Rule 157: Enjoy the journey and keep moving the WORK along.

It has been the busiest week! With Zone Conference, Stake Conference, and traveling across the country to pick up my companion's permesso,  I feel like we have been out of Bologna more than we have been in it!

Last Friday we had Zone Conference in Venezia-Mestre. It was such a great conference. We talked about how our Decisions Determine Destiny. Every decision we make today affects our future. It is important that we decide today to make decisions that will improve our tomorrow. We also watched "Meet the Mormons" at Conference. It was so good. We just found out that it will be translated into Italian by May! 

We also got another great announcement. This is from President Dibb's letter this week:

"For the past two weeks, Sister Dibb and I have been traveling the mission meeting with all of the wonderful missionaries serving here. As we have done so, we joined with others in expressing our belief that the year of 2015 is going to be the best year ever in the history of the Italy Milan mission. In the middle of last week, when we only had a couple of more zone conferences remaining, we received a letter from the Area Presidency that has confirmed again our belief. 

We are pleased to announce that on Monday, April 27th, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles will be coming to Milano for a six hour conference, just with the missionaries of our mission. We have all been invited to sit at the feet of one of the living prophet, seers and revelators of the Lord and receive his instruction on doing our missionary work."

We have already seen some amazing miracles as we are trying to make 2015 the best year yet. Bologna is changing!  I can see it. We received some amazing referrals from the anziani (elders) this weekend and got 3 new investigators because of it! Sorella Hogan and I are seeing some wonderful fruits from our labors and are teaching some amazing people. We gave our investigator Camilla a restoration pamphlet but we hadn't explained the Book of Mormon yet. We brought a Book of Mormon for her to the next lesson and she told us she was planning on buying it! She wanted it so bad! 

We also had Stake Conference this past weekend. The Venice stake just had their Stake Presidency reorganized so it was a beautiful Conference. Anziano DeFeo from the 70 and Anziano Texiera, the Europe Area President, came. The Conference was so wonderfully simple: everyone talked about Christ. That should be our focus always. It was one of my favorite Stake Conferences I have ever been to. Anziano Texiera talked about Daniel and the importance of prayer. It is important that we are not ashamed to pray in front of people. Who are we trying to impress: God or other people.

Lastly Sorella Hogan and I traveled to Sanremo Monday and Tuesday so she could pick up her permesso. We had a nice 7 hour train ride there. Sanremo is beautiful and right on the beach (considered part of the French Riviera)! We got her permesso with only a few bumps in the road! It was a long trip and I am glad to be home in Bologna! 

We are ready to find some more miracles this week!

Hope all you stay warm this week! Sounds cold!

Vi voglio bene,

Sorella Dani Hamblin

P.S. Shout out to Danielle who just got her mission call to Denver, Colorado!!! I know she will be great there! Colorado should get ready!

Rule 154: Just Keep Finding!

February 18, 2015

We have had a great week here in Bologna! 

We found a 17 year girl named Camilla who is a Bologna Miracle! We found her just talking to people on the street. We had our first lesson at the public library on Saturday. She is amazing. She told us how she came to believe in God even though none of her friends do. As we were talking she told us that she thinks we met for a reason! She has such a pure spirit and we are so excited to work with her!  

We also found another couple, Sara and Salvatore. Salvatore has actually met missionaries before. He has played basketball with them down in Napoli! He said the missionaries always won :P 

I don't have a lot of time to email today... we took too long on our hike today. We hiked to San Luca, It is a church that overlooks the whole city. The "hike" is actually the longest covered pathway in the world... 660 arches.  You can see some pictures below.

Anyways, sorry for the super short email! 

This week I studied obedience. My companion and I are obedient but we are making the commitment to be exactly obedient. Obedience comes as our love of God and our Savior grows. Everyday we can improve ourselves and devotion to our God even if it is just 1 percent :)

Love you all,

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Photos at San Luca:

Rule 148: Snow is also one of the Devil's tools

February 11, 2015

IT SNOWED!!!!! I got new shoes just in time! Yay for warm feet!

The snow is pretty and all but it makes everyone cancel on us and not come to church. Regardless, we had a pretty great week! 

Our ward mission leader gave us a family to contact that used to take lessons from the missionararies. We have been trying to find them for a while.  We didn't have their phone number so all we could do is pass by their home. One morning our appointment fell through and I really felt like we needed to go try this family again. We had the opportunity to go to another investigator's home or try this family again. We chose to try the family. We didn't know which doorbell was their's but after trying a few we think we figured it out. When we rang the bell we thought was their's the lady we talked to said they weren't home. We started to walk to the bus stop. Then a lady ran up behind us and said she was the woman we were looking for. She remember the past missionaries and was excited to have us over again! I am thankful the Spirit led us to find this family again. 

A friend sent me this quote this week.  'I didn't know what love was until I went on my mission.' It so true! Sorella Hogan and I are having a hard time finding investigators who will progress in the gospel here in Bologna. Despite this we both feel such a love for this people and for this city.  It doesn't really make sense, but I think we have a little of what our Savior feels for us. You want this so bad for this people and when they reject it you hurt!  Not because you lost a chance for a future baptism, but you hurt because you know they are missing a chance to find their Savior. The Savior is the whole purpose of why we are here. This Gospel has a lot to it: Joseph Smith, living prophets, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, temples, Word of Wisdom, family history but all this points to the Savior. I think we get distracted sometimes. Whenever we get overwhelmed I think it helps to just think of one thing. The Savior. Like in primary when the answer is always Jesus :) He really is always the answer! 

