Apartment Fix

Just so you don’t think that our mission is all fun and games, I thought I’d show you some pictures that show you the mess we found ourselves in. It was not easy to find an apartment in the first place and we could never have done it without the help of Brother Calabrese and Anziano Burt.  It took a day and a, half to clean it and another to move in, gather supplies  etc. We had been staying in the mission home while looking for a place. This was great and the mission president and his wife are not only fun but very gracious, nevertheless we needed to get settled. The day after we moved in, our downstairs neighbor mentioned that there was water on their nursery ceiling and they had to move the babies crib. Long story short we had to move back into the mission home and then they jack hammered up our whole bathroom……so much for the cleaning!! It had to be done again.......

A few things we have learned from our mission so far -

You can’t help but love missionaries.

Everyone we have met have been incredible people. This isn’t really a big surprise. Everybody has been so nice from the young missionaries to the old. Our trainers and the our fellow senior missionaries in the zone were kind and considerate. They were from everywhere and were from late 40’s to early 80’s  and from every walk of life. The young missionaries were inspiring. The office missionaries are wonderful. They drop everything to help us. They are fun and dedicated. There is one local member who works full time for the church …Gratis.

The Senior missionaries  are all dedicated and most of them are out in the field at great sacrifice. They all have numerous grandchildren and weddings and babies on the way. (Actually, one senior couple has had a new grandbaby since we have been here, their fifth new grandchild while they have been on their mission!)

Rome…even when it is ugly…… is beautiful. Despite graffiti and more than a little dilapidation the buildings are beautiful.

There is no sense in hurrying….nothing is going to happen quickly in Italy.

The whole month of August is a holiday. The shops are mostly closed. The streets are actually empty.

Terni Falls

Terni is another beautiful town. The elders are working hard. Elder Lane is a "greenie" and looked a little scared and tired when he first came in from the MTC.But he has a good trainer in Elder Wood (who is going home next month) and is in the full swing of things now.

Terni: Largest waterfall in Europe

L'Aquila

Elder Pace and Elder Fazio

One of our missionary duties is to meet with every elder and sister in their apartments to make sure they are safe. We look for carbon monoxide detectors, door locks, and see that everything is working.These elders are great!

L'Aquila is a little town not far from Rome. It was hit by an earthquake a few months ago and many of the buildings collapsed. They will probably not be rebuilt for a long time,  if ever for lack of money. Several people were killed. Buildings on both sides of the missionaries were damaged. But the missionaries suffered no losses

The group in the Office and the missionaries in the Rome 2 zone. We have been getting organized and finally after a lot of red tape got our apartment.We will be proselyting, visiting all the missionaries in the Rome Mission, checking for safety, cleanliness and training etc.We have our 1st proselyting appointment today.

St Paul Outside the Wall

We went to St Paul Outside the Wall with Brother Allen who is over the mission department in Salt Lake along with the other mission couples. The Basilica of St. Paul,  goes back to the time of Constantine. It is Rome's fourth great patriarchal church - it was erected over the tomb of St. Paul. It is the second-largest church in Rome after St. Peter's. 

This  frieze from from St Paul's is found in the Baptistry mentions baptism for the dead.

The above inscription states: "Exaltation Is The Celestial Kingdom". 

The beautiful dome above the central altar.