Work in all it's forms

Ciao Padre! 

     I'm excited to be here in Italy as I'm sure I've told you before, but I'm also excited for general conference because there are tons of rumors floating around to keep your eyes open and your ears keen for many announcements that pertain to missionaries and their work while here on their missions. I'm just giddy because I know that changes are on the way, and that president Nelson is an inspired man. 

     Likewise, I love the members here in this ward and I'm attempting to love the people, even if some of them are kind of weird. There is one in particular that has some slight mental setbacks but loves the missionaries and just about stalks all of us. He knows my first name and birthday (which I've never told him and I've only been here in Rome where he is for almost three weeks) and also the names and birthdays of every single missionary in the mission I'm fairy sure. There are other things he does that I don't enjoy, but I'm trying to look past the awkward outer shell that he has and focus on the soul that's focused on the work which he he has. 

     Finding people to teach when you got blown in I a very hard thing to do, especially here in Italy where most people don't have interest in what you say as a general rule so I'm just curious to know if there was something you would do, or some suggestion that you have when it somes to finding that ight help me here and now? If not, hats fine. I have the Preach my Gospel but I just wanted to know if there was some sort of application for those methods that you knew of which I had not thought of at this present time. 

     I hope you found my last email well with you, and I hope you and the rest of the family are doing well. I heard that you are going to work and living life as normally as you can now, so good on you for the recovery! I've also got to say, my studies in the scriptures since I've been out on my mission have become much more sincere. My goal is to read all of the books one time through at least, starting with the Bible because that's what the people here all claim to know and love. Reading the Bible has given me a greater understanding of the phrase "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Joseph" and just learning about the Israelite and the history that follows them which also pertains to what we believe and why we have all of our laws and the ordinances which we have. The mission is shaping me, and I'm trying to be as malleable in the Lord's hands as he needs me to be while still being rigid enough to maintain my composure with everyone else on this blessed continent. 

This is all I have for now, until next week, 

Anziano Anderson

Have a superior ability of iron hook... To protect the ship safety...

Ciao all you beautiful people! 

     I'm still not sure where the week went, but I kept a record of it so o I wouldn't have to remember da solo! It's extremely foggy right now where I'm at this morning, so I'm curious to know what everyone else's mornings look like. Are they full of snow, sun, cold, rain etc. Just want to hear what you were blessed to wake up to! some of you I can assume, seeing as I know where you live, but others I'm not to sure. Anyhow, stats! 

Pizza eaten: 52

Gelato: 43

Books of Mormon: 72

     To start off the week, last Monday we had an impromptu zone calcio where I was planning on taking a nap because we didn't have anything planned and we both decided that a nap sounded like a good idea. However, about thirty minutes into this nap, we were awoken by the other anziani who informed us that there was a zone calcio being held that day, and because we hadn't seen any of the people in our zone yet, we then went and played calcio. Yay calcio! I was lucky and did not catch a ball to the face this game, but it was also hard to touch the ball when there were about 34 people running around on the field. 

     After calcio, we went to get burgers. I don't know if it's just Italy or the people who cook the burgers, but someone started to yell at someone else in the kitchen and then for half an hour you could just hear the yelling of Chef screaming at Chef and that caused everyone's food to be late (and cold) by about half an hour. The burgers were good, just flavored a little too heavily with Italian passion. I cleaned the fridge when we got home, and that was my Monday. 

     Tuesday held much in the form of technical difficulties. Our sink was clogged, so we took apart the draining pipes to see what was holding it up. Cleaned it out, put it all back together. Well, the last time it was cleaned out was probably never and so the gaskets were old and loose with our all the gunk holding them together. Water started to leak and the sink was out of action for a little while, until the next day. It somehow also wrecked our actual sink cabinet and everything was broken, hanging on by virtue of splintered wood and water logged particle board. That's still the case as of now. 

     Wednesday held sink repairs! Our sink works now and it functions a little better than it did when I got here. We were expecting the repairman at ten, but he called us and said that he was in front of our house at eight in the morning and so we went out to greet him. But he was right in front of our door and so we let him ito the house and through our conversation he left us with these words of wisdom: God can't bless stupid. He wasn't calling us stupid, he was just informing us of other people and how even though we are missionaries, we are not immune to the devices of other people, so lock your doors at night and don't leave your bags unattended where people can see them. 

