Interesting facts:
I have been here for over a month and I still don't know how to lock
the bathroom door at the church without getting locked in
Italians put motors on their bikes so they don't have to pedal
Italians love Americans and wearing American clothes and I have even
seen a couple mopeds that have the American flag painted on...
Our neighbor does laundry at least 7x a day

A bird pooped on my nose

I got proposed to 4x (by the same guy within 20 minutes)

We were following a lady that we wanted to talk to for 3 blocks... and
then I saw a guy wearing a Texas shirt and we stopped and talked to
him #Texans He was cool. He said he knew a ton of Mormons and then he
invited us to his music shop.

They have a little American bakery here and they sell American items
so my companion and I got the essentials: Dr. Pepper, A&W root beer,
and Reese's.

An investigator named, Joy called at 1am one night so I answered and
my companion woke up...
Me: Pronto (this is what you say when you answer the phone)
Sorella Drake : Are you sure it's not a text?
Me: I'm on the phone right now

Also, apparently I made a loud crescendo-ing noise in the middle of
the night during my sleep a couple nights ago and woke my companion up

I woke up Saturday morning, and my arm hurt when anything touched it
so I assumed that I had shingles aka herpes zoster aka fioca de Santo
Antonio (according to the Italian English dictionary) so I called
Sorella Allen (mission mom) and she freaked out. But the doctors
offices are closed on weekends so I decided to wait it out (yes, mom I
know that I'm not supposed to do that with shingles) and guess what?
Prayers worked and my arm stopped hurting by the next morning and
hasn't hurt since! Moral of the story: don't ever call shingles early.
Also, prayers work

Karma:
My bike kinda sucks and it requires twice as much effort to do
anything on my bike, than my companion's bike. Don't know why, but we
switched bikes and she has apologized like 12x for my bike. The end.
(We're getting it fixed today)

Miracle:
On Sunday, I woke up feeling sick. And then I cried. And then after
church, my companion and I were super hormonal?? We were laughing and
crying all during lunch... Then we went to Centro and had an
appointment with GianLuca (he baci'ed us.  I don't like it when guys
baci us. Baci is a verb that my companion and I made up for the cheek
kissing ritual that Italians do) anyway, then we were supposed to have
an appointment with Rafael, but he didn't show up BUT we met a guy
named Antonio and long story short: he asked about all of the church
doctrine ever and we talked to him for almost 2 hours. I don't know
how to describe it, but my companion and I were in shock forever about
it because it was one of the coolest conversations ever.

Also, you may have already heard about the earthquake near Rome this
morning. All the members and missionaries are accounted for and safe.
My companion and I were not affected. The church is true. The end.

Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Meager

Faith starts with the benefit of the doubt
Moroni 6:4

My Favorite Human

Interesting Facts:
If you buy off brand chocolate rice crispies cereal, it WILL taste
like off brand chocolate rice crispies cereal
Italian don't normally have dishwashers, they wash dishes by hand and
have a drying rack in the cabinet
Most streets aren't labeled so you just have to know them... Or guess
I have yet to see a single movie theater. Do they watch movies in Italy?
Our gate to the church has wasps in it (not actually interesting, just a fact)

Friday was an interesting day. I will sum it up in one sentence: I
almost got kissed by an Italian man, then we talked to 2 people that
were stoned out of their minds, and we ended the night by me getting
gelato all over myself. (I rode home on my bike with gelato in my hand
and it spilled on my bike, leg, and dress). Here is a random picture
of Centro that I took on Friday because the sky looked cool.
Aug 10th, 2016

Interesting facts:
(I'm probably going to put interesting facts in every email because
I'm always finding out new things)
At the grocery store, you can't touch the fruits or vegetables with
your hands, you have to use gloves or a bag
During the month of August, everyone goes on vacation so we have had
full days where we don't speak to any Italians, only Romanians,
Ukrainians, Swedes, French, Africans, Moroccans, Pakistanians, etc.
When you say goodbye on the phone, you say "Ciao" like 5x
You have to have like 5 eyes to drive in Italy, especially in Rimini

On Thursday night while we were planning for the next day, my
companion was telling me that she was proud of me during our lessons,
because I've begun to speak more and she was like "I have a
functioning companion!"

