It's Ferragosto time again. That's the time when the entire country says "I don't care! I'm going on vacation!" And then they do it. Not only is it common, it's expected. I was talking with one of the members in Varese and I said "Are you going anywhere for Ferragosto?" And he said "Anziano. We're Italian. Of course we are." For the next two weeks, Milano will be basically empty. Everyone goes to the sea. Or Croatia. Or France. Or Sicilia. Or not Milano. Except, of course, the missionaries.
Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a tad, but it really is like that. I'm a little less affected being in the office most of the day, but it's still hard to get some work done here too. I've been trying to call some landlords or energy companies and everyone says "I'm on vacation! Call back in September." So, hopefully nobody's power goes out, otherwise it'll have to stay off until September. (Kidding, we'd figure it out. Have no fear.)
I'm getting to know the ward pretty well. Our ward is the Milano Navigli ward. (Na-VEEL-ye). Say that a few times fast. The city of Milano itself has three wards: Navigli, Cimiano, and Lampugnano. So far I've served in two of them! Both tiems with the same companion, at least for a little bit. Maybe for my last transfer President will take both of us and put us in Lampugnano so that I will have served in all three wards. Anyway, the ward is great. There is a lot of South Americans and Filipinos. Filipinos are probably the happiest people on the planet. And the ones who eat the most. If you go to a Filipino's house, expect to come out with an upset stomach. It's so wonderful. I wish though that everyone on Earth could be as happy as the Filipinos. This world would be a much different place.
Last week for P-Day we went to the Duomo, something I've done many times. This time though, we went up on the roof. That was really neat. After climbing a milllliiiooonnnnn stairs, we got to the top. I attached a picture of all the spires. Each one has a statue of a saint. We also went into the museum. Right now because they're doing a lot of restoration work, they've taken down many of the spires and put them in a museum. It was really neat to see up close some of the things that people never get to see up close. There is a surprising amount of detail on these sculptures and paintings. They also had a copy of the mosaics on the windows. Each pane is a different Bible story. They had everything from creation to the life of Jesus, to Revelations. It was insane. The next time I go in the actual Duomo, I want to pay more attention to the windows.
When I was in Cimiano I was teaching a wonderful family. The wife was from Colombia and newly arrived in Italy and the husband was Italian. I'm sure I wrote about them when I was in Cimiano last year. Anyway, he was not a member, but he really liked the Church and was starting to attend regularly and read the Book of Mormon with his wife. He's partly blind, so he couldn't read, but she would read to him and he liked it. She also didn't speak much Italian so it was so fun to communicate with them. While we were teaching we had to read things in Spanish, teach in Italian, then have him translate to Spanish for her and then have him translate her response back into Italian. It was funny though because as he would translate for her, it gave him time to actually think about what we were saying. Because of that, he had a really good understanding of what we taught. It was fun to watch the cogs turn as he translated for her. Anyway, he was baptized last week. I was walking on air when I found it. They're such a beautiful couple and I feel so grateful to have played a part in his conversion. Anz. Parker and I started teaching them and I was soooo sad to leave them. They were well cared for though, and I'm happy to see that his conversion continued. Now they have a goal to go to the temple together. So wonderful.
I love seeing fruits like this, even long after I leave a city. It reminds me also that there are many seeds that I plant that I may never be aware of. I have a theory that we as missionaries only see maybe ten percent, if even, of the work that we actually do. It's so wonderful to be an instrument in God's hands and do His will, even if I don't see his entire plan. I know what the end result should be though, and that's my goal.
Buon Ferragosto! :P Love, Anziano Simcox.
When they were digging out the tunnels for the subway a few decades ago, they planned to dig a line directly under the Duomo. As they were digging though, they dug into a large cavern that had been buried for several hundred years. After digging it out and cleaning it out a bit, they discovered that it was an old chapel used in the 13-16th century and... wait for it... a full immersion baptistry. Interesting huh?
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