Verona, Italy - October 27, 2010

Frequently accordian players will walk up and down our street playing, and hoping to catch people looking at them from their windows, in which case the accordian player kind of expects you to throw him money from your window for the benefits of his services. The other day during companion study we suddenly were hearing accordian music, and I already knew what it was, having seen this phenomenon before, but Sorella Mullen looked very confused and I realized she had never seen one yet and had no idea what the music was! So we rushed to go look out the windows to find him, but I told her not to let him see her looking, so she is staring out the window and then all of a sudden yelps and ducks super fast because he glanced towards her, but Sorella Mullen, being her goofy self, ducked so fast and hard she sort of fell backwards across the kitchen. It was hilarious.

Last week also we were doing casa, and it was a neighborhood full of not very willing to talk to us people. Two funny conversations over the citofono (the intercom thing outside the front gate where we talk to them and they are still inside their apartment):
Sorella Mullen: Salve! Siamo missionarie della Chiesa di Gesu Cristo, and siamo qua per ---- (Hello! We are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, and we are here for ---)
they hang up abruptly while the mailman is walking up unbeknownst behind us
----per niente. (---for nothing.)
we turn around and see the mailman listening.
Sorella Langham: E come sta lei oggi? (And how are you doing today?)
Mailman: laughs at us and does not respond.

another conversation went like this.
Citofono person: Chi e? (Who is it?)
Sorella Langham: Salve! Siamo della Chiesa di Gesu Cristo! Mi puo aprire? (Hello! We are from the church of Jesus Christ! Will you please open for us?), said in thoroughly energetic tones.
Citofono person: NO! practically yelled, but they don't hang up and just wait.
Sorella Langham: Oh. in dejected tones with drooping shoulders.
CLICK. they hang up.

And then that same morning, someone did let us in, and we were very excited, but he was on something like the fifth floor, and was trying to yell down through the stairwell to find out who we are, so I said, we're coming, we are missionaries, we'll be right there, or something or other, and we start trying to hurry up the stairs, and he just keeps saying, no no, i'll come down, i'll come down, so finally we stop and wait, thinking it was very polite of him to come to meet us. he did not even talk to us at all, though, he just said, 'non mi serve niente!' which is like, 'it does nothing for me,' basically, and then forcibly walked us out of the palazzo, very angrily, and would not even let us knock on the other doors. Turns out he came down five flights of stairs, this 80 year old man, just to walk us out the door! Crazy neighborhood.

But then on Sunday night we got to watch the coolest thing - the broadcast of the temple groundbreaking in Rome! President Monson came to Rome on Saturday to break the temple grounds, and it was a really awesome meeting. They played it all over Italy on Sunday night for everyone to see. Everyone is soo sooooo excited here for the temple, and President Monson gave a very touching talk and a beautiful dedicatory prayer. And then after the prayer, before going to sit down, he stopped and said, 'I would add just one line. Our eldest son, many years ago, served in the Italy Milan Mission, and alighted in our hearts the fire of the spirit of the people of Italy, which is very near to the spirit of Godliness.' And then he sat down. It was way cool. And our mission president was there, President Wolfgramm, and he got to take a shovel full of dirt too! And President Monson called up a bunch of the little kids in the audience and helped them shovel dirt too. It was really great! Woot! The Rome, Italy temple is begun!