Wednesday, February 29, 2012

It's been too long!

I feel the same way! A week and a half feels like forever to write back!
Well I'm doing great and I'm glad that you are all well too. The trip to
Rome was a ton of fun, and I definitely learned a lot of useful things from
it.
 
I'll start off with how the conference went. After our p-day with Olbia we
took the train all the way down to Cagliari. Turns out that train ride was
more expensive and longer than our flight! Well after a stressful drive
from the train station to the airport (it was carnival week here in Italy
and lots of partying) we got to the airport and took about a 45 minute
plane ride into Rome. We got picked up by the assistants and stayed at the
Rome 2 apartment. It was so awesome meeting new missionaries. In the
morning we got up and took a bus to the mission office/Rome 2 Ward
building. There I saw a ton of missionaries I knew from the MTC, some I met
in the field, and we had an awesome time talking and catching up. I felt
very loved because being on the mainland my MTC group has seen each other
around, and they all greeted me and gave me hugs like a friend abandoned
and cast away on some far away island. Now I'm just kidding, but it was
great to see some friends, especially Anziano Decker who is now in a city
close to Napoli.
 
Elder Teixera was so awesome! He gave a great training and it really
inspired me to work harder. He was so full of love, and really stressed on
the need for us to find new investigators. Statistically our mission
average for finding new investigators isn't the greatest, and he promised
that if we worked harder and had more faith, we would see an improvement in
every aspect of our work. Well me and Anziano Hill have been putting that
to the test and we have been extremely blessed. Our numbers are already
twice as good as the week before, and we are only a two and a half days
in!
 
The Sardegnian guys were the last to leave the conference so I got to meet
a lot of people after. We got taken to the airport right away, so I didn't
see anything really that cool around Roma, but that's okay, I will
eventually. The flight back was good, and then we went to Cagliari, ate a
pizza, and went to bed. The next morning we hopped back on the train for
Sassari. Let's just say that all that traveling- bus, train, car, plane,
etc. was really tiring! We were dead by the time we got home.
 
The remaining course of the week was filled with us helping out some
members who's house had burnt up about two years ago. It's hard to describe
but I'll be sure to send pictures! It was basically very ashy, and messy.
You'll see.
 
Well we haven't been able to meet with any of our investigators for awhile.
Adhemar has been busy working for his driver's licence (getting the
driver's licence here in Italy is a nightmare it seems like), we had
to stop seeing one, and Maddalena is always hard to meet with because
she goes to Cagliari and works a ton. We do have an appointment set to
see Adhemar tomorrow so we are really excited for that. We saw him on
the bus the other night and had a good talk with him and he is doing
well. This next lesson should be great!
 
Well like I said before, this week has been amazing so far. Monday
morning we went to go pass back to a few people we found and one of
the ladies let us in. We taught her the first lesson and we got a
return appointment for next Monday! Her name is Marissa; she is an
older lady and super sweet and nice. Tuesday, while on the bus we were
talking to a man named Fabbio and when he saw the Book of Mormon in
our hands he said, "I need you guys to tell me about this book." We
got his address, gave him a copy, and tried to pass by his house. He
was busy then, so we set an appointment for him to meet us in church
this morning, but unfortunately he didn't show. We'll see how it goes.
He is a little particular. I mean, when we gave him the book he kissed
it so that was a bit interesting. But on a better note while we were
waiting for him this guy from English course showed up! It was totally
random but way awesome!
 
A little back story, this guy's name is Maurizio and he and his
girlfriend showed up to English course last night. He is 21, a singer,
and such a cool guy! After English course we do a spiritual thought
and his girlfriend got freaked out for some reason, so while Anziano
Hill taught the spiritual thought I talked with them out in the hall a
little bit about our church and everything went well. I was a little
worried that they wouldn't come back again, but seeing him this
morning was a huge surprise! He sat down with us, and started sharing
a few things about his past, and said that he wanted to talk to the
leader of our church here in Sassari...
 
Other than that we have been having good success with finding people.
I've been pretty bad at street contacting lately, but the confidence
is growing back up! Another cool thing, Anziano Hill and I have been
masters at speaking Italian with each other! We hardly speak English,
and our Italian speaking skills are definitely increasing!
 
A bit of a funny story real quick:
 
Yesterday morning I mentioned to my companion that it would probably
be a better idea to cross streets at cross walks. He said that I was
too American and that it doesn't matter in this country. Well, on the
same night, we got off the bus, and I headed for the crosswalk. He
walked behind the bus, and as the bus pulled away, the car behind it
started driving forward not paying attention, and hit Anziano Hill. It
wasn't way bad, but I witnessed my companion get hit by a car. To say
the least it was a perfect I told you so moment. I refer you to his
blog were you can get his side of the story. He jokes that it was my
fault because we usually take the number three bus, but I wanted to
take the number one, and then this happened. Just a little good laugh.
I will never let him live this one down!
 
Well this has been an amazing week so far, and I'm excited to see how
it's going to pan out. I'm so lucky to be here in Sassari and I hope I
do not get transferred, because I've never seen the work here more
better than this. Thank you all so much for your prayers! I definitely
feel them! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan, i love
you Brooke, I love you Heather, and I love you Greg! Have a great
week! Vi voglio benissimo!
 
Love,
 
Anziano Clay Lacey

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