New Pioneers

July 24, 2013

The 24th of July is Pioneer Day in Utah.  It's a day where we celebrate the arrival of the first pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley.  Here in Italy, it's just another very busy day.  We will always remember our first 24th of July in the mission field in Italy.  We got 21 new missionaries--each pioneering a new path  in the Italy Rome Mission.

The last group that came six weeks ago had lots of trouble getting their luggage so we were a little concerned about what would happen this time since it is the height of tourist season.  (We had experienced the same problem just a month ago when we came.  We didn't get our luggage either.)  We had good reason to be concerned.  Their flight was delayed two hours in Dallas and  over half of them didn't have luggage when they got here.  That really messes up all the plans on our end.

The missionaries are tired and hungry.  At the same time, they are a little nervous and extremely excited. President Waddoups needed to meet each of the missionaries and hopefully interview them before he made the final assignments as to where they were to serve.  At the office, copies of their passports are made, instructions for luggage reimbursement and permesso information is given.  Within a week of arriving in Italy, they have to start the process of applying for a permesso or permit to be in Italy or they face deportation.  We are hopeful that their trainers are up on the process because we worry that the new missionaries might have slept through part of the instructions.

Eleven of our twenty-one new missionaries had to make a return trip to Fiumacino Airport, which is at least a 45 minute drive from the villa, to retrieve their luggage.  One of the missionaries still hasn't gotten his luggage.  We ate dinner and welcomed them to the mission before they left to go back to the airport.  This is done at the villa.

We had an Italian sister prepare a real Italian meal for them their first night here.  Each area of the country has what is considered it's specialty meal so this sister fixed pasta with spaghetti sauce made with fresh bacon, cheese, garlic and pepper.  She served it with a green salad.  She went to the local farms and got fresh ingredients ( lettuce, tomatoes and zucchini) to go in it.  She made bread to go with it.  We served gelato for desert.  She was an excellent cook and had such a fun personality.  The missionaries loved it.  I think we'll do it again for the new group arriving in six weeks.

We took the traditional pictures on the front steps of the villa and let them e-mail them home to their parents to let them know they had arrived.

It is a tradition that the elders hang their suit jackets on the railing when they are at the villa.  With the huge groups of missionaries right now, it's a good thing we have three floors worth of railing.