December 19, 2016
Unfortunately, Elder
Blaylock has been sick this week. I came down with it too yesterday
morning. Our senior Sister Thompson gave
me the advice that this is the Lord's work and I can't do it when I'm sick, so
I need to do all I can to get better and ask for a blessing. I did and this
morning I woke up feeling fine! Yay! I have been so blessed with health during
my mission.
This week we flew to Rome.
We got to the apartment of a companionship of Rome 1 elders. They were just recently put in a trio and already were short on beds but they had planned to sleep on cushions and couches and have US sleep on the two beds! I was shocked. One of the elders got ready to begin cooking us dinner when we arrived. Honestly I've never seen anything close to that kind of generosity my entire mission. I really love the idea of reciprocal generosity. In Bari there is a cruddy bathroom and a nice bathroom. Usually an elder switches to the nice bathroom once he is the older companion in the area. I decided to take the opportunity to do my companion a service by staying in the cruddy bathroom my whole time there. I just wonder how much happier and Christ-like our mission would be if every missionary started in the nice bathroom, then voluntarily moved to the bad one after a couple transfers. You still get the nice bathroom for the same amount of time, but with such a better feeling accompanying it. In the same way, if half of your exchanges you are going to sleep on the floor anyway, why don't you make those the one where it's YOUR home? Just food for thought. Anyway I love those guys and that was one of the first things I learned at zone conference...
...which was great!! It was nuts to see the departing testimonies of six missionaries including two of the four Malta elders. They have each had such unique missions but it was super great to hear their last words.
Updates:
This week we flew to Rome.
We got to the apartment of a companionship of Rome 1 elders. They were just recently put in a trio and already were short on beds but they had planned to sleep on cushions and couches and have US sleep on the two beds! I was shocked. One of the elders got ready to begin cooking us dinner when we arrived. Honestly I've never seen anything close to that kind of generosity my entire mission. I really love the idea of reciprocal generosity. In Bari there is a cruddy bathroom and a nice bathroom. Usually an elder switches to the nice bathroom once he is the older companion in the area. I decided to take the opportunity to do my companion a service by staying in the cruddy bathroom my whole time there. I just wonder how much happier and Christ-like our mission would be if every missionary started in the nice bathroom, then voluntarily moved to the bad one after a couple transfers. You still get the nice bathroom for the same amount of time, but with such a better feeling accompanying it. In the same way, if half of your exchanges you are going to sleep on the floor anyway, why don't you make those the one where it's YOUR home? Just food for thought. Anyway I love those guys and that was one of the first things I learned at zone conference...
...which was great!! It was nuts to see the departing testimonies of six missionaries including two of the four Malta elders. They have each had such unique missions but it was super great to hear their last words.
Updates:
V IN LADISPOLI STARTED COMING TO CHURCH! AND HE READS THE BOM EVERY DAY! Woohoo!
Also, our Brazilians are doing great, they are coming to church each week and teaching lessons with the Rome 1 elders who we passed them to!
After zone conference we had the afternoon free since we flew back the next day. So we volunteered to go to Rome 1 and fill up the font for the Ladispoli sisters' baptism! When I get there I found my old Rome 1 Ward mission leader there doing the job. It was great to see people from my old areas of Rome 1 and Ladispoli that night. I was able to put together a dinner with them and a less active I used to teach. Unfortunately, the less active in the end couldn't come, but boy was that good food (see below).
The FHE went fantastic, we had I believe 17 people there, which was almost as many as had come to sacrament meeting the day before. We had lots of fun and had a great lesson. I was on scambio with Anziano Pineau, who had had like zero preparation for what we were about to do, but he did really well!!
Well, the prayers worked last Monday, so please pray for our lesson tonight with a couple. The husband used to translate church materials into Maltese, but has never actually joined... Until now!
Language is coming. There have been a couple
tradeoffs now at doorsteps where I speak to people who don't look like they
speak English and the people won't respond to me in broken English, they'll
respond in Maltese and legit think I understand.
Love,
Love,
Presbiteru Cannon
Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum "papas alla
huancaina" [potatoes
with spicy cream sauce” (forgive me if you are a
Spanish speaker!).
Good Christmas spirit
here, though it is a British Christmas
spirit. Here is "Jingle Bells"
in Maltese which we will sing.
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