(no subject).

sorella wiltbank and i by the entrance to the cutest little library. we donated a few copies of the book of mormon.

you know it is a good week when the angriest memory is when you were walking outside of a house and hear a disney pixar movie playing inside and you just can't put your finger on which one it is. i'm pretty sure it was monsters inc. but the italian throws me off. plus i am losing it a little in this 18 month movie fast.

ooooookay. goood week. hoooooooooooooot but goooooooooooooood.

highlights:
-sorella wiltbank beat the odds and got a two year permesso! which means nothing to you guys i think, but it is like finding gold or cheap peanut butter in europe. 

-there was a tuna feast at a member's house. it has been decided: i am allergic to tuna. it's ugly. but this house they live in ... dream life. really i think wiltbank got teary eyed by the beauty.
-the man next to me right now is wide awake but snoring. weird.

-we got stuck in a city close to ours but too far to walk again. it was silly silly silly but we got home on time so we were grateful. plus we decided to throw a fiesta with chips and salsa (because someone gave us some. angels.) and break out sorella wiltbank's primary song book. man, primary songs. they are the greatest thing ever. i think i will memorize them all in italian then use those to teach the eternal truths of life. how cool is it that little wee babies sing things that all human beings everywhere need to know? answer: way cool.

primary fiesta. "when my mother calls me, quickly i obey" ... has been on constant replay since that day there. also this song that i wonder if it is famous in america or if it is a european thing, all it says is "i'm in love" over and over and over again. is it famous?

-sorella wiltbank said to me "sorella wightman, you are a really good missionary." and i didn't stop smiling ... ever. i am still smiling. this girl.

sorella wiltbank chatting it up all by her little old self in the bus. can you believe i got a shot this close by? ha ha i am so creepy.

-we had to travel to rome to do my permesso renewal stuff. this was trip number two because their was some money issues on trip one. when we finally got there (after waiting for the train for an hour) hearing that it wasn't coming for another hour and taking a real hot death bus to rome instead, only to find out that the post office (where all the permesson fun begins) closes early on saturdays in august. BUT no rome trip is ever a waste. because we needed to go to the mission office anyway and we love the senior couple there almost as much as they love us. AND we bumped into the roma 2 anziani and they said "hey sorelle, want us to take you to the station?" "yeah!" "want to try the greatest gelato you will ever eat in your life first?" "yeah (though i was a little scared because this was the same anziano who said this same line to me almost a year ago about this candy and it was like eating death in candy form)!" and they were right. the greatest gelato in all the land.

-ricardo, that adorable little less active man that we are teaching that only speaks spanish and that i pretend i speak spanish with, said "my biggest dream is to become a teacher at church." expect he said it in spanish. and all i could say was "aw!" so i did.
-sunday i heard the greatest talk on eternal marriage. then i heard the greatest lesson on the nature of god. the best part: emmanuele was there the whole time and loved them even more than i did i think. what a gem.

-in rs, we talked about service and sacrifice and i heard the greatest insight that i had never even considered. the teacher, sorella guidara (the member who made the tuna feast and lives in a dream life house that makes wiltbank cry), was saying that isaac (abraham's son) was an adult when that whole daddy and son camp out went down. what was he thinking during the whole walk there? like: wait ... where is the lamb that we are going to sacrifice? and hey why is he tying me to this alter? and wait a minute, what is he doing with that knife? i liked that because it shows that isaac was humble. he followed the will of his father, and had unwavering faith in him. surely the thought crossed his mind. and surely since isaac was a grown man and his father was elderly, he could have ran for his life. but he didn't. and i like that.

-we started a 7 day program called "god loves me". we = sorella wiltbank and i. it started yesterday. and we are just feelin' the love. it all started with finding the house, on accident, of this man that we were SURE was going to be baptized and sealed in the temple with his cute little african family. but then he never called. we were silly and said, if he is interested he will call us. so we were knocking on doors all morning. nothing. seriously everyone is out of town i think. but we kept going. we were just about out of morning time and decided to pick just one more palazzo to do. it went like this, wiltbank was up to bat:

wiltbank: hi we are the sister mission --
man: second floor.

opens the door ... meanwhile i was lost in my thoughts. i could have SWORN i had heard that voice. when we climbed the stairs we see our old friend noel smiling at us. 

"how was your vacation?!" 

"uhh  ... what vacation?"

"oh, i thought since you guys never called it meant you were on vacation, but it must've really meant that you forgot about us." 

sad day miss paige! but the greatest news is that we met his wife and they invited us over to their home to begin the lessons! cutest family ever!!! 

-today we went to the famous porta di roma. the temple is being built across the street. and i can't tell you how perfect that whole set up is. even while we were there people were talking about "that building going up across the street". what a sly heavenly father. 

the temple. squeezed between an ikea and some giant sports store. cutie!

vi voglio un mondo di bene!

un baccione,
sorella wightman