Catch Up

September 22, 2013

This was the most strenuous week we have had so far.  We only spent 2 full week days in the office.  The other three days we were gone to three separate training session with the new missionaries that came out 2 weeks ago.  Also with the new missionaries were their trainers.  We not only had to provide two full hours of training to each group, but we also had to cook, set up and serve the lunch.  Lots of long hours preparing.

Serving on a mission outside of the US is really different than if we were in the states.  When we were in Minnesota, Peggy routinely was asked to provide the luncheon for a missionary zone conference. The mission president and his wife along with the assistants just showed up, provided the training and went home.  We have to do it all.  I am not complaining, just making a comparison.

Monday was a normal day in the office, except that we also went grocery shopping for the lunches and Peggy spent many hours cooking two huge pots of soup.  She made clam chowder and home made chicken noodle soup. Tuesday we were in Lampangnano (a ward building in the north west portion of Milano).  Wednesday was a day to catch up and prepare for the next two days of training.  Thursday we drove to Verona.  This is normally a 2 hour drive each way, but we also spent an extra hour in traffic just getting though Milano on the way there. 

Friday we drove to Modena. while there we were waiting to do our training, Peg had the soup cooking in the kitchen when some Italian businessmen came into the building to try and meet someone from the church to discuss our energy needs.  We explained that we were just using the building to do some training.  One of the men asked what were we cooking as it smelled so good.  So Peg took him into the kitchen and spent the new few minutes explaining what clam chowder was and he took notes about cooking both soups.  Sister Dibb had made chocolate cookies for dessert so we gave them some and they raved about them.  Nice experience.  Our training  is fun - we  talk about finances, their permits to stay in the country (permesso) and how to clean and maintain their apartments.  We have a game called the Missionary Bowl and we have a big bowl full of candy and if they answer right, we throw candy at them.  It is pretty funny.  The winner for the game is who has the most candy wrappers in front of them.  We reward the winner with swiss chocolate bars.  These are such bright, sharp, great young people.  Since the Church lowered the age to eighteen for the elders and nineteen for the sisters, they seem very young to us.  But they are the best kids anywhere.  They are ready to spend from 18 months to two years dedicated to helping others come unto Christ.  They sacrifice their time, efforts, and hearts and are happy to do so.  They are awesome.  We are so happy to be here and supporting them in any way we can.