Week 27: BUON NATALE!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! And Happy New Year!!! I cannot believe that 2014 is over. I have gone through so much change and growth in the last yea; it will be one that I remember for the rest of my life. Also, I come home next year.... CHE STRANO (that’s crazy!).

This week was verrrrrryyyyyy laid back as far as work goes. I am still trying to hit my stride in this companionship and it is weird not having someone telling me we have to be out the door working all the time. Good thing I studied and learned so much about faith and agency last transfer; Heavenly Father was absolutely preparing me for the things that I have faced this transfer.

We had a bunch of member appointments this week with the holidays, mostly with people who have missionaries out or who have barely returned. Christmas Eve was with the Trippi family - their daughter Melissa just got back from Greece a week and a half ago! She is adorable and a great missionaryand we already have two referrals from her :) They made handmade fettuccine pasta for dinner, then salad and fish, then tiramisu using homemade gelato instead of coffee. I was sooooo full!

For Christmas we went to the Banchini family. They have a daughter who just left for Birmingham, England a little while ago. We ate prosciutto and mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella...soooooooo goooood), a homemade lasagna, homemade meatballs and grilled veggies, and a pandoro for dessert. Pandoro means bread of gold, but it is like an eggy cake - it is super fluffy and vanilla flavored. It is yummy, but we have three at home still because it is the traditional "re-gifting gift" here. It is like a fruitcake that no one wants so they just pass it to the next person, and then eventually the missionaries have all of them because we will eat anything!

On Saturday we went to the Durango family. They are Colombian but they lived in Canada, so they all speak perfect English. So we had TWO TURKEYS, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and all the other Thanksgiving-esque fixings :) Then we played Just Dance 3 with their two little girls....for future reference, after stuffing yourself it is a NOT good idea to dance for a while! But they are a really special family and we had a lot of fun with them :)

It was a really good Christmas week all in all. We got to go to Ostia Antica finally; Sorella Barazoto has been wanting to go since she got here. It's the ruins of the Ancient Roman port for the city of Roma. It was crazy! I am sending some of the best pictures :)

Well, that is about it! It was so good to Skype my family. Christmas was exactly 6 months from the day I left for the MTC, the last day I saw them. It was wonderful to see their faces and hear their voices. I called mom the night before just to let her know when I would be Skyping, and I had planned on being funny and saying "Pronto! Sono Sorella Decker! (Hey! It’s Sister Decker!)" when she answered the phone. In my head she was going to be shocked and start crying and everything! But as soon as I heard her voice I lost it haha. I am so grateful that I was able to talk to them!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you each a happy New Year!!

Con tutto il mio amore (With all my love,)
Sorella Decker

The Ostia sunset :)

Missionary Christmas stockings

Sunset over Roma

Comp love <3

Inside the Ostia Antica ruins

Mosaic at the baths of Neptune!

Non guardare! è nudo! (Don't look - it's naked!!)