I'll get baptized!

Ciao a tutti!

     This has easily been one of the best weeks of my mission.

     I'll start by saying that we received transfer news Saturday. My FERVENT prayers have been answered and I will be finishing my mission in Milano❤

     I have never been so nervous waiting for a transfer call.  There is still so much to do here and I would have been more than heart broken having to say goodbye to all the people and work we have been doing here just to do 6 weeks somewhere else. I am so soooo grateful. And to top it off I will be staying with my soul sista Sorella Anderson. This makes 3 companions that I will have done 3 transfers with! It's the best. I definitely know why I was called to the Italy Milan mission! This city has my heart forever.

     And might I also add, it's more than surreal to receive your last transfer call *throw up*

     The other best part is we received transfer calls while playing soccer with all our buds in the park so everyone was right there to celebrate the news of all 6 of us missionaries staying in Cimiano! Gaia nearly tackled me.

     We prayed for Gaia all week to know what was best for her. We still felt SO strongly that she is ready for baptism and the only way to move on with life is to put all her worries and problems in the Lord's hands and accept his help by following his commandments and being baptized. After soccer we taught her about prayer, daily scripture study, and taking the sacrament. In the end we invited her for baptism on June 10th. She said she didn't know. She explained to us that this week had been different though, that she has been realizing that only through Him can she feel healing and have a new start. She said she used to look at baptism as something far away, but now she doesn't feel that way. We invited her to pray for June 10th and receive the confirmation we did about that date.

     The next day, Sunday, we fasted for her to feel some sort of confirmation. Sacrament went well and then we went with her to the GANS class instead of principi evangelici. During the third hour we emergency taught the restoration to a cute Chinese girl named Elena who we have only been able to communicate with through google translate until, by miracle, the very day she came to church again, an ex missionary from Utah who served in the Taiwan mission who was on a backpacking trip through Italy and found the Cimiano ward by asking random Chinese people on the street where it was, was willing to translate for us the restoration!! It was such a miracle. For the first time we all understood each other and gave her a Chinese Book of Mormon. It was the first time I have taught the restoration in English since the one time I taught a couple of Africans in Siena and Sorella Anderson and I were both so tongue tied! Other than that we saw the Lastra family that night and it was a normal Sunday. Oh and we babysat a bunny.

     Monday started off the worst because it was raining like crazy and everyone bidone'd us. Later that day we had art class and then we made plans with Gaia to make some food afterward together and have a lesson. So I'm just drawing away, improving my talents and such, and Gaia keeps drawing these smiley faces on my paper, so I would tell on her to the teacher (Anziano Simkins) haha. Then she said "williams, I have a secret message" and I said "no go away!!" And she said "just let me write it!!!" So I said ok and she wrote something on my paper. I spun it around to look at it and I saw "I'll get baptized" She even wrote it in English. I read it like 8 times. Then I looked at her and she was just beaming at me. I asked if she was being serious, she said yes. She had to confirm that 'yes' about 5 more times before I believed her. I showed Sorella  Anderson and neither of us knew what to say hahah. So I just gave her the biggest hug I could. I nearly cried! Later, while we were making pasta, the three of us talked about everything. She explained that Sunday had been a normal Sunday for her too, but that she just couldn't stop feeling the spirit for the rest of the day for some reason. She kept thinking about our invitation for baptism. She prayed and read her scriptures, 2 Nephi 31 and she found her confirmation. She knows she is making the right next step. She talked to her family about it already as well. Of course I'm chalking up this whole story very fast, but it was truly just an incredible thing to hear. It is true conversion. And I feel so unbelievably blessed to have been able to be apart and see this transformation right in front of me of someone who I love SO much. So June 10th it is!!

     Fernando got a job in Paris! Kind of crazy, but it all fell together and they are certain God is guiding them in order to be a family and get married and be independent of his parents.  Best part..he is leaving in a couple days to check out some apartments and it just so happens to be the days of the Paris temple open house. His work office is literally down the street from the temple. Anziano Aglaure got his family in France involved and they will be taking Fernando to the open house next week!!! We celebrated with karaoke.

     To top off all that, we taught a lesson to a lady this week who had come to church Sunday. We taught her about faith in Jesus Christ. She asked to speak with me alone afterward and she told me that I was possessed by an evil spirit and that when she looked into my eyes she could only see "malvagità". I told her I had no clue!

     For pday President Allen asked us to help the brand new, off the plane, greenie missionaries to do finding by the Duomo. They were so scared!! But it all ended well. I've just never been followed so close behind in my life!

     I'm learning the only way to find peace and happiness is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course we can have fun and love hobbies and pizza and movies and music and camping and hiking etc. but real happiness is truly found in only one way. And we already have the ticket to go down that path, it's already been paid for, we just have to use it!

     Vi voglio bene sorry for this novel, there was just a lot to say.

Sorella Williams

P.s mozzarella lady gave me her number! Gospel conversations happen through cheese purchases.


We visited Sorella Suffardi in the old folks home and they were having a little concert! We also met her daughter too.


Our first bunny :) I'm not kidding, we babysat Aydee's bunny.


Teaching the new greenies how to find, they just got off the plane!


THE message


My mozzarella bag and the mozzarella lady's number:) two good things in one bag