Social Media is Overwhelming

So I have at least been posting on Facebook, but some of my friends don't do Facebook.  I ought to spend more time on this blog...but I haven't been...Please forgive me.  I know I can manage my time better.

We are almost at the halfway mark of our mission.  I marvel to write that; I know in no time at all I'll be shaking my head over the passage of the entire 18 months.  Every day we have marvelous experiences sharing our faith and listening to the experiences and feelings of others.  Every day our testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ deepens, clarifies, strengthens, marvels.

These photos reflect just a small part of all this, but enjoy!

  On the left is just a corner of the  temple, but not too many photos are taken of the chapel/stake center that is also on the temple site.  The whole square is so welcoming and peaceful.

I selected these photos randomly; we love romanesco and artichokes - but right now both are out of season.

This and the next two photos are from the Jewish ghetto, in existence from the 1500s.  Today, it's a happenin' place.  Life is ... ironic.

One of many fun encounters we have at the Visitors Center.  I didn't recognize this sweet lady at first, but when upon hearing I grew up in Hailey, Idaho, she exclaimed "I'm from Carey!"  I knew immediately that she is a Murdock - though her name now is Peggy Merrell.  Our families were friends, and her dad and mine were in the stake presidency together.  Love it!

The next few photos help you conceptualize one of the reasons the temple site is so peaceful and welcoming.  Sometimes when I walk around it, it seems as if even the birds and the bees feel it.

Blaine carries his iPad around all the time - it has a wealth of information and pictures to share.  He also wears a hat outside to protect his face from the sun, having had several small cancers removed.  So some of the sisters went to the Lego store and made a Lego Anziano Hyde, and attached it to our locker in the break room.

In June we had a wonderful visit from my brother Steve and his wife Young Ju.  Here we are waiting for the metro, Rome's subway.

I think he had never had a birthday cake quite like this one!  Yum!

This is one of the best connections yet!  I was leaving the VC and two Asian brothers walked in.  We exchanged greetings and info.  When they told me they were from South Korea, I told them my sister-in-law was also from there.  Same city!  Wow, that's interesting.  Upshot:  they're dear friends!  Boise, Idaho and Taegu, South Korea, meet at the Rome temple!!!

The Italy Rome West zone, last zone conference for our wonderful President couple the Pickerds.  We've know them for two missions.  Welcome to the Smiths, just as wonderful!

On to a couple of fun Blaine photos:  

 his favorite:  pizza cappriciosa

This is how you rinse the shower after cleaning.

When the sister missionaries arrive before we do, they have to wait because we have the keys to the breakroom.

  In July our granddaughter Abbey and her friend Aitana came from Barcelona for a visit.  Too short!  But fun, and such a joy to have her here.

One of the four olive trees on the main piazza.  They are 400-500 years old.  They were transplanted from northern Italy, but there are olive trees around the perimeter of the grounds that are native to the site, and are 150-200 years old.

Children enjoying the puddles after a storm

My pack mule!

We got so tired of waiting for the bus that this is our new mode of transportation to and from

 the Visitors Center!

 

Aidan, Abbey's younger brother, came for a visit this month.  Boy did we have fun!

Celebrating a baptism (third person on the left).  Our friend Valter has come to the VC almost every day for three months.  We all feel a part of his conversion process.

Poignant, Frustrating, Weird, Wonderful

My goodness.  Life is amazing.  Crazy.  Weird.  

We’ve had occasion to look back over the forty years of our family's story; we’ve agreed that every life, surprisingly, is a fascinating story.  As our mission president says, “You can’t make this stuff up!”  We laugh about that occasionally as it relates to our experiences here; but it is also true of our very own lives.

A couple of days ago there was a funeral in the Napoli branch.  It didn’t occur to anyone to inform us; we are new, we’re only there every other Sunday...but the sister who passed away, who has not been active in church for a few years, was one whom we had visited in the last month.  She was delighted at our visit; we were surprised at how very “active” she still was, really, even though she hadn’t attended much lately (severe health issues in the family are a big reason).  She invited us for dinner that Sunday and talked of wanting to start up a family home evening group at her home again, something that had been done but lapsed over the years.  

