Now Serving the Lord in Pescara, Italy

So, this week was fantastic!  I always forget all about the cool stuff it seems when I come to write my e-mail to you all, but I will try to remember adesso!  Hmmmm... So I guess I should tell you the biggest news, huh?!  I am getting transferred to...

Pescara!

Aka- The city that Sorella Spicq served in directly before she came to Ostia!  I am really excited.  I will be in a threesome, and one of us will be moved in three weeks.  President Waddoups said he does not know who yet, so that should be really exciting.  

Also, we have seen lots of miracles this week such as...

Fabrizio received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday! 

Odile is reading the Book of Mormon, and is making tons of progress with her testimony of the Book of Mormon.  It was really cool because we went to her house (and barely got there because we got some rather confused advice from a man on the bus and the autista to scendere troppo in anticipo.... we waited another hour at a bus stop in the rain for the exact same bus to pass by again... Which was actually great because we got to talk to this Muslim man about the church and another man nearby was listening intently.  Sister Kimball and I believe that that is why we got off the bus too early- just to talk to those people.) and were about to begin our planned lesson of the plan of salvation.  But I felt inspired to talk about the Book of Mormon instead, so we all read from the Book of Mormon together and were able to, miraculously, answer Odile's questions. Miracoli dello Spirito!  She also texted us and made me a promise that she would continue reading the Book of Mormon.

Okay, here is where I have to tell you our other Book of Mormon Miracle of the week.  So, we taught the compagno di Roxana again last Friday, and he always has tons of questions about everything.  (Which is awesome!)  We taught him this week about the Book of Mormon, and every seemingly-impossible question he had was answered in full by scriptures from the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon intro, and from the History of Joseph Smith.  It was a very inspired lesson, and we felt the Spirit working through us to make the truth known to Ian (Dorian).  We loved that lesson sooo much.  Teresa was also a huge help too, and we could not have done it with out her and Roxana both being there to help as well.  Wow!  such a cool experience!

Also, we taught Michele again, and this time is was mahvelous!  At the beginning of the lesson, we thought all was lost because he didn't remember our lesson about saying prayers, and he began the lesson reciting a wrote prayer.  BUT then the Spirit arrived, and I felt inclined to start drawing images on the white board about Heavenly Father and about how he loves us, and our prayers to Him are like phone calls with our Dad.  I used examples about Sorella Kimball and her famiglia and about how she can pray for qualsiasi cosa per cui lei ha bisogno, e ho anche detto che I can pray for my family, for help in school, etc.  He began to understand personal prayer and, by the end of his lesson he said a prayer all his own!  It was such a miracle, and again a huge change in the lesson plan.  

I just love the people here, you guys.  

Annnd I got to give my departing testimony in church on Sunday as well.  I absolutely loved being able to do that and seeing how much my love for my ward was returned to me.  Like the song that Sister Kimball plays all the time states, "Love comes back to us."  And it is sooo true!  I said in my testimony that I will be a bit "homesick" for Ostia because the ward has become like a family to me.  Wow I will miss it here.  

What else?  Hmmm, well I can tell you that this Christmas will be a very Merry Christmas because I get to call those awesome people I call my parents and my little brother!  XD I am soooo excited for that! 

And, I almost forgot!  This last Wednesday was the Baptism of our fantastic friend, Elena Lauri.  It was literally like a dream.  Her family was there and she was baptized by her boyfriend, Federico Pregnolato, who leaves for his mission within the next two weeks!  It was such a beautiful baptism, and Federico made sure of that, he made the programs all nice, he bought Elena a white dress for her baptismal service, and they brought white flowers to decorate the sides of the pulpit as well.  It reminded us all of a wedding!  They are really awesome people, and Federico said in his testimony that he and Elena have a goal to be married in the Temple after he returns from his mission.  She even has an engagement ring and everything.  They are so good!  Annd, her testimony was beautiful as well; she talked about how we can be happy in this life with the Gospel.  I love her sooo much!

This week was full of miracles, and I know that every week of the mission will be equally piena con miracoli!  :D  I love you all, and I hope that you all have a fantastic week!  

Vi voglio tantissimo bene,

Sorella Cherrington

Baptism

Corey is going to Pescara.....

And leaving Ostia.  It appears to be a straight shot across the boot!  :)

Miracles Happening Daily!!! :)

This week was fantastic!   We had to teach Elena all of the lessons this week to prepare her for her baptism on Wednesday, and it was a really fantastic experience.  We love Elena and her Mom (who is sooo nice and was really touched by the Joseph Smith film.  :) They are a really great family and we cannot wait to help out with Elena's battesimothis Wednesday.  

Other news... 

