Craziest Thing

Good Week everyone!

At the moment I can't remember anything really exciting this week other than the fact that Ronald fixed my bike seat.. so much better! & Sorella Killpack and I are getting along so great.

getting crazy
So our district leader calls us every single night to make sure we got in safe and he always asks if there's anything he can do for us & Slla Killpack loves making up silly things for him to do.

This week she was like, 

"Yes... Tell us what's the craziest thing you've ever done." 

and it turned into this whole thing where he starts trying to think of all the crazy things he's ever done.. 

He's from Springville so it's pretty mild and he ends up just being like, 

"Let me think better and we'll talk about it at district meeting.."

getting to know you

So come district meeting Anziano Chipman decided to have that be the opening "get to know you activity" and it was awful hahah.

But the best, craziest story was Anziano Chipman where he explained this entirrreeee backstory and at the end.. the craziest thing he'd ever done was try on a girl's jacket and it gave him an hourglass figure. the end.. whhaaattttt?

So I already had my craziest moment in my head but I had to change it so quickly.. and so for this email i would like you to get to know my district by their craziest stories..

Anziano Chipman: tried on a girl's jacket that gave him an hourglass figure.

Anz. Chipman

Anziano Miles: went streaking in the snow his freshman year and got caught by policemen... (He's new, so we have to give him a break... you just don't talk about being naked in front of sorelle.)

Anz. Miles

Anziano Horrocks: built a huuuggeeee snowman and put it in front of a girls' apartment door and they got so mad.  So they rolled this huge piece of snow up to the top of the stairs... and pushed it off (so mild) hahaha.  Imagine him being so excited about this story.. and at the end he's like, "And thenn... we threw it over the balcony." the end hahah

Horrocks and Tanner

Anziano Tanner:  fire tennis. bucket full of gasoline lighting on fire & running away.  But his big bucket melted and that was the worst part.

Sorella Killpack. snuck into boyscout camp. hahahah yeaahhhh

Slla. Killpack

Me:  I found Ryan Sheckler's address and went with my mom & snuck into the gated community and parked outside his house while MTV was shooting his reality show.. 

Then we got fish tacos & I made my mom steal the signed Polaroid on the wall of him. nuts. hahaha

And the other two were home sick, so we don't know their craziest moments..

It's just like.. we've all been together for way too long.

maid of honor

I've become the honorary maid of honor for Ronald & Mariuxi's wedding and its so dramatic. literally nonstop.  We've seen them EVERY DAY and they aren't even our investigators. but I love them. It's cool.

It'll be a happy day. 

missionary dream
As far as missionary work goes.. we're happy!

We had lunch with a member at her friend's house with this couple, their two young adult daughters and their two neighbors.. it's literally a missionary dream..  

But we failed to role play with the member ahead of time on how to act.  She literally covered everything.

...but they invited us back.. weird. we're happy about it. 

& in church we sat next to this grandma and her grandson..  Sorella Killpack was talking to the little boy.. turns to me and says, "This boy is 10 years old and not baptized."  

Then they read about the Stripling Warriors together and he has a crush on her, but it's finee.. we're happy and working hard.  Pray for us that Sunday works out.

Love you long time,

Pajina

p.s.Thank you for sending so much Summer stuff!  I'm so excited to throw away everything else.. It's like you have no clue.  Sorella Killpack has everything JCrew and Banana Republic, so I super regret all my Etsy clothes hahah 

& thanks for the music.  She loves country.   We listen to Carrie Underwood's "How Great Thou Art" all the time.. Who knew it wasn't just a Mormon song?  She's cute. and taller than me.. what the heck?

Another mom fail that I thought about this week.  (K: She entertains her friends by telling them amusing anecdotes about me.  Like the time I accidentally turned on the disposal after her turtle fell into the kitchen sink.) 

"It's okay... if you're quoting something from a movie in a British accent."

Remember Prince & Me? hahahah

Also that one time you let us hike the Narrows at Zion's Park in a flash flood warning. 

Not that it matters. You're the best mom I have.

& remember when you go to figure things out for the Heber house... I need my own room because I'm probs just gonna be Italian and not ever move out.. and also a big, big, really cool bathroom. It's important.

Love you long time..

& I'm sad I missed the Kimye wedding in Florence!!!!! that's sad. I'm like so close, but soo far away. 

(Email Sent - May 28, 2014)

Crime Scene

Happy Week everyone! 

