And the New Year came in with a bang...literally

You know, I've heard a criticism occasionally in my life that Canadians are boring, and while the Calgary Stampede and Stanley Cup playoffs would contradict that, I've decided that when it comes to New Years Eve, we can be a dull lot. True, it would be difficult to do what Italians do given Canada's cold winter climate, but still, perhaps we could liven up a bit more.

At any rate, you should know that they sell fireworks and firecrackers at the supermarket here so you can just imagine what that means. Every night between Christmas and New Year we heard fireworks and firecrackers go off sometimes close by which practically made me jump out of my skin. But on New Years Eve, they were going off all evening and you can just imagine what it was like when midnight hit. Since most people here live in apartments, they launch them off their balconies. You remember what the Grinch said? "All the noise, noise, noise, noise!" If he thought the Whos down in Whoville were bad, he's never spent New Year's Eve in Italy.

Now the funny thing is, the government leaders were asking people not to launch firecrackers and fireworks because of the smog conditions and the fact that it freaks out animals. Obviously nobody cared.      

And speaking of smog, I'm happy to report that since New Year came, we've had some rain and a bit of wind and the air quality is much, much better. I'd had a little bit of a nagging cough which has now disappeared and I've also started walking to the mission office which I was a bit leery to do when the smog was so bad. The weather for us is lovely and temperate even getting up to +17 some days. It should be a bit colder this time of year and maybe that will yet happen. I have to laugh, though. Hermes was saying to a lady at church today how nice the weather is today and she answered that it's too cold! She should try a winter in Canada and then she'll appreciate this weather more. I sure do!

So  on New Year's Day, we had a little bit of a senior missionary party at the Villa (Mission Home). Here's some pictures here:

 

  
It was a potluck so that meant lots of good food! Afterwards we watched a movie based on a book one of our senior missionaries wrote called "Christmas for a Dollar." Gale Sears is a well published LDS author and the original story is based on something from her Dad's childhood. The movie was a co-production between an LDS film company and a Catholic one. The movie was very Hallmark Hall of Fame-ish with Christian overtones but not specifically LDS which is why the Catholic film company got involved. We enjoyed watching it and Sister Sears and her husband even got to be extras in it. We spotted them toward the end of the movie. Here's a YouTube promotion of the movie in case you're interested:    

We have had a few missionary experiences largely related to people reading our name tags. We show them the part that says Chiesa di Gesu Cristo dei Santi Degli Ultimi Giorni (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and the next question is usually "Are you Christian?" I thought the name itself would make the answer to that question obvious but apparently not. But it gives us an opportunity to share a little about the Church.
 
Everday in the office we get mail deliverers and one day a postal worker came in and gave us all her parcels and had us sign for it, then as she was leaving she turned to Hermes and asked in Italian, "Do animals have souls?" Hermes answered, "Of course, we are all creatures of our Heavenly Father and when we die, we will see our animals again." She smiled and turned around and left. Hermes wished he could have explained more, but I guess she had work to do and was happy with that answer.

At any rate, if I sound happy, it's because I am. I feel so blessed to be here in Rome and love what I am doing and just being here in this wonderful country.

Now I think I mentioned in my last post about the wonderful crèche that was in the window of the Farmacia (Pharmacy) down the street. I took some pictures and I hope they do justice to it. This should be the last Christmasy thing you see on my blog until next year. Happy January, everyone. Stay warm, my fellow Canadians.