Aaaaaah! Assisi!

Years ago when I was a young teenager and a member of a different faith, I went on a church youth field trip to see the movie "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" at a movie theatre downtown. That was my first introduction to the lives of St. Francis (Santo Francesco) and St. Clare (Santa Chiara) of Assisi and I have admired them both ever since.

For those who are not familiar with St. Francis, he was a man from the late 1100s to early 1200s of fairly wealthy circumstances who gave up all his possessions and took a vow of poverty in order to dedicate his life to helping the poor and needy and to preach repentance. He believed in following the life of Christ in a very literal sense and gained many followers. Clare was one of them and she eventually started a Nun's order that was devoted to seclusion and poverty. The movie, as I recall, depicted Francis and Clare as having some sort of potential romantic relationship, but I can't see anything in my historical readings that verifies that. 

There is some speculation that Francis was influenced by a French man by the name of Peter Waldo who also espoused very similar beliefs and lifestyle in the same time period, and eventually led a religious movement called the Waldensians. The Waldensians, however, became a persecuted people by the established Catholic church and eventually aligned themselves with Protestant movements. They also came to live in secluded areas because of persecution including Torre Pelice in the northern Alps of Italy where Lorenzo Snow and his associates converted many people to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1850s.

Although St. Francis seems to have followed the same ideals as Peter Waldo and his followers, the difference was that St. Francis sought the Pope's blessing for him and his followers and adhered to the Pope's command that he would only preach in areas where the Bishops allowed it. Therefore, instead of becoming persecuted and a pariah, he has become a revered figure in the Catholic Church as well as other Christian faiths. Francis even went to Egypt at one time to try and convert the Sultan in order to end the Crusades. He was truly a man of peace and love. The current Pope Francis, of course, took his name when he became pope.

So with that little history lesson behind us, and as you can probably guess, we got to go to Assisi last weekend. What an absolute jewel that town is! This was a trip that was planned with three other senior couples and we had the most wonderful time. We were there particularly to see a medieval festival called Calendimaggio. This is a festival where two sides of the city compete against each other in drumming, archery, music and more. You can find out more about it here: http://www.montesubasio.it/en/assisi-calendimaggio/

Here are some pictures of othe town:

Quite by accident, we came across a tiny little church, St. Stephens, which dates about the time Francis lived. Unlike the ornate cathedrals that are in Assisi, this is a humble little church. I can just imagine this is the type of place Francis would have been comfortable in.

When we were there, there was a group of four people singing together inside.

This is just outside its little bell tower with a view of the valley behind.

Our group was disappointed to discover that there were no tickets for the festival shows when we got there. But as Sister Sears said, we "made lemonade out of lemons" by finding a spot where one of the performing groups was readying themselves to enter the performance area and we got a good look and felt part of the action.

I thought this was such a good picture of Elder Sears standing by the action too:

We had a lovely dinner all together in a restaurant in a building dating from the middle ages. Beside me is Elder and Sister Guercio, beside them is Sister and Elder Sears and beside them beside my husband is Elder and Sister Thacker (sorry Sister Thacker - we can't see you very well).

The highlight of our Saturday (the next day) was going up to the castle at the top of Assisi. Just outside the castle walls with a view of the Umbria valley, I did my best "Hills Are Alive..." impression:

There is a tower in the castle that takes a little bit of adventuring and a lot of climbing to get up to but once you are there, you get a full 360 degree view of the countryside around Assisi. What a treat! Here is the narrow little tunnel we had to climb through to get to the bottom of that tower:

And here is us at the top:

This is the most beautifully restored Fiat 500 (from the 1960s) we have ever seen. Honestly, when you see those little cars (which are smaller than the current Fiat 500s) you feel like giving the car a pat on the head and a puppy treat. Cutest car ever!

Here's an "ick" moment. There's this fence outside of the castle where people stick their chewing gum for reasons I can't fathom:

So as the sun sets on this blog post....

let me leave you with the famous and beautiful prayer of St. Francis. May it be all of our hopes and prayers in our own thoughts and words:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.  Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Consider the Poppies of the Field

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;

they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you,

that Solomon in all his glory

was not arrayed like one of these."

