Sorella Sobeck in Rome: I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation.‏

Ciao ciao! This has been a difficult week honestly. I think a lot of things happened to really test our faith. We are still strong and happy, but we've had some interesting experiences.

First, last week I said that Sorella Curci (our ward mission leaders wife) was in a coma. She had a stroke and thats what caused it. She passed away on Saturday morning and the funeral was on Monday. Sorella Curci was so adorable and was like a little child because of her Alzheimers, and I really loved her. I'm really sad that she died but at the same time I'm so grateful that she doesn't have to suffer in her body here anymore. We were able to go to the morgue on Sunday night to see her (they don't have open casket funerals ehre so if you want to see the body you have to go to the hospital), and there were a lot of people from the church there to support Fratello Curci and their son Gionathon. When I saw her there I felt so much peace because I knew her Spirit was in the Spirit World and she was being a missionary and that she was free of disease! What a blessing to her! And Sorella Ashman and I have talked a lot about the Plan of Salvation and how after we die we don't take anything with us. We don't even take our BODY with us. So it got me really thinking about how grateful I am for the gospel and the Plan of Salvation and that I know that death is not the end at all for us. And now I'm not so sad anymore. Fratello Curci is so strong and is a great example for us as missionaries. His testimony is FORTE. He told one of the other sorelle when she asked if she could do anything for him to continue finding people to teach, because the missionaries who found and baptized him 40 years ago prepared him for this experience by giving him the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. How inspiring is that???

It has also been a difficult week as the progress of Daniele has been hindered a little bit. His baptismal date was for March 3rd but its almost positive that its not happening on that day. Which is sad because now Sorella Ashman will not be here to see him get baptized because transfers are already in a couple weeks. We had a lesson with Daniele on Friday night and he got really offended by a member we brought. It was a very unfortunate situation...we realized that they weren't getting along very well, but we didn't realize how much it affected Daniele until we saw him again on Saturday and he was really upset. And he still hasn't decided to keep the Word of Wisdom and he still doesn't understand that he is feeling the spirit and he is still fighting a lot of things. And he didn't come to church again for the 3rd week in a row. It's been really frustrating for us to watch, and we keep thinking "What can we do more?" but we really don't know. We've invested SO MUCH energy and time and thought and prayer for this man, and he's not making the choices that we would if we could choose for him. I'm really grateful that we have agency, but it of course is difficult to watch someone choose to not recognize the spirit working. I still believe he'll get baptized, but it will take more time. Which is fine. It's just been a disappointing week in that regard. I still love him though.

While I was praying one night this week before I went to bed, I was asking Heavenly Father what I could do more to help these people. We have had between 4-6 progressing investigators lately which has made us sooooooooo happy! And we're working with lots of other people too. However, we are only having like 2 people come to church every week, maybe 3. And its never consistently the same ones. Not gonna lie...SO DISAPPOINTING!!!! Church attendance is SO IMPORTANT!!! And no matter how many times we explain it, a lot of people do not understand this. When the light bulb comes on, people really get it and then they never miss a Sunday. It's happened with so many people. But we haven't reached that point right now with like any of our investigators. Anyways, while I was praying to my Heavenly Father and asking him this question, I got this undeniable feeling that no matter what the choices these people are making, I need to never stop loving them. Yes, I already knew that and I already love them so much, but I read a quote awhile ago that said "charity is loving someone even when they disappoint you". And I was grateful for the reminder to never give up on people just because they might be slow in progressing. And I was grateful for the experience of knowing that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and gives us comfort when we need it and ask for it. :) It was a good learning experience for me. And now I'm trying to have more patience and really have faith that as long as we do our part as missionaries and do everything we can do it our power, IT WILL ALL WORK OUT ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF HEAVENLY FATHER! Because His plan is perfect. And He knows us better than we know ourselves! :)

I love the talk "Come What May and Love It" by Elder Wirthlin. We went to a GANS activity (thats the YSA group) on Sunday night and could only stay for the lesson, and the girl who gave the lesson read that talk. It's great, because we read that talk in a couple lessons about a month ago, but both Sorella Ashman and I needed the reminder of those words. It's so cool how the same words we hear and read affect us differently at different times in our lives. It's like the BOOK OF MORMON!!! The same words have different meanings at different times. MAGICAL! :) :) :) IT was a cool experience at this GANS activity though, becuase after she read the talk a discussion took place where the young people and also the leaders were sharing some experiences, and it was really good to see that everyone in the world has the same kinds of problems: spiritual, physical, romance, money, school, work, etc...and we all have to learn the same lesson and that is to trust Heavenly Father. Love it.

I had a cool experience where I did Mostra for my first time this week! Mostra is where the missionaries have these big banner signs that they put up in the street in very public areas, and then you divide and conquer. We went to centro by a bunch of shops and you just take pamphlets and passalong cards and talk to people. It was a cool experience. Honestly, I was really scared hahaha but it was cool to talk to people by myself and really see that I can understand enough Italian to get the idea. And of couse, the most important thing that I ever share is my testimony about why I'm here in Italy and what our message can do for them.

Well, through the experiences I had this week both good and bad I really have learned a lot about patience and accepting people's agency and following Heavenly Father's plan for us. For us as missionaries so we learn the things we need to learn, and also the plan for our investigators and the people we meet. Our entire purpose during this time is to help people accept the truth. And if we have the faith and work hard we will find the people!!! Tomorrow we have Zone Conference and we have Elder Teixeira from the 70 coming to speak to us. I'm really looking forward to being uplifted by his message and also that of my Mission President!

Thanks for everyones support, I love being a missionary! I'm learning SO MUCH. Jeez. It's kind of crazy haha. We always have things to learn in this life. I love that. We are never finished progressing and we must always strive to improve ourselves. What kind of existance would we have if all we did was remain the same person forever? Thats lame. :) Hope everyone has a good week! Sorry I forgot my camera today so no pictures. Love you all!

Love, Sorella Sobeck