Rome Italy Temple

Lots of thoughts. This'll be a long one.


I have always lived in a place where temples have been readily accessible. From where I sit right now, I could get to 7 temples in less than two hours, not to mention the two temples that are being built up by Salt Lake that aren't even on the map below. It costs me maybe thirty cents of gas to drive up to the Provo temple and is even easier for me to walk. I can get in and out in two hours.

In Italy, it's a little different. For years, the members have had to go to the Bern Switzerland temple. For the saints (especially down in the south of Italy) the trip is extremely long. It takes sometimes more than 24 hours driving straight or a four hour plane ride, both of which are pretty pricey. And they don't have a ton of money.

My second day in Italy, it was a cold and rainy day in mid-March. My mission president and his wife loaded us up in the mission van and drove just over 5 minutes to a huge plot of beautiful land on the outskirts of Rome. It's covered with umbrella pines and a beautiful grove of olive trees is situated by the entrance right by a small orange house, where the assistants lived. My mission president told us that this was the land the church had bought back in 1996 in the hopes that someday they could build a temple. Constantly optimistic, the Italian Saints have held on to the land knowing that someday the millions of prayers would be finally realized. We were permitted to go off away from the others and say a sort of dedicatory prayer for our missions. The temple was something we were working so hard for. It was a motivation. It was often mentioned in talks and lessons, in testimonies and conferences. It was a goal. The Italians wanted to benefit from having their own temple they could get to more easily. One where everything was in their language and for their benefit. One where they could do temple work for their Italian ancestors.


Francisca (from Ecuador) hopes to go to the Bern temple in December for the first time. I was transferred to her area weeks after her baptism. It took her a couple weeks to warm up to me (she loved the sisters that taught her up until her baptism) but the day before I left the city, she cried as she hugged me and refused to let go for several minutes. She told me she wanted to come to Utah so she could go to the temple with me. As we taught her the new member lessons, the parts about the temple were always her favorite.

The Coca family have very little money. They are from Romania and Sorella Coca is raising three young girls all on her own. They would constantly put money aside to save up for when they could go to the temple together as a family. It was a goal they were working for together and have been working towards it for several years.

Claudia is one of my favorite investigators. She is Italian through and through. Impassioned, caring, family oriented, and feisty. I remember one day when I talked to her for a long time about the importance of temples. I taught her about the eternal nature of families and we talked about why it is so important that the temple is a place of purity. She lives maybe 45 minutes away from the temple site in Rome.

Maria Louisa's youngest son died several years ago. She was a regular of our English class and we became fast friends. One day after class, she began talking about her son. I sat down and listened. She told me of dreams she had had in which he was perfect and whole, no longer plagued by a debilitating disease, and that he stood before her dressing in white robes and told her that he would meet her in God's house. She had always been curious as to what that meant. As I told her about temples, she wept steadily and hugged me tight.

Nurshia and Anil mean the world to me. They are an amazing couple from Pakistan. When we talked to them about temples, Anil became very interested about what happened within the walls. He asked us once "What is inside? Are they just empty?" We showed him pictures of the outside and even brought in the Ensign that showed some pictures of the rooms inside the temple. He exclaimed that a church that put that much effort into creating something that beautiful must have something good about it. I still pray for the day when I can see them inside one of those rooms together.

I remember working with a mother and daughter with the last name Trevisan. They had been members for 30 years and hadn't ever been to the temple so were were teaching them to doctrine to prepare them to go. Sister Trevisan-the-elder turned 85 while we were there. Seeing their faces when they got home from going to the temple for the first time was a unique experience. They couldn't stop talking about how wonderful it made them feel. Sister Trevisan-the-younger said she'd wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep because she'd be thinking about how marvelous it felt to be in the temple.

I became very close with the De Antonis family from Civitavecchia (about 30 minutes out of Rome proper) less than a year after they had gone to Switzerland to be sealed together as a family. Sister De Antonis would get emotional every time she talked about how it felt to be sealed to her husband and two small children.

Ala was one of our new members from Moldova. She was constantly working to get to the temple and is still doing so. She is one of the most faithful people I know. She has so much hope for the day when she can go and be sealed for eternity to her husband who died 15 years ago and to her two kids, Eugenia (24) and Dima (21).

On October 4th, President Monson announced 5 new temples. That morning, we had some friends from the mission over to watch conference. It was freezing cold and raining hard outside. I woke up, put on wool socks and a sweatshirt and went out to eat breakfast. I said to the girls sitting on the couch "You all ready for the announcement of the Rome temple?" As soon as President Monson began talking, I could tell he was going somewhere with temples. In my heart, I was hoping for the Rome temple... and as he began to announce the five new temples, I was praying that this would be the day. Then I heard him slowly say, "and Rome, Italy." Words are not sufficient. They simply are not enough. I yelped and covered my mouth, my eyes wide. Tears began pouring down my cheeks as I thought of the people listed above and their faces. I thought of hundreds of others that I taught and knew and loved. I thought of what their reaction must be like... screaming and crying and cheering and celebrating as only Italians can. So I decided to celebrate as I knew they were and went and danced in the freezing rain, cheering and crying.

