Lots of Potential

Well… When I first got to Lecce there were 0 investigators. I don’t really know why. But! This week we have done a ton of contacting and now have a few people to teach and a lot of contacts! So I am very, very excited about that.

Haha... Okay I do have to say this really quickly. So my companion loves comic books, star wars, etc. And so did his last companion. So the three potentials they did have all worked at the comic book shop or were super into Star Wars, Pokemon, etc! It has been super funny running into these old investigators/friends that the last Anziani have made. But! They did see some success out of it and I am convinced they were meant to serve together. They reactivated 2 people that are super, super into comic books and World of Warcraft. Haha. Classic. 

Our one new investigator is actually the ex-step father of one of the kids that they reactivated. I am super excited for him because he is trying to repair relationships that he broke in the past with his kids. Should be a good thing!

This week we have Zone Conference and here are some questions from Mom.

How is life in the apartment with four Elders? Crowded? Fun? Strange?

Yes. Yes. And Yes. So my Companion and another one are actually pretty calm. Actually the other two are very calm as well. Actually now that I think about it I am the only wild one in the house. But! It is crowded and impossible to keep clean. So nobody really does keep things clean sadly. I do pride myself in being the cleanest person in the house though!

Who are the other Elders you live with?

Elder Ben Burton from Olympus High School and Canden Peterson from Singapore. He spent the last 7 years of his life in Singapore. He is like a 6 foot 4 super blonde haired blued kid so I don’t know how he ended up in Singapore but all the facts check out that he did in fact live in Singapore a lot of his life.

How do you arrange cooking? Where do you contact?

Well. Sadly everybody just kind of does their own thing. However! This week I convinced everybody that we should each take a turn cooking lunch for all the other people in the house. Which mean 4 meals I have to cook and 3 meals I get to taste the other people’s food. Elder Peterson’s food is very good. Asian. 

We do contacting mostly in the streets around Centro (which is the old part of the city). All of the streets just around Centro are full of people and usually the tourists stay inside Centro. So it tends to work out pretty nicely. We have started to lay down a big sheet and draw on it with chalk things like Plan of Salvation, English Course stuff, or anything else while the other person talks with people. That works pretty well and if the Police Man gets mad you just have to pick up your sheet and leave. Works pretty nice actually.

Do you have a ward or branch?

It is a branch of about 30 people. I really like the branch here.

Thanks for everything! Ciao Ciao Ciao!

I am in Lecce!

Well, I am in the city of Lecce. It is the most beautiful city I have seen in Italy. It is way prettier than Catania and Palermo. It is soo crazy. All the buildings are white and the Centro Storico is the size of the whole city. Which is to say all the cool fancy buildings that all the tourists go to see are not downtown. IT IS THE WHOLE CITY! It is very, very pretty. Like Sciacca. There are a lot of tourists. But anywoos, Mom asked me some questions that may take up most of my thoughts.

How is your new companion? Where is he from? How long does he have left?

My new companion is named Anziano Lewis. He is from Utah County somewhere. He is a character. We get along very well. He is the Comic Book guy expert—super nice. He has a bunch of Star Wars figures that he keeps on his desk and he always quotes movies. Hehe. He is quite the character. Speaks the language almost perfectly and is a very good teacher. He has about 7 months left on his mission.

The house I am in is a 4 man house. Crazy. 

How is the city? Where do you live and what is your apartment like?

The city of Lecce is fairly big. Our apartment is a 2 minute walk from the biggest Piazza in town, and luckily the building we live in is pretty new. Most buildings here are super old…like 400 years old (very, very pretty). But old houses have a lot of problems. Our building is only like 60 years old which is pretty good. The apartment is not designed for 4 elders. It is very small and we all study in the same room and the beds practically bump up right next to each other in the bedroom. There are also not enough closets and one shower. It is super fun though.

How was your travel? How long did it take to get to Lecce and how or who did you travel with?

The travel was crazy. I had to go to Palermo on a bus. Then on a bus to Catania with about 5 others leaving the island. At that time it was about 9:00 at night and I met up with my new travel companion... Sister Fossa from Venice... Super weird having a female companion for like 24 hours... Anyhoos... We then took a night bus that lasted about 14 hours to the city of Bari in the stelletto of Italy. It was fun and I got to go on the Ferry from Messina to Reggio for one last time. I was sad. I will probably never see Sicily ever again.... Once I got to Bari I hopped a train by myself to Lecce which was 2 hours. Then the Elders were late to pick me up so I waited around the station for like 35 minutes. But it was a good experience.

Is it going to be much different than the island of Sicily.

Oh yeah. It is super weird. Sicily is “treasure island.” Everybody there is super duper nice! It’s crazy! People make eye contact with you 100% of the time on the street but here it is never. The people here are just a little colder as well. I am surprised there is that much of difference actually. Sicilians. I love them to death. I understand now how they are different. But the people here are super awesome!

I made a ton of good friends in the branch here of about 30 people. I am super happy to be here. The people were a little sad that the last person, Anzaino Del Dotto (Italian from the North of Italy), had to leave but I think I did a good job. This branch just needs a little energy. I think I can bring that.

Last Letter from Sciacca

Hey listen. I know I talked with you guys yesterday but I think I could write down a few thoughts today. Today I am feeling very sentimental, leaving Sciacca, at my year mark, and just given the circumstances. I am sad to leave to Sciacca. It has been the hardest, most frustrating 5 months. I gave 110%, was obedient every single day, and tried my very best in every aspect to try to help the city but...not much happened. I can say with everything in me that this has been the hardest I have ever worked in my life. I feel super bad because I was never able to teach the Restoration Lesson here in Sciacca as well. As hard as I tried. But here in Sciacca I have had a lot of time to ponder and time to grow.

I have honestly felt like I have learned so much here in Sciacca, and Messina for that matter. The two cities were pretty similar given the circumstances. I have taken a lot of time to study and to pray to figure out why Sciacca and why Messina during that super hard time in the ward itself. I have learned a lot, personally and from others. Looking back on the last year of my life, there has not been a whole lot of success despite my efforts. In these circumstances I have learned a lot about who I am, who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and I've seen a ton of growth in myself.

I have been able to meet a lot of special people and learned from their examples and their choices. I am still learning. Looking forward to the next year of my mission I am very optimistic. I know that no matter what the circumstances are I will be put in situations to hopefully help others come closer to Christ and to continue growing personally. 

I am excited to go to Lecce. I don’t know what to expect but I know that it’s all going to be good.

Love you guys.

Ciao. Ciao.

Still Pluggin' Along

Hey listen, I don't have much time to email this week because a repair man is coming to our house to fix our shower. (We have had cold showers for the past week because our building shut off our gas... They told us the bill didn't get paid...) But the good news is we will be able to have hot showers this week!

This week we had a "Specialized Training/Inspection" in Sciacca. They essentially just retaught us how to do mission work, which was actually very helpful and was much needed! It actually really boosted our spirits and we learned a lot. We are still pluggin’ along and doing our best work!

Swagginest man in the city of Sciacca. His name is Gus. See him every day. He works on a boat.