I've Been Everywhere Man - Anziano Saga 9/2/09
Dear Mommy,
One more adventurous week in my life. I've been all over. Seriously. In the last week I've covered about 80% of the Italy Catania mission. Last week we were in Palermo, which is on the Western part of Sicily. Then, we had another adventure, but I'll keep this in sequence so I don't get all confused. So, after getting back from Palermo, we had an appointment with the elders quorum president and his family. He's the kind of person that just makes me sigh on the inside. He goes around telling his neighbors that their religion is wrong, and that he can show them how, and that they have to speak with him about it. He's got a good heart and good intentions, but he's honestly doing much more damage than good. People like that of ANY religion bother me.
I feel no qualms in saying that my religion is right, because for me, it is. But there's no way I can look another person in the eye and tell them that their way of thinking about god is wrong. If they're interested in learning, then I'll teach, but it's far from me to tell them what to believe. If a person finds out anything to be true, it's through his own searching. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. Maybe I should tell that to this member...hmm. So, we spoke with his family for a while, and had an ok appointment. They seemed like they were there to humor us, or not be chewed out by their father. So, in the moments when he wasn't talking about this or that, I tried to talk to the kids (in their 20's) about spiritual stuff. I'm not sure how far I got, but hopefully between my companion and I they got something out of it.
Then we tried to help him fix his internet connection, and when that didn't work, we left his house. He was giving us a ride to the church (he lives pretty far away...) when I asked him about a place where the ward had done service when I had first arrived. We wanted to keep doing yard work as service there. It's a really big villa, and has kind of fallen into disarray. I didn't know the area then, so I didn't remember where it was. "Oh, yeah, let's GO!" So off we drive. We find the place. It's a rest home for mentally unstable people. Our member friend begins to talk with the people on the porch about the bible, and religion and whatnot. I sighed silently to myself and went looking for the director. Upon my query to his location, one man pointed me to a gentleman sitting in a chair about ten yards away who was talking out loud to an invisible someone in front of him. So, we continued our search. We found a guy working in the kitchen. He apologized for not coming out sooner because he thought the reports of our presence were just jokes, or fanciful creations from the minds of the residents, as they are apt to have at times. So, we got the number of the real director, and off we went.
We then proceeded to take a long drive in an area of town that I'd never seen before. It was a very slummed down part of town. There was a fire burning in a pole of trash that was about 50 feet from some other burned out dumpsters. The roads were in terrible condition, and more than once I smelled something rather questionable. We pulled into a local square surrounded by a bunch of kids in their early teens sitting on their scooters, and talking with their friends and girlfriends. They had a good stare at us in our white shirts, ties and dress pants as we walked by. I've pretty much become indifferent to such things, though when I stop to think about it, I remember that it's not a nice thing to do, and it bothers me ever so slightly. Oh well. So, I asked him where we were going. "To find a less active member." Oh. ok. God to know. We wander through the maze of little tiny allyway streets that had a pretty steep inclination at times. I wonder sometimes how little old Italian grandmas make it from the store to their house in these conditions. So we're led by this member to a house with a piece of a wooden fence across the doorway, acting kind of as a screen door. We ring, and a shirtless young man comes to the door. "is your mom here?" He nods, and then disappears. About a minute later, a lady comes down the stairs, and greets us warmly. She lets us in, and we walk up the stairs and into a ridiculously nice sitting room. I'm not sure where or how they got the stuff, but it looked like a really classy house. It seemed so out of place compared to the surroundings. So, we had a nice little visit, and I had a brain workout trying to understand the heavy Sicilian dialect that the two natives were speaking. I'm catching on to it, I think. I couldn't speak more than two words consistently, but I can understand a good part of it. She asked us to come back to teach her kids. So, we're going back in a couple days to help her out. She said that she would start coming back to church soon, too. Go that.
So Friday rolls around. It's the day that we take a couple hours to plan out the following week, and the lessons that we need to teach to our investigators. So, we're in the middle of that when I get a phone call. "Yes, ready." (The typical Italian greeting...)
"Hi, I'm so and so from the city office of Messina. We've received reports of fliers for a free English course all over our city. That's a big violation if you don' have a permit. Do you have a permit?"
"um...no."
