Blaine joins us today; if you haven't received his email update, now you have the privilege!
Ciao!
I
hope you enjoy following my mission with these e-mail updates. I planned on setting up a Facebook page when
I retired but have not had time. We are
at the halfway mark of our 18-month mission.
We are in full gear and loving it.
We
continue to work with our young people here as our primary assignment. We are
also charged with strengthening the Stake in the Florence area. This is a very broad assignment. In addition to these, we have been given many
specific assignments over the past few months.
Our mission continues to evolve.
We
are adjusting well to the language and culture.
We can communicate effectively. I
have to listen with such concentration that after about two hours in a meeting,
my head starts busting! It can be very
intense. I find if you add “-ione” (ee-o-nay)
or “-are”(ahr-ay) to the end of most English words, you can make an Italian
equivalent. The other day I told someone to click-are on the computer and
discovered that it was actually the word for “to click”. I usually am not so lucky with my word
creations.
We
are getting used to the different culture; it doesn’t seem so strange as it did
6-8 months ago. There are a few things I
will not get used to: there is no salt
in the Tuscan bread; in Tuscany (unlike southern Italy), the food is actually
quite bland. We overnighted in a home of
a church member 3 hours away last month, and they offered cookies and cake
(stuff like Twinkies) for breakfast. All
the Italians close their e-mails with “a big hug” or some other affectionate
closing. I still can’t do that- it just
seems too weird.
We
live very simply. We brought two
suitcases apiece. I have a few shirts, pants and suits, and a couple tee shirts
for around the house. Some days I put
on a white shirt and tie in the morning, and never leave the house (working on
projects). Some days we leave in the
morning, pack a lunch and don’t return until near midnight. We have no routine day. I am very comfortable with routines, and like
to set my life in patterns … we have very few here, I just go with the
flow. The other day I shaved with
Linda’s mousse (instead of shaving cream) and didn’t know the difference till
the next day! We have become very
flexible. Our life is very simple and
many things that used to matter don’t much anymore.
We
have done a little sightseeing, actually very little. We have checked out several towns built on
the mountaintops hundreds of years ago.
They are always interesting with their walls, towers and ancient
churches. We have yet to visit Cinque
Terre and Venice, which are both within a 3-hours’ drive.
If you
do a tour of Europe, look us up; we have an empty bedroom in our apartment and
have put up a few guests already. We are
busy, so we will essentially ignore you, but it is an available place to stay
just outside of Florence, Italy!
We
really have a great mission. We get to
do so many things. I love variety. Our main work is to strengthen and encourage
young adults. We are teaching several Institute
religion classes during the week. We
organize and guide a weekly Sunday evening young adult, “home evening”. We guide ward young adult leaders in planning
and implementing their activities. We
spend much time visiting with and encouraging young people in four of the wards
in the Florence Stake. This entails many
counseling situations: depression, unemployment, dating, engagements, spiritual
problems, homesickness, physical illnesses, peacemaking, family problems and
education. We visit and closely nurture
new young adult members of the church in the Stake. We
make visits and teach lessons to struggling less active young church
members.
In
addition to working with young adults, we have been asked to work with the
youth. I was a Boy Scout leader for 25 years
in Memphis. We have been given an assignment
as stake YM/YW training specialists. We have done some very thorough stake YM/YW
training. We will continue with follow
up training in the subsequent months. Linda
serves as the stake’s young woman’s organization secretary (which involves us
in regular stake youth activities).
One
of the most exciting (and time-consuming) things we have done the past 3-4
months is to start up a BYU Idaho “Pathway” program in Florence for the Tuscany
region (visit pathway.lds.org for more information). Pathway is a 1-year
educational program sponsored by the Church Education System (and BYU-Idaho),
that provides educational options to those that may otherwise not have good
options. It is comprised of on-line BYU-I
classes and a once-a-week “gathering” meeting in our Florence chapel (which
becomes an extension of BYU-Idaho campus for an evening). It is an incredibly ingenious, low-cost way
to offer a college education for those who lack confidence, time or money for a
traditional on-campus experience. We did
the startup, recruiting and enrolling.
On an ongoing basis, we oversee administrative needs, organize, and
attend the weekly Thursday evening gatherings, which are facilitated by the
students themselves. As “Pathway missionaries”,
we have wonderful opportunity to study the course materials, to be prepared to
facilitate gatherings. In addition to
this “Pathway” study, we also have daily time to study language, scriptures and
prepare lessons.
In
our spare time, we support and encourage this side of our stake’s eighteen
young missionaries in teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have had some choice teaching
opportunities with them. Our job is to
become friends with their investigators to help in the transition to church
membership. Sister Hyde and I
periodically do park tracking just to help us keep focused on our message and
purpose here. We try to talk with
everyone everywhere about the message of the restored Gospel. We have had some wonderful experiences.
This
area of Italy was the last district in Italy.
A stake was recently created. As
such, the stake presidency greatly values our experience and advice. They tell us they understand branches and
districts but have never been a stake before and do not know how one
functions. This is a very awesome
responsibility as they frequently call and meet with us to ask for our consultation
and assistance on a variety of subjects. The fact they listen to us places a large
responsibility upon us. I speak very deliberately,
not sharing anything unless I feel the sure guidance of the Holy Ghost. We are currently assisting in training the Bishoprics
in the Stake (I travel with a member of the stake presidency to select wards). It is incredible how open and teachable our
stake presidency and Bishops are. We
have become very close friends with many leaders. We would have never imagined such a rare
opportunity to share our experience and understanding of how the Lords kingdom
works.
We
have had several opportunities to speak during sacrament meetings, (twice with
only an hour’s notice to prepare). I
always carry a few talks ready in my heart, some notes in my notebook and a
good Italian dictionary for such situations.
We have had many opportunities to give blessings. This has been a very rich experience.
We
love our mission. This is truly a wonderful and fulfilling experience, though
not without its setbacks and heartaches, for in spite of our efforts, we see some
young people make poor decisions. For
the most part, we see progress. We have
had numerous rewarding one-on-one experiences, where we felt we were able to offer
encouragement.
In
addition to working one-on-one, we participate in the strengthening of leaders
and moving forward initiatives like Pathway, Young Adults, and YM/YW programs, all
of which can bless many. We could not think of a way in which our
mission could be more interesting and rewarding. As I said, I love variety.
We
have spiritual experiences on a regular basis, where we see the hand of the
Lord sustaining us in His work. We are
not here to enjoy, but to serve; it does not seem right that we are having such
a good time, I expected to make some sacrifice!
We
have made a hundreds of friends. I feel
we should be here at this place and at this time.
We
had an experience a few weeks ago which helped us gain a larger perspective of
why we are here. We took a 3-hour road
trip north, to visit a man to whom I taught the gospel forty years previous (when
I was a 19 year old on a mission to Italy).
I discovered the fullness that he has experienced as a faithful servant
of God (as a priesthood leader in his wards and stakes), rearing a beautiful God-fearing
family, and seeking consistently to lead others to the grace of Christ that he
had discovered. It was a moving
experience. Shortly before we concluded
our joyous reunion, I was sharing some personal challenges in my life. He listened, and then shared his wisdom and
counsel for several minutes. I was moved
to tears as I thought how, forty years ago, a small seed had been planted and
had grown into something rich, beautiful and productive, from which I was now
eating the fruit.
This
is why I am here. Someone planted a seed
in my life years ago. It is a good seed,
and I desire to share it. If you would
like to know more about what I am doing and why, view my personal profile at
www.mormon.org/me/GPBT/blaine .
Elder
Hyde
