10th Week in Genoa

Dear Family,
  I just want to tell you all that you are incredible! The service that you are all rendering in your lives, the faith that you have, the optimism for the future...I am amazed by how wonderful you are. Thank you for your example to me.

  For a week and half Sorella Hanks is sick with a virus and possibly strep throat. She will probably be sick for a while longer, we are not sure. Poor thing. She never complains! Fortunately I have not gotten sick. I received permission from President to call up sisters in our ward to do exchanges with me. One woman will stay in our apartment for a few hours while I go out with another to teach our investigators.

Monday we had an incredible Blitz with Sorella Jones and Sorella...drum roll...McNamara! I love them both so much. Being with Sorella McNamara, I felt at home. She has grown and matured even more into a beautiful woman. She was already so mature and amazing before but it is neat to see how much three transfers and serving with different companions changes you. Luca whom we taught in Varese is getting baptized in October! I am so incredibly happy for him.

Once again, I got to serve with Sorella Jones and learned a lot from her. We went to two appointments and no one was home, neither responded on the phone. But that night we taught a man from Peru who is golden! I never want to forget that hour that we shared with him in his home. The spirit was so strong, our hearts were filled with love for him and for the Lord. When we presented and gave him a Book of Mormon he flipped through the first few pages and tenderly said, "I am content to have this book. I have read the Bible but I have never had the opportunity to read this. Now I can. I thank you both. I know God loves me because He sends people like you to teach me His word."

In Preach My Gospel there is a section entitled, "How to Begin Teaching." There are ten phrases that are suggestions of things we can say during the first meeting with an investigator, such as "We will guide you so that you can know personally if our message is true. But it depends on you to accept and act upon the message..." As Sorella Jones and I asked questions and just listened to this wonderful man he seemed to have memorized and recited these ten points from the manual! He said, "You both can guide me to know if this is true. But I need to read and pray about this and repent. I want to change and find the right path and follow Jesus Christ..."  

When we left the lesson we yelled for joy for a half hour! We could not feel our bodies anymore, we were in heaven. I would not trade these experiences that I have had serving here in Italy for anything in the world. I cannot describe how fantastic it is to serve a mission, to learn from and to give love to companions and different people that I meet. My heart is full to the brim with gratitude for all of these opportunities. Challenges?! Who cares! They are nothing.

 Love you all!
     
Sorella Oakes

9th Week in Genoa

Dearest Family,

  My heart is filled with love and gratitude. I have an amazing companion and the work is growing. We have a lot of new female investigators who are really interested in meeting us. Each day Sorella Hanks and I become more united in purpose and the spirit is truly guiding our every activity. During nightly planning we prayerfully decide where to do casa the following day. Within these past two weeks I have taught more first lessons in people's homes during findingwork than I ever have on my mission. Sorella Hanks expressed the same is true for her.  I never preferred knocking doors. I would rather do street or bus contacting, but I remember thinking in my head, "We'll do this because our leaders have counseled us to." NOW I am seeing why.

Haha, Friday night we knock on a door and yet ANOTHER sweet Romanian kid answered the door and let us in. We followed him into his living room of four other family members- his mom, sister, girlfriend, and cousin. They are all so humble and down-to-earth. I love them soo much. We taught them again yesterday. Our meeting them was surely an answer to our prayers, to get into a home and teach a family, and an answer to my prayer this past week to teach more young single adults. There are four of them! I hope they will let us come back again, and read the Book of Mormon we left them.

   I want to tell you about a beautiful Peruvian woman whom we are teaching. Her name is Fanny Fernandez. She has three young boys who live in Peru, and she takes care of elderly people here to send money home to her family. She has lived here for 7 years. She has a really hard life between a bad work environment and missing her family. As we talked to her, she only spoke words of faith and optimism, but her eyes continued to well up with tears. She was very excited to receive a Book of Mormon. When we invited her to be baptized she said, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I was surprised with how happy she seemed about accepting a baptismal invite. She said, "I am very shy and do not like talking with people like you on the bus. But when Sorella Hanks looked at me and started talking with me, I felt something here," she pointed to her chest. She had felt the spirit, which helped her to feel comfortable enough to talk with us.

I have so much respect for Fanny. When I think about my mother and how hard it is for her to let my brother and me serve missions out of the country for two years, I realize that that sacrifice that we make is small compared to Fanny's life. Fanny said she will have to wait for another 5 or more years before she can save enough money to live with her boys. She is such a good woman, why is her life so hard? I do not know, but I am certain that everything is in the hands of the Lord. This gospel will bless her life immensely. I pray that her boss will let her come to church Sunday mornings. She was not able to come last week.

Well, I love you all very much. I pray for you daily. I know that when we serve others we are fulfilling our baptismal covenant to comfort those that stand in need of comfort, (Mosiah 18:8-10). As I have  tried harder to live my baptismal covenant,  I have felt the presence of the spirit more in my heart and feel love from Heavenly Father. I think that of all our goals, dreams and desires in life, more than anything, each one of us yearns to feel the love of God. I know that as we seek to love and take care of others, we will be filled with that love for them, and also will feel God's love and appreciation for us. We are His beloved children. He sacrificed His only begotten Son so that we can receive peace and strength in this life and return back to His presence pure and perfect. I know these simple things are true.
 
   Love,
   Sorellina Oakes

8th Week in Genoa

Cara Famiglia,

Let me tell you about the three elect Romanians we found this week:

Luca is a middle-aged man who has lived here in Italy for 12 years. His greatest lot in life is to earn money for his daughters so that they can continue their education at the university in Romania. While he is a workaholic, he is very honest, kind and spiritual. Even though he is very busy, he marks us in his agenda and is committed to meeting with us. He said, "I know that I need to put God first in my life and make time for him." For the first three lessons we tried to get him to agree to meet with the anziani because he is a single man, but he said he wanted to meet with us because he knew us. We felt it was  because we are around the same age as his two beloved daughters. This week we explained to him that we feel it would be better if he meet with the masculine anziani in our ward. I was very pleased that he readily accepted meeting with them. He made sure that they had his number and set up an appointment Wednesday. They are so blessed to be able to teach him! He could very well be baptized. Luca is like a brother to me. I wish I could tell you more about his life and beliefs.

Now, about the two other amazing people we met:

It was Monday night around 7:30. Three of our first lessons had fallen through, and it seemed as though we would teach no lessons. After doing casa for a few hours we took a 5 minute break to sit down on a park bench. There was this woman sitting close by who would look at us occasionally. She seemed miserable, maybe even angry. We walked toward her and began a conversation. To our surprise, she was very pleasant and welcomed a conversation about Jesus Christ. This woman, Anna Maria, is from Romania, she attends the Pentecostal church though not yet baptized. She expressed her deep desire to know which religion teaches the complete truth of Christ. She yearns to feel closer to God in her life so that she can overcome personal trials. When we asked her if we could pass by her house with a Book of Mormon this week, she said, "Yes, I will walk with you to my house now. If you want, you can come teach me a little right now." I wanted to jump and shout, "Yes!! Yes! We would love to!!!" and do a cartwheel, but we maintained our composure and just smiled. Her beautiful 5 year old son Mario accompanied on his bike.

When we were inside her small, darkly lighted home, we knelt in prayer. The spirit was so sweet and still. Sorella Hanks and I felt prompted to sing them a hymn, "Abide with me, Tis eventide". Those two minutes were one of the most special moments on my mission. Anna Maria was beaming as we sang, as if the spirit was healing her soul. Mario, who had been full of energy outside, was now cuddling up by his mom, resting his head on his hands and watching us intently with his big brown eyes. He was calmed by the spirit. My heart was so full of love for them that I could barely sing.

After we finished, we explained a little bit about what the Holy Ghost feels like. We asked Mario "Do you feel the Holy Ghost?" He quietly nodded. Anna Mario said, "It feels so good in my heart." We got to know Anna Maria a little more and taught her about the Book of Mormon. It was very simple and very spiritual. We have a return appointment with them tonight! I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's guidance so that we could find this humble family! He is surely mindful of each of His precious children.

Love,
Sorella Oakes

7th Week in Genoa

Dear family,

   This week has been great! Sorella Hanks is such a sweetheart, I feel so good being around her. Sorella Hanks is the perfect exemplar of "preaching the gospel of peace". When we contact people and teach investigators, she listens with her heart and soaks in what that person is saying. It has been wonderful to see how others respond and open up when we take a little extra time to listen to their opinions. I feel inspired to be a more attentive listener myself to her as well as others. I am learning a lot from her.

  Miracle!  Last night after the sorelle conference we decided to contact and set up an appointment with at least one person before we went in. President's little training about the "miracle fence" kept me hoping that we would find a potential investigator!  As we got closer and closer to home we contacted and contacted, and 10 minutes before 9 we talked with a South American couple. They did not seem interested, but when we asked them if we could come to their house this week they said yes!  L'ultimo sforzo brings blessings. We will not accept any less than hoping for, and even expecting miracles every day! We are going to make our dreams a reality here in Genova 2! This is the great and marvelous work of the Lord.

  We had an awesome district meeting on Monday. That morning I told Sorella Hanks, "We are doing everything in the manual, but how can we increase our faith that we can actually meet our goals, and baptize people?" I was befuddled. Well, in our meeting the zone leaders, Anziano Lenhart and Rodriguez gave an inspired training which answered our question! I will bullet point what I learned:
   -happy people tend to be more successful!
  -our habits affect our attitude. Meaning what we say, what we eat, exercise, thought processes, etc.
   -Keeping a gratitude journal (Remember, Remember by Elder Eyring) helps us recognize the Lord's hand in our lives
   -the difference between a puddle and a geyser is enthusiasm, haha
  -2 Ne 2:25 the purpose of life is to have joy. Enjoying life is a daily decision, regardless of the circumstance!

