Allora! (Hey!) This week was low key due to scambi in Roma and also zone conference, which was wonderful! I didn't bring my notes today to share with you all, but I know that I learned a lot and that everything was really inspired, as are most things that have to do with this work.
We had a cool member lesson with this old man from the Congo, Leslie. We also have a new investigator with a BAPTISMAL DATE WHAT WHAT!!! He is sooo cool, his name is Laban. Yep. We all chuckled. He actually just moved here from Uganda, and he has been here 6 weeks, just like me! He has been looking for a church since he got here, and he did some Googling and found the Mormons online. Then he found the sisters who are living in the same tiny town as him, which is not a coincidence, because he told us when we were talking with him Friday night (when we met) that he has been praying to find the right church to go to here in Italy. He isn't Catholic, and he hasn't been baptized into any other Christian church yet. That NEVER happens. Usually people join the Jehovah’s Witness church here once they leave the Catholic and Protestant churches, because there are a lot of JW missionaries here. Anywho. We met with him Saturday morning to teach the Restoration, and in zone conference Presidente Waddoups told us that, “Unless the Spirit expressly says otherwise, invite people to baptism in the first lesson”. That line was running through my head from the moment we sat down with him in the piazza. We hadn't planned on it, but I just thought to myself, ''Ok, I'll do a soft invite, like a 'when you find for yourself...'" kind of thing and it was like Heavenly Father took me by the shoulders, shook me, and said, ''Invite him to be baptized on October 18th". So I did! And Laban said he wants to learn more, but he is willing to work toward that date. I AM SO EXCITED!!! He definitely has some obstacles to overcome (everyone does), but I know that if he couldn't do it that I wouldn't have felt so strongly to invite him to do it, and now that we have a timeline established I think he will want to do whatever he can to be prepared for that day.
Other than that, just teaching lessons. Piano, piano! (My motto this transfer. Literally it means “slowly slowly”).
Thank you all for the birthday wishes, I am so happy to be here and celebrating this year in ROMA (how many people get to turn twenty in Italy?! I mean, except for Italians). Last week for pday we went to Villa Borghese and I got my first glimpse of this city, and today we are going to do all the free stuff at the Vatican! We even ran into someone, a roommate of one of our investigators, who works at the Vatican, who is going to take us in the back door and give us a private tour. For free. WHAT IS MY LIFE?
I am loving every second here, even all the hard ones, because that's where I can feel myself learning and growing. I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for your continued love and support while I do all I can to invite others to come unto Christ.
Have a wonderful week! Sorry for how short this is, I want to respond to people and attach as many pictures as I can! Love you all TANTISSIMI (a lot!)
Sorella Decker
Ps: If you are looking for things to pray for, the Rome temple and the Roma 5 chapel would be awesome!
We had a cool member lesson with this old man from the Congo, Leslie. We also have a new investigator with a BAPTISMAL DATE WHAT WHAT!!! He is sooo cool, his name is Laban. Yep. We all chuckled. He actually just moved here from Uganda, and he has been here 6 weeks, just like me! He has been looking for a church since he got here, and he did some Googling and found the Mormons online. Then he found the sisters who are living in the same tiny town as him, which is not a coincidence, because he told us when we were talking with him Friday night (when we met) that he has been praying to find the right church to go to here in Italy. He isn't Catholic, and he hasn't been baptized into any other Christian church yet. That NEVER happens. Usually people join the Jehovah’s Witness church here once they leave the Catholic and Protestant churches, because there are a lot of JW missionaries here. Anywho. We met with him Saturday morning to teach the Restoration, and in zone conference Presidente Waddoups told us that, “Unless the Spirit expressly says otherwise, invite people to baptism in the first lesson”. That line was running through my head from the moment we sat down with him in the piazza. We hadn't planned on it, but I just thought to myself, ''Ok, I'll do a soft invite, like a 'when you find for yourself...'" kind of thing and it was like Heavenly Father took me by the shoulders, shook me, and said, ''Invite him to be baptized on October 18th". So I did! And Laban said he wants to learn more, but he is willing to work toward that date. I AM SO EXCITED!!! He definitely has some obstacles to overcome (everyone does), but I know that if he couldn't do it that I wouldn't have felt so strongly to invite him to do it, and now that we have a timeline established I think he will want to do whatever he can to be prepared for that day.
Other than that, just teaching lessons. Piano, piano! (My motto this transfer. Literally it means “slowly slowly”).
Thank you all for the birthday wishes, I am so happy to be here and celebrating this year in ROMA (how many people get to turn twenty in Italy?! I mean, except for Italians). Last week for pday we went to Villa Borghese and I got my first glimpse of this city, and today we are going to do all the free stuff at the Vatican! We even ran into someone, a roommate of one of our investigators, who works at the Vatican, who is going to take us in the back door and give us a private tour. For free. WHAT IS MY LIFE?
I am loving every second here, even all the hard ones, because that's where I can feel myself learning and growing. I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for your continued love and support while I do all I can to invite others to come unto Christ.
Have a wonderful week! Sorry for how short this is, I want to respond to people and attach as many pictures as I can! Love you all TANTISSIMI (a lot!)
Sorella Decker
Ps: If you are looking for things to pray for, the Rome temple and the Roma 5 chapel would be awesome!
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| We found Moroni in Passo Corese |
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| Tracting using my family: ''Do you have more cousins than me? Cuz I have 40!" |
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| First homemade Italian pizza. It was delicious! |
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| Villa Borghese (in green) is the largest public park in Rome. The park features a lake, temples, fountains, statues and several museums |
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