I ate Homemade RAVIOLI

Forza Cagliari!

Another great week here in the beautiful land of Sardegna! It has been
sooooo humid though! I thought I knew humidity from the East Coast but
it's a little different when you don't have an air conditioned house
to go home to and dry out! We have been showering 2-3 times a day so
we don't smell and aren't dripping... I know gross. On top of that its
been in the high 90's so it's a real pleasant climate. One good thing
has come out of it though, I've learned how to sleep when it's really
hot and we bought fans for each of us so we can sleep with it pointing
right at us. I have been waking up at 5:30 every morning because we
sleep with our windows open... We live next to a market which I think
I told you all. The city workers don't seem to care what hour it is
they empty the huge glass dumpsters at 5:30 and there's like 10 of
them so it is sooo loud and not what you want to wake up to!

We're going to Sassari this weekend for Stake Conference which is on
the other end of the island so we're driving up Sunday morning and
coming back down that night so it will be a long day but it should be
fun!

We had an awesome Home Evening on Monday and we played the human knot
game to demonstrate how prophets guide us out of problems that we may
not fully understand or comprehend... It was a really great lesson
given by our sister missionaries! I added a lot of photos to the
photos treat so hopefully my wonderful sister will add those to the
blog :)

Tuesday in District Meeting I was asked to give the addestramento
which is like the training or spiritual thought and it's usually about
a half an hour long. I wasn't given a topic so I decided to talk about
relationships. Specifically our relationship with Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ and how when we grow closer to them our relationships
with other people flourish and we all grow together. I outlined it
like a triangle with Christ at the top because he is omniscient and
omnipotent, he never moves or changes. Then we are in one of the
bottom corners and whoever we are talking about is in the other corner
whether it's your companion or your wife or your brother etc. As we
both grow closer to Christ we grow closer to each other and the
triangle gets smaller. We then had a group discussion on walking with
God and how we can grow our relationship with Jesus Christ to also
grow our other relationships! It was a really great discussion and the
spirit was so strong!

Wednesday we tried to do an activity with the youth and it actually
turned out pretty well! We met and played ping pong and fooseball
(which almost all of the churches in Italy have because their chapels
double as a cultural hall so they don't have basketball) and we
ordered pizza and played volleyball. In Italy putting pineapple on a
pizza is like the gravest of sins... You just don't do it, no one even
thinks of it because it's just or something you do. So we bought some
ananas (pineapple) and cut it up into little chunks and we made all of
the youth try it on their pizza and they were all freaking out and
calling us weird and saying "Che strano!" But we got each of them to
try it and they all said it wasn't bad! It would have been way better
if it was actually cooked in their pizza!

That's about all the exciting stuff that happened during the week but
now you have to hear about Sunday! So Sunday was really great! It was
fasting testimony meeting and the bishop in the ward has been working
on getting people to just bare their testimony instead of just telling
a story. Italians like to talk so it hasn't been easy but it was such
a good meeting. Everyone only spoke for 2-3 minutes so we got to hear
from a ton of the ward and the spirit was so strong! Plus one of the
first things you learn in the MTC is how to bare your testimony so I
understood everything! It was our companionships turn to teach Gospel
Principles so I was pretty excited! It brought me back to teaching in
Potsdam when I was in Hugh School. Next to being a missionary teaching
gospel principles was my favorite calling! Except there's an added
factor teaching here... A slight language barrier... So usually when I
speak in front of a group I give like a little disclaimer for the
language like "Please bare with me, I'm learning, be patient etc..."
But this time I just decided to go for it. The gift of tongues is
real! I for sure was not speaking perfect Italian and I messed up many
things but the spirit was there and all I had to do was try and it
went really well! The lesson was about obedience... It was a really
interesting lesson and I talked a lot about the promised blessings
like in D&C 82:10 "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say but when
he do not what I say ye have no promise"

Pranzo... One of the first things I thought about when I opened my
mission call to the Great Italy Rome Mission was eating homemade
ravioli... Well my dreams have come true ladies and gentlemen.

ROUND 1! HOMEMADE RAVIOLI! It was so good! A little different than the
ones in America but mostly because they are just better! Don't worry I
got pictures!
Round 2! These giant steaks that they grilled on this open flame in
their house... It's what Italians call a barbecue and it's just
basically a fire place. Next time we go there I'll take a picture. We
ate so much meat though! I'll send pictures of that too! With lots of
home,are garlic bread which when they do it they put cloves of garlic
in the oil and let it sit to soak up the flavor then they pour it over
the bread and grill it... Heavenly.

Figs are amazing... They're in season right now so every time we go to
Pranzo at this families house they put a giant plate of them in front
of us. And apparently it's rude to not eat everything so we put them
down no problem. On Friday we were at a members house and they brought
out a plate of figs and we were eating them and Anziano Segura put
half of one in his mouth and his face went white and I looked at the
other half and it was FULL of worms... So gross! He already swallowed
it so it was too late! Worm cheese round two! The member said that the
worms they use to make he worm cheese are the same ones in the fruit,
yuck!

We also had a really good discussion on a couple things that people
like to find fault with in the church such as seventh day worship and
prophets. There is a really good story in Luke Chapter 16 about a rich
young man and a beggar named Lazarus.

19 ¶There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his
gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table:
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the
angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now
he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf
fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither
can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest
send him to my father’s house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from
the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

The bible testifies that God will reveal nothing unto his children
save he reveals it through his prophets. Im so grateful to have a
modern day prophet and to be guided by Thomas S. Monson. Just thought
I would share that short little thought and remind you that GENERAL
CONFERENCE IS ONLY FOUR WEEKS AWAY! So make sure to tune in and make
it a priority! We are so blessed to be able to hear from modern day
apostles and prophets so do what it takes to get there and watch it!

Today has been a great P-Day! We got to go to a Cross-Fit gym this
morning to buy some T-shirts and it was really cool! It looked so
American! We then did a picnic with the Sister missionaries at this
new park we found and played some volleyball and ultimate football! It
was so fun! It was so nice to be able to relax with some awesome
people, it reminded me of some picnics and things that we did in
Logan. I love Logan and I miss it! But Italy is cool too... ;)

That's about it for the week! It's been another great one, I hope you
have a great week and remember how much I think about you all! Keep on
keeping on!

Love,

Anziano Bellucci