Doubt not; fear not... with 286 GANS in Bologna - so FUN!

President Russell M. Nelson said of these extraordinary young adults, “My beloved young brothers and sisters, you are among the best the Lord has ever sent to this world. You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation! … You are the hope of Israel, ‘children of the promised day’! ... You were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing … ”

It was so fun to head up to Bologna to help with the all Italy National YSA Conference! As we headed toward Florence, the road was closed due to a fire, then another accident, so we detoured through some beautiful roads on an adventure that added a few more hours to our drive. No complaints!

We arrived at the Sydney Hotel and started off by helping the committee register the participants. So many GANS (YSAs) we love passed through the line! Some were our GANS from our mission, others we knew when we lived in Rome, and others have crossed our paths through the years. The theme of the Conference was taken from Doctrine and Covenants section 6, verse 36, which reads: "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." This is one of our life mottos! I have even been known to do a little dance, chanting, "doubt not; fear not" - while encouraging struggling missionaries and other young adults!

The welcome meeting was filled with so much excitement and energy!

The planning committee did a first class job putting everything together. We were assigned to help Serena (tan pants and adorable curly hair in the front) with all her assignments. We were so grateful to Clara (jean shorts) for officially inviting us; we were the only senior missionary couple in attendance from the Rome Mission.

Can you just feel the fun in this room? Everyone was so happy to be together!

They introduced the Conference in such a clever and creative way.

“How marvelous is the generation with which you deal. We have never had a generation its equal in all of the history of the Church. They are better educated. They are more familiar with the scriptures. I believe they pray with a greater measure of faith, have a greater desire to do the will of the Lord, are more active in the Church, go into the world as better prepared missionaries, and live to become better parents.” - President Gordon B. Hinckley

Campania well represented the Conference, and this made us SO HAPPY! This was such a fantastic occasion for all of these incredible young adults to make new friends, reconnect with old friends, create meaningful experiences - and participate in spiritual, educational, service and bonding interactions.

It was special time for everyone to learn, to grow, to play, and to have a great time with like-minded young adults who share their same goals and values. Not all who attended were members of the Church; in fact, from our area we had Luca, Rebecca's boyfriend, and Justin, who got baptized the week after we returned. Our little group started out with a devotional on unity. Mosiah 18:21 was our theme: "And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."

Food for thought... After Jesus Christ appeared to the people on the continent of North America after his resurrection, he first taught them about baptism. The second thing he taught was to not have disputations/contention. That lets you know how important it is! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/11?lang=eng

3 Nephi 11:28 states, "And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. 29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Oh how we love kindness and unity! With the Lord on our side, Satan will never win in his efforts to foster contention! #UnitàGANSCampania!

The second day of the Conference was my birthday. Everyone was so loving and kind! Angy and Anna had a special birthday surprise for me first thing in the morning. They had reached out to our kids and grandkids and had them share what they loved about me. I felt so grateful, and their outpouring of love was the best birthday gift! Our GANS had slice of cake ready for me after lunch, with a candle to blow out, and they had everyone in the dining area sing me happy birthday. I felt so very loved! This was such a thoughtful gesture!

We are pretty sure each of our GANS know how much we love them! We can't even tell you how much it filled our hearts being surrounded by all of these angels we have come to love so very much! They are the WHY of our mission!

We have also come to really love the senior missionary couples with whom we interact. These are the Lowes and the Lowes, who are cousins! They are serving in the Milano Mission as GANS missionaries.

We loved seeing the Dwomoh twins from Reggio Emilia. Both Francesca and Lucia served in their city years ago. We met them when they were younger and our paths have crossed again during our mission.

These photos of our beautiful GANS friends capture the joy of this Conference!

They have such a light about them, and we know they are destined to do great things!

Game night was such a blast!

Everyone got to choose to either go to a water park or amusement park, or hang out at the pool at the hotel, with an optional movie. We were so happy Luca came; we love him and Rebecca and Martina so much!

We had to tease Denis about his harem of girls! He's a great brother and friend to Paola, Luisa, Isamar, Alexandra and Justin.

Their Conference shirts say, "Rising Generation." Our magnificent GANS take part in the fulfillment of prophecy that in our day “the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

It is an honor to serve them and help them understand their divine identity and the role they will play in the winding up scenes of the last days!

This photo of our beautiful Franca inspires us. Everyone had time to study scriptures, be uplifted in devotionals, and develop meaningful friendships around the table.

The food was great and was definitely a highlight for so many.

Being huge proponents of "family dinner" and great conversation and questions while sharing a meal, we were thrilled to table hop and find out the day's highlights!

Eating and visiting with everyone was one of our highlights! We also relished the fact we didn't have to buy and cook the food, nor do the dishes. That was a birthday treat!

We LOVE letting you see all of "our people," and we think you can get a glimpse of who they are through these wonderful photos.

Marco and Anna have a standing competition over who is our favorite! It's a crack up.

