How Does the Mission Actually Work?

     Recently I've been getting questions from all of you as to what actually happens during my mission that constitutes a mission aside from all the wacky or super cool stories that crop up during the week. I will discuss that after all the wacky and super cool stories that cropped up during this week. 

Pizzas Eaten: 30!

Gelato: 19

Books of Mormon: 46

Sections: 

- What I Consider to be Another Miracle

- My Scambio: Anziano Andersen Addition

- The Rattos

- I Got Asked on a Date

- Almost got Fed to Death

- Missionary Work

What I Consider to be Another Miracle

     Oh boy! I love pizza, and the only thing I love more than pizza is free pizza! last week on Monday I was waiting in line with all my Anziani buddies and a man from the front of the very long line to get in to the pizza resteraunt we were waiting for to open it's doors for the lunch crowd came back to talk with us. After we talked with him for a bit he told us he was a returned missionary (albeit 20 years returned) and then he just got to know us a little better. He left and we thought it was funny how quickly we got recognized on our Preparation day but as we were discussing it, he came back and tried to give us 50 Euro to pay for our lunch. The three Anziano I was with didn't want to take the money saying it was alright, we were OK but Ivan persisted to give the money to us. 

     I ended up with 50 Euro and the bill at the end of the meal. I don't regret anything and the pizza was awesome. The resteraunt also had the most expensive pizza in the world on it's menu costing around 8,500,000 Euro. Don't know what was on it, but I'll let you know if anyone does buy the pizza. 

My Scambio: Anziano Andersen Edition

    Come Wednesday, we have a thing called "district council" where one of the missionaries in our district gives a lesson on something we all asked for more information on or even to just teach us something that usually can only be learned through experience. Anyhow, after our meeting with The Ratto couple, Anziano Andersen and his companion who was in the MTC with me, Anziano Blanchard, and my companion and I, we switched companions. It was Anderson and Andersen (that's really fun to explain to people) and we headed back to Battipaglia. It's a little town a few hours away from anything super fun but with some of the best Mozzarella in all of Italy. I was happy. 

     Well, Battipaglia is very small so everyone who lives in the city knows us if not because we've stopped them three times to ask them a different question, then because we are always wearing white shirts and messenger bags with a blue book. We taught two people with interest in a lesson the hour I got back and it was really cool because one of them didn't have any thumbs but had really nice handwriting, and she loved to write. She also has dyslexia and loves to read, so we said we would give her a copy of the Book of Mormon the next time we had a meeting and she was ecstatic. 

The Rattos 

     The Rattos are the senior couple in my Zone. They are from Argentina and were supposed to be in Brazil for their mission in the first visitors center for the temple they were building there ever. But because of reasons, the center was not going to be done for a few more years, so they were instead told they needed to come to Italy after they already learned Brazilian. They love to cook for us and they try to do that at least once or twice a transfer when they know we're running low on food and money to buy more. 

     They are some of the funniest and most christ-like people that I know with hearts of gold. I'll include pictures of everything I've mentioned so far at the end of the email. 

I Got Asked on a Date

     I love Italians as a people, I really do. They're very honest, upfront and don't like to waste time with unnecessary niceties when a simple "Wow, that sucks! " will suffice. Of curse this does hinder my efforts to teach when everyone I try to stop just puts their hand in my face and says "Non me interessa" and then walks away thinking we were Jehovahs witnesses. But sometimes we get some awesome people who listen ad want to know more about what it is that we do. This happened late at night on Saturday when we ran into a group of Raggazzaci who were all part of a band. They were all about 17-18 years old and had interest in the English course we taught. 

     While my companion was talking with the guitarist and drummer, their singer started talking to me, in as much English as she could muster, which was impressive because she only needed a few words from me to make complete and sensible sentances. After we had been talking about music and other things like that and how we were missionaries, Antonella asked me if I liked dancing. "I'm not very good at it, but I do enjoy a dance every now and again." was my reply. She was super happy and than grabbed my hands and asked if I wanted to go dancing with her in about an hour at a Bar just across the street. 

