Whale, I'd say the typical "it's been a good/hard/crazy week full of miracles/awkwardness/love" but after 67 weeks, I think y'all get the point that every week of my life here in good ole Italia is a big mix of all the things🤷🏼♀️ Anyways, it's been one of the loooongest weeks of the mish lol. There's been some health stuff to deal with plus some plumbing/apartment issues which has made it so a lot of our time was spent inside. Instead of out with my favorite people. Worst. Thing. Ever. Whatevs. Here's a rundown on the gems we did get to see!
Carolina Cabezas: Still on track for baptism sometime this transfer. We're currently working on commandments with her, and I'm just so impressed at how far she's come! She prays every day, and has finally starting reading the Book of Mormon! More than that, she is just eating it up! She is so changed! Now we just need to help her take the same actions on the rest of the commandments. We are currently praying with her so we can know which date is most realistic for her baptism, so keep her in your prayers!
Other Carolina: We finally got her to come to the church, and we gave her a big ole tour! She loved it, and had so many questions about baptism and what she will eventually have to do to be a member. She is so freaking close! We're hoping to set a bap date with her soon!
Members!! Got to chill with our favorite German sisters and they made us a stew thing that was kind of weird but also made me think of Sunday dinner. Bonus. Also got to see the Fallani family and the Rivera family. They make me so so so happy, with their cute kids and puppies and basically it was just what I needed.
There was also an Aerosmith concert going down at this park next to our apartment. Which meant we got to see it and hear it. Didn't even have to break any rules. Another much needed surprise during the week. Idk friends, it wasn't even that bad of a week! I think just a combination of things plus being cooped inside half the time took its toll. Basically, I was just feeling a little down. I didn't feel effective, even though our reasons for being inside instead of out were outside of my control.
Ironically, I happened upon a lovely little scripture that changed my everything. I couldn't sleep the other night, and so I figured it'd be a good use of time to read the Book of Moses lol. And I realized that Enoch is my favorite. Literally everything he says has me like "yes. You get me Enoch. I'm so glad I'm not a crazy person!"
..even though I'm just sitting here bonding with biblical characters. It's fine.
Anyways, Moses 7:44 says "And as Enoch saw this, he had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren, and said unto the heavens: I will refuse to be comforted;" At this point, I was just like "Preach Enoch!" This was at approximately 3:47 am.
And then I read on. "... but the Lord said unto Enoch: Lift up your heart, and be glad; and look." Well, I'd spent his whole time feeling like I was Enoch, so I figured I ought to take what the Lord said to him as a message for me. And so, I decided to look.
It ended up being the coolest thing ever. Because yeah, my greatest joy out here comes from serving these people who I love so dearly. However, it was so crazy for me to see how many little things God gave me here and there this week solely for the purpose of lifting my spirits a bit. Like eight-year-old Victoria bringing me a sticker to put on my name tag. Like having a perfectly dark, cloudy day, just because It's my favorite. Like having interviews with Presidente and hearing exactly what I needed to hear. Like Principessa Sara asking to take more bff pictures together after church. Like the really nice bus driver who saw us running to catch the bus and waited for us. Like one of my favorite member families telling me they planned a trip to West Jordan for after I'm home so we can get slurpees and cafe rio. Like Aerosmith deciding Novali was a good place to have a concert.
And I'm not stupid enough to believe that all of those sweet little things happened just for me. Cloudy days happen just for fun, and I don't even know Aerosmith songs that well. However, it's pretty dang neat to realize just how aware God is of us, that he's willing to throw in little things here and there for the sake of our happiness.
Man, what a nice guy.
xoxo
Smeds☁️
1- Candid photo of how I felt about my week 2-6 Man I just love my children! 7-Pday 8&9 My God-given gray day 10- Aerosmith
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