Heather Hastings	Apr 15 (2 days ago)

So here's the thing: it has been a busy week but this keyboard is driving me nuts, it doesn't type easy. If I withhold informatino I blame the keyboard. Also I've been chatting, so there is not much time left.

Anywho, we are counting down the days until we have the Bednar conference! 12 days.

Last week we had zone training In Bergamo, another all day trip. We are just preparing spiritually and physically as missionaries to be at our best for when he comes. We won't get iPads I believe until after he leaves. That night we did a scambio, (companion exchange) and that was fun! Went well.

Ok, I will just get straight to the good details. We were waiting around On Friday night getting ready for bed, talking about our predictions for transfer calls. Usually president Dibb will call trainers and sister training leaders and zone leaders first thing Saturday morning, but because he was coming to our stake conference saturday/sunday, he called ME FRIDAY NIGHT! When we saw "President" on the phone, my heart jumped and sorella pavich screamed. It was pretty funny. Sorella Hastings, how is your health? Then we talked for a bit. Well, I need to make sure you can work full time because I have work for you to do, I want you to train a brand new missionary! 

Oh, mamma mia! Ok.

Ok.

Ok.

So he gave me the details. No, I don’t' know who she is! Tonight we sleepover with the sister training leader in Pavia, then tomorrow I go to Milano and we have a little training, then meet each other and yeh! So, I’m going to be a mom! I am in my 7th transfer but I am pretty excited! I could be more anxious, but I do feel pretty good about it. It's what I need and what God needs right now, so there we go. The house is all cleaned and ready for her to come. I am excited and I guess ready enough. I just will do that which my trainer did for me, with some of my own wisdom.

Sunday we had stake conference. We went as a ward in a big bus to Verona! Elder Kleen and my mission president where there, and it was a really good experience. Our investigator Anna came, and she brought her friend Christina too. Anna is preparing to stop smoking and is just so happy! She loves the book of Mormon and is reading right along. She calls us her angels who brought her Jesus. She is sweet, this lady. 9th may. We're gonna make it.

Also Sunday, oh boy. Weston, seriously, how do you  handle these Africans? Guess I haven't got the touch yet. We go to teach Anna a lady we met on the street and she told us she would have a friend for us too. We show up and she lives in an open multi-family open style home. I don't know how to describe it. A lot of Africans and foreigners get those in share them, cheaper. So there was her, and THREE other Africans. But they weren’t just her friends, they were members from her church! They kind of set us up. Ready to hear us out, we teach then the Restauration. It started out great! Christ is the center of our church, god loves us. Then... we got to prophets. We got stuck. They confused themselves and we probably did a bad job explaining. I left feeling very frustrated and so on. We have been doing some good studies and are going to go back with a member from Ghana to re-teach the resto. Me with my brand new sorella...

 Today this morning we went to pass by the Catholic Church next to our grocery store. As we enter, the grounds keeper church keeper man takes us in, we chat about our name tags, then he gives us a personal little tour explaining everything. SO cool. We even discussed our different views on baptism at the baptismal font and he said he'll come to our church sometime. It was pretty cool, and pretty. Cheisa di San Pietro and San Prospero.

Then, Sorella Pavich and i got our last Pizza from Mister Pizza together, and inside a dad says to his boys, "hey you two come talk to these girls, introduce yourselves, they're American."  So they did, and they start flirting with us. Cute, if I can say. But remaining professional (you have NO idea how many times a day we get boys/men hitting on us here in Reggio!) we told them about English class and invited them to meet with the anziani. Ok, so there's hope. Mario and Marco. We'll see.

Fun times dear family. In the past, now and to come. I am happy, spring is here and I am well, no worries. Yu can expect a detailed letter next week about week one with la verdina!

Vi voglio bene! Grazie per il vostro sostengo e tutto ciò che fate per me. Davvero vi voglio bene. Buona giornata, buona settimana!

