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

Conference Week

So this week was really good even though we had like 5 conferences ha.

We first had zone conference with president waddups and it was really fun. We talked a lot about planning something that I need to work on improving. We had that for almost two days and then a ward party right after making it really hard to go see our investigators. On Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference with an elder from the 70. His name is elder vindas and he was really cool. We sang during the Sunday sessions and I was asked to play the piano for all of the Saturday sessions so that was an adventure. All of the stuff we learned was really incredible though.

Unfortunately Anziano chilvers has been transferred to a city up by Naples so he will be leaving is week and Anziano Carroll will be coming down. He's a young missionary and I think we should have some fun together. I will defiantly miss Anziano chilvers, and hopefully we can keep up the work down here in Palermo. We also had our branch president from Palermo 3 get called to the stake presidency so hopefully our p3 brothers can step up to the challenge now since president mannino will be gone.

Last pday we went to the beach in bagheria since the elders there really wanted us to come. Ha it was so trashy but oh well we got to spend time with the other elders. We also ate the biggest burger I have ever seen in my life with the Palermo 1 Anziani. Anziano chilvers and I raced the sisters from both wards and defeated them! But it was not worth it since we had burgers at the bishops house later that night and we both felt like we were going to die. Anywho, I hope everything is dandy back home and I miss and love you All!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano whiting

Chillin' with the bishop's fam

Here's the burger

My boy Anziano Bellows about to head home

Baptism of Irene

We had another wonderful time this past week and to cap it all off we had the baptism of Irene. She's the daughter of Rita and is the last one from the family we had to get baptized. Her real name is omotola but Italians can't pronounce it so they call her Irene. It was really cool and adjea who has been helping us with the kids recently was able to baptize her. Adjea is the coolest kid ever and he loves helping us out with lessons.

This past week we also had two scambios, I got to go to bagheria with anziano gizzel and spend time with anziano moraes  in Palermo. We had a good time for both scambios even though anziano moraes and I only went to meetings ha but that's how it goes sometimes. We had really good lessons with our investigators and we found out Carmelo lives in the p1 area so it'll be sad to pass him off but it'll be easier for him to go to church in p1.

Last p-day we went on this huge hike up a hill to some dudes house. Ha he says he wanted to build a temple on earth and so he decorated his house with tons of rocks and about 5 billion statues of sheep. The view was really pretty from up there though. I really enjoy spending time with all the other elders that are serving around Palermo. It really shows how working together to serve others can really help you learn how to grow together.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

Irene's baptism by Adjea

Anziano Moraes and I in front of a horse

Letter from President Mannino

Hello Whiting Family,

I would like to write you a few notes just to let you know how much appreciated is your son Elder Whiting's missionary service here in Italy, and more specifically in Palermo 3 (the Branch where I'm currently presiding as local leader).

From the very first time I met your son, I noticed great gentle manners in him. I still remembered the first time he came to my home (I have a little office in my home where sometimes we hold weekly PEC). As the "new" guest, I gave him some water first. He did not take it, but rather he gave/served the water to all the others and then he got water for himself at the very end. He takes off the shoes when he comes to our home and even helps to clear the table after dinners/church refreshments.

Your son is doing an excellent job in Palermo 3. He and Elder Chilvers brought back 3 outstanding LDS members (Melchizedek holders) to Church (to be honest, we even did not know they were around) and are really doing an amazing work with Rita's family whose young daughter Irene is going to be baptized this weekend.

Elder Whiting and Elder Chilvers did some very distinguished work for a relevant public school/sports event which took place in our Church building some weeks ago, in the presence of Palermo Local Council Mayor and other local public Authorities.

More importantly, Elder Whiting is always with a beautiful smile, good attitude, very proactive and is a great problem solver. He can identify very well where the problem lies and tries to find appropriate solutions. For instance, he has become our "official" Sacrament Meeting Pianist and he has learned to make "cheesecake" which is one of my very favorite desserts!!!

I'm sure that many of Elder Whiting's qualities are his own, but I'm also sure that  many of his qualities come from the teachings, love and care of you, his own family. Thank you very much for that!

Again, your son is truly devoting himself to the "good" cause and he is a wonderful person. You can really be proud of him.

Sincererly yours,

Cristian Mannino

Volleyball Word of Wisdom Activity

We had another fun week and I hope we can keep having more success. We were able to see our boy Giulio come to church which was really nice. We hope he starts participating more in church. He's a swag dude and he could receive so many more blessings and grow spiritually if he came to church. Oh well agency is a killer. Femi is going to be getting the priesthood this week and his sister Mortala should be getting baptized this week! If everything goes well their whole family should be in the church this next week. I feel honored to have helped with their conversion story.

We have also been making a lot of cheese cakes out here haha. The italians love it so much its not even funny. Our branch president just wants us to make one every PEC so that he can change out the cleaned pans we leave at his house with a full one. We also played a lot of soccer last week since it was zone calcio. It was really fun even with the heat going up in Palermo. 

Our boy Carmelo is still doing well and we really hope he can make it out to church next week. It would be really cool to get investigators visiting with both wards. The sisters put on a volleyball word of wisdom activity and it was really fun to participate in. Our P2 ward team was unbeatable and I still love watching Italians playing competitive sports other than soccer ha. They just aren't used to using their hands. Anyway, we have been seeing some nice progress with our investigators and have some potentials this next week that we want to make into investigators this next week so hopefully everything goes well.

