"We just got a call from President that Tues morning Anz. Stoker is being transferred to Bolzano (he said the people there are closed and speak German) and then he handed the phone to me where I found out I'm going to Reggio Emilia."~
"My new companion is Anziano Strobelt. He's my 'bababreaker' (baba means dad-meaning trainer). Super bravo missionary. Really good at the language, recounting stories, and doing work. We listen to Phil Collins, Disney, and other songs in Italian and he's taught me the slang too. I really love my new comp, but in a sense I miss Anz Stoker. I definitely hope I can serve with him when I'm not brand-new in the mission, and when I know what I'm actually doing. But... I guess that's how being a trainer works. I forgot if I told you already- but one of my worst casa approaches ever was when I testified that Jesus was our loving Heavenly Father, we're his children, and he died for our sins. So... there's some more false doctrine for Italy out there. Haha."
"Well here in lil'Africa (reggio) I've learned a couple things...
-How to ride bikes with one hand holding on to the grocery bag in the back.
-How to give an African shake-slide-snap thing and two words of twee
-Africans will not shut you down as Italians do.
-Bravo missionaries don't walk away from yelling Italian old men."
~"Missionary work is hard, but very rewarding. I wouldn't say I'm used to it, but I'm farther than I was a week ago. There's a lot of finding work which we call 'casa'. You pick a name at the door and ring saying, 'Mi può aprire? Grazie.' We start at the top and work our way down to the bottom of the palazzo. The most heard responses are- "Chi è?! (MA CHI E??!!)" and "no mi interessa" but there is a lot of variety that I'll hopefully get to write about later. Some older Catholic ladies get teary eyed, offer us drinks of water, and say we're 'bravi' but don't want to hear us; the old men just try to kick us out."
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"That's pretty much it. Its funny how here you can see a person and pretty much guess where they are from and what language they speak, while in US everyone is different- but still American. Also fun note- it turns out that Jesus centered holidays don't actually affect people listening to us more, but less."
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"The fact is that everybody has completely lost faith in churches, and those that aren't are set in their belief and can't see the need to go way far out to the office building that's 10x further than the Catholic chapel on their street. For old people in Italy we offer to do service or talk a bit. Most won't listen and yell, some try to give us money/water/chocolate, but my favorite are the old men who talk and can't hear and give us a bible at the end."
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(My Favorite)
"I bought a Michelangelo book at a bookstore for a euro and shared the spiritual thought about the story with him getting commissioned to paint the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel; pretty much the ugliest chapel in Rome. He was considered the best at the time; already had sculpted the David and was renowned. But now he had this job painting (which he hated) the ceiling (a hard job generally given to novices) for the pope. He could have done a quick easy cover to get to the next exciting job, but instead he worked hard. 20 years hard. He painted architecture because it had none, and filled it with gorgeous paintings of the Old Testament. And everyone is sure to recognize, in the center, God's outstretched hand giving life to Adam.
Sometimes we are like this. We are faced with a calling, a requirement, or a (mind went blank, insert word here)--- that we could make it through easily by doing the bare minimum. But when we are like Michelangelo and do our best with what we've been given, it ends up a masterpiece. In my mission sometimes I only do enough to get by, but this week I'm working to give my best- definitely not perfect, but my all."
