Ok. Ready for today's adventures? You should be, because I'm ready to tell ;) Now I feel like I've set you up for some incredulous event when really all we did was go to church...oh well. It was still an adventure!
Pretty sure after walking into the relief society room, our group more than tripled the sisters they usually have in their sweet branch. Seriously, I loved all the members. They have such sincere hearts, and you can tell they truly cherish the gospel for how much peace and happiness it brings them in their lives. One of the most memorable members was our gospel doctrine teacher, a 20 something year old man, who shared his recent baptismal story with us and testified of the peace of mind he's been able to obtain because he knows his purpose in life. I was touched when he described his baptismal day to be the happiest day of his life and the eventual sealing of his family as the only other thing to bring him greater joy. Thinking about his happiness, I can't even wait to continue making covenants with my Heavenly Father that will make it possible to return to him someday :)
A missionary serving in the branch acted as our translator for most all of our meetings (I could tell he was exhausted near the end, poor guy) and there were some great moments I have to share. In relief society, he was translating for a lady and said, "I'm grateful I'm a daughter of God-well, I'm not..." and we all kind of giggled. Then in sacrament, he was translating for a young man who said he was going to have to speak loud since there weren't many people in the room (we packed it full), and the missionary when no one really got it tacked on an explanatory comment, "It was a joke." I hope that made sense. If not, just trust it was pretty funny. Deal? ;)
After our meetings, some of the members offered to give us a ride to the train station. Aren't they sweet? So in groups of four, we clambered into smallish vehicles and raced down the streets of whatever city we were in going 40 mph the entire time. It was terrifying. I don't think I can ever be a backseat driver in the U.S. again because "going to fast around the corner" takes on a whole 'nother meaning in Italy. I just don't understand how our driver trusts the cars and bikes and mopeds zooming towards us to stop when he decides to take left turns going 40. It was literally a breathtaking excursion. Oh, and he's leisurely carrying on a conversation with us at the same time-to which I was half paying attention due to all the other distractions taking place around me.
We eventually made it to the train station and despite being ditched by the professors, again, safely arrived home for a day of relaxation. It's been fantastic and much needed. Ciao!
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