Today was a good day! I LOVE Sundays. I Love focusing my time on missionary work. It is so uplifting. Oh, there are days and times when I am frustrated but I remind myself that all will be accomplished in the Lord's time. I just need to be ready, willing and able to do as He will when the time comes.

We have finished our Temple Prep class. We were teaching one of the military members who is very excited to be going to the temple soon. He was baptized a little over a year ago. His wife is state-side and he will be joining her soon. It would be great to be able to go to the temple with him but that is not to be.

We will be starting up an Institute class within the next few weeks. We are waiting for one of the students to return. She is a teacher and went to visit her family for the summer. We expect her back within a week or two since school starts soon.

It is so amazing that when you spend your time thinking, praying and serving others your troubles seem to melt away. We are currently providing a very unique service for a neighbor of the younger missionaries. We are "dog sitting". His name is Chico (key-ko). He is very well behaved and once he became familiar with where he was to go to the bathroom, he has actually been very pleasant. Elder Warner is getting somewhat attached but I will be glad to be back to less hair floating around our apartment.

One of the ways we help the military member is to help out with "callings" (duties) within the local Branch. Elder Warner is the Branch Clerk and I am teaching a Primary class. I LOVE teaching primary. I have 3 boys (American) and 1 girl (Italian). The girl does not speak or understand English so one of the younger missionaries comes with her to Primary to translate. As a matter of fact she is the only Italian in the entire Primary.

We are loving our mission and are so glad we chose to serve. There is no blessing that can compare with full-time service for the Lord. I hear of some couples who come to their mission just to go home within a few weeks because it was not what they were expecting. In Primary I am teaching about the Church History. When I compare the struggles the early saints went through compared to our small health issues and dog hair, there is no comparison. If I want the blessings they received, quitting is not an option. We just press forward, pray and keep our eyes and hearts open to revelation from the Lord.

Remember: "I the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." Doctrine & Covenants 82:10

There is no greater work aside from being a parent that produces such growth and peace and blessings.

We miss all of you and wish you well. All our love, Elder & Sister Warner

Weekend in Roma. 2009 08 07-08



Well, this weekend we went to Roma to visit Elder & Sister Pearson, who are leaving for home in about 3 weeks. One of the many blessings of serving a mission is meeting such great people. Elder & Sister Pearson work in the mission office. It is not a glamorous job, they would be the first to tell you, but it is critical, they would also be the first to agree. Elder & Sister Pearson have been a great help to us, especially in the transition when we arrived.

We wish them well on their return to their family.



Friday night they took us to Piazza Veneaia where we saw the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II. This was built between 1885 & 1911 to commemorate the unification of Italy under King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy. They were doing some work on the left side of the building. If you look closely, you can see the scaffolding.

This same Piazza also has the Palazzo Venezia. From the middle door on the second floor, is where Moussilini would address the people of Roma.


From the Piazza Veneaia we walked down the street to the Colosseum. The entrance to the Metro is just across the street. From there, we went home for the night.

Saturday we went to the prison which held Peter & Paul prisioner before being killed. Unfortunately it was closed for repair. However, we did take a video of what we could see of the Roman Forum. The Via Sacra (Sacred Way) was used for religious and triumphal processions led to the "Forum Romanum" which was the center of political, religious, commercial and judicial life in ancient Rome.

My camera does not have sound but the video turned out pretty good.

I could not get the video to load so I added it to "YouTube". Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0syA-v8bQU

What fascinates us with what we have seen here in Italy is that we have walked where people walked centuries ago. That blows our mind. First in Pompeii and now in Roma.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.