April 17, 2013 - It's not about being perfect, it's about becoming perfect!

Mamma mia, did I have an amazing day on Monday.

The subject of this email comes from Stephen B. Allen, managing director of the missionary department of the church. He is incredible. I met him on Monday. Along with Brother Lusvardi who is in charge of all of the visiting centers, historical sites, etc. of the church. They taught us so many great and wonderful things!

Well, first off, this was kind of a weird training. I got a call last Wednesday from the assistants saying I had been invited to a special trianing in Milan on Monday, but I was going with Sorella Gomez and we would leave our trainees in Genova to do a scambio. Weird! We had no idea what was going on. At the beginning of the training President asked "raise your hand if you have no idea why you're here." It was a real random group. All the zone leaders were there, but then after them it was just a random mix and mingle of sisters and elders. About half of us raised our hands. President just said "Well, me neither. I don't know why you're here, but it was by revelation you have been called here today." Uh... okay.

Things are changing in the mission field all over the world. The first, that I am SO excited to announce: TRAVELING SISTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember how last summer Sorella Soh and I talked about it all the time and President said there weren't enough sisters? Well, now they will be implementing it. I'm not sure when. Half of me hopes it's next transfer so I get to do that... ha. But they will actually be called sister training leaders and their primary responsibility will be to do scambi (exchanges) with all the Sorelle to train. Cool, no?

So this training was incredible. I couldn't possibly cover all of it in this email. I took about 7 FULL pages of notes and inspired thoughts that came to mind. Mamma. Things are changing. They talked about repentance, about pre setting in lessons, about teaching to pray, about changing our views from "baptism" to "temple," about accepting the new mission president in July, and so much more. Sorella Gomez and I talked about it the whole 2 hour train ride back to Genova. And I've talked alot about it with Sorella Lopez. We're putting into practice a lot of the things they taught us.

One of my favorites was when Elder Allen was talking to the sisters "Sisters. You stress too much. You have to remember it's not about being perfect, it's about becoming perfect. Have fun. Don't get too serious. Calm down, and relax.....Elders, you need to stress a lot more!" ha. It was funny. I feel that was something I really needed to hear. We are not asked to be perfect in this life, but we are asked to work on it so one day we can become perfect. Don't forget it.

Also, it was funny because Sorella Gomez and I were so worried about leaving our two "babies" in Genova by themselves, all day we kept looking at the phone "nope, they haven't called. They're not lost." Then after when we left Sorella Gomez asked me "can we call the babies?" haha! It was fun. They did so well! These missionaries coming out... I tell ya, they are incredible. Look out world.

Deved and Enrico are set to be baptized on Saturday! We're really excited. They are so ready and elect. Deved is SO sensitive to the spirit, it's almost kind of weird. But it's awesome. He is of the house of Israel, after all, no? 

Things are going well. I LOVE my companion. She is incredible and we have so much fun. I am so grateful. We laugh a lot. A whole lot. Ci vuole. She is changing lives here in Savona and has an amazing mission ahead of her. 

Well, vi voglio un sacco di bene. I hope you are well. Have a good week!

Sorella Forbes

You can see the cruise ship at the end of the road...the Savona port.

The 'babies' that were left behind in Genova!

April 10, 2013 Non avete nessun idea.... "You have no idea"

Dear family,

You have NO idea what I just went through this week.

But before I tell you about that, let's talk about CONFERENCE!

The spiritual FEAST of conference!

I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! I get so excited in the month leading up to it.

HOW LUCKY ARE WE TO GET TO LISTEN TO GOD'S CHOSEN SERVANTS HERE ON THE EARTH SPEAK TO THE ENTIRE WORLD?!?!

I'd say we are pretty dang lucky. Especially in this crazy world. We need prophets. And boy, did they set us straight this weekend.

I have yet to hear Elder Holland's talk, but apparently it was really great? I haven't seen the Sunday afternoon session yet! Not sure when I will. But it seems there is a lot of buzz about that one.

Let's talk about Elder Nelson and missionary work. Or President Uchtdorf and "walking in the light." So much to say about President Monson and his incredible memory and hilarious sense of humor. OBEDIENCE! That was incredible.

