Our Mission President asked us to list "30 Blessings I received during my Mission".
Anita
1. New lifelong friends 2. deeper appreciation for tom and see him in action 3. deeper appreciation for family 4. closer relationship with God and 5. with Christ 6. Appreciation for the dedication of missionaries and 7. for the love and abilities of Pres Pickerd and his wife 8. superb health for myself and Tom 9. health for my mom (95) and family at home 10. a greater love & admiration for Italy 11. a concern for Italy 12. a keener sense of God's love for each child 13. a reinforced knowledge that you do what you can do and God makes up the difference 15. a blessing of forgiveness 16. The blessing of a grateful heart for our specific mission 17. a deep appreciation for the light of Christ in each soul 18. safety 19. a supportive family who called weekly and never complained but encouraged us 20. better understanding of the plan of salvation and the brevity of life 21. a visit from a son & family and a sister and friends 22. better communication with the Spirit 23. a greater desire to repent and do better but understanding that sine/weaknesses are part of mortality 24. a stronger, more grateful heart for the Sabbath and the sacrament 25. a simple focused life 26. Rome 1 ward, especially the RS Pres and our HT assignments 27. a Rome Temple opportunity 28. public transportation and less driving and our apartment downtown 29. recognition/pat on the back 30. an intense appreciation for A/C, showers, toilets, our clean apartment with lots of light, cars, comfortable bed, a good landlord.
Tom
1.My forgotten Italian was resurrected (sort of) 2. After 45 years of independence I learned to deal with confinement (partial) 3. Probably #1, the growth of the church in Italy 4. the quality of leadership in the church in Italy 5. love of the missionaries (especially in our district) and appreciation of the work they do 6. Increase love of the Lord and desire to serve Him. 7. Scripture study quality was greatly enhanced 8. In spite of weaknesses in people, the work goes forth 9. The quality of people involved in refugee relief efforts 10. The immigration phenomenon happening world wide 11. The work being done by LDS Charities 12. Love of members who sacrifice so much to live the Gospel 13. Love for my spouse increased 14. Aspects of her personality I had never focused on before. She can be driven. 15. The love for the Senior Couples. The best of the best. 16. to taste of the missionary spirit and see 18 year olds work miracles 17. knowledge that the massive immigration is part of the Lord's plan 18. Blessing of health and safety for the whole 18 months 19. perspective on what's important in life 20. appreciation for the blessing this mission has been and what we have experienced 21. testimony that we did what we were called to do. 22. appreciation for the faith and humility of Africa 23. concern that these sweet people will be changed by western materialism and culture 24. gratitude to have been raised an American 25. gratitude that we were prompted to go on a mission now rather than later 26. blessing of support of our family while we are away 27. impact our sacrifice has had on our family: an example of missionary service 28. testimony of the inspired leadership of Pres & Sorella Pickerd 29. There are two kinds of missionaries: those who come with preconceived ideas of what they will and won't do, and those who come to serve however and wherever they are asked. The first have problems, the latter enjoy their missions 30. The Lord uses all of us and all of our efforts contribute to move the work forward.
Anita
1. New lifelong friends 2. deeper appreciation for tom and see him in action 3. deeper appreciation for family 4. closer relationship with God and 5. with Christ 6. Appreciation for the dedication of missionaries and 7. for the love and abilities of Pres Pickerd and his wife 8. superb health for myself and Tom 9. health for my mom (95) and family at home 10. a greater love & admiration for Italy 11. a concern for Italy 12. a keener sense of God's love for each child 13. a reinforced knowledge that you do what you can do and God makes up the difference 15. a blessing of forgiveness 16. The blessing of a grateful heart for our specific mission 17. a deep appreciation for the light of Christ in each soul 18. safety 19. a supportive family who called weekly and never complained but encouraged us 20. better understanding of the plan of salvation and the brevity of life 21. a visit from a son & family and a sister and friends 22. better communication with the Spirit 23. a greater desire to repent and do better but understanding that sine/weaknesses are part of mortality 24. a stronger, more grateful heart for the Sabbath and the sacrament 25. a simple focused life 26. Rome 1 ward, especially the RS Pres and our HT assignments 27. a Rome Temple opportunity 28. public transportation and less driving and our apartment downtown 29. recognition/pat on the back 30. an intense appreciation for A/C, showers, toilets, our clean apartment with lots of light, cars, comfortable bed, a good landlord.
