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[The Drought]
2/20/18
It was a long week in the Pescara house. We've been without water for a full 7 days, and we just got it turned back on today. Here's a little explanation for how wacky the Italian water sytem is: As a renter, you need to pay the water bill, or "bolletta," and if you don't - well, there's not really a huge consequence until like 3 months ~ 1 year later. The renters who were kicked out before the missionaries moved in last summer, hadn't payed their bolletta and so we got our water meter (contatore) unexpectedly removed on Monday evening. Luckily, our landlord was on top of it and came Tuesday to figure out the problem. By Wednesday all the bills were payed by the church and the paperwork was sent in to the water company. We were told we would have water back sometime during Thursday, but it got delayed for 4 days somehow, and we suffered greatly. Fortunatamente [fortunately], the church was just a 4 min walk away from the house, so we were able to go there for most of our water needs. It was absolutely hilarious talking with the members about it, one member even yelled out "sei giorni?!?!?" when she found out how long we hadn't had it - all of us Anziani have been laughing a lot about the whole conundrum.
Anyway, water problems aside, this was a great week! On Tuesday we had our last district meeting with Sor Acerson and Anz Hansen, because they headed out this morning for home (staying in Rome, and flying out Tuesday). I got to lead one of the discussion and I talked about what I learned from zone conference and how I have been able to apply it since then. I learned so much in the preparation and also from all the comments made, but the biggest take away for me, was how we need to be as cheerful as possible while doing this work. We will always be happiest as we strengthen our testimony and LOVE serving the Lord and carry out His will. I've really been able to put that in practice this week and it has changed my perspective a ton.
After the meeting we had a huge district lunch at the church. I love this district! It's ginormous, we all get along, and we do great missionary work together! Nothing more I could ask for, and I'm crossing my fingers that I get to stay in Pescara for the next transfer. We'll be getting our transfer calls tonight, and until Thursday, Anziano Snyder, Anziano Strong and I are in a trio! It's been great, even just for the few hours we've been together today - it is pretty special to be with 2 such amazing missionaries. I have learned a ton from them!
We had a cool experience Friday night. We had scheduled to get out and see some inactive members, and as we passed by one house, the guy we were supposed to see wasn't there, but we got to meet his brother. Then as we were leaving the neighborhood we passed by a man just standing in the park eating a sandwich. I felt like it might be good to talk to him, but I shrugged off the prompting and only gave him a "Buona Sera!" [Good evening]. LUCKILY, God really wanted us to talk to him and as we were walking away he yelled out asking if we needed help going anywhere. We had been turning around to look at the bocci court, and I started explaining the game to Anz Strong. Turns out he was a good friend of the missionaries here in Pescara about a year ago, just saying hi and being really chill with them, but had never gotten around to learning more. He opened up about some of the problems he's been having and the perfect scripture, Mosiah 18:8-10, came to my mind! We had him read it and he was super touched. He said he's been searching for a way to draw closer to God, and we promised him he can do that by reading the Book of Mormon, and trying out the promise contained in the powerful verses 3-5 of the 10th chapter of Moroni. We invited him to church, and as we walked away he was already sitting down on a bench and reading the book that hopefully will change his life! It was a big lesson for me about how when we plan exactly where we will be going, God is able to prepare people to be in our path.
The end of this week was amazing, getting gelato all together one last time, hearing some amazing talks and lessons in church on Sunday, having an amazing first lesson with a member and some friends who are learning more about what we believe, and then finishing off with a big party to celebrate the end of Anz Hansen's and Sor Acerson's mission. Our lesson with Fratello Di Marzio was especially cool since his friend Matteo is a literal biblical genius. He was quoting verses left and right and already knew pretty much all of Mormon doctrine. He's studied the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price all on his own, and really tested all of our scriptural knowledge! We ended up not having nearly enough time to talk about everything, and I'm super happy to be able to have such an eye opening experience as to how well one can master the scriptures!
I would love to talk about the awesome party Laura and some other members put on, but I've already written assai [very much], so I'll just say it was probably the coolest way to finish a mission I've ever seen or will see. Our members here are the best!!! They did some really cool stuff for Anz Hansen and Sor Acerson to celebrate their service. I absolutely love all the moments I get to experience here, and the progress I'm able to make in becoming a better disciple and servant of Jesus Christ! It's a crazy life, but totalmente vale la pena! Italia è fortissima come sempre, non avrei potuto scegliere un paese migliore! [totally worth it! Italy is as strong as ever, I could not have chosen a better country!]
Vi voglio bene, e buon dì! [I love you, and good day!]
