February 1, 2016 LAST LETTER!

As I sit here on the metro in Rome I just think, "I can't believe it!
I can't believe 18 months is gone." It really has been a dream and a
nightmare everyone ha! I wouldn't trade it for anything. I hope that I
can remember everything I learn and continue to spread e word of he
gospel! The gospel makes people happy! I know it's true! I know it I
know it I know it! Everything I have learned on my mission has made me
stronger and more able to face what ever the adversary throws at me.
And I'm happy to do it even if it doesn't seem like it.

Yes I am tired and sore and my feet hurt and my back hurts and my
ankles hurt and I can barely keep my eyes open or even keep my knees
off the ground from falling so much ha! But man am I so grateful for
Heavenly Father! Like Elder Christofferson said in one of his talks,

"Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to
hurt me."

And I am grateful that I have been cut down and beaten and laughed and
mocked at! What a great cause to be persecuted for! I'm eternally
grateful for it! I know that know matter what happens this work will
continue to spread all over the world like the Prophet Joseph Smith
said.

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop
the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine,
armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but 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."

I know without a shadow of a doubt that this church is true and I
would scale mountains to bring it to everyone! I love my God and my
brother Jesus Christ! I love my family and friends who have supported
me this year and a half! I would like to share one last scripture that
I shared in my talk I gave Sunday, it is found in James 4: 10

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

I know that's true and! And I will see you soon!
A presto vi voglio un sacco di bene!

Sorella Barazzotto

Missionaries at Rome 3! Love that place!

With my most favorite person in the whole wide world! #photobomb

We got Napoli pizza on the way back to Rome thank you Napoli Anziani!

L'ultimo gelato con Sorella Cluff!

Yes Doris got baptized! And yes we wore African clothes!

And we're out!

January 25, 2016

Ciao tutti!

I'm going to be honest this is slightly weird I know I have a week
left but this next time next week I will be in Rome! That is such a
weird thought! I try not to think about it but then again I can't help
but think about it! Like I'm so excited to go home and apply
everything I've learned in the mission! And I can't wait to do it!
Anyways lets talk about this week!

This week was kind of difficult because all 4 of us sisters were
either sick or injured ha! So it was hard we did a few exchanges but
we are pretty tired also we had a gas leak scare but all is well now!
We taught Daniela who is getting baptized this week! We taught her
quite a few times this week and it was amazing! She is sooooo ready
for baptism! And she is so excited herself which is super cute!

We have seen sooooo many miracles this week and I'm excited to finish
strong and happy! I love you all and I'm grateful that people have
actually listening to me for this year and a half ha! See you all
soon! I hopefully will send a quick email Monday if I find the
time! Buona settimana! :)

Love Sorella Barazoto

We met some cool Slovenian girls! :)

Agrigento! Greek temples!

On the tram to church it was a party ha!

"Before" picture you will see the "after" picture next week!

January 18, 2016

 Ciao tutti!

We have a miracle! But before I explain that lets talk about the week!

It has been kind of crazy let me explain why....First I hurt my foot
so like I can't walk...well I shouldn't walk...I like think I strained
a muscle on the top of my foot boh! I am not sure...but what helps is
wearing these lovely orthopedics I found in the death closet (closet
of old missionary clothes) and when I say lovely I mean I want to cry
when I put them on. I have stooped real low in these last weeks in the
sense I have tried my whole mission not to wear the typical sister
missionary shoes but I have failed...but that's okay. I guess. So yeah
that has really been difficult considering we walk quite a bit. The
adversary really is trying with me but it's funny because I know
exactly what he is doing so it doesn't work!

We can see Satan attack us and our investigators at every corner! Like
yesterday when we left for church it was hailing and we have to walk
for like 15 minutes to catch the bus ha! Gosh dang it! We were
laughing though! We know what he is doing!

Then the night before that we had a FANTASTIC/ALMOST DISASTROUS lesson
with a new converts sister! And the adversary was working hard on
everyone in that room! It was crazy but by the end the spirit came and
everyone felt peace and the ones who were angry were quiet and didn't
have anything it say! The power of the Holy Ghost is incredible! I
have never promised so many blessings in one lesson but my companion
and I felt it is what we needed to do! It was an amazing experience!

