I have a presentation to practice, my training to plan, a man to baptize, and Guilder to blame for it. I'm swamped!

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SO GOOD! Maybe I'm on a high because we were able to rent bikes for Pday and go for the most PLEASANT and NORMAL bikeride in PANTS along the oceanside. But even if it's not the endorphins talking, I think I would still be pretty stoked for how this week has gone/is going.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Can I celebrate my birthday on the mission every year? Not only did our English Course throw me a party, but the other sisters threw us a surprise pizza party. And THEN our Bishop and his wife separately called me to wish me a "good birthday!" and good ol' Sorella Kelly! Also, I got a card with "SophistaBear" on it (attached). Most of my accumulated joy about my birthday can be explained through that card. Thanks Anziano Rivera! BEARS!

I made chili for my birthday! I had to use a random curry powder we found at an Asian store. It tasted good though. Or at least everyone lied to me for my birthday! Yay, happy birthday!

What else? Mark will be baptized tomorrow! We are running around a bit like headless chickens, because we're going to help a family move tomorrow morning and then go babysit the font so it can fill up in time for the baptism (approximate wait time: 5 hours). Don't worry, we'll be busy praciticing our presentation for this Sunday ("Meet the Mormons," a community public relations event), working on our musical number for the following 2 Sundays, writing a talk for the baptism, design a ward tshirt, and trying to figure out what we're going to say to our zone of forty missionaries at zone conference. BUSY BEARS!

We were finally able to arrange a FUN ACTIVITY with some of our ward members and a contact, Loredana. We all went bowling and it went fantastically! It was like Loredana had always been friends with these people and they all went out for panzarotti and talked together after we had to leave (past missionary curfew!). Member friendships help us SOOOO MUCH because we're awkward missionaries that have to wear SKIRTS when we go BOWLING! Also, I bowled a horribly low score, but Loredana (who hasn't bowled since she was ten), smoked all of us. She said it was a miracle! I agree, since we all know that being bad when you bowl with people you don't know is the most horrible experience in the whole world. So the fact that she came in a very close second to our bishop improved morale all around! MORALE BEARS!

Not sure if I'll stay in Bari longer or not. But I've had a real change of heart this week. I can't explain it. Maybe it's because I've been thinking about how I might leave Bari, and then thinking about all th
e great things I would be leaving. But... I realize that I might actually want to stay here. Even if it meant possibly staying in Bari the rest of my mission. I feel that I have found my spot here, I know why I'm here. And I could keep doing it.

I know that was a contradictory message to what I sent last week. I can't explain why -- but working closely with members (especially the bishop and the cultural center for public relations opportunities) and our investigators, I finally feel good about Bari. I feel good about ME being here and I feel like Ammon when he said, "I could dwell among these people, yea, even until the day I die." or rather "yea, even until the day I die as a missionary."

I felt that way about Sicily in my first few weeks there. It took me 6 months to feel the same way about Bari. We'll see what happens. Luckily, it's not up to me. Sadly, I won't be able to tell you for another two weeks. But you (all of you, PLURAL!) will be the first to know!

ok, that's all! Floss!

love

Annie

One and One and One is Three

The Bealtes are good at math!

This week BARI had THREE BAPTISMS: Sandra, Lewis, and Destiny (only one of those is a woman and it's not Destiny). It was weird when I woke up on Saturday morning because I realized... "Hey! This baptism thing! This is why we're here!" and it made it really exciting. I feel that often I have to come up with psychological mind games to help myself keep going even if baptisms aren't springing up left and right. But then... whoa! You have a baptism! These things do happen! And they are spiritual and powerful and sometimes you can only appreciate it when other missionaries are in charge of the baptism. Anyway, just some musings.

