Week of Changes and Packing

(*Reminder: you can click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

Well it was a week of big news. Transfer info: I'm going to Merate, a small town by Lecco, by Milano, to finish my mission.

Scaffolding, Anyone?

SAYING CIAO TO MANY FRIENDS. So the week was busily spent saluting friends and recording contact information. I'm not sure what it is, but this time, maybe due to being near the end and being more confident and personable, or maybe the people, but there are far more people I plan on keeping in touch with here in Torino than in previous cities. So thank goodness for facebook and email, because with letters I would be hard pressed to keep track of everyone.

(I understand there is something called an "Address Book" at home, but that's just for Old People. :P Ha! -- he says after having used it for every thank you note he has ever written...)

SWITCHING TOWNS & COMPANIONS. My new companion will be Anziano Richardson. I've heard some about him, and met him once or twice. I'm really looking forward to it because I've heard he's really cool. He's been out for about a year and a half. And obviously, I'll find out more about him over the next 5 weeks! Funny thing, last transfer was a 5-week transfer, and I had Anderson as my companion for his last transfer. Now I'm going to be one-and-done for my last (5-week) transfer.

Packing, as usual, is difficult, but I still don't have to toss much. I remember when I left Boston, with a checked bag only half-full, and a carry-on (which turned out to be too big to carry on). My things have built up a little at a time, but I'm only now having to toss anything.

One of the hardest parts was saying goodbye to the missionaries in this district, but fortunately it's easier to keep in contact with them because most of them are going to one BYU or the other. I know I'll have a bit of traveling to do when I'm at BYU Provo (up to BYU-Idaho, to visit!).

DEDICAS. We have a missionary tradition of writing 'dedicas' to each other in little notebooks at the end of each transfer, with the people who aren't going to be with you next transfer. So in leaving, I had a lot of memories and emotions sealed into my dedica, along with contact info from those who liked me.

(**It's not obligatory to leave your info, or what info to leave. For example, if I only leave my facebook info to someone who won't finish their mission for another 15 months, that doesn't say much for our relationship during the transfer.)

MY FAVORITE PEOPLE HERE (Mom's question). It's weird because as a whole, the ward congregaton was fairly lukewarm. But there are lots of specific people I'll miss:
1) The Zapata family
2) a Peruvian couple who work in the Primary and he plays the piano amazingly well
3) Robin, a Nigerian man who has come back to church while we've worked with him
4) Sarah, a Sicilian girl studying here who has been super cool, also she's a Whovian so bonus points

(Note from Mom: we had to look up "Whovian..." top definition according to google:

Whovian: A fan of the popular sci-fi show Doctor Who. Whovians are the epitome of awesome, with good grammar and better knowledge. This knowledge stems from their interest in space and time, and the information gained from many viewings of the show. Without Whovians, your life would be very dull indeed. They secretly run the world's major services, and insert Doctor Who references into every piece of popular culture available.

Simone

5) Simone, a Napolitano kid who was baptized roughly 2 years ago.
Just cool people I got to know and want to keep getting to know.

Love, Anziano Whitesell

Challenges, Chairs and Change

Ciao, All!

EXERCISE REGIME. (describing our apartment) We don't have a couch. We have two recliner-type chairs that are super comfy. These chairs lead to my companion WATCHING me do my P90X workout, deciding life is difficult and the exercising just isn't going to work today, and telling me he'll start tomorrow. What a goon :P I just sit in them in the evening, and listen to music.

Hearing from the mission president at mission council, talking with ward leaders, etc., gives me the impression that the youth are being prepared for a lot of responsibility in these days. Like how they've re-vamped the Young Men's 'On My Honor' program, and lowering the missionary age, etc.

LOCATION CHANGE COMING. Transfer calls come in a couple of days. It's the last one that matters for me! o.O But I'll be sad to leave this area -- I've made a lot of friends. Fortunately, I'll have FB and Skype in a couple of weeks, to keep in touch with them. Having the heads-up from President Dibb (that I'm moving, next transfer) was nice, so I can feel sad about leaving for a little bit, and one girl will be gone next week, so if I hadn't known I wouldn't have been able to say goodbye.

WHAT WE DO. Work is moving along. We're seeing more success with reactivating current members, than with new investigators, but that part is up to the Lord. Our missionary work is about strengthening the ward (congregation), not just baptizing.
And I've definitely learned some stuff about wards and organization during my time here. Actually, one of the congregation members works as a church building administrator for the stake (group of congregations), so talking to her we learned a lot. I would enjoy an organizational position, in the church or otherwise.

Ciao!
Anziano Whitesell

Lessons, Bus Rides, Maybe Yoga

Hi!

(Reminder: you can click on the pictures to make them bigger...)

