Rome 5 | week 24

9.15.2014

The big news of the week came through on Saturday when we got transfer calls! I found out that I will be going to Malta to be with Anziano Orfila! I met him for the first time 2 weeks ago at zone conference, and he was really cool. He is from Argentina, and he speaks absolutely flawless English and Italian, and Im sure he is already speaking decent Maltese even though he has only been there for 6 weeks. It is something I am definitely looking forward to, and there will be more information on Malta next week. 

The highlight of this week had to have been my exchange with Anziano Pingree. We got to go to Perugia together, and it was a great time. We spend most of the day looking for old investigators who had either moved or were not home, but in the process, we met a lot of cool people and ran into to a food festival with food from all over italy. On our way back down to the train station we decided to stop by one more address and we got into the first house of the day. It was a lady whos daughter got baptized, married an RM, and moved to the states. She was really nice to us, got out her Book of Mormon and said she was "ready to study with us again." We only had like 10 minutes to leave a thought, but Anziano Pingree and Bee will go back soon. On the way home we met a guy on the train who was here backpacking in Italy by himself. He ended up being from the same town as Anziano Pingree back in Colorado, so we had a really good talk with him for like 20 minutes on the train, but never talked much about the gospel. After he got off Pingree was like, "I wander if I should have talked more about the gospel." The next stop was Assisi and then he was like, I guess we preach the gospel and use words when necessary. I thought it was hilarious. Quoting St. Francis in his own city. On the whole it was an unforgettable day. 

Anziano Blair and I went around a lot this week to see people for the last time which was sad, but I know I will see them all again in the near future, so it wasnt too bad. I have been really lucky to serve here in Rome 5. Have an awesome week everyone. 

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 12

 Saying goodbye to Elder Pizza! 

 Regan with Elder Pizza (his first companion in Brindisi)

  

6.23.2014

So last Monday right after we finished writing home, something incredible happened. We know the lady who works here at the Internet Point pretty well cause we come here every week to write home. Last Monday she showed us her glasses that she just bought for 365 euro and how they already had some scratches on the frames that were hurting her nose and the place she bought them from said they wouldnt replace them. She asked if we could do anything about it, and we were totally blank on ideas. Then I remembered that there was a guy who came to English Course 2 times when I first got here who worked at a glasses store here in Monterotondo. We went to his place to tell him what was up and then they met the next day and she got her frames replaced for free! That was the first time I had helped anyone with a practical problem my entire mission. I literally have no idea how I remember about that guy, and the cooler thing was that we found is store in about 15 minutes and we werent even sure where it was. Cool experience. 

This was the last week of the transfer, and we will be getting some new missionaries in the district. Anziano Blair and I will be staying together for another which is what we expected and we are both happy about. Sad news was that it was Anziano Pizzas last District Meeting ever. He is flying home tomorrow! It was like yesterday when we met and he was going into his 9th transfer and I was a greenie, now Im going into my 9th transfer. The mission goes by super fast. Before we left we got some family photos: grandfather, father, son (Pizza, Smith, Blair). They are pretty epic. I have really come to love all the other missionaries who I have served with and that has been one of the greatest blessings of my mission. Everyone here is strong in the gospel and loves the Lord, but everyone has a different story, personality, interests, etc. It has showed me that this gospel really is for everyone. 

