Feel the love---this is why I'm here.

Waiting for the groom

Witnesses at a wedding in Sorrento

so guess what i did this week!? hahahahaha so sweet ok ,
we get this call tuesday night from an american man who is getting
married down in sorrento and says "hey guys all y witnesses fell
through so i need two people to come. if you guys could come that
would be great." we ask him when it is and hes like "ummmm in the
morning" ahhahaha we just look at eachother and say why not. we woke
up the next morning and took the train down to sorrento where he
picked us up and drove us down to Amalfi where him nd his wife to be
got all their documents out. we talked to some people there about the
church and signed some paperwork and sat there for the little ceremony
that they did. it was so beautiful. man. seriously im definitly going
back there some time in the future. also it just so happened that the
anziani from napoli and pozzuoli were heading down that way to see
amalfi haha. so they left us there and went on their way as a marrid
couple haha the guy was in his early fourties served a mission in
texas and his wife was russian and worked for the church out there
taking care of visas and stuff. really nice people hah. anyway we
caught a bus back and got back to teaching. fun stuff. who else can
say they were witnesses at a wedding on their mission in italy?! haha
so funny.
anyway everythings going great. we almost got dropped today by our
investigator but we were guided to say the things she needed to here.
we saw a straight miracle today it was amazing. this work is amazing
and the people here are amazing-
transfer calls are tomorrow! were nervous because it could be either
one of us. i hope its not me well see.
anyway i love yall ill talk to you really soon

Oops! Is it Thanksgiving?

hey momma,

i love you, Dang sounds like such a sweet holiday! im going to be honest. i completely forgot about thanksgiving until the day after! haha i looked at my watch and saw the date and thought i think something important happens soon. haha missed it! oh well. alright mom  guess what!

we had a baptism last week! woohooo anna sabatino. what a sweet service. our little branch is so cool almost the whole branch was there and we to talk for a little while which was way cool. we have two other baptism dates coming up this month which were super excited about. this man domenico hasnt even been to church yet and  has already introduced us to three of his friends haha he always asks us what he can do to keep the feelings he feels when we teach and how can he help his family. when he gets baptised hes really really giong to helpo out the church here. were super excited about him his wife and three daughters. 

we almost got written up a ticket today! we were in garibaldi the train stazione in napoli like the main one and they were checking tickets by the exit. we bought tickets and everything but where we are in castellammare theres no machine to like stamp them and make them valid, but usually we just mark it with a pen. The man saw that we hadnt stamped them and made us go with him to the room and was explaining why it wasnt good. i smooth talked us out of beeing 80 euro in the whole. heavenly father loves us. haaha the guy ended up letting us go and everyone else got tickets. there were like 5 people there with us. i dont know how that happened. heavenly father really looks out for us missionaries. anyway mom im sending out your letter toda yand ill talk to you soon! 

i love you tons ciacociao!

Halloween

man we got transfer calls and everything is going crazy im staying in castellammare for another transfer with anziano Simonetta. The Napoli zone went through sooo many changes. some good some bad some wild.

anziano lemmon was in my district in the MTC is going down to Malta for a transfer to fill someones spot who got hurt then hell come back to the mainland. Anziano Reed!!! hes coming down to pozzouli. where the aposle paul was shipped in as a prisoner! hes in my zone so we can see eachother in Napoli on Pdays. im super excited. It was also wild to see some anziano go who have been in their areas for a verrry long time. anz. miller was in napoli centro for a year. same house same members same friends. im going to cry when i have to leave castellammare. developing relationships with people like we do and helping members and all our investigators is going to be hard to leave behind.

 We played soccer with some kids that are members out here in napoli today. we went to this park and just played for a couple hours. it was good to just run around and have fun with 6 anziani and a few member kids. of course the park was full of other people who were playing soccer so we had a few little pick up games. they all thought i was Italian. i was wearing my Rooney jersey haha. i guess my italian is getting better woohoo.

man the work this week was super sweet we got to really focus in on our members and got some things moving. we got a family to start doing family home evening together and were going to get them reading the book of mormon as a family. its funny how the book of mormon can relate to anything. we had some come to jesus meetings of our own and had to break some boxes. which means like, .. . put things back in order but with boldness haha. so yeah this week was fun. we invited this family to get baptised because theyre amazinggg but the father Domenico wants to go to church first and meet some members. were super excited about them.

hahaha give michelle a big ol hug for me thats so sweet YODA! woohoo. haha there are a few photos i carry around wher you can see my old braid and Italians know star wars pretty well so its fun to talk about it haha.
we had a little activity at church yesterday with the branch they did a little halloween thing that really brought us home haha they did a great job. there was karaoke and food of course and other fun games it was nice to stop by.

