Pescaaaaaara!

HOWDIE ALL!

Wow, so much has happened! It's great. I don't even know where to start....last week when I wrote, it was probably the most ADD email, because I was in shock by the fact that I was being transferred. I really had noooo idea I would be going anywhere. President Acerson even told my companion that SHE was being transferred! She had started packing and doing her laundry when the transfer calls came, so when I found out it was me, I had to hear it twice!

I bet you're all itching to hear about my beautiful new city! Pescara is on the mid eastern shoreline of Italy. I can see the Adriatic sea from my window while i'm studying in the morning. Let me tell you, it's a SIN to put missionary apartments with a view of the ocean!!!! We go running to the sea and back in the morning. We don't see much though..there are umbrellas EVERYWHERE on the beaches. There's a bus that we take to do finding on, that drives through this cute little seaside town called Franca Villa, and we can see the ocean from there. I got really distracted the first time we were doing finding, because the view is so pretty!

I love this little city and all the people here. Missionaries have been living here snce the dawn of time, so we run into people everywhere that know us. People here even come up and talk to US, which is so strange, because in Rome people wouldn't even make eye contact with us! I love it here with all my heart. It is so beautiful, and we have some incredible members and new converts. The work is going really well too. Sorella Dalia and Sorella Skabelund were able to find 3 investigators just last week. Oh, I forgot to mention! I took the place of my MTC companion Sorella Dalia. So her trainer is my follow up trainer! Sorella Skabelund is incredibly cute. She is such a hard worker, and I am so excited and motivated! I've really realized my potential with her, and the importance of faith. I feel like I can talk to anyone! It's such a miracle and a blessing. She is from Mesa, Arizona, and she is studying music, and has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. We are practically the same person, and have all of the same interests. We are becoming good friends really fast. I love her!

Speaking of talking to everyone, I was talking to this man named Mario on the bus the other day, and we ran into him yesterday and he asked us to go on a date to get some ice cream. My companion told me that in Pescara we get asked out on dates every day. We went on a "date" with this 18 year old from Romania named Vio the other day. We told him that we were only allowed to talk about the gospel though, and he said we could even invite the elders to come with us, which was PERFECT because we were able to pass him off to them. We also have these two other investigators named Eric and Destiny from Ghana. They are so awesome....they want us to come over and have a date and eat African food, so we introduced them to the anziani...passed! haha, Don't worry, we aren't really going on dates though. We just call them that as a joke.

My second day here the Elders had a baptism with a lady named Gloria. She is incredibly beautiful, and has a son named Gigi. She is also super PUMPED about the gospel, and tells everyone about it that she meets. All of the new converts in the ward are so super enthusiastic, and are better missionaries than we are! There's a member in the ward named brother Bosco, and he is practically a full time missionary. I was told that he's responsible for almost all of the baptisms in the ward. He just goes out and finds people, then brings the missionaries to appointments while he teaches lessons, and then they get BAPTIZED. It's so cool. I seriously love this ward.

Our district is super small compared to my last...they just took out a pair of elders because the mission is getting down sized, so we only have 4 in our district, compared to how I had 11 in my last in Rome! It's so weird. The elders are really great and funny though...Anziano Bennet and Koozer. We had DDM on monday, and we ate about 5 sugar cookies each, so it was probably the most ADD DDM I have ever been to! We were all on sugar highs. Here's a piece of advice...never eat sugar cookies during church meetings.

I love you all! I love Pescara! This work is a miracle and a blessing. I want to share with everyone that there's hope in this world, and there's happiness! That's the number one thing I hear from everyone, is that they are searching for happiness, but they don't know where to find it. Well hey, I do!

Baci e ambracci,

Jenessa

PS...can someone send me the address for Jessica's mission home, and Krissa's address in Florida? I have a super old letter for Jessica that I need to send out! And could someone forward me Krissa's weekly emails? I want to know how she's doing! And if you get this krissa and Jessica HI I LOVE YOU I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T WRITTEN BUT I DON'T HAVE YOUR ADDRESSES! The church is true and I pray for you both every day!

Pictures:1. I can make italian food...SO GOOD!!!!

2. The portable baptismal font that we use. It takes 4 people to take it down.

3. Gloria's baptism with Elder Bennett. He NEVER stops smiling, and he had the BIGGEST grin I have seen in my entire life during her baptism that I couldn't help feeling such an incredible joy!

4.My companion Sorella Skabelund, with a new convert. (the little one wearing the tag isn't my companion! She's going to marry Gian Pierro one day. I talk about him all the time with her)

5. Flying squirrel pants. These are huge in Italy, and possibly the silliest things I have ever seen! I'm pretending to be a flying squirrel in the picture, if you haven't guessed. I think everyone will probably be wearing them in the United States by the time I get home.