5th Letter from Varese

Dear family,

Transfers have come once again, and Sorella Walton and I are

relieved to know that we will be staying together! It will be great to

re-evaulate how these past five weeks have gone, what we did well, and

what we would like to improve.

We've been teaching Patrick out in Laveno Mombello. Look it up online!

It is beautiful. There is a gorgeous blue lake, Lago Maggiore and lots

of cute shops alongside the mountains. Besides Chiusa Pesio it is my

favorite spot in Italy thus far.

Alexander is getting baptized March 11th! He's super solid, and is

excited to be baptized. Marta, Alexander and Marcello came to church

last week and they felt very comfortable. I think Marta will be

following Alexander's footsteps within time. I think that she also had

some misconceptions about Mormons which was holding her back from

commiting herself. When I told her that I like to dance she said, "I

thought you couldn't dance after you get baptized." We all laughed

together. She can still go salsa dancing after her baptism.

This week we've have taught some amazing new families! After knocking

a lot of doors, one man, dressed in his pajamas opened the door. He

immediately invited us in. That does not happen very often, it was

like heaven. We did not even have to present ourselves. He went and

got the rest of his family, all in their pajamas as well. Gushy you'll

be happy to know that their ten year old son had on snoopy pajamas.

Anyways, aside from the unimportant details, they are a beautiful

Italian family. Two loving parents and sweet, well behaved children, a

thirteen year old daughter and ten year old son. Mikele, Giovanna,

Giulia and Marvin. We sat down at their table and taught them a short

first lesson. The spirit was so sweet. They asked wonderful questions,

they completely understood with their minds and their hearts the need

for the Book of Mormon and a living prophet.

Every time that the dad would start to talk too much, Giulia would

interrupt and say, "Dad! i want to hear what the sisters have to say.

Let them talk!" it was a little bit disrepectful and the dad did not

like it at all, but it made us feel good. How many thirteen year old

girls are interested in hearing about the history of an ancient book?

She is soooo elect. Every Giulia I have met is an amazing person. I

love that name.

Anways, by the end, the children were begging their parents to come

to church with us and to learn more. The mom was very interested as

well, but the dad told us that he would think about it and call us. He

would not give us his phone number. But he was definately touched by

the Spirit several times during the lesson. It's just a matter of time

before they give us a call! Can't wait to teach them again.

The next day we taught a new Italian family, Maurizio, Nancy and six

year old Nikol. Sorella Walton met Nancy on the bus the day before and

got her number. They want to come to church sometime and we will teach

them again. We love them so much already.

Gaenella came to church this week! The past few lessons she's seemed

very bored and not responsive. It seemed as if she was about to drop

us. We felt the prompting to teach her about eternal marriage and show

her pictures of the temple. I have never taught anyone about the

temple this soon, before the other lessons. We invited one of our

members, Marlene to come with us. She was perfect for her! They are

both south American, Marlene is a nurse, and Gaenella really wants to

get into nursing school...so they hit it off really well. We showed

Gaenella pictures of the temples, and of Fratello Auna and his wife

(my Mtc teacher) and Santina Smith's daughters wedding. Gaenella

smirked the entire time, and acted embarressed talking about marriage

(she's only 17), but she really liked it. She tried to be cool and act

uninterested as she asked us quietly, "So, like, if I want to go in

the temple, I have to, um , be baptized?" It was so successful! When

investigators know a bit about the temple before their baptism, they

see a longer vision goal and become more excited about making

covenants with Heavenly Father. The minute they look at a picture of

the temple, something touches their heart and they can tell there is

something special about that edifice.

At the end of the lesson, Marlene pulled a tiny gift wrapped in gold

paper. She smiled and said, "I have been saving this inside my purse

for years. When I went to the temple, I bought it and wanted to save

it to give it to someone special when the time was right. I feel like

you are that special person Gaenella." It really touched and

intrigued Gaenella. She carefully opened up the small gift. it was a

temple recommend holder. One side had a picture of the temple and the

other side was blank. Marlene said, "When you are ready to go the

temple you can put a picture of your husband on one side and your

recommend on the other". Wow! Marlene is so inspired. It was an

incredible moment for all of us.

