Arrivederci Pordenone...--Goodbye Pordenone

Ciao miei cari! I am writing you for the last time from my beloved Pordenone. That's right. I am being transferred to Milano 1 to be with my trainer who is finishing her mission there, so in mission terms, I am going to "kill" my "mother". Isn't that a cute expression? A part of me is so excited to be back with her because she is wonderful and to work in a new city, to meet new people, and I know that it is far from coincidence, but the other part of me is really sad. I feel like I am leaving home and family here and my heart aches when I think about it. I cried when President called and told me and I let myself cry for awhile. Every time I think about it I just see people's faces in my head and I can't wait until December when I will be able to contact them all again. This week was so full of great things, wonderful moments, and really it is a good way to close this chapter of my mission. We had a great time at the base. There was a jazz band and fourth of July fun. Sorella Modugno ate too much American food and was completely overwhelmed by the American grocery store on base. She bought rib-eye steaks and Reese's ice cream. I wish I could have filmed her face when she ate them. If she lived in the states she would be a carnivore for sure. She relished every morsel and loved the ice cream too. Crazy girl. We had lunch with Vescovo Liccioli and his family and it was a wonderful time, my first time at their house. We got a new washer. Yeah! No more clothes that smell faintly of mold. We learned to make pizza with Alessandro and his little boy, Riccardo (4 anni), and I played ball again and then played in the car. He drove me to the cinema and then called the pool with an old cellular phone, but the pool was closed so we had to come back. I laughed so hard at how insistently he told me to put on my seat belt even though we weren't really going anywhere. Yesterday when I saw him he gave me goodbye kisses. I will miss that little boy. Sunday I sang in church and though I did not know I was leaving it was a good farewell and Sorella Walton played for me, so it was really nice for both of us. We did the arrangement of "I know that my redeemer lives" but sang the words in Italian and that was special for me. When Fratello Cavallaro, nostro papà Italiano, discovered that Sorella Forbes, Walton, and I all were leaving he organized a party of sorts, a little get together with the ward Tuesday night to say goodbye. It was so nice and so difficult at the same time. Sorella Guirintano hugged me and kissed me a thousand times and Fratello Guirintano came even though he was beyond tired and I really appreciate it because with all the cds he has given me of opera and the fact that I spent both Christmas and Easter at their house, they really feel like family to me. Mariana cried and Ana took a thousand photos. Everyone told me I have to come home and study canto and come back and visit. I gave them a farewell salute singing "Stranger to the Rain" from Children of Eden. Afterward I tried to tell them what it meant and what it meant to me. "I don't curse what I can't change, I just play the hand I'm dealt...this journey I'll be making now is one we all must make..."  I am attaching a picture of everyone that was there, one of a field on the way to the Guirintano's, and one of me with Fratello and Sorella Cavallaro, miei genitori italiani, who I will miss so very much. They made me a part of their family and took care of me when I needed it and I look forward to the day when I can talk to them again. I hope they know, that they all know, how much I love them. We said goodbye to the bishop and his wife today at their store and they gave me a bar of hemp soap and a fond farewell. I have a few other people to say goodbye to before I go, but I am almost ready. Sorella Modugno has been helping me with my luggage and I am really grateful. I wish I could tell you all everything about the people I love here, that I could write about my family here in Italy, tell you about their quirks and gifts and the way they just love people. I wish I could describe all the little things I will miss about this place, the quiet, the mountains,the fields,  mia bicicletta, and the people most of all. I wish I had the time to share all that I feel, but I know that to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven and what is happening is right, and one day I will have the time to tell you what I have learned, shared, and been given. I send my love to all of you and to all those who I am leaving behind until the season and the time we meet again.  Sorella Lloyd