Week 77: the last week in the great Italy Rome Mission

Hello family and friends: 

This week was full of goodbyes. So I'll save you all the sadness and not talk about it that much. This was definitely my hardest goodbye of the mission. I would say Taranto was my favorite city. I'm also excited to see how all of you pronounce this city because I'm pretty sure you all say it wrong. We got to see mostly everybody I wanted to so that was a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father. 

Tuesday was my birthday and it was a fantastic day. We had lunch with the bishop and his wife. It was delicious. Bishop was teasing me beforehand and asked how I felt about octopus. Haha.. I'm sure I looked scared until I realized he was joking. His wife made me Tiramisu for dessert. And that was so good! They also gave me a cute little ceramic thing that is a symbol of good luck. It is only made in this region of Italy, and it is a typical "happy birthday" or "happy marriage" kind of gift. It was so sweet of them. 

We had a lesson with Cristina for the first time in 4 weeks this week. Probably mainly because I was leaving. But it was a really great lesson. We talked about the priesthood and relief society. She has been stressed recently just with working with all the lawyers about her ex-husband. But she should be baptized soon because of news we received yesterday. So I'll be praying for that. It was also when we went to that lesson that we learned who won the presidential election and I didn't believe them until I saw it on the tv myself. Everybody here in Italy is quite interested in what happens. We had quite a few people come up to us and ask us what we thought. But President Pickerd told us to respond like this, "we love and follow Jesus Christ.  We are in Italy to teach repentance and baptize converts." Haha... I don't think that is the answer the people wanted. 

We went to Fia's that night. She made Samoan pancakes again and hot chocolate and she had invited a friend over. We had planned to share the object lesson of the rocks and the sand and how if you put the rocks (the important things) in the jar first and then add the sand (less important things), it all fits and you have enough time to do everything. But if you add the sand and then try to put the rocks in, you run out of room. They both really liked that, and I hope it will help Fia to make the gospel a bigger priority in her life. Her friend also became a new investigator, so that was a cool miracle. We also met a solid potential on the way out there, so hopefully Sorella Keglovitz can continue to work with them. 

Thursday we went to the Casti's (bishop's parents) house and she made us her mom's minestrone recipe. It was super good! That was also the first time I ate soup on the mission. And it wasn't even really soup. It was more like goop with potatoes, beans, and pasta. But a delicious goop. :) That night at English course, a student brought me a cake for my birthday and then we took pictures. Another student gave me a really pretty scarf and then another gave me a watch. And Mariella, the anziani's investigator gave me a really pretty necklace. So I felt really loved. This other guy also told me that I need to eat more when I get home, and I was like, "sir? Do you know how much I have eaten this week?" Haha.. 

Friday, Anziano Friedman had designated this day as my death day. He had promised "the kids" to kill me good, so he made a coffin to take pictures. Haha.. Also, the death jokes had only just begun 2 transfers ago. We went to have lunch with Ettore again and he made a ton of pizza. 

Saturday night, Sorella Keglovitz and I went gelato hopping. I really wanted to bring some of the plastic spoons home that they use to give samples of gelato because they are square shaped spoons. So we had plans to go to 3 gelato places, try two flavors each, and then order a small cup for us to share. We did that twice and realized it would be easier to just ask if we could buy some of the spoons from them. They would ask how many I needed, and then they just gave them to me for free. Haha.., but we made some good memories. We obviously tried to talk to people as we went too, but everybody was super grumpy that night. 

Sunday was my last Sunday in this beautiful country and even though it took me awhile to get used to the church culture here, I will definitely miss it. I had to bear my testimony and I think that went well. I ended it before starting to cry. We went to the Mazzolari's again for lunch today. They also invited this American guy who is moving here with his family over. He doesn't speak Italian, so we translated for a lot of the time. We went home, cleaned the house, packed up my bags and weighed them... stressed out because they are really close to the weight limit, and then we left to go see an investigator. We barely missed a bus, but because of that we met this one guy who passed us while waiting at the stop, and then when we got on the bus, we met this 18 year Hungarian guy who knew the missionaries 2-3 years ago and who has studied the Book of Mormon a little bit. So those were some miracles. The bus didn't come while we were waiting and it was getting too late to go out to where she lives, so we headed home. We were waiting at a bus stop, and nobody else was there, so we were just talking and laughing when a guy walks up and tells us how he likes how we smile and laugh. His name was Josef and he wasn't from Italy but we talked to him for a bit too. 

And this morning, Mariella helped us get to the station with all my bags. She bought us cornetti, a pastry with Nutella inside, for breakfast. As of right now, it all feels like it's just another transfer. But I'm sure once I get to Rome and go to the mission villa, it will feel a bit more real. 

I found some good conference talks from a while ago about going home from a mission and the blessings we receive from serving a mission, and my heart was just full of gratitude for the opportunity I've had to serve here for a year and a half. It has been hard, but the good times always make up for the bad. And to prevent myself from crying on the train, I'll stop all the sappy stuff there. I'm just grateful for my savior, for my mission, for my family and friends, and for the gospel. 

See you all real soon!

Con amore,

Sorella Flansberg
Missione Italiana di Roma