I love you all so much,

Sorella Oakes

4th Letter from Varese

Dear Loved Ones,

Could someone forward me Weylin's emails and his mission address so I can write him a letter? I do not know what/ or how he is doing. But, I did meet a man from Belo Horizonte this week! I gasped and almost started to cry with joy and I immediately told him, "My little brother serving a mission like me in Belo Horizonte!!!!" This man travels a lot so we were not able to set up an appointment but he was surely elect! He's a beautiful family man. Anyways, I am so proud of my lil brother and my parents and grandparents that it gives me the chills sometimes. I am trying not to get trunky!

So many marvelous things have occured this week. One of my favorite lessons was with an less-active named Alexandra. She is taking care of an elderly woman here in Varese to save money for her precious daughters back in Equador. She reads her Book of Mormon often and is a very faithful woman, but it is hard for her to attend church because she wants to save every penny so that she can return to her girls as soon as possible. Even though Alexandra always has a warm smile on her face, it is apparent that she is really suffering and missing her daughters. As she opened her soul to us, and Sorella Walton and I just listened, I put myself in her shoes and really felt how she felt. The Spirit was very strong. I loved her so much and felt a bit of her sorrow. We had prepared a completely different lesson, but after a half hour of listening to her worries, I felt a clear and distinct prompting to ask her a question. I said, "Alexandra, can I ask you something personal? Are you paying tithing?" She felt our love, and openly said, "...No, not yet". Usually, I get nervous committing people to pay tithing, or to keep other commandments, but I felt so much peace. I felt the Spirit working through me as I bore testimony of the blessings and miracles that she would receive financially by paying her tithing. I was prompted to share the story of Elijah, who asked the single mother to give her the last portion of food to him. She faithfully gave the last handful of meal to the prophet, and expected that she and her son would die. Yet when she looked at her bowl again, there was a small portion left, just enough to feed her and her son again. The next day there was more. (I am sorry, I have not read this passage in a long time, so I might be confusing the details).

When we asked her, "Alexandra, will you pay your tithing?", she could not look at us. It seemed as if a million thoughts were racing through her head. This was a difficult decision to make. The spirit was working on her hard. She did not respond. We knelt in prayer. As we stood up, Alexandra asked us "How can I pay my tithing? Do I call the Branch president?" We were exhilirated and laughed and gave her our Branch President's number. The sooner that she calls to set up an appointment with him the easier it will be to pay her tithing before she starts to doubt and lose faith. I am amazed by her trust and love in the Lord! I feel so blessed that I am only apart from my family for a year and a half.

As Sorella Walton and I bore testimony that if she had the faith to pay her tithing, she really responded. Because the Spirit was present, and working on her hard. We knew that the Lord would provide a way for her to save enough money to live with her girls again. In that moment, I realized how incredibly hard, what a sacrifice that would be to Alexandra. At the same time, the Lord let me know and feel how much He loved her, and how much she needs to prove Him. Through this experience, she will witness a miracle, and know that the Lord has a hand in her life! My testimony was strengthened concerning the real purpose of tithing.

Updates about Marta, Marcello and Alexandra! Wow. Marcello has been extremely closed since we met him. A few nights ago, he told us that he could not get baptized because...he is already a member! What a stinker. I have no idea why he did not want to tell us before, but now that he has told us his secret he is excited to go to church. Apparently he was really strong in the church in Equador and became inactive when he moved to Italy because he could not find the church. Haha, all of our lessons have actually been in the presence of a member. Marta and Alexander both admitted that they know that the Book of Mormon is true and that they need to be baptized, but they do not want to come to church every week because they like hanging out with their friends Sunday morning. It is nice to get to the point where they now have a testimony. At the same time, they now have a responsibility. They know what they need to do, and we cannot make that decision for them. We will continue to work with them for a bit and pray that they will continue to progress.

