A call to lead and happiness that trumps sadness

Yes we did receive transfer calls for this week....  They were the most BEAUTIFUL and most joyful calls I have EVER received on my mission. (Especially in comparison with my first call)  We were busy cleaning on Monday when we received a call from Presidente. I have been called to serve in Pisa as a Sister Training Leader with Sorella Stewart who was in Genova right before me! This is exciting but not as exciting as the next part of the call. NOTE: when we receive transfer calls it is either done on Speaker Phone or with the both of us hugging each other so we can hear and give one another support. When Sorella Andromidas started speaking to Presidente, he explained that she would be staying here in Forli to continue the work with a new sorella. Training? No. Better. Drum roll please. Sorella Andromidas will be serving in Forli with SORELLA LEMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT IS A DREAM COME TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I heard this I literally screamed and fell to the ground sobbing. Presidente stopped talking due to the scream. Sorella Andromidas said quickly "Sorry! That was my trainers first trainee! We are just really excited!" He paused and said "ooooooooookay...? Well..." I am soooooooooooooo happy! Normally transfers fill me with a little bit of pain and fear - pain to leave the people you love and fear that others will not take care of them well enough. I have no fear whatsoever now! Sorella Andromidas ansd Sorella Lemos are going to TAKE OVER ITALY!!!!!!!!!! I will have to write a letter home to you to explain more. As for me... it is hard to say goodbye. My happiness is trumping the sadness in me right now because my prayers were answered. :)

Some fast stories before I finish. We have one of the most golden and prepared people EVER right now. His name is C. He used to investigate the church YEARS ago but was not able to follow through on the commitment of baptism. Now he said he wants to make up the time he missed and start down the right path. Our branch mission leader invited him to church the other day so he came last week, we set up an appointment and met in Forlimpopoli - a little town outside of Forli. We had to meet inside a mini mall with loud music but (with the prayers in our hearts and the work of the Lord) the Spirit was so strong. We all cried at one point or another throughout this lesson. He wants to follow Jesus sooooo badly and preach the gospel just like us! We asked him to be baptized on the 15th of February and he accepted. Unfortunately I will not be there but I told him to send me a picture of him in white. :) There in an attached photo of him. :)

We had the most BEAUTIFUL sacrament meeting of my entire life this Sunday. The day before my poor companion puttered out and got really sick so we headed home early and missed a lesson with J (the boy with a baptismal date) and an African dinner appointment. She slept in till 10 am the next morning. I had been praying with all my might that she would wake up and feel well enough to go to church. She felt 100% healed (probably because she slept 15 hours... magari! I have only slept about 6 hours ever night this week) We arrived at church in just enough time for sacrament meeting, which is last in Forli. It was AMAZING!!!! There were 4 people we teach in church and 3 of them stood up to bear their testimony - the first being C. Oh my goodness... the spirit was amazing. Not only that but two non members gave an opening and closing prayer. All of the members were just filled with happiness and joy afterwards. :)

God is good. ALWAYS. He has blessed and touched my life in so many ways. I am so grateful to see the many miracles He has provided throughout my life and especially for my mission. I LOVE GOD!!!! :)

Vi voglio bene!!

Sorella Jameson

The feeling of doing something better with the Lord's time

Holy hannah it is COLD!!!! I thought I knew what cold was but I guess I did not take into consideration how it would be even colder being out all day on a bike. That is the rough part. When I breathe in, it hurts my lungs. Here is the best part... it isn't even THAT cold yet. :) But it helps with the desire of not wanting to eat any gelato. :)

As for transfer news, I am staying here in Forlì with my sweet baby. :) Oh how I was soooooo happy when I didn't receive any phone calls on Monday. I was a little stressed out at the thought of being transfered. I just love this place way too much and I LOVE my companion. We just laugh all the time and try to work really hard. :) AND now I will be here for Christmas. :)

THANKSGIVING: Dinner with L e A tomorrow with the Jefferies. WOOT!

Sorella Andromidas and I have another beautiful transfer together in Forlì!!! We are so very excited for the next few weeks to continue the work here and to love our simpatizzanti! When we didn't receive a phone call on Monday night (the normal time when are called to translocate), L (one of the most special people here in Forlì and simp) said "Dio esiste!" It was so funny! Several other simpatizzanti commented on how happy they were that we would remain together. It is amazing how you don't realize how much of an impact you make until it is time to go. 

We had a blitz in Rimini, the birthplace of my trainer Sorella Gomez. It has always been my dream to serve there but when I knew I was going to Forlì, I realized that it was going to be impossible to serve there. Doing a blitz was a  dream come true!! We went with the Sister Training Leaders, both of whom I love dearly! It was just a wonderful weekend to work with these amazing sisters and to be in that beautiful city. We later had a cultural activity Saturday evening down in Rimini and hoped to have L come down to see it. She could not come unfortunately. Once I realized that we would be in Rimini without any simpatizzanti, at this fun and wonderful activity, I couldn't shake the feeling that we needed to leave. The lines of Good, Better, Best continued to run through my head. I said a little prayer in my heart to know what to do and felt a "well, you could stay here. There is work you can do at this activity. It will be fine if you stay. BUT... you know there is something better that you can do." So Sorella Andromidas and I packed up and headed home to Forlì. The District President stopped us and asked if there was any way that we could stay but we said no, that there was work to do in Forlì. We later went to L's home and had an extremely spiritual and meaningful lesson that was meant to be had. The feeling of doing something better with the Lord's time was something so satisfying. 

