Cosenza Week 2

My companions are sister training leaders and there was a big leadership conference up in Rome this week. I am not a leader so instead I got to go to Pozzuoli! On Monday we traveled to Napoli (Naples). We got there around one and got to spend the rest of our p-day there. It was so fun! I had my first Napolitano pizza! It was delicious! We also walked down Christmas Street and the straightest street in all of Italy! It was so much fun! We meet up with the Pozzuoli Sorelle at six and of I went! There is a military base in Pozzuoli and on Tuesday night we had dinner with Americans and did Family Home Evening with them. The husband has taken it upon himself to learn how to cook real Italian food. The food was great! It was pouring rain Wednesday morning. We had to walk to the station to catch a train to Napoli. While stuck in a tunnel waiting for cars to pass, one stopped and offered a family that was also in the tunnel a ride, they refused, they also offered us one and we accepted. It was a mini miracle! Once we got to Napoli we bought rain boots. I loved my time in Pozzuoli! It is such a great city. The Sorelle house there over looks the fourth largest amphitheater in all of Italy! It is beautiful!

We visited a lot of wonderful people this week! We went and visited Sam (one of our investigators), and afterwards we accidentally got on the wrong bus going back. Fortunately we asked the bus driver before it was to late. We also had a lesson with Abe and he accepted a baptismal invite. Yesterday I helped in Primary. That was a lot of fun. We had pranzo with Pepe after church. We also visited with a less active, she was so sweet!

On Saturday we watched the last session of General Conference. I loved the talk by Elder Keetch. He told a story about some surfers who were upset because there was a barrier blocking them from the big waves. It was not until they looked though binoculars that they could see the sharks swimming on the other side. He compared that to the commandments. God gives us commandments because he wants to keep us safe. Commandments are not a barrier to keep us out, but a barrier to keep danger out of our life. We cannot always see the danger, but God is all knowing and he knows where danger lurks. God loves us and He wants us to be safe and return to live with Him. As we keep His commandments we will gain a better understanding of His love. No one is perfect and we all have things to improve on, as long as we keep trying we will be blessed. This week try picking one commandment you might be struggling with, and strive to follow it the best you can. Also if you have not yet, try to watch, listen, or read the talks from General Conference.

Cosenza is beautiful and the people here are wonderful! My companions are great! I am so excited to be here!

Vi voglio bene!

Letter dated October 12, 2015.

You can currently send Victoria letters at:
Sorella Victoria Pinnegar
Missione Italiana de Roma
Piazza Carnaro 20
IT-00141 ROME RM
ITALY

Ostia Week 6

Adventures in Italy

This week has been wonderful! On Monday we went to the bone church. It was cool, but creepy. Defiantly worth the experience. We had extra time so we stopped by the Colesseum. It was raining so there were not as many people out. That was nice. We tried to visit a less active who came to church on Sunday. First we got on the wrong bus, then the bus that we wanted never came.

Tuesday after DDM I had my second scambio. This time I stayed in Ostia and Sorella Bray left. My companion for the day was Sorella Fuller. We had a good time. We went to visit a simpatizzanti named Victoria. We ended up being an hour early so we sat outside and role played our lesson. Half an hour later she walks up so we started our lesson early. This was actually a really good thing because the anziani needed us to start corso. We didn't want to wait for the bus so we walked to the metro station, and we beat the bus! As we got up to the platform the metro pulled in! It was perfect! After corso we had a lesson with Giuliana and Leonardo. We read Alma 32 with them and talked about faith. It was a great lesson!

Trevi Fountain

On Wednesday we were supposed to have a private English lesson but that fell through so we ended up putting up posters for corso around town. I discovered that Italians are very stubborn, especially when it comes to food. We had a meal appointment and had arranged to end our scambio in time for the appointment, but she changed the time last minute. Then the metro was running late. There was also some confusion about the meeting spot. When we finally met up, there was no way we would make it back on time, so we tried calling to reschedule, but she said she would wait for us.

Afterwards we had to go directly to our lesson with Laura. That was a fantastic lesson. It was defiantly a break through lesson. She is shy, and she finally really opened up to us.

