March 31, 2014

Ciao Tutti!

Buon p-day! So great to hear from you all this week! Thanks for all your e-mails, pictures, and the videos! Man there is nothing greater. I can't believe our little miss Wendy turned one this week! Who said she could get so big?! I'm glad you guys all got to have a fun party with Mom and Madie. Also I'm glad to hear that E&F are still killin it in soccer. You keep that up. And moo face too! I was laughing pretty hard at that picture of Lydia wanting to eat Wendy's cake - she must get that from me. Way to go D&O on your big bike ride! You guys are animals. And sonn finished her papers!! Greatest news of the day! I can't wait to hear the great news! Rome, Italy. I'm callin it :)

Okay first of all there are some things that I didn't get to say last week that need to be said. First, the mini coop! My baby! "I didn't even get to say goodbye." (sonn I'm counting on you to get that reference.) All is well, I know it was her time to go. The new car looks pretty great. Next, last week I did the most awful thing. I ATE SEA URCHIN. I don't even know how to spell that word but man it was wretched. Sorella Nef and I were just out doing some finding when we decided to talk to some guys at a food cart to ask them what they were selling. Turns out it was sea urchin, so they asked us if we wanted to try it. And here in Sicily it's like an unwritten law that when someone offers you food you don't turn it down. So, we ate. Oh man my stomach is still churnning just thinking about it. NASTY. But sorella Nef took me to get some cannoli after, so we made up for it. So there's the crazy story for the day!

Now on to this week! Sadly there isn't much to report as far as the work goes...we had some more struggles with our apartment and we ended up moving rooms, but now they are just fixing the old one for us to move back to in a few weeks. So right now we are just kind of in a little bit of limbo living between the two. It took up a good chunk of time this week, but hopefully we have it all worked out now. Unfortunately this week we did have to drop one of our investigators, which was really sad. It was Erika, and we had to drop her because she doesn't understand the need to be baptized. She believes in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but she doesn't want to be baptized. But we are still really hopeful for her. She said she would continue reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church, but because she wont be baptized she can't be considered a progressing investigator anymore. So we will still see her all the time. In fact she took us out to the beach at Mondello today! It was beatiful. Anyway, just a minor set back. All will be well :) as for Gaspare we had to pass him off to the Anziani because it is just easier for them to meet with him. But as far as I know things are going well! So we are excited for that. And our other potential Francesca is starting to make progress! She came to church on Sunday, which we were thrilled about. She is SO cute. I don't understand much of what she says, and she doesn't understand much of what I say, but somehow between all of our conversations she understood that I love Nutella. So she brought me some to church on Sunday. Man Italians are great. So that's that! We've got a few other potentials that we are hoping to meet with this week, so we've got lots to do! The good news is that we got our transfer calls this week and my whole district is staying the same. So we can continue working together to get all the work done!

This week we were the luckiest and we had some meal appointments with some families in our ward. It was so much fun! It is just so amazing to see how the gospel can bless families. A lot of these members are converts, so I love to talk to them about their conversion stories. Hearing all of their experiences has strengthened my testimony so much of how the gospel strengthens family relationships. And of course it made me so grateful for the incredible family that I have, and the knowledge I have that we can live together forever. Can you believe how blessed we are?! Love you guys!

The highlights for this coming week is of course General Conference! Gosh we can't wait. We haven't been able to watch the womens conference yet, but we are hoping to see it this weekend as well. We are especially excited for conference because we have a lot of potentials/investigators who agreed to come watch! So stay tuned for next week, I'm sure some great things are going to happen :) I hope you guys have so much fun at all the family parties! Eat an extra donut for me!

I think that is about it for me this week. Thanks again for all of your love and support! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week. You are the greatest!

Love you!

Sorella Marsh

 *note from Steph's mom: some of these pictures are from last week, Steph's p-day and mission conference.

 argrigento temples from last week

had to climb- just couldnt resist!

 found some blossom trees! Shout out to meadowcrest drive :)

 italian children...melt my heart.

 my first cannoli!

 MONDELLO. Erika, her friend Olga, Sorella Nef, and me.

  Erika and I on the beach of Mondello!

 Reunited with Sorella Vickers at mission conference!

  shout out to Rachie! does this girl look familiar? :)

March 24, 2014

Ciao everyone!

