AUGUST 28, 2013

Buongiorno tutti!!

   The MTC is still going great!! Man, I just absolutely love it here!  The spirit is soooo wonderful, I have had so many tender experiences here!  ...By this time next week I will be in Italy!!  That is so crazy, I can hardly believe it.  My Italian is wayyy too far from adequate it seems, but I know with all my heart that as I work my very hardest, He will help me to be able to communicate with His precious children. I am so very blessed, I think back to all the times that the Lord has helped me and blessed me and strengthened me, and I just can't express enough gratitude for what I have been given.  The Lord truly loves His children.
    Every Monday afternoon, we have what we call TRC...Where my companion and I get to go and talk with a volunteer who is fluent in Italian for one 40 minute lesson. They are almost always members of the church, so it is a lot more of a relaxed setting, but as I learned from my wonderful teacher Sorella Miles, our purpose is to invite everyone to come unto Christ, no matter what stage of life they are in and no matter what kind of a testimony they have.  We as missionaries have be set apart, truly endowed with power from the Lord, to be able to discern what people need to hear, and what will bring them closer to our Savior Jesus Christ.  I had a very tender experience at this last TRC two days ago.  We talked with two BYU students who were returned missionaries from Milan, Sam and Makayla.  The lesson went well, we had each of them share their favorite scripture (and then explain why it was important because we understood maybe 50% of it haha), and then we discussed how it could personally help their lives right now.  I felt a special love as we talked with them, and as I pondered in my heart that we are called to bring everyone, every single person we meet, some little bit closer to Christ.  I tried my hardest to help them personally, in whatever way I could with my borken Italian.  Near the end of the lesson, I felt impressed to bear my testimony of the true depth and power of the Love of our Heavenly Father for them.  Now, let me just put a quick aside in here- I am okay at Italian, but the verbs are quiteeee the doozy and my grammar is downright awful haha-...but as I bore that testimony, words flowed out of my mouth, and tears welled in my eyes as my heart was truly filled with love for them, from our Father in Heaven.  He loves us so much.  Each and every one of us means the world to Him.  How humbled I am to be a missionary, and to be able to feel of that love to such a degree.  I just love it here!
      We were privileged to hear from another apostle yesterday for our devotional!  Elder Neil L Anderson!  What a great guy.  As he spoke to us he went through a slideshow about love and sacrifice.  He just seemed so down to earth, like a normal guy.  I can tell that he has a special spirit, and truly loves us so much. One quote that he said that really stuck with me is this:  "We sacrifice for the things we love, and we love the things we sacrifice for."  What a profound statement that was for me, especially as I contemplated the sacrifices that I have had to make in beginning this mission, and why I sacrificed them, and how much I love the people I sacrificed for.  What a great reminder!
    Well, I hope all is going well at home, I sure love you all so much!  I leave Tuesday at 5:00 AM for Salt Lake!  I am pretty sure that I get to call home when I arrive to the airport...but I'm not sure, it depends how early it is and stuff.  So if you get a random call from a payphone make sure and answer :)  Love you all!