Tower of Terror...in real life

Buona Pasquetta!!

I love Easter in Italy! We've had such a fun week. Today we are having

Pasquetta at the church with the whole ward. We've been playing

volleyball, ping-pong, calcetto, soccer, Just Dance, etc. all day long

and it's been a blast! Bari knows how to party!

Sllllaa Bellomo

We've had a great and busy week--complete with 2 exchanges.

We took a train for an hour and a half to Foggia and spent a day with

them from Thursday to Friday. I was with Sorella Manning who's in her

2nd transfer. We had a lot of fun and were able to teach some cool

lessons. We came back Friday afternoon and went directly out to

Bitonto with the ZL's and did some finding and then we came back to

Bari for our Mexican Fiesta night with the GANS (YSA). Whooo!

Saturday Sorella Holmes (one of the Sorelle we live with) wasn't

feeling very well so her comp spent the morning/afternoon inside with

her and then I spent the evening in with her so Sorella CB could go

out and not go stir-crazy.

Yesterday we had pranzo with Giuliana and Pippo :) She's a recent-ish

convert! They spoiled us and treated us like family. I love them!!

Afterwards we had some meetings and then went to the senior couple's

house for a Nacho Party!!! Leftovers from the fiesta night. We

all piled into the elevator afterwards (...10 missionaries hahahaha)

and literally before the elevator doors had shut we started dropping

from the 5th floor. We were jam packed in that tiny elevator and all

screaming and sweating and freaking out hahahaha. Luckily Anziano

Fitzner was there and he was a fireman back in the day so he knew to

pry the door open and we all jumped out before it dropped all the way

to the very basement hahahha. Memories😂 Lesson learned, the weight

limit posted inside the elevator isn't just a suggestion.

Cute Sorella Manning in Foggia!

Easter eggs from members yesterday

I love this time of year and that we get to reflect on our Savior and

His Resurrection. This week I've been studying a lot and teaching a

lot about the purpose of life. We are here on the earth for a lot of

reasons but the biggest ones are so that we can have a body, to learn,

to grow, and to experience JOY! Our Heavenly Father wants us to be

happy!! When things aren't going our way, we shouldn't ask why it's

happening but what we are supposed to learn from that experience. We

are never alone! Our Savior has been through it all and understands us

perfectly!

Giuliana and Pippo!!

Vi voglio tanto bene! Grazie per il vostro amore e sostegno. Sono

davvero grata per voi!!

Con tanto amore,

Sorella Hess

Via Orazio Flacco 13/3

Bari, Italia

70100

Le foto:

Easter eggs from members yesterday

Giuliana and Pippo!!

Sllllaa Bellomo

Cute Sorella Manning in Foggia!

I love you a latte🐮

We ciao tutti!

This week was CRAZY. Here are some of the funny things that happened
because I don't think I ever fully tell you guys how fun and
entertaining the mission is:

Zone Conf with my fav italiana

First off, we started teaching a lady from Romania this week. She and
her husband speak pretty Italian pretty well and were telling us how
they studied with the JW's in the past. But instead of saying
Testimoni di Geova, she said Testimoni di Genova hahahaha which is a
city up north. Also she kept saying Dios instead of Dio and just other
funny stuff that made us laugh :) They come to English course and a
few weeks ago we had taught them the verb "to believe" and then during
the spiritual thought at the end I was bearing my testimony on the
Savior and she stands up and says, "I believe!!!" Hahahaha I lost it
guys. It was so funny. She's a crackup😂

There's something about southern Italy that makes people think that
modesty just goes out the window from April to October. For some
reason people think it's okay to just feed your baby in public on a
bus with no blanket or just pee on the sidewalk in front of two sister
missionaries walking down the street. I wish I could say that it only
happened once this week but that'd be a lie. 😂 Sorry for the TMI
hahaha :)

WE GOT A NEW PHONE!!! Praise the heavens because our ghetto flip phone
stopped . recognizing our SIM card so we haven't been getting calls
for like the past week or so.
"Ciao Anziano...Mi senti?" "Si...?" "Lo so. Abbiamo un nuovo
telefono." 💁🏼 hahaha.