Sorry it might be a bit of a short one this week. We went up to Agrigento for P-day today so we are getting to our internet point a little bit later than usual. I'll  try  my best to get everything squeezed in here though! Thanks everyone for writing, you all sound like you are doing great! First of all, I can't believe that there is actually a picture of mom playing with a dog! Who knew that would ever happen. She is the cutest little thing though! I'm so happy for you D&O! And I died at the videos of Wendy and Madden Mike! Thanks so much for sending those. I can't believe how big they both have gotten! 

So the highlight of the week for us here in Palermo was definitely mission conference. The entire Catania zone got to go to Catania to hear from Elder Kearon and it was absolutely incredible. Apparently they haven't done a mission conference here in Rome for years so we were really lucky. Also, Rachie served in Catania so it was super cool to see some of the places where she would have been. I even met the sister that she trained! I don't have my card reader with me right now so hopefully I will be able to send pictures next week. Anyway, mission conference was SO great. We talked a lot of things, but what really stuck out to me was how we can improve our finding. I'll  be honest, that's probably the thing I have struggled with the most as a missionary. I mean I already struggle talking to people in Engish... throw another language in there and I'm sunk. Haha but since mission conference it has already gotten so much better. One thing that Elder Kearon talked about that has been really helpful was "becoming our message." He talked about how our message has to be more than just what we say, it's who we are. The things we are out here teaching need to be real to us. So that is something that I have been working on in personal study this week -  coming to a greater knowledge and understanding of who I am and the message I am here to share. It has already helped  me to have greater confidence to go out and share the gospel. It's a work in progress, but it is definitely coming!

Our investigators are doing well! We weren't able to meet with either Gaspare or Erika this week but they are still making progress. We are hoping to meet with both of them soon so we can keep things going in the right direction! We also picked up another potential investigator this week. Her name is Francesca, she is 14 years old and super cute. Her aunt is a member and she has been coming to church with her for years, so we always just thought she was less active. Turns out she's actually not baptized! So we talked to her about taking the lessons and she said she would want to, she just has to talk to her family about it. So keep  your fingers crossed there!

I'll try to answer a few of your questions, sorry I haven't been very good about that! So,our English class is great. I teach the advanced course and there are usually about 12 students that come. They are so much fun, English course is honestly one of my favorite things. We have zone conference every transfer, but we wont this next one because of the mission conference. For P-days we usually start the day off with our grocery shopping, then whatever else we want to do! There is a lot of incredible stuff to see just here in Palermo, but we do get one P-day a transfer to travel out of our zone. So lots of fun stuff to do!

Well I think that is about it for me this week! Sorry I wasn't able to write very much. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for all of your love, support, and prayers. Love you all so much!

Sorella Marsh

Note from Mom:  Here is a picture that Elder Kearon sent to Grandfather

And here is a picture from the sister missionary Rachel Miles trained while serving in the Rome Italy Mission!

March 17, 2014

Ciao mia famiglia!

HAPPY GREENIE DAY! Who knew that I would get a whole holiday out in the field just to celebrate being one of the green things in life? Needless to say, this St. Patricks day has been a great one. Italians don't do much to celebrate St. Patricks day...at least not that I have noticed. Today we just ran some errands and got a little shopping done. But don't worry, Sorella Jackson and I made sure to get some gelato while we were out and about. I almost considered getting pistachio flavor "just for the occasion" but then decided against it. Sorry pappy, I'm still not converted.

Anyway, thank you all so much for your e-mails! As always, it was great to hear from you. Thanks for keeping me updated on all of your lives! I'm sorry that I don't have time to respond to everyone personally, but I'm so glad to hear that you are all doing well. Dad I hope everything is going well with getting ready for your big ol trip to this side of the pond! Thanks for your spiritual thought this week Mom, it was greatly appreciated. Ricky and Tisha how fun that you are getting into soccer season with the boys again! Ricky I loved reading your story about going into the primary as Joseph Smith. The power of simple doctrines is something that I have gained a strong testimony of as a missionary. Teaching simply is about the only option I have because I can't really say much... but I am a firm believer :) Doug and Kim I can't believe you got to go to California! Lucky bums! Wendy looked absolutely adorable in all the pictures. I hope you had a great time. D&O...you did NOT get a puppy!! That's the greatest thing I've ever heard! (Sorry mom). I need to see pictures! Allie and Mike I cannot believe that Madden talks so much now! That is crazy! I can't even imagine it. I love getting all the pics of him. Keep those comin. Sonn keep it up on your anatmony quizzes! You're so close to finishing!

