Hallie turns 21!!

She Turned 21

 Week 25 Birthday, Miracles, and No Shows

Wow it's already been 25 weeks crazy! This week was am awesome one! First off watch out world because I am now a 21 year old! Crazy, it was hard being away from my family but that's okay we still had a good day! But more on that later... This week started off with a scambio in Milano. For Friday and Saturday. I was with Sorella Jones. We went to a lesson pretty far away, and it  was awesome though. It was with an elderly lady who has this grand house. She was so sweet. Saturday we sneaked by the Duomo to get a birthday picture! You are now getting weekly emails from a 21 year old, yikes! Then for our dinner appointment I was surprised with balloons and confetti and a yummy cake! It made my day! 
I had a great miracle this week. A lot of our appointments turned into empty houses, no answers, and fell through. I was kind of discouraged. But one day we were sitting on the bus and I looked at this lady and I thought to myself, I think I know her, she is from Peru. So I got one of our pass along cards and gave it to her. Turns out she is from Peru and she has a member cousin, pretty cool! But she was leaving the next day to go visit them in Peru. But she gave us her number to contact her when she gets back in September, so this story is to be continued.

We are way short on time today but I want to share a brief testimony that I know prayers are answered even if they aren't in the way we want or expect. When we go look for the miracles they come, no one can just wait around expecting them. I hope you all have the best week ever! (And if you are in Texas I heard Bluebell came out with their mint chocolate chip ice cream again so go eat some for me!)
Love,
Sorella Teague
Pic 1- Duomo in Milano
Pic 2- Birthday dinner
Pic 3 Como
Pic 4 A member's daughter did our hair haha

Surprise Party

Sis MacKenzie

Crazy hair dos!

Week 20 June 2016 Bologna

Ciao all! Well I guess I will just start off with the weird, I am no longer in Rimini but instead in Bologna with the wonderful Sorella Taylor! It is a really long story but in the end I know that I am just where I need to be now. It was so hard to leave that beautiful city and more importantly the wonderful people, but there are many great things ahead here as well. So last Wednesday I arrived here in 
Bologna, hence the no emails last week. We filled our days with quite the adventures because Sorella Taylor has only been here 2 weeks, and I have never been here before. Thursday we met this amazing member her name is Erika, man she is so  cool, her husband speaks 10 languages, I think the Elders here are teaching him. She told us all about her hometown in Peru, and we talked about pretty much everything under the sun. She was so nice and
so happy to see us. Our English class here is soooooo different from any English course ever. There are three Elderly people who come. I have yet to understand them in Italian or English, haha. But they brought us food so that was cool. Sorella Taylor and I were really struggling with staying awake haha.


We had a fun FHE activity where we played pictionary, it was fun to see and to meet the ward. On Saturday we met a new convert Helena. Then the icing on the cake (literally), we ventured our way into a Romanian birthday party. Weirdest two hours or so in my life. First of all we showed up and everyone was not happy to see us, they were under the impression that the old Sorella would be there. They were personally offended that she did not make it to the party. But there was one girl, literally a girl she is 19 but has a child.... It's part of their culture to get married very very very young, M is her name and she was very nice and needed us to talk to. We were stuck at the party for quite sometime because heaven forbid us to leave, again just their culture. Things were just chaos babies crying everywhere, all the men yelling and laughing at one table across the grass field, drama among the women, and then it just started to pour we are talking thunder and lightning. Then they brought out the cake...... There were literal literal fireworks on the cake. Sorella Taylor and I were dying with laughter and shock. They were a very close family, and there were a lot of them. I am sure we will see them again.

Sunday we had church and lots of calls. Because we had to prepare for scambio! Because Sorella Taylor is an STL, so as her comp, I am involved in the scambio process.... On Monday we had our scambio! I was with my Sorella Bartch who is from Germany. We had a good lesson on Monday and we didn't even get lost. So yeah for that, four days in this city has got nothing on me! These past few weeks have just been absolutely crazy on me. So one thing i decided to do was to read and dedicate a Book of Mormon to just find scriptures about peace and finding answers. I have been highlighting and writing notes just on this one topic in one place. One that I found this week was: Moroni 7:36. "Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the
earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?" I know that there are miracles and angels still today, sometimes we just have to look for them! 

Love you all!
Sorella Teague
Pic 1 sorella Taylor and I dying of heat and a little sad because
someone lost their cat
Pic 2 with Sorella Bartch

June 1 - Week 17 - A quick detour to Rimini - but not for long!

Ciao Tutti!

Well I guess I will start out with the weird, we, the Busto Sorelle, are being closed. This news came as quite a shock to us. Because of some circumstances we knew that the other set of Sorelle in our district were being closed. So to get that phone call on Saturday with

our Zone leader saying "You are being closed" was heart breaking. Both Sorella Roper and I's hearts just sunk. They then told me where I was serving. And it is Rimini, and I will have an Italian comp, so no English for me. It is quite literally so far away from where I am now.

