Eccoci qua!

Got latte?

Ok, here we go, another week, means I've almost finished my first transfer, what? La mia testa sta per scopire.

But all is well. I'm glad we have good missionaries at home. As I've been out in the field and learning to work with members I've been baffled thinking back to the last bit of time where I couldn't figure out what some of our Elders were doing.

Bergamo really is fabulous. Sunday abbiamo pranzato with this super rad family, it was a meal you would have all appreciated. At the end we were all full, and we had talked about my adventures in cheese making this summer and what not and Sorella Ghilardi convinced me to eat some cheese with her, and she made this little spread for us and taught me this Bergamasco saying (I can't remember it) that says something about the meal not being over till some cow is in the mouth, meaning we've eaten cheese.

Thursday we were in Varese (one of the sisters was trained by Rachel) and it was fine but I was so happy to get back to Bergamo, this just feels like my city! Anna is getting baptized Saturday and we're so pumped. We've had a couple hard days with lots of cancelled appointments and not many people wanting to talk to us, but then we always find someone that wants to listen. I talked to this lady named Blessing last week who we've taught once now and is reading from the Book of Mormon. Daniela is still awesome, mostly because we picked the perfect member to come with us.

I can't believe it's almost Canoecopia! Tell all the Native dudes they still owe me a beer. Or something.

Also I can't believe Ian's call could come next week. I can't wait to know! As I was daydreaming on the bus heading to Como last week I thought maybe South Africa. Hmm...so many options.

at do you guys want to hear about? I feel so panicked everytime I e-mail. Ha! Sorella Jacobson says I should tell you about Como. It was a dream. It felt so good to be near the water again. We're hoping next week it may be warm enough we'll be able to do some hiking on p-day seeing as we're surrounded by beautiful mountains.

I feel like I don't worry anymore about being able to understand people now I'm just figuring out what to say when I'm actually talking to peeps. Pian piano.

I've been studying up on prayer this week. Reread Enos...man, I love that chapter, maybe because he was in the forest. One thing I liked this time through was how as soon as God forgives him of his sins he believes Him, because God cannot lie, and asks only how it was done. I think a lot of times we like to second guess the things the Lord tells us, convince us we were wrong or we wern't actually worthy to be forgiven, but God cannot lie. And I love how God's answer is that it was Enos's faith in Christ, becuase everyhting is always about faith in Christ, that's how we heal, that's how we move on, that's how we try to become better, that's how we live with hope.

Also Dad, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that you can take the girl out of the soils lab but you can't take the soils lab out of the girl. We have these bottles of aranciata on the fridge and every now and then I'll shake them at different times and watch the settlment in the bottom, somebody did too many texture analysis tests back in the day.


Here are some Como pics and zone conference and the last is from the polenta and fresh milk vending machine by our house, I feel like CA especially will appreciate that.

Much love to you all!

xoxo

Sorella Bush

guess where i am...

Indovinate! If you were thinking Como, you win. Maybs don't tell Jessica, she might try and flip over the sacrament table in a jealous rage.

So this will be brief but full of Italian love.

So normally P(reparation) Day is to be spent in our zone, but we're off to Varese for a blitz to work with the sorelle there tomorrow, so I was a brave girl and called president and reminded him that como is proprio vicino and he said "Alright, nbd, go for it." So we're getting ready to hop on a boat, yes, be still my beating heart. Plus Outkast is playing in this little internet cafe and I couldn't be happier. Ha.

It's been a good week, my highlight being our second lesson with this super rad lady Daniela who reminds me of Kristin (cugina). But I sort of mediated the lesson because we also brought one of our favorite members who we thought would get along great with her, and I started off my asking her if she had the chance to read Ether, Chapter 12 which we had left with her, and she said, "Why yes I did," and went through the chapter talking about all her favorite verses, all the famous ones, and why she liked them. After we left, Sorella Capelli joked that she wondered who would be teaching the lesson. Daniela is just so smart and on top of things and I just want her to go to the temple more than anything because she would/will love it. She said she'd come to church on Sunday, fingers crossed.

Anna continues to be stellar and I can't wait for her baptism a week from Saturday. I was even brave enough to answer the phone when she called this morning!