Thursday we went to visit the less active that we had tried to see on Monday. This time we  had better directions and realized that we could just walk. That was really nice. She is from South America. She had not been to church since before she came to Italy, but she decided to find it and go. She wants to take the lessons. Then she invited us to stay for pranzo. She made a four course meal for us! It was all delicious!

We had a private English lesson with Elena. She had just been proposed to the night before so she was a little distracted. We always do a spiritual thought at the end of every English lesson. The one we had decided to do was on how God has a plan for each one of us, and we can turn to Him when we need help or guidance in our lives. It was perfect for her. The Spirit was so strong. It went really well.

We went and heart attacked Laura and Clara. We left them brownies and a Book of Mormon.

Saturday was an Italian holiday. Anziano Kennedy is half Italian and has lived in Italy most of his life, so we asked him about the holiday. He doesn't know if there is a reason for the holiday, it is just an excuse for everyone to go the the beach. This means cleaning day for all of the missionaries. We also had a lesson with Giuliana and Leonardo. Lessons with them are really progressing.

We were on our way to get some gelato when we met a very nice family. The dad is from England, and the daughter is currently learning English so we told them about corso. Then the father also asked what a missionary was. It was an awesome experience. I really hope that they decide  to come to corso.

Prayer

All of our lessons this week talked about prayer. Why is it important to pray? Prayer is a two way conversation with God. You don't just pray and get an immediate answer to your pray. It takes time, pondering and listening.

One thing that a lot of Italians believe is that God is like a genie in a lamp. You pray to Him, tell him what you want, and then He gives it to you. God is our loving Heavenly Father and he wants to hear from you. Imagine you have a friend that lives far away. You still love them and want to communicate with them. That is how God feels. He wants us to communicate with him regularly. There is a quote by Ian S. Ardern that I really like. He says "let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text."*

We have a divine being who loves us and wants to hear from us. He has all the answers we could ever need. When we pray and ask Him, He will always respond. It may take time and practice to know how He responds, but He does always respond. Prayer is important for each one of us. We receive so many blessing when we pray. God loves us and want to hear from us. He wants us to sincerely pray and talk to Him.

This week I would like you to try praying twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. If you already do this, I would like you to think of and apply ways that you can improve the quality of your prayers.

Letter dated August 17, 2105.
*quote from Elder Ian S. Ardern's conference talk in 2011, A Time to Prepare.

Trevi Fountain

Convento dei Cappuccini

Ostia Week 4

Strange things happen 

This has been a very interesting week. On Monday I had to to the police station to get finger printed for my permesso. We were there for thee hours waiting. The police station reminds me of the DMV. We had gotten our p-day extended so we did our emails in the evening. We decided that we like doing it better at night. So we have decided that emails will be the last thing we do on p-day instead of the first. The important part is that my permesso is finished and I should get it in about three months.

We went to Rome for DDM on Tuesday. It was really good and a lot of fun. When it was over, we did not have enough time to go home before leaving for a lesson, but it was to early to go to our appointment. We decided to go get lunch. We found out that there was a Queens Chips in the direction of where our appointment was and decided to go. At the metro station we met a member who absolutely loves missionaries. She was so nice and fun to talk to. We were getting off at the same stop and she asked if she could join us for lunch, we said yes. She was so kind and paid for our lunch as well. We sat and talked with her while we ate. It was a little blessing! When we got on the metro to go to our appointment we got a text from the person we were going to see. The person had to cancel so we went back home.

That evening we got a referral from the sorelle in another area. We rearranged our plans so we could go and visit her in the morning. The next morning we could not figure out how to get to her house. We looked at the map for ages, but eventually we gave up and called to reschedule. We had a lesson in the afternoon and needed to get the keys from the anziani. They told us that they would leave them for us at one of the members houses. On our way to get the keys we ran into the member, who didn't know anything about the keys. We called the anziani and found out that they had decided not to leave the keys, but had forgotten to tell us. They were waiting for the metro at the station near their house. We had to run to the other station to get the keys from them. Their train had already passed but they had gotten of the train and were waiting for us.

