Happy Thanksgiving to One and All!

We had the privilege last week to attend a zone conference where Elder Fingerle of the Seventy toured the mission and taught the missionaries how they can work more diligently in hastening the work.  We learned that even though our young missionaries don't have IPads yet, they can still work with members with the members' technology to spread the good word of God and make sure more people are invited to events where the gospel is lived and spread.  We learned that we can and should invite our friends and family members to be witnesses to special events in our lives and the lives of our children, such as baptisms, priesthood advancements, and even sacrament meeting talks.  When we think about it, there are many life events that can be shared with friends and loved ones.  We can and must use technology to reach more than the one.

We helped another senior couple serve a pretty good American Thanksgiving feast to the missionaries for lunch during the conference.  Our missionaries can really put it away!

The day after the conference, on our P Day, two of Darryl's clients and good friends were in Italy on business.  They took a day to visit Firenze, and we met them in this beautiful city and showed them some of the famous sites. 

Doug and Connie Murray came to visit

We marveled at more of Michelangelo’s masterpieces.  These are some beautiful marble statues that the great artist carved for the funeral chapels of some of the Medici family.  The Medici's were the most powerful and rich rulers of Firenze, and funded most of the great artists that made the Renaissance explode, including Michelangelo.

As darkness fell, we visited Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge in all of Firenze that the Germans did not blow up as they retreated at the end of World War II, and the Allies did not bomb.

Ponte Vecchio at night

A view of the Arno river from the middle of Ponte Vecchio

On Saturday we left Siena early for another trip to Firenze.  This time we were privileged to attend the baptism of a young man that Darryl interviewed for baptism.  Giovanni will add great Priesthood strength to the Montevarcchi branch.

Giovanni's Mom, Giovanni, Elders Keekolani and Taylor

This past weekend was the first Stake Conference for the Firenze Stake since its creation in May of this year.  We attended training meetings on Saturday where Bonnie had to step in at the last minute to play the piano for the Stake Choir.  The pianist missed the train, and was substantially late.  It is so great to see Bonnie step in confidently and share her talents.  The choir didn't miss a beat with her at the piano.

On Sunday, Darryl was asked to give one of the addresses.  He talked about the importance of the temple, and shared some experiences from the Siena branch's September trip to the Swiss Temple.  The bottom line is that we cannot go wrong if we all have the doors of our homes facing toward the temple as we listen and implement the guidance that God gives us through His ordained apostles and prophets.  The temples give us the further light and knowledge God has promised to all who follow Him, and provide opportunities to serve others.  A temple-centered life is a life built on a firm foundation.

This week we have been working with members and assisting our missionaries with their teaching.  We also provide language and gospel instruction to our missionaries in Siena at our weekly district meetings.  Three of the four missionaries in Siena now are quite young in the mission, so Darryl has been helping them with some additional language training.

This week we had our second Thanksgiving in Italy.  We miss our own children and grandchildren, and our extended families very much, especially during the holidays; but we appreciate that our young missionaries may miss their families even more.  So we try our best to make the holidays something special for the missionaries that serve in Siena. 

The table set for a Thanksgiving feast!

We prepared a classic Thanksgiving spread today for our four missionaries, as well as an American study-abroad student that attends our branch, and our English member who experienced her first American Thanksgiving with us last year.  We stuffed and roasted a big turkey, and had all the fixings.  Bonnie made her "melt-in-your-mouth" rolls and a beautiful pumpkin pie.  The sisters made a chocolate brownie pie, the elders made au gratin potatoes, and Emily, our English friend, brought a leek bake.

Darryl carving up the bird

We started out our Thanksgiving celebration by watching a Mormon Message about giving thanks, even for our trials.  We all shared some things that we are thankful for at this time of our lives.  

Sisters Remund and Salmond, Lacey and Emily, watching the Mormon Message

Elders Johnson and Moa doing the same

And then we ate.  And we ate, and ate, and ate.  I think we may have been guilty of the sin of gluttony; so we must be thankful for repentance.

Elder Johnson, Sisters Salmond and Remund, Bonnie, Lacey, Emily and Elder Moa

We hope that our young missionaries felt a bit of home as we shared a wonderful meal together.  We do know that they left full, and ready to carry on!

At this holiday time, we are so thankful for our ten children, our five and the five "crazies" that married them.  We are also very thankful for our fourteen grandchildren.  Five grandchildren have been born since we left for our mission, so we have only seen these five via Skype or FaceTime.   Kara just had a healthy bouncing boy three weeks ago, and Tara, Daniel's wife, delivered a set of healthy and happy twin girls a week ago today.  We have been blessed with healthy and whole grandchildren, and we thank God everyday for these tender mercies.  We know not everyone is so fortunate, and we are humbled by God's blessings in our behalf.