It was awesome and really pumped me up to be more grateful for the blessings we see each day. I know there is a lot of power in just putting a smile on each day. The Spirit is a lot more present in my life when I have a good attitude. I am grateful for all that Sorella Hanks is teaching me about enjoying each moment. She is like Mary and I am more like Martha, we both need each other to have the right balance of working hard AND having a happy attitude.
 
   Love,
   Sorella Oakes

6th Week in Genoa

Dearly Beloved family,
Are you ready for this long letter?

  From the emails that I have received in the past few weeks, it seems that each one of us has our "mountains to climb" (Elder Eyring). Let us all continue to pray for one another and pray for the humility and strength to cheerfully submit to the will of the Lord.  I cannot put into words all that has happened recently but I will bear my testimony.

   First, I want to say, I am grateful for these hardships that we are facing. I really am, and I would not have it any other way. I know that Heavenly Father loves us greatly. He has handpicked each one of these situations that we are living.

   My testimony of the atonement has grown a lot within the past few days. I feel physically, emotionally and spiritually weaker than ever, but the Lord strengthens me every minute!!! Sorella McFadden told me an analogy that I like- there is a monkey inside each of our minds. If we don't keep it shut inside it's cage, it will run out and destroy everything in our house- it will pull out all the food in the fridge, break the china, rip up the couch, etc. As violent as this example is, it could really be compared to how self-destructive our thoughts can be.

I have been working extra hard to keep my thoughts focused and positive so that I can have faith and be peaceful. It takes a lot of concentration to not allow temptations and negative thoughts to come into my mind. I have felt discouraged and trapped this week, but with the help of my Savior, I have been able to find peace and feel the spirit in abundance. As you can tell, my brain is still scattered right now...

Recently, I was the recipient of a hurtful act in town. Here is the way that I handled it:  I concentrated all my efforts on imagining that I was in a different place. I imagined myself being in a silent, empty ballet studio that was cold, and I stood next to a piano. I could hear a beautiful peaceful arrangement of a hymn. I felt so free. I was almost there in that place. I felt the Spirit again and was ready to keep talking to others with a smile. I know that the power of Christ's Atonement made this possible.

  I have had several other experiences like this recently...it may sound crazy but they seriously saved my life.  I have come to the realization that my Savior is so merciful and compassionate in my behalf even though I am a sinner and I make so many mistakes. This forces me to let go of my pride and to love others unconditionally and overlook their weaknesses, as well as my own. I am grateful for all the opportunities there are every minute to serve others. To smile and salute people, to share the gospel. It helps me to stop thinking about my own problems and to be healed.

   Sorry, I know I am talking a lot about myself but I feel like I should share this other bus experience, maybe for Weylin's sake. After talking to three people who were not interested I tripped and dropped my Book of Mormon and whiteboard. I reached down and grabbed them and stumbled to go talk to someone else. One of the woman who had rejected me now stopped me. I will never forget the marvel in her face as she asked me, "Excuse me, why do you do this?" I felt like asking myself the same question. I was sweaty and tired and somewhat discouraged. I responded, "I don't know, because I know that this message is true. This book makes me happy." She said, "Do you somehow receive strength from God? How are you able to keep going? What is it about you that gives you the capacity to do this?" I was surprised with how open she was. She was speaking the words of her mind. I immediately felt the Spirit prompt me to bear testimony about the atonement. I said "I am so weak. But I know that Jesus Christ suffered for all of our sins, and temptations and pains and sadness...I cannot comprehend how He did it, but I know He did because through Him I am able to do more than I could on my own." She accepted a pass-along-card and got off the bus.

   I am sure that these things are more than applicable to all of us in our lives. We are all human, we are all simple and weak. There is much that the Lord has entrusted us with and it is through our experiences that we really understand how the atonement works. It would be great to sit in the temple all day and ponder the scriptures, but nothing could substitute for this earthly experience that the Lord permits us to have. It is a challenge, but it is the most wonderful time of growth!

  Sorella McFadden is transferring to Verona and Sorella Hanks is coming to Genova! I love Sorella McFadden. She has changed my life sooo much. I feel so good about what we did and became this transfer. I feel like we have been together for 6 months, we worked soo hard.

I love you all more than I can express. Keep the faith! Never lose sight of the blessings awaiting us. I love what mom wrote me a while back, "Dear, don't count the days. Count the blessings and miracles."

Love,
Sorella Oakes

5th Week in Genoa

Dear Family,

Sorella McFadden is a big Gem! She places a sticky note and a chocolate on my desk every morning. On the note she has written a simple compliment that builds me up, such as, "You follow the Spirit." or "You are a teacher." Throughout the day she serves me in a lot of other thoughtful ways. I am so grateful for her love for me and for her selflessness.

Member referral/finding miracle:

 Right after hopping on the last bus home, a beautiful woman turned her head and smiled at us. Immediately we began talking to her about her greatest desires and bore testimony of the restored gospel. Within two minutes we had talked, set up an appointment at her home and exchanged contact information. The bus halted to a stop in front of our home and we got off just in time. I felt really excited to meet Nataly again. Though we had not talked for long, there was something special about her.

Upon teaching her and her husband at their house, we discovered how much the Lord had prepared them to be interested in the restored gospel. There was no doubt that He had prepared a way for us to meet on the bus. Her husband Stalin met us at the door and gave us a warm welcome. We brought an amazing sister in our ward who has recently returned home from her mission. She made all the difference in befriending, bearing personal testimony, and making this couple feel comfortable to talk to us.
   
As we talked with Stalin and Nataly they told us about the friends and family they know who are church members. His cousin served a mission, and her best friend is a member in our ward...click! Sorella McFadden said, "Oh my goodness! You are THAT Nataly. Giovanna (the member in our ward) always wanted us to meet you but she was always too busy to show us where you lived. She just moved two weeks ago and I thought we had lost that opportunity to contact you. This is amazing!"

We were all happy because we knew that the Lord had wanted us to meet, and even though Giovanna had moved and never given us that referral, we met Nataly anyway. Both Stalin and Nataly expressed their desire to become closer to Christ and to fill a spiritual gap they feel in their lives. Stalin already has a copy of the Book of Mormon which a former missionary gave to him. When we challenged them to read the Book of Mormon for 15 minutes every day Stalin said, "No I can't do that..I want to read more so that I can understand it." Sorella McFadden and I laughed because we were happy and said, "Then go ahead and read more, by all means."

Needless to say, this beautiful couple has a lot of potential. The Lord has done much to guide them to Him thus far, and will continue to bless them according to their commitment and desire. They are amazing new investigators!

Yesterday we had interviews with President Wolfgramm and were instructed by our mission leaders. I especially loved the teachings of President and Sorella Wolfgramm. They told us that their personal desire/theme is to help, "...have the mission go through us" rather than to go through the motions of missionary work-- to let the principles we learn become a part of us. The outcome: to let our efforts purify and sanctify us forever. Sorella Wolfgramm talked about a principle taught by Steven Covey- letting our inner core be focused on Christ. As we strive to become like Him, to think about Him, our motivation to serve and work will grow. When we do the things we do every day with the purpose to follow Christ, we become more proactive, positive and confident. Anway, their words were so inspiring and changed my life.

Love, Sorella Oakes

4th Week in Genoa

Carissima Famiglia,

  This week was hard. Boo hoo woa is me, that's enough. But I will say that we worked harder than I ever have in my entire mission. Even though we were physically, emotionally and spiritually tired, we kept walking, talking to everyone, praying. We are working together and I am super grateful for Sorella McFadden's commitment. I know that our work will pay off. I learned a lot about humility and the sustaining power of being grateful. So I guess it was a successful week! Though we had some disappointments, we still saw our fair share of miracles!

Gioia is progessing well towards her baptism for 25th of September. She is soo sweet and her one year old son, Wisdom, is adorable! During one of the lessons he was tackling two other 5 year old kids. I was blown away with how strong he is. Haha, one miracle was when we prayed before our last lesson for Wisdom to be calm so we could have the spirit when we taught Gioia. When we arrived he was half asleep and Gioia put him in the other room and we had a peaceful quiet lesson. :)

Oh yeah! I have not told you yet..at the beginning of my mission, I did an exchange here in Genova with Sorella Simpkins. We talked to a young girl on the bus, I still remember our experience. Sorella Simpkins and her companion ended up teaching and baptizing her and her mother that transfer! Now they are new converts in our ward and I love them!!! The young girl, 17 years old, Keyla taught her mom's friend all about church and the restoration. We taught her friend twice last week and she is very interested in the church! It's amazing how much difference members make in awakening a desire in their elect friends. We are excited to see how Gloria, their friend, progresses in her Book of Mormon reading.

 Miracle from Scambio in Savonna- Sorella Jones taught me much about the value of asking inspired questions and listening to others. She asked me many questions about myself, and my desires, and she lovingly listened to me. From that I experienced what it feels like to be one of her investigators.
Her skills came in handy during a lesson with one of their progressing investigators. After we had finished teaching a lesson about the Word of Wisdom, Sorella Jones paused and asked, "Is there anything else? Do you have any questions or comments? How are you feeling?" This shy woman did not respond immediately, but after waiting for another 30 seconds she said hesitantly, "My brother does not like that I am coming to the Mormon church." After she had opened up to us and told us about that hardship, I bore testimony about how reading the Book of Mormon every day would strengthen her testimony and courage to stand up for herself. Then Sorella Jones asked another wise question. She said, "What can you do to help him understand? What do you think you should do?" I loved that question because it helped that investigator to think for herself what she could to do be a free-agent rather than to simply be acted upon. As she thought about what she could personally do to deal with the situation, she was probably more committed to follow through with it.

