Rule 370: "We Love Sports and We Don't Care Who Knows!"

Rule 370: "We love sports and we don't care who knows" -Anziano Robinson

Last Wednesday was so great! I kept getting birthday wishes throughout
the week! Thanks for the emails! We had a fun ward family night party
that night.

Saturday we received transfer news.... I'm staying in Modena with
Sorella Besco for my last transfer! I am so happy! I love Modena so
much, I didn't want to leave. You come to realize on a mission that
you don't get called to a place, you get called to people. And I LOVE
these people. This Ward is incredible and each week I am just so
amazed at how supportive they are. Sorella Besco and I both woke up
Saturday morning knowing I would stay. I thought about other cities I
could go to and nothing felt right. I belong here in Modena. This will
be mine and Sorella Besco's third transfer together, it'll be the
longest I've been with any other companion. It must be because
everyone thinks we are real, related sisters, even twins!  After I
told Sorella Besco that I am staying for a fourth transfer I said that 
people are going to start asking when I am leaving... Sure enough on
Sunday one of the Relief Society sisters asked me when I was going to
leave Modena. Haha they don't say it to be mean they just aren't used
to missionaries staying for 6 months in one city. I've done it in both
of my other cities though and I wouldn't have it any other way! The best
part about being in one area for a really long time is that you really
get to know the people. All my companions who are younger than me in
the mission have served in at least 4 cities by now, but I'm very happy to
be the one that always stays!

A cool thing that happened a week or two ago was Ariel, who was
baptized about a month ago, got called to be the assistant ward
mission leader! It is so cool to work with such a new member! He is so
humble and is always striving to do the right thing!
Church was fun because both us and the anziani had a few
investigators in church! I sat by the 6 year old daughter of one of
the anziani's investigators during Sacrament Meeting. She was an
absolute angel! Most definitely one of the most refined, well-behaved
6 year olds I have ever met in my life. She loves coming to church!
She asks her dad if they can come everyday! Haha I wish all 
investigators were that excited about church!

Sunday night we had a little culture dinner for the GANS activity. The
anziani covered America while Sorella Besco and I made Korean food! We
made Bu....... . Everyone loved it! We had some good Ghanese, Brazilian,
and Puglianese food too!

I absolutely loved the Women's Session of Conference. Obviously we
couldn't watch it live here, but Sorella Besco and I watched it as
soon as we could. I really enjoyed all the talks. One of my favorite
themes of the session was that even though life can be difficult we
can still find joy. In fact, one of the purposes of this life is to
have joy. Being happy really is a choice. And it's not always easy,
but it's possible. I have seen this many times on the mission.
Sometimes you have such good, righteous expectations but then things don't
work out like you think you should. But that's okay. Because Heavenly
Father knows what He is doing. We are in His hands. We are His.

Sorella Besco and I are struggling with what seems to be the most
common problem here in the mission... Finding people to teach. We have
tried what seems like just about everything. Despite not finding a lot
of people who want to learn more I still enjoy the conversations we
have and we met some really amazing people this past week. One of my
favorites was a man from Ukraine. He spoke very little Italian. We had
a hard time trying to communicate anything until we realized the
park we were in had wifi! Thanks to modern day miracles we were able
to download the video "Because of Him" in Ukrainian on our iPad and
show it to him. Then we used google translate to communicate with him!
The Lord has blessed us with some amazing tools so we can do the
seemingly impossible. "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke
1:37). We were able to get his Ukrainian phone number and I pray the
missionaries will find him and his family.

I love this work. I love this Gospel. I am looking forward to  Conference this
weekend! I am so thankful for the Prophets and Apostles we have here
on this earth!

Vi voglio un Sacco di bene!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 367: Be Born the Same Day as Your Companion

September 23, 2015

(Mom note:  TODAY IS DANI'S BIRTHDAY!)

Rule 367: be born on the same day as your companion #truecompunity

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! It has been so fun to read all of
them! Oh and hey it's my companion's birthday today too! It's so cool!
I woke up to cute little presents by the alarm clock today. I sticky
noted/attacked her wall with notes from friends. It's the best birthday
ever because I can focus on making her birthday awesome but she's
trying to make mine great too. It's really just been an overall great
day! The weather is perfect and we have found some great food. Tonight
for FHE the Ward is throwing us a "surprise" party. Love them!

