Dallas Airport Pics

The father of one of the anziani in Ashlyn's travel group was able to see the missionaries on their layover in Dallas.  He ate breakfast with them and took pictures, which were then posted to the mission facebook page.  Ashlyn spoke to us on her layover in Dallas and was excited and exhausted and ready to be in Italy.

BUON GIORNO DI RINGRAZIAMENTO!

Ciao a tutti!!!! How was everyone's Thanksgiving?? I hope that everyone had an amazing day yesterday full of gratitude for your blessings and for our Savior (: My Thanksgiving was pretty cool, definitely the most memorable of my entire life so far! My whole week was good with a lot of teaching appointments. Our real investigator, Francesca, didn't answer our Skype call! So that was a bummer! We will never get to teach her now! Hopefully she talks to the next group of missionaries, or some missionaries in Italy find her because she is so ready to hear the Gospel! We also got to hear a devotional from Elder Nielson of the Seventy, which was cool! One of my favorite devotionals! And he brought Janice Kapp Perry and the choir sang one of her songs to her! First time she had heard it performed live ever! It was so cool to be a part of that. Also, Sister Perry is so funny. If she had a stand-up comedy show, I would definitely go, no question.

So Thanksgiving. The day started out with a choir practice and devotional. And my dream speaker came to devotional . . . ELDER BEDNAR AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It was like my early Christmas present!!!! When they announced it, I just started freaking out hahahahaha it was like my dream come true. Every devotional, I always guess that it's gonna be Bednar because I want him to come so bad, but it never is! But this week he came!!!! And it was so cool! He passed out phones and had everyone text him questions, then he answered them. And it was so awesome. Bednar is so great with missionaries because he just tells you like it is and doesn't beat around the bush. You know exactly what is expected of you with Bednar. And he gives such great advice. That hour and a half was like the greatest of my LIFE hahahahaha. The rest of the day was cool though too.

We did an awesome service project with Feeding Children Everywhere. Their CEO converted and was baptized this year, and he shared his conversion story to everyone at a devotional. It is a REALLY cool story. Basically, service brings everyone closer to the Lord! We packaged like 350,000 meals for hungry children in Utah! It was so fun too and we got to listen to Christmas music. We also got to hear from Sister Eubank! LADY BOSS! Hahahaha she is so great. I love listening to speakers and letting the Spirit teach me while they talk.

The lunch yesterday was actually decent! Actually, it was good! That is not a daily occurrence here at the MTC. I am definitely ready for good Italian food. Luckily, I get out of here on Tuesday! That night, the Nashville Tribute Band came and played music for us. One of their songs got a little rowdy and the MTC Presidency looked so nervous hahaha but it was really fun, I thought. I don't love Christian music, but any reprieve from the hymns was just so awesome haha I've never heard better music. We are starved for entertainment here in the MTC. Then they turned on the Christmas lights and played Christmas music! It was so beautiful! Plus the weather here has been on point lately for some reason, so being outside felt awesome. Overall, Thanksgiving was a really great day. Something that I will remember for the rest of my life! 

My spiritual thought today is a concept that Elder Bednar taught us last night. He talked about the concept of perfection and how it is used in the scriptures. He said that in the scriptures, the word perfection actually means complete. God commands us to be complete. What the Spirit taught me about that is that we just need to created daily patterns for life that allow us to become more complete. We can't be perfect all in one day, but by doing things and continually changing, we are molding life patterns and also patterns for eternity so that we can continually progress forever. So don't be too hard on yourself! Just create life patterns!

Well that was my Thanksgiving and my week! I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving as well and ate good food. Enjoy this amazing weather, you Utahns! We are so blessed right now! I love you all! Have a great week; pictures are on their way next! Ciao!

Sorella Henderson

Pic 1: family dinner

Pic 2: Sorella Reeeeeeeeeder

Pic 3: sorority squatting #phikappatheta

Pic 4: basic

Pic 5: made everyone else be basic too

Pic 6: Christmas lights!

Pic 7:Thanksgiving lunch

Pic 8: best meal ever made at the MTC

Pics 9 and 10: choir practice lol

additional pic from Thanksgiving

ONE MONTH DOWN (almost)

Ciao a tutti!!! Come state??? I hope that everybody is pumped for Thanksgiving and listening to Christmas music because it's that time of year so don't be hating. I'm still surviving here in the MTC, and my 1 month mark is tomorrow! Which is crazy! This last month has flown by so fast, but I have also learned so much and progressed more than I thought I would in just one month. 11 days until Italy!!! I am very nervous but also very very very very excited.

