Quanto sarà grande la vostra gioia💛

Sorella Hess comin' at ya live from the Amalfi Coast round 2!! Easily my favorite place on earth.

The wind is INSANE today so this is as good as the pics from Amalfi got haha

It's only been 6 days but we've had a crazy week with so many miracles. The biggest had definitely been Veronica (the girl that showed up at church a few weeks ago and said she wants to learn more about our church!) She's incredible and hasn't missed a night of reading the Book of Mormon since we met her and has been to church every week :) She's preparing for her baptism for next Saturday the 12th!! She's so prepared for the gospel. We meet with her almost every night and just walk away from each lesson so amazed by how amazing she is. Her testimony is so strong already :)

With Veronica after the Halloween party :)

I could stay here for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.

Our mission has been doing a mission prayer every night right at 10pm where each companionship prays to be able to reach our new standard of excellence for the mission. It's amazing how many miracles we have seen from it! The Sorelle from Battipaglia came to Caserta and did exchanges with us this week and it was fun to blitz a city and get a lot of work done! We're doing an exchange with them in their city tonight and tomorrow so it should be fun! :) On Saturday night we did a Halloween Party for our English course students and the ward and it was super successful! Several of our investigators came and were able to meet members of the ward :) Member missionary work and fellowshipping is crucial!! The mission is amazing and it's making me pretty sad to think that this journey is halfway over this week! These past 9 months have FLOWN by and I've grown and learned in so many ways. I'm so excited to see what is in store for the next 9 months :) I am thankful that as missionaries we have the opportunity to see a small glimpse of God's love for His children. It's humbling to know that someone loved us enough to give His life for us so that we can overcome sin and return to our Father in Heaven one day. I testify that if you pray, God will listen. He loves us more than we know and wants us to be happy :) Vi voglio un montagne di bene!! Prego per la vostra felicità ogni giorno :) Con tanto amore, Sorella Hess :) With Veronica after the Halloween party :) The wind is INSANE today so this is as good as the pics from Amalfi got haha I could stay here for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.

"Siam chiamati sempre per servirLo"

Buongiorno amici miei!!

Hands down one of the best weeks of my life. SO much has happened since last P-day so let's see if I can remember the most important stuff!!

-First and foremost, I want to give a huge shout out to my brother Sam who got his call to FIJI this week!! I'm so happy for him and proud of him :) 

-Last Tuesday we had exchanges with the Sorelle in Pozzuoli and I was with Sorella Hunter who went to AF High with me ❤️😊 We had so much fun!

Gelato on scambio with cute Sorella Hunter from AF :)

-Wednesday we took a train up to Rome for the Mission Conference. We stayed with one of the Senior Couples :) We did a massive finding activity with the majority of the Sorelle in the mission up in Rome! We saw a ton of miracles.

-Thursday was the MISSION CONFERENCE :) It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong. President Kearon, Elder Hallstrom, and President Russell M. Nelson and each of their wives spoke to us. We got to shake each of their hands and there was no doubt in my mind that they are called of the Lord. The common theme of the conference was of our divine heritage and how we were saved for these last days to come to the earth to share the gospel. :) It's been on my mind ever since and how blessed we are to have been raised in the truth of the gospel. I was asked to say the closing prayer in the meeting in English. Who would've thought that it would be scarier to say it in English than in Italian? I didn't pass out up there so I'd call it a success :)

-Friday was one of the happiest days of my whole mission. First, when we got to the church that evening I saw an email from my Mom saying that Sam was going to be opening his call later that night. For some reason I started feeling kind of bummed that I couldn't be there with all my family just for a few minutes. We had an amazing lesson with Veronica and taught her about the Plan of Salvation more in detail. She is so elect. She asks the coolest questions and just absorbs EVERYTHING we say. She's so excited about the gospel. I asked her on Sunday at church what made her decide to come by our church a few weeks ago and ask to learn more. (By the way, she hasn't missed a week of church yet!!) She said, "I was led by the Spirit or Jesus and I knew I had to be here." 

-As we were walking home after that lesson, we poked our heads in at our favorite pizzeria down the street from our apartment. There's a lady that works there named Gina who is always so nice to us and we've really been wanting to add her as an investigator. We went in and ordered our pizzas and I asked her if there was a day this week before work that we could meet so we could share a message with her. She pulled us aside and said, "I know you didn't know this, but I was baptized in your church back in Ukraine on October 30th, 1990. It is a miracle that you two found me." 

WHAT?! Our jaws basically were on the ground. Those are the kind of stories you read about in the Ensign haha! She told us to come back on Tuesday so we're going by again tonight :) 

It was a huge testimony builder to me of how aware the Lord is of us. This is why we leave our families and go on missions. It was especially sweet for me knowing that Sam would be opening his call in just a couple hours to know where he will be going. There's no describing the happiness that comes from missionary work. I love this gospel and am so thankful for all the mission is teaching me :)

Best pizza in Italy today for P-day, hands down. Sorbillo in Napoli :) 

I love you all! Sorry about this crazy long email but it's been an amazing week! I hope you're all doing well wherever you are in the world :)

"Avanti andiamo con fede nel Signore!"

