Christmas in Caserta

This was my first green Christmas in memory. I mean, even when Calgary gets a really warm Chinook-like Christmas, it's more like a brown Christmas, right? This one was green in the true sense in that there is still green leaves on many trees (although some have lost their leaves too) and there is green grass. Oh and there's palm trees too. I mustn't forget the palm trees.   
     
In Italy, we could use a wet Christmas rather than a white Christmas because some rain would be welcome. It is unusually dry and a bit warmer than it should be for this time of year with not enough wind. Consequently the air quality is quite poor. We've had days when we couldn't, by law, drive our car during certain hours without risking heavy fines. One day, those with even number license plates can drive all day, and the next it's those with odd numbered licensed plates. I'm trying to pray for rain but I also want to be very specific (some rain but not too much, please) because I've seen the pictures in England of the floods. Not to mention I remember well the 2013 flood in Calgary.

But we had a very nice Christmas spending it in a city called Caserta which is a couple of hours south of Rome. It was a gathering for the senior missionary couples including President and Sister Waddoups. We were in a very empty hotel with few guests other than us. They even kept the restaurant closed over Christmas so consequently it didn't cost too much to stay there. Here's a picture of it here: 

And this is the picture of the main lobby:

In the center of the lobby was a very elaborate circular nativity scene. In fact, I'm happy to say that big beautiful nativity scenes are often prominent in business settings here. A pharmacy down the street from our apartment has a beautiful one in it's window. In Italy, nativity scenes are not just the manger scene, a few animals, shepherds and some wise men. They have the whole village working and doing things all around. Here's a couple of pictures here to give you an idea:

The trip gave us a chance to meet and get to know other senior couples serving in the mission. Most are doing MLS (Member and Leader Support) work such as helping run small branches of the Church. We have one couple here running the BYU Idaho Pathway program. Others are here to run programs for the young single adult members. On Christmas eve we did a potluck together, mainly because there was no restaurant open in the hotel, and little chance of finding much open in the city. Here's a shot of that here: 

Afterwards, Sister Waddoups brought out her nativity re-enactment clothes again and we did something similar to what happened at zone conference. Because I was recovering from a bad back, they let me keep my place on the couch so this time Hermes and I got to be Mary and Joseph. This is us trying to look angelically at each other:

You can tell we were having a hard time keeping a straight face. The group shot is here. Sister Waddoups is in the white sweater and camel ears in front and President Waddoups is the tall one in the dark suit on the other side.

On Christmas morning, we went together to see an aqua duct outside Caserta. It's not an ancient Roman one; it's more about 300 years old built about the same time as a Versailles-like royal palace that is in Caserta. It had a mysterious foggy look that morning as you can see from the picture here:

In the afternoon we had dinner at a Trattoria. Seafood is more the traditional Christmas fare in Italy and we had a lovely meal with lots of seafood. Here's another picture of that.

Afterwards we walked to the lit up tree in the city center:

The next day on our way back to Rome, we stopped at an ancient Roman amphitheater similar in shape to the Colosseum in Rome but far less touristy. Of all the Roman amphitheaters still in existence in Italy, this one has the best preserved underground part. Here's some pictures of that.It seems so peaceful and nice down there but if you get to thinking too much about the cruelty and awful things that used to happen there (gladiators, sending Christians to the lions etc.), it's not such a nice thing. But here's a picture to give you an idea of how it looked down there.

As we came out, this old Vespa was sitting there. In Hermes' youth, he drove one of these. This one is a beauty. I wish I could have one of these to use in Calgary in the summer but knowing me, I'd probably have an accident and be permanently maimed.

On Sunday, we had for us a rare treat. Elder Dallin H Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was in Rome and he and his wife spoke in the morning in a combined sacrament meeting of two wards. Elder Oaks seems to be the apostle of our mission since we had also heard him speak on Thanksgiving in the MTC. An interesting thing he said is that everywhere he goes in the world, everyone asks about the progress of the Rome temple. He says everyone in the church is excited that a temple is to be built here. Many ex-missionaries who served here have asked him if he could get them tickets to the dedication when it happens and he laughs and says he doesn't even think he can get a ticket. He made it clear that Temple Dedication tickets will only be for Italian members. I think that makes sense but it will make for a lot of disappointed people from outside the country.

In the afternoon, he and his wife did a devotional for the missionaries so we all got a chance to go up and shake his hand before it started. Anytime he spoke, it was always powerful as one would expect for someone in his position. After the devotional, he took a picture with us. We're second row from the back so you may have a hard time finding us.

