{Survived}
14 years ago
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Written: 12 April 2009
Yesterday was such an excellent day. We had an Easter miracle. It was our Preparation Day and we were waiting at the bus stop to go to downtown Rome. We were meeting the other office couple at the church. A Filipino lady approached us and said she was a member of the church but was inactive. She had been thinking a lot lately about coming back to church. Fatima was on her way to work, but she rode the bus with us to the church to see where it is. She lives on our street – Renato Fucini. She had been ready to leave for work a half hour earlier, but was slow in leaving her house for some reason. We showed her the church and gave her an English Book of Mormon – the one I had been marking – and invited her to our scone night on Monday night. Afterwards, we were upset that we hadn’t gotten her phone number and address. But we felt strongly that the Lord’s spirit had prompted our encounter.
The day was spent pleasurably in downtown Rome. We had an Italian man with us who helped us understand much of the history. He took us to specific famous works of art and sculpture. After lunch we left Giuseppe and the Pearson's and hung out at Nouvana Square and Trevi Fountain people watching. It was a very relaxed day. We took a different bus back to Termini and then decided to take a different bus home than we usually take. As we walked to the bus stop, we realized that Fatima was there. Incredible! She rode the bus home with us, visiting together the entire way. She showed us where she lived and gave us her phone number. We showed her where we live. Fatima is going home to the Philippines for one month and when she returns, she has promised to go to church with us. The story is much more involved that this, but the important part is that she recognized the Lord’s hand in meeting us.
Yes, I am making scones for about 20 missionaries and investigators at our apartment tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see who actually shows up. I will make about 4 batches of dough and hope that is enough for everyone to eat their fill. Of course, we will have honey butter and jams for toppings and milk or water to drink.
Today is Easter Sunday and we had 6 of the missionaries in the district over for Sunday dinner. It was a fun afternoon and evening. I think they were all glad to have an Easter dinner appointment.
Love, the Sommerfeldts
PS Our Internet has been down and I couldn't post the blog. Everyone went on Easter Vacation - even our Internet.
The scone night went great and Fatima showed up, for which we were thrilled! It's Tuesday night and we are madly baking cinnamon rolls from left over scone dough. I made 6 batches instead of 4. If I can keep Will out of the cinnamon buns, it will be another miracle. The missionaries coming into the office are really getting spoiled.
Yesterday was such an excellent day. We had an Easter miracle. It was our Preparation Day and we were waiting at the bus stop to go to downtown Rome. We were meeting the other office couple at the church. A Filipino lady approached us and said she was a member of the church but was inactive. She had been thinking a lot lately about coming back to church. Fatima was on her way to work, but she rode the bus with us to the church to see where it is. She lives on our street – Renato Fucini. She had been ready to leave for work a half hour earlier, but was slow in leaving her house for some reason. We showed her the church and gave her an English Book of Mormon – the one I had been marking – and invited her to our scone night on Monday night. Afterwards, we were upset that we hadn’t gotten her phone number and address. But we felt strongly that the Lord’s spirit had prompted our encounter.
The day was spent pleasurably in downtown Rome. We had an Italian man with us who helped us understand much of the history. He took us to specific famous works of art and sculpture. After lunch we left Giuseppe and the Pearson's and hung out at Nouvana Square and Trevi Fountain people watching. It was a very relaxed day. We took a different bus back to Termini and then decided to take a different bus home than we usually take. As we walked to the bus stop, we realized that Fatima was there. Incredible! She rode the bus home with us, visiting together the entire way. She showed us where she lived and gave us her phone number. We showed her where we live. Fatima is going home to the Philippines for one month and when she returns, she has promised to go to church with us. The story is much more involved that this, but the important part is that she recognized the Lord’s hand in meeting us.
Yes, I am making scones for about 20 missionaries and investigators at our apartment tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see who actually shows up. I will make about 4 batches of dough and hope that is enough for everyone to eat their fill. Of course, we will have honey butter and jams for toppings and milk or water to drink.
Today is Easter Sunday and we had 6 of the missionaries in the district over for Sunday dinner. It was a fun afternoon and evening. I think they were all glad to have an Easter dinner appointment.
Love, the Sommerfeldts
PS Our Internet has been down and I couldn't post the blog. Everyone went on Easter Vacation - even our Internet.
