I'm on a horse!

Me and Sorella C's favorite Italian expression is "Siamo a cavallo," which figuratively means "I got away with it" and literally means "We are on a horse." We mostly use it out of context. 

"How's it going?"

"We're on a horse!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm on a horse!"

"How long will it take to get there?"

"We are on a horse!"

It's the phrase that says it all!

Next: we are in Catania this week for ZONE CONFERENCE! We spoke about how sometimes missionary work goes down during the month of December. Now this is just a theory, but, I have a feeling that for all the good warm feelings that come about at Christmas time about serving our fellowmen, we get a sense of entitlement at Christmas. Maybe it's because we missionaries are missing home, but the thought trend tends to be, "I work ALL year round, without vacation days. At least Christmas should be a break, eh? Eh? Don't I deserve something for all that I do?"

At least I know I think like that sometimes. And I've found that entitlement always brings me sadness and a tendency to sing overly dramatic music. But, I realized something the other day. Maybe I'm wrong, but if we, as weird and weak as we are, feel entitled for the little that we do, imagine how God feels. "I gave you ALL of this. I gave you life, I gave you your understanding, and I'm here willing to give you the happiness and peace you want in this life and in the life to come. Can't you at least now, at least at Christmas, remember all that I have done and do what I ask?"

The difference between us and God is that when we feel entitled, we want people to do things for us for our sake. God wants us to do things not for His sake but, ultimately, for our sake. Thanks Heavenly Father!

Ok, time to describe the pictures!

Photo ...824: FIRST SNOW OF MISTRETTA! We've hit freezing and had a HUGE storm. It thundered and lighteninged (?) all night while the snow came softly down. It's very strange to have the roar of thunder without the patter of rain, just the white white white silent snow. But we escaped from our mountain just before the storm got really bad. 

Photo ...813: Our first Young Woman's Activity! The 2 daughters of our branch president make up our entire Young Women's group (and his 10 year old daughter is the primary). They don't have any other leaders besides their parents so we decided to do an activity for them. Their favorite pasttime is listening to American music and they love replacing the word "sexy" with "Mormon" (as in such Top Hits, "Heeey, Mormon Ladies", "I'm Too Mormon for My Shirt", and "I'm Bringing Mormon Back."). We made a tshirt stencil for their favorite song: "I'm Mormon and I know it." NICE.

Photo ...810: Us and Giuseppe, our favorite Jehovah's Witness turned Mormon investigator! Giuseppe is up in northern Italy and we miss him BUNCHES but he should be back before Christmas. 

Photo ...192: Happy 12-12-12-12-12! We were doing exchanges in Catania and I got to spend a day with Sorella R and Sorella M -- both the bomb! Most of the day was spent me observing them on how I can be a better missionary. And it's always exciting to be out in the city of Catania, aka "The Big Spaghetti," where there's people EVERYWHERE, all of the time.

Thanks to Miss Hayley Paul ... I got your letter with the Eyring Talk. Thanks for always being so consistent -- every zone conference I can count on something from my fav redhead. GRAZIE

That's all for this week. Oh, I also ate at a Chinese buffet this week. CHINESE SPEAKING ITALIAN IN AN AMERICAN SIZED RESTAURANT. I wasn't sure what to do with myself, there was so much culture clash. 

Have a great week everybody! And if you could do me a favor and remember and appreciate the blessings you have -- especially Mexican food. Because I'm not going to get it for another year, so eat a burrito in memory of me!

all of the love

Sister Annie