J&J, Jethro Tull, and Jesus Christ - Anziano Saga 7-8-09
Letter from Jason – July 8, 2009

Dear Mommy,
So, one more week down. Not too many adventures this week. But, if you take a look at a map of Messina, you'll be able to tell that it's not a really big city. Notwithstanding, there are many people. There wasn't much space for them to move inland from the coast, so they just spread out along the coast. As a consequence, the city is really, really long. It's a butt kicker when you have two appointments on opposite ends of the city, and the public transportation is a public joke. So, we walk; literally for an hour to get where we need to go. And it's not exactly summertime in northern Canada here, oh no! It's summer in Sicily. So Hot. I thank my lucky stars that Johnson and Johnson have a product called Baby Powder that I can apply to strategic regions to avoid staining people's chairs with sweat when I sit down. I've taken to carrying hankies around with me, too. That way, I can wipe the river of sweat off of my face before presenting something. So yeah.

Oh, here's a bummer. So, guess who came to a nearby city? The city is Taormina. It's like twenty minutes away. And who came? None other than the prog rock legends Jethro Tull. Yeah. It's true. Guess who got to go. Not me. That was a bummer. Once in a lifetime chance, too. But, I guess I'm doing more important stuff, so God will make it up to me later.

So, we have this crazy investigator (the one who thinks we should use wine for the sacrament) who is actually making some progress. But, I think we're scaring him. We're showing him again and again that what we're teaching him is true. He listens, and seems to understand, and then I'll ask a question, and he'll suddenly change the subject, and then send us on our way. Change can be scary, I guess.

We also have this new lady named Annamaria. She has a ton of questions. In the hour that we were talking, she would ask a question that really bothered her soul, and I would think "oh, that's THIS principle." Every time. There really are these answers. I sometimes ask myself why people open up so much and so quickly to me as a missionary. This lady told me her fears, and hopes and problems, and life story, and I had known her for the space of ten minutes when she started to open up. It's not what normally happens. People don't open up so quickly to you. But as a missionary, they do. Odd. We had her read Alma 32, and look for how she can use faith to help herself. She said that she really liked reading and felt a bit of peace while reading. So, she's pretty hopeful.

Oh, we've been doing this activity with the members on the Book of Mormon lately, showing that it's a true testament of Jesus Christ. In Preach my Gospel, chapter 6 is devoted to "Christlike Attributes." Choose one of those attributes, and then open up the Book of Mormon to any random page. Then, without turning the page, find either the word, or an example of someone exercising that principle. Give it a shot, and see what you find. It's never failed me yet, and I've done it like ten times now with people with different levels of scriptural knowledge, and it still works. Give it a shot if you don't believe me.

And then yesterday, the zone leaders came to do splits. I did splits with Anz. P, whom I had lived with for about 6 months in Siracusa. Good times. Good times.

Well, that's been the week. Hope all is well with all y'all. Remember to write to me people! I don't hear from people anymore. tisk tisk tisk. Get on that.

Much loves loves.

Jason