March 10, 2014

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all of your great e-mails this week! It was so great to hear from you all. Mom and Dad I hope you are having a wonderful trip! From the pictures it looks like you are having a lot of fun! Ricky and Tisha I hope all is well with you guys! Tell all the kiddos hi and that I love them. Doug and Kim looks like your Italian night was a hit! I can't believe Wendy is making animal noises now! Who said she could grow up?? D&O keep livin up life in Monty. Hope those new glasses are treating you well Oliver. Allie and Mike - how fun that allie got to make a little salt lake visit! Hope school is treating you well Mike. Thanks for the pics of Madden Mike. Sonn - those bangs! You did it! I'm OBBSESSED. Also thanks for the hermione pic. Laughing out loud in my beloved little internet point. I need one of those printed off and sent to me. All in all, I'm convinced I have the greatest family and friends out there. Thank you thank you thank you :) I've got lots to tell you this week, so I apologize in advance for all the craziness that is about to happen.

It was another great week out in the field! First things first, Suzy's baptism! Everything went perfectly, it was so amazing. I have never seen someone more excited for something in my whole life. The Spirit was so strong throughout the whole night, it was such a great feeling. I can't believe I get the opportunity to watch people go through the conversion process and see the difference the Atonement can make in their lives. It is incredible! Can't wait for more.

Another highlight from this week was that I got to attend my very first zone conference, which was super great. It was all about finding and teaching so I learned a lot and we had a lot of fun. One crazy story though - so I was also able to see President and Sorella Waddoups, who showed me an email of the picture of us at the villa from my first day here in Italy that a friend had forwarded to them. Apparently that friend had sat next to Grandma Alice at a play and overheard her talking about her granddaughter serving in the Italy Rome Mission. So Alice forwarded the picture to the friend, who then forwarded it President and Sorella Waddoups. Small world! All those crazy connections.

Also this week I got to go up to a small little town in our area that makes up about half of our ward. It is called Monreale and it is BEAUTIFUL. The definition of a quaint little Italian town. Oh man I loved it. We went up there to meet with a less active in our ward and go get some gelato. So we got to spend the night eating gelato, walking around town, and talking about the gospel. All in a days work :) I didn't get a chance to take any pictures (sorry mom) but I'll be sure to remember next time!

Okay the food highlight for the week. So there is this place down the street from our apartment called Ganci's. Everything there is a euro and it is SO good. One day Sorella Nef and I were walking by and she stops and goes oh my gosh...they have THEM. Turns out she was referring to a doughnut cannoli. You guys...I can't even think of words to describe these things. They tasted EXACTLY like our conference homemade donuts but with all sorts of cream and chocolatey goodness inside. Needless to say, I found out where I will be during the priesthood session of general conference.

But I do have to admit that there were some downers this week. First, I caught my first sickness on the mission. To make a long story short - I had some bad luck with some leftovers and some major food rejection. Really I was just sad about it because it made us miss a meal appointment. But the sisters were good to me. Sorella Nef made me stay in bed all night and Sorella Mikesell made me take some tums. So don't worry mom and dad, I was taken care of just as I would have been if I were at home. And it was just a quick thing, I was totally fine by the next morning. So all is well! Also, this week I slipped in poop. Like almost as bad as Dad slipping in cancun...but in poop. I never actually hit the ground, so we could laugh about it and move on. But man it was a close call.

Okay okay okay now the top highlight of the week! Oh man you guys get ready. So one day Sorella Nef woke up and said to me that she had an impression that we needed to go visit a less active in our ward. It was raining that day so we were trying to decide if we were going to walk or take the bus. The bus was a super round-about route so we just decided to walk. As we were going to the apartment we passed this little food cart that was selling this stuff called pane pantenelli or something like that, which is a famous food from Palermo. Sorella Nef said that after we visited the less active we should get some. Sounds great. So we go to the less active house and she says that she is busy and


 doesn't have time for us to come in. A little discouraged, we left a note and decided to move on. So we go back to our cart to get our food (which was incredible) and started talked to the man who worked there. Turns out his name is Gaspare, and he is evangelical. He wanted to know the differences between our churches. We talked to him for a little bit then gave him a restoration pamphlet, a book of mormon, and got his number so we could get in contact later. He is a super busy guy, so we weren't able to get an appointment with him but we did invite him to Suzy's baptism and church, and he came to BOTH. Super great.

So we talked to him a little bit after the baptism, and turns out that he has been struggling for the past few years having doubts with his church. He told us that one day he was praying in his truck for God to let Him know the truth...and then Sorella Nef and I came to his food stand. But wait, it gets better. Turns out he only works at that location when school is out, which it was that day. When school is in he works closer to the schools so he can get more business. So if Sorella Nef and I wouldn't have walked by that day, we might have never met him. SO CRAZY AND SO COOL. We are hoping to set up an official appointment with him this week. Gosh it was such an incredible experience! And such a great testimony builder that God is very much a part of this work. He works in mysterious ways, but if I got sent to Italy so that He could work through my stomach...va bene.

Well I think that's about it for me! Sorry if I didn't answer all of your questions...I've already got a severe case of the missionary scatter brain. Thank you all again for writing! I love you so much and I am so grateful for all of your incredible examples. I am so grateful for all of your love, support, and prayers.

Until next week!




Sorella Marsh

 hi mom! sorry i dont think i will be able to send pictures again this week...our interent point here gives too many viruses