An apostle, favorites & birthdays!

What an amazing week!! 🤩 We could very easily say this of most weeks serving the Great Italy Rome Mission (GIRM), but this one was truly exceptional. Elder Rasband and his family were finishing a vacation that ended in Rome, and he was gracious enough to drop in and inspire our mission with an hour of his very, very limited personal time. All were told we would have a special devotional on Zoom; those missionaries in Rome were invited to attend in person. When Anziano Castellano inquired, we learned it would be worth our effort to drive up to Rome the next day. We carpooled with the Castellanos and felt so blessed to attend this special devotional in person. The Rasband family attended as well, and we got to briefly hear from some of them. Sorella Rasband reminded us how important it is to smile;😄 after all the "good news" message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of joy. She reminded us our joy should show on our faces. This was a message targeted specifically to the missionaries, but I firmly believe it is for all who believe in Jesus Christ.

Elder Rasband greeting all of the missionaries who had to attend the meeting via Zoom

Elder Rasband first spoke to the senior missionaries and reminded us of our importance in the gathering of Israel. He reminded us of his talk in General Conference on April 2023 - where he stated, "Today I am speaking to the many seasoned seniors in the Church who could serve as missionaries. The Lord needs you. We need you in New York and Chicago, Australia and Africa, Thailand and Mexico, and everywhere in between". He informed us that since he gave that talk, the Church has gone from having 3200 to 6500 senior missionary couples serving in the mission field. We feel very blessed to be a part of those 6500 couples. He shared a message from our dear Prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and from the quorum of the12 apostles. It was beautiful in its simplicity and was three fold. 1. We love you and the Savior loves you. 2. We thank you for choosing to serve as missionaries. 3. We need you. We need you elders, sisters, younger and older, on your missions and for the rest of your lives. Elder Rasband reminded us that upon completing our missionary service, we won't be returned missionaries; we'll all be "onward missionaries", meaning that missionary work will be a continuing part of our lives forever... as it is for all believers in Jesus Christ. He completed his comments with a beautiful and powerful apostolic blessing and promised that we will be able to touch people's lives, that we might not underestimate the good we can do. It was a short but powerful meeting which strengthened us all both spiritually and emotionally.

In the last few weeks we have been able to do a lot of temple work as well. We love the work of salvation on both sides of the veil. The symbolism found in temples and on temple grounds is profound, but also simple. Here at the Rome temple we love the symbolism of the living water found in John 4:14, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." As you walk out the door of the temple it opens up to this cascade of water that leads down to the marble Christus statue of our resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We testify that He lives and directs His work here upon the earth. We humbly and gratefully share our witness that He cares about all of us and is here to succor us in our moments of greatest need. He sends angels on both sides of the veil to minister to us and assist us on His behalf.

We're so happy to serve with some of these angles. We love the sister missionaries all over our mission. We said our goodbye to our beloved Sorella Smith!

We love Sr. Missionaries like the Sowells. He was one of Martha's Italian professors at BYU after her mission. He and his wife also presided over the Milan mission in the late 90s. They are now serving at the Rome temple.

This trip to Rome began a series of miracles! Some of our GANS (Kekko, Anna, Luisa, and her mom Rosanna) were at the temple for a week. Including the extra day we stayed in Rome to do temple work, and all they did for us - 91 temple ordinances were done by proxy on behalf of my Montagnoli family line.

The last week of July two of our wonderful GANS, Angy and Kekko celebrated their birthdays. After Institute, we got to shower them with love and AUGURIiiiiiii! We wish the very best for each one of these incredible people. Rascal Flatts song, "My Wish" sums up our feelings for our GANS:

MY WISH

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow

And each road leads you where you want to go

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you

And if one door opens to another door closed

I hope you keep on walkin' 'till you find the window

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile

But more than anything, more than anything

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to

Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small

You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too

Yeah, this, is my (our) wish

As disciples of Jesus Christ - we are ALL IN! Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is like being part of a great big family of love and support. We are surrounded and so inspired by wonderful gospel teachers like Sorella Stefania D'Andolfo.

We love the beautiful love and light of these amazing young adults, truly "held in reserve" for this special season. Franca is definitely one of the noble and great ones! She was one of our first friends (GANS/YSAs) when we arrived here in Italy. As we were sending WhatsApp messages to all the GANS in our five areas, she was the first to respond that she would love for us to come by and visit. That visit launched the most tender and special relationship with the Borgogno family!

Josy and Taylor are two of our wonderful YSAs from the Salerno branch who are soon to be married. You'll be seeing more of them since they are allowing us to help with their wedding. Both are amazing young disciples of Christ! #EternalFamilies

Gabriella is also one of our beloved YSAs in Salerno. What she lacks in height she more than makes up for in sweetness and spiritual strength. She is lovely inside and out, and we have so much respect for her. We are so inspired by her story!

One of the activities we do as Sr. missionaries is to help Jr. missionaries who need to go to doctor visits. Here are a couple of great Elders (Anziano Lee and Anziano Toniutti) as we wait in a hospital for a dr. visit. I've been here so much I think I need to see if they have a frequent flyer club or something. There has to be a reward system for all the hours on those seats.

