8th Week in Genoa

Cara Famiglia,

Let me tell you about the three elect Romanians we found this week:

Luca is a middle-aged man who has lived here in Italy for 12 years. His greatest lot in life is to earn money for his daughters so that they can continue their education at the university in Romania. While he is a workaholic, he is very honest, kind and spiritual. Even though he is very busy, he marks us in his agenda and is committed to meeting with us. He said, "I know that I need to put God first in my life and make time for him." For the first three lessons we tried to get him to agree to meet with the anziani because he is a single man, but he said he wanted to meet with us because he knew us. We felt it was  because we are around the same age as his two beloved daughters. This week we explained to him that we feel it would be better if he meet with the masculine anziani in our ward. I was very pleased that he readily accepted meeting with them. He made sure that they had his number and set up an appointment Wednesday. They are so blessed to be able to teach him! He could very well be baptized. Luca is like a brother to me. I wish I could tell you more about his life and beliefs.

Now, about the two other amazing people we met:

It was Monday night around 7:30. Three of our first lessons had fallen through, and it seemed as though we would teach no lessons. After doing casa for a few hours we took a 5 minute break to sit down on a park bench. There was this woman sitting close by who would look at us occasionally. She seemed miserable, maybe even angry. We walked toward her and began a conversation. To our surprise, she was very pleasant and welcomed a conversation about Jesus Christ. This woman, Anna Maria, is from Romania, she attends the Pentecostal church though not yet baptized. She expressed her deep desire to know which religion teaches the complete truth of Christ. She yearns to feel closer to God in her life so that she can overcome personal trials. When we asked her if we could pass by her house with a Book of Mormon this week, she said, "Yes, I will walk with you to my house now. If you want, you can come teach me a little right now." I wanted to jump and shout, "Yes!! Yes! We would love to!!!" and do a cartwheel, but we maintained our composure and just smiled. Her beautiful 5 year old son Mario accompanied on his bike.

When we were inside her small, darkly lighted home, we knelt in prayer. The spirit was so sweet and still. Sorella Hanks and I felt prompted to sing them a hymn, "Abide with me, Tis eventide". Those two minutes were one of the most special moments on my mission. Anna Maria was beaming as we sang, as if the spirit was healing her soul. Mario, who had been full of energy outside, was now cuddling up by his mom, resting his head on his hands and watching us intently with his big brown eyes. He was calmed by the spirit. My heart was so full of love for them that I could barely sing.

After we finished, we explained a little bit about what the Holy Ghost feels like. We asked Mario "Do you feel the Holy Ghost?" He quietly nodded. Anna Mario said, "It feels so good in my heart." We got to know Anna Maria a little more and taught her about the Book of Mormon. It was very simple and very spiritual. We have a return appointment with them tonight! I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's guidance so that we could find this humble family! He is surely mindful of each of His precious children.

Love,
Sorella Oakes