There and Back Again

What a wonderful life it is ha! We had another good week here in Palermo and also Rome for a couple days. Anziano Carroll had to go up and get his permesso so we took of Monday night and had a short one hour flight. We got to spend a day in Rome and it was incredible. We checked out the Vatican and we even saw the criscone families because one of the sons lives in Rome and had one of his children baptized (the criscone's mother lives in Ragusa and they visited a lot). It was nice to be up there because it was also president waddups last week.

President pickerd should be coming today.

We had a fun volleyball activity with the youth which went really well even though it got pretty hot. Zone calcio was also last Monday in the heat. We had a new missionary couple come down to Palermo named the Garrett's who we showed around Palermo alittle bit. They are really going to be a blessing here. Our boy Joel kefus was also called as new branch president and we're excited for the work that he will do. It's a blessing to be a part of Palermo 3 as they work to become a ward.

One of our investigators named Collins introduced us to a guy named osay who has lots of potential. It's kinda funny how sometimes you meet an investigator and they don't really progress but then they introduce a friend who seems to be a golden investigator. The sisters also passed us these 3 cool Italian dudes that really liked the message of the restoration. It's really the greatest message that you could share with anyone, that God loves his children enough to reveal his gospel one more time never to be taken again from the earth.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano whiting

Us at the Vatican

Waiting at the airport

five day G's

We had a crazy last 7 days and it all started with the last specialized training we will have with the Waddupps. It was a really good conference and we will definitely miss the Waddupps as they take off to America this next week. And then after that Palermo caught on fire... ha we had a wind blow over from africa that was super hot and then people just started lighting stuff on fire ha. There were just random buildings and fields on fire. It got really smoky and hot which made proselyting all the better. That's palermo for you.
We also had the anziani from Mistretta stay over at our house for almost the whole week because there was a train strike and then some trains caught on fire. So we had Anziano Dunn and Scott over for 5 days in the heat haha. We did get to make some chicken with them. There was also a really cool genealogy activity that we got one of our cool new investigators named Daniele to show up to. He came to corso even in the blazing heat.
We taught our boy Appia last week and he only speaks twe and a little bit of italian so we always have to bring members when we teach him. He told us how he had a dream before we met him about us and that's we he agreed to meet with us even though he couldn't really understand us. It's really cool to see that God does prepare people to receive our message and wants the best for them. We also get to pay african prices now for all of the stuff we buy which is a major stepping stone ha. Our african homies have finally fully accepted us.
Vi voglio bene
Anziano Whiting
Happy fathers day dad!

Hillary Clinton...

This past week went by really quickly and we were able to get lots of work done and Palermo is looking up. To start off the week though, we heard from Hillary Clinton that he was heading back to a town by Ragusa called Comiso to go work on a plantation. It was super depressing because he left unexpectedly and I was so sad and felt like I wasn't going to see him again. We called him and he was freaking out because he forgot his documents on the bus. But he prayed and was able to talk with some people and got his stuff back. Then on sunday he came walking up to the tram like normal. Ha he said he couldn't handle not being able to come to church every week so our man is back in P-town. So that was a miracle. He also bore his testimony for the first time and it was killer.

Anziano Carroll and I have gotten really close really fast and it's pretty cool. He's a funny kid and I think we should get some nice work done together. We got to see some of the sights last P-day and it was fun. The ping pong game is still going strong and getting us lessons ha, will play with people after english course and then teach them. 

Our potentials are also looking really prime for this next week. It's funny how you can see the relationships you make just start to blossom and help people move closer to the gospel. We just have to remember that it is important to stand as an example at all times and always be nice to people. But anyways, this last week was good and palermo is looking up.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Where to start...

So this last week was really fun and I don't even know where to start. Well Anziano Chilvers left for Naples after serving with me for 4 months and now I'm with Anziano Carroll from Gilbert Arizona. He's young in the mission but he's a pretty cool kid. Hopefully we can take the work to the next level here. We also had a conference on sunday with the area authority of europe. They broadcast it to all the churches in western europe and we even got to hear from elder Christofferson. They also had a fun lunch after with all the wards in palermo for a sister who just returned from her mission. 

We had some good lessons this past week as well. We are trying to focus on getting more member referrals and meeting with all of our new contacts. We spent a lot of time saying goodbye to people for chilvers and now will get to spend time saying hello with carroll. Mike had a really good lesson with us this past week and he seems reinvigorated to move towards the church. Things are also looking really good for our boy Francesco Fillipone. We have been working with him since he's a new convert and he'll get the Melchizedek priesthood this next week. But the real news is we're helping him set up his lds singles account so be on the watchout all you single ladies!

For Pday we went to an island of Traponi called Favignana and it was gorgeous. We biked around the island with the anziani from traponi and it was a blast! We went over on a cool boat and got to see some really pretty beaches. The water looked really inviting but will save that for after the mission. Palermo is doing really well and I look forward to all of the work Anziano Carroll and I will be doing together helping people come unto Christ.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

That late night gelato with our stake presidency member