Turnin' the Page

Heyyyyyyy everyone!
I would just like to quickly mention to you all the small fact that Sorella Hawks and I are currently sitting outside under the shade eating gelato and emailing on our iPads...so uh yea we are feeling
pretty cool right about now. Not sure how I feel about the whole iPad thing for emailing it is kind of hard to type buuuuuut whatev  it is wayyyy better then a stinky internet point! Well I bet that you are all dying to know the big news and I am dyyyyyyying to tell you all!! This is what happened...
It is Friday night, the night before transfer calls (they normally come Saturday morning but sometimes they call you early if the news is big) So it is Friday night and we had just finished sending our nightly text and I was writing in my journal when the phone starts ringing. It says that it is the mission office and it doesn't really register in my mind that that is a big deal. I answer the phone and it is one of the Assistants. He asks if he is talking with Sorella Burt and I say...uuuuuuhhuh...as my heart is like pounding and I am like what is going on? He then tells me that I have been called to serve as a Sister Training Leader in the Milano, Navigli ward and that my new
companion would be Sorella Boscia- an Italian from Sicily! I was like completely in shock.  buuuuuuut ya that's the big news! Milan here I come!! I am a tinsy bit overwhelmed with this new call...with the new responsibilities and experiences it will bring-especially because I am
still relatively new in the mission and have been feeling all the various feelings of inadequacy and what not. BUT I know for sure, with all my heart, that this is the will of The Lord and Milano is where I am needed right now. I am realllllllllly excited about the fact that my new companion is Italian and will be able to help me improve a lot in the language. Sorella Hawks did an exchange with her for a day in her first area and she says that she is absolutely wonderful and that we will get along really well! This will be her last transfer in the mission and she is like in her 30's!! So yeah I am really excited about the opportunity that I have to learn from someone very experienced and old in the mission. I have a lot to learn and this will be a wonderful way for me to do that! I have also heard that my new ward, Navigli, is the highest baptizing ward in the whole mission and that the work is just booming there! So just so you all know, there are three different areas in Milano...three different wards and lots of missionaries. I am not really sure which part of Milano exactly is Navigli but I have been there once when I was in Pavia. I did an exchange there for one day and it seemed pretty nice! Milano is going to be a biiiiiig change from Trieste. It is HUGE and there are like soooooooo many people. Also Milano is like deathly hot in the summer and that is exactly the months I will be there....so yay I will probs die. But anyyyyyways that is that. I leave tomorrow morning at like 6:30 on a strait train ride to Milano...like 5 hours long. I am super excited but suuuuuuper exhausted and not ready at all. These last few days have been CRAZY, we have just been running around everywhere trying to say bye to people and get everything ready. It has been realllllly hard on me. I am SO sad to be leaving this place. I cannot even begin to describe the love that I have for these people and this city and my incredible companion. I have had the time of my
life here and am not even close to the person I was when I got here. I always heard about people that would say how they fell in love with the people and leaving them was like unbearable...and I finally
understand why. These Triestini are special people. They know how to love, how to serve, and how to share the gospel. I am just so incredibly grateful to my Father in Heaven for the incredible six
months that he has given me to serve here. It hasn't all been easy and beautiful. We have gone through the hardest of the hard but also have seen the most incredible blessings and miracles being poured out of heaven from our Father to bless His children. This place and these experiences will forever remain in my heart. Like they always say...good things have to come to an end, and this is my end. I am excited for the adventures that lie ahead for me in Milano and for the people I will meet and the miracles that await. I am extremely humbled by the opportunity that I will have to serve the sisters in my new zone and to help them in whatever why I can. I have found a lot of comfort in the classic scripture 1 Nephi 3:7 these past few days. I KNOW that Heavenly Father doesn't call us to do things that we cannot handle and I know that He will and is preparing a way for me to do His will in all things. I love Him, He knows me perfectly and I love His work and this incredible opportunity I have to be a part of His glorious work. I hope you all are well! I love you soooooo much!

