Carissimi miei,
Buongiorno a tutti! Thanks so much for all the pictures and e-mails this week, the trip to disneyland looked so fun! I was just dying at how cute everyone looked all dressed up in their disney gear. Thanks for sharing! I'm glad you had a good time :)
Alright so its story time. So this one time last p-day we decided we wanted to go climb the stairs to the top of st peters, so after finishing up our internet time we headed out. Once we got over there we walked into the square and it was just absolutely FILLED with nuns. Haha literally the whole square. We started asking around to see what was going on, when we saw some of the anziani. Turns out they had been talking with some of the nuns and apparently it was some catholic holiday (still not quite sure what it was called) and the pope was going to be there to lead the mass. So we hopped in line real quick (actually with some members from Ogden, that was fun) and waited to get in to see! We got into the basilica and all of the sudden they started handing us candles and prayer books, the whole works. We listened to them say some of their prayers and then sure enough, the pope came in! So now we can officially say that we have been to mass lead by the pope. Bucket list: check!
But of course the real highlights of the week come from our work :) this week we got out to do one of our scambio's. Because the sorelle came into our area last transfer this time we decided to go out to theirs. This week we got to head out to rome 5 to scambio with sorella battezzato and sorella margheriti! They are both such great missionaries, honestly I feel like I learned more than I could have ever taught them. The scambio was a really great experience though! I spent the day with sorella margheriti. She is from a town in northern Italy, close to cinque terre. She is an incredible missionary who works so hard, I am grateful I had the chance to work with her. All in all it was a great experience!
One great thing about scambio's though is that it always makes you feel grateful to be back in your assigned area doing your work. And this week was a great one for us in Rome 1! This week we were able to meet with Ray and his family, and they are doing so great! We are not entirely sure how, but apparently between our lessons Ray got in contact with some other missionaries and watched the restoration and he absolutely LOVED it. He said he loved the story of Joseph Smith, and how each of us can find the truth in these days. So we are still not quite sure how that happened, but we are grateful it did! This week we taught them the plan of salvation, and it was such a great lesson. It was one of the first times I have actually taught the plan of salvation to a family, and it just made it so much more special. Ray and Jasmine were so touched by the idea of having an eternal family, and Christian loved all the pictures that we brought. So they are progressing and doing well!
This week we were also able to see Anna and the lesson with her went really well! This week we taught her the Restoration, and it was such a great lesson. We decided that we wanted to focus on the story of joseph smith and the difficulites he had finding god in each of the churches. But that through scripture study and prayer he was able to recieve an answer to his questions develop a personal relationship with God. She was really touched by the story of Joseph Smith, and said that she felt more open to the idea of prayer. She wasn't willing to say one with us then, but she said she felt more open to the idea. Little by little. it's progress :) But something just needs to be said - i have gained a testimony of a lot of things here in Italy, and one of them is that i will never have a pet. Haha during our lesson with anna her cats were crawling all over us. There was literally a point in the lesson i had to hold back laughter because one of the cats was swishing its tail in sorella jones's face. Gosh i was dying. Then later during the lesson another one came and started chewing on my hair. Haha they're the worst! So turns out I truly am my mothers daughter.
Anyway, on to more important things. Haha Leonardo is still doing great! This week we finished up teaching him all of the commandments, and he accepted all of them! This week we will finish up the last few lessons with him then he will have his baptismal interview! The baptism got announced in church yesterday and everything :) I had the chance to talk to him about it after sacrament meeting and he is doing well. He feels good and excited about his baptism and we are excited for him as well. He still doesn't feel like he has recieved that confirmation that everything is true, but that he believes it 99%. It was a good opportunity to just talk to him about what a testimony is, and how answers come from the Spirit. We talked about the progress that he has already made, and how if he continues to read, pray, and come to church then his testimony will continue to grow until he does get to the point where he feels 100% sure. He's such a wonderful man. But bless his soul he is just SO shy. The thought of getting baptized in front of everyone just scares him to death. We talked about that for a while as well, and it was really great to be able to relate to him about those things. Heavens knows the social scene hasn't always been one of my strengths, so it was great to be able to talk to him about how when we turn to the Lord he can help us overcome our weaknesses. Love that man :)
I really do feel so blessed to be serving here in this area at this time. Our members here are fantastic. This week a bunch of the peruvian members threw together a family night that we could bring our investigators to and they could bring their friends too. That way we could meet their friends, and they could meet our investigators! It was a hit. All in all I think we had over 30 people there. I just feel so blessed to be working with these people. I learn so much from their example everyday. I love doing this work and I love being a missionary :)
Thanks for all of your love, support, and prayers. I love you each so much and I'll talk to you soon!
sorella marsh
so here is a fun little fact about our area. There are 2 grocery stores we can go to for our shopping. One is little far away and at the top of a hill, but super cheap. The other one is super close, but a bit more expensive. Last week we were going to the cheap one but we didnt want to have to go again this week. So naturally we just bought half of the store.
THE ROOTBEER.
mass at st peters!
rome 5 sorelle :)
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