Rule 320: Take the Corners Slow

July 15, 2015

Mamma Mia we have had some adventures this week! First things first,
last Tuesday was Gianni and Patrizia's baptism! It was a beautiful,
simple night. I loved seeing the members who were there really reach
out to Gianni and Patrizia. The spirit was very strong there. I have
never seen Patrizia look so happy, she really was full of the light of
Christ!

Rule 314: Eat Lots of Carrots!

Before I add Dani's letters, I have to apologize for not keeping 
this updated!  I will try to finish strong for her since she only 
has 7 weeks left!

July 7, 2015

Transfer news: Sorella Bowman is going to San Remo. Sorella  Bowman
and I got along too well, I knew she would leave. I'm sad but I'm
excited for my new companion, Sorella Besco. I have met her only once
but I have such a great feeling about this upcoming transfer.

With our iPads we have a weather app but I think I'm going to just
stop checking it because we have reached a point in the summer where
it's just HOT. The other day we were teaching a woman and she was
having such a hard time focusing because it was just so Hot. We
invited her to be baptized and she was like "yeah sure sounds good".
I'm not sure she was understanding anything but we will find out next
time we see her.

Tonight we are having a baptism for our investigator Patrizia. We are
super excited and super grateful. We had a lesson with her yesterday.
She is ready. She has changed so much in the transfer I have been
here. She is truly happy now. She has such a beautiful spirit.

She is so constant in her prayers and scripture reading. I am
thankful I am staying here in Modena to continue working with her
after her baptism.

This week was pretty rough but they always are right before a baptism.
We haven't been able to see a lot of our investigators lately. I'm
hoping with the new companion things will pick up again. We DID get to
see our investigator that I talked about a couple weeks ago who has
health problems but is super brave. She goes into a very crucial
surgery tomorrow but she has such great faith. I didn't realize the
surgery was so risky for a long time because she doesn't seem nervous
at all she just trusts God and if she dies that is just part of God's
plan for her (that is literally what she told us). We should know on
Monday how she is doing but I will be praying all week for her.

I'm sorry for a short email but with transfers, baptism prep, AND we
had to go to the immigration office today to renew my permesso, we are
running short on time. Haha I feel like I have different excuse every
week of why email time got cut short again... Just know that I love
you all, the Lord loves you, and life is possible with just a little
bit of faith,

Vi Voglio tanto bene,

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 311: Red Zone is the New Green Zone

July 1, 2015

Miracles! I know I probably overuse this word but I just can't help it! They're everywhere! We found a family, an Italian family! Huge deal! Here's the story: so last Wednesday my front tire on my bike blew up. The anziani were super awesome though and let us use their bikes Wednesday night and Thursday morning to get to our appointments. They live closer to centro (downtown) so they could make it to their appointments too. To add to their awesomeness they even offered to fix my tire in the morning. After our first appointment in the morning they called us and asked us to unlock our  bikes so they could fix my tire. Well on our way over Sorella Bowman suggested that we ride through a park which we NEVER go through because apparently it is a "Red Zone". She had also met some creepy people there so we avoided the park at all costs but for some reason we we decided to go through the park. As we were riding through, I was saying "Buongiorno!" to everyone like I always do. One man, who was sitting with his teenage daughter, said "Buongiorno" back then he said "Good Day" in English! Then I thought I heard him say "sisters" to his daughter. Woah, woah, woah, someone who knows who we are -- we HAVE to stop! But my companion was already way ahead of me, booking it through the park... Remember "red zone". Well I couldn't lose my comp., but I promised the Lord when we rode backthrough if they were still there I would talk to them. After we unlocked our bikes for the anziani I told my comp. we needed to go back and she immediately agreed. We sped back and by some miracle they were still there. Yay! When we started talking to them it was so easy. They had met missionaries in Reggio Emilia but they didn't really know much about theChurch at all. We showed them the Book of Mormon and he, the father, immediately asked where he could buy one. Of course we gave him the copy we had and he was so honored. He said that he believes in Christ and all but be just doesn't feel like he has found a church that fits his beliefs. His daughter is amazing too, she is 18 and curious. She isn't like a lot of the teenagers here who could care less about God and religion. They asked if we could exchange numbers, addresses, and then they asked to set up an appointment so we could explain more. Hey, that's our job! Our appointmentfell through because their mom is out of town, but I know we are going to meet with them soon. They are so amazing! So humble, so curious, I know they can be a HUGE strength for this ward here in Modena. I am so thankful for the Spirit and how we were led straight to them. I am still learning how the Spirit works in my life but there are some days like that daywhere I know exactly what the Spirit is telling me to do. It was amazing to see after looking back, how many little things added up so we could be in the right place at the right time so we could meet them (broken bikes, no water in our apartment, weird phone numbers in our phone, etc.) I am so thankful that I can so clearly see God's hand inthis work. He is with us everyday!

