10th Letter from Cuneo

Cara famiglia,

I hope Thanksgiving was wonderful! Sorella Ryan and I enjoyed some mashed potatoes and bread we made during our lunch break. It was great. Does anyone have any fun plans for the holidays?

A few quick updates-- Osagie has not been baptized yet, but he will soon! Haha, we do not know when, but it will happen. It seems as if he will end up telling us the day before. He is very unsure but he wants to be baptized. David is continuing to progress, he is worthy to be baptized this weekend, but we will wait until December 10th. He will be a wonderful addition to the branch. We have had three family home evenings within the past two week- they are the best! It is such a good atmosphere for investigators, great fellowshiping... and Giulia is about the same. She was sick for three weeks, and became soo thin and sickly, it was depressing. Her mom continued to smoke, so it was a miracle that she got over her illness. We pray for her.

This week we met with an investigator named Sandra for the third time. Even though we had tried to teach the Restoration to her the previous two lessons, we felt like we needed to review it again. As we explained about our living prophet and apostles, her face changed, as if everthing had finally clicked. She paused and then said quietly, "You know something, I believe you. I do not know why, but I know what you are saying is true. This is the church of Jesus Christ, the true gospel." She was so happy and she said, "Just now, I remember some other men teaching me back in my country in Ghana, and they taught the same thing as you. I know this is true because you people leave your homes and wherever you are in the world, you teach the same thing."

The Spirit was present in her living room, it was peaceful and sweet. She became converted because her heart was open. There was an especially pertinent principle that we learned that evening- the gospel of Jesus Christ is plain and simple. When it is taught simply, it has a great and powerful effect on others. I am so grateful that we taught the Lord's gospel in His words, rather than bringing in our own profound tangeants. The key to this woman's conversion was that we had taught the same gospel as the other faithful missionaries had in Ghana. As servants of the Lord, we are more powerful and united if we learn and practice the beautiful and precious gospel truths. The Book of Mormon, the standard works and Preach My Gospel contain all that we need to know. The Spirit can accompany and compliment our words if we try to speak the words of Christ.

I love you so much!

Sorella Oakes

9th Letter from Cuneo

My heart is full with gratitude and love today, especially after reading your beautiful emails. Wow, I am so proud of Weylin. I wish I could have been there for your farewell talk but I am out here in the battlefield cheering you on 100%! I will print out your talk and read it tonight, cannot wait. I look up to you so much, little/older brother.

Two updates as follows:

1) We will probably have Osagie's baptism next week. He is so unstable sometimes and it is really hard to see him. He is ready for his baptism but he is looking for a job and a home right now so he is really stressed. He sleeps in the cold outside the train station every night for a week. I cannot imagine how that would be. There is not much he or we can do to help him. He is a hard worker but as a foreigner, especially an African, it is really hard to find a job. Let us just say that Italians do not like Africans. We pray for him, and do not know how to plan anything for his baptism, but Sorella Ryan and I feel this strange feeling of peace and calm. We are doing our part and the Lord will do the rest.

2) WE HAVE A BAPTISMAL DATE WITH DAVID!!!! as of last Saturday! We had a lesson with some members and the Spirit was so strong. He will be baptized on the 10th of December if all goes well. He is really solid, and seems excited to become a part of the fold in Cuneo. I have never felt so much joy in my entire life. The Lord prepared a way for us to meet this 20 year old kid on the train a month ago. At the start I would have never thought he would even become Christian. His whole life has changed because of the gospel. He has so much faith, and each time we teach a new commandment, he more readily accepts it and commits to keep them. And our ward loves him already. Our branch president had us all over for family home evening and we taught the Word of Wisdom. It makes all the difference to have the support of the ward, and lessons in the presence of members!

Another miracle that I'd like to share briefly... yesterday morning Sorella Ryan felt the prompting to go visit a less active whom we have never met. Last night we took the bus to a small city just outside Cuneo, discovered that we were in the wrong place and that there were no more buses in that area. We walked for a half hour in the dark and cold, we were tired, but we practiced our Italian. When we finally found her apartment we knocked on the door. We met the entire family, her mom, her mom's boyfriend and her nine year old sister. Eleanora is about twenty four. After chatting for a bit we asked her about her baptism and friends in our ward. She and her mom were so sweet to us, very sincere and warm people. They mentioned that their brother had died last year because of heart problems. The mom opened up and cried. "Why does God let good people suffer. He never smoked, and he was a good person. I just want some kind of an explanation." It is interesting, as a missionary, you hear this question of the soul over and over again from people you encounter. Even though you may study the answers, and come up with some good responses...each time someone asks me this I am at a loss as to what to say. Nothing ever seems like enough, especially when someone is really hurting.

