Well, hello family!! Como estan?! jk. Come state?! I am sitting in an internet point right below the Santa Maria Novella train station. I love it. There are people yelling all different languages around us. Ahh, the sound of happy people in the morning, haha. This week has been s l o w... like, real slow. But, we had some pretty neat experiences this past week.

Santa Maria Novella Train Station

My companion and I were made for each other. I have been blessed with such good companions! She and I joke around allll the time. We spend most of our days ringing the citofono. We are getting REALLY good at talking to speakers. :) We look forward to getting into an apartment building so we can at least see some faces and talk to people through the door. When it comes down to it, I don't really blame the people for not wanting to open the door or let us into the building...these are scary times. I mean, I wouldn't want some random people coming into my house either! But, we are still praying that someone opens. We have to find the elect somehow!! :) We also spend a lot of the day talking to people on the street. Like I have told you all before, we look for any excuse to start talking with someone. For example, after someone coughs or whatnot on the bus, we find ourselves asking, "Oh I heard you cough...there must be something going around. And the weather doesn't help. But did you know you can still be happy and find joy even when the weather is horrible?!" Or, when you find someone looking at your nametag, you just ask them if they have ever heard of our church before. That is probably the best one. One of my favorite places to go to talk to people is at the Cascine on Tuesday mornings. They have a HUGE market every Tuesday, and there are tons of people. So we just walk around the outside and talk to people as they leave the market. It works pretty well. And it is gorgeous. 

We are still planting seeds. And I feel like a little kid waiting for the seeds to grow. There are some elect seeds here that need a lot of nurturing. So, we will continue to be patient. I am starting to learn that in life, we will always have something to wait for. It is very rare that you get something right when you want it. Oh if I could have learned that a lot sooner in life!!! All good things take time. I have found that the waiting isn't as hard as it used to be. I used to get all frustrated when I would have to wait, but now, it doesn't phase me in the same way. I used to get so anxious thinking about the future, but as of late, I realized I need to enjoy every minute. Heavenly Father has quite the itinerary for our lives, and only He knows what comes next. Can you imagine how excited He gets when He already knows the next success that will happen, and you have NO idea?!?! If not, refer to Christmas as a kid. Remember when you used to just die with excitement waiting for your mom or dad or brother or sister to open the gift you picked out JUST for the them. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father feels somewhat the same way. He has put so many people in our path and whether they are ready or not, I bet He put them there for a purpose. This week, there was a girl that we met from China. We saw her twice on different buses, and then in the city center yesterday. We took it as a sign and went to talk to her. We'll see where it goes...but for now, we are content that God is in control. I can't think of a better tour guide. :)

Love you all. Until next week!!!

Kate

photo credit:   http://www.trivago.co.uk/florence-45864/train-station/santa-maria-novella-station-134653/picture-i5418999