On Thursday night we went to visit Massimo in Civitavecchia with Sorella Squarcia, a member of our ward. Massimo's wife passed away a few years ago, and even though she was always strong in the church he has never really had a desire to learn about the gospel. He has read the Book of Mormon (only to please her), and even though the spirit was so strong during the lesson...I know he felt it...he thinks he is well enough off without ''organized religion'' or even a belief in God. It was kind of disheartening, but on the train back to Ladispoli Sorella Squarcia shared her conversion story with us, and it moved me to the point of tears. I feel so grateful to be here sharing trying to share the message of the restoration of the fulness of the gospel with the people of Italy. Most of the time it seems that no one is listening, that no one cares, and like Michael said in his letter to Christi, he didn't get let into many houses his entire mission. Hearing stories like Sorella Squarcia's though help me remember not to get discouraged, and remind me that even though we may not see as much success in numbers, people are watching us, and hopefully someday down the road they'll have a desire to learn more about the church.
Friday morning after our lesson with Archangelo we went to the Griotti's and had lunch with Eva and three of her daughters for festa della donna...women's day. The longer I'm on my mission, the more I think about the kind of person I want to become. I want to be the member that every missionary wishes they had. I love Eva and her family, and have been so impressed by the sacrifices each of them make for the members and missionaries alike. They are always willing to come to lessons, do FHEs each week with our investigators, help teach english course, teach spanish course, going to every activity, do everything they can to help strengthen the ward and fulfill their callings in the Primary and Relief Society...I have learned so much from their examples.
That night we took a bus way out into the countryside to a place called Maccarese and met with a man named Salvatore. He listened to us, but combined what we said with his own philosophy. When we were bearing our testimonies of the Book of Mormon he said, ''I too know that the Book of Mormon comes from God.'' At the end when we knelt down to pray, he was silent...so I started saying a prayer. I finished, and he just knelt there, smiling. Sorella Comollo asked ''do you want to try?'' ''I'm praying right now. I'm always praying. When I wake up, it is a prayer. When I go to sleep, God is there. When I wash the dishes, when I wash myself... My family loves God. My dog loves God. My rabbits are free. They love God. We love God. God is love. Love. My rabbits love me. We love everything. Love....'' His facial expression, the tone of his voice, hand motions...it was all quite inspiring, really. Oh man...I love the experiences we have on the mission. By the time we were leaving it was pretty dark, so he volunteered to walk us to the end of the lane and point us in the direction of the station. He went back inside to get an umbrella, and I caught a frog! I grudgingly released it at the request of Sorella Comollo. ''Oh, right, sorry, I forgot. This frog is free. It loves God. I love this frog. Love. Frogs.'' We walked for a little over two and a half hours in the almost pitch black countryside to get to the train station. It had been a long time since I had seen the stars like that, and it was just so nice to just walk and think and not worry about anything else, (other than the German Shepherd that was loose and about to kill us until the owner whistled for him to come back. It was a close one).
I love what Neal A. Maxwell said once: ''The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits to that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well.'' I know this is true...I am realizing more and more how much Heavenly Father not only loves us, but trusts us, and how everyone we meet, all of the experiences we have are placed withing our ''orbit'' for a reason. I'm so grateful to be serving a mission.
On Saturday we had a sister's conference at the Villa, and President and Sorella Kelly talked to us about all of the new sisters coming in, training, and the changes that will be taking place. It's an exciting time! Sorella Kelly called me on Sunday night, and a few minutes after talking to her I called the villa again and talked with President Kelly. Can I just tell you how much I love them? I don't know what we're going to do when they go home in June. I can't imagine the mission without them here, and am just so grateful for their inspired leadership and perfect love for all of us.
At church on Sunday one of the members, Tati, wast giving a talk invited her neighbors to come. She works for the church translation department, and is just one of the coolest women ever. She served a mission, and even though she's not married, she's just doing her best and still sharing the gospel. So now we have this awesome family of four who want to know more about the church! Ignazia, who has a baptismal date, finally came to church and brought her compagno. Anziano Ginolfi told me that for p-day we should go ring shopping with him and get them married so she can get baptized in April, haha. Hopefully things will go well.
Then since Monday I've been in Rome 3 on an exchange with a dear friend by the name of Claire Bradford. How did I get so lucky? It has been wonderful. Who knew, years ago sitting in a Humanities class at BYU, talking about missions, that one day we'd be sitting in a chapel in Rome together, helping an investigator plan out the program for his baptism? ''Orbits''...haha. Exchanges are always an adventure, but the funniest thing probably happened Tuesday morning. We were teaching a man named Moses in a refugee camp lovingly referred to as ''Africa'' by the missionaries in this area. We were sitting on either side of him, helping him read the Book of Mormon in a little covered space outside when he and Sorella Bradford immediately looked up, startled. I turned my head and about two inches away from my face was an electric razor. I thought it was a taser, and almost had a heart attack...Sorella Bradford had thought the same thing. When I regained composure the man just laughed to himself and sidled off and sat down in a corner. Creepy, haha. A few other men watched us, one joined the lesson...it was great. Then we met with Ike and Blessing, two members from Libya. They told us the camp is closing at the end of the month, and they're trying to figure out where to go and what to do. Ike would love to go back to Libya but can't because of what is going on there...it's just a hard, sad situation. But to see during the lesson the faith they have in Jesus Christ and their desire to follow him, and to feel it as we sang hymns together was something I'll always remember.
I am so proud of Christi! I love getting her letters, and am so grateful for her example of obedience and dillegence. It sounds like she's doing great things! I can't wait for General Conference in a few weeks. Just think, it wil be six months since they changed the age requirements for missionaries. So much has happened in that short period of time. The Lord is hastening his work! What a privelege it is to be members of his kingdom on the earth right now.
I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Jenni
