Napoli! Transfer 9 Week 5!

Apartment moves, bowling with Italians, and African Soccer!

"And with all the getting, get understanding"

Another solid week on the books! As usually it went by super fast but it was another good one! On Monday night we started our exchange with the Napoli B Elders! I got to work with Anziano Pesci who is in my group, if you remember back to more than a year ago we were in the same MTC group! We had a good time working together, it was cool to see how far we've both come in the last year and the progress that each of us has made. He's an awesome missionary! Our appointment didn't show up but we had to go help the Senior Couple. They had bought a new washing machine for the new apartment and it needed to be carried from the car to the fifth floor apartment... heck yeah we were stoked! The worst part was the humidity was making us sweat so much and it was wrapped in plastic so we were slipping the whole time! But we did it! 

We spent the morning a few stops away on the metro doing some English Course publicity and finding. We had some really good potentials and it was a fun morning. I had some really good experiences this week that made me reflect and remember the love that I have for missionary work. Sometimes we get caught up easily in the planning and the meetings and the exchanges but getting out there and hitting the streets is honestly the best part, you just gotta get out there and do it! 

I had to stop in at the bank and get some money and the ATM was broken outside so we went inside and everything was fine. I put in my pin and everything and then it counted the money and it spit out my card and was about to give me my money and the power went out in the whole building... After a few minutes it came back on but obviously the machine wasn't going to spit out 80€ after turning on and so it took forever to figure everything out. Eventually it all worked out but banks are a pain in the butt. I even tried the "I'm an American in Italy with no money" card and they still would t give it to me! Haha it was a worth a try right?!?!

We grabbed a pizza from Pellone and headed to the spchurch to find almost the whole Zone there! One district was having their District Meeting, another was doing exchanges and had decided to grab a pizza in Napoli while they traded companions so it was a Zone pizza party!

We went to pass by John, a less-active that we haven't been able to see since I've been here because he's been out of town. Well he's finally back! He is African and has been here in Italy for a good amount of time I think something like 8 years. He runs a barber shop I. His house and he does pretty well for himself. We read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon with him and we were reading the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi. It's been really cool to study with him because when I read it I don't always get that much out of it because it's so confusing but when he asks us what it's talking about the spirit totally guides us to find out what it's telling us. It makes so much more sense! We had a great English Course that night, and that was it! 

Wednesday we had correlation with Sam, this time in Church. It was a good meeting and we made some good plans! 

In the afternoon we had to take all the rest of the stuff out of the other Anziani's apartment and bring it to the new one. There was a lot of random stuff so it took a good minute! Anziano Fryer and I decided we wanted to make something for DDM on Thursday so we decided to try our hand at Tiramisu! Which in case you were wondering literally means "Pick me up" o a little slice of Tiramisu is a little pick me up! Well let me tell you was it dang good! We used Orzo instead of coffee and it was so good! I took pictures, we ate almost the whole pan of it just the six of us!  But before that we spent the morning at the other Elders old apartment getting it all cleaned so it can be sold. We had to turn the keys in and everything so it had to be spotless so we didn't get charged! 

Thursday night we had an appointment with the Ariente family. They are the best! They have two sons, one that I think is 16 and the other is 18 and getting ready to go on a mission. They're both studs and love the missionaries so we had a good time! We shared the Europe Area plan which focuses on Bringing a friend to Church, becoming self-sufficient, and doing genealogy work. It went super well and Giuseppe the oldest son took a Book of Mormon and pamphlets to give to his friend. He's already a missionary! 

Friday was weekly planning as usual. Then after lunch I had found a lady in the Area Book and we went to go visit her. She turned out to be crazy. She has rooms in her house barricaded off because there's "bad things" in there... I was freaked out. We left. Haha then on Friday night we set up bowling with some of our investigators and the youth in the Church! It was so fun and everyone had a good time! Italians are not very good at bowling... unfortunately :/ But like I said, it was fun! 

Saturday we met with John again and it was super good! Then in the afternoon we got to meet with Fabiola and we got a member to come which was super good! She expressed some worries that she had, she has been told some false doctrine about the Church and our Member was able to explain things, I think pretty well! It was an interesting lesson and we didn't teach our planned lesson but it needed to happen! Then we met up with all the Africans and played some soccer but I had to sit out with my stupid toe... it was still fun though! 

Sunday was good, I got to give a talk in Sacrament meeting! It was on Knowledge based on D&C 130:18-19. I think it went super well and I learned a lot from preparing it! 

So last week we came to Church and found Peter, a refugee that came from Nigeria. He is a member and a returned missionary! He served in Nigeria and so he's been endowed in the temple and everything! Unfortunately they have to come through Libya to get to Italy and when he went through Libya they took all of his garments, his temple recommend and every religious thing he had. We sat down with him afterwards and he was just so humble and all he wants is to be able to keep his Covenants. We asked him why he came to Italy and he said to start his life. I don't think people in Africa understand how hard their life will be when they get to Italy, they just see an open boarder and go for it. Then they get here and they often regret the decision. We're super excited to help him, he's an awesome guy but I feel bad for him. It's a really humbling thing to be able to help them. 

That's pretty much the week! It's been a good one, a tiring one, and I'm ready for another! I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,

Anziano Jacob Bellucci