On Wednesday, we woke up at 3:30 am because our bed was shaking. Within minutes, one of our elders called. The elders were fine, but given Italy's history with earthquakes, it was a bit frightening. The second big tremor came an hour later. We were able to quickly figure out that our missionaries were fine, except for one apartment where they were still sleeping and we were unable to contact them until it was a little later. We are saddened by the loss of life here in Italy, but are deeply grateful for the protection of our missionaries and members.
A week and a half ago, President and I had the pleasure of attending church in a different part of Rome. We later visited the home of the bishop. Here are our missionaries and the bishop and his wife.
This last weekend, we traveled to Malta, where we spoke for the branch conference, and where we met with our missionaries and members. President was able to do temple recommend interviews. In Malta, they speak English and Maltese. It was very beautiful, and I can see why people come here to vacation. It was a little different from Italy--one of the elders said he felt like he was in Jerusalem. We were able to visit with two different families in their homes. One family was Maltese, the other was British. We loved trying to understand the cultures and food of each family. The gospel truly makes the world small.
Finally, a real treat this week happened when President was over at the stake center when he ran into the son of my dear mission companion from Modena. He brought him over to the villa for a few minutes, and I was able to show him where his mother and I met for district meeting years ago. I was also able to tell him what a great missionary his mother was. I am glad he came to Rome!