As for me things are going along just great! It was another eventful week here in Palermo. Things got a little crazy these past few days. To make a long story short, we had some problems with our apartment so we will be moving within the next few weeks. It was a little hectic but I think for the most part we got everything worked out. Anyway, on to the more important stuff! So, every Wednesday we do FHE with the youth here. This week we desided to watch the Testaments. I was a little stressed about it at first because the whole thing was in Italian without subtitles, but it actually ended up being a really great experience. Between the acting and the Italian I could understand, I could get the gist of what was going on. But it was so neat to see that even though I couldn't understand everything I could still feel the Spirit so strongly testifying of the Savior. It was also comforting for me to realize that it can be the same way for my investigators. It doesn't matter if they can't understand me perfectly as long as I am teaching by the Spirit, because that is what will testify of the truth to them.

Another highlight from this week was that we had a fun Relief Society activity to celebrate the 172(?) anniversary of the Relief Society! There was a little program and a few members gave some talks, then we missionaries shared a little message and we all played a game. Then we all ate some treats and the presidency handed out little ceramic gifts that one of the sisters had made for everyone. It was so great! The members here are really incredible people.

Speaking of incredible members. Neat story - this week we had a meal appointment with one of the sorelle in our ward, sorella DiSalvo. While we were eating she was telling us a story about how her aunt moved to South America, then the granddaughter of her aunt moved to America and married one of the grandchildren of Elder Nelson. Then she pulls out here photo album and shows us all pictures from Jake and Aileen's wedding! Crazy, right?! What a small world. So I don't know what that makes us, but turns out I've got family here in Palermo! 

Everything else here is going well! We were able to meet with Gaspare a few times this week and he is officially a progressing investigator! He is super busy with work so we aren't able to meet with him very often, but we take what we can get and hope for the best! We have one other official progressing investigator right now, her name is Erika. She is 16 years old and was a referral from the Anziani. We have only had a few lessons with her but things are coming along! She is Catholic and very strong in some of her beliefs, but she is very genuine about wanting to find the truth. She is also friends with some of the youth of the ward so that is really helpful. We have a few other potential investigators that we are hoping to work with too. So all in all we've got lots of work ahead of us!

I think that's about it for me this week! I got the St. Patricks day cards that mom and sonn sent, they were the cutest! Thanks so much. I also got the Nelson News which was the BEST! So great to hear what everyone has been up to. Thank you all so much for your love and support! It is the most comforting thing to read how many loved ones I have out there rooting and praying for me. I don't know what I ever did to be so blessed. Thank you all so much!

Love you all! Until next week :)

Sorella Marsh

 my first meal appointment! These are members from palermo 2. the nicest!

 pday a few weeks back. chefalu!

  the flowers that the anizani bought us for womens day. it was a great holiday.

 suzy's baptism!

 suzy's baptism!

 this one time i ate a really good cake...apparently i really enjoyed it. im embarrassing.

 happy greenie day! This is the welcome greenie present the sorelle bought me. His name is Gerry. 

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

March 3, 2014

Mia famiglia!

Ciao tutti! Come state?! Sorry it's taken me a while to write today, we had a bit of a crazy p-day so our schedule ended up getting switched around just a bit. But thank you all so much for all of your e-mails! They're like pure gold. I love hearing from you guys, I can't believe what an incredible support group I have. I was actually thinking about that earlier this week during personal study when I was reading about how the prayers of Mosiah protected his sons while they were out on their missions. I am so grateful for all of your prayers, especially for the prayers of all my little ones. They are such a great source of strength and support. You are all so great. I'm so happy that everyone is doing well! Sounds like you all had lots of fun this week.

As for me it was another great week here in Palermo! Lots of having fun, working hard, and preaching the gospel. I taught my official first lesson this week with a man named Tanino. He has friends that are members and they gave him the Book of Mormon as a gift. He started reading it and has LOTS of questions. Seriously his enthusiasm for it is inspiring. The lesson went really well! We got to teach a little bit about the Restoration and we have another lesson with him this week. So hopefully all goes well with that! We didn't have a chance to teach Paola this last week, but she wants to meet with us tomorrow so we are super excited for that. This week we also got in contact with a few less active members in our ward and set up appointments for this coming week so that will be great. All in all we have a full and exciting week ahead of us! Lot's of work to do down here, and we love it!

