24 December 2009
Well, luckily enough I was not arrested. Haha, thank goodness. All of my passport info is in the main computer here, so I think they just had to check that I knew my name and my birthday and where I was born or something and they left. Anziano Gurney, who had his permesso papers, his drivers' license, and his social security card had kind of a hard time however. Oh well, the police man left.
Thursday it rained all day long and it was windy and we were sooo cold. We went to Ibla to try and find some inactives and do some advertising for the Testaments. And then the bus didn't come, so we did a whole lot of walking in the rain. We got to Sorella Puglisi's for lunch and our coats and hair were wet. When she left she told us we had to change into different coats when we got home. We were supposed to have a lesson with Barbara, our new investigator from last week, but she got a phone call from her ex boyfriend who may or may not have given her a black eye right before the first time she called us, and now evidently they are in Bucharest or something. Sorella Puglisi and Sorella Cascone are pretty worried about her. We also met with Elvira, and asked if she'd work towards getting baptized. She said it will be tough but she wants to keep learning.
Friday I spent the entire morning and early afternoon on buses to and from Catania. OH JOY! It was kind of awful. But I picked up Sorella Jenkins and Sorella Morgan to come back to Ragusa and help with the Testaments. As it turned out there really weren't a TON of people who came, but we got a few good contacts and referrals and I think it was a really good experience for the members to get involved and organize the activity. It was pretty fun. I got to hang out with Sara and Simona, the Branch President's daughters who are 8 and 7 years old for a couple of hours. They really wanted to give referrals to us for their friends, so they wrote down a lot of names but didn't know the addresses so just wrote "she lives in an orange house" and things like that. They're cute girls. And Simona knows the names of tons of animals in English, she's a smarty but way shy. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday was the same as far as buses go. We then went with our members to sing to less-actives. That was fun. Everybody was really happy to hear Christmas hymns and it was a lot of fun to be with the members. And we still got home at 9! Partly because at Sorella Robb's Christmas Conference President Taranto told them that they have no reason to stay out after 9, and if they do, they can call him and tell him what's more important than receiving revelation and planning well what you're going to do the next day. SO we'll be home at 9 from now on thank goodness. And we got a Christmas card from the prophet. Cool, huh. In Italian even.
Sunday was the Primary Program. The kids gave talks. They were way cute. We were supposed to go to the Micozzi's for dinner but then Sorella Rollo showed up and was kind of upset that we'd ask her to take the Anziani. As it ended up we went with her and her daughter's family, the Cascone, came with us too. Which was sooo good because it saved us from having to eat an entire pan of pasta. Anyway, we had been thinking about taking them with us to sing to Elvira who had not been in church on Sunday, and Sorella Cascone came in and told us that she wanted to do that before we even had a chance to say anything. It was pretty awesome. Elvira loved it, she cried and said it was like God had sent angels to come to her house. And then we left her with the members and they visited and it was really nice for her to have friends.
We then went to visit Sorella Iacono's mom because she had been asking about us. And we found the whole family again. We taught a lesson but it was really focused a lot on Fratello Iacono. He needs to keep coming to church. He's a really good person and he knows that it's true, he's just traditionally a Christmas and Easter type of guy.
Oh and then we went to see how our friend Giovanni, who's just a friendly grandpa, is doing, and ended up having a lesson with Tina who works in his boutique. He's introduced us to so many people. We went to see him in the hospital on Monday and he just thought he had bad bronchitis. But we went to his store tonight and his daughter was there and says that he hasn't improved and that they're taking him to Milan to have better doctors look at him. He's going to be in the hospital for Christmas. But he's a really cool person, he just keeps smiling and being everybody's friend even when he's sick.
