Pondering the scriptures in Italy

Two Buff Dudes!  

 It's been amazing teaching some INCREDIBLE people
and understanding more Italian! We aren't teaching any Italians right
now, but that's okay with me. I feel like the Lord needs me working
with these Africans at this time, speaking my native tongue.
Nonetheless, my Italian is improving quite quickly! Last Sunday at
church, I could actually understand some of what the speakers were
saying. ;p I'm not very smooth at speaking the language, but I can
understand 100x more than I could a month ago. We got a new sister in
our district named Sorella Sharp, the replacement of Sorella Ince. She
is a very  good missionary and has recently challenged our district to
only speak Italian for a whole week at the end of this month (unless
you're teaching a lesson in English to someone). I am really scared
for this challenge, but am excited to become better in this language!

I want to tell you guys some more awesome things about Nosa, a
Nigerian convert of 8ish months that I've already told you guys a
little bit about. We had an appointment with Nosa this week and got to
go to his new house! He recently moved out of his old apartment (who
he was sharing with several other Africans) and into a basement owned
by an African family because it was cheaper. When Anziano Gibbons
walked into Nosa's room, the first thing I saw was his Book of Mormon
and Gospel Principles book on his pillow. Then, Nosa fed us dinner as
we taught him a lesson. This man has NOTHING and gives to us so
freely! After the closing prayer, Nosa went on to tell us about all
the missionary experiences he's been having with his friends...
There's something about new converts doing missionary work that sits
right with Anziano Anderson.

I also need to catch you guys up on our new convert, Solomon. He is
becoming such a strong member. Anziano Gibbons and I had him teach us
the Plan of Salvation at our last appointment, and I learned so much!!
You could tell he put a ton of preparation into the lesson and the
spirit really did work through him. It was pretty funny earlier this
week though because we had a lunch appointment at a member's home that
Solomon was invited to too. At the lunch appointment, it was the
funniest thing in the world watching Solomon gag down pasta with pesto
sauce. For some reason most Africans don't like Italian food. It was

nice pay back watching Solomon eat the food because he thought it was
pretty funny watching me gag down African food at the Family Home
Evening we had with him a couple weeks ago.

Earlier this week, when Anziano Gibbons and I were calling random
names from our phone (with over 500 contacts in it) in an attempt to
locate people interested in hearing a lesson from us and deleting
people that did not, we stumbled across Abbel's name. It turns out
that Abbel was met by missionaries long ago, was interested in hearing
a lesson, but was never re-contacted! Abbel happily agreed to meet
with us and expressed how sad he was that he wasn't re-contacted
sooner. He even told us that when we called him that day, he had
something in him that told him he needed to meet with us. We've only
had one lesson with Abbel so far, but he's incredible! We have another
appointment with him later tonight and he is beyond excited. When I
called him on Monday night to schedule the appointment, he told me how
much he missed us. ;p

I'll leave one last "silly" story with you guys before I head off(silly is Anziano 
Gibbon's favorite word). There was a youth stake

activity in Florence on Saturday night where the members got partnered
up with missionaries and did tracting! I got partnered with a 14 year
old boy named Eghosa. He moved from Nigeria 8 months ago and doesn't
speak Italian very good, so we made a good match. After about an hour
of tracting, we met an Italian man who started speaking English to me.
He came up to me and started telling me how handsome I was and what a
nice color of tie I had. I didn't think much of it (considering how
open the Italian culture is), but I felt a little uncomfortable
because he wasn't giving any compliments to Eghosa. I then start to
share a gospel principle with him and he stops me and tells me that
he'll never convert to Mormonism because he was born "different". I
had no idea what he meant, so I continued to share some more things
with him... Then, he just came straight out and told Eghosa and me
that he was gay and had to act on his desires. Our conversation ended
soon after thar, but for the rest of the night, Eghosa was SO freaked
out!! ;p

I was so excited for the companion-exchange last week that I forgot to mention... Solomon received the Gift of the Holy Ghost! He's now an official member of Christ's true church on the earth today. And speaking of last week's scambio (companion-exchange), it was RAD! I feel like I had to use the word rad because I was on scambio with Anziano Vasquez, my zone leader from Huntington Beach, California. I think I heard the words rad and gnarly at least 100 times before my 24 hours were up with him. ;p I got to teach lessons with two of Anziano Vasquez's investigators. One of the investigators worked at a gelateria and gave Anziano Vasquez's new friend some free gelato. ;) The other investigator was this really humble African man who is getting baptized this Saturday. I was a little freaked out when I met the man getting baptized this Saturday because his thumb nail was SUPER long (all the other fingernails were properly trimmed)! Afterward, Anziano Vasquez told me that growing out the thumbnail is a, very gross, Italian style. 

