What an interesting and different week! On Thursday and Friday we enjoyed a first ever Couple’s Conference at the Mission Villa. President and Sister Acerson preempted a 3-month Conference with the other missionaries to have the couples in our mission meet together. At that conference, President Acerson challenged us to pray in Italian and to bear testimony as often as possible in Italian.

The second day we visited Paul outside the Wall, which contains the tomb of Paul of Tarsus. It is a giant church and a very beautiful one. We didn’t have a camera with us so we will include pictures of the inside another week. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the other mission couples better and the training we received.

Saturday included a day of watching sail surfers on the Mediterranean. They were very good and put on quite a show. I’m sure there were 50 or 60 guys taking up with their sails. They would lie back in a harness attached to the sail, while standing on a board, kind of like a wake board, and then the wind would pull them upright so they were standing on the board. It was amazing how much height they were able to get and how many tricks they could perform. One hot-dogger was turning 360’s and put on quite a show. When he came up on shore we clapped for him and then he was really out to entertain us. Will said it was ballet on the sea. With so many in the area, it was surprising they never got tangled up, but it didn’t happen.


A good friend of Paula’s from Logan, Utah, arrived in Rome on Saturday. We picked Debbie and her daughter Abby up for church. Francesco surprised us by showing up at church so we invited all three of them to lunch. Abby speaks Spanish and because it is similar to Italian, she and Francesco quite enjoyed speaking to each other. Afterwards, the Davis’ and us went downtown to sightsee. Deb spoke very highly of Paula. We love opportunities to show off Rome and Deb and Abby were real fun people to be around.
Debbie and Abby Davis

Abby and Francesco on the bus!


Yes, we do have another dinner appointment, with Francesco cooking Italian on Wednesday. This time I am taking charge of my own house. We will have only one pasta and one main dish, not a 6-course meal. We will provide a salad and gelato for dessert.

The heat wave has truly hit Rome. The hotter it gets, the busier the downtown area is, and the emptier the outlying areas are. The Italians move to the beaches and resorts, leaving the tourists to swelter in the sun. We enjoy our air-conditioning at the office, and our well-used fan at home.