We paused and I said, "I have never felt what you have. But I know that Heavenly Father has. He allowed his only Begotten Son to suffer, and to die for us. That was real. And you have felt a bit of what He felt. Christ suffered for us so that we can receive His love and comfort." She seemed to believe what I said, but after a few moments, shook her head. "Maybe in the future. I need time to heal."

From day one, I have learned soo much about the love of our Heavenly Father. He extends his arm of mercy continuously to us, all the day long. He is always near, offering comfort and peace, but only we can choose to accept it. If we trust Him, we can have peace and joy in this life, and hard things will be possible to overcome, possible to bear in the meantime. I am so grateful for the promptings of the Spirit. Even though this family did not want to meet with us again, Sorella Ryan and I mourned with them, and gave them hope. That is our job. The Lord loves us so much.

I am so grateful for the times when I have "suffered" a bit in my own life. These experiences have brought me closer to my Savior than any of the other experiences that I have had. Well, with the exception of my visits to the temple. But when we are sick, or feel sorrow, it is easier for me to remember how Christ felt. What love. He endured to the end, and was completely faithful to us. The outcome was our salvation! Wow, so powerful. I pray that we will remember to always be faithful to Him in return, to never turn our backs on Him, to never take for granted His grace and mercy. We always, always, always have things to be grateful for if we just look outside of ourselves. There is a whole world of wonder and joy when we serve others and forget ourselves. I am so grateful for the times when the Lord has humbled me, and prodded me to continue to learn and grow. Sorry, blubbering on a little.

I love hearing updates, so keep sending them! You do not only have to send the happy news, I would like to be aware and pray for you all.

All my loves, hugs and kisses

Sorella Oakes

8th Letter from Cuneo

Quick updates about our investigators-

- Giulia- we have not been able to see her for a few weeks for various reasons. Last night we went to her mom's house, said a prayer, and knocked on the door. We said, "Hi, could we talk to you for just ten minutes?" Her mom just stared at us...The words came out of my mouth, "May we enter?" Whew, a little scary. She looked in my eyes with a blank face for a few more long seconds, and said "Okay, okay, come in, but make it quick". We said a prayer, opened her up a little bit, and then we could not get her to stop talking. I think she really likes us. But we wanted to respect what we had said so we tried to keep it short. We explained the Restoration in two minutes, and asked her what she thought. She is not interested in learning anything.Then we told her that Giulia is progressing so much, and has a desire to be baptized. This was a little scary, but we had prayed about confronting this for a few weeks now...it was a miracle. She said that she trusted our religion because she had seen how respectful the Veron family boys are, and how good the members are. She said that if her daughter continues to have such a strong eagerness to be baptized, that she would be okay with it. She also said that she would like to learn a little bit from us so that she can know what Giulia is learning.

I am so grateful for the power of prayer, and the influence of the Spirit in softening people's hearts. We care so much about Giulia, and know that her involvement with the church, and saving ordinances could change the outcome of her future! 

Osagie is continuing to progress towards baptism. We feel a lot of peace and joy in him and his goodness.

David came to church for the first time!!! We have been working so hard to get the ward members to join us during the lessons with him, and it has paid off! They fellowshipped him so much at church and he loved it. He stayed by choice for all three meetings, and he grew so much. I do not have time to tell you any details, but last week was the best Sunday of my life. I had so much joy because he was happy and felt the Spirit so strong. It is so exciting for Sorella Ryan and I to envision his future, and all the potential that he has. I know that I am here for a reason in Cuneo.

I have a testimony of the Atonement. I have been allowing the Savior to change me from the inside out because I pray for correction, direction and help. I am so so grateful for His sufferings for me, and for all of us in the Garden of Gethsamane. I cannot express my feelings. I know that the Atonement is real, and that was and is the Son of God. I love the Book of Mormon more than I ever have, and I have found more joy in its pages than any other book. I learn so much from it, and I would not want to live without it. How blessed we are to have the complete restored gospel on the earth. Let us not take it for granted, because it can make our lives so fulfilling and satisying. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I am so grateful for his service for the world and the Lord! The Savior lives, and we can change ourselves and make a huge difference inthe lives of others if we seek to strengthen our relationship with Heavenly Father. He loves us far more than we know.

All my love,

Sorella Quincy Oakes

7th Letter from Cuneo

Dear Family and Friends,

It is about time that I tell you about the best of the mission!!! I want to share a bit about three of our incredible investigators.

