Allora.....

Hello. Its me again. We had a pretty normal week. Nothing really changed. We are doing well. The work is picking up as well as slowing down. IT hasn't really had a good progression in the sense that it has been so unpredictable. SO that's always fun. We lost a lot of our investigators because they cant meet with us. My comp and I are trying tons of new things so that's fun. The work with the american branch is going well. Its weird working with Americans, I don't know how to work with them sometimes. Something weird this week happened. I woke up and a part of my lip was swollen. It was weird. I don't know why. Its de-swelling now so all is well. That's about it. Have a good week!

Elder Texiera!

So the reason why we didn't have pday yesterday was because we had our area president came to our mission and talked to us. It was awesome because I got to see Anziano Money, my ex comp. Him and his new comp stayed with us because they lived to far away so they came the night before the conference. It was a REALLY good conference. I wish it had happened at the beginning of my mission because he taught TONS of good things that will help the missionary work pick up here. We hadn't had a conference in about 4 months and we were all dying for something to pick us up, and that is what the conference did. One of our investigators is doing really well right now. He is reading, he just hasn't come to church yet which is annoying but that's OK. We went to the church Halloween party, it was weird! We got tons of american candy. No wonder Americans are fat. That stuff is deadly! anyways you all have a great day!

Good week!

So last week was pretty good, we were able to teach 10 lessons which was awesome. We found a bunch of people and we were able to set 2 baptismal dates for the 23 of November. I really hope they go through because it is the very last day in which I could see a baptismal so I'm praying that they do! It has been raining a lot lately. We actually got caught in a storm and had to run home, within the 3 minute run home we got soaked! It was funny! My comp almost ate it. He was running and didn't see that the sidewalk was unlevel and almost tripped face first. It was crazy. Well got classes and what not in order so all is well there. We have a Halloween trunky treat activity that we are going to tomorrow. We have less actives and non members going so we are excited. We are also the selected judges, to judge the chili so I'm excited about that. My comp and I are getting along a lot better. Our companionship reminds me a lot of when I was with Anziano Boscia. Well love you all,have a great week!

I'm out of creative names for my emails

So this week was crazy. We have been working hard and we are finding tons of people. Unfortunately most of them don't speak Italian, so that stinks but we are working on trying to find Italians My comp and I are doing well. Its been weird being with someone so young because we seem really different but that;s OK. He is a good missionary. We have had some crazy stuff happen this week, a drunk man wanted us to teach him about the Book of Mormon. That was wild. We went ding dong ditching.....Ill explain we went with our ward missionary leader and we went to members who were less active and we left a bag of goodies on their porch and ding dong ditched them......it's a lot harder in Italy to do that. I hop over a 6 foot fence :). The work is going a lot better. Well I hope you all have a good one! Love you all

Final Resting Place....Vicenza!

So its transfer week. I'm staying here in Vicenza to finish the fight. All is well. Our work is slowing down from what we had last week. I'm not sure what to write. I feel like this email will be short. We got a referral from an American family in the Military branch. It was cool. One of the daughters is dating an Italian. He had a lot of interest in the Church. So we were able to teach him. It went well. Umm yeah. I really don't know what to write. We finally got hot water so that's nice. My last companion, Anziano Christensen is now an assistant. Let it be known that my last two comps both have been assistant...I made them assistant material :P. (This probably means nothing to many of you reading this but that is okay). Well have a great week!

Verona, Marostica, Vicenza!

So yesterday was crazy. We didn't really get a chance to email because we were in Verona and then we went to a little unknown town called Marostica to do a baptismal interview. Then my comp lost his camera on the train and we that didnt help but that is ok All is well. The work is still slow, but we are seeing small miracles and so that keeps us going. This past week our water heater broke and so I have had to boil water for my shower and then use a cup to distribute it. Its been really fun. Someone will come to our house today to fix it so that will be good. Everything is well, love you all. have a great week!

Forza Vicenza!

Well this past week was normal. Lots of finding work and what not. We had Cafe Rio at an American family;s house. The wife knows how to make Cafe Rio stuff just like they make it. It wasn't exactly the same but it was close enough. It was good. At that dinner there was a soldier and his wife that came. They were really cool. The wife was really interested in our Church. She bombarded us with questions which made it easier because we didn't have to ask them any because they told us everything. Overall it was awesome and we expect to see the family again. Other than that, I bought some really good pesto that comes from Liguria(where pesto comes from). My comp and I are doing well. We don't really have any stable investigators but that is okay. Next week we will go to Verona. That will be fun. Umm yeah. Its weird being the oldest. I hope you all have a great week!

Training......

So not much happened this week. We are working hard, just no solid investigators but that is ok. Anziano West and I are still getting used to each other. He is a cool kid. He reminds me a lot of Aaron. We have been working well with the American branch. We went to a family home evening and it was really cool because it was for all of the single soldiers. It went really well and I was able to connect with one of our less active soldiers that is assigned to us. He is really cool. I like him. He likes the Seahawks but that's okay. We talked a lot about football. He told us a lot about his war experiences. It was crazy. People in the military see some crazy stuff. But it was cool because he told us that he was coming back to the church because he knew it was true and that it was still apart of him. He couldn't deny what he felt about the book of Mormon and so he is coming back to church. Its really cool. Other than that. Not much is happening. Well I hope you all have a great week! Ciao! Vi volgio bene

Basta means basta!

So this past week was a little hectic. So on Saturday around 14:00, president called us to ask if we were going to the stake conference. And we told him we had not planned on it, but then we followed up and asked if he had wanted us to come to it. He told us yes. It was starting in an hour so we immediately left and went to the train station to catch a train. We get to the city, Pordenone, around 17:00. We then walked to the church and got there at 18:00. We are there for an hour of the conference and then it ended. Our mission president wanted to interview 2 of us(me and another missionary). We are in the same city but we are not companions. THe only problem is that we didn't have another train until 22:44 so we were stuck in Pordenone for awhile and we wouldn't get home till around 23:50. So our president decided to send my comp with another missionary(Anziano Castagno) back to Vicenza and I would stray with Anziano Jaramillo, the companion of Anziano Castagno. Well we get interviewed and we then go out for pizza with president. After that we got dropped off at the train station. Well the only problem is that when we got there we saw that our train was cancelled. So we got stuck in Pordenone. We called president and told him the situation. He came back and picked us up and then he took us to a senior couples apartment where we stayed the night. We went to conference in Pordenone on Sunday and then we went home. It was crazy! We found a man named Frank. He is really cool. He comes from Nigeria. He has met with us twice and at the end of the last meeting he asked us if we could meet him the next day...obviously we said yes. So we are going to meet with him today. Its really good because he is the only person that we have as an investigator. So there is an american military base here in Vicenza and we can get on the base and get stuff at the commissary. We got so much Americana soda its great. Well I hope you all are doing well! I'm doing great! Have a good one! Vi volgio bene! Ci si sente!

