Jodie 8.2.2024
We have been on our mission for 10 weeks now and have served 9 weeks in Italy. We are settling in and counting our blessings. There are so many things we love about living here!
Here is my list of my top 10...
2) We love our apartment/home. It is near where my ancestors lived and it is yellow! It was a dream come true to have President and Sorella Wood share with us that they were going to have us live and serve in Bergamo. Bergamo is a beautiful city and it is the Province where my maternal grandma's paternal ancestors lived. (My maternal Grandma's paternal Grandpa and family members are from this Province.) The day they shared this news with us back in February gave me instant chills and thrilled me so much that I had tears come into in my eyes. When they looked worried about my tears, I quickly explained why I was touched and explained my happy/tender mercy tears.
It is yellow!! I have always wished to live in a yellow home. While on vacation here in February, I had an impression that this wish may come true here in Italy. There are so many colorful homes in Italy. As I look over the beautiful landscapes here, I see all the colorful homes and I am always drawn to the ones that are the color yellow. The color of light and happiness! This became a fun personal miracle that our apartment here in Bergamo is yellow. Prior to coming to Bergamo and visiting the apartment complex, I shared this impression with Ken and Pam King over lunch in Comuneglia, Italy. We were all so astonished when we looked up the address on the map and found out that is was indeed yellow!
The next day when we were allowed to come into the apartment complex gate and meet the manager and owners and to see the outside of the apartment it again gave me chills and tears of gratitude. It was beautiful and felt safe and protected. The grounds are lovely and so well taken care of. The flowers and trees are so beautiful. This peek into the apartment setting where we would live in Bergamo gave me so much peace as we continued the preparations to move out of our lovely home and beautifully landscaped yard in Eagle. It helped put my mind at ease as we prepared for our mission. I knew the Lord wanted us right here in this very spot.
The managers/owners of this apartment building are the nicest family on earth. They have made us feel so welcome! We have been invited to attend 2 family gatherings. We felt honored to be invited. Some of the family members are members of our Bergamo ward and understand and speak English. This has helped us transition into our new life and ward while living here in Italy!
Our bedroom has beautiful French doors that open up to a gorgeous view of the mountains. It has a chandelier on the ceiling and a gorgeous hand painted fresco of branches, flowers and a blue ribbon. All of the ceilings have beautiful paintings. I love the feel of history as one of the paintings has the date of 1970. So, this artwork is almost as old as we are.
Our furniture is yellow in our living room. I also decorate with yellow and red in our kitchen. I brought a special wall quilt for decor to hang in our kitchen which makes me feel right at home as it has been in our kitchen area since 2015. It was made by Diane Spackman and I have loved it since the first time she showed it to me. I purchased it to hang on the wall of my Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's apartment in Boise when we moved them to live near us in their last years of life. So, it reminds me of friends, family and home.
5) We love attending church! The people are kind in their smiles. They have learned that we do not yet speak the language so Buongiorno! & Come Sta? are about all we can reply to. The Italians have lots and lots of love and lively conversations as they greet each other each Sunday. It can get quite animated right before church begins and someone goes to the pulpit to tap on the microphone and say, "Buongiorno, Fratelli e Sorelle!" which means "Good Morning, Brothers and Sisters!"
We love singing the hymns and following along with the sacrament prayers for the bread and water in Italian. These familiar gestures help us feel at home. We have found that it is exhausting to listen to a different language for 2 hours. However, we are thankful for the power of the Holy Ghost which can usher in the powerful feelings of love and assurance and forgiveness from our loving Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ in the native language of familiar feelings in our hearts and minds!
We love partaking of the sacrament bread and water each week and renewing our covenants with Deity. (sidenote: the bread for the sacrament is molto deliziosa in Italia)
July 14, 2024. We spoke in church...in Italian! Well, you really can't call it speaking but we read our thoughts and testimonies from our written and memorized notes. We stood at the pulpit together, and I bore a short testimony first. Then Blake introduced us in Italian and told a little about our families and bore a short testimony too. My legs were shaking so badly that I could barely stand still. That was a huge hurdle! I hope/pray for the ability to stand at the pulpit and speak freely from my heart before we go home in April 2026.
6) We love the flowers and trees. There has been something in bloom the entire 9 weeks that we have been here. It's gorgeous all the time everywhere we look! We love taking the drives to help the missionaries with their apartments because we go into downtown Bergamo and travel to Brescia where we see the vineyards. We drive to Lecco and see that beautiful area which is part of Lake Como. We drive to Merate and see the beautiful fields and quaint countryside and rugged granite mountains.
7) We love seeing the beautiful churches and statues honoring Jesus Christ and Mother Mary. I am always saying, "Oh, look at that big beautiful church!" "Look at that beautiful statue!" I love living in a nation that honors Christ in its artwork and buildings! I feel great respect for these churches as these are the churches of my ancestors.
8) We love the food! Blake loves pancetta! It's his new bacon!! I have now learned how to use our oven and have made lots of treats for our missionaries in our district, and I have baked lots and lots of cookies for our large gatherings for the whole Milano mission. We love the cheeses, breads and fresh fruits and veggies that we can buy! We love Gelato!
Then we went to Citta Alta for Gelato and Focaccia for dinner (YES! in that order). We have also served the Bergamo Sorelle (Sister missionaries) and Bergamo Anziani (Elders) in our home. That's the best! Please come visit and let us serve you and/or take you to Citta Alta or all of the above!
10) We have the best views out our windows. We love the window Tapparella. I have been opening up the window/shades/tapparelle each morning and saying "Good Morning Italy! Buongiorno Italia!"
Count Your Blessings, Name them one by one!
Count your many blessings, See what God hath done!