"Yeah, that's a big violation. You're gonna have to pay 90 euro for each one that we find."
"whoa! can I take them down and avoid that fine."
"Better hurry. our guy is out there now. Are you gonna send someone?"
"I'll go myself."
"Ok. bye."
So, I call president Taranto to let him know about the situation, and I tell the other missionaries that we have a situation. So, we bust out of the house into the afternoon heat of a stinky Messina summer day, and walk reallllllly quickly to take down all the fliers that we'd put up. I'm pretty sure that we got all of them. I hope so anyway. So far no call, so I guess we're off the hook. Then that evening we had an activity with the young single adults. I had made a list of about 100 things, and given a point value of 1, 3, or 5 points, depending on the rarity of said item. Then we separated into teams, and then had 45 minutes to take a picture of said item with a member of your team. Then you all come back, add up the points, find out who wins, and then eat ice cream. Only about half the people who told me they were coming showed up, so it wasn't as cool as it could have been, but we still had some fun.
Saturday we did house all day. We were let in by the Romanian maid of a really old nearly deaf lady. We tried speaking, but it was pretty much futile because neither one of them could understand what we were saying. So we left. The came our bigger trip. We left Sunday morning (didn't even get to go to church...) for Bari! Yay! That's about an 8 hour bus ride. We got to Bari, and then ran our tails off to buy a train ticket to Foggia. We ran back to the platform, and jumped on the train and then the d0oors closed behind us. Close call. We then ate our sandwiches, and finally arrived to Foggia. Walking back to the Elder's house there, I met three people I hadn't seen for nearly two years. It was cool to catch up a bit. Then we got home, made our beds, and after having a nice chat with the missionaries there, went to sleep. The next day, we were out the door just after 7am, and walked half an hour to the government building to "finish up" my papers after two years. The process was supposed to take about 3 months. Good stuff. So, we wait in line, and then they let us in finally to another waiting room. Around 10:30 they call my name. I go into the small side office, and she takes my fingerprints, and makes the little card that has cost me so much time money and effort to get. Then, she tells me and the other guy that came in with me, that they had to wait for a confirmation from Rome to give us the cards. They would receive that by email, and it would come in about two hours, so we were free to wait, or to go about our business.
So, we left for a bit, got some breakfast, and I went to visit my good friend Danilo who showed me the video of when he smashed the two Guinness world records that he now holds. The announcer even mentioned that he had had correspondence from an American, and that's how Danilo was able to communicate with the offices in England. "Hey that's me!" I said. Yep yep yep. Then we headed back to the office, and waited for another half hour or so. Then they came out, and said "hey, sorry, it hasn't come. The office is probably closed by now, so you'll have to come back another day." But I can't come back. It costs like 100 euro for me to get here, and I have other things to do.
"Sorry."
So, I'm going to have to do the same old thing next week, but they practically assured me that I will have my stupid document the next time I come. Man, what a headache. So we went back to Danilo's house, and his mom cooked us a nice lunch, and then off to the train station. Danilo bought us a milkshake from the McDonalds at the station. So, we got on the train, and headed off to Bari. We said hi to the missionaries there, and then used the bathroom at their apartment, and then went to the market. I got one last tie, and a belt that has the batarang for a buckle. We had a couple hours to kill before our bus left, so we chilled in a music and book store. I asked the guy if I could play a guitar, and he said yeah. So I did. He even recognized Dave Matthews "what would you say" so go him. Then we got some food, and went to the bus stop. Our bus left at 10 pm. I had the seat in the very back where there was no window. So, needless to say, I go veryyyyy little sleep. Even if I did fall asleep, I would wake up minutes later being sore from the position I was in. So we got home at 5 am, and then went home.
I showered, and changed clothes, and then got on to another bus at 6:30 for Catania. We had a zone/district leader meeting, and then Zone conference. I was wasted for the whole thing. But it was still good. Then we came home, and I freshened up a bit, and then we went to the church for English Course. We're starting up again. All of the new students couldn't really find the place. So, we wait for them. A lot less people showed up than I thought would. Sad. So, we gave them the rules, and the intro, and then had a basic lesson. Then we went home, and I went to sleep. Blessed sleep. And today was pday, so I stayed in bed. I think I slept for about 10 hours, which was much needed. And then we came here. And now I have to go.