The beautiful station of Lido Nord

On our way to the church we called Giuliana to remind her about the lesson. She had though that the lesson was on Thursday and would not be able to make it. We rescheduled for Thursday. We still needed to go to the church because we had another lesson scheduled after hers. We stopped and got a gelato on the way... a very large gelato. Gelato is a blessing! The person we were suppose to teach never showed up. One of his friends is a member and he was going to help us with the lesson. We ended up talking to him about what Giuliano needs, because he has been learning about the church for about a year. We were able to plan what we should teach him and we figured out his needs. Another little blessing!

No more gelato! :(

We had a lesson with Laura Thursday morning. When we got there her mother, Clara, had made us more jello and there was another treat in the oven for us. I always love going over there. They are both wonderful! We had a really good lesson. On our way out the door Clara gave us some Popsicles for the road. They are a blessing! We headed straight to our appointment with Giuliana.

We had corso after our lesson. We only had three people at corso. They were all old men, two of them are advanced and really good. The other one has come for years just because he likes it. We got done with our lesson early and had to figure out something to do. I ended up teaching the head shoulders knees and toes. It was really amusing to watch. They are an amusing group. They are another blessing!

On Friday we had a lesson with a member. When we got there, they were not home. Instead we had a lesson with Victor. We were able to move up his date for baptism. That was a great blessing! Sorelle Bray and I could not sleep at all that night. I don't know what was wrong. Eventually we did fall asleep.

We went with the anziani to do Caritas in the morning. Caritas is like a soup kitchen. Our job was to make sure no one stole anything, and that the water was full. We met a group of teenagers from northern Italy. They were volunteering as well. We went and got food afterwards. We then went out to see Laura again. Unfortunately, she was sick so we just taught Clara. This time she made rice pudding for us. It was really good. She calls us her little sisters. It is so cute. Before we got there we were exhausted, but by the time we left we felt much better.

Sunday Sorelle Bray was sick. So we stayed home and I cleaned the house. I also made soup for lunch.

Even though it was an interesting week, and nothing really seemed to go as planned it was still a good week. It doesn't matter what happens during the day, the thing that is important is how you handle it. Do you let it discourage you and make you frustrated? Or do you look for the blessings and the good times. I had a wonderful week this week. I had a lot of fun with Sorella Bray and we made the best of it.

How in your life can you look for the good? Especially when you feel like nothing is going the way you want it to? This week try and find ways to stay positive when things don't go the way you wanted. Look for the small ways that Heavenly Father has blessed your life. I promise that there are always blessings, even in the most difficult and frustrating of times.

Letter dated August 3, 2015.

Ostia Week 3

Adventures in Italy

Sorella Pinnegar and the temple construction site

Tuesday we had district meeting in Rome. I had to pack a small bag and take it with me because I was going on my first scambio! The district meeting was really good, we talked a lot about the restoration and preparing for lessons by role playing what you want to teach. After the meeting we went out for pranzo. We went to a place that over looks the construction sight of the Rome Italy Temple. The progress on the temple is starting to go really quickly. I am so excited for the temple to be finished! After pranzo the scambio started. I went to Ladispoli with Sorella Rossi, and Sorella Sanchez went to Ostia with Sorella Bray. Both Sorella Sanchez and Sorella Rossi are native Italians. Luckily Sorella Rossi speaks English very well. We had to talk a bus, then a metro, and then a train to get to Ladispoli. The train was my favorite part.

The Italy Rome Temple under construction.

When we got to Ladispoli we went straight to the church to have a private English lesson. After the lesson we shared a message about Joseph Smith and about the restoration of the church of Christ on the earth today. We had a lesson with an investigator where we watched Legacy and talked about the pioneers. It went really well. Our investigator stayed for corso. We only had two people at corso and they were both advanced so we went around in a circle talking about ourselves in English. When I told them that I had eight brothers they we astonished. We talked about it for a solid ten minutes. When it was one of the student's turns she said, "I have one brother and that is enough for me."