Sorella Hess :)

Ps, I had one of my most embarrassing moments of my life at Zone Conference yesterday. We were doing a role play with one of the AP's and we were trying to say that we wanted to give him a GIFT but I accidentally said a WOMAN. Un dono = a gift. Una donna = a woman. Hahahhahahaha. I couldn't stop laughing. I totally lost character but shout out to my companion for finishing for me. I know the difference between the two words but just got super tongue tied and it came our wrong hahaha.

My entire MTC group reunited for the first time since we all got here!

We went to the top of this castle in Napoli today with our Zone! #blessed. That's Mt Vesuvius in the background :)

"Non siamo suore."

Hey fam and friends!

This week was awesome! We worked hard and saw a ton of miracles. Our investigator Veronica is incredible. She came to church again this week and is reading the Book of Mormon. We asked her how it's going and she said she loves how she can read a verse during the day and it means one thing to her, and then she reads it later and it means something else to her. She's way awesome! 

Fun fact: I gave my whole district their flu shots this week. 😏😂

We had a few lessons with Ester and Pia this week and I can honestly say they're some of my favorite people I've ever met. They are absolutely hysterical but also really spiritual when we get them to focus haha. :) We're trying to figure out their baptism date because Pia has to get surgery in a few weeks so we have to wait until December but they're both so excited!

We went to Lina's house (the lady with the cute shoes on the train) on Saturday night and had a cool lesson with her. She had a lot of questions for us about the church and why she "feels so peaceful when we're with her". :) 

Hahaha I wish you guys knew how many times a day we get asked, "Siete Testimoni di Geova?" or "Siete suore?" (Are you Jehovah's Witnesses? Are you nuns?) 

I was studying this morning in Alma 62 and I was thinking a lot about how much our attitude matters when we are going through a trial. It's so important to choose to be happy and to humble ourselves and ask what the Lord would want us to learn from it. 

50 Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had delivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions, and he had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies.

51 And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land.

On Thursday we're having another mission conference in Rome and President Nelson is coming!!! Also a few other general authorities from the 70 are coming. It's going to be amazing. Next week we have Zone Conference on Monday so our P-day will be on Tuesday. It's going to be a great week! Stay tuned! Love you all ❤️

Sorella Hess

Ester learning how to pronounce our names hahaha.

We didn't take pics this week so here's an awkward one of us emailing at the church right now haha :)

Transfer 6 here we gooo!

Ciao everybody :)

We got transfer calls last Monday night and Sorella Jarnagin and I are staying here in Caserta for another transfer and I got made Sister Training Leader! We're super excited! There's a lot we want to get done this transfer and we're ready to work hard.

On Thursday we had the elders come over to Rosalia's house with us to give her a blessing. It was so spiritual! We asked her how she felt afterwards and I loved what she said, "una felicità strana e familiare" which translates to "a strange and familiar happiness." The Spirit IS familiar to us! Every single one of us on the earth chose to follow the Savior's plan and come to earth to have a body and to be tested. When we hear the gospel and feel the Spirit, is does feel strangely familiar! :)

We had Mission Leadership Conference on Friday that we Skyped in for and it was really awesome. President Pickerd got a little emotional at the end as he was sharing his testimony and I've been thinking a lot about what he said. "I don't want to be a disappointment to the Quorum of the 12 apostles who personally called me to represent the Savior in this part of the vineyard." The same goes for all of us missionaries. We've all been personally called by the apostles (and obviously Heavenly Father) to represent the Savior wherever we are serving and we should do our best to not let them down.

Our whole district has been sick this week but I'm starting to feel better meno male. Saturday was Sorella Jarnagin's birthday. We all went to the senior couple's apartment and she made us tacos for lunch! Then we took a train out to Pozzuoli for the baptisms of 2 ladies in the Napoli branch. We had to fill up the font with buckets because the drain was letting water out and we realized right before the baptism was supposed to start and they had about a foot of water hahaha. We took our new convert Luana and she loved it! It's the first baptism she's been able to see since her own back in April :) Right after they did the baptisms, she leans over to me and said, "I feel the exact same feelings that I felt when I was baptized!!" :) 

We had a super awesome miracle yesterday. A 27 year old girl named Veronica walks into church and says she wants to learn more about what we believe. She stayed for all 3 hours and loved it! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she's coming back to the church tonight for a lesson! I love when miracles just fall out from the sky :)

Today we went up to Casertavecchia again for P-day as a district. It's a really pretty view of the whole valley all the way down to Napoli and you can see Capri the island in the bay! :)

Le cose vanno molto bene qui :) Prego e spero che lo sia altrettanto per voi :)

Baci da Caserta❤️

Sorella Hess

Pretty view from the chapel in Pozzuoli

Transfer 6 here we gooo!

