Baptism, Grape Service, and Paintball

Cari Amici e Famiglia,

It was a packed week.  Early in the week we were gifted two types of Philippino meat: some sausage and bacon.  We cooked it for two of our breakfasts with some vegetables, rice, and fried eggs.  It was really heavy (in comparison to Italian style breakfasts) but so good and sweet to the taste.  On Friday we had the opportunity to pick some grapes in a vineyard near Campoleone for some service. Halfway through I realized that I had developed the Mickey Mouse sweat design on my shirt to my embarrassment.  I also got a couple of insect bites that don't seem to be mosquito bites on both my arm and my cheek.  But in the end it was a pretty cool experience working in a vineyard in the Italian countryside.  Also they fed us at a restaurant near the field which was pretty luxurious.  On Saturday, our investigator Pamela was baptized after months of bad health and hospitals.  It was a great service and the spirit was strong.  The following day she was confirmed in Sacrament meeting.  Today we went and did some paintball. Holbrook and I dressed up in some old abandoned missionary clothes and acted like we weren't playing when the other missionaries arrived in street clothes.  Then we said we were joking and we played in missionary attire.  I thought it would be more painful than it was. The only shot that kind of hurt was on the thigh... It left a nice welt.  The ride back on public trans was kind of interesting with paint all over.
Anziano Packer B. Blazzard

Working and Eating in Roma

Cari Amici e Famiglia,

It was a another quick week for me.  We were fed quite a bit and the work is going really well.  This next week one of our investigators will be baptized so we are really excited for that.  We also get transfer calls this weekend and I'm really hoping to stay one more. On Wednesday night we went out to get some pizza with an investigator. After chewing a particularly chewy piece of sausage and some
considerable pain I realized that I bit off some of my inner cheek. It is still kind of hurting me today so I must have done some considerable damage.  Saturday night we ate some interesting Ecuadorean food which was sausage with rice, lentils, plantains, and some amazing salsa like usual.  Holbrook and I also made some carbonara (egg, Parmesan cheese, and bacon pasta) with two added peperoncini which were each about the size one of my fingers. It was crazy spicy and I felt like my inner esophagus was smoking.  Today we went to Hadrian's Villa which is a bunch of really old ruins which are pretty neat.

Anziano Packer B. Blazzard

The Work through Rain and Food

Cari Amici e Famiglia,

This last week really flew by... Transfers are coming up in a few weeks and I am hoping to stay in Rome at least one more transfer.  It was really rainy last week.  When it rains here it really pours and traffic gets really congested. Also the metro (subway) flooded.  We were able to tip toe through a couple inches of water to get on one of the last trains before it shut down.  I went to Ladispoli this week for an exchange with my old MTC comp Anz Trejo.  It was nice to get out if the city and clear my lungs with some ocean breeze.  I also managed to spork (sporcare means to dirty)  my shirt two times that day (first some pizza and then some sauce I had with French fries) so I had to wash it that night and hang it up to dry because I only had that one shirt.  I consider the stains coming out one of the bigger miracles I saw this week. We also made some homemade pesto with some gifted basil leaves, 100€ per kilo pine nuts (more expensive than coke right?), and some other stuff.  It was pretty amazing and we made two pastas with it including one with grilled chicken and then the other with cherry tomatoes and a bit of bacon.  Speaking of eating Saturday night I almost busted one of my shirts after putting down 5 large plates of this rice stuff with a homemade salsa.  The woman who prepared it was very pleased so it made it worth it.  Yesterday was a pleasant Sunday after a little hectic morning trying to get people to church followed by a nice lunch put on by one of our amazing senior couples for the missionaries.  Life is good and there is work to do.

Anziano Packer B. Blazzard

Mayonnaise Pizza

from italy rome mission blog

Cari Amici e Famiglia,

from italy rome mission blog

I am getting tired of writing a big email each week so I will be cutting the email down to important events and general missionary work stuff.  This last week we had a bit of a break from the meal appointments which saved me from buying some new pants.  We had zone conference which went pretty well.  People generally liked our training on finding people to teach using the unique gifts God has given to us.  The lunch was amazing but probably not so for the sisters because it was huge sandwiches with tons of veggies and sausage and pork.  One day we had raw salmon sushi kebabs and then salmon pasta later in the day at a member's house. We did a scambio with Rome 6 and I had a good time with Anziani Just and shared some photos and mission stories.  Today we went to Ikea for Pday and ate some hotdogs and pizza. I put mayonnaise on my pizza because it didn't have enough flavor and then another guy put mayonnaise on it too right after... Starting trends.  The work is going well and people are progressing towards baptism.  3 families were sealed in the temple this last week and less active work is going well too.    Anziano Blazzard

from italy rome mission blog