It is well....in Vicenza!

Alright so I did not write last week so I will make by writing this week. I am doing well! I am in a city called Vicenza! There is an american military base and so we cover the Italian branch as well as the american branch. So we have 6 hours of church on Sunday. Its crazy! The crazy part of all of this is the amount of English and Americanness that is around me. I have consumed more american food in the past few days than I have in 22 months. It is crazy! All I have to say is that american cheese is an abomination. Other than that I do like some of the american food. I'm sad to have left Firenze. That city is very special to me and I cannot WAIT to go back!!!! All of the young men were sad to see my comp and I leave. Some of them came to the train station to see us off. It was cool! I am training as well. My comp is Anziano West and he is from American Fork. He got to spend to time with two of my companions while I was in the hospital. MY companion Anziano Christensen left Firenze as well and he is in the office helping the office clean up all of the mess that is happening. There was so much change in the mission office at the same time and they need help to keep everything in order...so he went there. Its weird to not be with Anziano Christensen, we were comps for so long. But its cool, I like Anziano West. He is cool. We get along well. The past few days we have spent getting everything in order. We had nothing. No materials to proselyte...no food, no stamp to mark our materials, no maps, no bikes, no knowledge of the area. It's been fun. We have gotten everything in order expect the bikes but other than that we are good. We have ac in our apartment! Its awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you all are doing well!! Love you all!

30 LESSONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we taught 30 lessons this past week! IT was crazy!!! The assistants called us because they didn't believe that we had done it! Im really tired now! So I talked with one of the assistants and I will be leaving next week. Where to I have no idea. Anziano Money, my last comp, is assistant and I asked him where I was going to die(finish my mission) and he was like well where do you want to finish?? So I told him some places so hopeful I will go to one of them!!! We had a cool miracle, there is man, Agostino, the boyfriend of a member, who we have wanted to see for a long time. Well he happened to be our 30th lessons. He pulled us aside after Church and told us that he wanted to talk to us. He then told us about all of the problems he had and how he wanted our help!!! HE wants to get baptized but wants to get rid of the problems first. What was really cool is that he realized what was wrong in his life, he felt the difference from when he went to Church and when he didn't, then he realized before he could be baptized he had to change! He is sooooo ELECT! It sucks that I will leave before he gets baptized. But that's okay. We did lose some investigators that I liked but it was cool. Other than that all is well. I will find out Monday where I will go, so that will be crazy!!! Love you all!

Ferragosto, vacanze, mare....all things we cant do

So this past week was a little harder for us because there was ferragosto and everyone went to the sea but that's okay. We still did fairly well for having had all of that happen. This week we have decided to go for the goal of teaching 30 lessons. In this mission 30 lessons is something very difficult to do...especially considering the distances and what not. This goal has really pushed us this week. We are at 12 lessons right now and we will be at 15 tonight(the number of lessons that the mission has set as a goal for everyone to teach each week...We are ahead of schedule!) We have had to a scambio with our young men because we had 10 lessons set up on Monday. It was soo much fun. We are going to very busy for the rest of the week. Enjoy the pictures....one is me with my cool hair, one is with me at Livorno, and the other one is the black that my comp gave me. I guess 3 transfers together is too much for...just kidding. What really happened is that we were playing basketball and my head hit the back of his head and I got a black eye from it.

Where am I.....?

This past week was a doosy! We ended up doing 3 scambi. I was with the Anziani on the other side of Firenze, the Anziani from Livorno, and the Anziani from Pisa. We left Monday morning and we got back a few hours ago. It was crazy! I cant remember where I have been nor what I have done. The temperature is cooling down which is really nice. Our week was good. We ended teaching 18 lessons which was good considering we only 3 and 1/2 days to do it. We got a new investigator named Fredy. He is a 19 kid from Perù. He is so cool! We will see him again tomorrow. The work is going realllyy well here. Its going to suck to leave. So there is a good chance that I will open a new area and train next transfer. I'm not too keen but its ok. Tomorrow is Ferr'agosto which means there will be no living soul in the streets of Firenze. Pretty much its a day where EVERYONE goes to the sea. So it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. I'm pretty sure not much will happen. We went to an outlet mall earlier today and it was ridiculous. There were stores such as Prada, Gucci, Armani, etcc....and did I eat a slice of humble pie....Everything was insanely expensive. There was a suit that was discounted from 3000 to 2, 500. It was crazy. MY comp and I felt out of place.....however we were dressed nicely enough that people thought we worked there :). Anyways, have a great day!

I'm tired....

So we have been so BUSY! We ended up teaching 20 lessons last week which was crazy! I haven't done that since I was with Anziano Boscia! We then drove to Milano met with the President then we went on a Scambio with the Assistants, one of which is my old comp Anziano Money. Driving in Milano was probably the craziest thing I have ever done. There was one street that I drove down that also was a tram trolley railway. You could slide all over the place. It was crazy. While in Milano Anziano Young told me that we were going to teach a man named Omar. He said that he was a little weird. I then started to ask him questions about Omar. He started to sound like a man named Omar that I taught over a year and 5 months ago when I was in Milano. We got to the appointment and it was HIM! It was crazy! I taught him n my 2nd transfer and then I go see him in my 14 transfer! It was crazy! It was really cool. m Everything is going well. There have been some crazy changes that have been made in our mission. Mainly just little changes that are effect a lot of what we do. I'm really tired. Driving takes it out of you. We went to a place called Boboli gardens today. It was owned by the Medici family here in Firenze. It was a HUGE Garden. I'm pretty sure I will open a new companionship and train next transfer. That will be fun. Enjoy the pictures of my comp and me. The karate picture was in Boboli gardens

I dont know what to title this email....

