Week 25 - Busy in Bergamo

by Unknown 8:25 PM 0 comments

My new area - Bergamo!  

Well, I made it safely in Bergamo... And I must say, I already love this city! The city is gorgeous. The members are incredible. And, my "Swiss" companion is super rad. I'll start off by telling you guys about my companion, Anziano Stahali. He's 20 years old and is from St. George, Utah. On our first night together, he had me pretty scared because he told me he was metrosexual. I didn't know what it meant, but I knew it was a different sexual than heterosexual! Fortunately, I learned that him being metrosexual has nothing to do with his sexual orientation! ;p I wish you guys could meet him because he is literally the definition of the stereotypical "cool guy" (just with waxed legs and trimmed armpit hair). He's good looking, dresses fancy, is very witty and intelligent, and NEVER utters more than a slight chuckle (my goal during this transfer is to make him guffaw).

During this transfer, we have the goal of only speaking Italian outside the apartment. It's been really hard, but I have already seen improvements in my language! Anziano Staheli is going home in a few months and speaks and understands the language very well, so he's been awesome at helping me improve. In fact, he speaks the language so well that there is a missionary in our district (a greenie from the MTC) that thinks my companion is from Switzerland and doesn't know English. Needless to say, correlation and district meeting have been pretty fun. ;)

As for the work here, I am literally living every missionary's dream... Every day we're super busy! There was three areas in Bergamo, but they just closed an area last transfer. So, Anziano Stahali and I are in charge of two areas! We have a few pretty solid investigators right now, most of which are the fathers of families that are already members. It's been super cool being able to teach lessons in Italian (something I didn't get to do a whole lot of in Pistoia). 

In fact, Anziano Stahali and I just taught an awesome restoration lesson to a 25ish year-old and his mom on Monday night. The 25 year-old is named Pietro and he was an ex-investigator in our area book. However, Anziano Stahali had the impression that we needed to go visit him again, so we did. Pietro and his mom are Catholic, but they were very friendly and let us share the restoration message with them again. They seemed so open to everything! Pietro has already committed them to coming to church with us on Sunday. :D Pietro and his mom may become ex-investigators again, but I really hope that now is their time to accept the true gospel of Jesus Christ. :)

I should also mention that being in charge of two areas means Anziono Stahali and I have two different wards to attend on Sunday. Last Sunday was literally the fastest day of my life. We went to our 9:00 church meeting. Then, we had lunch at a member's home (the members rotate who feeds us and we have a lunch appointment EVERY Sunday). Then, we had our 3:00 church meeting. Then, by the time we were done fellowshipping and doing a few different things for some members, it was already time to go back to our apartment!

Also, dad, I have to mention that I just scored a pretty legit pair of shoes for €30. I know the shoes you bought me cost a lot of money and are basically indestructible. However, I've been receiving quite a bit of mocking from my fellow missionaries because of their dorkiness... So, now I'll be rotating some Italian shoes into my wardrobe when I'm attending an event where I'll come into contact with other missionaries to avoid being ridiculed. Thanks for all your prayers, family! I wish you all the best during the next week. Remember to keep reading in the Book of Mormon, saying your prayers, and counting your blessings.