Wow. Already Monday again....and this is my last one in Catania! Next week I will be at the mission office. I actually leave Catania on Saturday and I'll spend the whole day on the train going up to Rome, then Sunday I'll stay in Rome three with Sorella Gates and Sorella Anderson (they are living in the same house!:), next Monday all the missionaries who are finishing with me are going caroling in downtown Rome somewhere for pday, and then we have exit interviews with president, farewell dinner, and then....that's where I stop thinking about things because there are too many emotions at that point. Mom and Dad, I could literally pee my pants because I am so freaking excited to have you here!!! But I'll also be an emotional wreck while you two are handling jet lag. It's gonna be a fun little gita :)
It was a slow week honestly. We spent our pday in Siracusa with all the sisters in the zone, which was a blast. I think I mentioned it last week, but we went to this little island called Ortigia which is the home of Ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes. Siracusa used to be one of the most important green cities in the world. It is also one of the places where Paul stopped to preach as a prisoner on his way to Rome. There are these big rock formations right across the street from the church which is one of the places where they say he taught. It was incredible! Ortigia was also a lot of fun, I loved being with all the sisters. We went and got sandwiches from this guy named Andrea and it was the experience of a lifetime, I will just send pictures because words can't even describe the goodness that was contained in them. Plus Andrea was an absolute ham.
We got back to Catania and had scambios which is always a good time, I was with Sorella Fransden and we got a few bidones and then had to do correlation which was a year and a half long. We just got a new ward mission leader and the old ward mission leader was made a ward missionary with his wife, and things are a little tense and awkward as one tries to take on the new responsibilities and the other tries to let go. But I love that in our church the calling doesn't matter. My mission president and his wife were primary teachers before they got their call as mission president:) it is so wonderful to be a part of such a big group of volunteers! :)
Wednesday marked 17 months from the day I left for the MTC. We got to see Angela and Jennifer that evening which was awesome, Jennifer's boys were so sweet and so reverent! It probably helped that Peter Pan was playing in the background....but we talked about temples. Guys....I am so excited to get to go back to the temple. After 18 months of preaching the gospel and God's plan for our eternal happiness, and after doing a lot of my own family history research, I cannot wait to be back inside the walls of that sacred place. We taught Jennifer about covenants and temple work and it was awesome. I just really love the plan of salvation and that it shows us how much God loves us :)
Thursday for thanksgiving we were invited with two of the elders to go to Sigonella which is the naval Air Force base here in Sicily to eat lunch with a member family, the Foulks. We had so much fun! They made a turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, smoked pulled pork, Mac n'cheese casserole (still delicious, btw)... And there was an Italian sister there with her two boys and her mom, because her husband is American and he is currently deployed for a year. So she and her mom made lasagna. And then there was pumpkin pie, cannoli, mini pecan muffins, and this chocolate dream bar thing that had coconut and almonds in it which was to die for. And they had A&W root beer. It's the first time I've had American food since I left the MTC...it's a lot heavier than I remembered, I actually had a stomach ache from it. But I loved every second of it and it was delicious. The Foulk family was wonderful too, they have the tradition of sharing something that they are grateful for as they eat thanksgiving dinner, and a very common theme was gratitude for America and the freedoms that we have there. It isn't like the rest of the world is on lockdown, but there are illusions and copies of American governments all over the world, and I am so full of gratitude to be a citizen of "one of the only countries that currently enjoys real freedom," as Brother Foulk put it. Living in a foreign country has been really eye opening in that regard.
