Letter #5 From Bari, Italy

Hello all!!!

I am excited to get the chance to write you and tell you about my week :) Also Dad what was your address when you were here in Bari. Sorella Bellomo wants to know!! Mom I showed your mystery woman picture to sorella Gallone and she remembered her. Her name is Tonia Abbadessa. She married Fratello Curci but she died a few years ago. She had a stroke and recovered from it all by herself but then she had a second one. She was in a coma for about 4 days and then she passed away. Sorella Gallone told me about the funeral. She said it was beautiful. And Tonia seemed so happy and peaceful. It was a very good story. Nicola Virgiglio was the person you think he was. He was here at the time and he says he remembers you a little.

I bought my boots last week!! I am going to attach pictures so you can see them :)

One of the things I love about missionary work here is the passalong cards. They are much prettier in Italian. The design is different and on the back they have more of a lengthy explanation of the card. It is super nice! I hope they change them everywhere to have the same design as they have in Italy! It is pretty cool. Also I am getting very bold from being here and around these loud people. Once someone was trying to sneak in and steal the spot we were trying to park in. I jumped out of the car and started yelling at him with big hand gestures before I even knew it :) I have no idea what I am going to do when I get home .:)

Today we went to go visit the Grotte di Castallana. They were these giant caves and it is only an hour train ride away. It was soo much fun. I will attach more pictures at the bottom! (No pictures arrived with this email).

The work this week has been wonderful! Giovanni is just becoming stronger and stronger in his testimony. He is also talking with more people at church. The big miracle this week was the lesson with Fratello Viani. He invited us over and we were praying and studying for days to figure out what to talk with him about. We decided that we wanted to share a general conference talk with him. We used the computer at the church to get on really fast and print off the talk we wanted from the most recent general conference. But we could not find a talk that addressed leaving behind tradition for Christ. Then we remembered Elder Holland's most recent address. We read it and we both thought this is it. This is what Fllo Viani needs to hear.

We drove to his home and shared this message with him. We talked about how can we defend our faith and What do we need to each leave behind? The spirit was there and he guided the lesson. We had been hurrying to get there and had been unsure about the impegno (commitment or learning goal) to leave and as my companion was bearing her testimony it came to me. They need to have family prayer together. His wife is a member and they are growing farther and farther apart. They need to feel the unity that comes from praying together. They said they would try. And Fllo Viani gave a beautiful closing prayer that almost made me cry. And he let us have a kneeling prayer. As we left he asked if we would go visit his sister because he said, "She needs to be part of your church". Sooo cool!

I love you and I am so grateful for you

love, Sorella Preston