La Verita

Io so che la chiesa e la verita.
I know that the church is truth (inside joke with the siblings)

But so much truth.

ps. I know more italian than this. I just can't type as quickly as I think in italian...which is still pretty slow:)

Are you ready for the greatest news possible??

Sorella Price and I are singing in the choir! ....NOT just any choir, but the General Relief Society Meeting one in the Conference Center this SATURDAY NIGHT! Say WHAT. So if by chance you're watching the RS broadcast, WOMEN (and men too, I guess...) Look for the girl with the TEAL shirt (there will probably be 100s of teal shirts) so hopefully you haven't forgotten my face already:)

We feel so lucky to be chosen to participate in this opportunity. The choosing process is based on your singing experience. Thank you so much mom and dad for pushing me to do choir! The music is so beautiful and the choir directors put so much passion into the music. They have given me a whole new perspective of music and how to portray the words. It is so beautiful. The main choir director is from 17 miracles!! (the woman who flees with her children on the train from her abusive husband). She is fantastic. Wow.

IT is my halfway point. 3 weeks to go. Life is crazy and Italy is getting more and more real each day.

We received our FIRST referral in Rome. An elder from Cazikstan approacched us with this exciting news. I was very impressed when he took the effort to find pen and paper to write down this man's address. Turns out, the elder did not know the man's address, but FEAR NOT. We were given a beautifully drawn, rather tiny map of where exactly the man's house is in Rome. All we know is that it is three houses from the center and his name is Marco. Sorella Price and I giggled so much about it after he walked away. We then decided that we would do the Sisterhood of the Traveling Marco Map (We would send the map back and forth and at zone conferences "Have you met Marco yet??") I then said how cool it would be if God actually led us to him. Hey, you never know... with God. Read Elder Andersen's talk "It's a Miracle". It's fantastic. God has power and will make things happen as long as we have faith!! Do the Lord's work. "Not missionary work. Missionary fun" RIGHT? Of course right:)

Teaching is going so well! Wow there has been such a difference in our teaching since day one. Yes, we have learned better techniques, but more importantly we have learned how to incorporate the Spirit into our lessons. The Spirit is what testifies of truth and is absolutely necessary is everything we do. In the beginning Sorella Price and I felt so confused and disordered in our lessons. We have come to pray more sincerely and it has made all the difference. Our investigator, Luigi is atheist and has really struggled with the concept of prayer. (He is this funny crazy little italian man who is very stubborn). We have testified over and over of the power of prayer as we have taught him dfifferent things. Prayer is the ONLY way to come to know truth. It is how Joseph Smith, a boy of small faith came to know God's truth. It is how everyone can receive answers to questions of life! Sorella Price and I have prayed so sincerely for each of our investigators and we have seen the Spirit take over in lessons. It is amazing at how much more calm and confident we are in the lessons. We are able to whip our scriptures and ask the right questions. I know without a doubt that the Spirit of God speaks through us. We have God's power to receive revelation for our investigators. Luigi finally prayed for the first time last week. The Spirit was definitely present! We felt so overjoyed!!

I have been studying about the gift of the Holy Ghost. Alma 32:27-28. Verse 28 is beautiful. It is "delicious unto me". Meaning that we desire to have more of it all the time. We desire to feel more and hear more and know more. It is so vital that Sorella Price and I are constantly receiving revelation as we testify of the power of prayer. The Holy Ghost is really what sets us apart from other churches! We have the ability to communicate with our Heavenly Father. Brother Whiting (in our branch presidency) encouraged us to literally picture our Father in Heaven there with us as we are praying. What a beautiful thought.

We had an incredible devotional last night with a member of the Seventy- Elder Don Clarke, I believe. Everything he said was golden. He strongly urged us to talk to everyone! A good missionary is busy one. He shared a story of how a family was ready for the missionaries to stop by, but they didn't. It wasn't until 7 years later that they met some Mormon members and their whole family was baptized in a couple weeks!! One of the members became stake president and another patriarch. It made me realize how there are so many golden people out in the world today who are just itching to receive the truth! Dana, Ray, Nate...etc are some an amazing examples. There people in Italy being prepared to receive the gospel. There are people in California, Utah, Washington that are preparing to hear the beauty of the gospel from you. The members are so key!!! I am really hoping to get involved with the members of Italy! Please please help out the missionaries in your ward. You will see miracles. I know it. The joy of missionary work is too wonderful to pass up.

I am so grateful for the experiences our family had seeing several friends go through the conversion process, go on missions, and go to the temple. Wow, this is why I am serving a mission today! D&C 18. I have already experienced the joy of missionary work and it was not enough. I am so proud to be serving the Lord. What an honor to represent him and hold this power and authority! Share the good news.

Family, Friends. Please send mission/ member missionary work experiences. I would love to hear them! www.dearelder.com

The language is going pretty well. When I called USAA on the phone in the main office, I had to go through all the operator questions. When I was asked if my account number was correct, I answered "Si. YES!" Luckily, they caught the english word and I didn't have to start all over:) The language is beautiful. News on the temple: I hear it won't be finished until beginning of 2015. I pray that we will make it in time!!

Have a fabulous week!

Love,
Sorella Clyde