The Airport Phone Call and She's Off to Italy!

    We were  able to talk to Sorella Forbes today when she had a layover in Chicago.  She sounds so wonderful!!  She is not nervous or scared, just ready to go forward!  She was traveling with two other Sisters and six Elders.  She said one of the Elders was hanging very close to her because he knew she had traveled a lot and this was only his second time flying!  The first was when he flew by himself to the MTC!  He kept asking her, "What do I do now?  Where do I go?"  She got him through it.  She expressed a lot of the same things that she did in her last letter...loved the teachers, companion, roommates, Branch President.  She was just sooooo positive and happy:) .... and very on schedule!  She let us know how long we had to talk and when it was time to go.  Gotta love it...that's Kell!  They weren't going to be able to watch tv or listen to music on the plane.  She did read a few newspaper headlines from the man sitting next to her and said it was great to kind of hear what was going on in the world.  She told us that two Elders did not get their Visa's and she was sad...they were reassigned...one to Independence MO.  She said that the teachers took guesses as to where each missionary would be assigned first and they guessed she would be in Florence.  I should get a phone call from the Mission Mom tomorrow to tell me she made it and where she will be assigned...I'll let you know!!
    She related to us a story about President Lorenzo Snow who dedicated the land of Italy for missionary work.  He said, "that in the last days, Italy will blossom like a rose" and "that the people of Italy will be led to the gospel through their dreams."  I was touched by that last remark as I had just read a fellow Italian Sister Missionary's blog where she had told a story of her and her companion getting on a bus in LaSpezia and a women quickly came to their side and asked "who are you and why are you here?  I know you because I saw you in my dreams"  She heard the discussions and was later baptized.  It's such a great reminder of the miracles that Sorella Forbes is about to be witness to and I personally can't wait to hear all about them.
    Pray for her...I was reminded last night as I read her Patriarchal Blessing that she has been promised to be preserved to fulfill her preordained mission if she and others pray for her.  What great blessings she will share with the people of Italy and her journey is just beginning!  I'm reminded of what a great spirit these missionaries carry...it's a flashback to when Colin was so diligently serving...it just makes a mama proud and happy:) and the whole family benefits!