How could such a romantic word as "caldera" have such a horrific meaning, anyway?

So there's an active volcano in our town.

Or, under our town, and the bay surrounding it.

Often in the morning, we smell sulfur.

On the upside - this place is so pretty!  And the First Century amphitheatre we see from our living room balcony attests to the staying power of this town, Pozzuoli, or Puteoli, as found in Acts 28:13-14.

Also on the upside, we're driving a hybrid, a Toyota Yaris, which augurs way less monthly expense.  We won't be driving the same distances either.  We're here to support the missionaries of the Naples zone, which includes Pozzuoli, Naples, Battipaglia, Caserta, and Castellamare.  We will probably be taking public transportation a lot; often it's a lot simpler than driving.  We've already seen the parking here is ... an exercise in frustration, at best!  After four trips to three offices, we do have a residential parking pass, though.  Another upside!

The church is a three story edifice that was originally intended to be a restaurant; don't know what happened to that plan, because before it was even finished as a building, it was acquired by the Church and repurposed as a real live meetinghouse.  Each of the three floors has a balcony that looks out over the Bay of Pozzuoli.  Another upside!  This information, btw, I obtained courtesy of Sorella Tempesta, one of my favorite member friends from when we were here as young missionaries 43 years ago.  Wow!

More upsides:  the people, of course.  First off, also of course, these wonderful missionaries, three sisters and four elders in Pozzuoli, four elders in Naples, and two sisters in Battipaglia.  There are more, we just haven't met them yet.  Secondly, the gracious members, whom we have only begun to meet:  Sorella Tempesta, the Romanos, the Parisis, the Trimbles, Stutzmans, Lassens, Warners, etc. etc.  Yes, there are a lot of Americans here, with the presence of two military bases nearby.  Thirdly, the "investigators", people who are showing interest in the message our missionaries carry:  Fratello Cono, Gerardo, Raffaele, etc. etc.  And lovely Vera, an angelic woman who understands the story of Adam and Eve better than some members, who is mother to three boys besides her one - who, when asked to read 2 Nephi 2:25, cried out with gladness, exclaiming, "I didn't know that!"

Volcano schmolcano.  We love this place.