Chapter 55: "I am your king!" "Well I didn't vote for you!"

*The full Monty Python movie quote from which this week's title un-apostately derives will be found at the bottom of this email. Thanks mom, for keeping me connected to the real world* 

Well folks it's been an amazing week. A week of being eaten alive by mosquitos. A week of amazing miracles. A week of being so exhausted by the end of the day that you literally flop onto the couch and listen to beauty and the beast, because you're too tired to get ready for bed. Just another week in the life of a missionary😂🤷🏼‍♀️ ALSO!! The church just put out an amazing new video for Easter!! Go look at it🤗---> https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc

Ok, so last Thursday we had a combined District meeting, followed by a couple appointments with members and less-actives. Super cool though- on our bus ride back to the station, we were sitting across from this lady named Maria (classic), reading a play script. Arndt and I were instantly intrigued, and started asking this lady what was up lol. Maria told us about how she was the lead in this big play, and even said she could score us some tickets for it in May🎭 Then she started asking us questions about why we were living in Firenze, and the convo took off from there! It was pretty awesome, and we exchanged numbers and gave her a Book of Mormon. 

THEN

We got off the bus for our appointment, and saw she got off in the same area. Well we finished up at our appointment and felt prompted to call Maria. Well, the spirit is real folks because 10 minutes later we were sitting by the Arno river teaching Maria about the restoration. It was by far one of the coolest lessons. I don't think I've ever met someone more ready for the gospel. The whole lesson just flowed so naturally, and the spirit was so strong. The mosquitos were also strong, but we won't get into that. Anyways, we have another appointment with her this weekend, so yay💕

Thursday evening-Friday evening, we had scambio (exchanges) with the Sorelle from Prato! I was with the amazing Sorella Tullis! Seriously such a fun and hardworking missionary, it was such a blast🌈 We had an appointment with my favorite RM Jan whilst eating Chinese food. Just some advice: eels taste like they look🤢 haha it was awesome though! Jan constantly inspires me! We also had correlation and some other passbys, during which we showed the NEW EASTER VIDEO at https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc 😉 That night after the Prato Sorelle left, we had an appointment with the Larrain family. The father of that family passed away a little over a month ago, so we've been trying to help them out. We decided to make them an American dinner lol. Sorella Arndt and I realized we shared the childhood favorite of poppyseed chicken, so we scored some ingredients from th American base up north and made it for the family! Haha it was pretty much the best night ever! Sorella Larrain was in love😂😂😂 she's one of my favorite people I've met here in Italy!

Saturday started off with interviews with Presidente Allen! It's always so amazing when we get to see him and Sorella Allen❤ then Saturday-Sunday was GENERAL CONFERENCE🌷☔️🌱 Even before the mission, general conference has always be right up there with movie marathons and midnight showings for me! I just love it, and this past weekend was no exception! These leaders are so inspired, and the messages shared were truly from God. If you didn't get the chance to view it this past weekend, I'd def suggest you head on over to lds.org and give it a gander. And hey! While you're there, you may as well check out https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc Best of all, some of our investigators came to general conference!!! It was so awesome! There's also a guy in the ward who is both blind and deaf, and he came to the conference. At first I was like "lol but why", but there's this pro lady in the ward who learned Italian sign language from him. So she signed the entire conference into the palm of his hand. I was so blown away by both of their dedication and genuine desire to be there for conference! And it was beautiful to look over at them from time to time and see the tears streaming down his face. It was evident that he miraculously understood the words of the prophets thanks to this member, but more than that, he felt the spirit that was there. So cool. Also, yay me for being able to understand all of conference in Italian #miracles

Monday we started planning a special exhibition we will be doing Easter weekend! Buuut it's a secret, so stay tuned😏 (and in the meantime, feel free to check out the new Easter video https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc .) We met with a super old less active lady, and she made us random fried dessert things that were obviously unhealthy, and thus delicious. The diabetic nightmare was the closest thing I've had to a donut since America. Ahhh. We also visited these two German sisters who literally kill me😂😂 so basically just another awesome day!

