At A Loss For Words

Those of you who know me well know that I seldom seem to be at a loss for words. I love words. I even like to read the dictionary for fun. I’ve always felt that words were my friends. From the time I was a child I have felt that many problems in life could usually be overcome with just the right words. How often I have thought, “If only I could just talk to that person", or, "If things could just be explained properly then all would be made right.” The world can be changed with the right words. I have thought that if I had anything in this life that would come close to being a skill or talent, it would not be in painting or in music but perhaps in my love for words. Not anymore. While on this mission having to speak a second language, I have felt seriously disabled. My Italian text book describes one level of proficiency as being able to use “circumlocution”. That means that you know just enough words so that if you don’t know the word for something you know enough other words so that you can figure out a way to make yourself understood. I guess it would be like an artist not having access to the color purple but by having blue and red he is able to mix them together to get a sort of purplish color. David and I have been asked to teach the Missionary Preparation Class. We teach our third lesson this Tuesday Night. We have 15 of the most precious ysa students. We love them so much.Three of them drive in from Switzerland once a week for the class. On Wednesday we have about 40 young adults coming in for Institute. That's the night I cook dinner for the group. We have a great teacher for that class. What would normally take David and I a couple of hours in preparation for our class takes us the better part of two days because of having to study and prepare in Italian. For the last three weeks I’ve been on a gelato fast trying to obtain heavenly help. I think I'm going to have to give up more than gelato. David does a great job using many of the audio- visual and power point clips that go with the lesson manual. His ability is saving us. Our first lesson we were happy to see that the students made a lot of comments, but we were discouraged that we could not always understand their comments. I came home and sobbed wishing that they had a better teacher than me. They deserve better. There are so many things I would love to share with them and say to them, but I feel so limited in my ability. I feel like the artist who has a few basic colors. Red. Blue. Yellow. But I long for Burnt Umber and Magenta! I feel like the pianist who plunks out one-note finger pieces when what I hear in my heart consists of chords and trills and major and minor keys! Never in my life have I had to confront more directly the reality that I am in over my head. It’s been one thing to share a Family Home evening lesson or give a talk in Church, but this is a full-fledged course we are teaching. I would have hoped that 14 months into our mission I would be more confident. Our lesson this week is on the importance of teaching by the Spirit. I guess I need to see how much I really believe in the power of that.

“For when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” 2 Nephi 33:1

Could this mean that even if I plunk out one note piano pieces that if the Spirit is there they will actually hear a symphony? That even though I may paint stick fingers in basic colors they can actually behold a masterpiece? It’s all about the Spirit isn’t it? It’s never really been about me or my ability or lack of it, has it? When will I ever learn?

We just got a phone call asking us both to speak in Stake Conference. I guess I won't be eating gelato any time soon.

Three of our great students.

Below are some pictures we took while on a trip to visit with some of the other senior couples in our mission serving at the Military bases in Vicenza and Pordenone. We visited a great town called Marostica where there is an old castle and where there is a big chess board in the center square of the town. Each year a human chess game is enacted on this board depicting the time in 1454 when two noblemen fell in love with the daughter of the Lord of the Castle. The Lord, having fond feelings for both the suitors, did not wish for them to duel for her hand in the traditional manner, so instead he had them fight for her in a chess game. The winner gained his daughter and the loser would also join his family by marrying the younger sister. Each year this happy story is re-enacted with a great celebration of fireworks and pageantry.

"Checkmate"

Town square with chess board and Castle walls in the background going up the hill to the top of the castle.

Good thing our car was small enough to fit through the castle gate

Lots of cyclists visible at this beautiful time of year along the great Italian roads

Balcony with Autumn flowers and leaves

I loved this farmhouse we passed along a country road. The red truck is filled with dry corn. We stopped to take the picture and talked with the father and son in the truck. I love the bright stripped stucco of the barn.

I tried to be inconspicuous as I took this shot of the two nuns walking in street in Como.

Eternal Blessings For The Eternal City!

We just returned from a packed Stake Center for the broadcast of the Ground-breaking ceremonies for the Rome Temple held yesterday in the Settebagni area of Rome. What a joyous occasion it was to rejoice with the saints here as we listened and watched. The above artistic rendition of the temple was posted immediately following the broadcast on our bacheca (bulletin board) in our chapel. President Monson said that his love for the saints here in Italy began when their oldest son served a mission here in Milan. He said that he has felt the spirit of Italy and it is a spirit very close to the spirit of God.

President Raimondo Castellani, the first Italian to ever preside over a temple who is now the president of the Temple in Switzerland, spoke of Rome, the eternal city where Peter and Paul preached the Gospel long ago, now welcomes a prophet of God once again to break ground for this temple. As he encouraged all the members here to invite our non member neighbors and family now to start planning to go to the open house which will come, my heart started beating faster as I knew that I must invite my non-member family (especially those who live in Rome) to plan now to attend with us this great event in the future and to bring to their attention the process of watching the temple being built over the next couple of years and use it as a means to discuss more of what we know to be true about the wonderful blessings of the Temple that have been restored to the earth with the Restoration of the Gospel.

