October 28, 2013

Pumpkin carving with Annalisa!!

Ciao cari!!!

Okay I have very little time but tons of miracles to tell you about...

IVANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She accepted a baptismal date of November 23rd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe it slash God-is-a-God-of-miracles-so-it-totally-makes-sense!!! It was awesome. PLEASE keep her in your prayers and pray that she will make it!! She is totally awesome and I lvoe her so much. We have been teaching her for about 3 months. She is the mother of 3, an older son, who is about two years older than her only daughter, who is quite a bit older than her other son. Sound familiar?? Ecco perché I love her. Also, she is just such an incredible person.

 

LUCIA DI MARZIO!!! She is totally reading the Book of Mormon now!!!!! 

The Irimia Family!!!!!!!!!! They came to the ward activity and LOVED it and met SO MANY members!!! And Massimo, the dad, even helped out with moving stuff, it was awesome. He is pratically a member... almost...

Something I have been studying and learning a lot about lately, well two things: one, the Atonement. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. Also the more I learn, the more I come to love my Savior even more. Two, using your strengths. I have been so focused on fixing things that I think I am bad at that I have forgotten to use the gifts and talents that God has already given me!! Non va bene!! We should always be seeking to develop what strengths God has given us!!

Love you all, thank you so much for your prayers an emails. I definitely attribute some of these miracles to y'all!!!

Con cuore pieno, 

Sorella Patterson

October 21, 2013 - Transfers

CIAO CARA FAMIGLIA E AMICI!!!

New Companion, old companion, me

So, my new companion.... IS AWESOME!!! We are already getting along so well and having so much fun and some great adventures, and I already feel like a better missionary with her... and it's only been 4 days!!! I am so blessed!!! Her name is Sorella Worsham, she is from Utah, she sings beautifully, and has an AWESOME testimony of the gospel. She is so encouraging all the time and puts up will with my craziness so far and yeah this is gonna be the best transfer yet!

So, because of transfers, we haven't been able to see many of our investigators this week, but I am excited for Sorella Worsham to meet all of them. I have a feeling she is exactly what Pescara needs right now. This transfer is seriously going to be so awesome. 

So, my dearest best friend Debbie Byrne is about to embark on the best year and half of her life, her mission in Santos, Brazil!!! Please everybody hug her like crazy for me!!! Love you Deb, you're gonna change lives!!! You already changed mine!!!

So, we have a ward talent night on Saturday... It's going to be the best ever! We are going to do a little sketch as missionaries, so stay tuned for photos! It's been great though preparing for it and getting our investigators involved. It is going to be a great opportunity for members to invite their friends and family to the church and they can get to know some 'Mormons' and see that we're pretty normal... relativily ;)

Weekly planning! Our apartment is getting so cold!!!
PESCARA is getting so cold!!!!

Anyway, thanks for all your love and support for the work here!! While you're praying for all the missionaries you know, don't forget to pray for your own missionary opportunities!!

Vi voglio tanto bene!!

Sorella 'Aggressive Goal Maker' Patterson

 

 

 

October 14, 2013 - Christmas Carols in October!

 

Fossacessia
 

Ciao famiglia e amici!!

Well we got transfer calls..... and I'm staying in Pescara!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a blessing!! Yesterday, we had an awesome ward fireside about ward missionary work and Fllo Giusti was the bomb. He and Bishop Conforte really got the members pumped about spreading the Gospel. Then the missionaries shared their testimonies about how the lessons and work in general go so much better whenwe have members with us. It's true. Member missionaries, and not just those formally set apart, but ALL members who assist in this work are angels. Their help is so precious, and the members in this ward are just awesome. Fratello Bosco has been in this ward for ever and ever time we look through our old area book, we find another old referall from him, some dating back to 2001!! Proof that even if you have lived and worked in the same place for 12 years, there are ALWAYS people to invite to hear the gospel!! And then there's Vescovo Conforte, who with all his Bishop responsibilities somehow manages to find time to go to at least 2 misionary lessons a week it seems. He is incredible. These people are truly angels!

Okay, time for the devastating news: Sorella Mistura is ggoing to Caglieri! That's in Sardegnia BTW... crazy. She will have now been to Sicily, the mainland Italia, AND Sardegnia! What a mission!! Except she has to leave Pescara which is really rough. This place is blooming and the ward is seriously incredible. It's hard to imagine another area like this one!

Well, gotta go! Have a fabulous week and pray for Franco to stop smoking!!