Busto has been quite the city for us. It has been full of really hard at times, it has taught us to count on the tender mercies, and to rely on the Lord. I was definitely not expecting or prepared to leave so soon. We both felt as though the work has just picked up. I am scared

to go to a new part of the country with a companion who does not speak English, and I do not speak Italian. It has made me really reflect on what Thomas S. Monson quite frequently repeats, "Who the Lord calls, He qualifies". I am sure that there are going to be times of

frustration and hardships, but I have been called and I can do it. I will be in a Beautiful place. I am so grateful.

So with all of the new crazy changes needless to say this has been a  busy week. It has been a week full of lots of sunshine and heat. And then the later half was all rain, haha. We have walked quite a lot this week. Sorella Roper was asked to give a talk on Sunday because she finishes her mission tomorrow. This gave me some time to read and listen to conference talks.  

One that I feel inclined to share is "Faith of Our Father" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (April 2008). If you have not read or listened to it, do it. Even if you did watch April 2008 conference go listen to it again because it has been 8 years. Here is a story that he shares of President Thomas S. Monson: "Some years ago, President Monson came to a regional conference in Hamburg, Germany, and it was my honor to accompany him. President

Monson has a remarkable memory, and we talked about many of the Saints in Germany--I was amazed that he remembered so many so well. President  Monson asked about Brother Michael Panitsch, a former stake president and then a patriarch, who had been one of the stalwart pioneers of the Church in Germany. I told him that Brother Panitsch was seriously ill, that he was bedridden and unable to attend our meetings. President Monson asked if we could pay him a visit. I knew that shortly before his trip to Hamburg, President Monson had undergone foot surgery and that he could not walk without pain. I explained that Brother Panitsch lived on the fifth floor of a building with no elevators. We would have to climb the stairs to see him. But President Monson insisted. And so we went. I remember how difficult it was for President Monson to climb those stairs. He could take only a few at a time before

needing to stop and rest. He never uttered a word of complaint, and he would not turn back. Because the building had high ceilings, the stairs seemed to go on forever, but President Monson cheerfully persevered until we arrived at the apartment of Brother Panitsch on

the fifth floor. Once there, we had a wonderful visit. President Monson thanked him for his life of dedicated service and cheered him with a smile. Before we left, he gave him a wonderful priesthood blessing. No one but Brother Panitsch, the immediate family, and

myself ever saw that act of courage and compassion. President Monson could have chosen to rest between our long and frequent meetings. He could have asked to see some of the beautiful sights of Hamburg. I have often thought of how remarkable it was that of all the sights in that city, the one he wanted to see more than any other was a feeble and ailing member of the Church who had faithfully and humbly served the Lord. President Monson came to Hamburg to teach and bless the people of a country, and that is what he did. But at the same time, he focused on the one, name by name. His vision is so broad and far-reaching to grasp the complexities of a worldwide Church, yet he is also so compassionate to focus on the one. When the Apostle Peter spoke of Jesus, who had been his friend and teacher, he offered this simple description: “[He] went about doing good.”I feel the same can

be said of the man we sustain today as the prophet of God." This account helped me this week, I am here to go about doing good. There are so any times when the "five flights of stairs" seem to be going on. Whether it is trying to find a house in the hot hot sun only

to find that they aren't home, or waiting for a bus that never comes, or literally walking up those five flights of stairs which seem to last forever. 

There is always good to be done. There are always those that are in need of cheering. So as I am off to Rimini I am off to new adventures, to find those in need and to go about doing good. I hope everyone has a wonderful week,

