So grateful I am to live in this great nation of ours! The week’s
festivities kicked off with the entirety of the MTC celebrating the 4th of July
together! Many an Elder and Sister was decked out in their finest red, whites,
and blues, I myself carried around those American Flags you sent me all day
singing various patriotic songs! Nothing makes you feel more American when you
can gloat about it in front of the missionaries from the UK (schezo, but there
was a lot of Yankee hooliganism from every Patriot here who has the guts in
their blood)... But anyhoos, it twas a gay ol’ time! The quote above was from
the opening prayer of a huge MTC-wide celebration/devotional! It was sooo
funny! Every single person in the MTC couldn't contain the laughter (especially
a cluster of British Elders sitting by us). Classic. There were secular
patriotic musical numbers and we all watched the movie "17 Miracles."
Anziano Romano and I, spent the night together as companions because my companion didn't want to partake in the night’s festivities... Curious behavior, but he enjoyed himself spending time in the room with another Elder who didn't want to either... I myself had a lot of fun and loved the devotionals! We also were able to watch the fireworks and pig out on an all-you-can-eat ice cream stand they had set up! ... and bedtime was extended to 11:30 (which was actually a curse because we still had to wake up at 6 am)!
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| Some of our Fourth of July tom-foolery. |
Anziano Romano and I, spent the night together as companions because my companion didn't want to partake in the night’s festivities... Curious behavior, but he enjoyed himself spending time in the room with another Elder who didn't want to either... I myself had a lot of fun and loved the devotionals! We also were able to watch the fireworks and pig out on an all-you-can-eat ice cream stand they had set up! ... and bedtime was extended to 11:30 (which was actually a curse because we still had to wake up at 6 am)!
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| Fireworks and devotionals. Anziano Kelley is happy. |
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| This is a picture of the after party of our Fourth of July celebration. Needless to say...pretty crazy night. |
So we do this little thing at the MTC where volunteers come and we
teach them lessons in Italian as if it were a lesson in a member’s home.
So first of all the lady was a character—scary beyond all reason
and reminded me of Ezma from “The Emperor’s New Groove.” But she also
had this big ol' Danish flag on her shirt so I commented on it. She then just
started spewing off this crazy fast Italian almost at a yell! I was blown away!
But I managed to catch that she was from Denmark and she moved here two years
ago and she knows Italian ‘cause she served a mission in Catania. So I said my
sister served in Odense and she said she was from Odense and started yelling
for like 5 minutes in this Italian that I had no clue what was going on! She
eventually got really frustrated with us ‘cause we didn't know what she was
saying so she started speaking English. It was a real humbling... But yeah...
Thersa Hansen from Odense says hello to you Kris. She's about 50 years old. You
know her?
"I am I am, a real religious man!" - Nacho Libre
Life goes on as normally as ever here in the MTC. Classes are long, the
language is hard, but the spirit abounds. Doing all I can to stay obedient and
hard-working.
"Moroni 8:10 or Moroni 9:8... There's really no
difference when you don't know the language"
An Anziano in our district that wishes to remain unnamed taught a
lesson this week about baptism to his investigator. He shared Moroni 9:8
instead of 8:10... Needless to say none of us really know Italian so he
didn't know it was the wrong verse! Classic. His investigator just gave him the
dirtiest look and he just bore his testimony as if nothing happened. Needless
to say, the investigator had a lot of questions for him the next lesson.
"Cabin Fever, yeahh!" - Muppet Treasure Island
It's crazy that we have been here for five weeks now and in less than
13 days we are on our way to Italia. We are crammin' in our last minutes’ worth
of studying and practice before we have to do it for reals! I really don't know
what to expect going to Italy, but a lot of the Elders in my Zone are actually
Italian, raised in the US, and only speak English. But all they talk about is
their frequent visits to Italy to visit their family! It's making me reaaal
anxious to go! Especially when they have pasta nights here at the MTC.
"Venerdi Notte Calcio (Friday Night Soccer) has gone MTC
GLOBAL"
Now when I say that Veredi Notte Calcio has gone MTC GLOBAL, I mean it
really has gone MTC global. Every new person that I meet knows about the huge
rivalry going on between the two missions! It is the weirdest thing! I'll
introduce myself and say where I am going and they always ask about
"Vernerdi Notte Calcio!” It's crazy that in an MTC of 4,000, the people seem
to know about it?? Well...it is a pretty big deal here though. Sadly enough
though... Friday Night Soccer got rained out this week. Nobody was
more disappointed than myself. We had to settle for a mean game of 4 Square
instead but it just wasn't the same. The tension has been building for two
weeks for this upcoming Friday and the Milanos are gettin' cocky
because they have had a winning record for two weeks! But you'd best believe
that AS ROMA taking home a victory this weekend!
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| Elder Lever came in today. I camped out in his classroom for him. He had a tear in his eye. |