Yesterday was full of random appointments, meetings, and getting beard-baccied on the bus. Yes, I'm talking full-on kissed on the cheek by a bearded lady😂 ah well, she was super nice and loved the video on https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc 😉

TODAY we went to the fairytale city of Siena! It was absolutely beautiful! Plus we went down a random little street and found a studio where we found ANTONELLO! Coolest guy ever! Literally a piano master and photography master! We accidentally spend almost two hours just chilling with him and these two students from the university of Siena. Antonello told us all about his insane life! We talked about God, listened to him play the piano, and just had the coolest experience ever! Plus he took some professional photos of us and the university couple all together, so go scope that out on Facebook lol. If you'd told me a year ago that I'd casually go to Siena one Wednesday and casually spend a couple hours with complete strangers and just have cool lil experiences all day long, I probs would've laughed at you. And yet, here we are🙃

So cool thing. The awesome Easter video (yes yes, the one found here ---> https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc  talks a lot about the various things the Savior did and was. At the end, there are three names used. There are conveniently 3 emails (including this one) leading up to Easter. I think you all see where I'm going with this.

1- King of Kings 

Christ was and is the perfect King, and unlike the scenario in that classic Monty Python film, we DID vote for Him, lol. I finished John in the New Testament the other day, and basically my mind is constantly blown with all the amazing things Christ did. My dad mentioned something the other day about how all would be well if we just had Christ here as our leader, and it's true! Political leaders and other leaders are imperfect, and many are faaaaar from the mark. The Savior, however, was the perfect example of what a leader should be. He's the perfect balance of justice and mercy. He's knowledgeable but compassionate. He's selfless and serving, though He acknowledges His divine role as the literal Son of God. And I guess that's the good thing, is He is our King! Yeah, maybe he's not the physical leader of our country or state or school or whatever right now. He is still, however, our King. In the Bible, you can read about how He healed, performed miracles, forgave sins, and showed charity. Although He isn't physically here right now, He still fulfills these same roles in our lives. Through accepting Him as our King, we open up the ability to use His Atonement to heal us and comfort us, and lead us throughout life. Spiritually, He is our King. That much is certain. And one day, He will return to physically be our King. And that is worth celebrating.

xoxo

Sorella Smedley☔️

PS: I love the apostle John. He is my absolute favorite! Lol he just knows so much, and you know he was just chilling on the island in exile being super sassy as he wrote his books lol. Lil savage decided to end his gospel with this bad boy: John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

PPS: The Monty Python quote, as promised:

Arthur: I am your king!

Woman: Well I didn't vote for you!

Arthur: You don't vote for kings.

Woman: Well how'd you become king then?

Angelic music plays...

Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering silmite held aloft Excalibur from He bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king!

Dennis interrupting: Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!

PPPS: just in case you haven't already https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc https://www.mormon.org/?player=bc

1- American meal with Sorella Lorraine   2-5 Pday in Siena!  6&7 Antonello!

8-18  More of beautiful Siena

  

     

  

  

  

Chapter 54: Shut Up and Take My Money

Hey friends👋🏼

So much has happened in the last week! It's been super awesome but also pretty tiring, so I naturally have -92574 desire to write emails at all today. Guess that means we're doing bullet points today, plus some pictures (they're each worth a thousand words, right?)

-Said goodbye to Muggiò💔💔💔

-Saw Anz Rogers and his greenie!!!!!

-Said goodbye to the fabulous Sorella Orr💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

-Met with our investigator Elizabeth and talked about how she doesn't have to decide if this church is true or not- in reality, the answer comes through the spirit. Very good news for us indecisive people lol.

-I'm already covered in mosquito bites. And it's barely spring. Summer will probs kill me. #prayforsmeds2k17

-We got a new investigator Maria! Had an awesome lesson in her car explaining why we don't worship the madonna (classic). We're super stoked to have met her because she's someone really in need of the blessings of the gospel!

-Our ward is awesome!! And our investigator Norca came to church and even fasted! What a stud.

-The daughter in an active family in the ward was baptized, and literally thirty family friends came over! So we got to explain the baptismal service to them, as well as other various gospel truths. Got some numbers and, as one lady put it, "You Mormons are good at praying and food!" Yes, yes we are.

