Goodies, General Conference and CARS

Hello!

I'll start with last week.  Shortly after checking email, we went to...the

LAMBORGHINI FACTORY.

It was pretty cool, and I put a bunch of photos on dropbox.

The museum allows walk-ins, or you can make a reservation for the factory.

We just walked in and looked around.

There are two floors: older Lambo's on the ground floor, and newer Lambo's on the second floor.  The first floor was fine.  Just some older cars with some somewhat interesting specs.  You wouldn't look at them twice (at least I wouldn't) unless you noticed the Lamborghini bull or you noticed that it was shiny.

The ones on the second floor, however: REALLY COOL!

 Those are the ones you stare at, as they drive by.  Sporty and fast, and for most of them, one of only 20 or 50 or 100 ever made.

So all of the Lamborghini legacy depends on millionaires purchasing one a couple of times a year, because there are not that many to go around.

I actually got a Lamborghini 50th anniversary lanyard.

Incidentally, it was one of the few things in the gift shop that was $1.  Those and postcards.

Other than that, it was $75 for a t-shirt, $120 for a pen-holder, $80 for a calendar, and other ridiculous sums.

(Side note: Frank suggested that David go to an Easter mass, to better understand and relate to the Catholic people he talked to.)  I didn't go to an Easter mass, but some Elders from Bologna (in my district) went for a few minutes.

 They said it was confusing, and they didn't know how you would know when to stand up and say things if you only go twice a year.

 To any Catholic readers: not trying to be negative--I think it's wonderful that you go to church regularly!  It's just that here, the culture of "Catholicism" is very non-committal.  It sometimes even borders on Atheism (folks not caring), or polytheism (veneration of Saints overemphasized).

GENERAL CONFERENCE.  We went to Brother Moon's house and watched the different sessions of Conference on Saturday, and Sunday morning.  So I did hear Elder Ringwood's talk about goodness and lack of guile.  Actually, the message that came across most clearly, at least from the Saturday morning session, was "marriage is good, have a family, love your spouse."  Maybe because 4 of the talks were focused on that topic.  I'll get more out of them when I can re-read them in the Ensign (church magazine).

EASTER GOODIES.  Also when we went to Brother Moon's house, we got an Easter treat.  His wife sent him a package...for us!  Being a thoughtful mother, she worried about the missionaries far away in Italy and wanted to make sure we felt loved.  So she sent a care package (photo included) with loads of goodies.

It's a little scary how much sugar rolls in at Easter and Halloween and Christmas.  Side note, the night after conference I woke up at midnight (right after the live Saturday afternoon session ended) and threw up.  I guess my body wasn't used to American food :)

That hiccup notwithstanding, I am thankful for the support from members and family and friends, whether in the form of letters or packages or pictures or emails.

Love you!
Anziano Whitesell

Ordering Pizza and Alternate Plans

Hello!

I'll be listening to General Conference at Brother Moon's house -- the same one where I've gone for grilled dinner a couple of times.  We'll be watching the Saturday morning session live, (at 6 p.m. our time), then watch 3 sessions Sunday.  I guess I'll have to read the last Sunday session when it comes in the Ensign (church magazine).

I'm feeling much better.  I'm going to include a few journal entries here today, since yesterday (Tuesday March 31) was so...different. (?!)

FOLLOW-UP DOCTOR VISIT.  We started in the hospital with a follow-up visit about the pneumonia.  We went to the "International" office, where we went last time, since we have Aetna International coverage.  We never paid last time; they gave us the medicine under-the-table and let us walk out.  So I couldn't make an appointment until we got the insurance company on the line.  The hospital staff didn't trust them until they faxed a payment guarantee to the hospital.  Then we went to get an X-ray appointment.  Fine, no problem.  Then a doctor to interpret the X-ray... "Can you do it in 6 months? No? 3 months?"  To get an appointment this week, they wanted me to pay $90 under the table, and make me do the reimbursement with the insurance.  Um, how about No?

The initial thought was, "We can just ask for a printout and read it ourselves."  Then we called Sister Dibb (mission president's wife, she handles medical stuff).  She said to take the printout and send it to Milan.  They have a mission doctor who can read it for free.  Well, there's that problem solved!

Overall, I feel much better.  Not perfect, but I've been doing just normal stuff for the past 2 weeks.

