Sorella Forbes, Italy Milan Mission: August 29, 2012 Un Nuovo Trasferimento! A New Transfer!

Hi family! This week has been crazy. I usually write down everything I want to talk about, but didn't this week. So we'll be pulling this from the top of the head. Hope I can remember everything...

I have a bimba! (infant, in missionary lingo!) She's so great! Her name is Sorella Mancuso from Rochester, New York. She is so great! She is such a hard worker and came here ready to bring souls unto Christ! We've already seen a lot of success and miracles together and I am SO excited for these two transfers we'll have together. Sorella Willey! She taught you in the MTC and loved you. And I just said "AH! I love Sorella Willey so much!" over and over again and we just talked about how great you are. Miss you!!! Anyway, She's so great! She has italian ancestors so a lot of people think she's italian. It's great.

Training is a different experience. I am teaching every minute of every day. But I love it. I feel like this experience is really helping me/will really help me understand and realize how much I've grown on the mission and how much it's changed me already. I LOVE our companionship study sessions. I feel like they are so edifying and refreshing and we teach each other. I love it so much. It's also different teaching, because she doesn't speak a whole lot of italian (although it is better than most that come out of the MTC) but she has a testimony that is so strong and if that's all she gets out in a lesson it's enough. People have really been touched by her simple yet super powerful testimony.

Our investigators! Sorina has digressed. She hasn't read or prayed in quite a few days. And she didn't come to church. And it's because of a different culture thing that I'm trying to understand. But it's frustrating. Benedetta is on vacation so we haven't seen her. But we have some other really awesome potentials! We found Mario in the park on Saturday. He said he was a "little bit" atheist. So we talked, and he wants to know if God exists con certezza! So we are seeing him tonight and we are so excited. We both have a really good feeling about him, but unfortunately he isn't in our area so we'll have to pass him off. Then last night on the bus we met Pamela, a young girl from Santo Domingo. She had been to church there about 10 years ago but was never baptized, but remembered that she liked the church and felt a good spirit there. We're seeing her tonight too! And then a few weeks ago we met a young girl named Skaidre and weren't able to meet with her, then last week Sorella Bishop and I ran into her on a bus, and this weekend I called her and set up an appointment for Monday. She came and accepted a baptism invite! But everything is super new for her and she kind of got a little worried when we knelt down to pray at the end of the lesson. She comes from a non-believing background, so it will take some time for her. But we have a good feeling about her too.

That's one thing about this 12 week training program we're doing... The trainee takes the lead in inviting investigators to be baptized in the first week. Sorella Mancuso has invited 3 people to baptism already. They've all accepted. She is so awesome!!!

Yesterday was the Sorella Conference. OH how I love my Sorelle. We have 24 sorelle in the mission right now. They are all SO fantastic. I love all the sorelle so much!!! It's amazing how close you come to people in the mission. Even though I hardly see all the Sorelle in the mission and just met some of them yesterday, I already feel like we've known each other forever and we will be friends forever.
Let me just tell you how great this conference was:

1)24 of the best sorelle missionarie nel mondo tutti insieme.

2)Sorella Soh played her rendition of the mission hymn on the ukelele.

3)We had a training on how to more effectively use the Book of Mormon in finding and we tried it last night and already know it's going to increase our progressing investigator number.

4)President and Sorella Wolfgramm. Nuff said.

5)Sorella Wolfgramm played clips from CALAMITY JANE! One of my favorite movies of all time. And then related it to missionary work and missionaries.... BEST THING EVER!

6)We listened to part of a talk by Elder Holland about how missionary work "isn't easy because salvation isn't easy." And I cried. And it was amazing. I always learn SO much more about the Atonement from these conferences.

7)We closed with a testimony meeting. With just us sorelle.

I could go on forever about that conference. It was incredible. But alas, my time is running short.

I love you so much family and I hope you are all well. Miss you so much and thanks for the emails and prayers and love and support. I wish I had more time to reply to you all, but know that I pray for you every day! Love you so much!!!

Sorella Forbes