FAMILY IS GREAT!

We thoroughly enjoyed Maray and Jim Bringhurst’s trip to Italy. One week isn’t nearly enough to see everything we love to show off, but it is a great start and we made the most of our time together. We did actually have to go to Zone Conference one day and also prepared supplies for President Acerson to take with him to other Zone Conferences and interviews, so we sandwiched in some work and much play.
Here is some baptismal clothing that was especially made for a convert. Anziano Herrick and Anziano Pace,

and Sorella Tramacchi and Sorella Skabelund were kind enough to model them for us.

The play part with Jim and Maray included:
Trevi fountain

Vatican Museum




Sistine Chapel

Top of Dome at St. Peter's Basilica

Coliseum
Piazza Venezia
Orvieto
Firenze


Pisa
Cinque Terre


Nemi

Navona Square
Outlet Mall
We also attended church and they heard the entire 3 hour block in Italian – with interpreters.

What a fun week! Thanks for visiting, Maray and Jim!

WE LOVE ROME

This has been a very interesting, very busy week. We are moved into our new apartment. New to us – that is – and we are loving it. We cannot believe how quiet the neighborhood is at night, and how friendly the people are. In the evening, we can even see the sun set. We spent some time cleaning, and moving pictures and furniture around in the apartment to make it feel more like our home. Maray and Jim are arriving in Rome next Tuesday and we are so excited for them to come. We have asked them to bring our family pictures with them off our family room wall in Draper. Once we get them up in the living room, it will feel like home. We miss family greatly and we appreciate their sweet support in this calling.
On Saturday, from the balcony of our apartment, we saw them move a very large palm tree from one area of a property to another place. They are obviously building something new there.


Elder and Sister Pearson headed home early Saturday morning. Elder and Sister Burt, the new office couple are very nice and we look forward to working with them. Of course, we had a little party at the office for Pearson’s before they left. Pearson’s are next to us, and Burt’s are next to them. Brother Calabrese is the Stake Patriarch and he also works in the office.



This week, our Saturday jaunt took us to a small island in the Tiber River, where there is a church and a hospital. This is the hospital.

There are always ruins everywhere you go in Rome.

We actually saw a wedding going on in the church and two other brides and grooms having pictures taken in the same area. The elaborate ceiling is in the church on the island.



We got our Roman Forum (a newsletter about the mission) published for the president to take to Zone Conferences this coming week. Zone Leaders Conference and 3-month Conference were going on and so we had lots of missionaries in the office, picking up supplies, paying bills, eating cookies, and visiting. They love to come into the office.

After a busy transfer week, we spent our weekend moving into a different apartment. Anziano and Sorella Pearson are on their way home this coming Saturday after serving a successful mission. Anziano and Sorella Burt have been here for a week already. They are replacing the Pearsons. They are learning their office duties and now getting settled into their apartment. As for us, we love our “new” apartment. It is much bigger and m-u-c-h quieter. We are loving that! We even saw a beautiful sunset last night from our living room balcony.

Today at DDM, I served carrot cake as a going away treat to the Pearsons. Our district has changed again, and we are getting to know new missionaries once more.

Please don’t write us off with this short message. We will try and do better next week as we get out and about more once again. Because we live in a different place now, we have new bus routes to learn and new neighbors to meet. Should be interesting!

I guess this is our August vacation. All other Italians seem to take off a lengthy vacation time in August to go to the beach or the mountains. We move across town.

President and Sister Acerson treated Anziano and Sorella Pearson and us to a delightful get-away at Nemi, about 45 minutes from Rome, on Tuesday evening. At a slightly higher elevation in the mountains, there are two ancient volcanoes, filled with water.


These lakes are in such a beautiful setting, as is the small village of Nemi. Small curving cobblestone streets wind down to an overlook of the lake.

There are tiny, charming shops along the way.




The town has a strawberry festival earlier in the year. The strawberries are tiny, sweet berries used on tarts, in jam, wine, candle fragrances, lotions, etc. We wandered and explored until our reservation time at a quaint little restaurant arrived. Then we tried authentic Italian food, with the proprietor bringing us out a appetizer for us to try, because he knew the president and wanted to do something kind for us. It was all very delicious, of course. There was a refreshingly cool breeze as we walked back to our vehicle. After days of stifling heat in Rome, we enjoyed it tremendously.

