Wonderful folks! We are all
really enjoying studying and working together. One big challenge is
learning to always call our spouse Elder or Sister, not using first
names. Each of us has messed up at least once, and we kid each other
when it happens.
FYI, the photo is in front of the mural of Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail in one of the brand-new MTC buildings. There are a bunch of other amazing murals, two per floor, that we really want to go see this weekend when we have a bit of free time. The way lighting is used behind the canvases is very impressive. You can see a couple of them here in a nice article on the new facilities. We don't get to train there, but it's not a very long walk from where we live and train.
Today in class we spent a meaningful period of introspection of how we can be more Christ-like in our personal lives, using a list of questions in the Preach My Gospel (PMG) manual. It's always good to think about how to improve. We also met with the Painters to teach each other a 20-minute gospel lesson that we had 30 minutes to prepare. We got to choose the topic, and each of us selected a few of the questions from the list to discuss.
We also had some more tech training. The LDS Media Library app is really cool and was completely new to us. It has tons of gospel photos, audio, and video, which can be put into playlists to use in lessons. The best part is that it's possible (and fairly easy!) to trim the audio/video to play just the section of a talk or video that is relevant. It's available to everyone, not just missionaries. Who knew?
Tonight after dinner we also met with the Painters to help them work on their family history. We love doing it of course, and I think we were able to teach them a few useful things.
Tomorrow will be the last day of general training and will end at 3:30pm instead of 4:30pm. We hope to get laundry done then. Next Mon-Wed we'll be doing specialized training for the Church Education System (CES, which can also stand for "Cooking Every Second"). CES is in charge of the Institute campus in Rome where we'll be serving. Then Thursday morning we leave for Rome.
Today we were delighted to learn from President Pickerd, our mission president in Rome, that we will be assigned to attend church in the Roma 3rd Ward, where our friend Ugo Perego is bishop. I have known Ugo since he was five years old, when my missionary companion and I knocked on his parents' door and started teaching the gospel to his mother, Raffaela. Long story, but the entire family ended up joining the church, and our families have been close ever since. We have visited them many times in Italy, and various Perego groups have been to our home in Carlsbad on a number of occasions. Ugo is also director of the Institute, so we will work closely with him and see his wife and five children regularly on Sundays. Nice!
Most senior missionary couples in Rome attend Roma 2nd Ward, the "international" ward, which has classes in Italian, English, and Spanish, and is a large and strong congregation. By contrast, our Roma 3rd Ward speaks only Italian, although there are many non-Italian immigrants there, and it is a smaller congregation, so we will be much more needed. The drive from our apartment to Roma 3rd will be considerably longer, but it is a good fit for us, so we are pleased to be able to serve there.