My companion & I both have a 6th sense:

Okay, story behind the heading: Friday morning, we were finally
getting to meet with Raff (we haven't been able to get ahold of him
forever) and we set up an appointment for Friday morning at 10am. We
got there and saw him and we're locking up our bikes when this man
told us we couldn't lock our bikes there, so we were moving them like
20 feet away and we took 2 seconds to lock them and when we turned
around HE WAS GONE. literally he was nowhere to be found. We searched
the entire piazza for him. And then, we ran into another investigator
that we haven't been able to get ahold of and got to teach her and
that was quite literally a miracle and THEN we were walking and these
2 people stopped us and started talking to us and they set up another
time to meet with us and he asked us to help him stop smoking!!! The
church is true.

Christmas was SO good. Food. Family. Friends. The Gospel. Jesus
Christ. Dogs. What more could you want? Also, there was a party for
golden retrievers last week, so basically that was the greatest day of
my life :)

Happy New Year y'all. I love you and make good choices. Set some
goals. Say your prayers. Read the Book of Mormon.

Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Meager

I don't know what I expected but Christmas has been literally the
BEST. We have celebrated it 5 times already with different families
and our district and our ward. And let me just say, I think GIVING
presents is way better than receiving. The joy that comes from seeing
someone open up a present that you made them or got them is like my
absolute favorite thing. Also, just seeing kids see Babbo Natale and
get presents brings absolute happiness.

We had the Primary Christmas party Saturday night and Babbo Natale
came and gave a present to each of the kids. Also, Denise came and
made me heart so happy. She is my favorite. She had me help her make a
tiara. And we bonded because every time someone would walk through the
door and not close, we would look at each other and laugh. I don't
know why, but it was so funny. "LA PORTA"

Ascanio, a guy from the Domican Republic, in our ward is literally the
coolest dude. He used to go out with the missionaries when he was a
teenager in the DR, but then after he moved to Italy, we stopped going
to church. And then he found it again a few months ago and his
daughter, Sherilyn, got baptized a few weeks ago and his (soon to be)
wife will be getting baptized soon :):):) I love their family with my
whole heart and we'll be having Christmas dinner with them. Ascanio
LOVES the missionaries and always tries to speak English with us and
it's the funniest thing.

Monday was Anziano Castronovo's birthday and Sorella Blandford and I
planned a surprise party/ FHE with the anziani and Paola and Selhini
and Agustin and let me just say, he was definitely surprised and it
was well worth the wait! (Yes, he is wearing a flower crown in the
picture).

We had Christmas with the District yesterday and that was definitely
my favorite part of Christmas so far and it's not even Christmas yet.
We all did each other's stockings and Sorella Blandford and I got all
of them sweaters and each of them immediately put them on and wore
them for the rest of the day :) and we each had an orange at the
bottom of our stockings (just like you always do, mom!) Also, we had
lasagna and cinnamon rolls (thank you, mom for the recipe!) and oh my
heavens and I love Italy.

This Christmas, all I want is for everyone to send me an email and
tell me a gift that you are excited to GIVE.

BUON NATALE E BUON ANO!
Sorella Meager

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...and
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Last week was NOT our week for bikes... 4 days after I fell off my
bike, my companion fell off hers. The funny thing is that we were on
our way to the train station to go to the same appointment both times.
Coincidence?? I have no idea

I have now started to speak Italian in my sleep. Good or bad?

3 times in the past week, we were either walking or biking and a man
passed us and said "Ciao Sorelle!" And every time, we stop them and
ask them how they know us and every single one of them used to come to
church but stopped and wanted to come back... um what??? So, we got
each of their numbers and we're working with them to get them back in
the straight and narrow! (Talk about being in the right place at the
right time!)

"The most effective way to preach the gospel is through example. If we
live according to our beliefs, people will notice. If the countenance
of Jesus Christ shines in our lives, if we are joyful and at peace
with the world, people will want to know why. One of the greatest
sermons ever pronounced on missionary work is this simple thought
attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times
and if necessary, use words""

Voglio condividere la mia testimonianza che questa chiesa è veramente
la chiesa di Gesù Cristo sulla terra. Che abbiamo un padre nel cielo
che ci ama e ci dato il suo figlio diletto di essere il nostro
Salvatore. Gesù Cristo e il ragione per il stagione. Quest natale,
possiamo essere come Lui per gli altri, per le nostre famiglie e i
prossimi. La sfida per voi è di guardare #BeALight e farlo!

Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Meager

Be an example of Jesus
Read the scriptures
Go Christmas caroling
Hug your family
There's 17 days until Christmas people!!!