     Thursday was full of phone calls. We "flushed the phone" which basically means that we go through the 500 plus contacts that the anziani previous to us have collected and we find the ones who still have interest in our church or who gave us their number out of desire for us to leave them alone, or if they even still live in our area. There were a few who no longer did, and others who moved to different countries entirely. This took about two hours from our day and after our lunch and studies we decided to do some metro finding. 

     Everywhere I've served before has been devoid of metro travel. So, being abke to go somewhere there are lots of people who can't escape because they are in a metal tube with you is totally awesome! Unless it's really not! Like today where we were approached by two very drunk men who I heard talking about us because they thought they were whispering but it was just a *barely* sub speaking voice. They looked at us and mentioned "tanti mogli" which means many wives. Of course they know about that! That's all anyone knows about us! they then came over and started asking questions. They also demanded that we give them our books of Mormon because the loved God, and all of his word. How true that is, I'm not sure, but we handed out two books of Mormon that day to them so that was a win. That and we were able to dispel some of the their misconceptions. Woo-hoo. 

     Bus finding! Friday consisted us other metal tubes that were full of people and we met some very interesting people. One of them was a student studying chemistry and she spoke wonderful English. We were able to talk to hear and bear testimony of the book of Mormon to her. Se didn't take the book, but she took a challenge for the book and said she would download it later because she saw we had it on our phones. 

     The next lady was also on that same bus, and she told me right after I said "hi" that she had lost her testimony, doesn't care about what we think comes after or came before this life and that she admires us for what we do because she could never devote two years of her life to uch a faith centered work when she doesn't have any. This led to a much more interesting conversation, but in the end, her stubborn Italian side won out and she didn't even take a Jesus card because "he doesn't serve me anymore" was her logic. The amount of happiness people limit in their lives because of what they choose to believe hurts my heart whenever I see it, and I saw it here. 

    Saturday! baptism! we all wore our matching bright pink ties and went to the temple where we were holding the baptism. There is a church on the temple grounds, very similar to the Boise temple grounds where we held the baptism, not inside the actual temple. There was much food, love and people with interest in that building as well as the spirit. Anziano De La Rosa and his companion, angle, were the ones who found and extended the invite to this man who was batized Saturday and confirmed Sunday. 

     Baptisms aren't a rare occurrence here, but they are certainly less common than in most other missions because of the prevelant catholic background in this country. But there were plenty of people who were walking the temple grounds who were not members and also people who attended the baptism. I love the temple, it brings so many blessings with it!

     My life is good here in the wonderful city of Rome, and during my mission In general it's been very wonderful. I'm excited for my time here, but I'm also excited for the day that I can just drive five minutes to a grocery store and buy peanut butter without worrying that it's costing me my whole life's savings for two mouthfuls.

Anyhow,

Anziano Anderson 

1. Me in a closet... Barely

2.My companion and his love for Christmas

3. Our sink being broken

4. Italy and their trash disposal

5. 5 kili of pasta for about 3 dollars

6. Fidget spinner cracker

7. A comic about travel related anxiety found outside a metro station

8. Marshmallow fries. Why? Why not.

How goes Life

Ciao Padre, 

      We had a baptism yesterday on the temple grounds. It was the first baptism that has taken place in Italy since the temple was dedicated and it was also the first baptism that my mtc companion De La Rosa has had on his mission. We live together in a four man house so being able to talk with him now is awesome and super helpful. He speaks the language about as well as I do, but he's just a little faster than me because of his mother tongue. I suppose there's not much I can do about that however so I'll just stick with English and hope for the best. 

     My gospel knowledge has grown tremendously since I've been out on the mission and studying every day for four hours out of the sixteen that I'm awake. I'm watching my prayers naturally grow into conversations and lasting much longer than they did before and also my language skills increase thanks to the epeated usage of the language in everything that I do. In church, I translate with the sister missionaries to all the Americans that come to visit via little earphones and transmitter boxes. I pray and speak in Italian with my companion and the people here in the house which consist of my companion who I'm follow-up training, a greenie, Anziano Angle, which De La Rosa is training, De La Rosa and, myself. It's so fun watching the new missionaries talk because the accent they have is so American, the words they say aren't always conjugated and it reminds me of my first few months in Italy because I know that's what I sounded like. 