We are grateful for our mothers who are keeping the home fires burning and are a strength to our brothers and sisters.  We thank the Lord that he continues to preserve them and lengthen out their days.  We look forward to a happy reunion with them in the spring of next year.

We are grateful for the chance to serve the members of the little branch of the church here in Siena; one of the most beautiful spots in the Lord's vineyard.  They are so strong, amid great temptation and with very few other Saints to lean on in the times of trial.  We marvel at their dedication, and we learn from them every day.  It is a privilege to serve among these wonderful Saints.

We love the young missionaries that we have been privileged to work with here in Siena.  They all have strong testimonies of the gospel and work hard to spread the word and invite others to come unto Christ.  They are the leaders of the future, and we believe the kingdom will be in good hands as they rely on the inspiration and revelation they received from a loving Heavenly Father.  Challenging days are sure to come, and they are building foundations that will help them weather the storms.  May we all be so strong.

And we are thankful for all our friends and loved ones who support us by their examples of selfless service.  Let us all press forward and lift where we stand to raise the light of the gospel high and let our light shine forth!

Serving the Dead and Living; It's all in a Week's Work!

As with life, the mission is always changing.  Just one short week after transfers, and after our Elder Warnick was made senior companion and district leader, he left for what we hope to be a quick trip to the United States to have some surgery done on an injured knee.  That left us wondering what might happen to our elders in Siena. 

Bonnie giving last minute instructions and gifts for the road.

Elder Warnick waving goodbye, and Elder Johnson helping with the bags.

But, after a few days of worry, President Dibb sent Elder Johnson back to Siena with Elder Moa.  Elder Moa is from Hawaii, and he brings the Aloha spirit to all of us here in this beautiful medieval town.  We are glad that we still have a great set of elders and a wonderful set of sisters to help us with the branch and to carry the missionary work forward in this small corner of the Lord's vineyard.

Elder Moa joins forces with Elder Johnson

Since Elder Johnson had only been in Siena one week before Elder Warnick left, and because Elder Moa is brand new to the city, they are feeling a bit lost.  So we had all the missionaries over to our apartment for a missionary correlation lunch just after Elder Moa arrived.  We discussed the needs of our less active members, and we were pleased with the enthusiasm these missionaries have to minister to our lost sheep.

Sisters Salmond and Remund, Bonnie, Elders Johnson and Moa

We spent many hours preparing for a special Family Search event that the church decided to hold in various cities throughout the Toscana.  The leaders in Salt Lake City decided to hold an event in Siena, as well as Pisa and Florence.  As we don't have many active members in our branch, it was a challenge to get the word out and make sure that we had people to come to the event.  We published flyers and put up posters in the commercial centers throughout the town.  Our missionaries handed out invitations, and one of our members got a local reporter to do a newspaper story announcing the event.

We really didn't know what to expect, but we moved forward with faith, doing our part to make sure as many people were aware of the event as possible.  The afternoon of the event came and we were at the church to help the Family Search leaders from Salt Lake and Italy unload the van and set up the displays.  We had about ten computer stations set up, and we were ready to help whoever came.

Sisters Remund and Salmond helping set up the displays

It was a cold and rainy day.  Nevertheless, we had many non-members brave the elements and find our church (which isn't easy), and we were able to open the doors of genealogical research to them and show them all the electronic resources available to find their ancestors.  We had many of our members come as well.  It was a great success, especially given the small core group of active members that we have here in Siena.  The Family Search directors were very pleased with our efforts and the turnout, and took some of the ideas we had implemented as examples of ways that other units could hold a successful event.

Sister Rogai from Florence helping Daniela, our new convert

Brother Castaldo from Taranto and Sister Manfredi from Salt Lake helping non-members who came

The same reporter who wrote the article before the event also showed up at the event to interview the Family Search directors and do a follow up story.  She wrote a nice article, giving the work even more publicity.  She even included a great shot of our two sister missionaries.

This past week has been very busy.  We went out and visited some of our members who live far away from Siena, and we provided some much needed spiritual and temporal assistance.   Darryl conducted a baptismal interview for a young father in the Montevarcchi branch.  He will baptized this Saturday, and his mother is currently taking the lessons from the sister missionaries in that area.

We have also been working hard to assist one of our less active sisters from Nigeria with wedding plans.  Tina wanted to have a wedding ceremony, luncheon and party in the church.  She also wondered if someone in the branch could do a cake for her.

As the week progressed, she needed other help.  She needed Darryl to accompany them to Siena's City Hall and do the translation for their actual marriage ceremony, which occurred on Friday.