Monday we met a really cool girl. The Anziani from Gela met her on Friday on a bus to Ragusa. Her name is Carla and she's from Ragusa but she goes to school in Enna. She's studying psychology and she's my age and way cool. She loves the fact that we don't think she's ridiculous for believing in God, and she does not believe in the Catholic Church because she feels like men have changed it way too much. Anyway, she's way fun to talk to. We watched the Restoration video with her today, and she loved it. And she prayed, and she said she'd keep reading the Book of Mormon and praying, but thus far she really agrees with everything, just thinks it all makes sense and is glad to know that she isn't the only person who feels that way.
Tuesday we went to see Esther, and Justice (Justice is Esther's husband) was there too! And they said that if one of them was getting baptized they both had to, but first they had to know more about it. We read Mosiah 18 with them, and verse 10 my companion explained saying "here he's asking 'do you have a problem if I give you more blessings?'" and Esther and Justice agreed that that wouldn't be a problem. So then I talked about verse 11 I think and said "and the people were excited! they clapped their hands!" And Justice turned to Esther and said "so honey, are we going to clap our hands?" They both have a baptismal date and my oh my we have a lot of work to do but we can do it. :) We're super super excited. And then Justice wants to give baby Vittoria a blessing after they're baptized. Yahoo!
We also went singing with some members again, to a few of our friends in stores, who were all incredibly grateful. We left one family and as we were leaving I heard the woman say "now I can go home tonight with more tranquility". It was pretty awesome, for the people who heard the hymns and also for our members to be able to do that and see the difference that it makes.
And then yesterday. We went to Agrigento, and it was kind of a disaster, I mean really, we could call the whole day a disaster but actually it was pretty great. We woke up at 5 am, to get to a bus that was supposed to leave at 6:15. Well, it hadn't come at 6:40 so we got on a bus to Catania instead of to Gela. Then at 9:30 in Catania we got on a bus to Agrigento that didn't get there until 1. And then it was already lunchtime so we ate lunch with 12 missionaries (ten anziani and then me and sorella robb) and prepared for our singing mostra. We were kind of late getting there, it was a long walk. But we sang and people listened. And then we had to leave to catch a 6:30 train. Well, we were there five minutes early. And it left five minutes early. That train was going to Gela, where there would be a ten pm bus to get us back to Ragusa. We missed our only way out of Agrigento. It wasn't a problem for the anziani, but we had the option of staying with a member or a hotel. Luckily we chose members. We met the Branch President and his family and a few others, one served in the Milan mission with Wayne who was my first Italian teacher. They were SOOOO excited to see sisters and so so nice to us. The Branch President bought us dinner, Sorella Franca Dulcetta has an apartment that she doesn't use because she stays with her mom to keep her company, and she gave us her apartment and food for breakfast. And she introduced us to her neighbor, who had us over to talk to her and her grandkids and son so we didn't have to be alone all night. They were so amazing, and so welcoming and loving. You would have thought we were family and we were complete strangers. It's incredible. And then Franca came back at 7:15 to give us a ride to the bus station so we could get home. What a day before Christmas eve. I'm so amazed by these people.
So, we got back to Ragusa at 11, and then had district meeting at 12, and then at 3 we met Carla, who is fantastic. It has been SUCH a great week. Everything has gone completely WRONG but then turned around to be so amazingly RIGHT. I love it. Heavenly Father really knows what he's doing and we just have to remember to trust him even if we have no clue what he has in mind.
Tonight we're going to midnight mass at San Giovanni Battista. I'm excited. :) President Taranto encourages everyone to go. Then tomorrow we'll open presents, and then we'll go up to the Puglisi for a ridiculously large Christmas pranzo [lunch]. I'm sooo glad somebody finally invited us for Christmas, they called yesterday to let us know. But it will be great. And then Saturday we're meeting with a REALLY COOL family for lunch and we'll see how it goes, they're awesome though.
Life is so good. Christmas is awesome, we just walk around saying "auguri" [greetings] and "buon natale" to everyone and they all smile and say it back. It's great to celebrate the birth of Christ, and to see everyone so excited to be with family. And our Italian families are pretty amazing, if I can't be home at least I get to be with them.
I love you all! Buon Natale e auguroni!!!
