Moses and Brooches

Why hello family!

How are Walter and Olga doing? I still cannot get over that there is a new member in our family that I have not met! Crazy! I am sure he is such a cutie:)

Well, this week I got to go see a little more of Rome. We went to see the Moses statue by Michaelangelo. It was striking to see just how perfect he is, the contours of his stone mucsles shone in the two minute offerta lighting. ;)

 In the same church are said to be the chains in which Pietro was bound before being executed in Rome. When I saw the chains it made me think of how he dedicated his whole life, literally until death to preaching the gospel and helping others realize their eternal natures. He did not even have these chains to stop him from spreading the joy that he had in Christ (how great it is to know as well that we get to spread the exact same message:)). It made me think about some of the "chains" I have been faced with during my mission. Be it any of man's devices to detour(is that the word, boh?:)) my faith and joy, such us teenagers spitting on me from balconies, snow balls being thrown (that was last year with the snow in Mistretta), people mocking us, making throw up noises as we pass(thats a favorite;)), or just being mean, even discouraging and negative thoughts. The thing is, these all, like the chains now incased in a cathedral, have no eternal substance and though it seems impossible to shake them off, with Christ it is possible. It makes me think of the story of Nephi in 1 Nephi 7, about his brothers binding him, then he exercising faith, praying and being able to gain the strength to break the bounds. It is a true and sure recipe for us in freeing ourselves from whatever chains we are faced with through the atonement of Christ.

It was so cool, we have been going to see Arcangelo a lot lately, just reading the book of mormon and discussing how we can apply it to our lives. Sorella Buckley and I both felt that we needed to do a repass of the parola di saggezza one of the times we went. Well, we decided to do it on Thursday and guess what chapter we happened to be on that day with Arcangelo, 1Nephi 7. It was perfect applying it to the Word of Wisdom. Also, I am reading through the Doctrine and Covenants for my personal study and that Thursday I just happened to be on D and C 89, which is the revelation about the word of wisdom! Cool! Everything just seemed to fall into place. The lesson went well, of course Arcangelo is just one of those prideful italian men that I love so much, so he did not get as excited about quiting all of his "pleasures" as I had hoped, but piano piano he is drawing nearer to Christ. We ran into his wife the other day and guess what she told us, for the first time Arcangelo said the family prayer sincerely (lately he has been saying the prayers just one sentence and kind of in a sarcastic way), but she said it was long, for him, and so sweet. She looks so happy. I love how she is so thrilled about the little steps he is taking, for that will lead to bigger ones. She is an example to me of patience and love.

Speaking of the word of wisdom. We met a guy named Euro today, I know like the money, funny. When we first saw him he had a bottle of wine three forths full, by the time we left him it was empty, his face red and he was quite tipsy. Euro started to spill his soul, telling us about his childhood, how his dad was part of the war, never home, never showed love to him. How his mom was so sad all the time, always crying. So he went to find love else where, out of the home. He got involved with bad friends and spiraled down. He met a woman who loved him despite his weaknesses and thought everything was great then 8 members of his family died within one year. He stopped praying that year and things just seemed worse. We told him about Christ and a little of the plan of salvation. He asked if we really believed it. Sorella Buckley said, "We know it". He started to cry and grabbed her hand. It was really sweet. I hope we can meet him again. 

English course! Che meraviglia! We are getting so many new investigators and people who are interested in learning more about the gospel. I never realized how great of a finding tool it was. Usually during the spiritual thoughts I like to look for who is paying attention and who takes the stuff that is offered. Then I like to pray about them and it has been totally by the spirit who we have been able to teach. One man invited us to meet his companion and kids after we asked if we could meet him oltre del corso. He also told us that he is reading the Book of Mormon, even before we had a lesson with him (he got it once at the end of an English lesson). He wanted to come to church, but was out of town, so hopefully next week. His companion, unfortunately, does not seem that interested and I think that is one of the reasons why this week he hesitated to meet with us. We will pray lots and do all we can to see him and his family again, for usually the male is the one who hesitates,  but he wants to help his family so much, it is refreshing to see.  

 I love being a missionary! This church really is Christ's, I know it!

I love you all so much! Thanks for being patient and loving with me:)

Have a wonderful week! Happy festa della donna on Friday!

Abbracci!!!!

Sorella Comollo

P.S. I forgot to tell you about the brooches!

Sorella Buckley and I met an old lady with a really cute brooch. It inspired us to want to get matching cameo ones:) And guess what, we found them by the church that holds the moses! Miracle!