This past week we have been blessed with meeting a lot of new people. That same day a woman called us and said she used to come to our church and wants to meet with the missionaries again. Miracle! Also we met another ex-investigator from Iran. She is amazing, she says she will never change religions but she already follows the standards of our church more than her own, She just a needs a testimony of the Book of Mormon and she is good to go ;)

On Monday at the end of my personal study I realized I had been so focused on preparing for our upcoming lessons that I hadn't even taken a second to read out of the Book of Mormon. I opened it, and read just one verse, 1 Nephi 18:3:

And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.

This verse really meant a lot to me because I have seen it work this week. I had been concerned with finding more people to teach. As I took my concerns to the Lord in prayer, he showed me great things. I know prayer works. I know that the more sincere and the more often I pray the more happy I am. I know I can trust the Lord with anything. After pondering that, that morning for district meeting we talked about prayer: "The success of a missionary depends upon the depth of hisspirituality. It's manna, it has to be gathered everyday: and the way is through prayer." -A. Theodore Tuttle

On Friday we a Multi-culture Ward Party. Everyone was supposed to bring food from their home country or city. A lot of members brought food from Puglia. My favorite dish was from Lithuania! It was some kind of Potato Dumpling. We decided to make cherry pie because we had a billion cherries given to us by members (this region is known forits cherries, they are amazing!). The only problem with that was that neither Sorella Bowman nor I had ever made cherry pie -- EVER! With that said I would say that it turned out really good. All the members loved it, but none of them had never had cherry pie before so it's not saying a whole lot. The anziani made apple pie.

On Sunday we had a Sacrament meeting dedicated to missionary work. I gave a talk, and my companion played her cello. On Saturday night I had my talk all ready to go but as I was sitting in bed I decided to change everything. I was thinking about how we are called "Mormons". I know we get the nickname from the Book of Mormon but I was still pondering on why do we use this name. I think our mission scripture explains it really well:  And behold, I am called Mormon, Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.3 Nephi 5:12-13 So we, as Mormons, are all disciples of Christ. We all have a work to do. "All the easy things that the Church has had to do have been done. From now on, "it's high adventure, and followership is going to be tested in some interesting ways.  You have been sent to earth in this dispensation of time because of who you are and what you have been prepared to do! Regardless of what Satan would try to persuade us to think about who we are, our true identity is that of a disciple ofJesus Christ!" -Elder Neal A. Maxwell

We had interviews with President Dibb last Thursday. We got to go to Bologna to do them. It was great to go back and see Bologna but the best part was that I got to see Sorella Distante! It was so great to talk to her and see how everyone inBologna is doing. She said some of the investigators are progressing really well but some others are struggling. I left some notes for some of the people there and hopefully I can get in touch with some of them through email. But, I knowthe Sorelle there are taking care of them. I know the right Sorelle are there.

