Training, Tag-Teaching, Traditions

Well I don't have any huge new stories this week -- no hurricanes, wipeouts, UFO's, or other crazy nonsense.  But I do have transfer news, and I have put more pictures on Box :D !!!

TRANSFER NEWS: I am staying here as District Leader, and I will be training a new missionary.  Woo-hoo!  Anziano Kormylo is going to Lecco, way far north, and I will miss his company.  But we've discussed a lot this "new companions" business, since not knowing anything about the people we're going to be spending 24/7 with for the next 6-12 weeks is, well, kind of scary.

I've decided that, on the positive end, I could get an Australian (or Brit) who already speaks Italian and shares my interests.  On the negative end, I could get an anti-social, card-carrying member of the K K K with no desire to learn Italian and who has never left his home state.  That would be really disappointing.  I would probably cry.

 Realistically, it's probably going to be somewhere in the middle.  Probably an American, probably knows some Italian, probably gone/going to BYU.  We'll see.  I'll pick him up from Milano tomorrow.

LEARNING FAST.  Julia is still progressing nicely towards baptism.  We're on track for the 5th, and without any foreseeable hiccups, I think we can manage that.  We're tag-teaching with the sisters, since she is usually home during the mornings, but without her husband.

So they teach her then, 2X/week, and we teach Saturday evenings, when Henry is also there.  So with pushing from us and the sisters, she is learning quickly.  She has also told us that she reads the pamphlets with her boss (she works as a caretaker for a 91-year-old lady).  So that's neat.

Henry had his interview for the Aaronic Priesthood.  Unfortunately, he left before Priesthood Meeting, so he doesn't have it yet.  Next week --

We've also visited many members this week, so Anziano Kormylo can say goodbye.  It's neat, seeing how the missionaries can get close to members over the course of a few months.  I got close to Ann in Udine, but in Ferrara there weren't as many members.  So Firenze is a different experience in that regard.

SABBATH DAY.  The Stake President held a meeting just before Ward Council about keeping the Sabbath Day more holy, which is apparently a church-wide push.  They rearranged the schedule of church and put Sacrament Meeting in the front, instead of at the end.  And he brought up things like setting examples for our children in how we treat the Sabbath, and how families can start traditions to keep children focused on the Gospel.  See "The Music of the Gospel," Wilford W. Andersen.  Good stuff.

For meals, I cook rice dishes, pasta-pesto, mac-n-cheese-n-sausage, and sloppy joes.  A variety.

I'm looking forward to the next several weeks, as people get back from vacation and work goes along.

Love you!  Anziano Whitesell