Anziano Samuel Parker
1 WATER......IS...... BACK!
2 Trio life, gonna be a fun week
3 Pranzo di Distretto [District lunch]
4 Freeeee Cookies! nuff said
5 #PescaraRocks
6 Chieti Alto oggi
7 e 9 Teatro Marrucino
[#Food]
2/12/18
The eating was pretty amazing this week - sadly I didn't get pictures of everything we ate. HOWEVER! I did take a ton of photos visiting the coolest city on the planet, and doing other things throughout the week.
We started the week off by going to the big city for a Zone Conference, early on Tuesday morning. We got done with our interviews pretty early, so we got to roam around Rome for a while. We did a little bit of "finding" and then grabbed some lunch at a Napolitana Pizzeria called "Dan Michele." I haven't had a pizza that good in a long time, and it was definitely the biggest pizza I've eaten in my life! In the evening we did a mostra [exhibition] in Piazza del Popolo, the main piazza [square] in Rome, talking to people about the Book of Mormon. We had an awesome day in Roma. There's just so many monuments and places in Rome that we casually walk by and I just go crazy every time we're there! All the study I did for Italian Culture has paid off Signor Mariani!
The actual zone conference was great too! We went early so that we could practice a musical piece. It normally is about a 45 minute to 1 hr commute from our house, but we were blessed with trains practically waiting for us at every single stop we needed! As always we were "edificati" [edified] by the remarks of President Pickerd, the Assistenti al Presidente [assistants to the president], e Capizona. For the musical number, I sang "We'll Bring the World His Truth" with some other missionaries, and it brought back memories of when I sang that at my baptism over 12 years ago! It was especially cool to hear President Pickerd's thoughts about President Nelson, the new prophet, since he's had quite a few special moments with him throughout his time serving as a Seventy and being Mission President. President Nelson was the one to set him apart when he started serving. The thing I learned the most, from everything he told us about him, is that he is where he is now because he has an absolute love for enjoying and making the most of this life. He knows who he is - a child of God - and he has focused his entire life on reaching the divine potential he can attain as such. One of the funny little stories President Pickerd told was of an exchange that happened when President Nelson and President Pickerd were driving home after a long day of choosing a new stake presidency. President Pickerd mentioned that he felt a little tired and President Nelson just sat up and resoundingly exclaimed - "I feel great!" (They have about a 30 year gap in age between them!) This story helped me this last week, whenever I haven't felt fully committed or completely awake, I've had the image of President Nelson, come to my mind and thought, "he would be pushing to do his best in this very moment, I can too!"
We got to eat the classic BBQ Hamburgers we get at every Rome zone conference, which is the closest thing I get to America on a regular basis. Nothing like bacon, beef, fresh produce, and BBQ sauce smashed between two pieces of bread. #merica. On the ride back from the conference Wednesday evening we talked to a guy named Alfonzo for pretty much the full 2.5 hour ride! We also got to sit on the bottom level of the bus at a table, instead of the top in tight seats. #legroom. Alfonzo was super nice and super interested to know what we are doing here in Italy. Right before we pulled into the station in Pescara we showed him a video about the introduction of the Book of Mormon, bore testimony about how it's changed our lives, and gave him a copy! It was super cool to have such a miracle contact right after zone conference.
We got some great "finding" done the rest of the week, and also had a great time visiting with members! On Thursday we were invited over to a Brazilian family's house, who just moved here 2 months ago. We had a nice lunch and then taught the first lesson with their son who is 9 years old and preparing to get baptized. It was quite the meal because the grandparents only speak Portuguese (the grandpa speaks a little broken English) and the mom is learning Italian. We also had 2 members with us, one who understands Portuguese, but can't speak it, and the other who speaks English and Italian. We had a great time eating, visiting, and then going to the church together. They wanted to do some family history work and we had our English course.
The other meal appointment we had this week was last night, where we had polenta for the first time. It's a dish from Northern Italy, originally from Bergamo - and it was cooked by a Bergamasca! There's a corn based paste that's pretty tasty and then a sugo [sauce] with big chunks of meat and peas, but it's pretty much the equivalent of Italian Fu-fu. (Don't let an Italian hear you say that though.) We got to visit with Alberto, Alicia, and John Paul - all members from the ward - and we had some good laughs about the differences between Italy and America.
In other food news: we bought fresh honey from Abruzzo on Saturday at a market, and I ate legit pancakes for the first time on my mission!! We also got amazing donuts filled with creme this morning with Roberto (honestly it was more like a pile of nutella, whipped cream and creme filling surrounded by deep fried donut batter)..... Way too much sugar.
