Now that all of that is over....on to missionary work! :-)

Whad up, Momma?

Ya, my watch is still wearable. Still ticking! I'll need a new camera. The train we were on headed up to Venezia (Venice) and since Italy is weird and other government issues, we would have to go up to the station in Venezia to see if they have my camera. They didn't even have a number to call. President didn't want us to go to Venezia since it's out of our zone (Collega is trying to find ways to get there) and he said there wasn't any real chance that it would even be there...so I need a new camera. 

We gained to new investigators this past week!! Abrahim, whom I've already mentioned, and John!! Both of them are sincere in learning the gospel so it's going to be sweet!! Abrahim has been reading the Book of Mormon and he said that he knew it came from God. He hasn't prayed yet though. I invited him to baptism in my terrible American accent Italian (everyone in the apartment makes fun of me. They said I sound like Bugs Bunny or something. Punks.) Anyway, he avoided the question and started talking about prophets. Collega said he avoided the question. All I recognized from the Italian was Mosè and Noè (Moses and Noah). But we're working with him. We've only met with John once. 

Yup, I make most of the calls now. To set up appointments anyway. Collega said that there were a lot of missionaries who don't know how to make calls after they're done training. So, he's been putting me in the grinder. Chastising me about things I do and stuff. He's adamant about me being an experienced missionary once he leaves. I'm still suriving. Even learning a lot. So, we'll see what happens. 

I'm still waiting for my card to come through. I stil have another pair of slacks for my suit, remember? And what about Christmas? What's happening there? And guess what happened to me yesterday? I put on my jeans because we were going to do some service and it felt tight around my thighs...I guess from the walking and biking. It's all we do everyday.

Tell Grandpa and Dad thank you for their e-mails! Peace out!

Until next time!

Anziano West!

The explanation of the storm before the calm

Thanks, mom! 

Yesterday was tough but I got through it. My back tire also went flat too. I read that talk that dad sent me and there were a few things that really helped me a lot. When the pioneers were leaving to go to Utah, they didn't know what they were doing, they were just doing it because they were asked to do it. I figured as long as I'm trying to teach I'll be okay. Also, the quote from Elder Holland about not living in the past but having faith in the future caused me to think a lot.... I'm just going to put that behind me, as well as yesterday, and keep on looking forward. 

Verona is super pretty!! Much bigger than Vicenza. Vicenza is so small! I never really realized it. I would show you pics but...yup. You can tell the girls that I saw the balcony where Juliet came out to see Romeo hittin' on her. I was at the place where it all went it down! Yup, I was there. The place is also in that movie, "Letters to Juliet". Aubs and Linds will know. I also had this amazing gelato and they put cioccolato in the cone with the gelato on top of it. So good!!

We got a new investigator this week!! It was actually a miracle! His name is Abrahim and ...he really likes Jesus and he was my first actual Italian phone call!! It was really cool because when I called him he was sitting at his table and then he got this feeling to get up and move to the next room. When he did he saw my call!! Really cool, right?! Not only that he wanted to read the Book of Mormon because we told him to read it and then ask of God if it's true. When he heard that he said that he really liked that. We weren't trying to sell it to him or anything but that he should ask of God and not just take our word for it. So he decided to read the Book of Mormon because we told him to ask God! Super cool!

On Conference weekend I flipped over my bike. I hit the brake too hard and I was committed.  The band on my watch broke and I was so sad!! It was such a good watch!! Still ticking! Collega was concerned for me but after finding out that I was alright, he just laughed all the way to the church (that's where we watched Conference) and he still finds it funny. I fixed my watch, so hopefully, it still keeps ticking. 

I have to play the piano again this Saturday for another baptism. And on Sunday I have to play for a musical number we missionaries are doing in the Italian branch. I've been learning some new hymns! Kinda have too. 

I called the office to see how I'm going to get my card (since I know people in high places:) ) and I should be getting it soon. Thanks for sending it over!! 

I am proud to say that my slacks have a small hole that goes with my gray slacks. Just wanted you to know! I'm doing missionary work!

Tell Dad thanks for his note! Well, for both of your notes! We're still going to try and find my camera but if I can't then maybe I can get a new one. I just had some pics I wanted to send!!

I gotta go! I love you!

Anziano West!

The storm before the calm.....

Hey, mom!!

Today has been insane. Sorry I'm late in writing but I'm super struggling right now...

Today we took a day trip down to Verona. Collega wanted to see Anziano May, our Zone leader, because Anziano May is leaving next week going home. So they knew each other from the MTC. I can't write much either because it's late. Anyway, I lost my camera on the train coming back to Vicenza. We're going to try and see if we can get it back. But I don't know. After that we took a bus to head up to another town about an hour away because collega needed to do a baptismal interview to someone that the Sorelle have been teaching. We then realized we still needed to do e-mail. My bike broke down, my face is covered in grease, and I have no idea what I'm doing. This morning I found out that my backpack (I need to get a side bag too...just saying) had a puddle of water in it. I feel like I'm in over my head.