So this week we were pretty busy-ish. We had to get tons of stuff ready for the zone and what not. We still ended teaching 15 lessons(the goal of the mission for every companionship). All of our young men went to the temple this week so we are super excited about that. We went to Prato for a scambio yesterday. It was really fun. I got to meet my second Grandson!!!! SO let me explain, my son is Anziano Walker because I trained him. He trained Anziano Hilliard(my first grandson) and now he came to my zone and he is now training Anziano Orso(my second grandson). I feel honored! I got to meet him. He is really cool! He is a new convert. He was baptized march of last year! He is a cool kid. Next week is going to fly by. We got to Milano on Monday next week and we wont come back till Tuesday night, and then we have to train missionaries on Thursday and then we will have a normal week. We found some new investigators last week and they are pretty sick. One of them is from Peru. He is really cool and he is really open with us. I'm not sure what else to write, the week was good! Have a great week!

Firenze round 4, Christensen round 3!

Well we found out about transfers on Monday! I am staying in Firenze and I'm doing a third transfer with Anziano Christensen...crazy huh? So I will most likely leave in 6 weeks. I'm excited to stay. We are getting along really well, I love this city, and are work is going really well. I feel like this transfer we will get a lot of great stuff done. Our investigator Kreat is doing really well. He is close to baptism! However because of people going on vacation and what not, his baptism may not happen until September....when I most likely will leave....that stinks but that's OK. As long as he gets baptized! Its starting to get unbearably hot now. I woke up in the middle of the night last night because it was so hot. I eventually went on the floor and slept there because it was cooler and even then it was hard. Its going to be a long summer! I will spend all of it here in Firenze!(One of the hottest if not THE HOTTEST city in our mission). But that is okay I don't mind living here longer! I cant remember what happened last week. I just remember that it was very busy and that everything is going well. Honestly, I feel like pday was yesterday but here we are on another pday. I think this is the part I love most about being a Zone Leader. You are busy. We got more missionaries in our zone, they opened up 2 more companionships, one more in Prato, and one more in Pisa. We now have 24 missionaries in our zone that we take of. Its crazy to see how much our zone has grown since I have been here. Our zone used to be the smallest in the mission now it is tied for the biggest!!!!!!! Anyways, enough of that. Everything is good and I hope you guys have a great week! Ci si sente!

Crazy eights..........

So last week was sick!! We have seen tons of cool stuff happen! Mainly with all of the youth we are working with! The coolest thing that happened, happened last night. There is a man named Bruno, hes about 20 years old. He is a less active member of the church. The past 4 and half months we have been going to his house and teaching him, as well as teaching him English. Apparently our visits went a lot farther than we though. Last night we went over because they asked us to pick up some cake that they made. When we got there, we saw his girlfriend(also a member of the church) balling her eyes. She was crying so much and we were so confused. Her sister then came and told us what happened. Apparently they both were trying to get a job on a cruise ship with their mom, but Bruno kept getting denied. Then he finally decided that if he got denied one more time he would go on a mission. Yesterday he found out that got denied again and is now planning to go on a mission. It was so cool to hear that. His sister, afterwards, told us that our visits with him really touched him. She said we were a lot different than the missionaries in the past who went to him and asked him why he wasn't on a mission, he really liked the friendship that we made with him and slowly a desire to go on a mission grew. We also have another 18 year old named Bruno who was really far from the church and is now starting to come back to church because of what my comp and I are doing! Its sooo sick. Our investigators are doing really well! I don't want to leave Firenze right now, everything is going reallllllllllly well right now. I will find out next week if I go.....That makes me sad! Love you guys!

Its a bit warm....

Hello! SO I'm not sure if you all know but they changed missionary grooming standards recently. We are no longer allowed to wear backpacks because they don't want us to look like college students anymore. So they are having us wear satchels, we can wear khakis, and lighter color suits. We went into the market here and bargained with people and we got some good side bags for a good price. It was crazy to bargain! Crazy stuff. Also, all missionary companionships will have a tablet to use for missionary work in the next 6 months. I will most likely be done before it gets put into place but that is OK. The work is going pretty well. We have been able to meet with tons of new people who are awesome. Two of our new people are Andy and Eduardo. We really weren't sure how far along they would go with us but they are progressing really well which makes us really excited! One of our investigators, Franco...we found out something that kept him from be baptizing..meaning he was just scared of change...and it was great because we talked to him more and he will get be baptized. We just don't know when We had interviews with our new mission president, it was crazy. We went to Gli Uffizi today for p-day. It is one of the most famous museum here in Firenze. It was cool. There was a lot of art! Anyways I hope you have a great week!

New pres. in town

We were able to meet our new mission president yesterday. It was weird. He is really cool, just old school. He is going to be a really good mission president. He will help this mission a lot with our coordination with members in the work. He is a lot different than Pres. Wolfgramm. I think it felt weird to have a new president because everything is going to change, the ways things are done and what not. With a new president I could stay longer here in Firenze. I have no idea how he is going to do transfers, so honestly I have no idea whats going to happen. Our work is going reallly well. We found 3 more people this week and we are teaching a lot. Our zone is doing really well as well. All the missionary work in the Firenze zone is BLOWING up. It is really cool to see all of the success that is happening. I think that is my favorite part about being a zone leader. I really want to stay as one as well. It has really helped me be a better missionary as well as be more focused, there is not enough time for us to be able to be unfocused and I really love it. I heard that missionary work is going to be changing like crazy in the next few months. I have heard that they announced some crazy stuff in the broadcast, and they also have changed the grooming standards. I guess we will eventually find out all they have changed soon. Other than that all is going well. Its crazy to hear about everyone going out on missions. This is a crazy time to be a missionary because of all the changes that have happened in our mission as well as missionary work around the whole world. Its really cool being on the "front lines" to see the dramatic changes that have happened and all of the positive influences it is has had. Well you all have a great week!

Scramble!!!!!!

This past week was a lot of fun. We went out wanting to teach people about the gospel and we ending up finding 5 new people. 1 of which was a referral from a member. It has been really sick to have so much success so fast. We have a lot of work right now. Dave Rose(The coach for BYU basketball) came to our church on Sunday. He was here on vacation. That was cool. It was a lot nicer this week with the weather. So that is been good. We drove down to Pisa this past week to go work with the missionaries there for a day. It was a lot of fun. I really like being a Zone leader because We get to have a huge impact on other missionaries and help them in their problems. I love it. Its a lot fun. Crazy Story, so this week we are baptizing someone! Long story short, there is an american family here whose kid wanted to get baptized here. So he will be baptized here in Firenze....coool story. I honestly don't know what else to say. Have a great week!

