Letter #10 and Pictures from Cosenza, Italy

Dear family and friends,

I want to thank you for everything you have done for me and for all your birthday wishes. My birthday was great. We had a district meeting that morning and Sorella Waddoups and President Waddoups called me!! I got to hear their voices and they sound wonderful, I cannot wait to meet them!! Then we had lunch with a member, Karin Spizzirri. She is German and very intense, but I love her. She made me a desert, Profittero (I think that is how you spell it). It is a ton of Bignets (or cream puffs) that they fill with cream and Panna and then they drown in melted chocolate!!!!!! Then you put it in the fridge to harden a little.

Me and Sorella Spizzirri and Proffittero

All us missionaries!! And Proffittero

She also gave Sorella Worsham and me these cute little white things to put over our hair buns, I felt like I looked ridiculous but it was very sweet.

Sorella Worsham also made me an ice-cream cake. IT WAS GOOD!

Sorella Worsham's Cake

 

My Sunflower

That night we had a branch activity, a night at the cinema. They were all going to watch the 'Lake House.'  Imagine our ward mission leader's shock when we told him we could not watch the Lake House!! :) He was mystified. He said, "But - it is a GOOD movie..." I replied that we know that it is a great movie but as missionaries we cannot watch it! :) He resigned himself to this and all was well. We still came early to help and for the spiritual thought.

When we arrived we saw Fratello Lopez on the phone. When he got off the phone he came running to us and told us, excitedly, "I just got off the phone with the Mission President and you can watch the movie that the kid's watch!!!" He was so proud of himself. Fratello Lopez is determined so I am not surprised that he talked Presidente Waddoups into it.

I got there and all of these members had found out it was my birthday, and they kept saying, "why didn't you tell us?" But they were very nice. And after the spiritual thought the Branch surprised me with a sunflower. I thought I was going up to bear my testimony and Fllo Gardi whips out from behind the pulpit a flower. It was sooo nice!. Then we left and watched "Ratatouille" with all the kids and ate popcorn. It was great!! 

I am still waiting for a few conversion stories. Specifically: Letty, Richard, David, Algot, Alisha, Joe, and James. Late entries are accepted :)

 

For my email today I wanted to share with you my conversion story with what time I have left to write:

My conversion to the Lord has been gradually over my whole life, as almost all of yours. But I can map it with key pillar moments over my life.

I grew up loving the scriptures. Because my parents loved the scriptures and shared this love with me. I loved to read the Book of Mormon and the Bible and I loved Seminary. I always knew that they contained God's words and that they were meant specifically to help us and to guide us in this life. At about age 13 I decided to read the Book of Mormon every day. I have continued to do this until today. There have been some holes, some days missed, or sometimes when I read the Bible or Doctrine and Covenants instead of the Book of Mormon (because that is what we were studying in Seminary). I know that God has given us scriptures for our own benefit and to teach us of Him. They teach us about His plan of happiness that He has for all His children and they teach us what we must do to return home to live with Him.

I have always known that my Savior loved me and all of God's children ever since a young age. Growing up I always had nightmares, my sisters Letty and Ann can attest to this seeing as we shared a room. I would always pray every night that instead of a nightmare I would have a dream about Jesus. (An idea I had learned in Church.) When I was about 5 (the exact age I do not remember) God answered my prayer. Instead of the usual nightmare, I had a dream that Jesus was seated and calling all of the children to Him. He called me and lifted me up onto His lap. He hugged me and told me how much He loved me and that I never needed to be afraid.

To this day I remember that dream and because of it and other experiences in my life I know that God knows us and loves us. I know that He answers prayers. Even the simplest and most seemingly insignificant requests, if they are in accordance with His will.

All during high school and middle school I did what was expected of me. And my testimony grew by doing little things. My testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet grew when I went on a trip with other youth in the church to go visit Church History sites. We went to Kirtland, Ohio and ended in Palmyra, New York. Standing in the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ was not the part that grew my testimony. Instead it was a testimony meeting we had in the basement of the Palmyra Visitor's Center, surrounded by dummies and props from the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was there, hearing the testimony of the other girls and sharing my own, that I realized that I believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the divine power of the Holy Ghost.

Another pillar of my conversion was when I was 17 years old. I believed the Book of Mormon was true but I wanted a stronger testimony of it. The idea came to me that one way to strengthen my testimony would be to give a copy to someone else. That action would signify that I knew this book was true. So I did just that. I picked 2 friends and I wrote my testimony in a Book of Mormon and gave them each one. Through the experiences that followed I was given the opportunity to bear my testimony of the truthfulness of that Book and felt inside of me the realization that I DID KNOW with CERTAINTY that it was a true book.