So on Monday, we started member Skype TRC, which is when we Skype members in Italy and teach them a lesson. I was very excited, but Sorella Williams and I were both very nervous because we didn't know if we would understand anything that they said. Luckily, I got the gist of just about everything that she said. Not 100%, but I didn't feel like dying, so that was good. Unfortunately, we were kinda confused the whole time because she kept saying how she was Catholic... So Sorella Williams and I teach this whole lesson geared to a member (because they drill it into our heads so much that TRC is just members and not investigators), but we leave so confused because she acted like she knew stuff about the Church, but then she would ask kind of weird questions. So after the lesson, we asked the TRC people what was up with that because it seemed like she thought she was supposed to role play and was just terrible at it or something, and they had no idea. So then the next day we found out that she's an actual investigator! Hahahahahaha holy cow I felt so bad and so freaked out when I found that out. And turns out, she wants us to keep Skyping her and have her daughter come as well. So I guess it didn't go as terrible as I thought, but it really caught me off guard for sure haha. We teach her again on Monday, and we are so excited! But also nervous because it's very rare that they let you teach real investigators in the MTC so all the teachers keep like taking us out for coaching sessions and the like, which is fun haha and great practice. It'll be a great experience to teach Francesca (:

On Tuesday, Anziano e Sorella Parrella came to speak to us for devotional. Anziano Parrella is the newest member of the Quorum of the Seventy, and I believe he spoke in the last General Conference or maybe the one before that. I absolutely loved both of their talks! Holy cow they are astounding people! And also super adorable. Sorella Parrella talked about how being perfect people is just not attainable in this life. She said that we should try our best in everything that we do and hold ourselves accountable to that, but trying any harder than that and beating up on ourselves is just going to do more harm than good. I really loved that concept. Anziano Parrella talked a lot about the Spirit and the Enabling power of the Atonement. Christ's Atonement wasn't just for forgiveness for our sins, but it's also the thing that gives us help, after we have done all that we can do. I know that for me, as a missionary, I can't convert people to this Gospel or help them receive Christ on my own. I can study, be obedient, and pray for help, but after that, it's in the Lord's hands. And I have to rely on the presence of the Holy Ghost to confirm that what I am teaching is true. This is applicable to everyone in anything that we are doing. We have to have faith and trust in God that He will help us when we can't do something alone. I really am so grateful for the Atonement. (:

Well, I believe that's all the exciting news that I have for this week. Vi voglio bene! Have an amazing Thanksgiving, and remember to thank the Lord for all of your blessings (: Ciao!

Sorella Henderson

Sorry there aren't many pics this week!

Pic 1: Sorella Williams and I in front of the temple

Pic 2: La zona

Pic 3: trying to be K pop (I'm sort of embarrassed about this photo tbh)

PRESIDENT NELSON!!!

Hellooooo everybody?? I hope that you are all doing well and enjoying yourselves and this beautiful weather that Utah is having. It snowed the other day, so the other Sisters in my district and I, as well as Anziano Davey who has never seen snow and his companion, went outside and played in the snow for about half an hour instead of studying . . . Sometimes you just gotta take a break and do something that makes you happy. (: Well, playing in the snow is a strong word since none of it actually stuck, but it was great, anyway. Then yesterday, we had some amazing warm weather! Which was great because we like to go outside to the field and play kickball and frisbee and stuff, so we got to do that, probably for the last time. Exercise hour is the funnest hour of the day. I take my four square very seriously... 

So on Tuesday, we had a devotional, and the speaker was President Nelson! And his wife, Sister Nelson, also spoke. They were both seriously so awesome! I love hearing apostles speak, and this is the second time in the last three weeks that I have gotten to hear from an apostle! I seriously love the MTC. President Nelson spoke a lot about the gathering of Israel and how we have been saved as missionaries for this dispensation to usher in the Second Coming of Christ. It was pretty cool. Devotionals are such a blessing. We also heard from Brother Egget, the choir director, on Sunday Devotional (and every Sunday because the MTC choir is the best ever), and it was one of the best talks that I have ever heard. I wish that these talks were broadcasted so that not just missionaries could listen because they always have amazing speakers in the MTC for us and I just wanna be able to share it with everyone! But if you ever get a chance to hear Brother Egget speak - he teaches institute at UVU - then you should go because he is the coolest dude.

