So Much To Be Thankful For!!

Since our last posting, we have witnessed a family baptism, help put an apartment together for a new set of sisters who transferred into our fair city, been to a district-wide training of the leaders of all the branches in the Florence District, walked up and down the beautiful, but steep streets of Montepulchiano helping a family get into a different apartment, prepared TWO Thanksgiving dinners, and prepared for a missionary fireside where one of our members, Spencer Nelson, will speak about his life as a Mormon who plays professional basketball in Europe.

Darryl was able to meet with a wonderful family who was preparing for baptism.  Darryl interviewed the parents and had a spiritual experience as he witnessed their preparation for entering into the waters of baptism.  And then, after the District Training on Saturday, we stayed in Florence to witness their baptism.  It was beautiful to watch a mother, father and 9 year old daughter take this step together.

We visited our Relief Society President one evening.  She lives in the city center of Siena in a building that was constructed in the 1300s.  She is taking care of her 98 year mother.  She is a stalwart in the branch, and a great example of Christian service.  It was a rainy night as we walked down this steep street to her home.

Here is Sister Feri and Bonnie standing on a walkway overlooking Siena.

A night shot of San Domenico, an ancient Church here in Siena that displays the actual head and thumb of St. Caterina, the patron saint of Siena.

We spent two days with another senior couple who has the main assignment to travel around the entire mission and set up new apartments for missionaries.  This is a direct result of the change in the age of young missionaries which has swelled the ranks of all missions, including ours.  We have to find new places for the influx of these great, young missionaries.

Here's a great shot from out our dining room window.  A gorgeous sky!

Here are most of the BYU students after their last Sunday here.  Interspersed are some of our Italian members of our branch.  Can you pick them out?

And here is a shot of Darryl hard at work at our dining room table.  He is clearly doing some important branch work, don't you think?  So professorial in those reading glasses.

On Tuesday we learned that Elder Young (the shorter one) was being transferred to Bologna.  We had planned to have the Elders join us for Thanksgiving dinner at the home of the Nelsons, but both Elder Young and Elder Gneiting (who would be getting a greenie right off the plane) had to leave for Florence Wednesday night.  Bonnie couldn't bear the thought of them missing a nice, American Thanksgiving dinner, so she cooked up a turkey with all the fixing, and we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with the Elders on Wednesday, before they boarded the train.  This is a picture of the clean up after they demolished the turkey.

On Thanksgiving day we all went to the Nelsons for dinner.   We knew that two new sister missionaries would be coming in sometime on Thanksgiving Day, and luckily they arrived just in time to sit down to dinner with us.  We also had one of our branch members who is a Brit join us for her first taste of this American holiday.  I'm not sure what she thought, but we ate well!

On Friday we brought the new sisters to our apartment to help make refreshments for our missionary fireside with Spencer Nelson on Saturday.  Here we are stuffing sugar cookies with Nutella, the spread of choice here in Italy.

This morning we walked into the center of Siena for its annual Christmas festival.  There were about a hundred vendors selling food specialties from all over Italy.  There were also crafts for sale.  The day was cold, but clear, and it was a good day to mingle with the crowds.

Here's a book-maker's stall.  Kristine will find this one interesting.

At this Thanksgiving time we are very thankful for all the tender mercies granted to us by a loving Heavenly Father.  We are very grateful for our five children, their wonderful spouses, and our ten grandchildren.  We miss them, but we believe that they are being blessed in their lives as we serve our brothers and sisters here in Italy.  We are also very thankful for our mothers who raised us and support us in all our work.  And we are thankful for the opportunity to serve here in Italy, and to serve with great Italian members and wonderful missionaries.

Our lives are truly blessed, and we thank God every day for all our many blessings.  May we be an instrument in His hands to help bring our brothers and sisters to a full knowledge of His love.

We are thankful for friends and loved ones, and we hope that you all had a very wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving week!

Winter is Coming . . . But the Work Moves Forward

This past week has been full of visits with the members of our branch, both near and far.  But on Wednesday, which is the young missionaries P-Day (and we try to squeeze in a little P-Day from time to time), we took our first venture into Siena's weekly open market.  We entered the open market and found ourselves in a maze of shops that zigged and zagged throughout Siena's ancient walls.  Bonnie is in search of some warm boots for the coming winter, and there were many vendors willing to sell her whatever her heart desired.  And as you can see from these pictures, it wasn't just boots that she was interested in looking at.

In addition to clothing galore, the open market sells fresh flowers, fresh food, fast food to eat while you explore the many shops, kitchen items, pet items, and almost anything else one might want to buy.

Although we were there for a couple of hours wandering around the market, and even though Bonnie tried on a few pairs of boots, miraculously we escaped without spending a Euro.  Now that has to be a record!  But, unfortunately for Darryl, it also means more shopping for boots elsewhere!

