First Email

Chandra email our family today. Here is what she said:

 ***Fratello = brother, Sorella = sister

La mia famiglia e i miei amici,(my family and my friends)

This week has been crazy. So wonderful and so overwhelming at the same time. La mia collega (my companion) is awesome and we get along splendidly. She is into weird health practices like essential oils and we eat salad all the time and she has awesome dresses. We both like vintage things and keep things really clean. I HATE that we can't listen to music here. It pains my heart. However, we got to listen to Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday and it healed my soul. They sang "How Firm  a Foundation" and I cried. I loved the song from Brigadoon as well. My teachers are incredible. Fratello Pfeiffer and Sorella Swenson have so much love for us and are so full of the spirit. They encourage us even when we do a terrible job. My district is so great. There are ten of us and my companion and I are the only sisters. We already feel like family. I love them all. Our district leader, Anziano Hymas, is a terrific person and he is a good leader and I think exactly what we all needed. We all need each other and are so blessed to have each other and blessed with our teachers. I really can't describe how wonderful they are. On Friday or Saturday we made our first appointment with an "investigator" in Italian it was crazy. On Sunday I said the prayer in Sacrament meeting in Italian and one of our counselors was so impressed and couldn't believe I could pray like that after four days. One of the elders asked me if I had taken Italian a lot. It was so nice to feel the spirit help me say what I wanted to say in the prayer. I don't know a lot but I meant it. On Monday we went to the Teaching and Resource Center and did three door approaches in Italian and then taught the first lesson in Italian to one of them. It was absolutely nuts because we don't know very much, but to do it was amazing. It is usually forth week stuff we are doing because they have us on a new program and we work in Italian from day one. We ended up teaching our teacher, Fratello Pfeiffer, because they didn't have enough Italian speakers for some reason. He said his name was Francesco and let us come and teach him. The lesson didn't go as smoothly as I would've hoped. It was really hard. The whole thing felt so real to me I can't even describe it. I told him that God spoke to my heart through the spirit and helped me to know the truth and that he could know the truth, too. I bore him my testimony. He said that God didn't speak to him and it just broke my heart. I didn't know how to say what I wanted to in Italian. I was amazed I understood what he said the whole time, but it hurt that I couldn't communicate more fully the love God has for his Children. I did my best and felt the spirit when I bore testimony and I hope that it came across. I know it was just my teacher, but it didn't feel like that. I felt so much love for this imaginary person and I just wanted him to know the truth. I cried when we were done. I am just so grateful I have the opportunity to teach people like that and share the love of God and the truth of the gospel with them. I will have to write more later, I only have a minute. I love you all so much and I know that we are truly blessed with the gospel. Remember how much God loves you.

Vi amo,(I love you)

Sorella Lloyd

She also says her new favorite scripture is: 2 Cor. 4: 7,8,17 *Go look it up!!