Provident living indeed

There is a referendum coming up for vote here in Italy this Sunday; it seems to be causing the same type of division as our presidential election.  Since it refers to a change in the basic constitution of Italy, it's a pretty big deal.  The people I trust most are saying they'll vote "no"; I don't know enough about it otherwise to opine.  It seems fairly clear to me that polarity of opinion is more and more the driver of this bus we're all riding; hence, life becomes more and more like Piazza Nazionale  - Blaine calls it Piazza Chaos - at rush hour.  

More and more there is the need for the simple things we continually speak of:  daily prayer and scripture study, attending church and taking the Sacrament, family home evening.  We can certainly testify of the results in our lives to this point - in fact we do, pretty much every day.  

 We have had some gorgeous days lately; sometimes it's too much for Blaine, looking out at the bay, with no sailboat to launch.  This day he contented himself with photos.

 

We were able to do a real American Thanksgiving, creds go to Sorella and Anziano Williams, another senior couple who work with the American military at Caserta.  This is the Great Napoli District, plus our guests Paulina and her husband Angelo.  The room is the foyer of the Napoli branch church building.  We practically carried our entire kitchen there!  We took time to talk about the things we're thankful for:  family, The Book of Mormon, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, their missions and companions, America, stuff we took for granted till we didn't have it any more.

Took this photo right before half the Great Pozzuoli District missionaries were transferred!  Sorella Hunter (to Rome), Sorella Crandell, Anziano Silver (to Reggio Calabria), Anziano Berger (to Napoli), Anziano Price (to Sicily), Anziano Draghi.  And those other two.

Happy to welcome the new sister, Sorella Bellomo, from northern Italy.  We know her papa' from our last mission, since he's the Seminaries and Institute Director for Italy.

We had the privilege of going on "splits" (acting as companions-for-a-day) with the missionaries of Battipaglia till their companions came in on the train.  Me with Sorella Wise and Blaine with Anziano Morrill.  Fun missionary day - although since Sorella Barnes came in at midday, all S. Wise and I did was study and get the house ready (she'd been with the sisters in Caserta for a week because her companion returned home before the new transfers came in).  Blaine and A. Morrill did some real-life finding on the streets.  

Lots of Americans in our branch here in Pozzuoli means a big Thanksgiving bash in church before Thanksgiving!  Good folks.

Don't ask Italian men to come to an American celebration on the same night as an SSC Napoli soccer game, and expect them to just sit there...

Our two new anziani, Anderson and Parkinson.

We spent a good part of the day last Monday with these good folks, the Williams.  She's the mission nurse; she gave us our flu shots (we bought them at the pharmacy and not wanting to do the honors ourselves, went running to her!).  We ate lunch on base at the bowling alley!  Sooo American - except for the Italian accents of our servers.

So here is Blaine, waiting outside Fortuna's house, where we had been invited for Family Home Evening and dinner.  Fortuna's doorbell didn't work and she wasn't answering her phone.  I finally reached her via Facebook!

Even though I wish I had taken a picture of Rachele and Antonio along with the rose from her garden, I am pleased to post this gorgeous beauty.  We love visiting Rachele and Antonio, they are so genteel.  And her sister makes the best rustic pizza in the world...

What a clever way to keep the dogs and feral cats out of your garbage!

And last but not least, hurrah for Christmas time!  We were in the open market buying fresh fruits and veggies, when we were treated to this musical gem:

They represent the shepherds who hastened to the manger.  

Ooooo, it's great to be here!  We love this place!  We love these people.  We love you!

One month zipped by

Okay, I'll have to get Jesse to help me reconfigure my blog so that I see actual photos that I post, instead of lines and lines of gobbledygook. Since I don't know where one gobbledygook finishes and another starts, I'll just talk in general about the photos. You can follow along, I'm sure. 1 - You may have seen the first photo on FB already, "the great Napoli District". These really are wonderful, wonderful missionaries. I know, I've said it in the past about other missionaries. It's always true! Soon I will take a photo of the great Pozzuoli district as well. 2 - We finally got our "family" display up. It always feel more like home when we do that. 3-5 - This is the Pozzuoli sister missionaries, the Granata family with whom we dined last Sunday, and Blaine. Ok, I thought Italian customs had changed when we were in Prato/Florence; but what I was really remembering is the HUGE spread they put on for you in southern Italy. Yummy food - the following two photos are only a sample (potato croquettes and mozzarella di bufala, fresh mozzarella that bears virtually no resemblance to the mozzarella most of us Americans grate onto our pizza) - and tons of it. Like you walk out thinking you should probably walk all the way from Napoli to Pozzuoli instead of drive home in the car. Fun fun family, though, so warm and welcoming. 6 - Blaine is viewed here on his way to our apartment. This is Via Tobruk, our street. We park in the piazzetta nearby and walk, because there's no closer place to park and because there's hardly room enough to drive anyway. 7-8 - The fact that this American military base park is located inside a crater is fitting - it felt TOTALLY OTHERWORLDLY to go to an American football game in the middle of Pozzuoli! "The Napoli Wildcats" - it's a side of Italy life one doesn't think of much unless it's military members themselves. They played the Vicenza Cougars. Bizarre! There is another senior missionary couple, the Williams, in nearby Caserta; they are military relations missionaries, and invited us to the game. It was fun; it fed Blaine's football appetite a little. As long as we serve missions on our current schedule, he'll miss every single football season; this is the third in a row. I wish I had lots of photos of the people we've visited in the last little while - they are, naturally, the high point of our time here. Every time we make a visit, we feel ever more grateful to be here. We feel how much God loves each individual, and they become precious to us as well. We feel fortunate to know them, and know that these relationships will deepen in the next year and a half. People have heavy burdens, but we can bear testimony that putting ourselves in God's hands and striving to live his commandments brings blessings. We love this place!