Thursday we had Zone Training in Verona. It was a really great
training about how we are becoming the message and how we can take
what we learned at our Conference with Elder Kearon and put it into
practice. We talked a lot about other ways we can "attack the day".
Good planning is a big part of that. Also that day was both of my
companion's year mark in the mission so we brought cupcakes to
celebrate!

It was also really great to see my MTC companion Sorella Destribois
again. She helped give some of the training and she did a wonderful
job. She has such a pure testimony and I am so thankful I got another
chance to hear it. She really is an example to me of humility and
love.

Thursday night we came to Bologna and I got to see Jenny again. That
was great. There was such a sweet spirit during the lesson. So the
plan was to have Jenny's baptism on Saturday but due to complications
it has been postponed for a month. I'm not really sad that I will miss it
because I know this is right. I am so thankful that I got another
chance to see Jenny. I know she will be baptized soon and I know
Sorella Yonk will take good care of her here in Bologna.

Friday was spent calling ward members, inviting them to the baptism
and then calling them all back to tell them it was cancelled. We also had a
cool miracle Friday morning. The other day a woman called the Bologna
phone and said that the missionaries had talked to her on the bus and
she wanted to meet with us. Her name is Giovanna. We met with her on
Friday and she was amazing. She had so many questions and listened.
She accepted the challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.
It was just so simple. My favorite part of the whole thing was that it
was actually Sorella Distante who had found her on the bus. Missionary
work is amazing like that. We never know if someone we talk to one day
on a bus or in the street will one day months, years later call the
missionaries and be interested in learning more. Sorella Distante
worked so hard and I'm so happy to see her efforts are still affecting
Bologna. 

Saturday night an 8 year got baptized here in Modena. It was probably
one of coolest baptisms I've ever been to. There were so many non-
members there! Edoardo had invited all of his family,  his whole class
at school and even his teachers! What a great example he is. He told
me he wanted to be baptized because he wanted to do what is right and
wanted to follow Christ. I know he is going to be a huge strength to
the church. I really believe each generation is stronger than the
next. People like Edoardo give me such hope.

Sunday we went to church in Bologna. It was really strange not to go
to Modena but it was really fun to see everyone in Bologna. I love
that ward. I came on the perfect day because Heloise (another 8 year
old) was getting baptized! Two baptisms in two days! It was absolutely
beautiful!

Sunday night we got a call from the office that Sorella Yonk was
getting a companion. There was a little confusion about the day. Later
we found out she was getting her companion that day! We had to book it
to the Modena apartment pack all of Sorella Yonk's things and get her
to her new comp. Thanks to very helpful members we were able to do it!
It's weird to be only two of us again, haha it's a lot quieter. It'll
be good because we didn't get to spend much time in Modena last week
so now we can get back to work here!

It was a really fun week, but I am broke from traveling! Both of my
companions ran out of money so I had to pay for lots of train tickets
this week. I'm excited for a calm week where we get to stay and work
hard in Modena. Saturday we get transfer calls so we'll see if
anything exciting happens. I really would love to stay here in Modena
my last transfer. I absolutely love this ward. I don't want to leave
them! But I know my companion doesn't want to leave either... We'll
see!

One thing I really reflected on this week was just how simple the
Gospel is. I love everything about the gospel because it all just
comes back to one simple principle. We have a Heavenly Father who
loves us. Because He loves us we have so many blessing. No matter how hard
life gets, He loves you!

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 349: Don't Do Anything Italian Boys Do On Bikes!

September 16, 2015

Rule 349:  Don't do anything Italian boys do on bikes!

 Rule 350: Keep your toes away from the bicycle wheel!

Bike crashes, hospital visits, and Lost wallets, oh my!
You may say we had a bit of crazy week. It all started when Sorella
Besco says last Wednesday to our new companion Sorella Yonk,
"hopefully you don't get into a bike crash on your first day like
someone else did" (Sorella Besco had a really bad crash her first day).
Well we forgot to knock on wood or touch iron and that is exactly what
happened. Sorella Yonk got her foot stuck in the wheel of the bicycle.
I was behind her but I still don't understand exactly how it happened.
Thankfully when it happened a man came and yanked her foot out of the
wheel. We stayed there for about an hour, the anziani brought us some
stuff from the pharmacy and then we grabbed some pizza and rode home
on our bikes. She said it was easier to ride home than to walk.

