I hope you enjoy our Christmas card photo. Also, I forced the tinsel on Sorella Jenkins, she was like, "are you serious?" I found lots of fun things in the extra room for Christmas.
How wonderful is Christmas? Let me tell you, it is QUITE wonderful. Also, I just climbed under a desk to try and plug my camera in and guess what? It was at the front all along. So, the guy running the place gave me a strange look, but all is well. I am quite used to making a fool of myself these days.:)
YES! We found an Indian food place in Rome. Best part, the meal only cost 4€! That was (one of) our Christmas gifts to ourselves. But also might kill us because we are sooo not used to food with actual flavor (oops, I said it, Italian food is bland, delicious, but bland). You can also see our Christmas tree. We got chocolate from Sorella Silva (she is the BEST thing that’s ever happened to Italy, more or less) AND an investigator we had never met before also gave us something delicious. We also got toothbrushes from Sister Kelly.
It snowed. In Ladispoli for the first time in 20 years.
And it was awesome because we just went to the beach and talked to people, and were like, "what the heck, its snowing" and we helped people take pictures of their families. So, service for the week? Check.
It was perfect because it snowed for one day and then it was gone. We had just got out an awesome lesson too, which is always nice.
Lately everyone asks if we are Amish. But there is one kind of cool story. So I have really been wanting to find a youngish guy to teach because we have tons of college age girls in the ward. Well we are walking back from buying oranges (because we had this plan to give random people oranges for Christmas) and Sor. Jenkins tells me to move because there is a bicyclist and I said, "come on, if he had hit me we could have taught him" then we walk a bit and he’s just standing on the corner. He asks if were Jehovah’s Witnesses, we say no, we talk a little bit. He says, "So who has the truth" I say, "us". We got his number and invited him to the Christmas dinner.
I also told Niccoletta the entire Joseph Smith story and she goes, "I agree with everything you said, except I do not believe he was a prophet" Which I love, because that means she didn’t actually agree with anything, really.
Christmas we will be in good hands. We are having a dinner tomorrow that I am excited about because its the whole awesome ward and we have invited just about everyone to it (as far as investigators and less'active members) so hopefully people will come and we will all party insieme. We have a lunch at the mission home Christmas Eve (don’t tell the missionaries that aren’t actually in Rome...its exclusive to those of us who live in the area). That night we want to go by the Garcia family and hang out with them or Sor. Silva, but she told us she didn’t want us to come because she’s having troubles with her kids and just wants to be alone so they don’t get mad she’s with someone else. So sad. So we are going to try and do something for her. Christmas day we have a lunch with the Marchetti family...who are awesome and it sounds like lots of other people are coming. Then I will call home. Then we are going to The Green Family who just moved here from England, they have lived EVERYWHERE, one of the kids was. literally. And they’re vegetarian and don’t eat sugar. Good thing we are getting our fill of Italian Christmas food before that ;). We are allowed to watch a movie on Christmas so we probably will with them.
I was talking to Sorella Jenkins the other day about how we should try and make miracles this Christmas. Everyone loves a Christmas miracle. And we are here as missionaries, without anything to do but serve and we can go around spreading cheer and joy to the masses. So we have been trying to. It’s great. I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas than visiting the lonely and uplifting the sad. We have met some amazing people this week. By the beach, on the train, in the piazza, in the ward, they are everywhere. It’s something to think about. In some ways I feel like Christmas is hard, because the lonely feel more lonely when they look around and see everyone celebrating. But guess what?
Because a little baby Jesus was born many years ago, we are never alone. Our Savior is always near.
We read the Christmas story in district meeting and I read it wrong so that there was "no room in the tree" for Jesus.
Then I was reading it in English and I love what it says about the shepherds. They listened to the angels and then they were like, yes! I believe, let’s go see Him. So they took off and after they had seen Him they went and told EVERYONE about it. And then they returned to their fields and thanked God that they had the opportunity to know. In Jesus the Christ there is an awesome part about how there was a chorus of angels who sang the most glorious thing ever. Peace on Earth, and how is that possible with out good will towards men? And then there was another part that I can’t remember. But you should read it.
K, so, I love you. Somehow the hour here for email goes by even faster than the 30min at the MTC..
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!
Love and hugs,
Sorella Laws
2 comments:
I loved this blog post.
Sorella Laws is the cutest missionary in Italy!
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