We have a new incredible investigator named Patrick. He is Italian, 27 years old, a best friend of a member in our ward. When we set up an appointment with him we asked him to read 2 Ne 31 before our lesson. Turns out he read ten chapters before our first lesson! Wew. It was awesome. After we said the opening prayer, we asked about his reading. He opened up the Book of Mormon and related to us verse after verse and how much they had touched his heart. He said, "I feel these strong impressions and I know these words are true. But i have a question about this..." He has as much real intent as David in Cuneo. It was so refreshing to teach him about the Book of Mormon. He believed, he asked amazing questions, he soaked everything up like a sponge. The Spirit was incredible. We invited him to baptism. He looked deeply into our eyes, with a smirk as if he was going to jump up and scream ,"Yes I will!!!!!" After a minute, he looked down and said, "I am thinking about it. I am thinking." He is one of those introspective types. Very contemplative, solid, extremely sensitive to the Spirit...and at the same time, so logical and intelligent that he has to know everything from the inside out before he will make a decision. He said, "I want to take this slow. But from what I have learned so far, I know that it is true. I can feel that it is true very strongly." He'll definately get baptized. It is just a matter of time. He is very teachable but at the same time, will not be pushed. He has continued to read chapter after chapter in the Book of Mormon. This morning he called us to ask us what he should read next. We challenged him to read the entire book from the beginning. To our delight he responded in a very serious manner "I can do that". He's great!

I love reading your letters. Your own miracle stories and the blessings that you are grateful for in your life. Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord, and your love for Him. He is blessing us so much!

All my love,

Sorella Oakes

More Pictures from Cuneo!

Pictures from Cuneo!

3rd Letter from Varese

Dear Family,

Recently I have been learning so much more about how to love the people I associate with and serve. Anziano Barnes was called to be assistant to the President this transfer. Wow, he was born to be a leader. While we had interviews with President Wolfgramm we had a training meeting with the assistants about "seeing things as they really are". In Preach My Gospel, repentance is defined as changing our vision about God, ourselves and others. I was so inspired by the things that they said, as well as the Spirit that accompanied their words. It is one thing to be a good missionary, but it truly is another to be able to be an example to all the other missionaries. We are so blessed to have such an inspired and spiritual mission president and mission leaders.

I have been trying to become a more personal, in-tune "teacher"/missionary. I do not know how to describe it. For example, when I meet people on the street, I am accustomed to asking the usual questions, then barging in with an invite to hear and about the gospel. As you can imagine, not many people are interested in learning more...because they know nothing about the gospel, and they do not know how it can relate to their lives. Now that I have been trying harder to really care about the individual, their desires in life, the difficulties they are dealing with...tutto quanto, etc, it has made a big difference. People really feel the spirit and are more likely to respond when they feel that someone first cares about them. They trust us as messengers of a loving and personal Heavenly Father, rather than solicitors. I love what one missionary said to me- anyone can walk around the streets and throw out pass along cards and give a charismatic invite...but it is different than sacred missionaries who have the stewardship to receive inspiration from the Spirit concerning where to go, who to talk to and what to say...to people whom we don't know at all. But, God does.

Thus, I have learned a lot about my own nothingness, the great need to rely solely on the Spirit, to humble myself and to open my heart to loving people enough to ask them questions....to ask them about THEM. My desire has skyrocketed this week to do this work. I love it so much more when I focus on loving each individual, enjoying each moment in which I am living. I am grateful for the miracles that the Lord allows me to witness each day and realizing that I barely played any part in it. I am trying to humble myself enough to allow time for silence during the lessons, rather than responding immediately and robotically to people's questions or comments. It takes a lot more work than I thought, but when my companion and I wait upon the Lord, wait upon the promptings of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit works through us and we are able to meet people's needs. And once their needs are met, they begin to truly progress in the gospel. That is the goal. Haha, how ironic, you love the work when you love the people. You'd think I would have figured that out by now, huh? I think that it's something that we can always deepen and something that I need to continually remind myself of. Why do I want them to be baptized? What are my motives for the things I do?

