Week 39: SUCCESSSSSSSSSS

Well, this was a great week! We got 2 new investigators, taught a lot of member lessons, we had zone conference with the Europe Area president (who will be speaking in General Conference next month!), and we had a GREAT Sunday. Here are just the highlights:

• Pantheon on Monday during Pday! One of the most incredible things I have ever seen. You walk around a corner into a piazza and it is just there! It took my breath away. Probably one of my favorite things I have seen in Rome. We also saw Piazza Navona :)
• Lesson with the Carbone family after English course, taught them the full Restoration lesson, and set up a pattern with them to teach them like 30 minutes 3x/week.
• More phone calls than I have ever made in my life happened this week as we tried to set up appointments and fill in scheduling gaps from cancelled things. é così.
• Saw the Diaz family (new converts) on Wednesday, they are just the cutest family in the world! They have a 3 year old son who is ADORABLE and they are just so strong in the gospel. It is such a good example :)
• MISSION CONFERENCE with Presidente Texiera! He is soooo cool! He is from Portugal and just gave us some of the best finding and teaching advice I have received in my whole mission. He told us that if we start working in the way that he taught us, that we will change the pattern of the work in our cities. I was really excited by it, and I can't wait to see the fruits from this! He really encouraged us to be bold and up front with the people we teach about why we are here and what we expect from our investigators so that we don't end up teaching five lessons before the person realizes that we want them to make the covenant of baptism. It was just so enlightening and rejuvenating.
• We saw a bunch of members again this week, I really feel like that has helped change the attitude of the ward. They are so much more open towards us now, it feels like we are working with them instead of just working in their ward boundaries.
• Marco and Noemi accepted a new baptismal date of April 11. (Happy birthday, Ethan! ;)
• The Carbone family accepted a bap date of April 18.
• Ivano got released from the hospital and is still willing to get baptized on April 25th.
• One of our new investigators, Mary Grace (Maria Grazia?) accepted a baptismal date of May 2.
• We have 7 INVESTIGATORS with baptismal dates! I feel so blessed to be helping Heavenly Father teach His children about His plan so that they can choose whether or not they want to follow His Son. It is the biggest blessing of my life. And as I have realized my purpose in this process and done my best to get out of the way of the investigator's relationship with God, we have started to see these miracles!!!
• Church on Sunday was sooooo good! We had lunch all together afterwards and watched on the Lord's errand, the movie about the life of President Monson. We just bonded a lot with the members and helped serve food and clean up, it really helped me feel like we are a part of the ward here. And there was one of our amazing less-active members there with her two little sons and husband, none of whom are members. And there was another part-member family who had their non-member dad there, who we are hoping to start teaching! I am so excited about all the potential in this area. Even if I leave Ostia after this transfer, I will know that I left it better than I found it.

I am good, I am really happy and just content. I am learning a lot and I am starting to recognize all the ways the Lord's hand is visible in my life. It is reallllly strange to be looking at the halfway point of my mission this Wednesday, but I hope to make the second half even better than the first. I feel like I have learned so much of what Heavenly Father needs me to in order to be an instrument in His hands, and I am so grateful and humbled that He would choose someone like me to work through. I am glad He knows what He is doing ;)

I love you all! I know that things are happening in our lives even though I am far apart, but I also know that this is where I am supposed to be right now and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else :)\

Have a wonderful week!!!!

Love,

Sorella Decker

PANTHEON

Piazza Navona (enjoy the view? hihihihi ;)

"We don't need other churches"

2 of my favorite postcards. Mom, I am going to buy the poster versions for my kitchen and then ship them home so that I can keep them forever. I am obsessed with them!