Baptism, Birthday, and Good-byes

Another very warm week in Rome! The humidity really takes a toll on us! The Italians tell us: "You haven't felt hot until July and August are here!" Can't wait. Transfers last week brought four new missionaries to Roma 3 District--we have 4 elders this time and 4 sisters.

Sisters Mikesell, Bradford, Felice, & Pancheri
Elders Sargent, Bennett, Budd, and Robinson

Michele dello Stritto baptized
by Vencenzo Lusinga

The elders and sisters have been teaching Michele Dello Stritto since September and today was his baptism. He is probably 65 years old or so—very sweet and humble. 

Farewell to President & Sister Kelly

Currently there are nine senior couples serving in the Italy Rome mission.  We were invited to a Farewell luncheon for the Kellys. Six couples were able to come to the luncheon (the 3 couples in Catania and Taranto lived too far away to come), also attending were Brother and Sister Fenn who are service missionaries at the Rome Temple building site, Brother Calabrese (Italian brother who volunteers in the mission office) and his wife, as well as President and Sister Kelly—a total of 16 people. We were served a traditional Italian meal in courses with antipasto, bread, salad, lasagna, fruit, and cake with gelato for dessert. Sister Kelly is a great cook! They knew it was Elder Andrew’s birthday, so we all sang “Happy Birthday” to him, and he even blew out a candle! We had a wonderful testimony meeting--what amazing people are serving in Italy at this important time! It was wonderful to feel the spirit and know that the work is going forward in this part of the world.

As Senior couples we wanted to give the Kellys a special remembrance of Italy. The perfect situation presented itself, and the Steurers, Fenns, and Calabreses were able to put together an engraved plaque on a granite tile from the Italy temple with Italy Rome Logo designed by Sister Kelly. It is an amazing story how the piece was obtained, but it was the perfect gift! We will miss them!

Discovering Rome

Things are starting to warm up in Rome! Not only is the weather getting hotter, but we have more to do each day as missionaries! It is great! We love the work and feel like we are making progress.  Here is our 1st District in Roma 3:

L-R:Andrew, Openshaw (to Messina), Anderson (to Roma 1), Bradford,
Felice, Mikesell, Wolzl (to Roma 5), and Budd

Gustavo & Jonathan

Family Home Evening: Two Conversion stories

Gustavo’s family came from Peru and joined the church when he was about 7—he has an identical twin brother who we have not met yet. His older brother Marcos is going on a mission to Milano in July. 

Jonathan joined the church four years ago and went on a mission after being a member for only a year—his family was not in favor of his joining the church, so he sacrificed much because of his faith. He is originally from the Philippines and is very energetic about sharing the gospel with others.

Sight-seeing on our P-Day

In front of the Colosseum

We took a train that runs near our apartment and switched to the metro B-line and went to the Colosseum. It was was amazing! We decided photos don’t do it justice.

Greg's Street near Colosseum

Pantheon

From there we walked to the Pantheon, the building that the Jefferson Memorial is patterned after and was built about 125 AD and is still in fabulous condition. We stopped for lunch at a Pizzeria not far from the Pantheon.

Vatican - St. Peter's Cathedral

Finally, we walked to the Vatican and saw St. Peter’s Cathedral. It was the perfect day to go because it was not too hot and the crowds were not too bad. We ended up walking 10 miles altogether. We ate a gelato as we walked back to the metro. We got home by 6:00pm very tired! Great Day!

Rome Sweet Home

Now that we are getting settled into our apartment in Rome, here are some of the fun things we have discovered that make life feel more like home.

Gelateria

A Real Car Wash

Panificio close to our apartment

A homemade meal
 

English Class--learning how to give directions

Picture in Church foyer that investigators
ask questions about

Rome Mission--the Work Begins

We have the great opportunity to work with the Young Single Adults (ages 18-30). In Italy they are called GANS. We met Monday night for Family Home Evening, Wednesday night for Institute, and Friday night for a Fireside in which we participated on a panel discussion. They asked us lots of questions about how to balance life's responsibilities, school, work, church, and family.

This is our Blue 2012 Opel Corsa that we drive around Rome's narrow streets. Luckily we have a Garmin GPS to help us navigate our way around Rome.

This week we walked to the local Pizzaria and ordered Pizza Capricciosa--note the hard boiled eggs!

It was delicious!

Sunday, we attended the Roma 3 Ward. This will be our ward for the next year. They welcomed us and are excited to have our help. After church Ugo and Jenna Perego invited us over for dinner. Julie knew Ugo Perego when she served in the Italy Milan mission 35 years ago--he was only 7-years-old, and she worked with him in the Primary.

Ugo Perego and Family--notice Julie in the mirror taking the photo