1. Osaggi-- we have postponed his baptismal date about three times due to not being able to meet with him, working with the Ward Council, and other complicated things...but for right now he feels good about the 26th. It is so neat to think about how we met him, and how far he has come. I do not even remember meeting him for the first time. Apparently we contacted him on the street a few months ago, gave him a BOM and got his phone number. For some reason I wrote his number on an index card instead of my planner. About a week later on Saturday night we were kind of discouraged because none of our many investigators were answering their phones or if they did, they said they could not come to church. Right before I went to bed I saw that index card on my desk and decided to try calling it in the morning. I am so glad that I did! We asked him to come to church with us that morning and were surprised that he said he would. We met him at the train station and walked with him to church. In time we have come to see how ready Osagie is to be baptized. He is very humble, has a deep understanding of the Bible and of Christ.

After meeting with him for a few times, he said that he had been going to several different churches for his whole life, and knew that none of them were completely true. Also, he has always known that he needs to be baptized by immersion, but has not been baptized yet because he has not found the right church. From that time until now we have had several lessons with him, encouraging him to continue to pray and read the BOM. Line upon line he has gained a testimony that it is a book of God and that he feels peace about everything. He is still expecting a bigger answer from Heavenly Father, but for now he is continuing forward in faith because of the Spirit that he feels when he reads the Book of Mormon. We are praying that the ward will feel more comfortable with him. He does not speak Italian very well, and is very shy. We have begun teaching an Italian course once a week, especially hoping that he will be there.

2. Dennis and Sandra--Miracle story! We met Sandra about a month ago on the street. She is a beautiful Ghanan, and after talking to her for a few minutes she seemed like the most golden investigator we had ever seen! We gave her a BOM and a Proclamation on the Family, and set up an appt. She cancelled a few times, and when we dropped by her house she told us that her husband said that we could not come visit her and that he had taken her BOM away. It was disappointing because we had felt prompted to talk with her on the street and had expected to teach her family.

Four evenings ago, we started our finding work off with a prayer of faith. After the prayer, Sorella Ryan looked at me and said, "Does anything or anyone come first to your mind?" "Sandra." She said, "Yeah, me too. Let's go." It was strange because she had told us not to come visit her again, but the Spirit had prompted both of us to try her again. It was a beautiful moment, because we felt peace, hope and direction from the Lord. When we knocked on their door, her husband answered the door. We talked for a good ten minutes, got him to open up, and were able to set up an appointment with them. We returned two nights ago, had a beautiful lesson about the Book of Mormon. Like most Africans here, they are very devoted Protestants, very practicing, good Christians. One of our new converts, Peter, is good friends with them so it is nice to have that connection.

It just goes to show that everyone has their own timing, and the Lord knows when that is! I am so grateful for the inspiration of the Spirit. What a gift, and privelege is it to witness the hand of the Lord, and the role of the Book of Mormon in peoples' lives.

3. My favorite investigator- David! He is a 20 year-old Italian. We met him on the train a month ago, and he asked to meet with us again. He has been an atheist for years. Very intellectual and turned off the Catholic church. At the beginning it was frustrating, because he would combat everything that we said. It has been hard for him to accept faith over science. We did not see a lot of potential in him at the start, but I am glad that we have continued to see him. We have had several intense lessons with him and the best ward members that we have.

It is amazing how much he has progressed in so short a time. It has not been easy for us trying to help him, or on his part. But we prepare our best for him, and he is very committed! That is a beautiful, rare quality for investigators to have. He has been reading the Bookof Mormon with real intent, and recognizes the Spirit that it brings. He asks great questions. We finally got him to say his first prayer two lessons ago. It was a beautiful, sincere prayer. I did a cartwheel in my apartment when we got home, I was so excited. Last night was our best lesson yet! He was very intense and said, "Now I know for certain that God and Jesus Christ are real. Now I just need to find out which church is right. I know that God will not tell me all at once, but I really want to know right now." I have not seen so much desire from anyone on my mission thus far. He prays on his own now, and it is beautiful to see the relationship that he is developing with Heavenly Father. I cannot believe how far he has come, and I am so grateful to be a missionary.

I love you all so much. All my prayers,

Sorella Oakes

Milan Italy Mission Blog

If you google Milan Italy Mission Blog you will see that there is some interesting information about the Milan Mission. Several pictures of Sorella Oakes are on the home page taken of the day in September when she arrived with five other missionaries. Her present companion, Sister Ryan, is to her left in the picture where the sorellas are in the front row. Sister Ryan is also in a cute video, whistling their mission hymn with one of her former companions.

Enjoy!

Lisa

6th Letter from Cuneo

We have hot water, as of Monday, so nice! We got our bike fixed last week. Luckily Cuneo is really small so it only took a half hour to walk to the shop. We have been having some wonderful lessons this week. We have a baptismal date with Osagie, a humble Nigerian. We have had a date for a month, but I wanted to wait closer to his baptism to let you know because there are many baptismal dates that fall through. I have been learning so much about how our joy does not depend on other people's agency.