Since Anziano Vasquez is a zone leader, we got to drive around to places all day in a car. Not only were we able to get every a lot faster, we were also able to jam out to Christian Rock music all day! ;) The whole scambio was a major success in my eyes because I learned so much from Anziano Vasquez; it was very cool getting trained by another mind (I've only experienced training from Anziano Gibbons). The most important thing I learned from Anziano Vasquez was probably about the importance of dropping people when they aren't keeping commitments. 

In other news, Pope Francis came to Prato yesterday! Unfortunately, we couldn't see him... But, we were over in Prato at like 11:00 and there was still a TON of people all over the city (his speech was only from 8-9)! I was a little jealous of all the people wearing yellow baseball caps around the city (I don't know the significance behind the yellow, but they all looked cool).

I also want to tell you guys about a little miracle(s) that happened yesterday. I was having a really hard morning... Then, when I started reading my Book of Mormon during personal study, my mind was elsewhere. I was reading the words, but was getting no meaning out of what I was reading. When I caught myself doing this, I was at the end of verse three. When I started the next verse (now focused on what I was reading), it was EXACTLY what I needed to read. It's amazing how often the Book of Mormon speaks to you. #TheBookOfMormonIsTrue But, that's not all. God really didn't want me to forget that he was looking out for me because when I walked out of the apartment- BOOM! I found a €5 bill laying on the ground. Because of these little miracles, my hard morning became a little easier. 

Now, I feel like I need a paragraph dedicated to the senior missionary couple serving in our ward. I love them! Due to my awkwardness, I don't think I've ever really been able to connect with adults very well in my life... But, during the past month, I have grown so close with the Hydes! On Sunday night, they came up with the idea to have a family home evening in Carmignano at Solomon's house. Anziano Gibbons and I were super pumped and invited a ton of Africans. Unfortunately, none of the people we invited came... Nonetheless, it was a great family home evening. The five of us all sang songs, had a little spiritual thought, played games, and ate super spicy African food prepared by Solomon. Although we didn't have a big turnout, Solomon had a GREAT time and I'm really glad we did it. Our goal is to get the tradition of Family Home Evening started, so Solomon and others can have their own every single week! So, we're going to try and host another FHE in Carmignano in a few weeks (hopefully with a bigger turnout)!

The Prato District

Earlier this week, I convinced the sisters to bring a scale to district meeting, so I could see the damage. I'm at 163 pounds... A 10 pound increase from entering the MTC! I'm getting a little worried about what the next two years is going to do to my body. I think a lot of my weight gain is a result from the generosity of Grazia, a woman in our ward. Grazia is in charge of keeping an eye on the church building, so she literally comes to the building everyday. When she's at the building, she tends to leave food for Anziano Gibbons and I in the cupboard (pies, cakes, cookies, chocolate, chips, etc.). And since Anziano Gibbons and I have to visit the church building almost everyday of the week for some reason or another, we eat A LOT of food brought by Grazia! Ezra sent me an email this week telling me how we gained so much weight at one point in his mission that he had to keep the top button of his shirt unbuttoned all the time. Luckily, I haven't gotten to that point... Yet. ;)

I hope you all have a great week family! Anziano Gibbons and I have been cleaning the apartment all day (you do a super-clean once per transfer) and I really wish it could've been as fun as the 4:30 clean-up-sessions back home. ;) Also, in today's shopping trip, I only spent €25 (the normal for me is €40)! :D I'll leave you with some parting words of wisdom: put flour in the mix when you're making French toast. The fluffiness of the finished product is unreal. I love you all! Please keep me and my investigators in your prayers. 