     It was at this point my companion looked over and saw me holding hands with this girl and my somewhat confused expression that turned a little into fear when I saw him looking because I knew what this looked like and I would have to explain it to him afterwards. (I did and he gets it so we're all good). I then re-explained to her how we are missionaries and are not allowed to do anything like that for the next few years but we would love to see them at English course. Disappointed but understanding, she invited us to a show they were having in the coming weeks. We then excused ourselves to make it home in time for the curfew of 9 that we have and invited them again to come to English course. 

I Almost Got Fed to Death

     Italians love to eat. Literally so much, and for a period of like two to three hours at a time for their lunch. I used to wonder why it took that long but now I know. After church yesterday we were invited to go to lunch with one of the bishopric counselors and his family. We got there and for the first course we had  heaping pile of pasta (and it was heaping for me, that's not just an expression it was a ridiculous amount of food) and then seconds of similar size after that. I thought we were done. I was very wrong. Following the pasta was a ull sixed chicken fried steak with a plate of salted and oiled lettuce. Still not done. Then there was a dessert of pound cake. Still not done. After that we had a couple oranges dropped on the table in front of us. 

     As my Mom knows I'm not much of a fruit fan. Or anything that is technically considered "not meat or carbs in some way" but I really liked these oranges. They were so juicy it was ridiculous trying to take two bites a slice, and it was easily fixed with just dropping the whole slice In your mouth. After this meal appointment I had trouble sitting, let alone breathing. But that was when my companion (who goes home in about 8 days) told me we have 4 more meal appointments like this planned for the coming week at various members houses. 

Missionary Work

     The way work here goes is fairly simple. We teach about 10 lessons a day, missionary discussions that is, to people we find on the street and then try to get their numbers but almost never succeed because they don't want to do anything that involves learning or changing. Or so they think. I hand out roughly 20 English course cards every day and almost nobody shows up to the course and if they do, it's only for the one time. I've mentioned English course before, but I don't believe I've told you how they work. Basically, my companion and I ask what the class wants to learn today, see where they are at skill-wise and then teach something that everyone can learn from and nobody feels over or under-whelmed by what they learn. 

     I don' t teach May formal lessons because the people here have a tendency to forget or to put something more fun oooooooover a meeting with the missionaries but I usually teach one or two lessons a day on average in a formal setting (excluding church because I teach the youth). 

     I've found telling people that claim they love God but don't go to church or follow his commandments that "faith without works is dead" they get really quiet because I'm using the Bible to call them to repentance. They try to bruxh us away because "you're too young to know what you're talking about" but when you can quote from memory more Bible than most of them have ever read in their lives they stop talking condescending and start walking very quickly. "Be bold but not overbearing" is a fun way to say "call them out but offer your help and don't cross the line".

Pictures: 

1. Me in front of one of the many castles Italy has to offer

2. Literally all of Battipaglia

3. Sorbillos pizza

4. Me just after getting asked to dance

5. The most expensive pizza in the world (menu edition) 

The Amazing Race

For those of you who aren't members of the church that I am a missionary for, we just had a worldwide conference that we call General Conference. I'm not going to talk a lot about it in my email because it's an accumulated 10 hours over the period of two days that consists of a living prophet speaking to all the people of the world about anything and everything they feel inspired to discuss by the Lord. I urge all of you to watch it even if you're not religious because I know you will receive answers to any questions that you may have about who we are, why we're here, where we came from before and where we are going after this life. 

Pizza's eaten: 28

Gelato Io ho mangiato: 17

Books of Mormon (not eaten): 44 

Sections:

1. Tourists 

2. My first miracle 

3. My Scambio

4. GYPSIES

5. Pictures I choose to include (feel free to request certain ones as I'm very ok with taking pictures)

Tourists

     One thing you all need to know about Italy is that it's very popular with every country. Not just America. I went to Pompeii last week on Monday after I sent out all my emails. On our way back from Pompeii after a few hours of wandering ruins and supermalls and a very screwy train schedule which I'd rather not remember but consisted of us being stuck in the middle of nowhere for about two hours before the train decided that it was going to show up 2 hours late. 

