Rome 5 | week 18

 On scambi (exchange) in Terni 

 Rome

 Elder Smith with Elder Morgan, Elder Mika, & Elder Blair for Rome 1 zone blitz!

 Train finding with the guitar...Regan said it did not work as well as they had hoped :)

Francesco's house in Poggio!

 I feel like this picture is straight from a magazine! 

8.4.2014

This week started off pretty sweet. Tuesday after district meeting in Terni I went on an exchange with Anziano Morgan to go see a contact with found in Rieti the week before at a Gelateria. We walked in and this other guy started talking to us and being super nice. Turns out he was the owner of the place, and his friend Silvanus showed him the Plan of Salvation pamphlet we left, and he loved it. Then he gave us each 2 free triple scoop cones of gelato, haha. And then he said he wanted to bring 2 of his other friends to church in Terni the next Sunday. It was so cool, we literally did nothing except show up and a bunch of free gelato and more people to teach just came out of nowhere. I need to start giving out more plan of salvation pamphlets. Morgan and I were super happy the rest of the day. 

Wednesday we did a zone blitz in Rome 1, which meant all the missionaries from Pescara, Laquilla, Terni, Ascoli, and us went to go help out Rome 1 with their work. It was cool to get to work with some new missionaries and be in Rome for the day. I was stationed to work at Piazza del Popolo which was a heavy tourist spot and talked with 2 Italians the whole time I was there. Everyone else was on vacation. I remember in specifically talking with people from Egypt, Isreal, Holland, Germany, and England. Not sure it helped out Rome 1 so much but it was a good day of missionary work anyways. 

On Thursday we had a really good service opportunity. So we went and had dinner with the Vaccoronos last week and we noticed that the kitchen really needed to be cleaned. Fratello Vaccorono is raising his 3 teenage sons alone, and doesnt really get a lot of help cleaning the house. We showed up to his house in the afternoon while he was at work and spent over 3 hours just cleaning his kitchen. We got Mattias phone and downloaded Pandora then just listened to Lower Lights while we did dishes forever. It was so much fun. I totally understood what it means in Doctrine & Covenants when it says we should seek to do good out of our own free will. When we seek to do cause we want to it is so fun and fulfilling and doesnt feel like a chore or burden at all. It felt so good to hear how appreciative Frat Vac was too. 

Saturday morning we had a funny experience. The hot water stopped working completely, so it was not like the Liahona. We called a guy to come fix the water heater. He unscewed our faucets and they were clogged with Calcium and other minerals that build up after time. It was nasty. I looked at Blair and was like, "No poison can harm us." And then he was just like, "Whos on the Lords side who?" We have totally been drinking that water for months and it was gross. Its all good now though. 

Saturday night we went and visited Francesco in his mountain house up in Poggio, and it was so cool. He brought a dinner that his sister made for us, and we had a lesson/dinner sitting outside in his frontyard. I dont think I have ever met anyone who is more giving/generous in my life. He seriously treats us like his closest friends even though we are just 18 and 20 year old kids. I want to be just like him when I am older. 

This week a lot of our members went to the Swiss Temple, and they brought us back Swiss Chocolate! I was so happy. I ate it all Sunday during Language study in less than 5 minutes. Anyways, this week was fun and spiritual like every other week in the mission. It is incredible how time flies. 25 missionaries fly home tomorrow many of whom I have known since day 1. About 20 others come in Wednesday and we will have 2 of them in our district, so it will be fun to get some youngbloods in the district. More news to come on that next week. Ciao.

Anziano Smith 

Rome 5 | week 17

7.28.2014

I finally got to go to the Vatican this week! It was my first time, and it was certainly a treat. I got to see many things that I studied European History which was really cool, and definitely an experience I will never forget.

 

After we visited the Vatican we got to meet with a new friend of ours named Francesco. He plays in an orchestra that is right next to the Vatican, and we met him outside of his work. He was seriously too nice (offered us food and tickets to see his orchestra). He showed us around his work and it was so cool. He showed us pictures of all the places his orchestra has played which was really fascinating. One time he actually played right next to where Anziano Blair lives in Baltimore! Anyways, it was very neat to meet someone so open to sharing with us about his work and his life. Even though we have only met twice, he is already a very dear friend who I am very grateful to know.

 

Later in the week we went to Rieti to pick up Anziano Blairs permesso (green card type thing). Something is up with that city. I have been 4 or 5 times for permesso stuff, and every time someone has stopped us and asked who we are. I have taught as many lessons in Rieti as I have in Passo Corese and I have been to Rieti about 5 times now. Probably not that many, but a lot. Unfortunately Rieti is out of our area, so we have to pass off the people we find there to the Terni Anziani. However, one lady we found this week who lives in Rieti is the English teacher at the school right next to our house and she said when school starts in September we can come to her class to help out with English! She also took a Book of Mormon to read while she goes to the beach for all of August. We have a list of about 10 people we can start seeing again right when August ends.

 

Sunday night we had a good lesson with our boys Latif and Samuel from Ghana and they taught us some Twi (not sure on the spelling), which was really fun. They are such cool guys, it is hard for me to understand their English and it made me want to improve my Italian cause sometimes Italians dont understand me all the time. So...I bought a pocket dictionary this week and Im trying to learn new words everyday.

 

We saw Lorenzo again this week, and I learned a lot from him. Because we have such a good relationship he expresses us all of his concerns/things he doesnt understand. Sometimes when we teach people and they dont understand something and they stop meeting with us. We have such a good relationship with Lorenzo that he is not afraid to ask us anything. That is why it is so important to have relationships with love and trust with these people.

 

We will see this week if I follow my pattern of 3 transfers in each city! This week is transfer calls. So long til next week.

 

Anziano Smith