Next strange thing:
ORDERING PIZZA.  We were tired when we got back home, from being in the hospital all morning.  So we decided to order pizza.  It got there, we opened them, and Anziano Lindsey noticed something weird about mine...what is that?  There's a cell phone under my pizza, in the box.  A Samsung, just sitting there under the pizza.  So we call the pizza place and say, "Somebody's left their phone with the pizza.  How they managed to get a phone stuck under the pizza is beyond me, but we ordered a pizza and got someone's phone.  A Muslim guy, by the pictures on it.

So we take a selfie with it, and wait for him to come and get it.  (Incidentally, the pizza took a shorter time to arrive than the guy did to get his phone.)  So when he gets there and sees Anziano Lindsey with his phone, he says (in Italian), "Oh, thank goodness you're not Italians."  Nope, honest, hardworking American missionaries.  How lucky for him!

AMERICAN TOURISTS.  Then in the evening, we ran into some American members of the church on vacation.  The husband had served here for 6 months on his mission...17 years ago!  So while his Italian was a bit rusty, they were making their way to some tourist sights, and some places he'd served.  It was cool for them to come out here; he remembered the place a bit differently -- there were 4 missionaries here when he served here.  And I think it was part of a different mission, too.

And some things we've tried to work a bit differently, and maybe have some more success: we brainstormed what we could do to overcome the barrier that comes up when people see us and think, "Oh no, it's the missionaries."

PLAN A. We baked brownies and walked around offering them to people.  "We're American missionaries, just trying to make people smile."  As we found (and thought might occur when we planned it), there is NO UNCREEPY WAY to ask people if they want brownies.  "Heyyy...want some...BROWNIES?"  "Excuse us, we'd like to offer you brownies."  "Hey kids, we made you brownies!"  Nope, Nope, Nope.  Everyone we offered them to thought they had drugs in them.  "Hash brownies, anyone?"  We got rid of a box of them, mostly to teens our age who probably wouldn't have cared if they did have drugs in them.  So we ate the other box ourselves.

PLAN B.  We have a lot of pass-along cards related to Easter.  So we taped them up to streetlights around town.  The missionaries are going around tagging poles!  We did the same thing with English class flyers/leaflets (we teach an English class as a finding technique).  It's more of a conversation course, since they don't get an official certificate or anything, but it interests some people who might not talk to us otherwise.  We'll see how that works out.

And, a funny thing that happens to us every now and again: we're walking down the street, and we see a lady 50 feet away notice us, stop for a second, then turn around and walk the other way.  Now, normally when this happens, they're casual about it.  They cross the street, or tie their shoe, or pretend to use the phone.  But this lady?  "Oh, no, it's those JWs. Freak. Can I cross the street? No--traffic's coming. Quick, what do I do? BAIL!  Walk away quickly!"

That's my news and happenings for this week.  I hope you enjoyed them.

Love,
Anziano Whitesell

Recovering, Bologna, Speaking in Church

Hello again,

(Note from Mom: lots of photos, so I'm just sprinkling them throughout.)

I'm mostly better from being sick, but not entirely recovered.  I have a light cough, and though probably unrelated (still worrisome), a pain in my chest.

I figure it's right about where my heart is.  Not to be scary or anything.  I've had it since the first hospital visit, and while it has ebbed a bit, it hurts some when I cough and a lot when I sneeze.  It just feels bad, like pressure, not-a-sharp pain if I breathe deeply.  I figure I'll ask about it when I go back for the follow-up x-ray on Tuesday.  It's okay.  I'm not dying! These things happen.

BOLOGNA.  For some fun news: we went to Bologna today for P-day.  And I uploaded pictures to Dropbox, so you can look at the view from the Bologna Tower.  And, you can see the RAIN and maybe the WIND we encountered while there!  It was pretty bad weather, and I'm still wet, but it was an enjoyable trip.  Then we went to...another SUSHI BAR!  Yay!  All-you-can-eat-sushi, and Oriental food, and even some desserts and gelato (separate, obviously) at the end.  I stuffed myself.  It was awesome.

SPEAKING IN CHURCH. We gave talks on Sunday.

 It was missionary-talk-day, apparently.  It wasn't supposed to be, necessarily, but I switched with a member who was going to be out of town that day.  Since it was the two of us missionaries, we each gave a decent 15-20 minute talk, filled the time, and ended at a reasonable hour.  The Branch President didn't have to fill in for us.  Success!

