Sorella Nelson: Week 30

(Week 24 Caserta)

WAHOO!!!! Transfer call!!! I'm, going to.... BARI!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooo excited!!!!! This is one of the prettiest places (it's by the ocean, food is great and I hear we get fed every Sunday with the best members. A place where all the sisters in the mission dream of going!!!!!! I will be in the Poggio Franco Ward and my new companion is Sorella Crystal Taylor who is one transfer younger than I am! So hashtag senior comp and follow up training! AHHH!!! I'm soooo excited!!!!!!!

The house is a four Sorelle home which will also be lots of fun! The other sisters will be one who is in her 8 or 9th transfer with a new greenie and then me and my comp! I am super excited! This was where Sorella Taylor was born in the mission so I'm glad she will know everyone and everything so it is not a blow in. Caserta. Sorella Puzzey who was currently in my zone in Pozzuoli will come here with a new greenie! I'm so excited for the greenie!!! Sorella Puzzey is awesome! I've done exchanges with her and I'm glad to leave all our work (which has doubled this transfer) to her! Man! I'm soooo busy with area book and writing notes about everyone so she can come in and just jump right into the work!

This week has FLOWN!!! Getting Sorella Robertson all ready to go home and have said her goodbyes took up a lot of the week, but it was perfect because I wasn't sure if I would stay or go as well so I just took pictures and said goodbye as well. Hashtag effectivness! haha Saturday morning we rolled her luggage to the train station, headed to Napoli, met the Zone Leaders and two other Sorelle (one of which finished the mission with Sorella Robertson) and then just like that sent my dear sweet British comp home on the train! (Technically to Rome and then she goes home Tuesday.)

Sending Sorella Robertson off!! She wouldn't pack her bags so we were up til 2!! hahaha I will miss her and can't wait to visit her in England someday.

Sorella Rackham and I came back to Caserta and are companions until she gets her greenie and I head out to Bari! Crazy Crazy stuff! I honestly have my planner out next to me because we just did so much this week that I almost can't remember any of it!

Update on investigators: GianFranco has recommitted to live the Word of Wisdom and I really felt his promise this time. I really think the new Sorelle will see him baptized! I can't wait to hear and see pictures about it!

Ornella is so sick! She is totally cool with the Word of Wisdom and thank goodness she only smoked about 2 or 3 cigarettes during the day. She will totally be baptized this next month. She is an AMAZING singer and gave me her CD one night. So of course Sorella Robertson and I listened to it and Mamma Mia! Ornella is totally going to be in charge of the music for the ward once she is baptized!

Rasheed is a new investigator (a.k.a. Rosh, the one who gifted me the olive tree). We had our first lesson with Rosh Saturday when I have been with Sorella Rackham. He has already read up to Alma in the Book of Mormon! He loves it! We had a killer Restoration lesson and he excepted the invite to take the lessons and pray about the Book. He has a Muslim background (he is from Morocco) so he will be a fun one to teach.

Couple of funnies for the week of goodbyes:

Lucia, she was sooooo upset when we explained how transfers work and that we were both leaving. She was literally about in tears, it was so sweet but so funny! Italians are super dramatic and she was throwin her hands everywhere and kissing our faces and the whole bit. Best part was when I was going to have a picture with her and I bend down to her level and she just throws her arms around me and gives me the biggest hug! Sweetest thing in the world!

Sorella Rackham and I taught a woman named Patrizia yesterday who has come to church several times so we decided to see if she had any interest. We tried our best to share the Restoration, but alas Patrizia had a different idea of what she wanted to talk about. She kept saying a world in Italian that Sorella Rackham and I thought was the name Dracula, but we were sure it couldn't be. Why would she be talking about Dracula...? We asked for clarification and sure enough she was talking about Dracula! Patrizia wanted to know our beliefs on him. We were trying not to die of laughter! She believed that Dracula lived in the time of Jesus Christ and a whole bunch of crazy things about vampires. We had to just close the lesson because it had just gone wayyyy to far! Some people just aren't quite ready...

These last couple of days we have headed home at the end of the day so I can make sure the area book is perfect for the new Sorelle and one night Sorella Rackham and I had the idea to make German Pancakes for dinner. I was in one room writing furiously and sweet Sorella Rackham comes in and says we don't have butter. We bolt out the door to the grocery store close by. Sadly almost everything in Italy closes at 8:30 and it was 8:35. We stood outside the grocery store and were so sad, but then the sweet owner comes out and we beg for him to let us buy some butter. He was soooo nice and took our euro and got us some butter. We ended up having a 10 minute discussion about basic doctrine beliefs and gave him our card. Hopefully he will give us a call one day or go online. Good things come from food!

It has kinda been an emotional, stressful, exciting week. I hate goodbyes and it was sad giving my testimony this last Sunday in my birth city. The sweet members were telling me that they remembered when I first arrived and how little Italian I spoke, but now they understood and felt every word of my testimony. I will miss them soooo much! Sorella Messina, La coppia Sorrentino, La famiglia Galardo, and so so many others. Sweet sweet humans! I am sooooo excited for this new adventure and new area! I'm nervous to be senior companion and hope that I can see just as many if not more miracles in the beautiful land of Bari as I have in Caserta.

I sure will miss my Napoli pizzas though...

Ponderize Scripture 2 Nephi 2:11

Things aren't always how we want and that is okay. We should thank Heavenly Father for all experiences that we do have. He only gives us these wonderful wonderful experiences so that we can grow. Hard things are difficult, but it makes us appreciate the easy happy times just as much! Saying goodbye in hard, but I know it will make me appreciate the Ciao, mi chiamo.... that much more. So grateful to be a missionary and be able to represent our Savior Jesus Christ!

Love you all un saco!!!!

Sorella Carrie Nelson

Saying goodbye to some wonderful ward members.....