Email from Sara 2/25/09

Una bella giornata!

Today has been really really fun. We went to the top of St. Peter's cathedral and man oh man were there a LOT of stairs!!! If you pay 2 euro more you can use the elevator, but we just took the poor-man's route, which was fun, but exhausting! It was almost a district activity with 5 of the elders and me and my companion, but we have a rather large district here since we're with the office. We actually have 13 missionaries in my district at the moment. There will usually only be 12, but the assistants to president are in a three-some right now. It's really fun. It was absolutely a beautiful day- which you can see in the pictures and it was actually pretty warm. My companion and I a really getting excited for spring!

Okay, just some fun things that happened this past week. Aparently there's a holiday in Italy and a few other parts of Europe called "Carnivale". It's sort of halloween-ish in that little kids, and sometimes adults dress up in costumes. But it's actually a week long event that ends with fat tuesday. (Happy Mardi gras everyone.) Anyhow, so we do service at a Casa di cura or nursing home and they were having a festa for Carnivale and so me and my companion who had helped make lots of masks and hats for this festa wanted to go and talk to the old folks and see this party. It was actually really really fun and the old people loved it. I have some fun videos of the staff dancing and stuff. It was great. There is actually one lady who works there who has asked some really good questions about the church. She says she's content with her church for now, but we're just trying to serve her and answer her questions for now.

One kind of funny experience we had this week doing house...
okay... it's a little different because there's an intercom and you have to get someone to let you into the building before you can actually knock on doors, so sometimes we end up just pushing citofono buttons until someone will let us in, and sometimes we don't get in. But one night we were doing house and this one lady was NOT very happy about it and actually threatened to call the polizia. I almost had to chuckle because I'm really not sure how far she could have gotten if she told the police that someone rang her citofono and offered to share a message about Jesus Christ. For some reason I don't think they would have gotten too worried about it. Such as it was we thanked her for her time and carried on. But it was a kind of funny experience nonetheless.

Ahh... running out of time... it's almost 6:00, but it's just been such a good day.

Yesterday was wonderful too. We did all get the opportunity to shake hands with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and to hear him speak. I actually got to sit on the front row because I was leading the music and I could just look into his eyes and feel the spirit. It was a great meeting and ALL the Italy Rome Missionaries were there, which is VERY unusual. It is really really really unusual to bring the missionaries in from the island for anything but transfers because it's kind of expensive, but someone anonymously paid for them to come. So it was EVERYONE. There is such a great spirit in a gathering of missionaries. I LOVE it! They talked a lot about Hard work and serving to the best of our abilities. It was a good motiviating meeting. One problem I seem to have though, is that I'm motivated for about 2-3 days after one of these conferences and then I seem to slip back into my normal lazy self, but that's why it's good to take notes and write down personal thoughts and goals so we can remember how we felt when we were motivated. It's still hard sometimes, but good.

Alirighty, well I've got to wrap this up so I can send some pictures. Thanks for all the love and prayers you send this way... they help so much!!
Love you!!!

Sorella Leckie

p.s.- Jackie said she's going to talk to her boss this week about not working on sundays, so keep her in your prayers and that her boss will let her take a few hours on Sunday morning to come to church. Thanks!!!

This is me at the top of St. Peter's. Isn't Rome beautiful!!


Us with the assistants (Mellis, Welch, & Silva) on top eating carrots... don't ask. :)


Me and Sorella Bennion. Playing with Black and White. We were waiting for the Elders and so happy to do it as we just sat in the sun working on developing the best farmers tan in history!!! :)