-Sleep over with the senior couple, since we had to leave for Milano the next day at like 6am. I'm still recovering from that one.

-Had concilio in Milano with Presidente and the other zone leaders and STLs! Which meant I got to see Anz Wilkinson, Gibb, and Farneman from my past cities, my bottlebreaker Slla McHardy, and Slla Anderson, Lo Russo, and Perkins from my MTC group! And as a surprise, I saw Anz Jones and Slla Richards (the mission kids) since concilio was being held in their area! Plus, got to meet Anz Jones's greenie! Guess I'm a nonna now?👵🏼

-We've been working on sharing our ward mission plan with the members. It's been amazing to learn more about their conversion stories, and then to help them share this gospel with their loved ones.

-We've also been taking time to plan scambi (exchanges) and figure out what we need to do to help the sorelle we are over❣️

-Pday today was spent going all around Firenze⚜️ have I mentioned I live in the most beautiful place in the world? Because I do. I absolutely love it here. And I wanna spend all my money.

Ok random awkward moment... not that this actually happened or anything, obviously😅 ok so picture this. You're sitting in the park, having a lesson with your investigator. All is going well, the spirit is strong and everything. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and it's basically perfect. 

But...

Then you notice a rather creepy spider chilling on the neighboring bench...

And then, the spider starts army crawling on its web over to your bench...

And slowly but surely makes its way into your investigator's hair...

What. Do. You. Do???🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷

Just asking for a friend, of course😅 

Anyways.

I wouldn't be a proper missionary if I didn't mention that GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND! I'm beyond stoked, and you all oughta be too! Seriously, we are beyond blessed to get this chance to hear from a living prophet and other various leaders called of God! If you haven't already, think of a few questions in preparation for conference. Maybe there's a decision you need to make. Maybe you're going through a rough patch. Maybe you've just got a gospel question. Idk, there are lots of possibilities. The beautiful thing is that we know God loves us, and so we naturally know He does answer our prayers. I'm just saying (not as a missionary, but as awkward lil old Kaylee) that so many of my prayers and life questions are answered through general conference. Literally, what an opportunity! Hearing God's words for you- specifically!-through His prophet. Wow, that even beats Netflix! So yeah, it's gonna be a weekend of stellar stories and experiences, pilot analogies, and crazy awesome instruction not just from random church leaders, but literally from God Himself❤

Pop some popcorn and get comfy🍿

xoxoxo

Smeds

1& 2- Saying goodbye to Rogers & Orr last week  3-6 Concilio ft. MTC group, McHardy & The Fam 

7-16 Pday exploring beautiful Firenze(Florence)

  

  

  

  

  

Chapter 53: *Sees Investigator @ McDonalds*

Well friends, it's been a week. Lots of awesome people, lots of laughs, aaaaand lots of stress because {transfer calls}🙃🙃🙃 What's happening to me this transfer? I am... going to make you read the entire email to find out😉🇮🇹

Thursday was the much anticipated one year mark! It also happened to be the biannual deep-cleaning day for our mission. We were stoked. Blasting the music and cleaning the apartment was too good... I think we enjoyed it far more than we should have. Plus pizza and the traditional year-mark skirt-burning that almost resulted in a small house fire... yeah, we didn't really think that one through... oh whale.

Friday we spent the morning with Franny, our new convert. Pizza, again, plus talking with her about the possibility of her serving a mission one day! Pretty fun! That evening, we met with Juana and Claudio. Seriously one of my absolute favorite families I've met during my time out here! This time, we took their responses from our baptism interview lesson last week and made an action plan for moving forward. They are going to get baptized, I just know it!

Saturday was spent with weekly planning and passbys for the first half. That evening, we met first with Sorella Bassi, a less active in the ward who seriously just warms your soul. Then we met with our investigator Milli and her family! Ate some amazing South American food and talked about the importance of aligning our will with God's. Also, there was a baptism for 5 people in Lecco on Sunday, so that was super fun as well!

