Sorella Sobeck in Rome: LONTANO :) aka: FAR AWAY :)

SALVE!! CIAO!! BUON GIORNO!!

Whoo hoo I've been in Italy for 3 weeks already!! Miracles continue to happen all the time and I'm always amazing but then at the same time, we're supposed to expect miracles in this work. It's a mini-theme in our mission here: Aspettati un miracolo. So everyday we go out expecting miracles to happen and they do. It's soooooooooo cool.

Some miracles this week:

1. We got a new investigator!! His name is Daniele and he is old and alone and wasn't interested in our message until we talked about the Restoration and he felt the spirit. TROPO FORTE. He is in Milan this week so we haven't met with him since but we are going to see him Monday and please pray for him!

2. GERALD THE NIGERIAN! Ok...I have forgotten to tell the fingernail story. So my first Monday in Bari we met with him, and it was his 3rd lesson with missionaries. This is all in English. He is very Catholic but just regurgitates (sp??) the information he's been taught all his life, but he's very invested in it sometimes. We were talking about baptism and he was so for infant baptism becuase of Adam's sin. He then starts talking about all this stuff about women shouldn't wear trousers (thats his word for pants!) and about how God is angry with me because I paint my nails. I wasn't sure if I should laugh of be offended haha but now I think it's hilarious. So he wanted nothing to do with Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon or anything, but he admires us so much for coming to Italy, a difficult place, to talk to people about Jesus Christ. Ok. So we met with him again last Thursday. He had told us that he is going to Nigeria for a few months to see his family. This guy is a refugee and people want him dead in Nigeria and its a very big deal for him to go home right now. So this was our last meeting with him. This time he still asked a lot of questions but the spirit was there and he was actually hearing our answers and eventually he stopped asking and fighting. He says the COOLEST things. My favorite was this: "I would like to attend your church...I think I'm beginning to be interested in this church." NO WAY!!! SO COOOOOOOL! I love this guy!!! It is really sad that he will be gone for so long. But as a parting gift we gave him a wrapped Book of Mormon so he had no idea what is was and he was so grateful for the gift. Hahaha. We hope that while he is in hiding in Africa for 3 months that he will read it and when he gets back in march he will know its true and want to get baptized. We'll see what happens. I hope I'm here in bari so I can talk to him again. When we were about to leave him he said some really profound things, because again, he admires us for being missionaries and teaching people about Jesus Christ and our relationship with God. Some thigns he said : "Since you've come here to do this work, do it perfectly...Christ can do wonderful things for you. If you are working for God, He will always work for you too." Talk about profoundness. I hope he gets baptized when he comes back. :) I will miss Gerald the Nigerian!!!

3. MICHELE SCIACOVELLI! We set a baptism date for him for December 10!!! Ok...this guy is another of the coolest. He is an ex-con. He was in prison for 7 YEARS, I don't know why yet. While in prison he did schooling and learned to read and write...amazing. He's been out for 5 years now and has completely changed his life around. He wrote a book, and it is being released on Friday and we are going to the premiere and Sorella Ashman is speaking at it!! IT's going to be a big deal, he wants her to talk about how they met and how he has changed and how the Atonement applies to everyone. His book is about his prison time, and his experiences and his conversion to the church are going to help SO MANY people, especially young men. Talk about a person who the church NEEDS. He is going to be a great example of how change is possible. He LOVES EVERYTHING we teach him, especially the Atonement, and he can't wait to be baptized in a couple weeks!! He is seriously a living Alma the Younger story...wowwwwww. I just love him!!!! Pray for him!!! December 10th!!!