  I am grateful that Sorella Jones was so patient and loving with her investigator that she was sensitive enough to heed the promptings of the Spirit. Most, if not all the people with whom we work face problems that we as missionaries are not aware of. If we do not know what these obstacles are, we cannot help them solve their problems and continue to progress towards faith, repentance and baptism.

 I know that the Holy Ghost guides our work by prompting us to ask the right questions and to patiently listen to others. In this way they are able to feel our love and will open up to us and let us know how we can help.

I love you all! Shout out to Anziano Dean, I read your email! I will pray for Giorgio. Thanks for sharing that miracle.

 Sorella Oakes

3rd Week in Genoa

Dear Family,

We tried something that Anziano Barnes and Ibba did a few weeks ago- visualizing seven new investigators that we would find for the upcoming week. During weekly programming, we took a little extra time to think about their spiritual and temporal needs, their physical and spiritual characteristics.

 After lunch, we headed out to the park. After a half hour we found number one on our list. She met the following pre-inspired description- yellow shirt, single african woman who would readily understand the need for the Book of Mormon. Check. She was more than happy to set up an appointment at her house for that week. Fast forward a week, she has come to church and has a baptismal date!

Okay, let's go back to our finding experience at the park last Friday...after an hour, we saw a man sitting on a bench without shoes. We did not know why, but in planning the night before we knew we needed to find someone without shoes. As we approached and began a conversation with him, we were a bit confused because he was not making sense. It seemed as if he was high on drugs. After wrapping that up, we turned around and flash, Darwin walked towards us. We shook his hand and delivered our pre-planned power statement- "This life is an opportunity to change and become a better person." He immediately asked us to sit down with him on a vacant bench. Darwin opened up and said, "For a month I have not wanted to talk to anyone about this, but since I do not know you two I feel more comfortable talking about it. My wife and son left me because I have not treated them well. After they left, I've started to turn to God. I want to change and repent so badly." As he talked and cried you could feel his sorrow, and great desire to come to Christ....

I will not relate our entire experience but Darwin fit the perfect description of our second investigator on our list. As expected, he was a 35 year old man who needed the power of the Atonement in his life. We had a powerful lesson with him and a family in our ward yesterday.

These miracles bear testimony to me of the blessings that come from planning prayerfully and specifically. Heavenly Father is capable of guiding us when we were first show our desire to be prepared for who he places in our path. There is no doubt that He is guiding our planning and our work. He is helping Sorella McFadden and I to know His children on a deeper level.

Lots of love!
 
Sorella Oakes

2nd Week in Genoa

Family!!!

 I could not possibly express how much I love it here in Genova. The work is exploding. At the beginning of last week we were worrying about how we were going to teach lessons, get investigators and we had lots of time to do finding work. As of yesterday, the rest of this week up until monday is completely full! Full with appointments with beautiful families, elect potential investigators that we have found. We have been talking to soo many people, everyone that we can, and it has been worth it. It's like a miracle tide is growing and building up, about to crash on the Genova beach!

  Our zone and district leaders have given us some awesome training and encouragement about how we can teach and find investigators in a more effective and efficient manner. I really enjoyed an activity that we did in district meeting monday. Each one of us pretended to be normal people sitting on the bus. We took turns playing different roles pre-written on sticky notes while one companionship went around contacting us. The goal was to take 30 seconds to talk to each person, teaching and asking a question and getting their contact info. It was hard, but really fun to practice. As we have been applying this principle we have been able to talk to more people and find those who are interested in our message. Our planners are so full of phone numbers and addresses...

 Anyway, I guess that getting a lot of phone numbers and appointments..."being busy" does not necessarily mean that we are successful. Let me tell you about a few of these amazing children of God.

We have started a new finding approach. We carry around a whiteboard with a yes-or-no question written on it, like "Is there a purpose to life?" People enjoy having their say, and it's a great way to quickly spark up a conversation, bear testimony and get people talking.  Although we are not very experienced in "whiteboarding", it has brought much success! One young man named Jonathan approached us, and told us that he had wanted to attend our english course in the past, but had lost our contact information. He was in a hurry, but was very willing to set up an appointment with us for the following day.
     
    Thanks to the testimony and fellowship of an awesome returned missionary in our ward, the lesson went really well. Jonathan felt very open to ask questions and talk about his desires to develop a closer relationship with Christ. The Spirit was abundant as we taught him and watched the Restoration film. He expressed how he felt much like Joseph Smith, having attended and studied with four different faiths, yet feeling confused about which doctrines were true. Kyoto, our member, explained to Jonathan that he too could ask God in prayer to receive a sure answer. He bore testimony about the power of having real intent by making promises with God in prayer. His testimony was the perfect segway into a soft baptismal invite.  Jonathan accepted and then offered a beautiful, humble prayer. He is still coming to English class, but I think he's even more excited to attend church on Sunday. :)

  My favorite person we have met this week was Claudia! While walking to Institute last night we still held up the whiteboard. This beautiful woman passed us, and seemed  taken aback when she read the question we had written, "Is there life after death?" My first impression of her was that she would ignore us and walk away. But when we asked her, "What do you think?" She just looked at me, and then to my surprise, she began to cry. I put my hand on her shoulder and asked what had happened. She said, "I am going through a really hard time". We bore testimony of the plan of salvation and she smiled and said, "I know this can help me". She was just as happy to have met us, as we were to meet her. We set up an appointment. She is going to get baptized, I just know it!

Well, these are just a few of the amazing things we have seen. I pray that you are working hard and enjoying the blessings of the Lord as well. He loves us so much!

Love,
Sorella Oakes

1st Week in Genoa

Dear Mom, Dad, Elder Oakes and Beloved Grandparents,

  I cannot express how much I have changed in the last few days. This has no doubt been the most intense AND most rewarding week of my mission. To synthesize my experience in a few words, relationships are hard! Due to stress and fatique, Sorella McFadden has been feeling down. For three days I poured all my heart and energy into loving and building her up, trying to crack stupid jokes and be positive. After remaining patient and loving all through the day, she was still having a hard time. It was difficult for us to love and have patience for each other.

 There was a point when for the first time on my mission, I really wondered if I was capable, physically and spiritually of continuing forward. My heart was full of sorrow and I felt this incredible burden weighing on my shoulders. I knelt down by my bed and prayed more intensely than I ever have before. I pleaded for strength, understanding, charity and patience. As I prayed I knew that the Savior had atoned for my sorrows, sins and personal weaknesses. I felt Him close to me, bearing me up. The only thing keeping me going was the testimony that I had that the Lord never calls us to fail. He has confidence in us to grow into and fulfill our callings and to overcome challenges.

Because I turned and completely relied on my Savior, I received sustaining peace and hope as I read the scriptures. The next day I kept smiling, being positive and working hard. At some point, things began to get better between Sorella McFadden and me. Our friendship began to bloom, and we felt sincere appreciation and charity for each other. By the end of Friday night, Sorella McFadden was smiling and laughing, and we were rejoicing in all the miracles that the Lord had blessed us with that day. I was on cloud nine! My heart was filled with love and this incredible good feeling. I had changed and she has changed so much too!  I am deeply impressed with Sorella McFadden's faith to change. She has overcome difficult things and that is a powerful example to me.

I have never felt so much pure love and closeness to a missionary companion as I do now with Sorella McFadden. I feel so much satisfaction every time that she smiles and laughs, every time she casts her fear aside and approaches someone on the bus. Oh I cannot express how much I love her. I love the Savior so much as well. It is ONLY through Him, that we could have progressed to where we are now. The atonement is the most powerful source of help that we can receive.

 At zone conference, President and Sorella Wolfgramm and our other leaders talked about the very things that we are learning now. I want to bear personal testimony that perfect love does cast out all fear and discouragement. God is love. Do you want to hear about the miracles and success stories that we have been seeing in Genova recently? I'll tell you, there are a lot!!  And regarding Sorella McFadden and me, we ARE awesome!!!  We are sacred missionaries.

  Mom, Anziano Barnes is my district leader! He is an amazing missionary and leader. I am so grateful for his support and example. We are going to see so many miracles in our district this transfer! Tell his parents that he is blessing so many lives over here, including the missionaries. But they already know that, of course.

To tell you all a bit about Genova...there are about 70, 80 people who attend church. I love this ward soo much! I thought that Varese was the best branch, but now I feel like Genova 2 is the best! We receive referrals from the members, and there are lot of people who want to come teach with us. Right now we just need to find some investigators.

It is beautiful here! Genova is a big city, the buses are already packed. The ocean is my favorite part!

Love you all so much,
 
Sorella Oakes

24th Letter from Varese

Dear ones,

I am getting transferred to Genova!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with Sorella Mcfadden. So excited.

Miracle for the week-

As we were returning home, the tune of a hymn graced my thoughts. The words perfectly summed up a principle that I had learned from our investigator, Luca. "Be thou humble in thy calling, and the Lord thy God shall teach thee to serve his children gladly with a pure and gentle love..."

