A temple in Italy. I don’t know if I can adequately express just how much that means to me. Every single day of my mission – every day for a year and a half – we prayed for a temple in Italy, a temple for the Italian people. Everyday. At the beginning of my mission we prayed that another stake would be organized, because at the time there were only four (five stakes are needed in order for a temple to be built). The excitement over the organization of the Alessandria Stake on 10 June 2007 was due in large part to it being the fifth stake in Italy. I spent the last six months of my mission in that stake. To our great surprise and joy, on 2 March 2008 we saw the sixth stake organized, the Verona Stake, which includes my first city, Modena. Having the opportunity to see not just one but two stakes organized over the course of my mission was nothing short of incredible. But even that can’t compare to how I felt when I heard President Monson announce the temple in Rome. I cried. I haven’t been that happy since my mission.
So many prayers. And now all those prayers have been answered, for me and, more importantly, for the Italian saints. We will have a temple in Rome, in the city where Peter and Paul walked and taught and preached. Can there be anything more incredible? I would have given anything to have been there in Italy when the announcement was made. Even so, the outpouring of love and gratitude on the part of members and ex-missionaries alike has been amazing. In just the first few minutes after it was announced I was getting text messages, facebook messages, and e-mails. I spent a good while on the phone with members and converts in Italy. Its been incredible.
I am so grateful I was able to serve my mission among the Italian people. I love them and Italy in a way I can’t even describe. And I’m grateful that, in some small, maybe insignificant way, I was able to contribute to this greatest of all blessings for these people I love so much.
"Sì, e noi siamo stati strumenti nelle sue mani per compiere quest'opera grande e meravigliosa. Esultiamo dunque; sì, ci glorieremo nel Signore; sì, gioiremo, poiché la nostra gioia è completa; sì, loderemo il nostro Dio per sempre. Ecco, chi può gloriarsi troppo nel Signore? Sì, chi può dire troppo del suo grande potere, della sua misericordia e della sua longanimità verso i figlioli degli uomini? Ecco, io vi dico che non posso dire la minima parte di quanto provo." (Alma 26: 15-16)
I went on my mission to feel what Ammon felt. And I have.
The Story
1 comment:
I think people all over the world were jumping up and down, shouting and crying over the announcement of the new temples. Everyone in Philly was freaking out, my parents were in Independence over the weekend and everyone there was freaking out. And I am amazed that there is finally going to be an Italian temple. If there was any doubt about the work of the Lord going forward, there is none now. I wish we could have watched conference together like the ole' days at the mawr, but we'll just have to be excited together over the internets ;)
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