Trapani Week 1!!
Oh it is so good to finally be able to write y'all!! Sorry that I wasn't able to send email yesterday; I had Zone Conference, so our Pday is today. This week has been really awesome, though. I absolutely love Trapani so much!! And it's the coolest city that I have ever been in or probably will be in in my entire life... It really is incredible. So Thursday I took a 12-hour train ride (with Anziano Palazzo; he's in my district down here) from the middle of Italy all the way down to the bottom near Messina and then what our train did is it docked on a boat and it took us across to Sicilia!! Apparently there was a bridge across the ocean that was connecting the two but then the Mafia here blew it up... Sick. So yeah we crossed by boat. So I finally made it to Palermo where I met my new companion!! He's such a stud, like I don't think I can explain it better than he's just an absolute stud. He loves sports, is fun, really wants to work hard, is obedient etc. So I am super pumped for this transfer. Trapani is beautiful though. In the morning I looked out the window and our house is right next to this huge mountain, and then our other window overlooks the ocean where there is an island off the coast. It's amazing, so Pdays here are going to be absolutely sick (today we had to clean for a long time though so.. Starting next week they are going to be sweet lol). Our house is pretty nice too; it is kinda gross though so we have been doing a lot of cleaning. There is black mold growing right above my bed on the ceiling sooo yeahh. We are getting it better!!The members here are really nice too. The branch is small though; there were only 22 people in church this Sunday but I am hoping these next few transfers that I am here that hopefully that number will grow!! Even though it's small, the members are super strong and really supportive of us. We have already seen miracles here with working with them, and getting new investigators. Like I am really hoping to build some strong relationships with them. And some of them are so fun, like one family has a kid that's 11 years old that reminds me of my little bro Bubba so much. He was doing a lesson with us and the question came up about Adam and Eve and why couldn't they have children and things like that. And he said the most perfect answer without hesitation. Sooo awesome!! Seriously it was weird cause it was like being with my little brother.Not gonna lie, leaving Terni was pretty sad. I have made some really good friends there that I am going to miss a lot. Well most of them... There was this one woman that we started teaching my last week in Terni and she was, I seriously think, mentally insane. During the lesson she would stop and tell us how beautiful we were and how much she loved us and then continued to repeat herself 7-8 times. And every morning she would text/call us with random stuff like, “ Spencer, when I see you it's just like looking in the mirror" ummm what?? Didn't know I looked like a 42 year old woman... So sick haha. Goodness she made me feel so uncomfortable like more than the transvestites at times. I had to take a train at 5:30 that morning to head to Rome and as I was buying my ticket she peeled out from around the corner to say goodbye (when I saw her I literally had chills; it was creepy) and then gave me a snow globe and her phone number to always remember her. Hahaha poor Anziano Ray cause it's just him now to deal with her; I am really glad I left that behind. But, other people I am really going to miss, Stefano gave me a departing gift and so did Nadia which I wasn't expecting at all. So I was really able to leave Terni happy that I had done all that I could and really tried my best in that area.So yeah now about my knee.. I just want to say thank y'all so much for all your prayers that are in my behalf for this. It is getting better, my knee hasn't locked up since last Pday which is really good. I am really hoping that it starts to heal cause the pain is going away and I am getting some of my motion back which is really good. My spiritual thought this week is actually about what happened Tuesday night when I received a call from Sorella Waddups [mission president’s wife]. She told me that she was very concerned about my leg and that she didn't want me going all the way down to Trapani (which is literally the farthest way away from Rome). She told me that that night she wanted me to pray and really seek for an answer to know if I should go or not and then call in the morning about my decision. So I really, earnestly tried to do that. Because as y'all know I do normally hurt myself in really stupid ways like diving into a tree, going off a rope swing.. Stuff like that, but I have normally healed pretty fast from them.. so I was really trying to know if the Lord would have me go down to Sicily where there are not really any doctors or anything to help me. And I felt peace about it. Even though not gonna lie I do want to figure out what's wrong with my leg and get it better I felt that this is where Heavenly Father would have me be. Some things I really liked from it as I was thinking about fear and going down-"That is the second lesson of the spirit of revelation. After you have gotten the message, after you have paid the price to feel His love and hear the word of the Lord, go forward. Don’t fear, don’t vacillate, don’t quibble, don’t whine. You may, like Alma going to Ammonihah, have to find a route that leads an unusual way, but that is exactly what the Lord is doing here for the children of Israel. Nobody had ever crossed the Red Sea this way, but so what? There’s always a first time. With the spirit of revelation, dismiss your fears and wade in with both feet. In the words of Joseph Smith, “Brethren [and sisters], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!”And then he says this-The third lesson from the Lord’s spirit of revelation in the miracle of crossing the Red Sea is that along with the illuminating revelation that points us toward a righteous purpose or duty, God will also provide the means and power to achieve that purpose. Trust in that eternal truth. If God has told you something is right, if something is indeed true for you, He will provide the way for you to accomplish it.I know that that is true. I have seen that already with my leg how right now I am able to do everything that the Lord wants me to do with serving a mission. Yeah it kinda sucks that I’m in pain and I can't go for a hard run or jump rope right now but I am doing my best to trust in the Lord. Hopefully in his time my leg will heal, and I know that whatever happens it's his plan.Okay I love y’all. Sorry this is so long, I just wanted you to get a complete update in everything!!Some other funny things-Everyone here is so small to me. I don't know if that's cause I have grown but some people here in Sicily are literally like little dwarves. So even if they are yelling or upset at me I just think it's so fun. Kinda like in Elf when that Miles Finch guy gets up on the table and runs to Buddy and he just has his arms wide open (but Basta [Editor’s note: this means “enough already!” in Italian] right there; I don't get kicked in the face lol). I love being a missionary so much; it's literally the best thing!! Till next week!Ti voglio bene,Anziano Spencer
Saying good-bye to Terni!
Heading to Trapani, Sicily:
Zone Conference!
Heading to Trapani, Sicily:
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| Birthday boys! |
Caro Anziano,
ReplyDeleteI was very happy to stumble across your blog quite by accident this morning. I served in Trapani in the summer of 1987 when it was still in the old Italy Catania mission. It was my first city, and still holds a special place in my heart. It was the city in which I found out that the Italian I learned in the MTC was not the same as they spoke in Sicily, and the city in which a few patient non-member friends helped me by speaking slowly and listening carefully while I settled in. I am still Facebook friends with some of them today, even though they were never baptized.
Hard to believe it's been almost 30 years! My former home teaching companion, Anziano Toronto, whose family used to live in my ward and whom I watched grow from a boy to a fine young elder, is in your mission and I think he served in Trapani for a while. We miss him, but I'm sure he's doing well.
Incidentally, there never has been a bridge from Reggio to Messina. There have been a series of plans ever since the days of the Romans, but nothing ever comes of it. Most recent plans were scrapped in 2013 for lack of funds, and for fear that the money would end up in Mob hands. :) That thing where they drive the train right up on to the ferry boat is very cool indeed. Two sisters in my mission once fell asleep doing the Messina-to-Reggio run, and ended up on the train northbound to Rome. At that time, that train rapidly took you out of our mission. We all did a very fast, very tiring transfer to catch the eastbound train at Villa San Giovanni that ran over to Taranto and Bari. Pres Conforte was less than pleased.
Good times were had by all. Please salute the Messina family, Guido LoGiudice, and F.llo Cardinale, if they are still there, and God bless!