Congrats to Clemson on the National Championship, sounds like
it was an exciting one!!
I guess I'll start with the fact that I just spent the day at Pompeii! Our district went together and it was so amazing. My pictures won't do it any justice so I'm sorry in advance. (I have a ton of pictures so check on my blog sorellacarleyneuberger.blogspot.com to see more of them!!) Pompeii was incredible and way bigger than I was expecting. We spent hours walking around the city and still didn't get to see all the ruins! There were amphitheaters, a coliseum, all sort of houses, pool rooms, fountains, gardens....we got to walk thorough and see these things plus more. Plus the beautiful view of Vesuvius and parts of Napoli. Wow.
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| Pompeii |
Now for an update on some of the people I've referred to in previous emails!
Gianfranco: He had an interview with our mission president on Saturday and after years of coming to church, he will be getting baptized on January 21st!
Sofia: After our lesson with her last Monday night, we found out she's moving to a city in Italy that's out of our zone, so we referred her to the missionaries there and hopefully we will hear back from them soon! It was heartbreaking to hear that she's moving after developing a close relationship with her, but she doesn't have a job or family here in Caserta. Such is the case for a lot of the refugees here, it's hard to find work in Italy and it's sad to see them move around from place to place without family or anywhere to really call home. Sometimes we forget how privileged we are and take certain things for granted, so I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had so far to count my blessings and remember how much Heavenly Father loves and cares about us.
Stefania: We've been trying to contact her and meet up for the past couple of weeks but assumed she was out of town with family and busy with the holidays. Veronica (recent convert) got ahold of her and found out that unfortunately that wasn't the case. Stefania had blocked our phone number because her parents didn't want her to meet with us or progress towards baptism. You can bet how devastating it was to receive that news!! It kind of goes to show how much different Italian culture is than American. Although Stefania is 19, she still lives with her parents, as do all Italians until they get married. But we will still be praying for her and her family and hopefully one of these days it will all work out :)
Mary Joy: She is a less active we've been working with tirelessly! We tried to visit her this week but she was at work. However, her 3 children were home so we got to teach them, very simply, the Restoration! Mary Joy's son is 12 and he has been baptized, but her daughter hasn't been baptized yet. She's 9 and just the absolute cutest. So on Saturday night, as we do every Saturday night, we called them to remind them about church in the morning. When they walked in the doors on Sunday I had a really hard time containing myself. What I wanted to do was jump up and down screaming "Look everyone, Mary Joy is here with her whole family! Look! Look! They're here!!!!!" But since the meeting had already started, I refrained. Sorella Hess and I just looked at each other with huge smiles and it was hard to hold back the tears. Being a missionary is seriously the most rewarding thing ever, especially when you see a family with a desire to come unto Christ. We are WAY excited to continue working with this cute family!
In other news, IT SNOWED ON FRIDAY!❄ First snow since 1986, according to a member we visited that day. Apparently Friday was also the day of the Befana which is like Christmas round 2 for Italians. She's a witch that comes and brings lots of candy for all the kids! So the whole town was shut down for the day because snow + Befana. Fine by us except we needed some water hahaha......so we stopped at the first open store we came to and got 2 cases of acqua :) I don't think we realized how much it cost we just paid for it. Then when we only got small change back, Sorella Hess was in shock I had no idea how to say "We actually don't want this water anymore" so we carried those babies home and yes, we are appreciating it so much more than our normal water :)
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| Me and my awesome companion S. Hess |
Yesterday was zone conference for Napoli and it was a huge testimony builder for me. President Pickerd quoted Oliver Cowdry and said, "These are days never to be forgotten" (Joseph Smith-- History 1:75). I know that as I serve as a missionary here in the Italy Rome Mission, these are days that I will never forget. As it is for all of us--- these are days we'll never forget! Make today unforgettable. My mom has a quote that says, "Act now, so that a thousand years from now, when you look back at this moment, you can say this was a moment that mattered—this was a day of determination" (Neal A. Maxwell). I know that as we strive to give every moment our all, we'll be blessed beyond comprehension.
XOXO,
Carley
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| Pompeii |
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| With the district at Pompeii |
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| Napoli Zone Conference |
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| Suprise party for Luana (recent convert) |
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| Sophia |
