By the end of this week I will be more than halfway done with my time here in the MTC...one month left! When looking at things from a day to day perspective it is hard to see much progress. But when I think about the level I was at when I got here, not only with Italian but with my knowledge of the gospel, my goals and the desires of my heart, I realize how much the Lord already done to prepare me to be an instrument in His hands. I am constantly reminded of what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to serve a mission. I'm so excited for Travis to come in next Wednesday!

I finally met the Norwegian elders at one of the workshops we went to last week. They spoke so highly of Eldste DeCosta, Gardner, and Bartholemew, and said they had heard stories about Michael. They all seem so excited and prepared to serve, and play a pretty decent game four square, haha.

On Sunday at the meeting with our branch presidency we told them about an elder we had met from Italy. The elder's dad had been a branch president in Italy when President Johnston and Brother McMullin were missionaries there. The meeting went on normally, and as soon as it was over we walked outside just in time to see Elder Cena walking by with his companion. We took him back to meet our presidency, and the tears that came to the eyes of the two that had served with his father said it all. It was cool for all of us to see the impact a missionary can have, and how the gospel blesses families for generations.

This week Sorella Durfee and I had the opportunity to teach a woman from Milan at the TRC. It was so cool to finally hear a native Italian speak the language we've been studying for the fast four weeks, and realize how much we were able to understand. Cami told me about her first day of Spanish, and how Senor Bingham told her Italian was the "ugly stepsister"...I have to disagree. I'm so glad I took Spanish before coming here though. Even though I get mixed up when it comes to grammar rules, it's helped my comprehension so much.

We also got to teach one other member at the TRC...(soon to be) Sister (Cajin) Christianson! I still can't believe we'll be serving in Rome together. It's going to be awesome!

I love all of the talks and devotionals we get to listen to here, and wish I had taken advantage of all of the resources that are available to us before coming. This week we got to see on of the new videos from "The Life of Jesus Christ", which I would encourage you to watch if you haven't seen them yet. We watched the clip from the sermon on the mount, and it was so powerful.

Thanks for all of your love and support! I can't wait to serve the people of Italy and share the message that has brought so much joy and direction to my life.

Jenni