Chapter Three: The 8th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

"Tu sei la gomma, Io la matita. Ti prego di non cancelar mi dalla tua vita" 

(You are the eraser of a pencil.  Please don't erase me from your life)

Sometimes, graffiti is just too great to pass it by! =P

Ok, this week was my first week proselyting in the snow!! Exciting... kind of. Yesterday was the coldest day in southern Italy in the past 40 years. The humidity makes it so much worse!! It’s freezing but don’t worry we stay warm.  This week we made another trip to Trani, only this time we went for the entire day (like 12 hours). We got so much work done it was great. Sadly the records we have are so old there are only a handful of old investigators/members who still live in the same house. But we’re going back this next Monday because there is still a lot to go through; I’m really looking forward to it.  It’s such a beautiful city!

Anziano Miller got a pretty sweet package this week. There were homemade caramels! Pretty sweet huh?! 

This week I broke a record: most lunch appointments in a week.  We ate so much food, we have so much food, and I’m still full!! I really feel like the member’s think, "well I normally don’t make this much food but the Anziani are coming over and they eat a lot." This is great, if you haven't eaten with a member for a while... but I think they look at it like a game with us...but after a while, the game isn't fun anymore.  We passed by the family De Feo on Sunday because the kids were sick and only Sorella De Feo came. 

Now it is literally impossible to meet with Fratello De Feo just because he works like 18 hours every day, every day of the week.  But we went and saw the family and said hi and she ended up making us orzo (a drink from barley, like hot chocolate that’s really good!) and croissants and then she gave us Pepsi, cake, milk, bread, and more croissants. She’s really a great sister and Michele and Raphael are always through the roof.

I got a nice letter from Angie this week; it's so great to hear from family!

Being District leader isn't too much of a change from normal missionary life.  Only now I need to prepare training for every Monday and collect numbers on Sunday nights.  Other than that just to make sure everyone in the district is doing well and doing work.  But I couldn’t be in a better district they are all great missionaries.  The problem with Anziano Pedreira's eye was really strange.  He had a problem where basically the perfect circle of the eye wasn’t perfect anymore. They said it's something that takes like 20 years to happen but for him it happened in 5 days.  All he needs to do is wear a contact lens in the eye.  Pretty simple.

That’s sweet your growing wheat grass and sprouts and tomatoes. I'm growing basil (a MUST!), onions, and I’m trying to grow garlic.  Something that a lot of Americans do that really hurts the flavor of tomatoes is they put them in the fridge. Just a tip maybe it will help you.

The smokers and Maria are doing all right.  I don’t know why but here it is really hard to see people more than once a week.  So their progress is pretty slow but there is progress.

Sara, how’s the soccer practice going? Soccer season is about to start right? How’s your ball handling?

Mattie, mom said you’re going to do a volleyball camp that’s sweet!

You guys need to take more pictures and send them to me!!!

I love you all and I wish everyone a happy valentine’s day. I pray for you all the time.

Vi Amo,

Anziano Stewart

"Tu sei la gomma, Io la mattita. Ti prego di non cancelarmi dalla tua vita"

Sometimes, graffiti is just too great to pass it by! =P

Ok, this week was my first week proselyting in the snow!! Exciting... kind of. Yesterday was the coldest day in southern Italy in the past 40 years. The humidity makes it so much worse!! It’s freezing but don’t worry we stay warm.  This week we made another trip to Trani, only this time we went for the entire day (like 12 hours). We got so much work done it was great. Sadly the records we have are so old there are only a handful of old investigators/members who still live in the same house. But we’re going back this next Monday because there is still a lot to go through; I’m really looking forward to it.  It’s such a beautiful city!

Anziano Miller got a pretty sweet package this week. There were homemade caramels! Pretty sweet huh?! 

This week I broke a record: most lunch appointments in a week.  We ate so much food, we have so much food, and I’m still full!! I really feel like the member’s think, "well I normally don’t make this much food but the Anziani are coming over and they eat a lot." This is great, if you haven't eaten with a member for a while... but I think they look at it like a game with us...but after a while, the game isn't fun anymore.  We passed by the family De Feo on Sunday because the kids were sick and only Sorella De Feo came. 

