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!