Week 2 in the Feild (Bitonto)

Ciao a tutti!!

 Well this week was pretty awesome! So at the beginning of this week it was pretty ridiculous because it was raining and windy all day long, and right now we don't have too many investigators because this area is kind of dead. so anyway we tried to find other things to do besides going out to find people, so we had a couple of meals with the members and we are trying to get them to help us out in the area, by inviting their friends and stuff. So anyway we had a lesson with this one friend of the ward mission leader. when we met her she seemed really interested and nice, but as soon as we sat down with her to have a lesson she started talking all of this trash on our church in front of her friend (the ward mission leader), it was pretty strange because i wasn't understanding all of it. so i decided i would take it back to the basics and ask her some simple questions about her beliefs. she then answered and said "i was a complete idiot and was dumb in my beliefs." to be honest i wasn't even all that offended, then the ward mission leader (her friend) shared with her, his testimony of the church which then made the girl completely silent for a while, I could feel the spirit so strongly as it was silent and I knew everyone else could feel it as well in the room. The young lady couldn't really say much after that, other than she had to leave.

I love being a member of this church, I love being missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  There is no more rewarding thing in this world than this time of service! 

Well on with the week! so anyway this week the members have really wanted to help us out a ton which is great!!! we need all the help we can get! and also we met this man who was a non-member who had lived in California for two months! He asked which city I lived in, and i said Huntington Beach, He said "No WAY!" he had also lived in Huntington Beach for an entire month! he showed me a ton of pictures and things from his trip to California and it was way cool, because i knew most of the things he had pictures of! I even saw pictures of the pier and the surfers! for all I know, I was probably in some of the pictures! I just thought it was super Cool that someone in another part of the world could understand exactly what my home town was like! haha we talked for a bit about all the great hamburger and burrito places... then I said,  "we should probably be going out to do some more work!"  His name was Francesco! hahaha, so anyway, there are so many awesome stories I have to share but not enough time!! Well I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love- Anziano Goode

 

 

These Are the Bitonto special called Panzaroti!!! 

 Eating our Panzaroti! 

 

 Learning To Cook! 

 

The City of Bitonto! 

 

 

ITALY!

 Hey Everyone! So I made it to Italy alright!  The plane rides were pretty crazy because we missed the plane to London and had to have a layover in London for 4 hours! It wasn't so bad but we were all so tired that we just slept and ate in the airport for that time!  So anyway, we flew to Rome, which was great because it was only 3 hours and I got to sit next to these two ladies from Italy that were super nice!  They didn't speak any English which was kind of fun!  Anyway, I got a picture with them that I will send!  We arrived at the mission home in Rome at about 8 o'clock pm, which was much later than we were supposed to get there!  We had this nice plate of fruits and vegetables waiting for us when we got there it was great!  I woke up the next morning after being assigned to a town called Bitonto to get on a train at 6 in the morning!!  The train from Rome to Bitonto was 6 hours!  It was beautiful the whole time! With tons of random cities and mountains, it was incredible! I tried to take pictures of some of the things i saw!  I have been going through such a culture shock too!  It seems as if there are no rules here!  It's kinda fun now that I am more used to it but the first day i was so scared to even cross the streets. There are random dogs everywhere that are pretty strange because they just sit there and don't do anything!  My first couple of days were super tough because I had pretty bad jet lag and was super tired the whole time!   My companion is pretty cool, Anziano Seiko, he is from Italy in the north which is good and bad, its good because he can speak perfect Italian and its bad because he its trying to learn English and i am trying to learn Italian haha!  We have taught a couple of lessons now and its crazy how much I don't understand!  when I do understand, I say things that probably don't make sense but either way its great! Yesterday we had church for the first time since I've been here!  it was really great!  They played that song, "Have I Done Any good?" and it was so beautiful in Italian!  It was kind of funny to because the piano player would  put his own twist on the songs because he is a music teacher and he is way good!  After church we were invited over to a members house for desert at night! We had this delicious cake called bocca notte that they only make in this part of Italy! Also there is this other good food that I had on the first night in Bitonto called panzerotti and its like this inside-out pizza that is wayyyy good!  That's also special to Bitonto! Next time I will take a picture! Well anyway, it is great to be a missionary in the world and help others out everyday!!  I love this work and the message I have been given the opportunity to share!  This place is great, I love the mission president and his wife, they are great! Here are some pictures of my week!

 

My new bedroom!

View from my apartment.

My first meal!

A local band was playing Aerosmith and other American music on the evening I arrived!
This is a view from my apartment.

Travel Day!

Saying goodbye to Elder Vasquez from Huntington Beach.  He is serving in Milan!

The two Italian ladies I met on the plane.

My view from the train.

Another view from the train.

My new Companion, Elder Seiko, met me at the train station.

Goodbye MTC... Rome, here I come!

My District

My District

When in Rome...