We finally went back to the apartment and did our planning for the next day. In the morning I woke up the the see the ocean right outside the window. We went and took a walk on the beach in the morning. The sand there is black because it is volcanic. It is absolutely stunning! All of the rocks of the beach were super smooth. We went to try and see some people in the morning, but no one was at home. We had pranzo a little early because we needed to get to the train station. Sorella Rossi made me some real Italian pasta. It was delicious!! She made carbonara pasta. It is egg, bacon, and cream. It was SOOO good! We got to the train station about twenty minutes early which was good because our train left fifteen minutes early. I really enjoyed the scambio you can learn a lot from other people and it is fun the change things up. You just have to be open to new ideas and new ways to do things. Change can be a good thing if you let it.

When we met up with the other sorelle we didn't have enough time to go home before our lesson but to much time to leave right away. Sorella Bray had not eaten pranzo so we went to find her some food. We went to a place called Eatily. It is like the Ikea of food! It had so much food and it was so good! We went and had a lesson with Laura we were there for two hours, because Laura's mom was still on here way home from work. They gave us jello again! I love jello and they do not have it in Italy so you have to make it from scratch. She also gave us mint Popsicle. While waiting for the bus we stopped at a little pizzeria. I had a slice of potato pizza. It was amazing!!  When we got back home Sorella Bray wanted something sweet but didn't realize that cocoa powder is bitter and so I had to save what she was trying to make. We ended up making a chocolate spread and a crepe type thing. It was pretty good.

We had a lesson with a little boy, named Victor, the next day. His parents are members and the anziani were teaching him, but his mother wanted us to teach him instead. He is super smart and paid really good attention during the lesson. Afterwards we had to hurry to get to corso on time. We did corso all together and played a few games at the end. When we got home Sorella Bray wanted something sweet again and forgot about the fact that cocoa is bitter added all of the cocoa into a bowl and added milk. I tried to fix it, but we were out of sugar and luck.

The next day we had a lesson with a man we met at the metro station. Sorella Bray and Anziano Kennedy were going to practice the musical number for Sunday after our lesson. That didn't happen. Our lesson lasted two hours, he really liked to talk. My head hurt so bad after that lesson. We ended up going and getting Queens Chips because there was not enough time to practice the song. Instead they practiced in the morning. Which was a good thing because we needed to ask them if they could open the church for us that evening. They were going to a baptism in Ladispoli so they just gave us the key. The baptism in Ladispoli was in the ocean and everyone really wanted us to go but we did not have any investigators going so we didn't go. In the evening we had a lesson with Giuliana and she brought her husband to the lesson with her. He was really responsive, it was wonderful. We taught them the plan of salvation and it went really well.

I was able to understand church a little better on Sunday. In Relief Society I read something and said what I thought about it. I didn't know how to say what a I wanted to so Sorella Bray translated for me. In sacrament we had four families visiting from Sweden come. The spoke English so Anziano Kennedy translated. They doubled our little ward, it was amusing. We had another lesson with Victor today and we asked him to pick a date to be baptized and he did! He is such a fantastic little boy. He reads his Book of Mormon for children everyday, and retains what he is learning. The Ostia anziani are wonderful! Today when they found out that we did not have any food in our apartment they ran some food over for us.

I feel very blessed to be here in Ostia. The people here are ready for the gospel and I have seen so many miracles in these past few weeks. I know that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Everyday there are people placed in our path for a reason. We are where we are for a reason. Sometimes we might never know what that reason is, sometimes we do. No matter where we go or who we are with we can be an instrument for good.

Try and think of ways you can have an influence for those around you wherever you are. Find ways to be a good example to your family, your friends and even people you do not know. As you do this you will be able to see the reason why you have been placed where you are. I know that I am in Ostia for a reason, I know that I was called to serve in Italy for a reason. I do not know what that reason is yet, but I am grateful to be here. I am grateful to be a missionary!  I am grateful for all your love and support. Thank you for all that you do for me!

Letter dated July 27, 2015.

