And the Saints Go Marching On!

We are working hard with a mother and her adult daughter who haven't been to church for many years.  They live about a half an hour outside of Siena, in a beautiful hilltop town in the middle of the Chianti region.  The mom is in her seventies, and still works taking care of a woman who is in her nineties.  Longevity reigns here in Italy.  It must be the fresh fruits and vegetables, the pasta, and the olive oil.  (Some also say its the red wine, but who knows.)

We are meeting with the mom, while the sister missionaries are working with her 40-year-old daughter.  The daughter has been through some very rough times in her life, but she is now realizing that she felt the happiest when she was young and she attended church regularly with her mom.  She wants to feel that spirit again.  She has many things to overcome, but as we say in Italy, "piano piano" (slowly, slowly) she can make the changes.  The Lord will help her, and will help all of us, if we submit our wills to his and allow him to shoulder the burden with us.

We try to have our four missionaries over to our apartment for lunch at least one Sunday during the six-week transfer cycle.  (Sometimes more, if they are lucky.)  This time we decided to feed them a good old-fashioned American lunch, with BBQ pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, potato salad, and all the fixings.  We think they enjoyed it.  We also do some missionary correlation during these luncheons.

Sisters Andromidas and Roth, Bonnie, and Elders Reese and Axson

We hold a branch family home evening every Monday at the church for those members who don't have families and/or who live close enough to Siena to come and enjoy a fun get-together.   Once a month we celebrate the birthdays of all the members who have birthdays in that month.  It is a great excuse to get people together, enjoy some snacks, and do some fellowshipping.

Bonnie slaving over the stove, and Eugenia, who comes to English class
enjoying the pause that refreshes

Two investigators, Angela and Roberto, with Elders Axson and Reese

Sisters Roth and Andromadis with Eugenia at FHE

Brother Rotelli, the rock of our branch, enjoying a bite

We have been keeping a secret for quite a long time now for one of our wonderful members.  She hasn't been able to come to church for about three months now, and the other members thought that she was too busy with her final exams and thesis for her masters program. 

Lorena and Bonnie

But, as parents of five children, who all have had pregnancies of their own, we knew that it was a little more than that.  Lorena is pregnant!  We are so excited for her!  Her little one will make a grand entrance into this world in January 2015.  We haven't been able to add to the small numbers of our branch through convert baptisms, so I guess we will have to do it this way.

Lorena has finally told our other members about her great news, so the secret is out.  She is still suffering some from the travails of pregnancy, so we have been over to her home a number of times, and Bonnie has prepared some of the bland foods that Lorena can tolerate.  Darryl, on the other hand, has tried to keep her laughing, so she can keep her mind off the nausea.

We visited the Gori family this past week.  It was Chiara's 20th birthday, so Bonnie took out her famous apple cake with caramel topping, and we celebrated big time!

An older picture, Darryl, Sister Gori, Sisters Boscia and Roth, and Chiara

In the mission field, the only constant is change.  We have some big changes happening this week with our missionaries.  First, Sister Roth, who has been with us for about six months, and who only has six weeks left in her mission, is being transferred to Alessandria as a Sister Training Leader.  She has been a very hard worker here, and this will give her an opportunity to share what she has learned with all the sisters in two zones up north before she hangs it all up and boards the big bird for her return trip to the United States.  We will miss her!

Our District, that is now changing big time!
Elders Keekolani, Reese, Axson, Giles and Lee
Sisters Lee, Roth, Hamblin, Jarvis and Andromidas

Sister Roth just opened her "Going Home" letter

It is titled "Release Bulletin"

Her companion, Sister Andromadis, will be training a brand new sister who arrives today from the MTC.  We still don't know her name yet.  Sister Andromadis needs to travel up to Milano tonight, and tomorrow she will meet with all the new trainers and all the new missionaries.  President and Sister Dibb and the office staff will train them all, and then they will reveal who goes where.  It will be exciting to pick them up tomorrow night at the train station, when they return tired but happy, ready to hit the ground running with new blood and new ideas.  This will be our third "greenie" here in Siena.  We love watching these brand new missionaries grow.

Elders Keekolani, Giles, Reese and Axson

Also, our District Leader, Elder Axson, who has also been with us about six months, has been transferred.  He is heading way up north to the small town of Trento.  He will have to learn some German now.  Elder Axson is about 6'6", and his replacement, Elder Garner, who is coming down from Lecco, is almost as tall.  We have had a string of very tall elders serve with us here in Siena.  We have enjoyed having Elder Axson here, and we will miss him as well.

Because these two missionaries are leaving Siena, we had a special family home evening earlier this week where we had a branch dinner to celebrate their work and to wish them well.  Some of their investigators came, as well as a member who hasn't been to church for many years.  Her son was up from a city down south, and he was able to convince her to come.  The ice is now broken, and we hope to continue the dialogue with her and help her feel welcome to come and worship with us.

Members, Investigators and Missionaries enjoying dinner at the church

One last group photo before Sister Roth and Elder Axson depart

August is here, and many Italians have headed off the beach or to the mountains to get away from the heat and humidity of the summer.  This summer, however, has been different.  It has rained a lot, and it hasn't been quite as hot.  But it still is very muggy, and Darryl really hates the humidity.  But we put on a smile and more deodorant, and move forward, . . . because the saints go marching on!

The summer does bring out the visitors to Siena, so we do have many Sundays when the visitors outnumber the members.  Here are a few shots from a couple of different Sundays during this summer.

Sundays in Siena

And while we are serving here, the earth is moving at home, . . . literally.  Yesterday we learned of a massive mudslide just a few blocks above our home in North Salt Lake.  One home has been destroyed, and others are at risk.  So far our home, and Bonnie's Mom's home near us, are fine.  We hope and pray for the safety of all our friends and neighbors at home, and that is about all we can do from here. 

Our house is down below a bit, but it did take out part of our Tennis Club

 Challenges come to us all, and it is how we deal with those challenges that define us.  May the tender mercies of the Lord be with all of us as we move forward, marching to the beat of the gospel!