Now it is literally impossible to meet with Fratello De Feo just because he works like 18 hours every day, every day of the week.  But we went and saw the family and said hi and she ended up making us orzo (a drink from barley, like hot chocolate that’s really good!) and croissants and then she gave us Pepsi, cake, milk, bread, and more croissants. She’s really a great sister and Michele and Raphael are always through the roof.

I got a nice letter from Angie this week; it's so great to hear from family!

Being District leader isn't too much of a change from normal missionary life.  Only now I need to prepare training for every Monday and collect numbers on Sunday nights.  Other than that just to make sure everyone in the district is doing well and doing work.  But I couldn’t be in a better district they are all great missionaries.  The problem with Anziano Pedreira's eye was really strange.  He had a problem where basically the perfect circle of the eye wasn’t perfect anymore. They said it's something that takes like 20 years to happen but for him it happened in 5 days.  All he needs to do is wear a contact lens in the eye.  Pretty simple.

That’s sweet your growing wheat grass and sprouts and tomatoes. I'm growing basil (a MUST!), onions, and I’m trying to grow garlic.  Something that a lot of Americans do that really hurts the flavor of tomatoes is they put them in the fridge. Just a tip maybe it will help you.

The smokers and Maria are doing all right.  I don’t know why but here it is really hard to see people more than once a week.  So their progress is pretty slow but there is progress.

Sara, how’s the soccer practice going? Soccer season is about to start right? How’s your ball handling?

Mattie, mom said you’re going to do a volleyball camp that’s sweet!

You guys need to take more pictures and send them to me!!!

I love you all and I wish everyone a happy valentine’s day. I pray for you all the time.

Vi Amo,

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Three: The 7th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

Gennaio is over, Happy Groundhog Day!!!

okay, first something I meant to send last week but forgot... It's a poem that Gordon B. Hinckley wrote.

What is this thing that men call death

This quiet passing in the night?

’Tis not the end but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart

And calm my troubled, haunting fears.

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change,

With recompense for vict’ry won.

The gift of Him who loved all men,

The Son of God, the Holy One.

I'm glad you all were able to get to Utah and see the funeral and be with family and such.  I'm sad I couldn’t be there.  The pictures look great; everyone looks so unified.  Isn’t uncle Craig the greatest? =)  I look forward to that cd, or just the mp3 would work as well, whatever floats your boat. 

Sara, that sounds great about your goal to play soccer at BYU, But to get there you have to practice everyday!!  I'm glad Mattie’s heart is still chugging along. How's Maren's New Years Resolution going? And what about Abby's new schedule? Is it still going strong?

All right, this week was pretty sweet.  We met with a lady (Maria Costanza) who has known the church for 20 years, and was ready to be baptized when she was 17 but her dad said no and now she's seeking signs... =/ She also has schizophrenia.  Kind of different but she is really sweet.  Also, we did a mostra Sunday night and were able to hand out some publicità.  We’re hoping to get a permesso for the other cities in our area and do mostras there as well.  It's been so long since the missionaries have been there that it will be something new and hopefully successful.  Also, Michele is still smoking.   He insists that he can’t stop cold turkey, that he has to slowly diminish the amount that he smokes until it is zero.  So we try to help with that... Also, Thursday night we took a surprise permesso trip to Lecce.  Its kind of a long story but we pretty much just left on the fly.  It’s a way pretty city, but a total tourist trap.

I got a letter from the Deckers, it was great to hear from them.  Did you know they bought an airplane?! I totally want a ride when I get home =P

So being a district leader is nice.  Our district is pretty sweet, which makes my job a lot easier =)  We missed Anziano Pedriera and Curzola (the elders at Poggio Franco) because Anziano Pederira was having problems with his eye (he pretty much went blind in one eye in a day) so he was in the hospital here in Bari for a couple days and went up to Rome but it's all resolved now and they are coming back today. It’ll be nice to have them back. 