PRODUCTIVE DAYS. This week was pretty awesome. We were really busy; we taught 27 lessons last week. If we can keep that up, it would probably result in this area getting a car. It's difficult to make it across town to one lesson, then travel 40 minutes by bus to another lesson, then go back home for lunch. Our studies are pretty shot; morning activities take the place of those, most days. But spending most of our time outside the apartment is better.

STRESS MANAGEMENT. We had interviews with President Dibb last Monday, so I talked to him about feeling stress from the workload, and feeling like everything has to be perfect, and people not making the choices I'd like them to make. I go through waves every couple of days, first feeling like everything is awesome, then...we miss a bus and show up late, and somebody can't meet this week, and some plans change last-minute, and I start stressing out again. I need to find an outlet, because I figure if I'm working hard, I'll always be in a potentially high-stress position. I'll try some things to see what works; there's a new missionary handbook that has some pages with suggestions on stress management.


In any case, President Dibb said what he usually does with missionaries near the end who have been Zone Leaders 6 months (4 transfers) is have them finish in a normal companionship, just elders helping each other work hard as the "dying" missionary (near the end of his mission) finishes his last transfer. So, I expect to do one more move, for the last transfer. Don't know where yet, but a transfer is coming. 2 more weeks here, so I'm cleaning up the bookkeeping and organizing, so it can be perfect for the next guy to walk in and keep going.

TRAIN STATION. Other than that...we were at the train station looking for a lady we were going to meet with, and this guy walks up to us:

"ELDERS!"
(Yes, this is us.)
He asks if we have a Book of Mormon in Spanish. "Not on us, but we can get you one."
"Okay, good. I've been inactive for awhile, but I want to come back to church."
"Excellent! Can we get your number?"
"Yes, and I live at this place..."

Wow. Things like this happen and I just realize so much, that this is the Lord's work.  I just show up, and put in effort and faith, but if He wants something to happen, that's when things change.

VARIED HOMETOWNS. Missionaries in my zone are from California, California, Las Vegas, Netherlands (born in Belgium), Boston (me), Florida (born in Venezuela), Idaho, Utah, Australia, Utah, Utah, Utah, Utah, Colorado, Utah, and Phoenix. Too much Utah. No, really...when the members ask where you're from and you say somewhere else (besides Utah), they say 'Oh, good.'

Have a great week!
Anziano Whitesell

Hiking to the Basilica and..."The Doorman"

Ciao, All!

Well, we have some weird apartments sometimes. I'll start with a couple of experiences using my climbing expertise to solve certain apartment problems.

LOCKED IN. In our current apartment, you can lock and unlock the door from the outside but not from the inside. Which is fine if you are the only companionship. But sometimes, if you're not careful, someone gets locked in. So with Anderson, the other guys left one time, and then a half hour later we try to leave. And find out we're locked in. Hmmm.

The first idea is, "How far away are the other guys?" But they're in a lesson across town. The members with our spare key are at work. So Anderson says cancel our appointment and wait. I say, I've always wanted an excuse to climb down from the balcony. So Anderson refuses to watch, but I go over our third floor balcony, shimmy down the next couple of balconies, and get down to the ground, then come up the stairs and unlock the door from the outside. ('Just call me...The Doorman.')

I THOUGHT YOU HAD THE KEYS. The other story was when we forgot the keys. We got the spares, go back to the apartment, and find out that while the spares include a house key and a stairwell key, they don't include a gate key. No problem; I wait for the passers-by to pass by, and hop the fence, going up to the apartment to get our normal keys.

CONFERENCE ADDRESSES. Other news. General Conference was this weekend. Every six months, we have "General Conference," where we get to hear inspirational messages and counsel from church leaders and our prophet. We watched the Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Priesthood session, and Sunday morning sessions. There were many inspiring talks and humorous comments. President Uchtdorf is a riot, in addition to being an excellent speaker.

A couple of favorites were Merlyn B. Arnold's talk about going to the rescue with haste, not wasting time, and bringing to mind the quote, "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." (General George S. Patton)

I also liked Stephen W. Owens talk about following an example we trust, like his father hunting, or Jesus Christ day-to-day. And Bonnie L. Oscarson's talk about "is your belief in your head, or in your heart?" I look forward to re-reading those talks and those I missed from Sunday afternoon, in the Ensign (church magazine). And speaking of which, I refer you to the article in the April 2016 Ensign, "A Worn, Marked Conference Ensign."

GETTING TO KNOW YOU. Today we went with a bunch of elders in the zone to the Basilica of Superga. We knew that the tram didn't go there, so we planned to hike it. But about a quarter-mile in, and discovering a bus that made trips to the top, half of the group went back to the base to wait for the bus. Four of us kept hiking up the road. It took about an hour, but it was an enjoyable hike. Often when walking around town I don't talk with my companion, just thinking or going on autopilot. But with 4 of us, we kept conversation going the whole way, and switching off talking one-on-one with each member of the group, I got to know them better. We made it to the top and saw the cool Basilica, at about the same time the other guys arrived, they having waited awhile for the bus.