Rimini Italy Dec 2016

Subject: LESS THAN A MONTH TIL CHRISTMAS PEOPLE We decorated the apartment the day after thanksgiving and played Christmas music and it was wonderful. Featured below are the pictures :) shout out to the sorelle before us for buying a Christmas tree and all the decorations!!! We were at a members house for breakfast and I went to use the bathroom and apparently didn't lock the door because then the 4 yr old walked in and asked me every 10 seconds if I was done peeing... nightmare We got hit on by two drunk Ukrainian men. One of them gave us his number and said, "Se avete un problema con qualcuno o qualsiasi cosa, chiama me... In ogni momento... dovunque... io vengo" Uhhh thanks...help Max, our friend that has a little yogurt shop, gave my us free yogurt yesterday! (In return for 8 American cookies) SCORE We stopped in Centro and we're staring at the huge Christmas tree and all the lights, and there was a guy helping string lights and he told us that there was going to be a ice skating event on Saturday and if we came and found him, he would let us in free!! Too bad we can't go ice skating as missionaries. But that's okay because we're going Christmas Caroling Saturday :))) We talked to a couple from Spain in Centro during finding, and she could tell that I was from TEXAS !!! It was so weird... no Italian has ever been able to recognize our accents before, but she wasn't Italian so maybe that's why. *rings citofono* Chi'è? Uhh... il gatto *opens door and sees cat* Thank you Miracles: I almost got hit by a bus, but I didn't. I also almost got hit by a car, but the passenger pointed me out to the driver, so I didn't get hit. However, I did fly over my handlebars again on Monday in the middle of Centro :) and then we got hot chocolate. Vi voglio bene Sorella Meager Go watch LIGHTtheWORLD. I've already watched it like 100x and it hasn't even been a week... okay probably not actually 100 but close :)

Okay, I know I'm a day early, but today is pday so...

"...we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice
but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the
things that truly matter most."

I want to start off by listing a few of the things I'm grateful for:
Jesus Christ
Family (and people that pretend to be my family when I'm far away from home)
The Atonement and the ability to change and be better
The Restored Gospel
Christmas
Food (both Italian and southern and all foods)
Italy
The scriptures (Bible and Book of Mormon.. the standard works)
Personal revelation
Prayer
Music (I.e. Christmas music)
Mountains
Sunsets
Lakes
Temples
Best friends and friends of all types
Good quotes
Fishing and hunting
Sports in general
Movies
Nutella
Planners (and organization) in general)
Scarves (most especially Italian ones)
The ability to communicate across the world within seconds
Trees
Hot chocolate

Miracles:
Okay, God is so good. Reason: I spoke decent Italian before last week,
and I was SUPER nervous to train because I didn't feel like my Italian
was up to par, but somehow magically, hour five of being a trainer, on
the train from Milano to Rimini, I started talking to the lady that
was sitting by me and we talked for a good long while and I understood
everything AND I talked back to her and we just had a full
conversation!!! It was so crazy cool!! And every single day since,
I've been able to understand and speak back to everyone!!

We decided to pass by Heily (the 13 yr old that wanted to get baptized
but her dad said no) and we went by her apartment and no one was
there, but as we were walking out... guess who we saw? HEILY AND HER
DAD AND HER BROTHER!! She ran up to me and hugged me and we went and
helped them take the groceries upstairs to the apartment and then we
got to teach Heily and both of her little brothers, Dillon and Justin.
They were all so excited and we found out that their grandpa in
Ecuador is also Mormon! How cool?? We are going to see them tomorrow
too and bring them more copies of the Book of Mormon. :) I am so
excited for this family.

Yesterday, we set my record for most baptismal dates set in one day:
the new record is 3. We had an appointment with Giusi and we had a
member, Alan, come because he is getting ready to go on a mission. The
lesson went so well, and at the end, my greenie invited her to be
baptized December 23rd and she accepted! THEN we had a lesson with my
favorite family (Nando, Tania, and Nadia) and we sang Christmas songs
for them and talked about the Restoration of the Church of Jesus
Christ and invited them to be baptized February 3rd and they also
accepted!! (The reason it's so far away is because they're going to
Napoli for a month durning Christmas time). Either way, we're so very
excited for all of them :)

Vi vogliamo bene!
Sorella Meager

Eat some turkey for me! :) and go to the temple too, cause I miss it so bad

Ciao a tutti!

I am picking up my "verdina" tomorrow and I am SO STOKED. (and not
gonna lie, I'm nervous too) !!!

Transfer news:
I'm getting a GREENIE FRESH FROM THE MTC :))))) which means that I'll
be here for another 3 months!! I'm so excited to be here for
thanksgiving and Christmas :) Sofia (best friend/ investigator) and I
are already planning on riding this little train that goes around
Centro on Christmas!!

It's been freezing raining for the past week. (that sentence is not
very English. I'm sorry, Mrs. Castle).

Friday, I got bird poop on my hand...

We found out that our neighbors are professional bike thieves, so we
have to lock our bikes with 2 chains inside the apartment, under the
stairs. Needless to say, it is quite the process getting them inside
and down the stairs and them facing the right direction and getting
the chains on and it's not an easy process when you get home at the
end of the day and you have to pee and you're wearing 1000 layers of
clothes.

They are starting to decorate the city for Christmas with Garland and
lights :))))) and let me just say, it's going to be the most beautiful
thing in the world. I am so excited to have Christmas in Rimini :)

Miracles:
We have an investigator, Guisi, that we've been trying to get an
appointment with for the past who knows how long, and finally when we
called her on Saturday, it was the perfect timing. She told us that
she had been having a bad day and she wanted to know that God loved
her... and then we called :) the Lord knows His sheep.

