I am sorry but I do not have much time today to write the
normal email I would because.. yet again.. my P-Day is being cut short.. So
this email won't have clever quotes or many stories! Sorry! I'll do my best in
the little time I have. My companion has to fly to Rome for Zone Leader
Conference (of which he is... a Zone Leader) and we have to catch Trains,
Ferries, Boats, and Planes to get where we need to be in about 1 hour... So
that leaves about 37 minutes to email right now... I am not going to Rome.. I
am going to a nearby City for a couple days while he is in Rome.
It is my first week in the land of
Italy and this email is also going to encompass the past two weeks as well because
we were flying on P Day and we couldn’t really email last week. I am sure you
are wondering where I am right now… Well, before you read I want you to guess….
...
Wrong...
I am in Messina! It is on the the beautiful Island
of Sicily (I've nicknamed her Baptism Island). This town is pretty crazzay. It
is right next to Italy like literally swimming distance from the mainland...
But for some strange reason these here I-talians havent built a bridge between
the mainland and island. But the town aacrossed the way is called Reggio and
there are missionaries over there. Just one set of Missionaries and the two
cities are practically the same mission because we go to Reggio and Reggio
comes to Messina 3-4 times a week.
That is where I am actually going right now. My Companion
is going down to Catania (2.5 hours away) to the Airport and I am catching the
ferry to Reggio. We both will not have companions.. Sketchy situation..
especially with me going to Reggio with my limited Italian and no phone to
trying to find the Reggio Missionaries. Va Bwa (Thats actually my favorite
Italian Word. Its slang for Whatevs)
The language in Italia is crazy. People speak reaal fast
compared to what I am used to. But I am understanding more and more everyday.
Wow... Email time is already halfway over so I'll tell my stories really
quickly!! So the first few hours we got to Messina we had an appointment with
some less active members and the whole time I just had no clue what they where
saying because they were only speaking Messinese to each other.. And then only
Siciliano to the member who was present.. And then really really fast Italian
to us. My companion said he really only under like 10% of the whole lesson
because they where not speaking Italian. But I had fun and put in my testimony
at the end.
Italy is really broken up in languages actually. Most
people on the street speak Siciliano or Messinese (Old people mostly Messinese)
and then when we talk to them they will speak Italian. But its crazy how many
languages there are. Every city (especially in Sicily according to my
companion) has really distinct languages that really are not common to each
other. That is why everybody speaks Siciliano. Mamma Mia. So much to learn!
It is really pretty here though. There are palm trees and
beaches and literally like 50+ cathedrals here. They are really beautiful, old,
and big. The average size on one is about the size of a stake center but then 8
stories tall and then a bell tower on top of that. Every block has about 2 or 3
cathedrals. I've only counted about 50 but if you go up into the hills and to
other towns they are literally just everywhere! They are beautiful but
sometimes it is hard to street contact in the shadow of these huge buildings.
But surprisingly everybody is really really really friendly and they will listen
to us for like 10 minutes even if they are busy. I really respect that about
the Italian is that they are really respectful of the Mormom missionaries (But
they hhaaattteee the Jehovas Witnesses. Its funny actually)
The stereotypes of Italians are all true in Sicily. Old
men sit in the Piazzas and yell at each other and everybody uses their hands.
All of the hand gestures mean stuff to. I've learned like 30 already. The
Italian hang all their laundry acrossed the windows in alley ways and they poke
their heads out of their windows and yell at each other (happens all the time
and I love it). The food is super good as well!
The ward is awesome. We have about 40 people who attend
church regulary and all the members are really strong and friendly. We have a
lot of Sri Lankin members about 10. They all have a lot of faith and love the
Book of Mormon more than anything in the world. All of the members don't wear
normal suits to church. The suits here in Sicily all have zippers and stripes
and funky laples. I love them. They are incredibly cheap to. Like the price of
a pair of jeans in America. Clothes are suppper cheap here and super classy as
well. But I love the ward. They are all very beautiful (Italians are just
beautiful people) and very spiritual. They love the missionaries to. We have a
sister from our ward serving in Switzerland, Soeur Bounonotte. The Buononottes
wants to invite us to dinner sometime.
They eat horse in Sicily. We are going to buy some in the
market when my comp gets back from Rome on Friday.
The Street Vendors love the Mormom Missionaries. They
don't care for our message but they are super friendly! The Africans are wayy
awesome and wayy friendly (They are the Street Vendors). The bar tendors also
love us. When we pass by the bars they always offer us free juice and soda.
Much needed in this hot weather.
There is a prison nearby and every time a prisoner is let
free they have a firework show. Its cool! There was a few shows this week.
Holy Cow there is so much to say!
My companion is a great guy. His name is Anziano Stewart.
He has been here for 9 months.
So everybody that serves on the mainland says Sicilia is
like a 3rd world country. Its just really really different from the mainland.
People are friendly though but things are a lot poorer on the Island nowadays.
You can't drink the water in Sicily (except for Catania and Palermo). Sometimes
the water goes out. But its all good. We also have a really big apartment which
is nice. There is one set of elders and one set of sisters in Messina right
now. We have small AC unit which is nice.
English class is fun. We have about 30 people come every
week in the summer. In the winter around 100!! But I taught the advance class
and all we teach in there is American slang phrases. We have 4 advanced
students and they love learning Americans phrases like: Stoked! Pumped! Sick!
See you Later Alligator! They also love saying to me "See you see big
baboo"
Italians hate AC and they think it makes them sick to sit
by them. So in church everybody sits on the opposite side of the AC unit.
We have to go now... Here is my address for the next 3
transfers (Fact.) Hey listen. President Waddups said not to send packages
though! When we pick up packges we as missionaries have to pay like 70 US
Dollars to even recieve them. Also the mail system here is a little corrupt as
well and Elders and Sisters have had their packages tampered with and stuff
stolen from them. The further south you go it is more common and especially in
Sicila. Also the post men sometimes slit letter open. Boh.
Via Trento 2L 98123
Messina
Italy
Ciao Ciao Ciao Ciao Ciao (Old people say it like 12 times
when you say good bye each time it gets slower and softer)