This week Sorella Ryan and I have worked hard, struggled and suffered through some hard times. After a time, the Lord gave us some tender mercies that we had taken granted before. In these moments, I feel greater joy than I have ever experienced in my life. Discouragement is our worst enemy, and Satan is trying his hardest to get us down. But as Sorella Ryan says, "Let's get out there and kick satan's trash!" Haha. A little crude, but it is a pick up when we feel rotten.

My companion wants to be "the best trainer ever"and is trying her utmost to help me as a new missionary. She even wrote a list to herself a while ago entitled, "What I need to do better next time I train." She does not realize how incredible she really is. Here is a short list of my own that describes only a few of the ways that she GEMS me. It can be compared to the advice the President Hinckley gave concerning the three things that every new convert needs to remain strong in the church:

What every new missionary needs to remain active in the work-

1. A calling/responsibility- my trainer allows me to play an active part in finding work, making phone calls and teaching lessons, no matter "how important" these investigators are. Even though I make a lot of mistakes, especially in speaking the language, she gives me a soft and patient smile that encourages me and lets me know that I am doing just fine. It makes me feel valued and trusted when she does not stress about me "wasting time" during the lessons. My language skills have accelerated by doing this, and now we are able to teach much more smoothly together. Now the work can really pick up, because we are going at the same pace.

2. Nourished by the good word of God- yesterday during our companionship study, I felt discouraged as we were talking about the results of this transfer. We had worked so hard, but a few of our baptismal dates fell through, ending up in 0 baptisms. At times it feels like all of our effort can be compared to building a sandcastle. No matter how tall, or intricate you create it, it just crumbles and melts into a pile of muck when the next wave comes in and washes over it. After it falls, it seems hopeless to rebuild it again. When I told my companion about how deeply disappointed I felt she turned to inspiring quotes from Preach My Gospel, from President Wolfgramm, and from letters of encouragement she had received. I cannot describe how much we bonded in that half hour. My testimony grew so much about what it means to be a successful missionary. My desire to keep working and improving as a missionary skyrocketed as a result of that experience. She was a minister of the words of Christ for me in that moment.

3. A friend- I love how she does not treat me as a greeny. She does not cling to her personal doctrine as an experienced misionary, but supports ideas and desires that I have in our work. Hugs and backrubs when my back is tight from stress makes all the difference. She lets me know her weaknesses and asks for my help and advice. This makes me truly feel like her equal and I feel good because she allows me opportunities to serve her as well.

Here is something that Sorella Ryan wrote in her email to Pres. this week. I love it.

I am so excited to tell you a little more about my adventures in Cuneo this week! I am glad that you got my letters, you are more than welcome to share them with each other since I do not have nearly enough time to write all of the things I want to the both of you.

My companion has been teaching me how to sprint. We go running in the mornings even though we are both tired and cold because it really makes a difference in our day. The one problem is that I am a long distance runner, and she is a sprinter and she's really good! We love getting a good work out, and usually on the way back home she looks at me at a certain point and says, "Ok Sorella, are you ready for a little sprint?" The first time she asked me I thought she was crazy! I was already so tired I didn't think I could hardly make it to the end without falling over! I told her this and then she explained that sprinting is good to work out different muscles and is important when you want a good work out. So we did it. We sprinted even though my legs were on fire and I thought I might fall over,... and it felt GREAT! Now we work in a couple sprints every morning. And there's a certain point when we see home that we automatically look at each other and say, "Ok Sorella, ARE YOU READY?" and then we run as hard as we can. The thing I love about my companion is that she always stays right beside me. She always says, "I really want to sprint, but I'm going only as fast as you go!" This pushes me to work hard for her but also to have unity. I have had other companions that would rather run a few blocks ahead of me because they dont want to wait for me, which is understandable, but I really feel the love from Sorella Oakes when she stays right beside me pushing me the whole time.
President, this is just like how we do our missionary work! I LOVE training because I love being with brand new missionaries who want to sprint their WHOLE mission. They have so much energy and faith and a great work ethic! Sorella Oakes IS this brand new missionary. I, on the other hand, am quite the opposite. I am a little tired, as much as I hate to admit it. Sometimes I feel like I might fall over. But Sorella Oakes wants to sprint so bad and knows that it is so good for us. She pushes me so lovingly and says "Ok Sorella Ryan, its time to sprint, but I'm only going as fast as you go!" We will sprint to the end together!

This is a long letter!!!! I am sorry.

All my love,

Sorella Oakes

Milan Italy Mission Blog

If you google Milan Italy Mission Blog you will see that there is some interesting information about the Milan Mission. Several pictures of Sorella Oakes are on the home page taken of the day in September when she arrived with five other missionaries. Her present companion, Sister Ryan, is to her left in the picture where the sorellas are in the front row. Sister Ryan is also in a cute video, whistling their mission hymn with one of her former companions.

Enjoy!

Lisa