     There are a surprising number of people from the Phillipines here and so I hear tagalog all the time but I can't respond because I don't speak the language. Makes me think of you though, because of all the mission stories that you shared with us as children while we were growing up. Those stories and your sharing of the desire to learn the gospel is more or less why I'm out here right now because I know that if I want to learn more about it eing born into the gospel, how much more would people who eren't born into the gospel want to know about it? Also, there are plenty of experiences to be had on a mission and from those, stories as well. I'm also curious to know what you kept in your mission trunk, because the only things I can think of that I'd want to keep in a trunk like that are my journals and maybe some of my companionship items but your chest is full of things and rather heavy so I'm just curious as to the type of things you have in there, not what they are exactly. I'm sure when I return you and I will spend a night or two going through it's contents and sharing stories that aren't suitable to share with someone at a young age like I was. 

     I've made sure to write a letter to Harmon and Nolahn this week, and send them emails in weeks past. Payton has told me that she wants to serve a mission as well, but whether or not she's told you that I'm not sure. I'm also sure that Nolahn is doing fine when it comes to developing his spirituality, but I'm concerned for Harmon in this aspect. It doesn't crowd my missionary life so much as on preperation days when I can email them and talk with them, he is the only one who I know reads and doesn't reply to my emails. I've heard from the other kids how whenever you leave town with mom, he won't go to church. He sleeps or does other things, but for him religion is a burden and not a blessing or really something that he wants to do willingly. Every time I think about him I want to sit down with him and go through the Christlike attributes with him and that activity at the end of the chapter, or really, really closely look at his plans for the future because those will tell you all you need to know about his religious and personal intent. I'm not telling you to do these things, as I am not the one who can receive revelation for him and it's not my place to tell you how to raise your kids and so I want you to know that this is not what I'm attempting to do here. I'm just conveying the pangs of my soul which I was counseled to do in my patriarchal blessing. I know that he doesn't like the church because you like it and he doesn't like you. He views you as a foe and not a friend, as someone who will say one thing and act diversely. Those are not speculations, they are things that he told me shortly before my mission in confidence. I tell you in the same sort of confidence because I know that he won't tell you if you ask and if he does it'll be in a rage. 

     His testimony is hurting and withering because he thinks that his father and the designated head of the household doesn't care for him, is rude and controlling. I used to think these things as well, but that was only because I was not reading my scriptures, saying my prayers or giving service and so I was a very selfish man. I realize that you were as Nephi and I was as Laman or Lemuel, taking the words of righteousness with much sharpness because of Mine iniquities. I love you, I pray for you and for your wife and family, for your kids and my siblings and my Mother as well. I want to make clear once again, that I am not telling you how to raise your children because you have done an amazing and outstanding job of that. I say that in a very sincere manner. Your oldest daughter is a temple wed and expecting. Your oldest son is on a mission in Italy, sharing the gospel with the people who need it most every day. Your second son is having a struggle dividing his beliefs with his feelings of his earthly father and in so doing has been forgetting his Heavenly father, but still has the priesthood. Your second daughter is preparing to go on a mission, and whether or not she's told you that, she is. Your third son is growing his physical and spiritual capacity by exercising daily in one form or another and also preparing for the chance to serve a mission. You have done an amazing job. I'm only sharing my joys and difficulties with you because I did not take advantage of the chance I had to do this in person every Sunday before the mission nearly enough. Harmon is my sorrow right now, and so I'm attempting to aid you with this email by giving you information that was given to me shortly before I left and also all the things that the spirit has moved me to say. I love you Dad. I respect you. I want you to have an ever closer and deeper and growing relationship with your family, and so I say all the things that I've said for this end. 

I love you and wish you the best, 

Anziano Anderson

A second letter to Dad

Dad, 

     The work here is growing and it's magnifying now that the temple has been completed. I'm lucky enough to be in Rome as it happened and to meet several apostles and prophets in person inside the temple as well as see everyone that I've heard about in the mission and to see what people had heard about me. (I'm big Anderson by the way because I ate three very large Pizzas in one sitting in my first transfer within fifteen minutes on a dare.) it was also some of the missionaries last day in Italy and I have to say that this was one heck of a way to go home and a story to boot. 