Sorella Hastings =)

Love and Be Loved

La pasqua in italia

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Heather Hastings	8:54 AM (5 hours ago)
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​Good morning! I don't have too much to share today, I don't think. Our work here is starting to pick up and we are running into all sorts of people to talk to. For example, last Thursday we got on an early train to Parma to take a bus out to Noceto. On that bus (a 40 min ride) we passed a huge castle with a huge garden around it! If I am here another transfer i might try to go visit it. But anyways, on that train we sat down next to a lady and begin to talk with her. Her name is Pamella, and she was heading to the funeral of her daughter. She is from Nigeria, and is here by herself. Three years ago she had baby, and the baby died young. She just had this baby in February (premie) but she did not hold out. We talk with her, talking about the Plan of Salvation and the peace we get from it. the Love of God per her. She said she feels like God doesn't love her anymore... but we prayed with her, she showed us fotos and she was happy to talk with us. She does not live in our area so we had to pass her, but meeting miracle people like her are a testimony of why we always need to share the gospel because we never know who we will meet and what they need.​

Easter! Saturday we got to watch some conference and the women's session. We sat at the computer in the church with the Anziani and ate popcorn. I loved it. I loved all of the talks about the family.

Sunday, we had a fabulous Easter meal with the bishop who invited us over and their family. Lasagna (my favorite!) and chicken, veggies, bread, good stuff. They have the giant chocolate Easter eggs with a surprise inside that we cracked for dessert. I like the Columba better, a holiday cake. Yum.

Here were some of my favorite talks from conference: 

Quenton L cook. about the Sunflower

Brent H Nielson who talked about Luke 15 at the beginning

Wilford W Anderson who talked about the need to hear the music and be able to dance to it

Dale G Relund who talked about A saint is a sinner...

Bednar, who said to fear God completely is to love God more prefectly.

Henry B Eyring both times, the law of the fast and finding rest and peace through our savior.

These prophets are so sweet. I love conference! I downloaded all the talks so now i can go back and listen to the Sunday afternoon session which i didn't get to hear. if you didn't listen to conference, take the time to listen to some talks every once in a while.

It's worth it.

Our bap date Anna is progressing well! She is sharing the gospel with all of her friends at work and  that's super cool. We have stake conference this week, and we are going in a bus with the ward to Verona and Elder Teixera will be there, and he wants to meet us and our investigators. Cool stuff! 

Bednar countdown: 3 weeks!

Also, I bought the book on discount today Romeo e Guiletta. I was pretty excited.

So, that's about it. here are some photos, and my companion using time effectively while walking clipping her nails, and some Duomo fotos from Parma today. 

ALSO! Last night we had a sleepover! To change things up. We moved our mattresses into the living room, slept on the floor and chatted as we fell asleep. it reminded me of my sisters. And we ordered a stuffed crust "american" style pizza last night. It was good. Good times. 

I Love you all!

Give me some lunch/breakfast ideas. No one told me what you eat.

Fail.

But I still love you. :)

Look up Alma 4:13-14, thinking our baptismal covenants being for Christ's sake. I read that today, and it was cool.

The church is true, life is good, and next week I will tell you transfer news!

Sorella Hastings =)

Love and Be Loved

18/3/2015

Heather Hastings	Mar 18 (6 days ago)

Buon giorno a tuttiiiii!

I don't think I have much to say today, as it was a slower week. In weekly planning we lost like half of our investigators... so that's a bummer. This week, on Friday, Chiara is getting baptized! The 20th. I think I mentioned that before... well, she is not getting baptized in our city, and because it as about a 6 hour train we don't get to see it. But she will receive the confirmation in our ward on the 29th, so we will get to be a part of that.

