c'era una volta...

Handshakes and appropriat e hugging are now allowed at the MTC... Hi! The news in the subject line got quite the standing ovation at Tuesday night's devotional. John Groberg also spoke, and that was pretty cool. He showed a clip from the other side of heaven...We all thought that must be crazy to have a disney movie about your mission that you can show when you give talks. But it was a really good talk about listening to the spirit, and paying attention when you ask to have it with you, etc. Still no news on whether I go to Italy on Monday. I don't know if that means no way or what--it's a lot of paperwork and talking to the mission president. If it means three sisters will be in a companionship it'll probably be a no, if it means that it'll break up a group of three then maybe a yes. But I don't know if they can do it all so fast, especially since the other district already has their flight plans and everything. Who knows. I did tell them yes though, but it dep...

Buon giorno famiglia! I'm waiting to email you. I've done my laundry, I'm eating my breakfast, and I'm waiting for a computer to free up. But the Elder at the computer next to me has 18 minutes left, so it may be a while. I like it here, I've learned a lot. I can't remember what I wrote in my other letter I sent home. I guess Mom is maybe just driving home today, I forgot. So this week, we had a lot of orientation stuff. It was pretty fun. lots to learn. I just wrote you an email, so hopefully you'll be able to reply today, because it's kind of nerve-wracking to have to make this decision. I'm leaning towards a yes, but I haven't quite decided what I should do. I love my district, and my companions are amazing, and I feel like I have SO MUCH left to learn. but at the same time, most missionaries would absolutely KILL for this opportunity, so I haven't decided. I feel like I've done a lot of easy things, and haven't always worked as h...

Buon Giorno! I think Mom may just be driving home today, so I guess we'll see how everything goes. This is a really annoying email program, it's like BYU's old one that they discontinued last December because it was awful and nobody used it. So, the MTC is great. I really enjoy it and I've been learning a lot. I have two companions. Sorella Miller is 23 and graduated in political science at BYU Idaho. She was going to go to a grad school in DC but instead she decided to serve a mission. Sorella Jenkins is 22 and is a history education major at BYU Idaho, she hasn't graduated yet. They're both amazing, and I'm learning a lot from them. We're rooming with a solo sister, Sorella Williams, who is 21 and a violin performance major at Utah State. So far, Italian classes are cake. Really, they're a decent review I guess, but the other people in my district have no exposure (one of the anziani took 101 I guess, but I don't think they got toooo far). So I...

Hello family! I love you guys! I'm kind of glad they do the drop off thing the way they do now, it was a whole lot easier not to have to do the whole crying thing I think. It is really weird though, they still aren't allowed to shake hands so everyone smiles & is nice but no shaking hands. We haven't done all that much today. Picture taking, a bit of unpacking, a looong orientation meeting and then another orientation with the MTC Presidency, then dinner. When we got there, some Anziani saw us and yelled "Sorelle!" and I guess our Zone all eats together so that was way cool. I have two companions, one is from Reno and the other from Idaho Falls. They both went to BYU-Idaho. Sorella Miller just graduated in political science and Sorella Jenkins is a history teaching major. There is a solo sister going to Catania, she hasn't had a companion at all and she was alone for a while when the last District left. Our Branch Presidency has us do surprise talks. I thi...

Today Eliza reported to the MTC. It was a very bittersweet moment, as usual. The curbside drop-off went well. Contrary to popular belief, we aren't asked to just push them out of the car on 9th East. We were directed to drive into the MTC compound. We parked at a designated spot, and were greeted by some friendly volunteers, and two young Elders. The Elders got Eliza's bags, and took pictures of us. The volunteers gave us her address, then we said our goodbyes. The Elders helped Eliza with her bags and took her where she needed to go. We are proud of our sweet Sorella (Sister) Stevenson. She is eager and excited to serve. We also got to visit the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house the day before Eliza reported. It is a beautiful temple (well, they are all beautiful), and you can feel the spirit of the Lord's House, even though it has not yet been dedicated.