Baptism

We had a baptism this last week! Yep! Irania was baptised and it was incredible! Lots of her inactive family came and she was promised in her blessing when she recieved the holy ghost that she would be an example for them and a great help. I believe anyway. They were all litereally BAWLING during the baptism. It was incredible. The spirit was so strong!



THE BIG ITALIAN WEDDING!
Well, let me tell you what, Italian weddings are a riot! Valentina and Marco were so cute and Marco was SO proud of his suit. I was a little confused about the choice of dress that Valentina had, but it was cute. Just not wedding. Most of Marcos family was there and then all of a sudden Valentinas family showed up! They werent going to be able to come because they live clear down in Napoli, the grandma is house ridden, etc. But they came! At least her aunt, brothers and father. She was so happy! Plus, Valentinas first missionary was studying in Spain and was able to come and see the wedding on her way home. A couple friends were with her and guess where she was studying? SUU. Yep! Way too close to home. The two girls, Courtney and Cindy were so cute and they were missionary crazy! They gave out a couple Book of Mormons and pass a long cards and now are both seriously considering missions. The ceremony was short and sweet and they played really fun music in the back ground, all in English, about love and marriage. Everyone was so excited because there were Americans. I even got a pictures with the man who married them!
I did cry when they got married because the spirit was so strong there! It was a confirmation that marriage is ordained of God.

And BIG NEWS! Marco and Valentina are going to come to America next summer and be sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple! They were already coming, but now they are coming to Utah as a main stop and will be sealed there!!!! AHH!!! Im so excited!

I just saw Valentina, a 25 year old Italian who has been living with her boyfriend for 1 year be married and then the next week be baptised and confirmed. She is adorable and she is ready to do this, but to see the light and the joy she had when she was baptised and confirmed is incredible!! The world cant give that. It cant give you the feelings of complete joy and love. It can make you feel like you are only worth what someone will pay for you or how much you pay for yourself, but to feel completely sure and satisfyied inside and out? It cant do that. It cant give you peace and satisfaction. It cant make you feel beautiful, loved and sure about who you are. But it can make you feel completely worthless and not worthy of love and dependent on everything but goodness. Ive seen both sides in people. Ive seen people who dont know if anybody is there as in God. They honestly dont know if He is there. They dont feel love and secure. On the other hand I have seen pure joy and happiness and a complete change of character. Its incredible! Do we realize what we have? Sure I have really dark moments out here when I just cry because I cant handle how my heart hurts, but as I cry, He is with me. He listens and just lets me cry. Then He sends His spirit and I can go out for the rest of the day and do the work He has called me to do. Its incredible! He takes away my pain! Thats how great the atonement is. It is for everyone for every pain, for the moments too rough, He is there. Waiting! D&C 84:88 and 3 Nephi 13:28-34 are my scriptures of comfort. A mini warm blanket if you will!


Kayla has sent home yet another companion! Sorella Smith (in the green) has been a great companion for Kayla and she is really going to miss her. It didn't take long for them to find their comfort zone and they enjoyed great success with their three baptisms. Here is what she said about her new companion...
I am now Senior Companion. Its really easy when you have a great companion like Slla Simons! She is so great! I truly just love her. Plus, she absolutely loves Milano! She thinks its beautiful and loves the ward. We have already had some pretty great experiences! I will write about them in a minute. The weather is much cooler. We can wear our hair down! Its not way cool, but cooler. Im so grateful! My head was starting to hurt from always having my hair up.
So, about my newby, Slla Simons isnt really from anywhere. Her dad is in the Navy and so she moved every year or so. She has moved over 20 times. She did live in Napoli (southern Italy) for 3 years in High School so she speaks really well. She is so cute too. She looks like Belle from Beauty and the Beast mixed with Sandra Bullock. She talks like Sandra Bullock too. She is a great cook and is going to teach me!

Now Im going to fill you in on some great new experiences! Oh the adventures of Milano!

1. We were on the train yesterday and this Orthodox priest in full robes and a square hat sits next to us and starts talking to us. He was sweet but very on the defense and told us all about the marriages he has performed and waves his arms about, nearly knocking out the girl sitting next to him! He accepted a pamphlet about the book of mormon and gave me a card with a picture of Mary and Jesus.
2. I am talking yet again at a baptism...makes for 4 times now. It is for Isaiah Nelson, Emily's son. Im honored to be asked, but clueless about how I can make my talk different than the other 3!Ideas? Its next wednesday.
3. We have a brand new Egyptian Christian investigator! Her name is Erinny (Eereenie) and she is fabulous! She prayed to God to know how she can get closer to him and then the next day she was at the trainstation during transfers. Slla Rossi, one of the sisters here, stopped and talked to her and got her number! We are an answer to her prayers! She is very curious and open and we will teach her again tonight.
4. We were in district meeting and talking about our investigators when Anziano and Sorella Lisonbee started talking about the new Outreach center and I just teared up. The spirit was so strong and just a great confirmation that this is exactly what this city needs. We are so excited for it to start!
5. Slla Glass is officially engaged!! To Adam. the same one who broke her heart. She is excited to see you!
6. We went and did finding work with our Relief Society president and it was incredible! She served in Rome in 2001 and her sister served with Matthews wife Lilian! We did a power lesson with her, a lesson where we pray for where we should go and find people and then we went out in Sunday together and talked to people on the street and in the park. I went with Slla calderon, the president and Slla Simons went with her sister. I love Slla Calderon! Our relationship is so much stronger and the desire for the relief society to do missionary work is so much greater! Does Dad do that with the Elders there? If not, he should look into it! It really helps the work grow so fast! When the ward puts forth more effort as a whole, we get baptisms. I cant wait to see what happens soon with a few of our investigators!
7. For example, 2 days ago we had a full schedule and got stood up on all of our appointments and then the next day we had nothing in the morning. We werent discouraged though because its not our work it's the Lords and there is a reason for everything. So, we went to a less actives house and randomly during the lesson their friend showed up, listened and agreed to come to church (maybe) but definitely for a return appointment! Then we decided just to pass by Rosa (an investigator) at work and we ended us meeting her friend Hilda again and teaching about tithing because she had a question about it. Her brother recently joined the church in California and she had seen the temple in Peru. She agreed to still see us and we sang How Firm a Foundation to her and Rosa and there was a sweet spirit in that store. You really never know what blessings the Lord has in store. You just have to be patient and keep your trust with Him! Thats a major lesson I have learned on the mission

First Baptism!!!