Service!!! So there's this field behind our church where literally
hundreds of homeless people live and they leave a lot of trash outside
our church on the road. We decided to clean it up a little bit because
it's pretty bad haha. People were driving by and literally clapping
and honking for us as we did it hahaha. I guess they were impressed :)
Good way to get the church's name out there :)

Here are some of the quotes of the week:
"I was really just feeling emotionally constipated.... oh
wait...that's not the right word.... emotionally CONSOLATED.... that's
not right either. Whatever..."  -Anz Carroll in our district😂

*President at Zone Conference yesterday asking the senior couple what
they had to do in preparation for the mission* "well we had to be out
of debt, retired, etc...." "what else did you have to do?" "A
colonoscopy..?" 😂😂😂 we all died!

Okay I'm done sharing stories :) This week was super awesome though.
We had 2 super successful ward activities! There was a talent show on
Thursday night and lots of our contacts came! Then on Saturday we had
STARLAT!! It's a charity concert that the ward here does every year.
Singers in the community perform and we ask people to bring boxed milk
instead of a ticket and then we donate it all to families in need in
Bari. This year by the end we had 1,365 liters of milk!! Soo cool!!
Also we easily had over 200 people there and probably more than half
of them weren't members.

-STARLAT Latte!!🥛🍼🐮

Yesterday we had Zone Conference so that's why I'm emailing today :)
It was amazing! We focused on using the Book of Mormon to find answers
to questions. It's so amazing that we have the word of God right at
our fingertips. I'm so grateful for the BOM and the answers we can
find!! We also got to watch the video of them putting the angel Moroni
on the Rome temple. If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommend
watching it! It was so powerful seeing him blowing his trumpet out
over Italy telling people to get ready because the Savior is coming!
The work really is hastening and I'm lucky enough to be a part of it
:)

Ok this is the longest group email I've written since the MTC I'm
pretty sure haha but I hope you guys have a fun week!! Happy Easter!!
Go watch the Prince of Peace video!! Vi voglio bene! Eat some Cadbury
eggs for me and remember the real reason for the season--our Savior!

Con amore,
Sorella Hess

Via Orazio Flacco 13/3
Bari, Italia
70100

Le foto:
1-Advertising for our English course while at the phone store hahahah :)
2-BITONTO. Who knew it was this cool?!
3-Zone Conf with my fav italiana
4-one of the many Bari fountains with my cute collega last night
5-STARLAT Latte!!🥛🍼🐮
6-Bari Sorelle!
7-Bari Zone

Advertising for our English course while at the phone store hahahah :)

Bari Sorelle!

Bari Zone

Conferenza, Bitonto, e Pallavolo!!

When members take pics of you during the lesson :)

Cari miei!

Another one of the best weeks of my mission! I say that all the time

but I really do mean it. The mission is just the greatest.

Sorella Bellomo and I are working our tails off and Bari is seeing so

many miracles!! We have a lot of potential investigators and this week

we're gonna work on turning them into actual progressing

investigators.

We're technically the Sorelle assigned to the Bitonto branch as well

as Bari Libertà so this week we were able to go out with the Anziani

and do a bunch of finding out there! It was a lot different than doing

finding in Bari because it's a TINY little town haha but it was a lot

of fun!

MONICA e MASSIMO. Wow they are just amazing. They are officially moved

in here and so we are now officially teaching them! They came to

Conference yesterday and LOVED it. Vescovo gave them each a blessing

and it was one of the most special experiences I've had on my mission.

He said to them that as they continue to take these steps along this

path, they will one day be sealed in the temple as a family! So

powerful. They both told us how badly they want to raise this new baby

they're waiting to adopt in the Gospel ❤️ So thankful the Lord is

allowing me to be a small part of this.

