Visitors from Florence

Debbie Bagnall and  her son Wyatt, friends from Florence, Arizona, were in Italy last week and visited us for a couple of days.  It was great to see them and get all caught up on the news about our friends in Florence. They helped us clean the church building one morning and we appreciated their service.

Debbie took us to dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant.

We visited the mosaics together in Ravenna.

Head Bumps

I can't tell you how many times I have bumped my head on the cupboards and cupboard doors in our kitchen.  On July 30, I decided to start keeping track.  Since then I have bumped my head 24 times.  We have been in this apartment for a year and one would think that I would be able to navigate my way around the kitchen without mishaps.  Oh well, six more months of head bumping.

President and Sister Dibb

President Dibb and his wife came to Forli' last Saturday to interview the missionaries in our zone so we finally got a picture with them.  They have been in Italy since July 1.  President Dibb's brother is married to Ann Monson Dibb.  That was one of his first announcements.  I'm sure he gets asked quite often if he is married to the Prophet's daughter.  We got to visit with them for a few minutes.  President Dibb needs senior missionaries who speak Italian.  If you know of any couples who are thinking about putting in their papers and either the brother or the sister or both speak Italian, have them email me and I can hook them up with President Dibb.

Paul and Tara's trip, part 2

We did a whirlwind tour of northern Italy with Paul and Tara.  We visited Florence after we picked them up from the airport in Bologna and before returning to Forli'.  Then after Forli' we visited Venice, Bolzano, Lake Como, Cinque Terre, and Siena.  In Siena they took a bus to Rome to finish up their trip.

The baptistry doors at the Duomo  in Florence. 

The view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Gelato in Florence.

St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice.

Gotta love the pigeons in Venice.

Visited the islands of Murano (glass) and Burano (lace).

Castle Runklestein in Bolzano, built in 1237.

Some paintings on the walls inside the castle.

The Dolimites just north of Bolzano.

The Dolimites are also known as the Southern Limestone Alps.

Crossing Lake Como on a ferry.

Heading toward Menaggio.

Nothing better than a game of mini golf on the shores of Lake Como.

Vernazza, one of the towns of  Cinque Terre.

Getting their feet wet in the Ligurian Sea.

Time for dessert.

This was fun.

Sunset in Vernazza.

Paul and Tara in Forli'

Paul and Tara came for a visit, kind of a belated honeymoon.  They were in Forli' for about three days and we had lots of fun.  Paul played a musical number on the piano in church and it was wonderful. All of the Italians loved meeting them.

Benito Mussolini was born in Predappio, a small town near Forli'.  He is also buried there and we found his grave.

We went to see the mosaics in Ravenna.

They enjoyed piadina and pizza at a sidewalk cafe in Ravenna.

This nice lady owns our favorite gelato shop in Ravenna.  This was only our 4th visit but she remembers us and treats us very nicely and gives me very big scoops.

We checked out the castles of San Marino.

The happy couple enjoying the view on a beautiful clear day.

The guards of San Marino in their dress uniforms.

Saturday night dinner at Laura's house was delicious.  Laura made lasagna, spinach ravioli, meatballs and potatoes pure'.  She is the best.

We had tiramisu' for dessert.

Sunday afternoon dinner with the Rossi's

The tortelli, sausage, veal, zucchini, and roasted potatoes, all prepared by Brother Rossi were a big hit for Paul and Tara.

Sunday evening the Sister missionaries stopped by with some delicious orange rolls for us.

Ravenna Zone

The new Ravenna Zone is made up of  missionaries in Ancona, Pesaro, Rimini, Forli, and Ravenna.  We had a zone training meeting last week.  Our zone vision for this transfer is "Sanctify Your Heart unto God." Preach My Gospel says, "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase."  These young Elders and Sisters we work with are awesome.  The district and zone meetings are full of the spirit and help us all to focus on inviting everyone to come unto Christ.

 Anziani from left to right:  Jefferies, Ramey, Quinton, Dowling, Herrin, Warnick, Lovett, Miller, Kekoolani, Mustafaraj, Valentine, Anderson and Anderson.  Sorelle from left to right:  Bennett, Burkman, Alley, Jameson, Ervin, Brown, Strong and Jefferies.

Elder Mustafaraj is in his last transfer.  He finishes his mission and goes home to Albania in six weeks.  He is a convert to the Church and since he has been on his mission, his parents and family joined the Church.

Around the World in 80 Minutes

Last night we had a cultural night at the church.  Sister Rossi put the activity together.  We visited Nigeria, the United States, Ecuador, Romania, Kazakhstan and Italy.  The presenters sang the national anthem of their country, taught us some of their language, and told us about their country.  Then we had food from each of these countries.  We had about 45 in attendance with about 30 members of the branch and 15 friends invited by the members.

 Sorella Jefferies and I were the pilots for the flight.

 Gloria and Sorella Bennett were two of the flight attendants.  They served the passengers peanuts.

 Sorella Jameson and Sorella Brown were also flight attendants.  They are talking to Roberto about getting on the airplane.

 The passengers are on the flight.

 Rosemary and her daughter Ruth told us about Nigeria.

 They had the best costumes of the evening.

 The Garcia family sang the national anthem of Ecuador and taught us many things about their country.

 Yefferson, Maria Jose, Francesco and Narcissa are proud citizens of Ecuacor.

 Cristina and her son Roberto and daughter Madalina are from Romania and presented facts from their country.

 Lara, a friend of one of our members, is from Kazakhstan.  She taught us some Russian and Kazakh, which are the two official languages of Kazakhstan.

 There were lots of Italians to sing the Italian national anthem and teach us about Italy.

The pilots said goodbye to the passengers after the flight.