Beyond Grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving! We are exploding with gratitude this holiday season! To begin, we wanted you to virtually meet these wonderful young single adult members of the Church. We have loved visiting, interacting with, and being inspired by them. Their stories are amazing; they are full of courage, hope, light and love. Some are new converts, two have baptismal dates, some are rediscovering their faith, and a few have served missions. Only one in this group has a car. They ride trains, buses, and walk… to Church, to our institute class in Naples, and to activities. They study, work, serve in the Church and some serve in the Rome temple, which is from 3-5 hours away using public transport. We love them! We have many more to find and love; we are so grateful for this opportunity to serve!

We love living in Italy, and we love being together! This dream is magnificent!

We were laughing the other day, thinking about how our day-to-day routine hasn't really changed; just the country and language. We love, serve and help, but just in slightly different ways. And, instead of fixing up our house or rental houses, we fix up missionary houses.

Cliff has a great new friend named Lello, who is a fantastic plumber! The sister missionary's

kitchen sink in Castellamare did not respond to Cliff's efforts with the Italian version of "Draino" and a snake. Lello did the job :) - he drives a scooter and can whisk to his magic supply store for any need. He came back 2 weeks later to fix their leaky radiator. We love the view from the sister's apartment!

Sadly, Lello doesn't work in Napoli - but Cliff made one call to our dear friend Pasquale, and the next day he and his plumber friend removed the block in the Elder's drains in Napoli. As we've spent time making sure each apartment is adequate, we've found they all needed some, "Martha cleaning." We delivered every kind of cleaning supply, labeled with what they do. We asked them to impress us with before and after photos; their reward was gelato!

We go to Ikea when they need new furniture, and we are regulars in Leroy Merlin, the Italian Home Depot. We drive a-lot, and the

driving is quite crazy in Naples; but, guess how our car was hit (the time it caused damage) ... in our parking lot, while we were inside! A few days later, while I was in the parked car filling out accident paperwork, waiting for Cliff (working on the Napoli elder's sink), a car ran into me. Luckily there was no damage; the poor old man felt so badly! The third time was funny. We were driving to another senior couple's apartment, and Cliff slowed down when a car cut him off. Then the car behind it just ran right into us, not paying attention. A couple of his buddies came over with gas and rubbed off the mark! Phew!

We feel quite at home as missionaries. For the last 3 years, we served at the Missionary Training Center in a branch presidency. We spent about 25 hours a week at the MTC - wearing name tags, dress clothes and were always preparing to speak and/or teach. We served with AMAZING ecclesiastical leader couples and LOVED our incredible missionaries! We feel SO BLESSED to again serve with remarkable people, young - and less young. :)

We have had so much fun with our new friends, the Castellanos. They are on a Family Search mission doing terrific work! They are whizzes at everything and have made huge break throughs in the Montagnoli line. They live close to us, and we are in the same district. Today we had district meeting in Napoli, and we put together lunch for all. It was a very sweet Thanksgiving day; we feel truly blessed!

Once a month we enjoy an in-person district meeting. We love their tradition afterward of stacking chairs to represent their number of 6 week transfers in the mission. We are coming on our 2nd transfer, so today Cliff and I sat on 2 chairs and held the number 2. Do you think we will sit on 12 chairs when we are about to finish our mission? Hmmm - to be determined!

Presidente e Sorella Morris (the Rome mission leaders) are truly inspired; we love them and look forward to uplifting zone conferences in Napoli every 6 weeks. We've also been so impressed by our young missionary leaders! If any of you are considering a young or less young mission, we highly recommend it! Don't wait until it's the "right moment" - because that never comes. More missionaries are very needed; there is just so much good to do!

We LOVE our GANS (YSAs)! Some of the things we do remind us of our years of service at BYU. Sometimes I think - wow, if we only could blink over our stuff from home, we could enhance our activities, decor and food presentation! Then I realize, it's just stuff - and fluff. People matter more than things, and as you can see, we are a very happy bunch!

While I'm inserting these photos, I realize one very common thread: good food! One of my favorite highlights is that Cliff is now in charge of the dinner plan, and might I say, he is doing a fantastic job and is quite the chef! He loves being retired and having the chance to do something new. Can I just say how much I love this?!!!! He has also traded in his almost daily snack of peanut butter on graham crackers, to his favorite Italian cookies w/chocolate milk. .

We really LOVE the members; they are few, but they are mighty! We were invited to the Bishop's home in Napoli and were so touched by their kindness. We are always amazed by their examples of faithful diligence. They love the Lord and serve with all their hearts.

The Sunday this photo was taken in the Castellamare branch, Cliff blessed the Sacrament and gave a talk. I directed the music, which was played by a CD over the church speakers, because no one plays the piano in this small church branch. I chose my favorite hymns and actually loved the experience. At the end, we so joyously sang, "The spirit of God, like a fire is burning," and many of us were in tears. It was something we will always treasure.

We truly are cherishing the beauty around us. Of the 5 church units (Salerno, Castellamare, Napoli, Pozzuoli, Caserta) we rotate attending on Sundays - 4 are by the sea (the gulf of Napoli). We will pack a picnic lunch and afterward go sit at some amazing overlook, enjoy our humble meal and pinch ourselves; is this a dream?

Then there's the really fun fact that yes, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of the world. And, it's Italy. Classic Italy. Take note of the red OG Fiat 500. Back in the day, elders had a man challenge - to see if they could lift the front or hurdle over these little cars.

This nutella jar is about 2 gallons of pure heaven!

Our dear friends, Ettore & Gabriella Valentini were in Napoli for a work conference. (Ettore introduced me to Cliff, 35 years ago, after my mission.) We loved being able to run down to Napoli and have dinner together - by a castle, on the water...not a typical run of the mill evening with friends. We loved it!

We conclude our "Beyond Grateful" post, with photos of our first family visitors! Everything was incredible, and we loved our days together! The timing was perfect, as we were so busy right before they arrived, then picked right back up after they left. We loved showing Taylor & Tanner and Avery & Gabe Southern Italy, through the Montagnoli lens. Interestingly enough, the resounding theme of their trip centered around Jesus Christ, which is so perfect for beginning the Christmas season. We love our Savior and testify that He lives and will come again. We are so honored to be His representatives and share His beautiful message of peace, hope, love, and eternal life. We know we have a loving Father in Heaven, and that He knows us individually and so greatly desires to help us. Our time here on earth matters. Let's all spread the good news of His gospel and be the "Light of the World!"

All our love,

Anziano e Sorella Montagnoli

ALL IN!

This was their little

girl dream!

The Reggia

Palace is

bigger than Versailles

The

Rome Temple

"The veiled Christ" was truly a highlight for all of us. It is our new favorite work of art.

This statue of Christ is right behind our house.

Amalfi Coast after Church

Tanner served in the same mission as our GANS Franco!

We loved Sorrento!

No lack of good food around here!

Pizza Pasta

Gelato

Gabe picked a mandarin orange that was the most sour thing he had ever tasted! Tanner agreed!

We had never been to anything so spectacular; words cannot even describe this Christmas castle; we thought we were in a movie! It was truly dreamy; yes we rode the ferris wheel!