The weather is warming up which means I'm sadly seeing less and less extravagant dog jackets, but seasons must change I suppose.

I reread Mosiah 5 I think it was yesterday, when all the peeps tell King Ben they believe and I just went through specifically looking for the blessings that come from and through faith. Check it out, it's pretty short.

Sundays are great and stressful at the same time because we're at church which means instead of trying to listen to one or two people speak Italian there are at least 20 people talking all the time, or so it seems, and this week I was lamenting my lack of a perfect vocabulary. I miss my personality at times, it just takes me so long to figure out how to respond and say all these funny things in my head that it's so much easier to nod and say si. Sorella Jacobson feels like she just barely started feeling like she had personailty, so maybe it's just one more thing I need to wait for.

IAN'S PAPES ARE IN! Yes yes yes. I probs can't write him a letter today because I'm not home, and buses, trains or ferries make me kind of sick, so it didn't happen.

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!
xoxo,

sorella bush

r.i.p. whitney...

Ok guys,

I know you've been worried wince you didn't hear from me yesterday, but don't worry, there was not a mass exodous of Whitney's from the world this weekend. We were just in Verona for a conference training thing. I have returned.

But really, Whitney Houston is dead. I can't believe it. I've been walking around our house singing about how I will always love you, and how I'm not going to walk in anyone's shadow. It's the least I can do for my namesake.

It's been a good week, not even including the pistacchio magnum ice cream bar I just ate.

Highlight 1. We had a washing machine malfunction which landed us with an afternoon in our house waiting on our landlady to do some quick electric magic, so I pulled out a super old area book and was looking through peeps who had been taught some years ago and then for whatever reason stopped meeting with the missionaries. I read up on their history with the missionaries, pulled out one's that looked promising and Sorella Jacobson called them up.

We got a few appointments set right away and two of them were actually super rad lessons. One was late Sunday night in a Kebab restaurant with lady named Irma and she brought two of her friends, and we ate fries and drank Coke and taught a quick first lesson. They were asking sincere simple questions like, "If Joseph Smith is a prophet why have I never heard about him?", and "Where did the Book of Mormon come from?" And Irma started bearing testimony to her friends about how our church was the only one she ever really like going to in Italy, and the people there really care about each other and aren't going to let you fall.

The other lady was Daniela. She's about 31, from Bergamo, lives in a rad old building close to Città Alta that she said was built in the 1300s. Welcome to Italy, dudes. But anyway, she was super smart and thought really carefully about all our questions and is excited for us to come back.

I don't always have faith that when we're out for hours doing casa in the cold that we're going to find someone then, but I always feel like if we're out looking, somehow we'll find the right people, and that's sort of what I feel like has been happening.

Highlight 2. Monday we had interviews with President Wolfgram because we have a huge zone and he couldn't get everyone in yesterday. But I really loved talking to him and I told him that I felt like everything was easier than I thought it would be, and he said I was the first missionary to ever say that. I'm still not good at explaining what I mean, but I feel like I understand that I'm only here for 15 more months, today marks 3 months since I left...what? But my time is short and I know I should be here so why wouldn't I get up and do the things I'm supposed to do? Even if there are weeks where no one wants to listen, I'm doing what I can, and sooner or later there will be somebody who's ready, and the fact that I'm here will make all the difference to them.

I feel like there are two ways to respond to when things are hard. You can keep walking, or sit down and give up. It's like in Helaman Chapter 5 when the people are covered in this darkness and fear and they don't know what to do and someone remembers Christ and his doctrine.

We know the things we need to do to make us happy so why not just keep going forward knowing that everyday we'll be a little closer to that. Am I making any sense? I hope so. I feel like now, as a missionary, because we have so many more extreme ups and downs, it my chance to show God that no matter how dark and low I may feel, I'm going to keep walking. I can't see the person I can become yet but God can, so why wouldn't I trust him completely?

All your 2012 trips sound great, Daddy. Pencil me in for the Apostles next year. I'm going to need some serious rehydration. I've found lots of friends for you to email when I leave Bergamo. A couple members we've met with want to either help you keep up Italian or steal your life as a canoe man.

