A Sad Tale of a Pony Tail

Sorella Jefferies started fixing her hair a couple of days ago and her curling iron wouldn't work, it died.  We went to four stores to replace it.  Each store only had two or three curling irons but over a dozen straightening irons.  It didn't dawn on us that Italians, for the most part, have naturally curly hair.  The curling irons had small barrels, not big fat ones like Sorella Jefferies needs.  We went on line and ordered one from Amazon UK but because it is so close to Christmas, we won't get it until the end of December.  Sorella Jefferies has to go with a pony tail for the next couple of weeks.  I think she looks young and cute.  She thinks she looks gross.

Rimini Christmas Zone Conference

Today we had Zone Conference and we got to have it in Forli'.  That was because Sorella Jefferies was asked to prepare the meal for the zone.  She fixed tacos and Mexican rice.  The missionaries absolutely loved the meal and I heard President Dibb say that Mexican food was one of the things he misses most about being in Italy.  So the conference and the meal was a huge success.

The tables looked quite festive.

Laura helped in the kitchen.  She and Anziano Christensen were happy to see each other again.

The food line.

Sorelle Jameson and Andromidas enjoyed the food.

Sorelle Gjika and Palumbo are from Albania and Italy respectively and this kind of food was new to them.

These Anziani seem to be enjoying the tacos.

Laura made tiramisu cups and Sorella Jefferies made these cookies for dessert.

These were the December and January birthdays.

Laura and Sorella Jefferies cleaned up after the meal.

Sorella Palumbo is from Sicily.  I knew her mother, Rosaria Costa, when I served as a missionary in Palermo in 1969.

This is the Rimini Zone with President and Sorella Dibb on the left and us on the right and the super missionaries in between.

Senior Couples Conference in Milano

The senior couples met in Milano for a conference.  The first day we had meetings and then in the evening we all went to Roadhouse Grill for dinner.  The next day we went to see The Last Supper, the Duomo, La Scala and the International Fair.  It was a fun and uplifting two days.

 Left to right:  President and Sister Dibb, Durand, Harmer, Savoldi, Keefer, Tonon, Molinari, Jefferies, Arbogast, Mackay, Burger, Lee, Mann, and Simoncini.  I included this photo to show the growth of our mission.  Last year at this meeting we had 6 couples serving and this year we have 13 couples.  Last year we had about 140 young Sisters and Elders and right now we have 237.

 This is Umberto Simoncini and his wife, Elisabeta.  When I was a young missionary in Palermo as branch president, Umberto was a 17 year old member of the branch.

 Roadhouse Grill is like a restaurant in the United States.  Anziano Ackerman is sitting next to Sorella Jefferies.  He is an office Elder and served as interpreter for the three couples that don't speak English.

 I really enjoyed this hamburger and fries.

 This is only a replica of Da Vinci's masterpiece.  No photos are allowed of the real one.

 The Duomo.

 The baptistry in the basement of the Duomo.

 As we were walking to La Scala, we saw this beautiful courtyard.

 At the international fair in the Spain section, we found these shoes made of chocolate.

 We bought this purse in the Vietnam area.

This lady in the Germany section was making lace.

Primary Leadership Meeting

Sorella Jefferies attended a leadership meeting for the Primary of the Forli' Branch.

 Sorella Jefferies is the 1st counselor and the nursery leader, Maria Jose is the teacher and Erica is the Primary President.  How could you concentrate on your meeting with those cookies staring at you?

They controlled themselves and waited until after the meeting to enjoy milk and chocolate chip cookies.

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.