Con amore,
Sorella Burt

I have soooooooo many pics I wanted to send but the computer at the
church wasn't working so I can't. Hopefully next week!! :)

Miracles happen once in a while....

my dear fam,
We had another rockin' week here in Trieste..things are still going well. Amist the fact that a lot of our investigators are ignoring us and setting appointments has been super rough, we are still just pushing onward and continuing to see the miracles daily. They happen MORE then once in a while...EVERY DAY. Man I love miracles. they are just such a testament of God's love for us and they are EVERYWHERE. He loves us way more then we can even begin to comprehend!

A.'s baptism!!!!!!

The biggest thing that went down this week was when our beautiful friend A. entered the waters of baptism. Mamma Mia it was such a glorious daaaaaaaay! Everything was going really well up until Saturday afternoon, just a few hours before the baptism...we had printed the programs, she had a dress that would fit, people were coming, the font was clean...we thought we had everything under control! But of course, Satan is always at work and naturally something just HAD to go wrong. We luckily got to the church far in advance to begin filling the font, only come to find out that the hot water for the entire church had been shut off for whatever reason! We, trying not to freak out, hurridly called the bishop who called someone to come and turn it on. After a little bit of precious font filling time had passed, we got it all figured out and hot water we finally had! It began to fill and even though it was supposed to take a about an hour and a half, it finished filling in just over 1 hour, right in the knick of time for the baptism to start! it was a huge miracle - we were just like THANK YOU. A. invited like alllll of her extended family and a bunch of her friends from school, so pretty much everyone there was non members! it was SWEET. The program went beautifully and she just glowed afterward. It was truly an incredible experience to see the joy in her face and my heart was just so full of gratitude that Heavenly Father had helped her to make this very important decision in her life. It took her years to make the choice, but in the end the timing was right and now she is a member of this glorious church. I could not be happier or more grateful for this opportunity Hawks and I have had to befriend her and to love her and to support her on her journey back to her Father in Heaven. It has truly been spectacular.

HAIR IS GONE - whaaaaat? I cut it for summer because it gets so hot here.

It has been really amazing to see how the warm weather brings sooooo many happier people on the streets that are willing to stop and chat with us about the gospel. Literally I don't know what it is about sunlight and heat that just makes everyone more willing and open. Not EVERYONE, of course, but we have met so many nice and cool people on the streets lately. It has been cool for me to see that even though not a lot of the people we are meeting are accepting our invitation to learn more about the restored gospel, we are STILL helping them increase their faith in Jesus Christ, which is our purpose after all! There are soooo many wonderful people in the world who are firm in their faiths and who have a love for God like none other and are doing SO much good for the world! Even though they are not all ready to accept our message now, they are living goooood lives and influencing the lives of those around them. I love the feeling of walking up to someone and just asking them what they believe, asking them how they have seen prayer help them, or what miracles they have seen in their lives...and then just bearing my testimony about the things that I believe. They feel a difference, and that is the Spirit. Everyone is running on their own path and in the time of The Lord, all will have the opportunity to accept this glorious message. This work is such a beautiful thing.

The other large piece of news for you all today is that on Monday we actually received iPads! yipeeeee. We went to Zone Training and came back with iPads and holy moly how strange was that. We won't be using facebook or anything for a while, there are different stages of trainings that we have to go through before we can 'earn' things like that and teaching lessons on skype and what not. We are excited to see how these divine instruments will help our work! It is so exciting to be a 'pioneer' of the digital age of missionary work here in Italia and to see the Lord hastening His work and being able to take part in that first hand. We are very blessed and the trust that He has in us is enormous!

We receive transfer calls in like 2 dayyyys so we will see where I am gettin shipped off to. nothing is ever for sure but I am almost sure that it is my time to go. I

t has been a good ride, however. Trieste has changed my life. for reals.
Love you alllllll forever and always,
Sorella Burt

Venice is such a dream - I just can't get enough!!!

