Doin this thing we do...

For the past year and a half, the Bologna Inglese congregation has been very busy preaching to the many African refugees that were brought here from Libya.  Our growing congregation is proof that Jehovah is blessing the efforts of the brothers here!  I am so amazed at the growth just in the past year!  The Italian government is planning the camps at the end of the year, so many of us have been wondering-"What is next?!?" 

Bologna is known for having the oldest University in the world-founded in 1088!!  It's so crazy to be somewhere that has ANYTHING that's been around for almost a thousand years.  The only thing that old in Atlanta is dirt!  Haha.  The University has students from all over the world and many of them speak English.  The camps have taken up a lot of you time and the efforts have been well spent, but we are now focusing more attention to the University students.  One brother in my hall is already studying with two students from the University, and I am studying with an American student (I had to come all the way to Italy to get a study from America!!  haha)  who is doing so well!!  We study twice a week and she attends almost all the meetings.  I really view her as a blessing from Jehovah-there is no greater joy than sharing the Truth with someone who really appreciates it and wants to please Jehovah!! I already view her as my sister and a future pioneer partner!!

Before he left, Zech got this table together and had these posters made so we are now doing our trial run to see where and what works best.  If you watch the short video about the Annual Meeting on www.jw.org you can see a little about the success these tables have had in other cities.  So we will see what success we have!

Here are a few pics you might have seen already on fb or instagram...

 

 

These two Eritrean brothers serving in Norway saw us doing the literature stand at the University and later we happened to see them again while we were eating lunch. They insisted on paying for our meal because they said it encouraged them to see young ones serving Jehovah abroad!! So loving!! Jehovah provides!!

 

 

 

Last Thursday I had a great day in service-THREE studies!!  But the best part of my day? Conducting a study while looking on as my new brother Moses conducts his own at the next table



 

 

So there you have it!  A little service update-I'm really terrible about taking pics in service but I will try to be better!! 

 

Love to all!

 

Kimmie

WE ARE ONLY GETTING STARTED!!

WARNING: MAJOR SAP SESH...

 

 

After almost six months away, I have to say that the hardest thing about GOING somewhere is LEAVING people behind.  But as this past weeks WT brought out, to maintain our joy in this life we need to focus on the positive!  And so begins the sap sesh...

 

Is it weird to say that anyone who knows me also knows my best friend Jessie??  Even people here in Italy know her at least by name because I mention her often.  How can I not?  She has been a part of my life for 25 of my 26 years!!  Almost every memory I have involves her in some way.  Starting out as the only two girls our age in our congregation in New York with Moms as best friends, and followed by 10 years living next door to eachother in Georgia spending almost every single day together-we are closer than sisters!! Even when she got married 5 years ago (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY)  we remained super close.  Getting to pioneer alongside my best friend for so many years has really been such a privilege, and our friendship has really made me into a better person than I think I would have been without her. 

 

Where am I going with this??

 

I got a Voxer message from her the other day where she said she wanted to make a comment Sunday at the WT study on the paragraph on different life experiences published in our magazines and yearbooks that have encouraged her.  She started telling me about the article called Friends for 60 years and Only Getting Started  (which I had yet to read because we study the simplified edition in our hall)

 

Here is the link from www.jw.org:

 

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20121015/friends-for-60-years/

 

It is about four young brothers who were great friends and were super close because they all wanted to reach out for more in Jehovah's service and got to serve together in Germany for awhile, but eventually they were split up because of different responsibilities they were assigned. But even after 60 years they were still friends and still helping each other out because their mutual relationship with Jehovah kept their friendship strong even when they were far away. 

 

So here we are-me serving in Bologna Italy, and Jessie about to move where the need is great in Kentucky with her husband. So even when (if) I go back to GA she won't be there.  It's an end of an era! I don't think either of us ever thought that our lives in Jehovah's service would lead us where it has!! But I'm pretty happy with where we have ended up! 

 

I liked this part of the article:

"How wise then to rely on his leading rather than on one’s personal desires! He who has learned this lesson will be happy serving Jehovah anywhere and in whatever assignment he is given."
 

So true!  Jehovah always leads us to where we will be happiest! 

