Dear Family,
Sorry that I am writing a few days sooner than you expected. Sorella Willey and I are traveling for a few days so we figured that we would get right back to work in Cuneo on Wednesday rather than have our P-day on Wednesday. We are in Verona for a day to get her permesso renewed, then we will travel through Milano and Modena tomorrow to attend another area's Zone Conference....because our area's Zone Conference is scheduled during a very important ward Christmas Concert in Cuneo on Friday....long story.
Alright, a little about Sorella Willey... she is from Pleasant Grove, played the cello in the Mormon Tabernacle Orchestra, graduated in cello performance and is considering getting her Masters in Religion. She has such a deep knowledge of the scriptures and history and religion...or of any subject because she has taken so many college classes and loves to read. She attended BYU and USC, actually, so you might recognize her face from Stake Conference. She knows Tujunga.
I absolutely love having conversations with her because I learn so much. I cannot get enough of it. She is 25 years old, very mature...haha, sometimes I laugh because she has a habit of coming up with cheesy puns during the day. Sometimes it seems like she is ten or twenty years older than me, but it is a privilege to work with her. We are going to have a super productive...busy transfer!
Sorella Willey is one of the hardest working missionaries I have ever met. She is strictly obedient to the mission rules, and gives her heart to all with whom she associates. She has the best intentions, and is constantly trying to be helpful to me as her sister and as a missionary. Like Sorella Ryan, I will learn a lot from her, and her influence is helping me to reach my full-potential. It is incredible how the Lord increases our capacity over time. I am so excited about all the opportunities that life gives me to grow and learn. It is an endless quest of changing and repenting. I am glad that it never has to end, as long as we desire to improve ourselves.
We have seen soo many miracles within the past few days. David's mom came to church on Sunday for his confirmation. It was beautiful. Rosie, David's mom, remained for Gospel Principles and Relief Society. She could not help but smile the entire three hours. Everyone was so warm and loving to her and she felt the Spirit really strongly. She will be baptized, if not now, in the future. David is as strong as ever, and when he bears his testimony in lessons or in the classes in church, everyone is edified. His mom cannot help but be impressed and interested in the gospel. We will have a lesson with her, David and a good sister in our ward.
Saturday night, as we were returning home on the bus Sorella Willey and I both had separate conversations with two golden contacts. Sorella Willey taught a lesson to a beautiful Romanian woman and set up an appointment later this week.
I talked to a man named Domenico. He, like most of our investigators is an older single man, haha. Sorella Willey says that she has taught a lot more men on her mission than women, so it seems to be a trend. That made me feel more at ease.
Domenico was not who I expected him to be. He reads the Bible every night and goes to church to worship almost every day. He hosts a Christmas dinner for homeless people every year and seems to be very service oriented. Domenico was so open and friendly, saying all the perfect things to me that I was not sure if he was for real. As I continued to talk to him about Christ, and share with him about the Restoration, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, he seemed to eat it up. After we got off the bus, he walked for twenty minutes with us and Peter to the church so we could get him a Book of Mormon in Italian. We asked him to read and pray about Alma 32, said goodnight, an hour later he called us and said, "I read all of Alma 32. It was very interesting. What time does your mass start again?" He traveled forty minutes by train early in the morning on Sunday, stayed for all three hours of church and loved it. He is excited to meet with us again. I cannot believe how the Lord placed him in our path. I have never met someone so ready for the gospel before.
One other funny story from Saturday afternoon. While doing finding work a few days ago, we met two great potentials, both of them named Omar, one right after the other. Incredibly ironic. We encountered Omar 1 in a Palazzo, he was very open and willing to meet with us again and while on the way home, I felt prompted to stop another young man, who turned out to be Omar 2. He was very humble and golden as well. Two hours later, while leaving town on the bus with Peter, we asked Peter if he knew the second Omar, because he is African. He said he knew him and that he was a great guy, and right then we saw him on the street waiting for the bus, standing right next to the other Omar. They were both looking different ways, and don't know each other at all. Haha, it was just incredibly ironic and funny how it all worked out. We will pray that they will continue to progress and meet with us.
One thing that I have learned thus far while working with Sorella Willey is how exact exact obedience to the white handbook pays off. We have been meeting so many golden people, and miracles happening multiple times a day. I know that we could not ever have this kind of success alone, without prayer and giving all of ourselves to the work.
I pray for each one of you every night. I am working hard so that God will continually pour out more blessings upon you. Thank you for all your love and support.
Sorella Oakes
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