Ostia Transfer 15 Week 5

Busy as usual, but oh so good!

Temple, Zone Conference, exchanges, sunny beaches and #CiSaràSempre

This week has gone by so fast, you would think at some point they couldn’t go by any faster but they do! We’ll start with Monday as usual though!

We had a very casual P-Day last week, it was nice and relaxing. Then in the evening we went and did so much finding... we talked to people all night long and then came home to call members for the activity this week. 

Then on Tuesday the coolest thing happened! So we went to the mission home for interviews with President and those went well and then they took us to the temple to go and see the “Information Center” Which is one of the construction trailers that they kept and turned it in to a really nice little mini visitors center. It’s going to be open to the public next week but you can go in and they have samples of the different stone and wood that they used inside the temple and a model of the whole project. The project manager came in and talked to us afterwards and it was so cool, he explained all about the temple and the grounds and it was just incredible. I can’t wait for the temple to open! 

We came back to Ostia and visited Sister Alicino, someone gave her a Samsung Smartphone but she’s 80 years old and has no idea how to use it. I showed her how to open a Gospel Library and find the scriptures and that was fun. She doesn’t remember how but I did show her... ;) We stayed in Rome so we could be early for the conference so I could finish planning our training with the other District Leaders, so we got to stay with Anziano Melling and Anziano Youngblood.

Wednesday was Zone Conference! Anziano Youngblood asked me to translate the conference for one of the sisters that doesn’t speak English so I got to translate for almost 6 hours straight. It was fun but I was exhausted after! I loved Zone Conference though. It’s always the best! I started an exchange with Anziano Youngblood afterwards so I stayed in Rome again! We had an awesome night. It was like we were back in Cosenza again! We went to dinner with a Less-active member. He is a street artist and the city pays him to draw in downtown Rome. His artwork is beautiful and when he does it on canvas it’s worth thousands of dollars but instead he does it on the sidewalk. It’s really cool. We told him about the Temple and talked to him about preparation for the temple. He also had a giant white dog that reminded me of Ty and Abby, if you stopped petting he would stick his nose under your arm and lift up your hand until you pet him again. 

Thursday was just as good! There was a transportation strike though and they live pretty far from the city, you take a bus for probably 20 minutes. So we planned on walking and just bringing all my stuff and leaving it in the Church. Well about halfway there we saw a bus and I was really confused but it turns out the strike was only for the metro! Anyway so we hopped the bus and went to this big huge park. It was beautiful! We talked to some really cool people, got a few phone numbers and were able to teach the Restoration. Anziano Youngblood still doesn’t cook so I made lunch ;) Then we switched back to our companions! 

Friday... weekly Planning ;( Never my favorite thing to do but we did it and then we made some lunch, did some comp study and studied Italian before we hit the streets! The new video came out on Friday! I think in English it’s called #AlwaysThere but in Italian it’s called #CiSaràSempre either way the video is sweet! We tried to share the video with a lot of people! We also went to the Stake President’s house and shared it with them. We’ve been carrying a white board around and having people write when they’ve felt like Christ was there, it’s been so good! 

Saturday... we did finding all day long! We only got one person to watch the video but it was this father and son who was teaching his son to ride his bike and they really enjoyed it. 

Sunday! The Heaters in the Church didn’t work so everyone was freezing and a little cranky because it was only like 60 degrees in the Church. So we had the first two hours and then they sent everyone home. But first! I asked the Bishop if we could show the video to everyone and then as they left we took pictures with everyone and the white board. It was great to get everyone involved. (We also got an invite for Easter Lunch next week with the Sicilian family! Wahoo!) Then we went to visit Sister Bartolucci who is a member but she’s had some back problems and hasn’t been able to come to Church. We showed her the video too, she cried ;) Then we started talking about the temple and I showed her the most recent aerial picture of the temple and she cried even more. The Italians are so ready for this temple! Once it’s here it’s going to be so sweet! I can’t wait! 

We spent the rest of the evening in a park with this little lake where people were playing water polo but in kayaks, it was the most interesting thing! I thought someone was going to drown. But there were so many people! We talked to a lot of them!

