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
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, April 6, 2012
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
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
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