buses, byu and blessings.

wwwwooooo weeeeee time is flying guys! but i am doing my best to keep up and SPRINT!

wednesday ...
-before meeting up with whitney, i showed sorella jackson the trevi fountain. she told me that is what she has wanted to see the most in rome ever since the lizzy mcguire movie. haha! love that girl. and speaking of disney channel hits, that has been the go to giggle fest of our lives this week. we have just been shooting out quotes from even stevens, luck of the irish, jett jackson, that's so raven, phantom of the megaplex, and you can bet your boots that we have had a few HSM tribute concerts on the abandoned italian streets as we walk home for the night. 

-remember alessandro, the boarding school golden boy? well the assistants told us that they would go find him since they would be driving down to napoli for zone conference and had some time to visit him. they found his school after, uh ... a while, but got there too late to see him. heavenly father must have some big miracles up his sleeves for alessandro because it has become mighty hard to see him. but i know that heavenly father has a plan for him which probably includes becoming the stake president of the fourth stake in rome or an area president of africa or something cool like that. first though, he should get baptized ...

thursday ...
-was a treat as it always is when we see our valenti gal. we taught a lesson about inviting christ into our lives. she told us how she has been having strange experiences lately. she first told us how she has always been open to learning about other religions but was and planned to always be catholic. unshaken. but she recalled seeing pass along cards or flyers about events held by our church and she was always drawn to them. so drawn to them that she started to collect them, pick up pass along cards that were thrown to the ground, take fliers about our events, check us out on the internet. but she couldn't figure out why. she says that it continues today. she says that once we started coming she has felt more light and truth in her home (best compliment ever). she is a busy woman. like, always has something to do, whether for work, the community, her kids, her family, or her friends ... but never for herself (reminds me of someone i know ... MOM) but even amongst this madness that is her life, every time she sees the book of mormon she feels a pull towards it. even when she is busy out of her mind, she will pass the book of mormon on her shelf and take a minute to read. she says that she hasn't slept well since her husband died (side note: she never says "died". she used to say "went to heaven" instead but now she says "went to the spirit world" haha), but she started reading the book of mormon before she falls asleep and has slept like an angel ever since. so really i can't be happier! she is being filled with LIGHT and it is the most beautiful thing!!!

friday ...
-alessandra (i don't talk about her enough. she is a 19 year old member in our branch that loves missionaries more than anyone ever before or will be) spent the whole afternoon with us, in appointments, doing finding. it was good times. she was SO nervous! but it was incredible to see her, and my other nervous companion, become these strong, unshakable witnesses of christ as they testified of christ. it was as though i could see their fear melt away and be replaced with faith. if only they could see what i do. if only i could have understood that when i was new, testifying in a new language being full of terror but forced to relay on the spirit. my companion told me these same things but i didn't understand yet. this is the beauty of progress.

saturday ...
-sorella jackson must come from the world's greatest family. i love hearing about their adventures, her job as a cave tour guide, her obsession with london and harry potter, her one on one talks with her very wise dad, and i envy (and can relate with) her relationship with her big brother/hero. rightfully so, she is missing them. she is facing the expected bumps along the road of greenie-ness. we talked about how she can overcome them and we decided that the best way to begin would be with a blessing. she asked an anziano that got here only 6 weeks before her to offer the blessing. it was his first time. and WHOA he was nervous. but then once again i watched as his fear melted away and was filled with faith as he acted as the lord's mouthpiece and pronounced upon the head of my sweet sorella jackson, one of the most beautiful blessings i have ever heard. the priesthood is real, because there were things said that could not have come from this anzianos head. even his vocabulary changed. it was an incredible experience. 

-we have this friend named subbamma. i may have mentioned her before. she shared with wiltbank and i some really personal things about her son and then scarred us for life and totally ruined his cool image for us. haha! this is the same lady that wiltbank shared all of her mothering advice with. we bumped into her the other day and she invited us over for an indian feast. and i was IN HEAVEN! i think i like indian food as much as i like italian food now. we were loving life ... for three days afterwards since she sent us home with ALL of the leftovers. 

subbamma love.

-in honor of the holy war, jacks and i got decked out in our byu gear and listened to a talk entitled "life is a football game" by former byu football player troy dunn. i have never felt so festive. 

byu love.

sunday ...
-great.
-i saw a good friend. ex-president pacini who came to pay me a visit after i received my call. little did i know that night the effect he would have on me. so i thanked him and gave him as much love as i possible could give through a handshake. luh dat guy.

pacini love.

monday ...
-we got on the wrong bus and ended up being lost or on a windy bus ride all morning long. we were both sick sick sick when we finally got home. so what did we do to feel better? eat indian food. fyi: bus sickness + indian food = not a good combo. poor sorella jackson is still facing the consequences.

tuesday ...
-we had an appointment with baldo, who lives with president criscione, who is the son of a family that we worked with in ragusa. italians are like polynesians in the way that they are all related or at least they say that everyone is their aunt. all this to say that when we got to our appointment, the criscione daughters were so excited, saying they have a surprise for me. after the lesson, arrived 2 members from ragusa (one the "aunt" of president criscione--i think she actually really is family but you can never be sure--named sorella micozzi and my favorite relief society teacher sorella gurrieri). and i just love love loved this surprise! those girls. 

ragusa love.

TODAY! we are going to relax a bit since a) we have a crazy week ahead of us b) sorella jackson is still fighting the indian food/bus sickness battle from within (tmi?) and c) i am so insanely tired lately that i will take any opportunity to take a breather so i can continue running my race before me with patience.

in other news ...
-read d&c 90:24 for the secret to happiness. it is really that simple.

-pray for me please. that i can not be so tired. there is no time for sleep in this work. i am getting old. but i have LOTS to do before my time in this chapter of my mission is up.

-pray for my companion.

-be HAPPY! because we have the restored gospel and we get to receive NEW SCRIPTURE next week at conference! 

-know that i love you, pray for you specifically as i feel your prayers strengthen me. it is pretty cool to be on this side of the missionary prayers because i sometimes get specific names of family or friends pop into my head. and i just know it is because that person prays for me. so i get down on my knees and offer all the gratitude i can muster up for YOU! so thank you! my setting apart blessing said that would happen to me and it is happening: the prayer of my family and friends have become a great support to me. i love you. i love this gospel. i know that it has been restored again, just like it has in the past, so that we can find JOY. and this is my JOY--to preach the gospel, the live the gospel, and to have the gospel.

vi voglio un mare di bene.
sorella wightman