While there are many beautiful, intricate, ancient churches here… my personal favorite one in Trento is very simple. It has no spires or stained-glass windows or statues. In truth, it’s just a floor of a building tucked into a street. There is grafiti on the buildings nearby. If you didn’t know it was there you’d walk right past it. But my first Sunday here, I went directly to it. As I saw that golden sign, I was washed over with love. The sign might as well have said, “Welcome Home McKenzie.”
In Exodus 19:5, the Lord calls His people a peculiar treasure. “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me.” I do often feel peculiar. Like when I don’t drink beer… or wine… or even coffee!! These drinks are embedded into the culture of this society. “What is a non-drinker doing in northern Italy?” I was asked by my friend Federico the grape farmer. Wine is his livelihood. I feel peculiar in the way I dress and even the way I talk. But it’s okay to be different. It’s even kind of fun.
Your Father in Heaven trusts you.
He knows you can make a difference in the world, and that requires, in many cases, being different from the world.
-For the Strength of Youth Guide
Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints makes me one of about 35 other active members in the Trento branch.
Today President Cattaneo asked me to say the closing prayer in sacrament meeting! Thankfully I had said an Italian prayer out loud at dinner the night before, so at least I had practice. I was nervous to mess up in Italian, but I offered a simple prayer and felt good about it. It’s funny how something so normal to me could make me nervous in a different language!
The members here are wonderful, and the missionaries are too! The church is about 30 minutes away so I either get a ride with the Galvagni family or take a train to the city. When I first got here, I reached out to the Elders and they helped me find a ride with the Galvagni’s.
Elders Frost and Olsen are doing good things in Trento. Today they came over for a barbecue lunch with the Facciolis and Giulia, Pietro’s girlfriend. They all got along really well and it was so fun being together! Being with missionaries not only reminds me of my time in Houston, but also reminds me of my siblings James and Breanne and how proud I am of their decisions to serve. At the end of a lovely meal, the Elders shared Ether 12:4 with us.
“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”
That is my anchor. Jesus Christ is my anchor. He is my hope. I love His church because I love Him. I’m so grateful for my relationship and covenants with Him. It is more than just peculiar, it is a treasure.
La Vita Italian 
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