Caserta | week 5 {Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, tremors in Napoli}

Our Christmas week was absolutely amazing! It was obviously a new experience for me being away from home and everything, but it was definitely a special one that I will never forget. First off, I hurt my foot about 10 days ago (not sure how) and I have been limping on my foot. Last Monday night we had a dinner appointment with Joe and Vincenza that was probably the most memorable night of my mission thus far because of that familys love and awesomeness. Vincenza noticed I was limping pretty bad and immediately pulled out a bucket of hot water with some salts that she told me to soak my foot in. I thought that was the most considerate thing ever, and then after about 10 minutes she came over with a towel and gloves and started rubbing my foot. I know it may sound a little wierd, but it was the nicest thing any one has done on my mission so far. I always care the picture of the Savior washing is disciples feet that Joe sent me a couple months ago and that is exactly what it reminded me of. More on them to come later in the email.

Christmas Eve was at the Salvitis (an American family who lives on the base) which rocked. We made 4 types of cookies with ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and some other stuff. All the other Napoli missionaries are super jealous of our American hookups They take care of us so well. Anways, after dinner we read some christmas story that made everyone cry. I zoned out a bit after so much food and had no idea what the story was about. Then we read Luke 2 together and called it a night. Fun stuff.

  Chirstmas day was way fun because we got to go with the Willies (senior American couple) to visit a family who lives about 45 minutes away in some super pretty mountains. The Willies dont speak any Italian and this family doesnt speak any English so I think there was some miscommunication on who was in charge of food. The Willies brought a feast that could have fed the branch. Laura also made a ton of Romanian food that was delicious. Anyways, there were 2 huge feasts prepared. Laura was over the top nice to us because she has a son serving a mission in Romania right now and she definitely wanted to spoil the missionaries. We had a really good meal and it was awesome to visit with her. Highlight of the day/week/month/ever was talking to the family. Best thing ever! Nuff said. 

The next day was some sort of saint holiday here in Italy so everything was closed and no one left their house all day, so we watched our two xmas movies then. We watched Brave and Toy Story 3. Classics. 

We went to Joe and Vincenzas house again Friday and then they did the new nicest thing anyone has done for me on my mission. I walked in limping again and they had a box to give to me. I opened it and it was super durable black walking shoes. He said he spent 2 hours to find shoes with this much support in my size. They have helped my foot out so much. I have no idea what I can do to repay that family. After they gave me the new shoes, we shared a spiritual thought about eternal families and about the temple coming to Rome. I love that family with everything I have. Afterwards they gave us an awesome dinner and invited us again for New Years Eve. We cant wait for tomorrow night! We still have to be home super early though. 

Salvatore and Alina came to church this Sunday and it was really cool. All of the members were so nice to them and they instantly felt like family. Everyone was so busy talking to them Anziano Heder and I barely got a chance to. They can definitely feel the goodness of the people here and I am really happy and excited for them. Sunday night there were little tremors all over Napoli and it was kind of scary. Everyone was out of there house just standing on the street. I was laughing cause it made me think of my Mount Vesuvius project I did in Latin in 8th grade. I was literally looking right at it and the ground was shaking. Definitely made me laugh. Anyways, I couldnt be happier right now. The members here treat us great, there are amazing people here who need the gospel, and nopton pizza is exceptional to say the least. So long and have a good week! 

Anziano Smith

Caserta | week 4 {Sangregorio Alley, Branch Christmas Party, Napolitano}

Pictures of Regan at San Gregorio Armeno in Naples, Italy. He said it is the coolest street in the world and that they do this every day of the year!  

Elder Heder, Salvatore, Alina, and Elder Smith at the ward xmas party

So first of all, I never want to leave this place. Caserta is absolutely amazing, and when I do get transfered, I never want to leave the Napoli Zone. Noptons are the coolest people in the world! The culture of the people here is so unique that people here dont really say they are Italian, they say that they are Napolitano. I completely understand why now. This place is a whole different world than Brindisi. I found out this week that Napoli is older than Rome! Last pday we planned to go see underground Napoli, but we got so caught up in seeing other things we never got around to it. I sent some pics of Sangregorio Armeno (Christmas Alley) which was really cool. 

