Saturday, August 8, 2015

Week 9 and 10

July 27, 2015

So the big ward joke right now is that my "bisnonno" (great-great grandpa) had 31 kids. Honestly it's not that funny but I laugh just because they think it's so hilarious. 

On Thursday we were going to go find less actives and we said a prayer and hugged like we always do before we leave and literally as we were about to open up the door, Giorgio, a less active, rang the doorbell! So that was pretty cool. We taught him a lesson and then he took us to get food. Honestly Baccio Bar is the best but if I go there one more time I'll have diabetes for sure...

That night with the Saccone family we had a great lesson with the Montegnas - a single mom and her two kids. It's cool how the Spirit works. I haven't had an experience where I just start spouting out words I have never heard before, but I still have been so, so blessed- very often when speaking I will be able to miraculously use words I have seen just once or twice in language study. That's what happened when I bore my testimony to the Montegna family.

Church was great because I finally understood what the people were talking about, and I literally felt like one of the two speakers was talking straight to the four missionaries in the room, especially me. This week I have definitely been learning faith. It is difficult to continue to have faith when you have to drop several investigators because they will just never meet with you, but our mission president said that there is someone ready to accept the gospel in each city where there are missionaries, so we press on. The Lord has blessed us greatly - sometimes He requires that you speed walk 3 miles in the afternoon so you can get to English course on time - but you do get to English course on time.  :)


Love,

Anziano Cannon 


There are two big theaters in Palermo, this is the smaller of the two. 


View from our balcony at night. You can sort of see the Catholic Church at the end of the road.




August 3, 2015

So great to hear from you this week! I am excited for zone conference in a few days. I was about to go up and bear my testimony yesterday during sacrament meeting when we had to leave so my companion could translate the temple prep class the stake president was teaching for an African. That was really cool, but it's too bad I missed that opportunity, for some reason it's like not scary at all to completely put yourself out there in Italian.

This week I had a really cool experience eating a yummy dinner as the sun set on the balcony of the third floor apartment of some members. It was sort of exactly what I had pictured when I thought of coming to Italy. And the mom said she might know someone who knew my aunt who went on a mission to Italy, is this a small world or what? 

We also met the coolest Muslim guy ever on the bus, he was from Bangladesh. It was nice to tell him about our beliefs and leave him with a pass along card but for me it was also just a good reminder that there are great people that belong to every religion.

We taught another lesson to the Montegna family. They were so close to coming to church on Sunday, it was sad that they didn't because the son got sick. I really feel like the gospel could help the mom quit smoking. We just got back from playing zone calcio (soccer). It was crazy, as we waited for the bus afterwards I literally had sweat dripping into a puddle from the bottom of my shorts! It was so great. I did my best in honor of my brother Seth and the ragazzi (boys) who were watching us play. 

Thursday morning as I took a shower we lost water. Thankfully I was able to get the shampoo out of my hair before it completely went out! Haha.  How did we do the dishes, use the bathroom, or take showers for the next couples days?   The condensation from the AC drips water into a bucket that we have to dump into the shower every couple days. This week, it was a miracle to have that nuisance. We would pour the AC water into the tank above the toilet and, after we both went, then we would flush it.  

Sometimes I feel like no one in Italy wants to listen to us.  Like at a pranzo (lunch) appointment with an old couple who spoke Siciliano (the local dialect I obviously don't speak) who, practically the whole time, would not let me finish even one sentence of a spiritual thought.  But we also see huge miracles, like when we walked passed a building and a guy from inside yells "you speak English?"  We don't have his phone number but we hope he comes to English course! We've even had non-members we know take English course cards to give to their friends.

This week I tried to gain a greater testimony of the Atonement. This time the way God went about teaching me is by showing me a multiplicity of weaknesses that I have. But, as Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, if we don't acknowledge our weaknesses, they can never become strengths (see Ether 12:27 and the talk "Lord, is it I?"). Things are going well here, thanks for your prayers!

Love, 


Anziano Cannon


P day pizza last week! I can't believe I ate that whole thing. Here the crusts are thinner so it wasn't quite as huge as an American pizza. Those are fries on top. This place was awesome!


A cool church in Palermo.




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