Sister Anderson Mission Blog: Gaia Got Baptized!

First of all, of course, I will be staying in Cimiano. Thank goodness, I couldn't handle saying goodbye. But Sorella Fife will come and replace Sorella Williams! I'm so excited! She was in my MTC group and I love her!

Last Pday La Scala was amazing! We saw La Boheme. It was amazing. I understood some of it but I had to hurry and read the line in English first. They have a little screen in front of your seat that has the translation in English. The language is different though in Italian. It's older and the sentences are phrased differently so they can fit the music. It was so much fun! The Navigli Sorelle came with us. We also met an awesome guy named Jonathan. He was so nice. He's a member and was baptized a long time ago but only goes to church every so often. He is gay and it was cool to see how someone who could easily be offended by the church chose not to be. He didn't let his feelings turn into feelings of hate and keeps his testimony.

We have been meeting with Chiara, the daughter of Rosella. She even came to church and she really liked it! She told us that she wants to start learning more about the church. It was such a miracle for us and we are so happy because we know how much it will help her with the changes she will be making in her life soon. She is a little doll and I love that Family so much!

Marilena is doing well. We had a couple of lessons with her that all went well. She was so sad to say goodbye to Sorella Williams. It was so sad! She is doing well. She has a desire to get baptized so we went over the steps that she needs to take to get baptized.

We saw Fernando and Eglayda. Fernando left for Paris and so it was our last time seeing him but we will still go visit Eglayda. There were a lot of goodbyes for Sorella Williams this week.

Monday was Sorella Williams birthday! I'm so grateful for everything that everyone did for her to make it special! We celebrated it with Tina. Then again with Gaia, Kevin, Erin, and the Anziani. Gaia even made her a cheesecake from scratch. I was just so relieved because it can be hard to have surprises for a companion. You are with them every single second. But she was surprised by what the other people did so it turned out to be a great day!

The best part of my week was Saturday! Gaia got baptized! It was so beautiful. I think that everyone got a little emotional. I know I did. I was so proud of her and that day was so special for her. I know it will be a day that I'll never forget. At the end of it she went to the pulpit to say a few things and I was so choked up. It was hard not to. Seeing how far she's come. While she was up there she was just glowing. She was so happy and you could tell she was at peace. Before the baptism she was anxious (As anyone would be). After, everything was just immediately lifted from her. Ah! It was just so amazing. I wish I could tell you guys everything about it but I know it wouldn't do it justice with the things I would write.

Mosiah 4:3

3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.

This is a scripture from the Book of Mormon. The part I really like is that through their faith in Jesus Christ they were able to have a peace of conscience. Everyone needs peace. I know that I personally have found my peace through my faith in Christ. It doesn't come easily but it comes with the steps we take every day to become closer to Him. Faith has to be fed by these actions. Right now, I've never had so much peace in my life. I still have normal worries but at the end of the day the faith brings me this peace of conscience. I know that Christ lives and that He came so we could have peace knowing that He has paid for our sins and completely understands us.

I love you all so much!

Gaia Got Baptized!