Matthew 6: 28-29   

               
Another senior missionary was telling us one day that it is believed that Jesus was really referring to poppies, and that the word lily was simply the word the translator selected. The reason for that belief is because, like Italy, fields of poppies grow in many parts of Israel in the Spring. They would have been a common sight in Galilee, I suppose, where the Savior taught much of his Gospel.

We love the poppies which grow in the middle of roundabouts, down boulevards, poke through pavement like weeds, and just about anywhere you can think of. And as we were driving in and around the hill towns near Rome on Saturday, we were met by the above glorious sight, a giant field of poppies. I gasped when I saw it, and of course we had to stop for a picture. Saturday was a day of accidentally discovering several of the beauties of the Roman countryside.

Our intention was just to drive to the town of Godonia, where we will soon be leading an English language discussion group for people who want to practice English skills. The missionaries here provide, as a free public service, these English groups (similar to a conversation club) because there is a keen interest in learning English in Italy. Knowing English can lead to better jobs and career prospects so these groups are very popular especially because they are free. A member of our Rome ward asked if we would lead a group at the public library in Godonia as he had several people lined up there eager to be part of a group. It is far enough out of Rome that the young missionaries can't do it and we can.

So we drove to Godonia just to see where it was and became so enraptured with the scenery that we turned off the Tom Tom and decided to get lost in the hills. As we got up higher, we were enthralled with the valley below us, and found a little place to pull over and look.

Olive trees and fig trees stretched before us which again reminds me of the scriptures. Olive trees were so often used in parables, metaphors and for teaching. The Book of Mormon uses the imagery of the Olive Tree several times including the allegory of the tame and wild olive tree in Jacob chapter 5.  I remember thinking one day how interesting it is to find a parable about olive trees in there. Olive trees and olives themselves would have been completely foreign to Joseph Smith who was an uneducated boy from the boonies of upper state New York. He probably had no idea what an olive looked like as he was translating those parts. And that parable in Jacob 5 is quite inspired and complex.

These unripened figs here were just there on the side of the road. Hermes says we'll have to go back and grab some when they ripen. 

Figs are also referred to in the scriptures a few times. My favorite section of the Doctrine & Covenants, section 88, has a reference to figs:

Verse 87:

For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble

and reel to and fro as a drunken man;

and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood;

and the stars shall become exceedingly angry,

and shall cast themselves down

as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree.

Okay, that verse is a bit ominous, but the section in its entirety is so dazzling to me in its depth and understanding of where we come from, our purpose here on earth, and where we're going. For me when questions and doubts arise, reading that section makes those feelings melt away and raises my spirits into a higher place. Now I can also associate it with figs, which when they're eaten at the right time, are juicy and very sweet - kind of like the scriptures can be.

Okay, back to our trip in the country!

We were stopped just after a railway bridge in a place with barely any room for a car to pull over. As usual, there was graffiti painted on the bridge by the side of the road. Graffiti is so prevalent here, but while I think it's often an eyesore, one thing I appreciate is it's very often expressions of love or wisdom, not F-bombs or expletives which is usually what graffiti is at home. In this picture here, you can see an expression of love on the brick wall of the bridge:

As we got in the car and drove a little further, the most stunning scenery unfolded before us. Across a gorge was the town of Tivoli with waterfalls cascading down the hills from the town. We were awestruck.

We had always intended to go to Tivoli because we knew it has so a couple of ancient Roman sites there to see, but we never knew it was a gorgeous town in and of itself. Here's another picture inside the town itself with a view of an ancient Roman temple on the ridge:

Needless to say, we will be visiting Tivoli again! 

Another place we will be visiting again, is a place in another part of the Roman hills that we were introduced to by our friend Alfredo (name has been changed; I didn't ask permission to put him in my blog). Alfredo is someone we met around our apartment building and he's a sweet man. Here are some of the sights we saw with him that day:

I love this country so much. I think Hermes should try and get his citizenship back and we should move here. Seriously, I do. But maybe that's just a dream. One day, on a cold January evening in Calgary, I'll be looking at these pictures and sighing. Or maybe I'll be looking at them on a cold January evening in Italy. Which is still better because it would be Italy!

