This city is amazing

Buongiorno

It is indeed a beautiful day here in Puglia. So I have been transfered to that little city I told ya'll about in the middle of nowhere. Well, it is in the middle of nowhere, but I don't think I could be happier. This city is amazing. It's so small that we walk everywhere in about 20 mins. Also our house could not be cooler. We are on the top of this hill at the end of the city. From our balconey I can see all of Statte, Tamburi, Taranto, and the Gulf of Taranto. It is an amazing view. Also this city is pretty much in the country. When I step outside there are vineyards with chickens running through them. It truely is a wonderful feeling. Everything is really laid back and the air is fresh. So as it comes to the end of one week here in Statte we have had a ton of success. We have had like 10 appointments and 5 new investigators that have all taken a Book of Mormon and just been awesome. Another cool thing about Statte is that in our area we have about 4 different cities, and ours is the smallest. So we often go to this nearby city Crispiano which is beautiful. There are a bunch of houses there, and the people are so kind that they come out to their gates, talk to us a bit, and ask us to come back. It's really a different atmosphere than what I'm used to. Ok, the other day our District leader came to Statte with us, and we all went to Crispiano. We were waiting for the bus to go home (which is really funny cause it's only a 5 min ride, but a 40 min walk), and it doesn't pass by. So we start hiking back, and we take this other road that is less traveled, and it was probably the best hike I've ever been on. It wasn't too hot, there was a nice wind, and the scenery was gorgious. I'm just really excited about this new city. My companion is awesome as well. We pretty much just speak italian to each other so I'm just thinking in italian. This letter was very hard to write. I love you all. I hope things are going as well for ya'll as they are for me.

Arrivederci

Anziano Paul

P.S. Sorry there are no pictures. The internet point is closing so I had to cut my time short. Scusatemi

Click this link to see my new area.

transfered... from my hobbit house in Bari

Ciao a tutt

So since last week I have been transfered finally from my hobbit house in Bari. I now get to go to this, well I heard one missiony describe it as "God's blind spot." State. I know that none of you have heard of that place (former missionaries or existing ones don't count, Beck). The real funny thing is that I actually haven't been there yet. I have to take a bus soon that will take us from Taranto to Statte. Right now we are writting home in Taranto cause there is only one computer in the entire city of Statte. Well there isn't much to say. I'm grateful to leave Bari after so long, but you never know what you have until you've lost it. I now wish that I could go back. Life goes on. So once something exciting, interesting, or just something that might amuse me happens- I'll let ya'll know.

Keep in touch ya'll. I love ya'll.

Arrivederci

Anz Paul

for some homesick reason...

Ciao tutti

Ok where to begin. Oh, yesterday we had a baptism in Bari. That is really a speacial occasion because baptisms don't happen often here. Another thing special is that I was asked to perform the ordinance. It was an amazing service, and there were so many people there. The Spirit was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Carmen is the girl I baptized, and she has been waiting 5 months for her father's permission. He was there, and he actually sat next to me. He was crying at the end. I'm so thankful for the wonderful blessings that are coming to the lives of the people here. Things are changing in this city, and we actually have a baptism next week as well. It's so forte this work.
Ok, so a pretty funny story. The day of the baptism we, for some homesick reason, bought the on sale hamburgers from McDonalds for lunch. So here we are on the afternoon bus to go home with a bag of 18 hamburgers. If we didn't stand out before this just pushed the nail through. Also about the afternoon bus is: everyone is trying to get home. Our bus must of had 100 people on it. It was very crowded, and we were trying to keep the burgers from becoming meat pancakes. We all found ourselves in weird positions for some reason. I was leaning so far backwards if I had let go of the pole I would have fallen. My companion was trying to avoid sitting on this old lady's lap also while carrying the bag of preciousness above his head. When it came to our stop, the center door wouldn't open because some kid was blocking it with his foot. Meanwhile, more people kept getting on the bus. For three stops past ours this kept happening. Finally one of the missionaries cut his way through the mass, and pulled the kid from the door. We got off the bus to find ourselves almost out of town with 18 cold hamburgers. It was crummy, but we lived.
Today we went to this city called Trani. It was really cool especially when we found a slide on these rocks on the beach. Let's just say we made good use of it.
The pictures are of the castle of Trani, and the "beach" with the cathedral and harbor in the background. I love ya'll very much.

Arrivederci.

Anziano Paul

But life moves on and Zone conference was Monday.

Caio

So not much has happened this week. We were going to get a few baptisimal commitments, but honestly it was all too perfect to happen. I was doing exchanges with one of our zone leaders, we had a member come with us to the appointment, and when we got there no one answered the door. It was painful. It was the first time they had done this to us, so I was way down. But life moves on and Zone conference was Monday. It is always a treat to have our President come and talk to us. He is amazing. He told us lots of cool stuff as always, and you could just feel the Spirit there. So something else happened. When I came up to Bari I was with a missionary, and the two of us have been in the same city since then. Well, in another city things were getting out of hand with a girl stalking a missionary, so we had a midnight transfer and this Anziano had to go down to Ragusa. I mention this because he was going to baptize this girl that the sister missionaries have been teaching since I arrived. Well, now that he is gone she asked me last night if I would baptize her. So possibly in two weeks that will happen. I'm so excited for her because she has been waiting for permission from her father for 6 months. I can't wait.

Here is another somewhat interesting story. As strangers to this country we have to get a permit to stay here in Italy. Mine just expired yesterday, so I renewed it today. What a mess! I first go the Questura (the place where they do this stuff), and they tell me that they have a new program, and I have to go to the post office to do it there. I then go to the post office, and they tell me they don't have the stuff to do this, and they tell me to go to this other place. So I go there, and they are able to help me, but I have to go back to the post office to mail all my stuff somewhere. When I get there, everything is in order, then they tell me "£57,50, please" It was like she just ripped out my throat. I had only 30 on me and thank goodness my companion had the rest. All in all it cost me about $100 to stay in Italy for another year! No worries though, don't think I'm in poverty. I have enough to get me through the rest of the month. It just shows how wacked up this country is. A wild goose chase ended with a throat cutting. I hope ya'll are all doing well. Thanks for your letters.

Arrivederci.

Anz. Paul