A Wonderful Thing: Senior Missionary Adventures: Italy

I guess I'm a philosopher by nature. I feel like I ought to fill this blog with details of our everyday senior-missionary life, like getting an oil change and enjoying the wall art...but then what I'm learning from it kind of takes over.

This time, though, I think I will just give y'all an idea of what we do. We work with five pairs of young missionaries, two in the Pozzuoli/Flegreo area, and three in Naples. One of those pairs is comprised of sister missionaries - in Pozzuoli...the mission president just can't bring himself to move sisters to Naples! And even though there were four of us sister missionaries in Naples when I was here in 1973, I can understand this caution. Naples is truly the best city I know - but it is not a "tame" place. It is the mission president's responsibility to provide as much safety as is within his power.

What do we do with these missionaries? We go with them to teach people who have expressed interest in the teachings of the church. We are not the primary teachers; the elders and sisters have that stewardship. What we are "good at" is sharing our own personal witness of the various principles being taught, as well as experiences from our looong life.

For us these teaching opportunities are nearly always accompanied by awe, that these young men and women, so inexpert in so many ways, nevertheless carry a wisdom and an authority beyond themselves. It is a marvel to behold.

They attain this wisdom and authority by being 1) "set apart" through priesthood authority for that calling and 2) by much daily scripture study, prayer, planning and studying together, and by practicing strict obedience to the regulations set up for missionaries. They avoid distractions by focusing solely on the work that they gave 18 months-2 years to do, full time. They are happy to do it (for the most part; some come because they feel pressured to do so, and until they undergo some kind of metamorphosis wherein they become self-directed, they can feel pretty miserable sometimes). They also grow, very much, through service. They try to help folks out in any way needed. They are just the most light-filled, light-hearted young people I know, and it is a delight to work with them.

We also have fun. We laugh a lot. We eat pizza a lot!

The sisters in our zone, along with pre-mission Gioele

When we aren't with the missionaries, we are often visiting members of the Church who, for any variety of reasons, are no longer "active" members. I think I've mentioned that work every now and then. We get to know them, we try to see things from their perspective. We learn to love them. We try to encourage them. We are all just brothers and sisters, "working out our salvation."

Sometimes we feel a fair measure of frustration with attitudes that get in the way, among active members as well as others. Sometimes it feels like we're offering a major banquet, holding a door wide open and a chair ready, but one thing or another holds them back. It's distressing...but it's also a great crucible of learning and growth. How often I have walked - and do still - those same paths. Encourage and stay encouraged, that's the key. And this cannot be done alone, no matter how spiritually strong a person is.

We all learn to walk by faith. And power and grace come as a result. What a marvel.

Last Saturday, another baptism at the sea. Sapele, baptized by his friend Peter, a returned missionary/refugee, who is continuing the work he started in his native Nigeria.

Last week, we were so preoccupied with the goings on in TX, given that Andrew, Sara and their family were right in the middle of it and we hadn't yet heard how the night had gone for them, whether their house had been flooded or not - we had a hard time concentrating on anything. So we drove about an hour and a half into the hills and went hiking.

At a certain point, we took a wrong turn and came upon this luxury resort/spa. I loved the juxtaposition of the Rolls convertible and the vintage Fiat 500!

Had one of the most enjoyable meals yet, in Telese Terme, at Locanda della Pacchiana.

A week or so earlier, we went to Posillipo, overlooking Napoli on one side and Pozzuoli and environs on the other, here at the huge Parco Virgiliano.

Pozzuoli side, with Bacoli, across the bay, and the islands of Procida and Ischia in the distance.

Napoli side, with the Amalfi peninsula and Capri in the distance.

Here Sorella Abbate (born in Napoli, raised in Como) and I are gesturing toward Bacoli, Procida and Ischia from the patio of our church in Pozzuoli, showing our new Sorella Contreras (from Veracruz, Mexico) a bit of the layout.

Just have to put in this photo of our GPS. It kind of shows why driving in Napoli is Blaine's greatest stress! We always enjoy August in Italy, because practically everyone goes on vacation, meaning traffic and parking are, if only temporarily, a breeze.

I took the two photos below when we were out walking on a not-too-hot day, and there were clouds in the sky. Silly me! I thought that meant rain! But I can say that yesterday, probably about 3 weeks later, we did finally get some good rain.

So Blaine has never been a cat person, really...but this is getting serious!

Yes, we are actually feeding her.

