Four Day Week, 2 Miracles

Hello my family, my friends!

First off: we got transfer calls! I am happy to announce that I will be staying with Sorella Nordlin here in Caserta another transfer!! 😊

This week was only like four days since we had P-Day on Wednesday. However, it felt like a whole seven day week. Almost every day has just been pouring. I'm looking to invest in some rain boots. We had exchanges this week, so I went to Pozzuoli with Sorella Sullivan. Was so much fun, and I learned a lot. I ate two pizzas that day. ✌🏼 Haha pizza is the thing to do here. But I enjoyed that. And we met some amazing people on the train, one who lives in Caserta and we will be meeting with this week! Also, Pozzuoli has the most beautiful coast I have literally ever seen. Especially from the church. I'll include the pictures.

So my two miracles this week! First is Sara. Her grandma is a member and her mom is against the church. But Sara, who is only 13, is doing everything in her power to be baptized. She went online and found the Primary manual, printed it out and told her family they needed to start doing FHE. She learned the piano to play the hymns in church, and she is just just so amazing. So we officially started teaching her this week, and are so excited for her. The second miracle is Anthony!! I mentioned how he came to church last week. Well we invited him again, and he was like "I liked being with the people there . So yeah I'll come." When we showed up to church, he was already there, talking to a member family, and holding hands with this little girl who has some mental handicaps. She is just always so loving and trying to hold people's hands. But it's like he has already been so embraced by the ward. But we sent him off to Young Men's by himself. Bishop was teaching and taught the story of Joseph Smith. Afterwards I asked him what he thought. (before he has said he doesn't believe in God, so I was a little worried) What he responded with was "Penso che sia vero." or I think it's true. I was worried I hadn't understood him right so I made him say it again. He then pointed to my Book of Mormon and was like "I have one of these at home, I need to read it to see if it's true." So we gave him the 21 day challenge (which is just 21 questions of the soul with Book of Mormon scriptures that answer them) and are meeting with him this week to explain more. And as the ward members were saying goodbye to him, he said he would see them next week. So, looks like Anthony will be coming again!

Those were my two big miracles. We went and saw Wosa this week too and he told us how he got here from Nigeria. He crossed the Sahara Desert, was thrown in prison several times, almost sold into slavery and had to cross the ocean in a little boat. He told us he knew God was there because there is no way he could have made that on his own. I have always felt sympathy for these refugees, but hearing the first person account from someone we love so much, made it so much more real. It makes me so grateful for the blessings I've had in my life. I've lived a life very easy and carefree, where my big concerns were whether I would pass a class or not. I've never had to worry about if I would live the next day. It really put things into perspective.

This transfer I have been trying to finish the Book of Mormon, and tomorrow I will read the last 10 pages. It was my birthday gift to myself. So I thought I would just share some of the testimony that I've received while reading this transfer. One thing that has stuck out to me is how present God is. He is always watching or speaking to His people. He is always trying to warn them, give them a second chance, and then welcome them home when the people finally choose Him. I've seen that in my mission, especially these last few weeks. As I've really really tried to give each day to Him, strived to remember my blessings, He is more present. I feel the warnings of the spirit easier, the promptings in general. And I find I have more strength. One of my favorite scriptures this transfer has been Alma 26:27: "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

As I have diligently read the Book of Mormon every day, and as I've tried to apply the things I've read to my life, I've seen this scripture become true for me. My challenge to you this week is to read the Book of Mormon every day. Read to find strength, not to check off a task. Read to show God you are listening to Him. And I promise you will start to feel a the weight on your shoulders more easy to bear. Will you do it?

I love you all so much, and I hope this week you see God help you do hard things!

Love, 

Sorella Thorup 

Rome Temple

Buongiorno ai miei cari amici!!!

