How can we raise our personal spirituality?

Ciao tutti! This week was kinda crazy! We definitely had some ups and downs as well as preparing our training for zone conference and doing a scambio, but that is the life of an STL! Yesterday was zone conference, and the theme was about raising our individual spirituality. We gave our training about prayer, and luckily it went really well. This weekend we had a scambio with the Sorelle in Como, and I got to meet some Protestant missionaries doing a mostra! They invited me to do a prayer circle with them, which was very interesting but also very spiritual at the same time. Not at all reverent or how I think Christ set the example for us to pray but it was still cool to do once haha. 

So María is supposed to get baptized this Saturday, but unfortunately her and our new convert, Mily, got in a big fight about their jobs and money and now María's daughter doesn't want her to get baptized and María didn't come to church because of it and hasn't met with us since. So that's been hard because they keep calling us to complain about the other twin and we are just stuck in the middle but can't really do anything but tell them to read their scriptures and pray. But Mily said she received so many answers in church this Sunday and that things are better, and we have an appointment with María for tomorrow. So hopefully we can set a new baptismal date with her! 

Last p day we did some shopping and went to an art museum in Milano. There was so much famous artwork! It was so cool. I'll attach a picture of the most famous, called "The Kiss." It's supposed to be Romeo and Juliet and apparently it's super famous but I dont know anything about art history so I took Sorella Reeder's word on everything.

To finish I just wanted to include a quotation that we used yesterday in our training from True to the Faith:

If you have a difficult task before you, Heavenly Father is pleased when you get on your knees and ask for help and then get on your feet and go to work. He will help you in all your righteous pursuits, but He seldom will do something for you that you can do yourself.

I have found this to be so true in my mission! I know this mission is to bless others, but as I have come to learn, I am also a part of this crop that I am trying to reap. My personal testimony is important to God as well, just as much as the people that I am teaching. And I know that I wouldn't grow nearly as much if the mission was easy. He will always guide us in our righteous pursuits, but He will not do anything for us that we can do alone. If He did, we would never learn.

Vi voglio bene! Have a great week everyone and enjoy the fact that you're not living in humidity as thick as jello

Sorella Henderson

Brera Art Gallery

At the Art Gallery 

The Kiss by Francesco Hayez

pday tacos

Evidence photo that Mom's halfway mark celebration package arrived!

Milano Ovest Zone Conference July 25

 Sorelle - Stimpson, Reeder, Pearson, Nelson, Roderer, Boome, (Sorella Allen) Mason, Henderson (STL), Taufe (STL), Stolk, Henson, Peterson

Anziani - Montalto (AP) Rios, McKinstry, Traeden, Ochs (ZL), Christensen (ZL), (President Allen)

Blom, Russbuelt, Heidemann, Laudert (AP) Tumblin, Llerena

I'm halfway there...

Ciao tutti! Well, as you can see by the subject line of my email, today is my 9 month mission mark!!!! I'm officially half way done, which is kind of scary and doesn't seem at all real. This week has been really busy again, and therefore really great. Maria's baptismal date has been pushed to the 28th so that she can be better prepared for her interview. Also because June 28th is the Independence Day of Peru and she wants to be able to remember the day forever. So we are glad because this way she will be a lot more prepared!

We did a practice baptismal interview this week with Maria, and it went well except for a few questions. But besides that, Maria brought her 23 year old daughter with her 2 year old daugther to our lesson this week! Her name is Caty, and she just got to Italy. And then all 3 came to church this last Sunday. Caty has been asking us some questions, and we are really hopeful that we will get to work with her too!

So we have this investigator named Karem, and she has never really seen us that often or wanted to do much in the sense of read the scriptures and come to church. But this week we had a scambio with the Sorelle of Busto Arsizio, and Sorella Reeder from my MTC group and I taught Karem a POWERFUL Restoration. When Sorella Reeder was reciting the First Vision, the Spirit was one of the strongest I have ever felt it in my life! Karem told us this time that she knows that she hasn't been commited and that she is going to commit this time to everything that we have asked her to do. She also basically said that she believes that the Church is true, so now the next steps are just preparing her for baptism.

This week, Sorella Tafur and I have been studying and talking a lot about prayer and how it works basically. I studied this a lot at the beginning of my mission, but now I have learned that God is not going to do anything for you that you can do for yourself. He will support you and help you in all your righteous tasks, but He will leave the majority of it up to you. He does this out of love for us because He wants us to grow. Just like how good parents don't spoil their children and they let them make their own decisions, God leaves us to make personal decisions and work things out on our own. And then He will support our righteous choices. I know that prayer works and that God hears every single one of them and answers those that are asked in faith and according to His will.