When I was a Jr. missionary back in the late 1980s the mail system was terrible. A few things have changed here but the mail system isn't one of them. The Christmas card on the far right was originally sent in early Dec. 2024 by my super thoughtful and sweet cousin Sherry. For some unknown reason it was sent back to her. She resent it with another card in March, and they arrived here on July 30th. Is 7 months a long to wait for a Christmas card? 😂 We're so grateful for the technology we get to use now to communicate with our loved ones.

Speaking of technology, we love talking to Mother (Martha's mom Nancy Linder) as frequently as we do. She always shares her love, wisdom and support even though we know that our absence is very hard for her. She shares her testimony to us of the importance of our work and knows we'll be home soon to spend more time with her in person.

Our beautiful daughters and their families are also an almost daily FaceTime chat. We really enjoy the time around the breakfast table as they get ready for school in the morning or their afternoon calls before we go to sleep. We also recognize the sacrifice it is for them to have their parents and grandparents be so far away. At times it brings us to our knees, but we appreciate their love and support. They too love the Lord and Italy and understand that covenants sometimes mean sacrifices.

Early August was my birthday, so we had our usual institute lesson and then the GANS (YSAs) threw a nice birthday party for me.

I was given some wonderful gifts and a card signed by all, but more than the physical gifts received was the love that was shared with me on that special day by all who were present.

LOVE YOU GANS DI CAMPANIA!!!!

One of our GANS (YSAs) is the lovely lady Rosa. She is an artist with cakes. Not only was it beautiful, but it was sooooo yummy! I am so grateful for the time and love she put into this kind gesture. My heart was so touched.

Whenever we get together with the GANS (YSAs) food is key, even when it's not a b-day. Martha made one of my favorite baked, chicken pasta dishes and the Castellanos brought salad, cantaloupe, cookies, and bread. Then of course, the highlight was Rosa's cake! This evening was so special - with our GANS, our dear friends and fellow missionaries. I felt so grateful.

The food and the smiles were plentiful. Something magical and bonding happens around the dinner table. We love sharing that special time with these beautiful people we have come to love so dearly.

GANS (YSAs) from four of our areas (Caserta, Pozzuoli, Napoli, and Salerno) came to wish me happy birthday. Some are members of the Church; some are not. That meant so much to me. The sacrifices of time and $$ these young people make as disciples of Christ are very humbling. Some of theses youth traveled upwards of two hours on public transport only to have to do it again to go back home after our activity.

These are four of our stalwarts who come to all of our activities. We love you Angy, Rebecca, Anna, and Kekko.

More strong women of Napoli! Justin (far left) was baptized just a few days ago and has added to the strength of our program with amazing ladies like Louisa and Isamare (Lulu and Isa to those who love them...which is everyone who knows them).

Our dear friend Alessio was also just recently baptized. We're so impressed with his spirtual maturity and desire to follow the Savior. We have absolutely loved getting to know him and see him grow so much in such a short time. Alessio is so kind an humble. We're honored to call him friend.

We also love having new friends come each week. Meet Sadman

and Dulanka.

Dennis is one of the fine men in our YSA group. He came from Caserta to our activity. He travels to support our activities quite often, which we really appreciate. We love and respect him so much! He is the only one so far in the mission who has defeated me at ping pong. I'll have my revenge!

Anna and Kekko we've introduced before. They are so helpful to us and always show up to help us in so many ways. In the center here is Samantha. She is American with a job that has her coming and going to the Napoli region, but will hopefully bring her back permanently in the fall. She is so generous and loving to all and a wonderful addition to our group. She is so thoughtful! Knowing we bake cakes, cookies, and cupcakes every week, she filled her suitcase from America with pre-made mixes that are making our life easier!

Italy has it's share of great missionaries and stalwart disciples of Jesus Christ, and here are three we love. Left is Anziano Toniutti. He is one of four, great full-time missionaries serving in Napoli. Center is Paola. When we first met her, she was a service missionary living in Napoli. Now she has been released, but still does as much missionary work as she can with her time. On the right is Isa. We introduced her to you before. She also helps the missionaries a lot because she speaks Spanish - which is very helpful here, believe it or not. We are blessed to have many Spanish speaking friends who are interested in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many people have immigrated from South America to seek work.

This bring us full circle, where we we were taught by an apostle of Jesus Christ, Elder Rasband. Whether in full time missionary service or thereafter, we are all "onward missionaries" who can bless the lives of our brothers and sisters by inviting them to come unto our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We testify that He desires that we "Come unto Him" - in all our weaknesses, and we will find strength, hope, forgiveness, peace, and the possibility of eternal life.

D&C 84:77 says, And again I say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth I shall call you friends, it is expedient that I give unto you this commandment, that ye become even as my friends in days when I was with them, traveling to preach the gospel in my power. We love that Jesus Christ places an importance on being friends.

The friends we have made here are in our hearts forever!

With love and gratitude,

Anziano and Sorella Montagnoli

Cliff and Martha