Well, hi there!
My goodness, we talked LAST week on Skype? That seems both SUPER LONG and SUPER short time, it's a weird feeling. But anyway, I loved talking with you all! It was really fun to hear and see everyone, I loved it!
I've had a tiring week, and not really from the amount of appointments or anything (we actually had a lot fall through). Some people had hard a hard Christmas, or times right around there. Especially the Sri Lankans, because they had problems from neighbors. But they're still going strong and loving the Gospel, which is awesome! Plus, Vescovo gave them €150 for Christmas, so they really enjoyed getting gifts for each other! And one of them, Sanjay, helped translate for us with ANOTHER Sri Lankan (who speaks maybe 5 words in English and less in Italian), and he was great, bearing testimony when he saw it was right, and letting us know what he said even if we didn't ask yet. I really think this little group is gonna be SUPER helpful for us, if we keep getting more Sri Lankan investigators! Some missionaries in the past even made it a little goal to get a branch here in Singhallah (or it might be Sinhalah, I dunno). It definitely seems possible.
But anyway, New Years: no, we did not stay up till midnight. President Kelly told everyone to be inside by 6, on account of "fireworks". They're basically just dynamite. And then New Years Day, we were inside all day, doing deep-cleaning. That's something we do 3x a year, where we're supposed to go through the appartment and make everything sparkle. The unfortunate thing is, other missionaries don't have habits of periodically cleaning, so appartments get hard to make that happen. We got a lot of progress done, though! Now we just need to maintain it...
That family with the dream? We've gone back 3x now, twice with appointments, and either they haven't opened the door or there wasn't a man in the house. So yeah, maybe it's not quite "Ensign-worthy" at the moment. Although with contacts from the Mostra, we have someone this Friday who we're gonna try to see. Did I tell you about him? He came up to me while I was talking to this one lady, and he started joking about the end of the world. But then he stopped, and asked for a pamphlet and then gave me his address. I think I did. But I called him up (cause Anz. Stewart was busy), and I asked if we could meet, and he just replied "Venerdì" (Friday). I was kinda shocked at his willingness to meet, and basically he had a time set aside for us, at 10 am, is what he said. So yeah, hope this goes well! It'll be difficult, because I'll be with Anziano Bennett, since Anziano Stewart and Anziano Davis (the Zone Leaders) will be going to Rome Thursday for Capi Conference, and coming back Friday afternoon. 2 missionaries 1 transfer into their mission in Italian........ THIS'LL GO SO WELL!
Fun story: on Sunday, Anziano Stewart was asked to go to the Primary to help with something. We were confused as to the "what", but he went at the end of the 1st hour (Priesthood). Coming out of that, I saw a really tall, different-looking guy than what's normal around here. He saw me, and said "Hi Elder!" I was so surprised, I just blurted out "Americans?" Smoooooooth.... But yeah, there was a family that came here on a cruise, and just decided to use their Sunday time on land to go to an Italian Ward. There were 8 in total, with 4 kids in Primary (which more than doubled it all). But the parents and two older kids came into Gospel Principles so they could understand. How, you ask? I ended up translating. Or, actually, it ended up as kind of a class effort. The teacher eventually learned to go slow. :) But they were really nice, and the Dad was understanding. Apparently they live in San Antonio, Texas, and he translates into Spanish ocassionally. Then after Sacrament (which Anz. Stewart translated for them), they asked to get a picture with us. Fun stuff! On the last day of my first transfer, I got my first translating job. Stinks that I butchered it, though. Oh well!
Anyway, the church is true, I promise. It's so cool to see the changes it brings to some people's lives. Even in 6 weeks! And I love how truly simple it is. Honestly, those answers that instantly come to your mind whenever somebody asks a question like "How can we know the Book of Mormon is true?" are EXACTLY right, even though we want there to be more complicated answers. That's something I'm learning a bit more here. Primary was spot on! I think that's what it means when it says it's the "straight and narrow path". Narrow because it has to be (no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God, right), and straight because everything is laid out for us. No sudden turns, nothing hidden. I love it!
Oh, before I send this off, I wanted to tell you about Christmas presents you're getting me: I'm gonna get these cookbooks called "Oggi, cucino io" (Today, I cook). Anz. Stewart has some, and apparently it's a nice little series with a TON of Italian recipes. So even if I don't learn it all here, I'll have the ability, don't worry! The only problem is that apparently, the quality of the ingredients REALLY matters. Some sauces only have 3 ingredients, but you need the best tomatoes to make it really good. So... we'll see how it turns up in the States!
Ok, that's everything, I think. I love you all!
Ciao ciao!
Anziano Trey Walker
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