We've started trying to pick up some Bergamasco. The members keep saying that I know enough Italian so I should just get to the more important work and learn the tongue of the angels. The only things I can remember so far are how to say siamo noi and ti voglio bene.

All is still well. The streets are still old, the weather is warming up, we're trying a new cheese every week. Even though I'm tired every morning I know it's only another 16 hours and I'm back in my bed. Ha. Trying to remember to take more pics to send you soon. This week I had mail in our little mail box for the first time. There was much rejoicing. I'll try and think of anything I need. Maybe some lentil recipies and more of my fav sharpie pens.

Much love to everyone. I found a little valentine stuffed hedge hog with a Ti Voglio Bene heart in its hand, just pretend like I'm sending that to you at the end of this e-mail.

xoxoxoxo
Sorella Bush

Whitney's New Address

Sorella Whitney Bush

Via Maglio del Rame 13

24124 Bergamo

ITALIA

Write her!

La seconda settimana.

Hello! Time for some rapid fire e-mailing.

First, thanks for your e-mails, I'm sitting here giggling away and I'm sure everyone else is slightly bemused. Glad life is rolling on and all is well in the promised land.

This week flew by, for which I was kind of grateful, the first few days being a little slow and really hard, but I feel quite settled into my life here. I'm understanding more and more and becoming, pian piano, braver in speaking, expecially thanks to the members who really are incredible, and are so patient with me. Sorella Jacobson has been kind of shocked at how much they've really taken us in since I got here, not that they haven't always been great, but several families that had tried and tried to meet with and never really responded came up to her my first Sunday and set up appointments and it's just taken off from there. I think I really am understanding a bit better everyday and maybe one day I won't speak so obviously like an American.

First story is about our stellar investigator Anna, who picked her baptismal date and annonced it on Sunday. She meets with the other ward, but since she's an older single woman we teach her. We had had a lesson Friday night and she had left us hanging about her date again but we heard her come in Sunday morning and she was helping everything get all set up in the Relief Society room and we went up to greet her and she told us and all the other ladies in the room that she had decided on the first weekend of March.

Well, everyone shrieked and was hugging and kissing and Anna was beaming. Our lesson with her Friday was the first time I had met her, the Sorelle had taught her 4 times before, but I could still tell that there was just this joy radiating from her because she understands what it means to be baptized and be a member of this church and it was just incredible.

Next, Jonathan. He's one of our recent converts and is 11 and he is a future leader of men, my goodness. He's Bolivian and his older siblings aren't members but his mom is, she's usually busy working to provide for the family to come to church so he comes by himself. We had a lesson with him on the Priesthood Sunday evening to help him prepare himself and I was just blown away by how thoughtful he was and how well he responded to our questions. Sorella Jacobson said that there was a week when he said he hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon and the was confused by their questions and lacked his usual energy and excitement, but this week when we were reading together he hustled to his room to get his scriptures from his desk where he had been studying. Seriously, such a stellar kid.

Life continues to become more and more normal. This city is incredible. We're in the middle of some of the coldest weather they've seen in 30 years, but we're promised Spring will come soon. Last Wednesday we went up to Città Alta, the old walled city, to see their duomo and old winding streets and it was snowing and felt like some sort of magical land. I talked to our mission president on the phone the other day and he told me the problem with starting missionaries out in Bergamo is they're disappointed with everywhere else. Ha.

I'm still working on not being so scared to talk to people doing strada or casa when we're out looking for new peeps to teach. Pian piano. I decided to start trying to take a bit of time to study the atonement more, because there's a line in Preach my Gospel that talks about how when have a greater understanding of the atonement we'll want to share it with everyone. For me right now that means that as I really process and learn about what Christ has done for us I'll feel like it's more important for me to share this message than worry about how people will respond when I stumble along in their language.

I have one request, that you send me some music. I really failed there and am craving some better music. Maybs the Amelie soundtrack? Anything you else you think is missionary appropriate.

Also, I'm learning to navigate my way through which Italian dudes I should try and talk to about the gospel (like this rad kid named Andrew from Nigeria we stopped by the cemetery), and which ones will just creepily say something about how beautiful I am/we are as we walk by. It's kind of hilarious and feels like I'm living in some sort of bad made-for-TV movie on the Lifetime Channel.

