Oh What A Beautiful Morning...

Oh what a beautiful day!!

 

Buongiorno tutti!! The weather here in Modena is finally changing! The air is crisp and clean...truly reminding me of my mornings in good ol' Rexburg Idaho. To be truthful, I find myself wanting to wake up to the smell of pancakes when I would spend the weekend with Gramma and Grampa in Ashton. The weather is just great...I find myself getting REALLY excited for fall weather here! But, as we know, with weather changes comes...well...health changes. I've been out of it pretty much since Saturday. I am just so dang tired! We have ALL come down with something...sore throats and stuffy noses and achy bodies...we have to sleep a lot. But, you know me, I felt bad not really doing anything, so I made chicken noodle soup for everyone yesterday. I must admit, I really felt like my dad...a little something here, a little more of this there...tasting until it turned out really good. See Babo! (Babo=Daddy in Italian) I HAVE been watching!! I didn't boil the chicken in the water though...I thought I should have, but it grossed my companion out so I just cooked it up in the pan and then added it...Despite that fact, I thought you would be just so proud! haha to be totally truthful, I have been cooking quite a lot this week. We made pancakes one morning for Sorella Silva's birthday...and they were NOT like American pancakes...but she still liked them...I made homemade syrup..which turned out pretty tasty. I also made a tiramisu for her birthday cake which turned out DANG good also...Let me just say...I've got a few things up my sleeve when I come home :) I have also discovered a new love in the mornings...my companion is really into natural healing (yes, always reminds me of Aunt Claudia) but I have taken a liking to peppermint oil...Katelyn (during college days) would always rub it on my temples to get rid of my headaches and I forgot how much it calms me down...But Sorella Smith has been helping me calm down at nights with the oil, and warm milk with honey in the mornings. Now now now, when I say "calm down" it just helps me focus on ONE THING because at night...your mind is ALWAYS going on what you have to do next! But for the mornings with the milk, it is actually helping me curb the cravings with my hypoglycemia. Just having a thick glass of milk is REALLY making a difference. I added a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg this morning...smelled just like a cinnamon roll. ..Haha holy moly, I really sound like my Dad's emails...hahah but heck, I'm in Italy right? I gotta share SOMETHING about the food!

 

Gramma, thanks for the updates about baby Isaac...he's still in my prayers. Also, can we have a family reunion the July AFTER Daniel and I get home too? For Heaven's sake I'll just miss the reunion by 2 months!! THink about it and let me know please! Ams..Thank you for the pictures! Your little boy is just beautiful! The pictures come REALLY HUGE though and I can never see the whole thing :( but from what I CAN see...I can't WAIT to meet the little tyke!!

 

So...you know how last time I had a feeling that the Lord was preparing me to do something really big? And I didn't know what it was? Well...I was right. Sunday night, my companion and I were guessing on where we were going to be transferred with this upcoming. We actually knew last Monday that President was shutting down the Sorelle here in Modena...there is just no cooperation with the leaders. So, we've had to keep our mouths shut this whole time...and Sunday night we could have a little fun guessing where to go. Sorella Smith guessed Trieste, but had a feeling that Como was just around the corner. And look here, she IS headed to Como!! Yes, the beautiful lake everyone talks about AND Swiss chocolate? It'll be a blast. She'll be traveling by boat, bus, and walking. As for me, I just looked at the map and guessed that I would be going to Genova and training...again. I just knew it! But I had to wait till the next morning. President calls and asks me to go and open Genova and that I would find out who my companion is on Thursday. Yes, I'm training...and opening Genova. Genova has been closed to sisters for the past year and a 1/2. So it is up to my companion and myself to set a good name for the city. There will be another companionship opening with us..Sorella Silva and Sorella Simpkins. It should be a grand adventure. I don't know where ANYTHING is...what ANYTHING looks like...nothing. So I would say this is a granchè (a big deal). From what I know about Genova is that it is BEAUTIFUL, right by the sea. They eat a LOT of fish, and Spanish is really spoken there in the city. Time to pick up another Book of Mormon...in another language! Gotta renew what I have sort of learned! Yipes! Enjoy the pictures when you look up the city on the internet!

 

Speaking of pictures...Mom, I sent a pack of them home last week...have you gotten them yet?

 

I am grateful though...The members we became close with were NOT happy about this..."che peccato!" and we actually had one of our new converts and her sister cry...all throughout the lesson. They were preparing dinner for us, and it was like a funeral dinner! They laughed and laughed once I said that, and it got the ball rolling to laughing again. This may sound prideful, but in our first Zone Conference, President encouraged us to work so well with the people that they would cry when you left the city. And I strove for that...to make a difference in the ward and with the people around me...And well...it did. Little Riche was bawling when we went to say goodbye to Anna and her family...Anna felt awkward because Riche was crying so hard....but it is so great that we can write to all these people. Blessings!!

 

I look back on my life leading up to my mission and I am humbled with situations like these. I was so willing to give this up because I wanted something completely different. I knew I needed to go on a mission...but I wanted to get married instead. Dah, the Lord's work will ALWAYS be done. And so I sit here, I just think...who am I to deny the Lord in using me to do His work? Look at everything He has for me to do. I'm lucky I didn't get struck by lightning, or have an experience as Alma did! Struck dumb and chastised for denying what I knew I needed to do. A situation in where I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. Meh (little smirk on my face) I WILL have my cake and eat it too...just about a year's time from now! Haha :)  I am so grateful to be here on a mission and to really grow and stretch myself. I am happy to say that I KNOW I won't be returning as the same person I left...and that's a good thing. Sorella Smith cracked up and said the next thing to come will be a traveling Sister...going from coppia to coppia throughout the whole mission. It HAS happened in other missions...I just throw my hands up and say "boh"...the Lord is capable of anything and everything!! So it's out of Modena at 5:00am tomorrow morning!!

 

As far as Dina is concerned..we lost her. The cheating was too much for her and she asked to be left alone. We left a note in her mailbox saying goodbye..and we can only hope for a brighter future. She was SUCH a wonderful lady...and it makes my heart hurt to have lost her this time. You just HATE it when you think about the situation, and the Adversary shares his little victory cry in making you think he won this time. But, the adversary NEVER wins...the Lord has bigger and better plans...we just have to plant the seeds first.

 

I hope you get my letters well, and I would say I apologize for them being so wordy..but I am not going to...There is just TOO much to write!

Until next time,

Sorella Bowman

 

p.s. This email seems really short...but...it's really not...Oh well! Next week there will be a LOT to share I'm sure! haha