     The stop after we got on the train, literally 50 German students who were on a trip with their class from high school got on. They all spoke really good English so it was fun because everyone could talk to one another. The stop before I got off (one hour later) a fight broke out in the other end of the train car I was in. Some very angry women and a man that was around her size were throwing punches and some nasty Italian words at on another. This lady got off with us on the next train stop and her boyfriend had to grab her by her hair to keep her from umping back onto the train with a hefty rock to finish the guy off. I don't know how it started but there were plenty of cameras going so I'm sure it'll crop up somewhere. 

     I've also helped tourists during the week find their Air BnB's and we've had a few great conversations with them. Last night it was an Anna from Georgia. Not the state, the country. I kid you not. It's near Germany and Switzerland and places similar to that. Anyhow, she took a card and said she would look into general conference because it interested her. Tourists are so fun. 

My First Miracle 

     In this church we believe in the gift of tongues. Basically that means we will be aided in understanding, learning and speaking any tongue that Heavenly Father sees fit for us to learn or have need of through our effort to learn it and when you don't know what to say, he gives you the words in the very hour that you need them. This happened to me last Wednesday. We stopped a group of ragazzacci (it translates literally to Bad Boys but means punks) and we started talking to them. I have mentioned the Napoletano dialect before and it still is a bunch of crazy and nightmares to me but it's all that these boys spoke. 

     The thing is, I didn't realize or even notice that was all they were speaking. They would say something and I had the answer or a response for them. Occasionally I wouldn't understand a word or two but that is normal for me. We ended up getting two kids that had serious interest in what we knew and they are still talking to us through an app called WhatsApp which is what they use to talk down here. 

     Anyhow, after an hour of talking with them and after we had left them to go home, my companion turned to me and told me how he was having a heck of a hard time keeping up with what they were saying because it was all in Napoletano. Told him I was sure it wasn't because I was having a full conversation with the two he wasn't talking with and then gave him the number I got from them. He told me all he heard coming from the two kids I was talking to was straight dialect and how I understood it was beyond him. The church is true, and the book is blue. That's all I have to say about that. 

My Scambio 

     Alright. The Amazing Race I mentioned in my title. Here it is. Every day we are issued a challenge by one of the two missionary companionships in zone leader positions. The challenges can be anything and we have to send a picture of some random thing after we complete the challenge. Whatever that may be. The first day it was a picture of us heel clicking. Etc, there are no rules for this. Well, I exchanged companions with the Napoli Zone Leaders on Friday and I stayed in Napoli with them. 

     The challenge for that day was to make a delicious lunch for your companion and then send a picture of it to the group chat we have. I made four Vietnamese sandwiches because we were joining the zone leaders for lunch and I offered to cook. They made corn dogs as a side dish and that's what we ate. They live on the seventh floor of an eight floor apartment and they have a party elevator. 10 cents a ride. You get around that by hitting the box you would put the coin in and it thinks you paid.

     I pet a parrot that scambio and ate a whole loaf of bread. The things that happen on a mission are really just awesome.

GYPSIES

     On the way back from my scambio with Anziano Haws, I was stopped by a gypsy. She was walking with a guy and we were walking towards each other when she looked me in the eyes, held the stare and her hand out. She looked like she was 20 and not in any desperate state. I'm not allowed to give money away like that as a missionary and in the moment I was just confused. 

     She just held her hand out and didn't say a word. I tried to move past but she stepped in front of me. This happened for a few seconds before I asked her what she wanted in English without at least a lot of annoyance in my voice. She just continued to stare and hold her hand out and never said anything. I pushed past her and went back to the apartment. Most gypsies are from Romania and they all act like this one but they usually use more words.

     The day after this thing happened again but with two kids. They offered their hands for a handshake so I gave them mine. Then they clamped onto my hand and started asking very loudly for "1 monies please! 1 monies!" after I wrested my hand back from them I went to a members house to watch the General Conference morning session at 6 in the afternoon. Hooray for being 8 hours ahead 😁😁

Pictures

1. Graffiti in a train tunnel for their favorite Italian actor. I don't know who he is. 

2. Anziano Haws and me 20 minutes before gypsies takes place

3. Seafood pasta made for us by a member. Yes that's a whole crab. There were many.

4. Me 2 minutes before I had to get this bike on a train that barely had room for me.

5. Anziano Haws and IK. We teach IK how to read and then he asks us gospel questions. He's learning to read because he wants to read the book of Mormon. 