Anways, last Friday we met with Salvatore and Alina and it was an amazing lesson. Sometimes I kind of get nervous before lessons cause Im not sure that Im going to say the right thing or whatever, but with Salvatore and Alina I dont feel that way at all. Friday was the 3rd time we have met with them, and I already feel like we are great friends. The lesson lasted an hour and a half which is a lot longer than usual. Salvatore is really smart and always has a lot of questions which makes it a lot easier as a teacher. We ended up talking about so much different stuff I hope they didnt leave confused. It is amazing to me that they are so willing to meet with us and learn more given my crummy Italian and probably confusing answers. I know that they could feel the Spirit thought when we read from the Book of Mormon together. Everytime someone asks a question I have found out that the best answers are  found in the Book of Mormon and my testimony because these things bring the Spirit the easiest. The next night they came to our Branch Christmas Party which was a way awesome chance for them to meet the members. They showed up right on time and they were only Americans there and it was kind of awkward at first. However, it ended up being great when 3 Italian families came and made them feel right at home. Joe and Vincenza also came and brought their daughters which was really cool. I think I wrote about them before. They are Italian, but lived in the states for a while so they speak fluent english and italian. The branch needs more people like them!! Anways, it was a really good time together just eating, talking, listening to xmas music, and then some of the kids acted out some scripture stories. After the xmas party all the members gave us all the left over desserts, pasta, and a bunch of other stuff. On the way home we stopped by Adeles house to give her some roasted chestnuts someone gave us, haha. She was so nice and gave us more cake! Hopefully no alcohol this time. Didnt even ask. We met her 11 year old son too who loves the NBA. We asked him if he would want to go the the base and play with some American kids his age and he got way excited. We are going to try and organize something before he has to go back to school. 

We have an awesome xmas week planned out. Tonight is Joes bday and his wife invited us over for his birthday dinner tonight. We cannot wait for that. We will be spending xmas eve with the Salvitis. Christmas we have a lunch and dinner appointment and I get to skype my family in between!!! We are allowed to watch 2 disney movies for xmas as well which we will watch on the 26th. We have epic plans of which I will send pics next week. 

Wow! Salvatore just called me a second ago cause he wants to see us tonight! Life rocks!!!  

I hope everyone has a great Christmas back at home! At the beginning of December when they started putting up the big tree in the center and playing xmas music I thought Christmas would make me a little homesick, but it has not at all. The true spirit of Christmas can be felt at any part of the globe wherever we seek to serve our Savior. 

Anziano Smith

Caserta | week 3 {Regan's favorite dinner, training meeting, gift exchange}

Elder Smith with his new companion Elder Heder 

View from pozzuoli church 

Lunch with the Willies

So this week started off by helping with a move, and it actually ended up being a lot of fun. Brother Sorrentino has a daughter who was living with him and she and her son got a place of their own that is in a really pretty little town about 20 minutes outside of Caserta. It was a little difficult to move her in because she lived on the third floor of the apartment and there was not an elevator. They were extremely appreciative of our help and fed us an awesome pronzo at their house afterwards. 

Friday night we had an appointment to go over to the Nilssons for dinner and that was my first time being on the base. It seriously is like mini America, and I loved it. Anyways, the Nilssons were too kind. They talked to my mom and sister earlier that week and found out my favorite dinner and made it for Anziano Heder and me. It was the nicest thing ever! I definitely felt a little piece of heaven in their home. After dinner Anziano Heder and Brother Nilsson were practcing "O Holy Night" for the Branch Christmas Party coming up this week. We also left a spiritual thought for their family and Sister Nilsson shared a really profound thought that touched me. She talked about how when she was our age she had her own goals and ambitions, but when she had kids, then her dreams and goals became that of her kids. She compared that to Heavenly Fathers love and how his happiness and joy comes in our successes. Overall, it was an incredible experience for me to see such a family like them and eat my favorite dinner!