This bush grows multicolored, multi-patterned flowers. In the heat, with no rain. Amazing.

No words for this sweet photo

A few pics of those wonderful missionaries I was talking about, plus some others in the Napoli zone with whom we do not work on a regular basis, but see them at least once every six weeks.

That guy smiling directly at the camera is Anziano/Elder Draghi, who is about to finish his mission. We knew him a year ago here in Pozzuoli - but we knew him even before that, because he comes from Rimini, which is in the area where we served our first mission. He helped us there with the camps we put together for the Young Women and Young Men. Man we love these guys!

In the pic below are two special people (besides Blaine of course, and good ol' Anziano/Elder Friedman, who is now starting a new adventure at BYU): Gioele, a Napoli girl who will leave this month for a mission in Lyon, France; and Sam, who is the branch mission leader in Napoli, and always comes to zone conference. Great guy. He's from New Zealand; his wife Lori works at the US Embassy. Missing is Giuseppe, a Napoli guy who leaves in November for the Milan Mission.

Below is Mamadou, from Senegal, though I'm not sure I spelled his name correctly. We met him selling hand drums and other wares at the Fourth of July spectacular in Carney Park, the place where the US military holds all their activities. We ended up buying ten djembes from him last month, with monies from the church humanitarian fund. There are three (at least) refugee camps near the church in Naples, with around five or six hundred Africans who have virtually nothing to do but wait for their documents. The week before last we started a drum circle in church on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, followed by Italian class. We've had about 8 - 10 participants so far. If it takes off we'll buy more drums and other instruments.

I seem to have taken a holiday haitus! Highlights of the past few weeks, followed by some great photos:

Meeting Fabian for pizza, late night after work, being Mom and Dad for this new convert away from home (Paraguay). So wonderful and sweet, you just want all the best for him. And he is full of good will and good works. Watching as we talked with the waiter before Fabian arrived, as he did the Napolitano song and dance; these folks just can't talk without MOVING! Wished we had a video.

Exchanging Christmas greetings/hugs/goodies with many, many lovely, lovely people, also full of good will. Members, active and stalled; not members, but interested; not members but ... full of good will.

Napoli at Christmastime: a special kind of magic. Fantastic decorations, people in the streets, markets, presepi - those fabulous Nativity scenes that feature a whole village - good will, good will, good will ... despite the traffic! The weather was fabulous.

Meeting Amy, Lawton, Abbey, Aidan, Olive and Ian at the airport in Rome - without Blaine, unfortunately; he was at home, sick in bed, trying to get better for our return in a couple of days. We stayed in a super rented apartment, took the metro to see the big sites - the Coliseum and Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navaro, the Pantheon, Castel Sant'Angelo and St. Peter's. Rome is a fun place. We found a great, reasonable trattoria near the Coliseum, Luzzi's - amazing food, best 1/4 roasted chicken I've ever eaten, and the chicory could stand up to any Southern greens in TN or MS.

Fun with grandchildren. These kids are Wonderful!!! They love each other, they are lively and interested, affectionate, and only moderately bored by "one more castle or cathedral" (after living in Spain for 2 years now!). Grandpa Blaine got better in time to enjoy most of the comings and goings, although he wasn't quite up to the trip to Vesuvius and Herculaneum.

Apropos, we did not actually hike to the crater at Vesuvius; after paying 5 euros each car for parking, then 2 each person for the shuttle to and from the trailhead, we were met with the news that even Ian would have to pay the 10 each to hike 850 meters to the crater. That was the last straw for Amy; 70 euros to hike 850 meters, and Syrians without a place to live or food to eat! We all agreed, and walked back to the parking lot instead of waiting for the shuttle, during which time we agreed to spend some of the money we had saved to buy finger foods to put in baggies, and delivered them over the next few days to the Africans who wait at the stoplight to wash your windshield or to sell you a pack of tissues; or to the homeless on the sidewalks on the way to the train station.

Caroling with the entire Napoli Zone of missionaries, about 3 dozen all together, I'd say. Amy's crew joined us as well. It was wonderful; people loved it. Many stopped, some sang along. Some of the missionaries went out into the crowd to share the lyrics on their iPads; others passed out "Sii una Luce/Light the World" cards and answered questions. Very jolly and good-will-filled.

