Italy Adventures: Happy New Year!!

Ciao Tutti!!
Merry Christmas to all those i didnt get to talk to! I hope your christmas was great! This email is going to be more difficult to write because i really dont have anything new to say. its seems really weird that im writing and that i just barely talked to you. But all is well here. We are workng hard and we are excited for the holidays to be over... Not because we dont love the holidays, but because its just a little harder for the Italians to find time i their schedule for us. Anyway, I hope you all know that i was thinking about you on Christmas! It was a great christmas here! Ill give you a brief update on what we did for christmas in case i forgot anything on the phone.

Christmas Eve: We went to Rome and sang in Termini (the big train station) with some other sisters and then on the metro on the way to the Valentine's house. they are a couple in the office and made us a great lunch for Christmas eve. President and sister Kelly were there and it was so perfect. it was the perfect way to kick off christmas. it almost felt like being at home with our families. I just really love being around the other missionaries. its a good thing i really love my companion because we dont get tons of time to spend with other missionaries. its a lot different than being in catania in that sense. Anyway, I picked up my package at the lunch too and then we headed home for our dinner! Haha. Basically we just ate a lot for christmas. Then we went to the church and Bruna and Franco came to pick us up for dinner. We were really nervous because we have only spent time with them in english course and we really didnt know how it would go. But it was so great. They had a little gift for us and the house felt so Christmasy. They had their daughter there and her 2 kids as well. And they just took us in like their own. Plus i ate... Drum roll... this is big... Oysters (I think thats what it was. Unless that is different than muscles because that is the literal italian translation) and then we had clams in our pasta. Me and my companion kept looking at each other and just laughing at what we were eating. ANd it actually wasnt terrible. I wuld never just choose to eat that but it was great. Then we went home and slept but i was so excited for christmas that it took me a while to fall asleep.

Christmas: We went to church and then went to Civitavecchia for lunch with one of our investigators and her family. It was such good food and we were so grateful that they were willing to basically let 2 strangers come over for christmas lunch. Anyway, it was great. A couple awkward pauses but other than that it was good. Then we went home and did the Nativity by ourselves and wrote in our journals. Its was a great Christmas!

Christmas Continued on Monday: We went to rome and watched Tangled with our district. We watched it in Italian and it was one of those shocking moments when the movie was over and i realized that i had understood a movie in another language. it was so weird. Then we all went and had lunch at a peruvian place. SOOOOO good and so fun. I love our district. We dont see them tons but its always fun when we get to. Then we headed back to Ladispoli to call all of you! Funny story, so we were like in a panic because with computer problems our second calls were a little more difficult. SO we look at the clock at it says 9:25. Luckily we live really close so we said bye and made it home on time. We go and plan for the next day and then go get ready for bed. (By this time its like 10... at least in our heads) Sorella Miles looks at her clock and it says 915. but her clock resets sometimes so i just told her that her clock probably reset. Then i get all in bed and then i look at my clock. It says 930. SO i check the phone... 930. Well, with 3 witnesses we decided that we could believe that it was actually only 930. The clocks in the computer point must have been off. I dont think they have changed them since daylight savings. Haha. Anyway, we were home in PLENTY of time and had some time to just talk about what our families had said. It was really great!

Its so weird that Christmas is over! I have been thinking about this christmas away from my family for over a year now and its over already. Time is FLYING. Its the craziest thing and a little scary. But it was a great christmas. I love that its something i know ill never forget. my Christmas in Italy was great! We are really going to miss singing christmas carols for people. We LOVED it. it was so fun and just so many good stories. Im going to have to make a list in my journal about all the excuses that we heard from people. haha. Or maybe we will just sing the operah we made up with our excuses on the recorder and email it home next week.

And this weekend is another weird weekend. Saturday we have to be in at 6 and then monday we are cleaning all morning and afternoon till 6. Then the next week should go back to everything being normal. Our investigators are all doing well and we have lots of people that gave us their number and said we could call them after the holidays. 2012 is going to be a great year! Im excited to see what our new mission goals are and what this year has to bring. We have lots of work to do in the first half of this year! Im going to set some good new years resolutions. Anyway, not much more to say this week. I hope you party hard for me on New years and think of me while im sleeping:) haha. Do a little new years dance for me! You can record it and send it to me. Haha. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Have a great week and know that i love and miss you all. Ill talk to you in 2012!

Love,
Sorella Chelsea

Me and Leonardo. Our neighbor/chef. we saw him this morning and he told us to come get our dinner when we get home from Rome:)