The next morning, Will and I were up early to take President and Sister Acerson to the Leonardo Da Vinci Airport to catch their plane to England for a mission president conference. They were also greeting their two youngest daughters who were just arriving from a summer vacation in Utah. We went on a walk-about so the family could have some personal time together before the Acerson’s flew out and we took the girls back to the Mission Villa. During the rest of the week, we had the girls over for some meals and were available if they needed us.

Anziano and Sorella Burt, a new mission couple from Washington arrived on Saturday. They will replace Anziano and Sorella Pearson in two weeks at the office. We tried to keep Elder Burt awake for several hours so he would sleep the night and get over his jet-lag. It was quite hilarious, as he would practically fall asleep in mid-sentence.

The work of the Lord moves steadily on even with many natives on vacation in August. The streets are bare and the parking places abundant. It will be a shock all over again to return to normal by the end of August.

Rome in August

It’s been a very interesting, very busy weekend. Saturday was Festa di Lavoro, or Festival from Work. All the Italians take off work, except for some essential service people and some businesses in downtown Rome. Quindi . . . the missionaries are asked to clean their apartments from top to bottom and not to do any missionary work. We cleaned our office on Friday and our apartment Saturday morning. Even cleaning from top to bottom doesn’t take too long when you have an apartment as small as ours.
Friday evening we went to Downtown Rome to look for some pictures for another mission couple. We enjoyed the entertainment at Novena Square.
Saturday after cleaning our apartment we headed back downtown to St. Paul outside the wall.


The apostle Paul was killed by being beheaded by the Romans. Because he was a Roman citizen they couldn’t kill him inside the city, so they took him outside the city wall to execute him. Paul is most often depicted with a sword in his hand.


Peter is also depicted in Paul’s church and he is holding the keys to the kingdom. He was crucified upside down in Rome.

Something that we find really interesting is that in St. Paul’s Cathedral, in one place is this carving: Exaltation is the Celestial Kingdom.

In another place it says: Baptism for the dead and there is a baptismal font there large enough for baptism by immersion.

We have been finishing up some companionship study on another project, but then we are looking forward to moving to the Acts of the Apostles and the life of Paul.

Next we moved into downtown Rome to the Nationale Museum to see a fantastic jewelry display by Bulgari: in Rome from May to September. The most impressive jewels were several selections from Elizabeth Taylor’s private collection: featuring enormous emeralds and sapphires in magnificent diamond surrounds. We can take pictures in almost any of the churches, but ironically we were not allowed to take pictures of the jewelry.

By the museum was a typical water fountain outside. Will took a drink. The water runs non-stop 24/7.



By sunset time we were sitting on some high church steps over by Venetzia Square. Here are some of the pictures Will took.

There was a book fair going on by St. Angelo’s Castle. Families were enjoying food booths and shopping booths with lots of books for sale; along with family games and fun. We wandered around there until it was dark and then Will took some night shots of the Tiber River, the bridges, and the castle.

Yes, we are smiling BIG! We are going to be grandparents once again. We have been offering a prize for the 40th grandchild and Amy and Ty win the prize. Amy is expecting number 5 child the end of January. The only problem that I can see with this, is how in the heck can I be making baby blankets, taking care of kids, cooking for the family, and being there when Ty and Amy go to the hospital to actually have the baby, when I am in Italy. This is one of the sacrifices of going on a mission I guess. Anyway, we are super excited for them. By the way, we’re not sure what the prize is, but we will come up with something good.

This weekend we traveled north of Rome again: this time to a small island. They were preparing for a celebration so the towns were decorated with flags, bows, and banners. The Mediterranean: Some beaches are rocky and some are sand, but the Mediterranean itself is always lovely with a huge variety of blues, often with the sun sparking off the water. At one place, several boats were pulled into a secluded bay and the boaters were snorkeling in the clear water.

Now this is the height of luxury: the house, the pool, and the view. Awesome!

We saw our first golf course in Italy this trip.

We also stopped and saw a cemetery. All the graves were above the ground. You know this is the land of marble when you see the crypts. It was very interesting. When Will asked me why I wanted to go inside the cemetery, I told him I'd been waiting all my life to go there.

Here are olives, which are maturing. I picked one and took it apart to see which part was the olive. I’m really not sure if the spiny outside part falls off, or turns into the olive, or what. There was a smooth part inside and then the drupe or stone. We also saw green figs up close on a tree.


Houses built up the side of the hills, and fishing villages are the norm. Hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are enjoying ours.

PS July was our highest month yet for baptisms! We love serving the Lord!