Working with members

Oh my gosh!!!!! I absolutely LOVED the story of daddy and Jarom seeing each other in the airport!!! (Jarom flew to Japan on Monday but his flight was delayed. His new flight had him fly out the exact same time as his Dad. Their gates were A3 and A4. It was indeed a beautiful tender mercy! For the complete story, visit Jarom's blog. A link is on the left side of this page.)

As for my time left here in Genova... I really do feel like it is coming to a close. I would LOVE to stay here one more transfer with Sorella Lemos. So many things are happening with our ward, our simpatizzanti, and our members. Also the weather has been soooo beautiful lately, I am falling in love with Genova again. Time will time.

This past week we had amazing opportunities to work with the leaders in our church. We have amazing members and amazing leaders that are here to help us and the help the ward. On Saturday we went to the Bishops house up the mountains (where there are single houses instead of apartments) and we brought M to his request.

M and Codi

We felt a little nervous about going because of some training that we received (soon to be explained in a letter) but it ended up being an INCREDIBLE experience. M felt totally loved by the Bishop and his family and the trip out of Genova city was absolutely refreshing for all of us.

We had a tender and  beautiful miracle Domenica sera with one of our members. We received a text message from her, asking if we would like a ride to go visit another member in the hospital due to pregnancy issues. It was a wonderful experience for us to work together in the service of the Lord for another sorella. By the end of the visit, we all felt edified and strengthened. We sent Sorella Deborah Polinelli, the member who came with us, a text message of our gratitude and thanks for all she does to help us and the members in the ward. She then sent us a text thanking us for our work as well and for the opportunity to serve together. It is amazing to work with members, especially since they are so willing and ready to take the opportunity to help those around them. :)

Allora, I hope you enjoy the pictures!!! There are a LOT more to send. :) I love you sooooo much!!! Thank you so much for the support and the love. It has been amazing to see the blessing of in our family while Jarom and I have been out serving the Lord. This is one of the comforting blessings we as missionaries are promised while we are away from our families. Thank you for letting me have this opportunity mama!

VI VOGLIO BENE!!!!

Sorella Jameson

Look how happy she is to receive a stuffed envelope from home!

PS: THANK  YOU AGAIN FOR THE AMAZING ENVELOPE YOU SENT!!!!!!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED IT!!!! I was actually looking at my mint stock and saw that there were only 2 left last Monday. My heart was very sad to see this and thought about when I could have more. God does answer prayers! :)

Love, Italian Shwarma, and the Psalm of Nephi

Okay... I am sorry my letters have been short. These past few weeks have been so incredibly insane and yet at the same time I don't know what has happened. You know that feeling? When it just goes by way too fast to even comprehend anything? As for the pictures... we have't taken any. Literally my last pictures are at M's baptism. Why? Well first of all I really have no idea but I think it has to with us running around like crazy with no thought of savoring the beauty around us. BUT I promise to send you pictures next week - we are planning on visiting a castle today.

AHHHHH I am sooooo excited for Jarom to fly out!!! (Codi's brother, Jarom, is leaving the MTC and flying to Japan on Monday) I sent him a letter with all of my recommendations for traveling to a foreign country. Really, it is an amazing experience to go outside of the US and live in another world. Poor guy... that is an EARLY flight (They leave the MTC at 2:30 am) but it should help with the jet lag if he does what he is supposed to.

UPDATE on our week.....

We have been taking the time to visit our members, especially the older women who are either widowed or single. It is amazing how incredibly strong they appear in church and how much faith they have to keep going. We have discovered how hard it can be to be an older, single person in the church - to have no support and to feel so alone. As we have taken the time to meet with these members, they have expressed their faith and love for the Savior and his church. They are part of the great foundation in our wards. Because we have visited, we have been asked to return for a lunch appointment for a sister and her non member daughter. Our love for the members has grown and has given us a greater desire to serve. :)