I am really tired!  This is very tiring work and it is hard to stay awake sometimes, lol.  I really love being a missionary though and I know that being tired is a sign that we are doing effective work!  :D  

Also, one of my favorite lessons this week was with Fabrizio when we were able to do a new convert lesson with him.  We just read from the Book of Mormon together, and it was really simple, but the Spirit was really there, and we all really enjoyed it.  Other than that, I am, quite honestly, too tired to write much because we have been doing so much lately.  BUT!  I will tell you a bit about a lesson that we did with Alexandra.  We went over to her house and Sorella Alicino came with us and so did Mikarla (a braziliana member of our ward) and her boyfriend, Francesco.  There was a lot of confusion going on because Sorella Alicino thought that we were teaching Mikarla who has been baptized for 10 years, then Mikarla started translating and talking in Portuguese, annd it was sooo crazy!  But it ended up going well in the end because the Spirit was there as we testified of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we were able to invite Alexandra to baptism.  

This was a really nice experience because we invited her and she said, "Yah, I have already decided since after our first visit that I want to get baptized.  I prayed about it and I felt like it was right."  It was so cool to hear this from her and that she has received a testimony!  We love Alexandra.  :) Well, I think that is all I have for now!  Love you all, and I cannot wait to read your e-mails and to hear from you and write to you again next week!  :D  

Vi voglio bene,

Sorella Cherrington

(Temple di Roma in one of the photos below!  :D )

Heart Shaped Bread!!  Lovely!!  :)

Rome, Italy Temple in the background

A Wild West Restaurant that supposedly serves American style food!!

YUMMY!!  Mickey Mouse Pannycakes!!!  :D

The Rome, Italy Temple

Another Pic with the Italy Rome Temple in background!! 

I don't know what they were up to here, but I think it had something to do with that fancy pastry box in the background!  :o  

A really nice shot of the Rome, Italy Temple!!  

SORELLA COREY CHERRINGTON'S EMAILS FROM 11/4/13 & 11/11/13 - SEE PICS AT THE END!!! :)

SORELLA COREY CHERRINGTON’S

WEEKLY EMAIL FROM 11/4/2013

Hello, Everyone!  :D

So, Fabrizzio's baptismal date got changed again, but for sooner!  :D He will be baptized the 8th of November at 7.30pm.  We are soooo excited, and I know that he will be happy as a result of his choice to get baptized.  :)  We always have so much fun teaching Fabrizzio, and he will be a good friend of ours for the rest of ever!  :D  Just the other day, we did another lesson with him and Sorella Alicino, and she was telling us about how she comes to church, even though it is difficult on her legs and that she would go to church on a skateboard if she had to.  When she said, this, I gave her a thumbs-up and said, "yeah!"  Lol, then, Fabrizzio started cracking up, and then I did, and then the Sorella...  Lol, it was one of those hysterical laughing moments too, and both Fabrizzio and I started crying because we were laughing so hard!  Lol, I love being one of Fabrizzio's missionaries.  :)  I feel it a privilege to know him and all the rest of the wonderful people here.  

Also, we are seeing a ton of progress with our seemingly-perpetual investigators.  They are, piano piano, accepting and up keeping commitments that they had trouble with in the past, and we are seeing cambiamenti in them.  For example, Angela came to church, and Odile has accepted a piccola sfida to read the Book of Mormon every day and pray while she is doing so.   I really love Angela and Odile, and I hope that they know how much we love them as well.  

OH!  So, cool story!  We went to Odile's house this week in Ardea and she cooked a traditional dish of Togo for us!  She is the coolest!  XD  It was rice and beans cooked together and you put a variety of toppings on it.  She said this one was one of the simpler ones that they do, but we had oil infused with sautéed onions, chili powder mixed with salt, and boiled eggs to put on top.  It was SO spicy, but SOOOO good!  :D  Odile said that most of the dishes in Togo are really spicy.  Gah! It was sooo good!  :D  Then, we went to go take our bus when it started pouring rain...  Luckily for us, Heavenly Father loves His missionaries, and he sent the bus to pick us up a half hour earlier than it usually comes!  I believe in miracles.  :)  

Also, I had the opportunity to fast this week, and my Testimony of fasting grows every time that I fast.  Ever since we taught Fabrizzio about fasting, as well, I thought of the importance of fasting once a month as a commandment of God.  This gives it even more meaning for me than before because it really puts it into perspective for me the fact that our church uses the fast offerings (the amount that church members pay in for the cost of the 2 meals they skipped) to give food to those who have little or none.  As members of our church it is really important to fast and to pay fast offerings so that the needy can receive that which they need as well.  I love fasting.  

Also, we had our Zone conference this past week in which we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon as the keystone of our religion.  Like Preach my Gospel says, if the Book of Mormon is true, than Joseph Smith was a Prophet and the church which he established is, in fact true.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and we have been working extra hard this week to share the Book of Mormon specifically with our investigators and the people we meet.  I especially love sharing the promise given in Moroni 10:3-5 when it says that, if we read the Book of Mormon and pray with sincerity and with a desire to act upon the answer to our prayers, asking if the Book of Mormon is true, we will know the truth through the power of the Holy Ghost.  I know this is true- there is no doubt in my mind of this.

