Massimiliano e mille miracoli--Maximilian and a thousand miracles

Ciao tutti cari amici ed altri lettori! This week has been one of the most incredible weeks of my life. Pordenone is a missionary's dream right now and Father in Heaven is working to fill that beautiful new chapel whether we want to or not. Fortunately, we very much want to and are so blessed to be a part of it! Massimiliano was baptized Saturday by Fratello Cavallaro, our amazing ward mission leader. It was incredibly beautiful. Fratello Cavallaro was so happy he was prancing about for about an hour before the baptism and Massimiliano really looks up to him. When Max walked out of the bathroom in white I thought I would cry. The entire service was a very special experience and I had such an overwhelming feeling that it was a big part of why I was sent here to Italy. Massimiliano was so happy and it was so good to see him take that step. He was confirmed the next day and given a beautiful blessing, though he looked like he just rolled out of bed he was so tired. It was an experience I will never forget. Impossible. As for the many million other miracles we have seen...Last Thursday we taught seven lessons in one day, almost everyone we talked to let us in, and we received a miracle referral of a man who received all of the missionary lessons in La Spezia, passed his baptismal interview and was coming home to Pordenone with his wife who is a member to get baptized. What? Crazy. I know. He is getting baptized this Saturday with our cute little Piero who we have been teaching. It will be an awesome service. I just want to say a thank you to the amazing anziani in La Spezia who helped this man, Mario, get to this point. He talks about you with so much heart, and Anziano Rodriguez is mentioned every time he talks. You did a tremendous job, Anziani! Thank you! Vicky, whose husband is a member, will be baptized by her husband the 26th and she is so excited about it and is loving church. Michael and Richard have baptismal dates for the 19th and Richard especially is taking it all in and really reading and enjoying the Book of Mormon. Vincenza, a girlfriend of a member who we have been trying to see for weeks came to the baptism and afterward asked me for a Book of Mormon and then asked if she could have it right then or if she had to wait until the next day in church. I gave it to her right away of course! She is amazing and is going to find out that book is true and then get baptized. And she doesn't want her boyfriend involved because she doesn't want their relationship to play a part in her conversion. She is so brave! We had 10 non members in church this Sunday which is ridiculous! Glenda and Luca finally came and I hope they were touched by the Spirit because it could really help their little family. We have more people than we know what to do with. Fratello Cavallaro is helping us organize splits so we can teach everyone. We now know there is a reason they sent three missionaries here. We could not handle it with just two. I had the great fortune of doing a split with Carolina who is awesome and I love working with GANS at lessons. If you get the chance to teach with the missionaries, do it. It is good for everyone involved. At district meeting Anziano Armenise said it sounds like Pordenone is about to explode. It is definitely blossoming with success. I am amazed, humbled, and grateful to be a part of it. We had an awesome correlation meeting with Fratello Cavallaro and I am just so grateful to work with him. He is terrific and so is his family and I have never met someone who works as hard as he does at that calling. I keep telling him to remember my name because if I come back here and he doesn't I will cry. He is still working on it. We taught an awesome lesson on missionary work to the entire ward on Sunday and really sought spiritual guidance for it and it turned out really well. Bishop Liccioli told everyone that June is the month of the invite and that every person has to bring another person to church. I am so excited!!! We are going to fill that new chapel sooner than anyone expects.  There was a party at the church yesterday for the holiday here and I am realizing more and more how blessed I am to be working with this ward. They are incredible people and I love them so much. I hope to have found eternal friends here and I never want to leave. Can I make that special request with heaven? I feel at home here and am so grateful to have the chance to serve these amazing people. Well dears, I am running out of time and still have a million things to say. Just know that the Lord's hand is in this work more than ever and I am the most blessed missionary I know and I don't deserve it. Thanks for all your prayers of faith and remember when things get difficult, you aren't alone. Always try to do the hard thing. It makes you stronger, wiser, and a whole lot more humble. Love you all so much!! Sorella Chandra Lloyd