The truer it gets

You know it's bad when you start crying during the opening hymn.

Our last Sunday in Bologna was as emotional as it was sweet. We bore our testimonies, they gave us gifts after the meeting ended (necklaces for Ada and Taryn since the women of the ward were constantly giving up theirs as entertainment) and lots of hugs and "thank yous" were exchanged.

When people ask me if it was a hard decision to move to Bologna, I answer: "Nope. We hardly blinked about it." The decision was easy for a few reasons, 1) we knew it would only be about 9 months and 2) I knew we'd have a ward family here to help us feel like we were a part of something.

I have learned again and again that community matters, being a part of something matters, feeling connected matters. Our ward in Bologna gave us all of those things. It was a constant reassurance knowing that if something were to happen here, I'd have several people to lean on.

We've spent today packing and playing. It hasn't hit me yet that we're going back to Utah. But I refuse to believe that we'll never be back.