     I'm not even worried about the language anymore in the sense that I know I can be much better with the language and I study whenever I have the time and also I practice every day with my companion, but I'm able to translate for others in church with little difficulty now and had to do so yesterday for a wonderful tourist families kids. It was harder to translate in the classroom because the man spoke very fast and used some dialect (of which there are many) so I just had to guess and I suppose that I was right because h was ok with the answers that he received. 

     I still haven't been able to call the kids in the morning because it's been hard to find wifi reliable enough and fast enough to carry a call with voice, let alone video, that you don't have to pay for. I am trying though, and I've been sending them emails so they have something to chew on. Are Harmon and Gentrie engaged? I've heard bits and pieces but your wording in your last email makes me think they are? If so, congrats to him but hope he realizes that he could have a greater impact serving a mission and growing himself instead of taking the easy road and being selfish. Feel if you teach Harmon and Nolahn more about the priesthood, what it is, how it works and then why we are strongly encouraged as men to serve, it'll get his gears moving. Or maybe ask Jacob to do that because I know that Harmon and you do not get along very well and he takes your opinion with a grain of salt if it's not directly beneficial to him. 

     I pray for all of you daily and I'm especially grateful for you sharing your missionary experiences with me. I've actually shared those a lot more than I thought I would have and pulled from them in more ways then one. Not a lt of what you've said has been applied physically and by that I mean I haven't watched a cock fight, put a scorpion in a jar and forgot about it for a month or raced lizards in the house with numbers on their back or get banned from an all you can eat pizza hut, but the characteristics that you showed and needed to have in all of them, the love for your mission and the people, and the ability to get over oneself to embrace a people that is not at first yours, that I have taken. Granted, the food was easy to accept, and I was able to overcome my dislike of tomatoes with relative ease but the rest of the development of my Christlike attributes I used your mission as a guideline because you had the kind of experiences that I wanted to experience in these two years. And, I've been able to. I've even seen some miracles. Nothing as crazy as localized rainstorm, but things like spiritual prompting turned into new friends or returning members, and once, guided home by a stray animal. 

     I wish you all the best, and I thank you for your love, even if I didn't realize that's what it was at the time. The hard love, soft love, angry love, etc. The fact that when I came to you for help with my addiction, you said "I love you, I'm sorry, I love you" instead of condemning me. And the same thing when I was a rebellious little tool later on that also took your opinion with a grain of salt unless it benefitted me directly. I love you for that example, and even though I might not love the way you taught me some things, you taught me nonetheless and the glory of God is intelligence so you helped me take one more step in the right direction to become a better me. Thank you. 

Anziano Anderson

One for the books! Rome Temple Dedication!

Ciao tutti!

     It's not often that you get to sit inside of a temple while it's being dedicated and meet six apostles and prophets of the Lord. But, that's exactly what I did this week. More on that in a moment. 

Pizzas : 55

Gelato : 42

Books of Mormon : 68

     This whole week has been a wonderful time for me because I've been able to meet with almost every single Anziano or Sorelle in the mission and we even got a group photo which I assume was posted because my mother sent it to me because she could see me standing in the wayyyyy back of the photo. Mothers. They learn everything sooner or later so don't try to hide things from them. Pro tip.

     The Week was fairly normal until Tuesday because that was the day that we all took so many busses up to Rome in order to get to the temple dedication on time. When we all arrived, I found all my previous companions that were still in the mission and then I watched as President Christopherson walked into the temple. Following him was President Oaks, Eyring, Cook and Stevenson. They came and said hi to all the missionaries before the session started and that's where we all had the chance to meet them.

     The temple dedication was amazing and president Oaks said that he was sure that the choir of fourteen was joined by angels in the other side of the veil because he heard many more than just fourteen voices. Shivers. The temple is now usable and I'm certain that it's being used every day by all the many, many faithful Italian members that preside here in this beautiful country.

     After the dedication, it was basically a mission wide reunion where we all exchanged hellos and final goodbyes. It was at this point that I Das trailer on the shoulder and when I turned I saw an extended hand. When I took it, I looked up and I saw Elder Gong. We exchanged a few words, mainly my name and where I'm from and then he smiled and wished me the best on my mission. So, that's how I met Elder Gong. Yay!

