Thursday, September 9, 2010

Ci Vuole la fede

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on Alishia's blog I have been quite busy for the past few months. but I am back!! Here's her email she sent this past week :) if you would like to be getting her emails on a regular basis just give me your email and I will put you right on there :)
Love, Emily (alishia's sister)





Hey everyone!

It's been such a great week here in Siracusa. So, supposedly Siracusa is famous...I found this out a few weeks ago but I don't think I've let everyone in on the secret. First, in the Bible, Syrakuse(I think that's how they spell it in English) Acts 28:11 and then in the July Liahona there is a story about some missionaries in Sicily that served here. I'm so glad to be here and it's finally getting cooler. We have finally gotten a ward mission leader! Our old ward mission leader left a couple weeks after the stake was established (the beginning of July) and with all of the changes, we finally got a new one. It's amazing the smal change of organization that one person can do. We had our first meeting last night and he started off by saying, "Well, there's a lot of work to do. I don't want you all to think that I'm the leader here...I'm a missionary just like you". It was neat to see his enthusiasm in his calling. I had a cool experience at Paola's this last week when we were teaching her and her 11 year old son Lorenzo, as well as Dani (her 2 year old) about keeping the sabbath day holy. I had studied this a couple weeks ago and also that morning and we had a lesson planned. When we got there, Lorenzo was there which we weren't expecting. He had been taught in the past. When we started the lesson, I asked Lorenzo why he goes to school. He answered, Because I need to learn and grow. I said, Exactly! But what happens if we go to school and don't do our homework? He answered and said that he would fail and not do well when he's done with school. When then were able to teach the lesson comparing church and everyday activities of life to school. I had thought of that analogy probably 2 months ago or so but never used it until then--totally unplanned. But it worked perfectly. It was neat for me to see how easy it can be if we teach to THEIR level of understanding and especially when we follow the promptings we receive from the Lord. Transfers are tomorrow and there is only one change in our district--Anziano Cox is headed up to the island of Sardegna. Anziano Larsen is coming in his place who is awesome--I served with him in Ragusa. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sorella Hashey

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Soon to be a ROME missionary!

ello Everyone!

I have exciting news! As of July 1st, I will no longer be a Catania missionary but a Rome missionary! I didn't get kicked out of my mission, don't worry. Because of the growth of the church in Italy and to prepare for the Rome temple, they are dissolving the Catania mission into the Rome mission. Pretty much, it just means that I will be not only in Sicily and the shoe part of Italy, but also the calf--if you look at the map. The mission extends from below Tuscany down to Sicily and the islands of Malta and Sardinia. I'm really excited about this change but it's also made me think of how it really doesn't matter where we are, it just matters what we are there for and who we are with. Because the two missions are merging, there will be twice as many of us (120 missionaries) all under one Mission President. I am just so happy that I get this time to share this message with everyone I meet. Sicily is wonderful, the people here are wonderful and so is this message I am sharing. It's been raining a lot this week, the weather here reminds me a lot of home so I love it. I have nothing to complain about...it's not Rexburg or the Baltics. I feel bad for my friends who are in those parts of the world...but you also don't have anything to complain about! I'm sure that snow and negative degree weather is just makes you love waking up and getting out of bed every morning. ok, now I'm being sarcastic. I really do feel bad for you though.

Sorella Robb and I have had great experiences this week as we've worked with members. The members here are wonderful. There is one member--Sorella Campo--who is my role model. She has referred us to two families already and they are both progressing right along. I never understood before I came here how important members are in missionary work--you members are key! I'm learning things everyday of how I can be a better member missionary.

We're also working with an Arican Family right now--Esther and Justice and their little baby, Vittoria, who was born on my birthday so when I'm over they call her Hashey. haha. My name is still spelled the same in Italian but they pronounce it "AHSHEE" or sometimes they think that's my first name on my tag so they say Ashley..close enough right?

I am loving every second I have here in this place with these people. I love serving the Lord. This is truly His work when we follow His will. Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Sorella Hashey

p.s. Some of you know that this was my "mission scripture" before I left but now it's even more true now--Romans 1:15-16.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Boun Giorno!

Buon Giorno a Tutti!

Oh my goodness...what an awesome week! Last week I had only been here for a day
when I wrote home and it feels like its been so long since then. I have learned
a ton--Italian and Gospel-wise and I wish I could tell you all everything but
here is just a sliver of what happened over the course of this past week! So
last week, my first few days were a little bit of a blur and I remember thinking
"what exactly did I learn in the MTC again?". Sicilian is a different language
and there are a bunch of different dialects that Ive just learned to get used to
not knowing what some people are saying. Some of the most basic phrases I would
forget how to say because I was trying so hard to understand them that when it
got to the point of me needing to talk, I would ramble off something totally
random...for example, I was asked how many brothers and sisters were in my
family and I told the lady I had three children. I also said that I liked a
ladys leg because its just like mine...really long. I meant to say skirt instead
of leg though. haha. Oh the joys of learning a language. I did teach my first
lesson this past week and it was an awesome experience and bore my testimony on
Sunday at Sacrament meeting. At least I can speak about the gospel in Italian,
right?