COMING BACK TO GOD. And, a cool house-to-house experience happened. On an exchange, we were knocking doors and a youth opened, maybe 16 years old. He said his family was evangelical, but he had never been baptized. During the past year he had drifted away from those religious roots, but he decided he needed to come back to God. In a few months he wants to be baptized. We showed him A Savior is Born, from Christmas. We'll talk to him again, to see when we can meet.

Have a great week! Happy Birthday Mom--your letter is in the mail.

Love, Anziano Whitesell

Africa, Alarms and Armor

Ciao--

NIGERIA. This week was another busy week! A man approached us on the street, said he had been taking the missionary discussions in Nigeria, and told us he wanted us to keep teaching him. Sure, we can do that! Our friend group continues to grow, and we can teach even more people. It just means we have to always get better at bussing around the city to fit in the appointments we have. This has definitely been the busiest area of my mission.

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME. The embarrassing moment of the week was last Friday night. We had gotten to bed and were trying to sleep, when someone rings the doorbell. We assume it's a prank and ignore it. But they ring again, and a third time. So we go see who it is: 3 of the young men from the ward (congregation). Two live out of town and came to the third one's house for the weekend, but his mother had already invited guests. She told them to find somewhere else to stay. So they came to us and asked if we could open the church for them to stay the night.

I thought sure, we can do that. They asked for the keys and I said no, we can't give those out -- but we can walk you to the church and let you in. So we walk over, about 20 minutes, and I open the church and we walk in around 11:20. But there's this beeping noise. We look over and see the alarm. Uh-oh. That, I didn't know about. So after a minute of looking at it, it went off: air raid siren, lights flashing on the grounds.

We panicked and left the church, locking the door and walking away (because running would be suspicious, obviously). It keeps going off and I think "Well, I've got a problem. Better call someone before a neighbor calls the police."

So I call the Bishop, and he doesn't answer. Fortunately, one of the youth has the Bishop's wife's number, so we call her. She picks up, and passes the phone to the Bishop. I explain the situation and he tells me how to shut off the alarm, but also that we can't let people stay in the church. Never, never, never. Hmmm. I wasn't aware of that. Oops. In any case, I turn off the alarm and tell the youth they can't stay there, sorry. And we walk back home. Got back around midnight (they end up staying at the Bishop's house).

Last chapter: in the morning I decide to call President Dibb, let him know that we messed up. He was, understandably, pretty mad. He made it very clear that we are not to let anyone stay in the church overnight: missionary, member, or anyone else! Also, being out so late doesn't fly as a missionary. So, a note to those going on missions: follow the mission rules and you won't get into trouble. I didn't know that we couldn't have people stay at the church overnight, but if I hadn't left the house after working hours, it wouldn't have been a problem. Even if it seems like a good cause...call the Bishop and have him deal with it; he knows more than you.

That was my "face palm" moment of the mission! Hopefully you got a laugh out of it, and not just a groan...

EASTER DAY. Also, Happy Easter! That's a happy event. Hopefully yours was good. We had ours at home, alone (with a "gift" meal from a family). This was not due to rude members, but due instead to me working hard and not realizing that Easter was coming up, and it not coming to mind that one ought to spend Easter with friends or family. It was a calm Sunday, nonetheless.

LANGUAGE STORIES. And yesterday, on the train, we ran into some Mexican exchange students. They were 2 girls, studying French and German (living with host families), were visiting a friend, studying Italian. It was cool to share language stories, and fortunately they spoke English. So I would listen to their Spanish, and ask my questions in English.

Embarrassing, though, that all I could manage in Spanish was "Soy americano. He vivido en Mexico por un ano, pero se me olvido casi todo. Entiendo pero no hablo." (I'm American. I lived in Mexico for one year, but I forgot almost everything. I understand but I don't speak it.) They were cool, though.

(SIDE NOTE FROM MOM: We told David to focus on the Italian and not worry about losing his Spanish -- a year in Mexico and 3 years of it in High School. We think when he comes back he'll be able to review his Spanish, and it will come back to him.)

TURIN SIGHTS. Today we saw the Royal Palace, Royal Armory, and an art gallery. Seeing that I'm not returning to Torino for awhile, I should take advantage of the museums and such. The armory was really cool: displays decked out with swords, crossbows, guns and armor. And the rooms in the palace were also really cool, full of chandeliers and gold and fancy frescoes on the ceilings. In the gallery, though, my favorites were the landscapes. Mountains, forests, seascapes, villages, just beautifully rendered. The paintings of people, meh. The nature scenes, super cool!

Have a lovely week!
Anziano Whitesell

Trams and Choosing to Change

Hello Again!