 

Before one of the brothers died he wrote:

“In all the 60 years of our friendship, I cannot remember any unpleasant moment. Our relationship has always been something very special to me.” To which his three friends, with a continuation of their friendship in the new world clearly in view, quickly add, “And we only got started.” 
 

So we are 25 years into this friendship, but like those 4 brothers-we've only gotten started!  We might be serving an ocean and several time zones away from eachother, but we are sharing in the same work and we can really be Best Friends FOREVER ;)

SUPER CHEESY!!!

 

Yeah...I think this pretty much sums it up ;p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Calm and Preach On

Well here I am, five months into my Italian adventure!!  And I have internet!  Yay :)  November has been a crazy month so far.  On the 1st I moved into my new apartment.  I was only supposed to stay in my last apartment for August, but one month turned into three...and yeah-I was ready to move!  Now I am in a great apartment right in the Centre of Bologna which is super convenient.  I honestly couldn't ask for a better place!  Jehovah always provides more than we even ask of Him!

I wish I could say that my Italian is awesome after five months here, but I have been super LAZY!! My mom just sent me this though:

So far I am on page 3...

Time to get motivated!

So some highlights?  October flew by-I was sick for a week during which all I accomplished was rewatching about 3 seasons of Gilmore Girls and drinking like 37 cups of tea.  I think my getting sick may have had something to do with only having packed sandals and sleeveless shirts and refusing to spend my money on warmer clothes/shoes until my friends came bearing a HUGE suitcase my Mom packed full of boots, heels (now I have more than just my one pair of black heels!!  yay!), warmer clothes, and CANDY!!!  All the important stuff ;)

I had a great time when Elliot and Rolando visited.  A little piece of home came here to Italy! It was so cool to show them around and let them see my life here. 

For example, remember the yearbook part a few weeks ago about the sister who slept on a kitchen floor for a winter because she went to serve in northern Norway without a place to stay?? Well this was my "bedroom" for a month. Elliot was trying it out ;)

For many people, being able to reach inside the fridge while still in bed is a dream come true!!  So I guess you could say I was living the dream ;)

They also got to experience grocery shopping and the 15 min walk/5 min bike ride to the bus stop...

Oh that bike-what adventures we shared!!!  Especially since 95% of the time I was wearing a dress while riding it-even in my 5 inch heels ;) Bad brakes, low tires, poor design that discouraged (by discouraged, I mean you would wreck if you did) pedaling while turning.  Good times that are all part of the ADVENTURE!!

Plus we got to do some traveling!!

Venice...



My study Ilta, Rolando, Me, and Elliot



All in all, a great visit!!  They were so generous with me and the other need greaters serving here too!!  Love you guys!!

I enjoyed my first Circuit Overseer's visit here in Italy as well.  They are a great couple with a lot of experience in preaching successfully to Africans.  We were reminded that serving here in the English field is more than just knowing the language-we need to know the culture of those we preach to so we can be more effective.  So much to learn!

Another first for me was the Circuit Assembly last weekend.  There we welcomed ten new brothers and sisters (11 if you count the baby one sister is pregnant with ;) ) four of which are from the Bologna Inglese congregation!!  How exciting is that!! 

Kindess studied with Arielle and Paolo.  Despite his reading limitations, he has made SO much progress.  Every time I hear him comment at the meetings I feel like crying-I'm so proud!! 


Last time I was here 10 months ago...

 

And now!!  My baptized brother!

 

 



Moses, Me, Kindess

Moses has such zeal for serving Jehovah!  And it is contagious!  He was known as "Pastor Moses" but now he is our Brother.  He is so excited to share the Truth he has learned with others.

Nonso was raised around the Truth, but has finally made it his own.  Super proud even though he is always telling me I talk too fast and no one understands me!!  Haha ;)

Here he is after service one day with Elliot and Rolando...

And then there is Sister Faith!! She always give very well-researched comments for the Bible Highlights-a very good student!!  After becoming a publisher LAST MONTH, she was in service almost every day!!  I think she made more time than I did!!  Talk about hitting the groud running!  She is very bold in her ministry and when she joined me on one of my studies I got to see what a great teacher she is. 