Monday we got to visit the Huapaya family from Peru! It was awesome, and their family just makes me so happy! However... they wanted to sing hymns. We were down obviously, but then things got a tad out of hand... Turns out, the Huapaya family is 100% tone deaf. I was dying inside but told myself to keep it together. The problem was, Orr and I were sharing a hymn book, so I could literally feel her starting to lose it. We were dying laughing, but the best part was that the family didn't even notice😂 it was the kind of laughter that is literally silent, because you're laughing so hard. Oh my heck it was so bad! Lolol family, you know I legitimately can't stop laughing once I've started, and that's how it was this time. I kid you not, we were just crying by the end of it😂 and yet, no one noticed a thing. So all was well! Until the closing song, that is...

The we went and saw the Cabezas family, another one of my absolute favorite families in Italy. We talked about how we can use the Atonement every day- how not only do we get to live again after this life, but that through the Atonement, we can have a 'new life' every day! Also, I just have to say again how much I adore this family. Valeria is literally one of my favorite people in the world! She gave me a little card saying goodbye, and that she was glad we were best friends💔

Yep, I had to say 'goodbye'.

Transfer news. Last Friday during language studies, we got a surprise call from president. And the verdict is: I'm leaving. Yep, another "one and done". My mission thus far has literally been a transfer trend of 3 (Collegno), 1 (Vicenza), 3 (Savona), 1 (Muggiò). I'm pretty dang heartbroken about leaving Muggiò and Sorella Orr. It was seriously a dream. However, I'm also stoked... because tomorrow I'm heading to *wait for iiiiiiiit* FIRENZE⚜️⚜️⚜️ AKA Florence, the land of leather and fancy ties and art and just awesome Tuscany. I'm stoked. I'll be a Sister Training Leader (STL, which is equivalent to a Zone leader for Elders) with *wait for iiiiiiiit* Sorella Arndt! Funny story, so I've literally just served basically my whole mission with her. She's a transfer above me, and we overlapped in the MTC. She started out in Torino, and I was in Collegno (neighboring areas) so we did Pdays together all the time. Than she headed to the base in Pordenone and I later followed to the base in Vicenza. Then we both headed down to Liguria to whitewash train (her in Genova, and me in Savona). And now, we'll be together in Firenze. Super hilarious because it's been our running joke for the last year that we'd be STLs together, and now it's happening!

So yeah, I'm beyond stoked for this coming transfer, buuuut I'm also sad. Transfers are exciting, but they also suck. Saying goodbye is the worst. I'm so bummed about leaving the awesome (and hilarious) missionaries up here. I definitely do not want to pack again. I'm basically distraught about leaving Sorella Orr- it's been a fun ride together. Jamming to high school musical, Les Mis, and everything in between. Having amazingly cool lessons together. Way too many laugh attacks and inside jokes. Seeing miracles every day. Lip sync battles and funny vids. Literally too many awesome memories to list, and so it sucks to say goodbye to that. And don't get me started on the people here. It's only been six weeks, and I've met some of my favorite people! Amazing members, insanely cool investigators- just a ton of stellar people! And so in some ways, I was feeling a little bit ripped off honestly lol. Like, six weeks is not much time to fulfill your purpose for a group of people, let alone to realize what your purpose was for them.

Then, we had church. I had to go up and say my goodbye testimony, which is always rough. However, those 3 final hours with the ward were seriously such a gift from God. I felt so much love as I said goodbye to these amazing people who've literally become my family these past six weeks. More than that, I felt their love for me. I know that was seriously God helping me recognize that although I may not know ALL the reasons I was here in Muggiò for such a short time, I was meant to be here. I needed to be here, and they needed to be here. And as I look back at how my mission has gone, it's always been this way. The city and the comp and the other missionaries- its been the way it had been because we all needed each other at that point in time.