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!

Thank you for all the happy birthday wishes (and money); you helped make my day special! I wasn't able to write you guys yesterday because I spent my birthday in an Italian culture class that the government made me go to, so my p-day got changed to today this week! It made my birthday slightly depressing because not only was the class super boring, we couldn't get any missionary work done! But nonetheless, I did have a decent birthday. Anziano Gibbons made me pancakes for breakfast and we ate some cake and gelato before ending the day. 

Birthday cake and geletao!

I had a pretty great week!  It's been really cool understanding a lot more words people are saying. I'm not comprehending a lot of meaning in the sentences I hear, but I've gotten a lot better at recognizing vocabulary that I have learned! Sometimes it's really hard to understand the meaning of something even if I recognize the vocabulary because Italians say stuff completely different than we do. For instance, you would only say "I feel good" after being sick. And, you would never say, "It's a beautiful day." You would say, "It does beautiful time today" (it's a beautiful time of day). All that being said, this language is BEAUTIFUL! I'm so glad I get to learn it during the next two years. I'm not sure how much I'm going to use Italian 20 years from now, but I never want to go back to saying my personal prayers in English! Sento molto vi cino a dio quando io preggo in Italiano.

It's been interesting doing weekly planning because it never stops surprising me about how long it takes to do! Before I came out on my mission, I thought a missionary's day was almost all spent sharing the gospel with people through street contacting and door knocking. But, on days we do weekly planning, we don't leave the house until 4:30 (10 hours of being awake without seeing ANYBODY)! It really hit me this week that, we as missionaries, are given so much time to better ourselves and optimize the little time we do have to share the gospel with people. Between exercising, getting ready, eating, cleaning, personal study, companionship study, new-missionary study, language study, area book, phone calls, and planning, so much of my life as a missionary is spent not sharing the gospel with people. What it boil  down to is that if you want to be a bad missionary, you have a lot of time to goof off. And the thing about missions is that no one back home knows what kind of missionary you are being. You can make yourself sound as good as you want in each email home to your family and return home from a mission and make yourself sound like any type of missionary you want. Ezra sent me a talk about becoming a "consecrated" missionary and that's really what missions are all about: always doing what you are supposed to be doing- no excuses.

On another note, I've been getting more discouraged each week regarding the African immigrant situation here. There are so many Africans we've been teaching every week and it's just not fair. Large groups of Africans pay €500 to take a ship to Italy (where there is a high chance of dying) because of the TERRIBLE things that are happening in their country. Then, they get here and can't get a job because they don't know Italian. Anziano Gibbons and I visited a less-active member of the church this week named Kenneth. Kenneth is 26 years-old and came to Italy with two college degrees. He really wants to come to church every Sunday, but he can't. As lucky as Kenneth was to get a job, he works 10-12 hours a day and 7 days a week. He's only payed for 6 hours everyday. He works in a Chinese warehouse where he dyes clothes. The Italians that work with Kenneth, doing the exact same job, have six-hour workdays and get payed triple what he does. Because there are so many Africans looking for work, if they do get a job, it's easy for them to get taken advantage of. The government gives (most) Africans that come here a roof over their heads, food (rice and chicken everyday), and a phone. But, even despite all these blessings from the government, the African immigrants here are getting manhandled (Dad taught me that word). Kenneth is saving up money, so he can go to college to get his Masters in teaching degree and break free of his current life situation.

Another example of the African immigrant injustice here is Lockear. Lockear was the man I told you guys about who came up to Anziano Gibbons and I and told us he has been looking for us ever since coming to Italy. He had friends that were Mormon in Africa and we've been teaching the lessons to him. Unfortunately, he can't come to church because it would cost €12 in bus/train fees every week and he has no money! It's just not fair. People's money situation should never be a reason that keeps people from hearing the word of God. He lives really far away from any member (30+ minutes), so getting a member to give him a ride every Sunday probably isn't going to happen. Outside of every shopping center and train station, there will be Africans selling umbrellas, tissues, and lighters to try and make some money. One of our church members named Nosa wakes up at 5 am every day to go sell things outside of a train station... All the Africans I meet, work so hard and most of them have no game plan of how they are going to get out of their poor situation. Most of the Africans we meet have dreams of going to America or the UK where it's English speaking and they think they'll be able to have an easier life. But, even if life was easier for them in another country, they have no game plan on how they would ever get there! It's just so frustrating seeing so many hardworking people surviving (I say surviving because you can hardly call what some of these people are doing living).  It was a little funny this week when after a lesson with Festus, an investigator of ours who hates Italy, was asking us how he could serve a mission like Anziano Gibbons and I. ;p