We are lucky Sorella Besco is a good nurse.
That afternoon Bishop and his wife came and picked us up for our
appointment with Ina. The appointment was so wonderful. We talked
about the plan of Salvation. We weren't able to finish because we got
stuck on the Atonement. Ina was born into a Muslim home so we wanted to
make sure she understood the Atonement really well. She does. She told
us how much strength and hope she receives from her knowledge of the
Savior. The empowering effect of the Atonement is so real. Even if we
don't have physical strength to do things, the Savior can lift you.
Ina is an amazing example to me because despite all the difficulties
she may have, it is her faith that keeps her going.

On Thursday Sorella Yonk was being a super great sport and said she
was fine to go to appointments so we rode to all of our appointments
on Thursday. After our last appointment our investigator looks at
Sorella Yonk's foot and it had swollen, a lot! I mean a lot! Both her
and the member we had brought to the lesson said we had to go to the
emergency room. In Italy it is more common to go the emergency room
than a normal doctor sometimes. Well, with the member and her parents
and Maura and her boyfriend, who drove us to the the hospital, there
were 8 of us all there together. It was fun. For my first Italian
hospital experience it went actually rather smoothly. The doctors were
all really nice and we weren't there forever like everyone thought we
would be.  Good news: nothing broken or sprained! She wasn't allowed
to walk (or ride the bike) for a couple days.

We have had a couple of days when we couldn't leave he house so her
foot could heal. We have been trying to use our time the best we can even
though we can't really leave the house.

My dad emailed me about 1 Nephi 3:7 a couple weeks ago. On church on
Sunday we read the scripture as we were talking about obedience in
gospel principles. As I was thinking about the week we had, it shows just
how true this scripture really is. Heavenly Father ALWAYS provides a
way for us to accomplish what he asks of us! Always! It doesn't matter
if you can't walk. It doesn't matter if there is no money. There is
always a way. We have seen so many little miracles this week and we
haven't even been able to leave the house as much as we would have
liked to. We received an amazing family referral from the sisters in
one city over. When we called this family they were so excited to meet
with us! On Sunday a man called and said he found our number on
Mormon.org and that he wanted to meet with us. We let the anziani have
the appointment but it was still amazing because I have never had that
happen to me on my mission. Mormon.org isn't popular in Italy at all.
Another women called the Bologna phone and said they had given her a
pass along card on the bus and she wanted to know more. Huge miracle!
I know the Lord always provides a way. If we are trying the best we can he will
always bless us. I trust in the Lord's plan and I will strive to do His
will. I am thankful for the examples of my family and friends who have
shown how to endure well.

And if that wasn't enough for poor Sorella Yonk, she left her wallet
on the bus yesterday. I am sitting in the police station as I write this. By some
miracle she didn't loose that much. I am so impressed with Sorella Yonk. She
hasn't complained at all. She has gone through some hard things these
past two weeks and I'm very impressed how she has handled it all. This
weekend should be crazy and exciting as Edoardo, an 8 year old, is
getting baptized on Saturday. Jenny, in Bologna may also get baptized
on Saturday. And then there may be another 8 year old baptism on
Sunday. Should be fun.

Well I think that's it for now...

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!


Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 322: Just Treat Everybody Like It's Their Birthday!

September 9, 2015

Rule 332: Just treat everybody like it's their birthday even if they don't deserve it, because we all mess up sometimes. The biggest mess up? Not forgiving each other's mess ups.-Kid Presiden

Biggest news: I have another companion now! We are in a trio here in Modena! It was kinda crazy getting everything ready for her because we don't have three of anything but it'll all work out. Plus she is only here for three weeks. Her name is Sorella Yonk and I love her already! Her companion went home today so we went to Bologna and picked her up.  She is super fun and I think the three of us are going to work well together these three weeks. The best part about the situation is that we get to go work in Bologna one day a week! Bologna is Sorella Yonk's city and President wants us to keep up the work there. I am excited to see some of the people I worked with in Bologna again! AND I will get to see Jenny and Loredana get baptized! What a tender mercy of the Lord. I couldn't be happier. It is so incredible how the Lord works. If I had any doubts of why I am here in Modena they are gone. The Lord is giving me such a huge blessing and I'm at a loss for words.

