Buon Natale

CIAO TUTTI,

Due to the fact that i will be seeing all of your beautiful faces via Skype TOMORROW and we will probs talk about lots of stuff then, I am not sure how great this email will be! But i will do my best to recap my week #sostoked

Christmas in Trieste!

My first full week in Trieste was a little bit of a roller coaster, that is for sure! We had great times, funny times, weird times, awkward times, hard times, sad times....just all the various different type of times! It is truly incredible to be spending this Holiday season in the beautiful country of Italy, i could not be more greatful. There is just something truly fulfilling about walking out the door each day and being able to bear your testimony of Jesus to random people on the street and on the bus.

This Christmas I feel as though I have truly been able to understand Christmas, not just enjoy it! It has indeed been special. I have learned that it is not enough to just think about Christ during this time, but we need to help other people to truly come unto Him and feel the joy that can be had through this gospel and through the miracle of His atonement. He has given us everything and we need to give something back to Him. I encourage you all to think of something you can give up, something you can improve...and give it to the Savior. That is what this is all about. It is about coming unto Him, walking in His path. Giving our will completely to the Father and striving each and every day to follow the example of our Savior. Truly understanding the WHY behind the celebrations is when we can fully ENJOY the beauty of it, the hope, and the JOY. I am just so happy. Man, it is hard to describe. It is so weird that you can have struggles and the work can be hard and it doesn't feel like you are getting anywhere...but somehow still feel so happy. I know that this joy comes from my Savior. Only through Him can we feel peace and hope in this life. It is not easy, by any means...but through Him it is POSSIBLE. and not just possible but incredible, fulfilling, JOYOUS.

One night this week, one of our appointments fell through so we decided to go to this BEAUTIFUL piazza in the middle of town and do some finding work. There were a lot of people gathered around so we had lots to work with! We started to just go around and ask people what their favorite part of Christmas and from there talk about Christ and the true meaning of the season. We were able to have LOTS of really neat conversations with people and truly understand their thoughts and feelings. There was this one man that was sitting down on a bench that we decided to talk to. He ended up being super BRAVO and we had a really Amazing conversation with him about what we believe and why we believe it. He asked US why we celebrate Christmas, and we were able to bear testimony of the Jesus Christ and the hope of His light. We invited Him to watch He Is The Gift, and he pulled out his tablet and we watched it right there on the Street. The spirit was so strong and he was very touched. It was a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, indeed.

We have been struggling to get appointments set up with people this week because everyone is busy for the holidays and such. Today we are just going to try and pass by people and share a small Christmas message. We are hoping that after the Holidays things will be able to pick back up! But tomorrow we have somewhere to go for lunch and dinner, with some members, so it really should be a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all are happy and I AM JUST REALLY EXCITED TO SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW. ill probs just end this now because i don't really know what else to say and I can just tell you more TOMORROW.

Our Christmas decorations.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!!!
Love,
Sorella Burt