final transfer.....what??

Hi guys!

Well President threw another curve ball and Sorella James left me this

week to go to...BARI LIBERTÀ TO BE WITH SORELLA BELLOMO. I just came

from there!! She's going to have a blast! Bari is the promised land

haha. And she gets to be there for Monica & Massimo's baptisms this

weekend💕😭

My new companion is... Sorella Zapata!! Fun fact for you guys: I

actually met her at the beginning of February before she had left on

the mission. She's from Rome and was visiting friends in Bari. I told

her that day that we would for sure serve together! I was right 😎 She

was born in Ecuador but has lived in Rome since she was 5 so she's

pretty much Italian. She is in her 3rd transfer now so I'm follow-up

training her! She's darling and we're having so much fun already.

This week consisted of a lot of craziness but when does it not?!

Transfer day was interesting haha. Sorella James had a flight to catch

at 5am so I was alone with the Anziani until 9:30am when Sorella Ferre

came to the rescue to spend the afternoon with me in Catania ❤️ I love

Sorella Ferre so much. Sorella Zapata came in at 5pm and then at about

7 the Anziani call me and say we have an emergency haha... so the two

brand new greenies going to Palermo missed their train so they were

stranded in Catania for the night and had to stay with us. I felt like

a mama duck walking around Catania for the rest of the night with 3

young missionaries following behind hahaha. It was fun showing them a

little bit of the city!

Then the next morning we had to drop them off, we almost missed their

train because right before we got to the station we realized one of

them had left their tablet in our apartment. Soo... Sorella Zapata and

I hopped off the metro and sprinted back to the apartment and we

BARELY made their train. All before 7am hahaha. The mission is the

best. I'm gonna miss all the crazy stuff.

PSA: The mosquitos are alive and well in cat city. They got me BETWEEN

MY TOES last night when we got home. I have easily over 20 bites right

now 😑

We had a neat lesson with a less-active family in the ward this

weekend. Their dad recently passed away from cancer and we were able

to talk to them about the Atonement and how it's not just for us when

we need to repent but that it's there for us when we are suffering or

going through challenges. The Spirit was so strong! They also have a

super cute new puppy that's a Chou (idk how to spell it but it's like

a bear and the cutest thing I've ever seen haha).

Yesterday we had a HUUUGE miracle in church. Deannah is a member from

Australia and her husband is from here. She's 25 and is our best

friend. Well her husband isn't a member and they've been married for

almost a year now and he's never been to church before. We're good

friends with him because we visit them all the time and HE CAME

YESTERDAY. Guys I almost cried when I saw that he came! Such a cool

miracle. Deannah just cried during the opening hymn because the spirit

was so strong and she was so happy he came.

Also Lucia came which was a big miracle!! Catania sta fiorendo!!!

I'm dying of heat down here but I've never been happier. I can't

describe the joy missionary work brings. All the rejections we go

through are worth it just to see someone feel the spirit. I love

putting on my name-tag every morning and being a full time

representative of the Savior. Hopefully I'm becoming a little more

like Him each day :)

Also Happy Father's Day yesterday to the greatest dad in the world!!!

So blessed to be your favorite kid, Dad 😉 Thanks for everything you

do for me ❤️

Vi auguro una bellissima settimana!!

Con amore,

Sorella Hess

Via Genova 27

Catania 95127

Italia

Le foto:

Alone with these two during transfer day hahaha. Only the Italy Rome mission where the closest sisters are HOURS away hahaha.

Sorella Ferre💕💕

My cute new collega Sorella Zapata!!

Our friend Godspower from Nigeria after volleyball the other night. (Yes, his name is really Godspower!!)

Cutest puppy

Mbare vogghiu a canni ri cavaddu

Hey guys!! 

Subject line is in dialect haha. Italian isn't really that ugly :)

Currently on a road trip to Siracusa with the ZL's for an exchange with the sorelle there so stay tuned for next week :) It should be fun!

