Looking for the Good

Ciao!

Okay, gotta say it, this week has just been very hard. However, instead of focusing on that I want to tell you about the interesting good things that happened:)

Our investigator Beatrice is great. She is golden, no even better Diamond. She has been reading the scriptures and praying and came to the conclusion of how she needs to change her life so she can find more joy. She told us that she stopped breaking the law of chastity with now her ex boyfriend (we hadn't even talked about that law yet), she just felt it to be right. She read a scripture with her family from the book of mormon about forgiveness when they were fighting with each other. After it was read her mom and sister made up and are friends again. That she felt was an answer to her prayer about whether or not the BOM really is from God. When we asked her to get baptized she hugged us and just jumped for joy. Incredible! She was going to get baptized on the 4th of May (I was going to be there still:)), but we had to switch it since there is a young adult conference. I thought I would be torn apart, not being able to see her get baptized (or anyone), but I did not. I am just so happy she has found the gospel and has already felt so much joy in it and I am humbled and so grateful that I got to be a witness to it.

When the opening prayer in church was said from the pulpit the microphone went all crazy so the lady giving the prayer sounded like darth vader! Oh dear that was funny.

I am so grateful for the sacrament. And the bread they use for it in Italy, it is by far the tastiest bread I have ever had:)

Beatrice said the opening prayer in Sunday School and knelt for it:) We explained later;)

I got to serve in Rome for a Day. We met a lady who prayed with us. She held our hands and prayed for the blood of Jesus to help her know if she should leave her boyfriend. We then sat on the grass in a park and talked about the plan of salvation.

I love you all so much, I hope you always look for the little good things during the day. Do not focus on the bad and stuff that is hard. You are children of God, he wants you to find joy, so find it in everything:)

Love,

Sorella Comollo

Prayer

Ciao Famiglia!

Oh conference, oh how lovely. One of my favorite talks was the one by President Monson, about truth. This is what people are looking for and they think that it cannot be found, oh they are wrong. His answer for finding truth was to follow the commandments, to act, to put it in practice. It is true! Just like what it says in John 7:17, if we want to see if something is right we have to test it and act upon it. This reminds me of an experience we had yesterday. I do not know if I already told you about Elena, she is a less active. Her husband is not a member and is very anti to the church and religion in general. She had to struggle for years in order to get permission for her two kids to get baptized. They finally did last year, but shortly thereafter she and the kids stopped coming. We have been going to see her at her veteranarian (spelling?) shop. She told us that she just does not feel the need to come and that she can be close to God without going to church, also she said that she decided it was not worth it, for everytime she goes she has to battle with her husband, so she said why not keep the peace with him and not worry about going at all. We talked about prayer last week, specifically family prayer and how we can be an example. Yesterday she was excited to tell us about her experiance. She said usually after we leave her a committment she forgets about it and does not really care. However, that day she could not get the idea of having a family prayer out of her head. So she got up the courage and asked her family. Her husband lauged in her face and tried to persuade the kids to not listen, in the end she prayed just with her daughter, but they did it. And now she wants to do it more and has been trying everyday and she says she feels a strength that she has not felt in a while. She now knows that it is a truth, family prayer, not just because we told her and the prophet told us, but because she was obedient and acted on it and now has come to a knowledge of the joy that comes through prayer, even if things did not go exactly as she had planned. So now my invite, can anyone say family prayer?:)

I also really liked Anziano Bednar's talk. Our bodies are so precious and so important and so miraculous. I know that we are here, in these tabernacles of clay, for a reason. I am so grateful for Grandma and her example of strength. I love her so much and I know that everything happens for a reason.

I am in a dank internet point in Rome, with giant washing machines all around me, with an old guy asking me to marry him or if not to find him a wife, crying because I miss you guys so much and because I am aching to see grandma. I know I am here for a reason, to tell this crazy by my side about his relationship with God and let him know that he really can know him and Jesus Cristo. 

I love you all so much.

Have a good week.

Con amore, 

Sorella Comollo 

Conference is coming!

Ciao tutti!!!

I am soooooo excited for conference! I have started preparing questions to which I can receive answers from the inspired speakers!!! How cool is it that we know that we have a prophet that receives revelation from God so he can help us! The chruch is true!

This week has been up and down. Sorella Piccirillo and I, at the beginning, were getting to know how each others' teaching styles and it caused a little tension. It is amazing what communication, really working on applying Chirstlike attributes and prayer can do for a relationship, for now we understand one another and our teaching is flowing and we are having the most wonderful time together. I do not remember if I told you about her. She is from San Remo, is a chef and is a convert of about 3 years and has an incredible testimony! Before she found the church she considered herself athiest. She was baptized catholic as a baby, but never really went to church or did anything with it.