Funny story. We planned on going shopping for P-day last week because the SALES were coming to a close and we thought "why not take a day for ourselves and do a little shopping." So we began by eating a Kabab which is another form of Shwarma that I had in Jerusalem (oh how it made me happy) and made our way to Centro Genova for shopping. I had a MUG root beer that I bought at an ethnic food store (didn't realize how much I missed that either) and just laughed with Sorella Lemos is the rain. About 20 minutes later, we got a call or rather 5 from a simpatizzanti and her mother in law. Her mother in law was on her way to the airport the day before to travel to the United States when someone stole her passport out of her purse. SOOOO they needed my help to fill out American documents to reapply for a visa into the States - the form was all in English. Sorella Lemos and I quickly went to help her and as we all know, these legal documents take a very long time. Fast forward 4 hours and we are heading to English Class. P-day over. Although we lost this time for ourselves, we gave it up to serve another, who was so very grateful for all we did. We felt tired and missed this break that we had but in the end our hearts were full with this service we performed. When we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of God.

Do you remember how we started teaching the son of one of our investigators? K? He is so incredible and his mother wants him to do everything with us and with the church. Last week we took him to the Famiglia Herrera for a lesson and for him to get to know other youth in the church. When we met up with him and his mother, she was so excited to send him off with us. It was a great experience. Then on Sunday, the famiglia Herrera took K home for lunch because his mother was working!!! The young men took care of him during church and even watched the Restoration film with him. He has been such a miracle and blessing for us to meet with and teach him. K and his mother, A have been reading the scriptures together and praying everyday and just glow with the light of Christ. :)

As for some other news, Otto received a calling in the Stake for the Single Adults - he is in charge of organizing activities and other events for GANS. He gave a talk on Sunday about how the Gospel has changed his life for the better and how happy he is. Tears came to my eyes as he spoke. I am sooooo happy for him. His growth in the faith brings me sooooo much happiness and joy. One of the many blessing of being a missionary. :)

To finish, I want to share with you some of the insights I have received while reading the BOM (thank you thank you THANK YOU for the challenge. I love it!!!)  I recently read 2 Nephi 4 - the psalm of Nephi, one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. In verse 17 he explains that the more he learns of the gospel, the more he realizes just how imperfect he is. This shows the importance of coming to know God and his Word through diligent study. There are times that we beat down on ourselves for the imperfections that we have but what we must do is not grovel but rather awake and remember who we trust like Nephi. Repent, change, and grow closer to God because He is with us.
 17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

 18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.

 19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

 20 My God hath been my asupport; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

 21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

 27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?

 28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

 29 Do not aanger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.

 30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation

I love you so very much! It is incredible how fast time is going by. Jarom will be going to Japan. You started School. Brenna is going into her JR year. WHAT?!  Time is precious. We must do all we can to prepare to meet God.

Vi voglio bene!!

Sorella Jameson

Obedience is key to blessings

This letter is also going to be a little short because I have a TON of emails to write others. We have amazing simpatizzanti and amazing members. We have seen so many little miracles throughout the week but we have also had the opportunity to see the fruit of our labors. On Domenica morning, we had planned to meet with one our meni attivi to help bring her and her family to church. As we were gathering all the little ones, I had a prayer in my heart that some of our simpatizzanti and meno attivi could come because I did not have time to send them all reminder text messages. While we were sitting in church, waiting for somebody to show up, the doors opened and in came 2 simpatizzanti with baptismal dates, 2 other simpatizzanti, 3 meno attivi, and our new convert. It filled my heart with soooo much joy to see them walk through the doors and enjoy the spirit of the sacrament meeting.