Afterward we went into Citta` Vecchia/Old Napoli; we ate gelato, saw the world's first pizzeria, ate other Napolitano specialties, marveled at the hectic arrangement of historical architecture, rubbed Pulcinella's nose, and wandered down Christmas Street, where they sell presepi and all the little characters you can buy to put in them.

Truly celebrating Christmas. Reading scriptures and talking about the Babe of Bethlehem and who He is to us.

Enjoying the lovely place Amy and Lawton's family were privileged to stay, thanks to the generosity of the Barros family, in CA for the holidays. Fabulous place, with an equally fabulous view of the Bay of Pozzuoli.

Enjoying Amy's cooking! Man, she's good!

Saying a reluctant goodbye, then getting back to the missionary "routine", if there is such a thing.

We made goodie plates at New Years and took them to folks in both Pozzuoli and Napoli; took about three evenings. Saw our good friends from Florence, the Evertsens, in town to visit the Lassen family in our branch, at whose home we enjoyed New Years Eve paella, in good company. We were going to go with everyone to watch fireworks from the balcony at the church, until we found out that you couldn't go home at midnight, but would have to wait at least an hour for the excitement to die down and the streets to clear. We came home and heard all the noise from our bed. They don't have organized fireworks, here, by the way, they have chaos. If you want to see some of it, you can go to my FB share of Jan. 1.

We love this place, these folks, and this work. It's crazy intense, but such a privilege and such a blessing.

Now for a whole bunch of photos:

Above is a cute little random tile arrangement, on the beam between the kitchen and the living room of one of the missionary apartments in Naples.

This is a house we saw while we were on a trip to find one of my old missionary contacts from back in 1973. Unfortunately, she isn't there anymore; I'll have to pursue that. But I was so taken with this villa that I stopped to take a photo. A lady getting out of her car asked if we'd like to see the place - it belongs to her parents - well, at least the top apartment. I took photos of the doors of the apartments, of the balcony, the roof, the view, etc., etc. The lady's mom was very willing to show us around and we left with an invitation to come back, having had a pretty good introductory gospel conversation as well.

Those wonderful Smithlings, in the sweet apartment in Rome. Aren't they adorable?

Anziani Youngblood and Ridd, one last pic before the latter was transferred to Rome. He bought this very Italian hat at the actual place of fabrication, not far from their apartment (the same one with the tile arrangement above). He bought it for 5 euros. We spent almost 20 each for the ones we bought in Florence! Best wishes to Anziano Ridd!

So the Sunday we were in Rome was spent with the Malara family, who have moved from Cuneo, where we visited them twice during our first mission, to Rome. Nic was, as you can see, ecstatic to have us! I love Amy's pleasure at his pleasure.

Dear Carlo. We were sorry Blaine wasn't able to come to enjoy the great time, great food, wonderful people full of good will.

Yeah, you know this place. It turned out to be a rather solemn experience for me; when you're in the place where history really happened, I guess you think about it on a deeper level. One sobering thought: are today's reality shows and R-rated violence any different from what people here beheld with rabid enjoyment?

The Roman Forum was sooo interesting, varied in antiquities.

Sooo many people at Trevi Fountain, this was the best I could do!

Trajan's column and the Smiths. I like their accomplishments better.

The Pantheon. An amazing 2,000-year-old masterpiece. Fabulous place

Castel Sant Angelo, where the Pope escaped with his life when crazed, famished, unpaid Spanish soldiers went berserk in 1527, only because there was apparently an underground tunnel to St. Peter's.

Ian and St. Peter's

After the failed trip to Vesuvius, the excavation at Herculaneum. FASCINATING. Lawton has our sack lunch in hand. When you're with Amy, you won't spend a lot of money and you will STILL eat really well!

Loved the random poppy!

Herculaneum, like Pompeii was buried under ash from Vesuvius, but even deeper, up to 2 stories. So much, nearly 2,000 years later, still visible. Still speaks of people who lived here...just a moment ago...

Some little heathen god I suppose, in a cave sort of place

Storage pots in a tavern. Chestnuts were found in them.

Our glorious Christmas table, adorned with the Barros girls' magnetic building shapes!

Thanks Barros family!

I went walking with Sorella Crandell, one of our sister missionaries, who wanted to say goodbye to folks before her transfer to Rome (her sick companion and another sorella were at home). Took advantage of the experience to take more Pozzuoli/bay photos

Here's a presepe made by Roberto, the husband of one of the branch members whom we visit a lot. He made it when they were first married and pulls it out every year.