Oh, the pictures --- man photos are honestly a necessity! if i dont get them reuglarly its rough to imagine people how they are haha. i dont know how to explain it. man i love my soccer family all those parents and kids a played with are super awesome. Ciao

October/The pizza is Life Changing!

this mission is seriously the best thing thats ever happened to me. I know understand what it means to truly love someone. to put them before yourself no matter what the cost. to do everything and anything in your power to bring them this eternal happiness that is the doctrine of gesu cristo. its not easy, no, but its doable. the people are like you said everything or nothing. they flail theyre hands like dragons and yell and kiss and hug and touch your face they are so affectionate and at the same time hard outer shells that are scared or not sure of your true purposes. Its amazing how much people change when they see you care for them and the theme i saw in conference was service. almost everytalk said something about serving other people. Imagine this. A man hardened throughout his life, spent time in prison, no family, Alone. two young men serve this man and he lets them into the house. these kids talk about christ like they know him. because they do. this man opens up and accepts their teachings. He makes progress over hardships and struggles but continues on. this is Rafeal he lives up the mountain a little way and if we didnt serve him he would be in the same rut maybe we dont know. the power of love. WOW!

conference was amazing and the fact that we got to watch it with our whole zone uip in Pozzouli! haha that was fun. anyway

i love you very very much! my little Italian branch here in Castellammare is moving forward one step at a time. things are really seeming to fall into place here. our new branch missionary leader is a return missionary hwo got home about a year ago and is really pushing the branch to work together with us and to also do theyre own missionary work like inviting friends to come to church. we have a less active member named Franco about 20 years ago this man went around castellammare and intoduced about 30 people to the church. with his help about 20 o them were baptised and now those people are the branch presidency and other office holding members.  hes starting to come back to church and open to us his deep book of friends family and other people he wants us to meet with. Anziano Simonetta and i are working as hard as we can everyday to bring this city closer to christ and come home every day dead tired. Hes from Arizona and was converted about 3 years ago he like to run track and lift weights. EVERYONE here loves him. we have some friends here that ill never forget and i just got here!

Napoletano is the dialect but we call it naptan for short. were actually in Napoli right now doing Internet and yes the pizza here is life changing. i dont think i want to eat pizza back home anymore becuase it just wont be the same. the street vendors are actually just tiny stores that put theyre foood out on like carts and you just walk inside to get the good fresh stuff. also the Kebabs here are phenominal. there was a Napoli game here the other night. we watched a little while we were waiting for our pizza at the pizzeria by the appartment. Napoli scores and theres fireworks and people screaming off their balconies cars honk and everything stops for 10 seconds,then live resumes as normal. haha i love Italy! anyway i must go.

i love yall so very much and keep progressing, keep moving forward.

ciao ciao bellissimi!

September transfer to Napoli

Im going to Napoli! ive been called to serve this transfer in castellammare di stabia a city thats north of napoli. Its famous for being the prettiest of all Napoli. my new companions name is Anziano simonetta. hes a convert from the states and is one transfer older than me. haha. also the people in napoli dont really speak Italian. they speak napoletano so im going to have to pick that up while im there also. im the only one leaving Sardegna and every other companionship is staying the same. im flying out of Cagliari tomorrow morning....by myself. haha weird right? anyway thats my story and im sticking to it!

im going to miss all the people i met here and all the little punk kids i met on the bus haha. i made some photos with some member families and some others as well. I know that if i dont see them again in this life ill be standing in front of our savior with my investigators saying i brought these people to you the best i could and gave it my all. well see eachother again. im excited i love being a missionary. saying goodbye is strange but easy at the same time. i know the lord needs me elsewhere and ill go where he wants me to go. I fear not because hes with me. ill give a Book of mormon to the person i sit next to on the plane haha. im so excited! ill email my new address as soon as i can.

ok i have to pack up and stuff so ill write a bunchhhh next week i love yall ciao

ciao!