Church was really special on Sunday because the Stake Presidency came along with President and Sister Waddoups. It is always humbling to have meetings with such powerful men and then have them say, "The Lord has sent Anziano Heder and Anziano Smith here to help you follow Elder Ballards counsel to fill the Rome Temple with Gods children." They all talked about missionary work and the things that Elder Ballard told them at a recent meeting up in Rome. Another cool thing that happend at church was that we had an invesigator named Giuseppe come. During the third hour he came with me into young mens. Everyone in our young mens class speaks English other than one, and so I translatd for him. However, Giuseppe speaks very good English so he could definitely understand and communicate just fine. One of the boys in the class was suppose to give the lesson, but he forgot and so it kind of turned into a question and answer session between Giuseppe and the boys with questions like, "What experiences have made you want to grow up Mormon? Why would you consider leaving everything behind to serve a mission for two years?" It was a sweet experience to hear our 5 young men share their testimonies with him. Most of them talked about how it was not one single moment that gave them a testimony or a knowledge that the church is true, but it has been consistently coming to church, reading the scriptures, and praying that has helped them little by little. Then when they look back on the years they can see the growth and progression they have made and how gospel has brought them real, lasting joy. They will all make stellar missionaries one day. I thought of myself when they were talking. I have come so far on my mission, but I cannot attribute it to any one experience. I have grown and learned with time, a little here and a little there. It made me think of a scripture President Monson quoted last General Conference: the battle is not to the strong or the race to swift, but the prize is for him that endures to the end. It is so true. Life is an endurance test. It is the same with a mission, school, sports, or whatever else. Meaningful growth and change take time and work. 

Monday we had specialized training (shortend version of zone conference) in Pozzuoli which was a lot of fun. We were all assigned another elder in the zone to bring a present for a gift exchange. I definitely got the sweetest present in the zone. Anziano Hansen hooked me up with a bonzai tree. Yep, it is definitely the new center piece to our kitchen table. Other than the gift exchange, it was a pretty standard meeting. We had awesome instruction from the district and zone leaders. To finish it off, the Waddoups had us act out the nativity. There are pics on her blog of it. It was fun. Also, the First Presidency sent all the missionaries throughout the world christmas cards with Luke 2:10-11 (I think) and a short testimony of the joy Christ brings during this season and for the rest of the year. It was so simple, but it almost brought me to tears. The front had a really pretty pic of the Salt Lake Temple and the inside had a picture of the First Presidency. It made me think of a lesson we taught to Salvatore earlier this week about the Restoration of the gospel. We read him Ephesians 2:19-20 which talks about how the church is built upon the foundation of prophets and apostles with Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. I have no doubt that President Monson is a prophet of God and that he holds all the keys of the priesthood necessary to guide and direct Gods church on the earth today. I hope all is well back in Georgia. Christmas is the best time of the year! Enjoy it!

Anziano Smith

Caserta | week 2 {district meeting, exchanges, all is well in Caserta!}

A beautiful Christmas tree in Caserta

Anziano Smith, Matteo, and Anziano Prieto 

Lunch with the Giuseppes family

Anziano Prieto with Joe and Vincenzas family

 Anziano Bryant (assistant) and Anziano Smith

Anziano Prieto (assistant) and Anziano Smith

Napoli 

More shots of Napoli! Sure looks like a beautiful place 

Streets in Napoli

 The district waiting for a table at Sorbillos, a pizza place in Napoli!

That's a lot of pizza! 

