SNOWWWWW!!! [Letter written 11-11-09]

Hello wonderful family!!!!!

So lemme just say that this week was one of the best weeks in my entire mission!! We were amazing blessed to teach 26 lessons this last week, but that is not why it is special, because in the end it's not the numbers that are important but the progress that people are making. So i want to tell you why this was a very special week. So we were teaching our dear sweet sister Maddelena about the 10 commandments. We had finished all the other commandments and that was the last step we needed before we were done. In the middle of the lesson, Maddelenna inturrupted and said. "You know what??" And instantly i was like... oh nooooo haha. Quick note about our dear friend. She is about 60 not sure if ya'll knew that. And she is one of the funniest people i know in the whole planet. She is like our mother here in switzlerland. And she lovessss to talk and tell stories so when she interupted i was like.. oh no were gonna get side tracked. But to my wonderful surprise she said... You know what my desire is..? No Maddelenna what is it? Can i tell you? YESSS tell us what is it! My desire.... is to go to the temple in switzlerland. When she said this the spirit just flooded the room it was so incredible. (note.. we have never talked about the temple with her before... must of heard about it in church) Then she said... i dont know why but something inside of me is saying... you have to go there! I dont even know what you do there but someday i will go to the temple! WOW!!!! The spirit was so strong it was amazing. Truely a tender mercy. So the next day that we went which happened to be the actual next day, we brought a poster of the swiss temple and taught her about the temple. She was truely touched, and is now excited and eager to make it to the temple. At the end we asked her Maddelenna what do you need to do to go there. And right away she said... quit smoking and be worthy. Wow She is amazing! So we have finished all the commandments and doctrine with her. Literally she is ready for baptism. If she quit smoking today we would baptize her tongith! No not really but she is that ready. She amazes us every time we go there. I'll have to snag a pic with her the next time. But anways... she is doing amazing. Also Sergio is doing great. He is very excited for his baptism on the 28th of November. Okay so i'm sorry but today i dont have much time. Today, we are hiking one of the coolest mountains here in switzlerand, and it just happens to be the most beautiful day in the world!!! So we are very excited. Mom i have my shoes to help me too!! We packed a couple of sandwiches and were gonna eat on top of the world!! So another fun experience this week. We were doing door to door and this old guy let us in and in the middle of the first lesson he declared... i'm a mason! Wow how cool just like national treasure!! We asked a couple of questions, and then continued our lesson. At the end you wont believe what happened! We got invited to join the masons!! How cool! Unfortunatly we declined but we want to get a souvenir or something from him... like some ancient mason ring or something cool like from the movie! So that was an interesting experience. YOYO and Slaja are doing okay. They have some problems right now, and we havent seen them for a week. Were not quite sure whats up but right now they need to work some things out on there own. Were gonna try next week. Mom you asked what kind of art Anziano Bosco does. He draws fantasy stuff like spencer Hawkes, he does also paint, and scultp. He is really good of what i have seen of his work. Mom you asked if we see president at zone conference. Yes we do. We see him at least twice a transfer (6 weeks) for interviews and zone conference. He is the man... way cool. Mom you asked about a christmas cd. Sure! That would be awesome! I am always open to more music... and yes i do have a cd player! You talked about christmas goodies. You are right mom... I am in goody land right now so dont stress out to send candy. We have it all here! Speaking of chocolate wow... it is so amazing here. I want to send some home but i think it would explode in the mail. Your encounter with the italian man inthe temple sounds so neat. If he is from milan it meens he is a stud for sure. Dad i laughed so hard that Harvy will miss the max update haha. Wow... who woulda thunk huh?? Okay so Mom and Dad ya'll asked some questions so i just cut and paste below here... lemme answer them now!!



You spoke of going on exchanges in Como. Question,…when you do exchanges and you are with another Elder, who is he and do you enjoy that? …or would you just rather stay in Lugano?

No we always go with other Elders. And yes i love it. No matter how much you love a city or a companion it is always nice to have a little break. Also it gives us a chance to learn from other missionaries as well


Is there a purpose in doing the exchanges? Or is it to just mix up things a little and give missionaries a change?

The main purpose is so that we can learn from other missionaries.. like approaches or ways to teach a certain lesson.


When you go to Como do you teach from their teaching pool? Is Como part of your District or Zone. Do you have many Zone or District activities on p-day where you gather together???

Yes we teach people in Como... i love it. They are the zone leaders in Como and they have some very cool solid investigators. So it is fun to get to know the people who are getting baptized also there. Como is in our district. There are 6 in our district. 2 Elders from como, and 2 sisters from como... obviuously we dont do exchanges with them haha. And no... President discourages from doing group pday activities so i have never done it in my mission yet.



1. What one thing do you most love about Italy that we just don't have going for us here in the US?
Hmmm good question pops... lemme think. The architecture for sure is one thing, and also the history i would say. It is so fun to see these churches that are just ancient. For example the lds church in como was the popes house like 200 years ago. Pretty neat. Also there are markets everywhere which is quite fun. And gelato ever where!! I will for sure miss that!!!



2. What is the one cultural trait or characteristic of Italians that you most enjoy?
They are loud people. And there are blunt and not afraid to speak there mind. Its like when we went to st. thomas and the members came up to Jake and were like... Jake your fat!! (sorry jake to bring up that terrible memory again!!) They are just like that. For example.. if i wear an ugly tie and i ask someone.. hey you like my tie?? Instead of being like... uhh yeah its cool man.. there like... no it is ugly haha.



3. Do you ever get to hear Italian music? Opera? Other cool music? What do you think?
Yeah people really like andrea bocceli here. It is fun because now i understand the words! And all the teenagers listen to rap, so every once and i while a car will drive by blasting there music. So we catch a peak of all sourts of music haha. It is quite interesting.




Well my wonderful family i hope that this wasn't too short!!! But we are off to hike the world now! I'll write all about it next week. PS... mom i sent a letter 3 days ago so its funny that you sent one too haha! But i love you guys and i'll hear from ya next week!!


Love ya!

Anziano Perkes