Hello! So...new area, new challenges, some not so new...and lots of fun! It's a large Branch here in Udine, not quite as dependant on the Missionaries as Forlì was (I'm grateful). The Missionary area is in a bit of a bad way, and my goal for this transfer is to transform it into a functioning area. We've got two really good investigators though, and one of them brought their sister to Church on Sunday (I ended up translating again) and we're having to hold back from the Baptismal font! We didn't even say anything in the first lesson when she said she wanted be baptised....today! We managed to persuade her to wait a little while, and we're excited for her! The Branch is great! I love the city, finally a city which looks Italian...the only downside is my companion is from Utah! Darn...but he's cool, so I don't mind losing my record for lacking in Utahn companions! He's from Farmington, Utah, and is called Anziano Taggart. He's actually a little older than me, 25, so for once I'm not the oldest missionary in the Zone :) Apparently it is a twin city with Port Talbot, the city next to Swansea where I was Baptised! And there is a senior couple in my district, Anziano and Sorella Jacobs from Layton Utah, who lived in Cambridge and also East Anglia, so if you know them let me know and I'll pass on to them your greetings! :) Plenty of connections with home it seems! :) Something that has hit me this week was from my personal study this morning. I was reading Mosiah 3 (I'm reading with my new convert in Reggio, although I'm just guessing how much she is reading, and I need to catch up), and an old favourite took on a new meaning. Verse 19 mentions how through the Atonement we become a Saint. The thought was the role of the Atonement. Many Christians claim that the Atonement does everything first, then we do works. Many people say that 2 Nephi 25:23 says we have to do everything before the Atonement comes into effect and saves us. But this gave me a different line of thought. It is through the Atonement that we become perfected and ultimately saved, the Atonement helps us do everything we have to do to be saved! The Atonement really is infinite, and is designed to bring us from our natural carnal state to the Saints we have the destiny to become. The trick is learning to rely upon it! I love you all! Anziano Nelson