Una bella settimana a Siracusa!

 Dear Family,

Hey guys! We had a great preparation day this morning and we went to a really famous museum here in Siracusa that has a ton of ancient artifacts that they've found here in Sicily throughout the ages. My favorite exhibits of course were the ancient Greek and Ancient Roman ones.

 There were lots of sweet statues, vases, art, building pieces, money, armor, weapons, and all of those things I loved as a kid when I was study Greek and Roman mythology. It feels like little boyhood dreams are being fulfilled or something.

 There is so much history here in Siracusa and I can't even believe it! It never gets old walking past ancient temples and tombs amongst Renaissance style urban areas. I love Italy!

A lot of finding work payed off and we ended up receiving three new investigators last week. One of them is atheist, but it's really interesting what he told us yesterday in our second lesson. He broke the news to us that he is atheist, but he thinks he is wrong about his beliefs. He said he is atheist because God has never communicated with him, but he is willing to try to create a relationship with him. This is perfect! All we need to do is help him recognize the Lord's hand in his life, and he is already starting his part by reading and he said his first prayer with us yesterday. We hope to see him in church this week!

Another new investigator is such a great guy, but he has some depression problems. The great thing though is that after our first appointment his whole countenance changed and he left with a smile on his face. We brought a member with us for the next lesson and he gave the investigator some great advice as to what he can do to become happier. We actually ended up setting a baptismal date in October so let's hope he can really see the positive influence of the Gospel in his life.

Church was great again and the young men's president (who I think is the only one over the young men in the ward) has asked me to teach the young men for the next month because he is getting married in Napoli, going to Switzerland to be sealed, and then doing his honeymoon so he'll be a bit busy. I love the young men here and we have fun and joke around a lot. One kid wants to teach me to play the guitar!

Well I have some great news! Sergio from Trapani, the man who I was teaching got baptized last weekend! We were too busy and I figured it would be best to stay in my city so we didn't go see it, but I got permission to call him Monday morning. He was so surprised to hear from me and he was so happy. He kept telling me that it was the most beautiful experience of his life and how he really feels now that he is a child of God. We were both in tears as we talked, and I felt some of that joy again that the prophet promised me when I got my call letter. The best kind of 'thank you's' that bring the most satisfaction I've ever received have been here in the mission. I am so grateful for the chance I had to start teaching Sergio Valenti, and to hear his happiness for the covenants he made with the Lord.

It started raining like crazy one day this week, and we were in church waiting for two investigators to teach. They didn't show up so we decided that we needed to run home to grab another umbrella, because we only had my little one and my companion didn't bring his. The storm was pretty crazy so when it died down we left, but nearly as soon as we left the rain pounded down even harder than it had before, and we both got soaked from head to toe despite trying to share my little umbrella. One street we needed to cross was flooded and when we stepped in it to cross it was halfway up my shin. We decided to just run as fast as we could home, and we were laughing the whole way. It would have been a pretty funny scene to see!

That's the week! Things are going great and we are still trying hard to find new investigators and to fill our time with teaching. This week I'll go to Catania for a day and then Messina the next week for splits before zone conference. I'll let you all know how things go! 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! Keep up the great work with all that you are doing and remember to always stay close to the Lord! Love you all tons! Vi voglio tanto bene!

Con amore,

Anziano Clay Lacey