Everyday is a new adventure here in Ragusa and I love it because its never the
same schedule. Im trying to think of my favorite thing that happened this past
week and Ive had so many good experiences, I just cant explain them all. I guess
to start off, we are writing today because yesterday we had a multi zone
conference in Catania with all of the missionaries in Sicily and Malta--so the
missionaries up in Italy werent there. It was amazing though...Zone conference
is just one big all afternoon missionary "pow wow" I guess you could say. haha.
We had some area authorities come to speak to us and President and Sorella
Toronto also spoke to us. It reminded me of the feeling of unity at the MTC or
like a really awesome day at EFY...its nice to know there are 60 other
misionaries in Sicily doing this same thing that I am doing and to get ideas for
our investigators here.

Sorella Robb and I are back in Ragusa today though and this morning we taught
our "bambini" English at the preschool which constantly reminds me of my work
days at primavera preschool--just with a bunch of cute little Italian 3 year
olds running around, speaking better Italian than me. haha. We are learning
together. The Italian is really coming though...I am learning 10 times as fast
just being here and being surrounded by it. I have had some wonderful
experiences teaching this week. I love how curious and nice Sicilians are...I
still am shocked when we get stopped on the street and are asked why we are
wearing a tag with Gesu Cristo on it and people listen. The people here are very
passionate with the way they think so its good and bad at the same time. Its
amazing to me how much the gospel has to offer to every single person. Sorella
Robb has been good at reminding me to personalize each lesson we teach and it
has been so fun. One of my favorite lessons we planned was for a 26 year old
lady named Emanuela who works at a Photography gallery. We planned a lesson on
faith and compared it to the process of developing a roll of film. Like film,
faith is a process. It doesnt come all at once,(although at times I think that
would be nice)faith is a gradual thing that can grow or diminish depending on
our desires. We must first have hope and expose ourselves to light (like when we
take a picture) and then let that light reach the film strip. Faith doesnt stop
there though...we must then "hope for things which are not seen" but that are
there and can develop into something beautiful. So, we must take that hope and
develop it(and then we will liken it to the film developing process). We havent
taught this lesson yet because she only had a few minutes when we visited her
yesterday but we gave her a sneek preview and she was excited. I love this
gospel and the happiness it brings to me so that I can share it with others in
their lives. I am so grateful for this opportunity to help others--especially
the Lord in His work. Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sorella Hashey

p.s."Happiness is something we gain from loving and helping others"

Sunday, January 24, 2010

il mio primo giorno

Salve la mia famiglia e i miei amici!
I made it to Italy and I am as happy as can be! I got in yesterday afternoon and had quite the adventure coming over here by myself but it was great to finally get here. I feel bad that Anziano Coxs visa didnt come but its okay...hopefully itll be here soon and he will be over in italy this next week. I made a few friends on the flight over from New York to Rome. I was surrounded by Italians who were very curious about the tag I was wearing and so I explained to them I would be in Italy teaching the gospel for a year and a half. One of them whoĆ s name was Gino is an Italian teacher and he taught me some great Italian phrases and pronunciation as I helped him with English. It was great. When I got to Catania, I was so tired that I walked right past the baggage pick up and forgot to pick it up. It gets better...so I tried going back in but I had to go back through security to get my bags. I finally got to my bags and only one came, the other was left in Rome. At this point, I was so exhausted and I saw Sorella Taranto (the mission presidents wife) and just wanted to go so I filed a baggage claim form and President and Sorella Taranto brought me to the mission home. I met my companion, Sorella Robb, who is so fun. We then had dinner and I was able to take a little nap. In the meantime, the airport called and said they had my luggage so we packed everything up and left for the airport. I had to go back through security and when I finally received my luggage, the security people (who did not speak any english) xrayed my bag and started talking really fast to me in Italian and I picked up that they thought I had a gun in my bag. I told them I hoped that was not the case because I did not place it there. So they had me open my bag and it was my blowdryer! ahh. it was quite the event...they then were not so mad at me and started laughing. Then President sent Sorella Robb and I off and we are in Ragusa now! Ragusa is a beautiful, cute little Italian city about an hour and a half bus ride. I love it! When you think of the pastel colored homes on top of a hill with narrow streets, that is what Ragusa is like. There are beautiful catholic cathedrals everywhere--I mustve seen about 5 today. Today is Pday so we went with the Anziani exploring a city close by. Ive met a lot of people in the past couple days and its all a blur right now. The work here is going well. Ive noticed how much the Italian people just LOVE to talk so its not super hard to spark up a conversation. I already love the people here. My favorite thing is to hear little kids speak in Italian...a teacher at the mtc told me to listen to them speak and it is just the cutest thing. We teach a preschool class English tomorrow which Im super excited about and then tomorrow night is our adult English class. Everyone calls me sorellina which means little sister because they think Im so young. One lady thought I was 16. haha. Sorella Robb is friends with just about everyone in this city too so just about everywhere we went, she knew someone and introduced me. Yesterday at the bus stop, I taught my first lesson to a man named Giuseppe. It was really neat although I wasnt able to say a ton. Today we found a lot of people as we were going places and the members are very involved in the missionary work here. As we stopped for some Gelato today, we met the owner, Giovanna, and we started to talk to her. She is going to be in Florida soon and so she asked if I would make some reservations for her at some hotels over the phone because she couldnt speak English very well and then we started talking about the gospel. She knows a few members of the church--one of which just happened to walk in during our conversation so it was awesome. We have an appointment set up with her on Monday. I love it here already---its so good to finally be here. Ive got to go but I hope everyones doing well! Vi voglio bene!