+44 is back!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday in all of Toscana, it was about 44 degrees Celsius which is about 111 degrees Fahrenheit . I got heat exhaustion and had to lie down for about an hour and a half. I drank over 4 liters of water. Its really hot. My fan broke last night, so I have to buy a new one today. Cinque Terre was the best p-day I have ever had in my entire life. We ate at a restaurant in Monterosso and ate fish that was caught only minutes before we came. It was the best sea food I have ever had. I will send pictures of that, as well as our Pisa trip. The smell of the sea was AMAZING! That was the first time I had seen any large body of water that big since August before I left on my mission. It was glorious. On the missionary work side, we have lost a lot of our investigators but that is okay. We have received 1 new investigator and 2 others who want to meet with us. Its really legit because all of them are friends of members and have been prepared to accept the gospel. One of them, Agostino, is soooo legit. He is the boyfriend of a girl who is coming back to church. He is sooo funny. And loves the Joseph Smith story. we are going to meet with him this week. Another one is Albanian who has told his wife(who is a member) that he wants to be baptized now. Its going to be a great transfer..just realllllyyyy hot! Well Have a great week!!! Love you guys!

CINQUE TERRE!!!!

The week went well. I'm staying in firenze!!!!!!! Unfortunately we don't have much time right now because we are at cinque terre. look it up. its beautiful. I will send fotos next week. Sorry for the short email, but I love you guys! Have a great week!

Gloria e Toscana vanno molto bene insieme!

Well this past week we had consglio...meaning all the zone leaders and sister training leaders got together with president and the assistants and we had a conference. It was realllyyy good. At the end, president came up to me and told me that we were getting a CAR!!!!!!!!! Her name is Gloria. I will send some photos next week. I got to drive from Milano to Firenze! It was awesome! The work slowed down a bit until yesterday where we got tonnnnssssss of contacts which is good because we need it. Anyways everything is going well. We have a short email session this week because we got home a little late. We were at the leaning tower today. I got some good pictures! I'm trying to think of what happened this past week. I cant remember much because we have been so busy. Anyways I am doing great and I hope that all of you are well! Transfers are this week so that's see if I stay in firenze! I hope I do! I will be upset if I leave!!!! Have a great week!

The bird is the word.

Hello Everyone! Well I was sick a little bit more last week. I slept for forever! It was awesome. I feel heaps better. Well this past week, we have started to run with our investigator Franco to help him quit smoking. Once he does that, he can get baptized. Its going well. Jessica, our other investigator is sick right now but the last time we saw her, things were going realllllllllyyyyyyyy well. She has a problem getting to church, once we get that cleared and teach her some more, she can get baptized. So we are excited about that. While in a park the other day, the coolest thing ever happened. I was sitting on a bench with my comp and we were making calls. At one point a crazy drunk man started to talk to my comp. They talked for a bit. While this was happening, I was sitting with my right leg prostrated on my left knee. So my foot was in the the air. At one point a tiny bird flies towards me and lands on my foot in the air. We stared at each for like 1 minute. I was shocked. I didn't know what to do. IT was COOL! The other day, I did a scambio in Pisa! It was a lot of fun! I also got to see the tower! It leans. I made sure it was leaning. I didn't get a picture but that's OK, we will be going there for p-day in a couple of weeks. We played basketball today. It was a lot of fun! We played with a man from Holland. He was cool. Well, that's all folks!

Cold weather and sickness....

In this past week it was pretty cold. I also got a little sick yesterday. Today I feel pretty tired still. I slept in until 9 am. Yesterday, I had the chills and an upset stomach. Today I feel better, but I feel completely exhausted. I am really tired as I am writing. We had an interesting week. We had a lot of success in the beginning of the week but near the end it kind of stopped. The other day we had a pretty hard day. We had 4 bidoni( people who don't show up to appointments and then my comps bike broke down and we had to fix it. After fixing it, we went to a lesson with some less actives, which was a lot of fun. When we were about to go home we went to our bikes and found out that my front bike tire had been stolen. So I had to carry my bike all the way home from the train station. That was a lot of fun. We did eat over at an one of the senior couples house this past week in Prato, and the food was sooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Italian food. Well other than that not much happened this past week. Have a great week!

If you blink...you might miss it..

Well, I cant believe that I talked with you guys. It went really fast. IT was as if it never happened, its weird. The day after mothers day we had a cool miracle. We had a less active who we have been working with ask us if we could go with him to give a blessing to his sister in law. We agreed and went. It turns out his sister in law is ELECT! We met with her to do the blessing and she told us her life story, as well as her health problem that she has had for awhile. Her eye has a weird problem and is swells up and she cant see out of it and doctors(here in Italy, as well as in Peru) cannot explain what is wrong. She also explained how she has never been baptized and wants to be baptized. She has always had faith in God and she wants to get closer to him and she wants to help her family. We gave a blessing, which was very powerful. After the which we taught her about the atonement of Christ and how if she puts her faith in him, and if its according to the will of God, she would be healed. It was such a powerful incontro that we had with her and now we have an appointment with her tomorrow! It was really cool. We didn't expect any of that to happen at all. We also found a cool Phillipino guy later that day. The work is going really well right now. This week we are going to be really busy like every other week. My companion has to work on his permesso di soggiorno so that will take time out which stinks but that's OK. Yesterday we had really good lessons with our investigators Giacomo, and Franco which was great. They both are progressing really well. Well I hope you all have a great week! P.s. Anthony finished his mission!!!!!! p.p.s isn't weird how my comp looks like Carson? Its weird!

Dogs are scary.....

This past week was a lot of fun. We got lost a lot because I didn't know the city very well. It is a very confusing city at times. My new comp is from Idaho Falls, he is my first comp from Idaho! I thought it wouldn't happen cioè that I would get a comp from Idaho. So we lost some of our investigators and we had a rough end of the week but recently we have been finding people whom we can teach and I feel like we are about to take off with our work. We were doing casa this past week and we got into the palazzo and we were about to knock the last door. The apartment we were about to knock was on the bottom floor, under the main floor where you can leave the palazzo. Right before we knock it we get a call that was important so what I did is I answered it and stood on the stairs so if people answered the door they couldn't see me on the phone but my comp could still contact them. Right as I went on the stairs, the people answered the door and A HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! German Shepard starting barking at us very violently and me being not a fan of dogs that do that I started to run away...as I did so my comp got cornered by this dog and it was in attack mode....right I as ran away I hung the phone up and booked it...3 seconds after I started to run up the stairs I saw that my comp wasn't behind me so I ran back to save him. The owner laughing grabbed the dog and took him back inside. I was not happy with that guy. It was scary. So that was fun. My new comp looks like Carson....its realllyyyyyyyyy weird. I get confused sometimes.