An attempted stick up and some free food

Ciao all! 

I don't have a whole lot to say today except that I do. I know I said last week was the craziest week I've had so far, but then this week happened and, well, it's not the craziest week anymore. I'll start off with the tallies and then move on to the good stuff! 

Pizza's I've munched: 27

Gelato I've scarfed: 17

Book's of Mormon I've given away: 42

Sections: 

- English Course and the fun to be had there

- Our newest member 

- I haven't cooked in almost two weeks

- A family of 11 

English course and the fun to be had there: 

     Alllll right. I had a feeling something like this would happen to me sometime on my mission I just didn't know it would be this soon. I've heard stories from newly returned missionaries, others who have been back for years and have families and then missionaries out here in the field with me. Somebody will try to rob you, there will be weapons involved, you will be up the creek without a canoe and in piranha infested waters. Something to that affect. Well, I was on my way to English course Tuesday evening with my companion (obviously) and something that fits the criteria for this happened to us. 

     We were walking to the church where we d English course and we were going to be almost 15 minutes early because we planned it out and we wanted to prepare the room for an activity we wanted to do to make the class more fun. We got almost 3/4 of the way there when we were stopped by a man who was asking us for a euro. "if you really represent Jesus, you'll give me money because that's what Jesus would do!" This was his logic and he wasn't letting up. I'll paint a picture of the man I'm talking about. He was about 55 years old, small and hadn't had the opportunity to bath in a while. He had a very worn bag hanging from his neck that had a puppy in it and a few other things I can only assume we're cigarette boxes. He was smoking his fourth cigarette since we'd been talking with him but at the rate he was going it was definitely not the fourth cigarette he'd had that day. 

     We were trying to tell him we don't give money away ad we really don't carry much anyways and that we had to teach an English class in the next few minutes when out of the Cafe we were standing in front of comes a person that we had met on the street a few days previous and he offered to buy us a drink. We accepted and used it as an opportunity To go inside and get away from the man. Anziano Daniels got a power ade and I got a coke because they actually taste better here than in America by a lot. We thanked the man who bought our drinks and then went outside again. Immediately after setting foot out the door, my companion was fighting with the old man for his powerade. The old man had grabbed it and tried to run off with it because he claimed he needed the salts in the drink. For three minutes I watched a hard stare down between the two of them as they gripped the drink and told the other to let go.

     The old man let go and then asked what we would do if he pulled a gun out of his bag and asked for the powerade again or some money. We stared at him and called him out saying he wouldn't shoot us because of he loved Jesus as much as he said he did then he wouldn't shoot his representatives. We then offered to buy him a drink, went inside and bought another powerade and I handed it to him. He hugged me for an uncomfortably long amount of time for a number of reasons and even if I knew you it was still wayyyyyy to long. After that and an awkward hand holding session I would rather not discuss, we made it to English course 10 minutes late.

Our newest member

     Liborio! Man, this guy is the best! He was the one who got baptized recently and he's a lawyer. Just yesterday he got the Aaronic priesthood and he wanted to be ordained on his knees just like the apostles were when Jesus Christ gave them the priesthood. We ran into him after church last night and he wanted to buy us Gelato but we told him we couldn't because we don't participate in commercial activities on Sunday. Well Liborio is an advocate lawyer so he used that trait that all successful advocates have and bought us gelato anyways while justifying it as a celebration of him receiving the priesthood. 

     I didn't want to argue so I ate Gelato. After that for the next hour he came with us as we went finding and called a bunch of ragazzacci out on skipping school and then invited them to church and to improve their lives through self application. This man is definitely going to be a force for good in this work and world.

