So I have learned a very important lesson. Ready to hear it? Never eat corn flakes with your bare hands at a public computer in Italy. Don't worry, I will explain.
So last Wednesday after internet we took a bus to a little town outside of Bari called Aquaviva to visit the Costanzo family who have been investigating the church for over a year now. They invited us out to their house to teach a lesson and it started out well but they are the type of people that ask a bazilion questions, which we are happy to answer, but they do not really listen to the answer. Quindi, every time you see them you end up explaining the same things. But they are some of my favorite people here. They are ready to give us just about anything and they did. After the lesson. They had a huge bowl of Indian figs, the type that grow on cactuses, and they gave us about 8 each. We thought that was it but then she pulled out a massive jar of canned cherries that they had picked and canned themselves two months ago. We each got a big bowl of those. And then she, Margherita Costanzo, pulled out a platter full of a cream-jam filled pastries. I figured we could get away with eating just one. But nope. They each ate one and then left the last 6 for us. Yep, I ate four of them. Don't get me wrong, they were good, just a lot. But because they are terrific they then gave us a ride home so that we did not have to take the bus.
Thursday we had a lesson with Antonio Viscanti and Fratello Carclucci where we finished teaching him the Articles of Faith. He really likes them and smiled as he finished reading each one. We then went to visit Sorella Avantario in Carbonara and Sorella Raffaela Juan was there with her two boys. Sorella Ashman has a member crush on Sorella Juan, but rightfully so. She served an English speaking mission, went to BYU, her husband is from Mexico (and cooks real Mexican food), and they have two boys that just make me laugh named Leonardo and Andrès. After that we went to go find a less active who we have never met who supposedly lives in Carbonara. We asked Paolo, the son of Sorella Avantario, for directions and he lead us to an empty street and he told us to start walking because there were houses at the end. Oh, we started walking haha. And literally the only things along the way were olive trees, fig trees, grape vines, and old abandoned homes. It was pretty sweet though. One of the charms of Italy is you can pick fresh green figs off the tree and eat them as you walk along a country road. We even found melagrana, pomegranates, and ate them on our way! As we reached the end of the road, after 30 minutes of walking, we realized it was the same road where one of our investigators, Orazio Galletta, lives. We had walked all the way from Carbonara to Bari. Oh well! I enjoyed myself! That afternoon, during lunch, we received a phone call from Beatrice! She called asking to see us. I don't know about other missions, but this is a first for me. I have never had an investigator call to see us. She also told us that she had been telling her daughter about us and how she feels when we teach her! She's basically a missionary already :) So we set up to see her in an hour at the park near our house instead of a bus stop haha. Again she was really happy to see us but when we sat down to start talking she told us she did not think she could continue to meet with us. Okay, CONFESSION! My heart about broke. But then she continued to explain why she couldn't and I felt a lot better. She had told us previously that she had done something terrible that had ruined her family. We did not really understand what it was, just that it happened after her husband had left her. During this lesson she finally explained. She had experienced a mental break down and had basically torn her house apart. It no longer has rooms because she took down all the walls and everything else with it. Now she has to repair it all but she has no money. So now she has to work even more and she is not sure when she can see us. Lucky for us, Sorella Ashman graduated in interior design! She told Beatrice that we would be happy to come to her house and help her and also teach her there. Beatrice seemed happy with the idea so now we can teach her in her home while bringing some normality to her life. We taught her the Restoration and at the end we asked her if she had any questions. She said no because it all made sense and that she needs to read the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately she has not read it, but we explained the importance again. I think she gets it this time. But as a side note, she is still reading the conference edition of the Liahona we left with her! After that lesson we had another lesson with Michele and Raffaele Petroni helped us. Pretty much he just needs to relax. He's great, but he is probably one of the biggest stress cases of my life! We think he got the impression that all members of the church have to be missionaries and proselyte like the Jehovah's Witness. So at the end of the lesson he tells us that there is just no way that he can be baptized. We were a little confused and asked why. He told us because "I have work, and a family, and I am about to start classes in two weeks, my mom is really sick and needs my family . . . " at that point Raffaele cut him off with a smile and we then tried to explain it to him. We even took out the pictures of our families to show him that we are completely normal at home. We attended school, had friends, worked . . . and that other members of our families served missions and are not going to school, are married, and have children. I think he felt better, but then he told us that if he tries to be baptized he will end up in the hospital because of his back (which I think is completely fused and causes him a lot of pain). Regardless though he is obsessed with baptism and we think it is because he knows it is necessary and wants it. Vediam :) We then had English course and Sorella Ashman had them read her poetry that she wrote before the mission and we talked about it. We then talked about our favorite books and authors. At the end we sang the Primary song "I lived in heaven a long time ago it is true . . . " in Italian and they all clapped at the end.
