Lose yourself in the service of others...

These past two weeks have been the busiest of our mission—filled with meals for departing and arriving missionaries, matchups, Mission Leadership Conference, Zone Conference, and a dual-stake YSA activity and dinner. At one point, when MLC and matchups overlapped, we fed over 60% of the mission in a single meal!

Though the days (and nights) were long, this stretch has been one of the most rewarding yet. We’ve seen firsthand the truth of King Benjamin’s words in the Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).

We feel so blessed to be serving in this place, at this time, alongside such incredible missionaries.

Before the gathering of Israel can begin, we first need to gather the newest batch of missionaries and all their luggage into 3 vans so we can deliver them the last mile to their trainers. Even though they have had very little sleep, the energy and excitement from these new missionaries is infectious.

Just your average grocery run… for a small village. Hydration? Covered. Snacks? Locked in. Sanity? Questionable.

What you see: Steve casually driving a manual transmission in Europe.
What you don’t see: A 9-passenger van packed like Tetris—with missionaries and enough food to survive the apocalypse.

Years ago, Laura learned this fruit tart recipe from a dear friend in Utah, and it has since become her signature dessert in the mission. Whether it’s for hard-working missionaries, strangers on the street, or government employees processing paperwork, they may taste heaven—but what they truly feel is her love. 

"Steve accidentally left his badge at home. President Wood kindly lent him his… until Steve got a little too comfortable playing president. Badge revoked.

One of our favorite foods in Italy has to be the Focaccini rolls from our local bakery in Opera. Over the past 11 months we have ordered thousands of Focaccini for the various mission meals.  This past week Steve got to live his dream when Monica let him behind the counter to see how they are made. 

As we enter the final 6 weeks of our mission, we’re decluttering the apartment in preparation for our replacements. While the old pioneer motto was “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without,” we’ve embraced a more minimalist mantra:
“If not used this year, it’s outta here.”