It has been absolutely beautiful here the last week! The rain has not graced us with its presence in a while and everything is so green! Love it :) Last Wednesday we had run out of time during the day to write home and were at the internet point until 9:20 . . . yeah I know, bad idea. But God was looking out for us because a bus pulled up right outside the internet point and we got to our door right at 9:30! Miracle I know . . .
Thursday I attempted to make Moms refrigerator rolls . . . disaster right there. That is all I can say. We had yeast, yeast that has been here since before Sorella Pickett, but the box still had not been open so I thought we would be safe. I tried to activate it but nothing happened and for some reason I thought I just had not waited long enough and did not care and went on making the dough. Can anyone guess what happens when you use yeast that has sat on a shelf indefinitely? Anyone? Yeah . . . the dough never rises. Oh well, lesson learned! We wasted a bunch of flour and a few eggs, but not too bad. Sorella Pickett also made a prediction that day. According to her I will have a child three years from March 24, 2011. Everyone mark that in your calendars because my trainer is a prophetess! Too bad President Kelly squashed that dream because Friday he told me "Shes your trainer, not your fortune teller." Guess we will just have to see! English course Thursday night went well. For the spiritual thought at the end I copied "Sono un Figlio di Dio" for the class and right after I handed them out at the end Sorella Pickett says "Sorella LeCates and I will now sing it to you all in English!" I guess that is what senior companions do though . . . they like to spring little surprises on you like that. Good thing it did not sound too bad. One girl, Christina, really enjoyed it and had a big smile on her face the whole time.
Friday we had English course in Bocchignano again. We went with Sorella Kelly and the Assistants and it was great! Sorella Kelly helped us teach Advanced in the 4:30 class and gave a wonderful lesson about Easter and the Savior. Our portion went well with hers, though a little different. Sorella Pickett had brought quotes from "Kids Say the Darnest Things" and we had the students all read them. You are all probably wondering what that had to do with Easter, but the kids were all answering the question "What is love?" One little girl who was four even said "My mommy loves me the most because you do not see anyone else kissing me to bed at night." I think the students had a hard time understanding some of the English phrases, but it led into a discussion about experiences we have had where someone has expressed love to us. Everyone brought up their family and we all felt the spirit! Marco, who comes to the Roma English course also, asked us about General Conference and said he would be coming Saturday! We also gave him the February and March Liahonas in English. He is great :) The three of us taught the basic course at 6:30 and again it went well. We had a little bit different tactic with this class and taught them plurals and then played the game, Fruitsalad. Everyone sits in a circle and there are just enough chairs for everyone in the circle but an extra person is in the center. Everyone also is assigned a fruit (Strawberry, apple, banana . . . ) and the person in the center says three fruits at random and the three people with those fruits have to get up and switch. The person in the middle than has the opportunity to steal a seat. Whoever is left standing replaces them in the middle. It was fun and they all enjoyed it. After English course we had to to Fiumicino Aeroporto to pick up President Kelly. The mission president and his wife are too funny :) Anziano Pesci, our District Leader, is always really warm despite the temperature outside but the Anziani are not allowed to take off their suit coats until after April Conference. But President Kelly told the Assistants that they should play a little joke on Anziano Pesci and tell him the rules have changed and you have to leave your suit coat on until May first hahaha! It was fun, even though we did not get home until after 10:00. Good thing we were with President!
