Ostia Week 4

Strange things happen 

This has been a very interesting week. On Monday I had to to the police station to get finger printed for my permesso. We were there for thee hours waiting. The police station reminds me of the DMV. We had gotten our p-day extended so we did our emails in the evening. We decided that we like doing it better at night. So we have decided that emails will be the last thing we do on p-day instead of the first. The important part is that my permesso is finished and I should get it in about three months.

We went to Rome for DDM on Tuesday. It was really good and a lot of fun. When it was over, we did not have enough time to go home before leaving for a lesson, but it was to early to go to our appointment. We decided to go get lunch. We found out that there was a Queens Chips in the direction of where our appointment was and decided to go. At the metro station we met a member who absolutely loves missionaries. She was so nice and fun to talk to. We were getting off at the same stop and she asked if she could join us for lunch, we said yes. She was so kind and paid for our lunch as well. We sat and talked with her while we ate. It was a little blessing! When we got on the metro to go to our appointment we got a text from the person we were going to see. The person had to cancel so we went back home.

That evening we got a referral from the sorelle in another area. We rearranged our plans so we could go and visit her in the morning. The next morning we could not figure out how to get to her house. We looked at the map for ages, but eventually we gave up and called to reschedule. We had a lesson in the afternoon and needed to get the keys from the anziani. They told us that they would leave them for us at one of the members houses. On our way to get the keys we ran into the member, who didn't know anything about the keys. We called the anziani and found out that they had decided not to leave the keys, but had forgotten to tell us. They were waiting for the metro at the station near their house. We had to run to the other station to get the keys from them. Their train had already passed but they had gotten of the train and were waiting for us.

The beautiful station of Lido Nord

On our way to the church we called Giuliana to remind her about the lesson. She had though that the lesson was on Thursday and would not be able to make it. We rescheduled for Thursday. We still needed to go to the church because we had another lesson scheduled after hers. We stopped and got a gelato on the way... a very large gelato. Gelato is a blessing! The person we were suppose to teach never showed up. One of his friends is a member and he was going to help us with the lesson. We ended up talking to him about what Giuliano needs, because he has been learning about the church for about a year. We were able to plan what we should teach him and we figured out his needs. Another little blessing!

No more gelato! :(

We had a lesson with Laura Thursday morning. When we got there her mother, Clara, had made us more jello and there was another treat in the oven for us. I always love going over there. They are both wonderful! We had a really good lesson. On our way out the door Clara gave us some Popsicles for the road. They are a blessing! We headed straight to our appointment with Giuliana.

We had corso after our lesson. We only had three people at corso. They were all old men, two of them are advanced and really good. The other one has come for years just because he likes it. We got done with our lesson early and had to figure out something to do. I ended up teaching the head shoulders knees and toes. It was really amusing to watch. They are an amusing group. They are another blessing!

On Friday we had a lesson with a member. When we got there, they were not home. Instead we had a lesson with Victor. We were able to move up his date for baptism. That was a great blessing! Sorelle Bray and I could not sleep at all that night. I don't know what was wrong. Eventually we did fall asleep.

We went with the anziani to do Caritas in the morning. Caritas is like a soup kitchen. Our job was to make sure no one stole anything, and that the water was full. We met a group of teenagers from northern Italy. They were volunteering as well. We went and got food afterwards. We then went out to see Laura again. Unfortunately, she was sick so we just taught Clara. This time she made rice pudding for us. It was really good. She calls us her little sisters. It is so cute. Before we got there we were exhausted, but by the time we left we felt much better.

Sunday Sorelle Bray was sick. So we stayed home and I cleaned the house. I also made soup for lunch.

Even though it was an interesting week, and nothing really seemed to go as planned it was still a good week. It doesn't matter what happens during the day, the thing that is important is how you handle it. Do you let it discourage you and make you frustrated? Or do you look for the blessings and the good times. I had a wonderful week this week. I had a lot of fun with Sorella Bray and we made the best of it.

How in your life can you look for the good? Especially when you feel like nothing is going the way you want it to? This week try and find ways to stay positive when things don't go the way you wanted. Look for the small ways that Heavenly Father has blessed your life. I promise that there are always blessings, even in the most difficult and frustrating of times.

Letter dated August 3, 2015.