Famiglia!
Mamma mia, I tell you what. I felt so loved last Friday! I received so many letters and packages! It was finally Christmas and it was awesome! Thank you thank you thank you. You guys are literally the best. And my Reeses Puffs are already gone, so thanks, Mom and Dad! They were SO GOOD. I already blew up Amy's balloons (and I already deflated them again because I'm moving!) and I already listened to Aunt Jan's CD (and ate the chocolate!). Unfortunately, I have not yet had any of Bep's hot chocolate because we ran out of cinnamon (Don't judge. I really like my cinnamon...). But we bought some and I plan on having some tonight - my last night in Cimiano!
So you're probably just dying to find out where I will be serving starting tomorrow. I will be heading to the beautiful (and big) city of Torino! All I know is that my new companion's name is Sorella Gross. So, from one big city to the next! I wasn't really expecting that. But since when do the things I expect to happen actually happen? ;) To be honest, I'm sad to leave Cimiano. That's no surprise. I started out here in Milano wishing I could be in basically any other city. I didn't want to be here. And now, there's literally nowhere else I would rather be. Funny how that works, huh? So here I am, leaving my new family and going off to find another! We'll have a little shindig at the church tonight - a little "ciao" for the four of the six of us who have been serving in the ward who will be leaving. The only two staying behind are the new ones who've only been here for a transfer, but I know they'll do great! And Sorella Russell will be training! I'm so excited for her and her little verdino - they are going to do a great job here and take care of these people that I love so much. I'm sure I'll have some stories to tell next week about my first week in Torino. :)
We actually had a new missionary staying with us for the past 24 hours - Sorella Boscia. She's 35 and from Sicily (she actually knows Sorella Palumbo!) and she got in from the Spain MTC yesterday afternoon. So President and Sorella Dibb escorted her to our house yesterday afternoon, informed us that she spoke zero English and then went on their way. She is AWESOME. I have so much respect for her. And it was actually really fun to be forced to speak Italian 24/7. It proved to us that we can actually do it. It wasn't easy. And our brains were fried by the end of the day, but it was fun! So she came with us to a couple of lessons yesterday afternoon (one of which was my last lesson with N. and her little sister, M. :( That was sad), taught us how to make a mean Tiramisu this morning, and then we dropped her off with the office elders and she'll hang out with the other new missionaries this afternoon and then get her trainer tomorrow. It was lots of fun.
We had our last night of caroling as a district on Monday night. It was super sad. After Christmas, we've done it a couple more times but just with regular hymns and it worked! People still listened and (sometimes) talked to us! But, alas, our district is now being split up. We all got really close this transfer, especially because it was the Christmas transfer, so it'll be sad to see everyone go, but I know it's for the best!
We had a miracle happen this week - one of our new investigators came to church. Her name is C. (or M. - take your pick) and she's from the Philippines. She was actually a referral from her cousin who lives...I can't remember where. Somewhere in America. And she's pretty awesome. The miracle is that, not only did she come to church, but she stayed an hour and a half after to see a baptism of a little boy in our ward! So she just hung out with us from 9 until 1:30 on Sunday. It was awesome. I have a good feeling about her. Oh, this is random, but I realized this week that both Wendy (if she moves into Grandma's house) and Keith will be in Giulia's mission! So starting in May, y'all have to keep an eye out for the missionaries. And if one of them is Sister Sammartano, just love her to death. (That'll be easy!) And feed her lots!
Well, until next week! In Torino! :) AMORE.
Sorella Gunnerson
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