I cannot catch a break.....

well.....two days ago at 3:30 pm we got a call from president that scared the crap out of us. I'm getting a new companion.........again..........my comp is going to go fix apartments around the mission. My new comp is Anziano Christensan...he will be my 11th comp in my 12th transfer. I heard he is really bravo. I am just tired of changing comps every transfer. This week was kind of hard because we couldn't see very many of our investigators. We also had the traveling assistants stay at our house for a few days so that was crazy. Our investigator Franco is doing well he wont get baptized until at least the end of may but it will happen! This past week flew by like all of the other weeks. Umm I am trying to think of things that we did...we found some awesome Peruvians this past week. We haven't been able to see any of them yet but we have appointments set up with them. So mothers day is catching up. Crazy huh? I am guessing I will be doing it around 6 here so 12 there. it just depends where my new comp is from. It has been realllllyyyyy humid here. It has been terrible. We had a cool district conference this past Sunday. Well I'm not sure what else to say. I hope you are all well. Have a great week!

Hard day's night....

So this past week flew by!!!! It was crazy! Work was really hard this week and we got lots of rejections. Our work kind of crashed and we dont have much to work with but that is ok because we still have franco. He should get baptized in a few weeks. He is making great progress. So that is great. We also have an investigator from cuba named Yasmany. He doesnt speak italian, only spanish soo I have brushing up on my spanish haha. Its fun. Other than that our source of investigators is dying out. Out persian investigator is still doing well we just havent been able to see him lately but he is soo iterested I think that Anziano Money and I wil stay the same for next transfer as well. I dont have any feelings that say he wil get transfered. He is afraid that he might get transfered, but he doesnt want to leave because he has only been here for 3 months now. This upcoming transfer is our mission presidents last full transfer which is really sad. I really like president Wolfgramm. We will have a new mission president in July so that's weird. I am doing great. I see you guys got an email from the people that I translated for. IT was ridiculous. 16 Americans came to our branch on Sunday and I translated for 11 of them. The translators here don't work fully yet so I had to sit behind the and translate to all of them it was crazy. We have had Americans in our branch 4 times now and I have had to translate every time, but that is okay because I like to translate, it makes me pay attention to what is going on. When I don't translate there is a higher chance of me not paying attention haha. I hope all of you all well! Have a great week! Anziano Collins

La Bella Toscana...il posto migliore

Hello Everyone! We had a great week! It went by really fast.I feel like I was here emailing you alll, a day ago. All is well. We had taught tons of people. So the person that I mentioned iny my last email, (the one I said was from prussia), He is actually from persia and it so legit! He is progressing and really wants to read the book of mormon and is looking for more peace in his life. We meet with him twice a week and he is amazing. A lot of investigators cannot see us this week so we are going to have a lot finding work. We have a senior couple that is helping us out here in firenze and they are amazing! They are the tonon family. They come from torino. The wife cooks amazing food and gives us food often. They also help us with the missionary work a lot. They are here for a year and a half to help reacctivate members here in firenze. The meeting we had with Anziano Allen was amazing! He taught us so much. I feel like my whole world just got flipped upside down! I don't think I have ever been humbled as much as what happened. We are really pumped for the new way we are going to do missionary work. We are focusing on faith and how we can help them develop faith. (through pray mainly) and then we teach them how to pray and while doing so you ask them things they are thankful for, what they want to ask from god and what not, while we do this we get to know them very well and we connect with them. I tried it yesterday while I was on a scambio with an assistant(there are two missionaries who are assistants to the president) and it was awesome.. The people were more open and they felt the spirit. It was really cool. Last week we went to siena and it was amazing! I love TOSCANA! Jeremy DeReus was right when he said Toscana was the best place on earth. We drove down from milano on Monday to firenze and the sights were AMAZING! Nothing beats the toscany hills! Wow it was amazing. the following pictures I will send are form our siena trip! Love you all! Anziano Collins

What city am I in??????

Hello everyone This past week we did two scambi, so I was in the other part of firenze and I was also in another city called prato! It was a lot of fun. It is really tiring being in tons of cities in one week. It makes time fly!!!!! We have had some cool stuff happen! We have found 2 new investigators this past week which was awesome! One of them being Prussian. That is pretty cool. too bad it doesn't exist anymore. Our investigator franco is progressing very well now. We just have two things to help him overcome and then he can get baptized. He is excited about it! Other than that we are still looking for people. Being with the young men is a lot fun! We are going to be teaching them how to live missionary life, so we will teach them how to sow, iron, cook and what not. Next week will be fun, we will do a scambio with the assistants and we will have my first consiglio!!! Consiglio is when the zone leaders meet with the presidents, because of distance we only do it once a month. The scary part about this consiglio is that there will be a general authority at this consiglio. Elder Allen. The head director of all missionary work that speaks with the prophet on a weekly basis. No pressure. I am going to get my boxes broken! Conference was really good! We got to see all the sessions except the Sunday session. They focused a ton on obedience and missionary work! I am doing really well! I cut another finger but this one is not bad at all. Last week we went to piazza Michelangelo and we saw AMAZING sites of the city! I will attach some! We will be going to a city called siena today. It is supposed to be a beautiful city. There is a city right next to it where one of the twilight movies was filmed. It is one of the oldest cities that is still in original form in Italy. I hope all is well!! Have a great week!

Bikes, trains, and shenanigans.......

Hello everyone! We have had a good week! We have been working hard. We did a lot of finding work but we haven't found anyone. One of our investigators, Franco, is doing really really well! He is such a miracle. He was found by Anziano Money(my comp) and Anziano Niccoli(Anziano Moneys old comp). He was really cold at first to them when they knocked at his door but he let them in and talked and no he is taking off! What made him keep seeing us is the good feeling he gets when he sees us and when he reads the book of Mormon! He should be baptized soon. We have to help overcome a few things and he will be ready. Its crazy because he would be the last person ever that I thought that would ever get baptized! It's awesome! We had a really good lesson with him the other day. So, I almost destroyed my ankle yesterday. We were flying down a hill and my ghetto bike tried to kill me. What happened was the chain popped off really hard and fast while I was pedaling really fast, with the momentum and the way the chain popped, my ankle just rammed into the circle spiky thing were the chain usually rests on and it hurt so bad. It cut off some skin and I had a half sprained ankle. It stunk. Luckily it is okay now, I iced it last night and there is little to no swelling and I walk fine. That would have stunk! Life is out to get me apparently! I am glad everyone enjoyed the picture of my finger. It is ton better now! I am just waiting for the huge chunk of skin to fall off. I was in Pisa!!! unfortunately I have not seen the tower yet, but I will see it! Today we are going to see David, and go up the duomo! That will be cool! Enjoy the pictures of firenze! It is a really beautiful city!! Love you all!

