All I want for Christmas is...

Buon natale to everyone! Christmas in Rome is everything we had hoped for and we saw some amazing miracles this past week. It's a little sad because Anziano Toronto goes home to America tomorrow and we have transfer calls tonight but we just worked really hard this past week and saw tons of success! Our boy joe that we helped out last week made it to the GANS center with his girlfriend and little daughter and they are so prepared! We taught the plan of salvation and the lesson went really well, Martin the member that helped find them was able to participate as well.

We had a party at the GANS center for Christmas and a lot of our investigators were able to make it out. We actually had more investigators show up then members so that made the party all the more exciting. Nick made it out and we had one of the best lessons ever! He has grown his faith in Christ so much just from reading the Book of Mormon and he now wants to give it to the rest of his family members.

He also gave me a really beautiful Christmas present that he drew himself. He's such a nice kid!

For Christmas we got to visit some members and we actually taught a lot of lessons which was a major high light. Church went really well, Anziano Toronto gave a talk on being baptized and aureola from Albania was really touched by the whole thing. We also went and sang carols to some orphans and gave them cookies for Christmas. We had a zone wide gesso followed by a secret santa. Do to a lack of communication and a switch of zones, my name was absent from the white elephant but I did come prepared with chocolate for myself haha. Everything is going really well and I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

Our Christmas Tree

Col capo sul fieno...

The Christmas spirit is definitely prevalent out her in Rome and it's showing in our work. We got to see lots of really cool people last week and get some work done. Serving with anziano Toronto and Jensen is a blast! A major highlight was definitely all the chances we had to do splits with the members out here. I had a chance to go out with our boy kaden all Saturday morning. We put in some work and I really hope it was a good experience for him because he should be leaving on a mission himself this next year.

I also got to go out with another ward member named Martin and we had quiet the experience haha. We got invited to this party, that turned out to be not the most spiritually conducive environment lol so we got out fast after sharing a bit of the restoration with everyone. We also met this kid named joe who was drunk out of his mind and totally lost.

We tried to help him get home and hope he made it alright. It just shows how much of a blessing the teachings of the gospel can be in our lives if we decide to follow them. Emanuel was another really cool guy we found that night. People are just so much more open now it's incredible.

Being at the GANS center is really awesome. Our most progressing investigator is probably Stefania, she study's here and she wants to be baptized so bad. She was able to make it out to our ward party on Saturday and really enjoyed it. We also had the chance to sing in a missionary choir that performed a concert in a ginormous cathedral. We sang really well and hope it gave the church some good exposure out here in Rome. I feel like I'm forgetting most of the stuff that went on this week but it was really fun and this next week leading up to Christmas should be just as good!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Here's most of the choir

We also got to go ice skating

Three Times the Fun!

Thunder has struck twice! Back to a trio haha Rome just can't get anymore exciting! Anziano cagnacci has been suffering from severe anxiety and panic attacks, and after talking with president this week has decided to go home and hopefully work at coming back out after having gone through treatment. He's such an incredible missionary and I hope he makes it back out. I've been moved to the companionship over the young single adults of Rome with Anziano taronto and Jensen.

Before we got to that point though, we had some really cool miracles.

We met with nick at the GANS center (institute center) and the girl who happened to be there studying speaks Chinese. That was the hand of God in our work without a doubt ha. Nick really wants to learn more about Christ since he comes from a non religious background. It's different teaching him but it's still fun. Will be able to still teach him as well.

There was also a baptism last week in Rome 2. A girl named yoxelyn from Cuba got baptized. She participated in English course and wanted to learn more. She leaves for cub here before Christmas so we hope the saints can help her out. We also had a good lesson with James before getting switched over to Rome 1. Our specific area is the Rome 1 ward and then all of the single young adults of Rome. It's going to be a blast!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Yoxelyn's Baptism

The Rome Temple!

Back in Rome

We got transfer calls this week and I'm now in Rome 2 with Anziano Campbell! We get to be in a house with 2 other elders and will spend Christmas in Rome!! The ward here is the biggest in Italy active member wise with about 50 American members who either are working on the temple or at the embassy. They are all incredible and we've been able to work with a couple families already which is great. It's nice to be with the people who know how the ward should work.

Before leaving L'Aquila though we were able to say goodbyes to lots of people. And everyone wants to come visit us in Rome so that should be fun. We ate with the custodes one last time and they referred us a family that we were able to teach and it was a really great lesson.

Andrea was also doing really good and wants to find his answer and he will. L'Aquila is in good hands with Anziano gunnell and anziano houseman.

This man called us this week wanting to find the church and become a member and he is so cool. His name is James and he made it out to church and already has some swag fellow shoppers. Abraham, who is a convert from his same church, just homied up with our boy James. We also met Ricardo on the bus and I'm going to be honest and say that my favorite finding technique of all time is commenting on sports memorabilia people are wearing, and so Ricardo with his Minnesota Vikings hat became a quick target. But anyways, it was really sad to leave L'Aquila but we're excited for Rome!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Last night in English course

This was in our back yard...

