Lucky Duck

I'm such a lucky duck. San Remo is by the far the most beautiful city I've served in yet. The weather has been perfect every day I've been her so far. I have a great companion and a really tight knit little branch that is also great!

I've been a bit exhausted lately with the time changes, long train rides and stuff. We just switched back to summer schedule (wake up at 7 and go to bed at 11). That has actually been more of a blessing because it's so much easier waking up at 7. The train ride her last Thursday took about five hours so that was tiring. The trains here aren't what i would call comfortable. Yesterday we had a specialized training thing in Milano and our train was at 5:15 haha. We woke up around 4 AM and caught the train which took us about 5 hours to get there. We had our training which was fantastic then took the train 5 hours back. The first time here during transfer we stopped in a small city but yesterday we changed in Genova.

We're back and ready to get this week up and going! The teaching pool right now isn't so hot but no worries. I don't expect there to be a big one after a transfer of 8 baptisms. They had a really awesome transfer. There was the same situation as Pavia (Africans brought from Libya by the UN). They are all really cool humble guys and this next week we will be giving them the Priesthood! This last Saturday we baptized an Italian couple, Stefano and Stefania. They are about 45 years old and have two kids. The two kids aren't very interested at this point but the baptisms were great nonetheless. They will be a huge help to this branch.

The branch here is actually of decent size. There are quite a bit of families in the ward and I think I already know most of their names! I'm finding it hard though to remember names of members in past cities...agh..I did meet the Genovese family. Franco is the 1st counselor in the Branch presidency and his wife his the relief society president. His son also lives in San Remo with his family who are members as well. Franco is a pretty cool guy. If you have any missionary photos I think they would like one or even a family photo or something. I know they said they remember being the missionaries before San Remo being opened but I don't if they remember you exactly. They're super nice though. The whole branch is just super fired up lately with these baptisms. They'd really been praying and feel/recognize them as blessings from the Lord. They are a lot more accepting of these Africans as well. Not to diss on Verona, but a lot of members didn't like them too much.

Well my companion Anz. Free is great. I'm really excited for this transfer and the time I'll have to serve with him. Our district is just us two and the sisters in Savona, Sister Jones and Sister Baker. There is also a missionary couple, the Robinsons, from Cottonwood Heights that serve in Savona. So far we are working with this Brazilian woman Neusa. She was taught in the past but sort of stopped taking the lessons for some reason. My first day here we decided to stop by and she was super open. She should be coming to church this Sunday. She knows the importance of baptism and would have invited her Monday but her friend came home and kinda disturbed everything haha. It's all good though the next lessons for sure we will have her on track with a date. There is also this guy Ivano that is friends with the Genovese family that we are teaching. He's coming along slowly but surely. Apparently he's changed a lot since taking the lessons and so we look forward to his continual progress.

I forgot to tell you but last Wednesday after emailing we taught the Brazilian family(Ezichiele, Morganna and Moses). We had a really awesome lesson and set baptismal dates with the couple. Moses didn't understand much of what we said but with time and translations I think he will accept. I was also told that that boy Martino that we found a few days before leaving accepted a baptismal date! The only time I saw him was when we found him last Tuesday I think it was. I guess he came to church and just loved it. He started asking about how he could become an Anziano like us. I'm not surprised because he was super sincere and just elect in that first lesson. I think he is about 19 years old or so. Cool huh? The Lord really guided us on that one. We had been doing nightly planning the night before and had originally picked a different street to do but I was hesitant and felt better about doing his street even though it was smaller. Usually we aren't the biggest fans of doing the streets with houses instead of Palazzi (apartment buildings) but I thought we should do it. The spirit is just key in this work. Trust in the spirit is also key because I don't always feel like I'm being super guided but when you just go forward then miracles happen.

I think Nick Blair served here in San Remo during his mission. One of the members, who is actually a bit apostate from what I've been told (and you can kind of tell), was saying that he was going to come and visit in a few weeks. There is also this Argentinian member who is here with her husband and daughter. The daughter is a member too but the husband is not. They just moved from Draper, Utah where they lived for a year so the girl could learn English. Anyway, she was baptized by the brother of a kid I went to high school with....small world...last name is Gibbs.

What's Jake's address?

Love you guys a lot...have a great week!