"The hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers."

We truly feel our hearts being turned to our fathers - in particular to our Italian heritage. Our mission has brought so many unexpected blessings to our family, on both sides of the veil. Never could we have ever imagined how much family history and temple work we would complete, with the help of our genealogy genius friends, the Castellanos, our amazing GANS (Young Single Adults, who love attending the temple) and some of our family back in the States.

We set out on a little family history adventure with the Castellanos (Family Search missionaries and our great friends) to find missing records for our Italian family lines. Pictured above is Gabriele, whom we met back in 2013. He is a gold mine of history in Valle San Giovanni where my paternal grandfather Francesco Montagnoli was born.

We traveled to the Abruzzo and Marche regions where my grandparents were born and raised. What a blessing that these areas are in the Rome mission (where we are allowed to travel on p-days); definitely not a coincidence! Our first stop was Ascoli Piceno, the capital city of the Marche region of Italy. It is beautiful and full of charming piazzas (plazas).

This is Piazza Arringo where the main Catholic Diocese and the regional archives are located.

These massive wooden doors guard the entry to the Diocese archive where we had an appointment to meet with Don Elio.

Don Elio is the archivist for the Diocese of Ascoli Piceno. He is a kind, generous man who helped us search the timeworn records. Looking through these books was like something you see in movies. AMAZING! Inside was the handwritten aged script of countless real people, including my ancestors.

He allowed us to carefully look through the pages and take photographs where the names of my ancestors appeared.

The script is very hard to read for us mere mortals. This is where the talents come in of the skilled masters - the Castellanos and Don Elio. One day we want to be just like them.

It was a true treasure trove. We found ancestor names (Norcini, Bianchini, Masciarelli) dating back to the 1700's. After we had concluded our search, Don Elio was gracious enough to show us a little deeper into the archives.

There were row after row of ancient records. Some were in very poor condition and others in various phases of restoration.

Unfortunately some of the key records we were looking for were in very poor condition and not legible. Almost all of the records from the smaller churches in the region had been moved to Ascoli, due to either lack of archivists or the tragedies of the devastating 2016 earthquakes and mudslides, where churches and archives were destroyed. The records we were seeking for my great grandmother Stella Norcini's family in Pescara del Tronto and Arquata del Tronto - had been buried under debris, snow and mud for several years before they were recovered.

Don Elio recommended a quaint local restaurant we enjoyed for lunch, nestled by this amazing church and staircase.

Our next stop was Pescara del Tronto, the birthplace of my maternal grandmother, Domenica Bianchini. It is nestled in the beautiful mountains of a national park called Gran Sasso.

This once charming little village is only ruins now after the first major earthquake in 2016, followed by another earthquake, mudslide and avalanche in 2017.

It was sad and eerie to walk through the rubble.

These are the names of the victims of the earthquake. Several family names on this plaque are in our family tree. We haven't made the connections yet, but hopefully will someday soon.

One of the only things that wasn't leveled by the earthquake was the cemetery, which had recently been restored. These headstones in the little Pescara del Tronto cemetery must be connected to my family. Bianchini is the last name of my maternal grandmother Domenica; Cesare must be her cousin, or maybe a sibling? Part of the allure of genealogy is the mystery behind who all these people are and what their lives were like. We're still trying to find a living relative here in Italy. They have to be here somewhere.

My great grandmother's mother was Stella Norcini; we are thinking Pietro might be her relative?

We loved imagining what life was life back in their day. Those who immigrated to America and settled in New Jersey and Pennsylvania sailed out of Napoli, close to where we live in Pompei. That would have been a very long walk; the drive took us four hours.

Our next stop was Valle San Giovanni, another beautiful mountain village like Pescara del Tronto, only it's found in the Abruzzo region about 1.5 hours to the southeast. As a young missionary these areas were not in my mission. As a senior missionary they are, and we have a car and can take a few days for this type of important adventure. These small villages are the things you read about in story books, travel brochures or romcoms. I often wondered about them when I was younger and imagined what life must have been like where my grandparents originated in the early 1900s.

Valle San Giovanni is undergoing a rebirth - with a lot of restoration and beautification. My dad and I traveled here for the first time in 2003. It's very different now.

Sorella Castellano is very good at coaching me on what I need to do - and/or ask for from my friend Gabriele, the local historian for Valle San Giovanni. He's holding his index of everyone born, christened, married or deceased in Valle San Giovanni since the early 1800s. He's the only one in the area with this type of deep knowledge.

Later in the afternoon Gabriele took us out of the village, down a dirt trail, into the hills to this old farm that once belonged to the Montagnoli family. It's very run down and dilapidated now, but it certainly got our mind wondering how life was hundreds of years ago on a farm in the mountains of Italy. The name Montagnoli means mountain men. They surely weren't the type of mountain men we think of when we think of the American mountain men; but they surely had to be tough people to survive here all that time ago.

