What an emotional day today.

My son opened his mission call...He has been assigned to the Italy Milan Mission!
That is where I am from. We have family and friends in that area! Never, in a million years, did I think he would serve in that area, because we have family and friends, and he will be there for two years.

Then, this evening, we went to wish well to a friend of ours who is leaving tomorrow to serve his mission in Mozambique, Portuguese speaking.

It is thanks to young people like my son and our friend that I am a church member today.

If you recall, the last time I left off with me sharing my thoughts and questions with another young lady who was at the park with the child she was babysitting...

She shared that she was no longer Catholic and that she had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

She asked me if I wanted to meet the missionaries. The first thought that came to my mind was that these were the tall, blond, young men I had seen walking around. They were well dressed (white shirt, tie, jacket) and handsome....

My answer was, "Of course. I will be very glad to meet with the missionaries!"

Little did she know that my interest was in the young men and not the message they were going to share with me. However, Heavenly Father knew my thoughts and wishes and He did send me two missionaries with their message! But these missionaries were two sister missionaries from Italy!

Back then, I was kind of upset. I truly wanted to meet these dashing young men. Now, I am grateful He sent me sister missionaries!

Have there been times in your life that you realized how Heavenly Father knows you and your thoughts?

I was born and grew up in Italy. As most of you know, the Catholic Church is the predominant denomination in the country. Growing up, I attended a Catholic school run by nuns. As a young child, I wanted to become a nun. I loved the way they could walk backwards so they could keep an eye on us little children walking from one class to the next. They seemed to do it so flawlessly and I wanted to do that too. Somehow, I thought I had to become a nun to do that!

I attended Catholic Mass, as often as I felt like it. Many times I felt as if people were attending only to see what kind of clothes their neighbor was wearing, and that is why I was not as active as I wanted to be. I did love the music though and that is what pulled me back the times that I did attend, besides the fact that I felt my Heavenly Father wanted me to be in Church.

As I grew older, and sporadically attending Mass, I started asking questions that did not seem to have an answer within the Catholic faith. For starters, I was not too keen on a priest telling me how to be a good wife and mother when he never experienced marriage and parenthood. I was also questioning infants being baptized.

These thoughts kept occupying my mind. One day, as I took the young boy I was babysitting to the park, these thoughts became spoken words I shared with another young woman babysitting for another couple.

What happened next, changed my life forever!

Have you ever had questions you could not find an answer to or that had an answer that did not feel right?

Today, I had lunch with two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Elder Rogers and Elder Hogan.

As we were sitting around the table, enjoying our meal, Elder Rogers asked me what made me decide to investigate the Church. I recalled the events of that day, and of the days that followed, which marked the beginning of my spiritual journey.

As I am now sitting comfortably on my couch, I have decided to start a blog with the story of my conversion.

I hope my story will bring others to ask questions and to recall their conversion and their path bringing them closer to our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

As for now, I am happy to say that "I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints..."