Usually we just crack up, but there was this one seemingly respectible old man smoking a pipe. I said salve to him as we walked by, and the said the creepiest ciaaaooo bellllllaaa I've ever heard. Sorella Jacobson was dying of laughter, and I told her we needed to go home so I could take a shower. Ha.

I love you all! I love being here and I have no doubt this is exactly where I should be right now.

xoxoxoxo

Sorella Bush

Hello! Time for some rapid fire e-mailing.

First, thanks for your e-mails, I'm sitting here giggling away and I'm sure everyone else is slightly bemused. Glad life is rolling on and all is well in the promised land.

This week flew by, for which I was kind of grateful, the first few days being a little slow and really hard, but I feel quite settled into my life here. I'm understanding more and more and becoming, pian piano, braver in speaking, expecially thanks to the members who really are incredible, and are so patient with me. Sorella Jacobson has been kind of shocked at how much they've really taken us in since I got here, not that they haven't always been great, but several families that had tried and tried to meet with and never really responded came up to her my first Sunday and set up appointments and it's just taken off from there. I think I really am understanding a bit better everyday and maybe one day I won't speak so obviously like an American.

First story is about our stellar investigator Anna, who picked her baptismal date and annonced it on Sunday. She meets with the other ward, but since she's an older single woman we teach her. We had had a lesson Friday night and she had left us hanging about her date again but we heard her come in Sunday morning and she was helping everything get all set up in the Relief Society room and we went up to greet her and she told us and all the other ladies in the room that she had decided on the first weekend of March.

Well, everyone shrieked and was hugging and kissing and Anna was beaming. Our lesson with her Friday was the first time I had met her, the Sorelle had taught her 4 times before, but I could still tell that there was just this joy radiating from her because she understands what it means to be baptized and be a member of this church and it was just incredible.

Next, Jonathan. He's one of our recent converts and is 11 and he is a future leader of men, my goodness. He's Bolivian and his older siblings aren't members but his mom is, she's usually busy working to provide for the family to come to church so he comes by himself. We had a lesson with him on the Priesthood Sunday evening to help him prepare himself and I was just blown away by how thoughtful he was and how well he responded to our questions. Sorella Jacobson said that there was a week when he said he hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon and the was confused by their questions and lacked his usual energy and excitement, but this week when we were reading together he hustled to his room to get his scriptures from his desk where he had been studying. Seriously, such a stellar kid.

Life continues to become more and more normal. This city is incredible. We're in the middle of some of the coldest weather they've seen in 30 years, but we're promised Spring will come soon. Last Wednesday we went up to Città Alta, the old walled city, to see their duomo and old winding streets and it was snowing and felt like some sort of magical land. I talked to our mission president on the phone the other day and he told me the problem with starting missionaries out in Bergamo is they're disappointed with everywhere else. Ha.

I'm still working on not being so scared to talk to people doing strada or casa when we're out looking for new peeps to teach. Pian piano. I decided to start trying to take a bit of time to study the atonement more, because there's a line in Preach my Gospel that talks about how when have a greater understanding of the atonement we'll want to share it with everyone. For me right now that means that as I really process and learn about what Christ has done for us I'll feel like it's more important for me to share this message than worry about how people will respond when I stumble along in their language.

I have one request, that you send me some music. I really failed there and am craving some better music. Maybs the Amelie soundtrack? Anything you else you think is missionary appropriate.

Also, I'm learning to navigate my way through which Italian dudes I should try and talk to about the gospel (like this rad kid named Andrew from Nigeria we stopped by the cemetery), and which ones will just creepily say something about how beautiful I am/we are as we walk by. It's kind of hilarious and feels like I'm living in some sort of bad made-for-TV movie on the Lifetime Channel.

Usually we just crack up, but there was this one seemingly respectible old man smoking a pipe. I said salve to him as we walked by, and the said the creepiest ciaaaooo bellllllaaa I've ever heard. Sorella Jacobson was dying of laughter, and I told her we needed to go home so I could take a shower. Ha.

I love you all! I love being here and I have no doubt this is exactly where I should be right now.

xoxoxoxo

Sorella Bush

A letter from Bergamo

Guys. I'm in Italy. Whoa. This is real life.