REally, I don't know what to say. There is so much to say about it. But here's the overlying sentiment that I had about conference:

HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME! How many questions did I have answered? How many moments did I have where something that was said went right to my heart because it was something I needed or an answer I was searching for for an investigator? I know that God has called men on the earth as prophets to guide and direct us toward our salvation. If we listen to them, ponder on what they say, put it into practice... we will never feel lost in this constantly changing world. They are the anchor that we need to live happier lives full of peace and happiness that LASTS through any trial. I love our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and know that he is called of God. I feel it in my heart every time he speaks. 

WE ARE SO BLESSED! 

Okay, now a little bit about this last week: the most difficult week of my mission. And I won't even tell you all the details because there is not the time nor the sanity. Ha.

Enrico disappeared. We saw him on Wednesday and taught him about Following the Prophet, prepped him for General Conference, and he was so excited. Friday we were in the church after having quite a difficult encounter with someone who seriously challenged our authority and capacity to do this work and were feeling quite giù (uh... down). Enrico doesn't show up to his appointment. We go outside and wait for him there for a bit. Still doesn't come. We race our bikes to his apartment. And leave a pass along card with a note for him reminding about his baptismal interview the next day. Saturday morning we go back to see if we see him (remember, he doesn't have a phone) and no one had been home all night! So we're feeling a little worried. He NEVER misses appointments and he is ALWAYS home when we pass by, waiting for us reading his Book of Mormon. He didn't come to his baptismal interview or conference after. We pass by Sunday and still no one had been home. We call our ward mission leader and he says to pass by some people in the morning and see if any one has heard from him, and then to let him know and he would start calling hospitals and the police. Monday we pass by and it looks like someone had passed by his house, so that eased our worries just a bit, but he still wasn't home and he didn't come to the church that afternoon. AH!!! At this point we don't know what to do. Yesterday we were out of Savona trying to cnotact some referrals who weren't home and then just felt to hop on the first bus back. We get off the stop closest to the church and we hear "Sorella Lopez!" I almost fell over out of relief. It was Enrico! He hurries up to us and I wanted to hug him so bad I was so relieved! (I didn't.) He said he had been in the hospital for 3 days because he was having a hard time breathing. He had been waiting and passing by the church since Monday morning trying to find us, then felt he needed to walk down this street. He's usually on the other side but felt he should cross over "per causo" (it was NOT by chance) and he ran into us. We said "That was the spirit!" And we laughed and talked and all is well now. Mamma mia... investigators become like your children. I was missing a child for 5 days. Never lose your children. It is not a happy feeling.

We are postponing the baptisms until the 20th for this and for other crazy reasons. BUT all is well. We are happy. Laughing. Joking. And getting out of Savona and going to Genova today for P-day. Getting out of dodge for the day. Che stress. I was tempted a few times to call President: "President, get me out of here! Take me out of Savona! It's too hard!" Ha. Seriously. But meno male we have our wonderful Savior who has been holding us up this last week. I would not have survived without that. I know He's here with us every step of the way. He loves us. It reminds me of this film we watched at a conference where Elder Holland said "When you get rejected, when you struggle, remember that you are standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest life that ever lived." (or something like that.) I know that is true. Because I've felt it. And it has changed me.

I still love my mission. Although it's difficult. I am growing. I have a GEM of a companion who is absolutely incredible. She is so good for me right now. We laugh a lot and I need it. She is so strong! I keep telling her, "Sorella, your entire mission will not be this hard." And she just laughs "I sure hope not..." But she brought it upon herself because she prayed for a hard mission. ha! So if it IS this hard the whole time, she will make it. She is strong and KNOWS the Atonement. I love her.

I don't really have any pictures to send. I took one today during companionship study. This is my companion. Being studious. And writing down a funny quote from last night. 

ME: I love our city, but if you could kill a city...

SLLA LOPEZ: Yeah, we need to order some dinosaurs up in here.

ME: puzzled expression

SLLA LOPEZ: you know, because dinosaurs would rampage and stuff... anyway...

Ha! We laughed long and hard at that one. It made no sense. And still doesn't! But it was funny. We were tired.

I LOVE MY LIFE! I hope you are well family. It's always good to hear from you and your good things throughout the week.

Have a good one! Buona settimana!

Sorella Forbes

Sorella Lopez

April 3, 2013 Del Casato D'Istraele

We are teaching an Israelite. Proprio del casato d'Israele. All the members comments about him have to do with "Wow... I'd love to hear his patriarchal blessing."