Oh, speaking of miracles! Did I mention Patrizia is getting baptized on Tuesday! She is the one that we set a date with thefirst day of this transfer. She is ready, and was ready on the original date we set, but the baptismal font was not. There was something wrong with the water spout so we had to push the baptism back a couple of days. It was a huge bummer but now she is going to be baptized the same day as her friend Gianni! We are doing it on Tuesday because President asked us to do these two baptisms before transfers. We will get transfer news on Saturday. I hope I stay because this transfer flew by and there are so many amazing things happening here in Modena. We are seeing miracles daily and I am excited to see this Ward grow.

And then today... We went to Verona! Yes, Romeo and Juliet Verona. Verona is a beautiful city and we had a lot of fun! Next week, I will send my pictures from my camera. This is Castelvecchio. There is a white arc (center left) in thepicture that has been around since the time of Christ :)

Thank you for the awesome FHE ideas! It is starting to pick up here.

I hear it stopped raining so much in Texas. We had a good thunderstorm here on Saturday. It reminded me of home. We did our nightly planning on our balcony to watch the lighting until it started pouring on us!

Hope everything else at home is growing great! Hope this email makes sense, we had a crazy week and I think the emailturned out a little crazy... Oh well!

Sending miracles and prayers your way,

Sorella Dani Hamblin

P.S. We have p-day on Tuesday next week because the group that is going home at the end of this transfer is so big that they are doing transfers a day early.

(Mom note: PICTURES COMING SOON!)

Rule 304: Cherry and Apple Cake Picnics are the Best!

June 24, 2015

We had quite week here in Modena; we hit some  high highs and low lows. Despite it all Sorella Bowman and I are

 as happy as ever. Why? I'm not exactly sure... But I just feel so happy all the time :) 

On Sunday there was a GANS (young-single adult) activity. For the activity we sat in a circle and had to say a

quality we liked about each person in the circle. All the GANS said the Sorelle (us) were always smiling,

always happy, and it seemed like we really enjoy what we are doing!  It's the truth, I love being a missionary!

One person even called me efervencent... I learned a new word :)

So today my tire exploded so we have had an interesting day. (Hence the very short email)

Luckily the anziani let us use their bikes so we could go grocery shopping.

Love you all!

Sorella Danielle Hamblin

Rule 300: Be careful who you pray with!

June 17, 2015

This week we have had some high highs and low lows. But mostly highs!

First off THANK YOU for the prayers for cooler weather. I know the
weather here in Modena cooled down this week because Sorella Bowman
and I have great families praying for us back home! The weather was so
nice this week!

We had zone training last Thursday in Verona. I love trainings because
there is always something you can work on and President always seems
to know exactly what we need.

On Sunday absolutely everyone canceled on us so we decided to try a
new finding technique. We took Sorella Bowman's cello to the park and
she played while I talked to people. It was my favorite finding day
ever! People were so touched by the music and it really brought the
spirit. It was so easy to approach people because the music literally
was our icebreaker. We touched so people in the short time we were
there, I wasn't able to talk to everyone I wanted to. One of my
favorite people we met that night was a woman who is a musician but
she just had an accident and can't play anymore. I felt like we were
supposed to be there at that time really just for her. At first she
didn't want to talk about religion at all but the more she listened to the
cello the more open she became. It was so incredible to watch. She needed
to hear that. We are going to see her again in the coming week.