I think my favorite part of Zone Conference was when Anziano Steur read aloud from his mission journal from 45 years ago!  :d  It was sooo cool, and I really loved hearing his stories.  :)  One of the repeated phrases that he used stuck out to me, "This should be interesting"  :D  Lol, when he was here, he had to search for an apartment for himself with his companion!  Now, they choose apartments for us and they are prepared for us when we come.  It is really exciting to hear from people like Anziano Steur who laid the foundations of the work here.

There was also a miracle that happened in church as me and Sorella Kimball were fasting for our investigators.  A woman from Brazil came up to us and said, "Hey, who would I talk to about getting the missionary lessons?"  Us, of course!  We set up an appointment with her subito dopo, and we are excited to teach her and invite her to come unto Christ.  :D  SOOO cool!  The Lord provides the work for us!  The field is white and ready to harvest, and all we are as missionaries is workers in the Lord's field.  Ostia is a place of miracles.  Anywhere can be a place of miracles when you are working for the Lord.  It is meraviglioso!  :D  

Well, until next week, my friends!  :D

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Cherrington

SORELLA COREY CHERRINGTON’S

WEEKLY EMAIL FROM 11/11/2013

Hello, everyone!  This week was amazing!  Fabrizio was baptized at 7.30pm on the 8th of November, and it was one of the coolest, most Spirit-filled baptismal services I have ever seen.  Wow, Meraviglioso...  Fabrizio is such a good person, and everybody could feel it.  The feeling there was a feeling of purity and content and serenity.  I loved it.  Just being there and seeing Fabrizio take this step in his life was an honor and a privilege for me.  I am so grateful for this experience.  He was confirmed yesterday in church and it was an amazing confirmation blessing.  Our Vescovo, Vescovo Menis, gave the blessing, and the Spirit there was soooo grande!  Vescovo Menis is a really great person, and so kind.  Church in general was just really great.  

We got to teach Principi yesterday too, and there were TONS of investigators there, just wanting to check stuff out.  We were also able to have some really great members there too and the lesson went soooo well.  The Spirit was really there as we talked about our assigned topic- "There is a God."  Words do not do this experience justice.  Also, this week was FULL of miracles because we finally started teaching people who I have been waiting months to teach!  And one of these fantastic people, Elena, the girlfriend of Federico who leaves on his mission Dec. 2, has chosen a date to be baptized before her boyfriend leaves!  She has chosen the 23rd of November, and she is so ready for it!  She has already read through the Book of Mormon up to 3rd Nephi, and Federico's family has done a really great job with fellowshipping her and helping her to feel comfortable in church.  She is so awesome!  I feel so blessed to be able to help her progress towards baptism in these coming weeks.  We have only a few days until she has to have her interview too, so we will be seeing her a lot this week!  We are so excited to teach her about the Gospel.

Ostia is full of miracles, and Sister Kimball and I know that the work we are doing here is not our work, but Heavenly Father's.  We know this because people are coming to us, asking us for the lessons and asking us how they can be baptized.  This work is meraviglioso, and I know that the Lord is blessing us as instruments in His hands.  It is a beautiful feeling to know that, when we dedicate ourselves to the Lord's service, He will bless us with His help and guidance.  Everything we do is guided by the Spirit, and I am so thankful for this guidance.

OH!  I cannot forget about Alexandra! (the Braziliana chi ci aveva chiesto per le lezioni Domenica Scorsa.  :) She came to Fabrizio's baptism all by herself, which took about 1 and a half hours!  She is so dedicated and so ready for the gospel!  She didn’t come to church yesterday though because she had a stomachache.  So, we just went to go see her!  It was a really nice visit and we got to share a nice scripture and a prayer with her.  AND, we got to meet her compagno (boyfriend) who is Napolitano, and is really awesome!  He does not really believe in God, but he is reading the Book of Mormon!  Alexandra said he is reading it more than she is, and asked us for another copy (in Portuguese this time) so she could continue to read if he took her book again!  I really love working with them.  :)

I sincerely love Ostia soooo much, and I love these people here with all my heart.  I love God and Jesus Christ, and I will continually do my best to "forget [my]self and go to work," as Gordon B. Hinckley's father told him to do so long ago.  I love this church and I know that it is true!  Arrivederci, e alla prossima settimana!

Vi voglio bene! 

Sorella Corey Anne Cherrington

Baptism - Sorella Cherrington & Sorella Kimball!!! 

Baptism - Elders and Sisters of Ostia

SELFIES!!!  :) ;) 

Baptism

Bread they make for Sister A

Baptism