Another one of our simpatizzanti, Ad, brought her 16 year old son to a lesson yesterday. K has been here for only 11 days from Equador. His mother has encouraged him to come to church to get to know the youth here (because there are a TON from Equador) and to learn of Christ! WAY to go!!! She also explains how much peace and tranquility she feels when she meets with us. The Holy Ghost is amazing. :)

Also, we have been receiving a lot of guidance from our president with new rules and regulations. Most of them made a lot of sense but we received one that was a little hard for me to understand completely. Part of me thought, well I can half way follow this rule and still do my work just fine. As I thought about it more and studied obedience, I came to realize that obedience is key to blessings, happiness, protection, and trust from the Lord. It is a little strange for me to live according to the ways and life style that I did not necessarily choose (as in, what I did with my time etc before in college) and to follow without question EVERY rule. As a missionary,  as a representative of Christ, I am expected to follow my mission president. Then I started to think about life outside the mission and just how important it is to live by 100% obedience, even when we don't agree with the rules or think we follow 50 or 75%. Really, we can learn to have so much more happiness and faith in others if we are obedient. We have seen so many blessings as we have followed these new rules established by our mission president.

I love you all sooooo much!! Thank you for your comfort and for your words of love. This is something that is very much needed for all missionaries as we work away from our families.

Vi voglio bene!!!

Sorella Jameson :)

I have been a missionary for 6 months!

I don't have a ton of time to respond because I was playing on store.lds.org. To answer your question, yes. Yes we are cooking. It is amazing how gross we can get in just a short time outside. Bahahahaha oh well... everyone is gross too. :)

I absolutely love reading about Jarom and Brenna!!! It makes me sooooo happy to see how much Jarom is growning  - this is why I was so excited for him to go on a mission. All of the sudden all the things that were once important as a youth become silly and obsolete. Then the things that have real, ETERNAL importance come to light. Like the Gospel and God's love for us as He set forth His plan of Happiness. :)

Here is a quick little update for the week...

Are you ready for this...? I hit my 6th month mark YESTERDAY. Woah... I have been a missionary for 6 months already which means I only have a year left. Can you believe that? I can't. At times it feels really long but then by the time we reach the end of the week, we look back and see how fast each day went by. In about 2 weeks I will also be in Italy for 5 months. Sometimes I wonder what America used to look like... Italy just feels so normal to me now.

This week has been a little crazy with our members and with our simpatizzanti but we have still been able to see so many tender mercies of the Lord. Yesterday I felt a personal miracle come when Sorella Lemos and I set a baptismal date with our simpatizzanti J. We have been working with her since my first day here in Genova, or rather my first day as a missionary in the field. She has a beautiful family and has been making slow but steady progress towards baptism and yet it has been all in a continuous cycle without true progression. After praying fervently, I felt impressed to set a date with her and her family for late September. As we were trying to set this date, there was a lot of doubt, distractions, and fear but I felt strength to help me keep pushing for a goal in mind for them. In the end we were able to set this date and now we can start working towards baptism. :)

I love you sooooo much!!! Thank you so much for all that you do for me, in the past and now. Continue with faith and PRAY with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.

Vi voglio bene!!!

Sorella Jameson

PS: No new pictures for today... mi dispiace!!!

Be bold and loving

We have begun another transfer here in Genova!! It is sooooo weird to think that I arrived here 4 months ago in March. So much has changed - io, la mia collega, il nostro lavoro, il nostro rione, i nostri simpatizzanti, il mio italiano, etc. Being a missionary is something that just feels like a part of me, like I have been doing it all along. I really love it so much! Yes, there are times when it is hard and I feel like it would be easier to go home, but there are more moments of complete joy when we help others come closer to Christ. Such as ...

M!!! As I am sure you know, she was baptized on Friday and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. Oh mama mia... it was an absolutely beautiful ceremony. We have been working so hard with the ward, with M, with the Presidente, and with each other to get every thing ready for this baptism. It has been a long road but M has finally made it through the first door of baptism (next stop... the TEMPLE!!!) M has changed sooooo much since the first night that Sorella Gomez and I found her at the bus stop one April night. There is a light and joy in her eyes and face and she just GLOWS with faith in Christ. She told me on Sunday how much peace and tranquility she has found in this church and how happy she is to have found it. The baptismal service was absolutely beautiful as well. We had 4 simpatizzanti come and at least 6 others of the other missionaries come. There were several ward members and 3 of M's children came. We performed a musical number after (there is a recording on my card) and the spirit just FLOWED into the room. The funny part of her baptism: When she was baptized she let go of her nose.... when she came out of the water she was chocking and coughing up water. It was absolutely hilarious because she just started laughing, saying how buffa (funny) she was. Oh M.... Now she is a huge beacon of faith for us and other members. I love her sooo much!!

