Letter #3 and Pictures from Catania, Italy

Hello Everyone,

Sicily is still amazing. This week has been crazy, but in a good way. We were preparing everything for General Conference, and I was getting over my virus :) General Conference was amazing, but more about that later.

 This is us this morning in the car. We went to the fiera (Market) and bought presents and fun things :)

I realized that I have been very bad about birthdays and such and some of you I can't remember your birthdays anymore :( So I want you to email me a list of all the kids, Mom and dad, Alisha, Avery, emerson, Savannah, Grandma Johnson, Richard, and Joe. I can guess at the month but I would love to know the actual date :) THIS IS URGENT!

 

Last week I ate my first cannolo! It was amazing! I hope you all get the chance to have one someday. It is very good. The classic is filled with ricotta cheese and sugar :) Mine had been dusted in pistachio :)

Last week I met Anziano Jerrick Sorenson. He is great friends with the Osguthorpes!! I got an update on the whole family. Wesley is now 18 and he is going on a mission to the Phillipines!!! How cool. Do you happen to have their address or email address. I would love to contact them.

This week we had a lesson with an investigator we met in the hospital. He is in a wheelchair after a car accident 4 years ago. He has had a really hard past few years. We met him when he was visiting the hospital room of one of our members. We had stopped by and talked with him about prayer before and then we came again this week and taught the restoration. He was listening intently but having a hard time grasping all the new information. We asked him if he thought God would answer his prayer. and he said "I dont Know." We asked him why and sincerely he replied, "I don't know."

He needs the gospel light so much. He is so sad and grief-stricken and bitter towards God. He has so much grief and physical worries that it is blocking his spiritual eyes. He could not grasp how we can have peace and how he can have peace. He said, "You could die tomorrow! I could die tomorrow! You don't know!" As he said this, my companion and I looked at each other and we both smiled at each other. We know that we can die tomorrow. But, as we explained to our friend, that is okay. The message that we bring gives us peace. It helps us understand the purpose of life and that there is more to life than death.

I realized that without the full doctrine found in the restored gospel, God would NOT BE FAIR. Those not baptized would be damned. He would save some and not others. He would be a respecter of persons. We would not grasp the need for suffering and loss. We would not have the full picture. I feel so blessed that God is Just and Merciful. That we can find salvation for ourselves and our dead. The gospel is "A voice of gladness for the dead and for the living." (D&C 128:19) Oh what a great knowledge we have.

General Conference was wonderful! I love watching General Conference as a missionary because you see how much speakers use the basic teaching patterns found in Preach My Gospel. Or they teach the basic lessons that the missionaries teach. Or they answer the questions that I am asked every day by people on the street. Why is there suffering? (Quentin L. cook addressed this). How can I help my family? (Boyd K. Packer). And many more questions.

I especially loved the talk by Henry B. Eyring. I received so much personal comfort from this talk. He said that as we draw closer to God, God will draw closer to our loved ones. As you all are moving, starting IVF, have stresses, and sicknesses, I was comforted to know that God is taking care of you all and that He is drawing closer to you.

 

I love you all so much! AND I am praying for you.

Love Sorella Preston

This is Motta and it is close to Catania. But it was night so you can't really see.

Me and La Famiglia Mana. They are a Filipino familiy in my ward. And the little girl is their granddaughter.