QUESTIONS, Let's see, answering your questions.  My favorite story I read this week: There were a few Ensign stories that I liked.  What was I thankful for: I was thankful for the package you sent via Bishop White this week! (Side Note: Our Bishop here in Boston took his family to Italy for their spring break, and took a package from us, over to David.)  Those shortbread animal crackers were a nice touch :)

Bologna from the Tower

I'm looking forward to General Conference in a week and a half...I'll watch as much of that as I can, but it's also fun to read the stories for the first time in the Ensign, like from last conference.

And how have I shown gratitude: I tell people "thanks anyway" when they turn us down.  Does that count?

Happy upcoming birthday in a few days, Mom!

Progressive Photo Bomb

Love you,
Anziano Whitesell

Good People, Military Invitation, Inspirational Thoughts

Hello, Family--

(Side note from Mom: he uploaded lots of photos this time, so I'm just sprinkling them throughout.)

we have to be goofy some of the time:
Sanity Check

THANK YOU so much for the full-length letter, Dad!  Maybe because I've been sick, maybe because I didn't hear from TK or Kara last week (it's okay, they emailed this week), or maybe something else, but it was really nice to hear from everyone in the family.

GOOD PEOPLE. First, I'm glad you've gotten some communication from people saying I'm being taken care of -- from Brother Moon and Sister Syke.  I have quite a bit of support out here: the Branch President came by with a bag of oranges and a jar of honey for the recovery, and I was able to ask a nearby Elder (young adult) for a blessing.  He actually helped with the blessing.  Anziano Lindsey gave the actual blessing.

coffee cake was a hit

MILITARY INVITATION. (Side Note from Mom: Brother Moon is on the military base close to David.  He emailed us, Frank and I, after he had the missionaries over for lunch, and he sent a picture of all of them.  He also offered his military address if we wanted to send David a package.  Very nice!)

And then yes, Brother Moon grilled us some chicken on his legit grill at his house last Sunday! We didn't grill much, but it's a nice American thing to do.

Brother Moon grilling chicken

Sister Shearer also said you got the highest recorded amount of snow in Boston this year: 108.6 inches or something like that?  That's ridiculous!  Home Depot must be making a killing, even without profiteering.

Bologna

I still have a bit of chest pain and my cough.  I was "raring to get back to work" as soon as possible, but I'm seeing it would be a good idea to go back slowly, not quite as gung-ho as I had planned.  I have basically stayed sane these days: reading a lot, resting, eating, repeat.

INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHTS. I did a spiritual message along the theme of "letting your light shine" at a district meeting a couple of weeks ago.  I took some lyrics from a favorite song: "It's harder to light a candle, easy to curse the dark instead."  And I took Proverbs 20:27, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." It was basically, that what we do is hard sometimes.

"The Jehovah's Witnesses are asked
not to knock on this door"

view from the Bologna Tower

 If we're in a tough city or having a slump in missionary work, it's easier to bemoan our fate.  What we do isn't easy, this lighting candles business.  But when we light people's candles (help them feel the love of Jesus Christ), that's the Lord's work.  And even though it's hard, we can do it.  We have been called to do it. Ce la facciamo!

Kinder Egg with a prize inside!
(these are 'illegal' in the U.S., you know:choking hazard)

I have been studying the Old Testament Manual...from 1981 because that's the one in the apartment.  I'm sure most of the information is the same.  It made some references to Ensign (church magazine) articles...from 1973.  Which happen to be accessible through Gospel Library (internet resource the missionaries can use).  So there I was, looking up conference talks from 40 years ago.  One favorite was "Becoming a Somebody," by John H. Vandenberg.  The whole conference was good, but I especially liked that talk.  My 2nd favorite was "Live Above the Law to be Free," then "What is a Friend?"  Also the first 3 talks in that Sunday morning session.

Funny how conference talks are like missionary youtube.

And on a final note, we have a zone training the 9th of April, then on the 27th Elder Bednar is coming to our mission.  And he's going to be training us on iPads, which means we'll be getting those at some point in the foreseeable future.

HAIRCUT. I also got a haircut today.  It's about a 2 on the sides, 2.5 on top.  Military short, the way I like it.

Love you!  Anziano Whitesell

Bikes, Synagogues, and Being EXTRA Sick

Hello from Italy!