Our thanksgiving adventure didn't stop after lunch, though. We took a bus out to the base, and let me just say that public transportation, especially in southern Italy, is not always the most reliable. Bro. Foulk dropped us off at the bus sto and then headed home for his turkey nap. And we waited. And waited. And waited. For over an hour and a half, in the freezing cold (ok like 45* with 90% humidity...and wind), with two big containers of thanksgiving leftovers. When we bought the tickets to get out to the base, we asked about the bus to get back and they said it would pass at 3:30. By 5 we were still waiting and so we woke Bro. Foulk up and he came to drive us home. In the meantime the anziani flagged a random other bus down, and we were informed that there were no buses back to Catania today. It switches off so that one day the buses leaving from the station go to Siracusa and the next day they come into Catania. Why? I have no clue. I do know that it was super inconvenient for everyone though and that we would have been super late to the baptism that was supposed to happen at 4:30 if it hadn't been cancelled. We got to the church just in time to teach english course and it went pretty well :) but I started getting heartburn from all the fatty American food, which wasn't too fun. It stuck around for a while too :P
Also, our house doesn't have any heat and there is a window right across from our bedroom that is stuck open. The wood around it swelled and it won't close...So things have been particularly cold at home. I have been sleeping with three quilts on my bed. I don't know what I am doing to do when I get back to America and there is snow on the ground....but it is much more humid here which causes the cold to seep through everything you are wearing straight into your bones. It's a lot of fun;) (mom and dad, pack a few warm layers. The cold gets worse the further north you go).
Everyone is getting all decked out for Christmas and we have been doing street finding with the Christmas video from last year and the new one for this year. And as we were out and about, we saw that all the shops have put up their Christmas lights! :) plus downtown is all decked out with lights running across all of Main Street, hung between the shops on either side. And they are in the process of constructing a great big tree of lights right in front of the main piazza. I'm in love with it. I just really like Christmas lights :) Christmas hit pretty early, it's weird that they don't have a holiday here between Halloween and thanksgiving. And they don't really celebrate Halloween anyway...they do the day of the dead, which is a big Catholic holiday. So after the first week of November all the black gets put away and all the red and green comes out! Well, more red and green, they are the national colors so they are already everywhere all the time ;)
I just can't believe that my time here in this city is already practically over, I have fallen I love with it so quickly, much faster than any other city I have ever served in. And the lord shows me a little every day why He sent me here and that it wasn't just a place to wait out the end of my mission, but that He had a work for me to do. And it ain't over yet! :) :)
I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week, and you'll hear from me in
Rome next time!
Baci,
Sorella Decker
It was a slow week honestly. We spent our pday in Siracusa with all the sisters in the zone, which was a blast. I think I mentioned it last week, but we went to this little island called Ortigia which is the home of Ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes. Siracusa used to be one of the most important green cities in the world. It is also one of the places where Paul stopped to preach as a prisoner on his way to Rome. There are these big rock formations right across the street from the church which is one of the places where they say he taught. It was incredible! Ortigia was also a lot of fun, I loved being with all the sisters. We went and got sandwiches from this guy named Andrea and it was the experience of a lifetime, I will just send pictures because words can't even describe the goodness that was contained in them. Plus Andrea was an absolute ham.