 

 

 

For me, this was one of the coolest experiences from the Assembly.  I have mentioned Kenneth before on here.  He gave his first talk on the school a couple weeks after I returned to Bologna and I was AMAZED at the progress he had made in the months I was gone.  So proud!!  Anyways, I saw him on Sunday afternoon during the lunch break with a woman smiling ear to ear.  Turns out, she is his cousin who he hasn't seen in TWENTY YEARS!!  And she is also studying and making progress towards baptism!  We all talked about how awesome it would be for them to get baptized together at our next Assembly!  It was so touching to see how excited Kenneth was to have family in the Truth! I am so excited for him.

 



 

 

 Here are just a few random pics from the Assembly (mostly for my mom since she always complains about never seeing any pictures) :p .  Sorry they are so huge-I'm terrible with technology. 

 

I'll try to be better about updating this thing now that I have internet.  I still have to write about my awesome study!! 

 

Life is good my friends, preach on ;)

 

Love to all!

 

Kimmie

 

 

Two cutest Australian/Italian kids I know and already love

 

After months of teasing Burgo for wearing clothes most grandfathers would consider out of style, he showed up for his part wearing something from this decade :p

 

 

We finally have a baby in our hall!!  I want to steal her-she is so cute!!



 

 

Valentine trying not to be tall lookin all 007, me, and Luke

 

The Pantano family along with 3 of the 4 new baptized Brothers and Sisters in our hall

 

Basta per adesso

Turns out that having extremely limited access to the internet is kind of a blog killer :( I have been here in Bologna now for two months now!  Time flies when you are having fun, right??  I am working on getting internet, so hopefully I will be better with keeping in touch with everyone.  I have to admit that today I miss home.  Maybe having some kind of internet access and being able to keep up with friends and family will help that a bit though.  Here is why I am here though...:)

 

August in Bologna…I was either mildly sweaty or SUPER sweaty the entire month.  Everyone clears out for the month for holiday (I can see why!!) so the city was pretty empty.  The meetings mostly consisted of need greaters and studies!  Remember the two weeks we studied about the wild beast and statue prophecies?  We only had 26 in attendance, and half were not baptized!  We made it through though and somehow I managed to make my last 87 hours for the year!  The best part about coming back to Bologna has been seeing how much some of the studies have progressed in the few months I have been gone.  Two studies became publishers while I was gone, and one got baptized at the convention this summer.  I arrived just in time to see him do the microphones for the first time at the meeting.  It’s so encouraging to see how seriously he takes his assignment!  One study named Kenneth gave his first talk in the school right when I got back. 

I almost cried watching him on stage doing the Bible reading in his suit.  Last time I was here he came to all the meetings in jeans and a sweatshirt, and this time he looks just like a brother.  Based on his comments and getting to sit in on his study, I don’t think it will be long before he will be J

One of my favorite moments here was with a study named Moses.  I sat in on his study one evening and before we started he mentioned that he had gone in service the day before!  We were like, “What?!?”  Haha.  He said that he and another study just walked down the street from the camp and started to preach!  We asked what he said and he told us that he had John 3:16 prepared to read but asked us what literature he should give people.  What zeal!!  Even though he needs some training, it was so encouraging to see what learning the Truth does for people.  He has been moved to share what he has learned with others.  It made me think that I need to increase my boldness and zeal as well!  As of September 1^st, we are both publishers of the good news!  I hope to work with him soon in the ministry-we can learn a few things from each other!  Just to give you an idea of how things are going in our congregation, our local needs was about training the studies in our congregation to study properly for the meetings and training them in the ministry because they are our future brothers.  Usually back home we may have one or two studies at any given time making progress towards baptism.  Here we are almost outnumbered!  Now our focus is to help the studies really make the truth their own by doing their own personal study for the meetings and helping the new publishers progress in their own ministry.  I can’t tell you how privileged I feel to be serving here! 

Pretty much since I arrived back in Bologna, I started being convinced to stay here longer.  Money was going to be tight with me only staying here as originally planned, but I decided to let Jehovah decide for me.  Through some very specific prayers, things seem to have worked out for me to stay here a few months longer than I planned.  So how to best describe the life of a need greater??  You live day by day.  Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread and a lot of us here get exactly that-enough for NOW.  I'm not going to lie-I freak myself out everytime I look at my bank account, but somehow there is always just enough to get by and pay the bills!  Being here really has taught me to rely on Jehovah completely.  I really feel like I can't make it one day without Him, and He never disappoints me.  I think sometimes we tend to rely on ourselves too much.  I know I catch myself doing that all the time.  We feel like we need to provide for ourselves and we never give Jehovah the chance to provide for us like He promised He would.  I have seen what it is like to get by with a lot less than I am used to and realize that I am way more content with much less. 