I then went off to college and continued on with my little things. And with continual promptings and answers to my prayers my testimony has grown. I have been converted by the tender mercies I saw everyday. By every exam that I did not fail and by every roommate and friend I have made and learned from.

I still have a lot more to learn and my testimony and conversion must grow. But there I some things that I know.

Being on my mission I have felt my testimony grow exponentially and I have felt myself being converted to the Lord. I have felt the presence of the Holy ghost and I have felt the presence of my Father in Heaven. As I have prayed I have felt His literal presence and His closeness and I know that He is listening. I have seen the power of the priesthood. I have been actually physically healed and strengthened. I may feel horrible but as soon as we start a lesson, my nose stops running and I can think clearly; and as soon as the lesson is over I feel sick again!

I have seen people change, I have seen the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that there are no coincidences, especially in missionary work. You meet who you are supposed to meet. To quote the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, "The Lord is in the details." I have felt the Lord use me to say His words, and do His deeds, even though I am not a perfect tool.

I am so grateful for all of you specifically my siblings and parents! For everything you have taught me and how each of you have grown my testimony by your example. I am grateful for God's plan and that we can be with our families forever. I am grateful for the temple, where we can go and make promises with our Heavenly Father and we can go be endowed with power. This is what God wants for every single human being and we need to share it with them.

I Love you all!

Love,
Sorella Rose preston

 

Happy Fourth of July!

Me and English Course students

Our English Course party for the 4th of July

Me at the 4th of July Party we did for English course

Our 4th of July Feast

 

Letter #9 From Cosenza, Italy

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this email finds you well. I want to thank Ann, Mom, and Dad for sending me their conversion stories and I am waiting for the others :)

I loved hearing about the wonderful visitors you have been having at the farm and that Dad finally got his boat in the water.

I am loving Cosenza! This past week we have seen many miracles. We are just about to start teaching one of our students of English course. We are hoping that he and his girlfriend will both become investigators soon. He is very intellectual and he has many questions specifically about the Plan of Salvation. He is already keeping commitments that we give him after English course even though he is not an investigator yet. He is unsure if he believes in God but if he did he would lean toward what we believe! I just smiled and thought, "Oh just you wait!!"

This Sunday we saw the world leadership broadcast about missionary work. It was Amazing! I was very inspired. I loved all of the film clips. And specifically the talks by Neil L. Andersen and Russell M. Nelson. I know that our branch is ready to explode. We started another 40 day fast this week and that broadcast just helped everyone get the vision.

We have many areas where we need to grow, us as missionaries and also the members. I am very excited to start working with them more closely. After the broadcast we went to talk with Lina Favre. She is the District President's 17 year old daughter. Slla worsham asked her if she would like to start working with us more. And Lina agreed. She is wonderful and already talked to us about how after high school she wants to go on a mission. It is perfect because in Italy, high school ends at age 19.

The work is just exploding all over the world. I was talking with another sister missionary yesterday (we were planning for the addestramento we have to do at zone conference) and she shared with me something that her father shared with her. The concept was that, we may feel like we aren't making a difference and we are having a time with not many investigators but every smile, every 'hello' every lesson counts. And when you times that by 70,000 missionaries in the world, you get miracles!

After the broadcast, Sorella Worsham and I made some goals about how to help our members get the vision of missionary work. And build their confidence in their ability to talk to their friends about the gospel. We decided that we need to start setting dates with our members for when they can have a friend to teach with us. And we want to encourage them to invite friends when they invite us to lunch. And some other goals.

Just yesterday, we did a lesson with Slla Lopez because she was fasting (40 day fast). She did not have any referrals but as she was talking she mentioned how hard it is when you look and you see that one of the seats in sacrament meeting, where someone always sat, is empty. I asked her is there is anyone missing that she had noticed that we could visit. She told us of one sister. A name that never would have stood out to me otherwise. Slla Lopez talks to her almost every day!!! They are really good friends. She just started pulling away from the church a few years ago and then she moved to a small paese outside of Cosenza and that just completely cut her off. Slla Lopez even offered to drive us out so we can meet with her!!! 

It was a huge miracle and a testimony to me. We need the members because missionaries are always coming and leaving and we don't know the people who stopped coming. We don't know when they stopped coming or why, they are just all grouped into our inactives and we try to go down the list and visit them. But just like Slla Lopez did, members can help us narrow our search.

