there's no place like ROME for the holidays!

Letter 14~

first of all I just want to make sure you all read the title of this week's email.

do you even know how many weeks I have been waiting to say that?

At zone conference we did the Christmas story and guess who I got picked to be

Last Pday at St Peter's square

THANK YOU FOR THE CHRISTMAS PACKAGE MOM:)

Now that that's all taken care of...this week!! 

Gnocchi at Sorella Magno's house on Monday night :)

I don't know if you guys remember but a few weeks ago we found this guy named Lester, a filipino 24 year old, who was super interested in hearing more of our message. We found him doing inspired finding, where we prayerfully choose streets to talk to people on. We had an AMAZING lesson with him and set a baptism date for a month later on the first lesson! He's proprio d'oro- truly golden! Then we found out he didn't live in our area, so we had to pass him to other missionaries.

Last week we were SO excited to meet with someone we met doing the same method of inspired finding. Her name is Jessie, she's 20 and Italian but lived in the states for a few years so she speaks English too. She was super interested in hearing more.

We had a lesson with her, it was FANTASTIC!! We couldn't do it at her place so it ended up being in this random pizzeria called Happy Pizza but it was amazing. The Spirit was so strong, she has so much faith and she and I both shed tears when I bore my testimony of how the Book of Mormon has made me know Christ- who He is, what He's like, what He did for us! We set a baptismal date for the end of January! 

We walked out of the lesson like "What just happened..." We were so excited to have found someone so prepared to receive the restored gospel- another proprio d'oro!!

But then... We called her last night to confirm for our next incontro and she MOVED TO FLORENCE!!! She had been living with her dad here in Rome but the situation was really bad so she had to move, no time to pack or anything. She said she wants to keep meeting with the missionaries there though!

We are sad that we won't get to see her again! But, like with Lester, we know that it's not about us, it's about HER and her cammino to Christ! So we are giving her info to the missionaries in Florence, which is actually the Milan mission, and praying it can continue there!

But we still have some really great other investigators! Nexhi is doing great and her sister's baptism is this Saturday the 27th in Taranto!  Nexhi says they  are 2 of 10 kids- who are now all grown and have their own families and even grandkids- and everyone going to this baptism! There will be like 70 Albanian people there she said!  We are praying that Nexhi will have an amazing experience and that the Spirit will testify to her that this is what she needs to do too. 

I also got to meet the family I mentioned in last week's letter! They are adorable and we'll see them every Sunday night. We help the 13 and 14 year old daughters with English, then we teach them and the mom and dad too. We've just had two lessons with them now but they are a wonderful family and planning on coming to church this Sunday! Last night we showed them "Egli è il dono"- He is the Gift- and they loved it! :)

The District-  me, Sorella Clyde, Sorella Jones, Sorella Marsh, Anziano Jorgensen, and Anziano Anderl

In other news the Rome missionaries and GANS (Italian/mormon group of Young Single Adults) all met up and sang Christmas carols at the Piazza del Popolo! There were probably about 30 of us in total. We'd sing and then we'd take turns going to talk to the people who stopped to listen.  I wish I could have taken pics but my camera was broken! I've fixed it since then though. 

We're all so excited for Christmas and being able to skype our families! We also have appointments with members so we're excited to EAT! I'm kidding, though, those aren't the reasons why Christmas is so wonderful.

How blessed I feel to be able to give this year and a half to my Savior. Because when it really comes down to it, that's who I'm doing this for. For Him. For He who has done infinitely much for me. I'll get to spend two Christmases here in Italy, two Christmases that will be unlike any other I'll ever have in my life. Where I'll truly be completely focused on the Savior, the real reason behind Christmas. He is the Gift!

I want to invite you all to do something to give, to serve others, to love others this Christmas! Give BACK!

BUON NATALE

Sorella Frandsen

Internet point selfie. Thank you Deveney Jensen for the coat!!

Email: brianne.frandsen@myldsmail.net
Sorella Frandsen's Mailing Address: LETTERS & PACKAGES

Letters take about one week to arrive, Packages take about 2 weeks
Update: We have found shipping via USPS to be pricey but Brie will not incur any import fees upon a package's arrival!!

Sorelle Missionarie Frandsen
Via Villata, 28

00166 Roma, ITALIA