Easter & Ischia!

Could we have been more blessed - than to spend Easter Sunday with the Conforte family, at the Rome temple, with our favorite family friend Ellen James! We drove up to Rome (2.5 hours) early Sunday morning, attended Church at the chapel in the Rome Temple Piazza, ate lunch with remarkable people, and drove home with our hearts, souls and stomachs filled.

We often have to pinch ourselves; it's truly a dream to spend time in this sacred place. Easter Sunday made it so incredibly special. The Spirit testifies each time we are at the temple, that this holy place is the House of God. The Savior invites all to "Come unto Me," and it is a beautiful feeling to be a living disciple of Jesus Christ. We love Him and we love being missionaries! We testify that He lives, He loves us, and He desires all to come unto Him. He will succor us, heal us, lift us, teach us, help us, and save us from our sins.

We love this jubilee year of HOPE. Already, 2025 has been a historic year. Then, the day after Easter became another important date in the lives of Christians throughout the world, as Pope Frances returned to heaven. Being here in Italy has been very sweet. All have felt love for him, for his faith, his ministry, and his legacy of Christlike acceptance and discipleship.

Italians love the Savior, their hearts are open, and their souls are kind and good. A quiet kind of reverent hush loomed here, as Pope Francis was laid to rest and the process to select a new Pope began.

We went on our own "ministry trip" the week of Easter - to spend time with two lovely members of the Church, Susy and Katia. They both have young adult children, and we were able to have the most lovely time together - visiting, seeing the island of Ischia, and meeting Katia's wonderful elderly father and her daughter Sabrina. We fell in love with the people, the island, and loved the Aragon Castle so much, it was hard to leave! Enjoy all the photos; we couldn't stop taking them!

We had a truly magical couple of days on the Island of Ischia with our new friends! Italians are so easy to love and are such fun people - so full of life, heart and soul. We will treasure the memories from our visit and will forever be so grateful for the hospitality and kindness of Susy and Katia!

From Ischia with love,

La Coppia Montagnoli

Cliff and Martha