This is where I do service everyday...not quite Loganville, GA!

 

 

More to come soon!  To everyone back home-Love and Miss you!!

 

-K

Love to go, Hate to leave

If you had asked me a few weeks ago if I would be sad to say good-bye to my job in Forte dei Marmi I would have given you a big "Heck no!!"  but this is my last day here and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.  Yes, Paolino had his moments where I didn't know if I was going to make it the full six weeks (or if he was), but I have to say I am going to miss the kid.  It doesn't hurt that the beach is amazing :)  The real treat of being here though has been getting to know such great people in the Viareggio Inglese congregation.  Everyone has been amazing and now I am just adding to my super long list of cool people I now know from around the world!!  I will be sad to leave them when I head to Bologna, but a few of them have promised to visit me while I'm there.  So it's only a short good-bye!

Today marks the longest I have ever been away from home!!  It doesn't feel like I have been here that long.  The time is really flying by.  Here are a few pics.  Nothing too exciting-more to come from Bologna!

Gelato in Cinque Terre

Beach in Cinque Terre



Broken car made of cardboard : )



 Random Parade we came across while we were in service in Pisa

The tower that leans

Almost done with the "How", can't wait for the "Why"!!

Well it has been exactly 24 days since I came here to Italy.  I can’t believe it’s already almost a month!  Things are going pretty well with my job.  The little boy can be a huge trial (apparently rich Italians don’t like to discipline their children).  Although I pretty much have it made here-air conditioning, comfy bed, BIG closet, a shower I don’t flood BECAUSE IT HAS DOORS!!!,  a Nonna who cooks every meal for me and does my laundry…I still can’t wait to sweat it out in Bologna!  I know that returning to Bologna will provide me none of the aforementioned things, but I know I will be happier.  This whole six week experience has really made me appreciate Jehovah’s people so much.  They are BEAUTIFUL and there is no one like them.  I have to admit that I feel like I have taken our organization for granted in the past-most likely because I have always been in the center of things.  I mean, I LIVE where we meet for service J. Between pioneering, having the majority of my family and all of my friends in the Truth, and having limited worldly association with my work situation, this has really been a culture shock!  I can really see the emptiness in the lives people lead outside of the Truth.  I have lived with this family for almost a month, and even though the Nonna is a sweetheart and the family is pretty civil, I really don’t feel at home. When I stayed with Oscar and Tabitha when I first arrived I felt right at home within the first couple hours.  The same goes for when I stayed in Pisa with my new friend Daisy in her tiny apartment last weekend so we could do the convention invitation campaign there.  Her apartment is the size of my bedroom at home and I slept on a tile floor, but I can honestly say that I felt more comfortable on that floor in Pisa with Daisy than I ever do here.  Shared love for Jehovah is something that just instantly unites people-no matter where you are in the world.  I really feel privileged to be a part of this. 

I have only been able to go in service a few times here in Forte dei Marmi because I work full time, but I have had a couple good experiences.  I have been able to witness a little to Nonna Rita with my very limited Italian.  She has made a few comments while we watch the news before dinner and I try to use the few Italian words I know to say something about the Bible.  It can be super frustrating not being able to express myself sometimes, but I try not to get too discouraged.  I was assigned a sub talk last week, so I was carrying my notebook around with me all day trying to write my talk in between playing Uno with the Kid and helping make lunch and clean.  She asked me what I was doing and I managed to tell her I was going to speak about...well I said King David because I know how to say King and David but not how to say Jonathan…anyhoo-close enough!  When I got home from the meeting that night she asked me how it went.  I had brought home the July magazines about prayer and changing the world in Italian so I told her my talk went well and showed her the magazines and asked if she would like to read them.  We ended up spending a good 30 minutes talking about the magazines!!  I would point to an article or paragraph I liked and then she would read it OUT LOUD in Italian.  When I showed her that I had mine in English, she was impressed to see it in two languages so I showed here the front cover where it tells you how many languages the Watchtower is printed in.  I still can’t believe that with my limited (LESS than limited) Italian, we were able to talk for so long about the Bible and its promises!! 