Finger cutting, beautiful city, lots of meetings....

Hello everyone! Well transfers for the lack of better terms....sucked. I will explain. I had to travel by myself to firenze. Well with the luck we had at reggio, while fixing my razor that fell off the stick I slashed my index finger on my right hand. It was pretty bad. The second it happened blood just started gushing. I never felt pain because my body went into shock. Soooo 2 hours before leaving I do this and I had to carry 2 very heavy bags myself. Well after almost passing out(I had the symptoms that I was about to pass out so I laid down and took deep breaths), and after cleaning up my finger with 3 gauze pads because the blood kept coming, I was able to travel. Of course the ticket I had to get was one where I would have to change trains.....well on the first ride I had stand out with my luggage in the train because where the seats where I couldn't fit my luggage and I wasn't going to leave them so I stood up the hold time. Then I had to constantly move my bags because of people having to get through and what not. And I kept accidentally using my right hand and hurting my finger. Then it was time to get off and change trains. So I get off barely and I see the amount of steps I have to go down then up to go get a new ticket and then do the same amount of steps to be at the train platform. Of course there where gypsies that were there so I couldn't take a bag down the stairs and leave the other one up there and then get it after taking down the other. So I had to go down the stairs with both really heavy bags. I was sweating and struggling the whole way, before half way I was almost done. I was so tired from the traveling, the stress, and the nausea from slicing my finger open and what not. Then some girls seeing my struggle without asking grabbed one if my bags and helped me. It was really nice. It made me think about the atonement of Christ, when we are at the edge, tired, exhausted, having tried our best, right when we cant do it anymore he is right there to help, to comfort, and to carry. So I made it firenze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is an awesome city! I love it. The accent is crazy!! when you say a c sound that doesn't have an e or i behind the c sounds like an h. It was so hard to understand at first. AT first I didn't think it was Italian!! We have tons of work to do to help out the 2 branches here so We had tons of meetings with the sisters to organize everything. After tons of meetings the work is coordinated and moving really well. I hope everyone is well! I am sorry if I do not respond to anyone's emails...I have received A lot so it is slightly overwhelming to respond to all of them plus I'm slower at typing because of my finger... It is doing a lot better and is healing well I still cant put too much pressure on it yet. love you all!!!! enjoy the pictures. the first is anziano devincent and I together as the wounded comps and the other two are of my finger!

Benvenuto al sud! (welcome to the south)

Well the feelings that I have had all transfer has become true! I am being transferred. Despite going to the most coveted city in the mission, I am still sad to leave. The members here are really cool and I really liked my comp. Well I am guessing that you want to know where I am going! Well I will be going to...............Firenze...in american(I say in american because many Italians think that we Americans speak american not English) I am going to Florence!!!!!!! Its crazy because I will going to firenze alone. We will go to bologna to pick up anziano Devincents comp and then from bologna I will travel alone to firenze. weird stuff! I cant believe I am going into my 5th city already!! That is crazy! I cannot believe it. Well this past week we finally got out to talk to people. IT was hard at first but We talked a good bit of people. On Saturday we had an older missionary couple from the mission check our apartment and helped us fix a few things. Many of you will not believe this but they said our apartment was the most clean apartment they had seen in the mission! that's right! I can clean and keep my stuff in order! Haha The mission really does change people I guess! I am doing well. I am sad to hear the passing of our grandma. I know that god lives. I know that this life is not the beginning and it is not the end, and that God has a plan for us even after death and that if we live in a right way we can live with our families forever. I comforted to know that she is no longer suffering from the sicknesses that she had! I hope all of you are well! I will let you know how everything is in my next city next week!

Just when I thought I had seen it all.....

Well I am sure you all have heard what happened this past weekend but I will make an account of what happened comunque. So, Saturday morning I got a call from my comp while we were on scambio(I was in paicenza and he was in reggio) a 9 am on Saturday. He told me that they were in the hospital. He had an allergic reaction to some food which caused his ears to turn red, his lips to swell, and red rings round his eyes. So took the train as soon a possible to get to reggio. Once I got to the hospital he was admitted to see a doctor. While with the doctor, he was given medicine. Apparently he had not eaten much that morning, and the medicine he took was so strong that he passed out. Luckily the floor caught his fall and he went head first. So, he had to get some stitches to patch up the cut on his face. Then they had to do an xray to see if everything was fine. It all turned out to be good. So They had him on a stretcher for awhile. When they went to do a controllo(ummm in english it would be a check up), the doctors had him stand up but he wasn't feeling it and passed out again. So they kept him over night. I had to all the Anziani from Modena to come up and stay with me. It was weird because I went to church with a member who picked me up. While at church I did not have my companion. Man was that weird. I don't know how Return Missonaries do it because that was realllyyyy weird! Through all of that I was only left alone once for about 40 minutes. So that really took up our week. We have been stuck inside ever since. I cleaned our kitchen for 6 hours yesterday, so that was fun. We will find out about transfers on Monday or Tuesday so I will let you all know next week what will happen. Other than that I don't know what else to write about. We have a new investigator who is really awesome! We are excited to work with him and see where it will go. Also, we got a new phone and it is a touch screen phone! When we got it, I was shocked! The church really wants to have some nice stuff! Love you all!

Just keep swimming...

Well this past Sunday we had a baptism! It was awesome! It was really nice. He was our investigator from Haiti. He is really cool. He is about my age. He was really excited to get baptized. But now, its back to the streets again. Our investigators right now are progressing but baptism is far away. We need to find more investigators as well. This past week, we talked to tons of people! We talked to over 500 to 600 people. It was insane. I am doing well. It is raining right now so that's not fun. The mission is getting ready for the huge wave of missionaries that are coming in. I have heard that they might make new zones which would be pretty cool. I could get transferred this transfer. I have a feeling that I will be. I will attach a few pictures. I honestly remember what happened this past week. So much happened. We were really busy. I'm sending a picture of our last district, kebab, and me in the snow on our balcony. I'm learning what it really means to persevere. Its been difficult but I am becoming a better missionary and a better person. Its amazing to see how the mission changes you. I haven't really written much but I honestly don't what else to say. Well, that's about it. Love you all!