Venderdì we had weekly planning and then we went to the church to meet Antonio before his baptismal interview! Yay! We watched the end of the Restoration, starting at the part where Joseph smith's little brother wants the toy horse and how his dad makes him one. Antonio is so cute and just LOVES Joseph Smith! He cried again and then was super stoked when Anziano Urry came for the interview. And it went GREAT! Flying colors, literally! We then sat down to start making the program with him when he says that Anziano Urry is a great example, but that we are absolutely exceptional :) melted my heart! And we did not even do anything! Literally, this has been all between him and the Lord. We just answered his questions and told him what we know and how we found out. AFter that we went to Loseto to go and try and see Sorella Puglisi but she was not there. We then went to try another inactive family, the Corvasce family, but they were not there either. Vescovo was out of town, so we went to go see la famiglia Cassano. We asked them if they knew the famiglia Corvasce and they said they have not been to church in 30 years . . . huh. But we had the shortest lesson of my entire mission with them. We were in and out in 15 minutes. I know. Insane. In Italy? I did not think it was possible but it happened and we even got out of there with ice cream! It was quite perfect :)
So if you are still wondering about the whole comment at the begging about cold cereal, you are about to find out. So Friday I started to have the sniffles but I ignored it because I HAD to have been out of my mind because it is August. But then Saturday morning I woke up at about 5.00 with my throat almost completely swollen shut. I thought maybe I had not drank enough water but after drinking almost two liters I realized that that was not it. Sorella Ashman then woke up and said her throat was sore too. But other than our throats and a little bit of a clogged nose we felt fine, so we went to the church for an appointment. We ended up getting stood up so we finished the program for Antonio's baptism. At this point we both started to feel a little bit more crummy. By about 12.00 we felt really crummy and went to the farmacia to buy antibiotics and then go home. First of all, for 12 100mg pills of amoxicillan is only 3 euro! Not that that is important haha. So we went home really achy and our heads in clouds and ended up reading from "Mormon Doctrine" by Bruce R McConkie for 4hours. Needless to say we learned a lot. That night though we had a lesson with Carmen Servedio and Angelo Strignano so we left the house to go to the church. Haha, I learned I can barely speak Italian when I am sick, but Carmen had a good laugh. Angela was not there so we ended up going back to the church and practice teaching with Carmen and another member named Andrea Scisci. By 8.00 Sorella Ashman and I were about ready to die so we went home again. We then brainstormed how on earth we could be sick and then we remembered that Wednesday when we had written home we had shared a bag of corn flakes and had eaten them with our hands without even considering the massive amount of germs on the keyboard. Pretty sure we were infected by that. Sorry Dad, I can just see you cringing right now. But this lead to the greatest story of my mission on Sunday :)
Sunday morning we both felt better but after the first 20 minutes in church it was downhill. But there was no way we were going home. By the time Sunday School hit I just wanted to curl up and sleep and Titta, our crazy little friend (and eternal investigator of 20 years) was sitting by me and noticed. She told me we needed to come to her house to pick up cold medicine. I told her that we did not have a cold, that we had an bacterial infection. At that she freaked out. To give her credit, she literally is crazy so it's not her fault. But she did this as Fratello Curci was trying to begin the lesson. He told her not to worry and that we were fine. She stood up and started yelling at him that she was a doctor (hehehehe) and that she was in fear of our lives. She then demonstrated that she could both hear and feel our tonsiles pounding because they were so swollen. She used her hands and went "boom BOOM!" She demanded we do something or she would call for an ambulance. She then went to the door, still yelling at Curci, and opened the door because she would not be responsible for our death. Then