Yesterday was a slow day, but we actually did a lot. We have a list of less-active members the ward wants us to find so we decided to do that. We head out to Parma, and on the train I got to talk to this girl: Betsy from Ghana. She has lived here with her family three years, is 23 and yesterday was her last day of work becuase she is pregnant. We got her info and are going to go visit her. She was nice. Then, we got on a bus to head out to Sorbolo (the bus was packed!) After a few stops these two old guys get on, turns out we met then two weeks ago. Mama mia. Old people. With us. On a bus full a high schoolers heading home... yeah, it was a causino in italiano. You know how italianis baci (kiss) each other on the cheek as a greeting? we seem to be getting that a lot lately from men... we need to work on our dodging skills I guess. We journeyed all the way out there and we visited with Anna, then did another pass by. We said hi to man on the street and he stopped us, saying thanks for saying hi. He is Muslim from Singal but volunteers to clean up the streets, and is kind of lonely. I love when we make peoples days :)

So Thursday... we had zone training in Bergamo. Basically, we woke up at 5:30. Took the 6:42train. Had training. Took the train home. Our connecting train was late, we ate lunch. We got to Milano and our next train had already left. We hung out at the station for three hours, we had to cancel english class, and we got home about 8pm. Adventures I'll tell ya.

But guess what?

You ready?

The moment we've all been waiting for...

the big news...

When Elder Bednar comes on April 27th to our mission, all of the missionaries will meet together in Milano for a six hour confernce, and he is bringing our mission IPAD Mini's!!!

We are all only kind of really super duper excited!!! But that is all they told us, we don't know anymore. So we prepare and we to sit at the feet of an apostle. Oh yeah :)

I Love you all! Have a fantasticly awesome week and know that I am well!

 :)

Sorella Hastings =)

Love and Be Loved

1/3/15 The Good Life

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Heather Hastings	Mar 11 (2 days ago)

It was bright in the room and the sun was shining when I opened my eyes this morning. I sit up, and my nose starts bleeding. These things happen when you're at the end of being sick, after blowing your nose a million times. It stops bleeding, we clean the house, do our studies. We did some stretching with our recitations this morning, and that was fun. We made a grocery list, got dressed and here we are at the internet point. That's my day so far. It's sunny! It's happy! There are people outside everywhere and that is the best part! Everyone is just happy :) sun is a miracle.

Any who, you probably don't really care about my morning process. This week we did it- we taught 17 lessons! Our average has been about 11 lessons, but that is not satisfactory. But we did it! And we sure had a busy week. I love it. So the big deal was church. On Thursday morning we were making little gifts for our bap date Chiara, when she told us to call her. Her work had called in her for Sunday and she didn't know what to do because she knew she had to come to church to get baptized, but if she didn't work she would lose the job. Well we told her to make the choice and that we can't choose or force her anything. She got upset with us and wouldn't answer our calls... we finally saw her on Saturday.

But first, last Wednesday night we tried to set the most awkward bap date ever. We were teaching Laury the restoration but it turns out she didn't understand some of what we said. And she had already been baptized Catholic and didn't understand the whole redoing it thing. Well, jump ahead to Saturday. In celebration of la festa della donna (women's day) we all went out to lunch as a relief society, with their husbands, at a buffet on Saturday. We had planned to meet Laury at the church before to teach a lesson, and she got lost on the bus so we rode with a member who ended up picking her up. We got to the restaurant, and it was wonderful! An Italian buffet... oh man. So delicious. Pasta, pasta, pasta. Meat, meat meat. Side dishes and all sorts of goodness. Fruits and veggies. Fish. Salads. Desserts. The only they didn't have: gelato, oddly enough. But anyways, we ate really REALLY well, with our investigator who bonded and made friends with all the rest of the sisters. It was perfect. Afterwards we went home with her because she lives nearby, and we tried to talk about baptism again. We explained in a way that made complete sense, and she said it would be nice to be baptized, but she still doesn't see why it would be necessary to change religions. She loves us and the church but doesn't want to change. So that's where we're at with her. After that, it was about 5pm. We were full and stuffed of food, and we went to the GANS (YSA) activity, hoping we would see Chiara, that she had decided not to work and come to church instead. We get there, chat with the kids. We heard her name, and as it turns out... she was coming! So we hung out a bit longer to see her, and she showed up, still upset and wouldn't talk to us. The GANS ordered Pizzas so we took them to go and went to have a lesson with Mercy, which that also went really well.

