Ciao tutti!
This has been quite a week for me. I
know I say that every week, but it's true! every week is more and more involved
than the last because I'm able to understand more and more of what's being said
and more frequently now, I'm making friends with all the members in the wards
I'm assigned to. I want to talk about a few things in this email, some fun,
others a little more serious. But overall I want you all to know that I love
you, and that I wish the best for you always!
Pizzas Eaten: 39
Gelato: 29
Book's of Mormon: 55 (this number hasn't changed a lot
because we don't have any copies of the book to give out here in Agrigento.
We've ordered some though)
1. Comparison. Stop It.
2. Audio Recordings
3. English Course in Agrigento
4. Other Things Worth Mention
5. Coolest Thing of the Week
Comparison. Stop it.
First off I want to start by saying how
important it is that we never compare ourselves to others. Ever. It will
destroy you if you do. Mentally, spiritually, just don't do it. However, self
comparison is encouraged. Compare yourself, who you are, with yourself, who you
were. For me, I did a lot of self comparison this past week with who I was just
before I went into the MTC and who I am as of today while I write this email. I
will attach pictures of my first day in Italy and then one of today to show you
just how much I've changed physically in the four months that I've been
gone.
Other changes that can't be seen in a
photograph would include my ability to speak and understand the language. Never
once have I felt like I've gotten the language down, even a little, while I was
in the MTC. I knew I was the worst Italian speaker in the whole group, and it
wasn't for lack of trying. But since I've been here in Italy, my ability to
speak in Italian and to understand other people when they speak has improved to
the point where I can almost start telling jokes. I can understand them, but
just not deliver them quite yet. Spiritually, I'm doing well. I'm more in tune
with the spirit and less and less afraid to act on the promptings that I
recieve no matter what they are.
Audio recordings
I've been getting mixed feedback on the
audio recordings in place of these emails so I think I've found a way to make
everyone happy in that regard, which you will see in the end of the
email.
English course in Agrigento
English course! If there is one thing I
look forward to twice every week it's English course. The people here are
awesome and my advanced English course likes to debate. That's how they choose
to learn and practice English. I get to use my big English vocabulary while I
talk (slowly because they are good, not great yet but on their way) and they
ask me what the words are that I use. We discuss things like the American
culture and then the things like that. After a heated debate on gun control and
consumerism however, I decided to start choosing the subjects that we discussed
and that way it doesn't devolve into a massive argument like the first
time.
After our course on Thursday (Giovedì)
we were asked to stay a little longer by one person, an older lady by the name
of Francesca. She is currently attending two English courses. Ours, and another
that a native Italian speaker is teaching. Naturally the two teaching styles
and methods clash a little bit, but not too badly. I mention this because we
stayed with this lady for an hour after course to help her with her English
homework from her other course, and during the whole thing, we got an
appointment this next Thursday to teach her about the plan of salvation. She is
a wonderful women who is just going through a bit of a rough patch in her life
and is trying so very hard to improve herself.
I offered to give her a blessing of
comfort and she accepted and then started to recite a prayer in Italian but
stopped and looked confused when she saw how confused and lost I was. A
blessing here is a little different then the blessings in our church, and I
happened to forget this fact. But that was alright because it allowed us an
opportunity to teach.
One more fun tidbit of information about
English Course: the English course attendees outnumber our church members by
about four to one, almost five to one.
Other things worth mention
The rest of this week involved me eating
my first Gelato in Sicilia and let me tell you, it's a whole new meaning for
the term "Ice cream sandwich" because they literally put to Gelato in
a brioche bun and hand it to you with a little spoon so you can eat all the
stuff spilling out of it.
Another thing I noticed is how this
city, Agrigento, is the city of cats. I walk outside and in the few hundred
meters it takes me to get from our very nice apartment to our preferred finding
area, I see no less than 15-20 cats either grooming themselves, killing each
other or just glaring at us.
The people in Sicilia are also more
ambient. There are less of them here than in Napoli but I've seen more people
slap each other in the week that I've been here than in the four months I was
in Castellammare. I don't have a whole lot more to say other than my companion,
Anziano Tucker, is teaching himself how to play the ukulele (soprano for those
of you who want to know) and because of this decision I get serenaded nightly
in Italian to a few newly learned chords.
Coolest thing of the week
The coolest thing that happened to me
this week was after English course on Tuesday, one of the people who has been
attending regularly and is also and English teacher who has a great vocabulary
but wants to be able to speak faster and with more confidence (which is why he
attends course in the first place) saw me struggling to conjugate for reflexive
verbs and a few tenses (past, ancient, future, conditional, etc) so he offered
to teach me Italian on Saturday and Wednesday for as long as I'm here for the last
hour of our day. It's very much Ike the MTC, but I understand most of what he's
saying which is new to me. I'm expanding my vocabulary more and more each day,
and these courses are really helping me with that.
*Bonus Section!*
Thanksgiving is almost here, and I have
no recipes other than one for cheesecake and another for stuffed chili's! I
love both of those things, but I'm trying to compile a recipe book while I'm
out and I need help to do that. Your assignment for the week is to send me one
recipe that you love, and I don't care it's for. Cookies, bread, meat,
whatever. Here is a recipe for all of you that I found here in Italy for
cookies. There are a lot of old cookbooks floating around the mission, so I
find these and compile them into the best recipes that each book has to offer.
This week the recipe will be for Dolce (Sweets) and next week will be for an
antipasto (Starter/appetizer).
You will need:
4 cups chocolate chips (broken candy bars taste better but
it's good as long as it's chocolate)
2 2/3 cups flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1. Tsp salt
1 cup softened butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
Drections:
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a
large bowl, mix butter, white and brown sugar, and the eggs one at a time,
beating well after each addition. Next, melt two cups of chocolate over low
heat, or in the microwave using 20 second intervals, stirring until melted and
smooth. Mix this chocolate in with the eggs and sugar. Gradually stir in the
flour mixture. Once flour has been stirred in, add the other two cups chocolate
(not melted). Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake
for 8 - 9 minutes at 375° Fahrenheit or until cookies are puffed. Cool for two
minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 4
dozen cookies.
Until next week!
Anziano Anderson
P. S. I can't follow links to sites because Google is
blocked on all our devices.
1. Me, August 8th when I got in country. 258 pounds, no clue
what was going on.
2. Me, today. 244 pounds, still not sure what's going on but
getting there.
3. I didn't know batman was part of the avengers!
4. Markets here in Agrigento. This one was selling honey.
5. My ice cream sandwich
6. I'm too big for Italy
7. All those tags!
8. A tad bit more information
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