Work, Work, Work, there is no other substitution than work.

Allora, This past week, we worked our tails off. We had to teach our investigator A ton! We taught him almost everything that we supposed to teach for his baptism and then we had snowppocalypse happened. All last week it snowed intensely but it never stuck until Saturday. It was insane. There was so much snow. We rode our bikes in it. It was a lot of fun! But very cold. We ended not having a baptisms this weekend because we were not able to get some stuff done and the snow made it kind of impossible so we will have a baptism this Sunday. It will be a lot of fun. The ward is pushing real hard for baptisms. I have not see such a push in my whole mission. We have been working really hard the past few days. Each night I get home and I am ready to just collapse and sleep. Its been good. We have found a few potentials who can become good investigators. My comp and I get a long very well so that is good. We have been counting how many people we have talked to in the past few days. Its been fun. The past 2 days we talked to about 180 people. That's a lot of people. Comunque, the work is hard but we having a good time. Its weird to think I'm hitting my year mark in Italy in a couple of days. I haven't had Chiptole in a year now! Crazy haha. Well the Italian post office is being really dumb. They haven't sold any stamps to any stores for a long time and they are making everyone go to them and pay a ridiculous amount of money to send letters. In Italy it is supposed to be 70 cents to send it, with them it costs 1, 90 cents. To america they charging like 4 euro. its insane. So this is why I have not sent any letters to anyone. I have responded to Lexi, Mel Mel, Alex, Chris, and some others but I have not sent them yet. I will send them soon. Love you all!

Parma, parma, parma, parma........

Allora, We have been to Parma so much in the past week!! We should be having a baptism this weekend with our Investigator who lives at Parma. So we are really excited. We still have a bit of work to do before it can happen though. We have been running around everywhere. It has been tiring but really fun. I have slept very well in this past week. We have found some new people who could turn out to be good investigators but we will see about that. In my district i made a game and it has made everyone work a lot harder which is really awesome. I feel like I have worked a lot harder and we are seeing tons of miracles so that is really cool. I also got to do my first baptism interview last week, it was really cool. She got baptize this past weekend. In the past week we have run into at least 7 English speakers from america. It's so weird! I heard them speak and it was sooooo weird! Its crazy to here about all these people getting their mission calls, the work is hastening! There is a huge push here in the mission to be more obedient and to become better missionaries because we will be the ones to train all of these new missionaries. So we will see what happens next transfer. I'm not sure if I will stay or not. But I still 4 more weeks before that happens so its all good. Love you all!

SNOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!!!! Allora, so we had to move our pday to today because we were supposed to have a conference today but it snowed like crazy yesterday so we it got moved to tomorrow. so p day is today. Things are going really well here. We haven't found anyone new but are investigators are doing well and its been a lot of fun being with Anziano Devincent. He reminds me a lot of Anziano Russo and Anziano Scheurn. So we are getting a long very well. This transfer is going to be a lot of fun because I made a game for my district. Every time we teach, contact people and what not you get points. And the compansionship with the most points at the end of the transfer will win. Its been really fun lately. I have actually worked harder because of it haha. just shows how I can use my competitiveness for good :) And everyone seems to like it! So we will see how that goes. Comunque, sooo it was really cool, the other day we had a lesson with one of our investigators Luigi. I was not sure how he felt about church and what not so going into the lesson I was lightly nervous but we ended having an amazing lesson with him which was awesome. He is from Napoli. He is looking to change his life, with the help of his girlfriend who is a member of the church. Yesterday, it snowed a lot. Luckily its over with. It was funny because we went to Parma for a lesson and we missed the last bus to get to the station so we had to walk about an hour through parma around 8 pm and there was no living soul out because it was snowing a lot. It was really fun. We eventually got home. meno male. The work is going pretty well, we are still getting thing organized. I'm pretty excited to find new people so that we can teach more. How is everyone? Apparently there was one of the biggest missionary groups that went into the MTC the other day, about 800 missionaries. That is a lot! When I went in, there were about 700 so I am sad that we were beat out. Its weird that I am starting my 10th transfer!!! AHHHH!!! Time is flying by too fast. We talked to a missionary who had just finished his mission here in Italy(he was visiting) and he told us what it was like to get released from being a missionary, he sad it was weird. I rather not get to that point. weird stuff. Well that is enough for now! Love you all! Anziano Collins

Transfers!

So we found out about transfers and my companion will be leaving reggio and he will go to livorno! I will stay here and I will get a new companion, who's name is Anziano Davincint(I think that is how you spell it)! He is from West Virginia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to have a lot of fun together! It will be awesome. This past week has been interesting my comp was sick for awhile so I did a TON of cleaning. Our aparmnet loooks reallllyyy nice! I even learned how to make a bread called cinque cinque (five five) which would be bread made out of chik pea flower! its really good. The work is going really well, we are having a hard time finding new people but the ones we have are progressing very well which is awesome. Roberto was confirmed into the church this past week which was really awesome! It was really cool meeting with him later that day because he told us something really cool. He said "voi mi avete aiutato ad essere la persona che io volevo essere" (you have helped me become the person I wanted to be". Its crazy to see the amazing changes that I have seen in him since I have been here! One of the biggest reasons he has changed so much was because he reads the book of mormon everyday! It is such a special book that we have been given to help us. It is so awesome. I was thinking the other day that my time is clicking. I am coming up on my 10th transfer and I thouht crap my time is going to faast. I dont want to finish. This has been so great for me. I have grown so much and have changed so much and have made decisions in my life that I never would have thought about making. Its crazy. Even though I am far away from home and I may be missing out on things, I dont care because I am doing something that I know I need to be doing. I know my heavenly Father wanted me to do and is helping me become the person he knows I can be. When you guys come to pick me up, be ready to drag me out of here because I really dont want to go! haah. I hope all is well! Love you all! Sinceramente Anziano Collins

Birthday and a Baptism!

