Sunday, May 3, 2009

Homemade Ravioli

Sister Bennion in our Italy apron

Homemade Ravioli

Sorella Bennion and Sorella Cheesman wanted to make ravioli with a Chinese investigator we had all met at English class. We offered to have the missionaries cook the dinner and then teach a lesson to Lei Fon in our home. What a fun evening, and even though we only had a very poor rolling pin to use, we made delicious pasta. Some of the ravioli were filled with a spinach and cheese concoction, and some were filled with sautéed garlic, onion, and ham. We all helped with the preparation, cooking and definitely the eating. After the meal, the missionaries showed the DVD “Finding Happiness” on our computer, since we have no TV. Lei Fon was so excited to recognize Hong Kong in the DVD. We listened to it in Mandarin and then in English. The English version was filmed in the US. The church is so awesome! “It” cares about all people everywhere and encourages people of every language to find happiness and joy in the truth that the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches.

Friday was a holiday in Italy, similar to our Labor Day in the US and Canada. We finished up some work in the office, then went to eat Kabobs – so delicious – with the Pearson’s. A large pork roast is slow cooked on a vertical rotisserie. When someone orders a Kabob, the outside cooked meat is shaved off thin, served with lettuce, tomato, cabbage (green and purple) and hot sauce. In the afternoon, we had the day free so we visited Borghese Park for the first time. That is where the best museum in Rome is situated. We didn’t go into the museum, it was much too busy a day, but we walked around in the park and people watched while we practiced our Italian on each other. We are back to trying to study 2 hours a day. If determination means anything, we may get this yet. Even with what we know, it’s fun to be able to read signs, pick out familiar words in conversation, and make fools of ourselves trying to say something meaningful.

Saturday we had the car! Yeah! So, we headed north from Rome to Lake Bracciano, which we could see on the map. We ended up driving around the lake – which is quite large, but we got side-tracked as usual and ended up at Lake Martigano. There we hiked and sat in our chairs and people watched. It was a fun, relaxing day.

Lake Martigano

Lake Bracciano

Several members of the L’Aquila Branch, where the earthquake struck so hard, attended our ward today in Rome. The first sister to bear her testimony said: “I promise not to cry but it will be hard.” Then she started to cry. She had lost her home in the earthquake. They have been living in a tent city in L’Aquila. “Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love to nourish my soul with His teachings. Nothing is more important than my testimony of Jesus Christ and my family.” Several others added their testimonies that they had learned much through this terrible earthquake. In just a few hours, there was sustaining help from the church and the people of Italy. They bore pure testimony of the Savior.

Castle in Bracciano