The weather here has still been beautiful! Especially this last Wednesday. It was cultural week here in Roma last week so Sorella Kelly got tickets to go see the galleria at the Villa Borghese for free! I had not been there yet and she invited all of the missionaries in our area. Unfortunately we were running really late (as always) and Sorella Kelly had to wait outside for us, but it was one of the most fun preparation days I have had so far! The galleria has a couple of really famous statues: Apollo and Daphne, The Rape of Persephone, and David. They are some of my favorite pieces so it was neat to see them in person. Melissa should know each one so have her show you online. After the museum Sorella Pickett and I had planned on riding the tandem bike through the Villa, which is a huge park in the center of Roma. The Assistents, Anziani Hatch and Rappleye, thought it was a good idea and said they would join us but somewhere on the way to the bike station we lost them. Thanks to cell phones we got a hold of them and we decided to meet by the museum. To our surprise, here they come riding up on two segweys! Not going to lie, I was a bit jealous. Yes, tandem bikes are cool and all, but I wanted a segwey! And being the Anziani they are, they were bragging about it and saying we were green with envy. That talk caught up to them later though when Anziano Hatch ran over a 2 year old :D Okay, I should not laugh, and I will explain better so that it does not sound too bad. Both he and Anziano Rappleye were ahead of us and then this little boy ran out away from his grandma right in front of Anziano Hatch. There was not really anything he could do other than slow down as quickly as he could. But still, the wheels went right up over the boys back and head. He did not seem hurt, though very startled. Anziano Hatch tried to do his best to apologize to the grandmother, but she did not speak English. Finally all we could do was leave and just in time! As we rode away I turned around and saw a woman with an empty stroller coming towards the boy . . . Kind of put a damper on the next five minutes but then we all harassed Anziano Hatch for the next half hour as we returned our rented vehicles and walked to the far side of the park. We made it to the far edge that meets up with Piazza del Popolo and began walking down the stairs while I was taking opportunity to further tease him when WHOOSH! I fell flat on my backside and slid down 6 or 7 stairs. Now it was my turn to be picked on. Oh well, guess I had it coming haha!
Giovedì we decided to stop by Laura's before she left for New York for the next two weeks. She was home but was really busy packing so we did not get to say more than wish her good luck and say good bye. That afternoon we went to visit the Criscone family. They are both really awesome. Both the mom and dad served missions in England and speak English really well. They also have the cutest little girls. Gaia is the oldest and is five years old and then there is Leah who is about 1 1/2. They have really strong testimonies and both love missionary work. After that we went to the church for English course which we taught by ourselves. That day was zone leader conference so the Elders that teach English course with us could not come. So Sorella Pickett taught basic and I taught advanced. It went well considering we did not have chalk or enough time to copy the grammar principles we had planned to teach.It was a little rough at the beginning but by the end of my class they were all asking more about the mission rules which led to me explaining the Word of Wisdom and tithing. Do not ask me about that transition haha, but they all found it really interesting and it made sense to them.
Friday Sorella Pickett and I got our turn to go up to Bocchignano English course by ourselves. Sorella Pickett was so excited because it was the first time she got to drive in over a year. We had called President Kelly for permission to drive the extra car out there and the plan was to go to the Villa to pick it up. But when we got there and rang for the gate to open, Sorella Kelly just looked at us really confused and asked why we were there. Turns out the car was unavailable because the hour before, the builder of the temple called and said he needed it. We then had to call the Assistants and ask to borrow theirs, but they were currently at the airport dropping off the zone leaders who had been in Roma for the conference. They would not be back for another hour so we had no other choice than to stick around the Villa until then. And let me tell you, we could not have had worse timing. An hour before we got there they had had a surprise visit from one of the Italian Princes of Italy who has met President Monson and several of the Twelve Apostles. He even loved Utah enough that he lived there 5 years. So he had not been gone long and there we were. Right after we got there the Church's lawyer for the entire European area showed up and after him, the builder of the temple. It was a very busy morning and afternoon for President and Sorella Kelly and here we were just chilling on their couch haha! Oh well, what could we do? Luckily we did get out to the English course on time and it went really well. I taught advanced in both courses that night. But probably my favorite part of the night was meeting Obie in the Pam grocery store parking lot. He had been laughing at us because I had to be outside the car when Sorella Pickett backed up an when we walked into the store he called out "Bella Bella Buona Sera!" It made both of us laugh and when we came out of the store he followed us to our car and started talking to us. The moment he learned we were from the United States he shook both of our hands and started speaking English. He is from Nigeria and said he was SO happy to have met us. He loves Jesus and kept telling us. He even stayed to help us back out. He was a fun guy, he probably shook our hands four times before we left. The way back into Roma after class was a little rougher than the way in. For some reason the GPS setting had us avoid the autostrada so we took the long way. I also get really bad motion sickness and the roads are super windy and Sorella Pickett was rusty with the clutch. By the time we got home I was pretty sure I was gonna hurl, but I lived.