Arrived in Rome, Italy! Ready To Serve

Headed to Italy

Last Letter in the MTC-Leaving For Italy

Hey Everyone!  I just wanted to write my last email from the US! We have time today to pack and email our families and all that stuff so I just wanted to say goodbye from the United States. I will call you tomorrow from the airports and stuff so I am looking forward to that! Tell Nathan that I love him and I'm proud of him! Tell Dad, Leah and Hanna that I love them! I have been ready to go to Italy since the day I got here and tomorrow morning I finally leave!! Man its coming so fast! I think the mission will be the same routine once I get past the first month or so haha. I've heard that everywhere south of Rome is about as poor as some parts in Africa... I cant wait to serve the people with all of my heart, might, mind and strength! I have already worked super hard but it hasn't even been put to the test, so I am excited for that! I've decided that I am going to be the kind of missionary that works hard, follows the rules and always teaches with the spirit! Thank you to everyone for the wonderful life you have given me! I'm excited to do things on my own! I love the family and everyone so much! and I especially love the gospel! Talk to you tomorrow!
 Love- Anziano Goode

5th Week in the MTC- Last Preperation Day in the MTC

Every week is great here in the MTC! I have learned so much about being humble and having faith! I feel like the more I learn, the less things I actually know! Yesterday we had a Speaker from the Quorum of the 70, Elder Sitati, and his wife. They were from Kenya! They were some of the most humble people I have ever met! I could tell how grateful they were for everything that had happened in their lives! They were especially grateful for their conversion to the church. I guess I have taken for granted the blessings I have had in my life, which is probably not good! well I have grown so much in my short time in the MTC. Every day i have to opportunity to teach and share what I know to be true! Its pretty weird thinking I still have 23 months ahead of me in another country! I have just grown to feel like this place is where I will be for two years! oh, so this week all of the elders in my zone caught this big spider and put it in my pocket on the front of my shirt, it was one of the worst things that could've happened. I tried to stay calm while turning my head and had Elder Kenney smash it and take it out of my pocket... it was pretty awful! Well anyway, I have been playing 4 square at gym time and its super competitive because we put two people on each team now and its almost like volleyball! so this elder and I have been on a team and we had never been beaten until this Monday we finally lost! It was way awesome too because we would all be betting our food and treats and stuff like that it is way fun!! also this week the German Elders left to Germany! I had made pretty good friends with them because they were in the classrooms right next to us!  The night before they all left I took a picture with the best of them!! He is this big elder from New Zeland!!! Elder Cocker! I'm pretty sure he will make it into the professional rugby league because of how big and fast he is! I'm also going to try to send home some picture of the crew in our residence! This upcoming week we don't have too much going on... only like 2 more days of actual study!  I think I'm just about ready for Italy! I guess all that I can say for this week is... to be grateful for everything we have been given in this life! Love you all thanks for all of the letters! 

Love- Anziano Goode

4th Week Letter!

Ciao everyone!! This week was pretty awesome!! Ive really started to take a liking to teaching everyday! My companion and I have been doing awesome! This week we had two Practice investigators commit to baptism! Tomorrow my companion and I Get to skype with someone from Italy and teach them a 30minute lesson! I sure hope I can understand what they're saying!! So last night we had a devotional given by Don R Clarke of the seventy. He talked about the things new members of the church need in order to stay active in the church. The three things he said were necessary were, number one, a good friend in the church, number two was a responsibility in the church and number three was constant nourishment with the Book of Mormon. Everyone of us can be a missionary just by being good friends with someone! This week was way fun! I got a big cake in the mail yesterday (thanks mom) and it was conveniently somebody's birthday! So last night we had a huge fiesta with tons of cake and soda and garbage food! i don't feel good today, about that decision but i think it was worth it!!! I cant even believe how much time has gone past! I'm already almost a month old in the mission! I've got less than two weeks left now here in the MTC! woohoo! its honestly been great here learning however it does get a bit repetitive so i think I'm ready for the change of the mission field and for the Italian food!! So today during Gym time there was this Australian elder going to the Philippines that was pretty good at volleyball so we got to play a little more competitive than normal. It was awesome! Also we have been playing 4 square and it gets like way competitive!! So I told everyone that we were competing for a huge bag of Twizzlers that i had which made it even more intense hahaha. so right at the last minute somehow i hit an amazing shot into the kings square and i moved into the kings square for the win! some of the workers here in the mtc get super competitive as well which is super fun! oh yeah one last story! so every Monday we do service in one of the buildings on campus here and the worker is a really nice guy and since we have cafeteria food all the time we asked him if he would pick us up some food! he said he would so i guess ill let you know what we get next week! he said his boss might not like it if he did that but his boss is out of town so i guess that's a good thing hahaha!! well everyday is a new adventure!! i hope everyone is doing well!! keep sending me letters and keep me updated!!

 

Love- Anziano Goode