Today has been pretty intense. We had two appointments so our P-day was pretty much shot. We meet once a week with a new convert named Perry. My companion, Sorella Pickett, taught him when she was serving in Catania and he got baptized. He now lives in Roma so we are continuing to teach him. It is kind of funny though because I have come all the way to Italia to teach the gospel and we meet Perry, who is Philipino, at McDonalds, and we teach him in English. Sort of ironic if you ask me haha. We taught him today, then had to go grocery shopping, then ran here to do internet and write home. We have an appointment with a less active member of the church in about a half hour and then we are going to eat Mongolian food with a member. She invited us last week. She is too funny, even though I cannot really talk to her she just laughs and bacces me anyways. Bacci is the double kiss thing that you always see in Europe. Thing is, people actually do it, all the time. You cannot get away without doing it. Everytime you see someone you know or meet someone new, you kiss both their cheeks (men excluded of course for Sorelle).
So funny story from last P-day! We went to the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps last week but while we were in the Vatican we stopped in front of La Pietà (an awesome statue by Michelangelo-ask Melissa about it). We were taking pictures of it when this man comes up to us and just starts talking to us. He was American and from California and is telling us all about Catholic churches, icons, and statues. Then he begins talking to us about the next cardinal of California or something like that and how he has hook-ups to go down into the catacombs in St Peters Basilica to see Peters bones. At this point we are kind of confused and he tells us he loves meeting interesting people like us. We of course introduced ourselves as missionaries and as "sister" but because it is a church we cannot proselyte. After about ten minutes of talking he waves his wife over to meet us and goes "Honey! These girls are nuns!" Bahahahahaha! My companion and I were shocked at first but then we realized we could not allow him to continue thinking we were nuns so I stopped him and explained that we were missionaries for another church and my companion said from which one and that we were Mormon. His wife just nodded and was still pretty friendly, but this man had utter shock written all over his face. He took a couple of steps back and almost fell over. Pretty sure he was at a loss for words as he stumbled away and practically ran as soon as he got his bearings back. Pretty much made my day :) St. Peters is awesome by the way! It is absolutely huge! Much bigger than I ever would have thought previously. Another Sorella that we went with took a bunch of pictures so when I get them from her I will have to send them. The Spanish steps are really high and I was exhausted when I made it to the top of them. The view was killer though! The Trevi fountain was also cool to see. We all made wishes (you can all probably guess mine ;) ) I wished 5 times :)
Tell Aunt Jackie I am so sorry I have not written her a thank you card yet! I have been so busy on P-days that I have not been able to write to anyone! Also, I got Wendys card she sent me, so tell her no worries there. It got forwarded. The weather here is interesting. I would probably compare it to Kansas (maybe). Some days are really nice and warm and you do not need a coat. But other days are absolutely freezing. They have a ton of palm trees everywhere and it is really green. Citrus fruit is huge here also and many of the trees have oranges, lemons, and limes growing all over. It is kind of strange to see. I have a love of European cereal. Weird thing to say, but I like it so much better than American cereal. My favorite is this puffed wheat with yogurt covered chocolate pieces and dried banana slices. Sounds weird but it is delicious!
The work is going really well. We only have one new investigator though, her name is Roman. She is a referral from a member here. When we met with her she was so excited to get a Book of Mormon and she kept telling us that she knows Jesus Christ is her Savior and the only way to return to live with God. We were really excited to hear that. We talked to her a lot about changing our hearts and she even expounded on it as well. If she really does read the Book of Mormon she will join the church. There is no doubt in my mind. She knows who her Savior is and has a relationship with him. Also, she is from Ethiopia so we got to teach her in English also! About half of the lessons I have taught have been in English lol. It is kind of weird. I have not gone proselyting yet these past two weeks. We just always have appointments with progressing investigators and members and it takes so long to travel everywhere that we never have time to really set time aside to proselyte (to go to one persons home it takes about 1 - 2 hours on buses, the metro, and train). We talk to people in route, but that is it. Sorella Pickett says I need to experience door contacting though so she says we have to make time for it this next week :P But everything really is going great! I am loving the work and only frustrated that I cannot express the feelings of my heart more. It is so frustrating to sit in a lesson and have you heart about to burst because you want to share your testimony and not being able to say it the way that you want. But it will come, no worries. The Lord did not send me to Italia to never speak the language :)
Love you all! Vi Amo!
Sorella LeCates