So that was our first Mission Christmas. Not white. Not even wet but a lovely Christmas all the same. 

Happy New Year or as we say in Italy, Buon Anno!

Baaaa! I'm a Sheep!

Doing this blog weekly has proven to be a challenge. Work is busy in the office and then I'm dead tired when I get home. But here I am again to give you the latest update!

So I did the driving test last week but I cleverly did it on a public holiday so that the traffic was light. And my parallel park wouldn't win any awards but it was good enough for Elder Sears who gives the permissions to drive mission vehicles. But quite frankly, I only want to be a backup driver in case of emergency. Hermes says that driving here is like playing a game of chicken all the time. He's constantly having to figure out who's going to blink first, him or the other driver. Honestly, if people drove like this in Calgary, I can't imagine the incidents of road rage. But there really isn't road rage here. There's lots of honking, sure, but people don't get enraged like they would at home. Italians are artists and they're very artistic in their interpretation of lane definition and crossing roundabouts and... well, traffic laws in general. I think I'm almost getting used to it. Almost, I said.

Well, our office trainers, the Stevens, went home so now we are on our own in our roles in the mission office. Hermes has been very worried about keeping up on things and remembering procedures but I think it won't be long before he gets it down pat. Here he is at his desk:

Now this is not to say that I have my role down pat, but I think I'm keeping up so far. Hermes and I share an office but not work and I think that's good for us. We learned early on in our marriage that we couldn't get along cooking in the same kitchen, but it works fine if we are sharing space doing our own thing. Actually it's rather enjoyable this way. You know, if we each had our own kitchens at home side by side, that would be our ideal. Ha ha, as if.

In the Mission Office there is also the office manager, Brother Calabrese, who has been volunteering there for 16 years. Here's a picture of him:

He is such a good man. He retired from the navy at 48 and his wife eventually told him he needed to get out of the house and do something so he began working in the mission office. He deals largely with the missionary apartments, contracts, etc. He is also the Stake Patriarch. One day we will have to ask him his story about how he came into the church.

There are also two office elders, both from northern Italy, Anziani (Elders) Calvagna and Gavez. They are great fun to work with as you can see from the picture of Anziano Gavez:

And Anziano Calvagna is always smiling and laughing. We'll miss them when they get transferred out of the office and/or go home.

In addition, there is another senior couple, the Sears. He is in charge of computers and technology, and she is the health liaison for the young missionaries. In other words, when health problems arise, they call her and she makes sure they get appropriate medical attention. That such a person exists in the mission field now really blew my mind. When I was a young missionary, I can't recall us doing much of anything when we got sick. We stayed home. We put up with things. Maybe we had to phone the mission president though I don't remember much. But if we did, it meant going out on the street and finding a phone box (we would say booth in Canada). All the missionaries have cell phones now. Now I probably sound like one of those people who say, "When I was your age, we had to walk to school up hill, barefoot in the snow both ways." Okay, okay. It's true. I do think these young whipper snappers have it easier than we did back in the 80s. Maybe I'm just jealous. 

Anyway, there's also an office for the Mission President and his wife (the Waddoups) but they're hardly ever there. They are constantly travelling all over southern Italy. It must be exhausting! When I was a brand new convert to the church of 18, I thought it would be so cool to be a mission president's wife. Then I went on a mission and realized that it's the last thing one should ever aspire to. What a tough job! But I have to say that they seem to handle it with grace and positivity, as did the  McKays back in the England Coventry days. 

The mission home where the Waddoups live is a beautiful old Villa that was apparently originally built by Mussolini for his "niece"(nudge-nudge, wink-wink). I understand the mission has had it now about 40 years. We got to have dinner there last week with five new missionaries that arrived. Yup, I forgot my camera. No pictures this time.

This past week was our first zone conference which involved two districts. The first part was run by the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders. They asked all the young missionaries to write down a moment when they felt really good and accomplished. Hermes turned to me and said, "When I paid the garbage bill yesterday." It made me laugh.

In the second part, the Waddoups had us all re-enact the Nativity story. And I was... you guessed it... a sheep! Baaaa! Hermes was a shepherd. Here's a picture of us.

I know it's hard to tell I'm a sheep. I've got white cotton ears clipped to my hair. But if you think that's difficult to decipher, you should see the camels:

Brown ear muffs means they're camels. And here's one of Anziano Calvagna (office elder) being Samuel the Lamanite:

And here is the cow and the donkey. I have to say, this one you could probably have figured out on your own.

And of course you have to see Mary and Joseph with the Star.

