L'Ultimo Addio

Hey y'all!!! 

This is a short note, cause I'll see you soon! 

It's been a crazy week. At times it dragged by and then at times it flew. It's pretty sad saying goodbye to everyone in the ward. 

Tonight we're visiting a part-member family and then a less-active. 

Tomorrow we wake up super early to catch a train to Milano. 

I'm just grateful for my time as a missionary here in Italia. The Lord has worked so many miracles for me and for many others. 

Thanks for all the love, letters, prayers, and support. 

See you soon! 

Sorella Pace

Ciao Rimini!

The Last Week

So. This is it. The last week. I'm kindof  in shock. It's going to be a good one though. 

Yesterday there was a women's conference broadcast across Europe with Elder Ballard and Elder Bednar. It was powerful. I'm stoked for General Conference last month. 

Last week definitely had its rough moments, but it was also chuck full of tender mercies from the Lord. Sorella Killpack and I were really able to see His hand in everything we were called to do. Everything is a blessing in the end. That's the greatest miracle of life.  

Basically I'm really tired. But I've been so blessed the past eighteen months to share the gospel with others, to serve, to learn, to grow. 

I love you all! 

Sorella Pace

On scambio yesterday

With Sorella Killpack

The beautiful Rimini countryside!

Dear Italian Weather...

Last week I was perfectly happy riding my bike in the Rimini summer sun in short sleeves. Today I have a sweater, scarf, rain jacket, tights, and a sore throat. September is here! 

This past week has been kind of crazy. I've been outside of Rimini just as often as I've been in it. Friday we had mission consiglio in Milano. After that we went straight to Modena to do a double scambio with them on Saturday. 

Sunday we went to church. All the youth had spent the last week at either FSY or the temple in Switzerland. They all bore powerful testimony during Sacrament meeting. Then that afternoon we had a lesson with a less-active family. We've been working with them for months, but have never seen much success, especially with the wife. We were talking and laughing, when suddenly she opened up and revealed one of the walls that kept her from returning. We were shocked but we were able to bear powerful testimony. We're going to visit again tonight, and hopefully we'll be able to continue to assure her of God's love and that He really does answer prayers. 

I received a strong witness of that just an hour later. We left their house and started knocking doors. It did not go well. After some pretty rough rejections we were discouraged. We started biking towards Rimini to do some strada and I was feeling pretty down. I was exhausted, thirsty, and didn't think I could do any more finding that day. I remember praying as I peddled and telling Heavenly Father that if only I could have some water, I would be happy. I imagined someone calling after us with two glasses of water in hand, inspired to stop us, give us to drink, and listen to our message. It didn't happen. But then, less than a minute later I looked to the left of the road and saw a small wall with four spouts continuously pouring out water. There was a group of old men filling crates of two liter bottles with water. That was the coldest, sweetest water I have ever tasted. And I just felt Heavenly Father telling me not to worry. He's aware, and He'll take care of my needs. I just need to focus on feeding His sheep. The rest of the evening went very well. 

Monday we got up early and went to my last Zone Conference in Firenze. It was a really good conference, even though it was strange to think it's my last. I gave my farewell testimony. That was hard. 

But the work moves forward. We're still having some great lessons with R. She's learning a lot and making great progress. I is still busy working in her hotel. We're really praying that we'll be able to see her this week. 

I love you all!!!!

Sorella Pace

And just like that... We're Famous!

It began as a normal companion study. We sang a hymn, we said a prayer, we read rules and preach my gospel. The phone rang from a random number and I passed the phone to my collega. "Pronto, sono Sorella Killpack" "Hello, this is ___ from Salt Lake. We're filming a member of your ward in Rimini for a mormon message and learned that he helped the missionaries in the past learn Italian. We called President Dibb and he gave us permission to call you. Would you have time this afternoon to come and film with us?"

haha. What? We both looked at eachother with our make-up free faces, our ponytailed hair, our end of the week wardrobe and realized that lunch would be spent fixing all of that. 

So next time you see a film of two sorelle riding their bikes, I'm the one in the blue shirt and pink helmet. 

This week's been really good. It was a little stressfull when changes in the mission schedule ruined our plans for every single scambio for the transfer, but we've fixed it so they all fit in, even if  not comfortably. 