 For Pasquetta, the day after Easter, we did the deep cleaning of our house. I love cleaning:) I think it is interesting how in order to deep clean you have to take time to pull everything out of place, distinfect and then put it away in an orderly manner. As I was orginzing cotton balls and first aid supplies I thought about this principle in a spiritual sense. In order for us to really clean out our lives we must go through a process, that is the repentance process. You have to accept the fact that things are not as clean as they should be (like the shelves in the bathroom, they were pretty much organized, but oh the dust underneath), then you have to take the time and effort to pull out everything out, this can be done through sincere prayer and working on making right what you did wrong. And the analogy goes on. I love repentance, it is the most liberating thing. I am so grateful for Christ and his making it possible for us to deep clean with his help!

Also on Pasquetta Sorella Piccirillo made tagliateglia alla carbonara, insalata con i gamberetti e salsiccia alla pizzaiola, oh how I do love having an italian as my companion:)

We finally saw Ignazia, our investigator with a baptismal date. We had a lesson with her and her companion and talked about marriage. He is all up for it, but she is still afraid of commitment, even after 25 years of living together. How sad that the fear of commiting to something impedisce il progresso. I have seen it so much during my mission, people give up so many incredible blessing because they fear being "tied down". It reminds me of an example of a kite, when the kite is not attached to something is just flops around on the ground in the wind, not really moving. When it is attached to something it is able to soar! We found out she will be in Sardegna with her mother for the month of April, so we have to change her baptismal date. She has been reading the scriptures and praying and is doing really well on quitting smoking and drinking coffee!

We had a miracle occur. An investigator from six years ago decided to come to church with her member friend on Sunday and she asked if she could start meeting with us!!! We had a lesson yesterday. It went so well, she said she felt so much joy when we told her about the first vision and she does not understand why, oh I know why, the spirit telling her truth!!!

Well, this concludes another week of my random ramblings:) I really hope you enjoy these and they are comprehendable:) Remember to read your scriptures and pray:) It is the little things that make the difference:)

I love you all so much!!!! I am just so happy that you are my family and I think about you often and pray for you always:)

Have a great week!

Vi voglio un mondo celeste di bene!

Con tanto amore,

Sorella Comollo

Buon Pasqua!

Buona Pasqua a tutti!

Also, happy Birthday Randy!!!:)

Wow, Sorella Piccirillo is a work horse, I admire her so much. She knows why she is here and does everything possible to be obedient and on top of things. We have already seen so many miracles this week. An investigator who never wants to see us let us into her home the other day. We talked about acting on faith. She told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was so incredible to hear the testimony of someone who is not a member, yet, it strengthend mine. We had a miracle doing casa in casa! A woman, Ornella, let us in!!!! She said that many years ago she talked to a friend about the mormons and was given a book, which she never read. She said it just wasn't the right time, but when she heard who we were on the citofono, she thought maybe it is time to read it! Miracle!!! It goes to show how every little thing helps, that member so many years ago helped future Ornella accept the missionaries in her home. She wants to come to church next Sunday, yay! Just think that member perhaps thought that her little testimony did not spark anything, nope, every little thing we do to leave our fingerprints of the gospel helps.

As for Antonio, he came to church, but still says he is a realist and doesn't think that getting baptized is going to help him in his "real life". Oh Antonio.

I heard a story about a guy that went to the temple and was in the same session as Anziano Erying. He said that before they left the changing room that he sighed and said, oh, back to the real world. Anziano Erying considered his comment and then replied, no, this is the real world (meaning the temple). I also heard a talk from the president of the stake here in Rome, pres. Defeo, he talked about Martha and Mary, and how we cannot be Martha or Mary, that is be on two extremes, always thinking of what needs to be done in the material sense (martha), or always just thinking about doing good, diciamo, (mary) we have to combine the two and have the savior be in every aspect of our lives. The gospel helps us to overcome the world, to see things in an eternal perspective. Yes, we must clean the house, yes we must take care of the kids and go to work and do homework, yes it is good to read the scriptures and think of faith and hear the stories of the prophets. Well, why not combine the two, why not apply what you learn about faith in the scriptures to how you are going to do your homework or what you want to accomplish at work. I think the best thing we could do this Easter is to consider what the savior has done for us, his atonement, his death, his ressureciton and make plans on how with this knowledge how we can include him more in our lives, in the everyday things, so that his sacrifice and life have meaning to us personally and are not just a bel pensiero. That way we will be more able to see his hand in our lives and how this life is just a passage, a place for us to learn and grow to prepare for our real lives in the celestial kingdom!:)

I am learning so much. I cannot believe this is my last transfer. It does not seem real, I do not want it to end and I am learning that it does not have to, because as we apply the things we learn, me on my mission, we will always have the opprotunities to share the gospel and feel the promptings of the spirit and help others discover what real life really is. 
Thanks for all you do for me! I love you all so so much and I miss you lots.
Con amore,

Sorella Comollo

Last Transfer Call!