The scone night went great and Fatima showed up, for which we were thrilled! It's Tuesday night and we are madly baking cinnamon rolls from left over scone dough. I made 6 batches instead of 4. If I can keep Will out of the cinnamon buns, it will be another miracle. The missionaries coming into the office are really getting spoiled.
Monday, April 6, 2009
This past week has been very different. Last week Will was asked by President Acerson if he would be willing to fly back to Utah with an elder who was ill and needed to return home. Of course Will said he was happy to help however he could. It was all a little vague and we weren’t sure if it would happen or not. Then, Tuesday evening, about 9:30 the assistants showed up at our door and said that Will would be picked up at 6:30 the following morning so he could be taken to the airport. We had been at English class at the Church and also our cell phone wasn’t working. As it turned out, the elder had a seizure the next morning and so even though Will was picked up at 6:30, I still wasn’t sure if he had left for the states until I arrived at work.
The flight home was a little insane as Will and the other elder had to change planes in New York. City. Actually they had to take a taxi to New Jersey to continue on their flight home. The other elder was so weak when they arrived in Salt Lake that Will wheeled him out in a wheelchair to meet his family. His mother burst into tears when she saw him. This elder, a super missionary, is 6’1” and weighs 95 lbs. He is a very sick young man.
Will didn’t fly out of Salt Lake to come back to Italy until Saturday morning. Needless to say, he has been a bit tired since his return. He was in Utah just long enough to try and get his internal time clock changed to Utah time and then flew back across the world. He was able to talk to Bret on the phone and see several of his own children and grandchildren. In fact, they had a traditional family Easter Egg Hunt on Friday. Will was also able to attend an endowment session at the Draper Temple with Jim and Maray. No one was more surprised to see Will than our sweet little neighbor Norma, who lives across the street from us in Draper.
While Will was away, I had a P-day and Cam Ballantyne was in town with some friends. Cam is Peter’s brother. These four young adults were good enough to put up with my company during Saturday. As I traveled downtown to meet them, I was kicked off the bus twice because there was a Communist demonstration going on downtown. When I finally did meet up with them, we took a tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. The tour guide was very informative, even though you had to listen pretty closely as he was speaking fast, broken English. It is really warming up here and the day was a gorgeous one. After treating everyone to gelato at the end of the afternoon, rain clouds were sputtering and I rode the bus home while Cam and his group returned to their lodgings for a nap before their night rendezvous.
Sunday morning, Will arrived about 8:30 at the airport. He slept on and off a good part of the day, trying to get turned around the right direction once again. In the evening, we invited the other mission office couple over to the house to watch the Saturday morning session of conference on the computer and have dessert with us.
Then, early this morning, about 3:30 we experienced an earthquake here in Italy. The epicenter was about 70 miles from us in L’Aquila. Our missionaries there were not harmed, but many lives were lost and much damage sustained. We felt our entire apartment building swaying back and forth for about a minute.
So you can see that we do not lack for adventure. Hope you enjoy the pictures and are maybe even checking out a little Italian history.
Love and Hugs,
The Sommerfeldts
The flight home was a little insane as Will and the other elder had to change planes in New York. City. Actually they had to take a taxi to New Jersey to continue on their flight home. The other elder was so weak when they arrived in Salt Lake that Will wheeled him out in a wheelchair to meet his family. His mother burst into tears when she saw him. This elder, a super missionary, is 6’1” and weighs 95 lbs. He is a very sick young man.
Will didn’t fly out of Salt Lake to come back to Italy until Saturday morning. Needless to say, he has been a bit tired since his return. He was in Utah just long enough to try and get his internal time clock changed to Utah time and then flew back across the world. He was able to talk to Bret on the phone and see several of his own children and grandchildren. In fact, they had a traditional family Easter Egg Hunt on Friday. Will was also able to attend an endowment session at the Draper Temple with Jim and Maray. No one was more surprised to see Will than our sweet little neighbor Norma, who lives across the street from us in Draper.
While Will was away, I had a P-day and Cam Ballantyne was in town with some friends. Cam is Peter’s brother. These four young adults were good enough to put up with my company during Saturday. As I traveled downtown to meet them, I was kicked off the bus twice because there was a Communist demonstration going on downtown. When I finally did meet up with them, we took a tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. The tour guide was very informative, even though you had to listen pretty closely as he was speaking fast, broken English. It is really warming up here and the day was a gorgeous one. After treating everyone to gelato at the end of the afternoon, rain clouds were sputtering and I rode the bus home while Cam and his group returned to their lodgings for a nap before their night rendezvous.
