As mentioned in the last blog post, the Siena branch now has
a new branch president. Our Stake
President has called Claudio LaRussa, a High Priest from the Prato ward, to
serve as the new branch president.
President LaRussa has been a member of the Church for over three
decades, and he and his wife are the parents of two children. President LaRussa brings a great missionary
zeal to his calling, and he has a great vision for how this little branch of
Siena can grow. We know that the Lord
has called him here at this time, and we are looking forward to seeing the
fruits of the labors of all the Siena saints as they move forward together.
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Presidente Claudio LaRussa with Darryl |
Darryl spent a few hours with President LaRussa this past
week taking care of transition issues.
He then met with all the missionaries serving in Siena to discuss how we
can work together to hasten the work.
We spent a morning at the home of Lorena, our member who just had a little baby girl. We prepared dinner for them, and then spent a morning helping around the house. Bonnie ironed while Darryl checked to see if his "magic chest" was still working. Little Eleonor, who is suffering from a bit of colic, was sweet and calm for Darryl, and was soon fast asleep on that magic chest. Darryl is now ready to see if it works for the five grandkids that he has yet to see in person.
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The "magic chest" in action with Eleonor |
Part of our responsibilities in the mission is to conduct
quarterly inspections of the young missionaries' apartments in the Toscana
region. We travelled to San Giovanni
Valdarno this week to inspect the apartments of our Zone Leaders and the set of
sister missionaries also serving in that area.
Since it was a beautiful day, we drove through the region and stopped at
a small hillside town of Gubbio. It is a
well-preserved medieval town, with narrow, winding streets, and a church on the
very top of the hill. It was fun walking
around the town before returning to Siena.
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Gubbio's town hall, with the church way up on top |
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Bonnie checking our her new car! |
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The great town hall of Gubbio |
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A view of Gubbio from afar |
We continue to visit our members, especially those who are
less active. We often take our elders or
our sisters with us as we bear testimony.
There was a special Valentine's Day conference for the Young
Single Adults in the area. In fact, more
that 150 attended this conference in Florence, coming from as far away as
Sicily. We drove two of our YSAs to the
conference. In fact, one young man that
we encouraged to attend is not yet a member, but he will be baptized this
coming Saturday.
Looking back on our blog, on October 8, 2014 we related the
experience of meeting this young man during our assignment be at the church to man the family history center. He came to
the center looking for the church, and we talked to him for a while, and then
set up a meeting with our elders. From
that first meeting in October, the elders have been teaching him the gospel and
he is now ready for baptism.
On our drive to Florence on Saturday, he explained that he
is now 1000% sure that he is taking the right step that will lead him back to
his Heavenly Father. It is wonderful to
be a small part of the Lord's work!
On Sunday we invited Doris Scappaticci and her family to our
home after Sacrament Meeting. They live
an hour away from Siena, and her husband is not yet a member of the
Church. However, Darryl and Luciano have
become close friends, and we hope to continue working with them even after we
leave the mission. Their son, Daniele,
is a vivacious almost-five year old, and he keeps us all on our toes. We had the sister missionaries come over as
well, so that there will be continuity after our departure. The days are speeding by, and we are
beginning that sad task of saying our goodbyes to some very special friends
here in this area.
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The sisters playing marbles with Daniele, while Dad picks them all up |
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Darryl teaching Doris and Luciano how to play Uno |
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Luciano, Doris and Daniele, Bonnie, Sisters Salmond and Rincoń |
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Bonnie and Darryl with the Scappaticci family |
On Monday for our branch Family Home Evening, we walked into
Siena and visited Francesca, a member of the branch who is now confined to a wheelchair and lives in a rest home. We
made her a special Valentine's Day card, and everyone sang some of her favorite
hymns. This time we wheeled out two of
her friends as well, and they enjoyed the "concert". Our sister missionaries are so wonderful to
visit this sister at least twice a week, where they bring a ray of sunshine
into what must be some lonely lives of these sweet ladies.
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FHE at the rest home |
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Presenting Francesca with a special Valentine |
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Everyone enjoys a good laugh |
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The sisters section |
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This week the men outnumber the women
Enrique, Leonardo, Kleis (who will be baptized this week) and Elders Moa and Quinton |
We have learned that service and love are the two great
pillars of the Lord's church, and it is upon that foundation, together with a
strong testimony of the atonement of Christ, that we can become instruments in
His hands as we all travel this probationary road together.
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