4. The other sorelle we live with had a baptism on Saturday!! Her name is Stefania and she's 23 and wow...talk about people being prepared for the gospel in Bari! She is currently in Switzerland with a bunch of other members from the wards here at the temple. She has so much faith and just devoured everything. She's actually been dating a member for a couple years and has been going to church. But in just 2 1/2 weeks the sorelle taught her everything so she could be baptized and go to the temple to do baptisms. Miracle. It was so fast but she was incredibly prepared and basically knew everything. Sometimes finding people is that easy. I'm so grateful they had that success. There are baptisms everywhere! There is another one in Foggia on this Saturday that we are going to go to to support the anzioni there. Foggia is about 2 hours away I think and I'm excited to go. Us 4 sorelle are signing at the baptism. It's so exciting to see all these people accepting the gospel and seeing all the success the missionaries are having in Italy! MIRACLES!!!

5. We took a bus to a cute little town called Adelfia on Monday. We went to try and contact a family who are ex-investigators, but the bishop told us that he felt we needed to go see them. So we had faith that when we went to Adelifa that we would find them home and that we would talk to them, and invite them to church and it would be awesome and we'd have 5 new investigators....Adeflia is about 30 minutes from Bari, so its far away and hard for the members to come to church. This is where our Relief Society president lives, Sorella Iacovelli. We tried going to the families house (Famiglia Gravina) but no one was home, so we went to Sorella Iacovelli's house. On the way I had my first encounted with a TJ!!! (Testimone di Geova) And he was super nice...it was weird haha. He listened really intently. He's been TJ for 40 years though, so he's pretty stuck on his ways. It was just so weird. Then we went will Sorella Iacovelli to an ex'investigator family and they were sooooo cute. I think we went to Adelfia to meet them honestly. They stopped taking the lessons becuase they're so busy. Then we went to the Gravina's and it was not what we expected. They were home, and the mom comes out and tells us how she hates the bishop and all the stuff that happened that should not have happened with other members, and they have no interest in meeting with missionaries anymore. It was very sad. It's so amazing to see though, that when you plan for something and it doesn't go how you plan, other things happen that compensate.

Ok, those are my big stories of the week. Here's a quote I found in an old Ensign that I really liked: "Temporal obstacles make eternal development possible." - Robert D. Hales. It also said that temporal means temporary. What a cool quote. Puts things into perspective.

Funny thing that happened, that Fratello Curci said. Fratello Curci is our ward mission leader and he is a very interesting man who talks 52454481532143 words a minute and sometimes says exactly the right thing and other times says exactly the wrong thing. He treats me and apparently all new missionaries to Bari like we're stupid sometimes. It's fun. Other times he just loves us and is so impressed by us. You never know with him. Anyways, I do respect him and he has done so much good for missionary work in Bari. So he was giving us a ride home the other night and asked the funniest question: "Why do women like men?" Hahaha it was sooo funny and random. And then he was asking if I went to school in America and I told him I go to BYU and he said: "Ahhh....you go to BYU to find a marito? A hu-hu-hu-husband?" HAHAHAHA. That was all in English (he knows a little bit) and Sorella Ashman and I almost died. Hu-hu-husband? What the heck? Apparently I failed at that hahaha. But I am on a mission and that is so much cooler!

Another funny quote, said by Michele Sciacovelli yesterday: "Signore Curci, this is going to scandolize you." Curci : "Nothing can scandolize me anymore." Michele: "I never got baptized!! I have never done the Cresima or Confession." HAHAHAHA. Oh my goodness. Best thing ever. He was almost proud of this fact hahaha and it's not like being baptized Catholic or not means anything to Mormons. It was sooo funny. And of course, all this has to be translated to me by Sorella Ashman, becuase I didn't understand what he said. Hahahaha I just started laughing when she told me what he said. Oh Michele, he's so awesome. December 10th!!!!

Well, I shall end this novel now and say that I'm still grateful to be a missionary, despite the hard experiences. Because we have so many miracles all the time. I'm grateful. And I wish everyone a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving!!! Eat some turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes for me! I will be eating...PASTA!!!!!! :) I love pasta.

Ok, love you all. Have a wonderful week!!!

Love, Sorella Sobeck

Pictures!!!

289- This is Angelo, one of the baptisms my first Sunday! He's SO GREAT and a wonderful member missionary already!!!