Short and sweet - Pordenone, Italy

Hello everyone, 

Happy Halloween! I'm just going to attach a few photos today from a ward trunk or treat party and some on the go photos with Sorella Johnson including one from mission leadership council, but I just want to let you all know how grateful I am for the opportunity to be a missionary in such an exciting time. I know that God lives and that he cares about and knows us perfectly. He answers prayers and sends tender mercies. I'm so grateful I get to serve his children right now and love them a whole lot. 

Have a lovely week! 
Con affetto, 
Sorella McConkie 

The Mission told us to... - Pordenone, Italy

Buongiorno!! 

Transfers come quickly, do they not? This one is pretty anticlimactic though because both sorella Johnson and I are staying in Pordenone to do a second together. Yay! 

This week has been good, nothing crazy happening but some exciting stuff in the works. We visited with our investigator Iqra who is from Pakistan and talked to her more about the plan of salvation. It's been like a 3 part lesson trying to teach her about it and we finally finished it and she also agreed to pray for the first time at the end of the lesson and it really warmed our heart to see her making progress. She's so sweet and honestly trying to be good and do the right thing. 

The mission office told us to get flu shots this week which turned into an interesting adventure. Apparently when you go to a pharmacy in this country they are not allowed to administer a flu shot to you, but they are allowed to sell you the packaged needle. So. Sorella Johnson being the medical professional she is administered the flu shot to our whole district in the church kitchen. We felt better finding out later that the rest the mission had to also DIY the process of getting flu shots, but we still hope no one was peeking in the church windows. 

We had a few really awesome member appointments in the evenings this week, one with a new convert family that are from Chile. They were baptized earlier on in the year and are some of the most faithful people I've ever met. It's a single mom and her daughters and live in humble circumstances but are doing their best to follow the teachings of the church. For all new missionaries coming into Pordenone, they have a dinner where they just fire hose us about details from out lives. By the end of getting interrogated I felt so much closer to these new converts and loved getting to know them as well. We chatted about conference and how they had been strengthened by it. 

I invite you all to go ask more questions this week:) through questioning is how we receive answers. We asked questions to Iqra and that's how she finally understood the plan of salvation. The Olivares family asked me a bunch of questions and now I feel so much love for them. And when you decide to ask God questions in humble prayer, "it shall be opened unto you." 

Vi voglio un mondo di bene! 

❤Sorella McConkie 

 Eating lunch on exchanges with le sorelle di Vicenza, a gorgeous sunset from the other night, driving with our Zone Leaders, and a district photo (the number of chairs represents number of transfers we've done. We were an OLD district of 14, 11, 11, 10, 10, and 8 transfers). 

ITITIT - Pordenone, Italy

Ciao a tutti!

I hope you're all doing well. I love you all lots and am excited to share some events from the week!

A lot of this week was dedicated towards finding and doing more tracting. We found a woman named {M} from Colombia and another named {M} from here in Pordenone who lost her husband 4 years ago about a week after her baby girl was born. She asked us straight up to explain where her husband was and we planned a visit to go back. We are also visiting with a woman who had her first 3 children pass away and ALSO wants to hear more about the plan of salvation. Miracles.

Friday we did weekly planning and then went to interviews in a city named Mestre with President and Sorella Allen. I really lucked out on a mission president. Every interview I've had with him my whole mission is just filled with love and kindness and some good solid life advice. He gave both Sorella Johnson and I such good things to think about in terms of how to balance missionary work and preparing to re-enter the real world and how it's still important to remember that there WILL BE a life after and we can't ignore that.

Sunday and Monday consisted of a scambio that we did with the Sorelle from Treviso! They came here and I got to be companions with Sorella Graver for 24 hours and it just about made my entire life. For those of you who don't know, Sorella Graver was my companion about 4 months ago in Torino:) She is now training in our zone and we were so excited to go on splits with them. They came in Sunday night and we went straight to an American ward activity and dinner that we were helping at, and the next day I got to take her around to a couple appointments. She made me laugh so hard and it was a reminder to me of the fact that missions bless lives with some pretty deep friendships and I'm so grateful for that.

Another highlight of my week was reading the Book of Mormon in the way president Nelson directed during Conference. That is, beginning to end by January first while marking the name of Christ each time you read it. Elder Gay of the 70 gave this quote in one of my favorite articles in the Ensign about Christ that I wanted to share as well:

"The night of the Lord’s Atonement began with the Savior commanding the disciples to make and renew a covenant to always remember and honor His sacrifice. Then, as described in the Gospel of John, He knelt and washed the feet of those who would in a few short hours betray Him, deny Him, or fall asleep in His most needed hour. He exhorted them to be one with Him, to forgive, to wash the feet of others, and to love each other as He loved them. He asked that they raise their vision to His vision. Can you see that the great charge of the Atonement of Christ is to love as He loved? To love those who betray, who offend, who fall asleep, who deny, who doubt, who are overzealous and cut off an ear with a sword or wound a heart with a harsh word or deed? To be long-suffering with those who will not hear and who will not love back?"

This hit me so hard. As I have been marking the name of Christ in the Book of Mormon the biggest thing that I'm realizing is that Christ truly does love us. He loves everyone. But what composed his Christlike character is that he loved everyone with the knowledge that not everyone would love him BACK. It's hard when we love people or serve people that do not reciprocate or, worse, mock us for trying. On a mission it is hard to understand why some people reject you so hard when you're trying to love and serve them so much. But just as Christ's character directs, I know that our loyalty to him lies in our reaction of these things, and how we respond to them.