A Tribute to Two Italian Pioneers

On the morning of March 31st, we received news that my husband's father, Leone Michelini, had passed away. While we knew this was coming for the previous two to three weeks, when we left on our mission in November, this was not what we expected at all. In spite of Papa being 90 years old, he seemed healthy and active when we left. We always thought he'd live to 100.  People were always amazed at how young he looked; he walked ever day to Co-op or Safeway to chat with the cashiers and did not need a cane or walker. He exercised every day, studied every day, came to Church every Sunday, and seemed his usual self. When I said goodbye to him in November, he said something to me about maybe he wouldn't be alive when we came back and I laughed and said, "Oh Papa, you'll still be here." Little did we know that his health would shortly freefall dramatically.

We brought Papa and Mamma to Canada to live with us in the year 2000. We built an extension on our house with bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and plenty of space for them to live while maintaining our own living space. Some people thought it would be a disaster for me to have my in-laws living with us, but it worked out fine. Hermes always said it's because I couldn't speak Italian and they couldn't speak English so it was perfect for avoiding conflict. As many Italians do, my husband felt he ought to be taking care of his parents in their old age and so we did.

Mamma's health was never good. Unlike Papa, her health decline was slow motion and difficult. We always knew that while she was alive, we could not go and serve a mission and that was fine. She passed away in January 2014. Because Papa's health was so good, we knew we could probably make arrangements to go soon. Hermes asked his sister Nives if she would be interested in leaving her home in Germany for a time to stay with Papa while we went on a mission, and she agreed to do so when she retired from her job in 2015. We thought this would be good time to go and began preparing.

Senior missionaries have no restrictions on phone calls home so we phoned home nearly every day from Rome. We started hearing that Papa seemed very tired and was sleeping a lot but he still kept up his daily walks. But in late February and March, the news we were getting became more serious. He went to the doctor who made appointments with specialists but in the end he wound up in hospital where he was diagnosed with massive kidney failure. Our family was told he had anywhere from a few days to a few weeks left. He was moved from the hospital to a hospice.

On Wednesday evening March 30th, we were told that he probably had only hours left and to keep the phone by our bed. As I lay in bed that night waiting to drift off to sleep, I began to think about Papa and realized how grateful I am for choices he made many years ago that ended up affecting my life profoundly. You see, Papa was the one who in 1964 made the choice to listen to the Mormon missionaries.

Papa spent much of the post-war years as a traveling musician.  He was raised in a very poor family in an obscure part of northern Italy in the Po River delta south of Venice. His father had insisted on sending him to music school where he learned violin, piano and trumpet and he, along with his father, brother and sister made a living before the war playing weddings and community events in the area. They would carry their instruments on their backs and cycle their way around the region. Here is a picture from that time.

After World War II, economic conditions were such that Papa was unable to find placement in a symphony orchestra so he joined a big band and then eventually formed his own ensemble. They did gigs all over the world on cruise ships, hotels and resorts. He had married during the war and children came after, and so he would send money home to his wife and children and see them only occasionally over the years.

In 1964, he and his Quartetto were playing in Munich, Germany. He was staying in lodgings there while his family resided in Torino, Italy. At this period of time, the Church was not allowed to proselyte in Italy. Because there were quite a number of Italian migrant workers in Munich during that period of time, the mission president in Munich ordered one district of missionaries to learn Italian and try to teach some of these workers.

One day at a street meeting, two elders talked to an Italian and asked to come meet with him. He gave them an address and later on they went by. When they got to the apartment building, there was no sign of the name of the Italian they had spoken with listed at the door, but they did see another name that looked Italian: Michelini. They buzzed the door and Papa answered. Papa was not the man they had talked to earlier (it appears that man gave them a fake address) but Papa was a curious sort and took the time to speak with them in their broken Italian. He became very very interested in their message, extended his time in Munich and invited his family up to Munich on vacation to hear what "these American students" (as he called them) had to say.

My future husband was 17 at the time. He was a good Catholic who was even considering becoming a priest. He had known only one other person in his life who wasn't Catholic, a girl at school, and he remembers that they thought she was strange. When he heard about the reason their father had invited them up, he was miffed. He decided that he would convert these Americans to the Catholic faith.

Hermes recalls that he and his younger sister had a good laugh behind the elders' backs over their attempts to speak Italian to them. For one discussion, they even hid a tape recorder behind the couch so they could play it later and have even more laughs. Of the two elders, one had learned the verbs and the other had learned the nouns. They did their best, under these conditions, to teach them. If the family had questions, the elders would write the questions down and then said they would come back later with the answers. I'm sure these elders must have done much studying in between lessons.

After a few weeks, Papa, Mamma and Nives had all agreed to baptism. Hermes was not committed. The elders arranged for him to meet with the mission president to answer more questions. Two things happened that ended up convincing him to join his family in baptism; he read a pamphlet called "Which Church is Right?" which gave the historical context of the Christian apostasy after the death of Jesus Christ and the apostles. And he had a dream which gave him peace that this was the right thing to do.

An article in the Church News that was published several months later describes a little of their story:

So Hermes, Nives and Mamma returned to Torino believing they were the only Mormons in all of Italy although they would find out later that there were individual members here and there throughout the country. But there were no others in their region, they had no leadership support for several months, and they would return to family and friends who were astonished and even angry at their conversion away from the established church. I find it a miracle that in spite of this, they kept the faith. The missionaries would arrive several months later as a district of the Swiss Mission and the branch of Torino was started in the Michelini apartment. Later they would move from Torino to Padova and were among the first members there.

I give all credit to Mamma who was truly converted in spite of having little gospel knowledge or leadership support and in turn kept her children in the Church. Under these circumstances, it would have been easy to fall away and return to old habits and customs but they did not. They were true pioneers of the Church in Italy.

Papa would continue to travel with his band for only a few more years. The popularity of The Beatles meant that there was less and less demand for the type of music he played. At age 40 he needed to find a different career. The German railway was hiring and he applied and worked until retirement for them linking up train cars and driving locomotives. Mamma and Nives would move with him to Cologne, Germany. They were an active part of the Church there and Nives continues to call Cologne home although she is temporarily in Canada.

Hermes' path would eventually take him to Canada and, even more eventually, to me. I cannot be more grateful to have him in my life.

So last Wednesday as I lay in bed thinking, I felt a flood of gratitude to Papa and his fateful decision in 1964 to listen to these two American elders. I owe him so much for that and I pay tribute to him for that. I also pay tribute to Mamma who helped keep the family strong under trying circumstances and who welcomed and loved the elders when they first arrived in Italy. 

We miss them but we also rejoice for them. We know they have had a happy reunion and that they are enjoying the company of countless family members who were awaiting his arrival in that better place.

Addio Papa. Addio Mamma. Until we meet again.

Random Thoughts By Me

Spring has sprung officially, although I feel like I've been experiencing Spring off and on since early February. Saturday Hermes and I visited Ostia Antica, a Pompei-like ancient Roman archeological site near Rome. Little white daisies were everywhere with a few pink and yellow flowers mixed in. I don't think I've ever experienced an Easter where it truly looked and felt like Spring. It's bliss.  

On that smiley thought, I'd like to share some of the things that make me smile about Rome:
 
The people are generally warm and kind and easy to talk to. They are family focused. It's not uncommon to see young people walking slowly down the street helping an elderly grandparent.

One morning on the way to work, I noticed a young man with Downs Syndrome standing at a corner. Suddenly a big smile broke out on his face as an older man came across the street toward him. He went towards the man and hugged him, then the older man led him back across the street while he rested his head on the older mans shoulder. It was such a sweet scene.

The dogs make me smile. Oh I know I'm a cat person with a penchant for giving treats to stray cats, but Romans have a lot of dogs and they take them everywhere. Big dogs, little dogs and they mostly seem like pampered pooches. Unlike stray cats, I can't really take pictures of them because thee owners are right there. But just the same, the dogs make me smile.

The fact that a magazine called "Selfie" exists here. Yes, I saw it for sale at a newsstand. And I wondered, who would buy a magazine with pictures of selfies in it? Somebody must or it wouldn't exist.
 
The young missionaries make me smile. Is there a better bunch of kids anywhere? And they are kids who come to us nervous and scared many of them and are faced with trying to learn a language and share what we believe with those willing to listen. As older missionaries, we can see the ones who are homesick or struggling and we worry about them. But we also smile and laugh with them when they crack jokes or have miracles happen in their work. These are such great kids and we so hope for the best for them.

Here are two that make me smile, the A.P.s Anziano Flynn and Toronto. I've told Anziano Toronto that he always looks like he's up to something and he says that women always say that to him but men never do. His great great grandfather, an Italian by heritage, was with Lorenzo Snow when he did his first missionary trip to Italy in the 1850s. This Anziano must take after his great great grandfather because he speaks very good Italian.

This is a picture of my zone from zone conference last week:

Here are the local senior missionaries from our Easter pot luck:

Here are a few things that make me sad in Rome:

The young immigrants mostly from Africa but some form the Middle East too who beg in front of grocery stores or who try to sell socks, or packages of tissues on street corners. They risked their lives to get here, they might even have lost family members on sinking migrant boats, and the better life they hoped for is spent trying to get a bit of change from people to eke out a living. It makes me sad to see them. I always try to keep a bit of change in my pocket as I encounter at least one nearly every day. I hope life works out for them somehow and in some way.

The helplessness many Italians feel about their political situation and economy. So many are struggling to get by.

The struggle of health problems of loved ones at home.

The fact that the Rome Temple won't be finished while we're here. I'm told it will probably Spring 2018 when it's finally open. Some leaders have said wryly that it took 40 years for the Salt Lake Temple to be done and perhaps it will take Rome that long.
 
Okay enough of that.

Now aside from that, I want to share something I learned from reading the scriptures recently. I was reading in the Book of Mormon in probably the most famous chapter, 3 Nephi 11 and something really leapt out at me that I'd never noticed before. In verse 28, one of the first things the Saviour tells the Nephites is "that there shall be no disputations among you..." And in verse 29 he says, "...he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me." Verse 30: "Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men win anger, one against another, but this is my doctrine that such things should be put away."

It struck me that before He went on to teach the Nephites in the Americas all the doctrines of the Gospel that he taught in Jerusalem, that the people were admonished to not be angry with each other. Before he could go on to teach them, they had to get along. And I was thinking, nobody can learn much of anything when they are angry. How can anyone learn to love others if they are disputing with each other? And wouldn't it be nice if governments everywhere would try to learn from each other instead of arguing and trying to get the upper hand or worse, like in the case of Syria, go to war with those they don't agree with. So I was really struck by this. And I realized that I myself have to learn to be more respectful of other people's opinions even when I think they're dumb opinions because maybe I can learn something from them all the same.

Anyway, that's one of my random thoughts.

I love The Book of Mormon. I'm always learning things from it. I love the Bible too but so much of it can be befuddling (like Leviticus!) in the way the Book of Mormon isn't. But it's interesting how something can always leap out at you from the scriptures that just inspires you to be better, to improve, to love others better and be kinder. I hope I'm learning those lessons well.

It's grand to be a missionary. I recommend this life wholeheartedly. See you next time!

Lights! Camera! Action!

I considered using the Italian words in my title but that would be "Luci! Macchina fotografica! Azione!" The "Luci" and "Azione!" would work but I'm not sure any Italian movie director would actualy yell "Macchina fotografica!" when cueing the camera, would he/she? And the word "camera" means "room" in Italian so I'm not sure if they'd use the English word either. Oh, "non importante," I suppose.              

         

The point is, we went to see Cinecitta (pronounced Chin-ay-chee-ta) last Saturday. Never heard of it? Well, it's only the movie studio where Ben Hur and Cleopatra and where one of my all time favourites, Gladiator, was filmed. And we had so much fun! We went with the Sears, another senior couple serving here. Cinecitta does two English tours a day (hourly in Italian) and so we took one of them.              