I haven't cooked in almost two weeks

     Shortly after we said goodbye to Liborio we went to a bar. I used the bagno and shortly after I returned the owner told us that we could have anything we wanted off the menu. I got a chicken sandwich and a soda, my companion got fries. This kind of thing has happened almost every day for two weeks. I don't know why, and I don't care to know. But I love the teaching opportunities it brings.

     The members gave us whole loads of pizza, fruit and gelato for helping them with the church and bringing people to church. We extended probably 7 baptismal invites this week and I extended my first in complete Italian. The work here is awesome!

A family of 11

     To finish off my email I will tell you about the family of 11 people that we are teaching. There are 2 parents, and they both love the Book of Mormon. Five of the nine kids can be baptized and they all love hearing us teach and the kids love climbing me because they've never seen someone so tall before.

     Every time I talk even though I'm not super fluent yet, they all listen because they want to know what we teach. Jehovahs witnesses knocked while we were there, and the kids let them in so they could hear us talk. They left immediately but I love the enthusiasm of the kids. 

     After that, we just talked with them and invited them to church. Most of them came by some couldn't because of life and what that brings. But hey, it was an awesome week!

Anziano Anderson 

Chocolate Salami

     This has been a roller coaster of a week I've just gotta say. We had a lot of development in the branch where I am at with many people getting callings. We now have a Ward Mission leader, a First Counseler in the Bishopric and a High Priest Group leader. For those of you who aren't a member of the church I'm serving a mission for, it basically means there are now people in place to help us guide the missionary work and lead the Ward. Good stuff. 

Pizzas eaten: 21

- This number hasn't changed much for a while ever since I ate three very large pizzas and got indigestion from it. Hopefully that changes soon because I really like pizza.

Gelato eaten: 16!

- A lot of members have been buying us food when they see us recently. I think they're just grateful to have missionaries that can eat all the food they bring out. Italians are known for big meals that last for a few hours. Normally, they have about 3 courses for lunch and 5 for dinner. The missionaries prior to myself and my companion were small and therefore, not super big eaters. So when I had more then two plates of food at every course, the members started giving me ridiculous amounts of food to slow me down. When that didn't work, they just started calling me "Big Man" and now that's what the members call me on the streets to get my attention. 

Books of Mormon: 40

- I have exactly that many experiences with watching someone act on a particle of faith and experimenting on this second testament of Jesus Christ's gospel. At least 39 people that were willing to act on new knowledge when it was presented and have since been reading the book as far as I'm aware. 

     Chocolate salami. When I first heard those words, I was a little confused and very concerned. Did they cover salami with chocolate? Was it mixed in with the meat while they were making it? I was excited to try something new but so confused as to what it was exactly. It's basically a chocolate log that has biscotti running through it to give it the appearance of salami when cut. It has no meat in it at all. It's also very tasty. 

     This week alone has probably been the single most productive week I have had in my life as a missionary. I extended my first baptismal invite, we have five more people with serious interest in the church and who are looking for the truth that we have and the peace it brings. I didn't cry much before the mission about things that weren't pain-related, but since I've made it out here and started working on loving those who are here and seeing them as my brothers and sisters, I'm not sure I've gone more than about two days without at least tearing up when someone says they received confirmation of the Book of Mormons truthfulness or they share something with us that they would only share with friends. 

     During this week I've also had so many meal appointments that I haven't had to make any other meal besides breakfast. Even yesterday, we had a "linger-longer" after church for 3 hours. I spent 6 hours at church and I love it. I made "Biscotti Americani" which are chocolate chip cookies. Then my companion and I made Zucchini bread and everyone was so confused as to why we would do that and why we put it on the desserts table, that when they ate it they were so impressed with it that every single mother asked for the recipe so they could make it for their kids. 

     I need to say, serving others for two years seems daunting if you think of it like I did at first. Two years away from my family, my friends and everything I know and am familiar with for a language I don't know, and in the service of others that may not even like me. Once I arrived here however, I saw it in a new light. I've been out for 3 months already and I love these people. 6 weeks In the MTC and 7 weeks in Italy have allowed me to see these next two years instead as an ability to build myself through loving the people here and showing them that love by giving service and sharing the gospel in this tongue that is becoming second nature to me. Now two years seems too short. 