Pietro came to our rescue. He is pretty much the coolest guy ever. He has been inactive for a while but has recently come back and has been meeting with the Anziani. He's probably 30-35 and does something in the medical field and has the best sense of humor. Up until that point he had been laughing his head off next to me, but when Titta was going to leave he told her that we were fine because we had already gone to see a doctor. She stopped at that, turned slowly around, and asked skeptically who it was. Fratello Curci told her we had gone to see his very own friend, Dr. Bellomo, and that he had prescribed us antibiotics. She then railed on him and told him that Dr. Bellomo was a dentist and that he did not know what he was talking about. But slowly she made it back to her chair, immediately turned to Sorella Ashman and demanded a piece of paper and pen. She then proceeded to write a "prescription" and gave it to me telling me that as soon as I exit the church I have to go straight to a farmacia to buy was she wrote. She then explained how to take it and made me promise. But then she got agitated when Fratello Curci told her not to worry because we were fine. She then stood up and yelled behind her that she was calling an ambulance. Va bene. We let her go. Then Sacrament meeting started without anything too crazy. We even made it through the sacrament without any defaults and Sorella Valenti started her talk. About 10 minutes in I see Titta's face right next to mine, telling us to follow her. Okay, for perspective, we were on the second row of about 20-25. Everyone in the chapel was looking at us and we did not know what to do. But Titta motioned again and continued to talk in her not so quiet voice that a doctor was there to see us. Oh boy. But she assured us there was no ambulance because they had refused to come. But a nice doctor had a agreed to assist us in our emergency. The poor guy! He had no idea what he had gotten himself into. As soon as he saw us he knew that we were fine and that he shouldn't have come. But again Pietro came to our rescue. He followed us out, with about 4 other priesthood leaders from the ward, and whispered to the doctor that she was crazy. This doctor nodded and whispered back that he would fake the examination to placate her. So we followed Titta down the hall to the Relief Society room and sat down with several dozen eyes of ward members wondering what on earth the sisters had done this time. The doctor asked us a few questions about our symptoms and what we were taking and then examined our throat with a flash light. He told Titta we were fine and that we would not die. And because Titta is always right she told us "Well now you know for CERTAIN that you will be alright." Yes, thank you Titta! Probably my favorite part was when Fratello Carnevale told me to stop talking to her because it was causing a problem :) But I am too nice for that. Really, she's harmless, just a little bit . . . high strung? As we reentered the Chapel it was great to see everyone stare at us as we sat back down. After 20 minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder and Sorella Caricola pointed behind her. Titta tried to mouth to me "Are you alright?" and I smiled enthusiastically and with thumbs up and nodded. She then grinned and looked quite content. If it makes Titta happy, va bene haha. For lunch that day we ate at the Stake President's. His daughter, Clarissa, is 20 and is dating a return missionary from Milan. He actually served in Bari (no worries, they knew each other before his mission too, there wasn't any funny business going on) and speaks perfect English without even an Italian accent. He was there so it was fun to talk to him about the mission and who he knew because he has only been home for a little over a year. We then ate delicious pasta because that is literally what they eat for EVERY Sunday dinner, potatoes, chicken, fruit, and pie. Because my head was completely in the clouds, eyes blood shot, and I could hardly breathe, we got a ride home and I passed out for an hour. But then Sorella Ashman had to go to choir practice because she has been asked to sing in the choir for stake conference. She had been feeling much better and felt up to it. But after an hour of singing she came to me before it had finished and said we needed to go home. We then did another 2 hour study session with Bruce R McConkie and then turned in.