  We had discussed Baptism and Confirmation with Luca. After months of covering all the lessons, answering his numerous doctrinal questions, Sorella McNamara and I have taught him about all that we know. So today we had full-intent to make this meeting especially spiritual. After having learned the basic doctrines, we want to help Luca to understand with his heart. As we began with a prayer, I pleaded with the Lord to help me be humble enough to rely on the Spirit to bear testimony beyond my own capacity.

  Sorella McNamara and I asked Luca about his reading in the Book of Mormon. He began to talk, and this time, I feel like I truly tried to LISTEN. I tried to seek to understand his point of view, his questions, his heart. Within a few minutes my eyes swelled with tears and I was overcome with the Spirit. Sorella McNamara interrupted him and asked me, "Sorella Oakes, what's wrong?" I expressed that I was filled with joy because I knew that Luca would receive a spiritual confirmation of the truth. I bore humble testimony to Luca that the Holy Ghost will bear testimony to his heart in a way that he won't be able to deny or forget.

Luca seemed very touched and responded, "I trust you both and I care about you as good friends. Thank you."  I felt pure Christlike love for him as well, like a brother. The entire lesson was very spiritual and uplifting,all thanks to the power of the Spirit. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I know that it enriches our lives and reassures us of spiritual truths. I do not know the future, but I trust in the Spirit, that Luca will receive that confirmation to his prayers that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this is the restored and complete church of Jesus Christ.

I looked up the rest of the words to the hymn, "Be thou Humble" while getting ready for bed. They say, "   Be thou humble in thy weakness, and the Lord thy God shall lead thee, Shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers. Be thou humble in thy pleading, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee...with a sweet and calm assurance that he cares."

Love,

Sorella Oakes

23rd Letter from Varese

Dear Loved Ones,
 
  President has reviewed that we are to send emails only to immediate family members so sadly I will not be emailing Grandparents Garner and Oakes anymore...but if you could forward them my emails they can read them. Mom also posts things on my blog and they can look there. I will be better at sending letters to Grandparents. But know that I love you soo very much, I just need to be obedient to the white hand book.

 We have two fans in our apartment. I have heard that here in Varese it will start to be cooling down around August. I have been sleeping much better at night. Thank you for everyone's concern!

 As far as the work goes, we have a couple of wonderful progressing investigators. Luca (Gabriele's friend) is so so close to receiving an answer to his prayers concerning the validity of the Book of Mormon. He had a baptismal date for a few weeks ago, but he did not feel completely ready. He has a deeper knowledge of the doctrine of the gospel and organization of the church than anyone I have ever taught. He is very rational and thorough, but also spiritually sensitive...so even though he is taking a little longer to be baptized, when he makes that step he will be solid. He is going to be a stake president someday or something. He is a pleasure to teach. He respects us and takes our lessons seriously. He studies the Book of Mormon as if he were going to take an exam on it. Sometimes he will call us to say that he has already arranged an appointment with another member, and he will text us our train times. Wow, we are so spoiled to teach him! I will probably get transferred within a few weeks, and I won't be there for his baptism, but I am filled with joy for him and his future.

 I have got to tell you about our new investigator Wilfredo! Sorella McNamara and I were talking to people at the Comune gardens last Saturday evening. There was this teenage boy sitting alone on a bench, "too cool for school". Spiked hair, big sunglasses, big headphones in. I felt the prompting to talk to him, but it seemed like it would be a struggle to get his attention. As we walked towards him he gave us a big smile, pulled off his shades and headphones and motioned for us to sit down next to him! He turned out to be a completely different person than I had expected. He was very respectful and sweet, humble and open. The gift of tongues helped us to understand his spanish, haha. We immediately began talking about restored truths of the gospel, and he bore testimony of how God has assisted him in his life. He talked about his experience preaching the word of Christ in the hospital in El Salvador with others from his church. As he spoke, his face shone with the light of Christ. From those first moments that we talked, there was no doubt that he is elect.

  Some of his "friends," rather, acquaintances, walked by us. One of the two young boys laughed and spoke to Wilfredo in slang Spanish. Even though we did not understand every thing he said, it was apparent he was saying some vulgar things about us. Wilfredo boldly said to them, "Go away. We are talking about the word of God." The boy was taken aback and became silent. He tried to keep his cool and laugh at Wilfredo but he seemed very embarrassed. They walked away and Wilfredo turned to us and apologized. "I know it is weird, but I like being alone. I do not like hanging out with other people like them too much. I am sorry for how they behaved."  Sorella McNamara and I were impressed by his maturity and respect for us and for God.

  Through going with him to church and teaching him a lesson, we have continued to realize how pure and faithful he is. Despite being surrounded by family and friends who are involved in the sins of the world, he has received revelation and comfort from reading the bible and attending church. He is disgusted by drugs, tobacco and other addictive substances.

 I know that the Lord guided us to find each other. Wilfredo has kept himself unspotted from the world, and the Lord has prepared him to receive the restored gospel. He will be getting baptized. I already love him like a brother. I am so grateful the Lord has allowed me to serve a mission and to know people like this. I cannot even describe how blessed I feel. Heavenly Father loves each and every one of His children so much. I know that our message changes our lives. It brings lasting happiness and peace in this life.

All my affetto,
Sorella Oakes

22nd Letter from Varese

Many of the most powerful invites I have extended on my mission have
occurred while traveling home from zone conferences in Milano. After
having been instructed from President Wolfgramm and the assistents
about "Teach-to-Find", Sorella McNamara and I were pumped to contact
everyone.

While waiting for our train we decided to talk to 7 people. We
approached the first and gave the new technique a try. Without
introduction, we shook a young mother's hand and boldly said, "God is
our Heavenly Father and He loves us. How do you feel the love of God
in your life?..." To our surprise, it worked! Even though she seemed
confused and shocked for a moment, she answered our question and the
conversation began. She was not interested, but we gave her a pass
along card and moved on. We immediately began talking to someone else,
and then another, and then another...6, 7 or 8 people after that we
found one of 'em precious pearls!!! (That goes along with our Como
zone theme, "The Como Fleet and the Quest for the 20 pearls).
We talked to Henock a young man Ethiopian dressed in a suit. We
learned that he had just returned back from an interview at the Milano
University to apply for the Master's program. He bore testimony of how
Christ has been by his side all along his progression in school and
life. He had the light of Christ in his countenance and we could feel
he was one of the prepared and elect. Thanks to the small dialogue
we had prepared during Training Meeting, Sorella McNamara and I taught
with simplicity, and the Spirit was sooo strong. I could feel the
Spirit working and flooding through our mouths as we bore testimony of
eternal truths. After introducting the Book of Mormon I felt impressed
to briefly tell the first vision.

I was filled with the most incredible joy as I looked in his eyes
and spoke to him. I felt the Spirit so strongly that I could not help
from balling. I have not felt that way while telling the First Vision
in a really long time. Henock was really touched by the Spirit. He
pulled out a tissue from his pocket and said, "Don't cry", but he
could tell I wasn't crying because I was sad. We got his contact
information and he cannot wait for the missionaries to come teach him!
The last thing he said when we parted was, "Will you pray for
me?" We said, "Of course we will."

What a miracle! All thanks to Teach-to-Find.

Love,
Sorella Oakes

21st Letter from Varese

Dear Loved Ones,

It is so hot here! I don't know how Elder Oakes and Grandma and
Grandpa live in Brazil. It's hard to sleep at night. In the middle of
the night I get in the shower and drench my clothes and hair with cold
water so I can go back to sleep. Sometimes I do that twice or three
times! And it's going to get hotter in July and August.

I want to tell you about a new amazing investigator- Conie. We met her
on the bus with her adorable son Fabrizio. They are Peruvian, and she
is deaf. She doesn't read lips or understand italian. We bring a
Spanish speaking member with us with a computer and she translates
everything. Conie and Fabrizio came to church this last week. They are
so sweet. You feel the Spirit really strongly when you are around her.
Did I tell you this already? I hope not.

Richie is even more elect than we ever thought. Within one
transfer, he met us and progressed to baptism. Besides having studied,
"lived" and practically memorized half of the Book of Mormon, he has
an excellent grip on the basic doctrines of the church by studying the
Gospel Principles Book on his own. He loves the Lord and always tries
to build others up with his big smile and positive words.

This week, Sorella McNamara and I got to learn a little bit more
about his family background. When we were teaching a lesson, I
recounted an experience I had with my dad when I was younger. When I
looked at Richie, tears were slowly streaming down his face. I paused
and asked, "What's wrong?" He said, "You are so lucky to have a family
like that. My dad does not write or talk to me. He doesn't care what I
do with my life." We all sat there in silence for a minute. Sorella
McNamara and I felt sad for him.

 A few days later, his mom showed up in church for the first time! Well, in fact,
it wasn't really the first time. When I approached her, I realized that I had seen her
before. Months ago, Sorella Walton and I had visited an inactive man
in our branch. A few weeks after that, he showed up in church, with
his companion, Kate. When we had tried to fellowship her, she was very
aggressive and rude, to say the least. They never showed up again....until last
Sunday. That woman turns out to be Richie's mother! What a coincidence.

I do not want to dampen this miracle story with negative things. I
just want to say that I am amazed with how great Richie is! It seems
that although he has had a rough family situation, he has clung to
Jesus Christ his whole life and the Lord has led him to His true
church. I am so grateful for the hand of the Lord in Richie's life. We
love him like a brother. There is no doubt that Richie is an elect
spirit, faithful son of God who was reserved to live in these last
days. It is a priveledge to know him. I cannot wait to see what the
future holds for him in his spiritual progression and service in the
Lord's kingdom.

