It's a Small World After All...

It's crazy to think how small this big world can sometimes be. We caught news that one of the missionaries serving here in our stake is from Italy. When Andy heard the name "Pagnin" he knew he was from Padova where the old mission home was and where Andy served 9 months of his mission. After a few weeks we were finally able to catch him in the hall at church and make the connection. Sure enough, Elder Pagnin's grandparents, Marchione's, were one of Andy's favorite families from his mission. So much that Andy went back and visited with them when he returned to Italy a year after his mission to go through the Temple with Stefano. Andy only met Elder Pagnin's parents (Marco and Silvia) a few times but knows his grandparents (Tullio) and his Aunt Federica and Uncle Luca very well and kept in touch with them for several years after his mission. We've had Elder Pagnin and Elder Stanley over a few times and it's been fun for all of us get to know him better. What is even crazier is that we could have met Elder Pagnin as a child (he would have been 5 years old). When we went back to Italy in 2001 we stopped by their house and their neighbor told us they were on vacation for 2 weeks. When I told Elder Pagnin he said, "Yes, we were in Torino!" It is definitely a small world after all!