Fere Agoste / California Dreamin'

hey mommmma!

anyway transfers have been completed and we had our first district meeting withnew anziano shaw in Oristano and Sorella Turley here in Cagliari (i knew her from the MTC) cool stuff! they fit right in and were all excited about the work we will do and the miracles we will see out here this transfer. were going to hike this place called the devils saddle today haha right after lunch were taking a man named gian pierro were teaching him and a boy thats a member buut is just down here for vacation. hes about 17 and wants to serve a mission. i figured inviting him would be good for him in both ways. see that as missionaries were still normal touristy people and to spend some time with a real life investigator. theres no youth his age in my branch or else i would drag em proselyting with us everyday! haha. this weekend was suppppper slow! theres a holiday here called fer agoste. It means everyone go to the beach for two days. ALL the stores closed down and literally no one was outside it was kind of eerie. the actual day of the holiday we got to do a deep cleaning of our house! we dont have a cd player or anything so we sang all day. it was nice rearranging everything and knowing that it probably wont get cleaned like that for another 10 years. it seemed that way when we cleaned it anyway. On sunday two very cool things happened! We had some visitors from the states. an RM who served here two years ago. i met him and BOOM he was one of our investigators in the MTC we taught him two different times haha. so funny. i met his wife and theyre just out here hanging out. AAAND it looks like im the new branch chorister. haha sorella rifaldi (my mom, or the senior comp sister missionary in my first area)

did it before but she got transfered so im just standing there talking with the members in between class right before sacrament and they ask my comp if he knows anyone who can lead the music he just says i can so they grab me and just say these are the songs were doing today good luck. haha so i lead no every sunday. woohoo following my dads footsteps as chorister! haha. everything else is going very well, the weather changes daily. some days cool and breezy then the next will be humid and sticky. its not bad at all though. the shade works here too so itsa not bad.

also Jackson will be baptised on the 28th of agosto! were very excited and so is he. We actually scheduled the baptism to be this weekend but then branch pres. locci called us and said that an 8 year old girl is being baptised then so we thaught it would be better to move it to next week. we told jackson and he responded with "thats the date god wanted me to be baptized. if he wants me to do it then, i will go and do. like Nefi" oh man! what an amazing man haha. were so excited. we got a photo with him and the lloyds a family in our ward on sunday ill send that in a week or two or just wait till we take the baptism photo. haha.

its way fun walking out of our appartement and walking by the shops and waving to all our new friends. they smile and waave and some times run out and shake our hands and ask us our plans for the day. our friend luccio at the carteloria is always smoking a cigarette outside and puts it out when he sees us and tries speaking english. so funny. we met a man on the bus yesterday and he tried speaking english and we kept talking and it ended up us three in the back of the bus him singing elvis songs and my comp and i snapping our fingers haha. so funny. they long americans here and just looooove california. the response i get when i tell people im from california wont get old haha. so funny. CHE BELLO ! 

anyway i love you 

i hope everything is going swell! send my love around town i miss everyone. 

ciao ciao

"Itsa Jackson 5!" and Transfers: Ronnie 'no go'--not for 6 weeks

hello hello!,

any way,

my investigator Jackson! hes doing so great! i talk to him almost every day and he is going through the book of mormon for the first time. his enthusiasm to read and understand is so inspiring. he just relates everything that hes learning to his prior knowledge of scripture and Faith. he has a tremendous amount of faith which is also just an example to me. anyway, i call him every night to check up on him and make sure hes studying (under his request) and he always has something so crazy happen to him. for example earlier in the week he was at home with all the other refugees that he lives with and after lunch everyone takes a nap. everyone was sleeping and a fire started in the back yard. they all woke up to a huge cloud of smoke just outside their windows. His 2 year ould son in hand he grabs a hose and starts fighting the fire making sure it didnt get to the house. e then gave out orders for everyone to grab buckets and through water on the plants and everything thats close to the house. after a few minutes the fire men arrived and took care of it. the whole back yard was black but the house remained in tact. another time he had told us that his brother is trying to come to italy but he hadnt heard from him in about 3 weeks. once your out of your home country the cell phones dont work anymore. everyone uses prepaids its annoying. anyway, he was praying that he would feel comfort about his brother being safe becuase he was also excorting jacksons other son to italy and he prayed about it for three days he said and then he turned on the TV and saw his brother in the back round of a reporter on the news with his son haha. he relates everything so well too. hes since heard from his brother and will be seeing him soon. woo!  Fratello Deplano calls him jackson 5 but he says it inglese so it makes it way funnier. italian accent just make inglese sound so funny. haha