But other things happened this week too:  On Thursday and Friday we had a scambio with the Milano Sorelle! I

went to Milano with Sorella Burt! And Sorella Hibo was going to come to Modena to work with Sorella Besco, but after some train confusion they ended up going to Milano too. Milano is huge though so it can handle a few extra Sorelle. It was so fun to be in such a huge city, there were so many people! Haha I'm used to our quaint little Modena. It was a

great scambio. We spent most of our time doing finding work. We are really trying to find more people to teach here in Modena so it was great to get some practice. I learned a lot from Sorella Burt. She is just so positive and confident. I loved spending a day with her.

On Saturday we went to Gianni and Patrizia's house! It was the first time any missionaries ever visited them at the house because it's kind of far. They live in the mountains and it was gorgeous! Patrizia is also a really great artist so her house is covered with little murals she painted on the walls. Gianni and Patrizia are doing wonderful since their baptism. They are just so faithful and constant. The spirit is constantly with them because they are constantly trying to

do the right thing.

Church on Sunday was wonderful! I just love fast Sundays. I love hearing the testimonies of the wonderful members here. This Ward is so amazing and I'm sad we will have to miss some Sunday's here to go to Bologna's ward. But I know everything will work out. This week has been quite on the crazy side but I am just so thankful

that we have a Heavenly Father who has a plan for each and every one of us. We have no need to doubt. We have no need to fear or stress. He is always there.

I love these words from Mormon 9:

27 O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things so ever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.

28 Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God.

It's as simple as that :) I pray that I will always be able to endure to the end. I know it is possible for each one of us!

Love you all, thank you for the letters,

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 263: Let Go of the Banana!

September 2, 2015

Rule 263: Let go of the Banana!

The Elder Kearon Conference last Wednesday was absolutely wonderful! It was exactly everything I needed. It amazes me how the Lord always knows exactly what I need. I don't know if any of you have ever heard Elder Kearon speak, he is an excellent speaker and a very humble man. He is guided by the Spirit as he speaks. He is also British so that wasentertaining too! One of my favorite things that we talked about was "attacking the day", starting the day off right. Everyday must start with a sincere, powerful prayer. How we start the day results in how the whole rest of day goes. If we drift through the morning hours we will find ourselves drifting through the whole day. We also talked a lot about realintent, choices, and action. Everything we do in missionary work (and in life) needs to have real intent behind it,whether it be finding, teaching, or studying. Like Elder Bednar discussed, we talked about how our agency allows us to be happy in any circumstance. Happy is a choice! And lastly, action. Elder Kearon is an action man. I loved this council he gave about note taking. He said instead of writing something in your study journal like, "change badhabits" instead actually write the action you are going to do like, "stop waking up late". He said today is the day to decide to change and actually do it! I agree! It has been a week since the conference and Sorella Besco and I have alreadyseen our days change dramatically as we have decided to attack each day. I am very happy with goals and changes we made to be more efficient and dedicated servants of the Lord.

We were one of the lasts to leave because the conference was held here in Modena so we stayed to clean a few things and then my bike had a flat tire again so it took us a couple minutes to get off. When we finally got everything set and hopped on our bikes Elder Kearon sticks his head out the door and yells at us "Thank you for all that you are doing! Keep it up!" It was just something so simple but it kept me smiling for that whole day.

After our conference on Wednesday we had dinner with Alice. She got back this summer from a foreign exchange program. She had stayed with a Mormon family and one of the brothers of this family came to visit this past week. So we got to meet her American brother! Even cooler they both came to church on Sunday. We aren't sure what Alice thoughtof it but we praying that she felt the spirit.

Last Tuesday we had a lesson with our most progressing investigator. We wanted to make sure she understood the importance of the Book of Mormon. As we were teaching, she starts to bear a beautiful testimony on the Book of Mormon and she knows it is true. On Sunday we were talking after church and she was telling me how all the talks and the lessons were answers to her prayers. I thought to myself, she got so much more out of church today than most members ever do. Unfortunately she is unable to be baptized at this moment because of some difficult circumstances but I am so thankful for her example of humility and courage. This Ward needs her. She is so strong and I have never had an investigator who just "gets it" like she does. We are praying that everything will work out for her.