While we were walking around sharing this video this week we got s lot of negative responses and many people just said “Where is Christ?” Or “I’ve never felt him” or “He doesn’t exist” and it made me think a lot about how blessed we are with the testimonies we have. We know He lives. We know he’s always there and I think that’s so amazing. It’s up to us to show people that he really is there. So I want to invite you to share this video with someone in specific. It’s a great thing to post on Facebook but I think it’s even better to share it individually. I know that it will open doors to share the Gospel, maybe even take your own picture! 

Here is the link to the video, I hope you can all watch it! I think it’s a European thing so you get the One for England!

Lds.org.uk

Also if you want to watch it in Italian the link is:

Chiesadigesucristo.it 

Have a great week!

Anziano Bellucci

Ostia Transfer 15 Week 4

Busy busy busy week! But so good... AND HOT WATER! 

Monday seems like so long ago, we’ve done so much this week it’s crazy! We went to the Cevallos’ on Monday night and shared a pretty sweet message about asking questions in Faith. 

Tuesday was an early morning! Up at 4:30 to get to Rome to take a train to Napoli for my Permesso! We got there and they told us to come back in the afternoon, that you could only pick up a Permesso after 2:30... it was 8:30. So we had a day in Napoli! All of the missionaries in Napoli were at Zone Conference so we couldn’t get any pass-a-long cards from them so we went on a little Napoli tour! It’s just as beautiful as I remembered! We got a pizza of course, Anziano Empey loved it! It was his first time in Napoli! We saw some old churches, talked to some way cool people about the Gospel and walked through the outdoor markets! Then it was back to the immigration office. They kind of herd you like cattle there and then everyone pushes and shoves as soon as they open up the doors. I finally made it in and I got my Permesso without any problems. We went to the Church in Napoli to download our train tickets home and headed back! Because it was Napoli Zone Conference I got to see Anziano Allen! It was sweet, and I realized that if he doesn’t get transferred to Rome this next Transfer I probably won’t see him until we see each other in America! Crazy... we talked to this really nice couple on the train back to Rome. She was trying to convince me that our Church was restored in England not in NY... it was funny. We missed our English Course but grabbed some pizza on the way home! (Yes two pizzas in one day, no judgements.) Also this is the day we got hot water!

Wednesday we had District Meeting here in Ostia. Anziano Huntsman gave us the Addestramento and he taught us about agency and our right and ability to choose for ourselves what we will do with our time as missionaries. It was really good! It was two of the sisters halfway marks and they wanted to go get pizza... of twist my arm I’ll get another one! They chose s fancy restaurant though. We had fun together and then we started our exchange with the Ladispoli Anziani. I got to work with Anziano Huntsman! He’s a stud, he’s in Anziano Empey’s Group so he’s been out about 8 months. He’s from Texas and is just a super nice guy. We had some really good finding experiences in Vitinia, we talked to some way cool people. Then we went to dinner at the Cevallos’. Luis posted a video on Facebook of Abraham knocking over our Jenga tower! With them we talked about the priesthood and the opportunity that Luis and Michele have to serve the ward in performing their priesthood duties. It was solid!

Thursday was a great day too, Anziano Empey doesn’t like to exercise so I never get to go running but Anziano Huntsman did track so I told him to bring his shoes! We got up and ran along the beach. It was a blast and my calves are still killing me. Hit the streets for some finding before picking up Anziano Baker who flew in from Palermo to get his Permesso. He’s a great finder so we went finding together. I always learn from Anziano Baker. Then we came home, made lunch, and headed to the Immigration office. Of course there was something wrong, he hadn’t paid enough. But you can’t pay at the Immigration office, you have to go to the post office and pay and then come back to the Immigration office. All good! Finding... English Course was huge! More people than I’ve seen at English Course in Ostia. It was sweet. We got two new Investigators! They were asking questions during the course and I asked if we could meet them afterwards and they said “sure!” So we taught them a mini restoration lesson and they said we could meet before English Course on Thursday! 

Friday was up early again, this time 5 AM... we had to take Anziano Baker to the airport. So we took the bus for what we thought was the airport but turns out it was the wrong one! It takes you almost there but not quite! So we had to started walking from the closest stop to the airport and I realized he was never going to make his flight. So I called a member that works at the airport and he happened to be on his way to work! But he only had one spot in his car. So he took Anziano Baker and Anziano Empey and I walked down the highway. He made it in time and we made it too. So we were supposed to go to Campo di Carne to do service again so instead of going to Ostia we went to Rome. Got some breakfast at McDonalds and then headed to Campo di Carne! It was only like 10 AM and I was ready for bed! We had a good time doing service, I pulled my weight in weeds and we mowed the lawn and she fed us lunch. Three more trains back home... changed clothes and went to the Church. We were able to have a Skype lesson with Anziano Empey’s Grandma! It was sooo cool! We were able to teach her the Restoration and get her to meet with the missionaries in Las Vegas! It was really cool. We took some time to get some studies done, made a poster for the Activity and then finished off the night with some finding! I slept so well that night... 

