And I think to myself...

The weather has taken a turn for the wonderful! The wind has picked up, we've had some beautiful rainy/cloudy days! MAN! Sometimes you can smell a hint of fire smoke (from bonfires). I feel like I'm in touch with NATURE again, instead of dreading Mr. Sunshine and his evil henchman, Mr. Humidity.

What a great week. We had a visit from an apostle, Elder Ballard, and zone conference one right after another. Good thing, too, because I needed the pick-me-up.

Elder Ballard THREW FIRE! We now have two stakes in Rome: the Rome East stake (consisting of most of the previous Rome stake, with the creation of a new ward), and the Rome West stake (including my ward and the districts of Napoli and the island of Sardegna). Whoa! We have a new stake president  who is in my ward, as well as his second counselor. The new stake president works for the church translation department (separate from his calling as a church leader), and always translates for the prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. So we have the Italian "voice of the prophet" as our stake president. Heh heh heh.

Elder Ballard talked to us about how to help people with a  predominantly Catholic background. He was very kind and humble and shook all of our hands. During the Stake Conference, he had the two stake presidents and their counselors stand and the mission president stand on the stage. Then he called up all of the full time missionaries present -- there were about 70 of us. He presented us to our new stakes and told them to put us to work. "No missionary has ever died from overwork. So wear them out!" He had the bishops stand in the audience and they pledged to put us to work. He had us likewise put our arms to the square (to pledge) that we would serve our bishops and wards. He said that the saints need to be worthy of a temple, and that means they need to work. It was powerful. 

I'm learning how to do things the Lord's way. I started my mission, with a spring in my step and a song in my heart: "Everyone tells me I'm going to be so great at this! Time to put all my skills and hard work to use!" And it did work, for awhile.

One of the greatest blessings about having a mission that lasts as long as it does is that I have time to learn the first lessons when I needed the first lesson. And then, after I've gotten a little older, and wiser, I can learn the real lessons I needed to come here to learn.

I learned that, for all my talents and abilities, the Lord is the one driving the car. He can make this work a success. And he will use what I have. But I can't take the wheel. 

I've learned to commit myself to follow everything the Lord asks me to do. In so doing, I've seen that He really just guides the work and it makes everything easier. Yesterday, we planned a morning of "finding." We had a couple plans of people we could pass by, but no solid appointments. Those plans fell threw, but as the bus arrived to our destination, a less-active's name came into my mind: "Let's find out her address and stop by her."

As we walk to her house, we get lost. We stop a woman to ask her where Via Roma is. "Why? Who are you looking for?" "Our friend." "What number does she live at?" "Number 34." "I used to live at Via Roma 34!"

She walks us to her house and then invites us in to explain more to her about the gospel. Later, we find the less active at home and have a spectacular lesson.

Similarly, last week we visited the Villa Borghese for  Preparation Day. We missed a train we needed to take, but at the station we found a woman who was BLATANTLY staring at Sister V's tag. We asked her how she was doing... she was so intrigued and fascinated and we told her everything.

These have been huge miracles in the last week. I'm glad I'm on the Lord's side and I can see these miracles.

 OH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. I miss you all, dearly. I miss our laughs and our adventures, our conversations and our dance parties. But know that when I come back to you, I'll be even FUNNIER, MORE ADVENTUOUS, WISER AND A BETTER DANCER! And most of all, I'll be more committed to the Lord. So if you ever want anyone on the Lord's team on your team, call me up!

These are the blessings of a mission.

I LOVE YE!
Sorella Fuller