We got on a train without getting tickets because we were running late
to an appointment and the machine to get tickets didn't work and there
was no other train that we could take, so my companion said that we
can just pay the fee (double the price of the ticket) if the conductor
comes, and if no one comes then we'll just buy tickets at the train
station when we arrive. Comunque, the train conductor came around and
(I was freaking out, but my companion told him what happened with the
machine, and he was SO nice and we ended up only having to pay €6,30
(half the price of 2 normal tickets for this distance) instead of the
tickets+ the fee.


Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Meager

Just in case you forgot, Thanksgiving is next week, so take a sec,
watch the Mormon Message called "In the Spirit of Thanksgiving" and
think about something you're grateful for! :)

"May we “live in thanksgiving daily”--especially during the seemingly
unexplainable endings that are part of mortality. May we allow our
souls to expand in thankfulness toward our merciful Heavenly Father.
May we ever and constantly raise our voices and show by word and deed
our gratitude to our Father in Heaven and to His Beloved Son, Jesus
Christ."

Sorry everyone, my English is going downhill, but here is a picture of
a funny translation from Chinese that didn't quite end in correct
English.

Saturday we ate so much food that we thought we would surely die and then we had to run (in dresses with our bags) twice so we didn't miss buses. Ultimate missionary test right there.

Sunday morning I was trying to figure out what to wear and everything started shaking and I realized it was another earthquake so I ran to the doorway and I yelled at my companion (who was in the shower) and I was like, "THERE'S AN EARTHQUAKE" but she already knew that... later she told me that it felt like she was in a portapotty and someone was shaking the whole thing.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
All the kids went trick or treating through Centro (the middle of town, kind of like an outlet mall) and they would just run into all the shops and the owners all had candies for the kids when they ran in. It was super cute.

Okay, I want to share part of a general conference talk that I read in personal study this morning:

"...the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation...and Jesus Christ, and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not happening--in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!"

That is EXACTLY why I am out here trying to learn Italian and teach this message to the people in Italy. We have a message of JOY for the world. I know how much the gospel can bless peoples lives because it has blessed my life. It changed me. Heavenly Father takes us as we are and makes us better than we could ever imagine. We are here to have eternal joy and only through Jesus Christ, can we achieve our divine potential and have that joy.

2 Nephi 2:25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

1 Nephi 9:6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Meager

Interesting facts:
Microwaves are timed by minutes
There is always fog during winter but today it cleared up a little
Italians are still pro drivers like wow
If you don't wear tights and it's cold (according to the Italians),
they will assume that you are a skank...lesson learned. Twice.
I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet, but Rimini is the
capitol of discoteca
Rimini is also the birthplace of Piadine and Cassoni, so if you ever
come here, go to Della Lella (restaurant) and get some (SO GOOD)
Hicamas are NOT sweet potatoes

Friday was my companion's one year mark so I made her brownies while
she was in the shower and I put a "1" candle and sang to her during
personal study :)

When we don't understand what language someone is speaking, we call it "Hollish"

Interesting facts:
The hot chocolate here is like hot pudding in a cup. It's MAGICAL
We have a creepy bathroom light that blinks on and off all the time
and we have a lot of fun with it
You can go around the roundabout 13x before getting a ticket
If I sit still for 10 minutes without moving, I fall asleep (like on buses)
I saw Jesus biking with a dog last week. Proof that dogs are man's best friend

I was so tired one day that I FELL ASLEEP AT A LESSON...

College students celebrate friends graduating, by going around Centro
and shouting and playing drums and stuff :) We saw people last week,
at first we thought it was a really bad parade, and then we thought it
was a riot, and then they walked by us and we read the sign and we
realized haha.

There was a torrential DOWNPOUR so we went to an investigator's house
and had fruit herbal tea and got warm :) then I got to see lightning
above the beach #waycool

Miracles:
We were at a less active's house and she talked to us for an HOUR
without interruption explaining how stubborn she is and that she
didn't want to pray or read the scriptures. And then we had the
prompting to read part of 2 Nephi 4 and after we read it, she said,
"I'm going to read the rest of this chapter tonight" !!!! HUGE
MIRACLE. She just took a full 180 (or 360? I can't ever remember which
one it is). Proof that God knows EXACTLY what we need and when we need
it and we need to always be worthy to have His guidance and Spirit
with us.

Nando and Tania are a family that we teach. He is from Napoli and she
is from Ukraine and they have an adorable 5 yr old daughter with brown
curly hair. They are so perfect :) We have had 2 lessons with them so
far and next week we will be going together to Serata Familiare!! I'm
so excited to see this family progress and receive the blessings of
the gospel!

We met a guy named Raff on Monday night, saw him again on Tuesday and
taught him about the Restoration of the gospel on the earth and
extended a baptismal date for December 2nd and he accepted!!! He is so
solid and he loves learning and is so excited to read the Book of
Mormon.

Hey, you should totally go read the Book of Mormon right now :) it's
pretty cool and it'll bless your life tantissimo

Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Meager

Alma 29:9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in
it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath
commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an
instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and
this is my joy.