Marta finally said she wants to be baptized! Unfortunately she is going to Cuba for a month. We are trying to make it possible that she can go to church while she is there.

Sunday night we were doing some finding near the church. It was pretty hot outside so there was no one outside. We passed this one family but there was a man with them that had yelled at us while we were on our bikes earlier. We decided to pass by them. However, after a couple of minutes we realized there was absolutely no one else outside.  So we decided to go back and try the family. They were very nice. As soon as we told ask them if we could show them a video about Christ the man who had yelled at us left. It was so great talking to the family. No, in the end they didn't want to learn more about the church but they said they were grateful we stopped to talk to them. The dad said sometimes you just need to be reminded of these things, you need some renewed hope. I loved talking to this family about Christ and who Jesus is to them. The spirit was there. I know it's not the "coolest" mission story, but it's moments like these that make the whole mission worth it for me. The missionary purpose is to help people come unto Christ. Sometimes we do that in just the smallest ways. I know Heavenly Father led us to that little family. I know He loves all His children. He remembers each and every one of them and He knows what they need. If I can be an instrument to help His children, even in the smallest ways then my mission is complete.

Yesterday one of the young single adults took us to an appointment that was really far. It was so nice to get to talk to her and get to ask her questions about her life and the ward. I realize here in Modena it is the GANS (the young single adults) that keep this ward together. They are the life and heart of the Ward. I think it's weird now that sometimes in America they pull out the YSAs and make their own ward for them. I understand why they do that but I don't it think would work here. They need their YSAs. I am so thankful for them and all that they do. All of them are such amazing examples to me.

Through the ups and the downs I am so thankful to be here in Modena. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! I hope  school is going well for those who just started and hope mom and dad, you get over your colds!

Vi voglio un mondo di bene!!!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 251: P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens)

August 25, 2015

Buongiorno tutti! Sorry I'm emailing a day early because we are having a conference with Elder Kearon tomorrow.I'm excited to hear from a general authority and see where we can improve. I have already been inspired with thecontent we have to read in preparation for the conference.

Other than that, not too much has happen this week. We had some ups and downs this week. We had some moreflat tires (I have the worst luck with tires!), and some more dropped investigators. But despite a week more on therough side we are still happy. Something about being a missionary makes it hard to be truly sad. Sure I get frustrated and disappointed but then I remember what I am doing here and why I came and things don't seem so bad. And we didhave some highs this week. On Sunday we had lunch in church. I love our members so much! They mainly did the lunchfor us missionaries and they brought so much food! Of course we brought a dessert and they loved it! Me and my companion have gotten good at making chocolate trifle (basically it's brownies, pudding, and whipped cream). They all complained about the amount of sugar in it but they loved it all the same!

Oh I forgot to mention last week but me and my companion are staying together here in Modena for another transfer! I'm so happy I'm staying here, I wasn't ready to leave. And now me and my companion will be together for our sharedbirthday

! This week as I have read the Book of Mormon I have been reading the war chapters in Alma. I think they are veryinteresting. The Nephites, as long as they are obedient, always win in the end. Even if they go through times of struggle, even if they lose some cities along the way. If they lose a battle they humble themselves, make new strategy, rejuvenatethemselves, and them come back even stronger. I think we need to do the same when it comes to trials in our lives.I love being on the mission because even though I have been out for a while, I still have to constantly humble myself and make new strategies. I know, like the Nephites, if I am obedient I cannot fail. 

Another highlight of the week! Our investigator found a new job! The best part she knows it is a blessing of her comingcloser to Christ!

Blessings really do come when we obey. I've seen them!

Hope you all see some extra special blessings this week!

Vi Voglio bene!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 244: When the Going Gets Tough, Throw It In...

Rule 244: When the going gets tough, throw it in the peach bag

First off, I just wanted to say sorry for last week, I got some amazing emails and I wasn't able to respond to all of them, but please know they were greatly appreciated! I have the best family and friends!

This week somehow we lost a few investigators. It is hard to know when you should drop someone or not but there comes a point when you have done all you can and they have to make a choice whether to keep commitments or not. But the Lord blessed us with member visits this week. We got fed lunch 4 times this past week. It was a miracle! That's more than all of last transfer. 

