Ciao my golden friends!
This week was exactly what the title
said it was! We had the planed and regulated seven days in the week that is
custom throughout the world. However we had four of those days full of meetings
for different and various reasons, and they were all back to back. For Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday we were given normal days to just work and do what it was
that we desired. From Thursday to Sunday we had a meeting to prepare for
another meeting to epare for yet another meeting. More on the way in the words
to follow these below!
Pizza: 65
Gelati: 53
Books of Mormon: 95
Monday was a fun and laid back day of
storms and just a few calls made to my family. Well, my sister. The rest of my
family happened to be in Mexico at that time. I saw some videos though, and it
looked like they wer heaving a blast, so rest assured that they are doing
absolutely okay right now and not at all in the least bit stressed about
anything in the slightest! Otherwise, we had a ball finding new people that
night and then we turned in for the next day of fun and wholesome
activities.
Tuesday was a sweet reminder of my
childhood as we had district council and then went to our ward mission leaders
house where we had a nice little council with him and lunch. The thing that
reminds me of my childhood is the food that was served while we were there. As
most of you know, my Father served in the Phillipines and so he learned how to
cook the four good dishes that they have, and I like to think that I know how
to cook one of them, but I suppose I'll have to ask one of the Philippino
members that we have here. Anyhow, this member is phillipino and he cooked
adobo with rice, and some fried fish that you could eat entirely, bones and
all. It was better if you did not ingest the skeletal system and head, but some
of us tried a nibble just to say that we did. So, I had some food that I didn't
realize I would miss and it was just a good day overall. We spent a good chunk
of this day doing some area book flushing to meet with the standards of the new
privacy laws, and I made a new tie for myself out of an old pillowcase because
I didn't want to buy a new tie and also because I wanted to try making a tie
anyhow.
Wednesday was fun because we spoke
solely in Italian from 09:00 until 21:00 and that helped me realize just what I
can't actually say in Italian and what I need to work on. Mostly subjunctive (I
wish/think/would like, etc) and some other just ridiculous things that you
wouldn't use in a normal gospel lesson. We liked it so much that we plan to
keep doing that at least once a week for the rest of the transfer and then just
see where our Italian skills are by the end of the six weeks we have
together.
Thursday started our chain of meetings,
and where better to start than with the president of the mission? We spoke with
President Smith and had a ball there before we ran back to the church and
arrived just in time to teach English course before we headed home for the
night. It was fun, I taught the people in attendance how to ask for haircuts,
and showed them some pretty radical 'dos as well. Thanks Facebook!
Friday was an early start and donut
delivery run from Battistini to via dei settebagni 46 in Roma if you want to
map that out. Overall it took about an hour and forty-five minutes because
busses and metro were the only way we could get from point A to point B. It was
fun, and when we made it to the temple, we dropped the donuts off and then went
to practice a musical number that my companion was to be a participant in. We
practiced, and enjoyed a wonderful time at the temple for the next four hours
as we were taught by our president at zone conference, his assistants and then
some awesome zone leaders that we have. we received much wise council that we
have since applied in our work.
Saturday was a hoot because we had all
our studies in the morning, so there goes four hours because we also had weekly
planning as well. We met with two sisters from our ward, the ward chorister and
her very good and musically gifted friend. Both of them are from Peru and speka
Spanish, but also very good Italian, and they asked us to show them how to get
to the temple so we took them there on the metro and on the way up we did a
bunch of finding while still keeping them informed on how to get where we were
going and the number of stops and other things to look for so they wouldn't
feel abandoned. They told us how impressive anziano Taylor and I are as a
companionship and that we work very well together.
The reason we were headed to the temple
was to be part of and to sing in the Stake conference that was to be
broadcasted to Puglia and other parts of Italy that were too far away to
feasibly make it to Rome anytime soon. We sang an opening him (number 36 in
Italian, all creatures of our God and king whicg was originally Italian to
begin with just so you know) and then we stayed because we wanted to learn and
also because we needed to take these sisters home when all was done. We grew
our relationships with them, and we had a fun little jazz session where one of
the sisters made some sort of flute with her hand and my knuckles popped while
we were waiting for the train. I'm slightly broken, but it sounds good when put
to music apparently. We had one more great conversation with some teenagers on
the way back home where the whole metro car was participating and we invited
them all to attend English course among other things. The people here are very
open and warm when you approach them in the right way. The right way is any way
that isn't "ciao! have you seen missionaries like us before?" because
the answer is always no, and then they refuse to acknowledge your existence.
Fun fact.
Sunday was a day of memories and
crossroads for me. I ran into members from Napoli and Agrigento that I haven't
seen in over a year, and it was such a strange experience but also really
satisfying that they all remembered me and were actually lining up take photos
in front of the temple with me because it was just an awesome chance that I
probably will not have until I come back in a few years from now. Photos will
be attached with some explanations. They all agreed that I was a lot skinnier
now than I was a year ago, and I'm glad that's the case because quite honestly
I was a chunky monkey when I arrived a year and three months ago. I have less
than ten months left and that's tripping me out. I'll be home sooner than I
thought, and I can already say that I'm going to miss this place more than I
think I know.
The only thing I want to invite you all
to do this email around is read a few chapters of scripture and then compare
them to one another because it's so important to understand that what you find
in the comparison of these chapters are things that we believe in this church
that no one else does. The chapters are first in the Bible:
Matthew 5-7 the sermon on the mount
Compared with:
3 Nephi 12-14
And as always, show love one to another through service. The
lord says to love thy neighbor as thyself, and in Italian the word for
"neighbor" is "prossima" which means "next" or
the person who is physically the closest to you in any given moment. So, with
that context, love thy Neighbor as thyself this week as often as you can!
Anziano Anderson
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