7 months (and a little bit more)

Ciao tutti! I hope your week was great because so was ours! It was a tad exhausting (I painted a wall) but it turned out really good! We saw some miracles this week and we also got to see our investigators a lot so it was a good week. 

Antonio is still preparing for baptism on the 15th. He didn't come to church on Sunday because he had a music recital, but church is probably his biggest obstacle right now. He really struggles to get out of bed early enough to get to church by 9 am. He is a really good kid, it is just hard to get him to communicate and keep commitments because he has some learning disabilities. So we are working hard to prepare him but we might have to push his date back a week or 2. 

Maria is still meeting with us a couple times a week with Mily, her sister. Before she seemed to be really progressing toward baptism, now she seems to be taking some steps backward. But it's hard to tell because of the language barrier and the possibility of her having some learning deficits as well. But she has a really great desire to understand so I know that the Lord will bless her.

We are working with some other amazing people as well! It has been so cool to see their progress week by week. Sometimes as a missionary I wish I could skip to the end, and I forget to enjoy the journey with them. But this past week I have been focusing a lot on individuals and their specific needs. It has helped me to really love the people in a way similar to the way that Christ loves them.

This week we have been studying a lot about successful missionaries because we have a training next week about that. And I loved the story about Nefi and Lehi that I read in Helaman 5. Go and read it! Some crazy stuff happens, like pillars of fire, prison walls shaking, angels ministering... But my favorite part is when the Holy Ghost whispers to the hearts of the people because that is how we gain our own personal testimony. Not through seeing big miracles or having an angel tell you, but through personal witnesses by the Holy Ghost. And that is pretty much a miracle in itself.

Vi voglio bene! Until next week!

Sorella Henderson 

Sorelle of Navigli

Quanto Basta

Ciao tutti!!!  Well this week has been a pretty good start to the transfer. We set a solid bap date with our investigator, Antonio, for June 15th. His biggest struggle right now is getting to sacrament meeting because it's hard for him to get up on time. But we're gonna go bang on his door this week if we have to!! haha he's a good kid and it's been so cool to watch his progress.

We also have been working a lot with Maria, Mily's sister. She is progressing so well. We had a lesson last night, and she is so close to baptism! She has also given us 3 referrals of her friends, who are all new investigators. So Mily and her sister are just killing it! I love them so much.

On Monday, we had consiglio with President. Consiglio is when all of the Zone Leaders and STLs get together and we hear some counsel and talk about the mission and our goals for the next transfer. It was such a good consiglio! Our mission has been struggling right now to baptize, despite best efforts by most of our missionaries. But someone brought up this point that I thought I would share with you guys. In Italian recipes, for things like salt and pepper, it never gives an amount; it always just says, "quanto basta," which means basically however much is enough. This missionary talked about how when it comes to faith, Heavenly Father doesn't require us to have a certain amount in order to get things done. We just need to have "quanto basta." I  like this thought a lot because sometimes I don't think that I have enough faith and maybe that's why people don't listen to me that day or say no to baptism. And we can all always grow our faith, but if we "have so much faith as even to plant the word in [our] hearts," we can do amazing things. (Alma 34:4)

Alma 34:4 (in Italian, watch out for QUANTO BASTA)
Si, affinche abbiate fede QUANTO BASTA per pianatere la parola nel vostro cuore, per poter tentare l'esperimento della sua bonta.

Well, that's about it this week! There are always so many things that I want to share with you guys. I wish that I had time to share everything. But I'm doing well and loving Milano with all my heart! I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Henderson

1. Seeing my mamma (trainer) again at consiglio!

2. May Consiglio  (Mission Leadership Conference)

3. BEST GELATO I HAVE EVER HAD IN ITALY

4. Domino's pizza with George

Ashlyn's cousins, Annabelle and Savannah Clawson, spent a month in Italy in May.
They were able to meet up for gelato (of course) when they came to Milan. 5/17/18

La Festa della Mamma

Ciao tutti!!! Well if you still haven't googled it, this means hey everybody! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. This last Sunday I had my second Skype call with my family for Mother's Day. It was so fun to talk to them! Nothing has changed at all haha so that was relieving.

Well we had some more miracles this week! If you remember, a couple of weeks ago we baptized Mily, from Peru. Now her sister is an investigator, and she is thinking about being baptized in June! Well, they are both doing really good and Maria, her sister, is really good at resolving personal doubts through prayer. Anyway, on Monday to our lesson they brought 2 friends, Veronica and Alegria! Also don't speak English either of them! So we teach in Spanish haha it's pretty hard to not speak Italian because I'm so much better at it and it makes me feel like I'm in the MTC again but I have to learn, especially in this area. Mily tries to translate, but she always confuses the langauges and ends up speaking to us sometimes in Spanish and her friends in Italian. But the gift of tongues has helped a lot and so has prayer haha.

We also have been working with this 17-year-old girl, Fatima, who just moved here from Peru. Our bishop's wife invited her to church 2 weeks ago, and she came! She is going back next Friday to her country, but she told us that she knows that God wanted her to come to Italy so that she could find the church! She is so excited to bring it back to her family and hopefully she gets baptized there. She's definitely a miracle.