We got back to Catania and had scambios which is always a good time, I was with Sorella Fransden and we got a few bidones and then had to do correlation which was a year and a half long. We just got a new ward mission leader and the old ward mission leader was made a ward missionary with his wife, and things are a little tense and awkward as one tries to take on the new responsibilities and the other tries to let go. But I love that in our church the calling doesn't matter. My mission president and his wife were primary teachers before they got their call as mission president:) it is so wonderful to be a part of such a big group of volunteers! :)
Wednesday marked 17 months from the day I left for the MTC. We got to see Angela and Jennifer that evening which was awesome, Jennifer's boys were so sweet and so reverent! It probably helped that Peter Pan was playing in the background....but we talked about temples. Guys....I am so excited to get to go back to the temple. After 18 months of preaching the gospel and God's plan for our eternal happiness, and after doing a lot of my own family history research, I cannot wait to be back inside the walls of that sacred place. We taught Jennifer about covenants and temple work and it was awesome. I just really love the plan of salvation and that it shows us how much God loves us :)
Thursday for thanksgiving we were invited with two of the elders to go to Sigonella which is the naval Air Force base here in Sicily to eat lunch with a member family, the Foulks. We had so much fun! They made a turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, smoked pulled pork, Mac n'cheese casserole (still delicious, btw)... And there was an Italian sister there with her two boys and her mom, because her husband is American and he is currently deployed for a year. So she and her mom made lasagna. And then there was pumpkin pie, cannoli, mini pecan muffins, and this chocolate dream bar thing that had coconut and almonds in it which was to die for. And they had A&W root beer. It's the first time I've had American food since I left the MTC...it's a lot heavier than I remembered, I actually had a stomach ache from it. But I loved every second of it and it was delicious. The Foulk family was wonderful too, they have the tradition of sharing something that they are grateful for as they eat thanksgiving dinner, and a very common theme was gratitude for America and the freedoms that we have there. It isn't like the rest of the world is on lockdown, but there are illusions and copies of American governments all over the world, and I am so full of gratitude to be a citizen of "one of the only countries that currently enjoys real freedom," as Brother Foulk put it. Living in a foreign country has been really eye opening in that regard.
Our thanksgiving adventure didn't stop after lunch, though. We took a bus out to the base, and let me just say that public transportation, especially in southern Italy, is not always the most reliable. Bro. Foulk dropped us off at the bus sto and then headed home for his turkey nap. And we waited. And waited. And waited. For over an hour and a half, in the freezing cold (ok like 45* with 90% humidity...and wind), with two big containers of thanksgiving leftovers. When we bought the tickets to get out to the base, we asked about the bus to get back and they said it would pass at 3:30. By 5 we were still waiting and so we woke Bro. Foulk up and he came to drive us home. In the meantime the anziani flagged a random other bus down, and we were informed that there were no buses back to Catania today. It switches off so that one day the buses leaving from the station go to Siracusa and the next day they come into Catania. Why? I have no clue. I do know that it was super inconvenient for everyone though and that we would have been super late to the baptism that was supposed to happen at 4:30 if it hadn't been cancelled. We got to the church just in time to teach english course and it went pretty well :) but I started getting heartburn from all the fatty American food, which wasn't too fun. It stuck around for a while too :P
Also, our house doesn't have any heat and there is a window right across from our bedroom that is stuck open. The wood around it swelled and it won't close...So things have been particularly cold at home. I have been sleeping with three quilts on my bed. I don't know what I am doing to do when I get back to America and there is snow on the ground....but it is much more humid here which causes the cold to seep through everything you are wearing straight into your bones. It's a lot of fun;) (mom and dad, pack a few warm layers. The cold gets worse the further north you go).
Everyone is getting all decked out for Christmas and we have been doing street finding with the Christmas video from last year and the new one for this year. And as we were out and about, we saw that all the shops have put up their Christmas lights! :) plus downtown is all decked out with lights running across all of Main Street, hung between the shops on either side. And they are in the process of constructing a great big tree of lights right in front of the main piazza. I'm in love with it. I just really like Christmas lights :) Christmas hit pretty early, it's weird that they don't have a holiday here between Halloween and thanksgiving. And they don't really celebrate Halloween anyway...they do the day of the dead, which is a big Catholic holiday. So after the first week of November all the black gets put away and all the red and green comes out! Well, more red and green, they are the national colors so they are already everywhere all the time ;)
I just can't believe that my time here in this city is already practically over, I have fallen I love with it so quickly, much faster than any other city I have ever served in. And the lord shows me a little every day why He sent me here and that it wasn't just a place to wait out the end of my mission, but that He had a work for me to do. And it ain't over yet! :) :)
I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week, and you'll hear from me in
Rome next time!
Baci,
Sorella Decker
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| Sisters Weekend! |
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| Temple of Apollo |
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| Thanksgiving Dinner |
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| The Nativity set of a member who lives close to us |
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| Ceiling of the San Benedetto church that we went to today |
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