with her and set up more times to teach her! Hah she is so awesome, she is from Peru or El Salvador I don't remember. Then...the most amazing thing happened. We just contined on through the park..and noticed a young lady sitting on a bench. We go over and start talking to her. She is friendly, from Paris, on vacation with her little girls traveling around Italy. We just start talking to her about faith and about our purpose in life.We were just talking...then I think my companion or I just asked a simple question about her kids and what kind of life she wishes for them to have...and she just put her hands over her face and just starts bawling. Oh my it was so sad..you could just see the pain...sufferening that this lady is going through. My companion and I of course have no idea what she has been through and is facing. She looks back up at us and we just bear our testimonies. Tell her that God loves her so much and is looking out for her. He is watching her and cares for her and has so many blessings in store for her and her Family. I love that lady. She is truly my sister. The spirit was just surrounding us. I said a prayer for her and she just cried. I gave her a huge hug after and just told her I loved her. Before we left we asked...is there anything we can do for you? And she just looked up at us and said...avete gia fatto. You already have. I will never forget those words. Heavenly Father lead us to that lady yesterday. I will never ever forget that experience. I just pray that I can keep in tune with the spirit to keep being lead. That is what missionary work is all about. After the park we were able to teach Karina another amazing young women from Bolivia! Our last lesson with her was a little scattered....She had a billion questions all over the bored and my Italian was failing. So I was just PRAYING for the spirit and a good lesson that could help her. We taught the plan of salvation. We read a bunch of scriptures. Oh man it was great....just beautiful. She was able to understand. She is going to get baptized May 7th!!! Ahhh. :) After that fantastic lesson...Patrizia (who is Napolitana by the way, who claim to have the best food in Italy) has us over for dinner. Oohh my word. Italy, how do you DO THIS TO ME???? It was out of this world. I have not been that full for a LONG TIME. She made the BEST lasagna...mamma mia. Then she had these like..fried eggplant with mozzorella...and these amazing mashed potatoes. It is all about the amazing Italian cheese. In fact, Patrizia is like.."How is it so...that you have so many cows in America...yet your cheese is so disgusting????" Hahahah. Amen sister. I have no idea why. Oh man and the salads here!! So good. It was all kinds of greens, corn, tuna, fresh mozzorella, olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. MMMMMMM. SO GOOD. Then for dessert she brought out these chocolate cones with chocolate pudding in them and sliced strawberries with two kinds of gelato on the side and some kind of little cake that is a Naples specialty. I really thought I was going to explode after. I slept REALLLLL good last night, that is for sure.

Well! That is the week for you. Happyyy to be here in bellissima Italia.

I love you all SOO much! Be good, serve one another! Share your blessings and knowledge always!!

Love

Sorella Laurel Skye Simkins