Vi voglio bene! Until next week!

Sorella Henderson

Highlight of the week was getting to be in a car!

Cousin Maddy Clawson was visiting Milan and had a meet up with Sorella Henderson.

Mom's package safely in hand thanks to Maddy!

Italian Heat Melts American Missionary

Ciao tutti! Well this week has been straight up AWESOME and really busy. Which is good. We had combined district meeting yesterday with the entire zone, and Sorella Tafur and I had to give our training on language skills and using the formal you form... not my favorite thing ever but it's okay. And my Spanish has been improving! I can now have conversations and teach lessons in Spanish! And I had my first dream in Italian this week as well. Probably because I never get to speak English. 

We saw some awesome miracles this week! Learning Spanish has been so helpful in starting conversations with people on the street or in the metro, and we have found a lot of potentials from it. MIRACLE STORY! So yesterday we had about 30 minutes before English class started and we decided to go out and do a little bit of finding before class. We got almost to the church when I realized we forgot the Anziani's box of Book of Mormons that we needed to bring them. So we turn back and I'm walking back to the church holding this massive box. And we're almost to the church again, and Sorella Tafur tells me, "I have a feeling we need to talk to the people behind us, but I don't know what to do!" So I said, "ci penso io" and dropped the box to the ground. Then I picked it back up, and the lady was passing by us at the perfect time. So we started talking to her, and she is interested in learning more! Always follow the promptings of the Spirit! She said that we can meet with her next week.

I am loving my mission! I can't believe that it is almost halfway over. Time is flying, and I am just trying to use every minute of it up and work as hard as I can. Life is good in the roasting hot, Italian humid climate.  until next week! Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Henderson

Peruvian meal with new member Mily (from Peru) and Sorella Tafur (born in Peru)

The missionaries get to have two cultural days a year.  This week they went to see the opera Fidelio at La Scala Theater.

ward members

"the millionth gelato"

district dinner

Navigli Sorelle elevator pic

HBD MURICA

Ciao tutti! First, I just would like to say Happy 4th of July and happy birthday to America! I had a really great 4th of July p day here in Italy but it's not the same as being in the great nation of Murica. Well this last week has been a good one, and a really busy one. I have a new companion! Her name is Sorella Tafur, she's from Spain, and is a convert of only 6 years. She's the only member of the church in her family, and she has a giant testimony! And she's helping me learn Spanish as well (even though I refuse to use all the weird words they use in Spain haha).

We set a baptismal date with Maria!!! And she came to church! Finally!! She will be baptized July13. We were in a lesson with her on Friday, and Sorella Tafur asked her if she wanted to be baptized. And Maria just started weeping. She pulled out the book of Mormon from her purse, held it out, and said, "This book is true. I know it's true." She thought she couldn't get baptized because she doesn't have a regular work schedule and can't come to church every week. We told her that she could still get baptized, and she was so happy! So we set the date, and her family is coming to Italy from Peru this Friday! She wants them to come! So we are really excited too.

Antonio is still doing solid after his baptism. We are so happy with his progress. Right now we are just working on trying to find people, which isn't too hard when you have a comp that speaks Spanish and was born in Peru. So we're both super pumped about this transfer. 

Moroni 10:32 
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

This scripture at the end of the Book of Mormon describes perfectly the purpose of this book: to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon! And if you don't love it, I can tell you with 100% confidence that you just don't understand it yet. Have a great week everyone! 

Sorella Henderson

new companion Sorella Tafur

comp study time

gelato with new member Mily

Navigli Sorelle on July 4th at Lake Como

with Sorella Stolk

with companion Sorella Tafur

Happy Independence Day! Milano east and west zones

views of Lake Como

July 2 Consiglio

Anziani - Halterman, Baker, McCuen, Johnson, Calton, Simkins, Ross, Ochs, (President Allen) Haws, Kjar, Montalto (AP) Christenstn, Laudert (AP) Gilette, Douglas, Hendry

Sorelle - Mineer, Bowthorpe, Ewing, Dean, Dawson, Henderson, Tafur, (Sorella Allen) Berrey, Santoro, Pacheco, Epps, Pope, Button, Dominguez