My other experience happened on my way to service while I was waiting for the train.  I saw that the lady sitting next to me had the Awake!  in her bag in another language.  I pulled my English one out and showed her.  I was kind of expecting the exchange to end there being that I didn’t even know what language she spoke, but it turned out she spoke English as well because she works for an American family as a nanny!  She also had the Bible Teach book and said she was studying-even thinking of joining the school!  She was unsure though b/c of her job situation.  I tried to encourage her the best I could using the magazine about prayer.  She told me that she loves to see how happy Jehovah’s Witnesses always are and that she and her husband talk about wanting their daughters to experience the joys of preaching.  It seems like something is holding her back from taking the next step though.  My train was coming so I encouraged her to keep praying about it because serving Jehovah is the best way to live your life.  I told her that while the chances of us meeting up again were slim, that I would see her in paradise! Hopefully I do J

So that pretty much catches me up-nothing too exciting yet,  I really can’t wait to be done with the HOW I got back to Italy and start the WHY I came back : )

Until then!!

Kimmie

                         Here are some pics:

Taking this picture made me miss my train from the airport

Forte dei Marmi-my place of employment ; )

Town of Forte dei Marmi

Very cheesy smile due to finding wifi behind a laser printer store

My walk to the meeting

Best laid plans...

Wow, so where to even begin? 

I'll try not to make this too long, but I think it's important that I convey how freaked out I was about my trip.  There have been a lot of unknowns involved with going to serve this time, and I think that is what was making me so nervous. 

When I went to Bethel it was my first time away from home for any extended amount of time, but...it's Bethel-they take care of everything and I never really felt safer.  Plus they speak English ;) 

When I served in Mexico and last time I served in Italy, I was going to meet a friend to live and serve with-a partner.  Plus both my roommates spoke at least enough of the language to get around so I never managed to get myself TOO lost.  And in both cases we managed to have tons of fun together both in and out of service. 

So the difference this time?  I'm going very much on my own, I don't really know the language that well, I'm starting out living with a worldly family and serving in a congregation where I don't know anyone, and then once I get back to Bologna all the details are still kind of sketchy on where I am going to live and such. 

Those were just a few of my fears.  Then I had a two day painting job right before I left where I had about 20 hours with nothing but my own thoughts and worries in an empty house.  NOT GOOD.  In the middle of day two, with a paintbrush in hand...I just lost it.  I sat there and cried my eyes out-all the while apologizing to Jehovah for being such a baby and asking Him if He agreed that I'm crazy for doing all this.  Now, I am not a big crier.  I mean, I will cry if I'm talking to someone about something really sad or if someone dies, (or if I read Where the Red Fern Grows-that book gets me every time)  but I honestly can't remember the last time I cried when I was all by myself.  YEARS.

The only reason I am sharing this kind of embarrassing part of my "adventure" is because I think it makes it kind of real.  You read all these experiences of people early on in Jehovah's service who set out in unknown lands with basically a backpack full of Truth books and no plans at all, still wet from their baptism, starting congregations all over the place.  They were like the Jonny Appleseed for congregations. They accomplished so much and their experiences make you go "Wow! That's awesome!  I don't think I could ever do that!"  But they never mention how the night before they set out on their assignment they bawled their eyes out.  And maybe that's b/c they never did, but after my last few weeks, I'd like to think that at least some of them did.  They bawled their eyes out and then went anyways!

Now you have at least an idea of how I was feeling the morning I was set to leave.  I thought I was already at my limit, but somehow I was packing up my stuff anyways.  What could make me more nervous? How about finding out hours before I am set to leave the country on a Wednesday afternoon, that the people who were supposed to pick me up aren't expecting me until MONDAY MORNING?!?!  I think I had a stroke.  My mom started calling people who know brothers in Italy, I was trying to call the Bethel service department WHILE still trying to pack and get ready to leave (I really just wanted to get back in bed and never leave my room again).  CRAZINESS.  By the time I got to the Atlanta airport, I was a mess.  I still don't really know what I have in my suitcase because I have yet to unpack, but I did discover today that I didn't bring any pants.  Awesome :/  I got myself the biggest iced coffee Starbucks could sell me, and cried my way through security.  I think what had me the most scared was doubting whether I had Jehovah's blessing on my trip.  I had really thought I had it at the beginning because of how it all came about, but when things weren't coming together and then definitely when they started falling apart-I just started questioning everything-did I just jump into this???