We are trying to get to know the members of our branch on a more personal, intimate basis; so we are slowly inviting them to our apartment for dinner.  This week we had the Rotelli family over for dinner on Wednesday evening.  We prepared pasta primavera, chicken cordon blu, and green beans.  We also made an apple crisp with fresh whipped cream.  They said they really liked it, and they did eat it all, so we hope they did.  We spent some quality time with them and learned their conversion stories.  It is also so inspiring to see the many different ways that the Lord touches lives, and brings the prepared souls into the Church.  They have two sons, raised properly with the gospel.  Their oldest son served a mission in Italy, and he is now my first counselor in the branch presidency.  Their youngest son is 14 and was just ordained a teacher.  The dad has been the branch president here, and now serves as my ward clerk, as well as executive secretary to the District Presidency and a member of the District counsel.  The mom is from Cagliari on the big island of Sardegna, and she was baptized about 10 years after Darryl served as a missionary in Cagliari.  She knows many of the members that Darryl had the great privilege to rub shoulders with when he was there.  The entire family is wonderful, and they are pillars of our branch.

We visited members in many small towns outside of Siena, such as Colle Val d'Elsa, Montepulchiano, Certaldo, Sinalunga, and Roccastrada.

On Saturday we took the elders to visit a sister and her young son in a small mountain town about an hour outside of Siena by car.  (The elders were going to try to take public transportation out to visit her, and that would have taken more than half a day.)

This wonderful sister is from Peru, but she came to Italy as a young adult, lived in Rome and met an Italian man who lived in Roccastrada, this small town outside of Siena.  They married and now have one young son, Daniele, a smart and vivacious 3 1/2 year old.  Because she lives so far from Siena and because her husband is not a member, it is very difficult for her to come to church.  But she was ecstatic to see the missionaries and have us in her home.  She has a strong testimony of the restored gospel, and wants to be closer to the members.  She does have the Internet, and my first counselor teaches an Institute class every week and has many members who participate on-line, via Google, and this sister wants to join them.  That will be wonderful for her, and will bring the gospel into her home more often.  We will be her home teachers, so we will try to visit her in her home every month.  We simply have to try different ways to bring the gospel into the lives of our members that can't make it to church every Sunday.

This wonderful member and her cute little son, with our elders.

The views from her piazza.

Her apartment is back in the corner, right next to the catholic church and up some very steep and very old stone walkways.  Bonnie will now make sure she has some flat walking shoes in the car at all times, so she can hike these cobblestoned pathways.

As we were driving back to Siena after our visit, we were stopped by the Caribiniari, the local Italian police.  Here in Italy, if the police want to stop you, they typically don't do it with flashing lights and a car chase.  No; what they do is stand by the road with a little, round, red stop sign, and as you are barreling down the road, they stick it out and expect you to stop.  The one with the sign has a companion, and that guy is carrying a short, but powerful Uzi machine gun.  We doubt they shoot you down if you don't stop, but we didn't want to risk it, so we stopped when they put out the little red sign.

As Darryl rolled down the window, the Caribiniari asked for his license and registration.  After looking at those, he asked who we were.  We told him we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.  They looked confused.  Then Darryl told them, the Mormons.  The guy with the Uzi (who appeared to be the boss) said something like "they're OK, let 'em go."   With that, we were off and running.  Thankfully they didn't ask us for our papers, as one of the elders had left his at home.  Without your papers, you could be spending a few hours, or more, in the custody of the Italian police.

On Friday night we had a branch activity, where we all got together and watched the Disney movie, Cars.  We popped popcorn for everyone, and had an enjoyable time.  A member that hasn't graced the church's doors for over a decade has come out for our Friday activities twice now, and that is a good sign.

The BYU students will be leaving us soon, so we had six of them give short talks in Italian in Sacrament meeting this week.  They did such a great job that they didn't leave any time for their director to give his message.  So we will try to give him a chance this week, if we have time.

We had the BYU director and the elders over for a good old American dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad with ranch dressing, etc.  They loved it!

Yesterday, after a Zone Training meeting in Firenze, we returned home and prepared a complete meal for a newly-baptized family that lives about 45 minutes outside of town.  The mom isn't feeling well, so we decided to take dinner to them.  Darryl made the pasta (mushroom, onion and shallot cream sauce over linguine) and Bonnie made Chicken Cacciatore and her famous banana cake.  It was a hit! We didn't get home until after 11 pm, but as senior missionaries, we don't have the same schedule as the youngsters.  Thank Goodness!

All in all we have had a busy week, and we love serving these great members here in Siena.

