CHRISTMAS

Anziano Bona has sent two very short emails since arriving in Vicenza due to the fact that it was Christmas and we would be speaking on the phone.

Recap letter #1: Dec 21
Anz Duque is an amazing companion. He was the bright light of the transfer. It was very hard to leave La Spezia and all the members there. I think that I will come close to crying, again, as I say goodbye to these good people and new friends. I must return here someday! We will be spending Christmas with a sr missionary couple who serve on the base, with Anz Lenhardt and Free. I love them both. It will be a good day. I am looking forward to talking to you on Christmas.

Recap letter #2: Dec 28
It was fantastic to talk with all of you on Christmas! It was great to hear your voices. I will be home soon. We are working hard and doing our best. Not much to write since we just spoke. We are going home to sleep for our pday, we are tired. New Year's in coming. We will be staying in. I will write more next week, when there is more to tell. Love you all.

Christmas phone call:
We had a wonderful phone call with Anziano Bona. He loves being with Anz Duque. They get along so well together and have a fun time laughing together and telling stories. He says that his companion is the best cook in the mission and that he will get fat this transfer. (Anz Duque is 28 yrs old and from the Philippines, but moved to the Rome area when he was 13, and speaks perfect Italian). Robert also told us that is is weird to have a companion who can actually speak so well and explains the gospel to perfectly. They are learning one another's teaching styles and it is going well. Anz Duque  (pronounced DuK) will go home the end of Jan 2012. We spoke with him for a few minutes and he is a fine young man!
We had a wonderful phone call with Robert just laughing and talking about things at home and the mission.
The one thing that he repeated several times was how thankful he was for his mission. He was so glad that he made the choice to go and for the experiences that he has had and the people that he has met. He expressed that it was so much better than he thought it would be. He is so thankful for the opportunity that he has had to serve.

VICENZA!!!

Vicenza, a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately 60 km west of Venice and 200 km east of Milan.
Vicenza is a thriving and cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance palazzi. With the Palladian Villas of the Veneto in the surrounding area, and his renowned Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theatre), the "city of Palladio" has been enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994
As of December 2008, Vicenza had an estimated population of c. 115,927 and a metropolitan area of 270 000. Vicenza is the third-largest Italian industrial centre as measured by the value of its exports, and is one of the country's wealthiest cities.  Especially due to its textile and steel industries which employ tens of thousands and about one fifth of the country's gold and jewelry industry is made in Vicenza, greatly contributing to the city's economy. Another important branch is the engineering/computer components industry (Federico Faggin, the microprocessor's co-inventor was born in Vicenza.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well sorry to say, but as usual, I really don't have much time here so it might be a bit short but I'll try to answer everything and still give you guys a good letter. Well I'll get right to the point. I'm getting transferred. I'm going to Vicenza. It's in between Verona and Venezia (Venice). So I'll be able to see both of those cities! I haven't been to that side of Italy so it'll be a brand new adventure! My new comp is Anziano Duque!!!! I freakin love him! You know that one picture of me at San Marino holding the missionary's hand? We looked kinda funny, I know ha ha well that's him! He is from the Philippines! (I have no idea how to spell that place! ha ha) I was in his district when I was in Ravenna. He is such a stud. I'm so excited! This is gonna be his last transfer! So I'll kill him then I'll get a new comp the transfer after and he will kill me.

President Wolfgramm explain to me why he transferred me now, because he knew how much I love La Spezia and how much I wanted to stay. As you know already I think, I'm coming home a week early so my last transfer is super short. If I would have stayed that would have been 4 in La Spezia then he would have to transfer me and then I'd be in a new city for less then 5 weeks. So he decided to get me out of here now so I could have time to get to know the people there too. Anziano Rodrigez is coming to take my spot here. He is super amazing. La Spezia will be in good hands.

Monday night I went to the Zarulli's house to say bye. That is Nicolo's family! Man it was so hard! I love them. Last night was even harder. It was my last time at Andreas house. Man, I love the Manucci family so much! Allesandra is awesome and so funny! She has changed a ton since I've been here! I can't wait to come back and visit them. I'm so excited for Andrea and his choice to serve the Lord. Once he gets his call please let me know where he gets called to go! We just talked and laughed and had a good time.

