Week 34: New Companion!
I found a picture of Sister Fairbanks on Instagram a few days ago, and noticed that the tall girl next to Becca had on a missionary tag--but I thought she looked too old to be Becca's new companion (maybe she was a local service missionary or half of a couple who are serving together?), so I wondered if her new companion was the blonde on the right.
Turns out that the tall girl IS the new companion. She's Sister Di Iulio from Italy, and she's 36 years old! So, she's almost twice Becca's age--much closer to my age, actually. I knew that single sisters can serve full-time missions long after the cut-off age for young men (25), but I was still really surprised to hear about this new development. Anyway, it's awesome that Becca is getting this unique opportunity! Ryan served in the Italy Milano mission 24 years ago, so this arrangement seems especially fun to us. Sister Di Iulio is from a town three hours east of Rome, so it's a part of Italy that Ryan never visited, but it's still cool! It sounds like they've hit it off, and they're having fun and success together already.
Here's how Sister Fairbanks put it in her email to me:
Okay, my new companion! Her name is Sister Laura Di Iulio (dee you leo) and she is from ITALY! I mean straight from Italy! Her accent is very thick and she's learning English. She does language study for an hour every day (which means I get an extra hour of personal study time, woohoo!) Okay, here's the shocker. She's 36 years old! Wowza. President Vest called me to tell me about her before I met her. He explained about the language study and that she is 36. I was all of a sudden terrified because this is an adult. An actual adult! Ah! I was more nervous driving to transfers than I was going into the MTC. Holy cow.
So Wednesday I dropped off Sister Larsen at the mission office (that's the pic you saw) and we said goodbye. Holy cow, I about lost it. It was really hard, but I'm so grateful that she is still in my zone. Then I picked up Sister Di Iulio and we went back to Oneida. She loaded up the car with tons of Italian food! Not even kidding. She brought a gallon of olive oil and plenty of balsamic vinegar, haha. And pasta, if course! I laughed so hard. She is a sweetheart. We've been getting to know each other. She is from Pescara, three hours East of Rome, by the sea. Her father was the first member of the church in her city. She has three younger brothers that all served missions. One of them served next door in the Rochester Mission. She is so awesome and the branch welcomed her with open arms. Literally! Sister Di Iulio talked about how in Italy they hug as a greeting, but Americans don't typically like hugging. Except for the Oneida Branch. ;) ... [I beg to differ!]
...
1 - Sister Di Iulio caught me zoned looking out the window during studies. I didn't know she took this picture until about 1 minute ago, haha. I just taught her the word "sneaky." 😂
2 - We had a harvest dinner on Saturday and one of our long time investigators and friends Joe came. He surprised us and we had a really good visit. 😊
Here's the group email:
Hello!
It has been a crazy week! It seems like it's always a crazy week, haha. On Monday it was Sister Larsen's birthday! So we celebrated all day long. It was wonderful. That evening the Lewises took us to dinner at the same buffet that they took me to for my birthday. It was delicious and we had a lot of fun. How I love all of these people in my life! ❤
On Tuesday we got transfer news. Sister Larsen was moved to Delhi and I stayed in Oneida. It was hard to say goodbye to such a dear friend, but we actually get to see each other again tomorrow! And we have a lifetime of plans for after our missions. :)
So I got a new companion! He name is Sister Di Iulio (dee you leo) and she is from Italy! She has only been in the US for about five months and she is learning English. She is such a sweetheart and we have been having a lot of fun! She thought it was hilarious that sometimes in America when something goes wrong we say "Oh man!" Well it snowed the other day and so the phrase has been turned into "snow-man!" Haha! She is so funny. 😂
We keep having little adventures during the day, haha. One evening we had been walking all over Oneida, but we we got home I realized that I had lost the keys. It had been snowing and there was already about half an inch on the ground. We started retracing our steps to find the keys. I told her that the church key was on the ring too. She said, "Oh, you are Saint Peter?" Hehe. I said, "Well not if I lost the keys." Then she said, "Then you started the Apostasy!" Hahaha. I died. She is a hoot.
Here's to another transfer in the mission field! In this time of Thanksgiving I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I have had some of the best times of my life on my mission. I'm grateful for my Savior that has made everything possible and for the knowledge of the Restoration of the gospel that has shaped my life.
