Buona Pasqua

This Easter time


we enjoyed a family visit from Rusty and Michelle/ Ryan and Derrek,

Remembered our Savior,

listened to General Conference,
and invited the sister missionaries for Easter Monday dinner.
With Rusty's family we walked a lot and rested some

Ate gelato

Shopped

The boys attended "Gladiator School" on their last day in Rome. It was probably the highlight of their trip.

Were photographed with the Swiss Guard at Saint Peter’s

Followed Rick Steves (Michelle)

Ate at great Italian restaurants


Went sightseeing

Saw beautiful Firenze at night

Everywhere in this incredible land of history, we see reminders of Christ's death. We know HE lives, and that we will live again with HIM and with our loved ones eternally. That is our message to the world.

Saturday in Siena!

Siena, nestled in the Tuscan hills, is a small Italian town well-known for their horse-races. In this giant piazza, the spectators stand for four hours in the middle – shoulder-to-shoulder – while the horses race around the outside track. The piazza is very unique in design, being built in a concave manner which allows the spectators to see more easily.

Our day in Siena did not include a horse-race. Instead, we checked out the world-renowned ceramics, visiting a small out-of-the-way business and meeting the owner: Marcello Neri. This charming man could not have been more genuine and welcoming as he showed us through his ceramic studio.

This is the Duomo of Siena, inspired by the Orvieto Cathedral,

and is an amazing cathedral with black and white marble stripes on the inside.

This is the main alter.

And the dome.

These pictures are in the Library. This is the ceiling:

These are the walls of the Library.

The marble mosaic floor is incredible in design. Every part of the floor has different scenes on it.

This statue is a self-portrait of Michelangelo. The detail is superb, down to the veins in his hands.

Siena is full of quaint little shops, and fashionable clothing shops.



The architecture is mainly Baroque.

All down one street were fish lanterns.


What a fun day to explore yet another beautiful Italian town.

Ciao!

When the younger missionaries ask Elder Sommerfeldt for favors or supplies, he is always teasing them that they owe him a chocolate milkshake. Sister Swenson and Sister Zeller finally delivered. It was a cold day and they carried two milkshakes on the bus from McDonald’s at Termini to the office for us. We love our sweet sister missionaries.

Giuseppe, our Italian friend,

gave us a tour of art work in downtown Rome on Saturday. It turns out that we had seen the pictures, sculpture, and churches before, but the brain remembers better with repetition.

This is a famous Caravaggio painting,

which hangs permanently in Saint Augustine.

The San Luigi dei Francesi Church has two Bernini sculptures in it. These white marble angels are famous.


This is a typical version of Mary and the Christ child, outside on a building.

To get to each place you either walk or ride the crowded buses.

We visit Piazza Navona almost every trip downtown. My favorite artist, Remo, has become a friend. He would like to go to America and paint for us and our friends.

The amazing architecture in Rome almost becomes ordinary as you see it at every turn.


Always there is entertainment going on somewhere downtown.

This is a blood orange. They are in season right now and quite tasty. They are easier to eat if you don't look at them.

News bulletin: I saw some small red poppies along the side of the road. Spring is coming!

When in Rome . . .

It is Sunday and the close of a spiritual, busy, interesting, fun week.
On Thursday, we attended Roma Zone Conference. We had a visiting Area Authority speaking to us: Elder Paya from France. Elder Paya made it very clear what our calling as missionaries is all about: baptism! We are here to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Italy and to baptize them. Sister Paya, in her soft spoken manner, shared several stories with us, including the story of her own conversion. The spirit of the Holy Ghost was very strong and we felt like we had attended a spiritual feast by the end of the day. Here we are with Elder and Sister Paya.

On Friday, we went on a double-date with Scott and Michelle Rees. They are members of our ward from the states. Scott works for the American Embassy here in Rome. We had told them about bowling a couple of weeks ago, and they said they would love to go bowling. It was men against women and Michelle kept us in the game,

(the expression on my face pretty well tells my story),

and Will definitely kept them in the game. I won’t dare go bowling with this man too many more times or he will be doubling my score.
Afterward the Rees’ took us to a delightful Italian restaurant where they treated us to dinner.

The upstairs was full so they took us downstairs and tucked us back in a little private corner. Talk about ambiance.

The food was delicious too.

On Saturday, we ran for buses, rode the metro, and trolley, got lost, got found as we drove past the Italian restaurant we had visited the night before, and generally enjoyed downtown Rome. One of my favorite places is Piazza Navona. There we purchased an oil painting for the missionary couple in Caserta, and several watercolors. I love spending someone else’s money. Only problem is that I get the paintings home and can’t give them up.

There are always interesting new ways to make money at Navona. Here are a couple we hadn’t seen before.


Of course, as the weather warms, you can’t go to downtown Rome without eating gelato.