Love,
Sorella Hashey

Sono Partando!

Ciao a Tutti!

How is everyone this week? I've been great! So, last week, I printed off some of
my emails I've sent and have realized that pretty much every email starts off
with..."What a wonderful week!" or something to that effect. Sorry if that's the
same everyweek but it's true. Every week is so good because of the work I am
doing. This past week has been another great week. I have exciting news! I got
my travel plans!!! So, Anziano Cox and I are leaving this next Monday, the 18th.
I am so excited and nervous and anxious and probably every other emotion in the
book but that's just how I get right before anything new (especially moving to a
new place) so it's normal. The MTC has been great. I've enjoyed every minute of
learning here. Here's the update from week:
I taught my last lesson at the TRC which was SSOOO much better than last week. I
was able to say everything that I needed to and the language is really starting
to click. Key word: STARTING. haha. Next week I might have a different story.
haha. I was talking with one of the teachers who just came back from her mission
in Catania and she taught me, Anziano Cox and Sorella Pickett (all of us are
going to Catania) a little bit of the Sicilian dialect. There are different
phrases and words they use in Southern Italy and I LOVE her accent so I can't
wait to hear how real Southern Italians speak. I've also been talking with some
of the missionaries that are from Italy and going to English speaking missions.
One of them came in a week after me and knew barely any English and I knew
barely any Italian so there was definitely a language barrier, but it's been fun
to talk to them now that I know a little more Italian. He told me about a
"Castello del Mar" which is in Southern Italy where he lives. I first thought it
was a figure of speech because that means a castle of the sea so I was like, oh
ya, he's probably just telling me how beautiful Italy is by saying Sicily is a
castle in the sea but I guess there really is a castle in southern Italy called
that that I'll be able to go visit. It's been fun practicing Italian with a
native. So, every sunday, during Sacrament meeting, there are 2 or 3
missionaries that are called up to give a short talk in their mission language
and guess who got called on this week? Me! It went suprisingly well. I'm feeling
more and more confident as I speak the language although I am no where near
perfect at it. I've had some wonderful experiences as I've shared my testimony
this week. If there's nothing else I can do in Italian, I can atleast bear my
testimony which is the most important thing anyways. I am not a public speaker
kind of person but sharing my testimony in Italian is something that I have been
blessed with being comfortable at. I can't wait to help the Italian people come
closer to Christ through my simple testimony. I can't wait! Have a great week!

Love,
Sorella Hashey

Boun Anno Nuovo

Hello Everyone!

It's Pday again and I'm shocked at how fast this week has gone by! It's been a wonderful week for me. I can't believe that in two weeks, I'll be on my way to Italy...weird. Learning Italian is making me realize how much I take everyday communication for granted. I'm so used to saying whatever I want but for once in my life, I HAVE to think before I say anything. Remember mom, when you would get mad at me for not thinking before I said something?! haha. Anyways, I'm learning a ton. A lot about the gospel and a lot about Italy and the language. Learning a new language really makes you stick to the basics which is nice in my situation because the gospel is so simple anyways. I think I learned that the hard way this past week as Anziano Cox and I taught the Plan of Salvation in Italian to a couple of people. The lesson went well but it could've been so much simpler and less confusing if we had just stuck to keeping it simple. There's definitely always room for improvement! I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life and even more excited to bring it to others lives. Sorella Pickett is the new sister that came in last week so she is my new companion...my fifth one! I'm loving getting to know so many people. She is so excited to be here. Some of you asked how my new years went. Let's just say, we rang in the new years with all of you--at 10 pm Mountain Standard Time! It was great though. All of the Italian Sorelle had a fun little "festa" that consisted of junk food and Martinelli's and we shared some new years resolutions. I hope everyone is having a great week! Vi Voglio Bene!

Love,
Sorella Hashey

"God won't call you to something you can't handle...but you can't do it by yourself" -Ross Quigley