It got me thinking the other night (shocker) about Jesus. Lol how typical missionary of me, but just bear with me for a sec. He's obviously the perfect example of, well, everything, but especially of missionary work. His entire life was one big mission, but especially His last three years of life. I was reading a couple talks this week in addition to my New Testament study, and one talked about how three years was such a short time for Jesus to accomplish all that He did. Not long at all to establish His church, teach the truth, and prepare the people for His eventual sacrifice and the apostasy and persecution that would follow. Above all, it wasn't enough time for the people to be with Christ, or for Christ to be with the people. However, that's one of the beautiful things Sorella Orr and I have been talking about lately. As people, we pass in and out of each other's lives. Some people stay for long, and others are there for only a short season. We cross paths to fulfill our role in each other's lives and once that's been achieved, God moves us over to the next person. And it's sad but it's beautiful. Sometimes it involves saying goodbye which sucks, but you never forget those people God puts in your life.

I'm beyond stoked to see why God needs me to cross paths with Sorella Arndt and the people of Firenze. I'll keep ya'll updated. It'll likely involve lots of awkward moments, miracles, and leather

xo 

Sorella Smeds

 1-4 Year mark celebrations  5-Juana, Claudio 6&7 love these Italians!

8-10 Lecco baptism  11&12 Cabezas 13&14 District pics 15&16 Pday

   

   

      

Chapter 52: The Anniversary Special

{Mission Journal of Smeds} March 16th, 2016

"I was sitting in the shower, just thinking about today, honestly just feeling stressed and tired and sad. Buuut then I was like 'Self! You're finally on a mission, and you're here with amazing people getting ready to bring the gospel to Italy!!'  and I felt better. Until I realized I'd left my towel back in the room. It's gonna be a long year and a half..."

Welcome to what I like to call "the Anniversary special edition of smeds' weekly emails" lol. My emails are already long enough as it is, so we'll just give you some highlights:

- Cabezas: We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was awesome! I love that family sososo much!

- Weird guy on the train had his shoes and socks off and I was absolutely disgusted.

- Seclens: Less active fam that is now planning to come back to church! Also, they made us an amazing Peruvian meal during which Orr and I each tried a spoonful of the spiciest sauce I've ever tasted in my life. Hotter than peperoncini 🌶  But it was a great night!

- My comp and I were chasing a bus (classic) and she managed to take out a hedge...? We caught the bus though so it's worth it, yeah?

- Titziana: Cool less active member who actually messaged me on fb before the mission! Crazy how things turn out, yeah?

- Cattaneo: Stopped by to see dear Gianna (the lady with short term memory loss and an obsession over her stupid dog Margo) and we've determined she's literally crazy. She kept talking about people and swearing and you'd think that after a year of this stuff, I'd be all mature and used to it lol. In reality, no lololol I was literally losing it the entire time😂

- Nonna Uras: Precious woman who will be translated one day. She told us we were beautiful and amazing, which is a nice change from the comments we normally get. She fed us and taught us and loved us, and I basically want to be her when I grow up. Our time with her made me sit and reflect on how much I love this country and these people.

- aaaand a million other awesome appointments, funny memories, and stellar meals. Oh also we saw this beautiful guy strutting down the street. We couldn't help but stop and stare. And he knew we were staring. And so he kept strutting. And then he found a curb. And toooootally fell on his face but then kind of caught himself on a wall thing. And we lost it😂

- Today's Pday was spent in beautiful Bellagio! No, not the one in Vegas lol although this is where the hotel was based off of. Just imagine a beautiful town bordering lake Como (which is where they filmed the scenes for Naboo in Star Wars, fun fact). I was in heaven. So it was a great day.

Well, it's been a heck of a year! I could sit here and be cliche talking about how it's been the best and hardest year of my life (because it has), but I'd rather just let Elder Holland explain it. He's said it multiple times, but I'm biased and prefer the account he gave in Milano six months ago:

