Ether 12:12

This week has been full of miracles! On Friday we had a goal of 6 lessons. By 5:30 we still had not taught any lessons, but not for lack of trying. No one would talk to us and appointments were falling through. Both Sorella Jarvis and I were feeling pretty down. While we sitting on a bench, waiting for one of our new converts an old lady came over and sat by us and immediately started telling us about her life.  We were about to have a lesson about prayer with her. She just loved us and asked us to come visit any time we wanted. She was our miracle that started it all. Throughout the night we were blessed finding people on the street and even running into two of our simps. I know the Lord blesses effort. Sorella Jarvis and I have been trying to keep up the small miracles and then after every one say a prayer of gratitude. I have learned a lot about miracles since I have been here. They do not have to be grand or huge. They can be as simple as running into an investigator on a train. It is important that we do not let the daily miracles pass by us.

We did not reach our goal of 21 lessons this past week but both me and my companion are proud of the effort we put in. And there is always this week!

I gave my first talk on Sunday!  I was so nevous for my talk because I really want this branch to trust me as a missionary. I had written a lot of things down so I would be able to say them right but when I started talking for some reason I just couldn't look at my paper. I just said what I could and did the best I could. I don't feel like i speak that well at all but everyone keeps telling me that I am doing amazing. The branch president said he understood every word of my talk so I guess that's good haha! The branch president said that my language of the spirit is better than my Italian and I think that is good too! I want to speak this language so bad but sometimes my brain just says no. 

Missionary work is hard but I am learning how to see miracle in everything we do. We are so blessed as missionaries. For example, it has been raining off and on this past week and we only got caught in the rain twice, and that's impressive after the stories I heard at district meeting.  Speaking of district meeting... it was in Siena! And this evening I am going to Pisa to do an exchange with the sister training leaders!

My companion and I had a great discussion the other night. We were talking about how sometimes on the mission you just don't feel like yourself. You want to relax and you feel comfortable with the people around you, but you still just can't be YOU. And we think it is because you are growing so much and changing so much for the better. Sometimes you feel like you have to leave your old self completely behind. But sometime I think it is okay to be Sorella Dani Hamblin. I was called and was worthy to serve a mission because of who I was. And I can bring my talents and old ambitions to my service now. Sorella Hamblin and Dani Hamblin don't have to be two completely different people. As long as you keep it as a good mix. After realizing this I have been much more at ease and I find working with people so much easier. 

Thanks for all your support! Love you all!

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Italy - Week 2 "Mama Mia"

July, 9, 2014

Wow! It feels like a month since I have last emailed. We had New Missionary Training last week and it was amazing! We had an American lunch because it was the 3rd of July. Dont worry I wore red white and blue Thursday and Friday.

It is amazing to me how much my understanding has improved. I still dont talk a lot but I am working on getting up the courage. I wont get better if I dont try! Our goal is to teach 21 lessons this week so I should have lots of opportunities.

I just love our branch so much. They are so patient with me and they are so missionary focused. If every ward or branch had half their missionary focus I think we could double our baptisms. Not even exgagerating. They are wonderful. They are always trying to give us refererals and inviting their firends. I love it. Since the branch has been created (a year ago) there have been 5 baptisms and their are investigators here EVERY WEEK. The work is really moving in Italy. The entire Milan mission is covered with stakes rather than districts which is really amazing for a European Mission.

I still just LOVE Italy. I am bruised, sunburned, and bitten (only bugs!). Oh and a gypsy robbed me on my first day (dont worry mom it was only 1.50 euro, she grabbed my change before I could when I bought a train ticket). And a drunk man tried to hold my hand when we prayed with him (but we still gave his number to the Anziani). But whenever it gets hard, like when we walk for hours and dont get to talk to anyone I just look around me.. at the beautful Tuscan mountains... and think I am in Italy. It still blows my mind. I am in love with the country, the mountains, and the people! I just wish they smoked a little less ;)

MY COMPANION IS PERFECT. She pushes me but not too much and did I mention she is a fantastic cook!

Yesterday before Zone Training we got to see President Dibbs grandaughter get baptised in the Firenze chapel. How many Utahns can say they got baptised in Florence. It was such a good reminder of the goal I have for my simps. (investigators).

It has been an amazing week. So many people have come up to talk to us, everyday! My companion says that is very unusual! Here they call it Greenie miracles! I know it is probably because I am still lacking the courage to approach people, God is leading people to us. I know it wont last forever though so I am really trying to talk to more people!

So much has happened this week but I literally forget everything I want to say when I get to email. I am starting a post card wall above my bed so if you go anywhere this summer send me a card and I'll send one back.

The work is hard, but I love God and I can do this!

Love you all

,

Sorella Hamblin

Typical Italian Street in Montevarchi.

With:  Sorella Jarvis

Typical view from the train.

Shopping in Firenze (Florence).

Pizza for lunch!  Yea!