Saturday we decided to hunt down this park called Villa Ada. Roma has a couple of these really big parks (similar to Central Park) where you can go and enjoy nature amidst the big city. We found it and did a nice little stroll while we did finding work. We walked through the whole thing in about an hour and a half and then went to a street on the far side that we chose to go to after praying over the area and picking a street. Sorella Pickett got a little nervous because it was a REALLY nice area, but oh well. We prayed about it and went on anyways. But she was right, Via Adelaide Ristori is a VERY nice street with brass citofonos and everything! Cannot say we had a lot of success but people were a lot nicer about rejecting us than they usually are. We decided it was because they do not often have random missionaries and solicitors coming to their area because it is so nice. We did not quite finish the street because it was getting close to one, but we plan to go back. Here in Italy, especially in the south, their afternoons are very important to them. You do not bother people between 1:00 and 4:00 in a lot of places so as missionaries we take our lunch/dinner break from 1:30 until 3:30-4:00. So as it got closer to 1:00 we decided to head back and cut through Villa Ada again rather than go around. Problem is, there are limited entrances so we were walking along an alley that followed the wall of the park when we came across a big hole in the wall. So, taking it as a divine opportunity to cut down on time, we climbed through it into the forested part of the park. Unfortunately there were not any definite trails in this area of the park so we were just wandering around, climbing over fallen trees, enjoying the wonderful wildlife and sun when suddenly I smelled tuna. I am not quite sure, but an empty area of a massive park is about the last place you expect to smell tuna. I was just about to step over yet another log when my foot froze in the air because I realized where the smell had come from. Just in front of me was a gypsies' camp up against an old wall. I did not need the warning Sorella Pickett gave me a second later. Quickly, but quietly we backed away and almost ran in the opposite direction. Luckily we found the a populated area of the park about three minutes later, but I gotta tell yah, my heart was racing! That is about the most scared I have been so far on my mission. You do not go near gypsy camps, it is just not a good idea. Disaster averted we had to hurry home so our Pranzo would not be cut short, but on the way to the bus a Maserati pulls up to the curb by us and a man in a very nice suit climbs in and it pulls away. Sorella Pickett nudged me and said "M-word". You do not say Mafia outside of your home in Italy because it is a very real thing and neither of us could think of any other reason a luxury car like that would be pulling up to the sidewalk in Piazza Vescovio . . . That night though we had an appointment with new converts, Jhemil and Sharin Benitz and their mom, Carmen. They are such a nice little family from Bolivia and we had a good lesson with them about The Restoration. We left at 8:30 figuring we would have just enough time to get home but of course, the dependable public transportation system let us down. We waited for a half hour for the bus to arrive, plus the 30 minutes to get to the metro station, plus a 10 minute wait for the metro, and then the 10 minute metro ride. We finally got to Tibertina Station to take the train home at 9:45 and we look up at the departure board and the train will not be arriving until 10:45. 10:45?! We hated to do it, but we had no other choice. We called the Anziani to come pick us up . . . They were really nice about it and pulled up to the station in matching grey hoodies because they had already gotten ready for bed. And Anziano Hatch, one of the Assitants, took this opportunity to play President Kelly's joke on Anziano Pesci (who had come with him to get us). He turned to Anziano Pesci and says "Oh yeah, before I forget, President says that we all have to wear our jackets until May first. He says it is still letting us off easy because he had to wear his everyday during the summer when he was a missionary in Italy." It was priceless. We all thought he was going to die, so Anziano Hatch let him off the hook after about 40 seconds and told him it was just a joke. I was glad I was apart of it, even though it cut my sleeping time short. Daylights savings started that night and according to the new time, we did not get into bed until after midnight :P
Thursday I attempted to make Moms refrigerator rolls . . . disaster right there. That is all I can say. We had yeast, yeast that has been here since before Sorella Pickett, but the box still had not been open so I thought we would be safe. I tried to activate it but nothing happened and for some reason I thought I just had not waited long enough and did not care and went on making the dough. Can anyone guess what happens when you use yeast that has sat on a shelf indefinitely? Anyone? Yeah . . . the dough never rises. Oh well, lesson learned! We wasted a bunch of flour and a few eggs, but not too bad. Sorella Pickett also made a prediction that day. According to her I will have a child three years from March 24, 2011. Everyone mark that in your calendars because my trainer is a prophetess! Too bad President Kelly squashed that dream because Friday he told me "Shes your trainer, not your fortune teller." Guess we will just have to see! English course Thursday night went well. For the spiritual thought at the end I copied "Sono un Figlio di Dio" for the class and right after I handed them out at the end Sorella Pickett says "Sorella LeCates and I will now sing it to you all in English!" I guess that is what senior companions do though . . . they like to spring little surprises on you like that. Good thing it did not sound too bad. One girl, Christina, really enjoyed it and had a big smile on her face the whole time.
Friday we had English course in Bocchignano again. We went with Sorella Kelly and the Assistants and it was great! Sorella Kelly helped us teach Advanced in the 4:30 class and gave a wonderful lesson about Easter and the Savior. Our portion went well with hers, though a little different. Sorella Pickett had brought quotes from "Kids Say the Darnest Things" and we had the students all read them. You are all probably wondering what that had to do with Easter, but the kids were all answering the question "What is love?" One little girl who was four even said "My mommy loves me the most because you do not see anyone else kissing me to bed at night." I think the students had a hard time understanding some of the English phrases, but it led into a discussion about experiences we have had where someone has expressed love to us. Everyone brought up their family and we all felt the spirit! Marco, who comes to the Roma English course also, asked us about General Conference and said he would be coming Saturday! We also gave him the February and March Liahonas in English. He is great :) The three of us taught the basic course at 6:30 and again it went well. We had a little bit different tactic with this class and taught them plurals and then played the game, Fruitsalad. Everyone sits in a circle and there are just enough chairs for everyone in the circle but an extra person is in the center. Everyone also is assigned a fruit (Strawberry, apple, banana . . . ) and the person in the center says three fruits at random and the three people with those fruits have to get up and switch. The person in the middle than has the opportunity to steal a seat. Whoever is left standing replaces them in the middle. It was fun and they all enjoyed it. After English course we had to to Fiumicino Aeroporto to pick up President Kelly. The mission president and his wife are too funny :) Anziano Pesci, our District Leader, is always really warm despite the temperature outside but the Anziani are not allowed to take off their suit coats until after April Conference. But President Kelly told the Assistants that they should play a little joke on Anziano Pesci and tell him the rules have changed and you have to leave your suit coat on until May first hahaha! It was fun, even though we did not get home until after 10:00. Good thing we were with President!