     Every week, twice a week, my companion and myself teach an English course. We teach anywhere from 4 to 8 people English, and they correct my Italian when I say something wrong. Lately it's even growing into quite the gathering and that's impressive because during the week we hand out probably 100ish cards. Usually about 0 new people show up and that's because everyone smiles when they take the card and promise that they will go, but they never show up and you never see them again. I mention this because on our way to English course last Thursday, literally everyone we handed a card to this last week we saw. They made eye contact with us, stiffened their backs and then hurried away in a different direction. 

     On our way to that same course that day, we stopped three street performers with two guitars. My companion Anziano Daniel's mentioned that he likes classic rock. So for the next ten minutes or so we listened to Italian performers singing American songs with much enthusiasm before we gave them cards to English course. They couldn't come that night because they had a show in an hour but one of them said he wanted to come and would be there next Tuesday. I'll update you on that next week, because he was a really good guitar player and very memorable person. 

     My last thought before I disappear for another week: I've been asked by many of you if my Italian has gotten better. It has. Yesterday in church I had to translate for four Americans during priesthood session and I did decently well. My trainer who is going home at the end of this transfer told me that I did very well because he was listening to me the whole time to make sure I didn't say anything horribly off. He never cut in to correct me and I translated for about an hour and a half. Also, the mission president is initiating a policy where if you know the word in Italian, you say it in Italian. SYL, or, Speak Your Language. It's going to help us learn Italian and forget English. That's usually how these things work. 

P. S. If you all could send me recipes for American food I'd greatly appreciate it. Desserts, Dinner stuff, anything. I'm requesting the cream cheese frosting for zucchini bread from my mother, but anyone else feel free to make my time here awesome by expanding my recipe book. 

Anziano Anderson

Remember your parents...

... For they love you greatly. Honor them. Share with them your joys as well as the difficulties and sorrows that you have. They will be helpful to you as they have in the past. 

     This is a snippit from my patriarchal blessing and I realize the longer that I'm out here, just how little I'm actually doing that. I haven't thought about home all that much since I got here and I've thought even less about what everyone in the family is doing. I pray for all of you daily and for your success in everything that you are doing right now with the move and the new position in Dad's work. But even here in Italy some things I can't seem to get away from and one of those things is just how much I used to talk with all my siblings (except Nolahn because I'm onot sure how often he checks his email). 

     I was studying this blessing and really seeing it in a new light when I realized just how little I followed it's council when I lived with you because I thought a lot of your rules were either stifling or just didn't make any sense, or maybe because I was very selfish and didn't like people imposing things on me. In any case, I didn't appreciate the rules and because of that I missed out on the principles that you were trying to teach me. I bought a smart phone to show Dad that he couldn't tell me what to do because if I wanted to do something then I could. But here in the mission another Anziano Andersen told me a story about his driving record of 7 speeding tickets and how President Pickerd took him aside and asked him if it would be a smart thing to let someone who has a history of speeding to drive in the mission. This story helped me really understand why you were upset with me when I bought the phone. You didn't care that I made the decision on my own, you were hurt that I didn't trust your judgment and thought that I was the exception to the rule of addiction. 

     I never wanted to tell you where I was going or what I was doing because as we've discussed before, Regann would always say too much and then get into trouble because that's just how things worked. I wouldn't say anything because if I gave you nothing to use then all you had were opinions that couldn't be justifiably used to punish me because it wouldn't work. I would just ignore the punishment and continue to sneak out or just do whatever I wanted to. But now I realize it was to teach me accountability and show trust and respect to my parents and those I was with. It's better to learn late then not at all, and I know that I will be realizing more and more while I'm on my mission just what correct principles you taught me that I didn't realize at the time because I was clouded by my self absorption and pride or doubt and disgust at myself for lacking self control and falling victim to something as vile as pornography. 

     Dad, I have harbored many hard feelings for you over the years because of things that have happened or that you've done that make no sense or make perfect sense and that's why they anger me. I've listed some of the examples for stuff that didn't make sense at the time, but now I'm going to tell you some things that made sense and really still hurt me and some of my siblings whenever we think about them. 

