November 25, 2013 - Transfers!

Ciao tutti cari!!!

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and letters and emails! This has been the best and craziest birthday ever!!!!!!!! Best gift: Gianni says he is ready to baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We had a lesson with him on my birthday and he literally said he is ready. It is incredible. I love birthdays. And the Gospel.

Saying goodbye to 2 awesome young women, Gaia & Edith

So for my birthday, the sisters made me a cute little cake and then the Anziani made me a cake... with a broken candle. Haha, they are awesome. It makes this next news pretty hard... We got transfer calls.................... and...........I...........am........... GOING TO ROME!!! So crazy!! And so unexpected!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be serving right in the Heart of the city. I leave for Rome on Thursday, and this time I won't be coming back to Pescara. That was pretty hard to hear, but I know it is right and I will go where the Lord wants me to go :) I have made some incredible friendships here in Pescara and met some of the most INCREDIBLE people in the world. And then there's Gianni!! It is defintiely hard to think of missing his baptism since I have been with him this whole time and helping him and teaching him and just loving him to death, but he will be in good hands. These next couple of days will consist of one more lesson with Gianni and then saying goodbye to the people I have given my whole heart to for 4 months. Man, this gospel is incredible and gives us such wonderful opportunities and I am just so thankful for every single day I got to spend among these special people here. And now it's off to Rome for some new crazy adventures!!!

I wish I had time to recount to you all the thousand miracles I saw this week, but basta dire che questo veramente è il lavoro del Signore.

I love you all so very much!! Hope you didn't send anything to my Pescara address recently!! Have a fabulous week!!

Love,

Sorella Patterson

November 18, 2013 - Birthday Week

Buon P-Day Tutti!!!

Exchanges for a day with Arrosticini!

What a WEEK!!!!! SO many miracles this week! It was scambi (exchanges for a day) week so our Sister Training Leader came to our city from Roma 5 and did a scambio (exchange) with each of us. It was awesome!! It is so good to mix things up every now and then and learn from others and just have fun!! While being awesome missionaries of course :) One of the pictures is of us on our scambi night with the famous dish of Pescara: Arrosticini!!! SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Winter Flooding in Pescara

Another awesome thing happened this week. So fun fact about Pescara: It floods! Pretty much every winter! Haha, what an adventure that was. We were trying to get to the church for English course when all of a sudden we got off the train and into water up to our knees!! Hahaha, and it was cold! We pretty much swam to church that night, but of course, no one came. Well, Ercole came, but he left when no one else came :( But it was perfect becasue then I got a call from a Sorella whose house was flooded so our little army of 6 missionaries swam to her house and mopped and sang and just had a ball!! It was the first piece of service we have been able to find since I got here!! It was GREAT!!

And the best news of all: Gianni will be baptized on the 7th of December!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT!! So awesome!! He is so great and progressing so fast!! And he has the cutest little puppy EVER!! Everything about Gianni has been a miracle. Seriously. Some people are so ready for the Gospel they just needed to meet the missionaries to make it official! We really are just instruments in the hands of God. Now that he has a baptismal date, please pray for him and that he can stop smoking!! I know how much this Gospel can bless him and his daughters! PLEASE pray for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all so very much! Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Tomorrow will definitely be the best birthday EVER!!! The big 21!! Haha, yeah, should be awesome. We are seeing Gianni tomorrow and we have District meeting, and English Course, so I'm pretty excited. It will be an awesome day!!! Sicuramente ci sarà gelato... :)

Love you all so very much. Thank you for your love and constant support of me and this work. Have a fabulous week and always bring that umbrella!!!

Sorella Patterson

November 11, 2013

Editor’s note here (aka Mom): Normally Megan sends me a separate email just to me, but I thought it important to share a part, so on behalf of a worried mom, here is her request for a prayer on her behalf:

Mom,

Tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain
(ensures a return trip to Rome per Roman legend)

This week was rough with my companion being sick. I did everything. Definitely pushed me to my limits and maybe a bit Beyond. But I survived and learned a ton, so that means I probably did okay. But now I'm sick, and everything hurts, so pray that it goes away fast so I don't ever have to go to an Italian hospital, they scare me to Death. I have been to one a couple times now, for investigators, and it's not ever a place I want to go. I am nowhere near sick enough for that right now, like it's just my throat and body, but just to be safe, include that in your prayers. :)  No reason for alarm or anything at all! But I do need to be in perfect shape before Sunday, because we are doing a musical number! :)

 

 

Boungiorno tutti!!