Saturday we decided to hunt down this park called Villa Ada. Roma has a couple of these really big parks (similar to Central Park) where you can go and enjoy nature amidst the big city. We found it and did a nice little stroll while we did finding work. We walked through the whole thing in about an hour and a half and then went to a street on the far side that we chose to go to after praying over the area and picking a street. Sorella Pickett got a little nervous because it was a REALLY nice area, but oh well. We prayed about it and went on anyways. But she was right, Via Adelaide Ristori is a VERY nice street with brass citofonos and everything! Cannot say we had a lot of success but people were a lot nicer about rejecting us than they usually are. We decided it was because they do not often have random missionaries and solicitors coming to their area because it is so nice. We did not quite finish the street because it was getting close to one, but we plan to go back. Here in Italy, especially in the south, their afternoons are very important to them. You do not bother people between 1:00 and 4:00 in a lot of places so as missionaries we take our lunch/dinner break from 1:30 until 3:30-4:00. So as it got closer to 1:00 we decided to head back and cut through Villa Ada again rather than go around. Problem is, there are limited entrances so we were walking along an alley that followed the wall of the park when we came across a big hole in the wall. So, taking it as a divine opportunity to cut down on time, we climbed through it into the forested part of the park. Unfortunately there were not any definite trails in this area of the park so we were just wandering around, climbing over fallen trees, enjoying the wonderful wildlife and sun when suddenly I smelled tuna. I am not quite sure, but an empty area of a massive park is about the last place you expect to smell tuna. I was just about to step over yet another log when my foot froze in the air because I realized where the smell had come from. Just in front of me was a gypsies' camp up against an old wall. I did not need the warning Sorella Pickett gave me a second later. Quickly, but quietly we backed away and almost ran in the opposite direction. Luckily we found the a populated area of the park about three minutes later, but I gotta tell yah, my heart was racing! That is about the most scared I have been so far on my mission. You do not go near gypsy camps, it is just not a good idea. Disaster averted we had to hurry home so our Pranzo would not be cut short, but on the way to the bus a Maserati pulls up to the curb by us and a man in a very nice suit climbs in and it pulls away. Sorella Pickett nudged me and said "M-word". You do not say Mafia outside of your home in Italy because it is a very real thing and neither of us could think of any other reason a luxury car like that would be pulling up to the sidewalk in Piazza Vescovio . . . That night though we had an appointment with new converts, Jhemil and Sharin Benitz and their mom, Carmen. They are such a nice little family from Bolivia and we had a good lesson with them about The Restoration. We left at 8:30 figuring we would have just enough time to get home but of course, the dependable public transportation system let us down. We waited for a half hour for the bus to arrive, plus the 30 minutes to get to the metro station, plus a 10 minute wait for the metro, and then the 10 minute metro ride. We finally got to Tibertina Station to take the train home at 9:45 and we look up at the departure board and the train will not be arriving until 10:45. 10:45?! We hated to do it, but we had no other choice. We called the Anziani to come pick us up . . . They were really nice about it and pulled up to the station in matching grey hoodies because they had already gotten ready for bed. And Anziano Hatch, one of the Assitants, took this opportunity to play President Kelly's joke on Anziano Pesci (who had come with him to get us). He turned to Anziano Pesci and says "Oh yeah, before I forget, President says that we all have to wear our jackets until May first. He says it is still letting us off easy because he had to wear his everyday during the summer when he was a missionary in Italy." It was priceless. We all thought he was going to die, so Anziano Hatch let him off the hook after about 40 seconds and told him it was just a joke. I was glad I was apart of it, even though it cut my sleeping time short. Daylights savings started that night and according to the new time, we did not get into bed until after midnight :P
After the late night, Sunday morning was cruel, but we got to church on time and I was wide awake after helping in Nursery! My favorite little friend Emanuele was there and being the wild tornado of a 2 year old that he is, it was not boring. All of the kids also had balloons and we had a merry old time bouncing them up into the air. Sure I could not really talk to any of them, but it was fun and I really enjoyed it :) After church we stopped by Lhouisas to visit her since she was planning to leave for Barcelona today (Wednesday). She gave us some Philipino soup and talked to her while she serenaded us with the karaoke machine they have. The whole night than turned into the Philipino night because we had an appointment at Ben Gonzales for dinner. He is a really awesome member that joined the church in 2002. His wife is not a member but I love her too! She is the type that shows her affection through feeding you and you reciprocate by eating it all. Wow, I was full for about 2 days after that but it was truly delicious! But she is wonderful and told us she could not wait to have us over again and we would have a good discussion about the gospel. I really hope something comes of this. Ben is amazing and so is his wife, I want them to be a family forever!