Sunday morning, Will arrived about 8:30 at the airport. He slept on and off a good part of the day, trying to get turned around the right direction once again. In the evening, we invited the other mission office couple over to the house to watch the Saturday morning session of conference on the computer and have dessert with us.
Then, early this morning, about 3:30 we experienced an earthquake here in Italy. The epicenter was about 70 miles from us in L’Aquila. Our missionaries there were not harmed, but many lives were lost and much damage sustained. We felt our entire apartment building swaying back and forth for about a minute.
So you can see that we do not lack for adventure. Hope you enjoy the pictures and are maybe even checking out a little Italian history.
Love and Hugs,
The Sommerfeldts
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Greetings from Roma
On March 23rd, Will and Karen celebrated their 2nd Wedding Anniversary by Karen receiving a gorgeous bouquet of lilies and red roses from Will at the office. We spent the evening picking up the Mission President’s daughter from a play practice. Will is certainly learning his way around Rome with the car. There is not a straight street in all of Rome, so this is a challenge, but one he is handling well. We have been lost a few times, but have always found our way home.
The week’s work continues to be busy at the office. We receive many referrals every week that we must forward on to missionaries all around the mission. Some of them are from our missionaries and have to be sent to other missions. I am learning how to go on google maps and determine where a particular city is and who is serving there so that the referral is forwarded to the correct zone and district. We received one this past week that was Golden, Golden. The man had received all the missionary discussions, had attended church 4 weeks in a row, and wanted to be baptized. Then he and his family were transferred to another area to live. He was wanting the missionaries to contact him so that he could be interviewed for baptism and so his wife could continue to be taught. I hope we can find them again. Sometimes all you have is a cell phone number that you hope is correct. In this case we also have the name of a town – or street – we aren’t sure which, and so the plot thickens in the looking process. You feel a great deal of pressure to do your part in finding the family once again.
The weekend took us to Caserta, just outside of Napoli, where we stayed overnight with the Warner’s, another missionary couple in our mission. WOW! Do they have a castle compared to us: 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen three times the size of ours, a patio that is half the size of our house in Draper, and real furniture. They were having DDM on Saturday morning and we attended that and got to know the four elders in their area. Such great guys! The Warner’s are retired military and so they could get us on the navy base in Caserta to grocery shop at the commissary. That was an experience in and of itself. So fun to shop in a grocery store where you can read what is on the label and know what you are getting. It resembles and carries many of the items that you would find in a super Walmart in the US.
The drive home took us up the coast line of the Mediterranean. Hope you enjoy the pictures. The day was overcast but it was still very beautiful. This is our last weekend with the car for a month. We will riding the bus again during April.
Don’t be afraid to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone you see. It’s true!
The week’s work continues to be busy at the office. We receive many referrals every week that we must forward on to missionaries all around the mission. Some of them are from our missionaries and have to be sent to other missions. I am learning how to go on google maps and determine where a particular city is and who is serving there so that the referral is forwarded to the correct zone and district. We received one this past week that was Golden, Golden. The man had received all the missionary discussions, had attended church 4 weeks in a row, and wanted to be baptized. Then he and his family were transferred to another area to live. He was wanting the missionaries to contact him so that he could be interviewed for baptism and so his wife could continue to be taught. I hope we can find them again. Sometimes all you have is a cell phone number that you hope is correct. In this case we also have the name of a town – or street – we aren’t sure which, and so the plot thickens in the looking process. You feel a great deal of pressure to do your part in finding the family once again.
The weekend took us to Caserta, just outside of Napoli, where we stayed overnight with the Warner’s, another missionary couple in our mission. WOW! Do they have a castle compared to us: 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen three times the size of ours, a patio that is half the size of our house in Draper, and real furniture. They were having DDM on Saturday morning and we attended that and got to know the four elders in their area. Such great guys! The Warner’s are retired military and so they could get us on the navy base in Caserta to grocery shop at the commissary. That was an experience in and of itself. So fun to shop in a grocery store where you can read what is on the label and know what you are getting. It resembles and carries many of the items that you would find in a super Walmart in the US.
The drive home took us up the coast line of the Mediterranean. Hope you enjoy the pictures. The day was overcast but it was still very beautiful. This is our last weekend with the car for a month. We will riding the bus again during April.
Don’t be afraid to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone you see. It’s true!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
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