The 12 Day Count Down

Buon Giorno!!!

The MTC is still treating me well and I am enjoying my time here. There is not a whole lot to write because every week here is like basically the exact same. Today I woke up and went to the Temple with the Anziani in my district. We went and did initiatories and then had a delicious breakfast (it was nice to get away from MTC food) at the Temple cafeteria. Then we went and did an endowment session. It was fantastic and I loved starting off my day like that! The time we get to go to the Temple is fantastic!

So this week on Sunday night we got to hear from the Provo Temple President. That was a fantastic opportunity and it opened up my perspective on how great the Temple actually is. Today I was able to go to it thinking more with gratitude and a better love for the work that goes on within it. It was way fun having him talk to us about the power of going to a Temple. I am so excited to see the Rome Temple go up! That is going to be so incredible to see and it will change a lot of stuff for the members and nonmembers in Italy. It is incredible! On Tuesday night we had a Brazilian man from the Quorum of the 70 come and speak to us. He was really funny and his accent made all of his stories absolutely hilarious! He spoke about a lot of things, but the big thing in his talk was about D&C Section 76. He spoke to us about the different Kingdoms of Glory and how it is our decision on what Kingdom we want to inherit. He then told us to decide at that very moment what Kingdom we chose to inherit. Then he told us to go and write that in big letters in our journals. I did it and of course in my journal I wrote, "I'm going to inherit the Celestial Kingdom." This will be a strong reminder when trials and temptations come. I will be able to look back and base my decisions on what Kingdom I chose to inherit. His talk was great!

The last few days my teachers Fratello Merrill and Fratello Pesci have been telling us a lot about how the time for "planting seeds" is over. They said it is the time for harvesting in Italy. This got me way excited and I know that I am the one who can decide how successful I want to be. I know that the Lord is going to be preparing the hearts of those in Italy to receive the word and to be baptized as members of the Church. I am so grateful for this message I get to share and I am so excited to get to Italy! Every day we walk into our classroom where we have a ton of pictures of Italy hanging up and every day we get so excited to get over there and serve.

Right now the language is coming well! This week I felt really good about my progression. It is slow, but it is steady. I am working hard and I love it here! We get a lot of time to read and study and I have been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon in Italian. I am starting to understand a lot of what I read, but it is still really slow and really hard. I am getting better at following conversations in Italian but I still have a long way to go. I can pretty easily bear my testimony right now, but only basically and even that not very well. I do love this language though and I am so excited to become better at it! Every day I wake up wanting to learn more and every day I feel the progression happening. I am hoping that I get a whole lot better within the next two weeks. That is crazy!!! In two weeks I will be in Italy. I will be probably at the Mission home in Rome. I am so excited and so overwhelmed at the same time. This is a message that I know the Italian people are being prepared to receive. This last week I read in Acts and Romans when Paul gets shipwrecked on Malta and then from there goes up to Rome. It got me so excited just thinking about the fact that I will be walking where ancient Apostles walked and I will be sharing the same message of Jesus Christ to the people. Malta and Rome are both in my mission! It is going to be incredible!

Just a few last words before I send this, Sam... Haha, I get to go to London before you!!! That is one of the places that we have a layover! So technically I will have been in the U.K. before you. Haha, sorry! Mom... My travel stuff hasn't come yet, we get it tonight after dinner. I will try to send you the information as soon as possible. Also, I have some more stuff I might need in my email to dad. Thanks for all that, I really am so grateful for everything you send and everything you give! Mark... Congratulations on getting into Harvard!!! That is so cool! I am so proud of you and proud to call you my uncle!!! Just get married first! Dad... Keep up sending the news of events and stuff! Sorry about OLY, have fun running the half-marathon though!

Love you all! You are the best! Sam, Anne, Seth, Jack! Keep being awesome!
Keep sending letters and everything! I love it and it makes my day!

Love,

Anziano Burton