Hey guys!!!
It's official! I'm living in Rome and I love it!!!
I must say, I thought I've seen beautiful cities in the past but I
have never seen anything like Rome. From all that I've seen I must say
that Rome is the most beautiful city in the world! I feel like I'm
fulfilling a boyhood dream being here and even though I haven't seen
much (and all that I have seen has been fairly quick due to time
restrictions) I am blown away by the art, history, and complete beauty
of the place.
I want to talk about the work first! It is strange because there is
so much work here compared to my past areas! We are always really busy
moving around the city to different appointments and the ward is really
involved in the work which is great.
We have a baptism this Saturday for a nineteen year old kid named
DJ from the Philippians. His mother was less-active and then came back
to church and then her youngest son Janus was baptised a few months ago
and now DJ has decided to do the same. He has completely changed his
lifestyle around and loves the Gospel so much! We have a lot of fun with
him because we are trying to meet with him a lot before his baptism to
encourage him to keep up with the good decisions. Yesterday we watched
Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with him and he really enjoyed
it! I'll be sure to keep you updated on how the baptism goes.
He has a younger 15 year old friend named Kevin who we are teaching
and wants to be baptised. The only problem is that his parents don't
really understand the importance of the church and aren't willing to
have him join so we are trying to meet with his parents and create a
trusting relationship with them. It was funny, I jokingly told him that
he could date one of my sisters if he gets baptised! It was a joking
bribe of course but his eyes definitely lit up when he saw the picture
of my sisters! Haha
We are teaching another guy named Giovanni that also has a
baptismal date in March and he is really excited to become a member of
the church. He is studying very profoundly the Book of Mormon and loves
it very much. He was found thanks to English course and the ward loves
him and some even thought he was already a member!
There is another very sweet Latin American lady from Ecuador (I
think I'm going to start learning Spanish right now because there are so
many amazing South Americans here) named Gladys that we just began
teaching also and she has already been to church twice with a friend.
There are more investigators making great progress and we are also
working with some part member families. The ward here is great and there
are so many people that speak English including about four American
families living in Rome for studies, American embassy, etc. There is a
huge diversity with so many different beautiful people from all over the
world. I barely know any real Romans!
My companion is Anziano Cardinet and he is awesome! We actually
were in the same ward together in BYU-Idaho! He is finished this
transfer so I get to 'kill him' as the mission slang goes! We are
working hard though and enjoying our time together. Our house is very
small but nice, clean, and new. The missionaries in Rome 1 about a year
ago accidentally burned down the other apartment so we got relocated to a
nice spot. Living in Rome is a completely new experience for me! It is
definitely big city living. Wake up, take the bus, take the metro, take
the train, all to get to an appointment! The city is huge and there are
so many people! I am having a blast though and I feel cool going from
place to place in a rush with a crowd of people like you see in the
movies!
Seeing the Colosseum for the first time was quite the experience! I
don't ever remember losing my breath when seeing something so beautiful
and majestic but now I know what the word breathtaking means! Rome is a
dream! I also saw a bit of the Roman Forum, the monument of King
Vittorio Emanuelle II, Piazza del Popolo, and I entered the Vatican for a
moment in St. Peter's square (I am really excited for the ceremony in
which they pick the new Pope and maybe we'll go if we get permission;
people from all over the world gather for this historic experience). I
am in love with Rome!
We just finished with a special zone conference and we had a
general authority tour from Elder Richards from the Seventy and he gave
an amazing training. He is a great and a very inspired man!
Well I gotta run because we still have so much to do! I love you
all so much! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan (thank
you sooooo much for the package! I loved it and I love the tie! It
definitely brightened my day! Thank you thank you!) I love you Brooke, I
love you Heather, and I love you Greg! Have a great week!!! Vi voglio
un sacco di bene!
Anziano Clay Lacey
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