     You are very honest. Candid. Blunt, crass and a few other words that mean slight variations of those four. It's not bad to have any of these qualities. However it is bad to have them in an unchecked abundance or to have the desire to always be right. While out here I realized that I do have that desire to always be right about everything I say and feel embarrassed when I don't know something or say something slightly incorrect. So I understand that. But it hurts all of your kids when you do that all the time with what seems to be very little thought for how we might feel when you say something. Regann told me the other day that she doesn't want you to be around her kids because of the way you act and the things you say. Harmon told me about the fight you and him had and how it almost got physical. Payton told me how she knows you are stressed with your job and is just so very concerned for you and I am as well because I want you to succeed. 

     Now I'm not saying that everything I just mentioned is only your fault. We both know Regann is a drama queen. We both know Harmon is a bit of a punk and we both know Payton is the sweetest kid you have, which is why I'm typing this. I love you, and I'm here to ask for your forgiveness as well as to give you mine. I didn't appreciate you because I couldn't look past your faults as a human. But I know you weren't raised with very many correct principles in your home or a very loving mother, I wish I could do more than just send this email and say "I'm sorry" but I am. I'm so very sorry, every night this past week I've been waking up with something on my mind that I did to disrespect you, or to be a punk. All throughout the night this will happen.

     I love you Dad, and I will do everything I can these next two years to learn to love and to better myself with everything you and Mom taught me to do during my childhood. In addition to this, I'm doing this thing called a "40 day fast" and I will attach the pictures for this challenge at the end of this message. I love you Dad, I love you Mom. Have a wonderful day and I look forward to seeing you in two years 😁😁.

Anziano Anderson 

Living with Siblings prepared me for my Mission

Throughout my time living at home, my parents always told us they were "trading adults, not raising children". And at first, I'll be honest, I didn't understand what they meant. "But I'm a child, not an adult!" I used to think, "why do they expect so much of me when all my friends don't have hardly any chores, and get to play video games all day while their dad mows the lawn?" This used to be my train of thought. 

     Alright, the mission stats so far:

Pizzas eaten: 20

Gelato scarfed: 11

Books of Mormon handed out: 36

     Alright, with official business out of the way I shall resume my story: I had other things I thought similarly about as well. Most prominent are dishes, cooking, cleaning my room, and sharing a room with two younger boys that never slept. (Not that I did, but I'm just setting the stage here). After a few months of mowing the lawn, learning how to cook and keep a decently organized a clean kitchen, and working out with my brothers which third of the room was theirs and thus not my responsibility to keep clean, I realized a few things. 

     Firstly, it was a lot easier to mow the lawn. Apparently pushing around a non-propel assist lawnmower through thick, and usually damp grass, really works the muscles in all manner of fun ways. Most natably for me at that age of about 9-10 is I was really good at what is still one of my most favorite games to this day. Stick Pull. A pioneer game where you pull on a stick harder than the other person and therefore, win. 

     Secondly, I had developed a love to cook and that allowed me to always have the ability to eat whenever I wanted to, regardless of how much cold cereal we may have had in the house. I remember my parents abolishing it for a few years because they wanted us to gain that ability to cook actual food and not just eat breakfast soup. This love of cooking allowed me to realize that while pots and pans were (and still are) a pain to clean, you can't cook without them unless you want to use the microwave (which we had also removed from the house for many years) so you learned to keep things clean and not smelling like rotten fruit in the chicken bucket. 

     Thirdly, (while I still have trouble making my bed) I learned that if I just kept my stuff off of the floor, I didn't have much of anything to clean in my room unless my siblings tried to push their third of the room into my third and then things got physical, but that's just how siblings are. 

     Now I know that this title says that living with Siblings prepared me for my mission, and it did. It prepared me with knowledge. I know what behaviors I have that most people find annoying and so I know not to do those things and to try replacing them with other, more constructive things. I know how frustrating it is when you want to sleep and you can't because the person you're sharing a room with is very not tired/talkative/insert something you find annoying here. So I try not to be that guy. 

