Week 64

(Week 11 Rome)

Keep the Commandments....
This week has been a huge up and down week with our main investigator
Gaetano, he is such a rockstar and LOVES meeting with us and learning
all sorts of new things! We've had wonderful members help teach all
the commandments and he is so excited to be baptized, but he would
refuse to tell his wife about it because she would be super against
it.  Well on Wednesday we get a call from him telling us to hurry over to his house to meet his wife!!! What!?!? One day she didn't want to
know anything about us and then the next she had made a dolce and was
super excited to see us! We got to meet her, the granddaughter, and
son of Gaetano and they are soooo wonderful! She is super super
Catholic but we taught the Restoration and it went pretty well! So
Gaetano finally told his wife about his baptism and she isn't super
happy now so we are fasting and praying that she can have a change of
heart. I was super super happy when he still came to church this
Sunday!

Bocca Della Verita!   Legand has it if you put your hand inside the "mouth" while lying it will be bitten off..

The Book of Mormon tells the truth!!

This week has just been super full of cool park lessons and meeting
new potentials... We kinda are low on investigators at the moment...

Zinaida, dear Zinaida... We were sooo pumped to see her with our
member Claudia after a lesson with Gaetano and the Salerno couple on
Friday. Well we walk out of the first lesson with Gaetano and Claudia
just gives us a panicked look... Zinaida was COMPLETLEY drunk sitting
on the bench in the church lobby... We hurried and got the Salerno
couple and Gaetano out and then faced this crazy crazy situation!
Zinaida just kept telling us she loved us and all this and thankfully
we had invited Claudia to come with us because we put her in the car
and tried to get her home. I was in the back with her just asking her
random questions to keep her awake, holding a trashcan bag, and
calling random people on her phone to find out where she lived while
Sorella Erickson was up front just cracking up about the situation.
Eventually one of Zinaida's friends came and got her from us. CRAZIEST
MOMENT EVER!

We've been in contact with her in these last couple days and sadly she
was facing a big difficulty in her family and that's why she went to
drink...
After this experience I'm just so grateful for the prophets and the
commandments. What a blessing to know that if we follow the
commandments of God given to us by his prophets we are going to be
safe and happy. My testimony of obedience has grown so much in the
mission. With mission rules and above all else, the commandments I've
seen serious blessings come to those that are obedient. Can't wait to
hear from our dear prophet Thomas S. Monson this weekend!!! I testify
he is called of God!!!

James 1:3
Sorella Nelson

Taken from inside the Vatican.

Best panini in the world!!

When there is no one at the metro stop....

Poor Sorella Erickson...she has the weirdest trainer.

Corso di Inglese!

Week 63

  (Week 10 Rome)

Ahhh!!! Just no words for a wonderful week!

Necklaces like this are a common find on the streets.  Instead of a gelato why not buy a handmade necklace!

I honestly don't know how to describe just how wonderful this week was
in an email! It's just one of those times where you would have had to
have been there, but I will give it my best!

Dear Sorella Erickson has been feeling soooo much better and it is so
good to have my companion back in action with me! The huge highlight
of the week was having the area president of the seventy, President
Kearon, come speak to our mission here in wonderful Rome. He was so
inspired and it was wonderful to be uplifted for two days in a row!

Since our Roma 1 church hosted the conference the day before we were
crazy busy getting everything ready like setting it up and packing
lunches for everyone and all the odds and ends. Thursday we woke up,
got ready with six Sorelle in the house and went to see our church
FILLED with suits and skirts. BEST SIGHT EVER! Sooo many missionaries
and it was so good to see past companions and other mission friends.

My baby number one all grown up!!

President Kearon... The only words for him is just INSPIRED! He just helped us change how we look at things differently and he kept saying, "stretch, don't stress!!!" We had a super great conference and learned new things to apply to our work especially here in the Great Rome, Italy.

Rome 1 Sorelle at conference.

We're missing a few but here is the majority of my whole MTC group! I think we've all changed since then.

After the conference I left with the other sister training leaders and zone leaders for more meetings that night and then we all slept in the Villa! It was so nice to say a kneeling "family" prayer with President and Sorella Pickerd and just learn from the examples of so many amazing leaders in our mission.

Friday! We had a special conference with all the leaders and President
Kearon! It was just a great conversation of how we can reach our new
standard of excellence, (which is one baptism per transfer per
companionship) we end  up with three things...
1. Attack the morning
2. BE the message
3. Strength in the Atonement

All of the leaders at the mission home villa.

I'm honestly just feeling soooooo full of crazy fire right now!  I will be honest and say I felt kinda tired before this conference, but now I'm just ready to go go go!!  We have absolutely NO NEED TO FEAR!!

President Kearon played us a song from the 2014 conference that the
choir sang, I think it is Let Us All Press On... He had us close our
eyes and just listen. (Those at home should listen to it). In the song
the choir gets super loud and belt the words "FEAR NOT!" And
"COURAGE". Ahh I just can't describe how excited I am to put
everything learned into practice!!!

GAETANO!!!! He is sooo excited to be baptized!!! Biggest miracle of
the week! We taught him the plan of salvation and when we explained
that we can become like God he was soooo intrigued! He kept saying,
"no way! I've never heard this before! It makes sense!" So the next
lesson we went over what we have to do in order to get to the
Celestial kingdom! We also read the scriptures of the waters of Mormon
and when we got to the part about what have ye against being baptized
he just was like, "nothing! If we have to be baptized, we need to be
baptized!"
Anywho, he came to church all dressed in a suit and tie and is making
so many member friends! I was especially grateful for one Fratello of
the church who sat next to him while I had to translate the three
hours... MEMBERS ARE THE BEST!

I'm so tall next to Gaetano.

Sister Erickson and Gaetano.  This is my favorite picture EVER! They are both the same size!

Sunday pranzo with a whole bunch of dear members.

Translating church replay of stake conference for three hours straight.

My companion/translator helper Sorella Erickson. When someone uses a scripture in the their talke she finds it for me quick in English so I can say it.

I'm just really happy right now! Being a missionary is the best! We
ran into some member tourists from Texas at the Vatican today and they
said they felt bad that our mission is a hard one and I was just like,
"Every mission is hard! The Lord blesses us all with miracles and
wonderful people to meet everyday! I may have never seen a baptism,
but it's the biggest blessing of my life."

I'M GRATEFUL TO BE A MISSIONARY!
Sorella Carrie Nelson :)
Romans 1:16

The parks are all green now after all the rain.

The famous Spanish steps are open again..

Tried curling my hair with rags....didn't turn out so well....

I actually may have found some food I don't LOVE here in Italy.  A sweet sister made us plaintains?  Don't know that I like them....

Monday is for gelato....actually everyday should be gelato day.