     Once the dedication was over, I had Permesso travel and so I went back to Napoli with the Napoli zone leaders! But, after a night in Napoli and two hours in line, I was told that I was supposed to have been in line the same time I was meeting Elder Gong the day before, and to come back in the next two to four weeks depending. This means that I still have permesso travel and the ability to eat another Napoli pizza! Yay miscommunication!

     After another day or so had passed and Thursday night came around, my companion and I who are both very new to the area because we arrived at the same time and therefore do not know where we are going half the time, decided to try to take a bus back home instead of the metro in an attempt to better learn our mission area. Well, an hour later we were in the middle of nowhere and had very little chance of making home by bus so we switched to the metro that we knew. Anziano Kennedy and I were waiting for our metro, but when it arrived he felt that we needed to take the next one that came in eight minutes. I didn't fight it, I just accepted his feelings and so we let the metro go and while we waited for the next one, we started up a conversation with a woman who had been trying to read our tags from about 3 metres away.

     We ended up getting her number and giving her a Book of Mormon and explaining the restoration. The spirit is real, and even though that prompting got us home at ten thirty, we knew the Lord was happy with our work.

     Finally, come Sunday, I had to translate for an hour in the young men /young women's class because there were tourists! I haven't had tourists in months so my translation skills were a little rusty, but we made it work.

     On the way home from church, we decided to walk for some reason and we passed this very big garbage bin. Anziano De La Rosa pointed out that there were four suitcases in that bin and that they looked brand new. So, we checked and aside from the years of dust that were covering them, they were indeed new. So, I shamelessly took one and made it home with my new bag. As De La Rosa says, nice one bro!

     This is all for now, over and out until next week! 

Anziano Anderson

Rome!

Buondì tutti! 

     As you might have heard and if you haven't, then I'm excited to be the one to share it with you, The Rome Italy temple was dedicated yesterday! I saw 2.5 out of the three sessions because we made it a little late to the first session and then we stayed for the next two sessions in their entirety. I did not have the ability to go to the actual temple where the dedication was being broadcast, nor did I have the ability to go to the temple grounds. I mean, yes. I could have gone, and I could have made it to the front door of the temple but they only wanted Italians and some special guests that were invited by the quorum of the twelve and first presidency so I was at some church in Rome while we watched the session being broadcast live. More on the actual experience in a moment, numbers to follow! 

Pizza: 52

Gelato: 43

Books of Mormon: 66

Parco Valle dei Templi Agrigento

     Well, after my wonderful call last week that informed me I was going to Rome, as a district we all headed to the Greek temples that Agrigento has. I got quite a few awesome pictures to share, and a really sweet sunburn as well because even if the winters in Italy aren't what I'm used to in Idaho and sometimes require only a light jacket, the sun was not around for a very long time and that left me as a pasty boy that deserved the neck burn I received. It wasn't horrible, just very inconvenient when you wear collars literally every day and you don't have the option to just *not* wear a collared shirt. 

     We then went and visited an all you can eat sushi place cause I wanted to eat and we all wanted sushi. So, one bus trip and 12 euro later, we were all stuffed with the most sushi any of us has eaten since we left America or in the case of Anziano Bizzotto, Milan Italy. We had a split that night where we all went with someone else's companion and tried to talk to as many people as possible in the two hours we had together before the night ended for us. We all got somewhere between 19 to 25 people contacted so about 60ish in total and I'm very excited for the work that will bring Agrigento in the future. 

Apartment Inspections and Packing

     A few weeks ago we were supposed to have apartment inspections and because my companion had to go to Terni to pick up his Permesso, we were not inspected. This was probably for the best, but we were informed that we were going to be inspected on Wednesday about a week before it actually occurred. Unlike in the states, where the missions are a little smaller and easier for senior couples to maneuver around and surprise te missionaries with random inspections (I know this because my grandma used to do these inspections and brought me along once or twice) our mission is so big that you can't just "show up" because we may not be home and it takes about an hour and a half or longer to drive or take public transport from where the senior couple lives to our house. 