I am in ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW!

WOW!

WOW!

Everyday I can not believe that I am here. Italy is AMAZING. Italy is everything that you can imagine. Literally everything: the buildings, the sounds, the food! italians are loud and itmidating but once you get talking to them they are pretty nice. They all talk with their hands and practically yell at each other. The members of my tiny little branch are the sweetest! When I got up to bear my testimony on Sunday they were all cheering me on and helping me with words I did not know. 

I am emailing from a train station and the keyboard is old and gross so sorry if I have a lot of errors. Plus it is telling me I am spelling every word wrong and I can not find an apostrophe anywhere.... haha hope this turns out!

I am the Montevarci area but I live in San Giovani, our branch meets in Inchiesa, and most of the members and investigators live in Arezzo. Oh and we have district and zone meetings in Firenze (Florence) or Sienna. Yeah... we are on the train all the time.

The work is hard. Like really hard! I am just starting to understand what people are saying. Unfortunately once I figure out what they are saying I can not form a sentence fast enough. But I knew it would be like this, so I am not too discouraged. In fact it is a miracle that the understanding is coming so fast. The hardest part for me is the fact that I am exhausted! I came from the MTC where we ate and sat all the time to running around everywhere in the hot sun carrying scriptures and only eating 2 meals - Italians don't eat dinner. And add Jetlag to that. But mentally I'm doing great just tired, all the time. But I can already tell it is getting better.

Have I  told you how wonderful ITALY is yet. wow. I really am so blessed to be here. I have had gelatto 3 times and yes it is way better than ice cream! I had my first pizza today. wow. just wow. Every sister I have met here has told me that they have gained at least 15 pounds on the mission. But I am not too worried yet because I eat way less than I did and work out way more than I did at the MTC. My companion is good about watching what we eat.

AND MY TRAINER IS PERFECT! I know the Lord picked her perfectly for me because she is everything I need in a trainer. She is so patient with me and is so positive. She teaches with so much love and power. I already want to be just like her. She is so fun and pushes me which is good.

The work is hard but it is moving in this tiny branch. All the investigators I have met so far are from Africa. I think it is because they are super humble. They all are so sweet and go through so much to take care of their families. Also family is super important to them.

Something that I heard this week that I really like was when Adam and Eve were cast out and when Lehi left Jerusalem they both built alters to the Lord. Coming on a mission is kind of similar. I am leaving my comfort zone and going somewhere completely new, but i know i will be okay if I give everything to the Lord. If I show him I am willing to sacrifice and obey then He will guide me like He did with Lehi and Adam. I know I need to be patient and trust the Lord at this time.

Thanks for all the support!

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Hamblin

Sorella Jarvis and Sorella Hamblin

P-day in Florence!

My first pizza in Italy!

My awesome trainer -- Sister Jarvis!

The view from my apartment!

Typical train station!  Spend lots of time on the trains!

FINALLY!  We made it to Italy!  Mission Home...

CRAZY DAY!

So I've had a crazy day...

We left the MTC at 6 a.m.  After a bus and 2 trains we got to the airport. We were about to check our bags and then we found out our final flight had been cancelled.  The rest of our district going to Rome were fine and went on. They had already gone through security when we found out that our flight to Milan was cancelled, so we didn't get to say goodbye to the rest of district, including my companion. That was probably the hardest part of my day. Lugging over 150 lbs of luggage on 2 trains back to the MTC was not fantastic either. When we arrived at the Provo train station, the MTC forgot to send a car so we waited for an hour. We didn't get anything to eat at all until 3:00 p.m. today.  However when we (there are 4 of us Milanos btw) finally got back to the MTC we "ran into" Elder Ballard and he shook all of our hands. The devotional tonight was by Elder Christofferson. It was about the worth of souls and it was great! All in all we saw 7 apostles today! I think it made up for the 2 extra MTC meals we had to eat.

We all know we this trial for a reason and are praying everything tomorrow goes alright.  Hard things are good for us!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Sorella Hamblin

BYU 49th Ward Missionaries at the MTC with me!

One week left?! COZA?!?!

Ciao!

This week has been amazing! Sister Sherri Dew came on Sunday and her talk was so inspiring and uplifting. She talked about how grace is power and how important it is for us to understand what grace is in our lives. Elder Ballard came last night, and. he talked about how important it is for us to stay focused in the Doctrine of Christ and to not worry about what the world thinks of the Church. He said to always look to the 15 men that lead the church because they will not and cannot lead us astray. Public Opinion is not God. God is God.

It is amazing to see miracles happen everyday here. I have loved seeing our investigators (our teachers acting) grow closer to Christ as we prepare them for baptism. I can't wait until I get to do it for real. I am not confident in the language and leaving makes me nervous; but it is a miracle that I already know so much and I know the Lord will help me through it.