We worked our tails off this week and we've been able to see some cool miracles. We've had a ton of potential investigators these past couple weeks but haven't been able to meet with them again but this week we finally got our schedules coordinated and added several new investigators! 

Catania is really cool because there are so many young kids around our age. As a mission we've been really trying to focus on the golden age from mid-teens to the kid-twenties. This week we had a super fun activity with the youth and the YSA in the ward before institute and we invited all our contacts and investigators in that age group and we all played volleyball and ultimate frisbee at the church. We had a good turnout and it was a blast! 2 of our British friends Meredith and Neda came and seem interested in the church so we'll see where that goes! Also our friend Courtney from Washington state came and she's soo fun! They're all exchange students here for a year and are so cute. It's WEIRD teaching in English. Yeah, we teach africans and filipinos in English but it's different when they're Americans or British and our age haha. 

We were doing a mostra last night in centro with the elders and this guy walked by and spit on a Book of Mormon and was yelling some not very nice things at us and earlier in the week a lady did similar things as a big crowd of people was watching. Honestly my initial reaction would have been to yell back or get mad (the natural man in us) but it made me think about how people did the same thing to the Savior but instead of getting defensive and wanting to defend Himself or argue back, He just turned the other cheek and loved them. He was perfect and had dedicated his entire life to serving others. He had done nothing to deserve to be treated like that and had every reason to be frustrated but instead He asked His father to forgive them. That's true Christlike love and something I'm trying hard to develop because I'm far from perfect. I'm thankful for the mission though and the things I'm learning out here even though it's not always easy. Time is going fast and I am trying my best to continue to open my mouth and share the gospel with everyone that will hear it. I'm happier than I've ever been!!! 

Omni 1:26 says,

"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."

I am so thankful for the knowledge we have of the Savior's Atonement and that He is just waiting for us to come to Him and turn our lives over to Him. He's waiting at the door but we just have to let Him in! Pray for ways to serve others and I promise you guys will be happier :) Loooove you guys!!

Con amore,

Sorella Hess

Via Genova 27 

Catania 95127 

Italia

Le foto: 

First and only district pic after volleyball!

Beautiful sunsets 🌅 

Cute Courtney :)

The elephant of Catania. Apparently it brings good luck!

Siracusa!!

I'm a wizard

Buongiorno guys!

Everything is going great down in Sicilia. I absolutely love it here!! 

I've always had a testimony of God especially protecting the missionaries but this week definitely confirmed it. We were walking home one night and there are these giant poles that stick out of the sidewalk so people won't park there. We literally couldn't have walked 5 steps past them when this car comes barreling into them and flattened them to the ground and then spun off and hit another car. We easily could've been seriously injured but luckily the car didn't hit anyone else on the sidewalk except the other car and they were all miraculously okay even though the cars were destroyed! Exact obedience brings miracles guys! 

Family history: We have a friend from California that lives on our block and we got to help her do family history this week. She's seriously one of the coolest people I've met on the mission. She is African American and has her PhD in English so she's a professor for a university here. It was so fun helping her and getting to know her better. She's a practicing Jew but we are hoping family history will trigger some questions about our church and she'll have more interest :) 

Adelaide: Okay this is my personal fav for the week. Saturday night we were doing finding in a cool park called Villa Bellini and we saw this girl who was crying and was obviously having a hard day. I'll be honest, I probably wouldn't have normally approached her but I literally felt like someone pushed me to talk to her. We sat down and asked if we could show her a video that we knew could help her and she said "yes, please do!" So we showed her Grazie a Lui (because of Him) and talked about having faith in Christ and how we can overcome our trials. She said what we were saying was super intriguing and that she instantly felt peace when we started talking :) We invited her to church and she came the next day! I love when we're just completely led by the Spirit to do something we normally wouldn't do but it turns out being a huge miracle! 