Vi voglio bene

Anziano Whiting

My cheesecake

Festa della Mamma

We had another wonderful week and it all got chapped off when I was able to see my family for mothers day! We had some fun lessons this week and actually had some success in bringing people to church. We always ride this tram to church and we helped a lot of our african friends make it to church on sunday since they didn't know where it was. It must of been funny to see us two elders walking into church with our 20 africans. I also gave a my first talk in italy last week and the best part was it was in Palermo 3, so I did it in English :p

We had a really good lesson with Mike last monday and he kept calling us throughout the week to tell us he was reading the book of mormon. It was great to hear that he wanted to know for himself if everything we teach is true because we have to read the book of mormon to do that. We met this cool dude named Carmelo and he is a blast haha. He's alittle bit like Samuele from Ragusa so it'll be fun teaching him. 

We went to the catacombs last week and I was not a fan lol. I prefer seeing people alive as opposed to dead. We saw our boy Thomas a couple times and he really likes us. He still is having issues with his diabetes but we hope he can get out pretty quick. One of the really cool things that has been happening a bit her is we have been giving blessings. I really enjoy when Anziano Chilvers gives the blessings because I will get promptings for the things he has to say in the blessings and then he will say them! It's the coolest thing ever. It just goes to show what you can do when you exercise your priesthood worthily. 

Anywho, Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Whiting

And then the african suit ha it's like PJ\s with this swag design

Mother's Day Skype with the Fam

Palermo Transfer #3

We had another great week and it looks like this transfer will go really well. We had a pretty fun P-day last week, we went up to Mistretta with the international branch and got together with some other wards. They served us really good food and it was fun being with all the other members. We were in a trio for most of this past week since Anziano Lancaster had his companion go home so we spent a lot of time switching back and forth between the 2 areas. It was pretty fun.

After we sent anziano lancaster off we had to help the new elders get into their area so that was also very fun ha. /hopefully they're all settled in now. We have been working more with Rita's family since the daughter of the family just turned 8 and so we want to prepare her to hopefully get baptized here pretty soon. Their whole family is really awesome and I feel blessed to know them. We also did a lot of work with our friend giulio (the less active we play ping pong with) and he says he wants to start having one of his friends come meet with us which would be really cool. 

This past week we had some nice first lessons with investigators and have some high hopes for all of them. It was cool to meet this member from Ghana who contacted us out of nowhere looking for where the church was. His name is Thomas and he's a super cool dude. We got to stop by the hospital and give him a blessing. I also really love all the members here from Palermo 2. Their all amazing and wonderful examples for me in my life. 

Vi volgio bene!

Anziano Whiting

This is us on a rock

Our district before everyone left

P 3 Glory Days

We had another amazing week and the best news is that anziano chilvers and I will be staying together for another transfer! We are really excited and are ready for the miracles. This past week we got some nice work done and hope to build off of it. We had a really good lesson with a less active lady and her two non member sons. The family is really opening to us and we hope to be able to start teaching the family. It's really fun going over to see them and spending time with them. We also had some fun lessons with our boy mike who really wants to improve his knowledge of what we teach.

We had a fun sabbath because two of the past elders came to visit Palermo and the members really showed how much they appreciated everything the missionaries had done for them. It was a good example for the impact I want to leave in the cities I serve in. We also had a bit of a sad week because we had to say goodbye to the senior couple and anziano rasband who all took off for home. They were great missionaries and I'm going to miss them and all the wonderful times we had together.

Last week we got to play some frisbee with the missionaries and it was a blast. Palermo has some really nice places that we can go see. Most of them are on the other side of the town but i really love our side of Palermo. Anywho, we are working hard on meeting with new people and trying to find the people out there that are going to have interest in the message that we are sharing. We're also hanging in a trio for the next couple days with anziano Lancaster so will be working out our three man finding ha.

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano whiting

My boys teaching Hillary Clinton

Here's Rasband right before he left

Palermo Paradise

We had another incredible week of missionary work and everything is spectacular. We had some fun lessons and saw a lot of progress out of our investigators. Sammyjo showed some real progress this week and he asks really deep questions which makes the lessons fun. He works out of town of Sunday's so hopefully we can figure something out for him.

One miracle that we had this week was our boy Lawrence from English course just showing up at church on Sunday. The members were super nice to all of them which was cool. He likes the talk a lot but his son and wife really liked primary and relief society so will have to see what happens.

Anziano chilvers turned 20 this past week which was pretty cool. We had a scambio that day so he was actually in misttretta while I was in Palermo with Anziano Dunn. We did get to celebrate his bday with the district though so that was fun. Anziano Dunn and I worked really hard on our scambio and we had a lot of appointments fall through but at the end Anziano Dunn couldn't stop talking about how packed our day was. It really helped me feel gratitude for all the investigators we have and that they are willing to meet with lots of people in Palermo.

I'm been blessed thus far with lots of work to do and I know it's all God's doing.

Anywho, the highlight of the week probably came in Palermo 3 sacrament meeting when we sang 'my country tis of thee'. It was so funny ha! A bunch of Africans singing one of Americas hymns is the greatest, and probably the best perk having to play the piano. We have transfer calls this week and it should be fun to see what ends up happening.

The work is going really well and I'm loving Palermo!

Vi voglio bene

Anziano whiting

Here's us laser tagging