But, again, the coolest part is not the baptism, but the true conversion that you see. In this case, I saw it with Lewis the following Sunday. He showed up in all white (BOSS, and not Hugo). The Gospel Principles teacher was absent so we pulled out a topic on the spot: prayer. We went through the what, why and how of prayer. Africans often pray a certain way (I may have mentioned this. Usually it involves starting, "In Jesus name we pray" and invoking the "blood of Christ to cover this church" and not exactly a recited prayer, but usually very similar.... like Mormon prayers on the food, I suppose). We talked about how when we pray we usually start with "Dear Heavenly Father," then express thanks, praise, ask questions, and requests and then conclude with "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Lewis said, "I am glad you talked about this! I was noticing you pray differently. I want to know: is it wrong the way I pray?" And we explained that it wasn't wrong, because as long as he was praying to God, in the name of Christ, there was nothing wrong. But he said, "I like how you start talking to God, because he is the most important. And then put Jesus at the end." And then Lewis concluded the lesson with the most beautiful prayer. It was great. Also, I was able to translate their blessings and confirmation of the Holy Ghost because they were given in Italian. That was fun.

We performed a musical number in church this week. Sister Bradford's mom, if you are reading this, know that the ward went WILD! They all love your daughter's voice. She sang "I Feel My Savior's Love" in Italian and immediately after the sacrament meeting got two requests for future musical numbers. 

Guess who's back from Denmark? MARK! I just realized... denMARK. Bwhahahahaha! Anyway, he still has the same baptismal date set (for this upcoming week) and he has made a TON of progress, so we might be able to help Mark get to the waters of baptism after all (calling it "the waters of baptism" makes it sound like a euphemism for a bodily function). That might be coming up next week, details pending!

So remember how we were supposed to present "Mormons" in a university presentation this week? It ended up falling through, but we were able to meet with the professors and the bishop's wife to reschedule for October. The meeting went fantastically. These professors are FANTASTIC. One of them really wants to make this presentation an informative and enlightening lecture for his students and moved it in interest of that (since it's currently the end of school/exam season/students leaving/etc.). In October, he says there will be lots of students, fresh, ready, curious and it will go great! Also, they LOVED the fact that they could just talk via email with a "bishop" (the professor said it would be impossible to ever just email a Catholic bishop) and that his own WIFE came to talk to them (married clergy is a pretty big deal for Italians).

But the presentation we prepared will not go to waste. We're going to give a presentation open to the public at our church in the next few weeks. 

Bari's great. For as hard as it was at the beginning, I'm am glad I had to stay here for four transfers. I feel that it was really in this last transfer that the fruits of my labors are becoming apparent. I don't know why it took so long, but I'm glad I was here. I think I would still be ready to be transfered, but at the same time... I'm not filled with dread at the thought of staying another transfer. So, progress! But. I also think I would like to be transferred. Haha, yes. We shall see. I think transfer week is going to come sooner than expected this time around!

Okay, I think that's all for now. I love all of you!

Peace,

Annie

...418: Look, I'm being translated!

...433: Look, my shoes have bad eyesight!

...434: Left to right: Lewis, Mark, ME, Destiny

Rome Temple under construction

FEED MY SHEEP, DANGIT!

So, one of the elders in our ward gave a talk this week. He's just a new guy, making his way along with talk giving and Italian speaking. But he said something very simple that hit me in the spiritual gut: when we decide to serve a mission, we spend two years not serving ourselves, but serving others.

While I've been out, I've told myself it is for others, but I've still been thinking a whole lot about ME. About how I'm doing. About how I'm doing good, about how I'm doing bad. About how I'm not as happy as I want to be, or this situation isn't as perfect as I want it to be, or if I was in charge, I would want to try and do it this way. In other words, I've been still making this time (supposed to be for others) more about myself. Heh. Heh heh, whoopsy!

I mean, sure, I may not want to be where I am. But I decided ahead of time that this time was for my fellow fellows. For these dear Italians. Matthew says, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve" (matt 20:28). I'm going to do what I can, what is in my power, to help these people. Yes, I can unilaterly decide to help people because I'm a DO GOODER. Ha ha. Yep. Talkin' about Jesus is always good when you're shoving it down people's throats. JUST KIDDING.

