Oh my goodness. I am so lucky. I am seriously just the most blessed
missionary ever. I am living history people. Why? You ask. Because we're
becoming a stake!!! Toscana (Tuscany) is becoming a stake!!! Oh my goodness!
And I get to be here serving when it happens! I could not be any more grateful
and excited! We are currently in a district which I never really understood
before the mission. But we are combining with another district and we are
becoming a stake!! This is a big deal. Yes. And we are so excited!! Spread the
word :D Moving on it, to the big time!!
This week was Easter!!! Or as they called it in Italian, Pasqua. It's a big
deal here. We are in the midst of a lot of holidays right now here in Italy. So
last week during my personal studies and during companionship study we tried to
focus even more on the Savior. All of the lessons we had with our members were
focused on messages of the atonement. It is truly amazing to know that Jesus
Christ suffered and die for us but so much more amazing is the knowledge that He
lives! Christ, being born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father, was able to
do everything. He gave His life-- His life-- for us in the worst way so that we
can overcome our personal debts. I got an email from a friend that said "I've
never felt more guilt than when I was on my mission." It's sad but it's true. I
can speak for myself-- and probably for my companion too-- when I say that it's
true. We try so hard to do everything right and to live up to our call and just
be perfect but we can't. We're human. We do the best we can and the Lord makes
up the rest. But that's ok. That's why He did it. So we always have a second
chance, so we always have a loving hand. So I'll take my time, I'll learn what I
need to learn and I'll rely on my Savior.
We had a beautiful Easter Sunday. The Spirit in church was completely
overwhelming. We had probably 30 people and it was beautiful! I couldn't have
been any happier to be in church. That afternoon we had lunch with my Santo
Dominicano family. I love them!! We taught their friend and she told us, "I know
the Book of Mormon is true. I want to get baptized." Well. Ok! We can help with
that! Afterwards, we took Carolin, our new convert over to a family's home in
the branch. They haven't been able to come to church because of work and so they
don't really know anyone in the branch. It was so precious! They were so excited
to meet another member and to have friends nearby! I was crying. I love
missionary work. Nothing makes me happier than seeing someone smile in the
company of friends :)
Ok, today. Craziest story of my mission. Kinda... So this morning we
decided to go to San Gimignano which is a famous, lesser-known city. It is so
beautiful. It is known for it's towers. We were all excited to go and climb some
towers! We organized everything all perfectly and we just barely missed our train
because we were stamping our tickets. So we decided to take a different
inter-city train and connect through a little differently. We were on the train
maybe 1 minute when we here, "Sisters, where are you from?" There was a couple
from Utah on our train. They were the sweetest! They were the Thompkinsons from
near Salt Lake. They both served missions. She served in Venezuela and he served
in Texas. We just talked about the mission and it was so great! I loved it! We
had to catch a second train and we walked to the platform together. While
waiting for the train some people yell from their train, "Sisters, where you
from!?" There were members passing by on the way to a cruise ha ha We got on the
second train and they were telling us about their trip. We ended up talking
about sister missionary clothes, it always comes up, and she was totally
sympathizing with us. Then he husband turns to her and whispers so we wouldn't
hear, "You should give them some of your clothes." They were joking about how
she brought all these things that just weighed down her suitcase and she didn't
even need. Before we know, she has it all open and is just giving us stuff! She
gave us hairspray, too! American hairspray! It was just the most amazing thing.
They were the sweetest people and I will never forget them! She literally was
trying to give us the skirt off her legs. The craziest thing was they missed
their train too. That was in fact the same train we ended up missing. It's the
little things like this that help me remember how much Heavenly Father is
watching out for us... I hate missing trains. But today there was another reason
why :)
I love you all! Statemi bene!!
Sorella Jarvis
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Ok, so someone stole the picture off our Restoration pamphlets and
blew it up...
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