     So I mentioned last week that we had a baptism planned, and on the 15th Liborio was baptised in the ocean right behind the church. I was asked to be a witness for the baptism along with my companion, so I got to dress in  all white clothes and walk out into the rather warm ocean with Liborio, my companion, and Paolo (Liborio's cousin) to watch firsthand as he was baptised. 

     I feel I should mention that in order to get to the beach behind the church, we need to walk through a very long and dark parking garage. Liborio and myself were leading the whole group through the garage and at the end of the room the door was open so you could see the ocean. It was in stark contrast with the dark room and it looked very much like a small sliver of light surrounded by  lot of darkness, all of it leading to baptism. I loved it. 

     If you didn't know or were not aware, all of the Anziani and Sorelli in my zone put on a play called The Book of Mormon: Another Musical. We performed it twice, once in Italian and then again in English and both of those plays are on my Facebook page if you want to see them. I've seen my language skills creeping along and I'm understanding the people here more and more every day and I'm able to talk to them more as well! 

     This email is very long and so I will end it with a few pictures and and invite to look up the Book of Mormon 21 day challenge and then to do that challenge. I've only been doing it for 3 days and I can already see the blessings because of it in my life. Also, feel free to email me questions during the week, and if applicable I will take a picture to accompany the answer. 

5. A member wanted to try my jacket on. I let him. 

1. Me all dressed in white for a baptism 

3. Me eating at a Bar. They work differently here. (they gave us the food for free) 

2. The usual size of cheese at stores around here

4. The Italian version of Root beer. It tastes just like it says on the bottle. 

Barba (Whiskers / Beard)

Buongiorno tutti,

     I have seen and experienced many great things this fine week. I had lots of fun and also a lot of just life lessons for the mission and life in general. But before I begin with the stories, my mission tally of Pizzas and so forth :

Pizzas : 20

Gelato : 11

Books of Mormon : 10

     Alright! My first story begins on Monday, after the heavy rainstorm I mentioned last week. After the storm, Sunday afternoon, our drains got clogged and everything except the toilet was backed up for four days. I had a lot of sponge baths. We got Plumber to come down and fix our drains on Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning the neighbors below us grabbed us because water was leaking from their lights after we both grabbed a very long shower. So back to sponge baths for thursday, but plenty of threats from the landlord of the owner of the apartment below us to call the police and a bunch of other stuff because he was blowing the story out of proportion. We got it fixed and now there's no issue. 

     Wednesday afternoon however, I did a scambia or a companion exchange with another pair of missionaries for the night of Wednesday and through lunch Thursday. I came back to Castellammare di Stabia where I live and brought the missionary with me and introduced him to all the ragazzacci (punks) where I live and then arm wrestled all of them, one at a time and then all together five on one and I won. They then agreed to come to English course this coming Tuesday because that was our deal. 

     Thursday at lunch we went straight from one scambia to another, so I was with anziano Blanchard. He's from Pocatello Idaho and was in my MTC group so neither of us actually speak Italian. We still managed to have fun and get three numbers so we can contact people that showed interest in the gospel and it's restoration. We talked to more ragazzacci headed back to the apartment. 

     Friday was normal, just a train ride back to Castellammare di Stabia from Napoli where my companion was waiting. While in Napoli we stopped by a pizzeria called Pallones and while we were waiting outside, an older woman with one tooth that stuck out almost horizontal and with one of the most impressive five inch long goatee's I've ever seen walked past us. Then we got some pizza fritta and I got a Margherita. 

     The next day I lost my very first arm wrestling match since I got to Italy to a fifteen year old with a full beard. The match lasted about two minutes because we couldn't outdo the other and then he finally got the leverage because he pulled and rolled his wrist. Two very good tactics. I found out he was fifteen afterwards and that he does nothing but canoe around vesuvius maybe three times a day so his triceps were massive. We're good friends now though 😁😁 and yes, I've redoubled my push up and exercise routines for a rematch this coming month. It was close before.

     I love hearing from all of you during the week and love to hear about what's going on back home!

P. S. We have a baptismal date for the 15th I'll let you know how that turns out