Well, I hope you have received my letters.
Lots of love,

Sorella Oakes

20th Letter from Varese

Cara famiglia,

I saw the pictures of Elder Oakes. He looks great. And very happy. I
am so proud of him. We are committing ourselves to serve our best out
here and secure blessings for all of you. I really appreciate all of
your love and support for us as missionaries.
We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends.

Many of my favorite miracles occur while doing finding work. Go Book
of Mormon fishing. . . My explanation mark key does not work, sad.
Well, immagine it's there. Yesterday, as we were waiting at our famous
lucky bus stop to go to Mikele, our new baptismal date, we met another
golden potential. When we first sparked up a conversation with Anton,
he was pretty skeptical of our sincerity. He furrowed his brow and
leaned into me and asked.... insert quote mark...You both say that you
believe in Jesus Christ. You, tell me how you've seen a miracle of
Jesus in your personal life?....The Spirit told me in that exact
moment what to say. I responded, He has given me the power to forgive
someone who did me wrong. I know that I could not have done that on my
own, only through Christ. That is a miracle to me. Anton nodded
his head and his heart seemed to soften.

Sorella Mcnamara raised up her Book of Mormon that she had in her
hand and bore testimony of how her relationship with the Savior had
grown through reading and praying. As our bus pulled up we asked him
if we could meet again. He gave us his contact info but said that he
did not have time to meet us. He got on the bus with us. Sorella
Mcnamara and I decided to walk to another part of the bus, to leave
him with the Spirit and ponder what we had just said.
After a few minutes he approached us, tapped my shoulder and said,
How do I get your book? We told him that he could read a bit in the
bus until we got off. He returned to his seat, opened up the Book and
read the first two pages before we got off. I secretly hoped he would
run off the bus and steal our Book of Mormon. That would be awesome,
haha.

Turned out that we both got off at the same stop. As he handed us
back our Book he said, I am available in the mornings. Where and when
can we meet? We set up an appointment with him. I am very excited to
meet with him again.

We have 3 baptismal dates right now- Luca for the 1st of July, Mikele
on the 14th, and Wahabu on the 7th. Mikele and Luca and doing great
but it has been hard to meet Wahabu- teaching Africans is a completely
different than teaching Italians. He is really humble and sweet but I
do not how much he understands of what we teach him. It would be great
if you could keep him and Richie in your prayers.

Sending all my amore e affetto,
Sorella Oakes

19th Letter from Varese

Dear Loved Ones,

I had an awesome birthday! Richie was confirmed that day. It was the best gift ever.

Sorella Mcnamara supports me in meeting my personal goals. She is diligent in doing the basic things- popp charts, getting up and going to bed on time, etc.  This week I told her that I would like to increase the spirituality of our evenings while preparing for bed. She suggested that we read Jesus the Christ together and discuss it together. Last night after programming we went on the roof and read together. I can feel that thirty minutes affecting the rest of my work. We are more united as a companionship and edified in the rest of our daily activities.

This miracle illustrates the power of inspired nightly planning! A few weeks ago, while planning for the next days activities, we followed President Wolfgramm's advice to visualize the people in whom we would contact the next day. We imagined meeting a young university man who was half Italiano and half South American. The next day while waiting at a bus stop we talked to a few people who weren't interested, and then we began talking with this guy. Turns out he met with the anziani a few times in the past. He has had testimoni di Geova missionaries and evangelists visit him before so he was welcome to having us pass by. After exchanging his contact information and setting up an appointment it hit us, "Wait, Mikele is half Italian half South American. He is the man we planned to meet last evening." Even if we remembered that we had planned to contact someone like him after the fact, it helped us realize that the Lord placed him in our path. Our meeting was not by chance.

 Since then we have had two awesome lessons with him. In our second lesson he opened up his heart to us and layed out all of the problems that he is facing in his life. He asked lots of questions about the atonement and expressed his desire to be relieved of his burdens from sin. As tough as this guy seems his eyes welled up with tears several times and the spirit touched his heart. I remember him pausing at one point in the lesson and asking us, "Out of all the people you could have talked to, why did you decide to talk to me that day on the street?"  We could honestly say, "We know it was not by chance. We had prayerfully imagined meeting someone like you, and after having talked with you, we knew the Lord placed you in our path Mikele. He has been preparing you to receive the gospel at this time in your life." He paused and said, "I just want peace. I feel really good when I meet with you, but everytime I pray I feel so guilty. Can you guys tell me what will help me? What should I do?"

The Spirit was at its peak, we saw the target and boom we gave him the baptismal invite for 30 of June. He accepted it wholeheartedly and dedicated himself to prepare for that date. It is so amazing how the Lord's will can come in line with our when we seek revelation in nightly planning.

Hey Richie just walked into the internet point, he wants to say something to y'all. He says, "Hi, it's Richie!" He doesn't know what else to say haha. " I am happy I met your daughter. And she's really awesome and her colleague. Ya!"

Love ya all!

 Sorella Oakes

18th Letter from Varese

Cara famiglia,

Question- was there an earthquake there in the US this week?  We have had quite a few ones this past week. We live on the 10th floor so we can feel and see everything swaying a lot. It's really fun!

So something I learned this morning. Do not try to show your companion caprera cartwheels in your apartment, especially in a tiny apartment. I kicked my ankle against the shelf and got a biggg blue bruise. Miracle- after putting it up and wiggling my ankle it is gone. There is a tiny bit of purple left and I am walking as if nothing happened. Stupid mistake, lesson learned, I won't do that again. :)
 
So many things have happened this week. We began teaching an x investigator of the anziani, named Giorgio. We found him doing area book, gave him a call and he was very willing to meet us. As we talked with him we found him to be a very respectful, intelligent, honest man who has been prepared by the Lord. Let me tell you, he idolizes one of the missionaries who served here in Varese, Anziano Dean. I know him a little bit as well and he is an excellent missionary. Almost every other sentence Giorgio would make a comment about how Anziano Dean taught him how to pray and brought him to the light of his faith now. In the end, his wife was not too happy about him being associated with the LDS church, for some reason and they began to attend the evangelist church. He is very content with his pastor and the congregation where they meet and loves reading the bible. Giorgio told us that the past six months he really developed a relationship with Christ and he feels like his life has become more beautiful than ever before. There is not time to relate more about him, but after a few lessons with him, he still would not keep his commitment to read the Book of Mormon. My heart was broken. We had told him so many times, "just read for 10 minutes a day. This is the only way you will know for yourself of the validity of what we are telling you." He told us that he wants to read the entire Bible first to see where all the gaps are, and then read the Book of Mormon. Even though we only met with him three times I came to care about him so much. It makes me feel sorrowful to leave him be for the future missionaries, but it is the right thing. Patience, patience, patience. Trust in the Lord. He takes care of His children.

I am grateful for all that I am learning about relaxing, letting go of things that are out of my control and being cheerful in the Lord. I felt the grace of the Lord enter into my heart, give me peace and liberate me from spiritual and emotional burdens. I grew my testimony of the reality of the atonement and how it applies to my daily life.

 Carina moved to Peru Monday without letting us get a chance to say goodbye and get her contact information. I pray that she will get in touch with the missionaries there. She probably will, seeing that many of her family are members in the church. Once again, I am learning a lot about trusting in the Lord to take care of her, and do all the things that are not in my power. I love Carina so much!

   I do not know if I told you..Dominga is finalizing her divorce so that she can marry Massimo!!!!!!!! We had a very spiritual lesson with her and another awesome member (Sorella Omer) yesterday about the temple. Dominga wants to be worthy to enter there and do baptisms with Sander next year. It's wonderful to imagine what will happen in their family five years, ten years from now. I have faith that they will oneday be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. An eternal family. I will let you know how our first lesson goes with Massimo on Friday.

  Well, Richie is right on track for his baptism this Saturday! A funny thing that we discovered yesterday- he really is an African prince. Sorella Mcnamara has been joking with me for the last few weeks about her suspicions of him being an African prince. He won't tell us where he lives, or let us meet his mom, he dresses in really nice clothes, he has this big dream about playing professional soccer rather than following his mom's counsel to get an education. We have made up this whole story about him, how he is secretly really rich and lives in a mansion in Varese and does not tell anyone because he wants to live a normal life. Yesterday he was feeling kind of down and at the end of the lesson we jokingly asked him if he was a prince. He laughed a little bit and said, "well actually, I am a prince. My father was a king of our tribe...." Haha. he went on to explain more about his life in Africa.

   I am so happy to serve with Sorella Mcnamara. She makes me laugh and the love the work. We(I) are getting better at teaching together. Her Italian is getting so well and our English is going down the drain! Mom I might need to attend English lessons with your first graders when I get home, okay?

  Well, if I go home at 11 transfers school would have already started for two weeks, so I will be staying for 12 transfers, returning around the beginning of March. That will allow time to spend time with Mom, visit California and dad and prepare for spring semester. Other than that I do not know what my plans are, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. I am grateful I still have quite a bit of time left here in Italy! I will be staying here in Varese with Sorella Mcnamara for one more transfer. It will be the best one yet!



   I love you so much!
    Sorella Oakes
 

17th Letter from Varese

Carissima Famiglia,
 
I wish I could write you in Italian...Let me tell you about some of the amazing events of this week!

Sander was baptized last Saturday! His mother's companion Massimo agreed to let him be baptized. He remained outside in the car during the baptism and the first two hours of church the next morning, but he joined us for the second part of the third hour- Sacrament Meeting. We have been praying so hard for him each day, to have his heart softened, and to accept the gospel. It was a big miracle that he came into the church, even if it was for a half hour. Sorella Mcnamara and I also set up an appointment with him yesterday when we went to teach Sander at their house!