tranfers were this week! haha im staying here with Russell but every other companionship is changing in Sardegna. Reed is up in Sassari but hell be with an anziano from oristano that rules and some other changes are happening too.  Sorella Riffaldi is transfering to Roma 2 so thats sad but sweet for her.  sorry about the mission lingo its just easier this way. i had to buy a new bag becuase my last one broke! i had a talk with my companion th even though when things are dirt cheap it doesnt always mean theyre better. haha. i spent a little more and gota real durable one.  i set a goal for myself to read the entire standard works by my 6 month mark. the bible is jsut wild. so many cool and weird things.  but yeah i suggest reading the pearl of great price again or if you havent. great info. and ive also been studying the 9th section of the doctirne and covenants. Its something everyone should know very well. anyway, reading through the Book of mormon in another language is something special truly. i read it once already in italian but i still wasnt very good at understanding everything. im still not great but reading it through again is way cool. that way different words get across the same meaning and how italian can be beautified. When people write in Italian they use a different type of language thats more fluid and prettier, people say. ive seen it definitely in the LDM libro di mormon. anyway i have to go. im hungry i need a nap i love you

 

send my love to the family! i was talking about lucky and nakita the other day and i miss my pups too!

ill be here for another 6 weeks and ill be better about letting you know in advance haha it snuck up on me too.

ok ciao ciao.

The man from Nigeria named Jackson

The elders from oristano have a baptism this week and thats way sweet because were the only ones on the island with a baptismal font so theyre coming down here to Cagliari and were going to invite some investigators. Jackson this man we met on the bus is so amazing. he made the most progress this week it was wild. it was hard for us to find a time with him because he lives very fall and has a small son. we met with him and he doesnt speak Italian yet. so we gave our lesson in English. it was the best english lesson thats ever hit Italy haha. it went super well his eyes were just bright with excitement and realization. he wanted to study the bible with us and we did that but that just led us to the Restoration and we gave the whole restoration lesson. he gave the closing prayer (which is so hard to get italians to do!!!!) hes not italian though he has an amzing story. i felt the strongest spirit flowing from this man it was amazing. He was born in Nigeria where he met his wife. he moved to Libya where he had two children and supported his brother and his family. Now because of the war they are refugees here in sardegna and i heard him speaking english on the bus and just started talking to him about everything and he wanted to study the bible in english. we gave him a quad in english and he was so excited! it was amazing to see how greatful he was for a book haha. anyway, we meet him again on saturday. 

everythings going well here its crazy to think that ive been here for a month already haha. its funny too. i dont feel like my italian is growing but i understand almost all of what the people say. Sometimes.  

but yeah i have to go mom my time here is running out i love you. 

if you want anyone to make me smile or make me super happy have them write me a letter haha. it stinks not getting anything for two weeks haha. 

i love you tell the family i love them. 

give michelle a big ol hug tell her i miss her and sorry for not writing back a ton last week. 

pet nakita and lucky for me. ive been around a bunch of dogs lately and it makes me miss em haha. 

vi voglio bene famiglia 

ci sentiamo! 

ciaociao

Pesto Genovese & First Parking Ticket

famiglia,

i cooked some delicious fresh pesto genovese with garlic and fresh onions yesterday for lunchh mmmmmm

you would be so proud haha. im slowly learn the art of italian cooking haha its harder than the language but the results always taste good no matter what you mess up. tthe milk and the cheese here just blows anything else out of the water. were buying a bunch of meat this week so well see about this haha

 i wanna share a quick story.

we got the sweetest blessing this week.
last week we planned a bunch and talked a bunch about how to make our investigator pool grow. they had a baptism here in cagliari last month and we want to get at least one every transfer. we did everything we could last week. we tried all our favorite spots found a ton of contacts commited all of our investigators made more appointments with others who werent progressing everything. then later in the week some of the people who were making the most progress called and said they were going on vacation for a few months. (this is pretty regular in Italy, weirdest thing ever.) so we were pretty sad. we needed some acid stuff since our sink was clogged (my companion thought the sink was a good place to cut his hair) we walked around the corner bought the stuff i made two contacts in the store while he got the acid haha and when we walked out a man says "hey just the men im looking for!" we were just surprised since everyone in Italy is super paranoid haha. we were just like heyyyyyy.....? how are ya? haha and he goes i have three books under my arm if you guess what one of them is ill talk to you. he had a book of mormon haha so sweet. he asked us a few questions about the word of wisdom and them my companion started going through super short lessons of everything. he already knew it all he read and i guess recieved lessons from some elders in another town. he is pretty much ready to be baptised he just couldnt before because of family. we gave him our number he called us the next day and were meeting with him on thursday. so sweet. we just need to get some things clarified and then hell be ready for the baptism interview! wowwww
what a blessing haha.

we got our first parking ticket. my companion convinced me it would be fine and then he forgot his card number so i paid 40 euro for some stupid thing. Italy also has universal everything so the post office is also like the police station and everything else important. we waited for three hours in that place to pay 40 euro so cool.... i met three really nice ladies though. i hope they come to church this sunday. they were way nice. haha.

tell D and Z that i love them and i expect their couch to always be open for me. and also if either of them want to learn how to make a REAL dinner give me a call. or an email. since im out here still haha.

i love you mom tell all the grandmas i love them. tell nana i just barely got here letter. it was sent to the MTC and then to ROMe and then to here haha. anyways gotta run.

i love you.

 ciao ciao

P Day July13th--California Dreamin'.....'Guitar Man'

i went a little crazy with the new ability to write for an hour or more here in italy haha i just wanted to fill you in as best as i could. everythings casual here mom were meeting tons of new people everyday. lots of people hate us but then we talk to them and show them were just normal people trying to bring happiness and they usually soften right up. its amazing how hard peoples hearts are for some reason or another and its amazing how much i want to figure out why and soften them when i know nothing about this person at all. Its not hard to love everyone; but figuring out what they need to hear to be softened or what things we need to say or teach are difficult. ive already seen peoples faces go from hostile to friendly simply from the words my companion and i say its a blessing really.
its funny the reaction i get out of younger people when i tell them im from California they all get like ... jealous hahaha its the weirdest thing ever. Here they are in beautiful Cagliari and they want to move to California haha so funny. makes me laugh everytime. and i pull the California card everytime. ...almost :)
oh!! hey its zone confrence this week actually tomorrow so i get to see Anziano Reed again and im pumped for that and also my district is in charge of doign the musical number. i wanted to do come thou font ( one of my favorite hymns) so thats what were going to sing haha. we were going to have a sorella accompany on piano but she wasnt feeling confortable because she cant read music very well. we were looking for the sheet music in the church building for that song and we found a nylon string guitar.....
so turns out im doing the musical accompaniment on the first guitar ive played since i was playing childrens hymns on my guitar in my room the day i flew out of Palm Springs inter. :D haha so excited. i was so happy to see it. it was just so random and funny and awesome. so im extremely excited as you an tell.
anyways tell danielle thanks for the invite!ok i love you tell everyone i love them and miss them and talk about them all the time.


ciaociaociao

A Warm Welcome from President and Sister Kelly

To the Families of Elder Green,

ThanK you for sending us such a wonderful missionary.  He will be serving in Sardegna.  A beautiful island.  Enjoy the photos!

Warmest Wishes,

Sorella Kelly

Elder Green Has Arrived in Rome!  President & Sister Kelly

Missed Flight, First Impressions, Baptism Island, Amazing Ward

theres so many people here! this city is so beautiful its ridiculous ill be sending photos soon! itll most likely take a while the lifestyle here is so funny. theres like a 3 hour pause for lunch where all the stores close and everyone goes home the streets are just quiet and everyone just naps and makes a ridiculously large lunch. were going to eat out today for the first time im so excited to have someone else make the food haha my companion and i cook everymeal and i dont mind but i just cant wait to taste it haha. so sweet. its funny how much and little italian i understand at the same time like sometimes i know excatly what people are saying and others not a single word. the only language they speak here is Sard. haha which is Italian just with a small accident so its not too bad but there are like terms and slang that i have no idea.

oh so we missed our flight in chicago. on our flight from SLC they told us that our connecting flight was at gate f7 or whatever and so we went there and asked the people at the desk if it was the right flight and they said yeah and so we made our phone calls and stuff and ate blah blah scioe scioe then its like time for us to leave and the plans isnt boarding yet so we ask the desk and she makes a call and its like WOOPS your flight is in a whole other terminal sorry goodluck. BOOM we book it! i start jogging so there was 10 elders and a sister all in suits and a dress full jogging through crowded chicago airport we make it to the train where we watch our plane take off. we talked to someone from british airways that got our flights rescheduled but we all had to split up from there. luckily i stayed with four elders and a sister on all the flights but we were are sitting in different places so we werent really together at all. we had to wait 4 extra hours in chicago and we had a 6 hour layover in london so our bodies were beat and i didnt want to get jetlag so i didnt sleep at all really i slept for about an hour to london but that was it. anyways we got there and saw the oh so familiar white shirt and nametags waiting for us just outside the airport the assistants took us to the Villa where we stayed the night. Reed and i are the only new elders serving on Sardegna. The elders in the mission call it baptism island haha. so funny. everything is so italian here its funny all the people talk with their hands its way sweet