SICKLY. Well, today's news isn't great.  The cough lasted, and developed into chest pains and trouble breathing.  So I went to the hospital, took a blood test and got an x-ray, and was diagnosed with pneumonia.  Blech.  So this upcoming week I'm supposed to be on bed rest and stay in the house...a full week to ten days.  I don't think I've ever had to do bed rest for ten days before.  But I guess I picked it up, and now I can't do anything but rest it off.

I was taking Bronchenolo for the cough, and Ibuprofen for the pain.  Now I've stopped taking Ibuprofen as frequently, since that hasn't helped very much with pain.  The coughing still hurts, though: when I feel a cough coming on, I sit down and brace myself.  I'd give it a solid 7 on pain.

They also gave me Laxocavin (?) or something spelled similarly.  Just take 1 a day for the next 10 days.  Then go back in 20 days for a follow-up X-ray to make sure it's all gone.  So, this next week I'll finish reading Jesus the Christ, write a few letters, and start on some church BYU manuals on the Bible and the Doctrine & Covenants.  Not being able to leave the house isn't much fun.

NEW COMPANION. I've found out that Anziano Lindsey enjoys drawing and has done some pretty cool designs.  He's going home in less than 12 weeks -- less weeks than I have months.  And he's pretty ready to go home.  Finding work will be different this transfer, as he isn't used to much "street" finding.  But I'm still hoping for good things this transfer.

RIDING BICYCLES. We've been riding our bikes, just as often as if the weather was warmer.

If people came to Ferrara for the first time, I would say they should go to the Castle.  There's also an art museum called the Palazzo Diamante.

SYNAGOGUES. There's also a Jewish synagogue/museum.  But, here's a news flash: this past Zone Conference, the President shared an update from his weekly security bulletin.  Since ISIS has been targeting Jewish buildings, and attacks have been made primarily around synagogues and Jewish schools, missionaries are recommended to stay away from any Jewish buildings.

Anziano Wright, in Trieste, might have to get a new apartment, because theirs is right across the street from the local synagogue...there's no avoiding it.  So, that's something for us to keep in mind as missionaries.

TIME. On transfer day, I was waiting in the station all day, from 7a.m to 7 p.m., waiting for my new companion.  But he got in safely, and we headed back to the apartment.

Love you!
Anziano Whitesell

Golf, Cheesecake, and Being Sick

Hello!

SAME PLACE, DIFFERENT COMPANION.  We got transfer calls this past Saturday.  I am staying here in Ferrara, and Anziano Robinson is going away to Bergamo.  Yes, 'one-and-done' for him (he was only here for 1 transfer, or 6 weeks), somewhat unusual.  But okay, I'm getting a new companion named Anziano Lindsey.  Going into his 15th transfer.  (Each transfer is 6 weeks long, and in 2 years, missionaries have 17 transfers.)  So he's getting pretty close to dead.  ("Dead" means finished with his mission.)  I'm looking forward to the change, and seeing what this new Anziano is like.

UNDER THE WEATHER.  As far as stuff going on, I have been sick for the past week.  It has just been "bleah" most days.  It started Wednesday evening, feeling light-headed and having pretty bad chills.  Then Thursday was more too-hot, too-cold, too-hot, too-cold and coughing.
 So I broke out the ibuprofen I've had from America in my 1st-Aid kit and used that.  Friday was similar to Thursday.  And from then I've gotten mostly better, but the cough is still here.  I'll be quiet for a few minutes, then *GASP* cough-cough.  It's mostly annoying at this point, because I'm not tired or dizzy anymore.  I just have a cough.  Boooo!

IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS.  It's March 4, and I have a confession to make..."Happy Birthday",...to...Dad,...I think.  Sorry, I know there's a birthday on the 3rd, 21st (Kara), and the 31st (Side note: this is wrong, BTW--his Mom's bday is the 29th), but I can't remember which parent is on which end of the month.

 I'm pretty sure it's Dad: I hope so, because that's the letter I sent!  Which, incidentally, would have been there on time, but I got it back yesterday saying that I had to pay extra because it weighed too much.  So I sent it again, with extra postage.  Happy Birthday to Dad, you have a letter coming hopefully soon.

I also got the thermal underwear, thank you, the same day I got my other packages.  It has kept me warm a couple of days so far.

EXCELLENT CHEESECAKE.  So, today being Anziano Robinson's last P-Day here, we went to a diner called "American Graffiti," which is basically the opposite of "Olive Garden:" an American restaurant in Italy!  They have a good selection: cheeseburger/nachos/steak/burritos/buffalo wings.  Typical "American" fare.  I had nachos, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I felt like trying them this time.  They were all right.
Then they had cheesecake, which was excellent.