I took off from Atlanta to Chicago for a layover, and by the time I landed there I had a place to stay and a plan waiting for me when I turned my phone back on.  And guess what?  It was WAY better than the plan I made for myself!  Imagine that!  Instead of flying into Rome and immediately going to meet the worldly family I'll be working for (who only speak Italian) I was going to take the train and be picked up by a witness couple from the congregation I am going to be serving in. Honestly, it couldn't have gone better.  I got to witness to the lady next to me on the plane for like an hour, which was great.  Finding the train was no problem.  I even helped some American tourists find their way around! Then Tabitha and Oscar picked me up from the train station and we went to the meeting that night!  I got to meet a bunch of the friends, and I'll get to meet them all again Sunday when I am awake :) Today we went in service with a pioneer sister in our hall.  It has just been so nice getting to know everyone.  I really feel like I have known them forever even though it's only been a couple days.  There is such a huge need here as well!!  I almost feel guilty that I am only staying here six weeks before I head off to Bologna! 

One of the paragraphs from the Bible Study this week in the Acts book said this:

"One of the great blessings of having the truth is that no matter where we go, we can find like-minded believers who will welcome us. Those who love God and who practice true worship have friends all over the world."

I couldn't agree more! 

Needless to say, I feel so much better about EVERYTHING!  I think this experience is really going to teach me to rely on Jehovah more than I ever have because I will NEED Him more than I ever have.  I am so excited and I can't wait until I have some great service experiences to share!  I'll try to post some pictures too!

Much love to everyone back home!!

Kimmie

Just a few pictures

Now that my trip is getting closer, I thought I would share some pictures from my last adventure in Italia.  Hope you guys enjoy!

We had about 20 people in our TINY apartment for a Watchtower study...in Italian :)

Our little bedroom packed with three beds and a cot

Oscar had us over for a feast our last week in Bologna

"Yes, please take my picture, and when you go to America, say 'This is Kennedy'"

Coming down from the Upper Camp

Me and Baby Joseph on my last day in service

Jon, Me, and Kindness at the Esselunga for his study

Our favorite pub Black Fire on one of our last nights

Alexia, Kenneth, Innocent, and Me

Piazza Maggiore

Just another day in service!

I can't wait to post more pictures of my next Italian Adventure!!  Stay tuned!

Woman of little faith-at your service

Well readers who never comment and make me wonder if I am typing to an empty internet...fret no more!!  I now have a place to live...in August!  Whether I will be homeless in September and October remains to be seen, but I'll worry about that later.  Or maybe I'll finally learn my lesson and let Jehovah do His thing.  When I sent a rather stressed out sounding e-mail to my COBE in Bologna inquiring about any options I might have for a CHEAP apartment there, he responded very promptly that there are a couple sisters sharing an apartment and there will be room for me in August because one of the sisters is going back home to Scotland for the month.  This was after he called me "woman of little faith" for even worrying about it.  Some might be offended for being called out on their lack of faith, but this is the same brother who, while choking back laughter, called me Babylon the Great after I kind of, sort of, definitely tripped coming off the stage after a demonstration.  When you are informed before the meeting that when you say a certain word in Italian it sounds like you are cursing, you focus your prayers on not doing that in front of your whole congregation and forget to ask not to trip off the stage.  Some lessons you learn the hard way.

Here are the things I DON"T know about the apartment :

Where is it?
How many girls live there?
How many bathrooms?
How many bedrooms?
How crazy are any and all of these girls?  (I prefer to be the second craziest person in any given situation.  You can still have fun but you have enough sense not to be THE craziest person)
Pretty much everything else you might want to know about the place and people you will be living with.

Here is what I DO know:

I will have some kind of living space while I am in Bologna.

Good enough for me!  If I can survive living in a one bedroom, two room apartment with THREE other girls and absolutely love it, I think I can handle whatever comes my way. 