The members here are especially grateful as they know all too well that it can take many years after a temple is announced before actual construction begins. Many in Europe are still anxiously awaiting the building of the Paris, France temple which was announced 13 years ago so they feel very blessed to have work begin here in Italy two years since the announcement that there would be a temple in Rome.

It was great to see two of our YSA men from our stake singing in the choir. They have such beautiful voices and were so excited to get to go. They said it is an experience they will never forget. The last number they sang, The Spirit of God Like A Fire Is Burning in Italian was so powerful. As I watched them singing and could see a few of the signature Roman umbrella pine trees on the hillside behind them I had no doubt that what President Monson said about feeling that Heavenly Father would permit those early missionaries who labored in Italy such as Lorenzo Snow and Joseph Toronto to be present on this great occasion to be true. I also could not help but think of Peter and Paul and their great joy at this occasion.

The Eternal City is now ready for eternal blessings. Blessings that are tied to those sublime eternal covenants that can only be found in the Lord's holy temples. George Q. Cannon said that with the laying of every cornerstone of every temple we diminish the power of Satan in the land. I know that the land of Italy will be blessed, preserved and transformed through the power of the covenant-keeping people who will attend this temple.

I wonder if the apostle Paul may have said something today to the members of the Church here in Italy similar to what he once wrote to the Roman members long ago. " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all...to him that has power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen." (Romans 16: 24-27 )

Tonight, in chapels all over Italy a little of that glory was manifest as we watched what happened atop a beautiful hillside in the city of Rome. E`solo l'inizio. It is only the beginning.

For a view of the area where the temple will be located and to see architect, Roberto Santori's design of the temple you can view a video at:

www.ldschurchtemples.com (it may be necessary to type in the address)

And here is a great site in Italian that explains all about the Rome Temple and what Temples are for.

http://tempiodiroma.chiesadigesucristo.it/

A Visit to The Swiss Temple!

One of the things we have missed while being on this mission is the chance to go to the Temple. This past week we had the privilege of going with over 100 of our YSA from several Italian stakes to the Temple in Bern Switzerland for three days. What a treat!

The three and a half hour drive from Milan to Bern was spectacular. But what was truly spectacular was to witness the love for the temple that these young Italians have. Many of them brought their own names and did 3 and even 4 sessions a day and/or worked in the baptistry all day long for three days. We knew we loved these kids before we did this, but to be together in the temple like that deepened the bonds of love we have with them as only the temple can.

David and I marveled at the experience of being at the temple and doing Temple work for that kind of extended period of time. At home in Utah, we usually sandwich a session or two in between the regular busy-ness of our normal lives. But to dedicate a weekend like this and to physically stay by the Temple the entire time and in the town where the Temple is located, Zollikofen (outside of Bern) which is pretty small and tranquil gave us the feeling of truly being taken out of the world and immersed in the Temple for the time we were there. The temple there is backed by a lush green dense forest. Lovely.

The young people just could not get enough of it. They truly love doing the work. Since we had such a large group there was not enough room for all of them in the Temple hostel, so they ended up renting what is called a bunker, not too far away. ( pronounced "booncare" by the Italians.) In Switzerland, it is a law that every citizen must have a space for themselves in a bunker. The bunker is an underground facility that we would think of as an emergency fallout shelter. It is equipped with beds, kitchen, bathrooms and first aid area and supplies. One can see all over Switzerland little air vents on the sides of the mountains where these bunkers have been built inside of the mountains. Looked like something out of a James Bond movie. Amazing! Bunker beds below. There were 50 beds in this one bunker.

The outside entrance to the underground bunker

The kids planned all the meals and brought the food and took turns cooking meals for each other and cleaning up.

Kids eating pasta lunch in Bunker

A special treat was that David and I were able to meet up with a couple (the Strongs) that we met in the MTC who had been called to serve in the Bern Temple. Due to Visa delays they spent the first nine months at the New York City Temple before coming to Switzerland. They are enjoying their mission so much. Our son, Matt actually taught them some Italian in the MTC when he was teaching us, since they said that over 70% of the temple work done at the temple there is by the Italians. They wonder if the Rome temple would decrease that percentage a lot, but the Swiss temple will still be by far the closest temple to those in northern Italy as it is a six hour drive from Milan to Rome. Pictured below - myself with Elder and Sister Strong.

We marveled at being at a temple where we were having a multi-lingual experience. At one session I was sitting next to an African woman in an Italian session surrounded by people using headphones to translate into French, German and English. At one point I had someone speaking to me in French while another spoke to me in Italian. And then someone would say something to me in English and I was shocked, almost forgetting that I could speak English! I could truly see the fulfillment of the scripture that says that the Gospel would be taken to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Incredibile!

