August 19, 2009

Buon giorno!
Another fantastic week! Dielle is doing much better. She has been really sick lately, so Thursday we set aside a couple hours to just go over and help her with whatever she needs help with. We cleaned her house, ironed a bunch of clothes and played with the girls. It was a lot of fun, and it really helped her to see that we truly love her, even if she doesn't want to get baptized. She saw that we're not trying to make her change. It made a huge difference. It's amazing what love does to people.
Saturday was festa di lavoro. August 15th is a huge holiday here, so all the missionaries stay home all day and do deep cleaning in the apartment. It was actually a lot of fun. And even though we cleaned for about 10 hours straight, it was one of the most relaxing days I've had on my mission. It was fun.
Sunday we had another baptism in the branch! His name is Dritan. He's from Albania and he's great. Nertil gave an amazing talk. Also, Nertil's sister is getting baptized on Saturday!!!! And he's doing the baptism!!! After the baptism on Sunday, the elders taught Nertil how to baptize someone, and they were practicing in the hallway. It's really cute. Nertil is so worried that he's going to mess something up.
Vera had her baby last Wednesday! He's so cute! His name's Valter. They're doing well, and we hope to have an appointment with them tomorrow.
We have another new investigator from this week. It's amazing how much the Lord helps us in this work. August is a month in Italy where everyone goes out of town. It's like a ghost town here. But President challenged each companionship to find a new investigator every week, and we just an email from the Assistants saying that so far this transfer, as a mission, we've reached that goal. It's so wonderful how much the Lord always helps us, as long as we're doing our part.
Anyways, our investigator is Kelly. He's from Nigeria and is wonderful. He stopped us on the street last week and asked if he could come to church with us. A lot of Nigerians say that, but never show up. But he showed up on time and everything! He even participated in Sunday School. We had a great lesson with him last night, with Moses, another Nigerian in the branch presidency. It was a fantastic lesson! Kelly asked great questions, and listened so intently. And Moses bore an amazing testimony as he told his conversion story.
Well, I'm about out of time. I hope you all are doing well. The work here continues to move forward. The Gospel is true. It's not just some story or some theory that our Church has, but it is completely, totally true. It provides all the answers in life and gives us peace and direction.
Vi voglio tanto bene!
Sorella Hawkey