Sorella Williams: Randomly wonderful week in Brescia

CIAO

This week was the most random and weird week ever. Just about every plan we made would fall through and then something else would happen! So that is good stuff. Most of this is because it is August which means every Italian and their dog has gone to la mare. They go to the beach for, and I am not kidding, the entire month of August. Full stores and restaurants will close down for the month because it is too hot to live normal life. Exceeeppppttt missionaries!!!! hahah. Monday is Ferragosto which is every missionaries worst nightmare. Not one store is open and no one is home. Its a holiday where everyone leaves to the beach. The city buses or metro don't run either, it's like a ghost town. So that will be a fun day.

We saw some great people this week. One being a new convert of a couple months named Marta. Marta's ex husband made her decide between him, or her baptism. He is a Jehovah witness and didn't allow her to become a member of the LDS church. Well long story short she chose baptism! She's awesome and I love visiting with her.

We had zone conference in Verona this week. It was good to see everyone! Especially President and Sorella Allen. Oh my goodness I love them so much. The mission has made a goal of 300 baptisms before the dedication of the Rome temple. We have all fasted about it and feel that this is a goal we can reach. I really hope I can help!

We taught Divina and her aunt and cousin. It was such a cool lesson. We weren't planning on teaching them, only saying hi for her son's birthday. BUT, the opportunity rose and it was awesome. They had never heard of our church before and just loved everything we taught. The cousin at the end thanked us so much saying "I work everyday all day, I don't have time for work or time with my family, but today you made me feel like God really loves me". Such a sweet moment with him.

We saw the Garatti family and I have got to say I could hang out with them all day long. They have 8 kids and it requires me and Sorella Tulllis to mentally prep for our time with them haha. I LOVE THEM. Such a loving and humble family. We teach them and always play games with all the kids. By the time we left Sunday 3 of the little babies started to cry! I love feeling like we are helping this less active family. They have come to church the past two Sundays and it has been so wonderful!!

We also taught Stefania and Samuele. It was really interesting because this time we didn't prepare a lesson but instead told them to prepare questions for us about the gospel. We were able to address somethings that really had been on their mind, things maybe keeping them from that commitment to baptism. Samuele was so concerned that if he was baptized in the way God has asked us to be, by complete immersion like Jesus Christ did, and live the best life we can and live with him after this life in the celestial kingdom, what about his eternal family? He wont have one because they haven't chosen to accept the gospel in this life. We were able to bare testimony to him that the beautiful thing about the atonement of Jesus Christ is it always gives us chance after chance after chance to accept the gospel, even after this life. And that in no way would he ever be alone and that he will have an eternal family.

We had the training for new missionaries in Milano yesterday! I got to see the Allens twice in one week what is this Christmas? It was so great and yet again we, as trainers, were humbled with our callings! I really love training SorellaTullis and having all these crazy experiences with her here in Brescia.

I was taught something so wonderful this week that I had never learned before. There is a scripture in Matthew 5:48 which says "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven in perfect." And I'm not going to lie I didn't really like this verse. It's impossible to be perfect. I never fully understood why God would command us to "be perfect" when he knows that this is not what we can do. each of us sin and fall short. At the conference I learned that perfect does not mean without error, that the root of the word literally means "whole". It means completing the task at hand, not without mistakes here and there, but reaching it nonetheless. I love that. I think this is so applicable to life. As a missionary I am probably living the most "perfect" I ever will, yet I still make mistakes and could do better everyday. But I am perfect in the sense that I have my eyes on Christ, trying to be better and follow Him. This is all he has asked us to do. I think we get too overwhelmed and hard on ourselves. Pray to God, ask what you need to do to be better, and then do it. Chances are, you already know what it is you need to do. Try, and you are perfect in his eyes

I have such a testimony that God loves all his children and that he wants us to not just endure this life, but endure it happily with lots and lots of laughs. This is the theme of my mission. My days or lessons or investigators can completely fall through and me and Sorella Tullis are standing on the side of a highway an hour outside of the city, lost, in the middle of ABSOLUTE NO WHERE, and we look to our right and there's a random fresh fruit stand. That is how I know God loves me, when we eat a peach and just say we tried!

I hope you all have a great week!! Vi voglio bene

Sorella Williams