Friday night, I found out that I kept saying "Fede senza opera è
morte" which means: faith without works is death, instead of saying
"Fede senza opera è morta" which is faith without works is dead...

On Saturday, we helped Concetta and her husband, Pino pack the sewing
room. 4.5 hours and 52 boxes later... We stopped and we had AMAZING
pizza and then they drove us home.

On Sunday, we biked 45 minutes to the Zavala family's house for their
daughters birthday lunch and it was so good! They are the cutest
family. We ate lunch and sang Happy birthday and then we shared about
a message about temples and being worthy. And I also shared the story
about my grandparents and showed them a picture of them in Uganda :)

Aug 4th 2016

I got hit on my an Albanian man yesterday... He came up to me and
said, "You have a beautiful face structure... Kiss me" (all in
Italian) so I had no idea what he was saying so I just smiled and said
"Siamo missionarie per la chiesa di Gesù Cristo..." Needless to say,
he wasn't interested in our message about Jesus Christ.

More interesting facts about Italy:
You have to rotate the key for our apartment door 4x to lock or unlock
it so I'm pretty sure no one could ever break in through the door
Italians are pro parallel parkers and pro at riding their bikes
without their hands
There is a Kellogg cereal called EXTRA that I never saw before my
mission and it is SO good. I invite you to eat it.
Italy has these mosquitos called Tiger Mosquitos and yeah, they feel
exactly like their name and they are immune to the repellant that we
use
Public restrooms don't really exist in Italy and if you do find one,
you usually have to pay for it
I speak in a thicker Texan accent when I speak in Italian than when I
speak English

We had English class last Wednesday night and only one person showed
up. Her name is Francesca and she was super funny and nice. We ended
up just talking for an hour (in English). She was telling us about her
trip to Naples, Italy and she was like "I ate the pizza... And I
cried" haha so, apparently the pizza is really good in Naples.

@Wed July 27th 2016

I was laying on the bottom bunk and I kicked the top and there are wire things and I accidently stabbed my toe and it bled a lot. lol. don't kick beds

We met our Mission President and his wife and they are the CUTEST!!! I'm so stoked to be in Milan, serving the people there. We have 11 DAYS LEFT!!!!! WHAT IS THIS LIFE? I already love the people of Italy so much and I haven't even gotten there yet!!

The language is really coming along!! We learn a lot everyday and the lessons have really been improving! My companion and I are able to teach and bear testimony without writing every single word down :) progress!! ALSO, on Sunday, I was called up to give a 5 min talk to ITALIAN!!!! We have to prepare a talk every Sunday and so I prepared one, but I didn't find out until a little too late that it was supposed to be in Italian and not English!! (we don't do talks in Italian until our 4th week in the MTC) Luckily, I had my Italian scriptures and notes with me and the Spirit was able to guide me-- plus, the romanians in our zone didn't know what I was saying so hopefully they thought I was really good at Italian ;)

Also, Sister Duncan, a missionary that served in Dallas Texas, works at the MTC and came and SAW ME!!! Seeing her brought me to tears and I'm so thankful that she came at the time that she did. The Lord is very aware of what we are dealing with at all times and is constantly sending people our way to help and guide us.

Roast of the week: "You can do a wall sit for an hour but you can't pick up a box?!" that was to me by Anziano Wagstaff because I do wall sits during our breaks in class and one time I was sore and I couldn't pick up a box, so he seized the moment and roasted me.

Another sleep talking story, Sorella Huntzinger woke up when our other roommate came back from the bathroom and yelled "JACKPOT" and we asked her what she was talking about and she said, "Jackpot in the Safari" so yeah. the end.

Dio ci ama e Dio ha un piano per noi. Lui ci vole avere felicita in nostri vita. Noi abbiamo felicita tramite Gesu Cristo e l'espiazione. Sono grato per Il Libro di Mormon e questo vangelo. Io invito voi leggere Il Libro Di Mormon e pregarate sapere che e la parola di Dio. Io so che Dio la manda la risposta a voi preghiera tramite lo Spirito Santo. Tramite lo Spirito Santo, noi possiamo la verita di ogni cosa (Mosia 10:5)

God loves us and He has a plan for us. He wants us to have happiness in our lives. We can have that happiness through Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and this gospel. I invite y'all to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know that it is the word of God. I KNOW that God will answer you through the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we can know the truth of all things (Mosiah 10:5)

Ti voglio bene!

