ciao Tutti:) oh my goodness I'm in Italy, crazy crazy! Well first I
want to start with thank you thank you for all the support and
prayers. Sono Grato per voi<3 Also this email is very long so sorry
before hand.
Secondly, I'm gonna start off with some fun random facts about
Italy/missionary life:)
1. Italians talk so so loud and everyone talks over each other! It's
hilarious cause slowly the room gets louder and louder until everyone
is yelling! Seriously HILARIOUS!!
2. Yes a woman fed us horse so y'all better enjoy thanksgiving dinner
for me;) It tasted interesting and also hard to eat cause for so long
horses have been my pets, so ya I do miss riding and Rodeo's a lot. <3
3. Hot chocolate here is heavenly! It's like pudding kinda but not
really but man it's good:)
4. Missions are extremely hard, but I feel the lord's hand in my life
everyday, and reading the scriptures is a big part of that. I honestly
can say, reading the scriptures brings more peace in my life right now
than anything else....before my mission, reading them didn't come
easy, it felt more like a task, and now that I read them with a
different attitude and desire, they have become so near and dear to my
heart. <3
5. HAND GESTURES ARE NUTS!!! EVERYONE DOES THEM, AND SOMETIMES I FEEL
LIKE I'M GONNA GET WHOPPED IN THE FACE! haha
6. I didn't realize how much I loved moms casseroles until I'm here
trying to cook for myself! lol
7. Italian's can't say my last name so....They all call me Sorella
"Rrrrrrr" and roll it for like ten seconds! :D
8. Between 12-2, Italians go home and eat lunch, then nap....I mean us
American's have been missing out!
9. I have never walked so much in my life. We are constantly running
to catch our next bus...it's all part of the mission life:)
10. Us missionaries teach an English class twice a week
11. Italians are the scariest drivers! When we cross the street were
also praying till we reach a sidewalk😅 also they don't have dryers or
dishwashers, so we get to do hang drying and dishes by hand. :) The
things I took for granted everyday at home.
12. My mission president and his wife are the cutest! He may be
shorter than my dad even...haha 5'5ish....so he's a little guy, but I
can just feel how much love they have for us missionaries and the
Italian people!
13. Missions are hard, but so great, and I have already met some of
the most amazing kind people....so now I'll tell you all about that.:)
In my last sacrament meeting at the MTC, all 45 of us Italian
Missionaries sang Armies of Heleman, and that song gets me every time.
I sang that song with about 100 other teenagers at our friend Terik's
Funeral in High school, and the part where we say we will be the
lord's missionaries struck me hard as we stood around his casket
because I knew I wanted to go on a mission, but it was that time that
I realized wow I can't imagine what it must be like to think I would
never see my friends/family again after this life, and how life would
really hold no purpose without knowing we can See our loved ones
again.....and singing it in sacrament Sunday really touched my heart
cause now I'm here and get to share that message with all I meet. :)
Well Now I'm doing just that here in COLLEGNO ITALIA!!! It's a
smallish town just on the border of France, so I'm close to the
mountains, and it's FREEZING and also very foggy/gloomy most days,
rains a TON, but I love my trainer, and I love the people. after a
very long plane ride full of many bumps and screaming kids....we made
it in one piece and so did my luggage! :D
(Thank goodness) lol but I just have to say I love it here! Culture
shock....yes! Language barrier....YES!! Pure exhaustion....Yes! But
some of the kindest most loving people you will ever meet and that's
what makes it all worth it:) My cute trainer Sorella Springer is also
from Utah, and I just adore her! Yes I really got blessed with the
best comp....the first night she made us homeade Pasta so pretty much
that says it all! ha but she has only been here for 2 transfers, so we
are figuring things out together, and the language is part of that.
The people speak extremely fast and most of the time I can't
understand, but it's okay..one day it will come! :) Our first day in
Italia, we went to the (3rd biggest cathedral in the world.) it was
beautiful and there we talked to people and handed out our first Libro
Di Mormon. It was scary cause you just stop strangers and most of the
time they didn't want to talk, or you say hi and they act like you're
not even there, so that's been kinda hard cause I'm a very outgoing
smiley person and people here are not like that at all...but every now
and then someone smiles back and so life goes on and you just gotta
stay positive. :) Something interesting about Collegno...there are
TONS of Jehovah witnesses here so when people see our name tag, most
of the time they think that's who we are and they walk even faster😅
Jehovah's witnesses here are very aggressive, so people don't like
them, but every now and then in the street, or on the buses people
want to listen to us so questa e bene:) A guy on the bus told us that
it is nice to see us smiling cause everyone these days are on their
phones... so something me and Sorella Springer always do is just
smile, and we get some funny reactions cause you don't do that here,
and people will just stare! haha so smiling is great, and When you
smile you just feel happier, so everyone smile a little more this
week:) Plus it's thanksgiving and you get to be with loved ones and
eat till your hearts are content, so smile cause it's a week of
thanksgiving:)
So a little things about this week....
My second day here, we got to go teach Barbra... and
she is such a
sweet sweet lady who litteraly has the best laugh i've ever
heard....and man She sure knows how to cook! haha She fed us crepes,
then this yummy pasta stuff (typical Italian food) ;) but i'll tell
you what.....Italian's are ALL about carbs and Nutella....that's all
they eat! haha so yes Nicole I gotta watch portion sizes or else I'm
DOOMED! ;D Barbra wants to be baptized but her husband won't let her.
They have 2 sons, Zachy and Omar and I just love little kids so much.