I have absolutely loved working with Anziano Heder here for the past 2 weeks! I think I said this before but Caserta used to be a 4 man house, but now it is just Anziano Heder and I. Therefore, we have double the work to do. It has been really nice to have a full schedule and always be busy with appointments. First of all, I want to say that our district here in Napoli is really amazing. Anziano Heder and I go to Napoli ever Tuesday for district meeting at the church there. There are 12 missionaries that all meet there (2 districts of 6). We talk about missionary work together and then Anziano Bennett who is our district leader always gives us a short lesson. His lesson last week and yesterday were two of the best I have ever heard. He talked about change and growth which really helped me out a lot. It is kind of easy to fall into a routine doing the same thing day after day, but he talked about the need for constant growth or the gifts that we do have will be taken away. Yesterday our lesson helped me even more. Just like falling into routines with habits that are not good, it is also easy to fall into a routine with teaching the same thing or approaching everyone person the same. He talked about how we need to focus on what people need and what they are capable of accepting (aka not feeding people meat when they need milk). He also taught the coolest way to teach the gospel. He told us that as missionaries, we cant just tell people the truth and expect them to accept it. We have to help them discover it for themselves. We have to ask good questions and open the scriptures and guide people to discovering the truth. Instead of a lecture, our lessons should be a conversation. This is much easier said than done. 

 Anyways, I had the opportunity to go on an exchange on Monday with Anziano Prieto who is one of the assistants. He is from Brazil and has been on his mission about 22 months now. He was the absolute perfect example of teaching a family according to the principles that Anziano Bennet talked about at District Meeting. We went over to the home of a couple named Joe and Vincenza. They are from italy, but he lived in the states for 23 years and she did for 6 so they both spoke fluent english. They have two daughters though who only speak Italian and a friend named Matteo came over so we did it all in Italian. Anyways, they fed us a really good dinner and then Anziano Prieto led a lesson on how this gospel is a protection for our families in a spiritually dangerous world. It was absolutely perfect. After that lesson I just wanted to talk to Anziano Prieto for days about how he developed such amazing teaching skills, but more importantly the power he has behind is words. That night it was like 10 and we were all getting ready for bed, and we were all exhausted. Anziano Prieto was in our bathroom trying to fix a leak in our shower even though he was leaving back to Rome first thing in the morning. He also wrote thank you notes for Anziano Heder and I before he left and hid them in our stuff. I found mine this morning. It is amazing to me how that is just who he is. No one in the world knew or ever would have known (unless I put it on the internet) that he fixed our shower. He just wanted to do it because that is who he is. 

So we also taught a lady named Adele twice this week who knew the missionaries from a long time ago. She has been way over the top nice to us, and it has been awesome to get to know her. On Monday morning, she gave us this cake that she told us was unique to Napoli that we had to try. I ate it, and it was soooo good. Then I found out it was soaked in rum. oooops. Other than that, everything has gone super smoothly. 

We also met this guy named Salvatore on the street last week, and he blew my mind with how open he is and willing to listen to our message. He is an active Evangelist, but he was intrigued by the fact that we were young kids from America sharing a message about Jesus Christ. He said he would meet us the next day at church to talk and he actually showed up!! We just talked to him for a while about his religious background and gave him a brief overview of the Book of Mormon and how it can strengthen our relationship with the Savior. He said he wants to hear more and is meeting us again tonight! 

We have met with about 5 other potential investigators this week i wish I had time to write about. However, I do want to talk about the members here for a minute. There are a bunch of way cool American families here who treat us so well. For example, the Salviti family has been so awesome for us. We have an investigator named Giuseppe who we know through english course, and his family invited the Salvitis over to learn how to make lasagna from scratch and they invited us over as well to translate. It was really cool to get to know the Salvitis and Giuseppes familiy better. Brother Salviti has been in the Navy for almost 18 years and has a way cool story. They invited us to come over for dinner next monday night and share a message to their teenage son and daughter about preparing to serve missions. They also invited us over for xmas eve. Definitely looking forward to it. 

Overall, I have enjoyed my first 2 weeks in Caserta immensely. The branch rocks and we have a really big teaching pool right now which is new for me. Im definitely learning on the fly, but Anziano Heder is a super experienced and awesome missionary who always knows exactly what to say and do. District Meeting and pizza at Sorbillos in Napoli is way fun and a highlight every week. Our district is full of super cool guys as well. Side note, Anziano Graham ran a 4:07 mile in high school and is training for the 2016 olympics right now. Im definitely getting to know some really awesome guys and growing spiritually more than I could in any other place. All is well in Caserta!

Anziano Smith