Things are going well, I don't really know where to begin. Maybe a baby bit about the first few days. Your last letter was perfect, Dad, because I'm not that great at being patient with myself and I'm not that used to being totally new at something. But being a real missionary is something very very new.

I was frustrated with how little I felt like I was understanding (peeps talk fast here. Really fast!). I felt like I never knew what to say and was so tired. The lovely thing was that Friday evening the Elders in our ward had a baptism, Justin, who's about 17, was baptized and watching him come out of the water I was flooded with the feeling that this is why I am here. You could tell he knew what he had just done would change his life, and I know that I'm here to help people realize that.

Then we had Ward Council. The Bishop called on my to give a baby spiritual thought and my companion (Sorella Jacboson from Salt Lake) said every one was more or less shocked with how well I spoke. After the meeting the bishop said "Ma come mai Lei parla italiano?" They say they've never had a new missionary speak as well as I do. I always use you as my excuse, Dad, I just tell them that you served in Catania 30 years ago and they assume you've been teaching me, because I also gave my testimony in sacrament meeting.

But oh my gosh I love the ward. There are two here and they're in the process of forming a third branch, the first city that's not a capital to have more than two. And they are all stellar. By the way, Sorella Bunker is in Torino being trained by Julie Allen's niece.

Sunday we had lunch with the Capelli family and I am still trying to get used to eating huge lunches and practically no dinner. But between the families we ate with Sunday and had Family Home Evening with Monday, I feel like I got so much better and just speaking, and they're all really patient when I say something wrong or don't know a word.

I love teaching, these last few days I've gotten better and speaking in lessons with our investigators. We have an Italian family we're teaching who we saw last night and are great. The daughter is 10 and hilarious and the mom studies and teaches about Gregorian chant. When the missionaries knocked on the door the dad answered and invited them back because he was touched by the prayer they said together and he said he'd more or less given up on finding the truth. We read Alma 32 together and talked about faith and drank tea (it was super cold yesterday with their first snow of the winter). Also, everyone worries that I'm freezing to death but when I wear my fleece with the sweater Mom made I really am fine. This afternoon we're going to look for a real coat, but I may just hold out this week because Spring isn't too far away here.

The thing that's the hardest for me right now is just talking to people. On the street, on the bus, at their door. Mamma mia. And I had this revelatory moment this morning where I realized that this will probably be hard for me forever and it's going to take time for me to really figure out what I'm doing. With every knew thing there's a learning period. Even my first weeks at BYU were somewhat miserable.

And I'm not miserable at all here. I love the people and the language and this city. I love that I just ate fresh pears with pecorino cheese.

Um, other thoughts for you. Saturday night we teach a free English class at the church and there's a family that comes and one of the Elders was tried to talk with a bit but it's never worked out or been the right time and then Monday night Sorella and I were out knocking doors in this mess of apartment buildings and this lady buzzed us into the building and it was them! So we talked a baby bit about the Book of Mormon and left one with them and they want us to come back to talk more and eat pizza. Pretty exciting.

So excited about Ian's papers. I can't wait to see where he goes.

My companion is great and every time I say, I'm sorry I didn't do this or said this wrong or whatever she's always like, "You've been in the field for 2 days...DO NOT worry about it. Pian piano.

Our apartment is pretty great and I make lunch everyday (that someone doesn't feed us) while she calls and makes appointments because I hate the phone. Ha. One day I'm sure I'll have to. Oh so maybe send me some recipes? I've just been making stuff up and it's working out fine but yeah.

OH! My address. Please send me letters!

Sorella Bush
Via Maglio del Rame 13
2412 Bergamo
Italia

Vi voglio un mondo di bene. Hope you are all well and being good. Can't believe I'm missing Canoecopia. Give everyone a firm handshake or a kiss on the cheek for me.

xoxo,

Sorella Bush

Ma come mai Lei parla Italiano = How in the world do you speak Italian?
Pian piano = little by little.
Pecorino = a hard cheese made from sheep's milk, usually from the Lazio region around Roma.
Vi voglio un mondo di bene = I love you all very much (lit. I want a world of good for you).