So many names and so many villages. It's a good thing we love Italy, the culture, the people, and it's hundreds of quaint villages. We're not sure when we'll ever get to the bottom of all of it. We set out to find the little neighboring villages where my Montagnoli relatives found their spouses. Many thanks to Sorella Castellano for making this list for me!

Having a good navigator is key to a good travel experience...if you can keep him awake. 😂

This trip included visiting MANY cemeteries for both our family and the Castellano's. We found the graves of family names and were able to fill in some missing puzzles!

The people we met along the way were so kind and generous. This fine signore was so happy to give us directions and a little history lesson on a late evening as he was checking on the reconstruction of his house after the earthquake.

He told us that one of my likely relatives - Ferretti, owned all the land below, was beloved and prosperous in the community. He was executed from his front door during World War II. Other people we met that day also shared this story.

Wealthier families, like the Ferretti's (whom Sorella Castellano found and connected to us) build crypts and will inter many family members all together under the same roof.

With the advent of inexpensive LED lights, some of the cemeteries have become rather interestingly lit up. They were particularly well lit because we arrived shortly after the All Saints Festival, which is a national holiday commemorating the dead.

The Ubaldo and Catacuzzeno families also appear in my Montagnoli family line.

Lately we have seen so many old baptistries, where Christians of the Catholic faith performed baptism by immersion up until the 1300's.

We really fell in love with Ascoli Piceno.

We ate at this notable, Michelin star restaurant, just to have the experience.

We have found that more dollars does not always equate to better food. Portions were small, and we left hungry. Time for some gelato!

As we drove to our next little town, we were fascinated with how carefully they cultivate the hills. Very impressive.

It's truly a breathtaking area.

We headed to our next village to meet with the Priest after his morning mass. He gave us some information about where to find records in Collevecchio, then he was just so excited to visit and get to know one another. You can see kindness in the photo; what a good man!

We found the graves of more family names - Pio, Clemente, and Parente. And, we were so happy to find the exact birth and death date of my first cousin, twice removed, Vincenzo Clemente!

We then set off to find Anziano Castellano's family, about an hour South. The foliage was so colorful; we felt like we were driving the Alpine Loop, near our home in Utah.

Our first stop was a huge success!

The very kind Priest had his friend, a volunteer archivist come over to help us. It was a tender mercy, since this was the only time he had available - as he was taking time off to help his friend harvest his olive orchard.

These records from the 1700's and 1600's were so delicate and so fascinating.

Anziano Castellano was able to photograph all the pages with the records of his family names. Big success.

Next was even more incredible! He found a living relative, who welcomed us all with open arms, once he found out they were legit.

His cousin had brought his friends to the meeting, who were also very relieved that they were real relatives and not scammers.

The former mayor closely reviewed the family history Anziano Castellano had so carefully prepared. It was an amazing experience.

The following day we visited the cemetery in Popoli and found the grave of Anziano Castellano's Di Pillo relative who was a military hero.

We then found another wonderful Priest who not only invited us all in to look through records, but he personally devoted so much time to scouring through books looking for specific relatives of Anziano Castellano. What good people we met on this trip!

We then went to the bar Anziano C's cousin once owned, and we visited with his wife and enjoyed thick hot chocolate (like hot pudding) until it was time to meet his cousin at his favorite restaurant. Bars (where you get hot chocolate and a pastry) in Italy are not like bars in America.

The Castellanos had stayed up half the night making more genealogy connections.

We had a wonderful dinner together, and Martha loved her caprese pizza.

After reviewing more genealogy, his cousin and his wife then took us on a tour of the neighborhood where he grew up.

They became fast family and a special, unforgettable bond was forged! Our adventure days were priceless. It's hard to put adequate words to experiences like this. We definitely feel the "Spirit of Elijah" - that divine prompting that inspires people to connect with their ancestors through family history and temple work, fulfilling the old testament prophesy to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers." (Malachi 4:6)

This is definitely one of the highlight "unexpected blessings" of serving at this time, in the Rome Mission, living 15 minutes away from Italian genealogy experts, who happen to be our dearest friends!

When we felt that burning desire to stop everything we were doing, retire early and serve a full-time mission, we definitely took a leap of faith. We put all our eggs into the basket of -"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:4-6

He has directed our path, and we are eternally grateful.

We close with our assurance that God knows and loves all His children. He desires to lead us, guide us, walk beside us and help us find the way. What a blessing to know this truth!

All our love,

Anziano and Sorella Montagnoli

Cliff and Martha