            

Our favourite set was Ancient Rome, which was the set for the HBO series called Rome. I wouldn't recommend the series - I tried it once and had to turn off because it was too risqué - but I would recommend seeing the set. It's made largely of fibreglass but it looks so real!

And for some reason, my iPhone switched into black and white mode for this picture but in the end, I kind of like it that way:

Another backlot she took us to was their Jerusalem set which we couldn't take pictures of because of copyright rules. They had just finished a film there about Jesus Christ as a youth and the film hasn't been released yet. Then we went to the Middle Ages / Renaissance set.

This church facade here had the top that looks like the cathedral in Assisi, and the bottom looks like the one in Florence so depending on the camera angle, they can use it for either.

I'm so in awe of the artistry it took to build those sets.

As you can imagine, Cinecitta was the home of famous Italian directors like Frederico Fellini. He is known as one of the great filmmakers of all time and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1993. He was quoted as saying he never felt so at home as when he was at Cinecitta. We got to see the outside of his favourite soundstage, but we couldn't go in because of some big thing they were doing in there.

Sophia Loren also started her film career at Cinecitta. Cinecitta was originally started in 1937 by Mussolini as a propaganda tool, but in post war years, it became and remains the biggest movie studio in Europe.

After our backlot tour, we went through the museums there. The Fellini tribute room had these beautiful outfits. I would so wear that red outfit if I could!  

There was also the submarine set that is now in the museum. 

And you can stop in several rooms and watch clips from Italian movies.

This cauldron that we're standing in front of was in the movie, Gladiator:

This weird statue was from the Fellini version of Casanova. You can find the clip on You Tube where the statue is pulled out of the Lagoon in Venice and the eyes appear and then sinks. It's kind of a weird scene.

And then there are the fake Rome statues. Hermes is leaning against the one for the Roman god Mercury, known to the Greeks as Hermes - ha ha!

Actually the Greeks had him first and the Romans took him over and called him Mercury. So if you're ever on Jeopardy and get asked what the other name for Mercury is, now you know. You're welcome.    

  

So yes, we had a fun day. I don't think Cinecitta is all that well known among English speaking tourists (there's no end of other things to see in Rome) but I think it's worth a stop if you have extra time in Rome.

Well, back to talking about my real purpose for being here which is not being a tourist all the time. Our office work is busy and sometimes challenging. We are seeing off a group of missionaries this coming week, but unfortunately the new group doesn't come until a week later because their visas were arranged for later than we expected them. Long story but I have felt sorry for our mission president who has to arrange things for this week and arrange again when the new ones arrive.   

A new senior couple arrived this past week who will take over from the office elders. Elder Calvagna is one of the ones going home this coming week. What a sweet boy he is; I will miss him. The Guercios seem like they're fitting right in, however, and I can tell we will all get along just fine.

    

Now just to add an addendum to my last blog post, I was starting my usual morning walk to the office this past week, when I stumbled a bit over an uneven sidewalk, so I said a little prayer to "help me not fall on my way to work." And right away I got the impression: "Well, pick up your feet then!" And I'm like going, "Oh. Okay," realizing that I do have a tendency to drag my feet when I walk. It all reminded me of the talk heard at the last church general conference which was given by Elder Larry R. Lawrence called "What Lack I Yet?" This talk references the story in the Bible in Mathew 19 where the rich young man approaches the Savior and asks what he needs to do to obtain eternal life. At first he Savior goes through the Ten Commandments and the young man responds that he has kept all the commandments since his youth but then asks "What Lack I Yet?" And the Saviour told him that he would need to make the major sacrifice by selling all his belongings, giving away all his wealth and to be come His disciple. And the story goes the young man went away sorrowing. Now, obviously my answer to "pick up my feet" is not even comparable to being told to give away all your wealth but I think sometimes we are told to do big things in answer to the question "what lack I yet" or in present day words, "what do I need to do to improve" and sometimes we're told we need to do little things. I need to pick up my feet when I walk so I'm working on that. It's not as difficult as giving away all my wealth and it might just keep me from permanent damage. I like answers to prayers like that!

So I'm now going to finish this blog post just like they do in the movies.

                                                THE END