Eliza
p.s. I'll be calling around ten your time I think. I have a phone card, don't worry. But around 7 pm here, depends a little on Anziano Gurney too but definitely between 9 am and noon. Love you!!!
Thursday it rained all day long and it was windy and we were sooo cold. We went to Ibla to try and find some inactives and do some advertising for the Testaments. And then the bus didn't come, so we did a whole lot of walking in the rain. We got to Sorella Puglisi's for lunch and our coats and hair were wet. When she left she told us we had to change into different coats when we got home. We were supposed to have a lesson with Barbara, our new investigator from last week, but she got a phone call from her ex boyfriend who may or may not have given her a black eye right before the first time she called us, and now evidently they are in Bucharest or something. Sorella Puglisi and Sorella Cascone are pretty worried about her. We also met with Elvira, and asked if she'd work towards getting baptized. She said it will be tough but she wants to keep learning.
Friday I spent the entire morning and early afternoon on buses to and from Catania. OH JOY! It was kind of awful. But I picked up Sorella Jenkins and Sorella Morgan to come back to Ragusa and help with the Testaments. As it turned out there really weren't a TON of people who came, but we got a few good contacts and referrals and I think it was a really good experience for the members to get involved and organize the activity. It was pretty fun. I got to hang out with Sara and Simona, the Branch President's daughters who are 8 and 7 years old for a couple of hours. They really wanted to give referrals to us for their friends, so they wrote down a lot of names but didn't know the addresses so just wrote "she lives in an orange house" and things like that. They're cute girls. And Simona knows the names of tons of animals in English, she's a smarty but way shy. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday was the same as far as buses go. We then went with our members to sing to less-actives. That was fun. Everybody was really happy to hear Christmas hymns and it was a lot of fun to be with the members. And we still got home at 9! Partly because at Sorella Robb's Christmas Conference President Taranto told them that they have no reason to stay out after 9, and if they do, they can call him and tell him what's more important than receiving revelation and planning well what you're going to do the next day. SO we'll be home at 9 from now on thank goodness. And we got a Christmas card from the prophet. Cool, huh. In Italian even.
Sunday was the Primary Program. The kids gave talks. They were way cute. We were supposed to go to the Micozzi's for dinner but then Sorella Rollo showed up and was kind of upset that we'd ask her to take the Anziani. As it ended up we went with her and her daughter's family, the Cascone, came with us too. Which was sooo good because it saved us from having to eat an entire pan of pasta. Anyway, we had been thinking about taking them with us to sing to Elvira who had not been in church on Sunday, and Sorella Cascone came in and told us that she wanted to do that before we even had a chance to say anything. It was pretty awesome. Elvira loved it, she cried and said it was like God had sent angels to come to her house. And then we left her with the members and they visited and it was really nice for her to have friends.
We then went to visit Sorella Iacono's mom because she had been asking about us. And we found the whole family again. We taught a lesson but it was really focused a lot on Fratello Iacono. He needs to keep coming to church. He's a really good person and he knows that it's true, he's just traditionally a Christmas and Easter type of guy.
Oh and then we went to see how our friend Giovanni, who's just a friendly grandpa, is doing, and ended up having a lesson with Tina who works in his boutique. He's introduced us to so many people. We went to see him in the hospital on Monday and he just thought he had bad bronchitis. But we went to his store tonight and his daughter was there and says that he hasn't improved and that they're taking him to Milan to have better doctors look at him. He's going to be in the hospital for Christmas. But he's a really cool person, he just keeps smiling and being everybody's friend even when he's sick.
Monday we met a really cool girl. The Anziani from Gela met her on Friday on a bus to Ragusa. Her name is Carla and she's from Ragusa but she goes to school in Enna. She's studying psychology and she's my age and way cool. She loves the fact that we don't think she's ridiculous for believing in God, and she does not believe in the Catholic Church because she feels like men have changed it way too much. Anyway, she's way fun to talk to. We watched the Restoration video with her today, and she loved it. And she prayed, and she said she'd keep reading the Book of Mormon and praying, but thus far she really agrees with everything, just thinks it all makes sense and is glad to know that she isn't the only person who feels that way.