The pdays between week six and week one are allwwaayyysss the longest, but this week we saw miracles!

changing partners

I said goodbye to Sorella Gillespie and shipped her of to Bergy with Sorella Lemos (they were travel companions).. 

There were sooo many missionaries at transfer circle!  It was so fun.  

I got to see some of my favorite missionaries & a couple that I hadn't seen since the MTC.. but then I grabbed Sorella Killpack and her luggage to go home..her luggage was broken so we had to drag them all over Milano... 

but then the worsssttttt thing happened!  

We were kind of running around with our heads chopped off, trying to get all her luggage on the metro.. and there was this lady who ran on behind me then jumped off right before the doors closed, which I thought was weird.  

Then I realized one of the buckles on my bag was undone... 

She had opened my bag and taken my wallet!!!  I was so sad.. It's like I had jussttt got my permesso and I had a pair of earrings in there that Carmen gave me and my debit cards and 25 euro... 

not this again

So I called the office and told them what had happened to me and I was sooo so sad.  I decided we would take all of Killpack's luggage home then start the process of getting new things..

So we were chatting with the old lady next door and my phone rang so I answered it and there was a man on the other line who was like, 

"Paige O'Connor?" (sooo scary hearing your first name) 

but it was a police man who had my wallet!!!! 

recovered

He told me I had to go to the police station at the duomo right away so that I could get my wallet back.  (I assumed that the person would just take the cash and drop the wallet off because it has no value.)  

So we went baacckkkkk to Milano after canceling our appointments and it turns out they have these policemen who dress up like normal people and catch people doing bad things!  

So a policeman caught the lady and got my wallet back with everything in it!!!!  

I even had to identify her!  They had her in one of those rooms where I could see in but she couldn't see me & it was way rad. 

Turns out she was pregnant - In Italy you can't go to jail if you're pregnant, and it's really bad because then these ladies get pregnant so that they can rob people and not get in trouble.. Then you have these convict mothers with 10 children and that sucks. 

My wallet had everything still in it! even the 25 euro.. the policemen were really nice & we're friends now.. 

best part

But the BEST PART of it all is that one of the policemen is friends with a lady in our ward and had taken the missionary discussions before!  He's going to come back to our English class and it's going to be soo good. 

&&&&&  We talked to a man on the metro on the way back and he gave us his information so we passed it to the elders.  They met with him and he has a baptismal date now! nuts right?  So God really does work in mysterious ways.  

I told this experience on Sunday in my talk and everyone ate it up - especially the lady whose friend it was.. 

That's probably the biggest thing that happened this week. 

it's all good

I love Sorella Killpack because I was still sick last week and she called Sorella Dibb and made her let me sleep in until 10 and then she made me turkey noodle soup.  

She has really good music & quotes Pride and Prejudice like no one's business.  

Also she works really hard which is good. && she let me rearrange everything in our house and the ying yang is totes on point now. 

It's going to be a good transfer.

meanwhile

In other news:  Way to go Dallin because because the Mrs. looked soo beautiful!  

Also I love the bridesmaid dresses.. Britt is smokin.

how's my babe Krew? 

I miss California. 

Also this week I hit four months till I come hommeee!!!  Get ready for me>=) 

xxSorella O'Connor

(Email Sent - May 21, 2014)

Whadup? Staying!

So I'M STAYING!!!!!!!!! big upset for transfer predictions (not for me) no one saw transfers coming.. 

Slla Gillespie got transferred to Bergamo..

Anz Lovett got transferred to PORDENONE! 

Anz. Tanner and Anz. Lovett

(He is so lucky.  & he'll have a car... it's like, it doesn't get better than that. )

They both got here after Anziano Tanner, Anziano Cameron, and me .. so all of us are staying for a fourth transfer!

hard workers

I'll be getting Sorella Killpack who is only one transfer under me, so I'm stoked because we can work really hard & I don't have to do everything & I won't have to teach all the lessons myself. yaaayyy

Also Sorella Astel got transferred to GENOVA.  So happy for her. 

That's really all the news I have this week. 

happy transfer

Because I'm staying, that means I get to go to Ronald and Mariuxi's WEDDING! & then their baptism the week after.  It will be such a happy transfer. 

I'm really really happy because I thought I was leaving but I just love it here.. & I get to teach Slla Killpack all the hidden gems of the Muggiò area.  