Sorry I wrote a small essay regarding the African immigrant situation here... I'll move on to some memorable experiences from my week! 

The scariest experience I had this week was caused be a small child. At the MTC, we were taught to never touch children because it's easy to get accused of doing inappropriate things... They even told us a few missionary horror stories where missionaries have gone to jail because of child molestation accusations! So, when a lady getting off the bus asked me to grab her 1 year-old child for her and take her off the bus, I was terrified! But, I couldn't say no to the lady because she was now off the bus (she didn't really give me a choice). I reluctantly grabbed the kid, but was a little too slow- the bus doors were closing! Luckily, the lady outside the bus stuck her arm in between the bus door and screamed at the bus driver to open it back up! The lady outside the bus ended up getting her child out of my arms
and I didn't end up with any legal charges. Hopefully that will be the only child I'll have to touch for the next 2 years...

The oddest experience I had this week was definitely unintentionally seeing a lady's butt. Anziano Gibbons and I were walking to get our bikes and go home after we had done some tracting. But, when we got to the bike rack, there was a woman standing next to our bikes with her pants pulled down and she was peeing! Luckily, she was far enough from our bikes that no pee landed on our rides. But, the whole situation definitely caught me off guard... Especially since the lady peeing looked so... non-crazy!

As for missionary work, it's hard to say how it's going! It seems like all of our "golden" investigators have been ignoring our calls and canceling appointments this past week. But, it's so cool getting to hear so many testimonies each week with the investigators we do see. Sometimes after leaving a lesson, I feel like I've been more spiritually helped than they have. The cool thing about teaching lessons is that you always leave feeling SO happy. The hardest points I've had so far in my mission have always occurred when we haven't taught a lesson recently. Also, tracting has been getting better and better! It's so much fun stopping people on the street to tell them about the gospel. Most of the time, I have no fear and I am able to stop everyone and anyone on the street. As for talking to people on the bus or train, it's been REALLY hard.... I know I have a message of eternal significance, but Satan is good at putting fear into my heart! ;p

Have a great week family! Don't forget to say your prayers (even if you can't say them in Italian) and read the Book of Mormon- it's true! I just finished the BOM yesterday and started in 1 Nephi again this morning.

Vi voglio bene,
Anziano Anderson

My first Italian hair cut

Rain in Italy is a lot like rain in Washington

Ciao ciao!

Another week lived in the greatest country in the world! B-)

The highlight of this week was definitely Solomon getting baptized...

It was such a cool experience! We were a little worried though because

Solomon didn't show up for his baptism until 3:27 (and the baptism

started at 3:00)! But, the ceremony ended up working out perfectly and

Solomon bore an awesome testimony at the end of the meeting.

Unfortunately, Solomon couldn't come to church the next day (because

the buses got shut down in Carmignano due to a market that was being

hosted there), so he still hasn't received the Gift of the Holy Ghost

yet! And remember how I gave a lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost

for priesthood meeting at the MTC? Well, I think that was a blessing

from Heavenly Father that I had to do that because I had to give a

lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost at Solomon's baptism as a result

of the person that was supposed to do it, bailing out.

Even though Solomon didn't receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost on

Sunday, it was still a really good day because it was our ward's

primary program! There is like 25ish primary kids in our ward and it

was so humbling listening to all of them speak... Even the youngest

primary kid has a lot better grasp on the Italian language than 18

year-old Anziano Anderson! ;p In fact, when I was congratulating a few

of the kids after sacrament meeting on a job well done, they ended up

teaching me a few Italian words that I didn't know!