Saturday night we visited Carmen Benitez and her two kids, Jhemil and Sharline. We have been teaching them the post baptism lessons and that night we chose to teach them the Plan of Salvation, but Jeopardy style! They all had a lot of fun and it got way competitive, but it perked their curiosity. They knew the basics but many of the questions we had asked made them realize how much more there is to learn and know. Next visit we told them it would be there turn to teach us. Sorella Pickett talked to Carmen at church Sunday and she said they had been involved in the scriptures after we left trying to learn as much as they could :)
Church on Sunday was great! Aside from a grumpy neighbor yelling at us to clean our back patio. There were bags on leaves left there from the last Sorelle and we had not yet taken them out because the only way to dispose of them is through our house. She was not very happy, but oh well. In church we had a lot of visitors because many are here seeing Italy. Sorella Pickett had to go play the piano in primary though, so I was the only one left to translate the Relief Society lesson. Oh dear . . . I warned the woman I was translating for, but she did not seem too worried. It was not terrible. I miss a few details but at least I could tell her what was going on, I think I also made a few things up haha! That afternoon Sorella Pickett called our investigator, Candy, to see when we could see her. She said that she had been talking to her dad about the church and that while we are very honest and have some great points in our doctrine, there are also some things she should know about. Polygamy. Of course that would come up and thank goodness we have not practiced polygamy for over 100 years. Sorella Pickett assured her that she had nothing to worry about. That discussion then led into a talk about the Law of Chastity which Candy absolutely loved! She is such a good girl and has had a difficult time here in Italy where men have different standards than she was taught. We have high hopes for Candy! That night we went to visit Claire Fergusen again. She was very nice and gave us crackers with smoked salmon. I have gotta say, that was the first time I had ever tried raw fish and she even said that she usually covets her salmon so it must mean she really likes us haha! She is great and enjoyed President Uchtdorf from October 2010 conference that we watched with her. She is feeling a lot better and might come see us sing on Easter this Sunday!
Monday after Consiglio we got new mattresses! Yay! Sorella Pickett and I have found one too many bedbugs in our sheets . . . gross, I know. I was ready for a change there. I got a letter from Samantha and she says that Kim Allen has turned in her mission papers! I am so excited for her! Missions are great and I am really starting to find that out! Monday night we did not have an appointment so we went out to Prima Porta (just north of Roma) to heart attack our investigator, Alessandra. We have not been able to get a hold of her since her daughter, Carolina, left for Ecuador, so wejust decided to let her know we love her and left a dedica for her. After that we went to go visit the Cruz family. Sorella Cruz was home and we visited with her for a while. Only she and one of her two daughters are members and they used to be seen by the missionaries quite often but that was the first time I had been there. She is so nice and I hope the best for her whole family! But I do not really worry, I have little doubt they will be an eternal family one day :)
Yesterday we had a lesson with Rosa Rivera and we are continuing our lessons out of Preach My Gospel. She is still pretty much my favorite member :) That night we went out to Settebagni (a 5 minute train ride from our house) to do some finding work. We prayed over a street and trekked out there. It was beautiful and classically Italy with the winding streets and palazzi. Also, just as house usually is, we had some funny experiences. Because everyone lives in apartments we use citofonos (the little intercoms outside) to talk to them. It was Sorella Picketts turn and she starts out by saying we have a very special message to share about our Savior Jesus Christ, when the woman cuts her off and says "Look, it is Easter okay? Have a little bit of patience and leave us alone. No one cares about your church." Then she hung up. Nice right? We had to laugh about that one for a while haha!
This morning has not been too exciting. We spent the morning cleaning, most importantly the back patio so that our neighbor will not yell at us anymore. I said Sorella Pickett "She is probably watching us from her window right now" right as she opened her window. She probably wondered why we began to laugh at that moment, but she does not need to know.
Glad you are all doing great! I am too! This really is an adventure but I love it all!
Muah! Vi Amo!
Sorella Karen LeCates