His name is Deved. His dad is from Israel, mom from Greece. He grew up in Egypt, but is Christian. He speaks Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, and Italian. And some english. Non tanto. 

He's getting baptized next Sunday. He is a miracle. And probably the most elect person I've ever met. Let me tell you how this came to be.

Deved is a member referral. (GIVE THE MISSIONARIES REFERRALS!) His member friend got an arabic Book of Mormon from us two weeks ago and gave it to him, then invited him to church, and he really likes to talk about God, so he figured "why not?" He came to church last week. We set up an appointment with him for Thursday. I called him Wednesday to confirm. These are his words (translated...) "Thank you! Thank you so much! I've been reading the Book of Mormon and I feel really good! I'm excited to see you tomorrow. Thanks so much for calling!" 

We meet with him Thursday and teach him the Restoration. He eats it up! We had to clarify the word "prophet" for him because in the jewish religion I guess it is used with a negative connotation... we clarified. He ate it all up. I was talking about Christ's earthly ministry, and he went off on all his knowledge of Christ. He knows a LOT. Then I was about to jump in and bear testimony but he just looked at me and said "Sorella, this is me. This is a part of me. I've walked those streets. This is more a part of me probably than it is for you." haha Uh... wow. It was really cool. He is an israelite! 

Anyway, he LOVED the story of Joseph Smith. He loves the church. We invited him to baptism. Yes. We give him a date for April 27th. The response? "Sorelle, can't I do it sooner? I feel good. I feel so good here in church, when I read, when I listen to you two teach...I feel good. I want to be baptized." So we said we'd talk about it the next time.

Next lesson we give him the 20th and teach him the Plan of Salvation. He was transfixed with my hideous drawings on the whiteboard but just couldn't stop saying how he knew it was true. He felt good. ("That's the spirit, Deved!") We briefly explained some of the commandments he had to be living before baptism and he committed. He was so excited to get an earlier date. Sunday he came to church and waved to me from the back row with his member friend as I stood up to bear my testimony.

Monday, we teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At this point he's read to almost 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. We teach him the Gospel and he says a beautiful prayer at the end that he's so grateful for the Book of Mormon and for his baptism that will be sooner than we initially decided and that he feels so good and happy in church. We take him back to show him the baptismal font and explain how the baptism will go. It goes silent and he looks at me and says "Are you sure there's nothing sooner than the 20th?" Ah! So he leaves and we start thinking about what we can do. The members will be at the temple all next week until Saturday the 13th...we'd have to get the Anziani here this weekend to do interviews...has he been to church enough? Does he really have a testimony? So we knelt down to pray. I felt an overwhelming spirit say "He is ready." 

So we call the branch president and set up for next Sunday the 14th after church. We met with Deved yesterday morning to clarify more commandments and see where his testimony is and again felt the confirmation he is ready. So, we presented the 14th to him and his face was SO happy. I wish I had it on film. It was like telling a kid he was going to Disneyland, only this was telling someone their entrance to the path to eternal life would come 6 days sooner. I felt so much joy with him. He's so excited! We're so excited!

And do you know who else is so excited? Enrico! Enrico is going to be baptized on the 14th with Deved. We planned the 20th to give him enough time to quit smoking, but he already quit a long time ago. So we prayed about him too and we feel he is ready as well. He was so happy when we told him. He is so wonderful! They will both be interviewed this weekend and we will go from there.

We are so happy here in Savona! The Lord is blessing us and we have never been so busy in this little city! I love it! 

So many good things are happening and I wish I could tell you all, but we are happy and joyful and just loving our lives here on the sea.

Sorella Lopez is still super awesome. Adjusting is rough, but she is so tough. She is doing really well. I told her I was surprised that she didn't cry her first week and she was surprised to learn I was surprised (doesn't EVERYONE cry their first week?). We laugh a lot and it's really good. Even when it is raining and we are on our bikes... we laugh! What else is there to do? WE ARE HAPPY PEOPLE!

I love my life. I love being a missionary. I love the Lord. This is His work. How grateful I am to be a part of it. 

Buona settimana!

Sorella Forbes

Sorella Forbes and Sorella Lopez during their first week of being companions.

The beautiful City by the Sea, Savona, Italy.

Joselyn, our member friend whom I love so dearly.

A cannon on the fort. ha.