Sweet! Tomasso, a student in our English class, informed us last night that we have recently experienced the hottest days of the entire summer! I was SOOOO excited when I heard that :D
But more important is the actual events of our lives right? So last week while we were doing the grocery shopping, Sorella Magno called us and asked if we could come over. We did not think this was going to be anything more special than a short visit with her and her two daughters who were visiting for the week so we said yes and asked if we could bring Carmen Servedio with us because we had a lesson with her just before. Carmen then brought a friend, Illaria Iacovelli, with her so we all showed up at Sorella Magno's in force! And then we realized that she had made us dinner and we had brought two extra people! Darn it, but because she is amazing she was very accommodating and fed us all. We had Melanzana fritta (fried eggplant) and fragiolini (green beans) and then cozze (muscles) with parmesean cheese and herbs. For dessert she had made home made orzo (barley - a coffee substitute) ice cream. It was all delicious! And we took a ton of pictures because Sorella Magno has facebook (she has 75 years) and she posts all of her pictures on there. It was a fun little night haha. We LOVE Sorella Magno :)
Giovedì was pretty much awesome. According to Sorella Ashman it was the "Giornata migliore nel MONDO!" or "the greatest day in the WORLD!" But I would have to agree, at least it was the best day we have had in a long time. We started out with a lesson in the morning con Orazio Galletta. He is the man that called US to say that he was reading the Book of Mormon and enjoying himself. When we went to the lesson he told us he had read more than 300 pages even! In just 2-3 weeks! I was impressed. His problem though is he does not want to really admit how interested he is in the gospel. It's written clear across his face that he loves everything we say and everything he has read but he is too "cool" for the church haha. But he said maybe he'd take a little stroll past the church Sunday to check it out. Yeah . . . a little stroll . . . he's dying to come! After that we had a lesson with Antonio Viscanti, and he's getting baptized on the third! YAY! I am SO excited! After the lesson Monday where we did not have an opportunity to say or teach anything, this lesson was just us. When Antonio arrived he asked if anyone else was coming and when we said no he responded with "piu good" with a smile from ear to ear. He likes to add English words here and there :) We watched "Insieme persempre" (yep, I love that film) and then talked about the Plan of Salvation again. He gave an awesome prayer and the end and is more and more ready for baptism every visit. And then that afternoon we had a lesson with BEATRICE! I literally love her. Yep. But because she has a bunch of odd little jobs and tons of things to do at home it is almost impossible to meet with her so when we called we organized a meeting on the same street we had met her. We were perfectly on time because it is the street we live on and she was there waiting. As soon as she saw us her face lit up and she hurried over to us. She told us she had been afraid that we weren't coming and that she was very content that we had. Because of the heat we had to find a place in the shade and our only option was the bus stop in front of our apartment. But despite the odd location and the people and cars around it was one of the best lessons from my mission so far. We sat down and explained how we pray and then I gave the prayer. She liked that we actually communicate with Heavenly Father. We asked if she had read the discourse we left with her and she pulled out the Liahona (because she actually brought it! Most people don't) and said she'd read almost the whole magazine. We read part of it about how the Spirit of God had to leave Christ while He was on the cross so that He could understand us when we sin and the Father has to remove His Spirit from us. At that she said that that is exactly how she has felt, that she has been abandoned. We then read the next part, at the end, where Anziano Holland explains that because He walked the path alone we NEVER have to. She read this section and after she had finished she looked up with a small smile. She is very sensitive to the spirit and everything we tell her she takes in stride without a single hesitation. We then talked about repentance and forgiveness and when we explained that we do not go to confess our sins to a preacher, but instead to our Heavenly Father. She said "I hope it is not a sin to say this, but that was one thing I never liked about my church." At the end we explained the Book of Mormon and gave it to her. She was shocked, again. She looked at us and said "Just like that? You're just giving it to me?" we nodded and then she said "I can't promise I will join your church but I do promise to read it." At the end she gave the sweetest pray, thanking Heavenly Father was us, the missionaries, and the opportunity to talk with us. I just hope we can see her more often and in places more conventionary. After that lesson we went to the church for a lesson with Michele, another new investigator. We met him on the street two weeks ago and had one lesson at his house. We taught him the Restoration this time and he soaked it all in. Every word we said. We watched the film and he was intent the whole time. At the end we talked for a little bit and asked him if he thought it was true and he said "yes, I think it happened. What does a person have to do to be baptized? How long does it take?" We then took him down stairs to the baptismal font and showed him around. We went back up stairs and talked more about what is expected before baptism, that he has to come to church at least 3 times and have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith/the Restoration . . . We asked him if he felt peace and comfort when he reads the Book of Mormon and he told us "Sono devo essere vincino il libro di sentire lo spirito e pace." "I just have to be close to the book to feel the spirit and peace." If he was not a man, I would have hugged him! Yep, Heavenly Father loves us! After that we had Corso d'inglese and talked about economics, politics, and the roles of women in politics. As always, we turned the conversation around at the end and told them how much we want to be moms and that that is the key to a functional society. A loving mother who teaches her children correct principles in the home. They too, Tomasso and Frank, soak it right up. Why they are not baptized I have no clue . . .