Much loves.
Jason
One more adventurous week in my life. I've been all over. Seriously. In the last week I've covered about 80% of the Italy Catania mission. Last week we were in Palermo, which is on the Western part of Sicily. Then, we had another adventure, but I'll keep this in sequence so I don't get all confused. So, after getting back from Palermo, we had an appointment with the elders quorum president and his family. He's the kind of person that just makes me sigh on the inside. He goes around telling his neighbors that their religion is wrong, and that he can show them how, and that they have to speak with him about it. He's got a good heart and good intentions, but he's honestly doing much more damage than good. People like that of ANY religion bother me.
I feel no qualms in saying that my religion is right, because for me, it is. But there's no way I can look another person in the eye and tell them that their way of thinking about god is wrong. If they're interested in learning, then I'll teach, but it's far from me to tell them what to believe. If a person finds out anything to be true, it's through his own searching. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. Maybe I should tell that to this member...hmm. So, we spoke with his family for a while, and had an ok appointment. They seemed like they were there to humor us, or not be chewed out by their father. So, in the moments when he wasn't talking about this or that, I tried to talk to the kids (in their 20's) about spiritual stuff. I'm not sure how far I got, but hopefully between my companion and I they got something out of it.
Then we tried to help him fix his internet connection, and when that didn't work, we left his house. He was giving us a ride to the church (he lives pretty far away...) when I asked him about a place where the ward had done service when I had first arrived. We wanted to keep doing yard work as service there. It's a really big villa, and has kind of fallen into disarray. I didn't know the area then, so I didn't remember where it was. "Oh, yeah, let's GO!" So off we drive. We find the place. It's a rest home for mentally unstable people. Our member friend begins to talk with the people on the porch about the bible, and religion and whatnot. I sighed silently to myself and went looking for the director. Upon my query to his location, one man pointed me to a gentleman sitting in a chair about ten yards away who was talking out loud to an invisible someone in front of him. So, we continued our search. We found a guy working in the kitchen. He apologized for not coming out sooner because he thought the reports of our presence were just jokes, or fanciful creations from the minds of the residents, as they are apt to have at times. So, we got the number of the real director, and off we went.
We then proceeded to take a long drive in an area of town that I'd never seen before. It was a very slummed down part of town. There was a fire burning in a pole of trash that was about 50 feet from some other burned out dumpsters. The roads were in terrible condition, and more than once I smelled something rather questionable. We pulled into a local square surrounded by a bunch of kids in their early teens sitting on their scooters, and talking with their friends and girlfriends. They had a good stare at us in our white shirts, ties and dress pants as we walked by. I've pretty much become indifferent to such things, though when I stop to think about it, I remember that it's not a nice thing to do, and it bothers me ever so slightly. Oh well. So, I asked him where we were going. "To find a less active member." Oh. ok. God to know. We wander through the maze of little tiny allyway streets that had a pretty steep inclination at times. I wonder sometimes how little old Italian grandmas make it from the store to their house in these conditions. So we're led by this member to a house with a piece of a wooden fence across the doorway, acting kind of as a screen door. We ring, and a shirtless young man comes to the door. "is your mom here?" He nods, and then disappears. About a minute later, a lady comes down the stairs, and greets us warmly. She lets us in, and we walk up the stairs and into a ridiculously nice sitting room. I'm not sure where or how they got the stuff, but it looked like a really classy house. It seemed so out of place compared to the surroundings. So, we had a nice little visit, and I had a brain workout trying to understand the heavy Sicilian dialect that the two natives were speaking. I'm catching on to it, I think. I couldn't speak more than two words consistently, but I can understand a good part of it. She asked us to come back to teach her kids. So, we're going back in a couple days to help her out. She said that she would start coming back to church soon, too. Go that.
So Friday rolls around. It's the day that we take a couple hours to plan out the following week, and the lessons that we need to teach to our investigators. So, we're in the middle of that when I get a phone call. "Yes, ready." (The typical Italian greeting...)
"Hi, I'm so and so from the city office of Messina. We've received reports of fliers for a free English course all over our city. That's a big violation if you don' have a permit. Do you have a permit?"
"um...no."
"Yeah, that's a big violation. You're gonna have to pay 90 euro for each one that we find."