Fossacessia

 

Love you all so very much,

Sorella Patterson

PS every morning we sing a hymn together to get ready for companionship study and for the past few times that's it's been my turn to choose, I always choose Christmas hymns :) The other sisters are not as pumped about it as I am... Makes me think of Tanner William Low and how much he loves to sing Christmas carols at this time of year!!

Pictures: Fossacessia (Mom, you'll get more info in like two weeks)



"Sophisticated"





"Sophisticated fail"

October 9, 2013 - Conference was Awesome!

Editor's note (from Mom): Megan asked for a scripture from everyone for her birthday that has helped you through a hard time or been a standard for you. If you wouldn't mind telling how it has helped you, she would love to hear that. If you haven't sent me your scripture, please do. I am making a booklet and have to get it in the mail at the end of October to arrive in time. My email address is samuelsontl@ldschurch.org. Thanks for contributing to this project for her!

 

From Megan:

Ciao cari amici e famiglie!!

Come state?? I hope you all got the opportunity to listen to or watch General Conference this past weekend!! Those men are definitely called of God!!! Such an awesome Spirit that I felt when I listened to their words! We watched it in Italian, so I didn't understand it all, but the Spirit made up for what I couldn't understand, for sure! 

Making Don Julios at Conference---mmmmmm Nutella!

Conference Dinner with the Di Marzio family

So, Pamela is doing awesome! She has invited her husband, Franco, to begin taking the missionary lessons, and he seems excited for his baptismal date of November 2 (!!!). He needs to quit smoking and drinking coffe, but piano piano as they say here. They are a sweet couple and they both came to the church to watch general conference with us. 

The Di Marzio family is doing good! Lucia invited all the Sisters over for pranzo on Sunday, and invited her parents, who we are actually also teaching, so at the end of the meal we shared a big spiritual thought on some of the things we had learned the day before in conference and Antonio was able to bear his testimony for his parents, sister, and grandparents. They are such a strong, united, loving family!! It's always great to be with them. Please pray for them to accept the fullness of the Gospel!

So, Massimo didn't come to Conference like he said he would, and his wife keeps saying they don't have time every time we call. We are not worried yet, but please keep him in your prayers too that we will be able to teach him still. Also, his wife Gina and daughter Alexandra that their hearts will be softened.

Transfers are next week! I cannot believe how fast time is flying!! I don't think I'll be leaving, but then you never know. There have been quite a few changes in our zone recently, like transfers before the transfer date, which is a little weird. But I know that everything is guided by the Lord, because this is His work, so whatever happens will be a new adventure and exactly what we need!

Thank you for all of your prayers and love and support! I hope the weather there has cooled down! It is almost cold here! Well, it is cold at night, haha. It's awesome!

One last thing, tell everyone that as of October 14, pdays will be MONDAY.

Anyway, gotta go but I love you all with all my heart!!!

Love,

Sorella Patterson

For Dave...

"Dave can start packing for Italy!"

Sorella Mistura has been walking too much--
Maybe she walks in her sleep

October 2, 2013 - Smile!

Okay, I have about ten minutes and two more emails, sorry I never have enough time for everything!!! Please include whatever you want on my blog, but just be sure to put something because... we had a family move to Italy from America and they came to our ward and the mom said she googled 'church in Pescara' and saw my blog and knew all about me!!! haha, totally awesome! They have lived in California, Texas (Denton!), and I think Utah. Next is Germany, crazy. 

Anyway, PAMELA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pamela doesn't look happy, but Italians just don't smile for pictures!
Reference the picture of Lucia Di Marzio if you will.

 

It was totally awesome, and then she bore her testimony for the first time!! Then in church the next day when she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, you could literally feel the power of the Priesthood in the room. So insanely awesome!!! ANDDDDDDDDDDD... we had three investigators at church that day and I KNOW they felt something.! One was Massimo, the Dad of a family we are teaching. He came with his 5yrold son, because the mom and 15 year old daughter didn't want to come. But he had promised to be there and we didn't actually think he would come but he showed up in Sunday School and I wish I could describe how happy I was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was incredible and the Spirit was so strong throughout all the meetings and he thanked us so much after church and told us that we were very brave for doing what we do (going into strangers homes to give them this gospel) and that it was a really good thing and that we are welcome whenever we want. It was awesome.

Luigi also got baptized! The Anziani were teaching him, but Sister Mistura found him, so we all helped in this one :)

 

So this week has been crazy and I wish I could tell you the half of it, but just know that when you see tons of flower looking things in the air, they could be ants, and if you think the Isaiah chapters are hard in English try them in Italian, and always bring an umbrella!!!

Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorella Patterson!!!

Editor's note: These are pictures from Zone Conference from the mission president's wife's blog: