Hey guys! How's it going???

I'm very glad that everyone is doing well! Thank you so much for your emails and encouraging words of support and love!

Things are still moving along great here in Siracusa and I love the people and the city. I might have to be quick today because we are leaving Sicily for a bit to go to Reggio Calabria where I'll take a plane tomorrow morning for Rome. I am really excited and it should be a great conference like usual. 

This week has been fantastic and rather busy, but productive. We have been working really hard to find new investigators, but it seems like it's been a bit of a tough spot for everyone in the zone. It will pass and we'll keep going on diligently! 

Anziano Smit had a little tooth problem so we had to go to Catania on Thanksgiving because there is a dentist there that the Church really trusts. We might have to go back again, but it looks like everything is okay. For English course we had a little party to celebrate Thanksgiving with all the English course students and we had a great time. We bought pizza and everyone else brought snacks, drinks, and desert. We have some amazing people come to our courses and I love them so much! This older man who comes frequently was so excited to introduce me to his wife and she talked about how much he loves us and enjoys our company. I would love to teach English as a job; I find a lot of pleasure in it!

We have also been also meeting with our bishop often, and coordinating the work together has gone well.b

Sunday was a lot of fun. On Saturday there was a 'SuperSabato' event for the youth where all the youth in Sicily came to Siracusa. They stayed the night and I was asked to teach a class in church for all the priests about mission preparation. We did sacrament with them and we all had a lot of fun. We ate lunch with all of them and I made a ton of new friends with the youth all over Sicily. 

Italy has changed some laws around and has made it a little more difficult to get the residence permits, and on Monday we had this appointment for Anziano Smit. This tall young man walked in and I knew right away that he wasn't Italian. As he was going through the process I heard him say, "This is so boring" and I asked where he was from. He said North Carolina and he is a high school junior on a study abroad program. On our way back from Catania on Thursday we met all the rest of the kids in his program from all over the U.S. and we had a fun time chatting. These girls said that they are going to buy me a bunch of American stuff from the American base in Catania so I can't wait to get some Starbursts and root beer. I haven't had root beer since the MTC! Italians think it's gross unfortunately.. Anyways we asked this guy, Isaac, if he wanted to go get a pizza sometime and he glady excepted and then said that he would really like to know more about the church too. I guess the recent presidential elections have sparked some interest.

Yesterday was an amazing day. We went to a spot where we found out lived a bunch of less-actives, and we began searching. We had some luck and some return appointments, and as we walked near the sea I saw the strangest thing ever. It looked like a giant boat that was sinking near the coast. Not believing my eyes we decided to go see what it was, and in fact, it was a boat that ten months or so earlier had crashed into a cliff on the coastline during a storm. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. It was very random and we found it by chance. It is a little hard to miss, I guess you could say, but in a remote part of town. 

Last night we had another great English course and had fun doing role play, and we had a special family home evening. Usually there is a spiritual thought, and then a game. Our ward mission leader, Christian, the week before asked Giovanna if she'd like to share something, and she was so happy to be involved. She gave one of the best spiritual thoughts ever, and everyone was really touched by the things she shared. 

I love you all so much! I hope I can do something fun in Rome and take a great picture. Speaking of pictures you all looked so beautiful in the family pictures! Thank you so much for including me in there! I love you! 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 un sacco di bene!

Un abbraccio forte!

Anziano Clay Lacey

Good Morning!

Buongiorno tutti!

Hey guys how are you doing? I'm am doing very well here in Siracusa and I'm enjoying so much my time here. I'm glad I'll be here for Christmas to be with these great friends for my last Christmas away from home. This has been another fantastic week! Lately I've been choosing different Scriptures as themes for each transfer and for this one I picked John 8: 31-32. I think the words are so powerful when Christ says "...the truth will make you free." 

On Wednesday night this lady from Salt Lake came to Siracusa because the Church is continuing the Bible videos of the New Testament and they want to do a lot of filming here in Sicily near Trapani. There were a lot of people who came to audition, including non-members, so we had a great opportunity to talk to those who had questions about the church. It's funny though because there are a ton of members in the ward who have been growing out their beards to play these roles so it is very strange to see them in sacrament meeting. It's like we are going back to the times when everyone had beards! I had the chance to talk to this lady from Salt Lake about the church's film program and she gave me some great advice and some numbers and emails of people I can call when I'll start thinking about these things. 