We had a lesson again with Lorenzo on Saturday and he told us the reason he invites us over is because we are exactly the opposite of all the other kids in the world-the way we dress, how we spend our time, our values, etc. He straight up told us that he wasnt very interested in the Book of Mormon or our living day prophets, but he was just happy to know young kids who serve God. His words seriously touched both of us, then he taught us how to make a really good pasta that Im going to start making all the time. Anyways, his words towards us were super geniune and respectful, and helped me learn about the Italian culture in general. I realized that although not all Italians are as open as Lorenzo, they are genuine and loving people. They are also very logical, and I really respect that. Today for pday Anziano Blair and I took a guided tour of the Coliseum in English, and the tour guide was really getting the point across that the construction/purposes of the Coliseum reflected a lot about the Italian culture. He said a lot of stuff I dont have time to write right now, but he was basically saying that Italians were the most logical people on earth who put all the Greeks ideas into practice. The principle of logic and reasoning is still the same today, which makes it hard when we are contacting people on the street telling them about angels appearing to a 14 year old boy in America 200 years ago. Nonetheless, I have seen how they are some of the most loving and genuine people towards their families, and the members here who have come to the knowledge of the Restoration of the gospel are the strongest saints on the earth. Im so glad they are getting a temple next year, which I know will open up the curiosity and interst of many Italians. Serving here has definitely been the best experience of my life, and helped me learn so many things I could have never learned at home. 

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 7 {new companion, Ostia, training}

Queresima and Sorgiacamo

The missionaries in their district! 

Their super fly car! 

Driving by the Coliseum

Regan's new companion Anziano Blair! Regan already loves him 

5.19.2014

This past week has been incredible and a bit crazy at the same time. It started off by seeing a lot of people who Anziano Gemmell wanted to say bye too. We got to eat dinner with the Criscone family and also Flavio and Francesca. Both dinners were delicious and a lot of fun. We all miss Anziano Gemmell. He really is a great missionary, and Im sure he is doing great work in the Sard land. His travel plans to get there made me laugh really hard. He had to take two trains to get to the coast, a 20 hour boat ride, and then another train and lastly a bus. Haha, I hope he made it alright. I had no idea Sardania was so far away.

I had two days from when he left to when my new companion got here, so I got to choose any companionship in the Rome Zone to work with for two days. It was a no brainer. I went to stay in Ostia with Anziano Baggaley and Anziano Zemp. It was in awesome two days. I have to tell one funny story from my time in Ostia. There is a family there who has an 8 year old son who was a little scared to get baptized for some reason. His mom asked the elders to come over and teach him the lessons to help him get ready for his baptism. Anyways, they have been trying to set a date with him withing the next month or so. He turns 9 in July, but he keeps saying that he wants to get baptized in August. If he gets baptized in August, it is a convert baptism on the records of the church. Anziano Baggaley was like, "Come on man, you do really want to be a convert do you?" It was hysterical. I will never forget it. On a more serious note, I learned so much from that lesson. Anziano Baggaley taught so simply and so clearly, and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I have witnessed on my mission. It made me want to teach everyone like I was teaching a child. Another cool part of going to Ostia was going to their correlation meeting. They had an awesome ward missionary and 5 ward missionaries who all came. They were so awesome and really inspired me. It was funny because their ward mission leader works in tourism and hasnt been able to come to church the past 5 weeks or so, so they wrote his name on the progress record, hahaha. Anyways, they are doing awesome missionary work in Ostia and their members are incredible. After correlation we all went out and got gelato together by the beach which was fun. 

Friday morning at 7 I went to pick up my greenie from Roma Termini. His name is Anziano Blair, and he is the coolest kid ever! He has taught me so much. In the MTC he  got to hear from 5 apostles! He is so ready and excited to do missionary work that is has increased my faith a lot. Our first night together, we got to teach Lorenzo a lesson with Fratello Calabrese on the plan of salvation and then Lorenzo made us dinner. It was a really good first lesson for Anziano Blair. He is definitely better at the language than I was as a greenie, so I was really impressed. He also did an awesome job introducing himself and sharing his testimony in church for his first Sunday. Also, the first lady he stopped on the street was Philippino. She spoke English and he got her number, no big deal. We are really excited to work together for at least the next 6 weeks and hopefully more. I am also excited because for the first 12 weeks of the mission their is in extra hour of comp study where we do this program to go over the basics of missionary work. I feel like I need it for myself just as much as Anziano Blair does. It will be really nice for me to be able to review and improve a lot of things. Other than that, we didnt have a lot of time to see people this week cause we were all over the place/getting adjusted. However, we are good to go now, and it should be an awesome summer!

Anziano Smith