We are starting a new indicative/challenge for the ward. We are basing it off of this the Europe Area Plan 2015 and thisquote by President Benson: "Often we spend great effort in trying to increase the activity levels in our stakes. We work diligently to raise the percentages of those attending sacrament meetings. We labor to get a higher percentage o ouryoung men on missions. We strive to improve the numbers of those marrying in the temple. All of these are com-mendable efforts and important to the growth of the kingdom. But when individual members and families immersethemselves in the scriptures regularly and consistently, these other areas of activity will automatically come.Testimonies will increase. Commitment will be strengthened. Families will be fortified. Personal revelation will flow."We are challenging each family to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days. It is amazing how this message has been really touched each familydifferently. Everyone said they needed it, all for different reasons.

"There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path." (President Benson)

I heard Derrek gave a great talk on Sunday. I loved seeing pics of the whole family there.

These are the some of the GANS (Young Single Adults) here in Modena!They're the best!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for all the great emails!

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 241: If You Always Do What You've Always Done...

August 12, 2015

Rule 241: If you always do what you've always done, you will always
get what you always got

Today was our mission-wide Feragosto Super Deep Cleaning P-day event!
Today everyone in the mission super deep cleaned their apartments. And
it was an event I'll tell you ;) it was a fun day of finding hidden
treasures of missionaries past and debugging our apartment. For some
reason we decided to leave Gideon the huge spider in a study room. We
see him as more as a protection from other bugs than a threat. Sorry
if that grosses any of you out but I can tell you the rest of our
apartment is spiffy clean!

This was an interesting week. We met some "fun" people. Sorella Besco
and I really trying to find some new people to teach. We decided to
try changing up how we work a little because like President Dibb
always says, "If you always do what you've always done, you will
always get what you always got."

We decided to talk to the guy who works at the bar we always pass to
and from church. He always waves at us and one time he gave us
brioches. Well we stopped and he said he a lot of questions.
As we were talking to him a woman was there as well. She saw the Book
of Mormon in my basket and told me she had never seen one before, I
explained it and told her we could bring one to her house. She was
very excited and said she would love that. She is going on vacation
for two weeks but I am excited to see her as soon as she gets back.
Anyways back to the other guy, it turns out all he wanted to do was
tell us that we were wrong and that we couldn't change the world. He
practically just yelled at us the whole time. However, I didn't feel
bad or ashamed or anything. I just felt even more confident and full
of the spirit. I didn't feel the need to argue back, not that he would
have let me.  He told me there is no God and told me to try praying to
myself. I just left him my testimony that we are all children of a
loving Heavenly Father. He told me I was hard headed, but the thing is
he just doesn't know. He hasn't felt what I have felt. He probably has
never felt the Holy Ghost confirm something in his heart. He has
probably never felt the joy of having a prayer answered while reading
a scripture. I left feeling bad for him. We tried to leave the Book of
Mormon or even a pamphlet but he refused both. We still wave at him
every time we pass by. My companion and I talked about how experiences
like that just make us grateful to have been born in the church.
Sometimes it's really hard to find the truth.

I'm sorry for a shorter email this week but I've run out of time! Hope
you all have a great week!

Love you all!!!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Rule 327: Change the Bait!

August 5, 2015

Time is flying so fast, I can't believe it is P day again! We had a
good solid week here Modena. My poor companion has a really bad cold,
whoops "allergies" (we are trying to be optimistic). The poor girl has
a really bad cough which makes teaching lessons pretty difficult.
We had dinner with Alice, our investigator who did a foreign exchange
program in Oregon and just barely got back. She stayed with a member
family there and is used to the missionaries. She asked if people fed
us a lot like in America they feed the missionaries, and we told her
they don't really feed us here. So she decided to make us dinner
herself, she really is the sweetest! It was really cool because her
friend from Oregon was visiting too! This friend is actually atheist.
It surprised me how hard it was to get over my fears of not offending
her and share my testimony of the fact that we do have a Heavenly
Father who loves us very much. I have never struggled talking to an
atheist before. We meet them all the time here. As I was pondering why that
lesson was unusually hard I realized that the lesson was in English. I
have never given it much thought before but it really is true that I
am called in the language of Italian. I am much more confident in the
Italian language. Even though I don't speak it perfectly I really
enjoy teaching in Italian. I know the Gift of Tongues, it's easier to
feel the spirit guide when I am speaking Italian.