Makes me miss my little nephews and nieces. <3 She is such a sweet
lady with bright hopes for the future as her marriage is struggling
and her husband is abusive, but she believes in Christ, and that he
can help her through it. She has strong faith, and that's part of the
humbling part as a missionary....I get to see this and it's so amazing
what people go through yet they still hold strong to Christ and his
atonement instead of turning against him despite life's
challenges...they turn to him for help.
Also We are teaching our investigator Davidae, and this guy is
awesome! He is 19, and reads the bible every day...like studies this
book more than any other 19 year old i've ever met! Super devoted guy,
and it's so cool comparing the Book Of Mormon to the Bible with him
seeing him understand how they go hand in hand. Teaching him was
hard....cause well ya I can only say so much haha but that's what my
companion is for;)
Our ward here is the best!!! These people are the sweetest
souls...come up and kiss your cheeks! haha I love it....hopefully I
don't go in the same way as them....a big kiss on the lips..that could
be real awkward! lol It's always to the right first...I gotta remember
that. ;) but they are so loving, and so forgiving of my broken
Italian, but I tried my best to talk to everyone...I carried my little
dictionary with me...haha yes I am one of those! One family i met and
just absolutely love is The Chinizzia family. I talked to them for
like 15 minutes after church, and the mom sent us home with food, and
they are just so loving! Also, random side not....yesterday we were
teaching this woman who kinda doesn't like the missionaries, but asked
us to come over anyways cause her son is a member so sometimes she
wants lessons....so anyways i'm giving the closing prayer, and out of
no where, she bust up laughing saying all these Italian words I don't
know...I stop praying and look at my comp, and she didn't know what
was going on either but could pick out enough words to know The woman
was laughing at my Broken Italian...haha so yes I get laughed at but
you just keep going.:)
Well friends and family, I know it was a long email, but this sums up
my first of many weeks in Italy. Till next wednesday<3 Happy
thanksgiving and remember how much we have to be grateful for. <3
Love,
Sorella Rindlisbacher
My mission address is:
Sister Nicole Rindlisbacher
Italy Milan Mission
Via Antonio Gramsci 13/2
20090 Opera MI
Italy
Quote of the week: "God does not always come when we call him, but he
always comes on time."
Now we have photo share up and going so I get LOTS of pictures and videos of her throughout the week which literally is the BEST THING EVER! So here are things she has sent me this past week.
Last MTC pictures. Her and her growing up friend Hannah!
Notes she gets from elders to "add them to her email list..." haha
My plane buddy, good times with miss bridget!
Teaching English class at our church tonight :) my town is Collegno right by French border! It's freezing here!!!
Making pasta with my trainer!
How amazing is this building??! (me captioning, not Nick ;) )
Got my hot chocolate and popcorn.... study time ;)
My comp, she's the cutest!
we walked outside for 3 hours in the rain... so cold. we were early for an appointment so we sat @ a bus stop and read our scriptures.
it rains everyday!!
Walked in the rain ALL DAY!
Time to dry the clothes!
best hot chocolate <3
Making me an italian pizza for thanksgiving!
Talk about getting exciting when she posted this video! How cute is she?! And her apartment isn't so bad either.
And lastly--- a little bit of her sister email.
My sweet Sorelle<3
Hi sissy's! It was so good to talk to you both on Wednesday, and man I
sure miss my family. <3 I hope thanksgiving dinner with the fam was
nice...looks like everyone had a good time. :) First of all yes I'm in
Italy and yes Nick is doing the missionary life! Literally it's hard
stuff and what makes it even harder is that I can barely speak the
language, but I love love the people...and the ward members are
great:) One of the ladies goes in to kiss my cheek, and gosh I just
about gave her a big smackaroo on the lips!!! haha wrong side, and it
was just really awkward, but i'm learning! Lynz I'm so proud of you
for wanting to run a half keep it up! and Paigey, I'm excited for you
to start school here soon. :) Just think christmas is coming up soon,
and I will get to skype everyone and I can hardly wait! I can't wait
to see your faces and awe it'll just be the best. <3 Looks like Owen
is just a cute fella, and I love this icloud photo share thing cause I
get to see all the videos and pictures, and bray dancing...maddi
laughing, and artie just sitting there like normal:D haha i miss that
dog! I showed the Anziani pictures of him and they love him! They were
talking about bulldogs, and I was like hey my sis just sent pics of
her bulldog, so yup everyone here knows about mr arthur. :D Maddi's
hair is getting so long lynz, and goon is just growing up so much!
I've almost been gone 2 months...kinda crazy huh?? I made pizza today
with my comp, and it was really yummy:) Nick is gonna be one hey of a
chef when she comes home! ha I mean I don't know...brady's pizza is
pretty dang good, so we will have to compare. ;)
Well sister's I gotta head to english class soon, but before I do, I
want to leave you both with a challenge. So It's almost the start of
a new year, and new goals!! Sister''s lets all make it a goal to read
the Book of Mormon before the end of the year.
If we do it together and write each other where we are, we can help
each other reach this goal.. :) Trust me before my mission, I DID
NOT CARE TO READ MY SCRIPTURES and honestly it felt more like a
task than anything, but sissy''s I promise when you read the
scriptures with questions and a prayer in your heart to know if it's
ture, You will learn to love the scriptures as i have these past few
months and your questions will be answered. So let me know your
thoughts, and we can help each other do it k? I love you guys more
than you know! Keep the emails coming, and pictures...all of it:) Have
a great week, and I'll talk to you next pday<3
Love Sorella Nick
