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