Giulia Trabuio: Her Fountain of Youth

By Don L. Searle

Associate Editor

“My children tell me that the Church has made me young, that I have changed,” says Giulia Trabuio.

Her children must be right. Sister Trabuio’s energy and vibrancy belie her age. In 1987, then in her early seventies, she completed nearly fifteen months as a missionary. Her children were pleased with her decision to serve a mission—even though they are not members of the Church—because of the difference they have seen the gospel make in her life. For the same reason, a daughter paid Sister Trabuio’s way to the temple the first time she attended.

Sister Trabuio has been a member of the Mestre Ward, Venice Italy Stake, for more than ten years. In the ward, she is known for her willingness to work. She explains simply that she does everything she is called to do; then, if there is more to be done to serve others, she does that, too.

Sister Trabuio spent the first part of her mission in Florence and Rome with younger companions. But she enjoyed most her eight months in the Swiss Temple.

Despite her age and a few physical aches and pains, when there is an opportunity to make the trip to the temple in Switzerland, she still enjoys going and working from 6:00 A.M. until 9:00 P.M. “And the wonderful thing is that I don’t get tired,” she says. “When I enter the temple, I’m a different person. If I could stay there until I die, I’d do it.”

Photography by Don Searle