I didn't have P-Day on Monday because.... WE TOOK A TEMPLE TRIP! Since three of the four Sorelle have birthdays these couple of weeks, we decided to take a special pday to do a session at the Rome Temple! But I'll get to that later in the email. This week was very long since we moved P-Day. But last week I challenged you all to do something out of your comfort zone and to do it for God. Well, just a few short hours after I sent the email out, I received a call from my District Leader. So every week we have a district meeting, where we talk about the work, ask questions and then our district leader (usually it's him, sometimes another missionary) gives a 40 min training. And it is always uplifting and encouraging. I love listening to these trainings. But this time I was asked to GIVE the training. It was hard but I learned a lot, and made sure I did it for God.

This week was Sorella Nordlin's birthday! And we definitely had fun! We had I think four appointments that day  - one of them with food. We got little cakes too and I sang happy birthday to her. On Sunday we had a linger longer, so we invited some of our English Course students to come. One did! Anthony is 16, and came to church and then stayed for the lunch. It was so cute to see the ward embrace him. A lot of the Americans tried to interact with him in their broken Italian and he was so sweet with them. And he spent a good chunk of time talking with our bishop. When I asked him how he liked church, he said he didn't really go. So I told him he should come with us more often. He said maybe the next Sunday, so pray that he comes! Speriamo bene!! 

Then the big miracle this week was the temple. We got up at 5, left the house at 6, were on the train by 6:30, and reached the temple at 9. It was a little bit of a journey but soooooo worth it. I have not been though the temple in a little over 7 months! And it was the most beautiful thing. I loved it. I had missed the peace that comes from being in the house of the Lord. I just sat in the celestial room and thought about how blessed I was to have the gospel and be a missionary. I'm literally sharing the most life-changing message ever! It's such a blessing to be serving in this way. There's something special about bearing your testimony about our Savior and the joy we can have.

Anyways, that's the sum of this week in poche parole! I love you all!!

Sorella Thorup 

Palace Gardens

Che Settimana! Che mondo!

Buongiorno ai miei amici!

This week in Caserta was a busy one!

The highlights though :

-Pasquale came to church!!! He came and speaks English, which is good because most of the ward is from America. But our ward had done a group fast for those who are learning about the church, and also to find ways to grow the ward. And so then for testimony meeting, people got up and shared their testimony about the temple, priesthood, and all other key parts of the Gospel. AND so many people came up to greet him! They asked about his family, and he expressed his desire to have them come when they're ready. He is so ready, and it was cool to see the ward so united in missionary work.

-Wosa! He is our friend from Nigeria. He wants to come to church but doesn't have the money for the 2 hour train ride. So if you could pray that he finds a job! But he has been reading the Book of Mormon, even though it's hard for him. We told him we could call him and read with him to help him understand better. He got really excited and asked if we could call him the next day. So we did. He had read little bits of the Book of Mormon all over. He had us read with him in 1 Nephi, Mosiah, Alma, and Moroni! He had such good questions and expressed his desire to learn more. He said he knew the Book of Mormon was important.

-We went out to see some members who live far away. They invited us over for lunch, and to talk about baptism to their little boy. They had invited us and some other friends and it was just such a cool lesson. And they fed us some good pasta and salad. Fun fact of the week for those of you who don't know--In Italy you don't eat the salad first like we do in America! In Italy you eat in courses. It starts with Pasta, then some type of meat, and then the salad! So it's a little backwards than what I was used to. But now it only makes sense to eat pasta first. Then you end on a lighter food.

-We got a new senior couple! The Harrells arrived this week and they are just the cutest! They are military relation missionaries and they are just full of so much energy. We helped them get their paperwork done for a permesso di soggiorno (for residence basically) and it was chaos. The post office workers didn't know what they were doing and we were relieved when the expert showed up. But it was quite the adventure.

Those are kinda the highlights of the week. The work is keeping us busy, and this week we have Zone Conference so we are going to be extra rushed with our other time. But I love you guys and am grateful for your support!

Ciao ciao!

Sorella Thorup