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃❤
Sister Fairbanks
1 + 2 - these pics pretty much capture my relationship with Sister Larsen, haha!
3 - Sister Di Iulio!
Turns out that the tall girl IS the new companion. She's Sister Di Iulio from Italy, and she's 36 years old! So, she's almost twice Becca's age--much closer to my age, actually. I knew that single sisters can serve full-time missions long after the cut-off age for young men (25), but I was still really surprised to hear about this new development. Anyway, it's awesome that Becca is getting this unique opportunity! Ryan served in the Italy Milano mission 24 years ago, so this arrangement seems especially fun to us. Sister Di Iulio is from a town three hours east of Rome, so it's a part of Italy that Ryan never visited, but it's still cool! It sounds like they've hit it off, and they're having fun and success together already.
Here's how Sister Fairbanks put it in her email to me:
Okay, my new companion! Her name is Sister Laura Di Iulio (dee you leo) and she is from ITALY! I mean straight from Italy! Her accent is very thick and she's learning English. She does language study for an hour every day (which means I get an extra hour of personal study time, woohoo!) Okay, here's the shocker. She's 36 years old! Wowza. President Vest called me to tell me about her before I met her. He explained about the language study and that she is 36. I was all of a sudden terrified because this is an adult. An actual adult! Ah! I was more nervous driving to transfers than I was going into the MTC. Holy cow.
So Wednesday I dropped off Sister Larsen at the mission office (that's the pic you saw) and we said goodbye. Holy cow, I about lost it. It was really hard, but I'm so grateful that she is still in my zone. Then I picked up Sister Di Iulio and we went back to Oneida. She loaded up the car with tons of Italian food! Not even kidding. She brought a gallon of olive oil and plenty of balsamic vinegar, haha. And pasta, if course! I laughed so hard. She is a sweetheart. We've been getting to know each other. She is from Pescara, three hours East of Rome, by the sea. Her father was the first member of the church in her city. She has three younger brothers that all served missions. One of them served next door in the Rochester Mission. She is so awesome and the branch welcomed her with open arms. Literally! Sister Di Iulio talked about how in Italy they hug as a greeting, but Americans don't typically like hugging. Except for the Oneida Branch. ;) ... [I beg to differ!]
...
1 - Sister Di Iulio caught me zoned looking out the window during studies. I didn't know she took this picture until about 1 minute ago, haha. I just taught her the word "sneaky." 😂
2 - We had a harvest dinner on Saturday and one of our long time investigators and friends Joe came. He surprised us and we had a really good visit. 😊
Here's the group email:
Hello!
It has been a crazy week! It seems like it's always a crazy week, haha. On Monday it was Sister Larsen's birthday! So we celebrated all day long. It was wonderful. That evening the Lewises took us to dinner at the same buffet that they took me to for my birthday. It was delicious and we had a lot of fun. How I love all of these people in my life! ❤
On Tuesday we got transfer news. Sister Larsen was moved to Delhi and I stayed in Oneida. It was hard to say goodbye to such a dear friend, but we actually get to see each other again tomorrow! And we have a lifetime of plans for after our missions. :)
So I got a new companion! He name is Sister Di Iulio (dee you leo) and she is from Italy! She has only been in the US for about five months and she is learning English. She is such a sweetheart and we have been having a lot of fun! She thought it was hilarious that sometimes in America when something goes wrong we say "Oh man!" Well it snowed the other day and so the phrase has been turned into "snow-man!" Haha! She is so funny. 😂
We keep having little adventures during the day, haha. One evening we had been walking all over Oneida, but we we got home I realized that I had lost the keys. It had been snowing and there was already about half an inch on the ground. We started retracing our steps to find the keys. I told her that the church key was on the ring too. She said, "Oh, you are Saint Peter?" Hehe. I said, "Well not if I lost the keys." Then she said, "Then you started the Apostasy!" Hahaha. I died. She is a hoot.
Here's to another transfer in the mission field! In this time of Thanksgiving I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I have had some of the best times of my life on my mission. I'm grateful for my Savior that has made everything possible and for the knowledge of the Restoration of the gospel that has shaped my life.
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃❤
Sister Fairbanks
1 + 2 - these pics pretty much capture my relationship with Sister Larsen, haha!
3 - Sister Di Iulio!
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