HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Happy Mother’s Day to all the great mother’s out there!
Being a mother is a rewarding calling, and you are all doing a great job!

This week has been a very spiritual, very busy, very incredible week:

Monday we attended a great DDM – a meeting for all the missionaries in our district. The spirit of cooperation, learning, and love was very strong there.
Tuesday we enjoyed Rome Zone Conference. We were in charge of the luncheon part of the conference. There we heard from our mission president and his wife. The assistants were in charge and had a great teaching segment. As they spoke, I listened, took notes, and wrote this poem.

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord!
Difficult? No – necessary:
A needful necessity
To know He is there.

He cares about us,
Truly, totally,
Unconditionally, amazingly.
Awake! Recognize His remarkable love.

Turn to the Savior.
His atonement is individual.
At one with Christ
For one – me! Incredible!

This mission is touching our lives for good. Our family members are being blessed. We love the Lord! You will never be sorry for following our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Wednesday we had received permission to take Sister Bennion and Sister Cheesman to Tivoli on their P-day to see that beautiful place. Sister Bennion goes home next transfer and she had never been there. We were grateful the president allowed us to take the sisters for this outing. We had such a great time with them.
Thursday an LDS couple from Kansas named the Littlewood’s visited the mission. Laurel and Michael wanted to see the temple site. As we took them there, we realized the gate was open as a worker was cutting grass there. We were able to onto the property and walk around. There is a fig tree, many olive trees, and umbrella pines. The temple site is on a rise of ground that will be very visible from the Porta de Roma mall and the GRA, a huge freeway that circles Rome. The Littlewood’s stayed with us on Thursday and Friday nights. Thursday night we took them to downtown Rome and saw Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Coliseum at dusk. We got some great pictures of these famous places lit up at night.
Friday we had a mini miracle in finding a referral that Elder Herrick had been looking for. Two numbers on his phone number had been transposed. It would have been easy to just say we couldn’t find the paper again with the referral on it. However, we looked and looked and finally did find the information we needed. Elder Herrick told me tonight they had been able to get a hold of him, and he is excited to have the missionaries come and deliver their message.
Saturday we went with Gesseppi, our Italian friend to the Borghese Museum in downtown Rome. He got us in free and we truly had the VIP treatment. This Museum is by far the most incredible museum we have seen. The sculptures and paintings inside are beyond compare. We were not able to take any pictures but we enjoyed it tremendously. It is mind-boggling what a true artist can do with a large block of marble.
Then, we attended the adult session of our Stake Conference in the evening. Elder Gerald Caussa – a native of France is now a seventy. He was speaking broken English, and being translated into Italian. At the end he said: “The future is as bright as our faith!”