So we girded up our loins and got to work.  Bonnie talked to Kristine for some advice on how to make a wedding cake, and she researched a number of related issues on the Internet.  After much hard work, she succeeded in creating a wonderful wedding cake and some beautiful cupcakes to boot!  And both tasted scrumptious!  The wedding cake was banana, and the cupcakes were carrot cake.  Healthy even!

Starting the day before making the cakes from scratch

Into the fridge to gel with the base coat of frosting

Ready for the final coat

Bonnie hard at work

The classy touches

Bride and groom go on last

Bonnie's Masterpiece!

Yummy cupcakes!

On Saturday the missionaries helped decorate the church and prepare for the luncheon.  

Ready for the luncheon

Decorating the chapel

Sister Salmond helping

Elder Johnson too

Sister Remund making table decorations from our Christmas babbles

Darryl officiated at a ring ceremony and an exchange of vows.   After a short ceremony, everyone ate some very spicy Nigerian rice, and the bride and groom cut the cake and ate it.  Then the dancing and very loud music began!  

Tina walking down the aisle (short walk, small chapel)

Darryl helping with a ring exchange

The happy couple with their friends

Tina expressed great joy with all the help our little branch and our wonderful missionaries were able to provide.

Lunch in the Relief Society Room

Then everyone in foyer for some dancing and loud music 

Tina even got Presidente Lee to dance!

Feeding the groom some tasty wedding cake

She and her friends had a great time, and our missionaries took every opportunity to talk about the church with the guests.  They even got some addresses and numbers of people who would like to hear more about the church.  So here is another finding tool!  Throw a wedding for your Nigerian members, and spread the good news to all who come!

Because of her work schedule and health issues, Tina hasn't been able to attend Sunday meetings ever since we arrived in Siena more than a year ago.  But we have made it a point to visit her in her home every month, bring a spiritual message, pray with her, and keep her connected.  Yesterday, the day after her big party, she came to all three Sunday meetings, and she took a few minutes during Sacrament meeting to share her testimony and express her thanks.

We are grateful for our opportunity to serve, and we try our best each day to meet the challenges and serve our members, missionaries and investigators.  The work is moving forward, even in these times of increased opposition.  Let us all put our shoulders to the wheel and be instruments of good in the work of the fulfillment of prophesy as the message of the restoration expands to the four corners of the earth!

New Missionaries and Halloween; a Formula for Success!

With the departure of Elder Garner for home and Sister Andromidas to Verona, we welcomed two new missionaries to the great city of Siena.  Sister Remund was asked to be a senior companion (after just 12 weeks in Italy), and she is teaming up with Sister Salmond who is in that same group of young missionaries.  They are a bit anxious in their new assignments, but they are striding forth with faith and enthusiasm.  It is wonderful to watch the Lord mold their lives and support them in their efforts.

Sister Salmond joining Sister Remund in Siena

Elder Warnick became senior companion and district leader in one fell swoop, and he also is teaming up with a young elder, Elder Johnson from Maine, who has been in Italy for just 18 weeks.  They are moving forward with faith and trying to find those who will listen to the good news of the restored gospel of Christ.

Elder Johnson wearing many hats

We have a new district here in Siena, and we enjoy rubbing shoulders with these young missionaries who love the Lord and are working hard to help this part of the Lord's vineyard grow!

Elders Warnick and Johnson, Darryl and Bonnie, Sisters Remund and Salmond

Our missionaries were in charge of the branch's Halloween party.  They did all the organizing and put together a fun night for everyone who came.

Elder Johnson as Frankenstein and Elder Warnick dreaming of facial hair, some day

Sisters Salmond and Remund following the prophet's counsel to "look up"

Our four missionaries organized a successful Halloween party

We had a number of investigators at the party, as well as some of our less-active members.  Actually, all of the young kids that came are nonmembers, and are children or grandchildren of investigators or less-actives.

The sisters with Brother Natale and his grandkids, together with Francesca

The "older" ones sitting and watching the youngsters

Our Primary President, Bianka, with two of her charges

The kids decorated cupcakes

Bianka and Hella, two of our great members

Enrique, behind the pirate's mask

Brother Natale and his twin

Davide ready to take the plunge

Two of our investigators, Azzurra and Kleis, wrapping up in the mummy race

We are visiting our members and providing whatever service we can.  We are assisting a less-active sister with a wedding celebration she wants to hold in the church.  We are visiting and encouraging one of our sisters who will be having her first baby in January.  We are working with our stake leaders and Family Search personnel from Salt Lake City in preparation for a genealogy event here in Siena this week.

In addition, we are responding to special assignments from our mission president; one of which took us to Milan this week, but this time only for one day.

We continue to stay busy and support the work in any way that we are asked, or that we are inspired to pursue.  Time flies on wings of lightening, and we are enjoying almost every minute of our time here.