Brindisi | week 6

Regan and Anziano (Elder) Pizza in Lecce Centro

Anziano Brown and Regan in Lecce

Anziano Andreason and Regan

Lecce

More pictures of Lecce

Regan said they try to get a picture of this graffiti every time they ride the train to Lecce and he was the first one to successfully get it!

Anziano Smith, Anziano Brown, Blessing, Victor, and (don't know the name of their child!)

Their last gelato together before Anziano Brown gets transferred to Palermo and Anziano Andreason to Malta

The view from the balcony at Regan's apartment

Regan and Anziano Andreason with the Palma family for FHE (family home evening)

Regan with Anziano Baggaley

Regan with his friends from the English class they teach

The elders with Sina and her friend

Final goodbye to Anziano Brown and Andreason! 

Well, this week started with an awkward situation when I got my haircut without knowing any haircut lingo. He asked me something and I said “si” having no idea what he said and he started shaving the sides of my head super short leaving everything on the top like some Italians have. Then I had to tell him to cut everything on the top as well. It is all okay now though.

Anyways, the bad news is we had transfer calls this week and Anziano Brown is going to Palermo and Anziano Andreason is going to Malta. I am going to miss them both a lot. They will be great in each of their new cities. If anyone can learn Maltese quickly it is Anziano Andreason. He is super smart and has been fluent in Italian forever. Cool stuff to be trilingual. Anziano Brown had been here for 3 transfers, so we knew he would probably go, but I was still super sad when we got the call. Right after we went to visit Victor and Blessing for the last time together. They were also sad about the news. We had a great lesson with them about the Restoration and how it will bless their family and especially their kids as they grow up. From now on Anziano Pizza and I will visit them together. Anziano Brown and I also found a sweet park/center area in San Vito that we will do some work at this upcoming week. Exciting stuff. So, as we returned to Brindisi around 8:20 we noticed a ton of lights and everyone walking towards the water. We decided to check it out, and it ended up that the city decided to throw a massive party. I am not sure why, but it was awesome. They had a firework show, which I definitely underestimated. It was probably the best firework show I had every seen. The only bad part was I did not have my camera. Nonetheless, it was really cool. Now worries though, we still made it back to our apartment before curfew.

This week we helped the Arcaro family move. It was great. Fed us an awesome pronzo, then loaded their stuff into a truck and had to take three trips to get it to their new house which was about a 25 minute drive. It took all day, but it was a great use of time because I seriously came to love that family. They are really nice and super faithful. They have to drive about 35 minutes to get to church and they are the only members in their little city. They have a son who is about 1 and another one on the way. Them and Victor and Blessing are the only two young families in our ward. They both rock.

So on Monday I went on a scambio (exchange) with Anziano Baggaley who is our zone leader. He came from Lecce and worked with me Monday night into Tuesday afternoon. I learned a ton from him. He is seriously the man. He is an incredible teacher. Scambios rock because I learn so many new things from each missionary out here. Each one has unique talents and personalities. Speaking of which, tomorrow two new missionaries will be coming to join our Brindisi penthouse tomorrow night. Elder Jepsen who I met at our last zone conference and a greenie who flies in today. I finally wont be the baby anymore!!! Anziano Jepsen is awesome though. We will have a sweet house. We usually only get pizza once a week on peve so we dont get super fat. However, we have to take the greenie on his first night. I am excited for the special occasion-Thursday night pizza.

So every missionary has a book called a dedica that all the missionaries write in before they get transfered. Last night we all wrote in each others dedicas and it was super sad. We have had an amazing 6 weeks together full of hard work that has really united us together. Hopefully I will serve in the same zone as Anziano Brown and Anziano Andreason later in my mission and I will be able to see them at zone conference again.

So this week I finished the Book of Mormon. Moroni 10:32-34 was amazing. I love how the Book of Mormon starts and ends. It is beautiful. 1 Nephi 1:20 is like the thesis statement, and the end of Moroni is point of the whole book. The tender mercies of the Lord are over the whole earth. I have especially seen them here in Brindisi for me and for others. Victor has the most powerful testimony of the tender mercies of the Lord. He says that every month he pays his tithing right when he gets paid and he doesnt know how he will be able to pay rent, the bills, and food, but he always can. Also, through this mercy we can become perfected in Christ. That is the most beautiful truth that we should always hope for. Day by day we can slowly change and one day become perfect like Heavenly Father like Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:48.

