It's all about the food: One Week Left August 28, 2013

Ciao tutti!!!

I can't believe next week is the end of my first transfer here. Time has seriously flown by, and it felt like just yesterday I was getting here, not knowing what anyone was saying. And now I'm 5 weeks in and I can sort of understand the people here! haha.

So today was pretty weird because right as studies started, the other Anziani got a call to go visit a member in Bolzaneto (which is about 45 min away), so all 4 of us went, because the member said that we might need to perform an exorcism. Luckily, we didn't. We just had a really good discussion with them, and when I was saying the closing prayer, I felt the spirit guiding me so strongly what I needed to say to this family. I was almost like a blessing, it was really cool. But anyway, because of that, our P-day started kinda late, and that's why I'm just now writing you. But today has been really fun. We got to go play soccer with a member in the ward and an investigator and some other Italians. It was so much fun!!!!! We had this super nice little field to play on (picture attached) that overlooked the ocean. It was awesome. If I'm honest, I played really well for not being that good at soccer. I scored a couple goals and was holding my own against the natives. We all thought that we were going to get slaughtered, but we actually didn't. The teams were pretty fair and it was just so much fun to play. It was really really hot though, and we were so sweaty and thirsty afterwards, but it was worth it.

So like I mentioned the last few emails, this city has some crazy storms, and I love it. 3 nights in a row this week, we had increasingly bigger storms, the last of which, had more rain than I have ever seen before. It was nuts!!! The wind was super strong too and there was just lightning bolt after lightning bolt. I got some cool pictures of them. And just so you know, the picture that I attach really was the flash of lightning. Crazy stuff.

So last night, I tried to make crescioni (kinda like a crepe) for the first time all by myself, and as you can probably see by the picture, it didn't turn out so well. But it still tasted abbastanza bene. I will get better as I make them more.

This past week, I went on 2 scambi with the Anziani from La Spezia, a city that is about 2 hours away. I stayed in our area both times, but we would take the train to La Spezia to meet up and rescambio, so I basically sat on a train for 5 hours those 2 days, it was pretty weird, and as soon as you sit down on the train, its really hard to stay awake. But both the scambi were really fun and I learned a lot. I'm really glad that Anziano Salmon is the District Leader, because then I get to do a lot of scambi with everyone in the District.

So every Wednesday night, we have the great and fun opportunity to teach English class. I love it!!! It is really hard to try and teach English, but its so funny to watch Italians trying to learn it. Like last week, we worked on pronunciation of the "th" sound because its really hard for Italians to say. So when we had them trying to say words like "thwak" and "thwart", it was pretty funny. We have a pretty big group that regularly show up, so its really fun, and I look forward to it every week.

So our miracle this week comes from an investigator that we are teaching (my first investigator). We have been teaching him for a month or so and he knows its true, but doesn't want to really take any of the steps to join the church, because he really likes his church. So we decided that we couldn't really do anything more for him until he starts doing his part, so we decided to drop him. During the last lesson, we were about to tell him that we weren't going to meet with him anymore, but then he randomly said that he was going to come to church. Since it was Monday, we were putting a lot of faith into the fact that he would remember and would come. Like he promised, he came and I think he had a really great experience. I know that I could feel the spirit during gospel principles and it was exactly what he needed to hear. We are meeting with him tomorrow, so hopefully he will want to progress now. That just goes to show you that people can change, and having the spirit is so important in this work.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, next week is transfers. Its exciting, but I don't think I'm going anywhere. Anziano Salmon on the other hand, thinks that I'm going to train because the next group is really big. He then told me that he thinks I'm ready to train and that I would do a great job. That was such a big confidence booster for me, because I get frustrated when I can't understand people or speak to them. But I'm actually getting a lot better at that too! Anziano Salmon makes me do a lot of things, not in the "he's lazy" kind of way, but as in he wants me to have the experiences. So this week, I'm the senior companion, so I get the phone and I get to talk and set up a lot of our appointments. And tonight, I got to go to ward counsel....in Italian. And guess what! I didn't make a fool out of myself. They understood me and I understood them. It was amazing!!! The Lord has blessed me so much with learning this language, and I'm so grateful for how well I understand and speak it now. I still study every single day to get better and better.

I'm so excited for Linda to have her baby! You will need to send me pictures. I can't believe that Lizzy is already back in school, that's crazy. I wish her the best, and Lizzy....junior year really isn't that bad, you'll be fine. Just remember, no boys until your married. I have a million things to always say and never enough time, but I love you all and wish you all the best. Thank you for your prayers and for your support! Please keep writing me, I love hearing from you all. And if you haven't written me yet, do it!!!! haha.

Vi voglio tanto bene!!!

Anziano Langlois