Update & Kimberly's address

We had to say goodbye to a few of our missionaries as they returned home with honor this week. What a great group of missionaries -- we're going to miss them. (The man in the back right is Brother Calabrese who is our Stake Patriarch and right-hand man in the office. He volunteers his time to help with apartments, helps us work through Italian red tape, translates official documents, and so much more.)

I just had to add a couple of pictures from this transfer that require a bit of explanation. The missionaries are very busy, especially when they are getting ready to go home, so they might not have had the time or money for a haircut. (They usually cut each others' hair to save both time and money.)

Such was the case with this wonderful missionary who also served as a branch president in Olbia. He was so busy that we decided he deserved a little trim before meeting his parents at the airport.

These three Italian missionaries also served as branch presidents during their time here. The Elder in the middle is one of President Acerson's assistants and will be with us one more transfer.


The other two have something wonderful to look forward to when they get home: going to the temple in Spain with this sweet family who was in the branch where they each took a turn as their branch president. Just look at these beautiful children! In order to go to the temple, this little family had to take the overnight boat from Sardegna with their two small children, go to their separate embassies to get their visas and other documents in order (because they are from different countries in South America), and finally come to the mission home for their temple recommend interviews. They had not eaten all day so we were able to feed them and take them to the train to catch the boat that night. Such sacrifices. We pray for a temple here in Italy daily.

Here's a picture of our new group of missionaries! The three missionaries from the United States served with Kimberly (now known as Sorella Acerson) in the Missionary Training Center. The other two are Italians, and all of them are great! We're going to love serving with them.

Sorella Acerson's new companion is Sorella Sheffield and she is currently seving in the beautiful city of Como just north of Milan. (President Acerson is jealous as he always wanted to serve there!) Letters and packages can be sent to:

Sorella Acerson
Italy Milan Mission
Via Gramsci, 13/4
20090 Opera (MI),
ITALIA

(The address is also listed at the right under her picture in case you need to find it again quickly and don't want to scroll through the entire blog to find this message again.)

Also, Happy Birthday to Aersta! Thanks for all you do for us and for being such a sweet daughter-in-law.

Scott just returned from Sicily where he played (and won) volleyball, Marianne is diligently studying, and Stephanie and I took one of her new friends and the friend's mother with us as we visited Paestum, a well-preserved Greek city at the southern end of our mission. (We'll share more pictures on Paestum soon.)

President is in Milan for meetings (no, he's not going to see Kimberly while he's there) and we continue to miss all those who aren't with us.

Looking forward to church tomorrow. The talks and lessons are always so powerful and uplifting here. We have great members and they always show us a lot of love. Have a great Sabbath day!