Some other miracles...These miracles came slowly throughout our day's work on Monday. We had a District Meeting that morning and talked about our calling as missionaries, sopra tutto as representatives of Jesus Christ. We have been set apart and have the power and authority to do this work for our Savior. Our district leader, Anziano Edwards, gave us the battle cry to be bold and loving with our simpatizzanti, meno attivi, and membri as we help them come closer to Christ. As we worked throughout the day, I had this thought and challenge in my mind. I felt our lessons come out more powerfully as we taught simpatizzanti, meno attivi, and membri. It made a difference for the entire lesson, the entire atmosphere. The people we taught were touched and we could see and feel this Spirit working with them. It was an amazing experience that I hope to never forget as an authorized representative of our Savior, Gesu Cristo.

Grazie per tutto voi avete fatto per me and la mia collega. Sono molta grata. Continuate con fede and speranze perche Gesu Cristo vive!

Vi voglio bene!!!

Sorella Jameson

Codi's zone, meeting President and Sister Dibbs

The time is NOW!

I AM STAYING IN GENOVA!!!!! I am soooooooo happy!!! Sorella Lemos and I were jumping up and down with joy and crying together. (We were both terrified I was leaving) Presidente did not change very many copia this transfer but then again he has only been here for about 4 weeks. Plus that means we get to stay here for M's BAPTISM!!!!!!! It is this FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am soooooo excited for that and to be here with the people I love soooo much!!! It is amazing but also a huge shock - 4 transfers in the same city! Also, our capi zoni opened my first transfer here and are staying the same next transfer (Anz Hatch and Gibbons) Anz Hatch is dying this transfer (meaning he is finishing) There is so much we want to do together this transfer! YAY!!!

Now for a quick update on my week...

I love Genova! I love Sorella Lemos!!! I love being a missionary!! But I must admit that it was a little hard for me last week for some strange reason. I felt tired. More than just physically tired (which is everyday especially in this heat) but a little spiritually tired. Satan was working hard on my heart and mind last week because I started having thoughts of "well I almost have finished 6 months of a mission. I have done my time" More than anything, my thoughts started turning more inward than outward to the people around me. Why? Well I am human. The thing that I learned from this is the importance of just praying my heart out to my Father in Heaven and to just focus on loving and serving those around me. I talked about this to Sorella Lemos (who I just love so much) and felt so much strength and support from her. Sometimes I try to do things on my own - especially because I feel like I MUST since I am the senior companion and example but we are in copia for a reason. Adesso me sento pu forta! :) PRAY!

Our miracle occured last Friday when we worked with two young women - both 18 years old  It was a beautiful experience to work with these young women who had a fire and zeal for preaching the Gospel. When we arrived at the church to meet up with them, they were excited to get started. I worked with a young woman who was baptized about a year and a half ago whose dream is to serve a mission. We ended up teaching a new simpatizzanti and visiting a meno attivo famiglia. She told how forte this experience was for her and how excited she was to serve her mission in the future! The Lord is preparing the youth for the mission work!!

M is going to be baptized this Friday and she is so excited!! She was so giddy after her baptismal interview last week and is ready for this next step. When her baptism was announced in church on Sunday, the ward gasped with Joy! She has been coming to church for 3 to 4months now and is known and loved by so many members. (Insert emphasis on member work!!!! GET TO KNOW YOUR MISSIONARIES' SIMPATIZZANTI!!!)