Luckily we weren't dying the next morning and went early to the church to have a short lesson with Antonio with Fratello Curci. It was a really nice lesson and we watched finding happiness and how we can find that in our life. At the end Antonio gave the prayer and cried as usual. But after Fratello Curci pulled out 20 euro and said that he had been prompted by the spirit to give it to him and he did not know why. Antonio took it, cried again, and said he would be very ungrateful to Heavenly Father if he did not take it. We LOVE Antonio :) We then had consiglio and Sorella Ashman and I hacked, coughed, sneezed, and blew our noses through the whole thing but again we weren't dying! I was super tired that afternoon so we left the house a little late and went to the Valentini's for some information on ex investigators and inactives and then we went to go see Maddalena Signorile. She used to be really active and always helped the Sorelle with their work but then she started dating a non member and does not come anymore. Neither of us know her so we asked the Valentini's where she lived and then went without calling. When we got there the only one home was the sister, Anna. She let us in to give us water and Sorella Ashman asked her if she had ever read the Book of Mormon and she held up her hands and said "Nope. I don't want to hear anything." We said alright, but can we leave with a prayer. Again she said no. Oh well. We tried. After that I was super tired again so we started to head home and ran into two Africans that needed directions to a lawyers office but neither of them spoke Italian. We showed them the way and it ended up being the same building as Eleanora, an investigator of the Anziani. Last we had heard she was in the hospital and her daughter told us not to call anymore. She was golden and stopped smoking and had a baptismal date and it was killing Anziano Kafel to not have contact with her. But as we started walking away we passed the bus stop and there she was sitting on the bench with another woman. Usually Eleanora is very lively and happy and loves the missionaries. She was not the same person when we saw her. She did not smile, in fact she barely moved. The only action we watched was as she pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and smoked it. There was obviously a problem so we asked if she remembered us. She said yes but nothing more. The other woman, a friend, began asking me a ton of questions about America and Sorella Ashman left to make a phone call. When she came back she whispered that she had called the Anziani to come. We continued to talk to her friend until they showed up. When she saw Anziano Cuellar she perked up a little bit, but Anziano Kafel wasn't there because they were doing scambi. But when Anziano Cuellar talked about Anziano Kafel her face lit up and there was a bit of a smile. She did not stay long to talk because she said she was tired and had to go back in the house. But her phone number is the same so the Anziani are going to keep trying. After that we headed home for the night.
Yesterday was zone conference and before we had a "sister conference" with the sorelle from Taranto, Sorella Kelly, Sorella Rempel, and Sorella Thompson. It was a nice change. We are always out numbered and it was a much needed experience that I hadn't realized I needed. Conference it's self was great and we learned a bunch as always. I received all my mail from the office and now I have letters to write! I have this weird desire to read letters. It's weird, I know. After conference we had correlation and then English course. We read parts of our letters from home and then talked about the temple. At the end we asked if there were comments or questions and Tomasso told us that our faith and behavior amazed him because we are so different from other girls our age. We have perception and direction in our lives. We just want to scream at him "BE BAPTIZED!" Maybe one of these days we just should.
This morning we did the trial run for the baptism. We learned how to fill the font and then we had Antonio try on his clothes. He was so excited that he practiced with the robe and everything, going into the font about 3 times. He is SO cute! I just am so excited I cannot even tell you :) As we left the church we ran into two women who started asking us questions about the church and he started baring testimony and explaining things to them! Mind you, we met Antonio only 2 months ago. I LOVE ANTONIO! He is just great :) We then did a bunch of grocery shopping, wrote a few letters, and now we are here. This work is so great! I really love it. Hard. Man. Yes it is hard. Sometimes I wonder why on earth I chose this, and then I have incredible experiences with my brothers and sisters like Antonio, Beatrice, Carmen . . . and I don't ever want to leave! This work is for them, but Heavenly Father gives us the opportunity to do it because we need it too. And I am so grateful for it as well.
Love you all a bunch!
Non siate troppo pazzi!
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!