OTHER GREAT LESSON THIS WEEK: STOP JUDGING BECAUSE IT HURTS PEOPLE. We went and visited a member who has been open to us visiting her, but has been incredibly, incredibly busy. We finally were able to stop by. We'd been preparing for this spiritual thought for weeks (mostly because it kept getting rescheduled), but I always felt I didn't know exactly what to say to this sister. When we arrived, we started giving our spiritual thought, and then we realized... that this sister just needed to be listened to more than anything. She talked about how she was struggling coming to church. About how she wants to come to church -- how she REALLY REALLY wants to come, but she has these psychological obstacles that no one acknowledges. They tell her to suck it up and come to church anyway. And she says, I want to come, I do! But when I have these psychological problems holding me back, what do you want from me? Do you want me to go to a shrink who, not being Mormon, would just tell me to leave this church if it's causing me so much stress? Do you want me to come and be miserable because I know you're all talking about how I shouldn't be acting this way?

This sister has common Mormon problems... perfectionism, overworked, and facing constant comparison. And her desire to be a participating member is real. But she is currently facing hurdles. And I know that I am often one to judge. "Suck it up. Do it anyway." But what if I could instead help her work through her problems? Listen to her. Encourage her. Help her figure out her problem while in the framework in the church, instead of saying, "Either you're with us and willing, or you're against us." 

No one is going to be in the perfect, no matter what religion they are. So. Stop judging! And help people with their problems! It's not easy to have problems. "And we all need somebody to lean on!"

This upcoming week we're going to give a presentation at a university about DA MORMONS! Whoa/scary/weird! Say a prayer that we won't have hecklers! And that all these YOUNG PEOPLE will see that religion is COOL and HELPS US live HAPPIER lives!

Best moment of the week? When I showed the stake patriarch my new scripture coding system and we spent 20 minutes after church giggling over Isaiah. Or I was giggling. He was mostly giving me helpful insights into the layered prophecies of Isaiah.

We're designing a new tshirt! It's going to have a bird on it saying "Libertà" (Liberty -- that's the name of our ward) and the scripture that says "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty." Oh yeah. If you have any other cool stenil ideas/fonts SEND THEM TO ME! I'm design STARVED!

Shoutout to David Ruvalcaba! I'm going to try and resend that letter that should have gotten to you months ago. Sorry about that...

Okay, I think that's all for now!

Bari out!

Sister Fuller

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The Tempest

Title refers to the giant HAIL storm we got caught in on our drive back from Foggia's district meeting (our district lives an hour and a half apart, so Monday morning meetings are always a little bit of a trek). We pulled off the side of the road and listened as hail the size of marbles pelted our small Italian car. I considered trying to go talk to the other stopped cars and slip passalong cars in their window. He he... but it passed pretty quickly and we were on our way to sweltering Bari that didn't feel a drop of rain.

Uuuuh, this week was -- better? Yes, better! Do you know who's amazing? The members in Bari. We've been doing a lot of missionary work and we've had more stable investigators (stable meaning not necessarily "sane" stable, but "I show up for appointments" stable), so we've been able to have more members help us teach. And just in case you didn't already know, missionaries PRAISE THE NAMES of members who can help them with investigators. Part of it is being willing, but also when members take the initiative and notice a new face in church and come over and introduce themselves and invite the person to sit with them of their own accord... let's just say, that member's name is HALLOWED in missionaries' minds and mouths. Anyway. I've just been realizing how great our members are really are. Good job, Bari. You grow good, faithful, helpful people. You know. Jesus-like.

Also, my study of the scriptures just EXPLODED this week! I've been doing this super fancy doctrine coding system that I've tested out with the Book of Mormon. It's great -- I find I get a lot more out of the Book of Mormon. And since I'm in the depths of Numbers in the Bible right now, I said -- let's make a 2.0 version of this coding system and see if it helps. HOLE-EE MOLE-EE. I never thought I could learn so much from the book of Numbers! And it's a treat (albeit a particularly sticky one) to pick through prophetic prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah. YUM.

I realize that there's always something to complain about. And always someone to talk bad about. This week I'm trying to do away with mean speaking, because it hurts people and makes me look like an IDIOT. So one of those lose-lose situations. And I usually don't feel very happy. Sooooo. Yeah! We're done with that. Take that, Rumor Weed/Satan!

