sacrament attendance...by force, Something that people don't tell you about missionary work, Our friend the Holy Ghost‏

Oh mamma! We have had a pretty good week this week. Things are going better. Judy and her daughter Arianna were in church on Sunday!! It was so exciting because it was their first time. She has told us many times that she wanted to come but then Sunday arrived and I was sitting there in church, continuously glancing at the door like an anxious school girl waiting for Santa Clause to arrive with a bowl full of jelly...whoa, I mean...a red bag full of toys!. Well, after several weeks of let downs...that was enough. So...er....we just showed up at their doorstep at 8:30 in the morning. ha ha It was funny because they were just going to show up for Sacrament meeting but we got them there in time for Sunday School too. It was pretty spiffy. This branch is pretty fantastic. The branch presidents wife sat by Judy during Sacrament meeting and Arianna ADORED Primary. (Which was a relief, because hopefully she won't be a holdup to come to church because she usually goes to some sort of Catholic school on Sunday mornings.) It was a success. Unfortuantely Leo wasn't there because he had to work. This next Sunday he should be there.We had a great appointment with a little family that has a daughter that needs to get baptized. I don't remember if I mentioned them last week but her mom thinks that she doesn't want to get baptized because she's scared of water. So we did a spiritual thought on the Savior and how he set a perfect example for us. And then we showed a picture of when he was baptized, asked the mom about how she felt when she was baptized, yeah you get the idea. I think it went really well. We watched a short film on the life of Christ and it showed His baptism and little Momy (that's the girl that should be getting baptized) held my hand. She is so adorable. They've had a fair amount of challenges and it was just so cool so see this sweet little girl come out. They're a great little family and I'm excited to keep working with them and helping them.Okay, let me just say something that nobody tells you about being a missionary. (I should start a list of these things, but here's just one little silly one.) So as missionaries, we're kind of supposed to be enjoyable to be around, spiritual, pleasing, happy, fill-in-the-blank with whatever peppy word you'd like. Well let me just tell you that you cannot be a picky eater and be a missionary...especially in Italy. We get fed some crazy awkward stuff but we finish it, and it's the best thing in all the land. ;) One meal that I was fed recently consisted of rice--plain rice--and what was put on top? On don't even worry about it, it was a handful of dried out little flowers! I'm telling you in was crazy sauce! Another appointment we went to they had a stack of pancakes on a plate and she made a face and said, "you haven't seen what's inside yet." A couple moments later my face discovers the wonder that is Pineapple chunks in pancakes! What?! It's usually all good and well except for when they start dealing with quantity. You see, here in Italy...you don't really get to serve yourself how much food you want. It's not the traditional American, pass the different bowls around and put what you want on your plate. Negative. You get served how much you are expected to eat and it's rarely a sparse amount. Our investigator Judy always puts gigantic portions on our plates and we're always like, "Wow, Judy that is definitely plenty. Grazie" Yeah, my companion and I have decided to hit up that family for morning appointments from now on. ha ha Don't get me wrong, we feel overwhelmingly grateful for the thought--truly. But I wish they understood that a more effective way to show the missionaries that they love them would be to read their scriptures every night, say their prayers, come to church, tell their friends about the joy that the gospel has brought them. Things like this would be splendid because I don't have to work off THOSE things with my half hour of exercise time in the morning. :) By-the-by, the food here in Italy is normally abnormally delicious. I have just shared some special, rare occasions.ANYWAY, back to things that actually matter. We had another appointment with this AMAZING family that almost got baptized a couple of months ago and then backed off after tithing. The mother and daughter in this family are crazy cool. I love them so much and I've probably spent a grand total of 2 hours with them in my life. We taught a lesson on the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday. It went really well. By-the-way, have you guys stopped to realize how incredible the Holy Ghost is recently? Oh mylanta, every time I study it my mind is blown! So rad that we get to have protection, guidance, comfort, confirmation of the truth all thanks to this amazing gift. I mean, come on! What is that about? TELL me that Heavenly Father doesn't love us when we have been given this amazing gift to guide us and help us through our decisions and difficulties of life. We shared experiences that we've had with the Holy Ghost. When we've listened to the spirit and when we haven't--unfortunately. It just reminded me of how necessary the guidance of the Holy Ghost is in our lives. I cannot wait for the conference Ensign to get over here so that I can read all of the talks that were about the Holy Ghost. Amazin'. There's still a lot of work to do with that family but I know that they know that it's true. I know that if they feel of our love for them that they'll make changes and they'll feel that we're sincere and want what's truly best for them.Finding work has been going better. Still lots to improve but...improvement IS being made. We've done some bus, house, and surveying. Had some splendid conversations and met some great contacts. I know as we increase our faith and the dedication that we put into the work, that we'll see miracles. End of story. Thanks for all of your love and support. I might, maybe, may appreciate it with all of my heart strings. Read that Book of Mormon, say your prayers, get yo'self to church, and you'll feel great! Living the gospel makes you feel good! If you don't feel good, maybe take a gander at how you can be more obedient to the principles of the gospel, and then...look for the happy things in your life. Works every time! Italian kisses! Sorella Hansen