Sorella and Anziano Gardanier

Merry Christmas!  We enjoyed having a mission Christmas with less commercialism and more time focusing on Jesus Christ and sharing his gospel. As a mission we memorized and recited together  the Living Christ . Some parts that stood out to us:

  We celebrated Christmas in the mission this past week with 2 large Christmas conferences in Milano and Bologna. Since Laura was in charge of making all of the turkeys (10 of them), we were able to attend both conferences. As we greeted missionaries we talked about how 'different' Christmas in the mission would surely be ‘different’ than any previous Christmas they have had, but different doesn’t mean ‘bad’. In fact, we told them we bet it would be a Christmas they would remember for the rest of their life.

Another 6 week transfer cycle came, and we found ourselves saying goodbye to some very special people. We had the honor to visit the Rome temple with several missionaries, with whom we had the privilege of serving closely, as they finished their missions and headed home just in time for Christmas. We also had the sacred opportunity to return to Arizona to attend the funeral of Steve's Dad. It was a time of peace and joy as we celebrated the rich life of a great man. As we traveled through Salt Lake City to Arizona, we dropped off Chris and Melanie Nielson who finished their 18 month mission serving in the office. Goodbyes are pretty tough, but because of Christ's Plan of Happiness, we know it is more like, "Ci Vediamo! ("we will see each other.")  

One of the best remedies for missing Thanksgiving at home is to have a Senior Missionary retreat. We are fortunate to have 25 senior missionaries spread throughout the mission who help in the mission office, with the young single adults, member leader support, military relations and family search. When an apostle asked for more senior missionaries, many responded. We are so grateful for this opportunity to learn from some very special people!