Birthday BLESSINGS!

Her wonderful investigators made her a cake & emailed this!

Thank you everyone for the happy birthdays!!! (She is writing this on her Wed p-day, and her birthday was the next day, March 13th.) What a wonderful inbox full of love this week! Thank you Grandmother and Julie too! You both are always so fabulously wonderful to me. I loved all the mission plans - thank you!!! 

Today on p-day we went into Venice with our sisters from Trieste.  We did a scambio (exchange) with them, so they stayed the night and we went in this morning to show them around. As always, I LOVE this beautiful city with all of my heart. It is getting cluttered with tourists though…bleh! 

That was a fun little birthday gift, then we went to lunch with a dear friend, and now here I am writing you. Tomorrow some of our members are making me Tiramisu, and we'll festegiare insieme (celebrate together). And you would be so happy, I did finally get the package, and I didn't open it! :) I am such a good little girl, huh? ;) Thank you in advance for whatever is in there! haha! 

Our Francesca w/her Francesca!

So I got my blood test back; good thing…but, I CANNOT READ IT! Haha now we have to go back to the doctor to get it checked out. There are a few things clearly marked that are off…I just don't know what any of it means. I promise, I can speak Italian, but I mean doctor stuff? Haha - I cannot even do that in English, let alone Italian! Dad, I don't know how you do your job!   Mom's note:  I received an email from Francesca Z, the most lovely woman who our Francesca is teaching.  She has three young girls and is so kind and loving to our little Sorella Montagnoli.  In my email, I asked her to give my Francesca a big birthday hug.  She fulfilled her promise and sent me a picture of it!  I just love this dear woman and look forward to meeting her in August - and thanking her in person!  She also sent me a note about Francesca's blood test: "I saw today the Francesca's blood exams and I think they are good she has to much iron but she ate multivitamin.  Next week she'll show them to the doctor but you must not worry.  I hope you understand my English."
We were so relieved that Francesca Z. feels there is nothing to worry about!

So this was a crazy week. I actually cannot believe it is Wednesday already. We did two scambi (exchanges) this week; one in Trieste and one in Vicenza. I love doing scambi!!! It makes me feel like I actually can make a difference in my calling. It is so fun; I train, I teach, and it is wonderful. In return, I learn so much more than I can even imagine teaching to these amazing sisters. They are such fabulous missionaries! 

I want to share with you all a beautiful experience we had this week with Paula! Paula is 18 and Filipino. She is darling, and a friend of Rosemary, who is the Aunt of that miracle family we found at the beginning of the year. She came to Rosemary and asked about her church and if she could come. So she just walked in one day, and we have been teaching her ever since. We go out to Venice to teach her every week, and it is dreamy. We teach her outside by the river on a bench. My life. So blessed.  So humbled by it all!

Well on Sunday after church, we had a lesson with Paula. We taught about the Word of Wisdom and the Plan of Salvation. Sister Stephens asked her why it would be important to put good things in our bodies. I was opening up to 1st Corinthians, preparing to back up the doctrine, and she says, "Well, they are like temples. We need to take care of them." I was blown away! We then asked her how she feels about the Book of Mormon. She is reading chapter 17 of 1st Nephi and she says, "I don't know what it is, but as I am reading, I just feel something inside of me. I cannot explain it. It is just, I don't know; it is true." 

When she said that, I just beamed. My soul practically sings when an investigator says that. I began to glow, and I testified to what had been said. She is progressing so beautifully; at the end we asked her how she was feeling about baptism, and she said, "I am excited." She is so prepared! The best part is our bishop's enthusiasm. No one has really been moving along with missionary work here, so he is so excited. He is making plans for her baptism, and he wants to come to lessons. It is just wonderful! Work is picking up in Mestre! 

These scambi (exchanges) that we did were both with sisters who started here in Maestre/Venice, and they told us, "Sorelle, you have transformed this city!" An even better feeling was when our members came up to us at another ward activity and they said to Sister Stephens and me, "You two are a great team." I feel on top of the world with Sister Stephens. I am so blessed to have this city and these people to work with, and an amazing to companion to serve wtih. I am so blessed. I thank my Heavenly Father every night for my life. 

Love you all! You are my blessing.

Love, 

Sorella Montagnoli