   The baptism was so peaceful. There were only a few people in attendance, but the Spirit was abundant. Everyone expressed their love for and support of Sander. It is beautiful to witness the beginnings of little Sander's conversion. He has read 1 and 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon on his own. He reads for a half hour each day and soaks in everything that he reads. His testimony is so strong and independent right now, being only 11 years old. It is exciting to think about the good things that are in store for his future. We are already seeing the blessings that his faith is bringing to his family now- his mom being reactivated, his two little sisters making a primary class, and his "step dad" beginning to show interest in the gospel. What an incredible missionary Sander will be! He will have a burning testimony and knowledge of the Book of Mormon, and will convert so many others. How great is one soul in the sight [work] of God.

  Pass-along-card miracle... I imagine that there are so many more experiences like this, but you rarely find out about them. Remember Carina? The sweet Peruvian woman who will have a baby and wants to be baptized? We have continued to teach her the lessons and have been preparing her for the 2nd of June. When we entered her house for the first time last week, we noticed a pass-along-card (the one with Christ's face) on top of her shelf in her living room, crumpled, and sitting next to pictures of Jesus and her family. We asked her about it. She said that Sorella Walton gave it to her months ago in the bus. There was one evening when Carina was feeling really depressed and helpless. She came so close to calling our number and asking us to come teach her. But then she thought, "Maybe God will help us to meet again."   When she told us that I thought, "Why didn't you call us!!!!" She needs to be baptized so badly, and to receive the aid and comfort of the Holy Ghost. But everything happens in the right timing of the Lord, right?

Sorella Mcnamara and I met and talked with her again, thanks to Heavenly Father. I had forgotten all about her, I do not remember her face or ever meeting her in the past... anyway, I know the Lord guides our work. Her words were a real testimony builder to me of the importance of talking and giving pass along cards to everyone that we can. I wonder how many others are in her same situation.

Well, there is not time to relate her situation right now. In a few words she is going to move back to Peru this week, she told us she wanted to get baptized this Thursday and one hour before her interview she called us and told us she feels nervous and she wants to wait to get baptized. I have no idea what to do, but we are taking it one day at a time. We feel this incredible peace with the work and in the power of the Lord. Will you keep her in your prayers? The adversary surely tries his hardest to tempt investigators right before baptism.

Update- Richie is the most awesome investigator! He is getting baptized on the 2nd of June, and we love him to death. He is our Nigerian brother! He is going to be a fantastic missionary.

Vi voglio tantissimo bene!

Con tanto affetto dal mio cuore,
   
Sorella Oakes

16th Letter from Varese

Dear Family,

Let me just tell you that Sorella Mcnamara is awesome! She is speaking the language with me all throughout the day, even when we are inside the house. I remember SYLing being mentally and emotionally exhausting for me during my first transfer in the mission. But Sorella Mcnamara is determined to improve and be her best, and has a deep desire to support me as her companion.  We are working side by side. I do not feel like she is dragging the work down in the least bit. It is very apparent that the work has skyrocketed ever since she came into town. Her enthusiasm to improve herself and to become selfless inspires me. She "GEMS" me every day!

We did splits yesteday with Sorella Padulla and Sorella Jacobsen. And afterwards we did cartwheels. Funny. Talk about a powerhouse companionship!!! I have never had such an instructive, uplifting, effective, spiritual scambio (Blitz). As a result of their constant SYLing,(Speak your language)  laughing, desire to serve and love us, Sorella Mcnamara and I became better missionaries. We taught many lessons, gave two solid baptismal invites, and even set another baptismal date with one of our new investigators! Miracles were exploding all over Varese yesterday. I am confident that over a hundred people were affected by the Spirit.

For the last half hour of our time together, we sat in our living room and discussed what we had learned together and offered suggestions to the other companionship about how they could improve. It was very helpful and uplifting. It is incredible to witness the power that two 21 year old women who love the Lord and devote all of themselves to His service can do together.

Sorella Jacobsen is from Salt Lake, she has a rather quiet personality, but has no problem approaching and talking to people she does not know. She is very obedient to the teaching the simple doctrines of Preach My Gospel, but also follows the Spirit in using her own words and normal language to relate to people, as they are. I learned a lot from her in that respect. She helped me to talk to people in a more informal, haha you could say, "normal" way. I did not even realize it, but sometimes I can become a little too intense and forget to just relax and let the Spirit do its job. She also taught me a lot about just opening my mouth and speaking without thinking too hard about what I am going to say next. It really made a difference as we continued to approach people and I tried following her advice. I also felt the Spirit more myself.

  Sorella Padulla is an Argentinian fireball. She had a big scholarship to sing opera at a university, but felt the Spirit call her to serve a mission. She followed the prompting immediately, learned Italian and English really well in the MTC in Spain and speaks better than most of us missionaries who have been out in the field for a while. This is her second transfer in the field, but you would never know it! She is super talkative, huggy and constantly thinking of others. I was most impressed with her prayers. I cannot even express how heartfelt, beautiful and powerful they were. I began to understand how the Nephites felt in 3 Nephi 17:16-17 " The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard before, so great and marvelous things..." when Jesus prayed for them. I know I am going on and on about these sisters, but I cannot even tell you how they have impacted my life. I pray to be like them.

 I feel so weak in my capacity, more than ever, but in a good way, I think. I cannot believe why we are having so much success in the work right now, but all I know is that is not by our own power! We could never do it all on our own. All I can say is that we are trying to improve, to be 100% obedient, to forget all our personal affairs at home and to do our best. I feel like a tiny crab trying to move a wall. It's incredible, the "wall" is moving. The Lord is moving it. I am so grateful for the goodness of God and my companion.

All my love,

Sorella Oakes

15th Letter from Varese

Cara Famiglia,
 
 Grazie Mille for sending me Elder Oakes' letter! I am thrilled that he baptized that Jurassi and that he is excited about transferring to BH. When you get the pics please forward them to me as well.

   This has week has been a bit like a rollercoaster. Everything was prepared for Sander's baptism, he was ready and excited. I cannot relate the details, but literally five minutes before the baptism some things happened, it was the most dramatic and intense event of my mission, and he was not baptized. He is worthy in every way and could have been baptized, but there are a few family issues to resolve first. You know, as unexpected as it all was, Sorella Mcnamara and I felt peace. I felt more prepared to handle something like this because of my experience at Osagie's first baptism when he did not show up in Cuneo. I feel like I can relate to Elder Oakes' experiences and realize that there are things that are out of our control. In the end, the important thing is that we have done our part, the Lord does His, and eventually the elect will get baptized even though Satan will do all he can to stop it. The work will go on, and we must have patience. Without saying details, please pray that Sander and his mom will continue to come to church and not be offended. They really need our prayers. We are going to play basketball with Sander today. He is such a good solid kid.

    On the up side, I need to tell y'all about one of the most amazing people! Out of all the people that I have met in my life, I have never met anyone quite like Carina. She is from Peru and we got her phone number on the bus last week and set up an appt.  While we were taking the bus to the church together, she told us of all of her heartaches and trials that she is facing.

   When she saw Sorella Walton on the bus a while back, she remembered her two brothers in Peru, who are members of the church. She remembered the counsel that they had given to her to come to Christ and investigate the church. For some reason Carina did not talk to Sorella Walton, but now, weeks or months later she accepted to meet with Sorella Mcnamara and me.

   After Carina had explained her situation to us, we asked, "What are your expectations of us as missionaries?" She broke down crying and said, "I want to have a change of heart. I have made so many mistakes in my life, and I hope...I hope that you can help me come to my Savior. Teach me all that you know, I want to know everything. If this is the right thing I will come to church every week and change my life." Sorella Mcnamara and I bore our testimonies of the power of the atonement and the healing of the Savior. We felt the strongest desire to teach her the gospel, and to help her be baptized. She readily accepted the invitation as well as a date. Since then, she has come to church, Book of Mormon in hand and sincere questions in mind to ask us. I cannot express how good I felt when she said at Sander's baptism, "I have read the chapters you left me, and it gives me peace. I feel so much better than I have in a long time." There is power in the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Christ. Carina's story has surely strengthened my testimony of the Savior and His power.

Let me tell you, I love working with Sorella Mcnamara! She is so driven, so humble and hardworking. Our investigators really feel the Spirit when she bears her testimony. She has so much to give already. Her language is picking up and I feel like we are working well together. I do not feel like her trainer anymore.

I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK TO MOM AND DAD MOTHER'S DAY. Can't wait to hear your voices. You have so much to relate to me. In the meantime, vi voglio benissimo!
 
Con affetto,
   
Sorella Oakes

14th Letter from Varese

Dear Family,
 
What an awesome week! I love being a missionary.  My companion is wonderful.  Punto.

We set two baptismal dates, two days in a row!!! One is for Richie, a Nigerian we met on the street this week, and Luca, the best friend of Gabrielle (an awesome member in our ward). I would like to expound a little bit about our experience with Richie. When we taught him his first lesson at the church, we came to see how prepared and elect he really is. He is always smiling, he is pure and very sensitive to the spirit. He has the Bible practically memorized and loves Christ with all his heart. As we taught him, he listened intently and ate up all that we said. He accepted a baptismal date for June 2nd. When we asked him what he would do to prepare for baptism, he responded, "I need to share this book with all of my friends, and invite them to church." We laughed, agreed and also advised him to read and gain a testimony of the book first.