Me and Sorella Hawks on a bridge in Venice

More Venice pics - I am so in love with this city!

We went on the top of this super cool tower and the view was beautiful!

There was an Asian lady behind me posing this way and I loved it so I had to do it too!

This is a shirt that a lady here gave me...it straight has a farm on it and I just LOVE it a ton!

That is a REALLY cool castle behind me and I am just happy about it!

Me & Sorella Gillespie at Zone Training

Grace and a Baptism

Welp since I just talked to you all like a few days ago...(which was magical, btw I have the coolest fam evvvvvver) this might be a brief lil' email!

Things are going good still in our little corner of Italy. The miracles are still coming in and we are feeling just oh so very happy to be a part of this glorious work.
Saturday was probably just the best dayyyyyy I have had in a really long time. It started in the morning with a lesson with our cute investigator, F., and our stellar ward mission leader, B. We kind of needed it to be a little bit of a breakthrough lesson and that, it definitely was! We had planned to talk about Ether 12 and about faith and weaknesses and also to more clearly define our purpose as missionaries. She is just very catholic and we weren't sure if she was meeting with us just for fun and she thought we were cool or she actually had interest in taking it farther. She is 23 and our ward mission leader is around that same age and still has his missionary fire. I cannot really explain the lesson very well but we will just say that it was wonnnnnnderful and the spirit was present and forte! We were really able to break through some barriers and she really opened up to us. We were able to clear up our purpose and get down to why we really are here and how much we love and want to help her overcome the things she is struggling with. It was just beautiful and we ended up inviting her to the baptism of G. that was later that afternoon. She was a little bit scared about coming and stuff but B. was a stud and just helped her feel at peace with it. Thennnnnn she actually CAME. It was huge and we were suuuuuuper stoked! She was able to make really good friendships with the GANS (young single adults...) They are super awesome in this ward and just welcomed her with open arms. she LOVED it.

 The baptism itself was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and def shed lots of tears. So many people in the ward came to support him and it was just a truly special occasion. G. is one of the most elect humans I have ever met. I wish you could all know him. I am sooooo grateful for that day many months ago that we followed the prompting to call people from the area book and that we could play a tiny part in his amazing story. I am grateful that we continued trying to meet with him even when he cancelled and moved our appointments. I am grateful for the timing of the Lord and for the opportunity that we have to be instruments in His hands. If we are just striving to do our best, He helps us do things that we could never do on our own. I have been studying a lot about weakness vs. sin. We all have human weakness through which we have the opportunity to become better, more like our Savior. Grace, not forgiveness, is the remedy for all human weakness. The grace of God is an enabling power from Him so that we can do things that we could never do on our own. We are all fallen humans in our fallen state and only through the grace of God can we overcome our weaknesses and be saved one day. He turns us into beings far greater then we could ever do on our own. I am grateful for the chance I have in this life to work each day--striving to be humble and have faith--so that I can have access to God's grace and overcome my shortcomings...and help others along the way do the same! It is such a beautiful thing!

I could not be happier to be our here in the service of the children of our Heavenly Father. His hand is ever so present in this work and in each and evvvvvery life of each and every one of God's precious children! Take a moment today to recognize His hand, and then show Him how grateful you are through your thoughts, words, and deeds!
Love you so much!!!
Sorella Burt

   

