Transfers and Farewells

We said our goodbyes to three of our finest Puglia Zone missionaries as they return home. We also have to say goodbye to our beloved President and Sorella Smith, who conclude their three year assignment and head home to Twin Falls, ID.    

Anziano Flores - Chicago

Anziano Molloy - South Jordan, UT

Anziano Walton - Farmington, UT 

No transfer is complete without "coping cookies"

How we will miss our dear friends, President and Sister Smith

Potpourri Post

Some miscellaneous pictures.  

Sisters Bailey and Johnson get a new iron and ironing board  

Puglia Zone zoom call

 

In the Rome airport, this display looks like its for motor oil - it's for GIN!  enGINe 

And this coffee shop sign and tag line "Coffee of the Angels...Coffee from God!!" Gotta love it!

Puglia with the Pacini's

Even though the Pacini's, Craig and Julie, have spent many years in Italy, he as a young missionary in Milano, 3 years as mission leaders in Rome and almost 4 years as temple president and matron, they had never been to Puglia.  So we were delighted that they wanted to spend a day of their "Puglia Tour" with us.  

We enjoyed the caves at Grotte di Castellana, a lovely drive to Polignano a Mare, then back for a walkabout of Bari Vecchia, and then dinner at our favorite red-meat restaurant.  

We loved getting to know them better and enjoyed their company immensely.

Zone P-day trip to Matera

Once each transfer, we can get together as a zone for a p-day activity.  We had the missionaries from Bari, Lecce and Taranto together at Matera.  Lots of tourists this time of year and the warmest day of our 4-5 trips to this UNESCO world heritage site.  

Participating in Temple Blessings

We were privileged to travel to Rome to support 3 members of Bari Liberta` ward who attended the temple for the first time on Tuesday.  

S______ and N______ are from Iraq.  He met the missionaries while working in Sweden.  They emigrated to Italy and joined the church here.  They were some of the first people we met when we arrived in Bari.  We found a restaurant's business card that the Jacobs had left in our apartment.  So we went to the restaurant for dinner, and he waited on us.  When he saw our tags he said, "I'm a member of your church." 

 

Big Sam emigrated from Nigeria and joined the church here in Italy.  He speaks English and Italian and has a heart as big as he is.    

So after the three of them received their endowments, we all went upstairs where S___ & N____ were sealed by Presidente Conforte (I want him to be my grandpa!)  What a wonderful man.  

It was great that so many of our Bari members were able to make the trip to the temple.  

Weekend for Young Adults

Two of our young adults, Gaia from Lecce and Andrea from Taranto, let us know they would be coming to Bari for the weekend.  So we organized a YA sports night activity Saturday night. Complete with Panzerotti and brownies.   

After church Sunday, Gaia and the sisters came for lunch. 

That evening, we had Stefy and Angela over for family night.  All good things.  

Mission Tour in Rome - President & Sister Alliud

 We had the privilege of going to Rome to spend the day with Elder and Sister Alliud.  He is a counselor in the Europe area presidency.  Half the mission met on Wednesday and the other half on Thursday.  Powerful messages and a great outpouring of the spirit.  

We are on the back row under the palm tree on the left.  

Always great to be at "temple square"

Here we are with Elder and Sister Martino who are newly arrived and serving in Malta.  His younger brother served with me in Udine on my first mission.  

Clockwise from bottom left: Martino's from TX, Thomsen's from Saskatchewan, Hill's from Colorado Springs and Cannariato's

We were heading to the VC to catch our ride to the train station and who should we run into but Bob And Gwen Huckstep from Boise.  Wow, what a small world!  

And speaking of the train ride home, here's the group of missionaries from our zone that traveled with us.  What should have taken 5 1/2 hours turned into 11 1/2. Here we are in Foggia at 11:30 pm. 

And here we are arriving in Bari at 1:30 am.  From here we had to walk home in a driving rain storm.  What a day!  What an adventure!  

 

EnglishConnect and Panzerotti

Just a few blocks from the church where we teach EnglishConnect is pizzeria that makes the best deep fried "panzerotti" in Bari.  Stuffed with cheese and tomato sauce, these deep fried babies are a wonderful treat after we finish class.  Yum1