Sorella Sobeck in Rome: Teach them to listen to the voice of the Spirit.

Buon giorno a tutti. Hope alls well!

Hmmm, this week. I think this transfer is just proving to be a tough one, but thats ok, Heavenly Father gives people trials and hard times to those who He knows can handle them. :) When we're going through the tough stuff, we HAVE to remember that we're strong, that He doesn't give us more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13), that we have them to grow and improve, and that HE ALWAYS LOVES US NO MATTER WHAT. Simple right? Maybe not so much during the times, but I know its true!

At correllation last week (the meeting with the missionaries and the ward mission leader), Fratello Curci said some good stuff. One thing he said that our responsability as missionaries to to teach people to listen to the small voice of the Spirit and direct them to God...they can't rely on us forever and it is IMPERATIVE to have them build that personal relationship with Heavenly Father where they can receive their own answers to their questions. He also asked a great question: The gospel is the gospel of happiness...so why are there members who aren't happy? It's an interesting question to ponder...becuase we have all the truths and knowledge and we know our purpose and where we're going. Yet we are still unhappy sometimes. Why? I don't know the answer(s) necessarily, but I've been thinking about it a bit and if anyone wants to share some insights that'd be great.

Thursday night I had my interview with President Kelly and I was feeling better at that point a bit. Sorella Filipovska and I had talked about some time and I think there was a better level of understanding on both our parts which really helped both our attitudes. Talking with President gave me some new insights, and of course it's always nice to be told by your leaders that you're doing a good job when you're not so sure yourself if you really are. He also told me that there is a possibility of a change for me this coming transfer. Its not for a few weeks yet, but we'll find out if I'll be leaving Bari or staying for a 5th transfer.

Friday was Zone Conference and I enjoyed it very very much. I learned a lot of new things. I really loved this one analogy about remodeling a house (maybe because I feel like there was always some kind of remodeling project/destruction going on in my house growing up)...that when Heavenly Father wants to make some changes in us, He doesn't just paint a wall or 2, or change the fridge or microwave or something. He comes in and He starts knocking down WALLS and making huge changes. But why? When we're in the midst of all the changes things seem pretty terrible, and we wonder what the heck we're doing in that situation and why we even started it in the first place. But then when it's all finished and all over, we look at the new results and we know that all the mess and pains were worth it because IT'S BETTER. I really really liked that comparison. Heavenly Father gives us big trials and big changes to make us better than we were before. And when its all over we can see the changes and the growth and really be happier. As always during ZC, we find things we need to work on and do better for the work and also personally. We have some new ideas to try and get some more investigators. It's always a work of improvement...but its more fun that way :) I love Zone Conference and being with all the missionaries. Afterwards there was an activity at the same church building, and since it takes us 40 minutes to walk home, and then another 40 to walk back we just stayed there. It was fun to hang out the Bari missionaries (because there are 8 of us) and continue to get to know them better. Me, Sorella Heiner, and Anziano Pedreira have been here the same amount of time, and its so fun to be with them still.

These days...we set another baptismal date with Daniele, but I don't know that it will happen... I think I've been around him SO MUCH these past almost 5 months and I just want him to take this step so badly. And maybe its just getting more disappointing that he doesn't quite want to do it yet. If ever. It's really hard to find the balance between having faith and being realistic. But I guess thats a life lesson to learn, not just during the mission haha. We'll see what happens with him. We've also been working more with a couple other people. Antonia, who is old and is literally I think bipolar, but is steadily progressing. And also Marjana, the Albanian, who's sister is a member of the church in Albania, and who is loving to read and study the Book of Mormon. We had her start at the very beginning, adn she's only read a couple chapters but she's read them each like 6 times! In Albanian and also Italian. It's so cute. And we watched The Restoration film with her yesterday and she really relates to Joseph Smith because she's been studying a lot of different churches and is looking for the right one. She talks SO MUCH!!

Today for Pday we went to Lecce again and I went to the end of the world!!! Not really, but we went to the very end of the heel part of the boot today! It was gorgeous and a fun day. We went with all 4 of us sorelle and also Daniele. I would put pictures, but in the mean time I don't have anything to connect the memory card to the computer...so until I figure that out, sorry.

Ok, hope everyone's doing good, even though the hard stuff. I know Heavenly Father loves us!!! We are children of God. We have a plan for this life and if we do our best to follow the Spirit, things will always happen the way they are meant to. We have to do our part though. :) I'm grateful to be a missionary and learn the things I'm learning. They will be testimony builders for the rest of my life.

Love you all,

Sorella Sobeck

Ana - yep, same address :)

Via Giulio Petroni, 99B

70124 Bari, Italy