Saturday I got my hair cut (all the hair cutting places are closed on Monday!) then we did some weekly Planning and some finding. We had correlation in the afternoon and because it was the anniversary of the Relief Society they were having a party in the Church  and they shared their dessert with us. The RS President is American so she made Apple Crisp which was amazing! American Desserts are sooo buttery!

Sunday was a great day as always. The Chapel was full again! It’s been so nice the last few weeks to see so many members come! Sister Alicino got a used smart phone from one of the members but she doesn’t know how to use it. (She is 80 years old) and so she had me put Gospel Library and the hymns on her phone. She’s so funny... in the afternoon we just had some really good finding. We put some miles on our shoes and talked to a lot of people. The sunset was beautiful of the ocean.  It was another beautiful week...

I hope you all had a beautiful week! I want to invite you all to study something about agency. Our agency is a beautiful gift, if we use it well we can be instruments in the Lord’ hands. 

Love,

Anziano Bellucci

Pictures:

1 & 2 sunset Pictures from last night

3. Anziano Baker brought us Cannoli from Sicily! Mamma Mia they’re good!

4. Anziano Huntsman and I at the Cevallos’ with Luis!

Ostia Transfer 15 Week 3

The sun is shining! It only rained like three times this week! It’s been such a beautiful week here! We had an awesome week! Even though there’s still no hot water...

We finished off P-Day at the mall after Zone Soccer, we really just used their WiFi and ate some lunch! Then we grabbed the bus... I messed up the bus stop and we watched two buses pass on the other side before I realized it was the wrong directi9n and the next one didn’t come for another 40 minutes so we were really late to the Cevallos’. Grandma Cevallos is still in Ecuador so her husband made us dinner... it was pretty good and I tried something new... Pears with cheese and honey on top, I Know it sounds weird but it was really good! So Alberto isn’t a member but he’s been an investigator for 7 years. We asked him some questions to see what it is that’s holding him back because he comes to church every week and is basically a member but something hasn’t clicked yet! We didn’t really get far, I think he’s just stubborn! Haha 😂 But we were able to share a good message with him and the spirit was for sure there!

Tuesday we had District Meeting and we did it in Ladispoli this time, we were supposed to take a train at 10:23 but the metro to the train station was late so we didn’t get there until 10:25 so we looked for the next one, bought tickets and went to the platform. We were talking on the platform and we heard Ladispoli over the loud speaker and we looked at the train next to us and saw the doors closing only to find out that it was the 10:23 train it was just late! Ugh... so we missed it but we were standing outside of it for like 3 minutes. We had a really good DDM on improving our teaching skills, we did a ton of role plays and everyone seemed to get something out of it so I was pretty stoked. Then we went and got pizza and sat on a stone wall on the beach and ate it. It was really good! We caught the train back to Ostia and did our companionship study and language before a little finding and English Course! 

Wednesday was a cool day, we went exploring in Ostia doing some finding and it was fun. We found some new parks and talked to some really cool people. We also tried to teach Simone again... I don’t think he’s really that interested anymore :( Maybe he’s just busy but he hasn’t read anything or kept a commitment so it might be time to let him chill for a little bit. Wednesday afternoon we did some finding and then went to the other Cevallos’ for dinner! I learned to make the rice like an Ecuadorian! Oh my gosh it’s so stinking good! We also were able to share a pretty good spiritual thought with them. We talked about how we sustain each other as a family and how we need to share our testimonies with one another so that we can lift each other up and protect our families. We read Moroni 50: 1-6 and talked about fortifying our “fortresses” against the world. It was good! Luis, their oldest boy is a stud. He’s 16 and he’s going to be an awesome missionary one day! 