Since Sorella Rosato, who is serving in Catania, needed to wait for her new companion to come down to the island, she had been with the sisters here in Siracusa. She is from northern Italy and she is one of the funniest people alive! We had so much fun, especially when we all ate together and she did an 'intense' language study with us. 

Investigators are doing well and we did pretty well with teaching the last week, especially with members present. Riccardo came to church for the first time so that went well. We had a historic stake conference here in Sicily because it was the first time that they did the conference through live broadcasting. They held the conference in Catania and other major churches around the island received the transmission. It went very well and there weren't many technical difficulties like sometimes you could imagine with those kinds of things.

Giuseppe has also been doing very well and is making progress. The only bummer is that he hasn't come to church yet. According to me that is the only thing that is keeping him from receiving the answer he needs. A young adult in our ward who served a mission, Fabio, came with us to the last lesson and it went very well. We had a kneeling prayer at the end, and I find that those are more powerful. 

Stefania and Giovanna are both also doing very well and Stefania has been reading frequently still in the Book of Mormon. Our main focus this transfer is getting referrals, and I might have mentioned that in an earlier email, but it's been great as we've visited members and less actives, give them materials, and find those who are searching the truth.

I had a cool experience on Monday. We randomly got a phone call from a young man in our ward and he asked if he could see us during lunch, so we met him at a bar (again, Italian bars aren't like American one's). We met him, asked what he needed, and he just wanted to spend time with us. You can tell that he is a little troubled, and it must be tough being the only member of the church in an entire high school. We ate, hung out during our lunch break time, and had a nice visit altogether as he asked us questions about the mission. Little things like that are so special because I can help someone in a small way just by being a friend. 

Anziano Smit is doing so well! Last night he gave a whole spiritual thought by himself at the family home evening, and everyone is really impressed with how fast he has been learning the language. He has been doing great and we have a lot of fun together!

In the end things are good and we are working hard to find new investigators. We are going to really use this Christmas season to invite others to really bring Christ into their lives. I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers and all the help and support you give me! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan, I love you Brooke, I love you Heather, I love you Greg. Have a great week! Un abbraccio! Vi voglio bene!!!

Con affetto, 

Anziano Clay Lacey

Sarò a Siracusa per Natale!

Hey guys! 

This has been another great week as usual. Even though it's been a little up and down, there are always positive and beautiful things we can find in life, right? First off, we got the transfer calls on Saturday and everyone in Siracusa is staying! That means I'll be here for sure for Christmas and I couldn't be more happy about that! I love Siracusa!

Unfortunately we're not able to teacher Sabrina and her family anymore. Her husband is opposed to the church and the fact that she wanted to be baptized so there was quite a mess for the member family we were teaching her with. It is really sad and discouraging because her and her son have such a strong desire to be baptized, but we need to just continue to pray for them and have patience and everything will turn out alright.

Things are going great with other investigators and it's cool to see that most of them were found thanks to English course. We try to teach them before and after so usually our Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty busy but I enjoy it so much. We had a fun time playing the 'murder mystery' game. Some people really got into it and dressed up, so that made things more fun.

We've been focusing a lot more on getting referrals. It is definitely the best way to get new investigators and we have need of some right now! It's interesting to see that in the back of Preach My Gospel the only point that is in bold is the part that says that we must ask for referrals from everyone. We have great members here and they are doing a great job with sharing the gospel with friends, especially a few families in particular.

There is a member whose wife is not active and a little against the church. He has a fifteen year old daughter and an eight year old son, but the wife won't let them be baptized. This member is absolutely an amazing man and we've made a great friendship. We are working together to really help his family in general so that they can all have the same vision together.

There is another great member that is from Africa and doesn't know how to read Italian. She is a single mother of five and we all have so much fun together when we go visit. She just went through the temple for the first time and our stake president gave her a few things to study so we are helping her study that to understand better the importance of the temple. It makes me miss the temple so much more!

When talking with people and doing finding work we have really been focused on discussing with everyone the importance of the family, and even sharing the principle of family home evening. We have found some pretty good success with that and we are determined to find another family to teach. We have been getting close so it's bound to happen soon! I'm hopeful!