As a missionary, you realize days NEVER go as planned. Monday was a great example of this. Consiglio di Distretto went well and we were actually on time for the first time . . . ever. We had a lot of visitors from Roma 3 and Roma 1 and the Zone Leaders gave a great lesson on following the spirit. Everything was awesome until Anziano Hatch jinxed us. It is his fault. We were supposed to meet a Sorella Rosales at Piazza Popolo (Flaminio Station) at 2 PM so that she could take us out to their house for an appointment. We then did not have time to talk to everyone after Consiglio and Sorella Pickett told Anziano Hatch that we had an appointment at two so we had to go. He then replies with his cynicism "No you dont." I wish he had been wrong. We go straight to the bus after district meeting, walk to the trian, go to Tiburtina, catch two different metros and arrive at Piazza Popolo at 2:02. But she was not there and both of her phones were off. This area is big and there are people everywhere and many places we could meet them so we spent the next hour walking around and trying to call her. After a while we decide to go find their house ourselves. We go out to the zone, Tomba di Nerone, and find the address on the ward roster and no one is home. So we go to a member who lives close by, the Vargas family who are from the Dominican Republic. They are gratefully home and we had a great lesson with them. Remy and his mom are both members, but his wife is not. She comes to church every week and is making great progress in the gospel. We talked about unity in a home and how important it is to have the spirit there since they are expecting a child. At the end we ask if they know where the Rosales family lives and they laugh and say they live about 10 miles outside of Roma. Turns out the address we have is old and that they moved. Oh well, our time was not wasted. After we left their apartment we were walking toward the Zapatas home who also live in the area when we came across Sorella Herrera. We told her we were out visiting members in the area and she says "Okay, than you come to my house." She is so nice and was super excited to have us over and even gave us a ride home after that. yes, plans fall through and go awry, but sometimes the Lord just has other plans in mind :)
Yesterday morning we headed back out to Villa Ada to do some more finding work and of course, it was beautiful again. After that we did some house on a street near the bus stop. No real success, but we took an opportunity in one building to put pubblicità for English course and some pass-along cards in peoples mail boxes . . . perché no? We then headed off to Rosa Riveras for lunch. I love her :) She is probably my favorite person so far and we can barely understand one another. She made us really good pasta and grilled chicken. Sorella Pickett, being a vegetarian, has not had meat since she was 11 years old and living with her for a while now I have not really eaten it either and cannot say I enjoy it so much anymore. But when a member gives it to me I eat it. So you can imagine my surprise when Sorella Pickett allows Rosa to put two slices of chicken on her plate without saying anything. I was even more stunned when she even put it in her mouth! But when she was down to just two bites left I could tell she was about ready to die from disgust. Taking pity on her I ate them while Rosas back was turned for just a second. Sorella Pickett owes me! Last night we decided to deliver some copies of the Book of Mormon to some referrals and contacts and headed out on the train to find a french woman who lives outside of Roma. We do not have a map outside of the first train stop past Fidene but we figured it could not be too far past that so we left thinking it would take an hour to go there and back, tops. We were wrong. Again. Turns out Gavigano is almost an hour long train ride from Fidene and is in the middle of no where. We got off the train and asked people if they knew where the Via Savina was. No one knew so disappointed we waited for the next train. And we waited, and waited, and waited . . . an hour later Sorella Pickett grimaced and called the Anziani again. We were completely alone at this station and had little hope a train would come. But to our great fortune, as soon as we made contact with the Anziani a train came our way! She was rather relieved, especially when we got home on time :)
Today for Preparation Day (President Kelly asked us not to shorten it to P-day) we had an appointment at the Questura (immigration office) so that Sorella Pickett could renew her Permesso. I dunno if we will do anything fun today, but I am sure we will think of something. Sometimes just laughing, despite the problems that come our way, is plenty fun for me and we have been doing a lot of laughing lately. Love you all! I pray for you often and hope you do the same for me! I love the gospel and I know our Father in Heaven truly is in the details of our lives. No matter how unfortunate a situation may become, there is always a reason and He has not forgotten us!
Muah! Con Tutto il Amore nel Mondo!
Sorella LeCates
