Transfers!!! Yup, its true. I am staying here in Rome with Sorella Urban for the next transfer and Sorella Riffaldi is going to leave tonight for Siracusa, Sicily. Sorella Stevenson is being transferred up to Rome 3 so I will be able to see her more often. I am excited about that! I think she will get along good with her new companion and I hope she has a good last two months in the mission. I do love her and learned tons from my first companion.
Last Thursday we had zone conference. I love zone conference. Well, its actually a mix. I love being inspired and learning about things I can do to be a better missionary, but I also struggle with the frustration that these are things that I don't always seem to effectively apply. Mixed emotion for sure but its okay.
We taught English that night and a lot of new people showed up! That's exciting because we had spent the first few weeks of the transfer advertising for it. I wasn't very prepared though for my intermediate class and it was tough because everyone was at a different level! I usually teach intermediate and I like it a lot, but I have to learn how to make it fun rather than just teaching them English.
We taught a woman named Diana who I met on the bus the first lesson on Friday. It was kind of funny actually, she seemed really interested and exited to meet again and said she would come to church. We called her a bunch of times on Saturday because she didn't answer. When we finally got a hold of her, we chose a time to meet to go to church. She never showed up and we called her a bunch of times on Sunday to try to get a hold of her. Finally, we get a text saying "leave me in peace, please!". It came as a surprise to us, although we did call her a lot over a few days, haha. I guess that annoyed her! We are learning!
I met an investigator of Jenny and Erika's for the first time on Monday. Her name is Gina and I really like her, I am excited to teach her more and get to know her better.
I really liked something Cousin Jared said to me in a letter. We are here on a mission not to meet our own expectations but to meet the Lord's expectations. This is so true. I know it is true, I want it to really sink into my heart so that I will be able to feel satisfied with my mission as long as I know I fulfilled the Lord's expectations, no matter how it compares to someone else's experience.
We spent some time this week with Sorella Riffaldi saying goodbye to everyone and seeing how much they all love her. She is a funny Italian and she will be missed!
We did exchanges among the Sorella from Monday night to Tuesday night. I went with Sorella Zeller to Rome 3, the south east part of Rome. Monday night was one of the best nights I have had in a long time. While teaching with her, we found a nice balance together and it really clicked. I felt joy after our lessons and contentment; it was nice. We set up a baptismal date with one woman from Peru and then taught a very stubborn man from Romania. It was very interesting, we taught him in this tiny, dark, smoky room with a convert woman and her family. The only light was from the TV and an eerie blood red light bulb. But I felt the lesson was powerful, despite the circumstances. The Rome 3 apartment is a palace compared to ours. Holy Cow.
I do believe that a big part of success is someones personal faith and effort and that miracles really can happen and that a brand new missionary with a lot of faith and enthusiasm and desire can really make great things happen, despite the language barrier. Cool experience to do exchanges!
Time's up-gotta go! Love to all,
Sorella Askew
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