In other news, I had a little Skype reunion with my roommate from Mexico.  We met when she came to serve at Bethel for a week and we bonded over raw cookie dough and UNO/Texas hold'em with my Bethel roommate Melissa (who later was my roommate here in GA) (Man I have had a lot of roommates!!) (I don't know the proper use of "()" for a tangent of a tangent)  ANYWHO-after we both came home she e-mailed me that she wanted to go serve in Mexico for awhile and I said "Why not?!?!" And roommates we became!  I learned that grocery shopping is not as fun when everything you buy comes with the thought "Is this worth it's weight in my backpack for 20 blocks?" I learned that true friendship is helping your camel-like drinking roommate (me) lug a 5 gallon jug of water several blocks and up three flights of stairs a couple times a week-all to save a few pesos for delivery. I learned that homemade margaritas taste so much better when you only have to pay $7 for a good bottle of tequila.  All lessons I will take with me back to Italy.

While Gail and I were having our little adventure in Mexico, her parents came down to visit.  Her dad made the comment during the Watchtower study that week that I will never forget.  He said that a lot of young people get out of high school, go to college, and try to get a good paying full time job-all so that they can afford to travel and have the freedom to do whatever they want.  It sounds nice in theory, but it rarely seems to work out that way. But using your youth in Jehovah's service can get you anywhere!  I am constantly amazed by how someone as broke as I am is somehow managing to spend half of 2012 in Italy.  I have seen firsthand so many times how Jehovah rewards those who put Him first.  And I'll tell you one thing-He sure doesn't skimp.

33 more days!!

Speaking of looking homeless...

           I was kind of hoping that I would have a few more things to report by my next post, but alas, things are moving super slow.  I did book my ticket-I leave June 20th and come home at 11:59pm November 4th.  You are all invited to get out of your comfy beds and welcome me home.  I will be the smelly homeless looking girl who is crying b/c she can finally understand the language that surrounds her. Speaking of looking homeless-I got my new passport in the mail.  Turns out if you take a shower before service, put your wet hair in a ponytail b/c you are running late (as usual), go out in service all day, and then rush to walgreens to get your picture taken by a woman who looks like she is about give birth and could care less whether your picture looks more like a mug shot than a passport photo, you might be stuck with a less than stellar picture that will stay with you for the next ten years.  Fortunately the picture does look pretty similar to my "haven't slept or showered in 40 hours and just spent the night with 300 strangers in a germ filled flying tube" look, so go me!! Way to think ahead so the Customs agent recognizes me.

            So at least one thing on the checklist I haven't written yet has been taken care of. 

            Oh yeah-I am retarded.  Things really were really seeming like they were all falling into place until I realized that the dates for the convention I had gotten from my friends in Bologna and the location provided by my friend here were for two different conventions.  Oh and the best part is that I discovered this two days AFTER I booked my flight.  I figured I could just change the city I was flying into so I could make it to the convention with my friends in Bologna.  I assumed there might be a fee to change...$100, maybe $150.  Silly, silly girl.  IT WOULD COST $1800.00 TO CHANGE.  Needless to say, I will be making a Stateside road trip to get to the convention before I leave.   

            So those are the only developments since last week.  I hope for all of your sakes that I have more to report next time.  Hopefully I will be able to say "I won't be living in a cardboard box in Bologna b/c I have a place to stay!!"

Until then...

Out for now world

A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME

Hello world (or anyone...anyone??? who might be reading)!!

      Jess and I celebrated our 25 year friendiversary a couple days ago by going on an incredibly short (two days smashed in between a 9 hour day in service and her Drama practice today) and incredibly cheap (free accommodations and food) trip to the beach.  That's how broke pioneers roll! It was nice to spend a few days with my BFF before I leave for 4 1/2 months.  Being the wild and crazy kids that we are and have always been, before we listened nostagically to my recently unpacked teenage collection of CDs, I read the yearbook aloud to her as she drove : )
      The courage and zeal for the ministry that the brothers and sisters in Norway showed was super inspiring, and the persecution and outright slaughter and genocide in Rwanda just makes anything I'm stressed about seem pretty outrightly insignificant.  There was one sister in Norway who went BY HERSELF back to a city than had been bombed during the war.  She didn't have a place to stay when she got there so she slept on a kitchen floor of a packed house for an entire winter.  I guess I should just start praying for space on someone's kitchen floor in Bologna!  I have to admit I'm pretty nervous about going back to Bologna by myself with currently no plans for accommodations.  But reading about that sister reminded me that Jehovah will always work things out and we are never really alone in His service...and that I might have to prepare myself to sleep on the floor or in a box or something.  At least it will be an Italian floor or box :)
       So far my problem of figuring out how to get to the convention has been solved!  The family I am going to work for offered for me to just come a few days later than originally planned so I can go directly to the convention in Rome.  AND I am hoping that it might work out for me to stay with an Italian couple in Rome for the convention.  It seems like everything is working out a little bit at a time.
                                              A LITTLE BIT. AT. A. TIME.