 Its to hear and read something familiar once in a while. I love it here, and boy is it warm. the weather is a constant 85 to 90 and humid but i love it. Since Italians dont believe in air conditioning then that usually means that everyone is outside doing stuff or inside napping. the culture here is so funny and im still getting used to it. theres a million tiny cars that drive way too fast and theres people that just walk in the middle of the road without looking but thats just casual everyday transportation. If you feel like the people in the cars or BUSES! can see you then you can cross whenever and they dont mind stopping at all its so funny. if you wait and then run across the street even if youve given them time to see you but you run they will honk at you. its the weirdest thing.
My apartment is way too beautiful it doesnt even make sense!. i was expecting some tiny hole in the wall with graffiti all over it and some cots on the floor. nope. marble floors mahogany doors and a bunch of wayh sweet windows. were on the thrid floor up which is pretty high because the first floor starts at the roof of the stoors that are on the street level. so its basically fourth floor. its about 8 stories i think. we have a big living room where we study, kitchen, bathroom, regular size bedroom, and a room just for our clothes haha. I like to take 10 minutes every night to sit out on our balcony and write in my journal. its such an amazing atmosphere to be in. ill be sending a memory card home soon. i still havent gotten that other one :( but yeah i love it. we get to drive a car. its manual and my companion doesnt really know how to drive it haha. he learned how to drive stick on the mission. Hes way cool his name is Anziano Russel hes from Ohio he looks like the guy that played super man in the super man in the 90s i think it was or early 2000s anyways its funny haha. hes way cool. he pushed me out of my comfort zone daily. he makes me make all the phone calls and like asking for things in stores. well contact someone and hell say my companion wants to tell you something then just look at them. haha or ill just initiate the contact and then talk till i dont understand then ill look at him and hell be looking at the clouds. so thats pretty fun and stressful at the same time
Goals are so important to set and try your best to maintain or achieve. thats something the mission has helped me understand better.
My ward is amazing! its about 45-50 members strong. and i mean strong theyre all so awesome.
Fratello Deplano is our coordinator i dont remember the name of it in english. but we meet with him weekly for corolazione. hes just so amazing. i called him and asked him who he thought would be good for us to make a teaching appointment with in the ward for early the following week and instead of just thinking about it and telling he he said he would call me back. he called back an hour later and said he had called like 8 different families and got their schedules down for us so we could organize our whole week to have member lessons and lessons with simpattizanti with members present. their willingness to help us is so amazing----ciao ciao

New Address

Via Tiziano 22
09128 Cagliari, Italia

A big oh my gosh! The body of water is the Mediterranean Sea. Sardegna is actually one of 3 islands in the  Sea.....Sicily, Corsica and Sardegna. Cagliari is on the southern tip of the island. Going to try to import an image.

First email from Italy! June 30th, 2011

Madre!
sono in italia!
haha we made it! haha the craziest things happened. ill just say i accomplished a life long dream of running through a crowded airport in a suit. i missed a flight and stuff ill say more later theres no time right now.
ive been called to serve in Cagliari, Sardegna. i think sister Kelly will be sending you a photo soon. the mission home is beautiful Rome is crazy beautiful
wow love you.
ciaociao

I copied his email word for word....sounds like Ronnie's take on everything.......every minute of life is an ADVENTURE! Well, we had a Ronnie sighting in SLC and a long conversation with him in Chicago...wonder if that's where he missed his flight....don't know any details yet. If someone out there does....please post it---would love to see comments from others :)

Well Cagliari, Sardegna (Sardinia by us and others in the Google world---I like Sardegna)Cagliari is the capital of Sardegna and it's a beautiful city that is bordered by a body of water, so there are views that are breathtaking. Beaches, towers, castles from 1400's nothing big! HA. I would imagine everystep you take you're thinking of the history that literally oozes from the place. There are roughly around 150,000 people who live here in a fairly bustling city. His apartment looks like it's in a business district in a building with several floors. There's a laundromat, currency exchange, and bank nearby---with public transport as well. (just love Google maps) Will post address next .......

