Ever since I came back from my mission 18 months ago Kinny has been saving all of her money. She saved birthday money, christmas money, any kind of money that she could earn. Whenever I would start to get into a serious relationship she would tell me I would have to wait to get serious until after we went to Italy. I really laughed at all of this and in my mind I thought we would never make it back to Italy. Well we kept working hard to save our money, got some help from mom and dad, and found plane tickets roundtrip out of Salt Lake to Venice for $400!
We were oh so lucky! Kinny's desire to go to Italy and diligence helped us to keep looking for tickets and find tickets cheap enough to go.
On the airplane rides over we started to lose our luck a little. We were stuck on an airplane for 3 hours not moving, the pilot telling us that the engine had problems and they were checking it. (That is not something you want to hear when you are about to be flying in that plane for 9 hours). As we kept having flight issues and had to take a random flight to Germany haha I decided that all of these "trials" that werent really trials could relate to the bigger picture! God is our pilot. When you are on an airplane you only see through the side windows and the people around you on the plane. The pilot is totally in control and sees the whole picture up front. He knows how the engine is working and the procedures to help make the trip safe. Long story short, we are freaking out because we only see clouds, hear the baby behind us screaming, and trying to get through the flight by watching a whole season of Friends. But our pilot knows everything and will do everything he can to get us to our final destination safely even if that means trials and waiting, lots of waiting sometimes.
Anyway that's my preachy thought for you.
I loved my time in Italy with Kinny. We ate 15 gelati in the 10 days we were there, so I would say it was a huge success. We ate pizza, lots of pizza. We saw a few of my friends while being over there. Many who invited us into their homes and treated us like royalty. We saw all of my favorite places in Italy. Venice, Vicenza, Verona, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, and Milan. We bought lots of leather stuff from my salesman Raffi at the San Lorenzo leather market. We went to church in Florence where the spirit was so strong and faces of friends filled the chapel. I saw Julia & Henry and their family just days after they entered the temple and got to see the light in their eyes as they spoke of their experiences there. My heart was so full as I heard this couple who I saw baptized just two years ago talk about the promises they had made with God and the feelings they had felt in the house of the Lord.
Most importantly I got to see my sister, Kindra, experience and grow to love the people that I love so much in Italy. I loved being with my sister and showing her a place that is so dear to me. I know it was a once in a lifetime experience! Kinny taught me so much on this trip and I grew to love her even more.
These memories we shared will last forever! Ok...now that I took her to Italy, I guess this means I can find my Romeo. Haha jk, I will let the pilot decide when and how that's going to happen. For now like they say in Italy, Pazienza (Patience).
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| Ponte Vecchio with Alberta |
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| Best Gelateria in Lucca (ate there twice in one day and proud of it;)) |
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| My Peruvian parents (Julia & Henry) |
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| My darling Kinny |
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| On top of the Duomo di Milano |