Sunday, Chiara was in church! Laury didn't come and neither did another investigator we expected, but it was busy enough. We taught Sunday school to the GANS. And then, in sacrament meeting we both gave talks. Phew. Mine was on obedience, and Sorella Pavich was on the mission. Let me just say, the gift of tongues is real. It is such a humbling experience to get up there and be able to speak fluent Italian as needed, but it wouldn't be possible without the help of God. It's so cool! Finally, a member named Francesca from Montearchi was visiting our ward! I got to talk with her, and she told me about Gabriella. Gabriella spent some time in the hospital, and for her health she has stopped smoking completely, but is being monitored. So she did not get baptized but still wants to, and is still working towards it. So there is hope :)

Phew. After all that was over with, and Chiara passed her bap interview, we both felt super relieved. We went home to have lunch, did some studies and caught up on our Area book. We visited a less active member that night, finally, who have not come to church for a while because of something that happened, but they miss the temple and we were able to sit down and openly talk about the atonement, about repentance and how-what they can do to change and put the atonement to use as a family. It went really well. 

So that is the big news. Other things to tell? We helped get about 13 cases of six-pack 2-liter water bottles for Mercy this past week. There is a picture of her and baby Wisdom included. They were super discounted so she wanted to stock up. We started from the beginning with her, and read the intro of the Book of Mormon. It went well and she had not read it before. She had a hard time reading on her own, but we are going to just start reading form the beginning with her for a while, then really get her to read on her own. She wants to be baptized but there are just some things holding her back. We gotta work through this.

Last week we met with the relief society president, Sorella Bonini. She is sweet. We sit down and start talking about all of the members and less actives, then we shared a lesson about true conversion-which is talked about in her Patriarchal blessing. So that was really cool. Then, she had made us a whole cake! She's so sweet. I love that these Italianis take care of us. Also, I have been sick. Low fever, sore throat, cough. Friday morning I barely had my voice! But all is well. Yesterday, we had an appointment cancel so we went home to make some calls and do some paperwork. Sorella pretty much made me take a nap, so I did, and she did everything else. I am grateful for her, because I needed it. And I even slept really well last night. I feel great now. But guess what? We get to wake up at like 5am tomorrow to take a three hour train for a 1.5 hour zone training in Bergamo! Then another three hour train home. Fun times. Mercy gave me Medicine to take, too. Africans are so funny. They are afraid of cold. They don't like it for anything, and they bundle up just to go downstairs. I love these people.

I wanted to tell you about another investigator. He called us two weeks ago to drop us, saying that bad trees can't bring forth good fruit. We weren't sure what that meant, but we were persistent anyways. We caught him at just the right moment, and he let us come in. we talked with him and his wife for a bit. She can work here, but he cannot. He doesn't have documents. He went to jail before for selling drugs, but then he "found Jesus" and repented of it. because of that, he has to beg every day. That is job, begging for money for his family. And he took is Nigerian, but he goes to the Catholic church only because they help him out. He has the faith, but I don't think he quite believes all of their beliefs. But he has to go because people buy him food. He hates it, and wants a real job. He feels guilt and shame and says he can't come to our church until he has a job. So, I will just say that we all need to be grateful. It is a really tough life for foreigners to live in Italy, and I don't understand why they come here but we are so very blessed to have all that we have. Just remember that.

Well folks, vi voglio un mondo di bene! The sun is shining, the gospel is true. The spirit guides our lives but we have to first invite him by prayer and reading the scriptures, obeying the commandments, having faith. It will all work out. God loves YOU- don't forget it! 

And, this coming Sunday... we have a fufu lunch appointment! I found out thought that they don't pound it here, they have to make it from a box. So next week I will let you know what I think of it.

Be happy, share God's love, have a god week all!

Sorella Hastings =)

Love and Be Loved

I

Heather Hastings	Mar 4 (3 days ago)

Good morning America!

Yesterday we were to visit our bap date Chiara and as we were walking from her house to the station... wait for it... we took off our coats. Gasp!