So last pday, we went to Rome since Zone Conference was the next day and also in Rome. It was awesome to see the touristy stuff for the first time! Also, while we were there, I met this lady named Aimee from New Zealand and we got to talk with her for a bit and invite her to Church (in Rome). Hopefully she went! Also, this American couple came up to us (only in Rome!) and they were also Mormon and so I comitted them to give away a pass-along card and they accepted! They said they already had someone in mind. It was awesome! I love this work!

So, we had stake conference Yesterday, so that meant going back to Rome! Lots of long bus rides this week! But it was fun, and great to see lots of members from this new stake coming together. Also, since the stake is so new, lots of new callings happened, which meant lots of sustaining of our dear Pescara members. So many of them are making such huge sacrfices for the Church and for the Gospel. I am so astounded b the strength of their testimonies. What a blessing to serve amongst such angels!

So, this week is going to be crazy with tons of appointments and lots of people to see and invite to Christ. At district meeting, we have had a couple trainings on setting goals, and it is something  that my companion and I are trying to work on now. We have set some pretty good ones this week and are commited to them, and it is going to take all of our heart, mind, mind, and strength to accomplish them! Also, my companion was sick all last week, and now I am a little sick (nothing crazy, just a cold) so we are trying not to let anything slow us down :)   Gianni and Lucia and Ivana and Lia are counting on us!! :)

Love you all, so great to hear about all the awesome stuff happening in the ward. You are all such awesome examples for me!! Have a great week!!

Sorella Patterson

 Pictures from last week's zone conference:

 

 

 

 

 

November 4, 2013 - Wearing out the apostrophe key!

Buongiorno Tutti!!

What a week!

So, last week, before the talent night at church, we found some papers on our desk with the name of a man and his number and some things the missionaries had taught him ten years ago. We decided to call him up and invite him to the Serata di Talenti the next day! We called and he answered and naturally was a little shocked that the missionaries were calling him ten years later... but he said he would like to come. He then said something along the lines of, "It is really very strange that you called inthis monent. I have been going through a really hard time and been looking for peace and joy. Maybe this is a sign from God..." I said, "You know, it could be that indeed!" I told him to come to the talent night and we would talk. Sorella Worsham and I were really excited to meet him (Gianni) and we couldn't wait for the next day to come!!!

Our prize for winning the food war at the talent show!!
Our Brownies ROCKED!! (Me and Sorella Knudsen, love her!)

Then came the Talent Night. We show up. No Gianni. We wait. No Gianni. It ends.... No Gianni. WHAT?! We call him the next day and he says that he couldn't come becuase he had to see his daughter off to college, but we just assumed it was his way of saying he wasn't interested. However, he then said he was really sorry and could we come by to meet him at his home because he was indeed very interested in learning about our church/gospel!!

So Wednesday, we went over there with Sorella Marino and met Gianni, and it was one of the best lessons EVER!!! The Spirit was so strong and Sorella Marino, a VERY recent convert, bore awesome testimony the whole time and it was just incredible!! Such a tender mercy, when most of our other appointments have been falling through. Then we invited him to church, but he said no, he didn't really like crowds. That was a bummer, but we left happy anyway. Then, Saturday night, we decided to call him to see how he was doing and then we felt like inviting him again to church, and he said yes!!! And he came to church on Fast Sunday!!!!!!!! and Fast Sunday in Pescara is the most spiritual thing EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our bishopric all bore their testimonies and every single thing was exactly what our three investigators at church needed to hear!!!!! They are such inspired men. They have no idea what our investigators need, but they have the Spirit and when they talk with the Spirit, the Spirit really does bring their words to our hearts, just like the scriptures say. It was seriously incredible. What a miracle, the whole time with Gianni. I'll keep you updated on him. Also, Ivana came to church, and even brought a friend!! WHAT! She is already doing missionary work, haha!!

I just love it all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pumpkin carving with the Young Women!! Such a great activity!
This is Guia, after the activity, she came with us to deliver the pumpkin
to an older lady, Flora, who comes to our English Course,
and who will hopefully be coming to church for the first time this Sunday :)

Also, Zone conference tomorrow is in Rome, so we got special permission today to have pday in ROME!!!! Coloseum, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao from Italia!!

Sorella Patterson

 

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"