Tuesday we went to see Esther, and Justice (Justice is Esther's husband) was there too! And they said that if one of them was getting baptized they both had to, but first they had to know more about it. We read Mosiah 18 with them, and verse 10 my companion explained saying "here he's asking 'do you have a problem if I give you more blessings?'" and Esther and Justice agreed that that wouldn't be a problem. So then I talked about verse 11 I think and said "and the people were excited! they clapped their hands!" And Justice turned to Esther and said "so honey, are we going to clap our hands?" They both have a baptismal date and my oh my we have a lot of work to do but we can do it. :) We're super super excited. And then Justice wants to give baby Vittoria a blessing after they're baptized. Yahoo!
We also went singing with some members again, to a few of our friends in stores, who were all incredibly grateful. We left one family and as we were leaving I heard the woman say "now I can go home tonight with more tranquility". It was pretty awesome, for the people who heard the hymns and also for our members to be able to do that and see the difference that it makes.
And then yesterday. We went to Agrigento, and it was kind of a disaster, I mean really, we could call the whole day a disaster but actually it was pretty great. We woke up at 5 am, to get to a bus that was supposed to leave at 6:15. Well, it hadn't come at 6:40 so we got on a bus to Catania instead of to Gela. Then at 9:30 in Catania we got on a bus to Agrigento that didn't get there until 1. And then it was already lunchtime so we ate lunch with 12 missionaries (ten anziani and then me and sorella robb) and prepared for our singing mostra. We were kind of late getting there, it was a long walk. But we sang and people listened. And then we had to leave to catch a 6:30 train. Well, we were there five minutes early. And it left five minutes early. That train was going to Gela, where there would be a ten pm bus to get us back to Ragusa. We missed our only way out of Agrigento. It wasn't a problem for the anziani, but we had the option of staying with a member or a hotel. Luckily we chose members. We met the Branch President and his family and a few others, one served in the Milan mission with Wayne who was my first Italian teacher. They were SOOOO excited to see sisters and so so nice to us. The Branch President bought us dinner, Sorella Franca Dulcetta has an apartment that she doesn't use because she stays with her mom to keep her company, and she gave us her apartment and food for breakfast. And she introduced us to her neighbor, who had us over to talk to her and her grandkids and son so we didn't have to be alone all night. They were so amazing, and so welcoming and loving. You would have thought we were family and we were complete strangers. It's incredible. And then Franca came back at 7:15 to give us a ride to the bus station so we could get home. What a day before Christmas eve. I'm so amazed by these people.
So, we got back to Ragusa at 11, and then had district meeting at 12, and then at 3 we met Carla, who is fantastic. It has been SUCH a great week. Everything has gone completely WRONG but then turned around to be so amazingly RIGHT. I love it. Heavenly Father really knows what he's doing and we just have to remember to trust him even if we have no clue what he has in mind.
Tonight we're going to midnight mass at San Giovanni Battista. I'm excited. :) President Taranto encourages everyone to go. Then tomorrow we'll open presents, and then we'll go up to the Puglisi for a ridiculously large Christmas pranzo [lunch]. I'm sooo glad somebody finally invited us for Christmas, they called yesterday to let us know. But it will be great. And then Saturday we're meeting with a REALLY COOL family for lunch and we'll see how it goes, they're awesome though.
Life is so good. Christmas is awesome, we just walk around saying "auguri" [greetings] and "buon natale" to everyone and they all smile and say it back. It's great to celebrate the birth of Christ, and to see everyone so excited to be with family. And our Italian families are pretty amazing, if I can't be home at least I get to be with them.
I love you all! Buon Natale e auguroni!!!
Eliza
p.s. I'll be calling around ten your time I think. I have a phone card, don't worry. But around 7 pm here, depends a little on Anziano Gurney too but definitely between 9 am and noon. Love you!!!
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