It’s been a month and a half since we’ve arrived here in Italy, and we are already finding it difficult to watch our time here come to a close. I thought I’d share some insights, experiences, and new perspectives we’re gaining.

It’s fascinating what you discover about yourself when you are asked to let go of just about everything you own and live in a place you’ve never been before. For myself, I recognize how much I appreciate carpet or at least an area rug to help a room feel more inviting a cozy, especially with our cold, stone tile floors. How much a appreciate windows and a view, dryers, spacious showers, central heating, and kitchen tools I’m pretty sure I took for granted.

However, despite not having the ease of these more luxurious items, I have learned to appreciate other areas that I know I overlooked. It’s funny how the things that I thought made our lives easier, also created more stress and I struggled to slow down and appreciate the more important things in life. I love that in our home we have a central gathering place that makes it possible to see and engage with each other more often throughout the day. I love how quickly our kids have adapted to our place and the resilience they have shown thus far in adjusting to a new environment.

I appreciate all the fresh produce, meats, & cheeses we get from the local markets, that I get to cook with each day. Because everything is fresh instead of from cans or frozen, it takes more time to prepare meals, giving the kids opportunity to help out and learn more cooking skills.

While things like cooking, baking, and laundry take longer than they used to, I’ve learned to really appreciate the way it’s helped me to slow down instead of rush on to the next thing to do.

I love that my girls take advantage of being outside every single day, exploring & discovering various animals and plants they find around the yard. So far, they have discovered geckos, lizards, snails, cats, hedgehogs, and toads. And foods like, chestnuts, walnuts, crabapples, thyme, rosemary, kaki fruit, and an arbutus unedo aka strawberry tree (you’ll have to look it up). Claire even made her first crabapple pie with the help of ChatGPT to create a new recipe that used ingredients we had on hand. This included apples, crabapples, and kaki fruit. It was delicious!

I love that on the warmer days you can find a child doing their work outside on the porch. It’s also where I catch tender moments…

I also treasure the walks I get to take with each of my kids, my husband, and even just to be on my own. Not to mention the sunrise and sunsets.

I appreciate that our new more open schedules have made it possible for Phil and I to both attend the Temple every week. We won’t always have access to a Temple everywhere we go so we are trying to make the most of it when we can, day or night.

I’m loving our family adventures each week and the opportunity to call it school because there’s so much history here that we get to incorporate into their lessons. World schooling has certainly had its challenges, trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t for each child, but overall, it’s been the best way to connect with our kids and discover new things together.

Recently, we participated in a pizza making class in Rome, for Gavin’s birthday. We did a gelato laboratory visit to our favorite Gelateria. Claire and I escaped for a day and headed north to the beautiful and scenic Tuscan area. We discovered a hot spring and explored the beach on the west coast.

We could not ask for better Airbnb hosts! They have been truly wonderful, patient, and very helpful with whatever we need. They live in Rome where they both work and come up to the property every weekend. A few weeks ago, they invited us to join them on a hike near the property. We loved it! We enjoyed a beautiful view of lake Bracciano and ventured out some paved (and not so paved) paths, trekking through weeds, thorns, and plants as we found our way to a ravine that led us the rest of the way home. Claire collected wildflowers and herbs as our host pointed out all the best ones to pair with the foods they would taste best with. They also shared some history of the area, and we learned that our place is an old horse barn that was converted into three separate apartments. Now I understand the bars on the windows with wooden and metal framing shutters. After our hike our hosts cooked us Italian BBQ, which included pork sausages on the grill, collard greens, and rice. It was delicious! We had a great conversation with them about different cathedrals to see in Rome that are less known by tourists, and we’re able to share with them about the Rome Temple, inviting them to join us sometime.

We have really loved our Ward as well. Each Sunday the missionaries, one set of Elders and one set of Sisters, take turns translating sacrament meeting for us because it’s all Italian. We have learned that many people, especially the kids, speak English and we’re able to make conversation with most people. We’ve received a few invites to be shown around the local areas, invites to lunch and dinners, as well as teaching me how to make an LDS version of tiramisu and homemade pasta. Another sweet sister has offered to give us Italian lessons after church. While we still have a long way to go, she’s helped make it easier to understand the language better. They have been very inclusive, inviting us to participate in the Ward Halloween party, the Primary Program, and even ministering assignments. We are so grateful for all the love and generosity this ward has extended to us. We couldn’t ask for a better first-time experience.

Through openly sharing our story of how we got here and what we’re doing, it has opened up connection and conversations with others who have found themselves in similar situations. I love these connections! I feel the spirit so strongly, testifying of our purpose in how the Lord us using our experience to help others find courage and increased faith within themselves, as they learn to turn to trust more in the Lord. I won’t share the details of the most recent experience with another member, but I will say it has opened my eyes to seeing Gods hand in each of our lives. And how truly only He can help all things work for our good and the good of others.

I am learning that love is truly the answer in all our circumstances, trials, and challenges. Each experience we face in our lives is an opportunity to practice unconditional love. And the only way we can do this is by turning our faith, trust, and will over to Him. Doing so helps us let go of what we think is best, overlook what we see on the surface, and be more open to seeing others from a more loving perspective, as He sees them. While love won’t fix or change circumstances right away, it does soften hearts in the moment and invites the spirit of the Lord to be more present in our lives.