Thursday... it was International Women’s Day! So the Sisters wanted us to go finding with them and ask people about influential women in the Bible. We thought it was a little awkward for Elders so we let them do the women’s Day finding and we just talked to people and it was a really good morning! We talked to this family and they were really nice. We were about to get their phone number and then they saw that our number was on the pamphlet and they said they would call us... :( So we’re still praying that they’ll call us! We did a lightning round of weekly Planning before lunch because we were supposed to do an Exchange with Rome 1 on Friday. Then because the weather was soooo nice we went to the Pier to do finding. We talked to everyone on the pier and we talked to this really nice lady from the Philippines that has lived here for like 30 years and she gave us her number so we hope to make her and her husband new Investigators soon! English Course... 1 person showed up so that was rough but we still had fun. Went and got some French fries afterwards with the Sisters to celebrate Women’s Day! 

Friday our exchange got cancelled because Anziano Youngblood went to Cosenza to pick up his Permesso and they didn’t give it to him so he had to stay over night and didn’t come back until Friday afternoon! So we had already done our lightning round of weekly Planning so we decided to go to this park in EUR Fermi which is closer to the Rome side of our area. There’s a beautiful pond type thing there and there were a lot of families too. It was about 12:15 and we were going to head back because it’s about 30 minutes on a train and we were walking along the top side of the park and there was a tree with these beautiful little pink flowers and I wanted to take a picture of my name tag in the tree. One problem. There was a fence about waist high between me and this tree. So... I looked around and decided the fence is just to keep people out of the water and I wasn’t going to go in the water so I decided it would be fine to jump the fence! So I was just going to step over it and just use my hands to push me over while I brought my other leg over. Then my companion said “Just do it in one swift move!” So I did... and that was the end of the inseam of my pants... it went right through from front to back! Good thing my jacket is pretty long! It was a breezy trip home! The lighting wasn’t too good for the picture either so it was all for nothing! They were my favorite pants too!

Saturday was a really fun day! We did about an hour of finding before catching a bus towards the airport. We got off on Isola Sacra and walked to Brother LaFerla’s house for lunch. The LaFarla’s are Sicilian and so they know how to cook... of my gosh I should have taken a picture! Dang... well they made us Arancini which are probably one of the best heart attack foods you could think of. It’s like a rice ball with a meaty Ragù in the middle and some cheese, then they’re breaded and deep fried. And they’re made in the shape of cones. That’s literally all we are for lunch was those. I ate four of them and I was so full! I felt like I needed to eat some carrot sticks too! They shared a bunch of recipes with us for other things too, I’m pretty just we just talked about food the whole time! Except for the spiritual thought of course!

Then after that he dropped us off at home and Marco picked us up 5 minutes later! Marco is a less-scrive member who has been coming back to Church! He’s a single Dad with a little boy named Simone. We were able to share a thought with him and he really enjoyed it I think! They also came to Church yesterday! 

Speaking of yesterday, a lot of people came to Church! The Chapel was almost full which was awesome, Fasting Testimony Meeting went really well and the spirit was great! 

Anziano Empey and I made “Thanksgiving dinner” yesterday, we had a member give us a huge turkey leg and so we cooked it, shredded it and made turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and carrots and broccoli. We enjoyed it! Then we worked on the activity, it actually rained all afternoon :( But earlier in the week it was really nice so I can’t complain too much! 

One of my favorite spiritual thoughts that we shared this week was when we talked about repentance being positive. This last General Conference there was a talk this exact principle, in fact it’s called “Repentance is always Positive.” We shared the story about the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon who Covenanted with God to lay down their weapons of war and never go to battle again. I really like this verse it says:

For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.

What does it mean to fight against God? Well for me I think it’s when we don’t align our will with His. Our will is the only thing that we can really give to Heavenly Father and when we align it with his we stop fighting against him and we work with him. It’s our sins that combat against Heavenly Father but usually they’re just little things that we can improve on. So with this General Conference coming up I want to invite you all to go prepared to learn from the Spirit what it is that you can change to “lay down your weapons of rebellion” and “not fight against God any more.” I know that if you go prepared and willing to change that the spirit will give you something to work on and as you work on it you will come closer and closer to Heavenly Father!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Anziano Bellucci

