Well folks, it's been a week. Like literally one of the funniest/weirdest weeks ever. Oh hahaha as I'm writing this on the train, this guy just came to check our tickets lol... and as we tried to grab them, all these Jesus pass along cards just leapt out of the bag... and the train guy was like "oh! Hallelujah!" Hahaha, oh how I love Italy.🇮🇹
Also, idk if I've ever been more tired. Literally Arndt and I are up in the night like every hour thanks to the mosquitos buzzing in our ears. Also, we've been having issues with sleep talking with each other in Italian😑 this morning at 2:17am I apparently went off at Arndt for trying to teach the resto for a girl named Deborah...? Literally she was sitting up in bed sleep-teaching. Missions are weird, and I'm tired😂😴
We had scambio this week with Sorella Johnson and Sorella Roloff from Rimini! I was with Sorella Johnson, which was cool since it was her last scambio before going home! I seriously learned so much from her, and it really makes me sad knowing she goes home next week! I think the thing I loved the most is that she's let the mission change her and better her, but she's stayed true to herself! The highlight of that scambio was definitely visiting Ida again! She made us bread that tastes like animal crackers, and we talked about Jesus. It's the best. I feel like she's my crazy nonna or something❤❤❤
It's been an interesting week in regards to food... When you think of Italian food, you probably think of delicious lasagna and pizza and gelato and everything in between. It's all so good. You probably don't think of mayonnaise. I didn't either, back when I was innocent and naive. Well friends, there is far too much mayo running through my veins right now. Saturday, my bff Sorella Larrain invited us over for lunch. The meal was amazing, except for this random bowl of purple death that resembled jello... it was literally sliced beets and carrots... in like 7384927 pounds of mayonnaise. Kill me. Ugh, it's a good thing I love the heck out of this woman. Even though she died of laughter when she saw I didn't know how to make coffee😂 sorry that's not in my skills set🙃 we also had a sweet member who wanted to make lunch for us and the Anziani after church. Bless his heart, he brought out a couple of vending machine sandwiches that had nothing on it except a few little chunks of ham and tuna floating around in- you guessed it- an inch-thick slab of mayo. I think I felt my heart literally stop😵
On the better end of the food spectrum, we also went to Europe's annual gelato festival!! ASHFKDJWHAKDK!!! I heard about it so much in the MTC, and boy did it live up to expectations! We took some of the youth and it was seriously a blast. Just picture food trucks set up in this palazzo with every kind of gelato imaginable. We got through 16 cones of gelato... idk if I should feel proud or embarrassed about that🤷🏼♀️ they had normal flavors but then there were others made of flowers, curry, cheese, etc. It was delicious and crazy, and I think I need to go on a gelato fast for the rest of the summer. Walking back, I told Arndt that if I were to die suddenly and they did an autopsy, my blood stream would be filled with mayo and gelato.
She laughed.
But I wasn't joking.
Meno male we had so much gelato, because it was much needed after Sunday's fiasco... church was amazing as always, and Norca came to sacrament meeting!! Theeeeen it all went downhill... our ward was hosting a classical music concert for members and nonmembers. Most of the performers hadn't heard of our church before, so you'd think it'd be the perfect missionary activity.
BUT THEN
One of our members, bless his heart, decided to bring some of his nieces and nephews- ages 6, 4, and 2... because we all know how much toddlers love classical music concerts🙄🤦🏼♀️ oh my heck, it was horrendous. I kid you not when I say it was probably the most stressful experience of my mission. And that is saying something because I am a pretty stressed person. Ok well the two older ones kept slapping each other and asking when it was gonna end, but the real kick in the face was the 2-year-old girl. Holy freak, she kept getting up and running around. During one piano performance, she started rolling all over the place. Literally Arndt and I just closed our eyes and tried to ignore the chaos. It worked up until I heard a little "ciao!" and opened my eyes to see that she'd rolled all the way over to our side. Ah man. Finally someone caught her and took her to the back to color. All seemed to be well... that is, until this crazy Russian lady in the ward asked for an encore. And then the two-year-old dropped the whole bin of colored pencils everywhere. Twice. Finally the concert from hell was nearing its end. My comp and I finally relaxed thinking the nightmare was over, but we were once again mistaken. A guy from the stake stood up to share what we thought would be a short spiritual thought. However, he awkwardly targeted the nonmember guests and performers... and then he took it one giant leap further and brought up baptisms for the dead...?? I think I gave myself an aneurism from all the stress. It was easily the longest day of my life🙃
In happier news, we started visiting bishop's fam to do lessons for their daughter Sara who is getting baptized this month. They are like my favorite family in firenze😂❤ we have all these deep gospel convos + watch vids of bishop and his wife's wedding + bishop wore a star wars shirt the whole time. All over an amazing Italian meal. I love my life💁🏼❤ Haha seriously I haven't laughed so much this whole transfer! And bishop promised to show me a movie trailer each time we come as an incentive for us to keep visiting😂😂😂😂
We also met with Carolina this week, and she is progressing so well! Seriously, she's just so ready! We had some appointments with a few other investigators and members and whatnot, so it was a pretty good week! And Pday today was spent touring cute little Arezzo, which is where they filmed the movie at the top of every Italian missionary's bucket list, "Life is Beautiful"/"La Vita è Bella"😍😍😍
Aaaand I'm too sleep deprived to give any cool gospel stuff (which is quite a shame since I'm still studying stuff from Paul and he is the BEST!) soooo here are some fun quote things instead haha! Sorry not sorry...
"This is a simple story, but it's not an easy one to tell. Just like a fairytale, there is pain, wonder, and happiness..." -Life is Beautiful
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
I'm so sorry for this sorry excuse for an email... but hey, at least you got to hear about my super crazy Sunday concert🙄 oh whale. God loves us all, even if we don't know how to behave in public.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Sorella Smeds
1&2- Scambio with Sorella Johnson 3&4 Valentino & Sara 5-8 Gelato festival!
9–17 Pday in Arezzo 18&19 Currently dreaming of Netflix & Taco Bell 20-I’m a missionary, what’s your superpower?
21&22 Only God can judge :)
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