Ciao everybody :)

We got transfer calls last Monday night and Sorella Jarnagin and I are staying here in Caserta for another transfer and I got made Sister Training Leader! We're super excited! There's a lot we want to get done this transfer and we're ready to work hard.

On Thursday we had the elders come over to Rosalia's house with us to give her a blessing. It was so spiritual! We asked her how she felt afterwards and I loved what she said, "una felicità strana e familiare" which translates to "a strange and familiar happiness." The Spirit IS familiar to us! Every single one of us on the earth chose to follow the Savior's plan and come to earth to have a body and to be tested. When we hear the gospel and feel the Spirit, is does feel strangely familiar! :)

We had Mission Leadership Conference on Friday that we Skyped in for and it was really awesome. President Pickerd got a little emotional at the end as he was sharing his testimony and I've been thinking a lot about what he said. "I don't want to be a disappointment to the Quorum of the 12 apostles who personally called me to represent the Savior in this part of the vineyard." The same goes for all of us missionaries. We've all been personally called by the apostles (and obviously Heavenly Father) to represent the Savior wherever we are serving and we should do our best to not let them down.

Our whole district has been sick this week but I'm starting to feel better meno male. Saturday was Sorella Jarnagin's birthday. We all went to the senior couple's apartment and she made us tacos for lunch! Then we took a train out to Pozzuoli for the baptisms of 2 ladies in the Napoli branch. We had to fill up the font with buckets because the drain was letting water out and we realized right before the baptism was supposed to start and they had about a foot of water hahaha. We took our new convert Luana and she loved it! It's the first baptism she's been able to see since her own back in April :) Right after they did the baptisms, she leans over to me and said, "I feel the exact same feelings that I felt when I was baptized!!" :) 

We had a super awesome miracle yesterday. A 27 year old girl named Veronica walks into church and says she wants to learn more about what we believe. She stayed for all 3 hours and loved it! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she's coming back to the church tonight for a lesson! I love when miracles just fall out from the sky :)

Today we went up to Casertavecchia again for P-day as a district. It's a really pretty view of the whole valley all the way down to Napoli and you can see Capri the island in the bay! :)

Le cose vanno molto bene qui :) Prego e spero che lo sia altrettanto per voi :)

Baci da Caserta❤️

Sorella Hess

Pretty view from the chapel in Pozzuoli

Train ride home 

She likes me, I swear.

Conferenza Generale, Scambi, 8 Mesi!!(11) Oct. 3, 2016

Buonasera cari miei!!

Come va? I seriously cannot believe it's October. Today's my 8 month mark in the mission!! I want time to stop. The mission is incredible. Also, wanted to give a quick shout out to my little brother Sam on submitting his papers this week :) Keep your fingers crossed he comes to the Great Italy Rome Mission :) 

We had an exchange with the Sorelle in Battipaglia from Monday night to Tuesday afternoon and I was with cute Sorella Shubin from Alpine!! We found a 14yr old girl on the street and taught her the Restoration right there. She was really interested so I'm excited to see what happens with her :) Scambi (exchanges) bring miracles!

We visited an older man in our ward and his wife who isn't a member this week. They fed us lunch (ovviamente haha) and it was delicious. He is the coolest member ever and has a full on baptismal font in his house. It was the biggest and most beautiful house I've seen on my whole mission. Out in the middle of the country with a huge garden. It was amazing. We love Fratello Izzo. 

We had a busy and awesome week and conference was the icing on the cake!! Wasn't it incredible? I loved all of the talks!! I took way too many pages of notes haha. Here are some of my favorite quotes/thoughts I had while listening: (sorry if they aren't exactly worded right)

"Even though storms will beat on the ship, we need not fear because the Savior is on board. He is our captain! Even the winds and seas obey Him. He will never abandon any of us." -M. Russell Ballard

"As we become more familiar with something, we lose our sense of awe. The same thing goes with the gospel. We've been given so much!! The message of the gospel is exciting!! We should be proud of our message! We have unimaginable glory to come." -President Uchtdorf

"Let the Savior be your caregiver. Turn to Him." -Robert D. Hales

I could go on all day, but I encourage you all to go back and read the talks again. 

I LOVED the talk called "The Master Healer" from the Women's session. You should all go read it right now :) and of course "Fourth Floor, Last Door" by President Uchtdorf.

We get transfer calls tonight after 8 so it will be fun to see if we stay or go! I love Caserta so much. I could honestly serve here until I go home and be happy. Caserta is the promised land and Napoli Zone is the best 😊 I love you all. I love this gospel. I love the joy that comes from sharing the gospel. We are SO blessed. Pray for an opportunity to share your testimony!

Vi voglio un mondo di bene,

Sorella Hess

Positano last P-day

Amalfi!!

Amalfi

Positano