Conferenza Generale: We haven't been able to see the Sunday afternoon

session yet but literally every single one of my questions I had

written down going into this weekend were answered. There were so many

amazing speakers and things they said that touched me. I loved how

much they talked about following God's plan for us, trusting Him, and

following the promptings of the Spirit. It also helped me recognize

those small things that we can do daily in order to have the Spirit

with us constantly. Such an amazing Conference!! We are so blessed :)

Also a happy birthday shout out to my dad yesterday :) 44 never looked

so good!! I love you all!! The church is true and this is the Lord's

work!!!

Con amore,

Sorella Hess

Via Orazio Flacco 13/3

Bari, Italia

70100

Le foto:

When members take pics of you during the lesson hahaha

Pic with Monica while waiting for the boys to be done with the

Priesthood session :)

Our cute street cuz my mom always asks for pics of what the city looks

like haha.

District gelato run after MLC.

PALLAVOLO TODAY 🏐 First time playing in more than a year hahahaha.

We're gonna be dying tomorrow😂

Pic with Monica while waiting for the boys to be done with the

Priesthood session :)

Our cute street cuz my mom always asks for pics of what the city looks

like haha.

District gelato run after MLC.

PALLAVOLO TODAY 🏐 First time playing in more than a year hahahaha.

We're gonna be dying tomorrow😂

Le feste di Bari!!

Ciao tutti!

Another week! It's been great down here in Bari. This transfer is flying! Transfer calls are next P-day!

Friday was for sure the highlight of the week! We had a stake Relief Society activity for all the women in the Puglia Stake... so know what that means?? ALL the sisters from Taranto (my 1st area) came up to Bari for the evening 😊😍 It was easily one of the best nights of my mission. So much fun to see them all after almost a year and to actually be able to communicate with them now haha. I got to see a lady who was a Less-Active while I was there but then re-activated herself during my 3rd transfer. She told me that she just got a calling as a RS instructor!! I was soo happy to hear she's still doing well! Seriously such a powerful night. There were around 200 women there which is AMAZING for places outside of Utah haha 😉 I was blown away by how strong these members are. They truly are the pioneers of the church here in Italy since the church has only been here for about 40 years.

Bari and Taranto Zone Sorelle

Also, Monica (that lady from last Sunday who showed up at church) came to the activity and they officially own a house in our ward and are moving in the first week of April! We are so excited to teach her :) She's golden!

Sabrina from Taranto

Other exciting events of this week: we were trying to pass by the home of a less active member. When we found the one we were looking for, we rang the citofono. Immediately after the "chi è" (who is it) and our "salve siamo le sorelle," (hi we are the sisters) we were buzzed in. We were pleasantly surprised and went up to the first floor. We rang the bell at the apartment and a woman asked who we were through the closed door. We explained that we were the missionaries, and she told us she couldn't open the door because she was just the badante (caregiver) and didn't have the keys. We were about to leave and come back in the morning, and I asked, "Ma, c'è Paola?" And the woman said, "Aspettate, vediamo se trovo le chiavi." (Wait a second, I'll see if I can find the keys) And she opened up the door and let us right in. Her name is Maria, and she told us that sadly the less active we were looking for died last year from cancer, and she is the badante (caregiver) for the mother of this woman. BUT Maria had met missionaries in the past and always wanted to be in contact with them again, but had no number or anything to contact them! We have been talking to her and are trying to meet with her again, we just have to find a time in her busy work schedule. Isn't that amazing?!

Guisi!!!

We had a party with our English course where we made British, American, and Canadian treats. It was really fun! There were lots of people there. Lots of potentials!

