The Great Italy Rome Mission

What a week! We saw lots of miracles and probably the biggest was Alessio passing his baptismal interview which means he should be getting baptized this weekend! So we hope everything goes well with that. He made lots of progress and grew a ton these past couple days.

Another one of our investigators named Stefano made some good progress, we got to meet with him during the week and he showed up to church and loved it!

One of the best lessons of the week had to have been with Letizia, a less active lady married to this man named Maurizio. We taught the plan of salvation and talked about how she'll receive her answer that the church is true and said she wants to "fall in love" with the plan of salvation and I loved that answer! The plan of salvation is so perfect why wouldn't we love it? It's been truly incredible sharing the knowledge our Heavenly Father has given us to his children in Italy.

It's also looking like we are seeing some results from focusing on the youth in the people we've been finding. Roberto and Edoardo are both still doing really good and with the help of the members they seem to have a place in the ward already! Hopefully we can help them get closer to baptism. They had a really good world wide mission conference and changed some of the standards and were really excited about all of the things that are going on. Anziano Bourne and I have been pushing ourselves a lot and are excited for everything to come!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Ermanno

The boys

It is Better To Be Trusted Than It Is to be Loved

Another marvelous week has come and gone here in Italy. Alessio really progressed this past week and accepted everything about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom! The ward has also been really inclusive of him and really all of our investigators for that matter, so that makes us really excited. Edoardo also had a good week and made it out to church along with Roberto who brought his wife and then stayed for Sunday school.

We had a really good zone conference with a big focus on invites and the Holy Ghost. The spirit was very strong and it was a real blessing to see all the trust President puts in us as his missionaries. Sorella Pickerd always likes to ask us 2 things we admire in our companions and so I asked her that question and she quickly responded with presidents kindness and the way that he has always diligently study the scriptures his whole life. Those are two things we should probably all try to implement in our lives.

One of the biggest miracles came with our new homie Stefano. We found him outside Saturday night and got these really cool milkshake donut things from the store that he works in and then he showed up at the end of church the next day! So we got to show him around and introduce him to lots of the members. Stefano is a pretty cool kid and we're excited for the progress he'll be making in the next couple weeks. The ward members have been showing a lot of trust in Anziano Bourne and I and we hope to be able to keep it.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Cagliari Missionaries

I'm Feeling 22

This last week was really incredible! We had some really good lessons and met lots more cool people. We've been having lots of success heading out to the university here in Cagliari and talking with the college kids. It's a lot like being back with the GANS center and so that makes it loads of fun. We also had a really good lesson with Alessio on obedience and he was totally down to start working towards following all of them.

We had a scambio with the elders from Sassari and I got to go out with Anziano cutler. We had a blast wandering around because the other elders had the car and I didn't know the streets at all haha. On Sunday we got to meet with our boy john and his family from Nigeria and had a really good first lesson with them and everyone was really interested. We also taught this lovely lady named Letizia who is married to this less active friend of President Pickerd that went exceptionally well. She is really interested and has lots of faith in the message.

We've bonded a lot with the members playing soccer and doing service for them these last couple days and they've really given us their trust it seems. Sometimes they do Italians verse the Americans and we've been holding our own for a bunch of stranieri. We also have this sweet basketball court and soccer field pretty close to our house that we went and played on with some of the other missionaries from around the island last pday. The works gone really well out on the island!

And happy 22nd wedding anniversary to mom and dad!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Heading with our member fabulous to teach John

The Cagliari Missionaries

Find Teach Baptize

Cagliari is poppin! We saw some cool miracles this past week and we want to keep the magic going. Roberto is the coolest guy ever and his wedding should get settled in the upcoming weeks which will mean he'll be able to get baptized! Alessio is also this homie we play soccer with and he is the nicest guy ever. He has a baby son and loves hearing about the plan of salvation. We just want to help him get into a habit of praying daily.

We are blessed to have a car here and it makes it so much easier to get to appointments. We've been able to meet with lots of the members recently and everyone loves the missionaries so that's really cool. We had a fun family home evening with one of the bishop bric members were we watched these old Book of Mormon videos and it was the greatest Haha. I really did learn more from the video even if it was pretty weird. We ate at a Brazilian meats buffet last week and it was divine.

We had fun finding here in Cagliari. We've really tried to focus on youth this past week and we've met some really cool people. We found this girl named Milena last week from Serbia that loved the restoration. She wants to introduce us to her family so will have to see how it goes. We also met this really cool kid named Samuele that wants to learn more about prayer. They probably have the most potential of the people we've found but will see. The work is incredible here and we want to just help it keep growing.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Pday at the Pizzeria

Roberto rocking the name tag

Cag City

This past week we had quite he surprise with transfer calls. I've been sent off to Cagliari to serve with Anziano Bourne! We started in the mtc together and now will be serving together on the island of sardenia. It was sad to leave Rome after such little time but there are people here in Cagliari for us to find. Anziano Jensen will be staying back at the GANS center with another elder.

We have a really cool investigator named Roberto here who owns a sweets shop and he is so cool. Once his marriage papers go through, he'll be able to get baptized and he even made it out to church with his wife which was really cool. We also teach this guy named Alessandro who is always all over the place ha. He makes lessons very interesting and we always have a good time. He gave us some nice treats for New Years as well.

We got to go eat at this really nice sisters house and she fed us some really good ravioli for New Year's Day. They had us clean up our houses New Year's Eve. We also stay with 2 other elders in our house, elders Larussa and Hansen, and it's always a party with those guys.

Our companionship gets a car so that's a real blessing as well. The member here are super sweet and we think we can do some real work here. The only down side is I'm back playing the piano again haha. The work is really good and we're excited for this new year.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

New Years Pranzo

Cagliari

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!