Big miracle of the week: we got a referral from the office this week
of a woman that lives an hour from Modena in a paesino called
Camposanto. When I called her the other day she started  talking to me
like she knew exactly who I was and she immediately asked when we
could come over to find her. That never happens so I was pretty
shocked but we set up an appointment for Tuesday. Well as soon as we
met her we knew that she was special. She told us that she had been
taught by missionaries before and that she has been going to church in
Reggio Emilia but in February her health problems got worse and she
had to stop. She still has really good friends in the Reggio ward.
She is AMAZING. When her grandson comes over she tells him to read her
the Book of Mormon. Her family is all Muslim but when he turns 18 she
wants him to make his own choice. When she is bored she goes on the
church website and reads talks or watches videos. Wow!  She has so many
trials in her life right now but she has such strong faith. She knows
that if she trusts in God she will be blessed. With all her health
issues she may not be able to come to church for a couple of weeks, but
she wants to come! One of the coolest parts is that she said I
reminded her of one of her missionaries, Sorella Killpack. She said
when I called on the phone she thought I was her. Then she saw me and
couldn't stop telling me I looked just like her. I know the Lord put
me here in Modena for a reason and this woman is one of them. I am
amazed at the miracles we see every day.

Love you all so much!

BIG AUGURI TO MY MOM! Happy Birthday!!! I am so blessed to have the
best mom ever!

VVB,

Sorella Dani Hamblin


Sent from my iPad

Rule 288: Beat the Heat! Get Gelato!

June 10, 2015

So the first line of my mom's email was Summer is Here. That couldn't
be more true. Luckily yesterday and today have been pretty cool.
Sorella Bowman and I have been dragging the fans around the apartment
and have been trying every gelateria in Modena to beat the heat.
Modena is more humid than Texas! Everyone tells us that it's just
beginning!  Pray for Sorella Bowman and Me!

We are continuing to see miracles every day here in Modena. Our
investigator Marta came to church! She is a bidante and works every
Sunday. This last Sunday her boss gave her a day off and she was able
to come to church with her sister who is a member. It turns out a lot
of the members knew her already including our Bishop here in Modena.
She was so happy to be in church and to feel the spirit so strongly. I
know this has helped her desire to be baptized. We are trying to find
a solution where she can come to church and still work. I am so
thankful to be here in Modena working with these wonderful people.
I am still learning how to ride my bike. It changes gears randomly and
I never know when my brakes will work but I'm pretty good and finding
other ways to stop ;)

I am learning each day how great God is. His plan is perfect. He knows
us perfectly. Life isn't easy but it isn't supposed to be.  I am
amazed at how every thing that happens in my life I am able to learn.
It is amazing how every person is so unique and what I am supposed to
learn isn't the same as what you are supposed to learn. We are all
improving in our unique way. We are becoming like God in our own
unique way. I love it!

Sorry for the short email this week just know that the work is going
great and I am loving it here!

Love you!

Sorella Hamblin
Sent from my iPad

Rule 270: No skirt is a "bike skirt"!

6/3/2015

First week in Modena: It just feels like a smaller Bologna in some
ways but with a lot more trees! Centro has the weirdest duomo I have
seen in Italy but I like it! They didn't have a lot of investigators
when I got here but the ones they do have are ELECT. I am not exactly
sure where we find investigators this summer, because everyone leaves
due to the nasty humidity here, really it's not any worse than home
but no one has air conditioning. But I'm not worried because I have
already seen some incredible miracles in the short week I have been
here!

This transfer is going to be amazing. I mean AMAZING! The transfer
officially started on Monday, we kicked it off setting a baptism
date with our investigator named Patrizia. It was one of my favorite
lessons that I have ever taught. I had never met Patrizia before but I
instantly felt so connected to her. During her lesson the words just
came. We had set up the lesson last second so we didn't have a lot of
time to plan. I knew exactly what I needed to say. Sorella Bowman and
I worked really well off each other. Patrizia has been investigating
for a year and has been been invited to baptism many times. This was
the first time she flat out said Si! Patrizia is just so humble and
pure and I know she is ready to be baptized! We are hoping her
boyfriend will get baptized with her on June 24th. I loved the lesson
not only because it was so spiritual but also because it was a
confirmation that I am exactly where I need to be, with the companion
I need to be with. I know that President Dibb is inspired for transfer
calls. I am excited to see what lies ahead of us here in Miracle
Modena!