Highlight of the Week  Seeing the light of the gospel shine in the eyes of a sister who we visited, who lives too far away to come to church.  And arranging for her to participate in Institute so she can have weekly contact with the Saints.  Also, dining with such wonderful members, who are so strong even though they are few in numbers.

Lowlight of the Week  Getting stopped by the Italian police, but that actually worked out OK.

Feeding 80 Hungry Missionaries . . . With Food and the Spirit!

On Tuesday of last week, Bonnie had the assignment to head a committee to feed the missionaries from three zones, the mission president and his wife, and a visiting general authority and his wife.  Undaunted as she always is, she rolled up her sleeves and eschewed the tradition of buying a bunch of pizzas and throwing them on the table and calling it good.  No, she planned a wonderful sit-down lunch with fresh bread filled with ham and cheese, freshly-cut carrots and celery with ranch dressing dip, chips, and bowls full of fresh fruit.  She had another sister on her committee make each missionary a piece of homemade pizza, and then they topped it all off with a piece of homemade tiramisu.

Bonnie wanted to adorn the tables with flowers or something similar to "beautify" the surroundings, but Darryl didn't think that was in the budget.  Not to be denied, on one of her morning walks before the conference, she gathered pine cones, berries and Fall branches, and she made a wonderful bouquet to brighten the head table.  What a talent!

Here are some pictures of Darryl, Bonnie and our District President, Pasqualle Fiorelli, bringing down the dessert to the hungry missionaries.

And here is a shot of Elder Texiera shaking hands with some of our missionaries.

The missionaries were well-fed both spiritually and physically, and they left the five hour conference filled with new ideas and full stomachs.

The following day Bonnie and Darryl had to take care of more temporal things.  They had to go the Italian Questura (which is an arm of Italy's state police and immigration services) to continue the process of obtaining their Permesso which will give them permission to remain in the country for the duration of their mission.  Not only do you need a passport and a visa, you also need this Permesso di Soggiorno or you can be kicked out of the country.  Hearing stories from other missionaries that they had to wait all day to complete this process, they took some reading material and ventured off for this experience.

All in all, however, it only took most of the morning.  We did have to go to two different police stations, and at both stations we were fingerprinted.  At the second one, we had to climb to the third floor and present ourselves to the Italian Crime Lab, where we were analyzed, fingerprinted, and where every aspect of our physical appearance was put into the computer.  After taking a couple of long looks at Bonnie's hair, he decided that it was blonde, and that made her happy. Luckily we don't have any intention to commit any crimes.  Now we wait for another month or so before we get our actual Permesso card, which we will have to carry with us at all times.

Walking back to the church from the second Questura (which is in the heart of the old city right next to the famous Duomo), we took a few different streets, and we were blessed with these amazing views of our environs.

That evening we had the elders and three of our young adults (and one non-member spouse) to our home for snacks after they played basketball at a park near our apartment.  Bonnie made an apple crisp and we had some bruschetta and other snacks.  It was a fun time, and an opportunity to meet one of our member's husband in a "non-threatening" environment.  We are trying hard to build trust with the members and their families.  All are children of God, and thus we are all brothers and sisters.

Bonnie got her first haircut in Italy, and even though the stylist didn't speak any English, they communicated well and he was quite expert at his craft.  However, it did end up a bit shorter than she had hoped, but it looks good.  And the great thing about hair, it does grow!

We spent Friday and Saturday visiting members, both in their homes and at the church.  Some members live quite a distance from Siena, and many don't have cars.  Public transportation is iffy on the weekends, and some members work.  So, our attendance on Sundays isn't where it should be, so we need to take some of the gospel goodness to the homes of our members.  We are also visitings members who haven't graced the church with their presence for years.  We are just trying to get to know them, see what service we can provide, and try to rekindle inside them whatever embers of testimony might still be burning.

While our Italian members attending church is not where we would like it, we do seem to fill the chapel.  We have about 20 BYU students still studying in Siena, but they will be leaving at the end of the month.  And this past Sunday about 12 tourists, all from the Danville area of northern California (near where Darryl grew up), showed up for Sacrament Meeting.  It was good to see a full chapel.  We wonder what it will be like when the BYU students leave, the weather turns cold and the tourist stream is reduced to a mere trickle.  But we must remember that wherever one or two are gathered in His name, His spirit will be there.

We are still working with the Internet company to get the Internet back up and running in our apartment.  We have a wireless key that will get us through the next couple of weeks, and then we hope to have it all back up and running.

We are enjoying our mission and we marvel at the strength of these Italian saints.  They don't have the luxury of being surrounded by hundreds of other members and gaining support from them.  They must be strong and carry a large responsibility, with the active members fulfilling three or four callings in the branch.  We are hear to buoy them up and let them know they are doing great work.  It is an honor to rub shoulders with them.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are very thankful for our testimonies, for our health and strength, and for all our family and friends who love and support us.  We draw great strength and peace from that knowledge.  Thanks to everyone who keeps us in their prayers, and know that you are in ours.