I think I've mentioned this before but I'm trying to really dive down into the Sicilian culture and I love it so much. I especially love their accent and so I try to copy the way they say things. We were invited to see a Siracusano puppet show that is a huge cultural tradition. It was so much fun and amazing to see the talent that the puppeteers have to make the puppets move like real actors.

I know that this is very random and strange, but I bought a ukulele. I think Morgan's picture in Hawaii inspired me a bit, so every week on p-day for the next seven months I'm going to put a little bit of effort into learning how to play it! We'll see how it goes!

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! It's going to be so much fun when we can talk! I love and miss you all so much. I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan, I love you Brooke, I love you Heather, I love you Greg. Have a great week! Let me know if you need anything. Vi voglio tanto tanto bene! Ci sentiamo presto! Buona settimana!

Con amore, 

Anziano Clay Lacey

Una bella giornata a Noto!

Hey guys!

This has been another great week and I love Siracusa so much. I'd be cool staying here the rest of my mission. I love everything about it, the people, the environment, everything. Things have been really great though.

The Conforto family in our ward has twins, Riccardo and Andrea who just turned 14. The parents wanted to throw a Halloween themed party, so we helped them decorate and get everything prepared. We were invited to come on Thursday night and we even had an investigator, another guy named Riccardo, come and get to know the members. We had a lot of fun and they made me in charge of the games. We did the one where you put a piece of gum on a plate, and then cover it with flour and everyone needs to dig around in their own respective plates to find the gum, chew it, and then blow a bubble. It was pretty hilarious!

On Saturday we went up to Catania where I did my first baptismal interview! It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it. The candidate is very well prepared and ready for his baptism that will take place this week. It made me happy to see the joy in his face when I told him that he was ready.

Okay, the girls might kill me again for this one: We met with Giovanna again, and then after she invited us out to eat some sandwiches. Well, I love to dive down into the culture within different cities, and apparently horse meat sandwich is a Siracusano specialty, therefore I ate horse again, and it was great. I really enjoy horse meat! You're going to need to hide the horses from me when I come home! I might get hungry.

I got an amazing phone call from the Anziani in Bitonto. I think I might have mentioned it, but when I went up to Rome to go pick up Anziano Smit and everyone else heading down to Sicily, I talked to a man, Salvatore, and got his number and gave it to the Anziani living near his city. Well they called me and said that he now has a baptismal date for December! I am really excited for him!

I started a trend on Sunday. I went up to share my testimony in Sacrament meeting, and I spoke of a man I met in Sardegna that didn't have family, work, nearly nothing, yet anytime I asked how he was doing he replied, "Benone!" and was always very happy. I had never heard that word before and I searched dictionaries trying to find it to know what it meant. Being rather new in the mission I didn't know much about a grammatical trick you can use to add words onto adjectives to make them more enhanced. Well 'benone' means 'very good' and the fact that he always was positive no matter what really has stood out to me throughout my mission. I shared this with the members and how me need to always be examples, even in being positive and cheerful despite trails and difficulties. After that, whenever I talk to some members and ask how they are, they always reply. 'benone!' with a smile. I like this new little joke, and I think it's starting to liven people up a bit!

We had several dinner appointments this week, including one with the stake president of Sicily! We had a great time with them and he gave us some great advice about what we can do to strengthen members.

Probably the highlight of the week has been our experiences with a new great friend and investigator named Stefania. She comes to English course because she is getting ready to go to California for three months, so she wants to improve her English even though she already speaks great. She came to church on Sunday and the members were all very welcoming. We did a lesson with her and then another one before English course last night and she's already moving right along in The Book of Mormon being in the third chapter! As a little joke and to make people laugh I am learning a little bit of the dialect, Siciliano, so I say random phrases in dialect to put a smile on some one's face as they see a pathetic American trying to speak their native language! Stefania is so nice and bought me a Sicilian grammar book!