My Fav people

Cool graffiti

I gave a talk in church yesterday on why we need the restored church and as I've been studying it this past week, I've been able to reflect a lot on all of the blessings in my life thanks to the church. I invite you guys to sit down and make a list of all the ways the gospel has blessed you. It'll take a while, I promise haha but it's a pretty special experience. During 2nd and 3rd hour we got to watch the full Joseph Smith movie in English with our African Gospel Principles class. It's amazing watching it as a missionary because this is what we share with people every single day. I am thankful for the Restoration and that we have the priesthood again on the earth today. We're blessed guys!!! I love you all! Have a great week! 

Elisabeth--spelled like my middle name :)

Bari is good for a lot of things....but Pizza isn't one of them haha:)

Con amore,

Sorella Hess

Via Orazio Flacco 13/3

Bari, Italia

70100

Le foto:

Bari and Taranto Zone Sorelle

Sabrina from Taranto

Giusy!

My fav people :)

Elisabeth (spelled like my middle name) :)

Cool graffiti 

Bari is good for a lot of things but pizza isn't one of

them haha :) 

BARI :)

Buongiorno guys!

Well I did it! I finally left Caserta. It was harder than I thought it'd be! I sure loved my time there but I'm excited for this next adventure down in..........BARI LIBERTÀ!!! Monday night I was with the Battipaglia Sorelle in Caserta when we got transfer calls and we found out that they were getting blown out too so this past week was insane with getting everything ready to go for the 4 new Sorelle coming in. 

We packed and left Caserta Tuesday and spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Battipaglia getting their apartment clean and packed up. 

Bye to Luana and Veronica 😭

Wednesday was crazy haha. We got all-you-can-eat sushi with the Anziani in Salerno (which is so so beautiful) for pranzo and then later that night we had a dinner appointment with a member. They fed us a ton come sempre. We wanted to stop by one last lady right before going home that night and turns out she had made us dinner too!!! Sooo, it was 9:20pm and we had to be home at 9:30 and we still had a huge plate of food and we were already stuffed from eating literally right before it. We pounded down the food in like 2 minutes flat and ran home hahaha. The stuff we put our poor bodies through on the mission😂

Thursday we took a train up to Rome for MLC. All the Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders in the mission stayed in the Villa (mission home). It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot!! Sorella Pickerd gave an addestramento and talked about the word "peculiar" and how it's used in the scriptures. In the Bible dictionary it's defined as "One's very own, exclusive, or special; the Lord's own special people or treasure." 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." I love this!! We are different from the rest of the world! We have the light of the Spirit with us! I read the talk, "Zion in the Midst of Babylon" by David R. Stone from April 2006 this week during studies and I really liked it. It talks about how to live in the world but not be of the world and how to have courage to be different from the world. I encourage you all to read it! :)

I got to Bari Friday night and finally got to unpack my bags!! It feels so nice after a couple weeks of living out of a suitcase :) My companion is Sorella Sargeant from Boulder City Nevada. We were in the same MTC group and we actually met at BYU before we left. She's the sweetest thing ever and we're gonna light up Bari Libertà this transfer!!! Also, I'm so excited to be back in Puglia just about an hour from my first area :) You know what that means? I get to eat panzarotti again! 

Panzarotti from La Maddalena 

Sunday was crazy being back in a full-Italian ward. They're all so in gamba here. Bari is the promised land!! After church we had a meal appointment (they have a missionary feeding calendar in the ward!!!!!) and they started eating these things called "cozze" (mussels). Well some of them told me to try it and I wasn't gonna say no, so I ate some raw cozze. Let's just say I now have food poisoning and don't feel that great today hahaha. Welcome to Bari!!

Sorella Seargants mom sent a Valentines Package

I'm excited for this next transfer! It's gonna be a blast. Thank you guys for your prayers and support! Love you all :)

Con amore,

Sorella Hess

Piazza Monte Gemma 9

Roma 00141

Italia 

1- Bye to Luana and Veronica 😭

2- MLC Training Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders
3-Panzarotti from La Maddalena 

4- Lungomare in Bari today