VOLARE // translations "to fly"

Mom and dad I expect you to listen to that on Monday morning haha or just have dad sing it to you because I will be flying to Italy because GUESS WHO GOT HER FLIGHT PLANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ME!!!!!

Ok I'll start at the beginning of the week haha. Sorry. Last p day after emailing we got to go to the temple and clean it. They took the sisters up to sealing room six and we got up on ladders and took out every single crystal from the chandelier and polished it and cleaned it and then we got to put it back in. It was honestly one of the coolest experiences ever. I loved it. It was so rewarding to see our work even though it basically looked the exact same as when we started haha. It took us three and a half hours and we didn't even finish the whole thing. That was a bummer. But a very incredible experience. 

On Friday we got our flight plans and I was so excited. We have to leave the MTC at 3:50 on Monday morning haha. We fly to Alanta and have 43 minutes to catch our flight to Italy. Which is crazy. But it's nice that we don't have a super long layover and that it is a direct flight into Rome. I seriously hope we catch our flight. I will be calling from the Salt Lake airport most likely so I will try to wait a little bit longer so you don't have to wake up at 5 in the morning to talk to me. 

After we got our flight plans I was so excited and then during my personal study I just felt so sick haha. It kind of hit me that I was going to Italy and don't speak Italian or know really how to teach lessons or even do anything as a missionary. Just kidding, but I really kind of had a panic attack and then during companion study I felt totally ok. My companion and I were able to talk about it and really we can worry about anything we want, but those are things we can't control. I have done my best to learn the language and to be a successful missionary and to get along with others and that is all I can do. So that was really awesome. Now I am just excited. I have accepted the fact that this first little bit is going to be pretty rough and I have decided to embrace it. I am so grateful for examples in my life that have helped me understand that we are so much happier in life when we look for the good stuff in life. I promise you there are good things that happen in every single day, it just depends on how you look at it.  

We had our last lessons with our investigators and it is crazy the relationship you build with people when you are praying for them and teaching and learning with them in the gospel. I am going to be so sad to say goodbye to Fratello Hatch and Sorella Russell. They are some of the most incredible people ever. 

We had a devotional with Elder Jenson from the emeritus seventy and it was one of the most powerful devotionals I have been in and it was so needed. He talked about faith and the power of faith. There are so many different levels of faith that we can have. It is a principle of power and action. I hope that some day I will be able to develop my faith so that I can have unshaken faith. The word investigator has the word INVEST in it. Which is so crucial. I love our gospel because it requires effort and work on our part. We were given the blessing of agency so we can act on our own. 

If you want to gain a testimony you have to work for it. It starts with a desire, but you then have to work with that desire. In Moroni 6:4 it talks about how Jesus Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. I love that. We are finite and He is infinite. We will always fall short, but through His grace, He can finish our faith and give us enough to push us through the finish. I am going to need so much faith in these next couple of weeks. It is going to be hard and challenging and different and so many things haha. But I just have to trust in the Lord with all of my heart and He will direct my paths. The last thing I want to leave you with is something to ponder. Christ came to earth to suffer for the sins of the world. That was His job. That was all that asked of Him. Instead of doing what was required of Him, He went completely beyond that and suffered for our infirmities, and for our loneliness, for our sicknesses, and for our pains. He suffered so that we might NEVER be alone. This is something that brings me so much hope and peace and joy and humility.That someone could care that much about me to suffer so that I might not have to ever feel like I am going through something alone. 

I wish I could share all that I learn with you every single day, but there is just never enough time. I want you to know how grateful I am for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. It is probably the best decision I have made in my life thus far. I have learned so much and grown my testimony so much and can't wait to see what these next 17 months hold for me. If any of you are questioning going on a mission, I would exhort you to take a leap of faith and go. All Heavenly Father asks of you is to have a desire. 

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and love. They are much needed haha. I can't wait to see who my trainer is and my first area and the amazing city of Roma and all the adventures to come!!!!!! Many pictures and I'm sure stories to come next week!!!

Love,

Sorella Lucy Ann Gochnour

PS In choir this week we sang the song More Holiness Give Me. It is such an incredible song because we could all use more of the things that are in that song. Here are the words READ THEM..

More Holiness Give Me #131

1. More holiness give me,
More strivings within,
More patience in suff'ring,
More sorrow for sin,
More faith in my Savior,
More sense of his care,
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.

2. More gratitude give me,
More trust in the Lord,
More pride in his glory,
More hope in his word,
More tears for his sorrows,
More pain at his grief,
More meekness in trial,
More praise for relief.

3. More purity give me,
More strength to o'ercome,
More freedom from earth-stains,
More longing for home.
More fit for the kingdom,
More used would I be,
More blessed and holy—
More, Savior, like thee.

Text and music: Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876

3 Nephi 12:48

3 Nephi 27:27