                                  

You can't fast forward, you can't rewind...so just PLAY!!

As I am feeling super stressed about tiny issues like, "Where am I going to live in Bologna?" "How am I going to get myself to the Convention in Rome 4 days after I arrive in Italy?"  and last but not least "How the heck am I going to pay for all of this?!?!" I can't help but I wish I could just fast forward through all of this and get to the "good part".  The part where I am finally back in Italy and I am in the groove of being in service with the friends and with all of the studies.  I also find myself wanting to rewind back to when I was there last time with Alexia because I can't help but wonder if I will ever be able to top that experience.

But I can't fast forward to the good part, and I can't rewind to some of the best memories I have ever made.  My only choice is to Play, to keep moving forward and let Jehovah direct my life.  It is pretty nerve racking sometimes, but all I know is that I'll never stop.

Answered Prayers

I have been back in the States for almost three months now.  My mom has taught me that you should find the best in every situation you find yourself in, so I have made home, "home" again.  I get to be with my closest friends and family everyday, serve beside my longtime pioneer partners in the ministry, and enjoy the many conveniences I missed in Italy.  I can honestly say that I have been truly happy since I have been back home.

With all that said though, I longed to be back in Italy.  While there is a need in every congregation, I really felt used in Bologna.  I miss all the studies and the great friends I made in the congregation.  Since I had left all my friends and family behind in the States, they became my new friends and family!!

When I got back (and even before I left) I started plotting my return to Italy.  I can not tell you how many prayers Jehovah heard from me about it!!  It seemed pretty hopeless though considering my complete lack of funds. I was (am) barely getting by as it is, so saving a few thousand dollars for a three month stay in Italy was a long shot. I couldn't even imagine how I could do it.

Well Jehovah could!  On my way to work a couple weeks ago I got a phone call from my friend.  She had worked for an Italian family last summer watching their son at their family's beach home in Tuscany.  Long story short, she offered me the job for June and July THIS YEAR!! It seemed pretty perfect and an answer to my prayers!!  My trip to Italy is now paid for, I get to brush up on my Italian, and get to spend a couple months on the beach in Tuscany!!  Not a bad deal.  I decided that since Jehovah provided a way for me to get to Italy, I might as well stay there and return to my congregation in Bologna!  My current plan is to go to Bologna in August and stay until the end of October sometime.  I am still working out details about where I will live once I get there and extending my visa, so that is where my prayers are directed now.  Plus I am in a mad dash to bust out some major service time here before I leave and make some money.  I am sure Jehovah will help me with all that, but it is definitely a bit overwhelming at the moment. 

I still have a bunch of people here at home asking me about my experience in Italy, and I am TERRIBLE about keeping in touch with a ton of people by e-mail and the like, so hopefully this blog will be a good way for me to share my experiences and not be too homesick when I hear from all my friends at home!!

Out for now world!
Kimbologna

Back "Home"

They say home is where the heart is, but in that case I guess I am not home because I left my heart back in Bologna!!  I have to say it is really weird being back in the States.  Although it was nice sleeping in my comfy bed with multiple pillows and doing seven loads of laundry in one day (yay for dryers!!), I can honestly say I would give up all the conveniences of the States to be back serving in Italy.  The only thing that kept me from totally breaking down our last night in Italy was knowing that I will have eternity to share with everyone I have come to love so deeply.

Serving in Italy was really a life changing experience for me.  Bethel was six years ago, and Mexico was three years ago, but I don't want to wait three more years before my next adventure in Jehovah's service.  This experience really showed me how much Jehovah blesses our efforts and what a beautiful organization He has for us here on earth.  I want to write more about all of my experiences in Bologna so stay tuned for those!