Blast From the Past

So being in Rome it is not unusual to have tourists attend sacrament meeting and for this purpose our ward has some translating equipment, little hand held radio things with headphones. This week was fast and testimony meeting and apart from some interesting member testimonies there was a few tourist who wanted to share their testimony as well. A woman asked one of the Elders to help her out, and they went up to the pulpit. This particular Elder had not been out for a way long time, less time then me, but he speaks Spanish already and has a pretty good grasp on the language. He was doing really well for the first part of the testimony but as the woman went on her sentences got progressively longer and more complicated until she said something like, “in the 14th century when my ancestors stepped onto this land and began a life of labor and sacrifice…” The Elder just stared at her with a raised eyebrow and then a member who had served her mission in temple square jumped up and rescued him by finishing the rest of the testimony. After this woman sat down another tourist asked this same member to help him out and he went up on the stand. I looked at him and instantly my mind flashed back to my days at Grovecrest elementary school. It was Mr. Peck, my 3rd grade teacher! So weird! What a small world! I talked to him after the meeting was over and his wife was so taken aback by the situation that she had to get a picture of us together. Weird.

Yesterday we had interviews at the Villa and sister Acerson had hot chocolate chip cookies and milk waiting for us! Yum!!! It was so good!!!

This past Saturday we had a little get together at the home of some older members la famiglia Denti. We have been doing service for them the past few weeks to get their yard ready for the party. After spending sometime with them I have made it a personal goal not to get old and crazy. They communicate with each other more in grunts then actual words and usually I understand about half of any conversation with them. If there was a health code inspection I am sure they would never pass, sister Denti has to touch everything! I swear she puts her finger in everything and tastes the food and coughs on it, but don’t worry we blessed it before we ate. We made big huge pizzas for the party and I got to help roll out the dough with a rolling pin that was like 4 feet long. It was huge! All in all it was a good party.

Mom asked if we still do English class here and that reminded me of a story. I am almost out of time so I will make it quick. So sometimes Elders have no tact. We were in English class and me and another Elder were teaching intermediate and we were having all of the students take turns introducing themselves and talking about their families. One of the students said “and this January my father is died.” The elder without any words of comfort just corrected his English very bluntly, “he died, your father DIED in January and now he is DEAD.” Luckily the man didn’t seem too upset about the death of his father, either that or he was confused about what the elder was trying to say. Either way I decided that one of the reasons they have sisters here in the mission is to add a little bit of sympathy and compassion.

Oh and speaking of death, I think my Christmas tree might have kicked the bucket, he’s not looking too good these days. It is just too hot!

Ok I gotta go, but I hope you all know how much I love and care about you! Keep me updated on your lives!!