Jenessa's Home!

On August 28th Kerry and I flew to Italy to meet Jenessa. We were so excited to be with her. First of all Kerry met me at the airport with Cherie, Keith, Lily, and Sawyer. He was really excited to meet his new grandchild and see Cherie, Keith and Lily too. I hadn't seen him for two weeks so I think I took 5th place in who he wanted to see.

When we got to Rome we took our bags to the hotel and dropped them off so we could go sightseeing. We were really tired and would have loved a good nap but it just wasn't possible with all the opportunities before us. We were there in this wonderful historical city and I couldn't wait to see something I hadn't seen before. We headed to the nearest fountain...the one that if you throw a coin in you will come back to Rome...I didnt't throw a coin in if you want to know. It was too crowded to get near it and I think that I will go back someday.

So after we checked in we caught a taxi to the Mission Home to meet Jenessa. We walked in right when she was bearing her testimony. I couldn't help feeling emotional after not seeing her for a year and a half and just cried like I did with everyone of my children when I saw them for the first time after their missions. Then we had a wonderful lasagne dinner and heard Jenessa sing a farewell song in Italian with the other 5 missionaries and 2 couples who were heading home.

The next few days were busy and Jenessa's friend and investigator took us around Rome to visit all the sights for the time we were there. His name is Joseph. We saw churches, fountains, and ancient Roman ruins. We even had a special elevator trip up St. Peter's Basillica in Vatican City. Then we climbed over 300 stairs to the top. What a view!

After we saw the Vatican museum and all the beautiful artwork...We saw a lot of art in Rome...We headed to the Pantheon, ate our first gelato, and then to the Opera at the Baths (which were ruins)...Rigoletto was fantastic and there were 10000 people there.

The next day we headed to the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, and saw an arch that told the Romans whether to go to battle or not by where the wind blew through it. The next wonder was an old church with a stone in front that told people where they were telling the truth. People would go up to it and put their hands in its mouth. If they were telling a lie the person behind the stone would cut their hand off. Here is Jenessa with her hand in its mouth.

After church on Sunday we went to see where Paul lived at Lydia's home. It was interesting to think that I walked where Paul did. We had a dinner appointment that night and had a 5 course dinner. I thought we were done after the first course but the food just kept on coming.