     The inspection went well and I feel like my grandmother would be proud because we passed with flying colors and we even received some American candy afterwards in the form of cherry twizzlers. I was happy with that. 

Transfer day

     Oh boy, this was one of the most hectic and miracle filled days I've had in the mission and maybe even my life. It started off pretty alright, with a two hour train ride to Palermo after we carried 50 kili of luggage (about 100 pounds) up some very impressive stairs because we thought it would be faster (it was, but much sweater than I wanted it to be) and then we were picked up by the plaermo zone leaders. We then went and bought some pizza and then I was dropped off at the airport. The whole day I've been sweating profusely because I was wearing my winter coat as it weighs a lot and had I packed it, I would have had to leave either a pair of shoes or all of my socks to accommodate it's weight. So, sweaty and th all my socks in tow, I made it to the airport and onto the plane without difficulty. 

     When I touched down however, went to the wrong part of the airport  get my bags and I was not able to go back the way I came because of airport security and one-way doors. So, I had to leave the airport and then walk around to the exact other side to get me bags after they rechecked all my bags and then sent me to the lost and found office where I was to retrieve my bags. But, miracle number one is that my bags had not been grabbed by the airport yet so they were still sitting on the luggage drop. I grabbed my luggage and about one minute later, the airport staff grabbed all the luggage that was still left on the drop. 

     Then, I went to take the Leonardo express which is a train that runs every fifteen minutes from the airport I was at to the termini I was going to be picked up at. Well, I managed to buy the wrong ticket and get on the wrong train but I realized it was the wrong train and then in my haste to get off the train while the doors were rying to close on me and my baggage, a wheel on the suitcase I just bought the day before ripped off. The housing for the wheel and the wheel just fell off in a big clatter and I just stood there for a moment frustrated and then I remembered my second bag. Grabbed that just before the doors closed and left with it forever. 

     My new problem was the gates were one way and the ticket I had was not the one I needed. So, I had to jump the gates and buy another ticket, which I did. I was lucky enough to not have my luggage stolen in the five minutes this took. Probably because the wheel was broken and it now makes very loud scraping noises. I make it onto the right train and then I make it to termini and I wait there for about twenty minutes before I start to get worried again. Turns out, they were not waiting for me at termini, but the airport that I had just so valiantly struggled to leave. Woo-hoo. 

     With increasing frustration, I said a prayer and then checked my phone to see if there was wifi that I could use. Well, there was and I was getting called through messenger by the Rome 5 zone leaders. Where I had stopped in the middle of the station to say my prayer was where the wifi I needed was. But, it wasn't "free" so what I ended up doing was switching between three or four different wifi sources because every time you connect, you got two or three seconds of free wifi and I used that to tell them where I was and what happened. 

     An hour later I was picked up and they told me how they had a similar experience and prayed the same time I did and we both had the feeling to check our phones. It worked out that I got to my new house at 22:30 and in the last 20 meters, my handle on the gray suitcase I came in with snapped clean off. Now, both my suitcases are broken in some way, and I have a great story because of it. Miracles exist, and so does God, that's all I'm saying. 

Rest of the week

     Not much happened this week because we got "blown in" which means my companion and I are new and have never lived in this house or area before and so, we have no work. It's a clean slate. We don't even have a phone that we can use yet. We attended the youth devotional for the temple  and that was supercool because president Nelson gave ten points that I thought were great for the youth, but also to use in life as a general rule. I'll share those in the coming weeks. But, I'm pretty sure you can just look it up online and I invite you to do so. 

     At the actual dedication I gave a blessing to a young philippino girl because she asked us to give her one. It's the third blessing I have given on the mission, but the first one that I've given with the oil I always carry on me and also in English because she didn't speak Italian. I heard myself say things that I wouldn't have thought of on my own and I felt a spirit that I know was nothing I could ever hope to recreate with my own talents and abilities. Her mother was crying and stephanie was teary eyed as was I and the other anziani that participated. What I promised and what occurred was not of me, but of something greater than myself. 

     God is real, he loves you, I love you and I can't wait to see you all in the coming year! Until then, I'll be in the service of my God and the people of Italy!! 

