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| View from my apartment |
We're in Florence right now and after we meet up with the zone leaders, we're going to go on
a companionship-exchange! I am SO stoked. Anziano Gibbons and I have spent the day at the Palazzo Vecchio museum and have seen some INSANE views and lots of 15th century artwork.
It's already been an awesome week thus far because I'm currently the acting senior companion. On the 5th week of each transfer, the junior companion switches positions with the senior companion for the week. So, I am no longer in charge of locking and unlocking the bikes and am now in charge of calling the shots! There's a little stress that comes with being a senior companion, but it's been a ton of fun. Frankly, my biggest trial this week has been my Sunday shirts... The collars are becoming very tight and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, fast Sunday didn't cure my problem. So, I'm going to have to lay off the pastries this week. ;p
Before I get going, I want to share a few experiences I had this week. First off: Halloween in Italy is LAME! There is no trick or treating and very little dressing-up. Fortunately, we have some Halloween activists in our ward and our ward threw a pretty great party on Saturday night! Some sisters in our ward made a ton of delicious food and did a good job advertising the party, so quite a few members dressed up! But, the best costume at the party was definitely my companion's lion costume that a member let him use... I took quite a few blackmail pictures of him throughout the night! ;)
Anziano Gibbons and I brought one of our investigators to the party named Jean and he was like a little boy on Christmas morning... He loved the party! He's this 52 year-old man from the Philippieans and is a die-hard Laker's fan. So, he came to the party looking like a member of the team- only a lot older and shorter! ;p At the party, us and the sister missionaries in our ward were in charge of running a "fish-for-candy" game. I feel like I'm a lot better friends with most of our ward members because of all the chatting we did with them throughout the night (the fact that I gave out a ton of free candy to all of them might have also helped). Later in the night, it was a little weird seeing all the members dancing and blasting American pop songs in the room that acts as the chapel on Sundays. ;p Besides having to call the president (we got home to our apartment past 10:00), it was a very good Halloween.
Another experience that I want to share with you guys is a lesson we had earlier this week that I can't stop thinking about. The lesson was with an African who is a relatively new member of the ward. He's a very hard-working man and sells random items to people on the street, all-day everyday. At the beginning of the lesson when we were asking him how he was doing, he broke down and started telling us how hard his life was. He was an electrical engineer in Africa and owned his own shop, but here in Italy, he can't find a job. He said something that really struck me... It was something along the lines of, "I know this is true church. That's why I don't understand why there aren't more true Christians. Christians are supposed to help the poor, but no one ever helps me!" My mind instantly went to King Benjamin's speech and I felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for him... He is trying
so hard to be financially stable and doesn't feel the support from our ward. And the thing is, this man is VERY generous with the money he does have. Anziano Gibbons bought an umbrella from him this past week and he only charged Anziano Gibbons the €3 price that he bought the umbrella for. Also, on Sunday, he brought a cake for us and the sister missionaries. I MEAN, THIS MAN IS INCREDIBLE. I really hope that he can start feeling the ward's love and support for him.
The last experience I want to share with you all was a miracle that happened to us on Monday night. After giving some lessons in Prato, Anziano Gibbons and I were on a train headed to our apartment in
Pistoia (it was already a little past 9:00 pm). Unfortunately, we were so focused on discussing our lesson plans for the next day that we didn't get off when the train was in Pistoia. So, when we realized our mistake, we knew we had to get off at the next station. Panic mode sunk in when we realized that because it was so late, there wasn't a train scheduled to head back to Pistoia for another hour! But, miraculously, when we got to the next station, there was a train that was going to be going to Pistoia any minute (it was super late getting to the station). We didn't want to miss the train obviously, but we didn't have tickets. It's a rare occasion that your ticket gets checked while riding the train, but we knew as missionaries, we shouldn't ride dirty. So, despite the high chances of missing the train when it came, we went to the ticket booth and bought tickets. We didn't miss the train and WE DID get our tickets checked by a worker on the train back to Pistoia. GOD IS GOOD!
Another experience that I want to share with you guys is a lesson we had earlier this week that I can't stop thinking about. The lesson was with an African who is a relatively new member of the ward. He's a very hard-working man and sells random items to people on the street, all-day everyday. At the beginning of the lesson when we were asking him how he was doing, he broke down and started telling us how hard his life was. He was an electrical engineer in Africa and owned his own shop, but here in Italy, he can't find a job. He said something that really struck me... It was something along the lines of, "I know this is true church. That's why I don't understand why there aren't more true Christians. Christians are supposed to help the poor, but no one ever helps me!" My mind instantly went to King Benjamin's speech and I felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for him... He is trying
so hard to be financially stable and doesn't feel the support from our ward. And the thing is, this man is VERY generous with the money he does have. Anziano Gibbons bought an umbrella from him this past week and he only charged Anziano Gibbons the €3 price that he bought the umbrella for. Also, on Sunday, he brought a cake for us and the sister missionaries. I MEAN, THIS MAN IS INCREDIBLE. I really hope that he can start feeling the ward's love and support for him.
The last experience I want to share with you all was a miracle that happened to us on Monday night. After giving some lessons in Prato, Anziano Gibbons and I were on a train headed to our apartment in
Pistoia (it was already a little past 9:00 pm). Unfortunately, we were so focused on discussing our lesson plans for the next day that we didn't get off when the train was in Pistoia. So, when we realized our mistake, we knew we had to get off at the next station. Panic mode sunk in when we realized that because it was so late, there wasn't a train scheduled to head back to Pistoia for another hour! But, miraculously, when we got to the next station, there was a train that was going to be going to Pistoia any minute (it was super late getting to the station). We didn't want to miss the train obviously, but we didn't have tickets. It's a rare occasion that your ticket gets checked while riding the train, but we knew as missionaries, we shouldn't ride dirty. So, despite the high chances of missing the train when it came, we went to the ticket booth and bought tickets. We didn't miss the train and WE DID get our tickets checked by a worker on the train back to Pistoia. GOD IS GOOD!
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