L'ultima settimana e l'inizio di qualcosa nuova...--The last week and the beginning of something new ...

I knew the last full week of my mission would have to be a little crazy...if it wasn't, it wouldn't be mine, but I never expected the nonsense and miracles of what this week has been. Last week, right after finishing our emails, we stood up and realized Sorella's bag was stolen. Yes. stolen. After a frantic search and a few urgent phone calls, we realized the only thing to do was go to the police. They told us it was close. I think they unintentionally lied (maps are never to scale). Or we just got lost because the robber also stole our map (maybe he was lost too). Anyway, we ended up walking for an hour and a half. When we reached the police station they sent us away because Sorella did not have any id and needed to get her passport to then be able to declare anything. So we walked back to the metro and headed to our appointment. Ilaria and Dimitri were wonderful gems and after a great discussion about perseverance, we all had dinner together, and my was it yummy. The next morning we had to hurry to the police station with Sorella's passport and do the forms before zone conference. We were fortunate to have a very handsome young man in uniform help us out and we made it just in time to zone conference to do a little practicing for our musical number. Anziano Taggart and I sang "O Holy Night" with Sorella brown on the piano and Sorella Lyman with her violin. It was fantastic! I sang part of it in Italian! We did birthdays and Sorella brown went up and since mine is coming up, I got to go up as well. We all get to say nice things about the birthday people. Anziano Taggart said the only phrase that came to mind about me was "practically perfect in every way". I nearly died. It is becoming wide spread knowledge that I am secretly Mary Poppins, or at least in the Barbieri/Xhunga family. I was able to also do my "final testimony" and needless to say I cried. I think that was the first time it really hit me I am going home. I don't remember really what I said but I know I meant it. I know I talked about not being perfect, but trying to always keep going and give of myself and doing it for the Lord, the reason I served in the first place. Anziano Andersen thanked me afterward for my testimony and said he was really touched. I called and thanked him afterward. I don't think he will ever know how much what he said meant to me. Friday we had a miracle because a sweet old man on the other side of Milan found Sorella's cards and her little notebook with the mission address in it. He had his granddaughter read it and the got in contact with the office. She wrote Sorella a little note and we were able to pick them up. It was a little Christmas miracle. We have no idea how all those things ended up together. What sweet people! We had lunch on Saturday with Carlota and Jessi. I love them both so much. They have a lot of spunk and Jessi wants to study music. I hope we could help Carlota. She has been inactive for a while, but her kids are so strong. They are so special. On Sunday, we 4 missionaries sang "O little town of Bethlehem for church and then the ward gave us boxes of junk food. It was ridiculous. We did some ricerca and found a great potential young man, Miguel, who is very interested in the Book of Mormon. Exciting! Christmas eve we ate lunch with Gaia and Giovanna and had handmade spinach pasta in a salmon cream sauce and lamb and they gave us tartufi and then that night we had a great time with Henry and Jessica and their family, including Henry's awesome nephew, Paolo, who is one of the strongest teenagers I have ever met, spiritually speaking. I will miss them a lot. Afterward we met all of the other missionaries at the duomo and sang Christmas songs and hymns on the steps before going to midnight mass. A very strange man sort of danced in front of us and gave a couple sisters presents and another gave us all roses. The man who spoke for midnight mass was actually quite good, though we did not stay the whole time and then when we left we the anziani we all took the right tram in the wrong direction and ended up on the other side of Milan when all of the buses stopped running. We walked a while wondering what would be best to do, and since I wasn't sure either, I sang Christmas carols into the night and kept laughing it was so ridiculous. I find I always need to be right in the middle of an adventure. Our options were to walk all the way home or call a taxi, or wake up dear Henry who said he would come get us if need be. We called and he immediately hopped in the car to rescue us. I kept singing to pass the time. He said he had been awake because he felt like there was something else he still needed to do. He is a saint. truly. Christmas morning, in our extreme tiredness, we awoke and went to the church to watch Brave with the other sisters and drink homemade butter-beer. We had a great time. After skyping home that afternoon, which was wonderful, except for the moment when my brother said I will see you this weekend and I stopped breathing, we headed to Lydia's house and she fed us sticky cake from the Philippines that tasted kind of like frosting, and some of the most delicious soup I have ever had. We helped her play general conference on her computer and as the youth choir started singing, Lydia started to cry and sing along, though she couldn't remember all the words in English. she held my arm and I just felt the love of God. I think that moment made Christmas for me. It was beautiful. I will miss moments like that, just feeling the spirit with someone, soaking in the love of God when no words are necessary. That is the spirit of Christmas, the spirit of Christ, and a big part of the "why" we do what we do. I love this work so much. I hope it never really ends. Tonight I will say farewell to my dear Barbieri/Xhunga family, who always shares their love with me and are a big part of why I am here. Dylan will be baptized next month and I am so excited for him. He is like my little brother and we have an Xbox chat appointment on my birthday because his is the day after mine. Tomorrow we will be working hard and Friday I head to the mission office for my final interview and Saturday I take to the air. It is unbelievable. This has been the most beautiful experience I could ever ask for and serving the Lord is truly the best thing I have ever done. I know it is his work. I know he loves his children and I know we have to help them see it and especially feel it, because it is real and living and changes hearts, changes us for the better. It changed me, changes me every day. I can feel it.I have borne witness of that in front of so many and even though not every one did, the moment someone understood, the look on their face when they truly felt that truth, is worth every struggle, every challenge, and it is that that helped me overcome any doubt in myself or what he could make of me, at least for a little while, because I could see it and feel it for one other of his children. It is like magic. It is better than Disney. You can feel it. I feel it. It is real. It is truth.  I am just so grateful. it is so much greater than anything I could've imagined. I feel so small sometimes, I just hope my almost, my little bit, was what He needed it to be, that he will make it more, make it strong. He changed me for the better and I hope I can continue to help him help others do the same. There is no greater blessing or greater joy. I just want to send you all my love and a temporary "ci vediamo" until we see each other again. Lots of love.