In other news, that same night we were walking down the street and this guy stops us and asks if we speak English. He proceeds to tell us he's a wizard and by the end of the conversation tries to kiss my comp...not just like on the cheek like normal here... like "a real kiss" (in his words). I turned into mama bear for a minute and we got outta there hahahaha.

I gave a talk in church on John 14: 17-18 which talks about how we won't be left comfortless in trials and that the Savior will come to us. As I've been studying this week, I've been able to reflect on the many times during my mission and my life where I felt alone and then every time without fail, I'm overwhelmed with the Savior's love.

Another thing I've learned a lot on the mission that was reinforced this week is how when things don't go to plan...there's nothing we can do about it. It's not worth it to get frustrated! Stuff hardly ever goes according to plan on the mission. It's okay because it's out of our control if buses aren't on time...or just don't pass at all, or if people cancel on us, or if they change the talent show to start at 9:30pm on a Friday night and then the missionaries can't go cuz #curfew. :) Learning to just roll with it :) 

Skype was awesome!!! I got to do a group Skype call with my brother Sam who's in Fiji so that was a blast. I love my fam! I hope all you Moms had a great Mother's Day! I love and appreciate you all :) 

Con amore,
Sorella Hess

Via Genova 27 
Catania 95127 
Italia

Sorella James quote of the week: "I feel like missionaries walking up to a member's house in Sicily for a meal appointment is like voluntarily choosing to get martyred."

You guys they feed us soo much here it literally HURTS you and feels like your stomach is going to tear and you're in pain for hours afterwards haha. It's such good food but almost turture.

Le foto:

1-the view on the way to the church each day

2-haha idk. 

3-1st vision Italian version

4-💕💕

5-one of the cool churches in Catania

6-the damage from the accident 😬

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😂

Digiuni, miracoli, funerali!(2)

Ciao guys, 

I swear we just had P-day 5 minutes ago haha. Time really needs to slow down. We had such a cool miracle yesterday so I'll start with that! 

"Shoot, we haven't taken any pics this week....smile guys"

Sorella Sargeant and I fasted yesterday so that we'd be able to find more truly interested investigators this week. No joke, right at the beginning of sacrament meeting this couple walks in. We didn't know who they were so I went and sat by them. Massimo--the husband--is a member from Taranto (my 1st area!!!) but has been living in L'aquila (up north of Rome) for 8 years and is inactive. His wife, Monica is from Uruguay but moved to Italy when she was 11. She's not a member (yet😉) but is seriously soo sweet and interested in the church. They're married and in the middle of adopting a baby and ARE MOVING TO OUR WARD IN A FEW WEEKS :) :) :) She texted US after church and said thank you so much for making her feel welcomed and that she's coming to the Relief Society activity this Saturday night. A random inactive man just shows up at our church and brings his non-member wife. That doesn't just randomly happen while we happen to be fasting for miracles. Fasting works guys!! Punto.

Saimo noi, la luce less'amore

Bishop asked me to play the piano for a funeral on Friday of an older man in the ward who passed away. It was such a spiritual day. His wife and daughters aren't members of the church and it was hard to watch them so heartbroken thinking they wouldn't be able to see their dad ever again. That morning we had taught a lesson to a new convert on the Plan of Salvation and then being at that funeral afterwards just confirmed my testimony of it even more. We are so blessed to know that death isn't the end!! I'm so thankful for the knowledge we have of where we came from, why we are here, where we are going, and how we can reach the highest kingdom of glory. The gospel brings so much peace and comfort in our lives! 

Visiting older ladies in the ward is the BESST!

New mattress today, we live in the old elder apartment so it was a necessity hahaha

Other than that, not much out of the usual happened. Getting creeped on, eating pasta, teaching English Course, preachin' the gospel...all that good stuff :) I love you guys! I love this church and all the blessings that come from being a missionary. You don't have to wear a name tag to be a missionary though ;) Pray for opportunities to share the gospel! Vi voglio un mondo di bene! 

Baci da Bari

Sorella Hess

Via Orazio Flacco 13/3
Bari, Italia
70100