Ciao, 

Anziano Anderson

1. Rome tram

2. My last view of Agrigento /Sicilia

3. Visited the temple is Zeus and stood on him

4. Beautiful catholic temple in Palermo (Sicily)

5. This pesto is red. Usually it's green because it's made of green things. 

6. Not the temple pictures you want, but more of the temple pictures that I have

7. Squished 5 euro cent coin 😁

How to be an Italian Missionary

This email I want to discuss a little bit about what our schedule is like and also what I do to fill those hours. Because where I live is smaller compared to most other cities in Italy save the other two in my district and one in a different island that I'm aware of at the time of my writing this email. Anyhow, here are the stats and then the rest of my email! 

Pizza: 51

Gelato: 43

Books of Mormon: 65

The schedule and the hours

     We as missionaries are expected to follow a strict routine that keeps us busy and alert for most of the time we have in our 24 hours in the day. Eight of these hours are spent sleeping from 22:30 to 6:30. The only time this changes is if we are sick or if we have an hour or longer on a bus and decide to take a nap. Busses are for napping. We like busses. From 6:30 to 7:30 we wake up and work out for that first hour of the day. From 7:30 to 8:00 one of us showers while the other irons their clothes and cleans up the kitchen while trying not to use all the hot water in the sink so they have some to use in the shower. The one in the bathroom showers, shaves and prepares for the day. Then we switch and the one who just showered finishes the dishes if there are any and then irons their clothes and starts cooking breakfast for the both of them. 

     From there, we eat until 8:30 and then we plan for the day. Who we want to visit, where we want to goad what we want to teach if we have (somehow) a lesson to prepare for. We do this until 9:00 and then from 9:00 to 10:00 we have a personal study where we study whatever is in our hearts and minds that morning. Usually, in preperation for our lesson but also so we can have a better understanding of the five lessons that we teach which are summaries and the basics of our religion. We do this because the better you understand something, the more simply you can explain it. If you have issues explaining something, than maybe you need to study up on it again. 

     During the hours of 10:00 to 13:00 we go outside and we proselyte. This involves us talking to Italians, getting rejected, sometimes handing out a card but then smiling and looking forward for the chance to talk to another person who will probably reject us again. I honestly love it. It just gives me all the more reason to apply myself because if I can't explain what we believe in fifteen seconds or less in about that many words, they lose any interest that they might have had and move on to stand around in fromt of the nearest Cafè for a while. 

     We are blessed with an hour and a half lunch in the Great Italy Rome Mission from the hours of 13:00 to 14:30 because that's when the people here are on lunch and they hate to be disturbed when there is food on the table d a reason to sleep for an hour after they eat. We have a half lunch in comparison to the Italians. They eat for three hours during the day, sometimes four for their lunch hours. All the businesses are closed during this time as well so once lunch is done, we study together from 14:30 to 15:30 and then from 15:30 to 16:30 we study the language and practice it with one another. By the way, we speak with one another in Italian during the day as well, so this is where we practice the harder parts of the language and test each other's knowledge. We are then blessed with the ability and opportunity to go proselyte again from 16:30 to 21:00 if we don't have English course or a lesson planned. If there is course, we teach English from 19:00 to 20:00 and finish our course with a spiritual thought. Every time we start anything in these hours, end something in these hours, or leave the house, we do so with a prayer (exceptions on the bathroom). We say anywhere between 15-25 prayers daily on a normal day. 

     Of course, we are allowed respite every Monday of the week. First time in my life I've said that Mondays are my favorite days in the month. It's these days that we start off and follow the schedule until about 10:00 and then we go and d missionary appropriate activities from 10:00 until 18:00 and then we put our missionary garb on again and go out proselyting for the last three hours of the day. From 21:00 to 22:00 we write in our journals if we feel so inclined and then we prepare for bed from 22:00 to 22:30 and then we start over the next day. Every day is an adventure and while it is very structured, it's well worth the obedience and diligence it takes to follow and to want to follow this schedule, it's tried and true. It's protected me from harm, ill-will and unnecessary misfortune. This, and a little white handbook with 65 pages of guidelines/rules and 12 pages of ordinances to assist and protect us in our work. If you are in the fence when it comes to serving a mission, make he choice to serve. I promise you that as you serve, you will be blessed tenfold more than whatever you left behind could have ever possibly given you. Choose to serve, because the testimony you will build while in the service of others will be strengthened more during these two years to 18 months than any other experince you can have in your lifetime. 

