Ciao tutti!
This week has gone by so fast! I feel like I just emailed! We had a pretty good week!
As you know Wednesday was Halloween! And that was so much fun. It was p-day so we just chilled and did our thing. Then the YSA (Young Single Adult Ward) had a Halloween party that we went to. We dressed up as greasers. We looked good, Haha! It was so much fun. I never thought I would go to a party on my mission! It was a ton of fun and I met a lot of the YSA's. It was awesome! Anziano Lombardi and I were the life of the party. Once we had to leave Sarah texted us and told us that once we left it got boring. It wasn't fun to leave but we had too.
Thursday was a pretty chill day. We were supposed to have a lesson but he cancelled. So we spent the day cleaning the house and studying. Thursday night we went to Vinicios house for dinner. We helped him cook. He gets by really well for a person who is blind. I love him a lot. He loves to give us hugs and when he gives me little slaps to the face it's the funniest thing.
Friday it was our friend Rosie's birthday, same as Zach's! She is a recent convert. So we went and hung out with her and Samuel and Sarah. We went and got her presents and then I had McDonald's for the first time in Italy, it was alright. After that we went to Samuel's and Sarah's house before Rosie's party. I met their family and man are they the best people. Like I have said before I love there family so much! They are the best! Rosie's party was a lot of fun. They cooked a lot of food obviously, so we ate pretty well. I tried Orzo for the first time also. Orzo is the substitute for coffee (made from roasted barley). It's what all the members drink instead of coffee. It's actually really good. Its pretty bitter but 2 packets of sugar does the trick! Also, while we were out and about I found out that the professional soccer team that plays for Torino has CHRISTIANO RONALDO ON THERE TEAM!!! Isn't that sick! I thought that that was so cool! So Friday was a pretty cool day. I was glad I was able to hang with Rosie on her b'day.
Saturday we were supposed to have a meeting with Solomon but it was raining so he couldn't make it. So we ended up just looking at Facebook and doing other things at the church. We decided that we should probably head home so we got up and went to the bathroom and then left. Literally as soon as we come out the door someone comes up to the door. He isn't a member. Turns out that he heard about our church a long time ago but never really looked into it. He used to walk by our church once a week but no one was ever there. He hasn't walked by our church for over a year, but he decided that he would go on Saturday for some reason and luckily we were there. We scheduled a lesson with him for Tuesday. His name is Roberto. It's crazy how the spirit works. For us to walk out right when he walks up and for him to be interested. So cool! I love being a missionary!
My second Sunday was a lot better than the first Haha! We taught the Africans in our ward gospel principles and I bore my testimony about how families are forever. We had a lesson with Solomon after church. We went over the commandments again. And he is still okay with getting baptized!! With Africans the mission president has to come down and interview them because he wants to make sure they understand the importance of everything. So we may have to push back the baptism date so we have time to get Prez down here. Sunday night we had a lesson with one of our simpattizantti, his name is Alex. We had dinner with him and his girlfriend who is actually a member of the church. We had some good spaghetti and after dinner we taught him the restoration, and I said the first vision to him!! It was awesome. I said it to a real person who is looking into the church!! In Italian!! That was a great lesson and I think he has high potential to get baptized.
Monday was pretty chill. We had combined district meeting. So I got to meet all the other Missionari in our zone, so that was cool. We did some training and it was good. After training we had interviews with President and Sister Allen. I got to talk with them and man they are the sweetest people. I love them so much. President is a great guy and I had a really good interview with him, and Sister Allen gave us cookies! So that was nice. After the interviews we went with the Sorelle and got some nice sandwiches and on the way there a guy stopped us and asked about us. We ended up talking to him for a while. I didn't really understand him but I know that the Sorelle are meeting with him on Saturday! So that's awesome! After sandwiches we just went home and chilled for the rest of the night.
Tuesday we had a lesson with Ivan at 11. We ended up teaching him and his wife. His wife seems pretty interested also, and man they are just awesome. This time we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I talked about having faith! They are both so receptive of everything. They are progressing so much. I think that they will be baptized too. Ivan talks about how this relates to his kids a lot. He has 2 kids. A son who is 11 and a daughter who is I believe 6 or 7. So we may be able to baptize his whole family. I sure hope so because they are already so great! It was a great lesson. On our way home from Ivan's we were walking to our bus stop and an old lady stopped us and asked us if we could help her carry her groceries to her house. We said of course and picked them up and she showed us the way. It wasn't too far. Once we got up to her house she tried to give us 5 euro for helping her. We explained that it was service and she was sure happy for that. She actually gave us a handshake and then kissed our hands. That's the first time that's ever happened to me. It was sweet. She was really nice. Tuesday night we had a lesson with Roberto, the guy we met right when we walked out of the church on Saturday. We got to know him and asked what he knew about our church. We taught the first vision and I said the first vision again in Italian which was awesome. I also talked about how God is our loving Heavenly Father. He also is very cool. He was really receptive and it was a great lesson. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and to pray and ask if it is true. He said he would do it. We then both bore our testimony about the Book of Mormon. Then we asked him to give the closing prayer and he did it and it was amazing. He actually said he would come to church on Sunday so that will be awesome if he does. Then we had English class and we just chilled with Valentina and Samuel which is always fun.
Today we went grocery shopping for the week. Lombardi left the keys in the house so we got locked out. We picked the lock with a card though so we are all good. Then we went and played basketball with the other Anziani and Sorelle, that was a lot of fun. After that we went and got gelato. Samuel and Valentina came too. Then we went home. We have institute at 6:30pm other than that nothing. Pretty fun p-day.
Overall a pretty awesome and eventful week. I'm doing pretty well with Italian. It's still pretty hard to understand and to speak. But I am for sure getting better. I do pretty well translating the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel so that helps me. But ya I'm getting better. I can't wait until I can understand what people are saying Haha!! I know it will come in time though. As long as I practice, try to understand, and rely on the Lord. I love being a missionary and I love Italy!
Vi voglio bene!!
Anziano Bailey