Guess who's flossing? ME! Yep! After almost twenty years of religiously avoiding flossing, I finally took it up. What changed? Our mission president's wife challenged us, and my roommate and I make it into a competition to try and report on who is doing the best with their flossing. Hey, that's a cool lesson! I like to think that people that have avoid religion religiously for twenty years or more can take to it just as quickly as I did at flossing. Right? We just invite them! What a fresh, new, minty idea. Thanks flossing!

I'm wracking for my mind for words of wisdom and drawing a total blank. But a letter shoutout to JESSE SHEETS! Thank you for your wonderful and not-sappy-at-all letter. As always, a response on not-as-cool stationary will be on it's way to you soon.

Okay, I think that's all. LOVE YA!

Call me, beep me, if ya wanna reach me.

love

annie

...355: Members of Bari. DID I EVER TELL YOU YOU'RE MY HEROES!?

..372: Cave troll, from the Mines of Moria last week.

...378: Another Another Testament of Jesus Christ?

Eat. May. Love.

Happy May!

Yesterday we passed by a shop that restored furniture. I said, "That man must know a lot about what restoration is!" So we went and talked to him and he showed us how to strip mahongany, we talked about how praying to saints instead of to God is a little backwards, explained how God can restore his church to the earth just like the man was restoring 18th century cabinents, and then we said a prayer while he stripped varnish off his hands. We'll go back next week. NICE.

The Puglia region continues to be more and more like Middle Earth. Last week we visited the "grotte" in Castellana, aka THE MINES OF MORIA! We found a cave troll, were pretty sure we heard Gollum following us, and couldn't find a Balrog, so we just nominated Anziano Reed to be the Balrog (since he finishes his mission today and will soon be, as we say, "dead").

If I succeed at attaching pictures, you will see Slla Chirstiansen and I and the cave troll AND another another testament (along with the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ!)

On the way back from the caves, my rusty ear picked out two girls speaking -- YEEES... FINALLY! -- Japanese! I spent five minutes stewing on whether I should talk to them and trying to remember how to say all the simple things that I have just plum forgotten. I worked up the courage and started talking. I started out okay, but I kept slipping in Italian words and am pretty sure I was speaking Japanese in an Italian accent. Think of the phrase "Itsa a pizza!" and then say "DomO arigatO!" and that's pretty much how I sounded. But the girls were adorable, spoke perfect Italian, and we were able to take them to their hotel. YAAAY. I have to go back to Japan and remember what I've forgotten. It's shameful, I say, shameful!

What else? THE BOOK OF MORMON IS A POWERFUL TEACHER! Have you ever just tried to explain concepts to people just out of the Book of Mormon? It's insanely powerful! And it's the best when you are teaching someone who doesn't speak either your language or the foreign language you are learning. Enter: Gao, a Chinese student of opera. He's been taught a lot of the main concepts, and would be progressing swimmingly if it weren't for the fact that he studies 24/7 and can only meet with us once every three weeks. But he's GREAT! And he's READY! The key is that the missionaries in the past have used so many teaching materials in Chinese, when instead we just need to read out of the Book of Mormonses together. Yes? Yes. Yes we can.

Gao asked a great question. "How do I know when God is answering me? How will the answer come?" The answer to Gao and to everyone who has ever stumbled around blindly looking for answers (of which I am the first) is: 1) the Holy Ghost and 2) the Holy Ghost speaks to us in our mind and our heart. What does that mean? It means that sometimes we just "feel" something is right. Maybe that's just our feelings. Sometimes something "seems" right. Logically, our brain tells us that it makes sense. But maybe it makes sense, but it doesn't feel right.

When something feels good and makes sense... that's your answer. For me, usually I feel it is right first, and I have to take a step of faith in that direction. If I trust myself, if I follow what feels right, then the next step illuminates everything and suddenly I know why it felt right, because it also makes sense. Whoa. I don't know if any of that made sense. Write me a letter and I will explain it better to you.

Hey! I'm staying in Bari with Sister Bradford for another transfer. That means 6 months in Bari TOTALLY UNEXPECTED ON MY PART! Next stop... Rome? Probably. But that's not for another little while, so we'll think about that later.

Loving people sometimes hurts, but we just do it anyway, because otherwise we become bitter people that are shut up in their dark houses, feeding off of their own depression. So love, even when it's not easy! I'll try and do that too.

love

Annie