We're cutting our time short. I'll finish e-mailing tomorrow because it's late. I did get to watch General Conference in English. All of it except for the Sunday afternoon session. 

I'll finish answering your questions tomorrow.

Love,

Anziano West

Still adjusting to Italy......

Ya, I get homesick. I hate it. When I first came to Italy, President charged me to read the Book of Mormon everyday. I told him that I can do that. Every morning we have 90 minutes to get ready for the day so I usually have time to read a chapter or two. It's helped a lot and I feel like I can face the coming day. 

The Italians here are super stubborn! Yesterday, I did an exchange with my zone leaders because collega's the district leader, and I did six hours of straight finding. It was brutal!! We found three people who were interested though. One of them is Muslim, so I don't know how that will go, and another person thought we were Jehovah Witnesses...that was embarassing, and the other person was just confused about what we believed in. So, hopefully some people will listen. I have met someone that is from Bethelem! Anyway, we met a few older people who claim to already know it all and that they don't need any more Bible. That was interesting. There was one guy we met in the park who said he reads five different Bibles and that he already knows God and he doesn't need anymore Bible. I've always read in the scriptures about how people will say "Bible! Bible! We don't need another Bible!" and I never thought that I would meet people who would do that. So, yup, it's been fun. 

The American ward is on top of everything. Collega and I decided, along with our district, that we need to start focusing on the Italian branch, because they are dysfunctional in the sense of missionary work. President Shakespeare (cool name for an American) realized that we have six missionaries, the most ever seen in Vicenza, and that it's time to crank up the work. The Italians on the other hand are just afraid to do anything regarding missionary work. But we do have plans to earn their trust and help them realize that we as missionaries can't do the work alone. We need the member's help to succeed. That is one thing I'm learning when opening up a new area. You need to work with the members! Also, last Saturday, I was able to see a Baptism in the Italian branch! His name is Walter and the Sorelle have been teaching him and he was ready to be baptized! It was awesome! I was there because they needed someone to play. I had to learn two new hymns in 20 minutes. You would've been proud of me!

Franc is amazing but sadly we can't teach him anymore. He lives in Ferrara and he was visiting his sister up in Vicenza so we had to pass him to the Anziani in Ferrara. Collega said we were doing the Anziani down there a favor because I guess finding work down there is tough. But it's been fun teaching him. We have found another person to teach! Her name is Alla and she's from a small country near Russia. Apparently she speaks Italian not very well but she speaks better than I do. Hopefully we'll get to teach her tomorrow!

Tell Aubrey I'm proud of her. She's keeping up on the dances and going out with different guys. Who would've thought that she would be in charge of the group! Good job!

Okay, with the fruit and things. Drawing money out of the ATM here is complicated. A bit. First off, I need my pin number for my card. I always used credit and never debit at home but I kinda need that pin number soon. Second, there's a small transaction fee because of Euro instead of USD. I'm down for buying fruit and stuff because I don't know if I can surivive on pasta alone!! Fills you up and knocks you to sleep in the afternoon but it sure does it's job. I did buy three kilo worth of fruit last week because it was on sale. Good stuff. But I don't know if I need that much money...I also have to carry all of my food back to the apartment. And also water. And the water is heavy. I can usually buy a kilo of fruit for 1 euro or a little bit more. There's this place called Lidl that all the missionaries love because it's cheaper and has good cereal. So we do our grocery shopping there but it's a ways away from our apartment. I did find this stuff that has oats and dried fruit in it. I have that for breakfast. Anyway, next week I'll see what I'll need because I would like that extra money to buy fresh stuff. Getting on the American base is a hassle. I don't really want to buy anything there if I don't need too. President also told my trainer to make sure that I don't get used to the food situations in Vicenza because it's not the Italian experience...collega drinks two cans of Dr. Pepper a day. Go figure. 

Thanks for your words of wisdom!! I know it's a process and I read those same lines in my blessing. I just find it funny that out of the 233 missionaries here I have to be the youngest one. There's some talk that they might split the mission! Hopefully they don't because if they do then we lose Firenze and some missionaries will be placed in the Rome mission. That'll blow. 

Anyway, I love you and the family!!! I'm already half-way done with my first transfer! One thing that I am looking forward to during my second transfer is Thanksgiving...I'll actually be able to celebrate it in Vicenza!

Alright, I need my pin and I'll let you know about my food situation. I might need to buy some gloves and a scarf and maybe a hat or something because people say it gets really cold here. I don't need it now but sometime in October probably. And I'm also a little north near the mountains.

