Zone Conference with the Pickerds

We had another great week and it feels like it all just flew by. We watched how rare a possesion with our investigator Andrea and he really liked it. We think he might have some real potential he just gets hung up on trying to find the physical and scientifical evidence of the book of mormon. Their are scientific proofs for the book of mormon but what really matters is if someone develops a testimony through asking God if the book is true. A spiritual witness is really what were hoping he'll be able to receive.

We had a really great conference with the Pickerd's this last week. It was totally different from all of the other conferences we had with the Waddups and I loved it! We had a pretty cool group discussion about repentance and then walking with God (Moses 6-7) Probably the biggest highlight though was when my companion had his interview with President Pickerd I got to sit and talk with Sister Pickerd about byu sports haha and she knows her stuff. I love them.

Anziano Burgos is also an amazing cook and has been treating me well this past week. He makes asain food all the time and it is divine. Last week we got to go see the castle that their remodeling in the city and also walk through some abandoned buildings from the earthquake. We've been seeing the members a lot this past week and the people here are wonderful! I hope that we can continue to help them grow and flourish!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

Some fish soupy thing

L'Aquila means "the eagle"

Homemade spring rolls

Palermo to L'Aquila

What a wonderful week it has been these past couple days! At the start of the week we met with lots of the members from Palermo and it was hard to say goodbye to all of them. I'll truely leave a part of me with all of the people down in Palermo. I'll miss Wen's chinesse food even if president mannino says its really american, playing ping pong with guilio, teaching hillary at joel and christophers house, and a lot of other things, but that's how the mission goes:)

We took a train up all day friday and it was a long day ha. We did get pizzas from Napoli though which are the best pizzas you can buy in italy. Then we got to Rome and i got to meet my new companion Anziano Burgos. He lived in the northern part of the philipians up until 7 years ago when he moved to Italy. He hits his 6 month mark this week so that should be really good. He speaks Italian perfectly so hopefully he can carry us as a companionship ha.

We got to l'Aquila and it was pouring cats and dogs outside ha I'm glad the weatherman knew I was coming. The city was destroyed in an earthquake in 2009 so we are hoping we can fix some people's lives with the message of the resturation. It's funny when people ask us for help and we tell them that we only teach the gospel they sometimes back off. But when you think about it, the one thing that really matters in this life is our own personal standing with God and we are here to help bring people closer to him. Anywho, L'Aquila's going to be an adventure!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

L'Aquila! With all the cranes to fix the city

My boy Bartolomeo who miraculously showed up at a dinner appointment to say goodbye to me

The old branch president of Palermo 3 with his wife and kids

Lulu, Wen, Josia (i think ha sorry President Mannino) and Cristian

Letter from President Pickerd

English:

Dear Families of the Missionaries serving in the Great Italy Rome Mission,

We are saddened to learn of a serious train accident that occurred a few hours ago in southern Italy between the towns of Corato and Andria.

We can report that no missionaries of the Italy Rome Mission were on the train.  All missionaries are healthy and accounted for.

We unite our prayers with the people of Italy for those impacted by this tragedy. 

Italiano:

Care famiglie dei missionari che servono nella grande missione italiana di Roma.

Siamo rattristati dalla notizia dell’incidente ferroviario occorso alcune ore fa tra Corato e Andria.

Possiamo dire con certezza che nessuno dei nostri missionari viaggiava in quel treno.Tutti quanti i missionari stanno bene.

Ci uniamo in pregharia con il popolo italiano colpito da questa tragedia.

Sincerely,

President Michael D. Pickerd

Sister Marian W. Pickerd

Italy Rome Mission / Missione Italiana di Roma

The week

This last week was really exciting and a lot of stuff happened. We had a party with the senior couple to celebrate america. It was a blast and we got to spend time celebrating our great nation. We had a blitz with the other missionaries from the district in mistretta again and it went really well. We hope that we were able to get some more work for our boys our in Mistretta. It was fun to get to spend more time with anziano scot because I am being transferred away him ha!

We got told that I'll be heading up to L'aquila! It's the coldest part of the mission in the mountains by Rome. I'll be with Anziano Burgos from northern Italy! It'll be sad to leave Anziano Carroll and all the people down here in Palermo. I also hit my 1 year mark which means that its all down hill from here. I ended up burning a shirt to commemorate the occasion. Don't worry mom it was a wore out shirt. We had a nice lesson last week with luigi and fabrizio, luigi had actually read 10 chapters in the book of mormon and were hoping he continues to read and pray to know if the book of mormon is true.

They had me give a talk in Palermo 2 on sunday so I made it a whole year without giving a talk in italian ha. The africans also decided that I'm one of them because I don't sweat as much as my companion does. I guess that's probably why president felt I needed to leave Sicily and head to the coldest part of the mission. We had a really good lesson with micheal and he actually brought his friend Tutu as well. Both of them are 17 and are really cool kids. I hope the new anziani can continue teaching them.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

A family from Mistretta

Fourth of July

One Year Burning of the Shirt

Che scifo!

We had a really exciting week these past couple days. Probably the biggest news is that we went to Catania and got to meet president pickerd and his wife. They both served here and actually met on the mission ha, but they are really cool and we're excited for the direction the mission is moving in. It was a treat to find out that sister pickerd is an avid byu sports fan and to also see all the missionaries from our two zones in Sicily. Unfortunately with transfer calls this week I might be off Sicily but the lord can always throw a curve ball.

Micheal and Joyce finally got moved into Palermo, they're a family we have been trying to teach forever and now we can finally meet with them. Michaels super cool, he's only 16 and we hope he can be an example for his family in joining the church. We had a fun experience when this bigger lady got on the tram and broke her shoe and fell on top of me. Ha then she sat down next to us and showed us her broken sandal. This young couple sitting by us starting kissing like teenagers do in Italy and the lady just started yelling "Che scifo"!

Which means gross. It was hilarious ha.

We went to cefalu on pday with the district and got to see some old castle ruins. We got to help some members build part of their house this last week for service. We have some swag members down here in Palermo. I especially love all the young adults that we get to work with and help develop testimonies. It really just strengthens mine on the power of friendship. I would like to end with a quote from Vaughn featherstone in the October 1975 conference, "The United States of America is the golden door. I bear my solemn and sacred witness that the United States of America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth". happy fourth!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano whiting