Vi Voglio Bene

Sorella Teague

Week 18:
Really in Rimini

Well I am here, in beautiful city of Rimini! But let me tell you getting here, oh boy that was an adventure of it's own. Haha, it started with a pretty sad good bye to my companion, Sorella Roper. We got up Thursday morning and left pretty quickly afterwards. Two members, F and our new convert C, took our luggage to the station. Sorella Roper and I walked to the station. We left like we came (well I came) but this time we were going the opposite direction, on to new
adventures. At the station the Elders met us they helped with our luggage and took our keys. Waiting for our train my stomach was slowly sinking. And then it came, we got on our train and waited. Then two stops later Sorella Roper needed to get off. We said our goodbyes and i continued on to Milano. It was weird being by myself. When i got to Milano i had to manage my bags and it was all so heavy. But I some how
managed. My original train to Bolgonga left early and without me. That wasn't a fun moment. But on the second train to Bolgona, I was just fine. In fact I sat next to a very nice person who helped keep me
company for the really long journey. At the station in Bolgonga I met the STL's along with my new comp. Her name is Sorella Rosano, she is from Milan. We took another long train to Rimini. When we got here, ahhhh it was just great. Minus the no elevator thing
at the station, talk about an arm workout. But this city is just so cool. It's full of life, ocean, and happiness. I love waking up and going outside and smelling sand and sea, it reminds me of where my Granny and Papa live. Plus it looks like there are lots of fun things
to do here for P-day. And in our Proselyting area...... we have San Marino. And i am so "lucky" because once again I am in a bike city, hahah. In Busto we would ride our bikes a little bit here and there, but here we ride our bikes literally every where. I though my legs were going to fall of on Monday we rode them for like 4 or more hours that day. The work here seems to be good, we have been packed busy everyday I
have been here. It has been a little hard with the changes and adjustments, but to me it's all about counting your blessings everyday. Everyday i write one down in my agenda it helps me stay positive and remember that i am not alone! Yesterday I was reading in Mormon 9: 15. The end of the verse really stuck out to me "God has not ceased to be a God of miracles". I fully believe this is true. Miracles happen every day whether big or small, so watch out because one might be coming your way! I am so grateful to be here and can't wait to see what my time here has in store!

Love always..
Sorella Teague
P.s.
I am going to have quite the look going on after summer, with the sun
shining so bright on me. Plus i have the lovely opportunity to wear a
helmet i.e. the bottom of my hair will be so light blonde while the
top just blonde, pictures to follow 😄

It is Going by so FAST .....

It happened so fast I can't even remember this week ... Let me think!

Oh Yes - Thursday ... what a great day. We met L that day. L is a referral from a member in another ward. She is always busy with work but we were able to meet with her last Thursday and again this Tuesday. Um She is just amazing. She has already read the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Doctrine and Covenants. We decided to share with her the new Easter video Alleluia along with the hashtag, and she had already seen it. AND she showed us her banner on her phone it said "Choose the Right". Then this Tuesday she basically taught us the restoration. She is so sweet and super special, I can't wait to see her next week! One totally awesome thing about this week is that every day we had a lunch appointment. It IS was super wonderful to not have to cook. The weather has been starting to get really really warm, minus this Monday where it started to pour as soon as we walked out the door. 

Things have been quite busy in our district. We had a sister leave early, and Sorella Roper is finishing in a week. They are closing quite a few cities this transfer in our mission. Everyone is anticipating a bit of change. I love it here in Busto so much! It will be a fun last week with Sorella Roper, and it will be interesting to have to show someone else around this town soon. (or Hallie may get moved!)

This week I did a fun little project. My walls in the bedroom or horribly boring and ugly. I was having a little trouble focusing so I decided to make the walls a little better. So I took strips of paper and looked up and wrote down some of my favorite uplifting scriptures. I linked them all together and made a cute paper chain. I put the craft on the wall near my bed. That way if I am ever feeling down, I can just look up and find a scripture to change the day around. :) 

I am so happy to be here and to be a missionary. There really isn't a way to describe it. I am happy for this day and for all the journeys ahead. 

Vi Voglio Bene 

Sorella Teague 

Pic1: Pizza Time (Hallie found Gluten Free Pizza) 

Pic 2: When you run into the Elders at the only wifi point because all of the trains were canceled today..... Yeah Italy! it was our last travel P-day as well.... 

Pic 3: District Missionaries

A LOT of Rain; Pass Along Cards and The Last Supper

Week 15 already? That's just crazy! 

This week we had more rain and then the sun came! I was just so happy for that... This week has been so filled with things and then at the same time I am not sure how to describe it. Wednesday's English class was surprisingly busy considering that it was storming outside. I ended up just working with one lady. She is the sweetest we had the best conversations - that's what we really try to do is teach people how to have conversations. On Thursday it was raining like crazy. I had a goal to hand out 10 little pass along cards in the morning. To my surprise, mostly because I didn't think there would be 10 people outside, I was able to do it. We were absolutely soaked afterwards, but so happy to just talk with people. And guess what mostly everyone was happy as well. But the rain was just crazy, you know it's bad rain when even your raincoat is just soaking. By the end of the morning our skirts were stuck to our legs, and our hair was soaking wet. Our umbrellas eventually became useless.

Friday we had a zone conference. We talked a lot about what it means to teach people and not lessons. After zone conference we went to Milano for our scambio. We had a good time and taught some good lessons. We didn't get back to Busto until Saturday night. We made brownies for one of our investigators we won't be teaching anymore. It's a long story but he is being passed to a set of Anziani (these are the male missionaries) in another city. Speaking of the which I think my miracle this week was that lesson with him this Sunday. The mom (a member) made a really yummy dinner. For our lesson / message, we really weren't sure what to share or say. We decided to share our favorite scriptures and say our testimony. I can't fully or justifiably, describe what happened. But let me just say that when we take the time to share our hearts and bear testimony - miracles happen and the spirit is there. That lesson was just what I needed, a reminder of why I am here.