Until next week!

Love,

Anziano West

After another week in Italy......

Thanks so much for the e-mails!! I love it!

So, ya, Milano is pretty weird. Italy is weird. But I'm getting used to it. The hard thing for me right now is not being able to communicate. My  trainer and I have gotten used to speaking English a lot during the day because he finds it hard to communicate with me in Italian and also because we spend time with the English branch. But we're working on it. Everyday I'm trying to find new ways to learn but it's tough. 

Alright! I have another adventure for the week. Last week on Saturday, we got to eat on the American Base!!! I felt like I was in America!!! I can't tell you how bad I miss America!!! Collega was flipping out because he hasn't seen anything that resembles America for the past two years, but I just want to tell you, that I'm proud to be an American!! I'm an American!! Okay, then later, sometime after lunch, we get a call from President saying, "Hey, are you coming?". And then we said, "Going where?". Come to find out, President wants us to attend Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday sessions, where in the past apparently, the missionaries only attended the Sunday conference. So we dropped everything, immeaditely went to the train station, bought tickets and were on our way to Perdonone, which is up north from Vicenza. So we get there, have no idea where the church is because all of this happened last minute, and we end up spending an half an hour getting to church practically running the whole time. After the Stake Conference President wanted to meet with our trainers (there's another copia staying with us) and since it was getting late, Anziano Castagno and I went back with a Senior Couple from the English branch. We get a call from our trainers around 10 that night that their train got cancelled and that they had to stay up in Perdonone! Now, up in Italy, strikes happen all the time, trains and buses get cancelled...it's just Italy. Anyway both of us trainees were together for almost a 24 hour period without our trainers. It was a fun experience.

I guess doing missionary work here in Vicenza is tough. We've had a hard time finding people to teach because they just reject us for some reason or they just don't care. To them, it's another religion. According to collega, there's a lot of people that hate being catholic, but it's just a label for them to make it look like they're religious and that they're saved or something and I wonder if we're just another "label" for them too. It's tough. On the bright side we actually found someone to teach in a park! And we taught a lesson on a park bench! How cool is that! We found a guy named, Franc, who's from Nigeria. And he is totally wants listen to us! He even had some of the same questions that Joesph Smith had! We asked him, when we found out he believed in Christ, why he believes and he said that he doesn't get why there were so many churchs and so much confusion about the doctrine, but he came to the conclusion to follow Christ, etc. He speaks English too! So we taught him two lessons already and have another one set up for today! He even asked us yesterday if he could see us again. It was awesome!!

It's hard to judge the food here, mom. Since we leave next to the base everyone wants American food. And for lunch, and this is what I'm kinda sketch about, we have pasta. Everyday. The reason why is because it's dirt cheap and food is kinda expensive up in Italy. I've learned a few different ways to prepare pasta with different spices and stuff but I'm not a big fan of eating it everyday. Italians have really small breakfasts and massive lunchs and small dinners. In the mission we don't have dinners but since we're in an American branch, we sometimes have dinner appointments. In fact, we don't proselyte mid-day because all the Italians are eating away. All I have for breakfast is yogurt and sometimes cookies (Italian style; they eat cookies for breakfast) and fruit taste amazing here but not cheap. I also have the junk peanut butter and jam with white Italian bread- not the best thing to eat. You just get plugged up because of the pasta. It's difficult to eat healthy when you're a missionary and live next to America. I also get the feeling it's hard to eat healthy because of our money situation.

I want to e-mail dad so tell the family that I love them!!!

Anziano West

First Letter From Italy!

What up, FAM!!!!

Okay, so much has happend since I've arrived in Italy! It's crazy! (I know I say that a lot and I have a feeling I'll always be saying that but, seriously, it's crazy). So, let me begin my adventrue story-telling...

We arrived in Italy after a very long journey of flying around noon Italian time. Met President Dibb (amazing man) and his wife (also an amazing woman). Very nice people. So ya, we went to a church somewhere in downtown Milano. Now, I'm not a big fan of Milano. It just looks super weird. Well, Italy looks super weird. Period. You should see the bathrooms. Some parts remind me of California and other parts, apparently, remind people of Florida. It's also very hot. Because of the humidity. Which means during the winter it'll be super cold. Anyway, I then had an interview with President Dibb and, funny story, he knows Latin. So when we started he told me a phrase and asked me what it meant. I don't remember how to say it but I passed with flying colors. The phrase was "The die is cast" which was said from Ceaser when he crossed the Rubicon River to invade Rome. President then explained that this mission was a "Preach My Gospel" Mission and that there is now no turning back. The die is cast. Crazy, right?

