5/26/13

  This week has gone by SO fast, and so much has happened!  But a lot of it feels like stuff that happens everyday. haha So the things that were different about this week....... Monday mornings we "do numbers" which consists of collecting all the numbers missionaries got during the week (like how many lessons taught, or investigators in church) and it takes almost all morning.  We had a really good 4 hour meeting with President Kelly this week and talked about transfers and how this next week Anziano Stewart and I will be taking a road trip!

     We will leave Friday morning and go down to Napoli (which is the coolest city in the mission, and also the birthplace of pizza and it is SO good and different from everywhere else) and we will do exchanges there.  Then head down to Sicily and do exchanges all the way to Catania.  Then we will do Zone Conference there, then drive to Bari and do exchanges on the way, then do a Zone Conference there, then come back home!!! WOW! It is going to be so fun!  We will be gone about a week so I don't think I will be emailing next Sunday, but I am not sure.

     About our only glimpse at real missionary work every week is a new convert we teach, her name is Teresa.  She is Filipino and speaks very little Italian, very little English, and a lot of Tagalog!  And every time we eat there, she makes you eat until you never want to eat again in your entire life!!  But she is awesome!!

     Today, I gave my first talk in a ward in Italy!  A member of the bishop rick called me yesterday and asked if I would give a talk today, so of course I said yes! And asked him what my topic was, and he thought for a second and said "how about missionary work" so that is easy enough!  It is strange thought, before the mission is was hard to fill up a 5 minute talk, now when they limit you to 10 to 15 minutes its super hard to keep it so short!

     It was also cool today because a good friend of mine who finished the mission a few transfers ago came for a surprise visit!  Another fun event this week was we got to go grocery shopping with the mission presidents wife at a store that is kinda like Costco or Sam's club!  It was so cool!  They just don't normally have cool stores like that here.  And it didn't hurt that she bought us some stuff!  Also the other day a new senior couple arrived and so we got to go pick them up.  They are super awesome and both served their missions in Italy!  She is from Idaho Falls (imagine that!) maiden name Rigby.  So we got to go to lunch with them and President and Sister Kelly, and she made enchilada casserole! With American salsa.... WOW!!

     It is really fun to get to do those things because we get to see all of them as normal people and you really learn a lot.  Oh yea, finally got a chance to stop and take a picture at the temple site, drive by it almost everyday but never have time!  Well I love ya'll so much and hope this next week is just great!!

Love,

                   Anziano Bird