Yeah, because we got hot! I can't remember the last time my arms saw sunlight. It was a wonderful 15 minute walk in heaven. Now today it is rainy and cold again. What can ya do?

I made a goof and accidently told Mercy we would go buy her water today. So it took up a good chunk of our time to buy a tessera, get the water (there was a sale) and take it to her house. But, it was worth it I think. She needs our service. She still hasn't come to church but she is trying. Now her crazy boyfriend is back in town and we don't like him all too much... there are some bad vibes there. But, she loves us, and we are really just trying to get her reading the Book of Mormon on her own. So we saw here a few times this week.

Oh, you probably want to know transfer news. Well I sent a letter to mom and dad so ya'll can get the dirty details there. Pretty much, I am staying. I get to keep my comp for another transfer! But, they redid like half the zones! Apparently a bunch of people got space transferred for different reasons last transfer and at the last minute president said, let's just redo some things. I'm not entirely sure, but now we are a new zone and still not entirely sure who or what or where is part of our zone... 

Some news of the week:

Mabel and Thompson are getting married! We see them every Tuesday night. Last night Mabel wasn't there yet so we chatted withThompson and Prince, the kid, for a while. So they go to the Deep life church. They may here in Italy 8 years ago, and had a son. Back in Nigeria Thompson was telling us how he got baptized and had this super spiritual experience receiving the Holy Spirit... yeah... that's how our lesson about baptism went. Sigh. We are slowly working on getting them to read the Book of Mormon. In fact, they actually really liked it. 3 Nephi. It's working. Well on April 4th they will be having a traditional Nigerian wedding! So that is exciting. 

Thursday last week we called one of our ysa's to come to a lesson with us, and we ended up spending the whole day with her. We got Pizza, talked, showed her how we do finding. Her boy just left on a mission to Chicago and she is working on papers herself. Then we had a really awesome lesson with Maria Cristina, we called it "Partake Thereof". We read parts of 1 Nephi 8, 11 and talked about the spirit, prayer and partaking of the goodness of the Gospel to enjoy the fullness of life. It turned out really, really well. Real member present lessons rock!

The big event. Saturday morning we organized everything, and Friday even. It was stressful and we were worried but it worked out. We went to Chiara's house Saturday afternoon. Right off the bat we tell her, so we asked a family in the ward and they want you to come stay with them! So, we convinced her of it and she stayed at their house then came to church with us. A miracle! Because, there are no trains Sunday mornings to get her to church, only buses, and not very often. She usually goes to church with her boyfriend but that's only twice a month. We wanted her to meet people here and come to church here. So she made friends and is coming back again this Sunday. Then, on the 21st will be her baptism. Phew. We did it, and it turned out well. After church we ate African food! Finally we ate at a Ghanaians house. They fed us yams and spinach egg stew, which was delicious, and we totally ate it with our hands. So yummmy. So simple. So much! 

Well guys, time is short today. Our miracle Laury who we met last week is super interested in the Church, but she talks a lot... sometimes it's hard to get lessons in. She is really nice though and we love her. Last night we were teaching English, and I felt really dumb. I realized that I need to probably study better because I don't know any of the terms. Like past remote and present perfect. I know What they are, I just don't know which is called which, and apparently every other missionary does... my weak spot.

Our old lady friend Giovanna is leaving town for two weeks so we took some fotos. She is 73 we found out! Wow. An investigator since 2010, has had three different bap dates, but we just keep visiting her... you need patience with these people. 

I am doing really well! I made a delicious lemon, tomato rosemary chicken this week. I wish I had real lemons though. I am really tired. Just tired all the time. Yet I am still happy and still have energy. It's the spirit, I'm tellin ya. There is power in prayer and in being a missionary. 

Anywho, write me letters! I love you all :) Have a fantastic week! 

Fotos:

Kinder Egg Transfer guesses

District meeting fun

Giovanna old lady

Food

"La colomba" cake thing with elisa

Sorella Hastings =)

Love and Be Loved