Another miracle happened yesterday, we had 2 hours in between
appointments free so we decided to do a couple pass-bys of a couple
less actives in our ward. Well no one was home. Even though it was a
holiday and literally no one was outside and everything was closed
(where is everyone hiding :P) well Sorella Bowman remembered that
there was an ex-investigator who lived close to the church so we
decided to go and try to find her. Her name was listed on the outside
so we decided to try to knock the whole apartment building.  After a
couple people told us they weren't interested, we decided to try and
use our iPads to get in a door (iPad Casa Finding!) We pulled up the
Because He Lives video on one of our iPads and tried the next
couple doors. The First Lady said "next time".... Okay we will try her
again :) and the house right after a woman answered the door and let
us in! It seemed like she was expecting us. Her name is Loli and she
is from the Domenican Republic. She actually has studied with
missionaries before so she is an ex-investigator but she wasn't the
one we were looking for! We had a great lesson with her about faith in
Christ. She is wonderful and has such a strong faith! We are seeing
her again on Saturday and she said she would like to come to our
church sometime. As we were walking out Sorella Bowman and I were just
speechless. I am so blessed to see miracles like this happen right
before my eyes, to actually be a part of them. There is no better use
of life than to be a tool for God, to help spread the work of
salvation. The things I have seen in this week have blown my mind a
little bit. Modena is going places. I feel bad because in this mission
this city has a bad representation and there are some really bad
rumors about Modena. I can honestly say there is no where else I'd
rather be. This city is special and there are some really special
people here. I don't know if I will be here for 6 months or 6 weeks
but it doesn't really matter. I am going to do the work God has for us to
do here. I know I have just seen the beginning of these miracles.

My companion: So my new companion is Sorella Bowman! She is from Provo
and her mom is Italian! She is in her 5th transfer. She plays the
cello professionally, in fact her whole family are musicians! She is
super sweet and we connected almost instantly. We have a lot of things
in common even the little quirks we have. She is so patient with my
lack of bike skills and she is constantly fixing my bike!

BIKES: okay, everyone in the whole mission knows that the Modena
Sorelle have some of the worst bikes in the whole mission. For one
thing they our mountain bikes when we need street bikes, our brakes
don't work, the gears don't work, my front tire is always flat, and
the seats are incredibly uncomfortable. Well the anziani were looking
at them on Monday and traded us bikes for the day so they could try to

 fix a few things. It was the best day ever. Even though the bike
was too tall for me all day, it was so nice to be on a normal bike!
Monday evening we switched back. They had fixed our breaks, and gave
us new seats, and even added a rack on the back!  Best anziani ever! Haha
the bikes still aren't fantastic but they are SO much better! I'm so
thankful for a small district here in Modena! Oh and you were probably
wondering.... Have I crashed yet? Yup. Haha the ironic part was that
it wasn't even my bike. It was right after the anziani switched us
bikes and I totally crashed Anziano Guthrie's bike. But my awesome
companion is a pro and just popped the chain back on. I am learning so
much about bikes. The other night we were riding home and as we were
crossing the big street my shoe fell off! Luckily the cars were super
patient as I stopped in the middle of the street, picked up my shoe,
and scooted to the side! Despite how sore and tired I am all the time I
really do love having bikes!

As I look at the year I have been out here I realize that Heavenly
Father really has answered all my prayers. Every single one of them.
He has given me everything I have asked for even if it wasn't the way
I expected. I sometimes don't understand why I am so blessed but I am
thankful to be where I am and doing what I am doing. I wish everyone
could feel how I feel. I don't understand everything and I am so far
from perfect. But I just feel so at peace all the time. I know He is
with me, and He will always be with me.

Vi Voglio un mondo di bene!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Modena Duomo

Modena Duomo

Modena Duomo

Ipad "Selfie" of Sorella Hamblin and her new companion!

They're on BIKES!

They found a cello!

Sorella Bowman plays the cello!