The Week as I remember it

     Well, as for the rest of my week and the experiences that populated it I'll start with this tuesday and we'll see where that leads us. We have this member that I've mentioned in times past, Sorella Ballacchino, who lives in Licata which is an hour away by bus and she has friends with interest in the gospel. She invited us over very early in the morning so we had to take a 9:45 bus to make it there on time and we were picked up by her and her friend, Danielle, in the friend's car. I've taught Danielle once before and it was perfect because we had planned that morning to teach about the second part of the five lessons that we have. However, after we picked up the food required for lunch and an Italian dessert, we were then dropped off and Danielle drove away. 

     As my companion and I went over our options as to what we needed to do or what we were going to teach, we ate that Italian dessert which was puff pastry that was fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar and then drizzled with a bit of honey. Much like the tortilla cinnamon and sugar chips my dad used to make for new years at the church before our nerf gun wars. 

     We were joined a few minutes later by sorella Ballacchinos daughter and she would have brought her husband but he was very sick. So we taught these wonderful women and then we caught our bus home almost two hours later than what we had originally planned. While at the bus stop we saw some hair that will remain in my memory for the rest of my life and I've attached a photo below so we will all have the chance to see what we saw. 

The days that followed

     Wednesday brought with it a whole bunch of people to our apartment. I had the whole district and the zone leaders over after or district council and I started to cook lunch for all of them. I had bought a little bit of food the day before so I cooked literally all of the food that I bought and it was just enough for them. I ended up eating some corn and tuna with balsamic vinegar and salt in a bowl for lunch while they ate pasta, but it's cool because I totally love tuna and corn. I actually do, it's just so fresh and crisp that I couldn't help but enjoy my healthy lunch. 

     Once everyone left, Anziano Koford and I had a scambio for that night and most of the next day. We had a ball proselyting and I showed him the best Piadineria in town with a wonderful wait time of twenty minutes. It gave us time to run to the ATM and make it back just as they were calling our name. The next day we had an appointment in a nearby city called Porto Empedocle which is near the ocean. We received the call just five minutes before we made it to his house in which he told us he had to cancel because his wife was sick. That just meant we got to skip rocks on the beach for half an hour until the next bus came because we were supposed to have lunch with that family and no one was out while we were waiting for the bus. There are also pictures of our time on the beach attached.

     When our companions pulled in and exited their bus, I was given a brand new quad that one of the other missionaries who had just left our district last transfer left behind because he lacked room. I received it because I mentioned how the pair of scriptures that I've had since I was 8 was just about full and I was having to create new marking techniques to keep track of everything that I was studying. I'm liking the quad a lot more than I thought I would. 

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Birthday! 

     For Friday, we traveled back to Licata to have lunch with our ward Mission leader and we had the chance to talk to him and eat lunch with his family while Moana (Oceana in Italy because Moana is the name of a pornstar here) was playing in the background. I've now seen that movie two times. Once in English, once in Italian. I understood most of what was said, so that was a plus! As per our meeting and lunch, it went well and just gotta say I love sausage and potatoes way more here than I did in America. It's just better here. 

     Saturday was full of excitement for Carnivale which is this week-long festival here where there is a farmers market every day (I bought some garlic purè and some tomato/olive purè which is delicious) and other things like trampolines and bumper cars for those who want to party hard. My companion and I then went to the church to help them set up for he party we were holding there. Karaoke, pizza, and the occasional line dance that they knew were found there. It was funny, because someone brought a USB stick with a bunch of music but it wasn't that great if I'm going to be honest. So, I jumped onto the computer and started playing the songs that I could remember from my time as stake dances and they loved it. I had to start with Rick Astely "never gonna give you up" and after that song I became DJ. It was fun, every now and again I had a request and I can see why DJ's love their jobs. 

     I received a call today that informed us of where I and my companion are going for this transfer. He is staying here in Agrigento, but I'm headed to Rome to follow up train and I'm getting blown in. That just means that both the Anziani that lived there before got pulled at the same time so neither of us know where anything is. It also means we have the chance to meet the prophet and the whole quorum of the twelve in this coming week. I'm not complaining, that's pretty awesome!!