Well this past week I had my birthday. We were supposed to have the baptism the day before my birthday but then we ended up having it on my birthday, so that was convenient. It was really nice to see Roberto getting baptized. He had changed so much and it was so obvious that he was a completely different person! It was awesome! It was a very special experience! I also got to enjoy a box of Reeses puffs for my birthday. It was soooo goooodddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you! Its still been really foggy and raining. I feel like that it will be like this until I leave. Oh well. I think my comp will get transferred and I will get a new comp next transfer.....again! I can never keep my comps! OH well. So we are without bikes for awhile. Mine is in the shop. Man did we have a lot of shenanigans this past week. So I went to Modena on a scambio. I was with a missionary named Anziano Klemm who reminds me a ton like Jared so I get a long with him very well. Anyways, Our scambio starts out with us going to their apartments and we are on bikes. Here in Italy bike riders ride on the road for the most of the part with the cars. Anyways we were going through traffic with parked cars next to us and cars to our left that were stopped by a stoplight. While we are going a lady in her car decides to open her dooor....as she is doing this she hits Anziano Klemm is going by and she opens the door right in front of me so I run into it. She was slightly upset but realized it was her fault because she opened the door right when we were going. Anyways we go home and eat. Then we go to appointments in which no one came to so we got showed up if you will, during this time I rip my pants so bad that we have to go back to the modenas apartment so I can put shorts underneath because the hole was so big and I didn't have other pants. Then our bikes get flat tires. Then my bike at reggio completely broke. So it is in the shop right now. Hopefully all is well. So we will be walking a lot for awhile! We have two people set up for baptisms for next week, so that's really exciting! Love you guys!

Reggiano!

Ciao! Hello Everyone! This week was a bit crazy. But the way it ended is that we fixed a baptismal date with a man who will be baptized this week! We are very excited. Roberto, our baptismal date, has made so much progress and he is so happy to be baptized. He has been n investigator for a long time but is finally there! We have that going on. We are working with another kid named Puochner, He is from Haiti. He is so cool. He is our age as well! He loves coming to church, and loves the Book of Mormon. We saw him yesterday an we established a date for his baptism! He was excited. Other than that we are still working hard to find more people. It is still raining. It has been doing this for a long time! I'm really tired of it but that's ok I guess. I finally got new shoes last week! I sent picture so that you all could see the new shoes I got. They were only 45 euro which was decent. They feel really nice and they don't have holes! Its great!!!!!!! Yesterday, we met an African lady who has been in Virginia!!!!!!!!!! It was funny because once she said she had been in Virginia, I threw my arms in the air and screamed yes. I was with another missionary and he just started laughing really hard. She turned out to be really cool. She lives in Parma so it will be hard for us to visit her often but vediamo. I cant believe that this transfer is almost already over!!!!!! I just got here. We start week number 5 next week. Crazy. I keep forgetting that my birthday is this week. I have refused to tell people. some know, but most no. haha. Anyways love you all!

Snow time.....

Buongiorno a tutti! Allora, this has been a good one. We are very busy all of the time. Which is nice. unfortunately it is snowing right now, which makes it difficult to get around places. So one of our investigators is making tons of progress. It's really awesome. He met with the missionaries almost 8 months ago, which is a long time. He wasn't really making tons of progress and it seemed like he wasn't interested. Now, he has changed his life so much and he is so excited to get baptized. We don't have a date for his baptism but we will get one soon. Its really cool to how much his life has changed ever since he decided to live the commandments of god.He is so much happier now than he has ever been. So its been really tiring. Its been awhile since I have had so much to do, so it gets me really tired. Its nice though, because it makes it easier to fall asleep at night. We should have two baptisms at the end of this month on the 26th of January, which would be really cool. Its really awesome, the ward is helping us out so much. Especially the Bishop. He has met with all of our investigators and has been willing to come to lessons with us. It is so awesome. The work is going so much easier with all of this support from the members. Help out the missionaries in everything! They need it. Its much easier with all of your help. We just had a conference were we went over all the basics of missionary work. Our leaders are getting everyone ready for the income of new missionaries, we should have a total of 200 missionaries by the end of June. right now there are 138 missionaries.... that's a lot of missionaries! Well I'm running out of time. I love you guys! Read the Book of Mormon! It will change your life!

Week 2...let the games begin!

Hello! I am doing very well here in Reggio Emilia. Last week, the sister missionaries had a baptism and that was really awesome. We were able to bring some of our investigators. It was really cool. Also, this past week the sisters gave us a lot of their investigators(all masculine) to avoid any problems..so our work is cut out for us now. We actually dont have enough time to see everyone we need to see. Its great! We also have found some new people and we are excited. Its really awesome to be so busy like. Its definately a change of pace for me which is nice. Its also awesome because the ward here just got a new bishop and he is pushing hard core for more missionary work and he is helping is out so much. He asked for the emails of our parents so that he could email you all. He is awesome! The ward is helping us out so much. There are going to be tons of missionaries that are going to be coming in our mission in the next few months. In one group of missionaries there will be something like 50 some missionaries. THATS A LOT OF PEOPLE! I might have to train again, vediamo. Anziano Day and I are getting along really well. He is a pretty good cook as well. He was very excited to be with some one who had an Italian comp because he wants to improve his italian. I will some more pictures next week because I forgot to bring a chord to hook up my camera to the computer. Today I went looking to buy new shoes but I couldnt find any shoes for anything under 50 euro so I held out and I will keep looking. I refuse to pay so much for shoes. I got some new pants and 2 new ties. We spent most of our day in parma today. Tomorrow we will go to milano for a training, so that will be fun! I hope that you are all well! Love, Anziano Collins

Reggio Emilia!

Well I am in my new area. It's crazy to be in a different are. Here is my new address. Viale IV Novembre, 8 Reggio Nell'Emilia 42121 Italia MY new comp is really cool. We get along and we are doing some good work. For new years we had to stay inside almost all day so that was cool. We did some cleaning and chilled. Its been weird because here there are tons of foreigners and the city is less clean and there are no mountains. But that is okay I really like it. The work is going really well here. We have the sisters in our ward as well so I am excited about that. They are having a baptism and I get to give a talk this weekend so that will be awesome. We have tons of investigators here so that is nice. The people here are crazy open. I was so shocked the first time I talked with some people on the street. It was funny. The other day in church I met tons of members and I met some people from Moldavia(I will give anyone a euro if they know where that is on the top of their heads) and so I asked them how to say how are you in Moldavian. I learned it and then a few days later I ran into from Moldavia and I was able to ask him how he was in Moldavia. It made my day. My district is made up of fairly young missionaries. Its weird. I dislike changing areas because there are tons of missionaries there that you don't know but that's ok. Today we went to the Ferrari factory. It was really cool. I saw lots of fast cars. Christmas day we ended up watching parts of Kung Fu panda 2. We didn't have enough time to watch it all unfortunately but I didn't care. I had lots of fun just hanging out with La famiglia Tagliavia. I'm doing well. Sorry I didn't have time for email last week, we were really busy saying goodbye to everyone. I hope you are all good! Love you!