Here Comes Italia!!!

Buon Giorno all!!!

I hope everything is going well! Thanks for all the emails and letters! It is fantastic hearing about life back home and hearing all of your support and thoughts! Thanks! Well, this past week has been fun, but it has been a little long. All of the people in my zone are ready to get out of here. It is crazy to think that the next email I will send will be from the great land of Italia!!! There isn't a whole lot to write that is new this week, basically same old same old. We are finishing up our language studies here and are getting ready to go. Every day our teachers are telling us how amazing it is going to be! I am so excited to be in the place, with the people, preaching the same amazing message of the restoration. I know that this work is true. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the one thing in this life that remains constant and that is the one thing that can bring true and lasting happiness.

This past week we watched the movie Legacy for our Sunday night movie. It was definitely different than I remembered, but still good haha. This past week I also read the entire book "Our Heritage" As I read it, I realized how much faith and strength the early saints had and how many trials and challenges they had to overcome. I am so grateful for the roots of this Church and how it came to be. At every twist and turn in the formation and building up of this church the hand of God can be seen. It is absolutely incredible. I hope to arrive in Italy with the same faith and strength that those early saints had. It will be difficult and days will get long, but I want to wake up every day with a spring in my step. I am truly so grateful and so happy to have the opportunity to spread this message. I know that it will save people who are in dire circumstances. This work is amazing!

This morning I had a wonderful opportunity to go to the Temple and spend some extra time in the Celestial room. I thought a lot and it was strange to think that this is the last time for a long time that I will have the chance to go to a temple. I really am grateful for it. It has been a blessing in my life being able to go once a week here. It brightens my week and reminds me a lot of why I am here.

Life is great! I am happy! I LOVE being a missionary and waking up each day to put on the name tag and wear the name of Christ all day long. It is a blessing and I am grateful for it. One of our devotionals this last week talked about how we need to align our wills with the will of God if we want to be successful. I am going to do all that I can to do the will of God on my mission. When I return from Italy in 23 months I will know that I have given my all to this great cause and I will know that I have served with all of my heart. I will serve this mission with zero regrets. It is true and I love it.

Hope all is well back at home! Carry on! Sam, you can try to justify the details, but I will be in England before you. Face It... Anne!!! I heard you were awesome in the musical!!! Congratz!!! Seth and Jack, do your very best in baseball tryouts! Love you all!!! BE YOUR BEST AND HE WILL CARRY YOU THROUGH THE REST!!!

Love,

Anziano Burton