Friday, as always, we had weekly planning and a killer session of Comp inventory! Pretty much all the skeletons in our closets came out and we had a bonding moment . . . or hour haha. But it was good :) We then had to go to the ticket office to check bus times and we did street on the way and ran into some students from Iran! That was fun! They all spoke English and kind of made fun of us at the same time . . . but that is alright because I told them one of my best friends is Persian and showed them her picture. They thought I was less weird after that. After the adventure to the ticket office we went to go help clean the church. Okay. I need to have a better attitude. But the responsibility of cleaning the church was only given to the members in Janurary so they're still new at this. So Sorella Ashman and I figured we would go and help and we showed up 50 minutes late and there was only one other person there, Fratello Puglisi who is a counselor in the bishopric. So we got started figuring it would be a LONG day. Fratello Curci came shortly after we did and then we called Carmen Servedio to come help and she came right over. We love her! And then after another half hour the relief society president, Angela De Santis, and her husband and in-laws came as well. But of a ward with more than 60 active members, that's kind of sad. But like I said, I will have a good attitude and appreciate my opportunity to serve! We then spent the last hour with Carmen. She does not have a lot of family support in the church and she is trying to be more active in church so that she can serve a mission. We have started meeting with her more often to teach her things from Preach my Gospel and to just be her friend. Friday night was more a friend thing, especially after we tried house and no one answered. Instead we got ice cream and then walked home. But every time we see her she gets brighter and brighter! I can't wait for her to serve a mission!
Saturday morning we had a lesson with Antonio and Fratello Valentini. We taught him about the Priesthood and we think he was a little scared haha. We read from the talk by President Uchdorf this last May about living up to your priveledges. And it is true, having the priesthood is no small thing. If he is scared it just means he knows it is a responsibility that he cannot take lightly. Either way he will make a great Aaronic priesthood holder in a couple of weeks! That afternoon we wanted to run past a woman we had met the week before. She had been EXTREMELY rude to us when we had met her on her balcony and Sorella Ashman had her heart set on sharing our love to her. Va bene. It was sure to be something interesting. We got into the building and when we got to her door we understood why she had been so spiteful. She had about 15-20 stickers of the Virgin Mary stuck to her door frame. She is Catholicissssssima! That even scared Sorella Ashman so we tiptoed back out and headed to the church. But the trip was not for naught! On our way back we saw Daniele and Andrea, a father and son we had met on the street a week earlier. Daniele had not given us his number even though he had been interested and we had been rather disappointed. But when we saw them that night they had pulled out of a driveway so we then knew where he lived :) We have decided that as servants of the Lord we are permitted to be stalkers. Later we finally had another lesson with Nicola Bellino. It had been forever because he has had some legal problems with his divorce. But we met him at the church with Raffaele Petroni. We talked to him a couple of minutes prior to the lesson and asked him what his goal was for our meetings and he told us it was to convert us to his ideas. Okay. Wrong. But we started the lesson anyways and listened to "None were with Him" by Elder Holland. We had left it with him 2 weeks ago or something and we finally had another meeting to talk about it. Afterwards the discussion turned into him talking over us and trying to convince us he was right. The funny thing is he was telling us things we already believe, we are just 100,000 steps ahead of him. But he does not want to listen. Sorella Ashman has her heart set on meeting with him still so who am I to tell her no haha. We then took Carmen Servedio and Angela Cafagno with us to go visit our investigator Angela Strignano. Again, I love NONNINA! She is ancient and the funniest thing on the planet. But every time we come she is more and more coherent. It never ceases to amaze me the power of the Spirit. Instead of yelling "Angela! Angela!" the whole time, she recognized us and commented that we were from America. What a dear, and we know her name now, Antonia! But I still like Nonnina better. And just as a funny little tidbit that made me laugh . . . I received my first kiss in almost two years! After we had all left Angela's, Angela Cafagno went to do the double kiss on the cheek thing, "Baci", and accidentally kissed me hahahahahaha. She was super embarrassed but I just laughed and laughed.