The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away

We had a very eventful last few days to say the least. After getting put in our trio we had Anziano Campbell get emergency transferred to Sciacca because another elder went home so that was sad to see. He'll do some good work down there though. So now it's just Anziano cagnacci and I and thankfully it's still a lot of fun. We had the chance to see lots of members and get them pumped for missionary work.

Probably the best lesson from last week was after English course with this couple named Davide and Valentina. We were able to teach them the restoration and at least Valentina really enjoyed it. Will have to work more on Davide but they have lots of potential. We also found 3 Chinese homies that are here for college. We were able to teach them and they really loved the concept of prayer. We also ate some Chinese food with them and it was to die for. I've missed Chinese food.

We had a special stake conference yesterday where we had a new stake president put in. He's from our ward so we're excited to meet with him. It was also really nice to see lots of old friends from laquila and Pescara. We had the chance to do a scambio with the elders from ascoli before the conference and they were lots of fun. We spent a lot of time helping Anziano Campbell get ready to move and so hopefully we can get back to seeing all of the miracles of Rome!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

The Trio

Piazza del popolo

Then There Were Three

We got transfer calls this week and I'm now in Rome 2 with Anziano Campbell! We get to be in a house with 2 other elders and will spend Christmas in Rome!! The ward here is the biggest in Italy active member wise with about 50 American members who either are working on the temple or at the embassy. They are all incredible and we've been able to work with a couple families already which is great. It's nice to be with the people who know how the ward should work.

Before leaving L'Aquila though we were able to say goodbyes to lots of people. And everyone wants to come visit us in Rome so that should be fun. We ate with the custodes one last time and they referred us a family that we were able to teach and it was a really great lesson.

Andrea was also doing really good and wants to find his answer and he will. L'Aquila is in good hands with Anziano gunnell and anziano houseman.

This man called us this week wanting to find the church and become a member and he is so cool. His name is James and he made it out to church and already has some swag fellow shoppers. Abraham, who is a convert from his same church, just homied up with our boy James. We also met Ricardo on the bus and I'm going to be honest and say that my favorite finding technique of all time is commenting on sports memorabilia people are wearing, and so Ricardo with his Minnesota Vikings hat became a quick target. But anyways, it was really sad to leave L'Aquila but we're excited for Rome!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

And we did find an American sports store!

Baby it's cold outside!

We had a jam packed week once gain! We had another blitz in pescara with the other missionaries and it was really cool to do a scambio with Anziano Martin who flies home tomorrow. We were able to teach a couple lessons and it was really cool to see how great of a missionary he's become. I'm gonna miss that kid. We also went and ate those huge sandwiches again and you better belief we ate 3 this time ha we all wanted to die after we did it.

We saw palmir again and he is so nice. We ended up having quite the adventure with our boy in sulmona that involved a trip to the radiologist, warm milk, an old lady kissing us...., some amazing seafood, and chocolate haha. Needless to say palmir loves the message of the restoration. Unfortunately Anziano gunnell hates seafood and ended up vomiting all Friday night. He's quite the fireball.

Andrea and chino are both progressing immensely! Andrea in a lesson this week after reading 2 nephi 32 said that the Book of Mormon just tells you exactly what we need to do in life and it's so clear. We had stake conference and lots of our investigators made it out which was really nice. Most everyone talked about the family and they had some incredible testimonies. I really love all members of Italy and how strong there testimonies are. It helps me see that you can live the gospel no matter where you live because it was made for everyone!

The last pic with Martin

And for all of you who are sad about the US election, Hillary Clinton got baptized last week in Palermo!

Surprise!

This last week was truly incredible! One of the real miracles we had was Andrea. He hadn't really been progressing for the past couple weeks and then he texted us this week asking if we could come over to read the scriptures we him. And we've had some amazing lessons with him now and he's actually started to keep commitments and progress. He even came to church which was a real blessing since he also brought his mom. I love that he wants his mother to have the blessings of the gospel as well.

We also had a surprise scambio with the zone leaders and I got to serve with Anziano segura. We went to one of the greatest meal appointments of my mission and not just because of the food haha. We did have some incredible chicken though. We were with the custodes who we had invited to try and have a gospel conversation with a non member every week and we should actually start teaching a family their friends with this next week. We love swag member missionaries!