Well it's time for me to get off. It was good to hear from you all this week, gosh!! =P But really, I love you and I’m glad everything is back to normal. Hopefully everything settles back into place soon.  Happy Groundhog Day!!!

--

Vi Amo Bene,

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Three: The 6th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

Ciao famiglia e amici!

Man, this week I think takes the cake with the most rollercoaster-ish of my mission so far. We got transfer calls and I'm staying but Anziano McAffee is going to Agrigento. And Anziano Miller (yes my ex-companion) is going to be my new companion, which never happens.  Pretty cool huh? And, one more thing about the next transfer, is I’m the new District Leader... kind of cool but I feel too young and inexperienced to do it but I’m also pretty excited.  

Also, we went to Napoli this week, we left on Sunday and came back Tuesday morning, for my permesso di sogiornio which was a blessing to be able to go back and see it but buying the tickets has really left my mission money low...  Anyways, I was able to give a talk on Sunday on fasting, and was really surprised when I had to cut it short, because it was on fasting.  I was expecting to have to really stretch it out. ha ha.  We also got the coolest referral from the mission home.  He's an 18-year-old boy who is from Bethlehem.  His dad is a good friend with a bunch of Mormons because he's been a temporary professor a couple times and has really been impressed with our church.  So we went and met with him, he lives a little ways away so it took all morning but it went great.  He doesn’t really know Italian or English but we get by. =) We found another man who really wants to stop smoking. We haven’t met with him but he sounded really sincere and promising.  Also, Michele (the other stop smoking student) started  smoking again... =( 

Thanks for the talk, I haven’t read it yet, but I want to.  Hopefully I can soon. It was really startling to get a phone call from dad on Thursday.  I am really sad to know that grandma died. I really hoped I would be able to see her after the mission.  But I'm grateful for the plan that our Father has for us, and the knowledge I have of it.  It really helps. I don’t have much more time.

I love you and hope you’re all safe!

--

Vi Amo,

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Three: The 5th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

''My sports car has a wheels more shiny than that of my brother'' - English course student. =)

Well another week has flown by.  I hate it when it does that! In the MTC Fratello Silva told us to pray for a slow mission and that sounded insane!!! But it now makes sense.  On Friday (the 20th) I will have been out for 6 months. 1/4 of my mission…and it feels like a couple of weeks. Insane right?!

Well this week we started to do a lot more work in the other cities in our area. there’s 8 or so and each have a bout 50,000 people.  And miles of olive trees separate them all.  But we went to Terlizzi and did some publicità and finding.  Its a beautiful city.  We also went to Bisceglie and Molfetta.  Both of which are right on the coast and are beautiful!!!!

It's amazing the power of testimony.  Every time I bear testimony its strengthened.  And if the person receiving the testimony is open just a little bit and they exercise that particle of faith.  They receive a testimony from the Holy Ghost.  The only problem is when the people don’t want to listen... there were 2 men we talked with on the street and both have searched so long and hard for the truth they had become closed. Absolutely closed to anything.  It’s so sad to see and to have to accept that even though the truth they are searching for can be found in one chapter of this book, they refuse to read it…but that’s free agency for ya...

We also did a scambio with the elders from Poggio Franco.  It was sweet.  I was with Anziano Curzola.  He’s 1 month old and from northern Italy.  Already he is an amazing example.  Its pretty cool to be with a verdino (greeny) they are something special.

At district meeting Anziano Pedriera gave the teaching and it was great! He’s incredible.  He talked about how it’s our right to baptize and if we don’t then we are actually of the devil.  (A little harsh I know, but he’s from Uruguay, that’s how they roll) it was sweet!

Its great to hear from grandma and Abby and dad and mom this week, there was so much to read it was great! I don’t have much more time but I hope the sleep study goes well and that grandma can continue to be great.  That’s crazy about Mattie reading Lord of the Rings.  Sara needs to do something about all that Wii time.  And Abby that’s a pretty sweet schedule you’ve got going.

