Fulfillment of Prophecy

The missionaries in our district always look forward to their interviews with President and Sorella Wood. We are so humbled by their love and stamina. Since she blends in with the young sister missionaries, Sorella Wood is the 2nd one from the right. 

We continue to stand all amazed at the dedication, love, obedience, and energy of the young missionaries as they spread the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout this area of His vineyard. We are witnesses to the fulfillment of the prophecy from our dear prophet President Nelson just 2 years ago:

"You are perfectly positioned to find the children of Israel who are living in or are coming to Europe. ... I have complete faith in you, my dear brothers and sisters. You were born to do this. Europe has an unparalleled future—because of you! You have access to the power—God’s power—that will literally change the future of Europe. As you keep your covenants with increasing precision, you are the hope of Europe, and you are the hope of Israel! You are the “children of the promised day.”

We have missionaries from all over the world who speak a combined 19 languages (India, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil,  Germany, France, Great Britain, Lithuania, Switzerland, Norway, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand), finding and teaching a melting pot of God's children from all over the world now living in Italy. It is a modern day representation of the Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob 5. 

During apartment inspections ministering, our sweet missionaries from France offered to make us crepes. If it was a ploy to distract us from looking too closely at the cleanliness of their apartment, Steve fell for it.

Our little Italian kitchen could not contain all of the goodness Laura made for the YSA Valentines Speed 'Friend-shipping' event, so we had to store some of it on our makeshift 'balcony fridge'. We had YSAs from Egypt, United States and many countries in Europe, Africa and South America

The YSAs in Europe will sometimes travel hours to be able to attend activities together. These sweet girls from Bristol UK joined us for the Saturday evening activity and Sunday YSA church. 

They must not have had Sorella Gardanier's catering service in mind when they installed the elevators in our apartment. The good news is that if she gets stuck in said elevator she could survive for 3 months.

Laura helps keep our office looking good and running smoothly, by cutting the hair and feeding the office missionaries.  The sisters in their district also joined the party when they heard there might be a PDay Uno match. Rest assured that Anziano Stephens did not have a mohawk when Laura finished his haircut.

With Laura carrying this companionship on her back (literally... see previous posts), Steve tries to find ways to contribute... like by ironing this tablecloth without realizing the iron isn't even plugged in 🤦‍♂️

It may have taken 9 months, but Laura finally wore Steve down and convinced him to step into a suit store. Laura felt the excursion was a double success with both a purchase and the planting of a missionary seed with this kind sales associate. 

Steve pulling our cute little Italian grocery cart after refilling our empty water bottles. We aren't sure what is harder, filling up the water on a cold, wet, humid winter day, or a hot, humid, mosquito-infested summer day. 🤔 

We can't get enough of these Italian panini (sandwiches). The warm, crunchy Italian bread combined with fresh Italian meats and cheeses is a little bit of heaven here on earth.

What does it mean if 80% of the people we know in Italy work in a gelateria? We met these sweet Eros Ramazzotti (90's Italian musician) loving ladies when we took some of our missionaries out to celebrate their clean apartment