Unique Experiences

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I noticed was especially characterized by unique experiences that I probably will never ever have! These have made me even more grateful for the hard choice I made to come out here and sacrifice two years. Trust me, even in times where I don't feel it, this mission is worth it!

Comunque (Anyway), the fun began on Tuesday right after our district meeting with Rosario. Background info: We met Rosario when walking on the street to the church one day. He was driving an Ape (you'll see it in the pictures) and stopped next to us, saying he wanted us to come over next week for lunch. That never happens so we decided to go. So the day came when Rosario drove up and told, not just us but the other elders, to get into this tiny ape. We literally drove on the main road for about 20 minutes in this thing, with 3 of us, including me, sitting in the back. The guys in this one military vehicle were laughing at us soo much! It was hilarious also because it was struggling a lot to go up hills and caused a little bit of traffic (luckily it mostly made people smile). Then we get to his house, and discover the reason he is always usually in the ape is because he is handicapped (like always in a wheelchair). 

So we helped him cook pranzo and we ate way too much (calimari pasta, sausages, steak, and tons of mozzarella). During this, we wanted to know why he wanted to really meet with us, but he never really told us because he just wanted us to eat, talk with him about girls and the law of chastity (very weird so it was very good thing I still need to learn a lot of Italian) , and even try his homemade wine which he claimed had "no alcohol". Definitely a visit I will remember forever. In all honesty, I think he's an old guy that just really wanted company (he wanted us to stay until 7!) so at least we did him a small service if anything. 

And the return trip was even better because it started raining. So it's me, Anziano Silver and Berger, sitting in the back with an umbrella to cover us! And you know what, we even saw Bro. Hubbard (Member; we have been teaching his family for a couple weeks). On the main road, we see a big car drive by with the window rolled and then I see Bro. Hubbard is driving it. He asked if we needed a ride, but I told him we were all good even though we probably actually did need that ride. We saw the Hubbards later in the week and he said "It's a good thing you didn't take my ride. That's a memory you will have forever."

That's really all I have to say about this week. I have made memories in this beautiful city of Pozzuoli with Italian members, investigators, and even the random people on the street we see and talk with. I took pictures of Vincenzo and Lina which you will see because I am afraid that this might be my last week here (probably not but maybe) and I don't want to forget them. Vincenzo always loves to feed us whenever we visit him, making pizza and napolitano bread which is super good. We had pranzo with Lina and her family on Wednesday. It was super fun, she made this delicious pasta al forno (like ziti), and it was great to talk to her family. Both Vincenzo and Lina are the only members in their family who are Mormon (an actually common situation) so it is difficult for them to come to church and yet their testimonies about this gospel are so strong! I love them!

The hard part is that it always seems really hard to meet our investigators or those who want to learn about the church. But we had a nice miracle this week actually with Francesco. We met Francesco on a bus once and now we teach him English at one of the train stations where he works. We were on a scambio (companion exchanges) and so it was Anziano Silver, the other greenie, and I teaching the lesson today. We did our normal English lesson and then when we were about to share a spiritual thought, he asked about what we do as missionaries which lead into talking about the Restoration. So we taught him right then and there, and even read from the Book of Mormon. Anziano Silver and I, two newly trained missionaries with only 3 months of Italian under our belts. We definitely had the help of God with us because he is exercising his faith to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.

Overall, there's too much to write. All that I can really add with the time I have left is that I have really grown a lot in these past few weeks because of Anziano Draghi. He's the best! I love how different he is, largely in part because he is Italian and even when we disagree because of our culture or don't understand each other, we have worked hard to really bond with each other. Last night, Anziano Draghi prayed and during the prayer, all I could think about is the work we have done together. With him, we have comforted those that needed it, we taught others about our gospel, and most of the time we just experienced together the successes, the failures, the funny moments, and lots and lots of special spiritual moments. It was nice feeling to see that we did our best in Pozzuoli and no matter if we leave or not, we know we did our best, that we are successful missionaries!

The mission so far has been a blast and I hope it can continue to be that way! I'll tell you what happens next week! I know this church is true and hope you all see the hand of God blessing your lives.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Price