The highlights of my week were definitely the snow and the devotionals. But every day, I love teaching so much. We don't get to teach tonight, so I am a little bummed. But we did get to teach 2 times yesterday, and both were kind of on the spot because we didn't know beforehand! And they were so awesome! Our teacher is pretending to be someone he knew on his mission named Andrea. The word I would use to describe Andrea is a ragazzaccio... which in Italian means like a bad boy. Just a total shredder. There isn't really a direct translation of the word. But he was seriously SO MEAN to us during the lesson, but he couldn't keep a straight face so we were all just giggling the whole time. He did not want to be meeting with us at all, so I would just do funny stuff like crack jokes to try to get him to smile. And it was one of the best lessons we have ever had! Even though our investigator was so mean to us and hated us, I came out smiling because I knew that I did my best and it was also really funny seeing my teacher pretend to be mean hahahahahaha it was the best.

I am loving the MTC and loving Italian! Less than 3 weeks left in my MTC experience, which is CRAZY! But I am so excited and I will be so ready to get to Italy when the time comes. I can't wait to talk to everyone that I see, even the ragazzacci. (; This truly is the Lord's work, and I know that missionaries are so blessed and also their families for their decisions to serve. I hope that you all had a great week and that you stay safe in whatever you are doing. Vi voglio bene! Ciao!

Sorella Henderson

Pics 1 and 5: matching shirts!!!

Pic 2: snow day!!

Pic 3: the zone

Pic 4: bellissimo

more snow day photos

Ashlyn's Aunt Katelyn Hoffman has an aunt on her other side that works at the MTC. Ashlyn got to host (welcome new missionaries on Wednesday) with her this week, and we got this text from her. 

BUON HALLOWEEN!!!!

Ciao a tutti!! Come state?? How was everyone's Halloween?? Halloween was great here in the MTC. Our teacher brought us candy, and we wore masks and took pictures haha and that's the most you'd get to do here for Halloween, but it's all good. We also got to hear from Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy on Halloween night, which was cool. And on Sunday Mitch Davis, the director of Other Side of Heaven, came and spoke to us, and it was amazing. He talked about getting lost in the work and being courageous because this time isn't for us, it's for the Lord. We also got to watch bits and pieces of Other Side of Heaven, which was cool because that's probably the closest I'll get to a movie for 18 months lol. Overall, this was a really good week, and I've seen the most progression in my Italian this week. The gift of tongues is so real! I probably could not speak and comprehend like I can if I was trying to learn Italian any other way than by the Spirit. I love learning Italian; it's the most beautiful language in the world for sure. (;

Okay so here are some funny things that happened this week: Our entire zone tried VeggieMite, which is apparently the Australian peanut butter equivalent. Anziano Davey made us try some, and he was so excited to see our reactions, but everyone hated it hahahaha we felt so bad because he was so disappointed, but we couldn't fake it. It's like solid soy sauce...  We also taught TRC to some members, and we are teaching 2 new "investigators," which is just our teachers pretending to be different people. All of their different personalities get a little confusing hahaha. And as always, we've been chopping our apples with our hands, which sometimes prompts a response from the cafeteria staff hahaha so we kinda stopped doing that. But don't worry I got a video first (;

Something that I came across this week during my personal scripture study is a verse in Mosia capitolo 2. Versetto 34 dice: what knoweth that ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all that you have and are . . .  After I read that, I just thought that it perfectly explained my reasons for wanting to be on a mission. Sometimes it's hard to separate yourself from your selfishness or things that you feel like you need and do something hard that the Lord wants you to do. Because He asks everyone to do hard things. But we will always be eternally indebted to Him. No amount of service or time dedicated to a mission will be enough to express my gratitude for all of my blessings, including my life, my family, the Gospel, and my potential to grow and become like Him. It's truly amazing all that He has done for us without receiving anything in return, except the satisfaction of seeing us grow. I really love that scripture. (: There are so many gems in every single verse in the Book of Mormon if you read slow enough to see them. 

I love you all so much! Vi voglio bene! I appreciate all of the emails, letters and packages that I got this week. (: (there were so many hehe). You are all amazing, and keep on doing the best you can! Devote some time each day to try to become like Christ and to show Him your gratitude for your blessings! 

Con amore,

Sorella Henderson 

Pics 1 and 2: halloweeeeeenies

Pics 3&4: Bob Ross friends for life gotta represent our inspiration