One more miracle... we set a bap date with Antonio! He is the son of a new convert, Rosa. Everyone thought that Antonio wasn't interested in the Gospel. He is 12 years old with learning disabilities, so it's hard for him to get to the first hour of church and he doesn't have much interest in our lessons. But we have been building up this good friendship with him, and this week we asked him if he'd like to be baptized and he said yes! So we set a soft date for June 2nd, and we are gonna see how the next few weeks go. I am so excited for Rosa's family to be one step closer to an eternal family!

Yesterday, we presented about our church to a religion class of 16-year-olds at a liceo (high school). One of the students asked how we can be so sure that our church is the one true church. I just told her that I have prayed about it, and I have felt that it is true. Because I know that Joseph Smith could not have written the Book of Mormon, and I can feel God's love when I read that book. And I would not be on my mission if I didn't feel that it was 100% true. I am so grateful for this Gospel and my mission. Hope you guys have a great week! Vi voglio bene! Ciao! 

Sorella Henderson

Ooh dang I just realized I took no photos all week  sorry next week I will have double! 

Mother's Day skype call

#blessed

Ciao tutti!!!! Well another 7 days has just flown by. Mission time is going by so fast. My first transfer in Milano is already almost over! It's so crazy because I feel like I just got here 2 seconds ago. Well we have had some amazing miracles this week with some new investigators, so I'll let you know a little bit about that.

The first one I wanna talk about is Valerie. She's from Australia, and is 19 years old. She has been living in Italy for 2 years, and speaks 7 languages fluently because her family is from all over the world! Her dad was also a Mormon, but he passed away about 3 years ago. She saw the Elders on the bus and asked them where our church was. They got her number, set up an appointment, and invited Sorella Dawson and I so that we could start teaching her. And it was the best first lesson I've ever been a part of in my life!!! The Spirit was so strong, and Valerie is so prepared. She said she knew that it wasn't fate that she saw the Elders on the bus and that her dad is looking out for her. She even has his old copy of the Book of Mormon that she reads. Her mom is really anti-Mormon, but now that she's 19 and moved out she can investigate the church. We invited her to be baptized, and she said, "Yes of course! Except I'm going to Egypt this Saturday.... until October!" NOOOOO. Well, there are definitely no missionaries in Egypt and there's only one church in the whole country which is the opposite side of where she's at, but we are gonna continue to teach her through Skype lessons until she gets back in October. I'm so thankful for technology. We now have 2 investigators we work with that live outside the country!

We have also started teaching the lessons to Mily (our new convert from last week)'s twin sister, Maria. She is a little bit more reserved than Mily, but she has seen how the Gospel has changed Milly's life, so she is very open to listening and keeping commitments. (Fun fact about them, they're 2 of triplets all named Maria hahahaha Mily is just a nickname). We also got a few other new simps, some people we passed off to the Anziani, and so it was a really good week for us.

We have also finally started teaching Antonio, Rosa (our other new convert)'s 13-year-old son. He has some learning disabilities, and would never participate in lessons. So his mom and sisters got baptized without him in March. But this week, we got him to participate in the lesson and pray! And he came to church on Sunday even though his mom stayed at home sick. We are hoping this progress sticks so that he can join the rest of his family and be baptized. And hopefully go to the temple with his family as well! 

I am so grateful to be a missionary here in Italy! Not only because pizza and gelato are really good and P day is the best here, but because I get to help so many people every day and lift them up, whether they're investigators, members, people on the street, or other missionaries. I love Milano!

Sorella Henderson

1. Arco della pace!!!

2. Sorella Dawson and I

3. Bone church

4. Help us we're obsessed 

Mily the new member and her triplet sister Maria

MILAGROS

Ciao a tutti!!!! Well it has been another great week of missionary work here in Milano! This week we have focused a lot on getting Mily to baptism and getting new investigators. And we did both of those things!!! Yes, Mily was BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!! That day was definitely one of the highlights of my mission. She asked Sorella Dawson and I to give the two talks during her baptism. After everything, she came up to us with tears in her eyes and just thanked us for giving her the Gospel and helping her in her life. She is so solid! I love her so much and I'm so glad that I got to help her come unto Christ. (:

We have found a few new investigators this week, but we have had to pass them all to other missionaries in Milano. So we have been getting really good at the first lesson! Haha it isn't super fun to have to pass everyone but we'll just keep finding! One cool guy we did find this week we passed to the Anziani. He lives inside of a church, so we got there and were kind of confused. But then he took us all inside basically a maintenance closet where he lived. It was so humbling to all gather in there and teach the Restoration. And he accepted a baptismal date for May 26th! So we will hope that he gets there and the Anziani can continue working with him.

We have been teaching an investigator from Ghana that has some doubts about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, so I studied a little this week about the Atonement. I loved the chapter Mosiah 3 in the Book of Mormon. "For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." I have been thinking a lot this week (and always) about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend the immensity of it all, but I can feel the power of the Atonement in my life when I want to change, when I go through a trial, or when I see someone else even going through a hard time. But Christ is always there! I love this Gospel and I love this work! I'm excited for this next week and the good work that we will do! Vi voglio bene! 

Sorella Henderson