We also loved seeing former missionaries we know and love from the Rome Mission! Both Sorella DiManzano (light green) and Anziano DiBella (behind her) served with us here in Campania. We love them!

Paola, Alexandra, and Sorella Cuevas (service missionary) did an this fun latin dance for the talent show - that brought down the house!

The judges were fantastic - Sorella Dinicciaci, Anziano Petrigniani, and Giorgia Romano, our Institute Coordinator. They are such fine leaders and truly love the young adults in Italy.

Everyone also attended workshops and special devotionals. We were all edified and inspired.

I translated (Italian to English) for an amazing seminar on managing finances. Loved the teachers! Cliff translated another workshop. It comes in very handy that we both are fluent in Italian. Leaders are already asking us how much more time they get to have us.

Karaoke night was a huge success!

Serena (the leader we were serving) was meant to be an MC! She and Thomas were as good as any movie star!

We loved seeing former Anziano Bezan (he was our AP, then finished his mission in Napoli). As always, he was full of smiles and we were all so happy to see each other!

We are pretty happy to be "Anziano e Sorella Montagnoli."

As anyone who knows Cliff would imagine, he figured out how to hang the blue tulle and lights, found a ladder, and transformed this room for the formal evening (the light beyond the stars).

Sorella Lowe is a costume designer, so she knew exactly how to hang the fabric for the photo booth. I was her assistant.

The evening began with the red carpet entry; aren't they so handsome! Denis (last to enter) is in the Bishopric in Caserta. He's one sharp young adult!

Luca and Rebecca are such a fabulous couple!

Alexandra and Justin definitely have the star pose!

Luisa and Isamar are both class acts!

Franca and Marco (sister and brother) look like they came right out of Hollywood!

Everyone looked stunning! Angela is from Napoli, works in Rome as a Carabiniere, but often participates with us when she is home on the weekends.

It was so fun to see Lorenzo (former Anziano DiBello) walk in with our lovely Anna! Their smiles are fantastic! Observing their happiness was pretty memorable.

And I love this photo of Serena! I think the look on her face says it all! I bet her thoughts were of relief...this was the last night of the Conference and it was a huge success!

What a treat to have Nicole, Michele and Alessandra come at the last minute! I was the wedding planner for Michele and Alessandra in Rome a few years ago, and Nicole was one of the bridesmaids. We are all the dearest friends! We were leaders in the MTC when Nicole began her mission, and we were missionaries here when she finished!

Angie and Anna were stunning and elegant; we love them so much - and wish the very best for them as they progress, plan their futures and continue their paths of discipleship! They no doubt have important roles to fill as great women of faith!

Franca and Marco are so dear to our hearts! They are the best of the best! One thing we truly love about both of them is their magnetic optimism! They are full of smiles, consideration of others, and are happy to jump at any opportunity to serve.

No doubt, Luisa, Isamar, Justin, Paola, Alessandra, and their adorable friend are destined to do great things in their roles as leaders of the "Rising Generation!" We love them and believe in them! They are incredible young adults, and we know the Lord trusts them. Beautiful on the inside and out, we love how they are putting "oil in their lamps" as they make and keep sacred covenants.

It's always fun to see Nikki, who is originally from Napoli - and Stefano, our friend who heads the YSAs in Italy. They are top notch all the way! Stefano has lots of heavy responsibility in his work and church assignments, and we loved seeing him relax and enjoy the evening.

Rebecca, their friend, and Martina are model angels, and they are good thru and thru! Rebecca just graduated from university and her sister Martina (stripes) from high school. They are already great leaders and are beautiful, charitable, faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. They are genuine, hardworking and kind, and their efforts make a big difference in our area.

We were so proud of Angy and all of our GANS! We gave them a challenge to branch out, get to know other GANS, enlarge their circle of friends, flirt a little and have fun! The art of flirting needs a come back! Young people rely too much on texting and dating web sites; we love seeing them interact in person! I may have even bribed them with pizza and gelato!

The last night was fantastic! They stayed up dancing and having fun together into the morning hours.

Everyone was sleepy in the morning - as we packed up and headed back to Campania.

Goodbyes weren't too rough, since we are all together for six more months!

We love interacting with the Lowes. One of our common friends is Karen Acerson, which is so fun! We will be friends long after the mission.

Oh how we love these amazing young adults!

They will be in our hearts and part of our forever story!

We have known Roberto his whole life. He is Enzo Papapicco and Rafaella Valentini's son (from Bari). (His uncle Ettore and aunt Lucia introduced me to Cliff 36 years ago, when they came to visit me in Utah after my mission.) We love seeing this grown up version of Roberto; he was the cutest little boy you've ever seen! These profound and lasting relationships we have developed in Italy are our eternal treasures.

"At no time will we be more Christlike than when we are a friend." - Elder Marlin Jensen.

It is our prayer and invitation that all of us may be that true Christlike friend.

With gratitude for all of our beloved, dear friends in Italy,

Sorella e Anziano Montagnoli

Martha and Cliff