Letter #2 and Pictures from Catania, Italy

Hello Everyone,

This week was Easter (Pasqua -pronounced paskwa) and we celebrated it Italian style (Pictures to follow)

First though, Mom I forgot to thank you for remembering about my contacts and also for thinking about sending me that CD. The best way to get that CD to me would be to BURN a COPY of the original and send me the COPY. That way if anything happens to it, no big deal. Letty or James will be able to help you burn a copy of the CD it is really easy.

 

Third, Mom, I love that Hymn "For the Strength of the Hills" and it is #24 in the Italian Hymnbook if you want to look at it.
 

Thank you for your emails they are so nice. I am so happy that everything with the house is coming together and I will pray that in the end all the paperwork and everything will work out.

 

 

I love Catania. It has been an Adventuresome week. Last Thursday, Sorella Ansted and I were without a car so in the morning we walked to the hospital close to us (only a 30 min walk) to visit a member in the hospital and a contact we had met last time on the same floor as this member. We arrived at 11:00 and we learned that visiting hours did not begin for another 2 hours, so we walked home in time to have lunch and did some strada contacting. In the afternoon, we decided that we could find a referral because she lives relatively close to us. We started walking and we could not find her street. We kept walking and finally were walking along the freeway. 45 minutes later, eventually we saw someone and asked them where the street we were looking for was. We had walked to a whole other area of Catania. We had a lesson with an investigator at the church in an hour and so we headed back in the direction we came. We thought we were doing good on time but then we looked and saw that it was 5:50 and we were a good 15 minutes from the church. We started running the rest of the way!

As we were running the Anziani drove past us on the way to one of their lessons on the other side of town. We arrived at the church sweaty and out of breath but we were there! He showed up 30 minutes late but we had a beautiful Restoration lesson. The spirit was so strong!! I am sure the walking and the running would seem ordinary to all of you returned missionaries but I have had the car my whole mission. This is the first time I have been lost in the middle of nowhere with no map and no GPS!!


It was fun though. When we got home we looked at the map and how far we had walked. We were shocked at how off we had been and how much we had walked out of the way :)


Easter was beautiful here in Italy. Italians have this traditon. They buy giant chocolate eggs with a surprise inside and give them to kids and friends. They come in varying sizes and you can get different characters (Winnie the Pooh) etc. Sorella Ansted and I felt in the Easter spirit so we went and bought ourselves each an "Avengers" Easter egg to open on Easter!! :) We opened them easter morning. We hoped there would be a figurine or something - NOO! An "Avengers" eraser!! LET DOWN! But it was soo much fun.

Our Avengers Easter Erasers

Easter Eggs

At church one of the cute older Italian members, Fratello Battezzato came up to us and said "MERRY EASTER" we corrected him, and said in English it is "HAPPY EASTER." He then continued to greet us saying "APPY HEASTER" (Italians cannot pronounce H's). We had combined RS and Priesthood in church, and two of our investigators came for Easter. She is super sick and her boyfriend brought her in her wheelchair. It took a lot of sacrifice but they came. We have taught them about the law of chastity and they want to follow it and get married!! But there is one problem. They are living off of the money she gets because her husband died. If she marries, their little income will be gone! Pray for them please! Their names are Antonella and Salvatore.

 

 

After church we went to the Sigonella Branch on the American Base. IT WAS SO WEIRD. People were speaking in English. They sounded so weird. I saw a Fratello and I could not say "Brother." I had to stop and wait and think really hard and then "Brother" came out. My brain kept saying "Fratello." Flash forward to when I come home :) YAY, I wont be able to speak English!

The branch is wonderful but very small, so we usually only have sacrament meeting and then Sunday School. The members come and go because it is military. So sometimes the branch is big and sometimes there are only 5 members there. The senior couple, Anziano and Sorella Ozier, really hold the branch together. That is why they are there. To be counselors, teachers, primary president, YW president, and every other calling you could think of. We had a linger longer afterwards for Easter. IT was wonderful. We ate HAM and other American things.
 

In Italy the day after Pasqua is called Pasquetta and is also a holiday. So we just cleaned our house. I woke up with crazy vertigo which lasted most of the morning but lessened in the afternoon so we had an easy day, so I could heal.