Ciao ciao!

[Email from 10/12/11]

Hello everyone.

So it is now cold. One day it was extremely hot, and the next it was
freezing. I am not sure which I like better, but it is nice to not
come home super wet. Today is very humid. I think it is going to rain
soon.

Okay, so Thursday was the most crazy day on my mission I have had yet.
The morning was normal, but then after lunch, we were walking to visit
a less-active and ran into this man who we have talked to before and
missionaries used to teach his daughter. His name is Salvatore. So we
started talking to him and he told us how he isn't doing well because
he might have to go to Jail again. I guess he did a crime, went to
jail for two years and was then released, but there is a new judge
person now who said he has to go back for that same crime and he just
has to wait for the verdict. So he is struggling. But he kept telling
us how he feels like his heart is black and he sometimes has bad
thougts and asked how he counters that. We told him he needs to pray
AND read the scriptures.The scriptures part was new to him. And we
invited him to church. He agreed but said he won't get baptized. Haha
we just laughed and said okay. (He ended up coming to half of
sacrament meeting but liked it and wants to meet with us sometime.)

So then we went to Cira's-the grandma of Eleonora. We brought her the
quit smoking program and took away her pack of cigarettes. She seemed
very excited. So ya, I took away my first pack of cigarettes. It was
fun! Ha.

Then we went to visit Matthew and Patience. Only Matthew was home, so
he came outside and we sat on the steps to teach him. He was super
down and sad because he think Patience has another boyfriend in Rome.
Then Patience comes home and Matthew throws the keys at her and walks
away. Patience invites us in and Matthew follows. We sit and talk for
a little then they start yelling at eachother. Patience was egging
Matthew on to slap her, so he did. Then patience went crazy and they
were just fighting eachother. We jumped up and tried to talk to them.
After a little they separated and tried to explain their sides of the
story to us and get us to play judge. We told them they need to calm
down and we have to leave. Matthew wanted us to stay and read
scriptures with him. We said we couldn't. Patience wanted to leave and
stay the night at her friends house, but Matthew wouldn't let her at
all. We opened the door but made sure Patience left with us to make
sure Matthew couldn't beat her. But when we separated, we saw Matthew
following Patience and that's the last we saw. We checked back the
next day and it was only Patience. She said they are "better" but she
wants to leave Matthew when she has enough money to move out. So sad
and absolutely scary. I was shaken up the rest of the night and I
think I had a nightmare that night about something like that.

Rosaria also said she is doubting getting baptized because she still
doesn't understand having to get baptized again. We think her mom and
boyfriend are not super fond of the baptism part. But we don't know
for sure. We only saw her THursday night and she came to church on
Sunday. She's still super busy. Oh and we found out she smokes too!
Only one cigarette a day, but it is still not good. And that was the
craziest day of the mission for me so far!

Raffaela is SO ready to be baptized except she lives with her
boyfriend. And we taught her and she said she wants to be baptized,
but her boyfriend doesn't nor is he ready for marriage. She flat out
told us that she doesn't like going to the catholic church, she likes
ours because it feels like 'her church'. She feels at home and loves
going and loves the BOM. She said it has changed her life and she's
never felt more free. She also called her boyfriend her only
'obstacle' for baptism. And she loves praying and even prays for
little things. But it makes her sad when she asks her boyfriend if
they can say a prayer on the food before eating and he says no because
he's hungry. But he loves meeting with us and stuff but doesn't have
interest in the church. AHH patience is so hard to have!! I jsut wish
she's get rid of him because she will be even more happy. Actually, i
wouldl ove if he was interested.

Speaking of patience...we taugth this lady Regina who is from Nigeria.
She is GREAT!! loves the bible and is so in tune with the spirit, but
hasn't read the BOM yet because she was writing a book. It's now being
printed and is available on amazon.com. (Arise and Shine, for the time
has come, or soemthing like that). It's a religious kind of book. ANd
we talk with her for awhile about gospel things and everything she
says is in the BOM. And she is starting another book on FAITH and so
we assigned her ALMA 32 and MORONI 7 to read to 'help give her ideas
for her book'. If she would just read the BOM with an open mind, she
would be converted. Because she pretty much is a mormon, and doesn't
know it.

That is all for now. Thanks for actually writing me everyone. It makes
the weeks go much better when I get to hear from home. This last week
was tough to be happy because I really did feel forgotten. So I am so
grateful for any communication from home.

Love always,
Sorella Heiner