Bon Voyage call from Chicago

Red Letter day! Ronnie flew out of SLC and said goodbye to the MTC. This was such a great experience. His letters detailed the growth he experienced there. The teachers, the opportunities to bear his testimony, the Italian language and his love for it as he became more fluent.  Wow! Two months down!

His phone call was amazing. He enjoyed his first day out and had a lot to say. Boy was it good to hear his voice. He was stoked about receiving 5 Dear Elders yesterday. He was calling from a payphone (a first). I got to talk to his companion. He was especially tickled by two things: One, speaking to his dad, it really was awesome he said--also spoke to Brandon, Stephanie. Cool! But the best was seeing Danielle and Zac at the airport (who waited for 2 1/2 hours to catch a glimpse if not more. ha

Danielle was after all Ronnie's very first companion. It was fitting for her to bid him farewell as he went along with his companion in the mission field. Sweet for sure.

Hearing his voice was a highlight for mama for sure!

June 2

Hey, we got some new teachers who brought some new curriculum. We're doing 'mock tracting'. We meet with investigators. Reed and I have 6 families we meet with regularly. We're getting to meet with with some amazing people! We also get to see the general authorities too. You can totally feel the spirit when they come. Everything they say you say attention to for sure.

They're starting to talk to us about what we need to go --- it's pretty exciting.
Ciou, ciou!

May 29

Famiglia!

Hope everything is good on the homefront. Know what? Being a zone leader means having no breaks. haha I'm getting to write lessons for investigators and teaching investigators. We're actually the ZL's for the whole building which happens to be that if anything happens on any of the four floors: we have to deal with it. The lessons were teaching keep gett better. Two Italian sisters are here and going stateside. Reed and I are having full conversations in Italian with them! Our Italian is brutal and ugly, but we get the point across. We watched The testament in Italian and understood MOST of it.  I can also pick up on some Spanish.

Pictures from the first month

Caro Famiglia! Here are some pictures of my last day as a civilian: saying goodbye to the fam. You'll see pictures of my new companion in front of the famous map. There's a picture of my room with a mattress I'm sure my dad slept on! The rest are random pictures of my district. Oh, and....hint, hint a large mailbox built to receive hint, hint LOTS of mail. Enjoy the pix! Ciao! Anziano Green.

P Day May 15

Latest news is "I love my schedule". I've always liked being busy and this schedule has us doing something every minute of the day just about. So, I don't feel constricted or anything I love it. Now that I'm zone leader I actually get a few breaks here and there to do interviews and hang out with the branch president, who is the sweetest man ever. So awesome.

We got a new teacher. He walkded in and you could just feel his spirit. It was amazing. Reed and I are teaching 30 minute lessons in full Italian now with no breaks and without any cheat sheets, It's a blessing how fast we're learning this language.

Love to everyone!
Ronnie

Two Letters Today! May 6th, 2011

First letter:

Caro Famiglia,

My P day is Wednesday, which is the day I'll be writing and emailing. Keep your letters coming. They make the days go by faster. I'm a District Leader now and I know what it's like to be a mom. haha I have to make sure everyone goes to bed on time, make sure they study and stay focused! My district has grown close really quick. We've learned so much in less than a week. It's truly a miracle to see how fast we're learning the language so quickly. Dinner times are sweet. It's amazing to see this Army doing anything together. Honestly, Sundays are sweet---except I have to spend the majority of my time keeping my district awake. I love it!

Love,
Anziano Green

2nd Letter: (my mother's day message)

Here's a replica of what my tag looks like:

Anziano Green

chiese di

Gesu Cristo

Dei Santi

Degli Ultimi Giorni

How to Share letters on this blog

I set up a gmail account through Google and find this blog that way each time.

Sign in at elderronniegreen@blogger.com
Password is: romeitaly

This is a shared blog where anyone can post any news. This is cool since we'll all be getting different news. I'm keeping some stuff private that I think he wants kept that way. You can also comment on an entry someone may have written.

Ronnie's first letter

Hi Famiglia,

My first day is over! So whoever told me it would be terrible, haha blatantly lied! I love it here!
My new companion is awesome! He loves soccer and all the same things I like. We have the same
dry sense of humor, so we get along great.

