MAX'S 4-29-09 LETTER:Hello wonderful family!!!!!!!!!!
So first off this keyboard is very weird as it is set for Italian and has all these goofy accents everywhere, so every time I go to use the shift key it gives me one of these <<<. So if you see some of those don't worry, I'm okay. Okay, so let me seee . . . . WOW is all I have to say. WOW, WOW, WOW!! So I have a lot to write about and a lot of you had questions, which, by the way, I love questions, [they] make it easier for me to email, haha. First I'll start with Dad's list of questions . . . . drum roll pleaseeeeee.
1) Tell us about your INTRODUCTION to Italy. What was your first day like? What were your first impressions?
Okay, so this was a very amazing part of my welcome. As ya'll know, I didn't end up having any time in Germany. I am so sorry to anyone that was waiting up. We didn't even have time to call to say we didn't have time. But Mothers' Day is coming up, so I'll talk to you all then! So I had a big sleep over with all the cool kids in my district at the MTC. We laid mattresses all across the floor; it was awesome. When we woke up we were all just kind of stunned . . . we're leaving!!! So the plane ride from America to Germany was bruuuuuuutal! thought I was going to die. I was considering jumping out the emergency exit, no lie. I was in the middle row and the seat had no extra room at all even though the flight was 9 hours. So we couldn't watch the movies, so we pretty much just sat there and suffered. And of course, I sat next to Anziano Motely who is a 300 pound black man. So yeah . . . when the plane started coming over the Alps, we were all just like yesssssss, we're in Italy!!! So it was the best when the pilot started his descent to the wonderful land of Italy.
On the plane (which was the plane to Italy, sorry, I skipped the Germany plane), I got the chance to talk to an Italian man named Mario. Yeah, no joke, haha. First Italian I meet is Mario . . . pretty ironic, haha. So I really couldn't understand anything he was saying, haha, it was so fun. He said I did good though. Luckily he spoke a bit of English as well, which he didn't reveal till after I struggled for 10 minutes to hold a conversation with him. He was like, you speak very good. I was like, you speak English!?!?!? Haha, so that was fun.
Finally, we landed and President and the 2 AP's picked us up which was so great to finally see them. They took us to the mission home and it was a beautiful, bright, sunny day. We chilled in the mission home for a bit, had some boring meeting that I didn't understand, haha. No joke, I almost died, I was soooo tired! At this point I'd been up for like 30 hours straight. But then we got a chance to go to DOUMO!! In downtown Milan. If you haven't seen it, google it. It was incredible. We came out of the subway and it was just like BAMMMMM! It didn't even look real. The subways were way fun, except for the half-naked chicks posted everywhere. By the way, Italy must be very poor, because no one wears clothes here, haha. The first couple of days I was like . . . oh, my gosh, where am I!? But now I have just learned how to tune it out. It's pretty funny. Immodesty is literally everywhere. But anyway, we talked to some people on the subway and that was fun. We got to tour the Duomo. I'll attach some pictures after this email. It was awesome.
So then we came home and had some lasagna, which was awesome, and then they shipped us off to a hotel, which was so nice being as we were all dead tired! So then we woke up the next morning and went to the chapel in Milan and met all the trainers. Then they just straight up called us out . . . . . Anziano Perkes, you will be with Anziano Ransom in Piacenza!!!!!!!!!! WOW, was I excited. But I called it: I got the shortest trainer in the bunch, haha. We're quite the couple! So then we just were like . . . okay, let's go. We hopped on a train and headed off to Piacenza!!! I'll pick up this story later, but I wanna get these questions anwered!
2) What did you think of your mission president and his wife?
They're awesome . . . very nice . . . President Dunaway made me promise to call him if my bed was too short. I got to the apartment and discovered my feet only hung off about a foot, so I decided that wasn't enough, haha. I love it; it's great.
3) What was it like being at the mission home?
The mission home was so fun . . . just to be able to sit on a couch and relax was heavenly!
4) How was it SPEAKING Italian IN Italy? Was it easier or harder than you thought?
Haha . . . I think the only words to sum this up is WOW. What language did they teach me in the MTC!?!?! So yeah, it is very hard.
5) What are the people like? Have they been nice to you?
6) Did you get a great first companion? Tell us about him. Will he work real hard? How long has he been out? Is his Italian good?
Okay, so I've decided I'll probably end up answering all these in my story, so back to that . . .
We got on the train and at first it was just kinda awkward. Sooooo, where ya from?? Haha, I'm not gonna lie, the first day was just kinda weird. But A. Ransom is a stud. As I said, he's pretty short, so it's fun. He is a way nice kid from North Dakota. At first I thought he was kind of shy and not very talkative, but then he opened up quite a bit. We get along perfectly; I love it. He is the district leader of our district and goes home July 14th. So I'll be his last companion. We're gonna work way hard his last two months and send him home in style.
So we got to the apartment, which is actually very large. We have a study room with couches, a smalllllllll kitchen and bathroom, and bedroom and an empty room that we throw all our storage in. So we are very fortunate to have this great place. Italy smells great, by the way, I love it.
So the first couple of days were wayyyyyyy hard. I expected to come in and just teach lessons all day, haha. Anziano Ransom's last companion didn't ever want to do finding work, so basically we only have like 2 to 3 investigators. So the first two days we just did all finding work. Jet lag was getting the best of me and I couldn't speak at all! We had no success at all, everyone just said no. So the first two days were rough. I woke Saturday morning still jet laggy and just being like mamma mia, another dayyy aghhh. I was kinda just not excited to go out. I know this sounds terrible but just get to the end of this story, it gets better. So I showered and did some pushups. Well my personal study that morning was wayyy cool. It just pumped me up to get to work. So we went outside and it was pouring rain and at first I wils like this id gonna be a longgg day. So we started biking . . . . oh yeah, we're a biking area, which is wayyyy cool. My bike is purple and is so awesome, I love it. My helmet is even cooler; I'll have to send you a picture. So we're biking and it just hit me: I was like this is soooooo cool. I'm in Italy!!! I'm a missionary!! So I started singing teh rocky theme song and just had a grin on for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, I got sick as I don't have a rain coat, haha. So we are going to buy one today as it has been raining since then. My suit is beat to pulp. It smells like a drying tent; it actually is rather pleasant.