The dinner invitation had to be postponed, the family was “influenzati” (sick with the flu).  We called again a few days later, but she said they were still not quite up to a visit.  Before we could make another call, she was gone.  It’s nobody’s fault that we didn’t know about the funeral; we had been out of touch with the Napoli branch all week, which was unusual; we just feel bad that we couldn’t have been more of a support to the family.  I am sure they were well cared for; there will still be things to do for them in the future.  

Life is poignant.

It is also a bit frustrating; lots of appointments have fallen through recently and we’ve found ourselves spending more time at home than we feel comfortable with.  Not that we don’t have stuff to do - we need to study the Church’s Self Reliance program that we are helping to implement, and we both had talks to prepare (for the baptism of Patrizia last Saturday!  yay!)...plus, with Amy’s family coming next week from Barcelona, first to Rome where we will meet them and play tourist for a couple of days before coming back here for a few more days before they fly out on Christmas day, I’ve used the time to do some planning and preparing.  We just feel like we’re using our time best when we’re working with folks one on one.

We did have a wonderful visit with L. at her home.  She is so strong, but she doesn’t understand that she doesn’t have to be strong alone.  She thinks she has to shoulder all her own burdens and others’ too, and she’s wearing herself out.  Then there’s R. and her mother A.; we had a family home evening with them and the two little ones (Dad’s on business in China, of all places).  R. is worn out, too, carrying the giant share of homemaking and having perfection in her sights.  We encouraged them both to reach out to a loving Savior through studying his words, turning to Him in prayer, and coming to worship Him at the Sacrament table.  Neither of them was in church - again - but things take time.  We are there for them.  They are wonderful.

The baptism was Saturday afternoon; Patrizia is so sweet, we just love her. We could sense that she was deeply contented with her decision. After the baptism came the branch Christmas party, so it was a very festive evening. We had a wonderful time because our friends Rachele and Antonio showed up after we had called to invite them earlier; we sat at the same table as Patrizia and her husband Mimmo, and another missionary couple, the Simoncini, who were in the area to do a Self Reliance presentation today in Napoli (we both served together in the Milan mission, so we're both doing our second mission now, it was so neat to be with them). We all had a great time watching the program and eating a great dinner. They even liked my flourless orange saffron cake.

Sunday night we went caroling in downtown Pozzuoli with the missionaries and the youth of the branch here.  Lots of Christmas lights and lots of people - and lots of noise.  It was tough to find a place where we could be heard!   A couple of missionaries handed out #lighttheworld passalong cards as we sang.  Elder Jackson was able to share a copy of The Book of Mormon.  Yay!

Afterward everyone came to our house for Italian style hot chocolate (super thick and super chocolate) and pan d’oro - and homemade heath bar type candy, made by Eden and her mom Lani.  I think it was a good time for the kids.  Parents and even visiting grandparents came along as well.  It was the biggest crowd we’ve had in our house.

That’s the update for now.  It is so good to be here and see the hand of God, so merciful and longsuffering, in our lives.  We love this place!  Happy Christmas preparations to all.  We love you.

Okay, these photos are out of order. I just like this photo from Saturday night's Christmas party so much I put it first. Two of our lovely Young Women, both Italians (among a majority of Americans in the Flegreo Branch here in Pozzuoli).

We had a zone training about a week ago, at the end of which we staged our own Nativity scene replete with angels, wise men, sheep, inn keepers, etc.   We had the privilege of being Mary and Joseph, with our little Asian Baby Jesus...

I love how the Pozzuoli elders have this great camaraderie.  We were inspecting their apartment.

The offerings at the fitness gym next to our church building.  Rather eclectic...

Mmmmm.  The last remnants of pasta with telline (tel-ee-nay) before I slurped them up.  Lunch with Mario

Elders Jackson and Draghi with Patrizia and Mimmo before the baptism.

These great folks, Anziano and Sorella Simoncini, were part of the mission of Milano when we were there, and now are in the Rome mission with us too!

Tasting the fruit

Hmm...I think I'm just going to post photos and talk about them...

  Elders Berger and Silver got matching ties and had to show them off.

