Thanksgiving 2013

Last Thanksgiving we had turkey lunch meat sandwiches with cheese puffs.  We decided that we would not make that mistake again.  We prepared a real Thanksgiving meal and took it to Laura's house.  The Sisters made hot rolls and string beans.  We fixed turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, funeral potatoes, gravy, apple pie and pumpkin pie.  Yesterday was also Alberto's birthday so we celebrated it as well.

 Laura felt like she had to contribute to the meal so she made tortellini with beets and spaghetti with bacon and tomatoes.

 Alberto with his sons, Giuseppe and Mario.

 Alberto with his mother.

 Alberto and Laura.

 Good food and good company.

 We went around the table saying what we were thankful for and after Sorella Jameson said that she was thankful for her companion, Sorella Andromidas gave her a big hug.

 One other Thanksgiving activity, we put up our Christmas tree.

 The Sorelle with their new hats.

It was a great Thanksgiving Day.

A Week of Activities

Last week Sorella Jefferies helped Agnese finish sewing her pajama pants, we helped with the Young Men and Young Women activities and the Rimini District put on a multi-cultural night.

 This was a project for Personal Progress.

 Agnese sporting her new pajama pants.

For a service project, the Young Men drained and took down the baptismal font.

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 Then they played ping pong

 and a little arm wrestling.

 The Young Women prepared some treats.

 At the District activity some Ecuadoran members from Rimini performed some dances.

 Some members from Ivory Coast wore their traditional dress.

 Some Peruvian members from Pesaro danced and sang.

At the end of the evening the Sisters sang I Am a Child of God in English, Sorella Lofley sang it in Spanish, Sorella Gjika (on the guitar) sang it in Albanese and then we all joined in together in Italian.  The message for the evening was that we are all of different cultures, languages and colors but we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father.

Another Preparation Day with the Sorelle

Yesterday the Sisters asked Sorella Jefferies to trim their hair.  After that we went to San Marino because these Sisters had not been there and you can't leave Forli' without seeing San Marino.

 Sorella Andromidas was first.

 The finished cut.

 Sorella Jameson was next.

 Voila' - completed cut.

 A little pizza in San Marino before the climb to the castles.

 A little windy and chilly but a beautiful view.

We might have to make this our Christmas picture.

San Marino at sunset,

Arrivederci Sorella Lofley

We had a zone training meeting this week and found out that Sorella Lofley finishes her mission in less than two weeks.  We met her at our very first zone conference in Florence when we had been in Italy less than one week.  She is a super missionary and we got to know her better since she has been a Sister Training Leader in Rimini for the past five weeks.

 The Sisters of the Ravenna Zone, l to r:  Sorelle Ervin (Centralia, WA), Strong (Chandler, AZ), Lofley (Elmo, UT), Gjika (Albania), Andromidas (Utah County), Jameson (Indianapolis, IN) and Jefferies.  The four on the left serve in Rimini and the three on the right serve in Forli'.

 I asked the Sisters if they would be sad when Sorella Lofley left the mission.

I asked the Sisters how they would get along without Sorella Lofley.

Valentino's Baptism

Last night Valentino was baptized.  He is eight years old and his two older brothers, Maurizio and Michael, were baptized a year and a half ago.  Since then, Valentino has been attending church and he is just about the cutest and smartest little eight year old you will ever meet.  The Sister missionaries taught him the lessons and he wants to go teaching with them because he wants to prepare to be a missionary someday.

Valentino with Sorelle Andromidas and Jameson.

Valentino with his Dad and brothers.

We think that Valentino will be a wonderful missionary.

Ariele baptized Valentino.

Mila made this fruit cake for the baptism.  Wow, was it good!

Francesco will have his 1st birthday next month.

Buon Compleanno Sorella Jefferies

Tuesday was Sorella Jefferies birthday.  She made it clear that she did not want a surprise party like last year so I got the word out to the members of the branch.  The Sister missionaries fixed lunch for us.  Brother and Sister Garcia came to our apartment with a gift.  In the evening we went to help Agnese finish sewing her pajama pants but when we got there, Laura had prepared a birthday cake.  The Rossi's were supposed to come to our apartment to wish her a happy birthday later that evening but they were there too and Ariele had also prepared a birthday cake.  Sorella Jefferies thought I was in on this but I assured her that I didn't know about it.  Oh well, I tried.

Sorella Jameson made potato soup and Sorella Andromidas fixed a salad.

It was a delicious meal.

The Garcia's gave Sorella Jefferies chocolates, they know her well.

She had to take a taste of each different type of chocolate.

 Agnese gave her a candle.