Hump Day

Welp y'all howdyyyyyy ho ho.
Today I have been on my mission for exactly nine months which equals halfway which makes me want to throw up a little. That fact definitely does not feel like a reality but indeed, it is. Thanks for the hump day wishes (mostly just from mom) and also for the package! I have yet to open it because i am waiting until tonight for some strange reason, but i am already grateful for whatever it contains :)
We have had a super beautiful week full of beautiful things...obviously! Like hi we are engaged in the work of the Lord so of course it is going to be beautiful. The miracles are flying in and i don't really know where to start...probably with just saying how grateful I am. We are being far blessed then we probably deserve and I know that Heavenly Father sees our hearts combined with our efforts. He is just waiting to bless us, we just first must do our part. That is when the miracles come. Our investigators are doing well and we were able to find some new really solid ones this week as well! A. is still happy and healthy and stoked to enter the waters of baptism in a little over a week. P. is as cute as ever and actually CAME TO CHURCH this week for the very first time!!! It was such a hugggggge miracle because we didn't think that she was going to come and then we got there and she was there in a skirt that we gave her and everrrrrrything! She is just adorbs. She very much enjoyed her time at church and the members were just super wonderful and welcoming! She just says that she is wayyyyy happier then she has ever been and she knows that it is true. We are very excited for her, but the only problem is that she feels like she needs to know EVERYTHING before she can be baptized. like she always says she wants to wait yearsssss and we are like...uh no you don't have to know everything! We have been studying this stuff our whole lives and STILL are not even close to knowing it all. She is cute but i think it will just take some time.

Oooooo this week i also witnessed my first wedding ever, so that was exciting. It was just one of our cute members and she was just suuuuuuper happy and it was just a nice simple little experience!
Also a fun thing we did this week was go to a little pizzeria for a relief society activity! We got there a little late but there was just this huuuuuuge long table that took up like the entire restaurant FULL of ladies from our ward and their friends! It was such a wonderful time and the pizza was probably the best i have had yet (non homemade) i just have to chuckle..like of course we go eat pizza for a relief society activity #italians I just loooooove all the ladies and one of them even paid for our pizza and other shared her dessert with us! SO great.

Okkkkkkkay so now for the good stuff, MIRACOLI.
-okay so there is this woman named G. that me and Sorella Nedelkov met TONS of months ago back when i first got here. She was nice but we just haven't had the chance to see her...until THIS week. We met her on a street and sat on a bench and just had the most wonderful time with her! she is from Peru but has lived here in Italy for like 10 years. Her love and testimony of God just beams from her face and she is just incredible. It turns out that she went to an LDS church in Peru when she was little for like 3 years and has had a lot of experiences with our church in the past! It was a huge miracle for us and she is just reallllllly wonderful. Unfortunately she is super busy but we gave her a BOM and she told us that she would read it today and told us to text her tomorrrow to see how it went. Super rad.
-We were at the church the other day for a lesson and as we were leaving a man named C. walked in wanting to see the church and learn more...we were like, uh okay yeah i guess that's fine....haha JK we were like freaking out! That like nevvvver happens, he was just on a morning stroll and saw the church SO COOL.
-Another woman named S. that we met on the street last week is all the sudden superrrrrr awesome and interested..(okay i am sure she has always been super awesome...but ya ha) we taught her the Restoration the other day and gave her a BOM and she was just SO excited to see us again! She told us that she already found some answers while we were teaching her and that she will start reading the book of mormon. It was just really neat and she is very open and ready! It was just the first lesson, but we hope it goes well! and we are seeing her tomorrow!!

okay there are more but i am going to end there. It has just been soooo happy around here lately! We did an exchange with our STL's this week and so Sorella Gillespie came here to Trieste with me. It was my favorite exchange probably EVER and I learned so much from her. she helped me overcome some small little fears and I helped her with something she has been struggling with. It is such a beautiful thing to be able to learn and grow from other missionaries and people. I am so grateful for all the people in my mission orbit...the members, missionaries, investigators, random people EVERYWHERE. it is just such a cool feeling to know that all these people are placed in my life right now for a very specific purpose. I know that i am being watched over and that the things i am going through and learning are exactly for me. right here. right now. I am really learning the power of being positive and of PRAYER. it is real and i am so grateful. There are a million things i am learning and that are beautiful. Too many too name.
SO excited to see you all in a few days!!! It is gonna ruuuuule.
also, as a side note, we went to Venice today..so that was cool, i guess. :)
I LOVE YOU ALL.

Sorella Burt