Tuesday we had some good lessons and the best Italian meal I have had so far, the risotto was so good! Yummy Yummmmy. (Mom here - when we talked to Hallie on Mother's Day - she made us laugh about telling the Italians that she was gluten intolerant.  She had this funny thing where she says "Risotto - Yes!  Gluten - NO!"  When she told us this, she had her hand out expressively and we were all laughing with her.  So hearing about the Risotto just brought that memory back....)

Today was our P-day, we went to Milano for the day. We started it with seeing DaVinci's Last Supper, it was amazing. There really was a spirit in that room. When Elder Christofferson  was here in the mission a few months (before I was here) the Last Supper was one of the things they visited. And now I know why - it is just so incredible. We spent the rest of the day exploring and shopping. We went to this vintage Italian clothing store which was awesome! And now we are here in Busto preparing for our English class, what a good week! 

Love 

Sorella Teague 

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own Sunshine"

It is actually week 14! What a wonderful surprise. And tomorrow will be my 100th day so that is pretty darn exciting! This week has been full of rain, lots and lots of rain. But whatever, it only makes the weather very humid and the people very exhausted. Here I have noticed that

when it rains it mysteriously and personally affects the people. They all seem to be in a gloom and have all of the sudden come down with an illness. On Thursday we visited our investigator E, she made us a very yummy healthy lunch. Unfortunately we haven't had an opportunity to see her again. But I am very hopeful that we will. Sometimes it just takes time I think. 

Lately any kind of appointments have been lacking, so we are trying to discover ways to find people to teach, to visit members to try and get referrals, and do pass bys. One day we walked for about an hour to try and see a less active family, and they weren't there. Oh the joys haha. But it looks like they still live in that apartment - so we will just try again. This Saturday we had a mostra for our English class. This time the Elders picked the city, so we went to Legnano. Anytime that we had been to Legnano we just though it was a suburb type area. Well to our complete surprise Legnano actually has a central. We literally had no idea. It was very nice and sunny Saturday morning so there were lots and lots of people. We had an FHE scheduled Saturday night with a group of church members. One of them is our new convert C. Her and her sister wanted to surprise the other two women who were there with a Mother's Day theme. So we helped them out and made cards and shared a message with them. It was a good day. 

This Sunday was Mother's Day!! We got to Skype home to our families, so crazy!! It was wonderful, I loved talking to them. It was fun to see them in person, and it helped give me the little uplift to keep on working hard. Ot definitely doesn't feel like I have been gone for over 3 months. Today, Monday, and Tuesday have just been drenched in rain. For P-day today we decided it was best not to travel. I needed to get a journal though and we had to do spesa (this is a shopping trip!). It was quite tricky walking hoe with heavy bags of groceries while holding an umbrella. But we did it! We made lunch, relaxed a little, we made an apartment tour for our families, and all is good in the world. 

******

I have really recently learned that work takes faith and hope. I have noticed that if we start the day with a negative attitude, well that day is going to be the literal worst - we will have that mindset all day! But instead we try to look at all of the good things and count the small blessings in life. in fact I think this is a trick I need to apply to all of my life not just the mission. Oh how I love being a missionary! We have a busy next few days planned, i can't wait to see what is in store for them. 

Sorella Teague 

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own Sunshine" Anthony J. D'Angelo 

Week 12 - Allergies Hit but Sorella Teague keeps Going ...

Well another week has passed by! This week was a little slower paced than the previous weeks. Last Wednesday we went to Switzerland and oh my goodness it was so beyond beautiful, and it was super clean and well kept. We had lots and lots of fun walking around exploring castles and things like that. We also had our first English class here in Busto! It was quite a small turn out, but hopefully today more people will come. This past week my allergies have been absolutely brutal. Both Sorella Roper and I struggled quite a bit with them. A lot of the people we visited had them too. On Sunday I had completely lost my voice. And to my surprise after 5 weeks of being here and never having to introduce myself, the bishopric called me during Church up there to speak my testimony. I literally had no voice and my head was aching. I could barely think in English let alone Italian...... It was interesting, but whatever it's all good!  The great part of the week was that we had two new people come to church! We are meeting with one of the tomorrow. We are very happy and very excited! Our Elders here in Busto are seriously the best. They are very sweet and are hard workers. They always seem to have a person we can contact. A lot of people they stop and who are interested in our message need to be passed on to us. It has been a blessing though because lately our efforts in finding people to teach haven't seen much success. Although this past week wasn't very significant, I have a good feeling about this coming up one. Hope you all have a wonderful week!! 

Sorella Teague