Ostia Transfer 15 Week 2

Rain rain go away... Stake Conference, and no hot water :( 

What a week! It was so cold at the beginning on the week for Italy, down in the 20’s and windy and Rome is so not used to that! We woke up Tuesday morning and I went to the bathroom and went to wash my hands and nothing came out of the faucet on the hot side... it was then and there that I realized this would be a long week. Our hot water heater is an on-demand tankless one and its on our balcony (Because it never gets this cold here). So I went and looked at it and saw the frozen puddle of water underneath it and the glass filter underneath it that had burst :( Cold shower it is... I used the hair dryer to thaw out the pipe so I could turn the water off so when it thawed out water wouldn’t go everywhere. Ice cold shower!  The rest of Tuesday we went less active hunting! Our ward list is huge but there are a ton of people that haven’t come for 10 years and don’t live here anymore! We found one person all day that still lives there and she told us to go away so it was kind of a bust but we made a ward list with a bunch of notes so I guess people in the future won’t waste time with it! We had English Course and it went pretty well, there were even some new people! There is this pizzeria called Romolo and it’s the best pizza we’ve had here in Ostia but it’s also really expensive! However... Tuesday evening any pizza you want is just 5 bucks! So we went and grabbed pizza!

Wednesday we had District Meeting and we talked about Missionaries in the Book of Mormon and who was our favorite and why. It was good, I chose Ammon because he really loved the Lamanites, he was down to go be a servant for the King and then he won the trust of the people so they would believe his words. It was a sweet DDM! We went and did some more service as a District in the park by our house, there was already so much trash! We got rakes this time though and we got about half of the park done really nice! (Side note, last night when we walked through we saw it full of broken glass bottles and cigarette boxes again so that was sad but it looked really good on Wednesday!) We also got Kebab together too which was really good! I forgot to get a District Picture! We went to the Cevallos’ for dinner and we talked about preparation. How we prepare ourselves to receive revelation whether it be during General Conference, Sacrament Meeting, or when the missionaries come over to share a spiritual thought. It was cool!

Thursday Morning we decided to do our weekly Planning then instead of Friday because the hot water guy was supposed to come between 10 and 12 but it’s kind of like the cable guy in America, you never know when? He came at like 10:30 though so it was good! He turned the water on to the hot water heater and it looked like a piece of Swiss cheese. Almost every pipe in the hot water heater has a crack in it. He also said that 60 percent of the hot water heaters in Rome are like this so they’re waiting for parts that should be in Monday (today) and then they can come and fix it. Then for the evening we did finding and English Course! More new people came too!

Friday we left early and went to Laurentina (last stop on the metro) to do some service for a member’s brother. They are moving into a new home and they needed help moving! For a tiny apartment they sure had a lot of stuff! We had a good time though and they said when they were all settled in they would have us over to share a message with them! Then we got changed real fast and went to a lunch appointment with the Battistini family. They’re way nice, they’re an older couple whose kids are grown and moved to Utah. We had a great time at lunch and we talked about the Europe Area Plan with them. We then got cancelled on by a member for our evening appointment because their son had worms in his stomach? Sounds gross, I didn’t ask questions. Apparently he’s all better now! Which means we got to do some finding! But first we went and taught Simone! He is a referral, honestly not super interested but we might have sparked something so we’ll see! 

Saturday it was pouring... (just like every other day this week) except like really dumping. So we went and printed some pictures of the new First Presidency to give to some Elderly Members and then we planned a little for the Activity. We were supposed to have an appointment with a new investigator and meet his family but his family ended up being out of town! Sad... in the evening we went with one of our investigators to the Saturday session of Stake Conference which was awesome! There was an area 70 there and he was a little crazy but he shared a really good message. 

Sunday we took a bus to the Bishop’s house to get a ride with him and his wife to Stake Conference. I got to see all of the members from Napoli! It was sweet, they’re all so awesome! I told them I would be in Church in Napoli in May! The Conference was really good, they talked about being the best Christians we can be and the Characteristics of Christ that will help us do that. Then in the evening we had correlation meeting with Riccardo and we planned an activity for the ward. Our Ward has a lot of diversity, there are Italians from all over the place, South Americans, Americans, people from other places in Europe, and so we’re going to do a culture night where everyone represents their homeland and brings food! It should be really fun! 

Today is another cold shower! But not just like the water isn’t warm, it’s like it’s been iced down. It’s wonderful... kind of makes your heart want to stop, kind of wakes you up. Sort of a gray area. 

We’re going to play Zone Soccer in the rain today! It should be fun! Then we’re going to check out this Mall and that should be pretty much it! 

I hope you all have a great week! Keep on keeping on! 

Love,

Anziano Jacob Bellucci