English course is going very well and we have so many students that show up. As a fun little activity we will play a 'murder mystery dinner party game' to help them do some problem solving, thinking, and conversation all in English. They are all coming dressed up or disguised as new people, and we will all play parts and figure out 'who the murderer is'. I think I might go as Leonardo DiCaprio! Haha

Today we had a fun p-day with all the missionaries in Siracusa, Ragusa, and Gela, and we went to a beautiful little city just south of Siracusa called Noto. We explored all the antique churches, historical sites, and in the end just enjoyed each other's company since it's likely that Anziano Green and Sorella Dall might be getting booted off the island!

I love you all so much! 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 un sacco di bene!

Un abbraccio,

Anziano Clay Lacey

Happy Halloween!

Hey guys!

Thanks for the awesome emails and I'm glad that everyone is doing well!

This has been a great and busy week. Although we had to hurry things up, especially in preparation for the trainings, zone conference went well. President is such an inspired man and he knows everything we as missionaries need to hear in order to be more prepared and overcome our challenges. Little things I've heard in this conference, sacrament meeting, and other things people have been saying have really been helping me realize things we can do for our investigators and it's wonderful to see how the Spirit really helps inspire our thoughts.

We've been finding recent success with two families through genealogy work. They have been so impressed with the organization of the church that we've set some more appointments for this week to talk about our beliefs so we are hoping that they become new investigators.

Unfortunately we haven't yet met with Sabrina and Christian because of zone conference and the Scamporrino family went out of town and are visiting family in Venice. We are still really excited to see them and help them grow closer to God.

Oscar Reali is a ward member here who has been such a huge support and help with missionary work. Like I said before he received his mission call to Manchester, England, and we've had a great week with him and the members as we've said goodbye. It has helped me to remember the same emotions and excitement that I felt as I prepared to leave. We had a family home evening with a good half of the ward there where we said 'goodbye' all together and then this morning we came here early to church where we said goodbye after he was set apart. He has been such a great friend and I'm going to miss him but I know that the fact that he is serving will be a huge blessing for the ward and most of all for his family.

On Saturday we had a great lesson with Giovanna from English course. She is such a great person and was very open to hear the message of the Restoration.  The Spirit was very strong in the lesson and we could tell that she felt it. We finished the lesson with a kneeling prayer that she offered that was very powerful. She works in humanitarian aid and goes around the world with her work and is seriously one of the coolest people I've ever met. She is one of my best of friends here in Siracusa. There was an Ensign or Liahona article that spoke of sharing the Gospel by sharing yourself which really stuck out to me. It also came up in a great talk that a member gave in sacrament meeting. One thing that I am loving so much about the mission are the friendships I'm making. For example, Giovanna with her family and friends took me and Anziano Smit out to see a piano concert which was great! These friendships I'm making all over the country are one of my greatest treasures of the mission. I still hear from friends in Sardegna which makes me grateful that Italy is now officially a big part of my life. 

Speaking of the piano concert, I am either really deprived in entertainment, or I just discovered that I absolutely love the piano. During the mission I've been learning the piano a bit and can somewhat play a few hymns.

We have been visiting a lot of member families and we received a random invite from a brother who is the only member in his family. We had a great lunch with him, his wife, and their nineteen year old son, and they all really enjoyed the spiritual thought at the end. Who knows, maybe something will spark like is did with Ignazio Mazzone back in Olbia!

Okay, funny story real quick: Giuseppe, one of our investigators who is making slow, yet important progress invited us out to eat pizza at a fancy restaurant in the middle of Ortigia close to the Duomo. As we were walking back there was a group of three guys with their dirty, shaggy dogs that are homeless playing a drum and guitar. Giuseppe knows one of them because he helped him get to rehab a few weeks ago (they get drunk, play, and wait for people to give them money). Anyways, as Giuseppe was talking to them, one of the dogs peed on the slope of the sidewalk they were sitting on and it started flowing down towards us... like a river. We dogged the incoming liquid, it went past us and then formed into a large puddle a few feet away from us (there was a lot and it was a big dog). By this time we had joined the conversation and we turned around later to find a group of loud, vulgar young ladies gathered in that very puddle, jumping around, joking and goofing around, probably waiting for their boyfriends. I turned to my companion and said, "Should we tell them?" Just then a girl realized that her feet were wet, looked at the puddle, and then followed it all the way up to where the dog was. When things 'clicked' she screamed in disgust. It was a real mess when all the girls found out and me and Anziano Smit couldn't help but die of laughter when they had ran off.

