Transfers and Transitions

This is transfer week.  Sunday evening we heard testimonies at the all-mission zoom devotional from the 8 departing missionaries.  Our Sister Kate Finlinson, from Fruit Heights, Utah, is one of those going home.  Sister Sadie Simpson, from Austin, is heading to Siracusa.  In their honor, we combined the elder's and sister's luncheon into one this week.  

We helped get Sister Finlinson's luggage to the train and here she is giving everyone (but me of course) goodbye hugs.  Buon viaggio a casa!  

Elder Bellini gets a newly arriving missionary, Elder Marcello, as his companion, Sister Larsen receives Sister Leigh and Sister Landers has Sister Prettyman as her new companion.  

Halloween Party - Italian Style

In general, Italians don't celebrate Halloween much.  They take the next day off, November 1, with the All Saints Day holiday.  But the missionaries wanted to have a Halloween party, and the GANS and the Poggiofranco ward were willing accomplices. 

The Elders came in costume.  They wore each other's clothes and nametags.  It was a very creative and inexpensive way to "dress up." 

Note that big hairy spider on Dawn's head?  I could see it really well with my super jack-o-lantern glasses.  The games turned out well, and we had focaccia, pizza, a veggie tray and cookies for everyone.   

A Visit from Our Seminary Students

Two of our Zoom Seminary students, Giovanna(17) and Pedro(14) Pereira live 3 hours away in Cosenza.  They and their parents were born in Brazil.  Sister Pereira has Italian ancestry, so they moved to Italy in 2019.  The kids like to stay online after class and speak English with us.  They are both super smart and great kids.  We got a text Saturday saying they'd be in Bari for the weekend attending church and looked forward to meeting us in person.  We had to invite them to lunch.  

In Brazil, Brother Pereira served in a stake presidency, and as a bishop.  He is EQ president in their branch AND on the high council here.  He is a computer programmer.  Sister P is a web designer.  We had a lovely visit and a lovely lunch with their family on Sunday.  

Young Adult and Youth Activity - Lecce

About an hour and 45 minutes from Bari is Lecce, where we have a branch, two sister missionaries and some young adults and youth.  Our GANS and the sisters planned a great get-together at the church.  

Wonderful food (Lecce sandwiches called "puccia"), a fun game of UNO, and Sister Ortega shared a great spiritual message.  A good time was had by all.  

On the way down, we picked up Mario Piras, a GANS from Brindisi.  He's in red in the pictures. 

After we got home, Mario texted that it was the best day of his life, that he felt God's presence and love.  This is why we have these activities.  

Young Adult Game Night

 Pictionary and Ultimate Golf were the games of choice at our latest young adult activity.  And for our treat, my chocolate chip cookies were inhaled very quickly. 

 

Zone P-Day at Polignano a Mare

We appreciate being included in the p-day activities of the young missionaries.  Most of the companionships in our zone met up in the lovely seaside town of Polignano a Mare.  While there were no Red Bull cliff diving competitions this time of year, we still enjoyed being here on a lovely day, with very few tourists.  Lovely spot!  

  

Oh The Things You Do...As a Missionary

We do more than just inspect missionary apartments.  Sometimes the office asks if we can do some minor repairs.  Sometimes we just see something that's broken and fix it.  In this case, I wanted to install a new shower head at the sisters' apartment in Statte, but the crescent wrench in our tool box wasn't quite big enough.  So we found a Ferramenta (hardware store) nearby, and with 5,50 euro, the right wrench was purchased and the new shower head installed.  

As for our own apartment, a slow draining shower was no match for my sweet wife and her sporty yellow rubber gloves.  "And away go troubles down the drain."  

We enjoyed our trip to Taranto/Statte to fix the shower, deliver some stuff and do a "scambio" exchange with the Taranto sorelle.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch of French fries and pizza at a restaurant on a beautiful, peaceful pedestrian only piazza in the heart of downtown Taranto.  Then we got gelato and we made a visit to Precious, a new convert and her son Jarom (who really liked my sunglasses).  Her humble circumstances reminded me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone.  

Hosts and being hosted

The mission spends a ton of money on travel to get missionaries back to their first city in order to complete their Permesso di Sogiorno - a kind of permanent visa to remain in Italy long term.  Two weeks ago, we hosted Elders and Sisters from Malta, and this week we had an Elder and a Sister from Sardegna.  Sister Gunderson from the Dallas area was our guest on the way to Rome and on the way back.  We enjoyed having her spend time with us.  

Friday we had a lovely "pranzo" (lunch) appointment with brother & sister Palmisano.  She joined the church in the 80s and he in the 90s, their two daughters both served missions and today, their granddaughter Ludovica is one of our young adults.  Three generations in the church, that is amazing.  And the 4 course meal sister Palmisano served us was likewise, amazing.  

Marvelous Matera!

Just over an hour's drive from Bari, in the province of Basilicata lies the historic city of Matera.  This Unesco world heritage site is one of the three oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth.  The naturally occuring caves on both sides of a ravine make for a wonderfully rich sightseeing experience.  We enjoyed a two hour tour with "Pepe" who graduated with an archeology degree.  If you plan to visit us in Bari, make sure you plan to spend at least 3 days with us:  1 day in Polignano a Mare, 1 day in Alberobello and a day in Matera.