Now it is time to relate a few beautiful experiences! Sunday was amazing. Marta and Alexander came to church. They missed their bus, walked for an hour, and then got lost. Somehow, one of our ward members, Marlene (who has come to a few lessons with us!) felt a prompting to take a different bus to church than usual...and viola, she was on the same bus as Marta and Alexander and helped them get to church. On that same bus, there was a man who randomly pulled out a pass along card, who happened to ask them "do you know where this church is?" and he came to church as well... They loved every minute of it and want to come back again. They have some friends coming over on Sunday, so we are praying that they will still commit to come to church.

Another miracle--Friday night, as Sorella Walton and I were taking the elevator up to our apartment, we met a cute 17 year old girl named Janella. When she got off at the 3rd floor, we paused... popped out of the elevator and asked her if we could teach her in her house. It was awkward, but that is our calling, right?! To our surprise and joy she smiled and said, "Sure, come on in". It was a beautiful lesson, she said she'd come to church! Turns out that her family went out dancing for her mom's birthday saturday night, arrived home at 4 in the morning. But she came to church anyways, at 9 in the morning! She loved young women's (which consisted of 22 year old young woman President Diletta), another one of our investigators named Malina and me. She loves learning about how much her Heavenly Father loves her. She also comes from Equador but has been in Italy for four years. She has some amazing potential.

I have written some letters for y'all. I will send them today.

All my love,

Sorella Oakes

2nd Week in Varese

Dear Loved Ones,

I cannot believe that I have only been in Varese for a week and a half. I feel like I have been here for a month. It is a blast whitewashing Varese. Sorella Walton and I feel like it is our city and the success can only increase from here. Our branch president is exhilerated to have Sorelle here and he believes that we will work miracles. I hope that we will not let him down.

We had a plan to teach and baptize through part member families and less-actives, zoning all of Varese on a map. Once we felt like we had somewhat of a foundation for the work, our branch president told us on Sunday, "Do not work with the less actives. Just go find new families". After that, we felt like we were shooting in the dark once again. But I know that the Lord will provide!

We have been knocking a lot of doors. We got a few phone numbers of some young families so we are excited to go and teach them. Sorry, I think my email is getting a bit too detail oriented. It is hard for me to get my head out of the logisitics of the work...okay, I will talk about things that you will care about :)

Fortunately, we have been receiving some referrals from the ward. So far, they have not been ready to receive the gospel, but we are excited to teach a member's friend this Sunday. I will tell you how it goes.

We have a beautiful Equadorian family that we are teaching. Marta is a hard working single mother of 19 year old Marcello and 18 year old Alexander. When we first began teaching them, Marta and Marcello did not seem very interested in committing themselves to anything. They are very busy with work and school. Alexander was bright eyed and very attentive to the lesson about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. As we have been visiting their house and bringing members along, Alexander has really responded. A few days ago we taught him by himself, and when we asked him how he felt about the Book of Mormon he responded, "As I was reading by myself, I did not want to stop. I like it. I feel comfort when I read." It is amazing how these youth in Italy are latching onto and understanding the power of the Book of Mormon. It is interesting how the elect can discern how different the Book of Mormon is, and understand its simplicity.

Even though Marta is still not very interested in "changing religions," she loves seeing the influence of the gospel in the lives of her two sons. She wants for them to have good friends and so she encourages them to meet with us and to read the Book of Mormon chapters we leave them. After many invitations to come to church, I thought to say, "We told a bunch of people in our congregation about you, and they are really excited to meet you." Marta grinned widely and exclaimed, "Let's go to church!" I think that the families in our ward will play a big part in the conversion of Marta. As she feels the Spirit and love from the members she will want to know how she can obtain the joy that they have. We have not been able to set a date with Marta, Marcello and Alexander yet, but Sorella Walton and I know they'll get baptized. They will be a wonderful addition to the branch in Varese.