Remeber Him :)

VVB,

Sorella Hamblin

Snow in Bologna!

Rule 140: If Elders offer you shoe glue, it is time to get new shoes!

February 4, 2015

Another great week here in Beautiful Bologna! It got cold! We got my companion a new coat and utilized our new-found talent of making hot chocolate!  The week went rather well :) 

We stay really busy but mostly because it takes forever to get from place to place. We want to petition for a car :P Haha, but I love the people we are working with. We are making some real progress with some of our less-actives. One is coming to the baptism of Angelica (8 year-old) this Saturday.

On Saturday we went to an appointment we had set up with an old investigator named Nella. When we got to her house we didn't know which doorbell to ring. Both Sorella Hogan and I felt like we should ring the bottom bell. We did, and a very nice women let us in, but she wasn't Nella. She agreed to let us come back and teach another time. When we tried the next door a man answered.   He wasn't Nella either. After talking to him for a while we found out that he was a member of the church! He said his 2 year old daughter was named Nella... Hmmm, not the woman I talked to on the phone. Then he said there was a woman named Nelli that lives with his family. Ecco! Nelli wasn't home. He and his wife are not even on the ward list but have both been baptized. We were able to set a return appoint to visit their family too. I know the Lord leads us exactly to where he needs us to be.

We also had a cool experience on our way to church on Sunday. The week before on the way to church we met a woman named Maria from Romania. She was interested and took a Book of Mormon in Italian. We set up an appointment with her for Saturday. Friday night we called to confirm but she said she couldn't meet us because she had talked to her priest and he said we were evil (more or less). We were so sad (had to take a gelatto break). Sunday morning my companion grabbed the Romanian Book of Mormon right before we headed out the door. And even though we were running late... we saw her! She tried to avoid us but we knew we needed to talk to her. After bearing our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and telling her that we had brought the Romanian book just for her, she took it. She said she would read it and we would talk next week. I know she is scared because of the things her priest told her. I also know she felt the Spirit when we talked about the Book of Mormon. I am praying she pays attention to the those feelings. 

In other news... I wore holes in another pair of shoes. It was so bad all the Elders noticed at district meeting. Luckily it is saldi (sale) time so I was able to buy new shoes today :)

I hope you all have a wonderful warm week!

Sorella Hamblin

Sorella Hogan and Sorella Hamblin

Rule 136: Angels walk with us!

January 28, 2015

New transfer, new companion. I am now with Sorella Hogan. She is just in her 3rd transfer but I have no shame in saying she is better than I am in the language. She sounds Italian when she speaks, and she has the best accent. Her trainer was Italian and taught her so well. Another amazing thing about Sorella Hogan is that we were meant to be companions. Her ancestor Llewellyn Harris served his mission at the same time and place as Jacob Hamblin. We like to think they have been with us this past week as we have seen some sweet miracles. We have talked to some amazing people who have sincere interest. We are really working on being consecrated finders. People have been coming up to us, it is like I'm a greenie all over again. 

The other day we gave a man a Book of Mormon and that night he called us and told us he read it and wanted to talk about it the next day. We brought the elders because we are not supposed to teach single men. It turns out he was Muslim and all he wanted to do was argue. Okay, miracle gone wrong. But I really learned a lot from the experience. We cannot force people to feel the spirit. I was teaching with 3 other experienced missionaries and the man didn't budge at all. Some people are just too far gone. We all have our agency. We are here because that is what we wanted. I left that encounter at peace because he was doing something he was passionate about. I am sad that he didn't decide to read the Book of Mormon with an open mind but I am glad he is passionate about his religion. 

The Plan of Salvation really is amazing. I know it is true!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Vi voglio bene,

Sorella Hamblin

My new companion, Sorella Hogan...

Ready to climb some stairs at the Tower Pendent di Pisa in Bologna

Lots of stairs!

Just keep climbing!

Made it to the top!

I love photography!  These are the days I wish I had my good camera!

And of course I love the architecture!

And the view of the City!

Bologna is famous for it's towers!

Loved all the views from the tower!

Love this City!

Sorella Pavich and me eating gelato!

Sorella Palmer and me!

Rule 133: There is always someone there to lift you up!

January 21, 2015

Wow, I got some of the best emails this week! I just went and read through all them and I just want to say THANK YOU! I have the best friends and family. The longer I've been out here the more I realize putting your whole heart into the work does not mean forgetting your family and friends back home. They are a part of you. I had a hard week this week and had some answered prayers in my emails today. Thank you all :)

I had a great Scambio with Sorella Reni. I love the Sisters in this mission. They are so wonderful. We also got transfer news this week. I am staying in Bologna!!! My companion is going to Como to be companions with one of my old companions, Sorella Destribois. I am going to miss Sorella D'Ambrosio. She really was one of the most bold missionaries I have seen on mission. My new companion will be Sorella Hogan! She has just finished being trained (my third companion in a row going into her 3rd transfer!) I am so excited!

Like my brother and Mom I studied D&C 4 this past week. I have been studying Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love. Faith is how you develop love of God. Hope is how you develop love for yourself. And Charity is how you show and develop love for others. They all build off each other. If your Charity is lacking it probably means that one of the first two are lacking. I know love is the essence of the Gospel and I am so thankful for the love God and Christ have for each of us!

Have a wonderful week!

Sorella Hamblin

Baby dog that fell asleep on me at an investigator's home!

My district...