When he went home that night he read the Introduction and first 7 chapters of the Book of Mormon. When we met him at the bus stop to go to church, he was wearing a beautiful bright blue African shirt, wooden necklace and nice pants. He had a notebook, pencil and his Book of Mormon. He looked sharp! We were really impressed with how prepared and excited he was to learn and to seek revelation in church. Richie thanked us for the Book of Mormon, and related to us the story of Nephi better than we could have done.

We were a little nervous to bring him to our branch on Sunday, based upon some negative experiences our members have had with African converts in the past. Contrary to our expectations, Richie was welcomed by the members with open arms! Some members who had served their missions in England translated for him in Sacrament meeting and Gospel Principles class. After church was over he knew half the members and a group of young single adults encircled him and invited him to the YSA FHE in Milano that night. After Sorella Mcnamara and I finished talking with some other investigators, we approached Richie and his friends and said, "We are going to go home now."  He smiled and said, "That's okay, I am going home with them! We will talk on the phone later."  Haha! That made Sorella Mcnamara and I so happy! We are counting on Richie being a strong and active member of the church after his baptism because of the members' support and his love of the Book of Mormon.

   After we set our baptismal date with Luca and as we were getting ready for bed,  Sorella Mcnamara and I said to each other, "Let's just make this a habit. Each day we will set a baptismal date, okay?!" Haha, we feel like the promises of the Lord are real- the field is white, all ready to harvest. Yes, even here in Varese Italia.

Sander is getting baptized Saturday! He and his mother are doing so well. It will be a beautiful experience.

 Sorry I did not have a lot of time to write this week.
 
Sending my amore to you all,
   
Love ,
       
Sorella Oakes

13th Letter from Varese

Ciaody Family!

   Hello from cloud nine here in Varese! Sorella Walton is in a three some in Pordenone by Slovenia. I pray she is doing well.  Sorella Mcnamara is my amazing comp! She comes from Provo Utah and attended Timpview High School. We did not know each other in high school but we were at all the games together- I was playing in the pep band and she was a cheerleader. She wants to say hello to Allie Edgington from the Miss Provo pageant! She studied three years of art history at the Y. Sorella Mcnamara is absolutely gorgeous, intelligent, driven, and tells me that we need to laugh more. Any tips? I have not realized it before now, but I take myself too seriously sometimes. Sorella Mcnamara said something I really liked, "I want to be 100% obedient to the mission rules and work hard...but if we are not having fun we are not doing this right."   So my question for y'all is how does one laugh more?  Haha, I have actually started praying for that ability. I never felt like I lacked before my mission, but I want to get better at it now. Our faith skyrockets when we are super enthusiastic in our work.

   Well I am just learning so much from Sorella Mcnamara. I even learned how to pronounce her name right, in Italian and in English!  Wow, I had noooo idea how much I would learn training. I have absolutely no time to think about myself. It is great. I am constantly thinking about assisting and teaching my companion, obeying all the rules, being optimistic about the work, speaking the language as best I can...she copies EVERYTHING I do. We are coming closer and closer to sharing equal responsibilities and working together as she becomes more comfortable with talking during our lessons, contacting people on the street and updating the area book.

     Let me tell ya'll, the work is exploding! I have never had so much success or seen so many miracles here in Varese as I have within the past few days. We teach 5 to 7 quality lessons a day, and have some awesome new investigators. Sorella Mcnamara has so much enthusiasm and faith. She cannot get over the beauty of the buildings, the snow capped swiss mountains, the Italian style of clothing. She is also very sincere and loving when it comes to our investigators. She is on the mission for the right reasons and it is very easy to be her companion. The thing that I appreciate the most about her is how she humbly accepts correction regarding Italian things. She studied two semesters at the Y, and so she knows quite a bit, but she is very timid. As we plan out our lessons, we decide who is going to teach each point, and when...in this way we teach together and she feels a lot more prepared and confident in teaching. All I can say is that I am grateful for the tips of Preach my Gospel and the new 12 week training program. It is super helpful for her as well as me. So, I will be here in Varese for two more transfers, and chances are I will then go to a new city.

   As far as the work goes, Sander is progressing a lot. We gave him the Book of Mormon book with the immages for children last week, and when we returned four days later he had read about 60 pages! He loves it, and has an amazing capacity to remember all that he read. He recounts to us the stories as if he memorized them. He and his mom and little sisters are attending church and we are looking forward to his baptism May 5.

  Yesterday's miracle... we found this man sitting on a bench named Marco. He was very open to talking to us from the get go. He said, "You guys are Mormon aren't you? I met two other young men in a bus in my hometown in Iceland."  Iceland! What the?! He pulled out some pamphlets from some different religions from his bag. He continued to say, "Actually, I am here visitng my parents, and today I have just been walking around and reading these materials about Christ. I am so frustrated! They do not make any sense to me, they contradict one another. Why are the things of God so complex? I am Catholic by birth, but I do not know if I believe in my religion. I have so many questions that I want answered."  Sorella Mcnamara and I were blown away by his electness! We exclaimed with joy, "We can answer your questions! God loves us so much that he has revealed his simple truths. Have you ever heard about the Book of Mormon?..."  The Spirit bore testimony to him as we explained about the Book of Mormon and he read Moroni 10:3-5. We asked him how he felt. He responded, "I feel kind of relieved when this verse talks about the role of the Holy Ghost. There are so many men who try to convince me through their own knowledge and words, but I need to feel in my heart the truth. Only the answers come from God." He then asked, "Do I pay you to get this book?" We laughed and said, "It's yours!" Usually we wait to give contacts the Book of Mormon at our return appointment but he was clinging on to it like gold and he wanted to read it. We set up an appointment at the church and left him a chapter to read and pray about.
   
   I cannot describe the joy Sorella Mcnamara and I felt as we talked with him. After he walked away we ran behind a building, huddled together and said a heartfelt prayer of gratitude. We hugged and jumped for joy! I cannot deny that the Lord places people in our path in the right place and at the right time. I am so grateful to Him for these wonderful experiences he allows us to have on Earth while on a mission. That little bench in busy Centro Varese will always be a sacred place for us.

  Love you all so much!
   Sorella Oakes

12th Letter from Varese

Dear Family,

I am going to train!!!! Soo excited. President told me that there are two new sorelle coming in and from what he read about them they are both "dynamite." I can just feel that she is going to be an outstanding missionary. I am going to learn so much these next two transfers. I want to be the best I can for her and help her be the best missionary the Milan mission has ever seen. Too bad it's not appropriate to jump and dance in the Internet cafe, because I would like to right now.

Wow, Sorella Walton and I have become soo close. I feel like she really is my blood sister. She is going to Pordenone (I think that's how it's spelled), in a threesome. She is a bit nervous about having to coordinate with two companions, but I know both of her comps fairly well and they are awesome. I think they'll be able to figure out how to divide the lessons up and be patient with one another.

Sorella Walton and I have done so much together here--we figured out the bus system; after months of scrubbing, the tub has gone from black to almost white; we met and taught some incredible people whom we will always love. I feel like we have done what we needed to do together, and she has left Varese better than she found it. I am soo grateful to have lived and worked and learned from her. She was a wonderful missionary two transfers ago, now she is even more powerful. I am grateful that we learned how to be completely open with each other, and to push ourselves to make goals and to overcome our personal weaknesses. I have learned a lot with her about strict obedience, about speaking Italian and being 100% missionary (Sorella Oakes) rather than Quincy, and I have learned the power of heartfelt prayers. Sorella Walton has really blessed my life.

Okay, it is time to relate some miracles! First off, about all of our weekly numbers were higher than they ever have been here in Varese. President Wolfgramm has told us that the numbers are a reflection of our work. And behind all those numbers, there are people who are progressing in the gospel. People we care about.

Remember Gabrielle? He is a member in our ward who has been coming with us to the lessons every week since we have been here. He has recently been helping us translate and type up our ward mission plan. It is a very simple plan that encourages members to extend a gospel invite each week. As I talked about a few weeks ago, Gabrielle has experienced an incredible change of heart through our experiences with him. He has given us four awesome referrals--his best friends. They trust him so much that they are a lot more interested in learning about the gospel.

The other evening, after a lesson, Gabrielle asked if we could find a place to talk. It seemed as though he was sad. After we found a secluded bench in the train station, he opened up his heart. He said, "I feel so close to my Savior. These lessons that we have been teaching have been so spiritual, and I find myself beginning to recognize the spirit, prompting me when I should bear testimony. I seek to be in tune to say what the Savior would say, rather than my own words. As I have been taking your challenge to read the Book of Mormon more and do this ward mission project, my testimony has grown a lot. My thoughts are constantly about Jesus Christ, and I am happy and I am bursting to share my testimony with my friends. As I was talking with my best friend in the car the other night, I freely bore my testimony and told him that he needed to be baptized. My friend felt the spirit so strongly that he became speechless." He bore his testimony for us for ten minutes. The Spirit was so abundant and our hearts were full to the brim.

Sorella Walton and I have witnessed him change from the inside out. We have a firm testimony of the principle taught in Preach My Gospel, "Strengthening their (the ward members') understanding of the doctrine of Christ will do more to increase their trust in you and to build their excitement to do missionary work than anything else you can do."

We are excited to light up the missionary work/member work here in Varese. By having spiritual experiences with our branch members, there will be more people baptized that will remain active and magnify callings in the years to come. Building the members' trust in the missionaries is extremely important. I know the Lord has played a marvelous part in preparing all of our hearts and minds to do this work in His way. He is sending His spirit to help us all (full-time and member missionaries) be more couragious, to get out of our comfort zones and improve our missionary skills.