With the rest of my family I started the "read the Book of Mormon 3
times in 90 days" challenge on Derreks's birthday, August 1st. My
companion is doing it with me! I have to say, it's not easy to read 18
pages a day, but it is worth it. I love the Book of Mormon and I am
excited to read it 3 more times before the end of my mission. It truly
amazes me how that Book always has the words I need for that day in
specific. I also absolutely love Nephi. He was such a humble person and
recognizes the hand of the Lord in everything he does.

I absolutely love the people we are working with here. They are some
of the most incredible people I ever met in my life. They are truly
changing their lives to align their will with God's. That takes
incredible humility. That takes incredible courage. Honestly there are
4 people here who could be baptized tomorrow. However, each has there
own block, whether it be cancer treatments, work on Sundays, or living
with someone they are not married to. All want to change, all want to
follow Christ but in order to take the next step some HUGE sacrifices
need to be made. If I was in their positions I don't know what I would
do. All I can do is pray and fast. And say and do the things Heavenly
Father would have me say and do. Sometimes if feels like I'm pushing
against a brick wall; but even that makes you stronger. We had a
beautiful lesson with one of our investigators who is facing one of
these problems. All we talked about during the lesson was our Savior,
Jesus Christ. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson. After the
closing prayer no one could say a word. Our investigator just sat
there, soaking it all in. It was as if she was trying to take hold of
the spirit so she could  keep it with her even after we left, even when times
got a little tough that week. I never wanted more for her to have the
Gift of the Holy Ghost. It will change her life. It will give her the
strength she needs. I wish I could take her trials away, I wish she
were able to be baptized this week, or even this month. She is ready.
She thinks so, Bishop thinks so, the whole ward thinks so, I think so,
but it's not about what we think. There is One whose thoughts are
higher than our thoughts, whose plan is divine, and who knows exactly
what He is doing. Like Nephi, "I know in whom I have trusted." And if
He wants me and my investigators to push against a few brick walls
then we will keep pushing. We will push until we are as strong as He
needs us to be. I don't understand all things, but I know God does.
And I trust in His plan.

Vi voglio bene

,
Sorella Dani Hamblin


Sent from my iPad

Rule 322: Always Have Your Electric Fly Swatter On Hand!

July 29, 2015

I gave a talk on Sunday. I ended talking about enduring to end and I used a lot of the talk "Come what May and Love It" by Elder Wirthlin. I love his thoughts on laughter. If you can learn to laugh when things go wrong you are genuinely a happier person. He also talked about keeping an eternal perspective. Things that seem so big today, in the eternal scheme of things have no relevance. I love this talk and highly recommend you read it! 

Come What May, and Love It

We had a small ward party at the member family's home last Sunday. They live about a half an hour outside of Modena.

Rule 244: Come What May and Love It!

July 22, 2015

It has been another interesting week here in Modena full of broken phones, more doctor visits, and slashed bike tires. However despite the fact that everyday seemed to bring a unique trial, I'm not complaining! It was a really good week! Every trial taught me something new. I'm more grateful to be here in Modena and to be working with this wonderful ward. I am also very grateful that the anziani here like to fix bikes because they had to change my tire 4 times this week!

A cool miracle that happened this week:  Our phone broke! Okay that's not the miracle. But what was cool is that the anziani here still had the phone from when there was another set of anziani here (so they had two phones). And so, they gave us that phone. It still had a lot of old numbers in it but all the people live in Modena so we have kept most of the numbers. Well yesterday I was sending out some texts to invite people to FHE. I invited some of the old numbers in the phone. One of the contacts asked what FHE was and also asked about English. It turns out this was an investigator who had wanted to join the church a couple months ago but his parents wouldn't let him. He had lost contact with missionaries and had stopped coming to church. The miracle was that he came to English class last night and he is coming to FHE tonight! Just because of our broken phone we were able to reach him again!

I loved the scripture my brother shared this week:

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

This week I have thought a lot about grace and the enabling power of the Atonement. Often we focus just on the healing power of the Atonement and we often forget that through the Atonement we can also be strengthened. Remember no matter how hard it gets: C'è la fai! (You can do it!)

Love you lots! Find the miracles!

Sorella Dani Hamblin 

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