And, going back to Solomon's baptism, besides from the fact that

Solomon made a really awesome covenant with Heavenly Father.... I also

learned a really cool skill because he did! For Solomon's baptism, we

had to fill up a big swimming pool type thing because our church

building doesn't have a baptismal font. Then, after the baptism, we

had to empty the pool... So, our ward mission leader taught us how to

syphon the water out of the pool with the hose we used to fill up the

pool. I don't understand the physics behind syphoning, but it blew my

mind! ;p Unfortunately, it was really slow, so we had to start

emptying water out of the pool with empty trash cans to speed up the

process. But, watch out, I might syphon gas out of your cars when I

come home with my newly learned trick. ;)

Since being on my mission, I've come to the realization that

missionaries are magnets for awkward experiences... Earlier this week,

Anziano Gibbons and I forgot a bag of random stuff at the train

station (umbrellas, food, etc.) on a day this past week. When we

realized we forgot the bag at the train station, we hopped on the

first train back to the station to see if our bag was still there.

Luckily, it was. Unfortunately, a beggar-lady had moved the bag and

was now sitting with it. So, Anziano Gibbons had to awkwardly go up

and ask for the bag back... I felt SOO bad for the lady (and a little

bad for my companion for having to utter the awkward phrase to get the

bag back)!

Luckily, Mormon missionaries attract more than awkward experiences....

They attract Jehovah Witnesses! A few nights ago, when we we doing

house-to-house tracting, we knocked on a door and the man that opened

it welcomed us in with open arms. For the first five minutes we were

inside the house, I thought it must be a member family because of how

happy everyone was to see Anziano Gibbons and I... But, after they fed

us a few snacks, we found out they they were Jehovah Witnesses! I did

A LOT of listening (and not much understanding) as Anziano Gibbons had

a big doctrinal talk with them regarding Adam and Eve. From what I

understood of the conversation, Jehovah Witnesses have a lot of logic

to what they believe... But, I'm a little bummed because I couldn't

share my testimony of Jesus Christ before we left (the conversation

was only on Adam and Eve the whole time) and I know that baring

testimony is key in situations like that! :( It was also kind of funny

because when we were leaving their house, they gave US some church

pamphlets! ;p

Another cool tracting experience I had this week was when we were

doing street contacting... We ended up stopping a man and baring our

testimonies of Jesus Christ. When we asked the man how he has seen the

hand of Jesus Christ in his life, tears started streaming down his

face... I usually consider it a successful street contact when we get

the person's contact information, but this was the first street

contacting experience where I felt like we actually touched someone's

life.

With all the street contacting we do, I have seen a ton of super

fashionable people during the past three weeks. And because of this,

I've also come to the conclusion that I'm going to be a huge

scarf-wearer after I get married... All the coolest Italian guys wear

scarves! But, I know it's a little feminine for guys to wear scarves for

fashion in America.... So, that's why I'm going to start wearing them

AFTER I get married. You can't question the sexuality of a man walking

down the street if he is holding the hand of a super pretty girl. ;p

It's kind of funny though because in Italy, Mormon missionaries aren't

the strangest people to see walking down the street (like they usually

are in America)... With all the nuns and army guys carrying huge guns

(to prevent terrorism), the Mormon missionaries look pretty dang

normal!

Cool kids wear scarves

And remember how I told you guys that the watch you sent to me was a

little too big? Well, I went into a fancy jewelry store and the old

lady working there did the resizing for free! I'm not sure if it was

because I was reppin' Jesus Christ's name on my chest or because of my

big smile, but it felt pretty awesome being treated like something

more than just a punk teenager.

Now, I'm going to share a few random things (one is about a ward

member, one is about Solomon, and the last is about Italy):

1. There is an African member of our ward, named Nosa, who has the

best prayer catch phrase I've ever heard in my life. Remember how I

used to say, "Please bless us that we can look good, smell good, and

be good"? Well, in every prayer Nosa says, he asks that, "We can sleep

like babies and wake up like giants."