Every Tuesday and Thursday in both the Napoli and the Pozzuoli branch, a free English class takes place.  The missionaries do it as a service - and it's also true that several baptisms have occurred by this means.  The above is obviously a special Halloween English class, at Pozzuoli.  The very American looking treats are thanks to the branch president's wife, Becky Trimble.  Over the top!

Wednesday we celebrated Anna's birthday (the one on the left) with her friend Antonella, who has been studying the Church for awhile, at Gilda's house.  Gilda was here when we were here back in the day, 43 years ago - and she is one of the most gracious people you will ever meet.
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A baptism in the ocean.  I love this photo.  The newly baptized member is Fabian, second from left.  He was baptized by Elder Gay, to his right.  The ones on the outside, Elder Spencer and Elder Ridd, were witnesses.  Afterward, Fabian gave Elder Ridd a big hug, lifting him off the ground - and the waves took them both down!  Since he was already soaked, Fabian then turned to Elder Spencer and slam dunked him in.  Elder Gay had already embraced Fabian, so he was spared the full douse.  It was a brisk, windy day; those elders were all chattering by the time we got back to our cars.  They didn't change till we got back to church!  It must have been an interesting sight for other people, both at the beach and on the street by the church in Naples!

 Elders Youngblood, Gay, Fabian, Elder Spencer, Fabian's friend Lucy, Elder Ridd, and those other folks.

I can't stop taking photos from the church!  But look at the sun on the sea!  It's like liquid gold.

We spoke in Sacrament Meeting at Pozzuoli Branch Sunday.  Afterward, we went with Sisters Hunter and Crandell to eat lunch with Imma and Peppe.  These are fun folks!  And Imma is a true Italian mamma - we ate pasta - don't know how they make just plane pasta and sauce so good, but it is SO good; fat sausages with oven baked potatoes and a side dish of field mushrooms and tomatoes (Blaine raved about it so much that they gave me their precious field mushrooms and told me how to make it.  They're in the freezer, I'm waiting for the opportune time); then, when we were quite satisfied and thought to have finished, along came potato croquettes (mashed potatoes formed into a tube around a piece of mozzarella, rolled in bread crumbs, and fried) fresh out of the pan, followed by arancini (rice balls with peas and ham, same process).  Oh. my. goodness.  Poor Sister Hunter is Imma's pet project; I guess she wants to fatten her up.  The rest of us took our own portions, but Imma took charge of Sister Hunter's plate herself!  After that came fruit, then cookies from the pastry shop.  We felt to roll ourselves out the door and down the stairs.  It was such a delightful time, though, they really are delightful people.

Sorella (Sister) Crandell's birthday was the 29th and Sorella Hunter's is today; in celebration I made this pear-rosemary pie with cheese crust.  We took it, along with Blaine's "famous" sandwiches and other picnic items, to the Amalfi Coast Monday, the missionaries' PDay (P for preparation, during which they have time to do touristy stuff, along with laundry, shopping, writing home, etc.).  We ate on the beach at Vietri Sul Mare, where the drive to Sorrento along the famed coast begins.  The following photos were taken on that drive, and of our picnic.

 The Mediterranean on a beautiful autumn day; Anziano Hyde thought more than once about what it would be like to be sailing.

 The three sorelle - me, Sorella Crandell and Sorella Hunter

Three sorelle and one anziano, in front of "The two brothers", a Vietri Sul Mare landmark.

IF I remember correctly, this is Amalfi...

This is ... Minore?

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This is what happens when you have to take a "shortcut" to the autostrada (freeway) from the Amalfi Coast highway.

I already posted this on FB, but it deserves a re-post.  Saw this rock that had the form of so many Madonna-and-Child images I've seen, so I brought it home and gave it its true identity.

District meeting this morning in Naples.  Blaine, Anziano Stratton, Anziano Youngblood, Anziano Ridd, Anziano Bellini, Anziano Gay and Anziano Spencer.   Book of Mormon, Alma 57:27.

Just this evening we had a lovely family home evening with a couple from Napoli Branch, and two sisters, our newly baptized sisters also from that branch, along with the 8-year-old son of one of them.  I don't know if you can get a feel from my posts of the joyful spirit that this missionary work brings, but I must tell you, it is there, and it is sweet!

Yeah, we love this place.