First of all I want to thank all those that have prayed for Fabrizio in Mexico because we felt those prayers. He is still running a fever, so please keep praying.

Here in Florida life in Community is going well with more guys coming for orientation. We are focused on really doing community without any major project that sometimes can be really overwhelming for our guys. At OLOH the guys are painting the interior of the house, chopping a lot of wood for the forno, and painting the wood shop. The garden is keeping our guys busy, and we are getting some results from our hard labor. The guys are very happy with all the vegetables. We made some changes and now in the kitchen we have Steven who never cooked before, but I think is very good for him– not so much for us!

At M I we are focusing on finishing the small house and, in the meantime, we are working on the dormitory. All the process has not been very quick, partly because we do not have very many guys that know what they doing. Also the cost of supplies is very high, so we are taking our time. Meanwhile the guys there seem to be doing well. They have a new cook David R. He is doing a good job cooking and seems to enjoy it. M I at this time of the year is looking very good and the best part is that we do not have any mosquitoes because we are having some cool weather! We have a new guy Alex from IL

At SMG the girls are working a lot in the house, painting and making the place really nice. Most important the house is full of life, and you can see the feminine touch that the girls are bringing to the place. So far everyone seems happy to be there. We just received a lot of fabric from Providence, nd we have someone coming to teach how to quilt, giving a two day class. Also we have improved the work area, and the girls are doing all kind of projects, so it is interesting to see!
In Italy they are preparing for Mother Elvira’s birthday celebration which is always a great time of joy and friendship. I will be there and will have an opportunity to see some of our guys that are in Europe. I hope to see many of them. You never know if they will come or not also because moving a lot of people in winter time is not easy. This year has been extraordinary with so much snow in northern Italy. Some of the guys have been moved: Brett and Scott went to Austria, Christopher went to Italy from Ireland, Ryan and Sherman are still in Saluzzo, John Varner is in, and Luke and Lyle just went back to the States.

In Medjugorje we had a new guy enter, Nicholas, from NH. The mom had a chance to take a few photos and sent them to one of our families!

Hope and pray for all of you and please do not forget to help the Community in this New Year. We have a lot more guys and girls to come into community and lately our food pantries had been pretty low, but the beauty is that our guys are not complaining at all!

Happy New Year
Grazie
ciao