Singing in Pescara Week 14

Hey Everyone,
Thank you SO much Bailey, and Mom for the recipes you sent me! ha ha I am so sick of hot dogs and boiled eggs. It will be fun to try to figure out these recipes. Well I have had such a great week! I found out my new most favorite thing to do while we tract, can you guess?....I sing! ha ha oh man, it is so much fun! We just go palazzo to palazzo and I sing hymns to people and tell them I'm trying to learn Italian and it would help me learn by singing them a song. Then I sing them a hymn, and they are completely different people by the end of the song. That first instinctive wall they put up against us is instantly gone and they all the sudden want to talk about whatever we want to talk about. It has become such a wonderful tool for us, and I especially love it cus when I sing its like me bearing my testimony to them and it is so rewarding helping people feel the spirit.
This week we have found 4 families, and have begun to teach them. They are all such beautiful people and it is especially exciting cus they are all learning as whole families, MOM, Dad, and kids. One of the first few days I was here in the city we went and played soccer with some kids and we ended up getting to teach 2 brothers and yesterday we invited them to be baptised, and they said yes! and thank goodness the parents are completely great with it! The boys names are Roberto, and Andrea. They are 14, and 12, and we have set up there baptism for the 1st of August. We also have a set date for Gloria, the woman I challenged to be baptised, we are set for the 17th of this month. Its actually her birthday, and she is so excited! She is from Earthquake zone in L'Aquila, and has had some serious hard times since the earthquake, but is now ready to change her life. I can't even describe the happiness and joy I feel from seeing the change in peoples lives as we have the opportunity and privilege of teaching them. I know I've only been here for 3 weeks, but I've had some of the best times of my life, since I've gotten here. The work is going so great, the Lord is truly blessing us.
My companion has been getting a little trunky lately, so we have decided to set some really great goals that will help him finish his mission with a bang, and will help me start with a bang. Monday is the start of his last transfer and we have set the goal of 10 baptisms, before he goes home. ( As of right now he has zero from his whole mission) it has really helped him and I both focus. On Monday at district meeting I was given the assignment to teach the hour long lesson, so I taught about goals, how to set them, and how to reach them. It went really well. The district is excited to try it, and hopefully it will lead to more success in the city.
On Saturday we had a 4th of July party at the church and invited all the people from our English class to come. My companion and I were in charge of the hamburgers and hot dogs for the party, and ended up cooking 30 hamburgers and 40 hot dogs on our little stove in our kitchen, since we don't have a grill. Ha ha it was complete madness in our kitchen! We had a great turn out at the party, about 25 people came and none of them were members. We ate a ton of food, played ping pong, and sang songs and played games, and at the end had a spiritual thought and invited everyone to come to church the next day. It was a lot of fun, and even better was the next day at church seeing 7 new investigators from the class actually show up!
This last week was the closing ceremonies for the Olympic games here in Pescara. They had huge firework shows and big celebrations. It has been amazing to be here and to see all the excitement of it all. And it has actually helped us a ton, because when people see us in our white shirts and ties, they think were part of the games and come up and ask us questions. Ha ha at first we would just say no, that we were missionaries, and people would quickly walk away but after a while I just started saying yes and would talk to people for a while then tell them I was just kidding and they would laugh and keep talking to me. SO its been fun. The Italian people are so stinkin FUNNY! ha ha they have their own kind of humor here that i didn't really get at first but now that I'm starting to know the people better I love it, its so funny, especially the old men, they are the best.
But anyways, I was reading in the ensign from conference the other day and i saw Mike Conway in there, did you guys see that? I think he's with his new wife, it was just kinda cool to see. So I'm doing great, I'm healthy and happy, and having the time of my life. How is everyone at home doing? What have you all been up too lately? I miss you guys a ton and look forward to hearing from you soon!
Love , Anziano Koozer