One of the most beautiful miracles I have seen this week was reactivating this less active named Michela. The Lord had really prepared her to come back to Him. We called her, set up an appointment and immediately she opened up and said she wanted to change her life. She picked us up for church the next morning and loved every minute. That was amazing.

Enjoy the snow back in Utah and New Hampshire.

All my love,

Sorella Oakes

1st Week in Varese

Dear Family,

I have never been so focused on the work. I love it. Sorella Walton and I are consecrating all of ourselves to the Lord and we are here in Varese. A little about the city- there IS public transportation. My mistake :). We got a monthly pass, which is really convenient.It is snowy here, very cold but...we are doing great! It is bigger here than Cuneo, there are mostly Italians and a few Equadorians and Peruvians. Tons of elect people, that is for sure! The second day here we met a Peruvian girl named Gabriella at the bus stop. We gave a three minute explanation of the Book of Mormon and got her info, and she said, "I have been really wanting to be closer to God. I hope this book will change my life." She did not show up at her lesson or answer the phone but we pray that we'll meet again. There have been many other contacts that we have met like this.

My companion has her whole heart in this work. I have been so touched this week by her example. As I have gotten to know her, she has shared with me about some of the challenges that are going on with her family back home. I could see many missionaries getting down and depressed and deciding to go home. But Sorella Walton has complete trust in the Lord. I remember a moment this week when a tear came to her eye, she couragiously smiled and said, "I know that if I give my heart to the Lord, and work my hardest to build the kingdom here in Varese, that the Lord will take care of everything. This is where I am supposed to be." She has chosen to consecrate her efforts, her thoughts, and her entire heart to the Lord. The Lord will bless her and the kingdom here in Varese very much for her great optimism and faith! I thank the Lord that I have the opportunity to be with her as my companion every day.

Surely the ward here in Varese is the best in the Milan mission!!! The members are dying to do missionary work. When Sorella Walton and I arrived in church our first Sunday here, we were greeted with warm hugs. All the members have tons of referrals of close family and friends and they asked us to call them to come to appointments with us, and help us with anything we needed. They want to grow the ward. There are tons of returned missionaries, and a few strong families in the church. One woman asked us for fifteen Books of Mormon to give to her friends. Every person who prayed thanked the Lord that the sorelle are here, and asked to help them be better ward missionaries and for the ward to grow here in Varese. It has been a year since anyone has been baptized, but the ward is as confident as we are that it will double in no time. I know that we will see many miracles here in Varese as a result of the faith and prayers and support of a strong, spiritual ward. The work will explode here because the ward members will love and fellowship our investigators. Sorella Walton and I are considering having a missionary night where we teach the members how to introduce the gospel to their friends. It is one thing to know how to do missionary work, and another to teach others how to spread the word.

I have a testimony of the Lord's hand in this work. As we have been giving all of our hearts and desires to the Lord, the guidance of the Spirit has become more clear and constant, leading us to what we need to do each day. I have felt so much power and faith in the Lord as I read 1 Nephi 16 and 17. As I read about Nephi's faith and diligence in doing the work of the Lord I take comfort and courage. After his bow broke, he did not murmur like his brothers; he came up with a solution by carving a wooden bow, and asked the Lord, "Where should I go to find food?" He knew there was a fertile place prepared, and he knew that the Lord would tell him where it was. In chapter 17, the Lord tells Nephi to build a boat. He had never built a boat before in his life! But the Lord told him that he would be his light in the wilderness, and that he would show him where to find the material to make the boat, and how to make it, step by step. His brothers thought he was a fool, but Nephi trusted in the Lord and went to work. I have felt such a connection to this story here in Varese. There may be a few "broken bows" in the area book, or lack of investigators. But Sorella Walton and I have our arrows in hand and the Spirit is prompting us where to aim and hunt. We are going to build a boat (spiritually building our Rome Temple), and we are so excited to witness the power of the Lord. We are so weak, but with Him we KNOW all things are possible.

I will tell you my address next week.

Lots and lots and lots of love,

Sorella Oakes