Hi
everyone! What a week this has been. Sorry about my short letter last
Wednesday...we had some problems at internet point and had to leave early, but
that's another story, haha. (Last week
there was this creepy Indian man at the internet point who has talked to us
several times at the bus stop right outside. He kind of knows where we go a
lot, and Sister Ivory told me we should leave. that's why the bulleted list and
terrible short email last week. I finished writing President Kelly, started
yours and couldn't finish.)
Anyway,
last Monday we went to Capronica to see Maureen again. Her husband was there
and ate lunch with us, which is a big improvement since his first encounter
with the missionaries. Maureen wants so badly to be baptized, but it looks like
things with the divorce won't be finalized until the beginning of next year. On
Sunday we had a lesson with her and the bishop, and decided to push her
baptismal date back to December. We kind of just have to wait until the papers
go through so she can get married, and hopefully with more time her
"husband" will be more supportive of her desire to be a member of the
church. She is awesome though, comes to church every Sunday with her kids
Stephan and Alecia...I know things are going to work out.
Whenever
we go to Capronica it takes all day, so we decided to visit the members and
investigators in Anguilara after our appointment with Maureen. Then we got back
on the train and went to Bracciano for dinner with the Contes. Heaven! Sister
Conte is the best cook, and her thirteen year old son Ludovico may be one of
the funniest kids I've met in my entire life. It had been raining on and off
all day, but there was a huge storm by the time we went to take the train home.
It was pouring. Everyone was soaking wet, waiting for the train to leave the
station. It finally left, but when we got to the next stop we had to wait for
almost an hour. There was a train stuck on the track ahead of us, and the
conductor told us it could be ten minutes or the next morning before it was
fixed. We kept waiting, and finally Sorella Ivory called the assistants to let
them know that we might be late getting home. The train finally left and we
made it to San Pietro, where we have to change trains to make it to Ladispoli.
It was going to be an hour before the next train came, so the assistants saved
the day and drove us all the way home. We got there a little after 11...not
bad. And what other missionaries have been able to see St. Peter's at night? In
the rain? I wasn't complaining.
Tuesday
we had zone conference, which was wonderful, and last Wednesday for P-day we
went to the Spanish Steps and then went shopping. On Thursday we were on a way
to an appointment and a lady stopped us in the street to ask about the church.
That never happens here. She wanted to come to English course, told us she
and her daughter would definitely be interested in learning more about our
church...it was awesome. She came to English course yesterday with her daughter
and son, is golden, and we're going to their house tomorrow. I'll let you know
how it goes.
On
Friday we had to go to Civitavecchia to get everything settled with our
permesso di soggiorno. I am so glad Sorella Ivory was there with me. They were
asking us so many questions, and I could understand most of it, but
speaking is still kind of hard. We made it through though, and hopefully all of
the documents will be done in the next few weeks so we won't have to worry.
That night we went to Santa Marinello to see the Distantes. The Dad has been meeting
with the missionaries and coming to church with his family for years,
knows all of the lessons, and has read the Book of Mormon twice. We had asked
him the previous week to start again from the beginning, but when we saw
him this week we could tell he wasn't too excited about it. So he's
starting the Doctrine and Covenants, haha. We had lessons all throughout the
day on Saturday, and were able to meet with some investigators that have
been harder to get a hold of lately.
On
Monday after district meeting I went on my first exchange to Ostia with Sister
Caramia. Total immersion in the language. It was a great experience, but I'm so
glad to be back with Sorella Ivory (speaking English sometimes).
Anyway,
I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Jenni