Afterwards, since our group was so big, we were split into four smaller groups and then went at different times to go to the Duomo. Now, the Duomo looks pretty cool in pictures, but let me assure you, your mouth would be hanging open if you saw it in real life. It is literally exotic, beautiful, and...big. I couldn't take any pictures but I wouldn't mind showing it to guys sometime in the long run. We then did some street contacting (with Collega), and street-contacting is an art I realized. Anyway, we ran into a guy who was a Greek Orthodox (crazy!) and when I started bearing my testimony about the Book of Mormon he shook his head and said something about us having the misunderstanding and that God will bless us since we believe in Him and then he walked away. All I can say is that it was interesting.

After that we had dinner with President on a balcony and then we were shipped to a hotel. I was completely out was I hit the sack. Now fast forward to the morning (I had breakfast, no worries) and we went back to the church somewhere in downtown Milano. I have a funny story to share about us recieving our trainers. It's a great story. So all the newbies were on one side of the the room and all the trainers on the other side. The APs stood in the front and called up a trainer, whicht the trainer introduced him/herself, a miracle that happened the past week (most of them were baptisms! A lot of baptisms happen out here!) and then they read off of a piece of paper to see who's the trainee and the area. So everyone gets called up front and I'm just sitting there, seriously hoping and praying that I'll get an amazing trainer and not a stinge, just minding my own business. It soon became apparent that the number of trainers present did not equal the number of trainees. I was the last person to be called up and...there was no trainer. The APs were smiling and handed me the piece of paper. I read their names as my trainer. I'm going to be trained by the APs! I was so confused. President then stood up and explained the situation (thankfully). So, my trainer was down in Firenze (Florence) and he decided to eat a delicacy of the area (raw sausage sandwhich. Apparently, it's good) which caused him to have to go to the hospital, since the meat wasn't fresh. So I got to spend two days with the Office Elders and the APs! It was super fun! They even told me that I'm getting groomed to be an Office Elder or an AP since a trainee never sees the office on their first day. They're funny guys. On Friday, my trainer got out of the hospital and got on a train to Milano, which then I met him, and we got a train to Vicenza. That was the adventure of the week.

Cool thing about my trainer, since he's amazing. When President explained my situation to everyone, he said that I was getting the best missionary in the mission (he told that to everyone! The trainers and trainees!), and he's been a Zone leader down in Firenze during the summer. He actually told me that twice. My new Collega has two transfers left in his mission. Overall, he's going to be spending his last twelve weeks with me. Again, it's crazy. His name is Anziano Collins and he is from Virgina. A sprite 21 year old.

My first area is in Vicenza!!! It's a wierd little city. I like it a lot better than Milano. We're somewhat next to the mountians (hills) and the nature is really beautiful. Super green. We have to take care of two branches. The Italian and the English because there's a military base here. When I went to church on Sunday I didn't understand a word during the Italian branch. Not a word. And the Italians want the new missionaries to bear their testimony (there's two of us being trained. We're staying with another copia.) and my testimony was really short. The English branch I liked a lot better because I could understand it. Collega was freaking out because he never had church in English while in Italy. Actually, this really scares me. I was taking out my American money and putting it somewhere safe, and when Collega saw it, he goes, "whoa...this is really weird...American money." We had dinner with a senior english couple, and they had syrup out, and collega stopped in his tracks and starts muttering, "That's syrup. That's actually syrup..." He's looking at it like he's never seen it before!!!

One thing I've learned while I've been here is organization. Organization is important. I forgot to tell you but we didn't know we were opening up a new area. Collega also didn't know he was District Leader. So we spent a few days collecting things for the Apartment and stuff like that because we had absolutley nothing. Absolutely nothing. We also had to split up the area between three copia because the Sorelle are here too. It's taken a while to everything settled. Also, it's super important to work the members so we met with the Italians to figure out in-actives and stuff and we met with the English branch. The English branch is SUPER organized like none-other. Military, obviously, but we sat down for branch council and they STAYED on topic. They have a LASER-LIKE FOCUS when they discuss missionary work. It's amazing. Collega was almost jumping out of his seat because he has said that he has never seen anything like this before. I would even say that they're more focused than any Utah ward. They already have plans set out for us and families to visit. It's crazy. Collega leaned over to me and said that I'll never see this in an Italian branch. If they were organized then they wouldn't be branches. They would be wards. The image I get from the Italians is that they're more like little children when it comes to the gospel. They're still trying to figure it out.

That's everything right now. I'm still trying to get used to living here but I'm sure not in Kansas anymore.

Love you all and I miss you!!!

Anziano West

Anziano West has arrived in Italy!

This morning, Shauna received a phone call from Italy with news that Anziano West had arrived safely, had eaten his first Italian pizza, would spend the night in a hotel and meet his new companion tomorrow.  His first area in Italy will be Vicenza.  (map included below).  His P-Days are on Wednesday so we'll have a new update next week.

Now the real work begins!



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