Grazie per la grazia

Ciao! Here I am again dear ones! Just loving missionary work beyond belief. I cannot even express how grateful I am to serve the Lord. I know it is changing me and strengthening me, helping me be like Him. This week has been great. Interesting and tiring and crazy, but great. Halloween was a delight with spooky fun at the Barbieri's house. they had gross-looking food and treats and a hang man with a LOVE t-shirt. It was funny. We taught them and brought the Spirit of God into the spook house and set a date for baptism with Dylan and his mom for the 23rd of December! I don't know why they did not have a goal before. It was like everyone was just waiting for Cristina to stop smoking, but this gives them a firm goal and gives her a vision which will raise her desire and power to act and stop smoking. Dylan is so ready. When Cristina asked him if he would be ready to get baptized the 23rd his whole face just lit up. He is so happy. I love that kid so much. Now we just have to help Cristina and get her into the bishop. It is possible and it would be one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen. We had a great scambio this week and Sorella Heupel helped me out a lot. We also had a little miracle where we ran into the dad of a less-active girl we had never heard of. He is the ward mission leader in another ward in Milan. We met him by chance right in front of his daughter's house and he told us she lived there and called her right in front of us, telling her there were two missionaries looking for her and that we wanted to come up. Well, we got her number and an appointment to come back. God really does take care of all of his children. I am excited to meet her. We finally saw Beny again and though she did not want to set a baptismal date she would set a date with us for her to find her answer. By the end of the month Beny will know the church is true. :). I love her. She is so smart, just a little unsure and wants to do the right thing. She will get it if she commits herself to finding the answer this month. My companion got sick Sunday night and through up until about 10 in the morning and has basically been hovering between almost living and nearly dead since then. I may be exaggerating, but she was really sick. She passed out in the bathroom Monday morning. Ugh. The anziani came over to give her a blessing. It was really nice, though slightly awkward. She was in pajamas...they were in our house...things that don't usually occur. They are wonderful missionaries and I really appreciate their love and concern and their willingness to use the priesthood to bless. It really helps. Anyway, with my dear sorellina ill I have had a lot of time to write, think, study, and clean the apartment. Apart from our sleeping quarters it is sparkling. Aside from cabin fever, I have suffered little other than worry for her.  I have listened to many general conference talks and studied a lot of scripture and just really thought a lot about the grace of God and how grateful I am that I don't have to be perfect right now. I can learn Christlike attributes with time and one day be ready to live with Him because I will be like Him. I am grateful for the process. I am grateful that grace covers everything and that I just have to keep trying. I am so glad that I don't learn everything right away (which is a hard thing for me to say) because it means the lesson will really stick when I finally get it. I will really be changed. That means a lot to me. I am grateful I have challenges because I have to rely on the savior and it is only by doing that I can understand the goodness and mercy of God and the joy that he has in store for me, or even the joy that I experience now, serving him, giving the best that I am, however imperfect it may be. I still have a lot to learn about grace, but I am so grateful that the love of God surpasses all things, and that if he is okay that I am not perfect (he made me that way, so I could learn and gain strength by overcoming my weaknesses which are really gifts that are just harder to open because we have to gain the strength to use them and understand them) I can love myself as I am and then work to improve to be fit for the kingdom. That is what I am learning. He is always with us and as long as we keep trying he will keep covering us. I love the Lord a lot for that. Tanti bacioni a tutti voi! Just remember Him and do your best.