Tom
1.My forgotten Italian was resurrected (sort of) 2. After 45 years of independence I learned to deal with confinement (partial) 3. Probably #1, the growth of the church in Italy 4. the quality of leadership in the church in Italy 5. love of the missionaries (especially in our district) and appreciation of the work they do 6. Increase love of the Lord and desire to serve Him. 7. Scripture study quality was greatly enhanced 8. In spite of weaknesses in people, the work goes forth 9. The quality of people involved in refugee relief efforts 10. The immigration phenomenon happening world wide 11. The work being done by LDS Charities 12. Love of members who sacrifice so much to live the Gospel 13. Love for my spouse increased 14. Aspects of her personality I had never focused on before. She can be driven. 15. The love for the Senior Couples. The best of the best. 16. to taste of the missionary spirit and see 18 year olds work miracles 17. knowledge that the massive immigration is part of the Lord's plan 18. Blessing of health and safety for the whole 18 months 19. perspective on what's important in life 20. appreciation for the blessing this mission has been and what we have experienced 21. testimony that we did what we were called to do. 22. appreciation for the faith and humility of Africa 23. concern that these sweet people will be changed by western materialism and culture 24. gratitude to have been raised an American 25. gratitude that we were prompted to go on a mission now rather than later 26. blessing of support of our family while we are away 27. impact our sacrifice has had on our family: an example of missionary service 28. testimony of the inspired leadership of Pres & Sorella Pickerd 29. There are two kinds of missionaries: those who come with preconceived ideas of what they will and won't do, and those who come to serve however and wherever they are asked. The first have problems, the latter enjoy their missions 30. The Lord uses all of us and all of our efforts contribute to move the work forward.
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| Farewell dinner and exit interviews. For future reference: From R: Calabrese, Fenn, me and Tom, Balzotti, Kneis, Canfield, Simoncini, Whiting, the other Calabrese, Pickerd. |
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| We went to Baobab camp again to help Austen Woods with his Eagle Scout project. I had taken an extra copy of the Church News for Ariane Woods, who is also featured in the article. When we arrived, guess who was there as well? The little girl on the front cover of the article! So I gave her the copy. I don't know what she thought of it, she only spoke Arabic. But I'm glad I was able to get this photo of her 'reading' it! |
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| The beginnings of the BBQ pits. It was stinin' hot and everybody was sweating up a storm. Some of the volunteers were friends and scouts, but the one that really struck me as amazing was the builder at the Rome Temple (Fenn). He puts in exhausting days, and yet there he was helping out in the evening. |
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| The BBQ pits are making progress. The camp residents were looking on giving their advice and suggestions. Not all were positive. One guy was really excited and jumping around and giving his two-bits when I discovered that he had his hand on my phone in my back pocket. Luckily I felt it and slapped his hand away. Sadly Baobab's environment is changing. The residents are more permanent rather than moving on through. There is tension and anger there that I hadn't felt as strongly before. Both Tom and I feel like it's a matter of time before something 'blows up'....we hope not, but it's headed that way. |
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| The finished BBQ pits and the participating boy Scouts. Austen is in the middle with the maroon shirt on. They placed the pits in front of the communal tent so that all ethnic groups will have to share them. It's been about a week ago. I wonder if they are still there? Or have they been dismantled? I doubt we have time to go back to find out. |
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| This morning we woke up at 5:15 am because a couple in our ward took us on a tour of 'Early Rome'...I don't think I had ever seen the city at this hour. It was gorgeous. |
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| I loved no traffic. We drove to the different sites and it was amazingly traffic free. |
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| These pillars were around when Paul was in Rome. A church around the corner was where Paul had rented a home and now there is a church built over the site. |
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| Our tour guides: Luigi and Louize De Matais. Louize is the RS President in our ward and one amazing lady. Luigi is a history buff and Tom loved every second of the tour. He even learned some new things, and I thought he knew it all! |
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| So pretty at 6am and no traffic! |
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| This is one of the oldest temples in Rome and the center of Old Rome. |
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| The bridge in the left corner is one of the original bridges into Rome. |
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