"whoa! can I take them down and avoid that fine."
"Better hurry. our guy is out there now. Are you gonna send someone?"
"I'll go myself."
"Ok. bye."
So, I call president Taranto to let him know about the situation, and I tell the other missionaries that we have a situation. So, we bust out of the house into the afternoon heat of a stinky Messina summer day, and walk reallllllly quickly to take down all the fliers that we'd put up. I'm pretty sure that we got all of them. I hope so anyway. So far no call, so I guess we're off the hook. Then that evening we had an activity with the young single adults. I had made a list of about 100 things, and given a point value of 1, 3, or 5 points, depending on the rarity of said item. Then we separated into teams, and then had 45 minutes to take a picture of said item with a member of your team. Then you all come back, add up the points, find out who wins, and then eat ice cream. Only about half the people who told me they were coming showed up, so it wasn't as cool as it could have been, but we still had some fun.
Saturday we did house all day. We were let in by the Romanian maid of a really old nearly deaf lady. We tried speaking, but it was pretty much futile because neither one of them could understand what we were saying. So we left. The came our bigger trip. We left Sunday morning (didn't even get to go to church...) for Bari! Yay! That's about an 8 hour bus ride. We got to Bari, and then ran our tails off to buy a train ticket to Foggia. We ran back to the platform, and jumped on the train and then the d0oors closed behind us. Close call. We then ate our sandwiches, and finally arrived to Foggia. Walking back to the Elder's house there, I met three people I hadn't seen for nearly two years. It was cool to catch up a bit. Then we got home, made our beds, and after having a nice chat with the missionaries there, went to sleep. The next day, we were out the door just after 7am, and walked half an hour to the government building to "finish up" my papers after two years. The process was supposed to take about 3 months. Good stuff. So, we wait in line, and then they let us in finally to another waiting room. Around 10:30 they call my name. I go into the small side office, and she takes my fingerprints, and makes the little card that has cost me so much time money and effort to get. Then, she tells me and the other guy that came in with me, that they had to wait for a confirmation from Rome to give us the cards. They would receive that by email, and it would come in about two hours, so we were free to wait, or to go about our business.
So, we left for a bit, got some breakfast, and I went to visit my good friend Danilo who showed me the video of when he smashed the two Guinness world records that he now holds. The announcer even mentioned that he had had correspondence from an American, and that's how Danilo was able to communicate with the offices in England. "Hey that's me!" I said. Yep yep yep. Then we headed back to the office, and waited for another half hour or so. Then they came out, and said "hey, sorry, it hasn't come. The office is probably closed by now, so you'll have to come back another day." But I can't come back. It costs like 100 euro for me to get here, and I have other things to do.
"Sorry."
So, I'm going to have to do the same old thing next week, but they practically assured me that I will have my stupid document the next time I come. Man, what a headache. So we went back to Danilo's house, and his mom cooked us a nice lunch, and then off to the train station. Danilo bought us a milkshake from the McDonalds at the station. So, we got on the train, and headed off to Bari. We said hi to the missionaries there, and then used the bathroom at their apartment, and then went to the market. I got one last tie, and a belt that has the batarang for a buckle. We had a couple hours to kill before our bus left, so we chilled in a music and book store. I asked the guy if I could play a guitar, and he said yeah. So I did. He even recognized Dave Matthews "what would you say" so go him. Then we got some food, and went to the bus stop. Our bus left at 10 pm. I had the seat in the very back where there was no window. So, needless to say, I go veryyyyy little sleep. Even if I did fall asleep, I would wake up minutes later being sore from the position I was in. So we got home at 5 am, and then went home.
I showered, and changed clothes, and then got on to another bus at 6:30 for Catania. We had a zone/district leader meeting, and then Zone conference. I was wasted for the whole thing. But it was still good. Then we came home, and I freshened up a bit, and then we went to the church for English Course. We're starting up again. All of the new students couldn't really find the place. So, we wait for them. A lot less people showed up than I thought would. Sad. So, we gave them the rules, and the intro, and then had a basic lesson. Then we went home, and I went to sleep. Blessed sleep. And today was pday, so I stayed in bed. I think I slept for about 10 hours, which was much needed. And then we came here. And now I have to go.
Much loves.
Jason