"Me with my permesso (residency permit)!"
In order to use my time more effectively, I've decided to do this. Each week, I'll pick out three bigger things to talk about, some stuff I learned (tbh I could talk just about what I learn out here because I
learn so much), and a few other things of note.
As the title suggests, I'll first be talking about the victors. What do I mean by this? Oh you know, only that PESCSRA IS MOVING TO SERIE A!
I've never been more proud to have Pescara as my first city! They played the first leg of the final last Saturday against Trapini at home, and they won 2-0. The game on Thursday however, they had to win. If they'd tied or lost, they wouldn't have moved up. This game was in Sicilia and even though we didn't watch the game with the big crowd in centro, we know Pescara won. How? Oh, I don't know. Might've been the fireworks and horns going off for a solid hour at 11, but you know, that's just me. They had a huge celebration for them on Saturday night that I am pretty sure ended up in the founding of a new church. They had a giant blue cross, people dancing around flares on the ground, a guy screaming in a microphone, a ton of other screaming people, fireworks, the whole dealio. Of course though I don't know this of myself, because mission rules say we've got to be home by 9, and this was happening at the latest hour possible. So how do I know it?
The teacher. By this, I mean Sorella Preston! For those who don't know, Sorella Preston helped out my district (and the other district) while we were in the MTC. Kind of like a substitute, you could say. Anyways, she was here on Sunday! We were just waiting at the bus stop to get to the church when I saw her. It was awesome! Sorella Preston helped me a lot in the MTC. The first few days I remember just having a really hard time with the language, and we had a meeting where she shared Ether 12: 23-27, which has since become one of my favorite sections of scripture. I was only mildly overjoyed when I saw her haha.
"View from a member's house!"
Also, this past week, our water heater broke! So for 6 days, it was cold showers. Gotta love it, eh? Tbh though by the 6th day I'd gotten used to it. We had some guys come over and fix it though, so we're back to warm water. Kinda hate it though, because you shower, get out, dry off, and feel like you're still in the shower. #humidityproblems. I almost miss the cold showers. Almost. Now that that's fixed though, our kitchen sink isn't draining. Great.
"Here's the thing. I opened my shaver to get out the hair and the two other things (piece left in the picture) fell out into the sink and down the drain. I have one, so I can still shave." haha ;)
Anyways! This week was full of lots of crazy thoughts, and while they may not all make sense, here's some important ones.
This past week I read elder Holland's October 2009 general conference talk.
In it he talks about the prophecy that men's hearts shall fail them. It made me wonder when have I allowed my heart to fail? Because when he says our hearts, I don't think he means it's literally our hearts that one day will decide we won't believe in this gospel. It's more that WE will allow our hearts to fail. It's a choice of our own. So when have I allowed my heart to fail? Too often. I've seen it too often in myself. I've allowed my heart to fail me when I choose to be tired instead of energetic. It's happened when I've said to myself "this is too hard" or "I can't do it." It happens when I choose to be frustrated and annoyed instead of happy and optimistic. When I feel this way I often think of the hymn that says "where can I turn forpeace? Where is my solace when other sources cease to make me whole?" Those are difficult questions to answer, no? But the song goes on to give an answer. "Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish? Who, who can understand? He, only one." This week, while it wasn't the worst, also wasn't the best. At times I allowed my heart to fail me. But here I am today, happy and content. I'm here because in those moments, although my heart failed me, there is one whose heart will never fail anyone. He's been there for me, and He will forever be there for all of us. A few weeks ago I talked about being happy, and although I believed it then, it's tough to continue to believe it every moment of everyday. I sometimes think once I've felt something, that feeling should never go away. Once I'm happy I should always be happy. Once I know something I should never forget it. Once I am confident, I should always be confident. Once my heart is strong, it should never fail me. But someone told me this past week of an experience they've had recently, and it's just what I needed. "I don't think those feelings are going to be there all the time, but they reassured me that this is what I should do. Now I just have to work hard at being in the right places at the right time, and doing all the right things so that I can feel like that as much as I can." I must accept that I need to work at keeping those feelings with me. I can't just expect them to linger. I need to be active in doing righteous works! And that in turn reminded me of elder Holland's talk from this past general conference on how we can continue to keep the spirit with us when we go from moments of spiritual awesomeness back to the normality of everyday life.
While I may not be perfect at giving my all, I can be perfect in desiring to give my all, and Elder Holland says "we are going to be blessed for our desire to do good, even as we actually strive to be so." He goes on to say: "If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going." Even the strong will fail. But there will ever be a reason to have joy, to get up and try again, to continue desiring to give our all, and He is all we need. If nothing else, my testimony of Christ and his divine role as our personal savior has increased. As long as I know this, I'll be happy.
"Me, Anz. Anderson and the Maccione family!"
The things you learn from a mission, eh?
"Ciao :)"
Actually a really strange week. Lots of appointments were canceled. Lots of things happened that I didn't expect to happen. Because of her nonexistent religious background, we've decided to just teach M about Christ. So far it's going well! We just want her to understand who He is and why He's important, and I think she's starting to get it. Listened to Whitney Houston
(Source: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2012/41/84839013_132900882407.jpg)
this morning while shopping because that's the music they play here in grocery stores. Practically running out of money, too. Don't even know where it's all gone, but it's alright. Dropped an €11 spesa this morning #spendingwisely🕶 another tiny lesson I learned this week: set goals to become better, but also set goals to have fun! Also, I present the Italian version of Harry Potter, brought to you by my awesome, subtle, photo-taking skills.
Made cookies this week. Ran a ton. ALSO I just barely met a guy named Marco who gave us a ride down a hill and a long street (seriously just saved us an hour walking), and we took a selfie with him. He knows who the Mormons are, and he loves us! Super cool guy. Anyways, hope you all have an awesome week! BE HAPPY!☺️
May the glory ever be to God.
Anz Hansen
No comments:
Post a Comment