We had a lot of success Saturday night, as well as Sunday doing the America sondaggio [poll] again. It's always amazing to see people's reaction to hearing that Jesus Christ appeared in America! I love being able to bear testimony of that event and the message we have that God still speaks to His children. So many people don't know these things, and there's no other way to let them know! Like Anz Ballard has said, "Perceptions of the church are established one conversation at a time" - so let's get talking about it this week!
A dopo, anche buon San Valentino quest mercoledì!
[See you later and have a good Valentine's Day on Wednesday]
Anziano Samuel Parker
1 & 2 Last Pday with Sorella Acerson and Anziano Hansen in our Pescara Crew
3 Roberto and Anz Snyder!
4 Anz Wagstaff, my brother in the mission! [we were both trained by Anz Ruiz]
5 Zona di Roma Est
6 The good ol' Trevi
7 & 8 NapTown Pizza da Dan Michele
9 Piazza del Popolo a Roma (Twin Churches in the background!)
10 & 11 It was quite the process getting stuff back to our district....
12 Dinner with John Paul, Alberto and Alicia
13 bombe stamattina
[Between saying and doing, there is the sea in the middle]
2/5/18
Allora carissimi, [So dear],
(if you're an Italy Rome Missionary, you should get that)
I promised a good email this week, and I'm ready to deliver! I went into this week even more determined to make some miracles happen and see God's hand in the work, as I tried my hardest. The week started off amazing right off the bat doing some "finding." Then we felt the prompting to go see our recent convert Luca, who hasn't been able to come to church for a good bit. It was just what all of us needed! We talked with him about how he's doing, and Luca ended up giving us more of a spiritual thought than we gave him! I love him because he's got such amazing faith, and absolutely loves bearing his testimony to everyone he talks to. As we were talking to him I just had a confirmation that coming to see him had been the right choice, and as he was speaking to us about how we can be more positive and confident in our missionary work, I felt like my Heavenly Father was almost speaking directly to me through him. Definitely one of the cooler moments I've had following the Spirit.
On Tuesday we had district meeting, and afterwards all 12 of us (I love having a huge district) went out to grab pizza. Turns out while we were all eating at the pizza place a friend of the Bishop's wife was there and called her to just say how amazing it was to see so many missionaries all together, and just the light that was radiating from us. After all the tough moments we have during the week, where it seems like we don't make a difference in people's lives, it was like getting a big dose of sunshine. It was nice to hear Sorella Salvatori's testimony about the impact we have just being present here on the streets in Pescara! I absolutely love coming to church, taking the sacrament, and feeling the spirit so strongly every single week of my life! I've been able to notice even better than ever when I do or don't have the spirit with me, and it's something I hate living without.
We got to teach Louis about marriage this week and it was hilarious! We were able to talk about the importance of families, temples, and also what being married for time and eternity means. He's about 25, and we were telling him that it was time to stop messing around and how he needs to start looking for a wife. My favorite part of the lesson was when Anz Strong and I pulled out our temple recommends and explained what it means and requires to enter the temple. He's really excited, and it would be amazing to see him get to enter the Rome Temple when it's opened! (no, I don't have any inside news on that.)
On Wednesday we got to teach Adamo (practically a member by now, just hasn't been baptized), who is still struggling with keeping commitments, however on Sunday he had a good time in priesthood translating for a member visiting from Brasil, so maybe that will push him a little more. We also got to visit the Di Marzio couple and have a really amazing lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A really cool moment was when we were talking about baptism and the scripture Mosiah 18:8-10 came to my mind. I decided to have them read it and it turned out to be the exact set of verses that helped Fratello Di Marzio make the decision to get baptized exactly 7 years ago! We learned so much from talking to them about their relationship with the Savior and also how they came together thanks to the gospel - they got married a year ago, and Sorella Di Marzio is actually from Mexico; they started communicating with each other thanks to both of them being members! They said they spent Sunday afternoons a lot of the time on Skype talking to each other about the things they learned in church and bearing testimony. #RelationshipGoals It's amazing to see how strong their marriage is because it has an immovable foundation on the gospel. The night ended even better when we met Fratello Di Marzio's friend at the train station and it turns out he's read the entire Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, AND Doctrine & Covenants!! He's also read the Bible in Latin and Greek, in addition to English and Italian. Meanwhile, his girlfriend is reading the Bible for the third time in Italian! They said they would love meeting with us and Fratello Di Marzio to talk more and discuss what we believe - and we'll see how it goes this week.
The rest of the week was spent "finding," pushing through rejection, and having cool conversations with people in Pescara! Anz Snyder and I did a scambio [exchange] together and had like the funnest time ever on Saturday morning doing a sondaggio [poll/survey] about America. It's eases into the gospel sooooo smoothly, and we got to give 3 copies of the Book of Mormon away. One was to this guy who actually got our attention since he was singing opera while walking his dog, and then he ended up being pretty intrigued by what we believed.
