Sorella Williams: Rachele was Bapized!!!

This week was crazy!!

Thursday we met with Marilena. We challenged her to baptism Marzo 18. She told us she wanted to accept and knows this is the truth...but that she is living with someone and has been for sometime now. So she would need to get married to him. Which she is more than happy to do...only that she is still legally married to her 'ex' husband. Who apparently for years refused to sign divorce documents. And either way it doesn't matter because he is in a coma in Honduras and can't even sign the document if he wanted to! So it's just a can of problems. After that lesson we thought a lot about what we should do. When someone is baptized it means they have a converted heart, meaning they follow the commandments willingly and happily, even the hard ones. Ultimately this has nothing to do with her husband unable to sign a paper, but more so what she is willing to sacrifice for something she knows is right, even if it means separating from her boyfriend for a little bit. UGH EVERYONE JUST NEEDS TO GET MARRIED FIRST PLEASE MY WORD. Seems like we battle with the law of chastity everyday.

Thursday night we went to Genova! I went on scambio with Sorella Kopischke! I love her so much. She's my favorite German in the world. And hilarious. Well our appointment stood us up so we decided to pass by a couple less active houses. We were on our third house with zero luck. We suon'd the citofono and they buzzed us in. We didn't get too excited because usually when people automatically open the door it's because they think we are the pizza guy or something and then when they see who we really are they kick us out. We walked up all the stairs and see this lady peering out her door looking really confused to see us. We introduced ourselves and told her that we were looking for Maria and she said that she bought the apartment from that lady and that she moved 4 years ago! So we started talking to this new lady and tried to just keep the conversation going aka I was just trying to crack as many jokes as possible which got the husband and the son's attention because then they came over to the door and with some effort we were eventually let into their apartment!!! I can't tell you how rare it has been for me on my mission (and everyone else's here in Italy) to actually get let in during casa!!! I was freaking out inside. Long story short we spent over an hour with them in their house just talking and laughing! At the end we shared a video of Jesus Christ and some of the basic principles that we believe and we all prayed together, then the little boy shared with me his break dance moves and asked if I was single hahahah. It was the best miracle ever we were so excited and they want to continue meeting with missionaries. We were on cloud 9.

The next day we ate at a super good Peruvian restaurant and we ended up talking for a while with the owner and he committed to accepting a Book of Mormon. It's too fun telling South Americans that there's a book about Jesus Christ visiting their ancestors!

Saturday RACHELE WAS BAPTIIIIIIZZZZZEEEEEEEDDDDDDD. man oh man what a day. We woke up and just weren't in the mood for our normal routine, Sorry but it's true. So we took 3 Book of Mormons and headed to the duomo in the pouring rain to talk and give them out to people. To our pleasant surprise people were still celebrating carnival (their version of Halloween minus the candy, they just throw confetti stuff) we saw a bunch of cute kids in costumes and we were able to talk to some pretty cool people and we handed out all of the book of Mormons we had with us even though it was raining!

We headed over to the church to start setting up for the baptism and by 5 everyone started showing up. Sorella Guastella's family came up from Sicilia and Bari and her brother who lives in Germany came down. Fernando's non member relatives came from the other side of Milan as well. Rachele was a cutie and just beaming. There were several people from the ward there to support and honestly everyone was just so so happy. You can't even look at this family without wanting to cry, they have come so far. Everything went really well. Anziano Simkins and I sang a child's prayer and then the actual baptism happened. Rachele was in tears getting into the water as was the entire family. The spirit was so strong. She had a big smile coming out of the water. At the end of it all the Bishop left a couple minutes for any testimonies. Eleonora (Sorella Guastella) and Fernando both bore their testimonies and truly everyone was in tears. They know this church is true. They kept saying over and over again how grateful they were to the sorelle. "You brought the spirit into our hearts again and we will never forget it, thank you infinitely for that". Sorella Guastella shared a story I had never heard before where the very day Sorella Castro and I went by her house she had been praying just earlier that SAME day for help to do the right thing and find a way to come back to Him. It's so humbling to know how the Lord uses his missionaries. I am just so SO beyond grateful to be apart of it. I love Eleonora like I love my own sister. They asked me to say the closing prayer and I could barely even get through it! I will never forget the spirit we all felt that night. Such a tender mercy to see the fruits of so so so so much work and prayers for one little family.

They invited us to a pizzeria with them that night, just us and the family, and it was the best. So hilarious because GianLuca was just in the sassiest mood and hated every pizza he tried. It was great. And then we all walked home together. Sunday Rachele was confirmed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost

Sunday after church, Tina and Mahesh invited us over to eat Philippine and Nepal food. Ok I have to explain something. Ever since I arrived in Cimiano, Tina has been taunting me with Balut. Balut is a Philippine thing. It's a big egg and inside there is a baby duck still in its embryo...and they eat it whole, bones, beak and all. She kept saying she was going to make it for me and I would say "don't bother spending the money" every time she invites us over she acts like she has it, but really doesn't. Well this time she really did. She made this awesome food and then said, ok now dessert! And brought out the eggs. Well it was horrendous, but I ate it and that's all I want to say about that.

Right after dinner we ran to the train station to pick up the other sorelle for a scambio. Sorella McCormick and I went to visit the Lastra family and the miracle is that the dad was finally there and very participative with the lesson which was great. The next day we saw Cristina Parma a less active with Genisis and then we visited a less active, super ill, atheist lady. It was a crazy morning. After the scambio was over the next day we went to the Castro's house for Papusas (the best food in the world) and it was awesome because they brought their non member friend and we were able to teach him!

Today we are pretty happy to be women because it's national women's day which means nothing, but all the museums are free for us!!! WHOOOOO so we went to a couple museums and hung out down town all day because there were a couple strikes which means no buses or trains until 6...

Tomorrow we are headed to a beach city by the border of France called San Remo for a scambio. We hope to really help their area because it's struggling. We are working really hard and have never felt this kind of exhaustion. We keep thinking we hit the peak, and then the next day comes haha. But we are grateful for the work and grateful to be missionaries.

I just want to quickly say, a growth in faith comes when you live that principle. Many times people want to feel something when they read their scriptures or create a good feeling when they go to church and yet forget that it requires an active participation. Pray before you read, and then read each day until you feel something. Pray before you go to church, and take the sacrament with the savior in mind. Actively wish to feel a peace of the spirit and you will. It is my promise!

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Williams