Domenica we went to Bitonto again and we had a major creeper on the bus. When we got on the bus he was already there, sitting in a seat. He got up and moved to the seat across the aisle from us. But he was not facing forward like a normal person, he was facing the aisle and blatantly staring at us. We were not smart and we did not move. But after about 20 minutes on the bus we got up and moved to the front of the bus. At the next stop he got up and moved back to his original seat which was the closest available seat to where we were then sitting. Sorella Ashman was afraid he would get off at our stop in Bitonto so she called the Anziani to have the Branch President come pick us up early. Luckily he did not get off the bus with us, but we were concerned there for a bit. Church went well. Sorella Ashman gave a wonderful talk that had the whole branch commenting on her beautiful gift with the language. We then had lunch at a less active members home. They were so nice! When we got there everything was ready. We started out with pasta, as always, and the mom told us to only eat what we wanted. With pleasure. I have learned the skill of eating slowly during the mission and had only finished about half of my bowl and I was done. I looked over at Sorella Ashman who had pretty much finished. Because I had put down my fork Lorenza, the daughter, asked if I was full. When I said yes they took my plate away and Sorella Ashman gave me a death stare. I just grinned and silently gloated to her that I had not had to eat the whole thing. We then had crab, octopus, and salad. I did not want to try the octopus because it still had the sticker/suction cups attached. But they all dared me to try it because I was afraid. The taste was not too bad but it was like rubber in my mouth. So nope, I did not like it. Fruit came second, like always, and then we sat down to watch the Testaments. That show never ceases to make me laugh and we ate gelato too. I was full to the popping point, but there is always room for gelato according to me. We then watched "For this End was I born" and then shared a spiritual thought about the temple. By the end neither Sorella Ashman nor I could figure out why this family was inactive. It made no sense. Both the Mom and the Daughter have been to the temple, they have every single gospel video on the planet, the whole family has the spirit, and they love the missionaries. When we got a ride home from the Branch President he told us that the Father had died 2 years earlier and that that was more or less the reason. I hope they start going again! That night we had another lesson with Carmen in the park close to the church because I had forgotten the keys at our apartment. We taught her how to teach the first lesson and how to answer questions that most people ask. We then practiced taught. Once we were done with that we went and talked to some people in the park and they gave us their numbers :) Turns out we had said hello to one of them several times and he had been impressed with our comportment. I love missionary work!
Monday morning we had Consiglio di Distretto and Anziano Cuellar and Kafel gave the adesstramento. It was really good! It was all about goals and what we have to do to sacrifice for them now. It all lead into faith and hope and how to implement them into our work as missionaries. I love our elders! They really are great and it is such a priviledge to serve with them. That afternoon we had a lesson with Michele again and Raffaele Petroni came to help us. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he liked it all but the lesson did not go quite like the other. He had a lot of nervous habits and he has a problem with his back. Actually, I think the entire thing is fused. He brought up baptism again and shared all of his concerns that he might die if he is baptized by immersion. We assured him that he had nothing to worry about, that there is always a way to do it. But he was still worried. There has to be something else. His back is only an excuse. But we'll figure it out, as always. Sorella Ashman says we detectives. I think we're creepy . . . but that's alright. We ran into the Anziani after the lesson and they said they had seen one of our investigators on the street about 10 minutes earlier. We asked who and they said Andrea. Andrea is the one who does not have a cell phone so we have no way of contacting him. He is super prepared and wants to know more so we are pretty much 100% sure he was only on the street in front of the church in hopes of seeing us. With this information we ran out the door yelling "ciao!" over our shoulders. We searched for a half hour and did not find him . . . darn it. But again, we are creepy detectives so he won't stay hidden for long. That night we had a family night with the family of Cristina Giuliani. I. LOVE. HER. SON. He is my new favorite kid. Emanuele Tholley was my favorite in Rome. But Andrea Giuliani is my kid here. He is three years old and pretty much the greatest thing ever. He had this toy guitar and was rocking out with his shoulder length curly hair and everything. He then ate some cookies and laid on the couch and said "Now I am going to take a beautiful nap." But he got right back up when his mom brought out a cake. We have the best video of him trying to blow on it because it was too hot. But eventually he just stuck his face in it. I love Bari :)
Ieri mattina we had to go to the ticket office again to see the bus times and then ran around trying to find less actives. And yesterday was hot. I will admit I am really bad about drinking enough water, but yesterday I actually drank a decent amount. But I was going to die. The sun completely wiped me out and I could barely move. The last less active we tried to find lived on the street that crosses the street we live on. The address said 266. When we started at the corner by our house the addresses said 206. We walked up that street for about a mile and it still said 206. Not just 206 though. 206A, 206B . . . 206 1, 206 2 . . . 206 39 . . . and then . . . 206 aa. I was not very happy. Luckily it was time to go back home. Sure we missed the bus, but we were still on our ways to lunch so I survived. We went to go visit the Tarantino's before correlation and they told us the latest gossip of their neighbors and kept asking us why we hadn't called before stopping by. Then we had correlation with an investigator there again, and then English course. The students all took turns reading a short story Sorella Ashman had written before the mission. They all really enjoyed it, especially Frank and Tomasso. They pretty much adore Sorella Ashman haha. I wonder what they will do when she has to leave one day . . .
Sta mattina we had a lesson with Antonio at Fratello Curci's house. We talked briefly about the prophet and then watched the talk he gave at the last conference about temples. We then gave another short baptismal interview and he passed with flying colors! He still isn't drinking coffee because he threw it all away! When we asked if he felt the peace of repentance in his life he said "Assai!" or "A whole bunch!" :) I can't wait for his baptism! It truly will be wonderful!
The work is going on! Even with the heat, vacations, set backs, and the occasional bad attitude. We love Italy, the church, and try each and everyday!
Love you all! Muah!
Sorella LeCates
In July 2010 I was called to serve an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Italy Rome mission. I've always wanted to see Italy and I can't believe I'm lucky enough to spread the gospel there!