This is Kayla's new companion Sorella Smith, but she has been with her for a while, I just haven't posted a picture of her yet. They are working together really well and have had their first baptism! Meet Carmen. I will post some of Kayla's thoughts of this day, they are pretty entertaining and they really say it all:

THE SICILIAN BAPTISM!
Carmen (she's from Sicily) was incredible. She took the baptism gown home and sewed on beads because the white dress was too plain and not "her" enough. So she fixed it the way she wanted it! She was just beaming and a lot of ward members came, except the Bishop. I was so stressed! I mean he was supposed to give the talk, he had the keys to open up the font, the font water was green because they didnt run the pipes long enough before filling it (long time since this ward has had a baptism) and while it started at 6, it didnt really start until nearly 6:30 because people were late. I was dying/still really happy. We managed to find one key that opened one side of the font, the water got drained a little so it didnt seem too bad and Fratello Fiorenza came to fill in for Bishop and gave a talk. Carmen didnt even notice she was so happy and the Relief Society President was AMAZING! She calmed us down, helped us out and her Presidency was just as amazing. They were so sweet with Carmen and really, everything worked out fine. Slla Smith and I ended up speaking as well because those who were asked to speak said they couldnt (most everyone is out of town on vacation. Its normal to take 2 months or more for vacation). But in the end everything really was ok. Our Ward Mission Leader was so sweet and he made the most beautiful programs! He even made Slla Smith and I our own colored copy and a thick nice one for Carmen. He is so humble and so hard working. I just love our ward!

So the week was crazy!! But when Carmen recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost it was incredible! She has the light with her She is so much happier and I thought to myself, wow, she is a perfect person right now! I just love her and am so happy to know her? She is so funny with me too! She keeps telling me, Sono la tua madre qui, la tua mamma Italiana! Which is Im your mom here, your italian mom! She fixed my shirt one time and asks how we eat, etc. Shes so sweet! She said something really sweet the night after she was baptised. She called our phone and she sounded a little sad and I thought, oh no! What is it? But she said, I just needed to tell you that I needed you and slla Glass, but I say you both but I really needed you. As in me! She said, I dont know what else to say but God bless you. I cried! She is so amazing and I dont think she needed me at all, but to hear that was pretty incredible. She gives me hope that there are other people out there and every no brings me closer to finding another Carmen. My mission was worth it after that phone call. You know, I left for my mission thinking I was going to "pay back" Heavenly Father for some of my mistakes, but it turns out He keeps giving me more than I ever could repay. I am indebted to Him forever.

"Warm Blanket"

Kayla has started sending a fun little commentary about her scripture study, I hope you enjoy them! It's call Warm Blanket:

"Ed io suppongo ch'essi sono venuti fin qui per udire la piacevole parola did Dio, si, la parola che guarisce l'anima ferita" Jacob 2:8.

Alright, so this is the first edition of Warm Blanket! My findings in the scriptures for this week and how the scriptures really are a comfort for us, just like a warm blanket on a cold night.

This edition is thanks to Preach my Gospel! I did an excerise on p. 63 and really found some amazing insights to repentance. Repentance = Joy
Basically what I did was chose one scripture under each black heading in the blue box and studied it out.
Romans 3:23: We are all sinners and by ourselves we all fall short of Gods glory. We cant make it on our own.
D&C 58:42-43: the Lord forgets our sins completely when we repent. we remember them to help us learn and to keep us humble and remember always how merciful He is. The trick is to not do the sin again or especially dwell on them. He has forgot them and we are clean. Its kind of like what my mom always said, "take it as an experience and move on".
Helaman 5:10-11: repenting activates the Atonement. When we choose to repent and DO IT, then Jesus works to free us. The Atonement is already done, but He helps us in the process. He knows how hard it us for us because He ALREADY suffered for what we are currently going through. Here is an analogy that I thought of... the Savior is like an 2010 Astin Martin that is perfect. We have to get somewhere and we have the keys and are standing there next to the car. All we have to do is climb in, and start the engine. We have to ACT. Thats it, then we can go! The car is ready to go and will take us where we need to go, its us that has to ACT. If not, that amazing 2010 Astin Martin just sits there and we go no where.
Alma 12:32-35: This one I learned a lot from! Vs. 32, God gave the commandment AFTER teaching the doctrine of the Plan of Redemption. The people had an understanding before He gave the invite (commandment). Vs 33, God called men in the name of His son. This could be prophets, apostles, missionaries or anyone who "takes upon him the name of His Son" like baptism. Aka all of us. He told them that if they repented and hardened not their hearts they would have mercy.
Vs. 34 He repeats vs. 33 in more simple terms and words it differently so there is no room for error or confusion. Vs. 35 a warning for if we dont obey. There is a consequence for everything and He lets us know what the consequences for the commandments He has given.

Well, these are just my findings, my opinions and what Im learning. The great thing is that each of us can read these exact same scriptures and learn something completely new for ourselves to help US! The scriptures are amazing!