Cìao Belle!!!

Wow, okay it's already been a month. I can't even remember where I was the last month at this time. I'm guessing the MTC? OK so much has happened since then so buckle up!!

Mamma Mia

You guessed it I'm in Italy now!! On the first day, I took a whirlwind tour of Rome before I got assigned my first area: Siracusa.

I took an 11-hour train ride down the eat Italian coast the next day and met my new trainer, Sorella Spach! (Pronounced like the star trek character)

Not gonna lie there are a few things I needed to get adjusted to. First off, we can't drink the tap water here--all our water comes from bottles. Second, the heat! It's not just hot in Siracusa, it's humid! Third, so many people here smoke. I didn't ever think that would happen. Lastly, the people. Everyone here is so open and hospitality is no joke. I've never gotten as much free food before.

Speaking of food...it 100% lives up to the hype. The pizza, the gelato, the pasta *chefs kiss* amazing. Some of my personal favorites are arancini, bombe, and an almond granite with brioche. The produce here is all local and fresh and it tastes soooo good. I don't know how I'm supposed to go back to the States now.

Missionary Life

So while Italy is beautiful and the food is great, that's not why I'm here and I don't spend the majority of my day focused on that tbh. I'm a missionary and thus, on a mission to invite people to come to Christ and serve the community where I live.

I love the service activities we do. One of them is an English course: twice a week we teach a free English class to anyone who wants to come! As an aspiring TESOL teacher, I love this! Another thing we do is on Saturday mornings we go to a mensa (kind of like a soup kitchen) and we help the people there prepare and pass out lunches. The wonderful thing about Siracusa is that everyone here wants to help each other out. It's a tourist location, so there's always business, but most of the locals aren't super well off. Anyone who does get some money generally moves out of Siracusa. However, despite this everyone is so willing to share and help each other it's amazing.

Another thing I do as a missionary is teaching lessons about our religion and Christ to interested people. Our youngest friend is 9 years old and our oldest is turning 82 in August, so it's safe to say these lessons are open to all ages. Right now we are teaching Benedetta (who gets baptized tomorrow!!), Corrada (wonderful lady who loves logic), Maria (a friend of a member), Yolanda (the cutest lady you'll ever meet but who can't read and has no way to contact her besides just showing up in the piazza), and Concetta ( a Facebook referral). So yes, lots of work.

But we don't stop there we also try to meet with less active members to see what we can to do help them too!!

Between all of this, 4 hours of daily studies, eating, contacting, and travelling our days are always busy busy busy.

The "cus" and the "gus"

So me and Sorella Spach are actually technically over two areas right now. Because numbers are still down from COVID the neighboring area was closed, which means there aren't any missionaries there right now. So our two areas are Siracusa and Ragusa. Both are beautiful places full of history!!! Last weekend we stayed over in Ragusa and got to know that area a little more.

P-Days!!!

Once a week we get a free day and so far those days have been jam-packed! On the first p-day we went to the catacombs and ate at a restaurant that overlooked the Mediterranean sea. The second p-day we visited all the touristy sites in Siracusa. Alas, the pictures tell it a lot better than I do.

Cìao for now!! Love you all