March 18, 2009

Hey everyone-
I'm in Roma! It's gorgeous! Sunday nights we do zone singing at Piazza del Popolo. It's so pretty, and there are about 30 missionaries in the Rome area. It's a lot of fun. Today we're going all around Rome for PDay to see the sights. My companion is Sister Johnson, and she's amazing! I'm having a lot of fun with her. I'm starting to get really attached to Rome, and I'm sad that I have to leave in a couple weeks.
This week has been nuts! It seems like so long ago that I was in La Spezia. Wednesday I finished saying goodbye to everyone. It was really hard to say bye to Jennifer. She's so amazing! She promised to send me pictures of her baptism, though. We had dinner Wednesday night with Daniella and her family. They were also hard to say bye to. She made me promise to write her, because she wants to know who I marry and all about my kids in the future. She's so cute! The boys wrote me a really cute letter, too. I love that family!
Thursday was our trip to Rome. I spent most of the day at Termini, a massive train station. It was fun though. There's a certain spot where all the missionaries meet on transfer day, so I got to see almost everyone from the MTC, and meet a bunch of other missionaries. The zone leader in Rome, who is in my district, knows Jared Carlson really well. They're in the same stake in New York. And my district leader is Dax's cousin! We shared some good Dax stories.
Friday nights we volunteer at a food bank. We got to talk to some great people! I also got about 50 marriage proposals. So Dad, don't worry, if all else fails, I can go to an Italian food bank and find a husband there! The rest of the week, I've been meeting our investigators and working with the members. It's a ward here in Rome, so it's a bit bigger than La Spezia. We have 8 missionaries serving in Rome 3, the district and ward that I'm in- 6 elders and 2 sisters. It's a fun district, and the ward is awesome! We have a baptism coming up in about a week and a half. It's a member who got baptized in Russia, but no one can find her membership records so she has to get rebaptized. She's been a member for about 25 years, though, but we still have to teach her all the lessons before she can get baptized, since technically she's an investigator. She's so cute!! Since I won't be there for Jennifer's baptism, I'm excited that we have one here to go to!
Tuesday mornings we do service for Hannah, an older woman who we do grocery shopping for. She's 83 and from Germany, and is an absolute riot! She reminds me a little of Grandma Lil, full of spunk. She is a lot of fun! Next PDay she wants to take us to see one of the churches here in Rome and teach us all about the history of the church. She loves art history and classical music. She found out I play the piano, and she wants to introduce me to a concert pianist here in Rome that she knows. Her roommate is the organist for the Vatican, and we met him, too. Hannah is adorable!
The work is going great! And I love my mission! I've been thinking a lot about the Book of Mormon the last couple months. I've noticed a huge difference in my teaching when I use the Book of Mormon and when I don't. It's such an amazing book! It's the word of God, written by prophets for our day! It's such a miracle that we have it to hold in our hands and read it whenever we want. I love the Book of Mormon so much and am so grateful for it. I wish everyone could see how important it is!
I love you all! Have a great week!
Sorella Hawkey