October 27, 2014

Cari Miei,

hey team! sorry I dont have time to respond to everyone personally today. We are heading out to the amalfi coast for p-day so we are trying to get out there as soon as possible! But thank you all so much for you emails! Luckily I can print them all off and read them tonight :)

Well first things first - I've got some pretty big news! We recieved our transfer calls this weekend and next week I will be heading up to ROME! Best of all I am heading to Rome 1, an area where rachie served! also, I already spent the day there when we went up for capi conference! So I got to see a bit of the area, and I even got to meet my new companion! I will be serving with Sorella Argyle. I only got to spend a day with her, but she is really great. I am super excited to be with her. I'm sad that my time at Pozzuoli is over, but I am excited for what Rome has in store!

As for the week here in pozzuoli it was a great one! I'll give you guys a few of the highlights :) first of all sorella baker came back to visit! it was so great to see her again. It also gave us a great chance to get in contact with some of the people that she and I worked with while she was here. She was only here for a day, but it was fun to see here even if it was just for a little bit. Also this week we headed down to Battipaglia for a scambio with the sorelle there. It was great to see some of their investigators again. That was the third scambio i have done in battipaglia so i feel like i love those people just as much as a love the people here! It was super last minute but it was great.

As for all the people here everyone is doing great! Good news - we went and saw peppe this week and turns out his legs are not broken. Haha we definitely got some bad information on that one. He was cut up pretty badly but he is healing and doing well! So we were pretty relieved about that one. Our other new converts are doing great as well. They are fantastic people. And rina is still going strong with no smoking! 4 weeks now! woot woot!

 We also had really great lessons with our investigators this week. Our lesson with Amalia was nothing short of a miracle. So when we met with her last week we left her the commitment to pray about a new baptismal date. When we asked her about it she said she hadn't really had time this week and didnt give it much thought. So we took some time and talked to her about being baptized. We really just wanted to emphasize that being baptized was her choice - nobody could make it for her. She had to make the choice to act and to show her faith. So together we looked at the calendar, and she picked out the date of november 29. Then we all kneeled together as she prayed for a confirmation if that was right for her. I have never prayed so hard in my entire life. Haha after she finished praying we sat in silence for a few minutes, then asked her how she felt. She simply said - I feel good. I feel good about this decision. It was such an incredible moment. And such a tender mercy for me. I love and care about her so much, and it breaks my heart to leave but it is incredible to see how much her faith has grown in the time that I have been here.

Our lesson with Massimo was incredible as well. Unfortunately we had to postpone his baptismal date, but only because we wont have enough time to teach him all the lessons. This week we taught him the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. We went through and talked about everything and at the end we asked him if he had and questions or concerns. He said no, it all makes sense. In fact, three days ago i felt like i needed to quit smoking, so i did. I guess this is why! Haha he seriously is incredible.  We got some new investigators this week as well. Needless to say the work is seriously growing here in Pozzuoli. It has been absolutely incredible to be a part of it.

So that's about it for me! Its been a crazy past couple of days. Transfers are always rough. I am excited for whats ahead, but I would be lying if I said my heart wasn't a little broken to be leaving Pozzuoli. It's just always a little hard to leave all of these people that you love so much. I was having a hard time with it, then this morning in personal study I found the perfect scripture. I was reading in jesus the christ, the chapter about parables. One of the parables is of the seed growing secretly. This parable is a bit different than the others, because it is given to christ's apostles and devoted disciples. Basically it is given to those who are called to preach the gospel. In the parable it talks about how we are called to plant the seeds, but in the end we have to leave the growth of the seed up to God. We may be called to serve in different areas, but we can go in faith and peace knowing that god is looking out for the seeds we left behind. that just really hit me this morning. I am so grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve in Pozzuoli. I can honestly say I am not the same person I was when I first got here, and that is pretty neat. It's hard to go but I am grateful for the experiences I've had here, and for whats in store in the future. After all, there's no place like ROME for the holidays :)

until next week!

sorella marsh