Work has been moving forward with one of our newest investigators, J, the son of a meno attivo. He is so elect and ready to accept the gospel. Last week we set a baptismal date with him for the 7th of December, which he quickly accepted. (At this point, we need to work things out with his mother and might push back the date to the 21st of December) Yesterday we had a beautiful lesson with him at a members home and with the Young Men's President. We all watched the Restoration film together. Mamma mia, the spirit was incredibly strong and so beautiful. At the end of the film, we asked him how he felt, what he thought, etc. He was absolutely speachless for a few minutes just shaking his head. Then he responded saying that he had doubted us when we first gave the first lesson of the restoration but he said "God is telling me in my heart that this is true. It's true." It was such a beautiful and special lesson. :) The work continues to move forward in Forlì. :)

To finish, I just wanted to share my thoughts about Alma 18. Sorella Andromidas and I have been very perplexed as we read about Alma going around, baptizing people. He even immersed himself under the water when he baptized Helam. We asked "Where did he get that authority? How could he baptize himself?" These were not questions about salvation but rather questions of curiosity. Meno male we have an institute manual that addresses this very concern. Joseph F. Smith stated that Alma did indeed HAVE the authority. Maybe he received it before he became corrupted by Noah or if he received it afterwards. The dunking is not of him baptizing himself but rather a symbol of humility and repentance. :) I am so grateful for the revelation that we can receive from modern day prophets to clear up any confusion. 

Thank you for your love and support as always. 

VI VOGLIO BENE!!!

Sorella Jameson

San Marino!!!

I have felt the HUNGERING within my soul

I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE my new companion!!!! Don't worry... I couldn't figure out how to say her name for at least the first 2 days. I will tell you more about her further down. She is so wonderful though. :)

Milano: I SAW SORELLA GOMEZ!!!!! Oh my gosh it was one of the most JOYOUS occasion EVER!!!! Oh how I loved her and was so blessed to be trained by her. I didn't get to see Sorella Lemos but she is OPENING?! AHHHHH I am so excited for her!!! She will do SO great!!!!!!! Who is she with?

L and A: I have mentioned things about them but never mentioned names. They are wonderful and still slowly progressing towards baptism and happiness. I try not to use too many names while writing just because some situations are very tender and personal.

So I am training once again and this time around it is not as scary as the first time. :) I am not sure how it keeps happening but I always get the most AMAZING companions!!!!

Sorella Andromidas is incredible. Her mother is Italian (from Alessandria which is right next to Genova and center of our Stake over there) so she speaks Italian already. There are moments that I think ,"Maybe Presidente just thinks I cannot speak Italian because he keeps putting me with Italian speaking companions" hahahahah. Then I think about it and I realize that I could never properly teach a new missionary how to speak well.... hehe I know I speak and understand Italian but the whole grammatical part of it is still a mystery to me..... :) Communque.... Sorella Andromidas has officially been a missionary for 3 weeks today and is just soooo much fun. She is actually not older, despite her very mature looks. Her birthday was last month, the 16th of September when she turned 19 years old. She is younger than Jarom. Bahahahaah I love it!!! I feel like I am with my younger sister. We already get along so well together and she is just fearless.  When we stop people, she just steps up and starts bearing the truth. I can see a bright and amazing future with her here in Forlì. :)

Another thing that I have learned is that I know Forlì better than I thought but I still get us very lost. (This makes my <3 smile. You have to know Codi to fully understand why.) It is much different than a bus city where you can take a bus and watch for the stop. We have been a little lost and had to pull out the map several times. In the process of getting lost, we have given ourselves more time to get from one point to another which has given us more time to talk to people instead of just rushing from one appointment to the next. It has been so beautiful to share a little bit of hope and sunshine with more people everyday. GOSH I LOVE being a missionary!!!!!

The man P, who I have been explaining, came to church this week! Oh my goodness... it was such a beautiful miracle! He was so worried about coming because he did not have any suit and felt it was important to come to church dressed nicely. After reassuring him that he was fine in his best clothing, he said that he would came. We had a member translate for him in Gospel Principles and then we translated for him throughout sacrament meeting. At the end of the hour, he just kept  thanking us, telling us how happy he was and how perfect the whole experience was for him. It was beautiful and he felt the spirit so much. The members did such a wonderful job greeting him and making him feel welcome.

To make the e-mail a little shorter, I wanted to end here. But I also wanted to share my latest insight of scripture reading. I have just loved studying the Book of Mormon more in depth (and I have decided to start on the rest of New Testament) I finished reading Enos this morning. This is such a beautiful story of the miracles of mighty prayer. I love to look back at the times when i have felt the HUNGERING within my soul - for my guilt to be taken away, for a question to be answered, or for a little more peace and comfort in this world of turmoil.

4 And my soul hungered; and I knelt down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

 8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.

12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.

15 Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.

I love to look back at the times when I have felt the HUNGERING within my soul - for my guilt to be taken away, for a question to be answered, or for a little more peace and comfort in this world of turmoil. We must pray in faith and with DILIGENCE. I know that he will answer our prayers. ALWAYS. I have felt this  time after time, especially as I have felt myself saying "What more must I do for these people Father?" He has responded. Why? Because He loves me.

Vi voglio bene!!

Sorella Jameson :)