Anyways! The miracle! We are having a baptism! It's AMAZING! And such
a tender mercy! Because my companion and I are both finishing and it's
so amazing because we get to see this baptism! It'll be the day before
we leave Palermo to head back to Rome! It's just so cool! It's
beautiful to see the Lord preparing people to accept the gospel and
change their lives!  And it's amazing how as children of God we get to
help in this work! No we did not find this person but someone else did
a couple of years ago and together over time missionaries have
prepared her so that one day when she was ready she could be baptized
into the church of Jesus Christ! I'm so grateful to be apart of this
process!

Sometimes things happen and my companion and I can't help but laugh
because we are so tired or we've seen it so many times we just can't
help it ha! It's fun being with someone my age in the mission at this
point in it too! We just really understand each other!

I'm getting a bit nervous but I still have time and we still have so
much to do like preparing for a baptism and seeing people and teaching
everyone! Also we need to eat more pizza! Ha! Anyways I'm doing well!
I'm happy and healthy and still grateful for my experiences! But I
love you all and I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Vi voglio bene!

Love Sorella Barazoto

Those shoes...

We hiked a mountain today...actually we took a bus to see a castle inside a mountain ha!

Band picture

January 11, 2016

Ciao tutti!

This week in Palermo 2 and 3 was exciting as always ha! Really there
is never a dull moment down in Sicily! Ooohhh how I adore these
Sicilians and their crazy language and culture! That is something so
interesting about Italy is that they are all Italian but have such
pride in being from Palermo or Cosenza kind of like I'm an Arizonian!
But like a lot more pride! Like everyone has there own dialect or
language! I just love it! Be surprised if I actually come off the
plane in 3 weeks. I never want to leave! Ha!

Anyway the work is going well we have a lot of safety rules so there
is a lot we can't do but we see miracles anyways especially when we
are obedient! It's amazing how that works! All we have to do is be
obedient (this is not only for missionaries) and then we receive
blessings and see miracles!

Like how we invite soooooo many people to church and nobody
comes....but we do it anyways and then yesterday we had 3 people in
church!!! We haven't seen any come since I've been here and we had
3!!!! It was a miracle! It's because we keep doing what we are
supposed to do. It's amazing how it works like that!

There are so many amazing members here as well like sometimes people
don't know how to help the missionaries but it's really fun and
rewarding getting them to learn! We've gotten like 2 referrals from
this one member just by teaching her how! It was a really cool
experience!

It feels weird to be where I am at because members and other
missionaries keep asking me what I'm doing when I got home and like
the office is talking about travel plans back to Rome and all that
jazz. It just seems so unreal I can't imagine ever leaving this place
because I've been here for so long as I have. I have just fallen in
love with everything! And it's wonderful! But yeah it's weird to think
about being home...I just honestly try not to think about it.

This week I learned a lot about being an example. Being a good example
is one of the best things you can be! Leading by example is even more.
Also with love! I'm trying to be the person Heavenly Father wants me
to be! I know I am not perfect but I search to make Him happy! I love
you all e vi auguro una buona settimana!

Love Sorella Barazoto

Seeing cool churches for pday!

Cute little churches!

January 4, 2016

Ciao tutti!

Well it's a new year! 2016! I can't believe how quickly time flies!
It's been an amazing year! Like seriously I've spent this whole year
in Italy! That just blows my mind to be honest! I'm so grateful for
everything I've learned and for the experiences I've had! I wouldn't
trade it for anything!

This week was pretty normal we had an AMAZING lesson with our
investigator, she is pretty young and we are trying to have her gain a
testimony more specifically about the Book of Mormon. And we were
actually at the train station and she decided to take the Book of
Mormon and open it up and read. And it answered her question! It was
so amazing! Like no matter where you are God answers our prayers! It
can even be at a creepy train station at night ha! So amazing!

This week it's a short letter but I'm doing good! I'm trying not to
think of coming home but I have to say I am pretty excited! I'm
grateful for my Heavenly Father and all he does for me and how patient
he is with me! I know we are all children of God we can return to live
with him again! I love you all and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love Sorella Barazoto

The Sorelle of Palermo!  We run this place.

Cefalu!

We climbed a mountain and saw the sea within 2 hours!

December 28, 2015

Ciao tutti!

So pretty much this week was awesome but it wasn't fantastic for the
work...but we saw so much good and many miracles!