Tonight is gonna kill me. I'm going over to Mauro and Floras house. He's the branch pres here. I don't know if  I've mentioned them much but we go over there every Sunday night. They have a daughter Mirjam, my age, I think we are friends on Facebook. They are easily one of my favorite families in all of Italy. It's gonna be rough I can already tell ha ha man, I suck at goodbyes!!!! The mission has made me such a softy inside! :p ha ha Oh well.

I am excited though. Duque is amazing and I'm stoked for him. I just would have loved to spend  Christmas with everyone here. Oh well. Everything happens for a reason! But for real I WILL come back and visit everyone here!! ha ha La Spezia has and always will have a special place in my heart!

Well I gotta go! I gotta go say bye to Victor and Sharon right now!!! I don't know exactly everything for Christmas but I will let you know next week. Thanks for your emails. They were amazing. And dad FYI reading in Italian doesn't give me head aches!!! :P ...... just writing it does! hahahaha Well have a great week!! I love you guys tons!! I'll talk to you guys next week! Take care!

Vi voglio bene!!! :)

love anziano bona


This is Judi. Had the opportunity to "chat" with Anziano Bona this morning for a few minutes. He is sad to leave such special and dear friends that he has made in La Spezia, but is looking forward to serving in Vicenza, which more than likely will be his last city.
He will no longer be a DL...he says that Pres Wolfgramm told him it was time for the "young ones" to take over. He looking forward to serving with Anz Duque!
Also, as a side note for those of you who may not know...his return date has been changed. We recieved travel itinerary two days ago, and instead of returning on March 9 he will be returning home on March 2! He sends his love to all his family and friends.

UPDATE

Dear Mom and Dad,


How are you guys doing?
Wow that is so weird that stake conference was like that at home. I guess that's how it's gonna be from now on? If that is the case that's cool!

Mom you are right ....chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel is really good. Christlike attributes are so important and it's true it is something that we need to be doing our entire life! Sadly to say I don't think I will be knocking doors and teaching about the Gospel every day like I do here, but for the rest of my life I want to be more like Christ!

Dad you are very right, the scriptures are so important and we can really get so much out of them. Personally I want to finish the Book of Mormon 1 more time too before I get home, but I have ways to go. I'm just starting 2nd Nephi so we will see how that goes!

This past week had its ups and downs, kinda like every week...ha ha! The down part was that Anz Angel wasn't feeling good and kinda' got me sick too! We haven't been feeling too hot lately but now we feel better! It is just hard to be super motivated when you don't feel to good! We are still trying to do our best though! A positive thing was seeing Andrea again! He is super legit! It is great that you talked to his mom via Facebook! She is awesome! :) The interview with Pres Wolfgram went well. Now he is just "playing" the waiting game! Hopefully it comes while I'm still here! (Andrea is a member who is now waiting for his mission call.) The wedding was super cool! I saw some members from San Remo and that was super fun!

To be honest, I am praying that I stay here in La Spezia.... not gonna lie I would be disappointed to leave right now, but if it's what the Lord wants then I will do it! ha ha Hopefully the Lord's will and my will will be the same!!!!! I will let you know next week....

so ya Christmas is coming up soon. .... About the phone call.... it's hard to say exact times because I don't know where I'm gonna be! If I'm here I will probably call around 6 pm time here. How does that sound for you guys? Let me know what you think. Maybe around 430ish if that works better for you guys. Let me know!!!!

Mom I didn't know you are havingsurgery! What the heck? Well good luck! I will definitely give you some shout outs in my prayers!

The weather here is pretty nice most days. Sometimes it's a bit cloudy and rains a bit, but most days it's clear skies and just super pretty! A bit chilly at nights but that's normal because we are in December after all! Other than this, nothing much else to report on...

Well I love you guys tons. I'm stoked to hear from you guys soon! Have a great week! vi voglio bene!!!

Love Anziano Bona