Elder Peter Goode: 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