Don't tell anyone but I'm actually going to miss the MTC a little. The spirit here is so strong!!!! I think I say that every week ;)

I also think I was sent on a mission to get over my worst pet peeve: people popping/cracking their knuckles/backs/necks/knees/anckles/toes. The sound gets to me :P But everyone does it here!!!

Haha my pazienza has definitely been tested.

One thing I learned here is that the Lord can still work through me despite all my weaknesses. He qualifies who he calls. I know this is true.

Thanks for all the love and support!

I love all the letters and Dearelders (shoutout to Danielle for sending me the pictures, so fun!)

Love,

Sorella Dani Hamblin

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

My companions and me!

Studying!!!

And Studying!!!

Never silly though!

Hosting Sister Hurley

Skirt trade day with Sora Quist

Italian Party!

Party time!

Sorella  Destribois and me

The Italian GROUP!

I still can't believe I'll be in Italy in 2 weeks!

Same old, Same old going on here. I am learning so much! As soon as I feel like I am mastering the language they throw some new concept at me (past tense/imperfect/supersquash... yes supersquash!!) On Saturday our district  had a Solo Italianano day. It actually went really well, but by lunch we were all were frustrated with not being able to say what we wanted to say, I think it was the most quiet my companion has ever been in her life! Hopefully the next Solo Italiano day goes a little better.

The devotionals here are so amazing. My companion was asked to say the closing prayer,t and I got to sit on the stand with her and Elder Cook! After the devotional Elder Cook came over to say something to Elder Mika who had said the opening prayer but didn't shake any of our hands. Haha I was so close ;) The devotional was so great. I loved how his wife talked about how our mission is a message of gratitude to the Lord. At the end of his talk, Elder Cook  said that our mission would bless every single person in our life; what a cool promise from an apostle!

Teaching is getting easier and I actually look forward to it each day. We committed one of our investigators (who is actually our teacher) to baptism!! We also had our very best lesson as a companionship on Saturday when we taught a less-active (who is also a teacher). I strongly believe we teach better when there is no contention in the companionship. It is amazing how much I have learned about the spirit and how I can get it even more strongly in my life.

I love seeing all my 49th ward family here! Jeremy came in last week and today I hosted Courtney Hurley (going to Korea!!) who I met at school!

Today at the temple we ran into one of our favorite workers, Gloria Nixon. She is the cutest older lady who always gives us about ten hugs each and tells us how much she loves us! All the older ladies in the temple love talking to the missionaries, it is so fun! They make going to the temple even more fantastic!

Oh and goal accomplished! I memorized D&C 4 in Italiano this week!!

Thanks for the mail and dearelders! I really do love it! Thanks for all the prayers too!

Love you all,

Sorella (Dani) Hamblin

Reunited with my Freshman BYU Temple Buddy!

The good ole MTC Cafeteria (Breakfast time!)

Sora Quist, me, Andrew, and an Elder from Milan...

Week 3... Halfway there!

I seriously can't believe I only have 3 weeks left! There is still so much I need to learn! Besides the food, I am loving it here at the MTC. Every day is work but I always feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day. I love teaching the two investigators we have: Luana and Christiano (they are really just our teachers). I feel like I learn the most when I am trying to teach them. Our teachers are fantasitc! I love all 4 of them. They all served their missions in Milan, watching them speak so fluently gives me hope that I will be able to do this!

Emily Schill, Andrew Tasingco (I know I spelled that wrong!), and Savannah Young all came to MTC this week and I've gotten to see them all. Our 49th ward family at the MTC is growing! I think there are 6 of us here now!

Not much has changed here... We get up, study, eat, workout, study, eat, study, eat, then study. and Mondays and Saturdays we have 6:15 service. I love Sundays and Tuesdays because of the devotionals! Last night's devotional was all about how we are supposed to love the people we are going to serve. I feel like this is one the biggest things they teach here at the MTC: LOVE. As Sorella Nelson says, "Love is always the answer." It reminds me of home because that is pretty much Mom's motto. Another thing that stood out to me in last night's devotional was the importance for people to realize that they are a child of their Heavenly Father, who loves them. It is the first section of the very first lesson and some people tend to just glide right over it . It is so important. I know that is how my own conversion began. That was the first testimony I gained and from their I could build the rest of it. I was talking to one of my companions last night and she told me she has always known that she was a daughter of God, but it has never been evident before she came here. This is so true. Miracles happen daily here, sometimes hourly. It is incredible. I have never been more sure in my life that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and knows the trials and the blessings I need in my life. 

Io so que Dio ci ama. Io so que questo vangelo e vero.

Thanks for all the love and support! I wish I had time to write more!

Love you all,

Sorella (Dani) Hamblin

Week 3 District picture.

My French Companion, Sorella Destribois.

One more District pic.  We have a hard time getting a good pic. of everyone!

Sora Quist and me!

Mom sent cookies!  They were sooooooooooooo goooooooooood!