As for my life here in Palermo, let me tell you all about it. First, and most importantly, let's start with the food. You guys, it is INCREDIBLE. Seriously I am in trouble. There's not a chance I'm making it out of here without gaining a few pounds. The members are so great and they love to feed us. The only problem is that when they serve food they don't do it American style where you serve yourself. They just give you a plate with a mountain of food and you have to eat it. But oh man it is so good. I even ate a whole chicken breast at our meal appointment yesterday...and I didn't even hate it. Living proof that missions bring miracles. Haha I'm a changing woman. Seriously I think I have already eaten more meat these past 2 weeks than I have in my whole life. Who would have ever thought. Then of course  there is the bread, and the gelato, and the whole works. Needless to say I am eating well, and even learning to cook some things along the way!

For our service here we teach English course two nights a week, which is a blast. I teach the advanced course with Sorella Mikesell because that class requires the least amount of Italian. It is SO much fun, the people we work with in there have so much energy. So the way english course works is that for about the first 45 minutes we give an english lesson, then for the last 15 minutes or so we give a spiritual thought to teach them something about the church. It is a great finding tool. Actually we have a baptism this Saturday for a girl who the missionaries found through english course. Her name is Suzy, and she is incredible. I have only been in a few lessons with her but I already love her. She is so excited for her baptism, it is the coolest thing. I was talking to her in church yesterday and asked her how she was feeling about things and she said "I am just so excited! I have been up since 6 this morning because I couldn't wait to come to church!" It is just so incredible to see what a huge blessing the gospel is to someone who hasn't had it in their life before. I'm so grateful that I get the opportunity to be a part of the process.

On that note, I was actually thinking about that a lot this week. I was trying to think about the type of missionary I want to be and set some goals for the rest of my mission. I won't go into all the details, but basically what I came up with was this - I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to help the Italian people by inviting them to come unto Christ. But more than that, I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to come unto Christ myself. Of course I want to reach out to as many people as possible, but if I only have one convert throughout my whole mission that's okay - as long as it's me. I'm so grateful that I have the chance to strengthen my relationship with my Savior and become more converted to His gospel.

I think that's about it for me this week! Thank you all again for you e-mails. Ricky and Tisha thank you SO much for the cute letters and for your FHE all about missionary work! I was so happy to read that, and I was laughing pretty hard at the story about the sister missionaries. I haven't had anything quite like that, but I did manage to cause a fight between two little kids and at meal appointment. We were playing a game but I couldn't understand anything that they were saying, turns out the little girl was trying to help me win and the little boy did not appreciate that. My bad. Doug and Kim thanks for the cute pictures! I can't believe how cute Wendy is! Kim good work on the blog, sounds like it is coming along great! D&O keep livin up life in Montie. Good work on the half marathon, we all know I couldn't do it. Allie and Mike those pics of Madden Mike are unreal! I'm glad you could have a fun little Rockville trip. Sonn nice work on your midterm! So proud of you.

Love you all so much! Talk to you next week!

Sorella Marsh

sorry i cant send pictures this week! I'll send lots next week!

February 24, 2014 "That ain't the language they taught me at the MTC..."

Mia famiglia!

Ciao! How is everyone?? Thanks so much for all of your picutres and e-mails, it sounds like you all had a great week! Happy Birthday to Emerson and Finlay! I can't believe you are both 7! I hope you guys both had a great day, your parties sounded awesome! Also, Tisha your haircut is super cute! Love it.

As for me I officially made it to ITALIA! Woot woot! I've got lots to catch you up on, so let's start at the very beginning! (A very good place to start).

So we left the MTC at o'dark thirty and headed to the airport. Everything with the flights worked out great. We didn't run into any problems with luggage or anything like that. I was even able to sneak on the bag of goodies that Mike Casey gave me, so that was fantastic. If you get the chance tell him thank you for me again! They were greatly appreciated on the flight from Atlanta to Rome. As were the caramel brownies from mom and the V-chocolates from dad. You all are too good to me! Anyway, we landed in Rome then went to go meet the Waddoups! They are so great, I already love them. We got all our bags packed up then headed straight for...the TEMPLE! I was so stoked on life. It is going to be absolutely beatiful! They were done with most of the exterior when I saw it. The assistants said that it should be done within a year, or at least while I am still out here on my mission. But no one really knows for sure. So keep hoping and praying for that one!

