Raking Olives in Italy

I have been waiting for this experience for months: Raking Olives!
Today we drove out to Brother and Sister Guidara’s. The day was perfect!
On the top of every hill there is an old town. The gold’s and red’s of the autumn countryside, with the sun shining through the trees, was lovely.

When you rake olives:
1. You spread a net on the ground around the tree to catch the olives when they fall.

2. With a short handled rake, you comb the olives off the tree. Some of the olives are green and some are black. As you step on the net, you are careful to avoid stepping on the olives that are already on the ground.

3. When the tree is bare of olives, you carefully gather up the net, letting the olives roll into pile. Then you dump them into a plastic box.



4. When all the olives are gathered, they are taken to an olive press. There the olives are dumped into a machine where the leaves and twigs are removed and the olives are washed.

5. The olives are then mashed, the pit and all, into a pulp.
6. Finally the pulp is pressed enough to extract the oil. This oil is called virgin oil.

7. The pulp is used for other purposes.
Sister Guidara served us a delicious lunch after several hours of hard work.
At the end of the day, we went looking for knarly olive trees. Brother Guidara told us where to find a huge, old olive tree and we found it!
This tree is 2000 - 2400 years old. It is the largest olive tree in Europe. And, amazingly, it is still growing good olives.



Bigger olive producers use air rakes for a faster job, especially in larger trees. We saw one in motion. It didn't look nearly as fun as the way harvested the olives.


WHAT A DELIGHTFUL DAY!

Random Ways to Make Money in Italy

Italy is a melting-pot of nationalities. Because of the European Union, people from over 24 nations in the union, can travel freely from country to country and work there. It seems that many of the countries surrounding Italy are even poorer than many of the Italian people, and they do a variety of jobs (with lots of asking for handouts) to provide simple food and basic housing to survive.
Following are some examples:









Observe the can for coin donations
These are our all-time favorites. These two women live on the street by Termini where all the buses and trains come into Rome. They sleep on newspapers on the ground, and carry all their belongings in wheelchairs. They are a national landmark.

And this one isn't random - it's necessary!

Scone Night is Alive and Well

Transfers in our mission come around every six weeks. Sometime in that 6-week period, we have established a "Scone Night" in our district. Sweet bread dough, fried in hot oil and served with honey/butter or jam is the fare for the evening. We love the casual, relaxed atmosphere for missionaries, members, and investigators to mingle with one another, while enjoying a delicious taste treat.

Last night was our biggest attendance by far, with a great mix of invited guests. It took almost six batches of bread dough to fill everyone up, but we think the evening was a huge success.

It’s amazing how much easier it is to visit with people when your mouth is full of scones.


This past weekend we visited the oldest bridge in Rome. It is only a few blocks from the mission office and we have seen it many times while riding the bus, but had never walked across it and seen the old architecture up close.


Elder White, an elder who returned home only a few weeks ago had returned with his family and we also visited the Pont Vecchio (which means Old Bridge) Restaurant with the White family and the Acerson’s. There we enjoyed great Italian food and atmosphere. We laugh when they have to remove all the wine glasses from the table and we only want aqua naturale.

San Gregorio by Tivoli

This weekend’s giro took Will and I to the little hilltop town of San Gregorio. The sun was shining on the flocks of sheep in the valley, with the town high in the background.

Of course, the town had a church,


a castle, and narrow cobblestone streets


with interesting doorways

and lots of steep steps. One man was renovating an apartment that would cost 95,000 euro. It was probably about 350 square feet: a kitchen/ living room, one bedroom, and a tiny bathroom.

By many of the houses, we saw the wood supply growing for the winter months. Here is a man delivering wood.

The olives are ripening on the trees. Fall has arrived.

In the evening, the missionaries in Rome 2 hosted a Halloween party for the Rome 2 Ward. The balloon game included stomping on another couple’s balloon when the music stopped playing.

Everyone loved it. They bobbed for apples,

and played Musical Chairs and the Wink Game. Of course, we ate at the end of the games. Some came in costumes.

Halloween seems to be a fairly new idea for the Italians. But, just like us, they love a party.

Famous Basilicas in Rome

This past Saturday we were back in church once again. There are churches in just about every Piazza, which is the same as saying there is a church on every corner in Utah. The difference is that these are Catholic churches: very elaborate and ornate and usually dedicated to one particular person.

San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John) has been named by the Catholic church “The Mother of All Churches.” The cathedral is dedicated to the Savior, and to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. This church was built in 312 AD. The Popes lived in the Lateran palace until 1377, when the Vatican palace was chosen for their residence.


Every apostle of the original apostles is represented here.
This one represents Matthew:

This one is Thomas:


The name of the basilica: Santa Maria Maggiore is basically saying that the major basilica and largest major church in Rome is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is not totally true, as St. Peter’s is by far the largest basilica in Rome.
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There always seem to be pillars, arches, copulas, and angels.


It will be very interesting to see the final design work for the LDS Temple that has been announced in Rome. It would seem that pillars or arches would be part of the design to fit the area. Today as we drove by the temple site, some equipment was on the site and some very preliminary work was being done. No word yet as to a ground breaking.