Yowza!

Hi!

I can't believe how fast Wednesday got here. I know I say that every week, but it really does surprise me. First of all, Slla Nilson, the news from your email this week got a gasp-and-groan from me...good thing I'll be hiding in Alabama when I get home! Also, Sarah, I'll be happy to finish off your bag of Cadbury mini eggs while I cheer you on along the finish line of your half marathon...and afterwards I'll buy you a cupcake :)

Well, Mishell has been baptized by water! She'll be confirmed this Sunday. The baptism went really well. I gave a little talk about the Holy Ghost and then Anz Herrington and I sang the "I like to look for rainbows" baptism song while Slla Lyman played the piano. The Italian translation of that song is a little weird (they have to add in an extra note and it kinda throws me off), but it was really good and Mishell's mom got all teary-eyed while we were singing. But it was good. There were a pretty good number of people there and even a handful of primary kids. The only weird part was later that evening when Slla Lyman and I were out knocking on doors and I looked at her and said "remember how we had a baptism today? Weird!" haha.

Oh, I'm attaching a couple of pictures. They're all from Slla Lyman's camera. The first one is a self-portrait of me in front of the famous Teatro alla Scala. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside is super cool. 

The second is from right before Jennifer's baptism. Me, Slla L, Jennifer, Crista (Jennifer's mom), and Fllo Ramos (who was the one who baptized her...as apparent from the white clothing). 

The third one is of us and Mishell. Poor thing, she is really shy and I don't think she liked having all the attention on her, but she was a good sport about it. 

So last week we were walking down the street and we walked past this guy who had just walked out of a store on the corner with two bottles of beer in his hand. He passes us and then says, "Hey, wait!" and so we turn around and he says "Are you from God?" and we say yes. So he puts down the just-purchased beer and walks over to us. I introduce myself, offer a handshake and he accepts, then kisses the back of my hand. Then he starts going off about how awesome God is and how everyone needs to know about Him and he's a missionary too and how no one cares about spiritual things anymore and all this stuff. He asks us what church we're from and we tell him and show him our nametags. He was super impressed about the nametags. He said "Hey, how can I get one of those?" so I tell him that he should talk to our other missionary friends and give him a pass along card with the Anziani's phone number on it because I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Then as we go to leave, he kisses our hands again, and then pulls us both in for a double hug. It was so awkward, but he was just happy to talk to us. He really was harmless, but it was a fun, kind of crazy experience.

Then the other night we were out in the middle of nowhere and it was snowing. We decide to catch the bus and get back to where there would be more people. Unexpectedly, there was a woman at the stop, so I started talking to her. We ended up following her around from bus to bus (she knew we were following her but she was okay with it...we didn't follow her all the way home) because she wanted to keep talking to us. She'd heard of Mormons before, but didn't know anything about them. So in the end we gave her a pamphlet and got her phone number. She was busy this week, but said that we could call and set up something for next week. It was really cool and she was really really interested and wanted to read the Book of Mormon because she'd never heard of it. Anyway, it was just really cool.

Well, I'm out of time this week! I feel like this is a kinda short email, but I take comfort in the fact that I've included some pics, so hopefully that'll help make up for it. I love you all very much! I read Mormon 2 this morning! I'm on track to finish in two weeks - a week ahead of my goal! Manca poco, eh!

Buckets of amore,

Sorella SOH