Ostia Week 1

Gelato is our motto

Our plane arrived on time and we all had our luggage! We are the first group to be that lucky. We also were the fist group to arrive on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, so we got an extra day before meeting our trainers. The first thing we did is go and see the temple. It is looking beautiful! Afterwards we went to the villa to have a "light lunch." In Italy a light lunch is a panini the size of a medium pizza! Then the AP's (assistants to the president) took us on the metro to see the Colosseum and the senate building. It was a fantastic! They are right in the center of downtown Rome! When we got off the metro headed back to the villa we were supposedly running late so we had to speed walk back. The villa is the mission home. It was built by Mussolini for his daughter about a hundred years ago! It is beautiful! We all walked down and had kabobs for dinner. Kabobs are a little like shawarma in a tortilla.when we got back one of the sorelle played her violin for us. It was beautiful! We were finally allowed to go to sleep at about eight.

Wednesday we went to the church to meet all the mission office staff. We set up our iPads and received some training. For lunch we had pasta and chicken, it was amazing. We walked back to the villa around three and could do whatever we wanted until dinner. Dinner was salad and lasagna. We also had olives and mozzarella di buffila (mozzarella made from buffalo milk). For dessert we had pistachio gelato. It was fantastic!! After dinner we talked about our motto and our theme. Our motto is...gelato is our motto. Our theme is a little more serious, it is be the best you can be. Then it was time for the golden envelopes. I was the second to open mine. It tells you where you are going and who your trainer is. I am in Ostia and my trainer is Sorella Bray!

Sorella Bray picked me up at the villa around eight which meant that I didn't go to the train station at five like most everyone else. That was very nice. We went to the church to meet up with the Ostia anziani and started our journey to Ostia. Sorelle Anderson (the violinist) and her trainer came with us because they were not leaving until Friday. It is an hour and a half metro ride to Ostia from Rome. When we got to Ostia we dropped of our stuff and then the anziani showed us around. We are blow-ins which means that we are both new to the area. We stopped and had a cone of fries with sauce on it for lunch. Then we said good by to everyone and went back to the house and unpacked. We had English class at six and left early because we didn't know how long it would take us to get to the church. We taught the beginners course and the anziani taught the advanced. Afterwards the anziani wanted pizza so we got some for dinner and headed back home. The pizza is definitely better. Sorelle Bray and I got two and we each had half of one. One had eggplant on it and the other had egg whites and bacon. They were both pretty good, Sorelle Bray says they were okay. I guess Rome is known for having the worst pizza in Italy.

We had weekly planing Friday morning so we scoured all the notes that were left for us and the Area Book. I decorated my first planer!! For pranzo we had leftover pizza and then we had a meeting with the ward mission leader. He is pretty neat. He just got back from serving his mission in London, which is really nice because he speaks English. After the meeting the anziani wanted pizza again. We all went and tried another pizzeria. I was told it is better than the other one. I guess I have not been in Italia long enough, because I couldn't tell the difference. This time we only got one pizza to split because we were not very hungry. It was a mushroom pizza, very good.

On Saturday we had to do my promesso stuff in the morning. The anziani helped us with that. Anziani Kennedy has done it twice so he knew what to do. That was very nice because both Sorella Bray and I had no idea what to do or where to go. A promesso is my permit to stay in the country. It has to be started eight days after you arrive in the country or they can kick you out. After we got the promesso stuff done it was time for pranzo and study. Then we went to a lesson with the anziani. It was a young woman and her mom is a member. They were passing her to us so they were in charge of that lesson and we will be teaching her all the other lessons. I didn't understand very much but I was told it went very well. She has come to church the past for weeks and she came yesterday. After the lesson we went home and did a lot of cleaning.

Sunday was very nice. I didn't understand a thing, but that is okay. Sorelle Bray and I were asked to introduce ourselves and bear a short testimony in sacrament meeting, I went first.

Letter dated July 13, 2015.

Tempe Arizona Week 1

Hello from Tempe!

Ciao!!!

This week has been really good. We had a lot of fun with the new Italian Zone. Wednesday we all went to the temple together and hung out. Friday morning we watched Elder L. Tom Perry's funeral. It was really good.

