#LIGHTtheWORLD

(Anziano Wilkinson)
This week we celebrated a little thanksgiving, nothing too special, but still really tasty! We decided to make a lasagna this year instead of a turkey, partially because we didn't know what we'd do with all the leftovers if we had and partially because we had no idea where to find one! I guess Italy is just not a huge turkey fan!

Anyway, we had a meeting in the morning on Thursday and after that was over we asked our Italian friend about how to make the best lasagna. He told me his recipe and my companion and I went home and immediately got to work cooking it (it was already lunchtime by this point). The lasagna turned out wonderfully! It took a good while to prepare, but as soon as we pulled it out of the oven we knew it was going to be good. And it was! It wasn't a turkey, but hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans, right? We also made a banana cream pie for desert which turned out a lot better than we were expecting for our first made-from-scratch pie! Here are some pictures of our accomplishments:

Now we begin the race towards Christmas! Anziano Larsen and I have already got out tree up and everything. Someone before us left it in our apartment I guess, with decorations and all! So that was pretty awesome. Here's a picture, don't laugh, our decorations were scarce haha:

Speaking of preparing for Christmas, there is an amazing Christmas campaign that they have begun on Mormon.org designed specifically to help us prepare for the Christmas season! The campaign is called #LightTheWorld (I actually like the title in Italian better, which is #SiiUnaLuce, which means "Be a Light", but it's all the same idea!). The concept is this. Christmas is a holiday for remembering our Savior, Jesus Christ. Before all the gift giving and the partying, Christmas is a time to reflect on His gift to the world: the atonement, which allows us to become better people each and every day. So in honor of Him and all that He has done for us, it only makes sense to give back in some small way. And the best way to do that is through service!

The whole idea of the campaign is to inspire as many people as possible to follow the savior in his example of selfless service. And it's easy, too! They have created an advent calendar with new ideas for every day of December up till Christmas, ideas to inspire us to serve more people more often. And not only that, they've created a really nice video to go along with it! So I invite everyone to go visit Mormon.org, watch the short little video (you can't miss it, it'll be quite conspicuous haha), and then check out the advent calendar and commit to serving everyday for the first 25 days of December in 25 different ways! The website outlines dozens of ways in which we can reach out and Light the World, many of which you may have never thought of before, so go check it out! I know that as we commit to serving others for these first 25 days of December, that we will make a difference in the lives of at least 25 different people. That's a lot of people with brighter Christmases! Now imagine if we all helped 25 people! We can truly make the world a brighter place, one act of service at a time.

I hope you have a wonderful week! Good luck Lighting the World!