Famiglia Mia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Saturday there was a service project a Roma, near where the temple is being built. We got to drive there, the temple is in the coolest spot ever! As you come out from under a bridge it is just right there, in front of you, so pretty! Anyway, at the service project we sanded benches and varnished them. They also started to build a fence around a little area, especially for dogs so they could have a space just for them and poop in a localized location instead of all over the park.:) However, during our service many of the dog owners complained about the fence, so they had a 3 hour debate about it, oh I just love Italy and Italians! In the end they built the fence, but they lost a lot of time, so they finished in a hurry and it was a tad rickety. Well, while doing this fun service we got transfer calls! I was sure that Sorella Buckley and I were going to train in Ladispoli together. However, that is not what happened. I am going to remain in Ladispoli with Sorella Piccirillo!!!!! I am soooooooooooooo excited! I already know her from Puglia. She is Italian! Yay! My first a native companion will be my last:) I need this, because my Italian is a tad shakey, like the fence and Sorella Piccirillo is a hard worker and we need to see some miracles in this my last transfer!

We had a family home evening with an investigator from English Course and a member family. We talked about suffering. There is a talk, which I will send with this email, that is really insightful and helps us to understand the nature of why we need to suffer. This family has been going through a really hard time. They told me that when their other children went on missions they were just having blessing left and right. This year, while their youngest daughter is on her mission, they have just been bombarded with trials. Interesting... They said it is incredible how these trials though are helping them to become even stronger in faith and closer to each other and to the Lord. I love that. I have spent a year and a half, almost, talking to people without hope or faith, they say that because there is so much bad, so many hardships they cannot believe in God. Why do they do that, why at the moment when they have the opprotunity to grow so close to him they turn away. I met a woman on the Metro the other day that said she was athiest, that she lost too many loved ones and had too many difficulties to even think that God could be. I bore my testimony to her about learning and growing through trials and God's love and there was just this sweet spirit, there on that dirty, packed tram car. I know that God loves us, I know that he exists and that we are his children and so being have an heir to his divinity! I know it and it is the most liberating knowlegde, for it frees me from getting discouraged, it frees me from the ties of temptation and succombing to it, it frees me from the desire to turn away when things get hard.

Antonio came to church!!! And he, finally, wants to meet with us! We have an appointment with him tonight. He really has had a ton of trials right when he started getting serious about the church. It is a testimony of how much the adversary does not want these people to have blessing in their lives and for them to be a real force for good in the world.

Thanks for all you do!

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sorella Comollo 

Ciao Famiglia mia!

This week has been great. We walked so much. We met a guy on the train who wanted a book of mormon, he gave us his address in Maccarese. He said his house was pretty close to the station. On the way there we took a bus, so it did not seem so far, the bus just took a detour. We gave him the book and explained the restoration. He was so nice, saying how much he loved animals and how much he loves God and how God is everyone.:) He told us to get back to the station "you just have to walk to the end of the road, turn right and walk until you see it". He said it is right around the corner. Well, it was about 7:30, it was already dark, so we could really see the stars on that country road. We walked and walked and yes the station was around the corner, only five miles down the road! We got home around 10. Oh dear, that was funny! I guess we just have different perceptions of distance. Perhaps this could be applied in a spiritual sense. :)

Yesterday we experienced a miracle, a little one, but a miracle nontheless. We went to see Arcangelo. When we got there it took a while for him to let us in because he was looking for his keys. He could not find them anywhere. So he procured the keys of his daughter to let us in. He was really nervous about losing them because not too many months ago their house was broken into and a lot of their stuff was stolen. He looked for them a little while longer before we started the lesson. We prayed to begin, also for him to find the keys. We read in 1 Nefi 17 and there was a part in the story when Nefi must go to build the boat, he has to ask for the Lord's help to know where to find the tools to build it, just like finding keys, no? Later we talked about him setting a baptismal date as a goal, he said he would choose one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is amazing, I am not sure if he is going to choose it for 2020, hopefully sooner, but he said he would go piano piano. Well, after the lesson he prayed. He just said his little quick prayer and afterward we asked him, well what about the keys. So, he said another prayer and asked for help to find the keys! This was the miracle. Arcangelo asked God a question, he asked him for help. He has never done this before, he always just kind of shrugs off the idea that God can really help him. We left, but asked him to call us when he found the keys. Five minutes later we got a call from him, he found them! That was not the miracle, that they were found, but the miracle was found in the process of the searching, with the prayer he offered.

Have a wonderful week!

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sorella Comollo

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!