Fall is Here . . . and so is Halloween

Siena is only about 40 miles or so southwest of Florence, so we are in the Florence Zone and we have the opportunity to drive to Florence quite often, for many different purposes.  Our district of missionaries consists of the Zone Leaders and two sisters, all stationed in Florence, and our District Leader and his companion, stationed in Pistoia (about 10 miles east of Florence), two sisters who are working in the Montevarcchi area just south of Florence, and the two elders who are working here at Siena with us.  So, our weekly district meetings are in the Florence church building.  Here is a picture of the sisters in our district, and one of our entire district (minus Darryl who took the shot)!

On Tuesday evening we had the great opportunity to join our Siena elders to teach a first lesson to an Italian man who seems to be searching for truth.  The lesson went very well, and he agreed to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it.  He stayed for English class at the church after his lesson.  And he came back to church of Friday for our branch Halloween party!

Bonnie was asked to head up a committee of three senior couples to prepare lunch for 76 missionaries as part of a multi-zone conference scheduled for tomorrow (November 5) in Florence.  Elder Texiera from the Quorum of the Seventy will be touring our mission, and he and the Mission President will be meeting with three zones in Florence for an all-day training session.  Bonnie is working hard on that assignment, and Darryl is trying to help out a little.  He is trying to convince her not to spend part of her budget on paper tablecloths, because the young missionaries won't appreciate that touch as much as they will appreciate a little more food on their plates at lunch.  Don't you agree with Darryl?!?  We will see who wins out on that battle of the sexes.

Notwithstanding all our best efforts to the contrary, our Internet at our apartment has been shut off.  So while in Florence we had to go the Internet store and try to get the Internet set up in our name at our apartment.  It isn't as easy as flipping a switch; someone has to come to the apartment and set it up, even though we have the modem and all the other equipment necessary.  So, we may be without Internet for another week or two.  Luckily, we have Internet at the Church, so we can struggle along.  Also, the Internet company has stopped taking credit cards from foreign banks (and they won't take cash either), so we had to work something out with the Mission Home to pay for our Internet.  We will see if and when we can get it all back up and running again.

Our little branch had a wonderful Halloween party on Friday, November 1.  Actually, Halloween in Italy is called "Tutti Morti", or All Dead day, and is on the 31st.  The next day is called "Tutti Santi" or All Saints day, and it is a national holiday.  Almost every day of the year has a saint attached to it, and that is your saint.  Darryl's saint is St. Luke, and Bonnie's is St. Francis de Sales.  If your birthday doesn't have a specific saint attached to it, then November 1 is your day of celebration, and your saint's day.  Lots of birthday's are celebrated on November 1.

Here are some photos from our little Halloween Party at our Siena branch.

Some of our BYU Study Abroad students making masks for the photos.

A few of our young members who were ready to put on a skit for us.

Brother Rotelli, the rock of the branch and, with his son Simone, Darryl's two right-hand men.

Simone Rotelli, with Elder Gneiting and Angelina, a professional long distance runner from Ghana and a current investigator.

Elder Young, Elder Gneiting's companion.

Enrique, another one of Darryl's assets.  Enrique takes great care of the church building.

Sonia, a member of our Relief Society Presidency, and a fireball.  We love her!

A few of the BYU students.

The leader of the BYU Study Abroad group, and his wonderful family.

Our Halloween spread, and this doesn't include the dessert table.  Bonnie made some very scrumptious cinnamon rolls, which everyone loved.  They loved them so much that Darryl only got a half of one.  Bummer.

The Halloween skit.

And all its characters.

We had a full house for the party, and we even had two or three investigators, and some other friends of members come to the festa.  It was a fun night, and we hope those that came enjoyed themselves and got to know the branch members better.

On one of our trips to Florence this past week, we took a few minutes to walk over Ponte Vecchio (which is the home to gold and jewelry stores galore!!) and visit the Duomo of Florence.

On Sunday our Primary teacher was late, so Bonnie pitched right in to run the Primary class until she showed up.  All of our Primary children were American, so it wasn't too hard.  Here is a picture she took of the five little kids, with some fun that Darryl had editing the picture.

All in all, the work is moving forward, we are meeting more members, and we are enjoying our service here in Italy.

Highlight of the Week  Teaching the gospel of the restoration to investigators, and seeing the light come into their lives.  Also, rubbing shoulders with faithful members of a small branch who want to see the Church blossom as a rose as prophesied by Lorenzo Snow when he dedicated this land to the Lord.

Lowlight of the Week  Losing our Internet service at our apartment, and having to wait a week or two now to get it back.  But, as they say, all good things come to those who wait.