Another awesome miracle happened Monday and yesterday. We were doing casa on Monday. And we knocked on a door. She was on the phone and could not talk but she saw that we were

Americans and we set up a return appointment!!!! We thought it was just for English course and talking English with her daughter. But we went to the appointment and after some pleasantries, this woman looked at us and said, "And what about this church? What is it? How is it different from Catholicism and Protestantism?" And from there the conversation just flew. It was amazing. She invited her 17 year old daughter to come join us. We were able to explain the BoM and do a quick explanation of the Restoration. They were looking at us so intently, their eyes just drinking up every word. They both accepted Books of Mormon and promised to read the introduction. They want to see us again. And we are hoping to see them Thursday and the 4th of July party we are doing at corso d'inglese. It was an amazing miracle.

That Monday night we went out finding and I felt like we had to be on this street and go left. We got on the street and went right and after 2 blocks, I realized that this is wrong. We turned around and walked the other direction. We rang one palazzo and the 2nd portone we stopped at we got in. And the 1st scala we went to there was no one home except this woman who answered her door on the 1st floor. I love how God works. And I feel very humbled that we saw such a miracle.

I love you all. Thank you for all of your love. Sorella Worsham is going to make me a birthday cake for my birthday. I am so excited :) Have a great day

Love,

Sorella Preston

Letter #8 and Pictures from Cosenza, Italy

Dear Family and friends,

I hope this email finds you all well. This past week has been wonderful and we have seen many miracles. I have really felt the Lord refining me. IT IS HARD! But I am grateful for His patience and His love. 

 

Mom thank you for your conversion story I will read it on my birthday :) Thank for forwarding my emails. You can send them to anyone you want :) And thank you for forwarding them to my MTC teachers. :) 

 

This week we did the Mostra in front of Fllo Gardi's Bar (our ward Mission Leader). He owns the bar so we can do it without worrying about a permit. 2 members came, Fllo Lopez and Donka (a newly baptized member from Bulgaria).

Me and Donka Ivanova

We put up the mostra (a tripod with 3 giant panels: one about God, one about the Family, And one about the Book of Mormon) and then we just went around talking with people - like Mega-finding. Sorella Worsham and I had also made a little 5 question survey that we could ask people to start a gospel conversation. We did it to help the members in specific. It is a lot less scarier to stop people by saying "Excuse me, we are doing a survey. May I ask you these few questions?" Then on the same paper there were lines where they could write the name and phone number of the person, if they would like to learn more. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN: We talked to a lot of people. And got about 8 phone numbers. This past week we have been contacting and setting up appointments with all of them and there a lot of people who are interested to learn more. It was great! We are planning to do it again on Saturday. 

 

Last night we had a lesson with a girl about our age and Sorella Lopez.

Us at the Lopez's house. (slla Lope, Anziano Bethke, Anziani Cicon, Fllo Lopez, Slla Worsham, and Me)

It was our first lesson with her and went very well. She had a lot of really good questions so we were trying to find the balance between answering her questions and also guiding  the lesson. At the end of the lesson there was a really great experience that I would like to share.

 

I explained that we want to see her and answer her question and help her find the inner peace she said she was looking for. But she would not learn anything if she did not pray about the things we say. And if she did not develop her desire to follow Christ and be willing to act on what she learned. She said she would. We read Moroni 10:3-5 and it just really hit her. She started tearing up a little and just kept saying, "WOW" over and over again. She said, "I feel very strange... but a good strange I cant describe it." We explained that it was the Holy Ghost telling her that the Book of Mormon is true. She was so happy and wants to see us again. She wanted to read all of 1 Nefi by Sunday :) We said that that would be great. We did not want to discourage her!! :) If she wants to, please do!! 

 

I want to thank you for all of your prayers. I have really been feeling them.

 

Also a reminder to all people who have not sent me their conversion stories, to email them to me!! Thank you! 

 

Lots of love,

Sorella Preston

 

Sorella Worsham and Me with Sorella Spizzirri

Us at Slla Spizzirri's house

 

Letter #7 from Cosenza, Italy

Dear Family,

Yes, summer has finally arrived but with it I am getting a nice tan. Italy is HOT and Sorella Worsham and I have upped our gelato in-take exponentially.

I hope everyone had a great week and I hope you had a great Father's Day, Dad!!

Pictures from Bari Zone Conference and Cosenza District Conference

Me and Sorella Kelly

Letter #6 from Cosenza, Italy

The Kelly's Last Zone Conference and Sorella Worsham's First

Dear Family, I'VE BEEN TRANSFERED TO MALTA!!!

Just kidding , I am still here in Cosenza with Sorella Worsham :) HEE HEE

Letter #5 and Pictures from Cosenza, Italy

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow is Zone Conference and I am so excited!! I feel like it is Christmas. We get tons of new proselyting materials, the May Liahona and all the General Conference talks. I love it!!