"Why is it so hard?! I have a theory about that. I've thought about it for fifty years- since I was a missionary. My doctrinal theory is that it's hard because it was hard for Christ; that salvation is not a cheap experience. Nobody ever said it was gonna be easy. Nobody ever. I think it's hard, because salvation was wrought by anguish, and tears, and blood, and toil. Christ died of a broken heart, and He died bearing the sins of the world feeling the contrition of everyone's sins and sorrows since Adam and Eve. Well, you're invited to feel a little of that. It's just symbolic. You're not going to feel much anguish. You're not gonna bleed. You're not gonna die. But you're entitled to feel some pain for the sins of the world. You're entitled to feel something about the Atonement. Because you're running around the Milan mission saying that you've got the truth. 'We've got the truth! This is it! We're the true disciples of Christ!' Well, if you're disciples of Christ, you'd better be prepared to walk where He walked, and feel what He felt, and shed some of the tears He shed! Or else I don't know what 'discipleship' means. It's a funny kind of discipleship that doesn't do anything that He did! What does it mean to be a witness? Well... I think we bear witness of His tears. I think we bear witness of His pain. We bear witness of His anguish and His sufferings, and we have to feel a little of that. Don't spend your entire mission wondering why it isn't easier. It's never going to be easy. It is rewarding. It is magnificent. But it's not easy, and that's what I think it means to be a disciple. We go where He goes, and we do what He does, and we feel what He feels."

The mission is hard. It's the most exhausting thing out there- physically, emotionally, mentally, ALL THE WAYS. However, President Allen told Sorella Orr and I something I really loved, and this is how it went down:

Pres: I kind if lose it when missionaries say they're tired.

Us: *nervous sweating* 

Pres: Yeah, we don't do 'tired' in this mission. 'Weary' however, now that we do. Coming in at the end of each day and crashing because you've given all you've got to the Lord's work.

I love that with every part of me, because here's the thing... if we look at Holland's theory, this idea of 'weariness' makes perfect sense. And I'm not just talking about missionaries here. All who choose to be His disciples are committing to be like His disciples when He was on the earth. We're choosing to walk His same path and do as He did. So how beautiful is it that we, the lil incompetent mortals that we are, are granted this opportunity to stand side by side with the Savior. We can do a lot of amazing things in this life- through work, athletics, schooling, music, and a million and one other things. And those things are pretty great, but none of them quite rank with the salvation of the human soul.

Looking back on this year, and looking forward to these next six months, I'm feeling pretty weary. And the natural man in me is just wanting some Netflix right now, but the rest of me is just beyond stoked to be livin the dream in the *cough* best *cough* mission in the world.

Like I said, it's been the best year of my life, and a lot has changed. I don't stop and take a mediocre picture of every cathedral I see (cuz, you know, it's a daily thing). I'm surrounded by people who talk so loudly, you can't tell if they're upset or stoked or just normal. I make pasta and pizza and tiramisù like it's nothing lol. I only sometimes get lost now. The ambulances finally sound normal. Sometimes, I can actually Italian. The culture shock is 95% gone. I eat vegetables sometimes now. I don't get quite as freaked out by the fact that Italians drive like it's grand theft auto. Random dance parties... well... they still happen actually. Chasing after buses and trains is the norm. Christian music is my jam. I have no qualms with breaking into my own apartment. And I've gotten a bit better at not forgetting my towel when I go to shower, lol.

There's a lot of things that have made this year the best one of my life. Maybe the fact that I live in Italy. Maybe it's the spiritual high that comes from bringing others to Christ all day every day. Maybe it's the insanely good food. There's a million and one amazing things, but just like our pal Holland said, one thing takes the cake. The answer is clearly the Atonement. Utilizing it to better myself as a missionary, but better yet, using it to bless these crazy Italians who've essentially stolen my heart. I love these people and this country more than I've ever loved anything. Yeah, gelato and Venice are pretty stellar, but nothing brings me more joy than being with these people who've become my family. More than that, getting the opportunity to share this gospel that I love so so so very much with the people I love more than life! My understanding of our relationship with divinity has completely changed as I've witnessed the love our savior and our Heavenly Father have for these Italian people, and for all of us honestly.

So here's to six months more of lots of pasta, lots of love, and lots of group emails that are waaaaay too long😉

XOXO

Sorella Kaylee Smedley🇮🇹

1-Titziana  2-Seclens  3-More grafitti  4-New converts  5&6-Sorella Uras  7-16 Pday in Bellagio!  (#13- Celebrating 1 year with Sorella Anderson from my MTC group!)