Across the street from the temple is the "Mormon Shop". It sells some things that we would expect to find at Deseret Book but also translated in Italian, French and German. It also carries the very much coveted by Americans, A&W Root Beer. But you won't find the Italians clamoring for it because they think it taste like cough syrup! What? Maybe we need to suggest to them a root-beer flavored gelato? Kind of like a root-beer float? Mmmmm.

German Hymn Book

Anyway, we are so grateful to have been able to go. We got back on Saturday night. On the way home we stopped with some of the young people at a restaurant called Cindy's Diner. It was a 50's style all american diner that served up huge American hamburgers and fries and had pictures on the wall of Lucille Ball and Elvis Presley. This experience definitely put the cherry on the top of what felt like a multi-cultural banana split of a weekend. If I had not been culturally mixed up before I certainly was then while eating traditional American fare from a German menu surrounded by Swiss mountains in a restaurant attached to a store selling Swiss chocolate and cheeses and magnets and key chains with Cow bells and White flags with Red crosses, hearing people around me speaking French and German. I had no idea which language I was expected to speak to the clerk behind the counter. Actually a bit of my high-school French from so very long ago came in handy. Who would have thought any of that was still accessible in my very over-crowded data base of a brain. I may not be able to remember the names of all of my children but out of the blue I recalled, "Ou sont les toilettes? " (Where is the bathroom). A useful thing to know how to say in any language.

Groundbreaking for Temple In Rome!

For many months now we have prayed and fasted alongside the Italian members of the Church here that "Il tempio arrivera fra poco" - that the temple will arrive soon. Two years ago I sat in our family room on a Saturday morning in Orem, Utah with our son Matt who served in the Rome mission and shouted for joy as we heard President Monson announce a temple for Rome, Italy. I remember going to Harmons after that session to get groceries and I was filled with so much joy over the announcement that I wept right there in the produce section. I also was filled with a deep yearning to somehow be a part of the Lord's work in Italy. I never dreamed at that time that two years later I would be able to sit amongst the Italian members in one of their chapels and rejoice with them as we heard that on Saturday October 23 the groundbreaking for the Rome Temple will take place and a broadcast of it will be shown in all the chapels throughout Italy the day after.

During the past two years the Italian members have prayed and fasted that all the hurdles involving obtaining official church status and government regulations here in Italy would be surmounted so that this day would finally come. The Stake President in Rome said that when the temple was first announced by President Monson there was an audible shout for joy amongst the Italians watching conference. He said you would have thought someone had scored a goal at a soccer game. At that moment, he said he could envision the scripture in Job that refers to the children of God shouting for joy in the pre-mortal life when the foundations of the earth were laid. The foundations of the temple will soon be laid here in the great land of Italia. Siamo grati e emmozionati! We are grateful and excited. Nothing can bless a land or a people quite like the presence of one of the Lord's sacred temples.

Some other highlights of the past few weeks:

I was able to go with a member to hear Andrea Bocelli do a benefit concert for the children of Haiti in the Duomo (the huge cathedral) here in Milan. Hearing him sing some of my favorites from his sacred arias in that setting was indimenticabile. Unforgettable. As I listened to his angelic voice filling every crevice of that cavernous cathedral, I noticed the little red light high up in the top of the apse of the church illuminating the relic of the nail from Christ's cross that Constantine's mother is said to have brought back from her pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I wondered what I might look like from that perspective high above. Probably very small. With my little name tag on representing the message that Christ's church need not only be defined by relics and things of the past, but all that He has revealed, does reveal and will yet reveal. I may be a small person wearing a small name tag, but oh how grand is the message we carry. Among my favorites in the performance was Panis Angelicus and both Schubert and Gounod's versions of Ave Maria. A full orchestra and a 50 member choir performed with him to a packed audience. Magnifico.

Inside the Duomo (Cathedral) as they were getting ready for the concert.

Bocelli on the monitor

One of the stained class panels in the Church

Speaking of things that are magnifico. We found a few new flavors of gelato that are our current favorites. (notice we have to speak in plurals, because we can never narrow it down to one choice.) Lemon Panna - lemon cream - it is like a lemon custard. Fig - we are not talking about the sticky too sweet dried figs, but fresh figs that have a delicate taste that makes you think of rose petals. Chocholate Picante - chocholate with a hint of chili pepper in it. Mama mia.

Two of our elders enjoying gelato on one of our p.days

Below: Elder Lisonbee in front of the ruins of a Roman Temple in the city of Brescia where we went on an assignment.

Below: Older men in the park by the Church enjoying playing Bocce - a game like lawn bowling that is very popular here especially amongst the old men

A dopo. (Talk to you later.)