That evening at about six we got called to the travel office. They had been looking for us all day, but had not been able to get a hold of us. When we got there they handed us three pieces of paper. The first one said that we were going to be temporarily reassigned to Tempe Arizona!!! We were super excited. Then we look down a few lines and see that we would be leaving at six in the morning the next day. We were really grateful that we were already mostly packed. It was sad to say good-bye to all of the friends we had made. Sorella Sharp and I were really excited that we would be going to the same place.

When we got to Arizona on Friday we were meet by two sisters and three elders. They were all super nice and really excited. The mission president had been at a funeral and that is why he was unable to meet us at the airport. We finally did meet him about two hours later. He is seven feet tall and really funny. His wife is super short. She is only about five five so it is amusing. We all talked for a while and then we went out to lunch. We went to Olive Garden. When we got back he told us that we would both be serving in Gela Bend and Ajo. This is in the Maricopa Stake. They are two really small towns about an hour apart from each other. They are both right next to the Mexican border but it is an English speaking area.

We were told that there would be a few detours before we got to our area. The Casa Grande Stake was having stake conference. So we spent the night there and went to that. I got to meet Al Fox, aka the Tattooed Mormon. She just recently moved down here. It was really exciting! If you don't know who she is, go to YouTube and look her up*. Her story is absolutely amazing.

After church we finished our trek to Ajo where we would meet our trainers. Our trainers are Hermana Doty and Hermana Day. They are both super nice. Hermana Day is technically my companion, but we are all companions. It is a little confusing. We sometimes split into two and sometimes do everything together.

We got to work fairly quickly after we got there. We went and did some contacting at the Indian reservation. That was a lot of fun. We then went and visited a less active family that only speaks Spanish. That was fun. I could actually tell what was going on!! It was really exciting. Sorella Sharp and I have come to realize that if we speak in Italian they can understand most of what we are saying. We had dinner with a  member. She fed us flautas (taquitos). They were really good and I was really full. After dinner we split up. Hermana day and I went to a little street right out side of town. We were trying to contact some less actives and potential investigators. We got invited into one house. Again the family only spoke Spanish. They also fed us carne asadas. They were so good!!! I was so Full!!!! Then we went and visited a member who was right across the freeway from where we were. The were super nice. They fed us watermelon. I was SO Full.

Everyone here is super nice. We then went and met back up with Hermana Doty and Sorella Sharp. They needed to sync their iPads at the church. The church is so cute. It is a very small branch and there building is super small and cute! There are about four or five rows of pews. It is super cute. Then we went home and went to bed. The weather here is actually really nice. I like it here. The people are wonderful and kind. They are all so humble. It is amazing.

*The link Al Fox takes you to an interview of her by Mormon Times on YouTube. She talks about her conversion story at the beginning of the video. Please be cautious about watching any of the videos YouTube suggests as similar, many of the ones I saw were anti-Mormon material, which is hurtful and poisonous. -RCP

Other places to find Al Fox: Al Fox YouTube, Al Fox Facebook, Al Fox Twitter, Al Fox Blog

Letter date: June 8, 2015

MTC Week 1

First Week

It has been a great week! I am enjoying it here at the MTC!

My colega is Sorella S from Idaho Falls, Idaho. And my other colega is Sister H from Brigham City, Utah. Sorella S and I are the only two sisters going to Italy. Sorella S is going to Milan. Sister H is a solo sister going to Frankfurt Germany.

It is a bit like home [here], because there are way more Anziani than Sorrela. Anziano M talks more than I do!!! We have two wonderful teachers who both served in the Italy Rome Mission. Sorella P and Fratello K. We started teaching our first investigator "Emma" on Friday. It was a bit tough, luckily Sorella S took four years of Italian in High School so she can understand and infer what most people say.

I have gotten much better in Italian! On Sunday, I taught Relief Society and gave a talk in Sacrament meeting. There was a fireside on Sunday given by Elder Johnson. And a devotional last night by Elder Andersen.

I miss the food. None of the food here tastes very good so I have mostly been eating salad and soup. I have been having a bit of trouble sleeping, but it is getting better. I just wake up a lot in my sleep.

I am so happy everyone is doing well! 

I love you and miss you all very much and I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers!

Much love,

Sorella Victoria Pinnegar