I love the mission! It makes you laugh hard, along with all those spiritual moments too! I love you all so much! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan, I love you Brooke, I love you Heather, I love you Greg. Have a great week! I love you all so much!

Con amore, 

Anziano Clay Lacey

Cara Famiglia

Hey guys! Buongiorno!

It has been another great week here in Siracusa! Wednesday night of last week we made it to Trapani, slept there, and in the morning I got my Permesso di Soggiorno (residence permit), and we headed straight back. About ten hours of bus riding all for a fifteen minute process! But my Permesso is good for another two years so I can extend my mission for a third year and still be legal if I wanted!

The best part about the trip was seeing Sergio Valenti, the man who I was teaching and got baptized a week after I had left. I called him and we organized for a small moment to meet when I had arrived Wednesday night. We were so happy to see each other and I can't begin to describe the change that I saw in him. He is 100x more happy, and seemed like a new, more improved version of himself. He loves the Gospel so much and he openly acknowledges the change that it had made in his life. He loves the church and now he's preparing to enter the temple. There is nothing better than having someone legitimately thank you, and say humbly: I love you.

I saw other friends from Trapani just walking around the city, and I even stopped by an old investigator's house who was a tailor for Armani suits and is super rich. The branch president even came to find me as I waited for the government office to open to take my Permesso. It was a very nice trip in the end!

We went to Lentini, a city about 45 minutes outside of Siracusa where we set up an appointment with Sabrina, the cousin of a member who we gave the blessing to. We met at this member family's home, the Scamporrino's, and we waited for Sabrina. It was forty-five minutes past the time she was supposed to come, and the Scamporrino's were scared that she wasn't going to come. As they left the living room frantically calling her and failing to get a hold of her. When they left I quickly folded my arms, bowed my head and prayed hard that she would be able to make it! Literally when I said, "Amen" they came back and said, "She's here!"

Sabrina was so excited to see us and we had a great introductory lesson with her. Unfortunately her son Christian was at school so he couldn't make it, but we had a very spiritually powerful lesson and we invited her to be baptized on December 1st as a goal, and she accepted it if she would be ready, and she wants to be baptized with her children. She has been very impressed with the church and loves the members. After the lesson we went to the train station and waited there for awhile. The ticket machine was broken, and there was no way for us to buy tickets because we didn't have cash, so we were in a panic! We went to a bar to buy tickets, and they didn't accept cards and there wasn't an ATM anywhere close, so we were concerned because we had to get home for more appointments. The bartender was very nice and gave us the tickets anyways! It was one of the nicest gestures ever, and this week when we go back we will pay him back for sure. As we waited at the station, Sabrina came with Christian because he wanted to at least say hi to us before we left. He is such a great kid and I can't wait to teach him!

This week has been crazy because zone conference will be held on Friday instead of November 6th, so me and the other ZL's have been rushing to get things done, especially things regarding our trainings that we need to give, and organizing everything else. I guess the airport in Catania will be closed during November so we have to get things done right away! Me and Anziano Davis have prepared a great theme though, and we'll get together in Catania tomorrow night to put it all together.

Church was great and we had two investigators come. One of them, Giovanna, has been coming frequently to English course and has shown a lot of interest in the Church. She has been asking a lot of questions, especially after the spiritual thoughts in English course, and last night was her second time at the Family Home Evening the ward puts on and she loves it and she's making great friends with the members. We are praying and working hard for her too, and she is really a great friend to everyone. 

I finally met an Italian guy with the name of Ezio! A Russian tourist that is living in Malta stopped us and wanted to talk to us because she lived in Provo with a friend for a little while. She was with another Russian friend, and also with this Ezio guy that is living in Malta to improve his English. It was really funny and we got their number to give to the Malta missionaries as referrals. 

This week has been great! Crazy, but great! The work is really stepping up and the members are noticing that we are trying our best. Things are going great and everything looks positive as we help investigators, especially with Sabrina and her family. 

I love you all so much! 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! I'll talk to you soon!

Anziano Clay Lacey

Arrivederci Roma!

Hey guys!