Yesterday I was in Bologna for a scambio and then returned home for an amazing lesson with one of our simpatizzanti, R. The spirit was super forte and we had the perfect member with us to help her resolve her concerns about certain commandments. We started out asking about her reading in the Book of Mormon, and then my collega suddenly asked R. if she knew the Book of Mormon was true. There was a pause, and suddenly and a little surprisedly R. answered, Sì. I felt the rush of the Spirit and realized that she really did know. The Spirit continued to guide us and the lesson ran smoothly. It will take her some time before she's ready for baptism, but she's moving forward with faith, really seeking out a testimony. I learned so much from that lesson. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sorella Pace

Here's Sorella Killpack and I with our first homemade authentic Italian lasagna!

A Quick Hello

Dear Family, 

So, today we planned to make lasagna with a chef in the ward for p-day. We realized that lasagna takes time, especially in Italia, but we were completely unprepared for how long it took. so, if this letter's really really short, and completly full of typos, please forgive me. And I'll send pictures next week. 

We're doing well here in Rimini and seeing lots of miracles. This past week was Ferragosto, which basically means a big summer party where everyone goes in vacation, so we did lots of finding. But all the tourists come to Rimini so we're full of all sorts of Europeans, just not many who speak Italian or more than basic English. We did get our selves invited to a Ferragosto dinner, with an American and several people who've lived in America. We've had lots of good Italian food this week. 

We also had a wedding here in Rimini! The daughter of a less active family we work with was married on Monday and sealed in the temple on Tuesday (she's active). It was great to go and see my first and probably last Italian wedding. 

There was also the ward's summer/pioneer party last Saturday and it went very well. The rain managed to hold for the entire time. Miracles do happen. 

I love you all!!! 

Have a marvelous week!!!!

Sorella Pace

Hello All

Hello All, 

It's been a great, if exhausting week. Transfers were on Thursday, so I traveled to Milano with Sorella Clawson to drop her off and pick up Sorella Killpack. It was so much fun to see all the sisters who were going home for one last time, if a little strange. They're the first of the big groups of sorelle to leave, so it was strange to say goodbye to several companions, past sister training leaders, and all the others who I've gotten to know so well in the past year and a half. There were train line problems, leaving us all stranded in Milano for a couple hours. So a large group of sorelle went to get lunch together, and we had a blast. 

This past half a week with Sorella Killpack has been amazing. She's a super hard worker, loving, and so much fun. We're going to have a crazy good transfer together, and we're already seeing lots of miracles. We had a long day of finding last week, and were feeling slightly discouraged. We had been doing strada, so we decided to go to a neighborhood and do some casa for a little. We parked the bikes, and then decided to say a Popp chart (a little 2 minute synopsis of a PMG principle). I finished mine, and we both turned to see a man walking down the road. We stopped him, and he said that he was baptized eleven years ago in Argentina. We had a long conversation with him. His family's going through a hard time, but he has two teenage girls who aren't baptized! So we're going to try to work with them. 

It's incredible to see how the Lord moves His work forward, one heart at a time. We're working with several less-actives who are making incredible progress in returning to church. It's such a blessing to work with them. 

Have a great week!!!!

Sorella Pace

Transfers

Dear Family,

It's transfer time again. Tristemently. Sorella Clawson's headed home in two days, and my new companion is Sorella Killpack! I'm excited for her to come and to work myself to death the next six weeks.

This past week was really good. Our sweet less active came to church for the first time in months, and bore her testimony during sacrament meeting! All the ward members ran up to greet her afterwords :D

Monday afternoon we had an appoinment cancel. She lived a train ride away, so it opened up a lot of time, and we started finding. We went to one area of centro, and then after not much success there we headed to another street. After a while, I saw a man leaning against a truck on the side of the road. As we walked towards him, I noticed that he was looking at us, which is not all that common. We stared talking to him and he immediately asked for the church address. After a minute he told us that he was baptized years ago as a teenager in Perù, but after moving away, had lost the church. He's now married with a wife and two boys. He was so excited to know that the church is here in Italy and is bringing his family on Sunday! There were so many little things that lead us to finding him in that moment.

Have a great week!

Love,
Sorella Pace