When in Rome: Zone Conference

Well this has been a very busy week. I don't remember if this made it into the last letter, but our investigator Mariapia has a baptismal date for the 18th of September. We are really excited about that. That is what happened this weekend slash last week.

Let's start on Monday. Monday night the assistants drove down from Rome to do some splits with us before the Zone Conference. Tuesday we were with the Assistants. I was with Anziano McDaniel. He was in the Catania mission but was in the MTC at the same time I was. It was fun to be with him. He is an amazing missionary. That day it rained for the first time since I have been in Messina so who knows what that means. Hopefully just cools down and doesn't get too rainy.

Wednesday morning, we picked up some elders that work across the sea from Sicily, and we headed for Catania. We left at about 8 in the morning. I drove...it was great. Italian driving is insane but not that insane. But it is no America. The conference started at about 11. (By the way, before I forget, I got your package mom! Thanks!) President gave the first training and he invited us to read the Book of Mormon in 91 days and pay close attention to anything and everything that has to do with our missionary purpose writen in PMG. It was a good training. Then Sister Kelly talked about health and cleanliness and how it affects our work with the Spirit. It was interesting and well presented. Then we ate lunch. After lunch was our training. We talked about change and how to make it last. We focused a lot on helping us see that, as missionaries, our goal is not just to fulfill the mission statement in PMG, but to do something much higher than that to help ouruselves and our investigators reach eternal life. It went really well. The Spirit helped us with it and, of course, I couldn't hold back, and I shared a quote from "Remember the Titans." It applied very well. After Zone Conference were President's interviews. They went well. I really love Pres. and Sister Kelly. They are amazing.

After that, we started some exchanges in Catania. Today we did some work in the morning and then went to the Waterfalls of Acantera. It was sweet. It was basically a slot canyon, but instead of sandstone, it is lava rock. Since we are cheapskates and because of the rules, we were just above the canyon and on the banks of the rivers. Enjoy the pictures.