well... one day we were strugging to sleep while enduring the oppressive heat, and the next... we are enjoying the cool breezes that seem to find ther way through every open door and window.
Monday is the day we enjoy lunch and district Meting with the elders and sisters. I was out earlier that morning to gather food for the traditional weekly meal and chose to stop at our favorite fruttivendolo. It's been fun to watch their offerings gradually change as different things come into season. We have tried many new things... some only once... others of which we don't know how we will live without. Monday I was after fixings for a salad, along with the usual bag of peaches. The day was warm but pleasant... almost cool. Strangely, the cooler weather brought out some of the smells of Italy that I had not experienced in thirty years. Have you ever had a smell play that sweet trick on your mind? As I reached out for a handful of miniature tomatoes, a slight breeze delivered a nostalgic perfume. Suddenly I was transported back to Palermo as a junior companion, shopping for our noon meal. I just stood there for a minute, enjoying the journey.
And in fact, we did travel to Palermo last week. It was fun to visit familiar streets. We found a family we baptized thirty years ago. They were as warm as ever and invited us back for dinner the next time we are in town. Slowly, as the friendship rebuilds, we will invite them back to Church.
We also spent a wonderful pranzo with the other senier couple - the Norths. It was good to exchange ideas and experiences about the same work we are doing on opposite sides of the island of Sicily.
As we left their house, I heard the electronic navigator announce that we were turning on to Via Serra di Falco. Suddenly I knew exactly where we were. I looked up to find us directly in front of 156, the Abbate family's home. They were baptized, I believe, June 8, 1980. At the time they were a family of four, but have since grown to six. They now live in Verona, but we have maintained contact... a friendship that most assuredly existed before any of us came to earth. Michael stopped the car and I leaped out to take a picture of this special house, the place where I, as a missionary, learned much more about conversion than I shared. I love them dearly.
Tomorrow Junae starts Italian public school. Today we enjoyed clothes shopping together. Her backpack is loaded and she has written a list of Italian questions she can ask in case the Italian she has already learned isn't enough. I am so proud of her! This grand adventure surely would have been too large for me to attempt at her age.
You will do great, Junae... and when your children ask you about fifth grade, will you have a story to tell!
It is so good to hear about your mission and to hear it is going well. It sounds like a lot of work but so much fun! May God bless you in all of it, including Janae as she embarks on her adventure going to school in Italy! That is so neat! Love you all!
ReplyDeleteJazmine Rindlisbaker