First Transfer Calls! Week 12

So this week was awesome! it got very cold this week which was fine because I was prepared for it to get cold at some point and its almost Halloween!!! We found out if we were going to be transferred this week and it turns out neither me or my comp are going anywhere so we will be together for another 6 weeks! I was able to go on exchanges with another elder this week too, because we had another "Blitz" in Bari this time. My Companion was Elder Romano from Boston! This was the first time that I had been paired up with an American so it was really strange because everyone thought we were just two crazy Americans but it was also good because it brought peoples' attention! During this time we went and knocked doors for a little bit.  One of the doors we knocked we immediately heard these two dogs barking like crazy then this old lady was yelling at her dogs to be quiet and was yelling some other stuff I didn't understand so when we finally heard her coming to the door her dog jumped at us almost through the window next to the front door and the door opened.  We saw this old lady hitting her dogs with a stick so they wouldn't run out the door then she slammed it so they wouldn't come out after her! She told us she wanted to meet another time then she opened the door and started to swing her stick at these dogs that were bigger than her until she finally made it inside! That was just a little bit weird! haha!  Well I don't have that much time this week but a quick update on our wheelchair friends, Domenico and Cossimo, they are coming to our English course every Tuesday and Thursday then also to our Family Home Evening every Friday night! They are really awesome and I hope they keep coming so we can continue to teach them the lessons! Well, I hope everyone has  great week!  Happy Halloween!!!! 

Poggiofranco (The city and farm mix)

Magro Family from the Bitonto Branch

Citta Vecchia in Bari

Guitarist in Citta Vecchia  (Old Town Bari)

Bari Cathedral

Inside of Bari Cathedral

Ceiling of the Bari Cathedral

Focacceria (Downstairs from the Apartment)

Door Knocking in Bitonto

Teaching the Gospel in Bitonto

Homemade Pasta

No caption necessary!

A Book of Mormon for the Pope!

Happy Halloween!

Miracles-Week 11

This week was just awesome with the missionary work!  We had pretty much no work going on in the area because our investigators have all been very busy and haven't really been keeping any of the commitments we have extended to them. So, we decided we needed to find some new investigators to start teaching so Thursday night after our English course we decided we were going to do some street finding, We got pretty far from the house and it was pretty late so we decided to walk just a few more streets. We also had to stop by a members house really quick, so we were walking past a park and from inside the fence I heard " "Ciao Anziani" and saw someone waving their hand so I just waved kindly back and kept walking. After we stopped at the members house we returned on the same path back to our house, it was really pretty dark at this time so I couldn't see much but I heard the same voice and saw the same hand waving from inside the park so I said to my comp, ""andiamo" (or "let's go").  When we got to the fence of the park we saw these two men, both in wheel chairs, who said they wanted to talk about the gospel and they want to start coming to our English course again because I guess they used to attend the course in like 2008! So anyway, we were talking to them about the Book of Mormon and one of them, his name is Francesco, said he already believes in the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a prophet!!!  I don't know what will happen with him, but I hope he will begin on his journey of learning about the gospel, but i knew it was truly a miracle that the Lord had prepared this man for us to come in contact with!  He even attended our family home evening activity that we have every Friday night! It's amazing to experience these things first hand! Also, on Saturday we had an activity in Bitonto where all the missionaries in our district, 12 of us in all, came to Bitonto to help us do some finding! We made goals to each find at least 5 contacts in an hour and a half. We were in the last half hour and we still needed to contact two more people so we were like, "well, what should we do?" It was just me and my comp and we were a bit lost, to be honest, so I asked my comp which way we should go? He said left, so we went left and just after about 10 steps a man ran up to us and gave us his number and told us he had a question but he couldn't talk right now, so we gave him our number and he said he will call us as soon as there is time! I have seriously been so blessed as a missionary! It is awesome!  Well I want to talk a little bit about some other stuff that happened this week! So the first thing is that there was this huge festival in Bitonto for the Saint Medici, which is apparently the protector Saint of this city, every city has a different Saint, so for the last two days and next weekend there is this huge festival where everyone marches around with candles and I don't really know why, but all of the streets are closed to cars and there is like a huge fair set up with roller coasters and with crazy dance parties going on. So we decided we would stay inside for most of the weekend doing other stuff! Hahaha! So yesterday for lunch we had an appointment with this family in our ward, and they talk sooo fast that I could not understand them half of the time! Luckily they are really patient and loving! So half way through lunch they pulled out this plate of giant sea snails that were sooo weird looking!  I was so scared just looking at them! Luckily the husband didn't really want to share and he ate ALL of them without even offering! Hahaha! The rest of the food was incredible! Their ten year old grandson was there who thought I was pretty funny even though I could only make a few jokes and understand half of what he was saying! Well I have already grown to love so much about these people and their culture, and I know that love will only continue to grow as I put my whole heart into the service of the Lord! This gospel has changed my life and continues to change lives for ever! Thanks to everyone for all of the support and letters! I am so grateful for all of you! 