Well fam, I pray for you more fervently each day. I care about you so much.

Love,

Sorella Oakes

Late Journal Entry

This is Lisa. Sorry about the late entry, my Internet access was blocked for a few days over Spring Break. Now that I'm back to work you may read her wonderful news!

Lisa

11th Letter from Varese

Dear Family,

What a lovely week it has been. It's pouring rain, our apartment is spotless because our landlord is passing by and everything is just peaceful today. I cut off abou 11 inches of hair. Sorella Walton helped me cut the back. It is about three inches below my ears, with lots of layers, kind of like a bob- I love it. I know Gushy will be really sad, but I have a year to grow it out again.

The Lord has been pouring out his blessings this week. Sorella Walton and I feel an abbundance of the Spirit, our investigators are progressing. Sander and Piero are reading and praying and changing a lot. It is beautiful. The Lord really has been blessing us. He has heard my prayers. I have started the Book of Mormon again. I noticed something that I had not before- how many times Lehi gives prayers, offerings or sacrifices to the Lord in thanks. As I read that it hit me that I need to sacrifice something to the Lord as a sign of my gratitude. I usually think of fasting or sacrificing something to God when I want something, or I need help. It kind of goes in line with Anziano Oaks' talk.

I just want to say that I know that Heavenly Father's plan of salvation is real. As Sorella Walton and I met this faithful elderly couple last night, I felt so much peace. Even though they have many health problems, they love the Savior and they continue to seek to live the gospel. When we were in their home it was like being in the temple. The spirit was so sweet, and I know that they will enter into the Celestial Kingdom. I see my own grandparents on both sides in the same light. I feel so much love for you and joy for your examples to me, for the lives you live, for your goodness. I pray you will all feel peace even as you face hardships.

I know that the Lord always keeps his covenants and promises to us if we hold on and do our part. After we have done our very best, He blesses us, He makes up the rest. He loves us beyond measure. After we pass through the other side of the veil, I am sure that it will be more beautiful than we can imagine. The resurrection will be so wonderful!!!

Well, this is a short letter, but I just want to let you know how much I love each one of you all. I am doing well, and I pray that you are happy.

Love,

Sorella Oakes

10th Letter from Varese

Dear Family,

We set a solid baptismal date with Sander!!!!! Yesterday morning we fasted and prayed and the Lord poured out His power and blessings. During the appointment, Sander and his mom (Dominga) were present. We asked him right at the beginning if he had prayed if our message was true. He smiled and timidly lowered his head and mumbled, "Yes. I had a dream." Sorella Walton asked, "What was in your dream?" He responded, "There was a great light and there was a man dressed in white who showed me a piece of paper with a scripture written on it. When I read it, the man said that it was true."

Dominga glowed and she listened to her son. We asked Sander to be baptized. He was too shy to respond. His mom lovingly said to him, "Sander, when you are baptized, you will have the most wonderful feeling. It is the best experience you will have in your entire life. It is only through baptism that you can enter into the kingdom of God and live with Jesus. Do you understand how important this is, son?" Sorella Walton and I were blown away! We were expecting Dominga to be hesitant about allowing him to be baptized since she has been inactive for years. We were also worried that she would say that he is too young to make this decision.

With the support and sincere testimony of his mother, Sander looked up and beamed and said, "Yes, I this is what I want." He will be baptized April 22!

It is beautiful working with part-member families, especially inactive members, because as their loved ones are baptized, they are strengthened and reactivated. Now our little branch will have another family coming to church. Dominga has been bringing her mother and her two baby girls to church as well. Now we can start a primary, whereas there has only been one baby in church until now. The Lord is pouring out His blessings and I am filled with love and gratitude to Him!

Another fantastic miracle! Remember Janella? She is the 17 year old girl we met in the elevator in our apartment. After teaching her for a while, she was not very interested in applying the gospel in her life, so we stopped teaching her and left a note to the missionaries for future reference. But while we had been teaching her, her mom's boyfriend always listened in on our lessons. He would pretend to fix the t.v. for 45 minutes, or stand close by in the kitchen cleaning or something. When we would finish and walk out the door, he would always shake our hand and say, "You guys are welcome here anytime. Janella really needs this. The youth these days need to be educated about this religious stuff because it keeps them out of trouble."

Anyway, after we had stopped visiting them for a while, we started to bump into Piero and Janella's mom all the time! On the street, on the bus, etc. The other day we were returning home from an appointment in a neighboring city, and we Piero, Janella's "stepdad"/mom's companion was on the bus. He immediately opened up to us about how he has lost all faith and hope for a better life. Between the challenges of blended famillies, past divorces and paying the bills he is quite discouraged. Sorella Walton and I followed the Spirit in sharing scriptures and bearing testimony about how Christ can help him with these temporal problems. He listened, but then would refuse to believe any of it. When we invited him to pray he said, "I do not pray". We responded, "well then we will pray for you". He was taken aback, and it really touched him that someone cared about him. As we got off the bus he casually said, "If you ever want to come by and talk, you are welcome to". We set an appointment, and even though he acted like he did not care, you could tell he did.

When we came to his house for our appointment, Janella joined us in the lesson. Gabriele came with us- his experience and testimony was perfect for Piero. At the end of our little lesson, Piero said, "Alright, I am going to give this a try. I am going to pray tonight for the first time in ...20 years." When we asked him to pray with us he said, "How? I do not remember any of the prayers?" He was incredibly humble when we helped him pray with his own words. He was very sincere and had real intent. It is really incredible participating with grown people saying (perhaps their first) personal prayer with God. It is very special. I am so grateful for the things I learned in primary.

I am grateful for the beauty and simplicity of the gospel. I am especially grateful for repentance. I cannot describe exactly how it all works, but I know that it is real. I know the Savior is our mediator to communing with our Heavenly Father. I know that all the things that last come from God. I am grateful for the words of our Prophet and apostles! Wasn't conference incredible! I especially loved Elder Eyring and Elder Nelson's talks. It was so interesting, Sorella Walton and I had a long conversion that morning about how we would raise a child with special needs. And then there were two people who addressed it in conference! That was cool.

Well, this letter has been a bit random. Just wanted to let you know about how wonderful Varese is.

Situation and question: Let's say Sorella Walton and I have two minutes in the bus to tell someone about their purpose in life, and relation to God. Would/how would we present it differently to men versus women? Make sense? Hope so.

Love you,

Sorella Oakes

9th Letter from Varese

Dear Loved Ones,

Just to let you know, from now on I will be printing off your weekly

emails to read later, and the next week I will respond a bit to the

messages...if that makes sense.

This has been a great week! I'll just share a few things with ya'll.

1. Our current investigators- We are teaching an inactive woman from

the Domincan Republic named Dominga. She wants to come back to church,

and now we are teaching her 11 year old son, Sander Gabriele, and her

mom. They're awesome! We have faith that we'll set a baptismal date

with them both tonight.

2. Miracle with a member.--we have been working a lot with a member

named Gabriele.  After many ups and downs, he's found a lot of strength from the

missionaries who have served in Varese. We have brought him to several

lessons with us it's been amazing to see how he has changed.  To paraphrase a
quote from Elder Packer, studying the principles of the gospel will change behavior
much more than the study of behavior itself.

I know this is a true principle. When we read the Book of Mormon and

seek to serve others and our Savior, we are happier. We become better

people naturally, and more capable of succeeding in whatever we

pursue. I have seen this in myself and I have seen it in Gabriele.

Gabriele thanked us the other day for letting him work with us. He

said, "You know, it's really nice to be needed... I've been so happy as I read the

Book of Mormon and serve your investigators.

3. Something I'm super excited about- an awesome ward mission plan

that Sorella Walton and I are creating. We have really prayed and

received inspiration concerning a doable, effective plan to work with

the members and to make this branch into a ward! I cannot stop

thinking about it. I can't wait to start putting our plan into

practice.

4. Something about I want you to know about Sorella Walton. I haven't told you very much about her and that's a shame. She is an amazing companion. She is really

easy to live and work with. She is patient, flexible, loving,

organized and focused on her calling. She writes me sweet love notes

and hides them in my scriptures. We are speaking only Italian, both at home and

when we're out, and our language skills are skyrocketing. I am so

grateful that she wants to push herself to be the best missionary she

can be.

Sorella Walton is from Idaho, has two brothers and three sisters.

She likes exercising, camping, high heels and collecting warm and

fuzzy quotes.

Well, I cannot think of too many interesting things that you would

like to hear. All is well! We do not have any progressing

investigators right now, so we are doing a lot of finding work. But I

am confident that as we continue to improve and give that last 10% of

the effort, the miracles and blessings will come.

5. Question, scripture and invite: How can members find someone who

the missionaries can teach? Alma 6:6 talks a bit about a response. I

know that as we pray sincerely and with real intent to our Heavenly

Father, He will bless us with an opportunity to find someone whom the

missionaries can teach, whether it be an acquaintance, friend or

family member.

I want to invite you to pray for such an opportunity, and to simply

ask that person if the missionaries can pass by their house and give

them a Book of Mormon. It seems as if many members feel they need to

have a gospel discussion, or invite their friend to read the Book of

Mormon before meeting missionaries. But in actuality, members do not

have time to do this. It is best if the missionaries take care of that

because we have been trained how to teach simply, and that's our

calling.

I know that after you do this, the Lord will strengthen your

personal testimony of the importance of the restored gospel, and your

desire to share the gospel will increase. The Spirit will help you to

say just what your friend needs to hear.

Sending my amore from Italia!

Sorella Oakes