Bonnie's Birthday in the Bella Toscana

These past ten days or so have been filled with various activities, ranging from helping missionaries get out of old apartments into new ones, visiting members in their homes, interviewing and working with the Saints, helping the missionaries with English classes, teaching Priesthood and Primary lessons and celebrating Bonnie's birthday.

The missionaries have transfers every six weeks, but that isn't something we have to worry about.  Unless something unexpected occurs, it appears we will stay put in the "Bella Toscana" for the duration of our service. And we are fine with that!

 

Sisters Boscia, Hunter, Yost, Lopez and Lee; Elders Burr, Robb, Colemere and Gneiting

Sometimes Bonnie insists on a picture of Darryl, to prove he was on a mission with her.

On one very rainy P-day, the elders got their hands on a set of Bang cards. Little did they know that we are expert Bang players from way back. We did have an enjoyable afternoon stomping on the missionaries and some members who joined us as we schooled them on the finer points of the game. (Darryl had a great time as you can tell!)

In our effort to find and meet with every member of the Siena branch, we went to a rest home with our Relief Society President to meet an elderly sister. It is unfortunate, but age has caught up with her and she is not really aware of everything that is going on around her.  But we do think that she enjoys our visits, and it appears she has no other family close by.  We will visit her often.

While in the rest home, we spoke with two other elderly ladies who thought that Bonnie was so young and beautiful that she must be Darryl's daughter, not his wife.  They said to Darryl in their best Italian, "you're so ugly, and she is so beautiful, how could that be?"  They were cute, and those remarks really made Bonnie's day, since we visited them the day before Bonnie's birthday.

On January 24, we came out to our car to find it plastered with little sticky notes.  The Elders, who now live relatively close to us, wanted Bonnie to know how much they appreciate her.

After cleaning off the car, we celebrated Bonnies' birthday by driving up to the quaint Tuscan town of Castellina in Chianti. We had visited that town in the summer of 2012 when we drove all through Tuscany, and on that trip we found a great restaurant.  We returned to that same little restaurant and had a wonderful lunch. While in that little town, we dropped by the home of one of our members, and did some detective work to find another inactive member who is reported to have moved to that little hilltop town.

Now that she is a year older, she needs her glasses to see her food!

The happy couple at Bonnie's birthday lunch in the country.

On the afternoon of Bonnie's birthday, we had an appointment with a family that we have been trying to see since we arrived. The husband has met with us, but the wife has not wanted to. With the help of one of our members, we finally did get into the house to meet with the entire family. There are some serious problems that we are certain the gospel can help address. We will work with that family as much as they will let us, and trust the Lord to touch their souls with his healing powers.

Darryl had to attend a district-wide bishopric training meeting in Pisa on Saturday, so he took the more direct route (but a bit slower since it winds through the countryside). And since it was a crisp, clear winter day, he snapped a few pictures of the Tuscan countryside on his way.

On our P-Day this week we took advantage of some clear and sunny weather during the morning and drove to the nearby medieval castle town of Monteriggioni.  No one was around, so we walked the streets, Bonnie bought a Christmas ornament, and we snapped a few pictures.

Our days are full of various tasks, some mundane and some uplifting. We love the members of this small branch of God's church here in Siena, and we are trying our best to assist them with their various struggles and challenges. Those who come every Sunday are so strong, that they inspire us to be our very best. Those who are working on becoming more active have a seed of testimony in their souls that they are trying to cultivate and make grow.

Our four young missionaries are working hard to find new people to teach. They are having some success with the English class that they are teaching two nights a week. Many people come to those classes, and we are trying to help them with that work.

The gospel brings so much to our lives, and we are grateful for this opportunity to serve here in this beautiful part of the Lord's vineyard.