She's probably sad about it, but I'll change her mind. 

talk or be transferred

But this is also sad because that means I have to give a talk on Sunday.. They asked me a couple weeks ago & I was like, 

"Suuurreeee but I might be transferred.. so if I'm not here Slla Gillespie will have to do it.." (she didn't want to)  but now I have to.... 

death sentence

Everyone is still realllly sick!  Poor Anziano Chipman had to have the doctor come to their apartment and he's out for 5 DAYS!  

That's like a death sentence for missionaries.. and Anziano Quinton has a fever of 40.. I don't know what that translates to but I think it's 100...  (104 degrees F)  so they're inside too... 

get on my level

I'm sick but I'm not on that level... so that's good. 

I don't know what else to say.   I just talked to everyone like yesterday.. 

Skype call with the sisters and family on Mother's Day

I'm just happy im here in Muggiò still. 

I'll be here until JULY... then I'll probably go somewhere new.. 

Love you long time, Paige

(Email Sent - May 14, 2014)

Lasagna Pick Up and Delivery

Gooood Morning everyboddyyy! 

 This week is going well!  It's Week 5 which means its senior companion week again.  Where did the time go?! 

On the up news.. our district has been diagnosed with VIRAL BRONCHITIS & Slla Gillespie has been waking up with hives.  I'm almost out of Benedryl because of her.  

So that sucks but for some reason we don't really care and the ward thinks we're funny.

phone home
I've been losing sleep this week because I'm soooooo excited to call you guys.  It doesn't even seem real.

Sunday morning (the 11th) at SIX o'clock (18:00 in military time).  Sorry for the confusion mom.  (At first she wrote that she was calling "18 Domenica" and I thought she meant Sunday the 18th!!) 

We're going to the famiglia Di Liberto and they are the besssttttt they have a son serving in Colorado and their daughter just got back from Salt Lake Temple Square mission in September.. and they cook food so good.  Get excited. 

small world
I forgot to write down good things that happened this week so I'm trying to think... Oh yeah so we have these really cute return sister missionaries in our ward who served in the temple square mission..and we figured out that one of them was the missionary who taught Sara when she was in SLC!!! small world right?! 

delivery di giorno
On Saturday night we got a call from one of our members and she asked us if we could go to her house right then to pick up a lasagna she made for the elders...

At that point it was 8:00 pm and we were 45 minutes away from home and she lives like a 30 minute bus ride from our house... and it was not even a lasagna for me... so I said no and felt really bad about it just because its really hard to say no to old ladies.. 

Then on SUNDAY the elders ran up to us,  

"Heeeyyy can you please go to this sisters house?  We have lunch with a member and we can't make it.  Also there is no man to go into the house." 

So I gave in and said okay out of the goodness of my heart.  

We had lunch with Ronald and Mariuxi in Monza (they're the best) then we went home and did some minor studies, made a couple of calls and then left for this members house.. 

We missed our bus and had to wait a half an hour for the next one.. We accidentally got off the bus a stop early and on the way to her house I was walking through this little campo and you know what happened??

I CAME 1 FOOT AWAY FROM STEPPING ON A HEDGEHOG. 

Did you know that that was even something I have to watch out for? 

hedgehogs... in Monza..

I was so scared.  So I pulled myself together and we finally made it.  

past curfew
After a typical Italian spiritual thought where they end up talking the whole time about weird space doctrine, correcting my Italian, a baby glass of (herbal) tea, and a panetone.. she made us miss the last bus home... 

So we had to walk... with a 20 pound lasagna not for me to eat. 

We didn't make it home until 9:50 that night and poor Anziano Chipman called at exactly the wrong time.  He really got an ear full. 

Zone Conference funnies

share your miracle
Then Monday was a zone training! yay. and there is an elder in Pavia who got picked to share a miracle...and he told this miracle how he was talking with the BYU Men's Volleyball coach before his mission,

(btw I'm really sad they lost to Stanford but life goes on.) 

and one of the coaches, who is Italian, told him to find his mom and convert her...AND HE FOUND HER! whhaatttttt so nuts right? so he's teaching her now..in Pavia.

We had to listen to all the dying testimonies of people who are going home at the end of the transfer & that's always really sad.  And then we all got 2 euro kebabs together at the end. 

It was good. I got ZERO MAIL. but it's okay because I got the baby package Mom sent to the apartment the day after.. yolo

Okay,  pray for Slla Gillespie to get through the week as senior.

Be easy.

& keep push'n when the wheels are flat..

I'll see you soon then. (Dear John Amanda's voice)

xx Sorella O'Connor

(Email Sent - May 7, 2014)