Cagliari

Week 75

My heart is full of joy and also some sadness as I set out to type this email. Yes, it really has been 18 months already. I can't believe how fast time goes. I feel like Jacob in the Book of Mormon when he says "our lives passed as if it were a dream." 

2 years ago a decision was placed before me and I'll be eternally grateful and also eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for allowing me the opportunity to choose to serve a mission. It was not an easy choice, but I never would have imagined how much I would have changed and how much I would have learned and received. I had no idea what I was going in for, but I placed my trust in the Lord that this was where he needed me to be. (Even if I had no idea, nor say in, where the "where" would be!) 

Fast forward six months and I find myself in the beautiful and amazing country of Italy! It was a dream and quite a shock. But I didn't come here to tour a new area or see the sites or eat delicious food. I was here with a purpose that is universal to all missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints everywhere in the world.

And then the days just kept passing, some filled with the joy of seeing others come unto Christ and my own personal progression....other filled with stresses and worries and disappointments. The phrase "blood, sweat, and tears" is very, very true haha. 

But before I knew it, I woke up this morning and realized that is was my last day to be able to write home before actually going home! And I'm not sure how that makes me feel or what I can say that will adequately describe the journey.

What I came here to share has become a real part of me. I know that God exists. We can see his hand in our lives every day if we open our eyes and our hearts to his tender mercies. He is our loving Father in heaven. He knows us personally, because we are his children. As I've sat knee to knee with investigators I've felt his love for them and his desire for them to come home. I know he hears our prayers, because he has heard and answered mine. In the deepest of trials, the loneliest of days, or in the moments of great gratitude, he is there and he is listening. 

He loved us enough to send us here to grow and gain experience. He knew it would not be easy, so he provided a plan. At the center of that plan is our savior, Jesus Christ. His was and is the only way that leads to true happiness in this life and eternal life in the life to come. 

But because we are human, because we make mistakes, we forget. We rebel. We change things. Even after Christ himself came and established his perfect organization, His church, truths were lost and the power and authority he has given to his apostles was taken from the earth.

But that love that God has for each of his children hadn't changed. So when circumstances were right and His children were ready to listen again, he restored it all to the earth again. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God, just like Abraham and Moses and all the others. He was the means for restoring the lost truth on the earth and that today the Church of Jesus Christ is organized and run the same way and under the same authority as he established it. The Book of Mormon is the "prova", the proof, the trial of all of this. And I know it is true. 

It's all true.

I love this mission. I love the beautiful people of Italy and the gorgeous country. I love the gospel, and I love my Savior. My 18 months of being a full time missionary for Him will finish next week, but I'm grateful to know that the journey of discipleship never has to end. "There are no true endings...only Everlasting beginnings." 

Vi voglio bene! A presto, 

Sorella Carver 

Cagliari

Week 74

Buongiorno a tutti!

With each passing week the time goes faster and faster, the
experiences and stories become more sweet...and it gets harder andharder to write it all down!

This week, like them all, was filled with tender mercies and little miracles.
Every day it gets hotter and hotter and the number of people out gets
smaller and smaller. We can spend a lot of time going from place to
place and not see anyone to talk to...so our prayers lately have been
really focused on asking for guidance on where to be and what to do so
that we can help more people. We definitely saw answers to that prayer
this week!
Monday night after Pday we headed out to do some Finding and the
thought came to mind to pass by a sisters house who hasn't been coming
to church for a while. We'd been in contact when I first got to
Cagliari, but setting up an appointment had never worked out. I wanted
to push the thought aside, thinking "no...she won't be home and we'd
have to go out of our way..." but I voiced the thought to sorella
Fielding and she's like "No, let's give it a try, its not a bad idea!"
We went and suonato al citofono. We waited. No answer. Rang it again.
At this point I say something like "Well...guess that wasn't what that
promoting meant...." And then we hear it pick up and that beloved line
of "Chi è???" She was home...! She let us is, I finally got to meet
her, and we had a wonderful spiritual thought.
Sunday afternoon we had tried a few parks and weren't having much
luck. While I waited for sorella Fielding outside a bathroom in one
park...a mom we had met on the bus a few days before came in! We had
talked with her for a little bit about her family but didn't have a
chance to invite her to do anything before she got off. We really
wanted to be able to see her again and there she was!! We talked a
little bit and invited her and the kids to a church activity next
week.
And then Sunday evening we taught Eva again. I heard a quote this week
that says "The lesson will never go as you prepared, but it will
always go as well as you prepared." That is SO true haha! We didn't
use half the things we felt like we needed to use, BUT the lesson was
so good. She opened up to us even more and we felt the spirit bear
testimony as we shared things we had learned and studied all week.
Questions came to our minds that helped guide the discussion. It was
just really good.

Im forever grateful for the spirit and its help in this work.
Sometimes, when I really think about it, I'm like "why would Heavenly
Father send 18, 19, 20 year old kids to a foreign country speaking a
foreign language by them selves to share the most important and
amazing message the world has ever seen?!"
And then I remember that we really have very little to do with it.
This is His work and he's at the helm of it all. It's His spirit that
guides us in all we do. It's simply our job to be obedient, work hard,
and be in tune with that spirit and act on it.

Everyday I realize more and more how wonderful a mission is and how
sweet these weeks and days are. They really are "days never to be
forgotten." The good times make me smile and laugh and the hard
moments make us stronger and more capable. A simple email really can't
even begin to describe it. :)

I love you all! Thank you for the love, prayers, and support. Hope
it's a great week. :)

Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Carver

Some Italian bellezza for y'all. ;)

Our Fourth of July DDM Pranzo party. It was wayyy good.

Sometimes our walks home are the most beautiful thing ever... I
love sunsets! And Sunday's was just senza parole.

Cagliari

Week 72

(Sent on 26 June 2017)

watermelon - coconut gelato!

View from a castle we hiked to on June 19, 2017

Hike up to Sella del Diavolo

Hike up to Sella del Diavolo