I love you all and hope you continue to choose the right!!!! Thanks for your support and all your prayers.

--

Vi Amo,

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Three: The 4th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

Zone conference, Matera, Taranto, Stop smoking course, Food

Matera

Man, what a week!!! SOOO much stuff happens in a week, it's ridiculous!!  Okay, well I’ll try to explain as best as I can.  First, for Thursday, I cooked red peppers stuffed with risotto, and they were amazing.  We enjoyed them thoroughly.  But later that night… Anziano McAffee not so much.  He wasn’t sure what it was that made him sick (maybe the mussel pizza we ate the night before at Taranto) but he was pretty sick for all of Friday.  By the way, Taranto was so sweet! It’s not very pretty at all, and they have a huge steel factory that is the biggest source of pollution in all of Europe, but at the same time, it was fun and the weather was great; we all played football and soccer. 

So this week we got 2 new investigators though our stop smoking publicità.  Michele, and Paulo.  They are both old men who want to stop smoking and when we talked about how we want to share our message, they said okay, sounds great! (That never happens, ESPECIALLY with old men)  I love The Bitontinni.  Also, it was the birthday of Fratello DeFeo (inactive) so we brought them brownies (that were cooked from scratch, BOOYAH!)

Yesterday was zone conference and it was sweet!!! We meet with 2 zones (Bari and Taranto) here it is always great to receive revelation and help from our leaders and our God.  What else... oh, I got your package; it was sweet! Thanks so much for everything!!! You guys are great!  Oh, and I heard from Natalie, that you’re naming these emails something like ''epistles'' on the blog... I'm sure that’s Dad's idea...

Um, the talk went great, no worries there.  I need to give another in 2 weeks on ''the fast'' Nice huh?  Man! I have a TON of pictures for you all but this computer is deficient!!! Hopefully I can send them next week, there’s like 20.  That’s sweet about Abby’s job!  Now she'll stay out of trouble for sure!!! 

Oh, you’ll recall that Pandoro is the cake that dad used to get is Sicily with the powered sugar and you coat the cake by shaking it.  Dad used to buy Panattone as well but it is the cake with the pieces of fruit.  Pandoro: pane-d'oro in Italian, in English "bread of gold"  it's SOOO good.

Regarding the SIG ring, I’d get a size 10 if you could  but if not, 9 works.

Well I need to go, we still need to get groceries and I need to write some letters today.  But thanks so much for the package again and thanks for the email.   

--

Vi Amo Tanto,

Anziano Stewart

p.s. sorry this is so short, I spent like 20 minutes trying to  get the pictures sent but no such luck... sorry about that again. 


p.p.s. oh, one more thing, how are the Presidential candidates looking? (aka romney)
love you happy Martin Luther King Jr. day and Happy birthday J!!!!!

Chapter Three: The 3rd Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

When the Missionaries bring you cookies, they're really asking for a referral!

Family!!! Ciao! Happy New Year!!!

I love reading your letters every week, it's great to hear from you and to know how you all are and that everything's okay.  I'm going to be honest, sometimes during the week it's easy to not think about those things, but don’t worry I always pray for you all. 

I'm glad you had a great new year; mine was pretty good.  Because we live so close to the center of Bitonto trying to sleep was a joke.  So, we did some studying and wrote letters and then watched the fireworks.  Which were crazy!!!!  There are these things called "botti" and they’re actually illegal but that doesn’t stop anyone. =) Basically they are bombs and every 20 seconds they were going off, it was great!! 

We've found quite a few people that are ready to hear the gospel but this time of year the Italians have an excuse they all use "dopo le feste" (after the holidays).  EVERYONE uses it even our branch president and branch mission leader.... thankfully the last "Festa" is Friday (la Befanna) then we can tell people the Feste are over and now we want to meet with them!!

We’ve been having a lot of appointments for lunch and it's been great.  There is this family called Scarolla and they invited us over.  She is a Sicilian lady who cooks magnificently!!   We ate this salad that was only oranges, olive oil, pepperoncino, salt, and garlic.  It was soooo good!!