Things are doing great here! It feels like things are getting very busy and that I'm doing a lot of traveling, but hopefully things will settle down a bit and I can focus entirely on missionary work. For example, today we leave for Trapani! I have to go back to get my Permesso di Soggiorno which allows me to live in the country. After picking it up I'll be good for the rest of my mission and won't have to worry about it anymore. I'm just bummed that it's going to take up a whole day for travels!

Rome Temple - 10/12/12

Rome was great! Everything went smoothly with getting there and I had a blast. The only thing I saw in Rome besides the mission home was the temple, and it's getting so big! When I was at the very site over a year ago there was just a giant hole, and now it's on it's way to getting finished! 

Luke and Lacey

The zone leader council was a very uplifting experience and it was a day full of learning. I met some amazing missionaries that I didn't know before and we all had so much fun together. I learned a lot from President and he is such an inspired man. Us Sicilian guys were the first to get to the Villa so I got my interview with President and got to help Sorella Kelly cook some delicious food for lunch and dinner. I was on onion cutting duty, and she had fun laughing as I cut the juiciest onions in the world and cried like a baby. We decided that we are going to make a television show called 'Cooking with Sister Kelly' because you 'feel the Spirit' so strong that it brings you to tears. 

Anziano Lacey with President and Sister Kelly

The only part that wasn't fun about the trip was almost missing the plane thanks to insane traffic on the freeway, the aftermath of a man being hit by a bus, which we saw... Not very fun.

Friday night we had a very fun activity with the ward that was a scripture jeopardy game. I was called a few weeks before to be the team captain and everyone made fun of me for the name I chose: 

Mahershalalhashbaz (a Hebrew word that means 'destruction is imminent' that you can find in the Isaiah chapter in 2 Nephi 18:1. My team loved the name however, and we won so we aren't complaining! I am really making some great relationships with members.

Our investigators are doing great and we are really trying to help them progress. We heard from the family that lives far away and who we gave the blessings to and we are collaborating to fix an appointment, but things are tough with all these travels and whatnot. Another miracle happened as we were walking home after a day of finding work in the rain. I've had the feeling to do zone t-shirts for all of the Sicilian missionaries, and there is a little t-shirt printing shop close to our house. We walked past and I thought that I should just go back a different time because I was tired, but then I felt pushed to go back. We stood outside the shop reading the signs of the kinds of prints they do, and the shop owner came out to greet us. I asked him some questions and he invited us inside, even though they were about to close. His wife was there and so was their little five year old daughter. We talked about 'business' a little bit, but then we all just hit it off and became instant friends and they poured out questions about the church to us. It turns out that a couple weeks before I tried stopping the wife, Veronica, on the street but she was busy or something so didn't have a chance to talk. They are very interested in the church and said that we can pass by again to share the message of the Restoration with them! 

We are seeing sparks of interest of the Church in our English course students. We have a few that might become investigators and our course is so big! We teach sometimes four courses now with all four of us missionaries taking a different level, and I love my intermediate students. I have about thirty who show up on a regular basis, sometimes more. We are all great friends! One guy went to Paris and got me a little souvenir of the Eiffel tower! Some of the things I'm most grateful for about the mission are the relationships and friendships I'm making with people in this wonderful country. I really hope I'll be able to afford coming back often in the future! You have no idea how much I love the Italian people.

Things are going great with training and Anziano Smit is such a stud! We have a lot of fun and we get work done. We were walking yesterday and there was a man with his dog in the park, and he had this device that looked like a giant spoon for scooping pasta or something like that. As we wondered as to what the device was, he placed a tennis ball inside it and we finally understood as I yelled, "It's a fetching launcher!" We had a good laugh from that! 

As I approach my year and a half mark I must say that I'm starting to feel this 'tiredness' that missionaries get towards the end of the mission. Me and Anziano Longhurst talked a little bit about it with the Kelly's, and they said that their son that just got back from Argentina just slept for days. They said that that was how they knew he worked hard.

Here it is for the week! I say this in almost every email and I'll keep saying it always: I love my mission! I love and thank you guys for your examples to me, and for your encouraging words and Spiritually energizing prayers! I love you Dad, I love you Mom, I love you Morgan, I love you Brooke, I love you Heather, I love you Greg. And to anyone else who might read this, family, friends: I love you and thank you for your support and prayers! Have a great week! Vi voglio BENONE!

Con amore,

Anziano Clay Lacey