Ciao people where ever you may be! I just want to
share a few things from my week with you today. We are moving houses tomorrow
and it's been very fun trying to pack up mid transfer, clean out a house that
the church has owned for 15 years, that has seen its fair share of sisters and
elders a during its time in servitude to the church.
I'm starting to learn the area here a
little better with a familiarity of the bus schedules and also the metro which
we take very much seeing as how in Italy it's very unsafe for us to drive. I
don't remember how many pizzas I've eaten I this week or how many gelati I've
eaten or even how many books of mormon I've handed out. I do believe I've
handed out 91 books of mormon in total in my entire year and one month in
Italy, and it's kind of crazy to think that I will be home in less than a
year!
I don't want to get ahead of myself but
I do think it's pretty fun and crazy how fast time has flown. I remember
writing an email a few months back, closer to the start of my mission just
before half way, and explaining how fast the time had flown for me then. Well,
I know that time has picked up tremendously for me since that day and every day
since that transfer has gone by faster and faster. It honestly feels like it's
only been a day since I last spoke to any and all of you, and so me writing in
this email now it's a very interesting feeling that I have. I don't know how to
explain it, so I will not attempt to.
Anziano Taylor and myself are getting
along fantastically. The reason we do this, is because we are pretty much the
same people but from different ends of the spectrum. By that I mean, he is
small, sings wonderfully, dances, and speaks a little less at home because he's
an introvert. But very, very, very, dedicated to the work.
Whereas, I am a very large boy, I'm very
loud, but also very very dedicated to the work. And I know, our differences
make us stronger in the fact that they work together, and support one another.
He knows when to not speak, and I know when to start speaking. And it's funny
to see how the Lord lines up his servants to do his work in a way that no human
without divine revelation or guidance, could ever hope to do on their
own.
There have been very many fun word
activities here in Italy, and we had a departing lunch for a member named
Martin. Martin is from Peru, he's been living here for 3 years, but is being
sent back to Peru for at least 5 years by the country of Italy for reasons I
don't need to explain, and so we had what he thinks is going to be the last
lunch with that he'll have with the missionaries in Italy for at least another
5 years
I was blessed to be a part of that lunch
and also, to eat the wonderful taco salad that he made. Many Italians have told
me and him that he cooks better than many Italians. And I can testify, that
this is true. Other than that, the only other thing that happened this week
that I really want to mention was on Sunday, yesterday.
President Smith and his wife showed up
to church. President Smith, does not speak Italian very well anymore. He served
here when he was young, but he never kept up his language. So, when he attends
church at in Italian speaking Ward or branch, of which there are many here in
Italy, he needs translation if he wants to understand everything. It just so
happens that I was volunteered myself to be the translator this last
Sunday for the whole of church. The thing that's important to know about this
ward, is that it is a very big tourist ward. So, just before church started
about 10 minutes to spare, there are maybe 25-30 people here. By the time
church started all of the tourists had arrived and we were sitting with about
80 people in church. The first lady to go up and give a talk spoke a
combination of Spanish and Italian, of which I only understood about
half.
A lot of the members, and native
Italians, also said that they did not understand much of what she said as well,
but what she did say was very much "break boxes." Halfway or near the
end of her talk my broadcaster started to freak out and malfunction disabling
me to translate for the sizeable number of tourists we had in attendance that
day.
By the start of the second man's talk
who spoke wonderful Italian calmly, clearly, And spiritually, my broadcaster
started to freak out once more and refused to work entirely. I had to run
downstairs, grab another broadcaster mid-talk, come in, and try to resume
translating from whatever I could pick up as I ran back in the Room.
Unfortunately, this broadcaster also decided it did not want to work either. So
after about 2 minutes with 3 minutes of me translating the second speakers
talk, the broadcaster failed entirely and I sat there for the last 3 to 4
minutes of this man's talk, unable to translate for anyone.
All of the Americans were understanding,
saw what I was doing, and congratulated me on my efforts. They all claimed they
felt the spirit and that was the important part. Other than this, if there is
anything else you would like to know about my week or maybe If there is
anything else you want to know about missionary work exactly, or of certain
experiences I might have had, feel free to send me an email at any time,
because I can read them during the week, I just cannot respond until Monday.
But what if I receive an email from you, I will respond. I hope you all have a
wonderful day and I apologize for the rushed email 😅😅
Anziano Anderson
- My very empty closet after a bit of packing
- a patch of grass in the middle of the street
- a panoramic view of Italy
- Anziano Taylor and myself posing at the colosseum
- Colosseum
No comments:
Post a Comment