To finish I want to share some of my thoughts of the broadcast given, the Work of Salvation. We had a chance to watch it yesterday as a district. Mama mia... it was sooooo good!! The time is NOW to share the gospel. It doesn't mean we need to go out and force our beliefs on others. No, we can share the gospel through service, through friendship, and sopro tutto, through our example. My challenge is to get to know the simpatizzanti of the missionaries and find new ones for them to teach. Make a list of friends, prayerfully selecting names of those you want to share the gospel with. Where can you find these friends? This is how you do your missionary work. Also, visit the less actives in your wards. Don't wait to be told. ACT!!! God loves all of His children and wants us ALL to have happiness in this life. That is through the one, true gospel of Jesus Christ, RESTORED through a Prophet in these latter days.

The church is true. God loves us. Ti voglio bene!

Sorella Jameson

My desk, BEFORE morning study

My desk, AFTER morning study!

Nesquick and Slums

We finally made 20 lessons!!!!!!! Oh it felt sooooo wonderful to reach our goal! We have been working SOOOO hard for the past 5 weeks to make it and we finally did. It has created a spring board for us in our work - we have seen more success with our investigators and have better relationships with our members! I love Genova. So much more than I did last transfer. The members, the simpatizzanti, the city - EVERYTHING! The thing is... I don't know if I am going to be here or not next transfer. Part of me says OF COURSE!!! This work is going so great and Sorella Lemos and I can do sooooo much more!! But at the same time I feel it is time to move on. We will find out soon. 

We saw so many incredible miracles last week - our hearts are full of so much joy! One of the biggest miracles came on Friday night with M, who has her baptismal date scheduled for the 26th of July. She has tried to stop drinking coffee in the morning multiple times by substituting Orzo and other beverages. Finally we bought her some Nesquik to drink in the morning instead. When she arrived at our lesson, she stood up proudly, with her hands on her hips, and declared that she stopped drinking coffee that morning! She was so happy to reach this goal and continued to repeat it all night (Sorella Lemos and I displayed our excitement for her by squealing with joy and eating pizza to celebrate.) Afterwards we watched the Testaments - the room was filled with the Holy Ghost by the end of the film. M then shared her testimony of how she knows Christ has been with her throughout her entire life and how she wants to be close to Him SEMPRE. The entire lesson was beautiful and we were filled with so much joy. M is still drinking Nesquik and not coffee. 

Another amazing miracle came with a family that we have been working with every week. The father is Meno Attivo and the rest of the family is active. (Remember the member who we ran into on the bus and brought with us to J? She is the wife in the family) We absolutely LOVE this family and feel like they are a part of our own family as well. The other day, we met a young man at a bus stop who wanted to have a lesson with us. While we were thinking of who to bring with us, this MA came into my mind. Il F came to our lesson on Friday and then came to church to greet the simpatizzanti. Oh donna... it is was BEAUTIFUL!!! He came to church!!! There was a beautiful light with the entire family and soooo many members welcomed both il F and the simpatizzanti with love. Sorella Lemos and I later went to their house and shared our love and gratitude for them - tears were shed and our hearts were full of love and joy. 

To end our beautiful story... we tried taking a train from Principe to Sampierdarena (where we live - a 6 minute train ride or 15 minute bus ride) Well... you know me and how my head is not always aposta. We took a train that normally stops in Samp. but this one was different. It was a fast, regional train that made only big stops. So we ended up in Savano Sunday night ... and then took another train back home. (Savona is about an hour away from Genova) Presidente Dibb has heard more from me in the 3 weeks he has been here than Presidente Wolfgramm in 3 months. Perfetto. :) 

Spiritual Thought: I was reading the Liahona from March 2013 - The Power of the Word of God. It is about how daily scripture study changes our life and empowers us so we can press forward, holding onto the rod of iron in the mist of darkness. President Ezra Benson said "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world takes the people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold time by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior but Christ can CHANGE human behavior." I love this soooo much!! When we accept and KNOW the gospel of Jesus Christ, our entire life changes. It is not only a religion that we declare and a church we attend on Sunday. It is our way of life because we are changed by Christ. We can continue to have this strength through the scriptures. I recommend reading this article. :) 

Thank you for your love and support!! 

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Jameson

Sorella Fava. Their adopted Gma. She has emailed us a couple of times to assure us that Codi is in good hands. We LOVE her!!