PUTTING PRACTICE.  And, last story, a couple of weeks ago for P-Day we played golf.  What?  Yes.  Anziano Robinson loves golf, and I...am not a huge fan, so we went and used the driving range.  I could get them out to about 75 meters, wheras he's hitting professional shots and adjusting his technique, and all that.  So, it wasn't a complete waste, but not something I'd choose to do again.

Service this week: we went to the food kitchen again.  It's an every-other-week kind of thing.

OLD FRIENDS.  (Side note: Frank told David that one of his old mission companions is now the Men's Volleyball Coach at BYU.  We saw him on t.v. a couple of weeks ago.)
 I love that you could pick Elder McGown out of the crowd in the sideline.  That's pretty neat.  I'll be interested to see what MY missionary peers become within the next few years.  Also the next 30 years.

When you see an old friend from the mission, the first question you get asked is "How are you doing?" then it's "How is the work going in X city?"  So on the one hand, it's sad to only see people every 6, 12, or 18 weeks or more.  But on the other hand, not much changes on a day-to-day basis, so there wouldn't really be a point to having daily communication.

TOP-NOTCH SPEAKER. The whole mission is coming together in April for a training by...David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Surprise!  Everyone is looking forward to that.  On the point I was making, all the missionaries in the whole country will get to see each other, which is nice.  Also we'll see Elder Bednar, which is very nice.

Have a great week!
Anziano Whitesell

Old Friends, Movie, Receiving Packages

(**Side note from Mom: he took a LOT of pictures of the museum and the Chocolate Expo, which he talks about in the previous post.  I'll just include some more of those photos in THIS post, even though he doesn't talk about them here.)

Hello!

This week was a pretty good week; on Friday we had Zone Conference (with just missionaries and mission leaders).  On Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference (with multiple congregations from around the area, plus missionaries).  The Venezia-Mestre Stake is made up of (mission-wise) the Bologna zone and the Mestre zone.

OLD FRIENDS. During Stake Conference, I had a nice surprise when I ran into Ann Sykes and Bettina, from my last area, and was able to talk to them.

chocolate couple

Also our ward mission leader from Udine, and several members of the congregation there.  It was nice to talk to people with whom I had associated with at least once a week, for the first several months here in Italy.

Zone Conference was even better than Stake Conference, because I ran into some of my most favorite people: Anziano Keller (who is now serving in Udine: not my companionship but the other one), Anziano Wright from the MTC (training center back in July), and Anziano Fabiano (still in Udine, not with Keller)!

more chocolate...engines and wrenches

So I got to talk with them, 2 old companions and Wright from the MTC.  It's always nice to hear from old friends :)

MOVIE. Actually, another thing at the Zone Conference was that we watched Meet the Mormons.  Super exciting to see a not-missionary film, even if it was church made.  It had some pretty neat characters, and was an enjoyable movie.  I think a lot more people ought to see it, to understand us better.

PACKAGES. I did get some packages: can't imagine where they came from!  It was funny that one of them was mailed January something, and the other one was mailed February something.  Since the Zone Conference was later this month, we didn't have a regular Zone Meeting the first week of the month.  So I didn't get either of those packages until now.

Anziano Robinson

I made blondies for district meeting (with the yellow cake mix you sent) and people loved them.  And no, I haven't finished the peanut butter; it's Special-Occasion stuff! :D

And thank you very much for the English Conference Ensign (church magazine with inspirational messages), since I hadn't heard most of the talks before.  AND thank you for the Espeonage hoodie.  I'm more of a fleece/hoodie guy so it feels like 'Me' again.

People we taught the gospel this week: one lesson fell through,

chocolate sheep!

but while walking around, we talked to someone named Simone about the Restoration.  And we taught that Romanian group again.

My favorite part of being in Ferrara is the growth potential.  Really, this place could use some work.  We've gotten to the point of having something planned almost every day, so that's an improvement from last transfer.  Still not a busy place, certainly, but looking up.

chocolate coffins

I'm thankful for Conference talks, and Liahona magazines.  The Ensign is better, though, because it's all aimed at over-30's, instead of mashing together the Friend, New Era, and Ensign (church magazines for children, teens, and adults).  I'm also thankful for friends I have made here on the mission.

Love you!
Anziano Whitesell