2. We had a lesson on the restoration with Solomon this week because

after investigators get baptized, the missionaries need to teach them

all the lessons again. When Anziano Gibbons was talking about how

there was lots of reformists during the Great Apostasy that recognized

that the doctrines of Christ had been changed, he talked a little

about Martin Luther. Then, he asked Solomon, "Do you know anything

about Martin Luther?" Solomon replied by saying, "Yeah, yeah.. I know

a little about Martin Luther. He's said some great things about black

people taking over America one day." IT WAS HILARIOUS! I knew

instantly that he was talking about Martin Luther King Jr., but I

looked over at Anziano Gibbons and his face was priceless... I could

tell he had no idea what Solomon was talking about! ;p

3. When was cooking some ham-and-grilled cheese sandwiches this week

and I looked down at my package of ham... There was a random lady

posing on the front! The closer I examined my food packages, the more

I began to realize that Italy has models for more than just

clothing... They have ham, cereal, yogurt, milk, and jelly models! ;p

...And speaking of those ham-and-grilled cheese sandwiches, that was

the meal that I learned that cheese was bad for you... My whole life I

thought cheese was healthy because it was a dairy product! But, after

I had consumed half a brick of provolone cheese for lunch one day this

week, my companion told me how unhealthy cheese was for you!

Anziano Gibbons and I have spent the day in Pistoia showing the

Firenze Elders around our city. We made the mistake of going into one

museum full of naked women statues (probably not the best

advertisement for the church seeing Mormon missionaries in a naked

statue museum)! Luckily, the museum is free, so we left soon after

arriving ;p Now, Anziano Gibbons and I are about to go prepare to give

a lesson in Italian to this high schooler, named Lorenzo, who has been

SUPER receptive to the gospel! 

Vi amo,

Anziano Anderson

Ciao!
I can't believe week two in Italy is already over... The days go by SUPER fast (unless we are doing weekly planning)! Your question about garlic breathe made me laugh; surprisingly, I haven't smelled stinky breathe from anyone since being in Italy! The missionaries on fast Sunday at the MTC definitely have worse breathe than any of us Italians! ;p

I haven't heard anything about being in such an awesome chocolate place, but I definitely need to take advantage of that! Although, I am surprised with how cheap their chocolate spreads are in the store. You can buy a big jar of fancy-Nutella-stuff for under €3! 

As for communicating in Italian, it's really hard! I can understand a lot of Italian when my companion or an African is speaking it because it's generally slower and the words are separated. But, Italians speak SUPER fast and their words slur together, so I can't even understand a lot of words that I do know when it comes out of their mouth. Fortunately, I can tell I've been improving, both understanding and speaking wise! 

Interesting facts I learned this week: Number one, Italians don't drink normal hot chocolate! Their version of hot chocolate is basically warm pudding (that's how thick it is). Number two, my companion doesn't wear deodorant because (in his own words) "he doesn't sweat under his armpits." And number three, missionaries love doing service. A couple missionaries in my district asked me how they could serve me, so I followed Ezra's advice and actually took them up on their offer. Let's just say, the next time I saw the missionaries, I received some delicious homemade cookies (even if they weren't mom status). Number four, I consume a lot of food and it's not fun (I'm a baller on a budget and can't afford my current lifestyle)! If I'm not careful, I can go through two boxes of cereal and half a loaf a bread in a day ($$$). 

My favorite time being a missionary is when people approach US and want to hear about the Gospel... Last week we had a Nigerian man approach us and told us he's been looking for the missionaries ever since he got to Italy! We haven't been able to meet with him yet due to our schedule conflicts (and still don't know if he's a member or not), but we felt like celebrities when he ran up to us. Then, this week, we had a little Chinese boyish-man come up to me and Anziano Gibbons and say, "You guys believe in Jesus Christ?!" We taught him for a little bit and he was eating the gospel up! But, unfortunately, his mom isn't a fan of Christianity and wouldn't let him see us again after she found out who we were. 