My phone didn't stop vibrating for the rest of the day. I heard from dozens of elders and sisters that I served with. Mark called me and said "Did I hear that right? Tell me I'm not dreaming..." Trevor left me a message of him yelling happily. Tammy called crying. Dave called and couldn't say anything but just laughed and laughed. Texts from Meggan, Kristen, Joel, Alisa, Calista, Ben, Spencer, Shawn, Cam, Chet, Clark, Emily, Matt, Jonathan, Jason, Tyler, Katie, Lora, Kyle, Trent, Ty, and many others came throughout the day. It would hit me in waves... I'd gain composure and then another face and another friend would come to mind and I'd again be grinning widely or wiping tears from stinging eyes. I checked my email and found my inbox full of emails from Italians and Italian missionaries describing their experiences. I'll include some of the ones from missionaries I taught in the MTC written in English, since Italian won't make much sense to most of you.

Sorella Black is a sister I taught in the MTC. She is in the Southern part of Italy. "The announcement is quite monumental for anyone who is associated with the church in Italy. The fact that I was sitting in a tiny chapel in Ragusa, my first general conference of my mission, and when they announced the temple...everyone was crying, laughing, shouting, hugging, calling people...the Italian translator sort of stumbled on the words, and you could tell he was crying too...overall a wonderful weekend."

Elder Daniel is in a southern city called Bari. "You would not believe the excitement here in Italy when they announced the Rome, Italy temple. The members were crying and I don't think will ever stop talking about it... It was sooooo amazing to see their excitement! Many of them had their prayers finally answered that day. It is an experience that I will never forget."

Sorella Anderson is also serving in the south of Italy. "as you can all imagine, when we heard this, we were overwhelmed with joy. of course i was in tears. we (the other missionaries of my district) watched general conference in english on the computer in a room in the church. it was a moment we will never forget. two elders were watching conference in the main chapel in italian with branch members and they told us the room just exploded. can you imagine their joy? these sweet, faithful italian saints will have a temple. it is truly a miracle. the lord has answered many, many prayers and he knows that this country is ready for their own temple."

Elder Taylor is in northern Italy. "When President Monson started the announcement, I was thinking "Please Italy, please Italy." Then I was thinking, about halfway through, "If he says it, it will definitely be the last one." When he finally did, ... I had chills up and down my body, I would describe the feelings that it was as if my soul was shedding tears of joy. We are all so excited to see how the work explodes here, it will be truly amazing!"

Sorella Skabelund just got to the Rome Mission a few weeks ago. I worked with her in the MTC. "WE'RE GETTING A TEMPLE IN ROME!!!! Its incredible. It really, really is. You have no idea.... This is the biggest best thing that could happen to us as missionaries out here right now. In fact, the member program i was telling you about last week was called "operation temple". I'm also way excited cuz nobody believes us when we say that the work is really growing out here, that theres no such thing as a particularly difficult mission. Wow. Let me just tell you right now what it was like for us out here. I have never, ever, in my entire life seen something as sweet and wonderful as the rejoicing of the Italian saints, and I probably never will. I mean really... rejoicing. When the words "...and Rome, Italy" were uttered off of President Monson's lips, every heart in the room was turned to the Lord in thanksgiving. There was standing, shouting, crying, cheering... I have never felt the spirit in that way before. I never really understood what it would be like to not have a temple so convenient. I knew it would be unfortunate that I dont get to go to the temple for a year and half while Im here, but I forgot that the Italian saints only get to go to the temple a few times in their lives. Now they get to experience those blessings as often as they please. The Lord is so merciful!"

Barbara Ventura is a member in Rome who served her mission on temple square so her English is amazing. This is what she said about who this temple is for. "For all those that have been waiting, praying and hoping for this moment: the announcement of the Temple of the Lord in Rome Italy. For all those that will press forward in faith till the actual construction will take place. For all those that look forward to the building of the Temple in Rome, for the opportunity to attend it and serve in it...For all those who live/lived here, or would move here...For those that served in Italy, loved the people here, worked in this part of the Lord vineyard and still cherish it in their hearts....For all who rejoiced at Pres. Monson announcement of the Rome, Italy Temple."

There will be a temple in Italy. A temple in the beautiful city of Rome where I spent over 6 months of my life. A temple for the amazing Italian Saints that have remained so strong throughout these last thirty years. These people that mean so much to me will benefit from having THEIR temple on THEIR land in THEIR language. October 4th remains one of the best days of all days. And I will be there the day that temple in Rome Italy is dedicated. You can go here to find out more information and read more about the reactions of the Italians.

P.S. On October 4th, I also found out I am going to be an aunt. This day about killed me... SO EXCITED!!