5th Letter from Varese

Dear family,

Transfers have come once again, and Sorella Walton and I are

relieved to know that we will be staying together! It will be great to

re-evaulate how these past five weeks have gone, what we did well, and

what we would like to improve.

We've been teaching Patrick out in Laveno Mombello. Look it up online!

It is beautiful. There is a gorgeous blue lake, Lago Maggiore and lots

of cute shops alongside the mountains. Besides Chiusa Pesio it is my

favorite spot in Italy thus far.

Alexander is getting baptized March 11th! He's super solid, and is

excited to be baptized. Marta, Alexander and Marcello came to church

last week and they felt very comfortable. I think Marta will be

following Alexander's footsteps within time. I think that she also had

some misconceptions about Mormons which was holding her back from

commiting herself. When I told her that I like to dance she said, "I

thought you couldn't dance after you get baptized." We all laughed

together. She can still go salsa dancing after her baptism.

This week we've have taught some amazing new families! After knocking

a lot of doors, one man, dressed in his pajamas opened the door. He

immediately invited us in. That does not happen very often, it was

like heaven. We did not even have to present ourselves. He went and

got the rest of his family, all in their pajamas as well. Gushy you'll

be happy to know that their ten year old son had on snoopy pajamas.

Anyways, aside from the unimportant details, they are a beautiful

Italian family. Two loving parents and sweet, well behaved children, a

thirteen year old daughter and ten year old son. Mikele, Giovanna,

Giulia and Marvin. We sat down at their table and taught them a short

first lesson. The spirit was so sweet. They asked wonderful questions,

they completely understood with their minds and their hearts the need

for the Book of Mormon and a living prophet.

Every time that the dad would start to talk too much, Giulia would

interrupt and say, "Dad! i want to hear what the sisters have to say.

Let them talk!" it was a little bit disrepectful and the dad did not

like it at all, but it made us feel good. How many thirteen year old

girls are interested in hearing about the history of an ancient book?

She is soooo elect. Every Giulia I have met is an amazing person. I

love that name.

Anways, by the end, the children were begging their parents to come

to church with us and to learn more. The mom was very interested as

well, but the dad told us that he would think about it and call us. He

would not give us his phone number. But he was definately touched by

the Spirit several times during the lesson. It's just a matter of time

before they give us a call! Can't wait to teach them again.

The next day we taught a new Italian family, Maurizio, Nancy and six

year old Nikol. Sorella Walton met Nancy on the bus the day before and

got her number. They want to come to church sometime and we will teach

them again. We love them so much already.

Gaenella came to church this week! The past few lessons she's seemed

very bored and not responsive. It seemed as if she was about to drop

us. We felt the prompting to teach her about eternal marriage and show

her pictures of the temple. I have never taught anyone about the

temple this soon, before the other lessons. We invited one of our

members, Marlene to come with us. She was perfect for her! They are

both south American, Marlene is a nurse, and Gaenella really wants to

get into nursing school...so they hit it off really well. We showed

Gaenella pictures of the temples, and of Fratello Auna and his wife

(my Mtc teacher) and Santina Smith's daughters wedding. Gaenella

smirked the entire time, and acted embarressed talking about marriage

(she's only 17), but she really liked it. She tried to be cool and act

uninterested as she asked us quietly, "So, like, if I want to go in

the temple, I have to, um , be baptized?" It was so successful! When

investigators know a bit about the temple before their baptism, they

see a longer vision goal and become more excited about making

covenants with Heavenly Father. The minute they look at a picture of

the temple, something touches their heart and they can tell there is

something special about that edifice.

At the end of the lesson, Marlene pulled a tiny gift wrapped in gold

paper. She smiled and said, "I have been saving this inside my purse

for years. When I went to the temple, I bought it and wanted to save

it to give it to someone special when the time was right. I feel like

you are that special person Gaenella." It really touched and

intrigued Gaenella. She carefully opened up the small gift. it was a

temple recommend holder. One side had a picture of the temple and the

other side was blank. Marlene said, "When you are ready to go the

temple you can put a picture of your husband on one side and your

recommend on the other". Wow! Marlene is so inspired. It was an

incredible moment for all of us.

I love you all so much,

Sorella Oakes