My first three-hour church meeting in Italy made me a little scared for the next two years... I never know what is being said! I can understand words every now and then, but everyone speaks so fast that I don't get any meaning out of anything. The only thing I understood during the three hours was a portion of fast-and-testimony meeting: When I was the one baring my testimony! ;p My companion translates for a few of the Africans that don't speak Italian during church, but I'm always too far away from him to hear. Luckily, we had a lesson with our investigator, Solomon, after church and it was INCREDIBLE (and not just because it was in English); the spirit was so strong! Solomon is getting baptized this Saturday and I have no doubt he is ready. He truly understands the significance of the step he is making in his life. He's shared some really awesome insights with me from his Book of Mormon studies that have left me wondering if he's secretly already a member. I know he's not going to be falling away from the church anytime soon! 

Funny story of the week: When shaving a few days ago, I accidentally cut a really big gash above my lip. And since the gash wouldn't stop bleeding, I had to go out in public with a paper towel pressed against my face. It was a little embarrassing, but it became a lot more embarrassing when I was sitting across from some Danish tourists on the train... They kept on talking, looking at me, and laughing! 

Earlier this week, we went to Pisa for a new missionary training this week and the city was BEAUTIFUL! It's fun being in the big cities like Pisa and Firenze because there are so many old-American-Mormon tourist couples that come up and talk to you. Anziano Gibbons and I had a few nice conversations with people as we walked to the church building in Pisa. We even ran into an investigator of the sister missionaries serving in Pisa! It was kind of funny though because he seemed a little too sad that the sister missionary's "friend" moved to a different city (he didn't understand how transfers worked)! ;p Also, I can now say that I've seen the leaning tower of Pisa (although I was never close enough to it for a decent picture with it). But, the coolest part of that day was the train ride back home. We were supposed to take a certain train, but my companion had a prompting that we needed to take the train 10 minutes later. So, we did. On that train, we taught about the apostasy and restoration with a lady and she was really interested in our message. She didn't want to give us her contact information after the lesson, but I know we needed to plant that seed in her heart. :)

In other cool news, I gave my second blessing this week! Anziano Hyde (a senior Elder) had a toothache and asked me to give him a blessing. Unless someone is in need of receiving a lot of animals (my animal vocabulary is off the hook), I don't think I'll be ready to give a blessing in Italian for a while... But, luckily, Anziano Hyde speaks English and giving the blessing was a really cool experience!

I thought you guys might be interested to know that parents aren't the only people that embarrass you in life... Companions are just as embarrassing! Prato, the neighboring city to Pistoia, is like the Chinese immigrant capital of Italy, so we always see a ton of Asians walking around. For some reason, my companion thinks it's okay to scream out, "NEEE-HOWWWW" every time we see an Asian person because he just assumes they only know how to speak Chinese! Every time he does it, I'm not sure whether to laugh or run away, but it's always pretty embarrassing for me when the Chinese person turns out to be a native Italian and speaks Italian flawlessly.

I love gelato!

And finally, before I go, I want to tell you about my favorite experience I had this week... After English class on Thursday, we were invited over to one of our student's houses by him and his girlfriend (both of them our in our English class). The guy's name is Gigi, he's 40ish, and lives in a super fancy house on the top story of a building. He literally treated us, two stinky 20ish year-old boys (one more stinky than the other), like kings! The view from his balcony was unreal. It was hard to get down the fish that he prepared for us (it literally tasted how the ocean smells), but I would've made you proud because I ate the whole fish with a smile on my face! Luckily, he fed us lots of gelato afterward, which made up for the not-so-appetizing fish! ;) Gigi and his girlfriend were in disbelief that Anziano Gibbons and I couldn't drink wine and we couldn't see our girlfriends for two years. However, that lead into a really nice conversation about the church! We're going to have an official lesson with them tomorrow (with dinner included compliments to Gigi) tomorrow and I am STOKED to see them progress!

Anziano Gibbons and I have been asking our investigators if they have anybody we can pray for and it's been an awesome way to get referrals for us! I'm glad all is well back in Olympia! I'm always glad to say that I'm from OLYMPIA, Washington because Olympia has an Italian-like name and it always gets a few "ooh's" when I tell people that's where I'm from. In fact, Olympia and Italy aren't very different at all... It rains constantly here! Fortunately, missionaries bike here, rain or shine. ;) 

Vi amo,
Anziano Anderson