8) How is the food? Have you eaten anything weird? Really good?
In terms of food, I actually haven't had any Italian meals yet. President just put in the rule that we have to have an investigator there, so that kind of killed all our dinner appointments. But the food we've cooked at home has been awesome. You'd be proud of me. I cooked hamburgers the other night and they were delicious!
9) Have you been able to teach anyone yet?
Yeah, we have had a couple of lessons. They're a bit different than the golden investigators we taught in the MTC. People don't read what we ask them to; they have their tv on, haha. So it's been a bit of a shock. But I love it. We've had some sweet lessons. This man named Nando said he wanted to be baptized, but he smokes so we're gonna be working with him. Everyone here smokes; it is quite a sad thing. Especially the teenagers. It is sad to see all the teenagers wasting their lives to smoking and drinking.
10) Is your area one in which your companion has already been serving? Or are you both new?
My companion has been here for 1 transfor, so it is perfect. He knows the area greatly and also all the members.
11) What was church like? Are you a little branch? What are the members like?
Okay, so we have a little branch here in Piacenza. It has like 30-50 people, depending on the week. They are the nicest people in the world. Italy actually reminds me a lot of St. Thomas, without all the garbage and with a lot more Italians. It is sooooo beautiful here, I love it! So the members are very funny. In the middle of sacrament, the branch president said something like . . . . bla, bla, bla, bla, Perkes, bla, bla, bla, bla. I was like what??? And Anziano Ransom was like he wants you to bear your testimony. Oh, wow . . . so I got up there and the pulpit went up to my legs, which by teh way, Italians are very short, haha . . . they're all scared of me. But anyway, so I just bore my testimony as best as I could and told them how happy I was to be in Piacenza. I said that my Italian wasn't too good, so if they could help me. After sacrament they all came and welcomed me and said my Italian was awesome, which it isn't, haha. Some of them were like, Mamma Mia, un Gigante!! Which means like oh wow, a giant, haha. They call me the giant. That is one thing everyone comments on is how tall I am. I thought America was bad; Italy is like triple, haha, but I love it. It is a great way to start talking to people. So that's our branch; I don't know them very well, but I love them all, they're all sooo sweet. Wait till you see a cute little 2 year old girl speak Italian; it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. This little girl came up to me in her sweet voice and was like you're tall! But in Italian, obviously. Okay, so I'm now going to go off of my list so this may be a bit [of a] jump; I'm sorry.
So the cars here are crazyyyyy. I've seen like 20 Porsches, 2 Ferraris, and 1 Lamborini, and 3 Audi R8's, which is the car Iron Man drives. That's just in a week. People have real nice cars. Then there is the 3 wheeled tiny trucks people have. No joke. I could probably pick one up; they are hilarious. Alpha Romeo is a huge car brand out here. I alaso saw a Mazerati, which was awesome. So I've had a chance to have a few Italian foods from shops. I had some focaccia bread, gellato, and pizza. They were all amazing and so much better than American food.
Anziano Ransom is the district leader, which means that he does exchanges once a week. So I always do them too. I got the chance to go down to Reggio Emilia and do a 24 hour split with Anziano Cook, which was way fun to see his approaches and a different city. [Max describes doing "casa in casa (door to door)" contacting] When people yell in Italian I just can't help but smile. Whenever they slam the door I look at Anziano Ransom and I'm just like what did they say??? So we have been speaking as much as we can in Italian with each other. I'm imporving fast already, but I have a long wayyyy to go so I need to really work hard.
So every city has something called Centro (pronounced chentro), which is the old city of the city. For us, it is like the main hub where everything is. Our church is in Centro. The streets are are all cobblestone and very narrow. It is what Italy looks like when I think of Italy. The most beautiful long narrow streets with multi colored apartmetns all the way down. I'll have to get a good picture. It is raining still today so my picture I took isn't the best . . . I'll send it anyways though.
So I loved all your letters. Sales sound like they're going good! Buck and Jay Z, I like the Gulf model of car. It sounds sweet. By teh way, on P-days I have as much time as I want to spend, so emails work just fine. Here is my address, if you want to send letters, which would also be fine.
Anziano Perkes
Via XXIV Maggio 42
29100 Piacenza PC
Italia
All letters can go there. I'll be here for quite a while, so I'll let you know when I'm transferred. Here is the mission home, if you're sending packages and want to send them here.
Anziano Perkes
Via Gramsci 13/4
20090 Opera MI
Italia
If you send any packages, don't send beef jerky or deodorant. Customs, a lot of times, will take or charge huge fees on certain items like beef jerky. Just be careful of what you send; if you do send something, which you don't have to. Oh, and Luisa, I don't really have time to knit. You're too sweet. Thank you, though. It also helps if you put "Della Famiglia" on it. If you have any stickers of Christ, throw them on there too. Both of these help get it through.
Nate, your pictures you sent were amazing. But, hey wonderful family, I hope I answered all your questions. But I have to write President as well, so I love you and all look forward to emailing next week. I'll send pictures in another email. Please forward this to everyone as I don't have a contact list yet.
Italy is amazing. I love every moment of it. I'm already getting sad to leave.
LOVE TO ALL!!!
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