"Today is the day I will open my mouth, I will shout from the rooftops the truth will come out. And I am sharing my soul in the words that I speak with the love that has made me this way. Yes today is the day that I proclaim what I believe."

Those are the lyrics to the chorus of the song that wakes us up every morning. I love it. Im officially a 2nd transfer!

Love,

Anziano Smith

Brindisi | week 3

In Lecce last P-day playing soccer with some other elders

This gelato looks amazing! 

Italian pizza looks so good! 

Regan's study desk in his apartment

They really love watermelon there!

First I would like to start by thanking those who wrote me. It seriously meant the world to me. As far as mail goes, I can get letters here at my apartment. However, every 6 weeks we have transfers, and I will not know until 3 days before if I am getting transferred. The next transfer date is September 6th, so if you are sending me a letter within three weeks of my next transfer, it would be safer to send mail to the mission office in Rome and the mission president will bring it down for zone conference which is towards the beginning of each transfer.

My third week in Italy followed a very similar schedule to my first two. Most people here go to the beach all day and come home at night or are on vacation. However, we did meet some incredible people this week that we hope to be able contact next week or the week after. It is easy to feel of the goodness of these people during a conversation that lasts only a few minutes. Honestly, I am very excited for summer to be over.

Last night at English course something big happened for me. So, as you all know, I am with Anziano Pizza literally all the time. It is a lot easier for me to understand him than Italians so usually can decipher what I should say based on what he is saying. Last night I was on the other side of the room, and a man who came started talking to me. I held a conversation with him for about 10 minutes with no help. This gave me a huge confidence boost. My language abilities grew a lot this week.

As far as teaching opportunities, we had our first two formal lessons this week that were great. They were both with members who have not been able to come to church the past couple months because of work. Our first was with a lady named Taurisano who is extremely kind and faithful. She invited us into her kitchen and told us she wanted to read the Book of Mormon with us, and we read Mosiah 5 to 7. She then gave us gelato and told us about her family. She is awesome. Next we met with a man named Richard who is equally as awesome. We got to know him and his friend Kwame a little better, and they told us they want to read the Book of Mormon together because sometimes they have a hard time understanding it. Desire is the first thing one needs to come closer to Christ, and I know he has a strong desire and a humble heart.

This week my testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown incredibly. Every night during our planning session we plan what we will study for personal study and companionship study. Each of these studies are meant to last 1 hour. Every night I planned to study 30 minutes in the Book of Mormon and 30 minutes in Preach My Gospel. This is what President Waddoups encouraged at Zone Conference. Every morning these week I completely failed at this plan because I could not put the Book of Mormon down. When 9 came and Anziano Pizza asked me if I was ready for companionship study I was kind of annoyed because I did not want to stop reading the Book of Mormon. There is a Spirit that will come into your heart which cannot be denied when you prayerfully and diligently study that sacred book. It is one of Gods most precious gifts to the world.

As far as other things are concerned, all is well here. As watermelon season is about to end, last night we each bought a 18 or 20kg watermelon. We have about 75kg of watermelon in our fridge. Also, we found a boss pizza place last night that is right next to the church. It is our new go to. We got out for pizza every Tuesday night after English course (Peve Pizza). That is pretty much standard throughout the whole mission. Also we have become pros this week at managing our resources. Between our 2 stovetops, washer, 2 fridges, oven, we can only have 3 on at a time or the power goes out. The only time this is a problem is during lunch. We have the system down now though. That is about it for the week. Also, last Wednesday we played Soccer in Lecce with the four missionaries there. They won 3 to 2. The series is still young though. They are coming to our field next week. Tomorrow is deep cleaning day which happens three times a year, so we will be cleaning our apartment all day tomorrow. Fun stuff. Take care at home. I hope all is well.

Love,

Anziano Smith