Roma 1

Week 32

(written on 19 Sep 2016)

Whelp, folks. We're back to rhyming/not-really-rhyming subject lines. 😬 I try.

This week has flowwnnnnn by and it's been super good, also. Also,
today we went to see the Vatican Museums, and as awesome as it was, we
don't have much time for email today! Sooooo some one liner highlights
and some photos for the week!!

-Mission Conference! On Thursday we hosted a mission conference here
at Roma Uno. With all the missionaries in our mission (except Sicilia
who had their own). President Kearon and Elder Gary Stevens presided
and it was AMAZING. One sentence take away: "PLEASE stop WORRYING.
Don't worry...just work" in Pres. Kearon's great English Accent.



-More RAIN. 🌧🌧 Rainy season has officially hit us. We were stuck in
a torrential downpour Sunday night. It was quite a time. :)

-A bad bowl of rice and seafood that made one Sorella quite ill this
morning. I did jinx myself though by saying a few days ago, "Well,
it's been a long time since I threw up!" And then I ate a clam Sunday.
Ha.



























- Vatican Museums!!



-Loving these people here and loving Rome. There is nothing that quite
describes it.

-And last but not least, loving the Gospel, sharing this message, and
serving a mission. There is really NOTHING that describes that.

Love to you all!
Sorella Carver

Roma 1

Week 31

(written on 12 Sep 2016)

Hello everyone!

It's been a crazy good week! Here are some highlights I wanted to share.

-If you didn't already know it, I'm a mess. Today on our way back from Rome Centro, we were going down the steps to the metro and I tripped. Badly. Haha 10 seconds of slow mo, two bruised shins, and 7 steps later, I finally stop and am helped up by and Italian man telling me, "Woahhhh, Bella!!" It's was fun. Super fun. The other Sorelle didn't know whether to laugh or to freak out... And I'm just standing there like what just happened?!? Moral of the story is: don't turn around and tell your comp something as you're walking down slippery marble steps in Rome. It does not end well.

- Aurea!! She continues to progress, take the lessons with us, and read the BOM. She's a hoot. We'll ask her questions about what we teach or how she's doing with her reading/praying and she just laughs and is like "Why are y'all asking me, I already know/I'm already doing that!" She's ready. She came to both the Saturday afternoon and Sunday sessions of Stake Conference this week, also! Speaking of Conference....

Le Sorelle at Stake Conference

- Stake Conference. Hahah. Where to start. It's held in Sardegna (the island off of Italy) so it's transmitted here. But something wasn't working Sunday morning and so they couldn't get it to pull up. All the members are sitting and waiting (more like talking and all over the place... Italians 😜) and the chapel is full. What was supposed to be a two hour conference turned into an hour and a half of "Is it going to work?" Waiting Game and a closing hymn and prayer, but only after they had gotten the voices to come through with this terrible, completely non-understandable radio connection. The stake leader, in all his desperation and hard work, was like "This work right? I can hear it. Y'all can understand right?!" And then everybody's like "Yeah nope. Can't understand a thing." So that's when they closed the conference. They were all surprisingly good spirited and understanding, and it's just example #472992 of how the church runs in Italy. I love it. I really really do. (And sweet little Aurea stayed the whole time, just as chill as could be!) 

-Rain season has come upon us!!! Monday night we were headed home from the church with all the groceries that we had left from earlier in the day. We get on the bus and it starts to DOWNPOUR. As we get to our stop we "girded up our loins" and get ready to go. It was like a hurricane. Or a flood. And we live UP the hill, so it was like scaling a waterfall. In a skirt. With groceries. We arrived home safe and sound but only slightly wet. Slightly. 

-Member Appointments!!! This Friday we had THREE IN A ROW. (Once in an Italy Rome lifetime experience...) We accidentally scheduled two families at the same time (what happens when you start calling everyone to see if ANYone wants to see you) but we worked it out to have them back to back. Our first though was with a sweet Sorella Mora from Ecuador. She's been here for a while but speaks very little Italian. So we Sorelle go over every now and then and read the LDM (Book Of Mormon) with her and help her with it. Let's just say my ability to understand Spanish is improving rapidly haha. She was so sweet and cute though, and she has the strongest testimony of the gospel.

with Sorella Mora

Then the Rosettis!!! Great family. They have a daughter in YWs and they were getting ready to go to the temple in Switzerland this week. We talked about the importance of reading and studying the scriptures, and seriously they taught the lesson. The first question we asked, they answered and just took all the words out of my mouth. So strong and so faithful. Then we RAN to the bus stop to get our last appointment with the Famiglia Alabastro. They're from the Philipines!! And just about the funnest family I've ever met (tranne la mia ;)) We did an FHE with them. We taught the Restoration (In English!!). That was more difficult than I can say. I get to the part about Joseph Smith and I'm like "He was a young boy who had 14 years, I mean, he had, he was....14 years old." We were struggling. But it was great and the spirit was so strong! We then played a game (the one where you all stand in a circle and close your eyes, grab a random hand, and then have to untangle yourselves. Super fun and they absolutely loved it! They have two YW-age daughters who we just love. Sister Adamson and I really want to stay close and work with these families and those of the other YW. We love them! 