On the 2nd it was our day of cleaning.  Basically, there are 2 days every year that we have to take the day to deep clean the house.  Our house wasn’t too dirty in the first place but now it's spotless!!  But I’m done with cleaning for a little while....

On Sunday I have to give a talk.  I'm going to do it on missionary work.  We have made a Branch mission plan and we now need to get it going so thankfully I can take advantage of this chance to get the branch excited for 2012 in Bitonto! 

what else... yesterday we did 2 baptismal interviews for the missionaries in Bari, score! And we are searching for Pandoro that is on sale, because now all the stores want to get rid of their Pandoro now that the holidays are over.  I’ll keep you posted on that...

It’s great that Abby got that job! And it's right on campus! Sweet! I hope things work out well with that.  That’s great about the package, but it's not a huge deal that you send packages that often, I don’t need anything really... it would be better, according to me, if instead you put that money in my Charles Schwab account so I can buy something nice here.  Speaking of which, this week I’m going to pull 90 euro out of the  Chuck account, just so you know.  

Well, I have some pictures for you but this computer isn’t working... maybe ill try another or we’ll see next week.  Today were going to try to go to Taranto with Brinisi and Lecce to see the city and what not...but we’re still not sure.  

Next week we have zone conference and also, we get our interview with President (only every 12 weeks)  so I’m pretty excited for that as well. Other than that, I love you (J, I love you 3 times around the sun!!) and hope those New Years resolutions are going great (good work Maren!) and I cant wait to hear from you all next week. Ciao!! 

Vi Voglio Bene,

Anziano Stewart

Chapter Three: The 2nd Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Bitontians

Buon Capo d'Anno!!!

Questo sarà divertento! Un po di compito per voi. =)  Va bene, Tutto ciò che scritto sarà in Italiano e dovete tradurlo.  Sta settimana è stato un po lento ma era Natale e chi può dire male? Noi abbiamo insegnato solo 2 lezioni sta settimana... :/  e abbiamo fatto tanto finding.  Poi, Abbiamo cucinato una grande cena per Natale ma era piu o meno solo pasta e carne.  e poi... siamo andati a Bari e abbiamo visto Tangled e Tarzan il 26.  Era bellissima!! E dopo quello, abbiamo chiamato casa (come sapete...) (e ecco perche sto scrivendo in Italiano perche non che troppo di nuovo di cui potremmo parlare)  e poi, siamo andati a la casa di poggio franco per dormire perche il prossima mattina abbiamo avuto riunione di distretto a Bari.   E quello era molto bello.  Nel nostro distretto che un Anziano si chiama Anziano Pedreria. 

Lui è da Uruguay, è molto divertento di averlo qua con noi.  Poi, siamo andati a Terlizzi (un altro città nel nostro zona (zona di bitonto)) e abbiamo fatto un po di strada e casa.  Dopo quello, abbiamo fatto una lezione con Nicolo (nuovo membro) e Guiseppe (il suo amico) è stato molto bello. E poi sto qua scrivendo voi. =)

It was great to hear from you all this week.  Thanks so much for the letters! It’s crazy that Abby is about to go back to Utah already, at least the girls have a bunny to keep them entertained now. =P  Time really flies! It feels like I've been out for a month or so but it's been 5!!!  Mind blown (daily)!

Anyways, like i said, we talked like 2 days ago and now i'm not sure what else to say, well…

to Mom: let the girls have as much fun as they can with the fireworks.

to Dad: buy enough fireworks for the girls to have fun. =P

to Abby: Be a good example with the fireworks. (but be creative)

To Mattie: Put the book down, go outside and watch the fireworks.

to Sara: YOU DO NOT GET A LIGHTER!

to Maren: Ask how you hold the sparkler before you light it.

To J: tell mom you’re gonna want some ear plugs and some chocolate to stay awake.

Happy New Year!!! 2012 is gonna be great, and I guess I’ll write next year...  Make sure to take a lot of pictures!