Love,

Sorella Meager

look at the eternal perspective

stop worrying about yourself and GO TO WORK

What a week!!! 

Sacrament on Sunday was SO great! The Book of Mormon was the topic and our Branch President reminded us that "the Book of Mormon isn't just a nice thing to have". I love the Book of Mormon and I know that reading and studying it has blessed my life tremendously. I have gotten to know my Savior personally through the Book of Mormon and through prayer.

In class on Tuesday night, our teacher, Sorella Francom bore a simple testimony to us that I really needed:

"You, in your simple Italian, can have more power in your lesson than someone who can speak perfect Italian." That is because we have been set apart as missionaries. We wear Christ's name on our chest and we have the spirit with us 24/7. It is such an incredible feeling and I want to stay a missionary forever!! I love the people of Italy and I have not even set foot in the land yet (although I have met a few Italians). I cannot wait to get over there and bring them closer to Christ.

We haven't changed at all because of the name tag that is on our chest, I am still me, but wearing His name on our chest shows that we have devoted our lives to Him for these next 18 months and we will get to see miracles happen right before our eyes because of that. Being on a mission is a sacrifice, but I have given up so little to get so much and I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

I love my district so much and I'm glad I do because we spend 10+ hours a day with each other and it would be torture if I didn't like them. Last night we figured out who everyone was as a cartoon Character and here is the list in order from left to right of the picture:

Anziano Johnson= Flynn Rider (Tangled-- his looks)

Anziano Brown= Dash (The Incredibles-- his looks)

Anziano Jacobsen= Mr. Fredrickson (Up-- the way he acts with his comp)

Anziano Wagstaff= Russell (Up-- his enthusiasm and above statement)

Sorella Cloward= Ruby (Max and Ruby-- her looks)

Sorella Carter= Lilo (Lilo and Stitch-- he sassyness)

Sorella Huntzinger= Rapunzel (Tangled-- goes from crying to laughing like no one else)

Sorella Wilson= Sadness (Inside Out-- her looks)

Sorella Meager= Wheezy (Toy Story-- it's because of my laugh)

This week went by SO fast, I thought yesterday was P day, but here we are again: sitting in the laundry room and emailing. I know a lot of good things happened this week, but I can't quite remember what they were. BUT the general authorities are here right now and that is pretty legit, except we aren't allowed to go into the same building they are in, and if we see them we are not allowed to approach them. Our district keeps making jokes like:

"Do not approach General Authorities"

"They are more scared of you than you are of them"

"Do not tap on glass, it will scare them"

We got 710 new missionaries on Wednesday and I knew one of them! Katie Calderwood is now right across the hall from me!! Because of the general authorities and the increase of missionaries, we now eat in the gym and outside. BUT that means the food is way better because now it is catered or grilled :)

Devotional on Tuesday was SO GOOD. Elder Nielson talked about that success is not just measured on the amount of months there, because one convert can affect generations! He told a story about a guy that he taught in the pouring rain and he didn't think it would go anywhere. But, he was wrong, his one convert, Brother Ekland, made an incredible impact. 20 yrs after his mission: Brother Ekland became a Stake President. 35 yrs after the mission: Brother Ekland helped open up a temple in Finland. Last year: He met Brother Ekland's grandson, who is serving a mission.

You canNOT measure the amount of success you have as a missionary JUST based on the amount of time you spend there.

Reason for the title of the email: My roommate, Sorella Huntzinger talks in her sleep. One night, we were all laying in bed (not talking) and she blurts out, "It's not even morning yet!" and I automatically just told her to go back to sleep cause I knew she wasn't actually awake. Then 2 minutes later, she sits up and tells us a story about her dad and then lays back down. THEN 5 minutes later, she says, "Why does everyone keep saying it's morning??" We all busted out laughing. The end.

Smile at someone today!

Love y'all,

Sorella Meager

God doesn't give up on us and His work never stops.

No one is you and that is your power