Comunque, [Anyway] it was a great week! I learned a ton, and I'm suuuuper stoked for these next 2 days since we have zone conference in Rome. 1. It's in Rome and I can't get enough of that city! 2. We get to have some awesome training from the mission leaders, which we've been studying for the past couple days. Out of all the things I've learned in the past couple days, it's that we absolutely need to do our best to enjoy the moment - don't think too much about the future, and put the past behind you - because that's how we fill our mission with the most amazing experiences as possible. Whenever we make a mistake we shouldn't shame ourselves and say we aren't worthy of God's redeeming love, instead we need to learn how to constantly repent - even for the smallest thoughts or actions. If we do that, and make turning towards Christ a consistent daily process, we will always be able to find happiness as we face the unknown ahead of us.
Grazie per tutto che fate, e siete tutti bravissimi figli amati di Dio,
[Thank you for everything you do, and you are all very good children loved by God,]
Vi voglio bene, [I love you]
Anziano Samuel Parker
Here's a great quote:
“It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.” - Abraham Lincoln
^Remember who you are, it's the key to happiness
1 The concert hall in Chieti where they had the 200th anniversary on Friday, so the #1 violinist in the world was playing there apparently!
2 & 3 Chieti, absolutely love this country
4 The one, the only - Anz Snyder (he's a stud)
1/29/18
So I'll begin by saying sorry for the short email, next week I'll try and make sure it's better.
This week was really tranquillo [quiet]. We had some solid member appointments, got to give people some church tours and talk to them about the restoration, and we also got to do a good chunk of "finding" - as per usual!
I just finished the Book of Mormon this morning and am planning on restarting tomorrow, hopefully I can finish again by Mother's day. Maybe you guys can read with me, and make it a priority too. It literally can give answers for all the big questions.
In other news, I got to sing on the lungomare [seafront] accompanied by our friend Joshua! His mom comes to our English course, and his whole family is really nice to all the missionaries. We came across them on Saturday and they asked if I could sing something on the spot, so I tried a couple songs! It was super nice to sing again, since it been a while since the last time I did something like that.
The Church is true, members (especially Italians) have amazing testimonies, the Book of Mormon changes lives, and beaches are awesome, even in winter!
Ciao ciao,
Anziano Samuel Parker
1 Anziano Hansen's amazingly-tasty-you-can't-believe-there's-spinach-in-it-pasta
2 More omage to Dean Martin in Montesilvano (his birthplace)
3-5 beach today
6 Restoration Gesso yesterday
1/22/18
Ciao tutti, [Hello Everybody]
Ummm, è quel momento della settimana per scrivere, e non so che cosa sia successo durante la settimana, quindi proverò a ricordarmi. [Ummm, it's that time of the week to write, and I do not know what happened during the week, so I'll try to remember.]
Sorry for that italian bit, I just started writing and the Italian just spilled out. I had a really chill week with Anz Strong, and we had success doing finding! Tuesday we were able to watch President Nelson's broadcast and see the new first Presidency of the church. My favorite part of that night was pulling out the new first Presidency photo to show somebody we were talking to and explaining that we have a living prophet on the earth. There is so much power and knowledge that comes from that doctrine of God always working through prophets.
I guess the highlight of the week was being asked really thought provoking questions when we talked to people during "finding" and being led to have really amazing personal studies because of it. I learned so much, especially from a conversation I had with a guy named Luca, where we talked about the purpose of faith. We added him on messenger and then literally the next day we had an hour long chat about faith, the divinity of Christ, and the purpose of this life. Eventually we sent him the whole chapter of 2 Nephi 2, which answers all of his questions - soooo cool how powerful that chapter is. #PresidentPickerdHaRagione (it was the main theme of our last zone conference.)
We did my favorite sondaggio "Credi in Dio?" [poll] ("Do you believe in God?") a couple times and had pretty good results. It's crazy how many people don't want to put an x on a white board... We ended the week with an English Course and I got to make friends with a whole bunch of ragazzi from Foggia - Anz Smith and Sellers, hopefully they come your way, I gave you guys a shout out.
I'm just loving Italy and this mission right now! Literally my focus every day is to follow the Spirit as best as i can, and that always leads to a happy day.
Basta per adesso, e buona Settimana!
[Enough for now, and good week!]
Anziano Samuel Parker
1 & 2 Gesso Sunday Night
3 Didn't buy it
4 Calendar for 2018 with Jesus Quotes for every day!
5 Normal sized Italian Car
6 A Store full of Pandoro
7 un muro [a wall]
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