Okay and I have to show you the picture of the four sisters who had matching sweaters. I thought they were pretty cute.

So that's our life right now. To end, I hope many of you have seen the following video that the church just released on social media, but if you haven't, here it is. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Driving in Rome: Not for the Faint of Heart

We arrived in Rome on Saturday close to about Noon after an uneventful flight. We were met by the Stevens whose places we are taking in the office as well as two Italians elders who also work in the office. The Stevens drove us to our new home via the temple construction site and took a picture of us. Here it is here:

The bad news is the temple is not likely to be completed for another two years so any prediction that we would be involved with the opening of this temple is likely not to be. There have been enormous problems with completing this temple and those direcly involved are rather tight-lipped on those problems, but the good news is that work has resumed on it after about a 15 month period where no work was done at all.

We are so happy with out apartment. The building complex is pretty new and modern and the apartments they give the senior couples are very, very nice. Our complex even has a small weight/workout room and an outdoor swiming pool in the summer. I was pleased to find out that there are no rules against senior couples going swimming. Actually, the senior couples really don't have rules at all; we are pretty much self-governing. Anyway, here are some pictures of the apartment including our super deluxe balcony.

And our bedroom has an additional small balcony. 

We are part of the Rome II ward which is actually a fair sized ward with lots of young families and a young bishopric. They had their childrens primary presentation on Sunday which is always good fun. There are earphones for those who want the English translation of the talks and lessons (one of the elders does the translation over a radio microphone) but I chose to just sit in church and try to understand what I could in Italian. It wasn't a lot but perhaps over time.

One of the things we love is the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables because so much of it is grown here. It's a little thing but the fact that the oranges still have leaves on the stem delights me:

The Mission Office functions mainly in English which is not good news for my feeble Italian. I am the Mission Secretary and Hermes the Financial Secretary. The Stevens are training us until they go home week after next. One of my main responsibilities is to oversee that the missionaries get their Permessos which is essentially an extension of their Visas giving them permission to stay in the country fo a period of time. It is very complicated with lots of steps so I will have to be very much on top of things. I'll admit, it has me a little worried. Hermes has similar concerns about his duties but in time I'm sure we'll both be fine.

We were assigned a car which only Hermes has been driving so far because I haven't had the courage! Everywhere one goes in this city is like Rush Hour on the Deerfoot Trail times 10. If a driver hesitates for even a moment, a car will jump in front of them. The other day Hermes was attempting to make a left hand turn. There was solid traffic coming from the left and the right but still the cars behind us were honking away wanting him to push into the traffic anyway. There are speed cameras on the street disguised as garbage cans - sneaky, eh? Usually any tickets that come, will arrive at the Mission Office via mail. And parking is difficult. No matter what time of day, if we are pulling out of a parking spot, there's always someone waiting to take our place. When I decide to take a driving test, I have to prove I can do a parallel park, an essential skill in Rome. Fortunately, our car is small (most cars in Italy are small), and I usually find it easier to parallel park in small cars. And another essential tool for driving in Italy is the Tom Tom. Blessed be the Tom Tom. We couldn't manage without it.

We've met  many young elders and sisters (anziani and sorelli) most of whom are Americans but quite a few from northern Italy. I think it's fairly common for young people from the northern part of Italy (the Milan mission) to serve in the Rome mission and those from the south then serve in the Milan mission. It makes sense to have Italians serve in Italy since the Church is often perceived as only an American church. 

Quite a few of the Italian sisters we've met are originally from South American countries or their parents are. We met a young sister from Florence the other day who is originally from Peru. She is a convert and was baptized in Italy. She has a cool conversion story. She was invited to stay over at an LDS friend's house over night and to come to church with her the next day. While sleeping that night she had a dream in which she was trying to get away from a person who would harm her and then she ran straight into the arms of a  young man in a white shirt and tie who smiled at her and told her she was safe now. The next day whe she went to Church, she instantly recognized one of the missionaries as the young man in her dream. I'm told that dreams are a common element in the conversion of Italians; actually a dream was part of Hermes' conversion.

It is difficult for me to believe, given the climate we are living in, that Christmas is coming. I mean, the grass is still green, there are still leaves on the trees and, although the nights and mornings are chilly, the afternoons have been sunny and pleasant. Mind you, I'm not complaining! I'm looking forward to having two snowless winters (presuming that will be the case). And I'm also looking forward to seeing Spring arrive when Spring is actually supposed to arrive. 

Anyway, that's this week's blog/update. Arrivederci!