It's been a fun week with some different experiences.(Remember, you can click on these photos to make them BIGGER.)

CUTTING IT TOO CLOSE. First off, as we were driving home from an appointment one evening, I look to the side and see a tram slam on the brakes as a car tries to cut across an intersection ahead of it. The tram doesn't slow enough, and hits the car. The car gets knocked back a few feet, loud noise, and then we pass and I don't know what happens next. Probably a lot of yelling and the cops being called. What excitement!?

INSPIRATIONAL CONFERENCE. The big event last week was the Christofferson conference. Elder D. Todd Christofferson came to our mission and talked to us, about 1/2 of the missionaries in the mission this time, rather than all of them. It was a neat experience, since I don't really know him as a speaker -- he isn't as tenured as Elders Bednar or Holland or Ballard, who have some usual themes. So we gathered and listened, and he taught us about being better missionaries, yes, but more importantly about being better people. About repentance and choosing to change, as well as letting other people choose for themselves to change. We as missionaries can't "make" anyone make decisions. We can just encourage, and tell them what blessings they'll see as a result.

Later, I made a phone call to a man whose number we got about a week ago. The son picked up, and I asked if his father was there. After a brief pause and some talking in the background, the son comes back on and says in Italian, "My dad's not here right now...so @!#@!##%!" And he hangs up. Some people! I've had some really polite people on the phone, interested or not. And then there are encounters like that. Ugh.

DOWNTOWN VIEWS. Anyway, today (P-day) some other missionaries from the zone came over and we went around Centro. It was neat, some cool buildings, and we decided to go to the top of the Mole, the building with the National Cinema Museum. Good view of Torino.

MOM's QUESTIONS.
I like Torino because it's nice and big, so there are lots of people. It has a big Centro.
My biggest challenge here is to keep the paperwork organized and up to date for everyone. Another challenge is trying to love some difficult individuals.
And my companion's birthday is in August.

Love, Anziano Whitesell

Getting Organized and Meeting People on the Tram

Hi!

(Here are some photos of our apartment and the views we have.
**Reminder: you can click on the photos to see them BIGGER.)

study area

closet area

bath

kitchen

NEW COMPANION. It's been a great week with my new companion, Anziano Sanchez. He is from Florida, originally from Venezuela. We've gotten along really well so far, and I'm looking forward to the other six weeks.

main room and kitchen and Sanchez

Our work has been interesting -- aside from the usual workload of people to visit from my area, they closed the other companionship in my apartment. So we're taking over their area as well. That requires getting to know a new set of buses in the area, a new set of people, and some condensing of visits and reorganizing, so that nobody gets forgotten. If people were getting visited unnecessarily, then we have to stop doing that, so we have time for everyone.

BOOKKEEPING SKILLS. Also, it turns out that the other companionship, and we, were not good bookkeepers. So I have a lot of organization to do this week! Still, it's nice to have a fresh set of people to work with.

Talking about "sets of people" is sort of weird, but it helps me keep it all straight if I keep the people I work with in "boxes" (and I let them out twice a day for an hour, and I feed them, and make sure they have bedding :P) -- it helps me keep it organized in my head. We have "the people the other missionaries were working with," or "people who haven't come to church in awhile." I do enjoy working with the people here in Torino, even if there are lots of crazies here.

view from apartment

COOL BUS EXPERIENCE. We're on the tram, and a lady is looking at Sanchez's tag. So he asks her if she's seen missionaries before, and she says no. So he starts explaining who we are, and she responds with some interest. So we take her number and she asks us to call her this week. Yay, people on trams! Also, a few days ago we got a call. A man recently moved in from Ghana, where he had been meeting with the missionaries. He still wants to meet, so we went to see him and he wants to be baptized. So in a few weeks perhaps, hopefully he can.

beds

On Thursday, Anderson left in the morning and Sanchez arrived. But we also had an Elder Martin with us who was waiting for his companion, who would arrive late in the evening. So we went around as 3 that day. Transfer day is always somewhat surreal, so having another missionary around wasn't all that strange. I assume it would be strange for several weeks, but for a day it wasn't bad.

view with snow

MISSIONARY PARENTS. A lot of families here have kids on missions. There's an RM (Returned Missionary) from the Japan, Kobe mission, two RMs from the Salt Lake City Temple Square mission, one family has a son in England, another in Florida, another family has a daughter in the Italy, Milan mission, and another has a daughter in Chile.

Last Sunday we went to one such family's house for lunch, and then we went for a roundabout walk around town to the station, just talking. It felt really therapeutic; I think it was nice for them to talk to someone like their son (Florida, Jacksonville mission) for a bit. "Just going for a walk with the boys."

Here is our "Toy Box," even if we're just 2 in the apartment now.

Love, Anziano Whitesell