If you want to write a letter, please send it to the Provo address for now.

Estimated departure date: 28th of June-----make it happen!

The food is great! There are so many of us going to Rome, it's incredible. We know we'll be worked hard but we're ready to get out there and teach. The Spririt is so strong here.

I love my family.
I love the MTC!

Elder Ronnie Green

Dear Elder

If you would like to send a letter to Ronnie through......www.DearElder.com all you have to do is go to the website and register (it's free). On the 'select a mission' tab choose Provo MTC and proceed to write your letter. He will receive a printout that very day.  He won't be able to respond to it until he actually gets a pen and paper to send an actual letter. We don't know when he has his 'P' day. He can send emails on that day as well.

Day of Departure--April 27

Ronnie slept in as long as he could this morning. He didn't have an appetite for brekky--hadn't really had one for about a week. Brett & Ally were to meet us over at the Brick Oven in Provo. Zac, Danielle, Ronnie & I drove out after we checked over the paperwork one more time. On our way I phoned Nana to get the last two names we needed for the Family History chart that was to accompany Ronnie at check-in time. They were Nana's maternal grandparents who were born around the late 1800's. Ronnie got calls from Aunts Noelle & Gina, Uncle Cookie and Alex Lowder. So many of good wishes, I will miss you's and keep in touch messages. As his mother I'm so grateful that he has been surrounded with so much love.

We arrived at the MTC 'picture taking field' and Hayley Hernandez joined us. It wasn't until he stood alone in the field with the temple and mountain in the background that I felt the overwhelming emotion that I'd seen in everyone else. My child was going to be gone for two years! It finally hit me.Tearful tight, long hug--! Danielle said, "one more of picture of....." and Ronnie responded emphatically with a stomp of his left foot; No! I'm ready! Let's go!

We got in the car and off we drove ----- crossed the street and were surrounded with the same embraces we'd just experienced. Mothers' tearful goodbyes. Father's tight hugs. We entered the driveway where we were signaled in to park with Disneyland style light sabers. One by one each vehicle filed in to their designated stop. And just like the airports with recent security scrutiny---get out fast, say goodbye quick and off you go. Each car would pull up. Dad would get out, open the hatch, Elder son and father would pull out the luggage, while mom wearing sunglasses and wiping tears away would walk to her son. We weren't any different. One last embrace, Ronnie grabbed his luggage...."Ronnie one last wave." Got a picture and off he went!

Airport Goodbye

With backpack on, suitcases in hand, Ronnie looked every bit the part of Missionary. He checked in with his dad and Melinda by his side and off he went to security. One by one we took a picture with him for the last time. Through smiles and tears we stood and watched as he made it to the door. One last turn and a wave goodbye......goodbye son, brother, grandson, friend. Thousands of young men and women do this every year and yet when it's yours -- you pause and feel as though you're the only one that's ever experienced it. Arriverderci!

                              



Elder Ronnie's Email & Mailing Addresss

Ronald.green@myldsmail.net

Brandon Sabado April 24 at 11:03pm Report

Elder Ronald James Green
MTC Mailbox # 235
ITA-ROM 0629
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Ronnie's last Sunday with the Family

This was a bittersweet day. We converged on the Redlands 5th Ward early enough to take in the moments of the day. Ronnie's talk was on establishing a relationship with the Savior. Last night's evening fueled his feeling of how important relationships are and how we must nurture them. His talk included his love of friends, family and his passions----soccer and music. Atta Boy Son!

We later enjoyed a lovely All American BBQ hosted by Ron and Melinda at their house in Redlands. Three generations of Greens, Franz & de Clercs were there to enjoy the newest Missionary Recruit!
Thanks everyone for a great day.

The day closed with the solemn, sweet and reverent setting apart of the now formally titled: Elder Green: Missionary on assignment!

An Evening with 100 of my closest friends :)

5:00 rolled around and the kids kept coming. There were kids everywhere. We had such a great time just being together. There was plenty of food and the theme was 'Mangia'! We are so grateful for the friends that came to say farewell. Smiles, hugs, and warm exchanges were contagious. Ronnie and Josh closed the evening with a few songs. There were some tears---sisters, friends, parents....we will surely miss our friend. 2 years from now we'll gather again and have so much to share.

Farewell House Party

April 23, 2011

Days after Ronnie's 20th birthday his friends gathered one last time for an evening of hanging out!