Love- Anziano Goode

Walking the streets of Southern Italy

Happy Birthday!

Well this week was awesome!! It was the birthday week which means it was automatically awesome! So ..we had zone conference which was great because it was also my birthday! We learned how to completely simplify our lessons and teach them in only 5 minutes, then we practiced a bunch during conference which was cool because that night we had a lesson with this woman, and right in the middle of the lesson she was like, "Okay, I only have 5 minutes left!"   I thought it was a miracle because I had just practiced 5 minute lessons for like 3 hours, hahha! It turned out really good!! Then, I got to go on exchanges with the Zone Leader which was awesome because he is also Italian and he has worked really hard his whole mission and he helped me out a ton! So, we had an appointment with this man who was a journalist and he wanted to meet for like and hour or so to talk about the church so we were super excited!  We showed up to the appointment that morning and there was a huge parade going on with some 500 year old Saint painting from the Catholic church. It turns out the man was walking around with the mayor of the city and so we were able to walk around and shake hands with the mayor!!!! We were talking to them and explaining our beliefs and about the mission while marching around in some Catholic parade. I cant even imagine what the people were thinking seeing the missionaries marching in this parade!  Haha!  Well anyway at the end of the parade the mayor offered to buy us all drinks, so we just went along and had drinks with the mayor and journalist in the most fancy bar of BARI, hahahha!  While they all had their coffee we sat there drinking our peach juice and talking with them it was quite awesome!! So after this exciting morning we got back to the apartment in Bari and the other missionaries in the area had made a huge lunch for my surprise party! That was awesome!! Another morning, early in the morning, I was waiting for my breakfast to heat up and I was kicking the soccer ball against the wall on the roof when all of a sudden I kicked it off of the roof from the fifth floor!  It bounced in the middle of the street in between a car and a biker!!!  There were a ton of people that watched it happen too but they all acted like nothing had happened, hahaha! I guess I learned not to play soccer on the roof anymore! Well everything is going well!  The weeks are starting to speed up and my companion and I are getting a long great as long as I study hard and learn what I need to say and how to respond to peoples' questions! So anyways, the work is moving along here in Bitonto and I am learning new things everyday!!!  I hope everyone has a great week!
Love, Anziano Goode

Birthday Breakfast

University of Bari

Zone Conference

Birthday Boy!

2 Months Already!!

 Well it has definitely been the fastest 2 months of my whole life! I cant believe I turn 19 tomorrow! That seems crazy to me! Well anyway, this week was great! As far as the work we have found a couple of perfect investigators to start teaching! I'm excited to start teaching a solid investigator this week! Also, this week was cool because the other district had a baptism, which was awesome! And other than that there isn't too much to write about other than some crazy stuff that happened!  So, one morning I was out on the balcony, I think it was Tuesday morning and I had just woken up. So, I walk out on my balcony and look out over the street and I saw this woman walking across the street when all of a sudden a car slammed on their brakes and almost hit her! I was like, oh she is so lucky! then all of a sudden another car hit that car and forced it to smash into the lady! I was seriously in disbelief! My companion and I both saw it and didn't know what to do since we were both just out of bed and we were on the fifth story of our apartment, We could tell there was no blood and it looked like she was fine, then she fainted and fell to the ground, there were like 30 people all surrounding her and trying to help her out, she was just laying in the street for a half hour before the ambulance finally arrived.  If that wasn't crazy enough there was a fight for some reason and the police didn't do anything about it !! I wanted to help so bad, but I couldn't have really helped much since I don't really speak their language yet! Well anyway, it was just incredible what I saw! Other than that there hasn't been too much going on, other than people spraying us in their cars when it rains here because the streets and sidewalks are really narrow!  Also, the construction work is pretty strange here because they just cut metal in the middle of the street and there will be sparks flying everywhere!!  The members here are awesome! This week I have realized that all of the fruit here is incredible! They eat it here for dessert, which makes sense because it is truly delicious here! Well I also tried my first foccacia which is this pizza like thing with whole tomatoes on it and that was incredible! For as much of the crazy stuff that happens here I think the people make up for it with their amazing culture and food!  I hope everyone has a good week! Please continue to write me! 

Love- Anziano Goode

Foccacia!