Another crazy and amazing week here in Rome One. Love the mission, love this gospel, and love you all. Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sorella Carver

Roma 1

Week 30

Good morning!

This week has been another good week filled with lots of laughs and
getting lost and sharing the gospel!

One highlight from the week was Sunday! Sorella Adamson and I decided
to join Young Women's (the class for girls ages 14-18) for the third
hour of church. It was SO great. It reminded me of how much I missed
it and how great of a program it is.
Our ward has about 6 girls that were there this Sunday and they were
all so sweet.
The title of the lesson was "Nel mondo ma non del mondo"...How we can
be in the world, but not OF the world. I definitely think this is a
lesson that applies to ALL of us, not just young women. In the world
we live in today, there are so many sad, hard, and terrible things. It
can be hard to not be weighed down by these things.
Two verses from the bible remind me of this...

John 17:15 -
"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

These things that surround us are unavoidable...but the important
little things we should do each day (personal and family prayers,
purposeful scripture study, sabbath day observance, etc.) are the
things that protect and keep us away from harm the most.

And then the calming, assuring words of the Master in John 16:33 -
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world."

There's not much more that I can add to that but the fact that I know
it's true! My mission has been a wonderful thing so far, but that
doesn't mean there haven't been scary, hard, or difficult things to do
or see. I've had to rely more than ever on the peace and cheer that
the Savior and his teachings bring us. I know he lives and loves us,
and I know that through him we can have the greatest amount of peace
that we could find in the world.

LDS Rome Temple under construction

This PDay we visited Porta Di Roma (a big shopping mall) and the
temple site! The work on the temple continues to go forward, and it is
looking beautiful!

Sending love to you all!
Love,
Sorella Kaitlin Carver

Roma 1

Week 29

(Written on 29 Aug 2016)

Dearest family and friends,

First of all, thank all for the prayers, emails, and thoughts in
regards to the earthquake this week. We are all safe and sound, as
well as all of the other missionaries. We did not feel the earthquake
in our house because we are on the ground level, but many of the
members and people in our area did! We are so fortunate. The effects
of the quake in the areas north of Rome are bad. We have not been
instructed on how we can help yet, but we are hoping and praying that
we can be some means of service for those who have had so much
destroyed. Please continue to keep them in your prayers!

Other than that, this week has been full of miracles. Literally. We
got to this area with very little knowledge or idea of the area, but
it has been an amazing clean slate and we are seeing miracoli ovunque.

One of the biggest of them being Aurea. She is a sweet older woman
from Costa Rica who talked with missionaries a few months ago and they
left her with a pass along card with the church address on it. The
other day as we were in the church for a meeting, she just walks in
and asks to know more! It was so crazy. We taught her a lesson then,
another lesson on Friday, she came to church yesterday, and well teach
her the Plan of Salvation tonight. I'm excited to see her continue to
progress!

Other miracles have just been everywhere as well. We found an inactive
family that hasn't seen missionaries in years and we've been able to
stay in contact with them. Families in parks that are super
willing to talk to us, old investigators from Sorelle years ago who
call us back and are really nice/want to know us, ragazze that
actually come to English course when we invite them, and opportunities
to share the gospel on every corner.... Just finding our way around
this huge city and laughing when we get lost. Seriously. Not saying
there haven't been long days or tough challenges, but we are seeing
miracles in every moment. This is Heavenly Fathers work and he is
moving forward with it. And I'm so grateful to be a part!

With all the events in the world this week and especially the scary
earthquake here in Rome, I want to share a favorite and well-known
verse from the Book of Mormon that never fails to bring me comfort and
direction.

Helaman 5:12
"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our
Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your
foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds,
yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his
mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to
drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the
rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I know that Christ is the only true foundation we can rely on in this
turbulent world we live in today. It is Him that supports, sustains,
and uplifts us in every moment. We can build our sure foundation on
Him as we pray and study the scriptures daily, strive to choose the
right, follow his example. I'm so grateful for Him. And I'm so
grateful to be a missionary.

This week for PDay we biked in Villa Borghese (so fun!! + pants =
extra fun!) and then last week we visited the Vatican and explored
some other Palazzi. Rome is beautiful. There are just no other words.

Love you all. So so much!
P.S. Momma said this week that my grammar "sta peggiorando" so I
apologize haha. Hopefully these messages are slightly understandable!!

Okay.
Love you all!
Love,
Sorella Kaitlin Carver