After we saw the temple site we headed back to the Mission president's home which is called the villa. It was absolutely beautiful. Also, I have no idea why but it smelled like grandmother and granfathers house. So that was neat. Once we got to the villa the Waddoups were really nice and let us all take a nap for a little bit. Then we got to go on a little drive around Rome! When we got back from that we ate dinner and had interviews with President Waddoups. Then that evening we opened up our "golden envelopes" which told us where we would be serving and who our trainers would be. It was like opening up a mission call all over again. So exciting though! I opened mine up and it said that my first area would be Palermo (which I horribly mispronounced) and that my trainer would be Sorella Nef!

Palermo is in Sicily, so the next day I was headed on a 12 hour train ride down south. It took just about the whole day to get here. Luckily I had another sister traveling with me, her name is Sorella Jackson. Everything on the train went just fine, but we got into a little bit of trouble once we got to Palermo. We got to the train station and couldn't find our companions anywhere. We walked around for a while but they were nowhere to be seen. One of the workers ended up letting us use his phone to call the assistants, who eventually got a hold of them to let them know that they were there. Turns out they had been told that we wouldn't be coming until the next day. So the came and picked us up and it all worked out fine! I'm just grateful I had Sorella Jackson with me. She has been serving for about 6 months so she speaks very well. I would have been in a lot of trouble if it was just me.

Things in Palermo are great though! I absolutely love it here. My trainer is super great. Her name is Sorella Nef and she is from California. She was super nice and let us take it easy these first few days so that I could get used to the schedule and not over do it. We live in an apartment with two other sisters, Sorella Jackson and Sorella Mikesell. They are a lot of fun. We all get along really well. Our apartment I am told is one of the nicest in the mission, so that's a bonus. We even have heated floors. Who would have thought.

The first few days out in the field have been great! So the first day we were out tracting a really neat thing happened. So here they have english course where the missionaries teach english for free. It's a really great finding tool. So we were out passing out cards for it when Sorella Nef stopped one lady and asked her if she would be interested. She said that she wasn't interested in learning english, but that she wanted to know more about our church. Which NEVER happens. So we stayed and talked to her for a little bit, and turns out her name is Paula and she has been going through a hard time these past few years and was looking for comfort. She said that she felt like that was something we could give her. So we exchanged numbers and are hoping to set up an appoitment with her this week! So that is super exciting. Sorella Nef called it greenie magic, but I feel like that can't be right because I actually didn't say anything. But I'm glad I got to be a part of it!

The next day we had a ward activity so I got to meet a lot of the members. It was a festival party, so all the kids dressed up and we danced and ate treats. It was super fun! I love the members here. The next day at church I had to bear my testimony. It was probably the equivalent of about a two year old's, but I did it! They were all really nice about it. I definitely have a long way to go with the language, but it is coming! I can understand most of what everyone is saying, it's just the talking back that gets kinda rough. Slowly but surely I'll get there!

Okay just an FYI about mail\packages. I talked to Sorella Nef and she said that they haven't had any problems getting letters at our apartment. So that is usually a safe bet. For packages it is usually best to send those to the office and have them bring them to us at zone conferences. So there you have it!

Well I think that's about it from me! Thanks everyone for all of your love and support. Can't wait to hear from you all next week!

Sorella Marsh

Rome temple!

 Sorella Vickers and I on the Ferry over to Sicily!

 My very first Gelato! You know that was on the priority list. This is gelato on a sweet roll - SO GOOD.

 Sorella Nef and I at the botanical gardens for P-Day! They were absolutely stunning. It made me feel like I was back on my study abroad.

 Sorella Jackson and I at the gardens

 Just my home for the next few months! No big deal.

She made it to Italy!

Tuesday, February 18th Steph was scheduled to leave for Italy!  Our neighbor, Mike Casey, works for Delta and he was so nice and took Steph a package from us and a ton of treats for Steph and her group for their long flights.  Here is a great picture he took at the gate.  We also had a nice chance to talk on the phone while she waited to board her plane!!!!

President and Sister Waddoups and Sorella Marsh in Rome!  She made it safe and sound and is ready for Rome!