We have been going to the castle by our house a lot recently to look for investigators and it's magical. I don't know if people just feel bad and listen to us haha but we almost always come back with a new investigator or potential from there ha. If we didn't have any lessons we'd probably go to that park every day. We also had a really good lesson with James on the plan of salvation. I love how simple this plan god has created for us. All we have to do is follow the commandments and will be blessed.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

Here's James and a swag picture he drew

Anziano Gunnell leading us into the unknown

And the earth shook

We had a very eventful action packed last couple days here in the vineyard of Italy! From the sounds of it we had at least 3 major earthquakes in the past 5 days but thankfully everyone's safe. We were on a bus for the first 2 and consequently did not feel them. The third one happened Sunday morning right before we were going to leave the house for church. It was pretty exciting and we only ended up doing sacrament meeting after that.

We also had a ward Halloween party last Thursday that went really well! We had most of the members show up and then lots of nonmembers came as well. The food and the games were all really exciting. We also had a scambio this week and I was able to spend a day with Anziano Olsen in pescara. It went really well and we had lots of fun. We also got to do a couple more lessons with chino and it looks like our boys back on track finally.

On Saturday we got to go on an adventure with the branch president and his son out to a city called sulmona. We were able to see some less actives and one of our investigators named palmir whose a really nice guy. He's retired and really interested in the Book of Mormon. There was also a really wonderful part member family we got to visit and they are awesome. Will have to figure some way to get us back there.

L'Aquila is incredible!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

And yes, we were Mario and Luigi

Sulmona

President Nelson

We had the marvelous opportunity to hear from a lot of the church leaders this past week including the President of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, Russel M Nelson and it was incredible ha. To start off we heard from President Kieron from the Europe Area Presidency and Donald A Hallstrum from the 70 along with their wives. All of the wives did really well and it was a nice build up for President Nelson who later spoke extensively on the abrahamic covenant. No joke haha the abrahamic covenant.

It was really interesting and we learned a lot! He started by showing his scriptures that he had recently bought and been able to read all the way through in 2 weeks. He would then ask us questions and precede to teach us afterward. It was really intimidating standing up to answer the questions but a very exciting experience. We got to shake his hand and then he was off to visit the temple that's being constructed in Rome.

We had a fun pday this past week when we went to a midevil castle in the mountains. It was surprisingly intact and a really fun trip. We had a really good lesson with chino again, we hadn't been able to see him for awhile but now it looks like he's back on track. We also had the opportunity to teach this man named Franco after church with his member girlfriend Bruna. Franco has had the lessons before and bruna seems tired of his unwillingness to join the church so we're going to see if we can't help our boy out.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Us with Stefano in church, and yes, his tag says "future missionary."

Rocca Calascio

For behold...

What an eventful week we have had here in Italy! We have pday today on Tuesday because of zone conference yesterday. It was really inspiring and a nice build up for the mission wide conference that we have this Thursday with President Russell M. Nelson of the quorum of the 12. We are all pretty excited and it will be with the whole mission in Rome.

We were able to teach this lady named Laura with her family this past week and they are a bundle of fun haha. She has two toddlers who are the craziest kids ever! We are super excited to see them start progressing and coming to church. For this whole transfer Anziano gunnell and I are trying to speak only Italian and gunnell has improved so much over these past couple days it's incredible!

We were able to help Paula and Irene get moved in this past Sunday and so now hopefully we can focus more on teaching them the lessons so they can come closer to Christ. The members have been feeding us a lot recently and a side effect of that was we got horribly sick last Wednesday from some bad seafood. I was alright but Anziano gunnell may not have been so lucky..... we're making lots of progress in little old L'Aquila and thankfully the lord has prepared L'Aquila for the gospel.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

Gotta love gelato!

And it came to pass...

Life is full of miracles, we just have to know where to look. We had an incredible week here in the lofty roman mountains. Giovanna really agreed with the whole gospel of Jesus Christ lesson. She even had her nephew Mario drive us home after and marios a kid whose about our age and was really curious about our church's stand on chastity haha. So for the 40 minutes we were together, Mario and his friend fabritzio got to hear all about chastity. The good news is Mario will probably come next week when we teach Giovanna.

We also saw our less active friend Vincenzo and he gave us permission to teach his family. We took the opportunity to then have him explain the Book of Mormon to his 8 year old daughter Laura and it was really cool to see his testimony come out. Then we also went to our homie gaun Pierros house and talked with his parents. The missionaries have talked with them in the past but this was the first time gaun said his parents actually seemed to feel the spirit. I give all credit to guan because when he bore his testimony his mother started crying as she felt the spirit testify of the truthfulness of the message.

We also had another blitz just this time in pescara last Monday. We taught a lesson and it started raining super hard. We had planned to go to this restaurant and eat two of these huge sandwiches because it was our last week as an all elder district. The sandwich was really tasty and Anziano gunnell might have ate half of one. He eats a lot of food for a small guy ha. And we get to stay together this next transfer in L'Aquila which will be good to help all of our investigators come closer to Christ.

Vi volglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Gotta love rain

Outside our soccer stadium