Ciao a tutti! It's been a week or two since I have had the
time to write an email, and I want you all to know that I am in fact alive and
very well. I have had more than my share of Gelati and Pizze, so no worries
there. I'm eating well and sleeping better thanks to the toll of six am
wake-ups and no naps for the past month consistently. Te days and transfers are
all blurring together, and for this transfer all it is for me is a brief
African scented haze of fish bones that I had to eat and reallllly loud wedding
parties. Photos to follow as always!
Numbers:
Pizza: 76
Gelati: 73
Books of Mormon: 101
And this week as follows (I would try to catch up, but the
weeks preceeding were very similar and not dull, but routine overall.) :
Monday
This was a fun little tidbit because we
had the AP's (Assistants to the President) staying over along with another
companionship of anziani because that's what the housing is here for zone
conference. As a house, we were assigned to buy drinks for the Zone conference,
so we did that on the way to said conference. The classics like aranciata and
water were brought, and then conference ensued. All the Anziani were wearing
the same tie and someone brought an extra for President Smith to wear. He
gladly wore it and taught us for the next little while whilst in his new tie.
My district was also tasked with singing an opening song, and I along with
another sorella had to sing solos. I was told that we did well, and that we
might have another assignment to sing. Personally, I could go without, but it's
fine by me if that's my lot. When conference was over, we were supposed to get
our flu shots but the office mis-booked and so no one showed up and we are all
still very susceptible to the flu as of right now. We will be vaccinated at
mission conference is the new plan and hope for us.
Tuesday
Preperation day! usually it's on a
Monday that this wonderful occasion has occasion to occur, but occur this day
it did! We went out and visited the beach and we had a ball! we weren't able to
go swimming though, but it was still super fun to play in the sand for the
first time in a year and a half. That's like chicken soup for my soul, and I
drank deeply! I had sand sticking to me the whole day and even for a day or two
day after because that's how tenacious the beach can be at times. The things
I've forgotten thanks to time, let me tell you! Anyhow, after the beach we
went a fatty sushi restaurant where we ate well over 600 euro of sushi
but we only paid about 200 because it was an all you can eat and the fee was
per head. I ate a very large amount of raw fish and rice this day, and I regret
nothing.
Wednesday
I awoke sick from the diseases that have
bene plaguing this house for the past few days, and the day went rather slow
because I woke up at six, tried to study but my head was pounding to hard to
study, and my eyes watering too much to read so I fell asleep again. When I was
awoken, it was almost 11 am and we had to leave the house to visit the church
while some maintenence workers were there to fix the electricity. We were there
for two hours and then we went home for lunch. A few lessons later, and I felt
marginally better but still couldn't breath for anything through my nose. We
invited someone to be baptized, and she said yes, so keep that woman in your
prayers. Data privacy laws won't allow me to divulge the information that is
her name, but I can say that she's ready for the font, just scared that she
might find the waters cold and too deep to handle. We also had a sorella house
get closed down and merged with the sorelle here in Palermo for security
reasons. To top it off, we had a last ditch effort to advertise the play called
"il verdino" or "the greenie" that the Palermo 2 anziani
want to put on for the people of Italy. What an eventful day!
Thursday
This was a fairly awesome day of slight apostasy on my part
because I was unable to shave this morning thanks to the fact that my straight
razor was used in a play that was held that night by the P2 Anziani. So,
slightly stubbly we stopped and shared the information with anyone and everyone
that wanted to (or didn't) know about the play. The day started off amazing for
Anziano Hansen because while he was in the shower, someone got the bright idea
to start pouring tomato sauce on him, and the devolved into some yogurt, a
potato, carrot, slice of bread, pomegranate, Fufu and some other food items
that I can't recall at the moment. It was a long shower for him, but I can
proudly say that I never threw any food at Hansen. I just held the camera
because it's one of those things that doesn't happen all toooo often. The play
was awesome, and at the very end we were followed for a fat minute by a very
small gay man until we took off running after we went around a corner to shake
him. It worked, and we were not followed home. I believe. But who can know? I'm
positive that even if it had happened, we would have been completely
safe.
Friday
We were bidoned multiple times today, and we had a fun time
going all the way to Bagheria just to be told that the person we were supposed
to meet with was actually not available, but was in fact at work. So, our
morning went out the window, and we had a wonderful time on the train ride home
because we had something else set up before we made it back to palermo. We went
and visited with president Kefas and he fed us some yams and fish (with all the
bones) and then we visited a less active with Kefas in tow. He bore a fire
testimony and we were able to back up what he said, and turn it into an invite
for the less active member to come back to church. We read the talk "We
can do better and be better" by President Nelson from two conferences
ago. I invite you all to do the same and to seriously ask yourselves,
"what can I do to be better?" and "what can I do to improve my
church attendance?" and then listen for the spirit to answer you, and then
be willing to follow the council that you will receive if you ask in
faith.
Saturday
Only one thing of any real importance happened today after I
fell into a wall and hit my funny bone so hard it actually felt like my arm was
on fire for a good ten minutes and I couldn't bend my pinky. We were invited by
an African to attend an African wedding, and so we went. Anziano Sabin and I
were the only white people there in a sea of Nigerians who were in the middle
of a wedding party. I felt like I showed up to a class late and had all eyes on
me. Then I sat down and they gave me a hyper malt which is basically beer but
not alcoholic. I can see why beer is an acquired taste, and I can say with
certainty that I will not acquire it in my lifetime, because it just makes my
whole mouth feel dry but wet. That's the best way I can describe it. The
Africans there thought that I only spoke Italian, so in an effort to be nice to
me, they offered me some peach tea, and I started to speak in pidgin
(pronounced Pigeon) with them. They then treated me like a native and all was
good. The music they had playing was so loud I could plug my ears and hear it
through my feet if I was standing. I'm slightly deaf, I'm sure of it now. But
the party was fun.
Sunday
It was fast and testimony meeting today. It was spiritual,
but also very sad because we had some people tell us that they were going back
to Africa and they would not be coming back to Italy ever again, and they were
also going back to bury their parents. Sad, but a necessary part of life in the
end. We then had some lessons, studies and then we brought the sacrament to a
member who can't leave her house. She tells us it's the highlight of her week,
and then asked to see photos of my family in the same breath. I can't keep on
top of these people sometimes, but I showed her my family, and she couldn't
believe how tall they all are. Honestly, I can't either. When I left, all my
siblings were smaller than my parents, and now they're colse to the same size.
It's crazy what changes in two years. But hey, they were going to change
whether I was there or not so at least now I have some funny stories to tell
when I make it home this June! I'll be seeing the lot of y'all in about 200
days or so!
Update! I'm staying in palermo and I'm going district leader! Photos!
- Food items in the shower
- the whiteboard for the mostra
- Our zone leader being a wonderful woman for his role
- our district lined up for our musical number
- me holding a sign with Anziano Hansen's face
- the play and its shaving scene
- me eating a lot of sushi
Anziano Anderson
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