the first baptism in Sicilia in this dispensation

OK

So, this last week went very strange, but very well also. We received a call on Tuesday afternoon and one of the missionaries I live with was made an assistant, and had to leave on Thursday. So from Thursday to Monday morning we were a trio. We got an awesome lunch appointment with a family that came to visit from Philadelphia. They were staying in Cefalù which is about an hour and a half east of Palermo. We had a great appointment with this family, and then went for a little gyro before our trainee arrived.

The cool thing about Cefalù is that right off the coast there was performed the first baptism in Sicilia in this dispensation, and I was right there. About 50 years ago Vincenzo di Francesca was baptized right there in that city. It was a pretty cool thing to see, but we really couldn't see much because we aren't allowed on the beach. It would have been strange anyway like going to a wedding in shorts and sandals. Really awkward.

Speaking of weddings. Aguri Jordan and Alyssa. Sia vostro matrimonio pieno di difficoltà e figli. :) So, this past Saturday we received transfer calls, and it is settled. I will remain in Palermo until I finish in November. I also received a new companion today. His name is Anziano Costa. He is from Ottawa, Canada. He seems pretty normal, but he's very quiet. I hope it doesn't stay that way.

This Sunday was probably the most tranquil Sunday I have had here at Palermo. This member from Philadelphia gave talk in church, and it was amazing. He spoke about Light being truth that emanates from the glory of God, and when this light touches us we can perceive anything and everything. It was a really deep subject, and very spiritual. I love the depth of this gospel. There were a lot of evangelists there that wanted to see how things were. This talk blew their minds. They had never considered or heard anything like that before.

The last few days I spent with another missionary waiting for our new companions, and setting up a huge activity at the church for tonight. This mutual night thing is going really well. Oh, a funny story. Last week we watched a movie for mutual night. We wanted a certain movie, but conceded to the wish of the sister missionaries and picked Hitch. A very good movie, and as far as I remember there wasn't a lot of bad stuff in it. Well, with Italian translations they take some of our minor words and change them into terrible swear words. It was a bit embarrassing watching this movie with the youth, and having a lot of swear words in it. Oh well, everything went well in the end, and we are even expecting a bigger turn out this week. Vi voglio bene tutti. Ciao alla prossima.


Con affetto,
Anziano Joel Paul