Monday: after pday we had our ward party and our investigator came!
Love her! Also this family friend of the 2nd counselor came and they
were fellowshipped by everyone it was sooooo awesome! I also had to do
like 2 impromptu musical numbers....hahaha succede spesso...

Tuesday: We had to wait for the heater guy all morning (we have no
heat) so we did a ton of baking. Then we had English Course and we
decorated cookies and it was just a little Christmas celebration. It
was nice

Wednesday: We had DDM (District Meeting) and then we had lunch
together! The senior couple was sooooooo wonderful and they made us
BBQ beef sandwiches! It was AWESOME! Then we went and did this
caroling thing with all the Palermo and Mistretta missionaries for
this YSA's less active dad. It was super cool and we did it at his
work! Which is a castle in Palermo! So sick! Then we had a little
activity with the YSA's

Thursday: THE BEST DAY! (So pretty much today was P-Day because we
weren't allowed to like proselyte) So as a zone we all did Caroling at
Politeama and Teatro Massimo in the morning. We had our investigator
come too! Also there were lots of YSA's and members it was SICK! I
would try and go find but then they would also make me go back and
sing. :( It was super fun though! Then after we all went to eat
Chinese food and give our presents for Secret Santa. I got a dog toy
and a golden aardvark. Then after we all went ice skating! We were all
exhausted! But we loved it! Then for Christmas Eve dinner we went to
our bishops house and he has the cutest kids ever! It was sooooo fun
and we of course at well! Also the bishops wife is from Biella! (Where
the Barazoto's are from!) so we are like best friends obviously!

Friday: Happy Christmas! So we all woke up and gave each other
presents! I love living in a four sister house ha! It was so super fun
to do everything together! And then we headed to our Pranzo
appointment! It was the most amazing thing! First the member we went
and saw is like the strongest member and nobody in her family are
members only her mother who has dementia! Her mother is sooooo funny
too! Anyways her whole family came and after we ate all of the
delicious food we had the most amazing spiritual thought! We talked
about Christ and the Book of Mormon and invited them all to read it
and meet with us! They all seem fairly interested! It was amazing!

Then we headed back to the church and skyped! So awesome! And then we
watched Big Hero 6! By the way that was sooooo cute and I totally
cried! I haven't watched a movie (other than a church film) in a year!
(Because we get to watch 2 films for Christmas)

Saturday: We all want to the church in the morning and played games
and watches our second movie, Inside Out! That one was a tear jerker
too! Gosh dang! It was soooooo cute! I loved it! Then we went out and
looked at churches and cathedrals! And then we Weekly Planned!

Sunday: After church we ate with the African branch and it was awesome
because they are just so awesome! I love them! They are trying to
teach me tweed hahaha! It's and African language! And then we had a
surprise broadcast because Elder Oaks was in Rome and they broadcasted
it to all the other missionaries! It was awesome! He talked about
being an instrument in the Lord's hands and about converting people to
the gospel it was really good!

It was pretty much an amazing week! I'm pretty tired because we had a
lot do to! But it was amazing just spending time with all of these
amazing people here in Italy! I love them so much! I love it here and
I'm happy and though I may only have a month left I know there is
still so much to do! And so many miracles to see! It's seriously
wonderful! And I feel so blessed to be doing this! I love you all and
I hope you have a great week!

Love Sorella Barazoto

Climbing a mountain!

Merry Christmas!

Singing Missionaries!

Skating Missionaries!

Collega Mia!

December 21, 2015

I don't have a ton of time today but I just wanted to tell you all how
much I love you! I have no idea who even reads my letters but I am
just so happy to be here! I can't imagine anything more wonderful than
this. I have grown and been stretched in so many ways! I'm grateful
for a loving Savior! It's such an amazing time of year to remember
him!

This week we have seen so many miracles! And people have been helping
us so much here and it's amazing to see others wanting to share this
message!

I know Christ lives! I know he loves each and everyone one of us! I
hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! I can't wait to talk to you
family! :)

Love Sorella Barazoto

Finding! Love my collega!

Amuni is Siciliano for Andiamo in Italian which is lets go in English! #coolgraffiti

Cutting onions...me and my sensitive eyes...

I love Palermo

I don't know...

Selfies with turtles and missionaries