I love my mission and this challenge from President Nelson. It's been the best.

I love you all and BUONA SETTIMANA

Sorella McConkie

Sorella Graver - Eating my sour patch kids in comp study

Scambio (exchange) with Sorella Graver

Pretty boats from Venice last week:)

Keep smiling - Pordenone, Italy

Ciao cari! Come state? 

What a week. The fact that it is already October 10th is freaking me out. 

This week on Thursday we taught Italian class and designed/ordered English class flyers and by the time we were finished I almost want to pull my hair out. The logistical stuff of missionary work isn't always my favorite. 

On Friday we went to do service! There is a placed named "il Giglio" here in Pordenone and my goodness I adore getting to go there every other week. We go for a couple hours where there is a  group of adults with disabilities, and we each take a buddy and walk around with them for a couple hours and take them as a group to walk around the city and get a little slice of pizza. This week I got to walk with a little woman named Federica who is probably around 45 years old but doesn't seem a day over 7. She was so smiley and friendly and my favorite was when I noticed that she had been memorizing names of people around the city. So she would shout, "ciao Katerina!" Or "Mary Lou come stai Bella!" And all sorts of things to friends she had met around the city during previous walks. I told Sorella Johnson that Federica would make a great missionary because if she didn't know someone, she would just look at them and give a huge grin and go, "Ciao! Come stai?" And ask their name. She was good at making friends wherever she went. 

We had a bit of a weird dinner appointment later that night where our spiritual thought on prophets and conference suddenly switched to them asking questions about why people struggling with same gender attraction are allowed to come on missions. Thanks to the spirit and a lot of the gift of tongues we were able to sufficiently answer their questions and it turned into a really good spiritual discussion. 

Saturday and Sunday were the absolute best and conference is such a blessing mamma Mia. How does everyone feel about 2 hour church? I think it's going to be such a cool adjustment to our church and home lives. I love that the church is focusing on intertwining the gospel into our everyday actions and not just being a "Sunday church." I also think that the adjustment is a blessing in lives of missionaries because 2 hour church seems much less intimidating to a new investigator. I'm so excited!!! 

My favorite talk was by Robert C. Gay of the 70. That and the talk by Elder Holland. What was your favorite? I'd love to hear what stood out to anyone else. 

Monday was an amazing day and thank you to everyone who reached out to wish me happy birthday. I was flooded with love from all of you and from my companion and some special new friends here in Pordenone and I was so grateful for all of it! That night we had our favorite Portuguese family invite us over and they made a banana cake and sang to me in English, Italian and Portuguese. Mission birthdays are strange but oh so fun. 

I hope you all have the loveliest of weeks and I'll send along some photos as well. 

The church is true and God loves YOU

love, Sorella McConkie 

Federica

My birthday cake

Finding in the rain while eating fresh grapes

Watch Conference! - Pordenone, Italy

Ciaoooo 

I'm in pordenone! Sorry for the no group email last week, turned out to just be a pretty busy day. 

After a car, a missed train, 3 other trains and long walk with 3 suitcases, I made my little rainbow jump across the country 2 weeks ago during transfer day and I've finally settled into my new home. As always, transition is bitter sweet but the first night I got here I said a prayer and was truly happy and thankful to God for all he's given me. It surprised me to feel like that, especially after a day of such chaos and energy and goodbyes that made me sad. But I'm excited for this transfer. And here's a highlight reel of some of the best things these past weeks: 

1. English class! We've taught English twice so far while here and I love it in every city. We showed the "mountains to climb" video which is SO GOOD 

2. Consiglio! Also named mission leadership council, it was such a TREAT to go back to Milano where I served for 3 transfers and see some mission people who are so very close to my heart. We talked during this meeting about how we can help the mission develop and grow and I really felt the spirit as our mission president talked and discussed with us about how we are a "mission of miracles". My favorite quote was when sorella Allen said, "God is always going to work his miracles. So let's make sure that he works them BECAUSE of us and not IN SPITE of us." 

3. Tracting! Sorella Johnson is a beast at finding and we are in desperate need of investigators here. So we go door to door and try to strike up conversations and have had a few people with some interest. We make it fun by setting rewards for ourselves, so if we find for so long then we get to stop by a bakery or watch a district episode after 9 or whatnot. Keeps things interesting.

4. Visiting members from allll over the world. We've been bonding with a Portuguese single mom and also a Hawaiian family who cracks me up. They have 5 kids and the dad told us a hilarious story of how he proposed to his wife while she was still a missionary on temple square. Legend. 

These past couple weeks I have been pondering the significance of why we set goals. Our gospel is one of eternal progression, so we should always be making steps to get better and grow closer to our Heavenly Father. He doesnt demand that we are perfect, but he does ask that we practice. Every month for the extent of my mission, I sit down at the beginning of the month and write down a list of goals that I want to work on for the upcoming weeks, and I always think and pray about what God wants me to be doing. I write these goals on individual index cards and keep them in the back of my journal and pull out my month's card when I need a reminder of what I am striving towards that month. This transfer has proven to be one where I'm being tested on my diligence. And I'm gaining a testimony that our goals are made manifest through faith and diligence. I love in the scriptures where it says:

D+C 103: 36 

"All victory...is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith." 

Good week, good month coming up and I'm PUMPED for conference. Small request - for anyone still reading, I'm going to start a little project and I want to know what everyone's favorite talk is during conference. So send me which one was your fav next week!! I'd love to hear which one struck you most personally! 

Vi voglio bene 

Love, sorella McConkie 

Ps sorella Johnson and I are going on an English fast this week so pray for me haha