...we were hit by this strong burning wind.

Italia not Africa

Ciao a tutti,

So, I think the worst thing ever has just happened to us, but then by the grace of God we avoided it. Sunday night this huge burning african wind blew in to Palermo. It was so bad because it just dried up everything. Moisture didn't exist. I was doing exchanges with another Anziano and we were trapped on a bus around lunch time which means that it was packed. It was already hot, then we got on a bus packed with people that also never use deodorant, and there was not A/C. When we arrived at the station we were soaked from head to toe. Walking home, which is only like a 2 minute walk from the central station, we were hit by this strong burning wind. As we reached the door of our building we noticed that we were completly dry.

Also with this wind it seemed to bring with it a lot of sand. You could feel the sand in the air. Then to make things worse our building decided to loose all power, and water around lunch time. So, that night we find ourselves in a pickel. We can't open the doors because the wind is still hot, it didn't cool down anything at all, sandy, and blew everything around. On the other hand we had no fans, and no water. It was impossible to keep cool. I fortunatly have a hammock, and think that it would be rather nice on the balconey that night. I was very wrong. I couldn't sleep because of the heat, and all of our loud neighbors. So, I go to my bed for about 10 minutes and realize that was hotter. So, I go out in the hall to find two missionaries just sleeping in the hallway with nothing but their pillows. I decide to do the same, but in the end even our tile floor was just hot. I didn't get any sleep.

The good thing was that we went to Trapani the next day for a zone bust. It was really fun, and we taught a lot of people. Although, our best referrals were for Switzerland and another city here. That night we got to sleep with 10 missionaries on 4 mattresses. Needless to say I choose the tile floor again for another wonderful nights sleep. The cool thing was the next day we went to this city that is up on this mountain near Trapani(it's called Erice(er-E-che)). The cool thing about this city is it's so high that you are walking through clouds. It was really cool, and very cold. There was a cool wind blowing constantly. I didn't want to leave. It was so nice. So, the pictures are of the castle there, then of me, and then some missionaries playing a little joke.

I hope ya'll enjoy. I love you all. Oh, and don't worry. Our power and water are all back on. So we are doing well now. Ciao.


con affetto,

Anziano Paul

Maybe next time we will loose on purpose.

Questa settimana

Ok, this week has gone by quite fast. We have been doing great and Giuseppe is really progressing. We had an appointment with him this week with a member, and just before we started this member asked Giuseppe if they had met in the past. They began talking, and after a while they found out that they went to the same musical school at the same time. They had lots to talk about. It was exactly what he needed.

Anyway, Monday was one of the most frustrating days ever. We have had some premature transfers in our zone so we had some problems with district meeting, other meetings with members, and going to the bus station to pick up people. So, we decided on Sunday that we would eat lunch in church after district meeting. So, that morning we had to go to the store right at 8:30 to get all the stuff for a pasta al forno. We had to race to cook everything, and infact we couldn't finish cooking everything. We still had to throw it in the oven. Well, we finally finish all of our meetings, and get ready for lunch. Then we discover that the oven would blow the circut every time you turned it on. So, we had to eat our pasta halfway cooked. It sucked.

Well, at the end of the day God was gracious to us. A member had organized a game of soccer with some non members, and asked if we could come. Although, he only wanted me and the german missionary to come because we know how to play. When we get there they pick a guy to pick the teams. This man has played with the missionaries in the past, and let's just say he doubted our abilities. He chose the teams with me and the german with another not so good guy, and another good player. They scored the first goal, and were just gloating. Then we ran 8 more goals against them. At the end one of the guys was complaining because the teams weren't fair, and the guy that invited us knew that we knew how to play. It was just pathetic, but one of the funnest games ever. Unfortunatlly the non member's pride was too hurt to talk to us so we didn't get much. Maybe next time we will loose on purpose.

Well, today we went to some caves in Monte Pelligrino. Our member guide really forgot where he was going, and took us on a wild goose chase throught thick woods for an hour and a half. We finally went back to where we had started, and discovered that we should have gone left instead of right. Oh well, it was still fun. Well, I hope that all of you are doing well.

I love you all. Ciao


Anziano Paul

It was an amazing experience.

Saluto tutti i miei cari

Ok, so this week we really haven't had too much to do. My companion and I are just really trying to find a lot of contacts. Although we did have some really cool stuff happen in church this week. There is this awesome family that had just been baptized last month, the Tuzzolinos, and they are way awesome. This past Sunday the father was suppose to receive the priesthood. So, I explained some things to him, and told him how we would do it. All he had to so was choose someone to give it to him. He immediatly says, "You!" Remember I really don't know this man very well, and he just out of the blue just asked me to do it. I was shocked, but honored. So, after church we were all in the Branch Presidents office, and I must say that it was an amazing experience. I won't tell ya'll what was said, but it was really deep stuff. I felt as if someone else was speaking, but using my mouth to do it. It was pretty strange.

So, today we just went up to Monte Pelligrinno, which is a mountain in the middle of Palermo. It kind of divides the city. It was an awesome hike, and at the end there is a sanctuary for San Rosalina. It's really just this church built into the mountain side, and the chapel is just a cave. I've never seen anything like it, and it was really cool.

So, other than that we are just doing what we can. Oh, and I almost forgot. I pretty much just got a baptismal date. We have this contact that we meet with every week, and he's pretty much been taught all the lessons. We really weren't sure what to do with him, so we just decided to challenge him to baptism. During the lesson I was just trying to get to know him because it was our first time meeting, and I asked him if he was praying. He said that he had prayed a little bit, and that night he had a dream where he saw Joseph Smith come to him and was trying to tell him something, but then he woke up. So he then tells us that he needed to pray more so he could find out what he was going to tell him. We talked a bit about baptism, and he said that he would pray to be prepared by the end of the month. It was way sweet.


Anyway, Vi voglio bene. Arrivederci

Anziano Paul