Dear Family and Friends,
Happy Festa delle donne yesterday! (or Women's Day in English, probably) Google it, or wikipedia or whatever search site is out there now... I don't know if I spelt it right, but it's this cool holiday that we celebrated yesterday (sort of) by having a lesson with Paula and Sofia about personal progress, eating chocolate, and giving little yellow flowers to all the women we taught (called mimosas).
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Sorella Willey
Thank you for your letters, words of encouragement, and spiritual experiences! I really enjoy hearing the great experiences that you all have with sharing Books of Mormon, doing home teaching, reading the scriptures, praying with your family, etc. It's uplifting to hear how the gospel blesses your lives and families. Every week as I'm reading your letters, writing these emails, and thinking about the week, I realize just how much the Lord really loves all of His children.
This week, I learned so much from my dear companion, Sorella Noteware. When we are teaching together, she just gets on fire. I hope that I can one day be able to have such a grasp of the concepts and the language that I can teach like her! This week I told her that I was learning even more than the people we were teaching. It kind of came out the wrong way, but what I really meant was that when the Spirit is so powerfully present, He teaches everyone what they need to learn. I felt that Spirit as she taught, I tried to teach, and we both bore testimony of the truth of it all.
I gained a personal testimony of something that I'd never even thought to doubt before. We were reading the Introduction of the Doctrine and Covenants with a new member, Patricia Sanchez-Garcia, from Ecuador. She's fantastic! She's the one who basically cries if we don't STUFF ourselves with food before leaving. But while we were reading (in Italian and Spanish), I gained an incredibly strong testimony of the fact that Peter, James, John, and John the Baptist DID restore the priesthood by the laying on of hands to Joseph Smith and the early leaders of the Church. It used to seem to me like such an insignificant detail, but I am only now beginning to realize just how important it is! We really DO have the restored power of God here on the earth! In the moment that we were reading it, such a simple thing- just reading, I knew it. And I can't deny it. And that means SO much!
Watching these people grow their faith, make changes in their lives, and feel the Spirit is really growing my faith, changing my life, and helping me realize that the Spirit teaches everything! I knew that before, but I know it even more now. Yesterday in a lesson with a woman named MariaElisa, I felt the Spirit present, teaching what I couldn't say in Italian and neither of us knew she needed to hear. At the end of the lesson, she said the prayer. The second she started to pray, I knew that she needed to feel the Spirit. I prayed with all my heart that the Spirit would bear testimony to her that her prayer was being heard and that everything we were saying was true. All of a sudden she stopped. I didn't dare look up, but we all felt the same peace and powerful presence of the Spirit. After the prayer, she said, "I can't really explain what that was. It was kind of strange, but there was something, and I really felt something." -rough translation from Italian
I don't know what MariaElisa will do or say, whether she will accept the gospel in it's fullness or not, or if we'll be able to lead her to the waters of baptism. But I do know that God loved her enough to allow that Spirit to touch her heart. She has gone from someone who was curious about us and not really recognizing God's hand in her life to knowing that He loves her. She can never again deny that God absolutely loves her.
Well, I'm getting a little carried away, but I hope you all know how much I love you all! I'm sorry I can't write you all individually, but please take this next bit personally: I LOVE YOU!!! I pray for all my friends and family every night, and I know that as you all continue to be the best you can be, you will be blessed for your efforts.
I'm so grateful for this experience here in Italy. It has changed everything in my life. We're setting a baptismal date (hopefully tomorrow) with Rita, so please pray that she can receive the responses she is seeking! And if you can mention Paulo and Geovanni in your prayers as well, that would be fantastic! We're nearly done getting them ready for their baptisms, and they have grown so much!
Keep the faith and have a great week!
Love always,
-Sorella Willey
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Sorella Willey
Sorella Elizabeth Willey
Missione Italiana di Milano
Via Gramsci, 13/4
20090 Opera MI
ITALIA
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